Dashun Yongchang

For the citizens, resisting these organizations is not worth the loss, because their crimes are so minor that if they are caught, they will be punished. No beating.Conversely, if they want to retaliate against you, your life may be ruined, because no one can guard against thieves for a thousand days.

This time, through the crackdown on kidnappers, the citizens have built a well-defined organization. In this way, confronting these gray areas is an organization-to-organization action.Behind the citizens was the army of the Marshal's Mansion, and the subordinates and gentry behind those gray areas couldn't bear it at all, and were even arrested.

The gentry's control over the local area is based on their official status. Although they are at home, they are still officials, and they can directly communicate with local officials or the court; The gentry terrorized the commoners.

After the Marshal's Mansion took control of the government, the citizens' struggle against the gray area cut off the other arm of the gentry, and during the struggle, in order to resist the pressure of the gentry, the citizens naturally turned to the Marshal's Mansion.

The gentry in Yangzhou soon discovered that their personal friendship with officials was no longer effective, because Dashun was a new dynasty, and their relationship was almost destroyed by the war.While the citizens struggled against the gray areas of the city, they also discovered their connections with these gray figures, and it was obviously difficult for the citizens to trust them.

Therefore, the most useful status of the gentry in Yangzhou is the members of the council and the councilors hired by the Marshal's Mansion.The former has not yet reached the time for a new term. Even if there is a new term, many people will not be selected. Those influential families in this city will definitely not give up this status.As for the latter, it is actually not difficult to obtain. Basically, as long as you have enough influence or money, you can get the letter of appointment and badge of the Marshal's Mansion. The easiest way is to buy the bonds issued by the Marshal's Mansion.

In the face of increasingly fanatical citizens, many Yangzhou merchants or wealthy families had no choice but to buy bonds from the Marshal's Mansion to defend themselves.To be honest, if the bonds of the Marshal's Mansion can be cashed out on time, they won't actually lose money.Although the annual interest rate of Daming's usury is often more than double, the market is actually not that big.

Because Yangzhou City has the salt industry as a pillar industry, commercial activities should be more developed, and those salt merchants will borrow their positions from time to time to turn around, but such salt merchants are almost all small salt merchants, and the big salt merchants almost every year. Transport silver to your hometown, and what do you do when you transport it back?Just put it in the cellar and hide it.

Therefore, the usury business in Yangzhou is almost all for small and medium businessmen and ordinary citizens, and big businessmen hardly have time to borrow money.The scale of the bonds issued by the Marshal's Mansion was something that Yangzhou businessmen had never seen before, so naturally everyone dared not buy them in large quantities easily.

The sale of Lianghuai Salt Company's stock is not considered as a bond of the Marshal's Mansion. In the view of the salt merchants, it is the salt industry access certificate of Dashun. In order not to be excluded, the salt merchants can only bite the bullet and buy it. down.After the Marshal Du's mansion opened up the Yangtze River waterway, the shares of Lianghuai Salt Industry Company were quickly sold out, because it meant that the Huguang trade route, which had been suspended for almost two years, was finally opened. This is the last time for Lianghuai Salt Industry good news.

Now that the Lianghuai Salt Industry Company is operating normally, it means that the Dashun regime has a stable tax source, and the Dashun bonds mortgaged by the salt tax will naturally become more valuable. In the reform movement, moving closer to the Marshal's Mansion became the choice of the big gentry in Yangzhou.

As a result, the two offices, which were not running smoothly at first, are gradually getting better now.Faced with Li Zicheng's inquiry, Zhang Jiayu reported to him the summary of financial revenue since going south, "...Counting the above land and real estate, the total confiscated property is 550 million taels, and the living money that can be used is about 300-350 million taels .

As for public bonds, we have issued 250 million taels of water conservancy bonds and 350 million taels of salt industry bonds at a discount of 97% and all of them have been sold; in addition, we have 1000 million taels of war bonds at a discount of 95%. Now about 70% of them have been sold. Nearly half of them were bought by merchants from Jiangnan, mainly from Suzhou Merchant Gang and Longyou Merchant Gang..."

Jiang Chen also said: "Currency recasting is going very well. Merchants are more welcome to the suppressed copper coins that can be cashed in silver, but some citizens and in the countryside have a sense of distrust for copper coins with units of horns. Five, Dang ten, Dang twenty copper coins are more willing to accept some.

