Chapter 1189: The Shun Stir Up Hatred, the Dutch Do Business

When Li Laiheng was confidently thumping his chest and making guarantees to his Ada, Li Guo, his precious son, the Shun Imperial Grandson Li Jicheng, had already brought gifts and his "sister" — a Japanese-European mixed-blood girl named Yamada Anna whom Li Dingguo had seized from the city of Ayutthaya (the Ayutthaya dynasty had begun hiring wandering Japanese samurai as soldiers very early on, and there were more than a thousand households of Japanese immigrants around the city of Ayutthaya; Anna was born into a Japanese-descended Siamese noble family) — and together with Bruce van Diemen had crossed the Arakan Mountains and arrived beneath the walls of Mrauk U, the capital of the Kingdom of Arakan.

The Kingdom of Arakan at this time was by no means a weak state — the very fact that this country could stand firm between the mighty Mughal Empire and the Toungoo dynasty already said everything.

And Arakan's strength was owed to the Muslim sultans of neighboring Bengal and to Portuguese colonizers who had come from afar — the Muslim sultans of Bengal had always regarded the Kingdom of Arakan, which bordered Chittagong, as their next object of conquest. In the fifteenth century they had nearly succeeded, forcing the Buddhist Kingdom of Arakan to bow its head and submit, and it had even accepted Muslim titles. It seemed only a matter of time before Arakan became a Muslim sultanate. But just as the sultans of Bengal were about to succeed, the Age of Discovery arrived!

Portuguese colonizers entered the imperiled Kingdom of Arakan from the sea, bringing foreign cannon, foreign guns, and foreign soldiers (Portuguese mercenaries and Japanese mercenaries) to the endangered Buddhist state. The Kingdom of Arakan, rich but not strong (its coastline was very long, and it had been a great trading state since ancient times), faced with the destruction of both its state and its religion before its very eyes, had no leisure to guard against Western colonizers and began greedily absorbing power from the sea. As a result, by the early seventeenth century, the once moribund state of Arakan had become the little overlord of the Bay of Bengal — holding off Toungoo in the east, advancing into Bengal in the west, and even driving out the Muslim sultans of Chittagong!

Yet the now-powerful Kingdom of Arakan could not rest entirely at ease, because the country's foundation was limited, and strong powers kept rising on both its eastern and western flanks, forcing Arakan to maintain defenses on both sides and making it unable to throw its full strength into expansion in any one direction.

And now Arakan, at the very peak of its national power, faced a pincer attack from two great powers it simply could not defeat — one was the Shun Empire, which had swept south and swallowed up the weakened Toungoo kingdom; the other was the fearsome Mughal Empire under the rule of Aurangzeb!

That was right — the Mughal Empire at this moment was a fearsome great power!

The emperor who ruled this country, Aurangzeb, was quite unlike his predecessors — he was a Muslim "puritan."

The sort of madman who grudged himself food and grudged himself clothing, saving every bit of money to fight "God's war"!

Although historically this "puritan" emperor had tormented the easygoing Indians until they turned angry, causing the decline of the Mughal dynasty, his tormenting had only just begun now. The Hindu Indians could still endure it, while the Muslims were in high spirits — so one can imagine the state of the country's power!

Add to that the earlier alliance with the Dzungar Khanate and the Khanate of Khiva to annihilate their old enemy the Khanate of Bukhara in one stroke, and the recovery of their ancestral land of Samarkand — they were now so exhilarated they could hardly contain themselves. How could the surrounding countries not be afraid? Taking Samarkand was not merely gaining another piece of territory; it gave Aurangzeb a source of manpower from which to recruit excellent warriors!

So the hard days for the countries around the Mughal Empire had truly arrived!

And for King Sanda Thudhamma, a devout Buddhist, a Muslim puritan emperor was far more terrifying than the Shun Emperor, who likewise believed in Buddhism.

Therefore, when the Dutch, who held mastery of the seas (the Dutch were also a power the Kingdom of Arakan could not afford to offend), proposed to broker a Shun–Arakan alliance, King Sanda Thudhamma agreed without the slightest hesitation.

