As early as before the outbreak of the Opium War in 1839, modern Western countries rarely had a stable foothold on the coasts of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Almost all trade and diplomatic activities in need to be used as a springboard through , the Pearl River Estuary, . It not only facilitated the maritime ban control policy of the Central Plains Empire, but also gave huge economic benefits to the Portuguese who had the right to lease.
But did not last long in 1598-1600, and the Spanish Empire had similar opportunities at that time. They took advantage of their strong economic attraction and successfully established a port called Elpinal through bribery of local governments in Guangdong. In the end, he had to give up on his own due to many difficulties.
Missed Xiamen
Manila trade Ming Dynasty and Spanish sailing
As early as around 1567, just occupied Luzon , which had just occupied Luzon , which had attracted special attention from the Ming Dynasty authorities. This is due to the implementation of the Longqing switch policy, some merchants from , Fujian Zhangzhou, were able to sail to sea and make special trips to Manila City for designated trade. A large amount of high-quality silver native to the Americas was also transmitted to the internal market of the mainland through them.
The Spanish Empire at that time had reached its peak and became the first empire in history that the sun never set. strives to develop its sphere of influence in the Nanyang region through its own Pacific routes. After initially selecting Luzon as the main advance base, he rushed to send missionaries or business pioneers to the three places of Spice Islands, Borneo and Indochina Peninsula. However, due to the restrictions on the "HTM5 Todd Silias Treaty " signed at the end of the 15th century and the counter-attack of Portuguese forces from Malacca and Macau, it is difficult to win major victories in the above-mentioned areas. On the contrary, the Ming pirates led by Lin Feng suddenly arrived in 1574 and almost occupied the city of Manila, where only a small number of Mexican soldiers were stationed.
1574 The Spanish conqueror who fought against the Linfeng Pirate Group in Manila
It was this storm caused by the Linfeng Pirate Group that gave the Spanish Governor of Luzon the first contact with the Ming authorities. , especially in the view of local governments in Fujian, this is an excellent opportunity to vigorously attract foreign capital, compete with or even surpass Guangdong, Lin Province. After all, it was because of the lease of Macau on the west side of the Pearl River Estuary to the Portuguese that Guangzhou's shipping market was able to gain more trade opportunities. At the same time, the Western Yi, who have been staying along the coast for a long time, can also serve as a free volunteer army for regional pirates for the government with its advantages in navigation and firearms. Therefore, Fujian also hopes to do the same thing and rent Xiamen, which had not yet been developed at the time, to the Spaniards. By the way, it further pulled Yuegang in the inner circle, forming a Chinese and foreign Gemini structure similar to Guangzhou-Macao.
However, the Spanish Governor of Luzon was not interested in this opportunity. Because for those who are eager for wealth, other parts of Nanyang, closer to Luzon, are the main directions for quickly absorbing wealth. Although the upper-level staff who were far away in Europe had formulated a grand idea of attacking the Ming Dynasty and conquering the entire Lingnan region, it could not withstand the pragmatic pursuit of grassroots practical people. Therefore, the wishful thinking of Fujian local officials became wishful thinking and unrequited love.
unexpectedly turned around
Filip II territorial
However, the indifferent attitude of the early Spanish colonists was soon shaken due to several major changes. This includes the storm of the royal power handover that occurred in the continental continent, and also includes a series of sequelae of war that occurred in the Nanyang region.
First of all, in 1580, the Portuguese royal family broke out in a heir crisis due to the extinction of his descendants. Spain King Philip II led his army into the other side's border because his mother was a Portuguese princess. After three years of repeated anxiety, this sailing power with a large area of overseas territory was finally merged.Since then, the route between China Unicom Macau and Manila has become increasingly prosperous, and the Spaniards have also sailed north to Japan, and finally realized the unique importance of trade in the Pearl River Estuary. However, due to the three rules of the king and the Portuguese nobles, he could not directly turn Macau into his own direct territory, so he gradually came up with the idea of opening a new port.
Expedition to Brunei Spanish fleet
Then, the Spanish Governor's Office with Mexico as the core sent troops to attack the Brunei Empire under the rule of the Muslim monarch. Although soon won a great victory on the front battlefield, it suffered heavy losses due to local climate problems, diseases and indigenous sneak attacks. The Spanish in Luzon quickly realized that it was difficult for them to continue to explore the west and had to find a more convenient trade target nearby. In addition, the successive outbreaks of Dutch , the Netherlands , and the 80th Years' War and the British-Spanish War have also made the Spanish Empire unable to invest more resources in Asia.
Finally, due to the monopoly management of the Portuguese in Macau, the development of Spanish merchants in the Ming Dynasty and Japan was greatly hindered. , especially in the latter, which also produces important goods such as silver and silk, there has been a relatively hostile Toyotomi Hideyoshi , which is more hostile to the Western influence, and the San Felipe incident that captured the Free City of Nagasaki and massacred Catholics broke out. He even sent someone to submit documents directly, ordering the Governor's Office in Luzon to pay tribute to him. These threat signals intertwined, which made the Spaniards decide to strengthen various ties with the Ming Dynasty. Even though Hideyoshi himself died soon, the fear caused by him did not immediately dissipate.