Judging from the current circulation of the new currency, as long as we can ensure that banks can exchange silver taels, merchants will be willing to use copper and silver coins, and as long as merchants are willing to accept coins, then ordinary people will not reject the new currency.

However, the new currency is used well in Huai'an, Yangzhou, Xuzhou and other places, but it is more difficult to promote it after crossing the Yangtze River.On the one hand, there is a lack of government support, and on the other hand, some merchants refuse to accept our copper coins.

According to our understanding, there are two main reasons why merchants refuse to accept it, one is that we will refuse to exchange silver taels, and the other is mainly pawn shops are resisting, our new currency and banks are hurting their interests...

In my opinion, the reform of the currency still needs the support of Nanjing in the end, otherwise it is unlikely to be implemented smoothly in the southern provinces. "

After the two, Xi Benzhen's report was relatively simple. He said to Li Zicheng: "The central bank's 200 million taels of silver share capital has been fully accounted for, of which the account department holds 50.5% of the shares, and the company and individuals hold 49.5%.

Since the establishment of the bank, there have been two main tasks. The first is to cooperate with the Ministry of Households to establish a Dashun currency system. Jiang Shenzheng has already mentioned this, so I won’t mention it.The second is to buy gold. Before this year, the gold-silver ratio was 1:10 in Jiangbei and 1:13 in Jiangnan. Now both Jiangnan and Jiangbei are 1:13.

I have prepared a report, and I hope His Majesty can approve the convening of a general meeting of shareholders, the first is to elect a board of directors that can make decisions, and the second is to discuss the expansion of the bank's share capital..."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly to Xi Benzhen and said, "I will give you an answer after reading the report. So who can tell me about grain procurement and grain price control?"

Wu Yiqing immediately got up and said to Li Zicheng: "Returning to Your Majesty, neither the Yangzhou Prefecture nor the Huai'an Prefecture have encountered any major problems in terms of food procurement.

Because the implementation of credit for fire consumption and the promotion of sharing the land into the mu is beneficial to both farmers and citizens, even those small and medium landlords would rather accept a higher fixed tax than the previous one. Secondary levy.Every time a tax is levied, the actual tax is not much collected, but the additional tax is almost uncontrollable.

After solving the tax problem, farmers can estimate the real surplus grain, and the price we give is still higher than the market price.Those grain merchants generally lower the price of grain during the autumn harvest, forcing farmers to sell more grain to buy the necessities of life; and then raise the price of grain when the harvest is short of harvest, and lend money to farmers for profit.

Therefore, it is mainly grain merchants and big landlords who oppose the purchase of grain. Basically, the grain merchants in the countryside are all local big landlords.This food requisition has hit these people the hardest.

However, I don't think the grain procurement campaign can last for a long time, because the procurement has high requirements for those who have been sent to the countryside.This time we took advantage of the enthusiasm of those citizens. Those who went to the countryside to collect food could buy some food at a fair price and get paid, but when the price of food started to fall, the job was not so attractive.

With the import of grain from the countryside and the arrival of Jiangxi rice, at least there is no shortage of grain in Yangzhou now.However, we still need to transport a large amount of grain to Xuzhou and other places, so the Marshal's Mansion continues to adopt a quota system for the grain market in Yangzhou.

Last month, the price of a stone of rice dropped from 2 taels at the beginning of the month to 1.8 taels, and the amount of one tael of silver exchanged for copper coins also fell below 2000 Wen in Beijing coins, almost 100 standard Wen to 200 Wen Beijing coins.After the Marshal's Mansion issued the wage decree, the wages paid by workshops and officials were changed to standard paper settlements. Therefore, the daily wage of a skilled worker changed from 100 cash to 100 standard paper, which was just enough to buy 5 liters of rice.

Now, complaints about high food prices in Yangzhou have almost disappeared.Under the policy of the Finance Office to continuously purchase copper coins and discard small coins below six cents, we believe that the exchange rate of copper coins for silver will drop below 1500 renminbi, and the price of food will not drop soon, so workers’ wages should be increased by 10% to 20%. , so as to offset the impact of expensive money.To ensure that the people of Yangzhou continue to support us. "

After hearing this, Li Zicheng felt that there was no major problem. He nodded in agreement and said, "The wages of the workers can be increased, but in the end, the representatives of the workers, businessmen and workshop owners are called to have an open discussion. After making sure that they make a decision After the concession is made, the Marshal's Mansion can increase the unit price according to the new labor salary. For those who make a promise and then go back and go back, the Quartermaster Office can step in and take over the workshop warehouse until they complete our order.

