Temasek is located at the southern entrance of the Strait of Malacca, adjacent to the Malaysian Peninsula through the narrow Johor Strait. As early as the beginning of the third century, indigenous people had already lived on this island. In the fourteenth century, they established the Sultanate of Malacca, which was later burned by the Portuguese in the early 17th century and declined into a semi-abused island. In the first year of Chengde, the British East India Company bought the place from the Portuguese for a symbolic price of 100 pounds in order to trade with the Qing Dynasty with powerful force, and forced tens of thousands of workers on the Malay Peninsula to build a port and a castle fortress. △

Over the years, not only the "Eight Banners" fleet from the Qing Dynasty must trade on a large scale every year, but many cargo ships from the Qing Dynasty came to trade, and even the cargo ships of Western countries that stole the South China Sea often replenished supplies such as freshwater. In just a few years, Temasek has developed into the most important port city on the Strait of Malacca, with a permanent population of tens of thousands. In order to defend the sovereignty of this port, the Kingdom of Great Britain spared no effort to add a number of forts in various places in the port, and specially sent an army of more than 500 battalions to be stationed in this port. In the fifth year of Chengde, Viscount George Green was appointed as Temasek's first governor.

The so-called success is Xiao He and the failure of Xiao He. The reason why Temasek rose rapidly was due to large-scale trade with the "Eight Banners Trading". However, for some unknown reason, the fleet of the "Eight Banners Trading" has never been here again in the past two years. Although there are many cargo ships from the Qing Dynasty coming to trade sporadically, for Temasek, which was originally extremely prosperous, it was just a drop in the bucket. The original prosperity inevitably declined a little, and it was just relying on providing supplies to merchant ships from various Western countries to barely maintain the operation of the port, and it no longer had the grand occasion of such huge merchants gathering in previous years.

Temasek's economy has been depressed, but its strategic position is not less important. Controlling this island has also prevented the most important passage between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The savvy Britons naturally would not completely abandon the port because of the failure of the "Eight Banners Trading". Instead, because of the need to control the South China Sea and to deal with the war in Japan, they specially sent a battalion of troops from India to Temasek, which made Temasek's defense a little more stringent than usual. On the tall lighthouse at the port, there were a squad of soldiers on the turn of the order to ensure that they would not be attacked by foreign enemies. As soon as the two medium-sized cargo ships with the Daqing Dragon Banner were exposed on the ocean ten nautical miles away, the lookout post on the lighthouse had already passed the news to the Governor's Office and the East India Company's office.

"Put the flag and let them stop the boat for inspection!"

Before two Qing cargo ships entered the port, a British sloop cruiser had already sailed out of the port at high speed. On the front deck, a tall and fat middle-aged man looked at the Qing cargo ship with satisfaction and greed for a while, then waved his hand arrogantly and shouted loudly. This man was James Kent, the port officer of Temasek, and an employee of the East India Company.

"Stop the boat!"

Although the British sloop cruiser that was rushing towards him was so shabby that it was only equipped with more than a dozen light artillery pieces, it represented the British official. The two Qing medium-sized cargo ships sailing one by one and one behind did not dare to neglect them. As soon as the British people were fired out, a short and strong black-faced man on the cargo ship that led to the lead was Du Shunsheng, the captain of the "Chengfeng", and the Guangzhou people, the master who has been traveling to the sea for many years.

"Oh, isn't this Mr. James? I've been missing for a year. You are still so rich, so it's so admirable."

Since the opening of the sea ban in the late Kangxi period, Du Shunsheng began his career in the South China Sea. However, at that time he was just a young man who had just a young man. After nearly twenty years of experience, he has now become the owner of two medium-sized cargo ships and has learned the language of many countries. In other words, he has not been to this Temasek Port once or twice. He has been familiar with the members of the East India Company such as James. Before the two ships were completely closer, Du Shunsheng had already bowed to James Kent on the cruiser with a smile on his face, and spoke politely in fluent English.

"Um."

Faced with Du Shunsheng's warm greeting, James Kent just nodded reservedly, said lightly without any objection, followed the springboard that the British sailors were hastily set up, and led more than a dozen soldiers to board the "Cheating Wind" step by step.

"Mr. James, the old rules are the same. The small ships are bulk cargo. The owners' list and the list of goods are here. There is no contraband. Please take care of them."

As soon as James Kent boarded the "Chengfeng", Du Shunsheng immediately greeted him with a smile on his face. While saying words of flattery, he stuffed several pieces of paper and a small cloth bag into James Kent's hand.

"Well, then, you guys go to the cabin to check if there are any contraband."

