I

Aceh, downstream of Palembang City, at the mouth of Musi River.

There is a port town here, and the surrounding residents are all of Han and Han Chinese mixed descent. There is not a single native to be found, and even if there are natives, they have already learned to speak Chinese, and their clothes and customs remain the same as they were in the early Ming Dynasty.

The highest official who ruled here was the feudal chief.

Moreover, the surname has always been Shi for more than two hundred years.

There are four people in the room.

Shi Cunzhang took out a camphor wood box. He took out a key, and the other three people also took out their keys.

Four locks, all open.

Shi Cunzhang carefully held out the bronze seal. The words on the bronze seal were "Seal of the Ming Dynasty Old Port Xuan Comfort Envoy". Below the bronze seal are the imperial edict of the Ming Dynasty canonizing the Xuanwei Envoy of Jiugang, and the Xuanwei Envoy documents issued by the Ming officials.

Shi Cunzhang held the bronze seal and said: "For three hundred years, the four surnames Shi, Chen, Liang, and Qiu have thrived in Old Port. Our territory should be the entire Old Port, not this small town by the sea. I, the head of the Shi family, , should be the envoy of the Ming Dynasty’s old port, not the captain of the Aceh Kingdom. Now, the old port has been renamed Palembang and has been occupied by the indigenous people for hundreds of years. It’s time to take it back!”

Chen Sanwei said doubtfully: "The Ming Dynasty is gone, will the new Datong Dynasty help us?"

"Definitely!" Qiu Fang said, "Last year, China defeated the Netherlands in a naval battle, and recently it is attacking Malacca. Now, His Majesty, the Emperor, is a man of great talent and strategy. We should imitate our ancestors, raise troops to seize the old port, and present land to the Emperor. Promise me!"

Liang Yutian said: "Yes, seize the old port and offer the land as a vassal!"

Shi Cunzhang asked: "The Chen family doesn't want to raise an army?"

Chen Sanwei said: "If you don't want to raise an army, what should I do today? However, you must be cautious when raising an army. It is best to contact the Chinese envoy first."

Qiu Fang said: "The noble envoy of the Celestial Dynasty may have many doubts. Why don't we raise troops and contact each other at the same time, and make cooked rice from raw to cooked? Why don't he want to give him achievements for free?"

Chen Sanwei added: "Over the Old Port, the city of Aceh is easy to attack. But the Dutch Castle outside the city is very strong. Attack the Old Port City first, or the Dutch Castle?"

Liang Yutian smiled and said: "It's not like we haven't been to the Old Port before. The Dutch Castle outside the city has long been demoralized. If you want to fight, let's fight together. If we attack it unprepared, we can capture it in one fell swoop!"

This is the easternmost part of Sumatra Island. Banten Kingdom has a piece of land, and the rest is all Aceh Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Aceh once expanded crazily, but after bordering the Kingdom of Banten, it could no longer expand. The two countries fought several battles without deciding the outcome, so they simply called a truce and developed in other directions.

Therefore, although Old Port is considered a border city, after many years of cessation, the Acehnese defenders here have never fought a war. Neither the nobles nor the soldiers had any vigilance, and the city could easily be taken down by a sudden attack.

There is a Dutch castle outside the city.

The Netherlands and Aceh are allies and are protected by Aceh's army. The Netherlands has very few troops stationed there. In the entire Palembang, the Dutch East India Company only sent 3 civilians and 20 soldiers, responsible for purchasing local specialties here and transporting them to the seaport through the Musi River, but the seaport was in the hands of the Han people.

The history of the Han people occupying the seaport is longer than that of the Qi Kingdom, and it can be traced back to the Majapahit Kingdom!

Before the Majapahit Kingdom, the Han even controlled the city of Palembang. At that time, Srivijaya was still dominant. The Majapahit Kingdom destroyed Srivijaya and came to attack Palembang City. The Han people were defeated and gave up Palembang. They moved to the seaside and were named the feudal chief.

