In the 1920s and 30s of the 17th century, China entered the countdown to the Ding Revolution, and the world was in great chaos. In fact, "change" has become the norm. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the European countries have set sail, first the Portuguese came and settled in Macau; then the Spanish came and seized Luzon. The Dutch and the British came from behind. They defeated the Spanish and the Portuguese and monopolized the commercial profits of sea trade. Westerners make a fortune in China's waters, and the Chinese naturally can't stare at them and suffer poverty. In the southeast coastal area, maritime armed groups have emerged one after another. Compared with the Japanese pirates, they have greatly improved. In a wider world and a more open era, they shared the results of the great discoveries of world geography and the profits of economic globalization.
"Aerial View of Dayuan Port", hidden in the Geus Museum in Middelburg, Netherlands, depicting Taiwan in the Dutch colonial period
From Quanzhou to the international tycoon
In this turbulent era, Zheng Zhilong stood at the forefront of the times and became China's banner on the sea. In the article "The Relationship Between Zheng Chenggong Maritime Commercial Military Group and the Budding Capitalism", Ni Lexiong used McNeil's "commercial and military complex" to analyze the Zheng maritime military group. In "The Rise and Its Impact on Ocean Views", according to McNeil's point of view, the Zheng Group is called "Maritime Merchant·Military Complex".
Zheng Zhilong, formerly known as an official, was born in Quanzhou, southern Fujian. At the age of 17, Zheng Zhilong and his younger brothers Zhihu and Zhibao went to Macau to join his uncle Huang Cheng due to the difficulties of his family. Huang Cheng was engaged in trade in Macau and mixed with the barbarians, so Zheng Zhilong began to come into contact with the secret of wealth-international trade. The colorful world of Macau made him like a fish in water. The energetic and natural person who likes to deal with all kinds of people quickly emerged. He has been to Manila and Japan, is proficient in Portuguese, and also understands Lusitanian (Jewish-Portuguese, a secret term for Portuguese Jews). After Europeanization, he joined the Catholic Church and took the name Jasper and Nicholas. , Foreigners call him "Nicholas an official".
has a very interesting record: "The Portuguese noticed that Yiguan had a peculiar prayer room. There were statues of the Savior and the Virgin Mary, and portraits of Chinese saints." Zheng Yiguan did believe in it. Catholic, but he dismissed Christianity at all, and the Portuguese also recorded: "Nicolas even gave incense to Jesus Christ." However, Zheng Yiguan opened a door to the world through "Converting to Yemen". Because of the early exposure to the world, the Zheng family is highly internationalized. Zheng Zhilong, as an authentic Quanzhou native, could not change his bloodline, so he believed in God and took the foreign name Nicholas. Zheng Zhilong's wife is Japanese and the daughter of a samurai. One of his sons is the famous Zheng Chenggong in the future. The younger brother of Zheng Chenggong still lives in Japan. It is said that one of Zheng Chenggong's craziest suitors is a Dutch girl with red hair and blue eyes. What's more interesting is that Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong's bodyguards are composed of black Africans and Indians. Zheng Chenggong hired Italian missionaries as his envoys. In addition to the Chinese mainland soldiers, Zheng's army is very diverse. Japanese, Ryukyu, Taiwanese, as well as Portuguese, Dutch, and British, as long as they come to work, they will all be reused.
The shogunate’s seat on the guest
The Ming Dynasty imposed a sea ban, but this can only stay verbally, looking at the long coastline. The Ming Dynasty government can only be in Mingzhou, Fuzhou, Quanzhou Haikou, Guangzhou and other regulations have set up some symbolic Shibo checkpoints. The main functions of these Shibo checkpoints are also used to receive legitimate tributary missions. For the local officials, protecting the environment and the people is the most important task. As long as the people are well on the land and don't rebel, unless the officials are tightly handed to blackmail some money, they are unwilling to embarrass the smugglers. This just provides a way for a capable person like Zheng Yiguan to make a fortune. After more than a year of experience, around 1623, Huang Cheng sent Zheng Yiguan to work under Li Dan, an overseas Chinese in Hirado, Japan and a native of Quanzhou. From then on, Zheng Yiguan became Li Dan's assistant and became his assistant.
