Chapter 2964
Chapter 2964
Chapter 2964
Just like in the Cambodian waters before, the sudden appearance of the Haihan fleet in the northern Gulf of Siam also caused panic in the local area.
Neither the fishermen who went out to sea to fish nor the Siamese navy in charge of sea patrol had ever seen such a large armed fleet, and the fear that arose made them turn around and sail to the coast to avoid it.
Qian Tiandun doesn't care much about the reaction of the local people, he is more interested in the Bangkok area on the northern coast of the Gulf of Siam.This was a rare opportunity, and he really wanted to witness what Bangkok looked like in the mid-seventeenth century.
But the reality may only disappoint Qian Tiandun. At this time, the Bangkok area is far from being a city. There are only some fishing villages and small markets on both sides of the Chao Phraya River estuary, which are far less lively than Vung Tau Port.It will not become a prosperous coastal city until King Rama I moved his capital to Bangkok more than 100 years later.
At this time, the really prosperous area in Siam was the city of Ayutthaya, more than 100 miles upstream of the Chao Phraya River.However, there was no arrangement to visit the city of Ayutthaya in the itinerary, and the Siamese officials were not notified in advance. Probably there is no chance to see the prosperous side of this country.
The Haihan Fleet stopped at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Although they did not intentionally block the mouth of the river, once the fleet moved there, no civilian ships would dare to enter or leave the Chao Phraya River.
But after all, the Chao Phraya River is one of the most important water transportation channels in Siam, and the government's response was relatively quick. It didn't take long for local officials to come to the Haihan Fleet to negotiate.
When the local officials confirmed that the purpose of the Haihan fleet was not to start a war, they immediately changed their faces and said that they could provide the fleet with various supplies.Of course, such services are not provided for free.
In addition, if the Haihan Fleet has goods that they are willing to sell, officials can also contact local businessmen on their behalf.
Obviously, the local officials treated the Haihan fleet as an armed caravan.After all, Siam is an open country in terms of transnational commerce and trade, and merchant ships from Eastern and Western countries often arrive in Siam, and Haihan is one of them.
Qian Tiandun was not interested in business activities, but he still asked Li Yuande to communicate with Siamese officials.After all, he has been here many times, and he must be more aware of the local trade rules than the military.
Li Yuande's transport fleet really brought a batch of Haihan goods as an emergency, but in order to ensure safety, these transport ships are far away on the sea tens of miles away at this time, and the transaction has to be postponed until at least the next day.After Li Yuande obtained his consent, he agreed with the Siamese officials to discuss the details of the transaction the next day.
"Our country's goods are sold to Siam, and generally there are more than [-]% of the gross profit. But the voyage from Sanya to here is about four to five thousand miles, and it takes at least two months to go back and forth. Many sea merchants are not willing to spend So much time to go to Siam to do business."
After dismissing the Siamese officials, Li Yuande took the initiative to introduce the trade situation here to Qian Tiandun: "Most of the cross-border trade in Siam is monopolized by the royal family and dignitaries, and almost no private businessmen can engage in this field. But For us foreign businessmen, it is not entirely a bad thing, as long as one or two joints are opened, all trade activities in Siam can be officially guaranteed."
Qian Tiandun asked: "Then you are not worried about being eaten by local snakes?"
Li Yuande smiled and said: "My lord, we are businessmen from Haihan. Anyone who wants to deal with us has to weigh the consequences first. Gold Shield has several armed merchant ships that are active all year round in the Gulf of Siam. Once trouble occurs, We can arrive within seven days. Many matters that the Haihan army is inconvenient to come forward to, are handled quietly by Jin Dun."
In fact, in the early years, the situation mentioned by Qian Tiandun also happened. Siamese dignitaries wanted to forcibly rob the goods shipped by Haihan merchants.Although the matter was completed at that time, the shipping business under the jurisdiction of the rich and powerful could not continue afterwards.
There is no other reason. Since the incident happened, one of the powerful cargo ships has disappeared after going out to sea. After losing seven or eight cargoes in succession, a fool can figure out what is going on.I can only admit that I am unlucky, and I have to ask the middleman to apologize to the Haihan businessman who suffered losses before, and it took a lot of effort to settle the matter.