Then, the Tammu Kingdom destroyed Majapahit, and the Tammu Kingdom split and perished, becoming the Banten Kingdom and the Matalan Kingdom. As for Palembang, Aceh took the opportunity to occupy it.

In other words, when the Han people ruled this place, the Aceh Kingdom, Banten Kingdom, Matalan Kingdom, Tammu Kingdom... none of them had been established yet.

As early as the early Ming Dynasty, there were tens of thousands of Han people living in Palembang, most of whom had fled from the troubled times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty!

A few days later, the four major surnames gathered their clansmen, and other minor surnames were also called.

On the high platform.

Shi Cunzhang took out the bronze seal, drew his sword and shouted: "I am the ambassador of the old port of China, not the chief of the Aceh vassal! The old port is the old port, not the Laoshizi giant port. That is the name changed by the barbarians. What is the Majapahit Kingdom? , the Damu Country, and the current Aceh Country, they are all foreign invaders..."

"The Sultan of Aceh was brutal, cruel and exploitative! The Han compatriots inside and outside the old port city were levied heavy taxes more than ten years ago, and the taxes were getting heavier and heavier! The amount of taxes we need to pay in New Port every year is also higher and higher. The higher the setting is. And the damn Dutch, fourteen years ago, actually wanted to take away our New Port! If the brothers and sisters had not taken up arms, this New Port would have changed its owner long ago!"

"As far as I know, the Dutch have been bewitching the Sudan. They want to take over Newport and enslave us. Brothers and sisters, are you willing to be enslaved by the red-haired ghost?"

Countless Han people shouted angrily: "I don't want to, I don't want to!"

Shi Cunzhang continued: "Now, His Majesty the Emperor of China has sent troops to Nanyang. As long as we capture the old port and have the help of the heavenly troops, we will be the masters of this place again. I, Shi Cunzhang, swear here that as long as I return to be the consolation envoy of the old port, no matter what In both Xingang and Old Port, as long as they are Han Chinese, the poll tax will be abolished!"

"Long live, long live!"

The Han people began to revel.

The Han gentry and aristocrats fought for their own interests. The lower class civilians of the Han people fought to abolish the poll tax.

One call and hundreds of responses, united as one!

In fact, the vanguard has already set off.

The four surnames Shi, Chen, Liang and Qiu have already gone to Palembang City in batches. They transported salt, fresh fish, vegetables and other items, and under the pretext of doing business, they entered the city one after another and lurked.

"Bring the people up and sacrifice the flag and swear an oath!"

Two tax officials sent from Aceh were tied up and dragged to the stage.

Decades ago, Xingang was completely autonomous by the Han people, as long as they paid sufficient taxes to the government every year.

The Sultan of Aceh was unhappy with this and sent two tax officials over to help manage the port and town. Based on the estimation of port taxes, the amount of taxes that Han vassal captains need to pay has been continuously increased. In recent years, a head tax has even been levied on Han people.

"Uh huh..."

Two tax officials from Aceh were pinned down on a high platform, with rags stuffed in their mouths unable to speak.

Brush, brush!

Two sword lights flashed and two heads fell to the ground.

"Go to war!"

The head is hung on a bamboo pole and walks at the front of the procession.

A large number of small sea-going ships and river vessels sailed upstream along the Musi River. The Han people here are very powerful, and even the goods purchased by the Dutch need their help to be transported from Palembang (river port) to Xingang (sea port).

The distance of ninety miles can be reached in three days' march, and the number of troops is increasing.

Because there are Han people living along the way, there are many Han craftsmen, coolies and merchants even inside and outside Palembang City. The number of Han Chinese, Han mixed-race, and Sinicized indigenous people here is at least 100,000, and may even reach 200,000. After all, the Han people have multiplied for three hundred years and completely ruled this place for several decades.

Even the Sinicized natives are oriented towards the Han people. Because for them, Aceh is the real outsider, and the Sultan of Aceh is becoming increasingly cruel.

