The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

"All done, Captain Le, would you like to come over for a cup of tea before you leave? It's freshly arrived Tieguanyin, this year's spring tea." Zhang Huai'an extended his hand in invitation after finishing the construction work.

Leclerc's eyes lit up: "Then I'll trouble you."

He turned around and winked at the first mate, who immediately understood. The first mate took out two small jars of red wine and a small cloth bag containing loose silver from the cargo hold, tied it tightly with straw rope, and handed it to the soldiers behind Zhang Huai'an.

Zhang Huai'an glanced at it, but didn't refuse. He smiled and patted Leclerc on the shoulder, which was also why the Han soldiers liked French merchants.

Rich people are generous and have a broad perspective!

Just then, the lookout on the mast suddenly blew his whistle, the sound clearly urgent.

Zhang Huai'an's expression changed, and he turned to look at the sea. Two more ships appeared in the southwest direction. Their sails were completely different from the Iris. They had square sterns, wide bodies, short and thick masts, and deep drafts. They were clearly armed merchant ships fully loaded with cargo.

When Zhang Huai'an saw the two flags clearly, the smile on his face disappeared, because one was a red, white and blue tricolor flag and the other was a red, white and blue horizontal stripe flag, which were the royal flags of the Dutch East India Company and Spain.

"Damn it." Zhang Huai'an spat the sweet grass stalk in his mouth into the sea, turned to Leclerc and said, "Captain Leclerc, it seems we won't be able to have tea. You go first, we'll make it up next time."

Leclerc, being sensible, quickly bowed and returned to the Iris. He stood at the bow watching Zhang Huai'an row back, silently mourning for the two ships behind him for three seconds.

He had personally witnessed the treatment the Spanish and Dutch received at Nantianmen; it was truly miserable!

Zhang Huai'an returned to the Bing-class Fujian ship, his previous lazy demeanor completely gone. He stood at the head of the gun and roared with a powerful voice: "Remove the gun covers, check the iron chains, keep a close watch on the lookouts, and if anyone dares to approach within twenty zhang, fire without asking for permission!"

The twelve soldiers responded in unison, their movements swift and decisive. The covers of the three flying thunder cannons were torn off, and the dark muzzles were pointed towards the southwest.

This flying thunder cannon was designed by the Ministry of Works for the defense line of Nantianmen. It has a short and thick barrel with a caliber as big as a watermelon, and is filled with gunpowder.

The range wasn't far, at most two hundred paces, but the gunpowder pack contained a large number of iron pellets. Once it exploded, nothing within a radius of five zhang would be left standing, and the force of the explosion would also destroy the main body of the ship.

Last year, a Spanish armed merchant ship defied the odds and tried to break through the defenses, only to be hit squarely on the main deck by a high-explosive shell, sending the ship and its cargo to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish.

After that, the Spanish ships behaved much better at Nantianmen, but their resentment was still palpable.

The two ships stopped thirty feet outside the warning line. Captain Van der Meer of the Dutch ship "Tulip" stood at the bow, speaking through a megaphone in broken Mandarin mixed with a Minnan accent: "Sir, we are a legitimate merchant ship, transporting spices and sugar, and we are willing to pay the fees as required."

Zhang Huai'an stood at the bow of the ship, his hands behind his back, and replied expressionlessly, "Dutch ship, Spanish ship, levy an additional 30% toll."

Zhang Huai'an didn't even bother to act; he immediately proposed changing the tariff to a toll, and he immediately offered to increase it by 30%.

Van der Meier's smile froze.

Captain Alfonso of the Spanish ship "San Diego" was known for his fiery temper, and he immediately exploded upon hearing this.

He snatched the megaphone from the first mate and launched into a string of curses in Spanish.

Zhang Huai'an couldn't understand Spanish, but judging from the tone and the way he was spitting everywhere, it certainly wasn't something nice.

A native soldier who knew a little Western language leaned over and whispered, "Boss, he called us pirates and said that the Han Chinese are unreasonable."

Zhang Huai'an sneered, took the megaphone, and spoke in a low but clear voice: "Tell him that in the thirty-second year of the Wanli reign, the Spanish massacred 23,000 merchants and civilians of our Han people in Luzon. In the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli reign, the Dutch occupied Penghu and burned seventeen fishing villages along our coast. The Han people have not forgotten these debts. Adding 30% to his debt today is already being lenient. If he utters another insult, add 50%."

After the soldier translated these words into broken Spanish, a long silence fell over the USS San Diego.

Alfonso's face flushed red, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, but his first mate held his arm tightly and whispered, "Captain, don't be impulsive. Last year, Garcia's ship was sunk by these kinds of cannons, without even a chance to fight back. Let's take 30%, it's better than the cargo sinking to the bottom of the sea."

Van der Meier was far more astute than Alfonso. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhang Huai'an, and said in his broken Mandarin, "You're right, sir. Old scores should be settled. We'll pay thirty percent."

Zhang Huai'an glanced at him but didn't say anything.

The sampan was lowered again. This time, Zhang Huai'an didn't go in person, but sent two soldiers with a copper abacus and a book of paper money. After checking the invoice, estimating the value of the goods, and levying an additional 30%, the whole process was completed. Van der Meier obediently handed over the paper money. Although Alfonso had a dark face throughout, he didn't cause any more trouble.

After the two ships paid their fees and sheepishly sailed into the strait, the sun was already setting. Zhang Huai'an sat back down on the ship's side, picked up a stalk of sweet grass, and a soldier next to him poured him a cup of tea, saying with a grin, "Boss, that Spaniard's face was as black as the bottom of a pot today."

"So what if they're black?" Zhang Huai'an took a sip of sweet grass stalk, squinting at the sunset. "Back when they were killing our people in Luzon, their faces were probably quite rosy."

He paused, then suddenly asked, "How much of the accounts for Company C have been collected today?"

The soldier flipped through the ledger: "Twenty thousand taels from France, fifteen thousand taels from the Netherlands, eighteen thousand taels from Spain, plus the two Portuguese ships and one English ship from this morning, today we collected a total of eighty-three thousand taels."

Zhang Huai'an nodded in satisfaction, took out the C-series seal from his pocket, looked at it in the setting sun. The seal was made of brass and had a line of small characters engraved on it: "Verified by C-series at the South Heavenly Gate of the Great Han Customs".

He put the stamp back in his pocket, stood up, stretched, sucked the last drop of juice from the sweet grass stalk, tossed it into the sea, and shouted to the lookout, "Keep an eye out. The moon is big tonight; there might be some people traveling at night."

The lookout at the very top responded, and at the same time, the lantern at the top of the mast was lit.

Night falls exceptionally quickly in Malacca, plunging the entire sea into darkness, with only the oil lamps on the boats and the sound of iron chains being battered by the waves.

Just as the moon hung in the center, all the Fujian ships blocking the sea lit torches and set off red fireworks, illuminating the nearby sea, while a large number of ships appeared in the west.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Go and report this immediately!"