The Rise of the European Emperor

Tamsui Port is located on the right side of the Tamsui River Estuary. It is one of the earliest ports on Taiwan Island, and Anping Port in Tainan is the earliest port with trading activities on the island.

Although Anping Port was built earlier, when it comes to history, it is still not as good as Danshui Port. why? Strictly speaking, Anping Port became an important port after the arrival of the Dutch colonists. And Danshui Port, when Japanese pirates were rampant during the Jiajing period, was a transit point for the trade of Chinese medicine with Japan. Of course, it is also an important area where Japanese pirates rest.

Because the location of Danshui Port is so good. To the west of Danshui Port is facing Hu Jian Putian. A little further north is Fuzhou Port. Moreover, merchant ships traveling from Ming Dynasty to Japan must stop here to replenish fresh water. In addition, when navigating, Datun Mountain on the east side of Tamsui Port will also be used as a natural navigation mark to locate the navigating position.

The Ming Dynasty's navigation industry was not developed. Although Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas were the feat of the early Ming Dynasty, it was only the officials who had advanced ocean-going navigation technologies such as star-stretching. As for the folk, they don't have those navigation skills. Moreover, the boss of the private ship has no culture. Their nautical technology is to use the compass to identify the direction. Then, starting from Daming, using Datun Mountain in the north of Taiwan Island as an important reference, sailing eastward to the Ryukyu Islands, and then using the Ryukyu Islands as a reference landmark, with the help of a compass, sailed to Japan. The same is true for sailing from Japan to Daming.

Unlike Marin's North Sea State, it has already created a nautical killer such as a sextant. As long as the ancestors provide coordinates, an ordinary young captain who knows how to calculate coordinates can easily take the old route. The bosses of the folk boats in Ming Dynasty these days purely rely on experience to get into the sea.

Therefore, in any case, Danshui Port is an important maritime traffic hub in the northern part of Taiwan Island. At the same time, the contact with Daming is also very convenient. From Danshui Port to Fuzhou, the straight-line distance is about 200 kilometers, and the boat can arrive in two days, which is very convenient.

If Daming sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to inspect it, the first choice of landing point would definitely be Danshui Port. And the starting point will most likely be in Fuzhou.

Because Fuzhou itself is a reception point for vassal states, mainly receiving the Ryukyu Kingdom, an important vassal state of Ming Dynasty. The envoys of the Ryukyu Kingdom usually follow the Datun Mountain in the north of Taiwan Island, pass through the mouth of the Tamsui River, and then go to Fuzhou Port for tribute trade.

In my previous life, because the three links between the two sides of the strait have always been an important issue, and during the reign of Brother Ma Jiu before crossing the strait, there were frequent exchanges between the two sides of the strait, and a project to travel to Taiwan Island appeared. In those few years, traveling to Taiwan Island was very popular, and there were many pictures and texts introducing Taiwan Island tourism on the Internet. Although Marin had no money in his previous life, he liked to read travel pictures and texts to "satisfy his greed". Therefore, he also has a certain understanding of many scenic spots on Taiwan Island.

For example, Danshui Port has famous scenic spots such as Tamsui Hongmao City, Huwei Fort, and the former Tamsui Customs Taxation Office (Little White House).

And this time Marin attacked Danshui Port, he chose the location of Hongmao City and the Customs Wharf in the later generations, that is, the Danshui River entered a little bit instead of directly at the mouth of the sea.

This is because, if you are directly at the mouth of the sea, you will be vulnerable to the impact of the tide when you encounter strong winds at sea. These days, ships are all made of wood, which cannot withstand the huge sea waves. Therefore, it is safer to go in from the mouth of the river.

...

Marin brought all eight hundred soldiers this time, and made them all wear plate armor and rhinoceros leather armor for combat to resist the attacks of the local aborigines. Among them, hundreds of people in the front row were wearing plate armor. Others, on the other hand, wore rhinoceros leather armor.

This is because infantry wearing plate armor consumes a lot of energy. Although the 1,000 people brought by Marin were the elite of the Beihai Kingdom, only more than 100 people were able to fight for a long time wearing plate armor weighing dozens of kilograms.

Others have not been able to do this, including Marin himself. Therefore, Marin only asked a hundred of his men to put on full suits and act as meat shields in front. And he led the other 800 people to wear lighter rhinoceros leather armor and follow behind...