But King Sanda Thudhamma was no fool — he also knew that the Shun state had suddenly attacked the Toungoo state last time, which did not look very righteous! So he put forward a marriage alliance demand — he wanted to marry a daughter or granddaughter of the Shun Emperor, making Shun and Arakan kin through a father-in-law and son-in-law bond.

This request was quickly approved by Li Jicheng, and Li Jicheng further proposed to personally escort his sister to Mrauk U for the matchmaking meeting.

Mrauk U was famously strong! In the past, Tabinshwehti, the founding monarch of the Toungoo state at the height of its power, had led an army of nineteen thousand across the Arakan Mountains to besiege Mrauk U, only to end in a crushing defeat.

That was why Li Jicheng had decided to make the trip to Mrauk U himself — to take a close look at this fortress renowned for its strength.

But Bruce van Diemen, who had come to Mrauk U with him, had no idea that the Shun Imperial Grandson was already scheming against the Kingdom of Arakan — in his view, Arakan was the buffer between Shun and the Mughals; once this country was removed, a collision between Shun and the Mughals would be unavoidable!

Moreover, Bruce van Diemen had already prepared a target for the Shun Empire's aggression and expansion — the Malacca Peninsula!

"Your Highness, although the Arakanese oared galleys cannot compare with our Dutch great sailing ships, they win by sheer numbers — five hundred can be sent out at once, enough to transport an army of tens of thousands from Syriam to the Malacca Peninsula. The Malacca Peninsula is a peninsula so rich it drips with oil! Otherwise the tyrant of the Ming would never have launched an invasion on such a scale!"

Li Jicheng, sitting together with Bruce van Diemen on the back of an elephant, smiled and said, "Mr. Van, you do not want the Ming state to enter the Malacca Peninsula, yet you take the initiative to invite us Shun in — why is that?"

Bruce van Diemen laughed and said, "Because the Ming state possesses the third- or fourth-largest navy in the world. If the Ming state were to occupy the Malacca Peninsula, our Dutch free trade would be severely affected. But you are only a land power. Once you enter Malacca, you will pose no threat whatsoever to free navigation at sea, and you can also resist the Ming armies coming south — that is very advantageous to us."

What he said was actually the truth!

Because he had already seen that this Shun Imperial Grandson was not easy to fool.

Li Jicheng smiled and nodded, saying, "We go and hold off the Ming armies while you continue doing business with the Ming state, is that it?"

"Business must always be done!" Bruce van Diemen said with a bitter smile. "No matter who occupies the Malacca Peninsula, we Dutch must do business — that is our way of survival! If the Ming state occupies the Malacca Peninsula, we will have no choice but to trade under a new order in the Southern Seas dominated by the Ming."

"Is that so? Business can still be done?" Li Jicheng asked.

"Of course!" Bruce van Diemen said. "Our conflict with the Ming state is not a matter of life and death, but a question of who earns a little more and who earns a little less. But for you it is different! If the Ming state takes possession of the Strait of Malacca, the Ming Emperor can issue orders to blockade the port of Syriam.

He could even order us, together with the Portuguese and the English, to provide ships to transport Ming troops for a landing at Syriam! Your Highness, I imagine you would not wish to see such a situation arise, would you?"

Li Jicheng's expression grew somewhat grave, and he nodded, saying, "But can we hold off the Ming armies?"

"You can!" Bruce van Diemen said. "As long as you can provide ten thousand well-trained warriors to garrison Penang Island, the territory of the Sultan of Kedah, and build a fortress on the Malacca Peninsula land opposite Penang Island, you can stop the Ming armies from advancing south by land.

As for the sea route — the mighty Dutch navy will block any Ming fleet that attempts to sail south!"

The Dutch had chosen a fine place for the Shun army — it was very close to Songkhla, the narrowest region of the Malacca Peninsula. The Shun army needed only to advance three hundred li north to cut the Malacca Peninsula in two!

Considering the irreconcilable hostility between Shun and the Great Ming, the Ming armies would probably not dare to advance south in force until the Shun stronghold near Penang Island had been uprooted.

And Penang Island lay in the sea on the western side of the Malacca Peninsula. As long as the Ming fleet could not pass through the Strait of Malacca, Penang Island would not come under Ming attack. Thus the Shun army could use Penang Island as a line of retreat, forming a favorable situation in which they could advance to attack and retreat to defend.

(End of Chapter)