Has Xuzhou reported the number of people that the entire East Route Army needs to supply?How much food can they collect locally?Roughly how much food we need to transport..."

Chapter 266 New Deal 81

On the afternoon of November 11, in the apse of the Wuying Hall of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, the eunuch Lu Jiude, the supervisor of rituals and eunuch Bingbi, knelt on the ground and pleaded bitterly to Emperor Hongguang: "Your Majesty, I can't drag it on now. Go and pay a visit to King Lu." Not only the little people, but also the royal family of the honored ministers. I found out that the generals in the five battalions all went to pay a visit to King Lu in plain clothes. If His Majesty does not make a decision, I am worried that something unbearable will happen..."

Sitting on a large dragon chair, Emperor Hongguang looked out of the hall with a blank expression. At this moment, he didn't even have the energy to get angry.It took a long time before he turned his neck, looked down at Lu Jiude who was prostrate on the ground, and asked in an unusually cold tone: "Eunuch Lu, are you going to betray me?"

Lu Jiude lay on the ground, fixed his eyes on the ground and replied: "If I have betrayed Your Majesty, why bother to persuade Your Majesty at the risk of being resented by His Majesty? It is true that the hearts of the people in Nanjing City are gone, and I have no choice but to come forward to persuade His Majesty." Your Majesty protects himself. If Your Majesty loses power, what benefits will I get? It is now said that the minister colluded with the four towns to coerce the two great scholars Ma and Shi to support His Majesty to ascend the throne. If there is a chance, the minister will naturally I will not persuade His Majesty to give in."

Emperor Hongguang's face finally changed slightly, he sighed and said: "Can't we bring the crown prince to Nanjing first and then talk about abdicating? I am not greedy for wealth and honor, but I am really afraid that someone will slander the relationship between me and the crown prince." , if the crown prince resents me, who will I return?"

Lu Jiude somewhat understood why Emperor Hongguang hesitated in his heart. After all, those Jiangnan officials and gentry never wanted to welcome him. If Emperor Hongguang resigned from the throne in such a disheveled manner, wouldn't those Donglin party members pour dirty water on him? he.When the prince entered Nanjing, Emperor Hongguang probably didn't even have a chance to defend himself.

It’s just that he can’t take care of himself now. What he just said to Emperor Hongguang is the truth. He was the one who presided over the contact with Sizhen and Ma Shiying to support King Fu. Because he served the old King Fu who had not yet left the palace during the Wanli period, he would support it. Fu Wang joined the Datong.And he also got rewards. After Hongguang ascended the throne, he became No. 1 in the palace, and the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, presided over the palace affairs, and even Han Zanzhou was sidelined.

However, after the four towns surrendered to the crown prince and Li Zicheng one after another, his orders from the eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, prevented even Miyagi from leaving.Because the [-] to [-] troops in Nanjing were controlled by Ma Shiying and Xunchen, he, an outsider who had just arrived in Nanjing, could not get the obedience of the people below when the status of Emperor Hongguang was shaken.

After thinking about it, Lu Jiude finally administered a strong dose of medicine to Emperor Hongguang: "I heard that King Lu sent a message to King Lu, and he will come to visit at noon today."

Emperor Hongguang fell silent immediately, and lay down heavily on the back, as if he couldn't bear it any longer.King Lu was the candidate elected by Donglin party members to inherit the throne. As the grandson of Mu Zong, Zhu Changhao, the king of Lu, had nothing to do with Shenzong, so he got rid of a series of public cases at the end of Wanli.

This is a fundamental means for some Donglin Party members to try to resolve the party disputes since the end of Wanli, but Shi Kefa and other Donglin Party members lacked such determination, and finally allowed King Fu to ascend the throne successfully.Although King Lu failed to ascend to the throne, his "virtuous name" was spread, which was also a potential hidden danger for Emperor Hongguang.

