This time Columbus went to the Ming Dynasty, it was actually not difficult. There were only two risks - one was the pirates in the Strait of Malacca; the other was the typhoon in the South China Sea.

The pirate problem is easy to solve. Marin equipped the three ships with two hundred musketeers and one hundred gunners. Moreover, they used clockwork without a fuse. No matter how good the martial arts are, they would be knocked down with one shot. Even if they encounter a brutal pirate, two hundred musketeers would take action, and the 100 gunners controlled the cannon bombardment, they would not believe that they would be able to deal with those pirates. After all, there are no pirate kings like Chen Zuyi and Zheng Zhilong now. The three ships are enough to settle them.

However, it’s a typhoon, this thing is terrifying and cannot be resisted by human power. If you encounter it, you can only GG... Fortunately, Columbus’ fleet is walking along the land coast. As long as you don’t encounter a typhoon in the middle of the sea, you can’t dock and hide...

Although Columbus went to the Ming Dynasty this time to open up trade routes, he certainly could not say that at the beginning. So, Marin wrote a letter of state in Chinese and prepared to hand it over to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty...

Of course, this is not the same greeting letter written by the Spanish king, but a letter similar to the one that "worships the boss". To put it bluntly, it is to ask himself to become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Marin's plan was not to make the Grand Duchy of the North Sea a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but to occupy Taiwan Island, establish a small regime on Taiwan Island, and then ask the Ming Dynasty for submission.

In this way, it was not the Beihai Principality who defected to the Ming Dynasty, but the empty-shelled small country on Taiwan Island who defected to the Ming Dynasty.

Anyway, the people living on Taiwan now are all foreigners. Marin can build a small country by occupying a piece of land. For example, there is a big belly kingdom on Taiwan Island, which has a small land area, but it is a small country.

The Ming Dynasty was not a fool. If you wanted to surrender, the court wanted to send envoys to check the specific situation. This is because in history, there were cases of Arab merchants pretending to be envoys to pay tribute. At that time, an Arab merchant came to pay tribute as an envoy of Seljuk to cheat generous rewards. However, the real Arab merchant told the Song Dynasty that the Seljuk Empire had perished... and then it was very embarrassing...

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty strictly identified the qualifications of tribute to prevent such embarrassing things. But later, the embarrassing incident of envoys from the Southern and Northern Dynasties coming to pay tribute to each other, and even caused human lives.

The Ming Dynasty treated the vassals very strictly. First, it was necessary to determine whether the country really existed. After confirming, it would also be issued with the time and place of tribute. When tribute, it was necessary to verify the proof of tribute, otherwise tribute would not be allowed.

Marin's plan was to occupy the local area and build a castle in the later Keelung Port on Taiwan Island. Then, he asked Ming officials to go over and verify it. Then, he asked to "accompany" the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, when Columbus went to the Ming Dynasty for the first time, he had an important task, which was to find Keelung Port on Taiwan Island. He determined the location of Sheliao Island outside Keelung Port. Then, learn from the Spanish to build a small castle on the island. Then, based on this, gradually erode the Keelung area and build a small city and port in Keelung Port.

Why build a base in Keelung? Because there is a Jinguashi gold mine near Keelung. Marin not only wants to obtain a stable supply base on Taiwan Island, but also plans to send people to mine this gold-rich mine with a reserve of hundreds of tons. In this way, the cost of building Keelung City will be recovered and there will be a big profit.

Of course, the Ming Empire also needs to be in contact. For example, go to Guangyizhou to try your luck to see if you can obtain the qualification for tribute and submit a letter of nationality requesting to submit.

However, Marin did not have hope for this. With the cautious personality of the Ming Dynasty, he would probably reject Columbus. Because the Ming Dynasty could not confirm the existence of the North Sea Duchy. After all, the Ming Dynasty generally used the method of directly sending people to verify or inquire with other vassals to determine it.

However, other European countries have not visited the Ming Dynasty and are unlikely to be willing to become vassals of the Ming Dynasty. The existing vassals of the Ming Dynasty are all from Southeast Asia, so they definitely do not know European countries. Therefore, no one can testify to Columbus for its authenticity.

Therefore, Marin was not optimistic about the first contact between Columbus and the corrupt scholars of the Ming Dynasty.

