Chapter 2964

Just like in Cambodian waters before, the sudden appearance of the Haihan Fleet in the northern Gulf of Siam also triggered local panic.

Neither the fishermen who went fishing nor the Siamese navy responsible for maritime patrol had ever seen such a large armed fleet, and the fear that arose caused them to turn around and sail to the coast to avoid it.

Chan Thien Don did not care much about the reaction of the local people. He was more interested in the Bangkok area located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Siam. The opportunity was rare, and he wanted to witness with his own eyes what Bangkok was like in the mid-seventeenth century.

But the reality may only disappoint Chan Thien Don. At this time, Bangkok was far from being a city. There were only some fishing villages and small markets on both sides of the Chao Phraya River estuary. The liveliness was even far less than that of Vung Tau Port.

It would not be until King Rama I moved the capital to Bangkok more than a hundred years later that it would become a prosperous coastal city.

At this time, the really prosperous area in Siam was the city of Ayutthaya, which was more than 100 miles upstream of the Chao Phraya River. However, there was no arrangement to visit Ayutthaya City in the itinerary, and no Siamese officials were notified in advance.

There are few opportunities to see the prosperous side of this country.

The Haihan fleet stopped at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Although they did not deliberately block the mouth of the river, once the fleet moved there, no civilian ships would dare to enter or leave the Chao Phraya River through here.

However, after all, the Chao Phraya River is one of the most important water transportation channels in Siam, so 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 intention of the Haihan fleet was not to start a war, they immediately changed their appearance and expressed that they could provide various supplies to the fleet. Of course, such services are not provided free of charge.

In addition, if the Haihan fleet has goods that it is willing to sell, officials can also contact local businessmen to come forward on their behalf.

Obviously, local officials treat the Haihan fleet as an armed caravan. After all, Siam is an open country in terms of cross-border commerce. Merchant ships from Eastern and Western countries often arrive in Siam, and Haihan is among them.

one.

Qian Tiandun was not interested in commercial activities, but he still asked Li Yuande to come forward to communicate with Siamese officials. After all, he had been here many times, and he must have a better understanding of local trade rules than the military.

Li Yuande's transport fleet did bring a batch of Haihan commodities as emergency needs. However, in order to ensure safety, these transport ships were dozens of miles away on the sea at this time, and transactions had to be postponed until at least the next day.

After Li Yuande obtained consent, he made an appointment with Siamese officials to discuss the details of the transaction the next day.

"When our country's goods are sold to Siam, we can generally earn a gross profit of more than 40%. However, the voyage from Sanya to here is almost four to five thousand miles, and the round trip takes at least two months. Many maritime merchants are not willing to spend the money.

So much time was spent traveling to Siam to do business.”

After sending away the Siamese officials, Li Yuande took the initiative to introduce the trade situation here to Qian Tiandun: "Most of Siam's cross-border trade is monopolized by the royal family and the powerful, and there are almost no private businessmen who can engage in this field. But this

For us foreign businessmen, it’s not entirely a bad thing. As long as one or two links are opened, all trade activities in Siam can be officially protected.”

Qian Tiandun asked: "Aren't you worried about being eaten by local snakes?"

Li Yuande smiled and said: "Sir, we are merchants from Haihan. Anyone who wants to deal with us must first consider the consequences. Jindun has several armed merchant ships operating around the Gulf of Siam all year round. Once trouble occurs,

We can arrive within seven days. Many matters that are inconvenient for the Haihan Army to come forward are handled quietly by Jindun."

In fact, the situation mentioned by Qian Tiandun also happened in the early years. A Siamese dignitary wanted to forcibly snatch the goods shipped by Haihan merchants. Although the matter was completed at that time, the shipping business under the jurisdiction of this powerful man later

But I couldn’t do it anymore.

There is no other reason. Since the incident, this powerful cargo ship has disappeared one after another. After losing seven or eight cargoes in succession, a fool can imagine what happened. He can only admit that he is unlucky, and he has to

I asked a middleman to apologize to the Haihan merchants who had suffered losses before, and it took a lot of effort to settle the matter.

The components of the Golden Shield escort are very complex. In addition to serving as bodyguards for caravans overseas, they also take care of the functions of surveying unfamiliar areas, collecting various intelligence information, and doing dirty work for the Haihan army. Haihan merchants are

It is not uncommon in recent years for overseas markets to suffer hidden losses and spend money to seek revenge from Golden Shield.

And Li Yuande understands the situation so well, because Golden Shield was originally the product of the cooperation between Haihan and Furifeng. Li Yuande's third uncle Li Nai also served as the treasurer of Golden Shield in the early years. As for the deployment of Golden Shield in the South China Sea,

Of course he understood it well.

When Qian Tiandun heard this, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "How many troops does Jindun deploy here in the Gulf of Siam? Can the income maintain normal operations?"

Although this is Jindun's business secret, one of Jindun's roles is as a downstream contractor for the military, so there is no need to keep it secret from military generals. What's more, Qian Tiandun is Li Yunde's most admired idol, so he naturally revealed everything immediately.

Golden Shield actually 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, about four to five ships in total.

Boat, one or two hundred people.

Thanks to the special relationship with the Haihan Army, the ships used by Jindun to perform patrol missions are all retired warships from the navy. Not only are their speeds much faster than ordinary civilian ships, but they also have their own shipboard firepower. Although the number of artillery pieces is larger

The naval service period has been reduced, but it is far from what ordinary merchant ships can compete with.

To support 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 Ambona Island.

As the most famous gold-selling cave in the South China Sea, the income of Ampurna Island has always been astronomical. Although it is not located in the Gulf of Siam, it has many guests from the countries surrounding the Gulf of Siam, including many distinguished figures.

.In order to protect the safety of these important guests, it is sometimes necessary to dispatch armed ships with golden shields for escort.

Compared with the lavish spending of these dignitaries on Ampurna Island, the cost of maintaining the Golden Shield fleet is nothing. Ensuring the safety of the sea lanes in the Gulf of Siam has become a incidental task of escorting important figures to and from Ampurna Island.

task.
Chapter completed!