San Felipe Incident occurred in Japan
Tiger tips, snake tails,
Early 17th centuryAsian maps written by Europeans
In 1598, the year when Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, Juan de Zamdio was ordered to go to Guangdong to fight for a trade residence for the Spaniards that belonged only to him. He set sail from Manila on a small sailboat and successfully arrived at the Pearl River Estuary along a very mature channel. However, in order not to be obstructed by Macau, we chose to moor on Tuen Mun Island opposite the estuary of the sea.
After that, Juan immediately sent people north to Guangzhou to convey his demands to Governor Dai Yao. In order to successfully obtain a residence permit, even gave it a bribe worth 7000 real . But the Portuguese next to him also quickly received news, and at the same time, they sent representatives to the scene to obstruct. But the Governor has already collected the black money, so it is naturally impossible to completely ignore the demands of newcomers. Therefore, he made a decision directly bypassing the court and gave a high-sounding reason similar to "using barbarians to control barbarians". A more reliable reason is that he is attracted by the silver that has been continuously transported from the Americas. Instead of letting Fujian officials and businessmen take this road to wealth, it is better to keep the code of wealth in your own hands. Of course, in order to calm the emotions of Macau's old relationship, they still issued a tariff ratio of 50% to the Spanish people.
Guangzhou City map in the middle and late Ming Dynasty
Of course, until now, the final location of the Spanish Concession area has not been determined. But a sudden accident quickly solved this problem. It turned out that on September 17 of that year, Louis, who served as the governor of Luzon, sent troops to support the Cambodian , and resisted the Thai invasion, led three battleships purchased and pieced together to the Indochina Peninsula. I did not want to be blocked by storms halfway through, causing one of the Chinese sailboats and 120 crew members to drift to the waters of the Pearl River Estuary. So, Juan decided to return to , Philippines , to call for support for him, and let the expedition team stay in the local area for the time being to "protect" his diplomatic results. As for the Qiao Island , which accidentally landed in the warship, it naturally acted as a new port responsibility. Because there are many pine trees, it is named Elpinal Port by newcomers in Iberian dialect.
Obviously, the establishment of Elpinal makes Macau feel like a big enemy. , on the one hand, is worried that the Spanish will add a large amount of American silver to the Guangdong market in order to compete for trade share. This has caused rapid price increases in all kinds of goods and made it impossible for me to purchase enough goods like in the past.On the other hand, although Macau was allowed to build some simple fortifications at that time, its muzzles were all facing the outer sea. Qiao Island, where the Spaniards are located, is located between the inland waterway from the mouth of the sea to Guangzhou. In addition, the team originally formed for combat is difficult to easily expelled by unarmed Portuguese residents.
is located just between Macau and Guangzhou Elpinal
Therefore, the Portuguese began to post notices in Macau requiring everyone not to provide supplies to Spanish intruders to the north. also warns the other party not to set foot in its own city, otherwise it will be punished the most severely. The implication is to impose a logistical blockade on him, hoping that the other party will leave consciously under the torture of hunger.
Until today, Qiao Island, which is mainly composed of granite + yellow sand terrain, is a barren land with lush vegetation and sparsely populated areas. In the longer-lasting late 16th century, it is even less likely to contribute valuable resources to the Spaniards besides freshwater. So, the entire ship of people could only consume the supplies they brought from Luzon in a difficult situation. It became exhausted in just the second year, causing many soldiers to get sick due to malnutrition. Only by relying on the help of the Catholic Church, which is not controlled by Portugal, can we occasionally obtain some basic supplies for maintaining life.
, who logged on to Qiao Island, saw that his subordinates were about to mutiny due to their poor treatment, and Louis decided to set sail and return to Manila to survive. As a result, the decision was again blocked by local officials of the Ming Dynasty. They insisted that the Spanish captain pay a large amount of tariffs before they could let the exhausted victims leave. However, for a warship that was originally intended for military operations, the above requirements are actually quite unreasonable. But in order to take the overall situation into consideration, Louis hoped to preserve the results of his colleagues' negotiations in the local area, so he suppressed his anger and continued to argue with the tax collector. It was not until I missed the best time to go out to sea that I was able to embark on the road to return.
However, the doom of these Spanish people has not yet ended completely. When the ship left the Pearl River Estuary on November 16, 1599, it was soon blown back along the Guangdong coast due to the obstruction of strong winds. With helplessness, Louis had to avoid Macau who was extremely unfriendly to him and switched to the small island of Langbaijiao, which was to the west, for a while. It was once the first trade port for the Portuguese in the local area. Although it has been replaced by Macau, it still has relatively good parking conditions. This time, he also took the initiative to negotiate with the Macau authorities to ensure that he would not infringe on the other party's business interests. Finally, we signed a paper agreement to ensure that we would leave Guangdong in February next year.
1598 Portuguese Macau style
But just in January 1600, the two sides had another fierce battle at the sea for several hours. Luis was afraid that he would be arrested by Portugal and tried in Goa, and was punished for violating the Imperial Domestic Agreement, so he hurriedly retreated to Guangzhou Bay to the west for a stop. Later, I finally rode the wind to return to Manila, which I had been away from for a long time.
Due to the unsmooth progress of the war in Cambodia and the deterioration of the situation in mainland Europe, the Spaniards completely lost any idea of establishing a concession area at the estuary of the Pearl River. King Philip III also issued an oral order later, disapproving his Spanish subjects for infringing on the rights and interests of the overseas territories of Portuguese vassals. At this point, the short-lived Port of Elpinal never had any possibility of revival. The Philippine Governor in Luzon could only find another way and sent people to Keelung, northern Taiwan to establish a new colony.
