From Chief to Ball

If the domestic method of bloody exploitation is used in the Great Deserted City, it won't be long before a group of escaped free people will appear.

There are only two ways to solve it.

Either a law is introduced, and those who escape will be caught and executed. This is how the normal historical line is played. What is the same family and the same clan, the same white-skinned contract slaves who escaped will still be hanged.

Either in the name of change, try to establish a slightly passable welfare system, so that the cost of fleeing is not much different from the benefits of staying in the farm and factory.

This also determines that this kind of thing can only be done by parties with ideology and doctrine. Capital that has changed its freedom will obviously choose the first form.The cost of ruling from too far away is too high. If you can manage a family of 150 miles, you will run [-] miles away. If you dare to collect taxes, you will rise up and kill you.

Domestically, it is necessary to make troubles, struggles, uprisings, and suppressions... in exchange for the acquiescence of the old ruling class: stop making troubles in the country, and go to the Great Deserted City.

Poor people want to go but have no money or power. Those who have money and power will not do it without ideology. Those who have money and power will worry that it will become a plague distribution center that spreads and influences the basis of governance and opposes it.

So if you want to change your fate against the sky, you must not only get rid of Houjin, but also get rid of many old things and add some new things.

Otherwise, even Chen Jian felt that if he went to Liaodong, called himself Tianlongren, and entered the customs for 20 years, as long as the interests of the original ruling class were not infringed, there would still be people kneeling and licking the "Tianlongren" he created , Yan Shenggong will still persuade you to enter the table at the meeting.

This is not kneeling and betrayal. It is the same everywhere. Don't look at the bluster of the British in America. It is not supported by the domestic ruling class, but the poor who cannot survive and are persecuted spontaneously ran over.This is the inferiority of the ruling class of mankind, not a problem of a single nation.

If you want to get involved in the affairs here, you must have a reliable foothold.Whether the Ming Dynasty will allow tribute is still unknown, and we cannot pin all our hopes on allowing tribute, and we must be prepared in case it is not allowed.

It is easier to establish a foothold in Thailand. As long as you don’t spread Catholicism, temporarily don’t spread ideas that seem like plagues to feudal rulers, and don’t offend the interests of nobles and monks, there won’t be too much opposition.

Some employees of the trading company were left behind in the trading house in Pattani. The business roads here are well-connected, and there are trading houses in various countries.As long as you are willing to spend money, you can buy Muslim, Hindu, European, Chinese and Japanese goods, and it is still very profitable after several changes of hands.

For the time being, there is no profit in the business hall, and the Pacific route back to China has not yet been explored and opened. Several important transit points are either in the hands of Spain or have not been discovered yet.

About a thousand miles to the west from Beida Nian is the legendary Zengmu Ansha, where you can already smell enough of China.

Since Malacca is still in the hands of the Portuguese, and the route to the ends of the earth in Africa is too far away, Chen Jian's plan has also been unanimously approved by the senior management of the fleet.

Using this as the end of the Pacific route, and the information collected also let the people in the fleet know that Japan is the largest silver-producing country in this area, and the Ming Dynasty is rich and peaceful in the north, so the focus of trade here is mainly to China and Japan can do it.

What kind of goods need to be purchased here can only be discussed after Ayutthaya's affairs have settled down and a business hall has been established.

The Great Triangle of trade between the mainland of the Republic and the Spanish colonies, Europe, and the coast of Africa is a separate area.

Abandoning spices as a way to induce Britain and the Netherlands to bite dogs here means that the business houses here have no connection with Europe.

Trade requires at least two trading points to be meaningful, so at this time, the Beida Nian Merchant Hall is not yet meaningful, and can only temporarily sell goods to collect information.

Chen Jian just told the people left in the shop not to worry, not to violate the laws here and not to conflict with the locals.But if they are all outsiders, then you don't have to be so polite, and there are a few guns left behind, so don't be cowardly if something happens.

Going out, drifting half of the world, the wildness of these people has also been tempered by death and storms, and they agreed one by one.

Before leaving, there is another important task, which is to get in touch with the merchants of the Ming Dynasty here.Those who can come here to do business are basically not clean, and smuggling and illegal activities are common, and they can definitely get in touch with some officials of the Ming Dynasty and eunuchs who go out to supervise taxes.

The one with a flexible mind was left behind, and Chen Jian told him: "Try to get in touch with those merchants of the Ming Dynasty as much as possible, and properly disclose your desire for trade. If you want money, goods, or other things, you can talk about it. The bribe money is not a problem, the problem is to find the right person to bribe. Let us know what we mean. Wait for me to come back and make a decision.”

The man kept it in mind, hesitated for a while and finally asked: "Mr. Chen, I also heard that the Portuguese have a place in China where they can trade, called Macau. We are different from the Netherlands and have not waged war against the Portuguese. Can we get it from them?" Open a breach?"

Chen Jian shook his head, laughed and said, "How is it possible? Spain, which belongs to the same monarch, has no chance, let alone us?"

What the man wanted to say was obviously not this. Seeing Chen Jian's veto, he hurriedly said: "Then let's work with the Dutch to break through Macau by force? Now we have a thousand elites, and we also have warships, explosives, and cannons. The Dutch are familiar with the terrain." , if we unite with them, it is not impossible to attack and break them."

Obviously, this was not just one person's idea. In this way, several military officers and the ship's crew of the trading company also echoed.

Chen Jian pointed to his head and said: "Everyone, use your head. That is the place of the Ming Dynasty, not Portugal. The warship sailed past, the soldiers attacked, and it was not just the Portuguese who were attacked. Such a big empire, with its own If you are arrogant, they will hate us, even if we attack the Portuguese. Besides, you don't really think that you will form an alliance with the Dutch in the future, do you?"