Li Dan has strong capital, has a fleet, and is the leader of local overseas Chinese. Godfather Li Dan is old and in a semi-retired state, living with many wives and concubines in Hirado Port, JapanIn a mansion, his "brothers" scattered in Manila and Macau to continue his business. With his charm and language ability, Zheng Yiguan gained Li Dan’s trust and gave him a unique opportunity. Li Dan divided a part of his assets and merchant ships and asked him to develop in Vietnam. As a result, Zheng Yiguan developed within a few years. stand up. In the name of the leader of overseas Chinese, Jin visited the retired former Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa, offered medicines, and Xiutada asked about China in person. He was overjoyed and hosted the Nagasaki Hotel. Zheng Yiguan was summoned by the shogunate, and at the time he made the Japanese admired. Just when Zheng Yiguan's career was on the right track, he met Tagawa Matsu, the daughter of the Hirado Clan's vassal Yuhuang Tagawa.
This Miss Tian Chuan is Zheng Chenggong's mother. However, Zheng Yiguan is by no means a mediocre person who keeps himself safe. In January 1624, shortly after his wedding, when the Tian Chuan family was pregnant, Zheng Yiguan was sent to Penghu by Li Dan and became a Dutchman (Translation ). In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch became the "superpower" of the Western world. Their military and commercial complex, the "East India Company", intercepted Portuguese and Spanish merchant ships everywhere, and captured the overseas fortresses and commercial halls of the Iberians. Established a base in Hirado, Japan, and a base camp in Batavia (now Jakarta).
In order to monopolize the trade with Japan, the Dutch instructed some Chinese ships to pillage along the coast of China. Zheng Yiguan was also one of the pirates cooperating with the Dutch, and executed for the Dutch. A pirate mission on the Taiwan Strait to intercept a Chinese sailing ship going to Manila. Later, DeWette, who was the second Taiwanese governor of the Netherlands, wrote in a letter: "We expect to be able to gather 20 to 30 Chinese sailing ships here every day, and the general officer will be sent to the north to intercept and capture some. Ships." At this time, the Dutch built two fortresses, "Reranz" and "Chihkan City" in Taiwan, and occupied the southern part of Taiwan. In the subsequent competition between the Netherlands and Spain, the Netherlands won and monopolized the entire Taiwan. Perhaps because of a bottleneck under the Dutch, or following the instructions of his godfather Li Dan, Zheng Yiguan left the Dutch team and developed independently.
Cultivating Taiwan into a climate
As Zheng Yiguan gradually became a climate, a group of people gathered around him, including his family members. When the boys of the Zheng family grow up, they are all eager to leave their hometowns and follow their eldest brothers. Younger brothers Zhibao, Zhihu and others have joined the group. At the time Zheng Yiguan’s "brothers" reached as many as 17. He also recognized several interpersonal relatives—the custom at the time, wealthy businessmen often adopted children from poor farmers and trained them to be future helpers. In addition, Zheng Yiguan also married a valuable wife, the daughter of pirate leader Yan Siqi. This gave him a lot of in-laws, so when Zheng Yiguan expanded his fleet, he would logically place these reliable relatives in the most important places. In this way, Zheng Yiguan gradually became the climate. Once the world becomes chaotic, he can gain great power as long as he goes up and shouts. Sure enough, the old gang leader died in Hirado on August 12, 1625, and the whole gang had a tendency to fall apart. More than a dozen powerful bosses rushed to each other, everyone was at risk, and they could no longer care about the morals of the world.
At this time, the most prestigious member of the gang is Zheng Yiguan’s father-in-law Yan Siqi. Yan Siqi is from Haicheng County, Fujian. Around 1612, Yan Siqi was humiliated by officials, killed his servants in anger, fled to Japan, engaged in overseas trade, and became rich. He was well-known for being a genius and became the leader of overseas Chinese. In 1624, he decided to temporarily go to Taiwan for development. On the island of Taiwan, he was "cutting wood and building soil, and building huts." He also sent his subordinates to Zhang and Quan's hometowns to recruit more than 3,000 immigrants. Yan Siqi divided the cultivators into ten villages and distributed them to Yinliang, cattle, and farm tools, and started Taiwan’s first large-scale reclamation activities. In September 1625, Yan Siqi and his tribes went to Zhuluo Mountain to hunt for "overeating" and couldn't afford to fall ill. He died young at the age of 37.
