Chapter Six: Maritime Trade

Everyone in the Purple Banner faction was well aware that the Java Yuan and the Ming Dynasty had been long-standing adversaries. Therefore, Guo Kang was quite skeptical that seeking help from Sun Shiwan would turn out well.

If one counted the vassal states, tribal domains, and the like, the Java Yuan's influence nearly covered more than half of the South Seas, appearing to be immensely powerful. Yet, in reality, their territories were fragmented, not contiguous like the Central Plains of the Ming, the Transoxiana regions of the Timurid Empire, or the Balkans of the Purple Banner. The true domain of the Java Yuan consisted of a series of ports, large and small, along with their surrounding dependencies.

Merchants used this network of harbors as supply stations and safe havens for their ships, maintaining vital sea routes. Beyond the harbor zones were usually clusters of artisanal workshops, followed by vast plantations, mines, and forests.

The workshops gathered many craftsmen who not only maintained the ports and vessels but also produced various goods for trade. The forests supplied timber for shipbuilding, mines provided raw materials, and plantations produced staple food for local inhabitants as well as cash crops for commerce.

Beyond these areas, their influence waned significantly.

Between the various ports and outside the Java Yuan’s cultivated zones, numerous indigenous groups thrived. Some were primitive tribes, while others had developed into relatively structured local states. The Java Yuan showed little interest in them beyond requiring submission, inclusion in their trade network, adherence to their trade regulations, and payment of tribute in varying amounts. Tribes with reliable cultivation abilities were tasked with growing designated crops, which merchants would procure in bulk. Their governance rarely extended beyond these terms.

Earlier, dominant powers and overlords in the South Seas region employed what would later be called the "Mandala system." For the indigenous peoples, while the Java Yuan exercised somewhat more control, the overall character was not much different. This tacit understanding had gradually formed over more than a century since the Yuan’s conquest of Java.

Conversely, the Java Yuan did not truly trust the local populations.

The backbone of the Java Yuan’s armed forces consisted of bodyguards and fleets belonging to powerful merchant clans from Yangzhou’s Sun family, Fujian’s Chen family, and Lin’an’s Wu family. Additionally, there were exiles from Annam (Vietnam) who fled after Ming annexation, such as the Nguyen and Hu families, as well as members of the Duan family from Dali who escaped following the fall of the Prince of Liang. These Jiangnan Han Chinese, Jiaozhi peoples, and Dali natives formed the core of the military.

Because their numbers were still far fewer than the Ming troops, the Java Yuan also organized larger auxiliary armies drawn from outside sources, with Champa and Siam being major contributors. These states oscillated between Ming and Java Yuan allegiances to preserve their independence, and thus often turned a blind eye to Java Yuan recruitment efforts on their soil.

Moreover, the Java Yuan widely recruited mercenaries. To the east came bands of ronin from Japan; to the west, Turkic-style warriors exiled after the Timurid defeat of the Delhi Sultanate. Though their combat abilities varied, these forces supplemented the Java Yuan military.

As for the indigenous peoples across the South Seas islands, the Java Yuan had little confidence in their fighting capabilities. Initially, they mobilized native tribal armies from their vassals, but their disastrous performance convinced Java Yuan officers that the drawbacks outweighed any benefits.

Most indigenous troops were little more than filler, draining supplies without contributing effectively. On the battlefield, they would collapse quickly, negatively affecting the morale of allied forces. It was better not to bring them along at all.

In theory, with rigorous training, these native forces should not have been so ineffective. But the Java Yuan had extensive dealings with the various indigenous powers, many of whom only nominally submitted and harbored resentment over the struggle for ports and lands. Consequently, the Java Yuan refrained from training them, occasionally pulling a few vassal warriors as cannon fodder—never against Ming troops, but rather to quell other tribes.

As trade expanded and long-distance sea routes became more accessible, the Java Yuan gradually discovered new methods.

When Timur launched his western campaign, he shattered the eastern Mediterranean’s fractured states, bringing about a rare period of unity. Subsequently, thriving trade routes funneled a steady flow of Slavic slaves from southern Russia through the Caucasus, down the Tigris and Euphrates into the Persian Gulf, and onward eastward. Soon after, the Purple Banner Khanate joined the network, opening a maritime route from Constantinople to the port of Damascus, further increasing the slave trade.

These white slaves, unfamiliar with the land and language, were more reliable for the Java Yuan than native slaves, who often stirred anger among local kinship groups. The more loyal and robust among these white slaves even supplemented the military ranks.

Thus, from that time onward, the Java Yuan became one of the principal purchasers of white slaves, continuously filling the plantations of Java, Luzon, and Borneo.

Because the Ming monopolized much of the handicraft industry and constantly sought to suppress Java Yuan trade, the Java Yuan endeavored to replace the increasingly risky and unstable smuggled goods from the Ming with their own products. These silks, ceramics, and ironware, though still imperfect, found a favorable market in the Western seas, bringing substantial profits.

However, Western buyers rarely supplied valuable bulk goods in consistent, long-term quantities to fill the ships for the return voyage. Sailing back with partially loaded vessels wasted precious shipping capacity. The trans-Indian Ocean slave trade neatly filled this gap.