Chapter 990 - Thonburi

Thonburi's Chinese and Japanese merchants operated businesses of remarkably broad scope. Ping Qiusheng strolled along the Chinese merchant street. Low wooden buildings lined both sides, housing shops of every description. Most were owned by Chinese, selling an astonishing variety of wares—from expensive Chinese silk fabrics, porcelain, and handicrafts, to cheap daily necessities, to fruits, dried goods, even pickled vegetables and sauces. Everything imaginable was available. One could fairly say that without the steady supply of Chinese daily necessities, these Southeast Asian "kingdoms" would be living semi-barbaric lives.

Chinese influence ran deep in the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The dynasty relied heavily on Chinese industrial and commercial talent. Perhaps because King Uthong himself was of Chinese descent, Siam had always treated the Chinese relatively favorably, permitting them to reside inside Ayutthaya city proper. The Japanese and Portuguese, by contrast, were confined to settlements outside the walls.

Because of this favorable treatment, Chinese industry and commerce had developed rapidly here. Many had amassed great fortunes. Those dark-skinned men bustling about in short, drab shops might well be conducting trade worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Ping Qiusheng spotted several Lingao-produced products in the merchant street: straw hats, rum, "Australian" candy, white sugar, paper... Whatever major products the transmigrator group manufactured, almost all were sold here. However, quantities were small and prices extremely expensive.

Commodities possess their own fluidity—whether superior in quality or competitive in price, goods will automatically flow to find markets. The fact that these had traveled here indicated that the market for "Australian goods" was even broader than estimated.

Ping Qiusheng felt a surge of excitement. With so many Chinese merchants commanding substantial capital and manpower, they were practically natural collaborators—a ready-made fifth column! The Ming and Qing dynasties, blessed with such excellent overseas foundations, had regarded overseas Chinese as "abandoned people"—not merely neglecting them but actively treating them as enemies. In the end, they had surrendered this living space south of the mainland—territory that Chinese people should naturally have claimed—to the locals.

However, Feng Shengyue's observations poured cold water on Ping Qiusheng's enthusiasm.

As it turned out, the Chinese community was riven by factions hostile to one another. Throughout Southeast Asia, relations among Teochew, Hakka, and Southern Fujian communities could be described as fire and water—conflicts erupted constantly. Beyond these regional divisions, smaller hometown groups existed. Clan power remained formidable, each faction forming its own cliques, squeezing out outsiders, not hesitating to collude with local strongmen against rivals.

None of this was particularly surprising in the seventeenth century, before modern nationalism had developed. Ping Qiusheng recognized that immediate assistance from local Chinese was unlikely. Developing trade relations with Chinese merchants and exploiting their commercial networks was perhaps more realistic—key initiatives still required their own people.

Ping Qiusheng's delegation received warm hospitality only from merchants of the Qiongshan faction. Though everyone generally didn't consider Australians as Great Ming subjects, since the Australians were based in Hainan, they were regarded as part of that community. Especially since in recent years, Hainan merchants had made considerable fortunes trading Australian goods and Southeast Asian products back and forth.

The Qiongshan faction wielded limited influence among local Chinese merchants, lacking significant voice. Their businesses were modest as well. The local guild leader hosted Ping Qiusheng and his companions for drinks and opera at the Qiongshan Guild Hall, where the delegation gathered substantial intelligence during the evening's conversation. Chinese merchant influence here was not merely great but penetrated deep into the interior. Beyond the large merchants engaged in import-export trade, small peddlers dealt in everyday commodities—firewood, rice, oil, salt. These itinerant traders ventured into the interior, opening shops in villages and towns no one had ever heard of, selling goods, purchasing local products, and establishing an extensive commercial network. In Ping Qiusheng's assessment, these small peddlers were far more valuable to the Senate than the maritime trade merchants sitting in the ports.

The Divine King's envoy, Worawong, soon arrived in Thonburi and received Ping Qiusheng's party. After several days of negotiations, both sides reached a preliminary trade agreement: In exchange for the Senate selling weapons to Siam, ships of the Southeast Asia Company authorized by the Senate would be permitted to anchor and trade in Thonburi and Pattani—limited to two large vessels per visit. Southeast Asia Company ships would be exempt from anchorage fees.

Company merchants could freely trade with any merchants they chose. However, they were not permitted to enter the Siamese interior without authorization.

Company merchants could import various goods without restriction, but each voyage must include designated quantities of weapons. They also retained the right to export any goods they desired. Import products would pay duties according to regulations—weapons were exempt.

Because this was a first visit and both sides had not yet established sufficient mutual trust, Ping Qiusheng did not request to establish a warehouse or trading post locally—they currently lacked capacity to maintain posts in Siam anyway, and even had he proposed it, the other side might well have declined.