After the death of Yan Siqi, the public recommended Zheng Yiguan as the leader, and continued to set up the flag to recruit troops. Staff officers, superintendent army, supervising guards, left and right advisers, etc. were set up to establish the Zheng's local ruling regime. After Zheng Yiguan established himself, he changed his name to "Zhilong" and abandoned the old name of "yiguan".
Zheng Zhilong continues to expand and grow, and become a powerful armed group at sea. When smuggling by sea reaches a certain scale, naturally there will be a willingness to seek a "breakthrough", and always take risks to make a "price difference" between the government and foreign businessmen., It is better to concentrate the merchant ships and keep on the coastline to make money from robbery. Anyway, normal trade is illegal, and old colleagues who are looted can only suffer from dumb losses, and as a result, black-and-black trading becomes more and more rampant. Normal trade has evolved into a bandit logic of "whoever has a big fist is the winner". Later, a small group of sea bandits appeared in an alliance, so powerful that they would not even dare to provoke them. But who would dare to trade in this way? In order to maintain the continued development of trade, several big family alliances divided their spheres of influence and lived a life of collecting protection fees.
The large iron incense burner, used by Zheng Zhilong to pay tribute to the Buddha in the tenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1637)
The "Five Tigers Guerrilla General" of the Ming Dynasty
Factories The swollen Zheng Zhilong finally entered the court's sight. Can there be so many pirate groups in Fujian? In a memorial, Zheng Zhilong was mentioned as follows: "The pirate Zheng Zhilong is good at water warfare. There are 30,000 party feathers, many warships, and excellent artillery. His artillery is accurate and ruthless, with a range of more than 10 miles, and the cannonballs can reach everything. Cheng Junfen. "What worries the government the most is his collusion with the Dutch, and there is evidence that "the Zheng has Japanese and European mercenaries". In fact, Zheng Zhilong is able to cross the rivers and lakes, and the Dutch is just a help. The Ming army has repeatedly attacked and suppressed, but has been defeated many times.
At this time, Zheng Zhilong began to pay attention to his public image. He changed his previous image of a pirate and portrayed himself as a hero who robbed the rich and helped the poor. As more and more brothers came to join the group, he paid more and more attention to restraining his subordinates and not looting the countryside. Because "subordinates are strictly forbidden to rape, rob and burn, and the people regard him as the incarnation of benevolence and justice, more and more people go to him every day." The drought in Fujian in the early years of Chongzhen, so much so that within ten days Thousands of people defected to Zheng Zhilong. The Ming Dynasty finally realized that Zheng Zhilong was no longer Wuxia Amon, and the navy of the court could not withstand Zheng Zhilong's blow.
The Ming army was unable to destroy Zheng Zhilong, and in order to use this maritime force to contend with the Dutch and suppress other "pirates", they had to appease Zheng Zhilong. In 1627, the Ming court appointed Cai Shan, who was once the prefect of Quanzhou, to succeed the Quanzhou Xunhai Road, and urge Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong arrived in Quanzhou and met Cai Shanji. Zheng Zhilong's younger brothers Zheng Zhihu and Zheng Zhibao believed that the court had no sincerity, and this time they could not be resolved. The following year, Emperor Chongzhen ascended to the throne, the new dynasty has a new atmosphere, and the court once again recruited Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong stated that he took "the extermination of the barbarians and the suppression of the thieves" as his own mission. In September, he was appointed as the "five tigers guerrilla general" in Fujian Province as the governor Xiong Wencan and Jiang Ming. From then on, Zheng Zhilong left Taiwan, the maritime trade base he had operated for many years, and settled in Minhai. At this time, Zheng Zhilong had more than 30,000 people and more than 1,000 ships.
