Zheng Zhilong was a big pirate entrenched in our southeastern east at the end of the Ming Dynasty. His strength could even compete with the Dutch East India Company at that time. However, if he wants to dominate completely, he must overcome a major challenge, that is, to defeat a pirate named Liu Xiang. Although Liu Xiang defeated him in the early stage, Zheng Zhilong still won with his usual flexibility and perseverance.
By the 1640s, almost all ships entering and leaving Fujian ports were flying Zheng Zhilong's flag. These ships were not all his (although he claimed that his merchant fleet had a thousand ships), but almost everyone had to fly his flag and pay for various related privileges.
In the history books, Liu Xiang was brought by just one sentence, but Liu Xiang in history actually had a wonderful and gorgeous life: He not only had a deep feud with Zheng Zhilong, but also blocked the last stumbling block for Zheng Zhilong to achieve maritime hegemony in East Asia. In addition, Liu Xiang is the first person to be ignored by history to attack Relan Chacheng .
wait for an opportunity to move
- Liu Xiang's history of making a fortune
Liu Xiang is Haicheng people. Haicheng's predecessor was Yuegang, and he was the old nest of pirates and smugglers for many years. In the first year of Longqing (1567), he was designated as a county by the Ming Dynasty. In 1570, the Spanish Empire was established in the only colony of Asia, Manila . The trade between Haicheng and Manila prompted the silver mine excavated from the New World to flow into the Ming Dynasty.
"The Spanish Empire bought tickets to board the Asian trade train with American silver." It also said: "If the Ming Dynasty did not have the silver absorption capacity like a black hole, the Spanish Empire would not have existed." "Five Thousand Years of China"
Liu Xiang, born in such a port, was born and raised and must have experienced the peak period of Haicheng and Manila trade. Although we are not sure whether he had been to Manila before, Liu Xiang's adoptive father lived in Manila for many years.
Zheng Zhilong accepted the requisition of the Ming Dynasty, defeated the One Piece King who was stronger than him one by one, such as Yang Lu, Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin and others. After that, Zheng Zhilong left the coast for some reason. The pirates who had originally made a living by robbery were immediately left without a leader. Liu Xiang, who had been active on the sea for many years, became the only pirate who survived and had leadership skills. Liu Xiang quickly absorbed the remaining defeated soldiers and harassed the coastal coast.
In the fifth year of Chongzhen (1632), Liu Xiang had become a pirate with more than 150 ships and more than a thousand subordinates, with invasions ranging from Zhejiang Wenzhou to Guangdong Leizhou , and even Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, which was temporarily shaken. Perhaps the most important intrusion of is the time when Liu Xiang invaded Zheng Zhilong’s hometown, Shijing Town. At that time, many members of the Zheng family were killed by Liu Xiang, and in order to avenge, Zheng Zhilong also ran to Liu Xiang's hometown to dig the ancestral tomb of Liu Xiang's family. Therefore, the two sides formed an irreconcilable blood feud.
After that, Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong fought several times in Guangdong and Fujian, causing Liu Xiang's vitality to be severely damaged. So in the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), Liu Xiang decided to find a Dutch East India Company to cooperate. The Dutch East India Company at that time was dissatisfied because Zheng Zhilong failed to fulfill the trade agreement; Li Guozhu, an overseas Chinese who happened to travel to Japan, was also dissatisfied with Zheng Zhilong because Zheng Zhilong seized his father's old interests. The three hit it off and formed an alliance.
- Preparation in advance
1634, two pirate ships docked in the senior official and belonging to Liu Xiang were originally going to set sail to look for Liu Xiang in the south, but temporarily parked in the northern sandzhou area for some reason. Several Japanese pirates on the ship (yes, there were also Japanese in Liu Xiang's troops) were causing trouble in the sandbank at the front of the North Line that night because they were drunk, so the two ships were taken back to the port for guarding and control the next day.
was detained 2 months later, Liu Xiang's pirate ship was finally allowed to leave, and the two ships sailed to Penghu . At that time, Penghu was the relay point and information exchange place between Fujian and the officials, and many Dutch ships or Chinese ships would stay here for a while. At this time, Liu Xiang also appeared!
