Chapter 466

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, only three European countries entered Southeast Asia, namely the Spanish who occupied Luzon, the Portuguese who rented Macao, and the Dutch who occupied Java.

Although the Dutch came last, after the war of independence, the strength of the sea became stronger and stronger, which frightened the former maritime overlord Spain.

In order to compete for trade with Daming in the Far East, the two sides are in the same situation. Because the Dutch came the latest, they are not willing to pick up the leftovers of Spain and Portugal. In order to contain the Spanish, they first intend to seize Macao rented by the Portuguese and replace it as a trade base with Daming.

The Portuguese were weak and had to unite with the Spanish to beat back the Dutch.

Unable to defeat Macao, the Dutch planned to occupy several islands near the coast of Daming as a trade base.

So he chose the Penghu Islands. During the Apocalypse of Wanli, he occupied the Penghu Islands several times, but later they were forced back by the Ming Dynasty. Finally, he focused on Dayuan Island, that is, Taiwan.

In the fourth year of apocalypse, the Dutch took advantage of the Ming Dynasty to build several castles in southern Taiwan, based on which they continued to rob Spain, Portugal and Ming merchant ships.

In order to contain the Dutch, the Spaniards also established a base in the north of Taiwan Island. The two sides continued to encroach inland and fight each other. Finally, around the 14th year of Chongzhen, the Spanish forces were gradually expelled from Taiwan Island.

But when the Dutch were ready to cheer and enjoy the fruits of victory, Zheng Zhilong was beaten and had to retreat to Dongfan island. Due to the sudden incident and no preparation, the Zheng family easily seized the territory of the former Spaniards in the north.

How can the Dutch, who have fought with Spain for more than ten years before driving the Spanish out of Dongfan Island, be reconciled?

Fuzhou.

"Report to the general that there are two red haired ghosts outside the city. They claim to be envoys sent by the Dutch governor and want to see the general."

"Oh, red haired ghost? "The governor of the Netherlands?"

Li Dingguo was a little surprised. He had heard of the red haired ghost. It was said that he had long blond hair and blue eyes, but he had never seen it, so he said with a trace of wonder, "bring them in."

"Yes, general."

After half incense, two Dutch envoys were brought into the governor's Yamen. It was the first time for them to come to a big city like Fuzhou. They were constantly exclaimed all the way. The various architectural decorations in the governor's Yamen blinded their eyes.

They were taken to the hall. Li Dingguo was sitting on it in plain clothes. He looked at them curiously. Then a foul smell came to his face. His eyebrows wrinkled immediately, but the visitor was a guest, so he immediately adjusted.

They were also looking at Li Dingguo and were surprised by his age. At this time, the soldiers on one side saw the two red haired ghosts and stared at the general in a daze. They immediately shouted, "this is my general, Zhennan Hou. Don't you salute soon?"

They woke up, bowed down and saluted quickly, and introduced their identity in poor Chinese. They heard that the other party was a marquis, and their tone was respectful.

Li Dingguo saw that they could speak Chinese. Although it was very awkward, they barely understood and became interested. So he asked them to sit down, served tea and began to inquire about the situation in the Netherlands.

Naturally, they boasted and described Lanhe as a powerful kingdom, but they didn't directly say that they were the overlord of Europe.

Li Dingguo was also secretly frightened. He thought that the other party could come here thousands of miles away, and his strength would not be much worse than that of today's Daqin, so he tentatively said: "two envoys, I don't know how big your territory is? Population geometry? "

"This..."

They were immediately embarrassed and hesitated for a long time. They didn't know how to answer. They wanted to continue bragging, but they were worried that if the other party knew the details from the Portuguese in the future, they would become angry. After all, Macao is not far from here.

So they looked at each other, and one of them said, "Dear Marquis, although the territory of the kingdom of the Netherlands is not the largest in Europe, it is very powerful. There are hundreds of large warships alone, and tens of thousands of other small warships and merchant ships. As for the population... I can't answer you because I haven't counted it."

Li Dingguo took a breath. He didn't expect that there were so many warships in the kingdom of Holland. How many soldiers and horses does the army have?

"Is your territory bigger than ours, with millions of troops?"

One of them, seeing Li Dingguo's response, nodded and said, "almost!"

"Dear Marquis, let's talk about trade and cooperation!" Another person may be too guilty to worry about territory and population, so he quickly turned off the topic.

Li Dingguo also raised his spirits and dared not despise them any more. It was very important for the two to cooperate to attack the Zheng family and carry out trade. He did not dare to make a rash decision, so he decided to send troops to escort the two to Nanjing to meet his majesty.

After all, after Xiaoyu ascended the throne and became emperor, no foreign envoys have been sent to the court. They just sent them to Nanjing. I think Xiaoyu will be very happy to come.

Seeing that Li Dingguo could not decide, they had to send them to the capital. Although they were disappointed, they had nothing to do. One of them had to ask, "Sir Marquis, how far is your capital from Fuzhou? How many days will it take? "

"The two envoys rest assured that the capital of Daqin is temporarily located in the south. Starting from here, take a carriage and take the official road, and you will arrive in a month at most."

Li Dingguo waved his hand.

"For a month?"

Their faces changed greatly. They looked like they had seen a ghost. They also heard that the Portuguese and Spanish said that the territory of the Empire was very large, but they had no intuitive impression. They only knew the size, but they didn't know the specific extent. Now they heard that it would take a month to go to the capital from here. The key other party also said that the capital was only in the south. If they went to the north, How many days do you have to walk?

Since the Dutch came late and did not do business seriously, they robbed everywhere. If the officials in Guangdong and Fujian were very disgusted, their understanding of Daming was far from comparable to that of Portuguese and Spanish.

I have never been to the capital, and even rarely come ashore. In the past, businessmen in the south of the Ming Dynasty basically did business with Portuguese and Spanish. Most of them chose to transport goods to Manila or Macao for trading, and rarely did business with the Dutch.

In this way, the next day, Li Dingguo sent a team to escort them to Nanjing. They also had some expectations.

After all, the Netherlands had always wanted to contact Daming, and even wanted to send envoys to meet the emperor of Daming like the Portuguese. However, officials in Fujian and Guangdong refused to introduce them.