But now, King Lu went to pay a visit to King Lu who represented the prince, which meant that the Donglin party members lost a hole card, or it meant that the Donglin party members would fall to the prince.If the citizens of Nanjing, the people in power, the nobles and Qingliu all turned to the prince, then Emperor Hongguang would be equivalent to a bare emperor.

After being silent for a long time, Emperor Hongguang looked at the quiet apse around him, and finally felt a little fear in his heart, so he sat up and said, "Find me a residence at Xi'an Gate, and the repair work in the palace will start first." Stop now. In addition, tomorrow morning I will summon all the ministers to discuss the etiquette for welcoming the emperor and the crown prince into the capital."

Seeing that Emperor Hongguang finally surrendered, Lu Jiude immediately relaxed.As long as it is not a violent handover, then there is still a possibility that these meritorious officials of the King of Fu will step down safely, otherwise it will be difficult for him to believe that his cronies of the King of Fu will end up.

When Lu Jiude walked out of the Hall of Martial Arts, four young eunuchs followed immediately, but Lu Jiude did not leave immediately, but stopped and looked around.Although the Forbidden City in Beijing was modeled on the Forbidden City in Nanjing, Emperor Jianwen set himself on fire in the Fengtian Hall during the Jingnan Battle, and even the Taimiao was burned down.

Although Ming Chengzu restored Fengtian Temple, he soon moved the capital to Beijing, so Nanjing Palace City received little maintenance.By the time Hongguang settled in, except for a few palaces such as the Hall of Martial Arts, all other palaces had collapsed.For this reason, after Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne, he began to build buildings such as Fengtian Gate and Cixi Hall.

Lu Jiude is the person in charge of these newly built palaces. He originally thought that this was the beginning of a new dynasty, but he did not expect that it would be over after only half of the construction.Nanjing is indeed an evil place, if you are not the real man, you will not be able to sit in town.

After retracting his gaze, Lu Jiude walked towards the Youshun Gate in the south without hesitating anymore. After exiting the Youshun Gate, he stopped suddenly, tilted his head and thought for a while, and said, "Xiao Wu, you go Write a post to Eunuch Han, just say that I want to have a drink with him tonight..."

At the same time, at the southernmost Zhengyang Gate of the imperial city, Li Sicheng was visiting the most majestic gate of Nanjing City, accompanied by Xin Chengbo Zhao Zhilong.Theoretically, this is the main gate of Nanjing City, and also the national gate of Ming Dynasty. Foreign envoys must enter and exit through Zhengyang Gate when they come to pilgrimage.There are two inner urns and one outer urn at the gate. There are four gate walls in total. There is an urn between every two walls. Ordinary people cannot go to Zhengyang Gate to see these.

But accompanied by Uncle Xin, Li Sicheng felt as if he had entered a land without people, he could see wherever he wanted, and the defenders at Zhengyang Gate could only see him as an outsider.

But Xin Chengbo was afraid that he would not understand, so he introduced the various defensive facilities in the barracks graciously, and also introduced: "Outside this gate is the teaching field, and there are two military camps at the east and west ends of the teaching field. It was handed down from the beginning of the country, one is called Dajiaochangying, and the other is called Shenjiying. To the east of the capital is Xiaolingwei, and to the north of the palace city is the small teaching field inside the Taiping Gate. set up.

These three battalions are the main forces defending the Imperial City and Miyagi.Although there are still several military camps in Xicheng, the most important ones are the water camp Xinjiangkou camp and the land camp Puzikou camp built in the early days of the country.There were 49 households in 2 guards in the capital, and all soldiers had to be rotated into the battalion for military drills. However, after Emperor Chengzu moved north, the defense of Nanjing was relaxed.

Now the number of Beijing troops in the city has been reduced from 12 at the beginning of the country to 8, but the actual number of troops is about 4, and only one-tenth of the soldiers can really fight in armor.Ma Shiying mobilized Fengyang soldiers across the river, the amount was about 4 to 2, and their combat power was much stronger than that of the Beijing army.However, most of this army is stationed outside the city, and the safety of the city is still the responsibility of the Beijing army..."

Li Sicheng was very satisfied with Zhao Zhilong's cooperative attitude, but he couldn't help but have some distracting thoughts in his heart.In the past, he was a person who put his family first. This is also the root of his willingness to confess and take responsibility for the mastermind after the failure of the Texas rebellion.But now, he is more and more thinking about the interests of the Statistics Department and the Marshal's Mansion, and only occasionally will he consider the family's position.

