Chapter 122 Section 16 The biggest pirate group

Zheng Chenggong, who has been fixed in people's minds, has always been the image of a soldier holding a sword and standing on the bow of the ship. His other identity has always been shielded by the ideological magnetic field.In fact, this double identity may be more meaningful in the spiritual history of China, that is: businessman and pirate. After Zheng Zhilong's surrender, the former Zheng's trading empire suddenly became leaderless and fell apart, and overseas trade fell into a low ebb.After Zheng Chenggong raised his troops, he immediately recruited and consolidated them, re-forming a huge commercial force, and Zheng Chenggong became the largest international trader in Southeast Asia.

At that time, Zheng Chenggong had an absolute monopoly in international trade in Southeast Asia. His fleet reached as far as Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and his trade volume accounted for more than 60% of China's foreign trade volume. According to the estimates of today's scholars, Zheng Chenggong's profit from trade with Japan is about 1.41 million taels of silver per year on average; the total profit from trade with Southeast Asia is between 930,000 and 1.28 million taels of silver per year on average. between.The sum of the two items amounts to an average of 2.34 million to 2.69 million taels of silver per year.If the purchasing power of one tael of silver is equivalent to two hundred yuan at present, the annual profit is about 500 million yuan, which is astonishing.

Such a huge profit comes from the support of force.Without an overwhelming military force, it is impossible for Zheng Chenggong to occupy a monopoly position in maritime trade in Southeast Asia.Those merchants who were not under his direct control also had to pay him high protection fees for safety at sea.Chinese merchant ships that do not obey his orders may suffer disaster at any time.In this sense, we might as well say that Zheng Chenggong was the largest pirate group at sea at that time. Zheng Chenggong dominated the Southeast Asian seas by force, and made the rules of the sea.At the same time, he used the huge profits from maritime trade to support military expenditures.Although nominally owned by the Ming Emperor, from the day of its birth, Zheng Chenggong's army was completely a private armed force. The Zheng's Maritime Group represented entirely China's civilian forces.

This force is good at learning and drawing lessons from.They were not smart enough to distinguish between "the grass of the Celestial Dynasty" and "the seedlings of the barbarians". Zheng's navy installed cannons made by the Western Ocean Society on its ships, and began to use throwing gunpowder bottles. These civilian maritime forces, because of their early cooperation with Japanese pirates and frequent contacts with the Portuguese, Spaniards, and Dutch, have learned more advanced navigation technology and long-distance navigation capabilities, and at the same time absorbed Westerners in sea combat tactics. and the strengths of the Japanese.Therefore, it is possible for them to restrain the further expansion of the Dutch in Asia and become the leading force in the development and trade of East Asian oceans.

The offensive and defensive battle between Zheng Chenggong and the Dutch in Utrecht Fort was one of the earliest modern weapon offensive and defensive battles between East and West in Asian military history.Both sides used a lot of gunpowder and artillery shells. Zheng Jun abandoned the traditional bows and arrows and broadswords, and also used defensive means in the attack of trenches and artillery forts. During the war, when Mei and his interpreter passed by Zheng Jun's position, they carefully observed Zheng Jun's fortifications. Cannons, so as not to be bombarded by Zeelandia Castle, the defensive wall was five or six, or even seven baskets as wide and two baskets as high, about sixteen to seventeen feet (4.8 to 5 meters) meters 1) thick, about 11 to 12 feet (3.3 to 3.6 meters) high, and such walls can be seen in cemeteries and markets." This battle showed Zheng Jun's outstanding learning ability.However, this modern combat method was not known to the Chinese army at all during the Opium War 180 years later.