The Dutch nautical chart, which mainly depicts the bases of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong: Jinmen and Xiamen
Combine the vertical and horizontal lines to rebuild maritime order
明The DPRK hoped that Zheng Zhilong would "full out the pirates who endangered the court at sea". On the contrary, Zheng Zhilong hoped to get the golden sign of the court to expand his power. The two sides hit it off. There is a paragraph that explains the problem. The imperial court hoped that the pirates would merge with each other and lose both sides so that the Ming army could further eliminate the remnant bandits. By mistake, the imperial court confuses the imperial decree. A Japanese document records: "The government solemnly issued an order to Zheng Zhilong to eliminate the infamous pirate leader Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong solemnly replied after receiving the edict. He will do what he ordered!"
At this time Zheng Zhilong’s hegemony has just begun. The opponents in front of him are first his colleagues, Xu Xinsu, Li Kuiqi, Liu Xiang and other pirates, followed by the Dutch who are eye-catching, and finally waiting for the opportunity. Completely wipe out his Ming army.
Xu Xinsu, from Tongan, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian. He is the worship brother of Zheng Zhilong's godfather Li Dan. When Li Dan was working hard in Japan, Xu Xinsu had business networks in Quanzhou, Xiamen and other places. Xu and Li jointly controlled the maritime trade from Fujian and Taiwan to Japan. After the Dutch invaded and occupied Penghu in 1622, Xu Xinsu was detained by the Dutch.
This experience became an opportunity for Xu Xinsu to connect with the Dutch. Since 1624, Xu Xinsu gradually gained the trust of the Dutch and became a representative of the Dutch trade. At that time, because the DutchThere is an urgent need to trade with China to obtain the raw silk and other items urgently needed by the Japanese routes and the head office. Xu Xinsu has repeatedly received the treatment of prepaid purchase funds from the Dutch, and the amount is as much as tens of thousands of taels. These funds not only show the Dutch's trust in Xu Xinsu, but also show Xu Xinsu's business scale and position in the Taiwan Strait trade at that time. Xu Xinsu did not disappoint the Dutch. He actively used his mainland business network to ship 250 dans of raw silk to the Dutch at one time after receiving advance funds from the Dutch.
After Li Dan's death, the original maritime order no longer exists, pirates are rampant, and the safety of maritime navigation is severe. Although there was the assistance of the Dutch and the weapons that the Dutch gave him, it did not solve the problem. Desperate Xu Xinsu decided to join the government and protect herself with the power of the government. He first bought out the key figure in coastal defense at the time, the chief soldier Yu Zigao, and became Yu's confidant, and then actively urged the chief soldier Yu to agree to recruit pirates. After becoming an official merchant, Xu Xinsu, as an intermediary between the local government and the Dutch, became the only merchant who obtained a trade permit with the Dutch. Taking advantage of such a big advantage, Xu Xinsu almost took over all the business between the Dutch East India Company and China in the form of contract, and monopolized the trade between China and the Dutch.
After Zheng Zhilong was recruited, he knew that he was going to turn his face with the Dutch sooner or later, so he guarded against the Xu Xinsu group everywhere, and the conflict between the two sides became deeper. In the end, the two sides started a war, and Xu Xinsu was defeated. According to the Dutch record, "Zheng Yiguan rushed into the enemy ship with his courage, killed Xu Xinsu with his own hands, cut down the first level, and won a complete victory." Xu Xinsu died, the stump of the tree fell and scattered, and they returned one after another. The result of this quick battle was unexpected by the Ming army, and the defeat of the Xu family made Zheng Zhilong's influence even more powerful.
Soon after Xu Xinsu's defeat, Zheng Zhilong's general, Li Kuiqi, set himself up again, and soon became another figure who could challenge Zheng Zhilong. The Ming Dynasty government had the intention of enrolling both Zheng and Li. In the end, in the process of competing with Zheng Zhilong for official favor, Li Kuiqi fell behind. In the name of Zhaoan, the government hoped that pirates would fight and consume each other. After Li Kuiqi took refuge in the court, Zheng Zhilong was driven out of Xiamen in 1629. For a time merchant ships went to sea for trade, and Li Kuiqi had to agree to pay heavy taxes. Li Kuiqi's actions angered the Dutch. The Dutch decided to find Li Kuiqi along the coast of Xiamen, hoping to negotiate with him.