Both sides were satisfied with this preliminary agreement. Worawong nurtered considerable ambitions—he was intensely interested in the "Australians" or, as the Ming people termed them, "Hair people." Particularly intriguing were the rumors of their formidable military power.

He developed a keen interest in the two ships the Southeast Asia Company had sailed in. Though for security reasons he did not propose inspecting them, he still managed to observe from nearby vessels. Outwardly, these two ships hardly differed from ordinary Chinese merchant vessels. Except for slight differences in deck layout and mast configuration, the hulls were essentially identical. Even a "landlubber" like Worawong recognized these as ordinary Chinese junks that the Australians had modified—the modification traces were quite visible, particularly the contrast between old and new materials.

Armament particularly caught his attention. The rise of the Tai people owed much to their emphasis on military force. Tai military prowess, Khmer administration, and Chinese industry and commerce formed the three pillars of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Ordinary Chinese merchant ships rarely carried cannons—only English, Dutch, and Portuguese vessels mounted such weapons. But these two ships flying the "Nine-Section Flag" both bore deck-mounted cannons: black, short, and thick, unlike any Western artillery he had seen before. Obviously, once fired, the massive projectiles they launched would cause devastating damage.

Beyond that, he was fascinated by the "matchlock guns" the sailors carried. Worawong was intimately familiar with matchlock guns: Burma, Ayutthaya's arch-enemy, deployed them extensively, while Siam's matchlock guns relied entirely on imports. Since the Australians could universally equip sailors with these weapons, they obviously possessed adequate supplies.

Through opportunities his subordinates found while delivering water and provisions to the ships, Worawong gleaned additional details: these guns featured more refined appearances with superior surface finish. Also, these weapons seemed not to use match-cords—the sailors carrying them never bore match-cords on their persons, though the cords wound around matchlock gunners' bodies were traditionally one of their distinctive features.

Though he very much hoped to personally witness the power of these novel weapons, a suitable opportunity never presented itself. Finally, during a banquet, he seized the chance to request a demonstration. Ping Qiusheng immediately instructed his men to oblige.

When a Special Reconnaissance Team sharpshooter used a J+-marked high-precision Minié rifle to shatter a ceramic jar at one hundred fifty meters with a single shot, every native present stood stunned. Matchlock guns had an effective range of perhaps fifty paces, and hitting anything was purely a matter of luck. To strike a target from such distance with one shot was simply unheard of.

Worawong proposed purchasing these weapons and was naturally refused. However, Ping Qiusheng suggested they purchase cannons instead. To demonstrate his sincerity, he ordered his flagship to bombard an islet reef in the bay.

The spectacle of sixty-eight-pound iron cannonballs striking the reef was awe-inspiring—reef fragments exploded skyward, smoke billowing into the heavens. Worawong immediately approved this suggestion, requesting that the Southeast Asia Company bring one such cannon with matching ammunition on its next voyage, plus provide gunnery training services.

As for the price, he didn't even ask—expressing only that he would pay with whatever goods the Australians required. Obviously, arms dealing was a high-margin enterprise.

Two weeks later, the fully laden fleet commenced its return voyage. Everything Ping Qiusheng had brought sold out completely. All fifteen hundred Model 1631 machetes were purchased by Worawong. Prasat Thong's main force numbered around four thousand men; after complete re-equipment, annual consumption of one thousand pieces could be expected, plus civilian demand.

At conversion prices, one Model 1631 machete sold for one tael. Combined with Australian sugar and various sundries, the expedition traded for nearly thirty thousand dan of rice. Part was transported with the fleet; the remainder was left at local Qiongshan-faction merchants' warehouses, awaiting ships for transfer.

Amid his busy work, Ping Qiusheng occasionally guided Quark with earnest hints: this region was unstable, and the Senate urgently needed the rice and minerals here. If interested, Quark might well establish a trading post—even if merely watching the field for the Australians, it would also serve as a trade window for the English East India Company—though the English East India Company preferred Pattani.

Ping Qiusheng did not trust Worawong. Quark possessed great ambitions too, but he was first and foremost a merchant, focused on profit, and his commercial credibility had been recognized by the Senate. Worawong, confronted with enormous profits, might well repeat what he had done to the Japanese merchants.

Ping Qiusheng also released information to local Chinese and Japanese merchants: rice, potash salt ore, and timber from here—Lingao would purchase as much as available. Local merchants willing to serve the Australians, capable of transporting goods directly to Lingao or Sanya, would receive generous compensation. He had no desire to let Quark monopolize trade here—after all, once they freed their hands, this territory would become directly administered by the transmigrator group. Having grain controlled by anyone was never reassuring.

(End of Chapter)