Part 261: The Master of Anping

Fujian, Quanzhou Prefecture

Quanzhou was a prefecture, governing the seven counties of Jinjiang, Nan’an, Tong’an, Hui’an, Anxi, Yongchun, and Dehua. The prefectural seat was in Jinjiang County. Nan’an, the hometown of the Senate’s greatest potential enemy and the thorn in their side, Zheng Zhilong, was located northwest of Jinjiang County.

Since Zheng Zhilong accepted the amnesty and became a guerrilla general, returning home in glory, the Zheng family had become the wealthiest in Quanzhou.

The Zheng family bought up large tracts of land in Nan’an, planting various cash crops for export. In addition to being sea merchants, they had become great landlords. The Zheng clansmen in Nan’an naturally prospered as well, building magnificent mansions.

However, Zheng Zhilong was not satisfied with Nan’an’s geographical location. As a maritime overlord, he valued a good port more. Therefore, he chose to build a fortified city in Anping Town, Jinjiang, as his main base.

Anping Town was under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou Prefecture. It was not located in Quanzhou Bay, where the Jinjiang River flowed, but faced Weitou Bay, with Kinmen Island in sight. In ancient times, it was called Wanhai. In the Song Dynasty, it was renamed “Anhai,” and in the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to “Anping.” Not content with just one “An” (peace), they added a “Ping” (calm), probably because the place was often harassed by pirates.

In the 37th year of the Jiajing era, it was attacked by Japanese pirates and suffered greatly. Only then was a city wall built. The devastation of the pirate raid had such a lasting impact that even though it was eighty years ago, people still spoke of it with fear.

Before his amnesty, Zheng Zhilong had continuously attacked Yuegang, the traditional foreign trade port of Fujian, completely destroying its foreign trade. In doing so, he succeeded in shifting the foreign trade port to Anping and Zhongzuosuo, which were under his control.

His choice of Anping as his base was well-considered. Anping Town, along with Xiamen Island (Zhongzuosuo) and the Greater and Lesser Kinmen Islands, which were under his control, formed a tightly controlled Weitou Bay. Any enemy attacking here would face great risks.

Zheng Zhilong had the walls of Anping extensively repaired, almost rebuilding a new city. Anping became Zheng Zhilong’s military stronghold and maritime trade base. Ships trading with Japan and Taiwan all passed through here. The Dutch called these merchant ships “Anhai ships.”

Besides building walls and dredging the docks, he did not neglect his own enjoyment. Starting in the spring of the third year of the Chongzhen era, Zheng Zhilong began the large-scale construction of his own mansion in Anping. This luxurious mansion took 3 years and 2 months to complete.

According to the Gazetteer of Chidian Township from the Jiaqing era, the Zheng Mansion was located north of Anping Bridge, extending from Xidai in the west to Xigang, reaching Xiantou in the north, and bordering the head of Anping Bridge in the south, with direct access to the Wugang Port, covering an area of 138 mu. The main structure was a five-bay, thirteen-frame building in the xieshan style, with three gates, two fire alleys, and five courtyards. Flanking halls, pavilions, and terraces faced each other, forming a screen. To the east was the “Dunren Pavilion,” to the west the “Taiyun Tower,” the front hall was the “Catholic Church,” and the central hall was the “Xiaosi Hall,” all of a grand scale. Behind the main house was the “Zhiyuan Garden,” enclosed by a wall, with hills, pavilions, secluded houses, ponds, small bridges, winding paths, fine trees, and rare flowers and plants.

At this moment, this luxurious mansion was still under intense construction. Zheng Zhilong and his family were temporarily residing in a smaller mansion in Anping Town.

Zheng Zhilong was currently in his private study. Although the Senate was obsessed with him, few noted that Zheng Zhilong was not old. He was born in 1604, making him only twenty-eight in 1631. When he took over Yan Siqi’s former subordinates, he was only twenty-one. In the old world, he would have been a bona fide “young talent” or one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons.”

By 1631, Zheng Zhilong had eliminated most of his maritime rivals, including Li Kuiqi, who had once nearly cornered him. He had completely controlled the trade with Japan and forced his former employers, the Dutch sea-coachmen, to trade on his terms. At this time, he commanded a vast fleet that dominated the China Seas and monopolized the trade with Japan and Taiwan. The phrases “earning a thousand taels of gold a day” and “as rich as a nation” were no exaggeration when applied to him. He was a true “tall, rich, and handsome” of the Ming Dynasty—and Zheng Zhilong was also a handsome man with delicate features.

He held a document in his hand.

The document had been brought a few days ago by a Zheng family merchant ship returning from Taiwan. The writer was Zheng Zhilong’s agent in Taiwan: Guo Huaiyi.

Guo Huaiyi’s identity was that of a leader of the Han Chinese immigrants in Tainan. On the surface, he was just the village chief of the immigrant village of Youchehang. In reality, Guo Huaiyi had once been Zheng Zhilong’s subordinate, a pawn he had left behind in Tainan.

Zheng Zhilong’s rise to power was closely related to his inheritance of Yan Siqi’s legacy, and the forces in Taiwan were part of that legacy.