On December 11, 1629, the Dutch arrived on the coast of Xiamen. After hearing the news, Li Kuiqi extended a warm welcome to the Dutch, expressed his willingness to cooperate, and gave a lot of fresh food to win over the Dutch. In return, the Dutch decided to send three hundred riels of ivory, sandalwood, pepper and red nylon to Li Kuiqi. But Li Kuiqi said one thing, did another thing, but failed to keep his promise. The Dutch decided to support Zheng Zhilong to regain control of Xiamen in order to achieve the purpose of trade.
At the same time, Li Kuiqi, who became a bandit, rebelled again. Zheng Zhilong seized the opportunity and in order to completely eliminate Li Kuiqi, he united with the Dutch and received the support of the Ming army to prepare for a successful battle. When the official represented by Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch planned to strangle Li Kuiqi, Li's internal division appeared. Li Kuiqi's general Zhong Bin felt that the situation was not good and decided to surrender. On January 11, 1630, Zhong Bin officially broke with Li. This made Li Kuiqi very angry. On the 21st, Li Kuiqi concentrated on attacking Zhong Bin, but failed. On February 7, the day of the decisive battle arrived, the coalition consisting of Zheng Zhilong and Zhong Bin agreed with the Dutch to identify the signal during the war: a fire at the stern at night, and a white flag with three black circles in the day. At this time, the Netherlands knew that they had a certain position in this war, and put forward five requirements, mainly Zheng Zhilong reached trade with them after victory, together attacked the Spanish and Portuguese, divided the spoils and so on. Under the joint attack of many parties, Li Kuiqi was arrested on February 10, 1630 and sentenced to death. Seeing that the victory or defeat had been decided, the Chinese government officials who had been on the sidelines previously praised Zheng Zhilong as a great hero and congratulated him for finally solving the piracy problem.
Ming Chongzhen ten years (1637) Zheng Zhilong’s cliff poems in Qixingyan
Bring sea power into the local government system
Bandits on the sea are often divided After Zheng Zhilong was recruited by the Ming Dynasty, Liu Xiang, who was born and died with him, was unwilling to go to Guangdong to continue his sea raid and livelihood. Liu Xiang’s forces colluded with the Dutch and caused a lot of damage to Zheng Zhilong for a period of time.Big threat. After the rise of Liu Xiang's power in Guangdong, maritime trade security has once again become a problem. The house leak happened in the evening rain. The newly appointed governor of Fujian, Zou Weilian, announced the resumption of the sea ban and tried to prevent Zheng Zhilong from conducting private business with the Dutch in Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong wanted to wipe out Liu Xiang.
Liu Xiang, also known as Liu Xianglao, a native of Lamma Island, Hong Kong, Guangdong Province, is a member of the Zheng Zhilong group "Eighteen Zhi" armed maritime business group. He refused to give up the Ming and worshipped his brother Zheng Zhilong. The break, in contrast to the representatives of the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch comprador represented by Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiangshi is the representative of the comprador of Francis (Spain, Portugal).
On December 4, 1632, Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang's fleet encountered a bloody battle near Fuzhou. From morning to evening, this head-to-head battle caused nearly 1,000 casualties on both sides. Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhihu rushed into the enemy line with two wounds on his body. He was entangled with a four-claw anchor and iron chain by Liu Xiang's people. In this battle, Liu Xiang himself fled southward and never recovered. After Zheng Zhilong defeated the main Dutch force in the Luowan naval battle, Liu Xiang was even more desperate. In May 1635, Zheng Zhilong defeated Liu Xiang's maritime armed group in Tianweiyang, Guangdong, and Liu Xiang set fire to himself; however, Zheng Zhilong's most beloved brother, Zheng Zhihu, died in the battle.
Zheng Zhilong cut off the heroes, incorporated sea power into the local government system, gained control of the sea, and controlled the trade between East and West. In 1639, Japan withdrew from East Asian maritime competition; the Dutch colonists had to reach a maritime navigation and trade agreement with Zheng, stipulating that the Dutch trade with Japan required Zheng Zhilong to transport Chinese specialties to Taiwan, and then the Dutch would transport them to Japan for sale. In this way, Zheng Zhilong became the sole power of the Eastern Ocean World.