...

Sure enough, as Marin imagined, although the aborigines in Danshui Port are the same as Keelung, they are also Ketagalan people in the Pingpu nationality. However, because the Ketagalan people near Danshui Port have never seen the part where Kong Tai used a solar cooker to dance to the gods, they naturally have no awe of Marin and others.

When Marin's army landed, several local fan societies (the constituent units of the aborigines of Taiwan Island, equivalent to tribes or villages in primitive society) gathered eight or nine hundred strong men, armed with primitive weapons such as stone spears and javelins, Come to stop Marin and others.

However, it doesn't help...

Marin's men, especially the 100 people in the front row, were wearing full-body plate armor that was not afraid of swords and guns. All the attacks of the locals failed. Throwing the javelin and piercing it with the stone spear, I didn't feel it at all...

On Marin's side, one hundred elite soldiers in plate armor, led by Marin's number one fierce general Kahn, held wooden sticks and bravely launched a countercharge to the opponent. At the same time, Marin and the group of men wearing rhinoceros leather armor are still landing...

With just one charge, the eight or nine hundred aboriginal fighters on the opposite side were crushed. It's really... This battle can't be fought - our own attack is completely ineffective against the enemy, how can we fight like this?

But Kahn and the others charged up viciously with sticks in their hands, knocking down those native warriors one after another...

This is also the reason why Kahn and others switched to sticks when Marin didn't want to kill innocent people indiscriminately. Therefore, most of the defeated native fighters were just knocked down or suffered minor superficial injuries, and none of them were in danger of life. If it were a normal sword, there would probably be corpses everywhere...

After Marin landed with the remaining 800 people, the task was very simple - they were to help capture the fleeing native fighters...

Because, the number one hundred elite warriors in plate armor, because the armor is too heavy, can't run away from the natives who don't even have complete clothes. Chasing and catching captives can only be done by Marin and others wearing lighter rhinoceros leather armor...

In this way, after a very short battle, the 800 or 900 aboriginal fighters dispatched by the Ketagalan aborigines in the five communities near Danshui Port were easily defeated and more than 700 people were arrested. ...

And these more than 700 people are basically the majority of the indigenous males in the five nearby fan clubs. Even the leaders of the three fan clubs were among the captives...

The battle has reached this point, and several local fan clubs have completely collapsed. The men are gone, do we have to rely on women and children to fight against Marin's army?

After Marin sent several Ketagalan representatives invited from Keelung to negotiate, several local fan clubs announced their surrender. Because Marin's requirements are relatively loose, and he didn't make too many demands. He only asked for the right to use the flat land by the Danshui River. In addition, I just want to hire local young men to help build a castle...

yes, the castle...

Marin originally planned to build a new city about the size of Keelung City in Danshui Port. However, there are not enough building materials in hand at the moment, only some red bricks, lack of stone, and lack of cement.

Therefore, Marin simply planned to build a temporary small city with red bricks at the location of Hongmao City in later generations.

This walled city is not as big as Keelung City. Its length and width are only 50 meters, which is equivalent to the size of a small playground in a school in later generations, and smaller than Hongmao City in later generations. Its function is mainly to defend against retaliation attacks by indigenous people, or attacks by Japanese pirates.

Therefore, this small red brick fortress does not need to be large, and a small playground is sufficient. Moreover, there are only a few dozen people stationed inside.

In addition, the reason for building a small castle is because the construction speed of the small castle is fast. After all, once he succeeds in applying for qualifications, the Ming court will send someone to check. At that time, it needs to be used to deal with it. If it is to build a city, the time is too late. Therefore, it is better to build a smaller fortress to deal with inspections. Anyway, in the eyes of Ming people, he is a barbarian. Shouldn't barbarians live in smaller castles?

Then, it is enough to reclaim some farmland near the Danshui River to create the illusion that this is a developed site. Moreover, those small civil servants sent by the Ministry of Rites to inspect would never have the courage to go deep into the inland to investigate in those aboriginal fan clubs. As long as some farmland is reclaimed by the Danshui River, it is enough to fool...

...

And this small castle, Marin named it Freshwater City. Unfortunately, Van der Beek, the garrison chief of Freshwater City he appointed, had red hair, and the whole castle was made of red bricks. Then, people actually called this small castle "Red Hair City"...