It was not until the rebels were ten miles away from Palembang City that the Acehnese officials in Palembang City received the news that the Han people had raised troops, and they hurriedly organized troops to defend the city.

The Dutch castle was the first to be attacked!

This castle was built on the river center island and was the only place where the rebels marched to Palembang.

The person in charge of the castle was a senior civil servant of the East India Company. His first reaction was not to defend the city, but to send people out to negotiate. After all, there were only 3 civilians and 20 soldiers. It was too difficult to defend the castle. Not to mention tens of thousands of Han rebels, even if thousands of natives attack, it is possible that the castle will be breached.

"Kill, attack the city!"

Shi Cunzhang didn't care about the battle between the two armies and did not kill the envoy. He chopped off the negotiator's head with a knife and ordered his troops to attack from all sides in small boats.

"Clear the barrel quickly!"

The Dutch in the castle were in chaos. Since the Netherlands formed an alliance with Aceh, there has been no war here for more than ten years. Not to mention that the gunpowder became damp and hardened, even the artillery had not been maintained for a long time. The outside of the barrel was occasionally wiped clean, but the inside of the barrel had developed a patina.

"Boom!"

In the first round of shelling, only two artillery fired, and the other artillery was still dawdling.

The Dutch soldier held a moldy matchlock gun in his hand and looked at the densely packed enemies outside, not knowing what to do.

This situation also happened decades ago.

At that time, Spanish and Portuguese colonists jointly garrisoned the castle on Ternate Island. As a result, more than 2,000 natives rushed over, and the Spanish-Portuguese allied forces did not dare to fight at all. They simply abandoned the island in a sea boat and fled.

"Surrender, we surrender!"

The person in charge of the Dutch Castle ordered the castle gate to be opened. They just wanted to survive now, for fear that if a few more Han people died, they would anger the Han people and kill them all.

The negotiator was eliminated before, but now there are still 2 civilians and 20 soldiers.

A total of twenty Dutchmen were escorted to Shi Cunzhang.

Shi Cunzhang said with a ferocious smile: "Cut them all, leave no one behind, take over the castle and the goods!"

These Dutch people were also unlucky. At least some of the Acehnese officials in Palembang City had tipped off the news, and they received news of the rebels' attack from ten miles away. The Dutch in Hexinzhou Castle seldom left, and they didn't find out until the rebels were a mile away.

The Han rebels continued to advance, and the city of Palembang was already heavily guarded.

After Aceh formed an alliance with the Netherlands, it purchased many muskets and artillery, which was one of the reasons why it could expand wildly. At this moment, there were a thousand defenders in the city, 200 of whom had muskets, and a total of eight city defense artillery pieces.

Shi Cunzhang was not worried about this. He did not dare to raise troops before, but he could not stop Aceh's subsequent attack. Once Palembang is gone, the Sultan of Aceh will definitely send a large army to take it back. The Han people here will not be able to hold it back.

But now they are not afraid, they can contact the Chinese army!

Shi Cunzhang pointed to Palembang City in front of him and shouted excitedly: "That city was built by our ancestors. Our ancestors were once the masters of the city. Now come with me to take it back!"

Can't wait for the night to be together, because the city is already in chaos.

There are many Han merchants in the city, all of whom come from the four major Han surnames. The officials and soldiers of Aceh were afraid that Han merchants would take the opportunity to cause trouble and wanted to strike first. They had divided their forces to attack Han shops and residences.

The most ridiculous ones are those Acehnese soldiers. The rebels outside the city are coming soon. They are still burning, killing and looting in the city. Their goal is nothing more than the wealth in the hands of the Han people!

There are already hundreds of rebels lurking in the city, and Han merchants have already made contact with them.

The atrocities committed by the Aceh soldiers made the rebels' operations in the city smoother. Han civilians were forced to side with the rebels, otherwise they would not even be able to save their lives.

"Siege the city!"