The Dutch East India Company began to worry that forcibly detaining Liu Xiang's two ships might make Liu Xiang, who is still an ally in name, angry.So he made a second wrong decision and sent the translator Liu Ge and a company businessman to Liu Xiang's side, hoping that they would leave Penghu, and said threateningly: "Otherwise, we will no longer be his friends. Although we had to, we will definitely become enemies."
The pirate ship carrying Liu Ge and the businessman was not yet Penghu, but he encountered Liu Xiang's fleet on the way, so he immediately told Liu Xiang that he had arrived in Penghu that he hoped to sign an agreement with the Netherlands and agreed to continue cooperation between the two sides.
A few days later, the company sent Liu Ge, Pirate Ship and several businessmen to Penghu to purchase Liu Xiang's goods. They were warmly treated in Penghu and brought back Liu Xiang's message. Liu Xiang said that he hoped to lead the fleet to the Grand Secretary and left his father and brother as hostages to the Grand Secretary. After all, many ships need to be repaired. He also hoped to meet with the Grand Secretary himself and negotiate with the Grand Secretary. He also said that if necessary, he could send people to Batavia to meet the Governor. What a pity. The Dutch East India Company did not immediately agree to Liu Xiang's request.
A few days later, the Dutch East India Company sent the same group of people back to Penghu, but these people never came back. Because at this time, Liu Xiang had decided to attack Relanzha City.
Liu Xiang deceived the Dutch East India Company. The group of businessmen and translators Liu Ge and others would return to the senior officer later. In fact, they arrested Dutch businessmen, intercepted another Dutch ship to Batavia, and used water torture twice to tell them all about the situation in the city of Jelanzha, including the food stock and the military strength.
During this period, the Dutch East India Company finally made a resolution that Liu Xiang could not come to the senior officials and should leave Penghu as soon as possible to avoid affecting trade. In exchange for showing sincerity, the Dutch East India Company was willing to provide weapons to Liu Xiang. At the same time, food shortages occurred in the city of Relanzha.
started the battle
- The first battle of Renlanzha
On April 2, a batch of Chinese sailboats suddenly appeared on the sea and headed south. Whose ships belong to this batch? The Dutch at that time still did not know that these Chinese sailing ships were Liu Xiang's fleet. Because they could not cross the Luermen waterway, they decided to land from the slender sandbank in the south.
At this time, Gerlandcha was a Renaissance fortress with four forts. It can be said that it was the brainchild of European technology at that time and it was also a weapon for the Dutch to be proud of against the enemy.
Liu Xiang's army finally landed from Yaogang in Jiali area today and persuaded the local indigenous people to cooperate with him. The Dutch were getting more and more nervous, using bamboo to strengthen protection on the periphery of the Fort to prevent Liu Xiang's ladder from being easily set up again.
However, beyond the Netherlands' expectations, Liu Xiang did not attack. Because Liu Xiang also encountered something that Zheng Chenggong encountered in the future: food shortage.
The Dutch also received a more exciting news that the Aboriginals promised to help the Dutch attack the pirates, but this did not relax the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East India Company decided to set a torch torch the pirates landing in nearby towns and villages to burn them all in case they get supplies for their belongings. The Dutch East India Company also discovered that there was Liu Xiang's spy in the Han people community, so the company decided to closely monitor all Han people in case more information leaked.
A few days later, the Dutch bamboo fortifications were finally completed, but the amount of bamboo was only enough to surround Middle Fort on the south side through the fort and the city gate, and directly to the fort. However, Liu Xiang, who was short of food, could no longer wait, so Liu Xiang could only take the army away from the dog-beating camp and move towards Guangdong.
was drawn on a map of about 1644, looking south from the end of the north line. It can be found that is downtown has been built and Utrecht Fort has also been built.
After the chaotic situation lasted for a few days, the Dutch finally confirmed that Liu Xiang had left and everything was finally relieved.Therefore, it is believed that the evil plan he was going to attack, which had been stopped because of the great pain, as most Chinese said, was stopped. This plan was a very vicious and reckless thing, but we think it was the pirate's stupid and ridiculous plan. Without cannons, he wanted to seize the castle with four castles surrounded by brick walls.