It was not the first time James Kent received bribes from Qing merchants like Du Shunsheng. With just weighing it, he realized that the silver in the small cloth bag was very heavy and he felt very happy. However, he did not show it. Instead, he quickly stuffed the small cloth bag into his trouser bag, waved his hand in a pretentious manner, and let the soldiers who followed the ship go to the cabin to make a move.

"Oh, Mr. James, look at what you said, the young one understands the rules, how could they hide any contraband? To be honest, the cabin is full of high-end goods such as silk and ceramics. If it is damaged, it is difficult to explain to the cargo owners, otherwise, you see..."

Seeing that the vicious British soldiers were raising their guns and heading into the cabin, Du Shunsheng couldn't help but feel a little anxious. He hurriedly grabbed James Kent and quietly sent a heavy small cloth bag again.

"Oh, my dear Du, let's go down, go back to the boat!"

Since the large fleet of "Eight Banners Trading" did not come to Temasek, the Qing merchant ships that came scattered were the most dear customers of the East India Company. The superiors had already explained that they should not offend them at will. This is an iron rule. As a member of the East India Company, how could James Kent dare to violate it easily? The reason why he insisted on searching was just pretending to be a pretender. What he waited for was Du Shunsheng's bribery again. Now, another small bag of silver was obtained. James Kent had no dissatisfaction. He just gave Du Shunsheng a face, and even the surface search had not been carried out, so he led a group of British soldiers back to the cruiser.

"Bah, damn dog stuff, I've eaten it, I'll want you to spit it out sooner or later!"

Du Shunsheng kept smiling and sending the British cruiser away until the cruiser had gone far away. He cursed with hatred, then waved his hand and signaled the sailors to continue driving the ship. He himself quickly walked into the cabin, followed the stairway to the second floor, stopped in front of a hidden cabin door, reached out and knocked it lightly and twice.

A wooden door, which was about the height of the cabin, slid a small crack to the edge silently. A vigilant eye stared at Du Shunsheng in the crack, and then pushed open the sliding door, revealing a large space inside. There were more than a dozen men holding revolvers guarding a middle-aged man in the middle, who was almost fifty years old. This man was Wang Kuan, the commander of the First Brigade of the Qing Dynasty Marine Corps!

"Old Du, what's going on?"

Seeing that Du Shunsheng had arrived, Wang Kuan, who was originally sitting on the chair, immediately stood up, but he did not say anything to greet him, but asked straightforwardly.

"Don't worry, General Wang, everything is normal, at least until tomorrow, there will be no special situation."

Du Shun stated that he was the owner of the two cargo ships, but in fact, he was a cadre of the Overseas Intelligence Bureau. He had the military rank of lieutenant colonel. In recent years, he was responsible for contacting the local overseas intelligence bureau branches of Temasek. This time, he was ordered to cooperate with the Marine Corps officers and soldiers of the strengthening company led by Wang Kuan to seize the various forts in Temasek. He had already made relevant preparations. When he answered Wang Kuan's question, he seemed very confident.

"Well, that's good. Please inform Lao Du and let the boys outside cheer up. If anyone shows off his strength, he will be engaged in military law!"

Although Du Shunsheng had made a promise, Wang Kuan still did not dare to take it lightly. The two cargo ships were mostly disguised as Marines officers and soldiers. Although they had been practicing too many times before going to the expedition, Wang Kuan did not dare to guarantee that there would be no mistakes, so he gave a cautious command.

"yes!"

Since Wang Kuan issued the order, Du Shunsheng did not dare to be negligent in the slightest, and quickly respectfully agreed to the promise and did not mention the relevant matters.

"Immediately send a message to General He, saying that our troops have arrived in Temasek on time and the scheduled combat plan remains unchanged. Please give General He instructions."

Wang Kuan ignored Du Shunsheng's departure, thought silently for a while, then raised his hand and gave the order with a firm expression. The communications officer who was responsible for sending the newspaper quickly responded to the promise and quickly sent the message out.

"Report to the commander, Wang Kuan, commander of the First Marine Brigade, called."

At the fourth moment of Shen Shi, a large fleet was slowly sailing southeastward at 80 nautical miles northwest of Temasek. Under the tall mast of the flagship "Centing", the new commander of the South China Sea Fleet, He Lin, stood solemnly, and his eyes were staring at the distance. While he was thinking, he saw a communication officer hurriedly grabbing the approach and reported loudly.

"read!"

He Lin glanced at the communication officer, and said nothing, but just spoke a word quietly.

"Yes, Commander He Junjian, our troops have successfully arrived in Temasek and will act according to the scheduled combat plan. Please inform Commander He of this message, Wang Kuan, the commander of the First Marine Brigade."

Hearing He Lin's order, the communication officer did not dare to neglect it. He quickly responded to the promise loudly and quickly reported the telegram.

"Call back, agree!"
Chapter completed!