Several people shook their heads: "That's not true, I just think this is a feasible way. It's also for profit."

"Don't think about it as soon as possible. If the Dutch don't do business, the country may be ruined. Not to mention the Ming Empire, even us, if we really close the country and don't trade with other people, will we starve to death? Since starvation can't die, if we really Someone came to the house with guns, even if they originally wanted to trade, it would be impossible due to affection."

After thinking for a while, he said again: "Besides, the Dutch are tossing spices in the south. Is it possible that they really want to stretch their hands here? Remember, let them toss about spices; everyone in Spain, lending and selling guns Yes. But don’t be shy about reaching where they shouldn’t be. What’s where they can’t?”

Chen Jian stretched out his hand and pointed to the north, and said: "The archipelago to the south of our homeland, the governorship of Spain, that is where they are not allowed to reach out. From here to the north, they are also not allowed to reach out. To the south, our The strength cannot compete with the Dutch for the time being. But in the north, we and they are not qualified to say the word evenly matched. Keep your heads clear, even if there are disputes among allies, let alone a verbal agreement between companies."

After finishing speaking, he remembered something again, turned around and said: "By the way, there are merchants from Ming Dynasty who will talk to you about bribery. Ask clearly, don't bother with those from Guangdong, it is best to be officials from Fujian. There must be a Portuguese obstructing it. Ask clearly, what those officials or eunuchs like, and bribes should be what they like, and ask the other one how big their appetite is. If you ask, it will be a few thousand taels, but we give it away Less, that's not good."

Chapter 47 Necrosis

After explaining everything clearly, especially the keynote of doing things in the future and the real relationship with the Dutch, the fleet headed north under the leadership of the envoy of the King of Thailand.

The Gulf of Siam is at the time of transition from the dry season to the rainy season. The clockwise currents in the bay and the southwest wind make the journey smooth.

I saw a lot of ships on the way, and seeing the size of this fleet from a distance, they all gave way one after another.The two Portuguese boats stayed far away for a while, but finally they didn't dare to approach and dispersed.

At the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the people sent by the King of Thailand to welcome them are already looking forward to it.They mainly came to see if the fleet was strong and could rival the power of the Portuguese here.

Chen Jian sent a small boat and told the people who were there to greet him that in order to show the Republic's respect for the King of Thailand, the fleet would fire a cannon.

This can be regarded as what he likes. Although it is a bit of showing off, what the King of Thailand needs now is a new force that can show off its strength to compete with the Portuguese. If it can't show off its strength, there is no need for contact.

After a roar, Chen Jian ordered people to dock the boat at the mouth of the river. After contacting the envoys of the King of Thailand, he did not enter the Chao Phraya River to express his goodwill. Instead, he explained to them some laws and regulations between countries. The so-called respect, after all, it is an act of insufficient respect to sail a warship into the inland river of another country.

The king of Thailand also knew that Chen Jian was the rightful host, and the standard of reception was also set very high, especially after the firing of cannons showed that he was strong enough to compete with the Portuguese.

After the reception, Chen Jian led people to practice various tactics of the new infantry.

For the Portuguese fortress that the Thais were worried about, Chen Jian also practiced the technique of blasting the engineering tunnel with explosives. This has become an established tactic since playing with gunpowder hundreds of years ago, and the method is very skillful.

Although there were only a few hundred people, under the drums, bugles, passwords and volleys, it was considered to have practiced the momentum of thousands of people, especially the several volleys impressed the King of Thailand very deeply.

Coupled with a few tricks that were very bluffing at this time, the King of Thailand confirmed that this is a country that is strong enough to compete with Portugal, has no intention of preaching, only wants to trade, and is completely different from Europeans.

Whether to preach or not is just something that is clearly made and it is easy for people to guard against it.What people should really guard against are those things that moisten things silently, but since they moisten things silently, it is more difficult to guard against.

The King of Thailand also liked some of the gifts presented.

Chen Jian also climbed smoothly and put forward some trade requirements and some other requirements, hoping to start negotiations from this.

Needless to say, building a business office in Ayutthaya, Chen Jian also hopes to rent a small piece of land along the coast along the estuary for loading and unloading goods.At the same time, he also hopes to discuss the tariffs on goods. If it can be settled, Chen Jian hopes that no additional collection will be made and a treaty will be formed.

In fact, Chen Jian was not very concerned about this matter.Thailand's market is too small, coupled with its own self-sufficient economic base, it cannot sell too many things.

The King of Thailand was not very satisfied with Chen Jian's desire to rent land along the coast and along the river mouth. He hoped that Chen Jian could build a fort near Burma or the generation of Sardanalin.

Different from the Dutch, at this time the Dutch are staring at Indonesian spices, and they are joint-stock companies. Everything is based on immediate interests, and they have no motivation to involve a lot in Thailand.

Although the king of Thailand wanted to make contact with the Dutch, the Dutch didn't care much about it and pretended to be submissive.Since there are no spices here, it is natural to look down on it.

But Chen Jian was very concerned about this. The location of some places that the King of Thailand vaguely revealed that he wanted Chen Jian to build fortresses was very important.

The Portuguese are already in decline, and if they don’t lay the groundwork early, once the Portuguese are finished, the Dutch will take the lead, thus losing the initiative here.

But the king of Thailand didn't know it. In his eyes, Portugal was still a giant, which was terrifying and worthy of vigilance.

Similarly, if Chen Jian wants to get involved in this matter, he must have a stepping stone.