Although the Dutch looked proud, they actually learned the most important thing from this thrilling battle: the city of Gelanzha is actually likely to fall. So the Netherlands immediately began to build the lower city of Jelanzha. The Dutch East India Company's judgment was absolutely correct, and the newly established Downtown played a key defensive role in Zheng Chenggong's offense in 1661.
In other words, Zheng Chenggong is not the first Chinese to try to attack Relanzha City, Liu Xiang is.
- Second Battle of Relan Chamacht
1661 After spending several months of siege, Zheng Chenggong finally successfully forced the Dutch East India Company to abandon the city and surrender. But why did Zheng Chenggong win while Liu Xiang fail when he attacked Relanlanzha City?
In terms of the number of people, Zheng Chenggong's army has more than 25,000 people. In addition to the 600 vanguard troops who attacked the city, Liu Xiang also has about 4,000 people. The two sides have a six-fold gap, but Liu Xiang's advance preparations are not inferior to Zheng Chenggong. For example, Zheng Chenggong has He Bin as an insider, Liu Xiang also has the sixth brother as an insider; Liu Xiang can even capture the ships sent by the Netherlands to Batavia and Penghu, and then capture and punish the Dutch hostages to learn that the city of Relanzha is short of supplies, so he can quickly take action; Liu Xiang also has some Chinese spies spreading rumors and news from the officials. From this we can see that Liu Xiang has military subordinates and mobilization capabilities that are not inferior to Zheng Chenggong.
Basically, Liu Xiang and Zheng Chenggong's onshore attack routes are the same: they are all moving from the sand dunes of the pineapple garden toward the city of Relanzha in the north of the sandbank. Liu Xiang's pirate troops may not have the same combat experience and siege skills as Zheng Chenggong's regular army, but Liu Xiang is not without experience. During years of pirate activities, Liu Xiang repeatedly captured the city protected by strong city walls. If we are in contact with the city of Relanzha, Liu Xiang even has a higher skill, and can take a heavy ladder to the city wall under the cover of dark night, climb into the fort to fight with the Dutch army at close range.
So, what is the difference between Zheng Chenggong and Liu Xiang?
First of all, as the Dutch East India Company proudly stated, Liu Xiang did not have the right siege cannon. According to records, Liu Xiang's fleet had a huge number of various cannons, and even the most outstanding red barbarian cannons at that time. But when attacking Relanzha City, Liu Xiang did not attack the city with cannons. Of course, in front of Jelancha, perhaps shelling is not a good strategy. However, one of Zheng Chenggong's victory was the establishment of a simple fortress to shell the city of Jelancha with the help of a surrendered Dutch drunkard officer.
Come back again, compared to Zheng Chenggong, Liu Xiang is actually relatively lucky, because on the way from the sand dunes of the pineapple garden to the city of Relanzha, the biggest difficulty Liu Xiang encountered was four Dutch scouts, and Zheng Chenggong had to face the Utrecht Fort built in 1639, and the downtown of Relanzha that the Dutch East India Company built due to Liu Xiang's attack.
Finally, there is a key factor that destined that even if Liu Xiang successfully captured Relanzha City, he could not control the climate of the senior officials. This may be the biggest difference between Zheng Chenggong and Liu Xiang.
1656 In 2016, a sudden hurricane destroyed the Beiyi Sea Fortress, causing Luermen Sea Road to open, so Zheng Chenggong could directly enter the core area of the senior officials. In contrast, although Liu Xiang often parked in the northern sandbank area, he never dared to get close to this castle that could provide powerful artillery fire. In other words, Liu Xiang could not enter Dayuan Bay.
Conclusion
In the past few decades, no one knows Liu Xiang, whether in China or Japan, compared with Zheng Chenggong's well-known. Perhaps it is because Liu Xiang's identity as a "pirate" , which is not on the table, has caused Liu Xiang's history of attacking Relanzha City to be buried for a long time. However, this is exactly the significance of global history. It has a "macro" and "micro" view of history, allowing once-ignored characters like Liu Xiang to stand on the stage of history once again.
Although the Guo surnamed only made an indelible contribution to the recovery of the Taiwan archipelago with the help of a city in that era when the country was destroyed, we must also remember those little people who have been told in history, and they also made an indelible contribution.
References:
"Five Thousand Years of China"