The composition of the Golden Shield escort is very complicated. In addition to serving as bodyguards for caravans overseas, it also takes into account the functions of surveying unfamiliar areas, collecting various intelligence information, and doing dirty work for the Haihan army.It is not uncommon in recent years for Haihan businessmen to suffer hidden losses in overseas markets and spend money to seek revenge from Jindun.
And Li Yuande knows the situation so well, because Jindun was originally the product of the cooperation between Haihan and Furuifeng. Li Yuande's third uncle Li Nai also served as the treasurer of Jindun's escort in the early years. Regarding the deployment of Jindun in the South China Sea area, He naturally knew it well.
Hearing this, Qian Tiandun couldn't help asking curiously: "How many troops does Golden Shield have deployed in the Gulf of Siam? Can the income be maintained normally?"
Although this is the secret of Jindun's business, one of Jindun's roles is the downstream contractor of the army, so there is no need to keep it secret from the military generals, not to mention that Qian Tiandun is Li Yunde's most admired idol, so naturally he confessed immediately.
In fact, the Golden Shield Escort does not have a formal station in the Gulf of Siam. It usually completes supplies and rests in various small countries on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula.There are not many people deployed in the Gulf of Siam for a long time. There are about four to five ships in total, with one or two hundred people.
Thanks to the special relationship with the Haihan Army, the ships used by Golden Shield to perform patrol missions are all retired warships from the navy. Not only are they much faster than ordinary civilian ships, but they also have on-board firepower.Although the number of artillery pieces has been reduced compared with the time when the navy served, it is far from being able to compete with ordinary merchant ships.
To feed such a paramilitary fleet, the expenses are naturally not small.But fortunately, there is a long-term big benefactor in this area, and that is Ambuna Island.
As the most famous gold-selling cave in the South China Sea, the income of Ambuna Island has always been astronomical. Although its location is not in the Gulf of Siam, there are many guests from countries around the Gulf of Siam, including many distinguished figures. .In order to protect the safety of these important guests, sometimes it is necessary to send out the armed ships of Golden Shield to escort them.
Compared with the spending of these dignitaries on Ambuna Island, the cost of maintaining the Golden Shield fleet is nothing.Instead, ensuring the safety of the sea lanes in the Gulf of Siam became a task that was done incidentally during the escorting of important people to and from Ambuna Island.
(End of this chapter)
Just like in the Cambodian waters before, the sudden appearance of the Haihan fleet in the northern Gulf of Siam also caused panic in the local area.
Neither the fishermen who went out to sea to fish nor the Siamese navy in charge of sea patrol had ever seen such a large armed fleet, and the fear that arose made them turn around and sail to the coast to avoid it.
Qian Tiandun doesn't care much about the reaction of the local people, he is more interested in the Bangkok area on the northern coast of the Gulf of Siam.This was a rare opportunity, and he really wanted to witness what Bangkok looked like in the mid-seventeenth century.
But the reality may only disappoint Qian Tiandun. At this time, the Bangkok area is far from being a city. There are only some fishing villages and small markets on both sides of the Chao Phraya River estuary, which are far less lively than Vung Tau Port.It will not become a prosperous coastal city until King Rama I moved his capital to Bangkok more than 100 years later.
At this time, the really prosperous area in Siam was the city of Ayutthaya, more than 100 miles upstream of the Chao Phraya River.However, there was no arrangement to visit the city of Ayutthaya in the itinerary, and the Siamese officials were not notified in advance. Probably there is no chance to see the prosperous side of this country.
The Haihan Fleet stopped at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Although they did not intentionally block the mouth of the river, once the fleet moved there, no civilian ships would dare to enter or leave the Chao Phraya River.
But after all, the Chao Phraya River is one of the most important water transportation channels in Siam, and the government's response was relatively quick. It didn't take long for local officials to come to the Haihan Fleet to negotiate.
When the local officials confirmed that the purpose of the Haihan fleet was not to start a war, they immediately changed their faces and said that they could provide the fleet with various supplies.Of course, such services are not provided for free.
In addition, if the Haihan Fleet has goods that they are willing to sell, officials can also contact local businessmen on their behalf.
Obviously, the local officials treated the Haihan fleet as an armed caravan.After all, Siam is an open country in terms of transnational commerce and trade, and merchant ships from Eastern and Western countries often arrive in Siam, and Haihan is one of them.
Qian Tiandun was not interested in business activities, but he still asked Li Yuande to communicate with Siamese officials.After all, he has been here many times, and he must be more aware of the local trade rules than the military.
