What is the silent hero who won the dominance of South China Sea for China?

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, as the representative, showed the absolute rule of the Ming Dynasty over the South China Sea. However, with the disappearance of Zheng He's fleet on the historical stage, China's dominant position in the South China Sea is gradually fading.

However, more than 200 years after Zheng He's fleet, China rose to be a real national hero, built a powerful navy with the help of the people, defeated the overlord who dominated the world, regained the dominance of the South China Sea for China, and became an outstanding representative of China in the era of great navigation.

Regrettably, such a national hero was rarely belittled by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and even became infamous in later generations, and has not been taken seriously so far. This man's name is Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong's father: People only remember him as a real pirate, but few people know the deeds of his national hero!

Zheng Zhilong was born in a small bureaucratic family in Fujian. /kloc-When I was 0/7 years old, I went to Macau to take refuge in my uncle because of the difficulties in my family's livelihood, which started a legendary life. Before Zheng Zhilong became rich, three people were very important.

First, westerners. Zheng Zhilong has lived in Macau and Manila, and is very familiar with western society and rules. He even learned Portuguese and Dutch and made friends with many western colonists, which is very important for him to develop maritime trade in the future.

Second, Li Dan. Li Dan is a maritime merchant and a great pirate. He admired Zheng Zhilong so much that he "loved him as his adopted son" and directly gave Zheng Zhilong some assets and ships to do business. After Li Dan's death, Taiwan Province's industries and undertakings were handed over to Zheng Zhilong.

Third, the Japanese. Because Zheng Zhilong is familiar with overseas affairs and good at diplomacy, he is highly valued by the Japanese government. He not only gave a homestead to build a new house, but also introduced a noble daughter, Tian Chuanshi, and later gave birth to Zheng Chenggong.

In order to obtain a stable base area, Zheng Zhilong, Li Dan, Yan Siqi and other departments established a base area in Taiwan Province Province, which became the main stronghold for Han people to move to Taiwan Province. For example, in 1626, there was a drought in southern Fujian, and bare land was thousands of miles away. Zheng Zhilong appealed to tens of thousands of hungry people in Quanzhou to reclaim land in Taiwan. "One person gives three taels of silver, and three people give a cow."

In Taiwanese history, Zheng Zhilong was the first person to organize large-scale immigration.

After 1628, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Ming government, saying that it was his duty to "cut off foreign invasion and eliminate thieves". At this time, Zheng Zhilong had more than 30,000 people and more than 1,000 ships. After becoming an officer in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong's duty was to guard the coast and prevent pirates, Japanese and Dutch attacks.

Because Zheng Zhilong has formulated new rules for South China Sea trade, the Dutch, the world hegemon, has to pay money when crossing the road, which makes the Dutch and pirates extremely dissatisfied, so the conflict is becoming increasingly fierce.

Anyone who can't use Zheng Qi on seagoing ships can't come and go, and each ship earns 3,000 yuan ... Since then, the sea atmosphere has been quite calm, and all foreign goods are sold under the banner of Zheng, so there is no danger.

As a result, the Dutch launched a looting action, threatening the Ming Dynasty and Zheng Zhilong to compromise. The so-called looting is actually piracy. In this case, the war finally broke out at 1633, which is the famous naval battle of Kinmen Luowan.

As we all know, the Ming navy, represented by Zheng Zhilong, defeated the Dutch in this war and formally established the hegemony of the South China Sea. From then on, the Dutch dared not challenge the authority of Zheng Zhilong. In fact, before this, Zheng Zhilong had 3,000 warships, which was already the strongest in the maritime world of East China and South China, but after all, it had not been baptized by war.

If we look at Zheng Chenggong's later recovery of Taiwan Province Province, then Zheng Jia has produced two national heroes, which is absolutely rare in ancient and modern times and is worth writing by Chinese people.

However, the historical evaluation of Zheng Zhilong is very low, and the reason is very simple, that is, the fall of Zheng Zhilong. In fact, the reduction is not a problem. Shi Lang, Hong Chengchou, and Shang Kexi all fell to the Qing Dynasty. Don't scholars think highly of them now? The problem lies in the clearance of Zheng Zhilong, but there are two problems.

1. 1645, Zheng zhilong handed over Fujian and tens of thousands of military forces to the Qing court, but the Manchu people in the Qing dynasty not only didn't understand the navy, but were full of fear of the sea, so they immediately sent Zheng zhilong to Beijing for house arrest, and even Zheng Chenggong's mother was raped by the Qing army. It can be said that the Qing court was treacherous to Zheng Zhilong, but in order to prove its correctness, it is natural to discredit and criticize Zheng Zhilong.

Second, Zheng Zhilong surrendered, but Zheng Chenggong insisted on anti-Qing. Later, the Qing court repeatedly asked Zheng Zhilong to hand over Zheng Chenggong, but all failed. 16 1 year, after Zheng successfully recovered Taiwan Province Province and defeated the Dutch, the Qing court killed all the 100 members of Zheng Zhilong's family. Because of Zheng Chenggong, the Qing court did not like Zheng Zhilong.

The Qing court didn't like Zheng Zhilong, so why didn't the adherents of the Ming Dynasty like Zheng Zhilong? There is a simple reason. Zheng Zhilong betrayed Nanming Emperor Long Wudi, and Dajie suffered losses. It is incredible that Zheng Zhilong offended the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

In the war with western powers, modern China suffered repeated wars and defeats. It stands to reason that the victories of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong in the Ming Dynasty are commendable and should be publicized more. Why aren't the glorious deeds of Zheng Zhilong's national heroes remarkable enough? The reason is that Zheng Zhilong offended the adherents of the Ming Dynasty and also "offended" the Qing court (objectively speaking, Zheng Zhilong was kind to the Qing court and the Qing Dynasty was ungrateful to Zheng Zhilong).

As a true national hero and the only maritime hegemon in East Asia, what happened after the age of 42 is simply a rare shame in ancient and modern times. He grabbed a good hand and blew it up, but he put himself and his family 100 people into the mouth of the baiwenhang. Regrettably, the downfall of Zheng Zhilong and the Qing Dynasty's indifference to ocean affairs led to the loss of the dominance of the South China Sea again. If Zheng Zhilong hadn't surrendered, or the Qing court took the initiative to appoint him, then the humiliation of China in modern times might not have appeared.