Yan Siqi was a major sea lord who roamed the seas between China and Japan, engaged in trade and piracy. He had ten main leaders under him, including Yang Tiansheng, Zhang Hong, Lin Fu, Lin Yi, Li Junchen, Chen Zhongji, and Zheng Zhilong.

Like many famous sea lords of the time, Yan Siqi used Japan as his main base. As the authority of the shogunate grew, Yan Siqi, foreseeing trouble, considered establishing a base outside of Japan.

There were many places to choose from for a base on the islands off the coast of China, but the lingering prestige of the Ming Dynasty was still present, and its military power had not yet declined to the point of being easily defeated. The islands off the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang were off-limits—the fate of Shuangyu was a lesson. Even in Penghu, the Dutch had built forts several times and been driven out by the Ming army each time. Therefore, they could only choose a remote island overseas—Taiwan, a “land beyond civilization,” thus came into their view.

In 1624, Yan Siqi led his subordinates and immigrants to Beigang, where they established a fortified camp and recruited immigrants from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to reclaim and cultivate the land. In September of the following year, Yan Siqi was said to have died from a cold while hunting in the mountains of Zhuluo.

Yan Siqi’s sudden death was suspicious, but regardless, the twenty-one-year-old Zheng Zhilong inherited Yan Siqi’s position as leader and most of his legacy.

After inheriting Yan Siqi’s position, Zheng Zhilong did not put much effort into expanding and cultivating Taiwan. The Dutch were expanding their power in Taiwan rapidly, and the Spanish had also joined in. In 1626, the Spanish built Fort San Salvador near Keelung. Two years later, the Spanish built Fort Santo Domingo in what is now Tamsui. At that time, Zheng Zhilong was engaged in constant battles with various maritime powers for naval supremacy and was unwilling to get involved in another messy conflict. He once decided to abandon the immigrant settlements in Taiwan and withdraw to Fujian. Later, he abandoned this idea and instead continued to manage Taiwan. In 1628, southern Fujian suffered a severe drought, and there were many famine victims. With the support of Xiong Wencan, Zheng Zhilong recruited tens of thousands of disaster victims from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, giving each person three taels of silver and one ox for every three people, and transported them by sea to Beigang to reclaim wasteland and settle. This greatly expanded the number and power of the Fujianese immigrants in Taiwan.

However, from beginning to end, Zheng Zhilong never sent armed forces to Taiwan, nor did he explicitly declare sovereignty over it. He only supported the leaders among the Fujianese immigrants in Taiwan, using them to remotely control the local immigrant villages. But over the years, he had not interfered much in local affairs. He did not intervene when the Dutch collected a head tax from the Chinese.

Through the local reclamation leaders, Zheng Zhilong continued to control Beigang—the earliest area where mainland immigrants landed and developed. Guo Huaiyi, who was within the Dutch-ruled area, wrote to him almost every month, reporting on the local situation. As the local Chinese leader, the Dutch relied on him for many local administrative matters, so Zheng Zhilong was well-informed about the Dutch’s every move and their trade situation.

He had long known that the Dutch were secretly colluding with Liu Xiang and providing him with support, but for now, he could not bring himself to break with them.

The Dutch were two-faced and were equally half-hearted in their support for Liu Xiang. They would never truly commit. Their only goal was to play both sides and maintain a balance of power at sea. If he broke with them now, it would only force the Dutch to openly oppose him.

Although Zheng Zhilong was not afraid of the Dutch’s strength—he had taught them a lesson a few years ago—he was not a man who enjoyed war. He was first and foremost a merchant. If the Dutch truly stood against him and did their best to support Liu Xiang with ships and cannons, it would cause him a great deal of trouble.

Guo Huaiyi’s letter, however, did not mention the Dutch. His report was about the Australians.

The letter mentioned that he had learned from the Dutch and the local natives that on the third day of the previous month, September, an Australian fleet had suddenly arrived at Takao Harbor and immediately landed. They transported a large number of personnel and supplies ashore and had already built forts and stockades. It seemed they intended to establish a settlement there.

Zheng Zhilong was no stranger to the Australians, or the “Kun thieves.” A few years ago, he had known about the Australian goods and the Australians themselves. Li Siya had reported to him about them and had even presented him with a few rare “Australian goods.” Although their origins were mysterious and they had many strange things—like the giant iron ship.

However, in stark contrast to the Senate, which considered him a major threat, Zheng Zhilong did not pay them much mind. The Australians were entrenched in Lingao—the Guangdong waters were not his sphere of influence, and he had no intention of extending his reach there. In recent years, he had been busy dealing with his various rivals at sea. The Australians, located in a corner of western Guangdong, posed no threat to him and were, in fact, a thorn in the side of Zhu Cailao.

It was only last year, when the Australians defeated the full-scale attack by the Guangdong provincial army, then entered the Pearl River Estuary, defeated the government forces, and advanced to the walls of Guangzhou before retreating, that Zheng Zhilong first truly took notice of them. At the very least, they were a force whose strength and will were no less than his own. He began to pay some attention to this group of overseas visitors who claimed to be descendants of the Song Dynasty.