Li Yuande's transport fleet really brought a batch of Haihan goods as an emergency, but in order to ensure safety, these transport ships are far away on the sea tens of miles away at this time, and the transaction has to be postponed until at least the next day.After Li Yuande obtained his consent, he agreed with the Siamese officials to discuss the details of the transaction the next day.
"Our country's goods are sold to Siam, and generally there are more than [-]% of the gross profit. But the voyage from Sanya to here is about four to five thousand miles, and it takes at least two months to go back and forth. Many sea merchants are not willing to spend So much time to go to Siam to do business."
After dismissing the Siamese officials, Li Yuande took the initiative to introduce the trade situation here to Qian Tiandun: "Most of the cross-border trade in Siam is monopolized by the royal family and dignitaries, and almost no private businessmen can engage in this field. But For us foreign businessmen, it is not entirely a bad thing, as long as one or two joints are opened, all trade activities in Siam can be officially guaranteed."
Qian Tiandun asked: "Then you are not worried about being eaten by local snakes?"
Li Yuande smiled and said: "My lord, we are businessmen from Haihan. Anyone who wants to deal with us has to weigh the consequences first. Gold Shield has several armed merchant ships that are active all year round in the Gulf of Siam. Once trouble occurs, We can arrive within seven days. Many matters that the Haihan army is inconvenient to come forward to, are handled quietly by Jin Dun."
In fact, in the early years, the situation mentioned by Qian Tiandun also happened. Siamese dignitaries wanted to forcibly rob the goods shipped by Haihan merchants.Although the matter was completed at that time, the shipping business under the jurisdiction of the rich and powerful could not continue afterwards.
There is no other reason. Since the incident happened, one of the powerful cargo ships has disappeared after going out to sea. After losing seven or eight cargoes in succession, a fool can figure out what is going on.I can only admit that I am unlucky, and I have to ask the middleman to apologize to the Haihan businessman who suffered losses before, and it took a lot of effort to settle the matter.
The composition of the Golden Shield escort is very complicated. In addition to serving as bodyguards for caravans overseas, it also takes into account the functions of surveying unfamiliar areas, collecting various intelligence information, and doing dirty work for the Haihan army.It is not uncommon in recent years for Haihan businessmen to suffer hidden losses in overseas markets and spend money to seek revenge from Jindun.
And Li Yuande knows the situation so well, because Jindun was originally the product of the cooperation between Haihan and Furuifeng. Li Yuande's third uncle Li Nai also served as the treasurer of Jindun's escort in the early years. Regarding the deployment of Jindun in the South China Sea area, He naturally knew it well.
Hearing this, Qian Tiandun couldn't help asking curiously: "How many troops does Golden Shield have deployed in the Gulf of Siam? Can the income be maintained normally?"
Although this is the secret of Jindun's business, one of Jindun's roles is the downstream contractor of the army, so there is no need to keep it secret from the military generals, not to mention that Qian Tiandun is Li Yunde's most admired idol, so naturally he confessed immediately.
In fact, the Golden Shield Escort does not have a formal station in the Gulf of Siam. It usually completes supplies and rests in various small countries on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula.There are not many people deployed in the Gulf of Siam for a long time. There are about four to five ships in total, with one or two hundred people.
Thanks to the special relationship with the Haihan Army, the ships used by Golden Shield to perform patrol missions are all retired warships from the navy. Not only are they much faster than ordinary civilian ships, but they also have on-board firepower.Although the number of artillery pieces has been reduced compared with the time when the navy served, it is far from being able to compete with ordinary merchant ships.
To feed such a paramilitary fleet, the expenses are naturally not small.But fortunately, there is a long-term big benefactor in this area, and that is Ambuna Island.
As the most famous gold-selling cave in the South China Sea, the income of Ambuna Island has always been astronomical. Although its location is not in the Gulf of Siam, there are many guests from countries around the Gulf of Siam, including many distinguished figures. .In order to protect the safety of these important guests, sometimes it is necessary to send out the armed ships of Golden Shield to escort them.
Compared with the spending of these dignitaries on Ambuna Island, the cost of maintaining the Golden Shield fleet is nothing.Instead, ensuring the safety of the sea lanes in the Gulf of Siam became a task that was done incidentally during the escorting of important people to and from Ambuna Island.
(End of this chapter)