But Marin didn't expect Columbus to succeed at once, but finding a foothold on Taiwan is a must. As for why sheliao Island (now called Peace Island), the small island outside Keelung Port, is the same as the Spanish - the locals are too fierce, and they may be killed by local indigenous people like Magellan...

Therefore, build a foothold on the island outside the port. Then, send troops to come and then land on the shore to defeat the indigenous people...

Columbus's mission is to find Taiwan Island first, and then follow the rough map given by Marin to find Keelung in the north of Taiwan Island and Peace Island beside Keelung, and record the detailed latitude and longitude coordinates.

Then, the next time Americo leads a fleet to Taiwan Island on the Pacific route, it will go straight to Heping Island based on this coordinate. Moreover, cement will be brought and a fortress will be built directly on Heping Island.

Next time, since the route has been explored, Marin will send a large fleet to Keelung Peace Island and station it. In particular, this time, a unit composed of trained Black Forest Hunters will be sent to attack the local indigenous peoples, control the land, and then build cities on Keelung land.

The reason why I chose to build a city in Keelung is that in addition to the nearby Jinguashi Gold Mine, the coal mines near Keelung are also the targets that Marin coveted.

After all, the steam engine has been developed now and it will be no problem to be put into use in the future and become a ship's power. Only by developing coal mines near Keelung can we provide coal for sailboats powered by steam engines.

So, Marin gave up the idea of ​​going to the southwest plains of Taiwan first and prepared to gain a foothold in Keelung now. Then, he went to plot against the southwest plains.

In any case, Taiwan Island is actually a trade transfer station for Marin. The local area can only get into Marin's eyes. As for arable land, Marin doesn't care much. He has American colonies, but he still cares about the little arable land in Taiwan? Here, trade with the Ming Dynasty is the most important thing...

...

In addition to contacting the Ming Empire and finding the coordinates of Taiwan Island, Columbus actually has another very important task, which is to contact the Kingdom of Malacca that controlled the Strait of Malacca...

Of course, Marin did not want to conquer this country. His intention was actually to dig a big hole for the Portuguese...

Marin, who has studied world history, knew that after the Portuguese gained a foothold in India, they would turn their attention to Southeast Asia and the Ming Empire. Therefore, they would use Goa, India as a base and head towards Southeast Asia. Then, they directly targeted the small country that controlled the transportation route of the Malacca Kingdom, a key transportation route, and captured the capital of the Malacca Kingdom in 1511 and destroyed the country.

At that time, the Portuguese sent only 1,200 Portuguese soldiers and 200 Indian mercenaries, as well as 18 ships and a large number of artillery. The Kingdom of Malacca dispatched an indigenous army composed of 30,000 Malays and Javanese.

Because he could not resist the Portuguese muskets and artillery, the Sultan of Malacca had to give up Malacca City and fled inland to continue to resist.

This time, Columbus' fleet happened to have to pass through the Strait of Malacca. Although it would not stay in the local area for a long time, it could dig a hole for the future Portuguese.

How to dig a hole for the Portuguese? It's actually very simple. It's just to ask Columbus to find a way to provide a batch of muskets and artillery to the Kingdom of Malacca and teach them how to operate it.

When the Portuguese sent more than 1,000 troops to attack, the Malacca people also took out muskets and cannons, the Portuguese were stunned...

Although the Malacca people are definitely not as skilled as the Portuguese using muskets and cannons. However, the Malacca people are the ones guarding the city and have their own advantages. As long as they have enough muskets and cannons, they will not have to worry about not repelling the Portuguese invading army.

In this way, Portugal's plan to advance eastward would be hindered. Even if he took over the Kingdom of Malacca, his vitality would be greatly damaged. And when the Portuguese were in a state of turmoil, Marin was just enjoying the benefits of the Ming trade alone...

For this reason, Marin asked Columbus to bring an Arabic translation to communicate with the Kingdom of Malacca. The Kingdom of Malacca has a background in Green Church, so there will naturally be people who understand Arabic. Then, as long as they contact them, Columbus will find a way to sell or simply give them a batch of mesh guns and cannons to the people of Malacca. At the same time, they will also teach them how to use it, how to collect and boil earthen nitrogen, and gunpowder formula.

When the Portuguese come to conquer a few years later, they will be beaten up by the guns of the Malacca people. If you want to capture this country, you will not be able to do it without paying a heavy price.
Chapter completed!