Li Sicheng sometimes thought about why, and the answer he found was that the current family not only failed to give him any help, but became his burden, and his current identity and status were all given by the Statistics Department and the Marshal's Mansion .

For example, Xin Chengbo, who controls most of the army in Nanjing City, is not someone from a small family in Texas who can offend him.Although the Ming Dynasty was said to be rich in culture and noble in martial arts, if you want to climb to the top of the nobles, you must at least be a Qingliu or a scholar who has entered the court. Otherwise, the nobles who have a close relationship with the royal family will not be affected by this anger. .

To put it bluntly, if civil servants could bully ministers like military officers, who would take the title bestowed by the emperor seriously?Isn't this slapping the emperor in the face?Therefore, the face of the Li family in Dezhou may not allow Xin Chengbo, who is in charge of the defense outside Nanjing, to meet him. The Xie family certainly has this face.

But now Xin Chengbo received him as if he received his own boss, all because of the name of the Marshal's Mansion behind him.Even though Li Sicheng was always deep, but after all, he was young, so he couldn't help but look a little happy on this occasion.At this moment, his sense of belonging to the Marshal's Mansion and the Statistics Department was unprecedented.

However, under Zhao Zhilong's gaze, Li Sicheng quickly came to his senses, regained his composure, and asked the other party: "I can feel the sincerity of uncle today. But I am afraid that uncle invited me here today. Invite me to enjoy the scenery on the Zhengyang Gate?"

Zhao Zhilong took a look at him, then walked up to the horse on the inner city wall, supported the horse's face with one hand, looked at the street in the northwest of the palace city, and said with a sigh: "My ancestors are from Hong County, and they were originally from the Hundred Households of the Right Guard of Yanshan Mountain. , and followed Ying Guogong in the Northern Expedition, accumulating meritorious service for the command of Yongpingwei. After Yongle Emperor Jingnan, the ancestors followed Yongle Emperor to the Southern Capital and settled here. I am already the tenth generation."

Zhao Zhilong turned around and looked at Li Sicheng and said, "I grew up in Nanjing. There is no street in the city that I haven't been to. My father grew up here, my grandfather grew up here, and my great-grandfather also grew up in Nanjing. this…

For me, this city is my home, and the people in this city are my family. I hope that my sons, grandsons, and grandchildren will be as carefree as I am in this city live on.I don't want the flames of war to burn into this city, this is what I want to say to Emperor Yongchang. "

Li Sicheng was a little dazed when he heard it at first, but soon he felt dissatisfied. He asked coldly: "What about places other than Nanjing? As long as Nanjing is not contaminated by the flames of war, are other places all right?"

Zhao Zhilong and Li Sicheng looked at each other, and after a long silence, he said, "It is very difficult for me to keep Nanjing free from the flames of war. How can I take care of other places? Besides, when Yunyu started an incident in Dezhou, Don’t you also want the Shun Army to bring the war to Dezhou?”

Li Sicheng was speechless for a moment, he suddenly felt that there was really no difference between himself and the other party, everyone only thought about himself a little more.

Chapter 267 New Deal 82

When a Taiwanese native assigned by the priest came to look for the Dutch army who was exploring the land passage southward, the commander of the army, Boone, was resting in a village on the south bank of a large river.

Except for women and children, the natives in this village were all killed by the Dutch, and their bodies were hung on the big tree outside the village. The natives who came to report could not help seeing this scene. Silence fell.

Captain Boone, who was sitting under the wooden house in the village, saw the nervous expression of the native. He took the letter from the priest to him from the other party, and comforted him: "Don't be too nervous, you and They are different, you have accepted the call of the Lord, you have been redeemed. And these people are barbarians who tried to wield the sword on the people of the Lord, they just got their due punishment. Ah, damn China Dude, how dare they sneak attack us..."

After reading the contents of the letter, Captain Boone no longer cared about appeasing the natives who were inspired by the Lord.His deputy, Lieutenant Meyer, came and took the letter from him and read it, while Captain Boone began to ask the natives about the Chinese attack on Fort Anthony.It's just that the poor native didn't know what happened in the north, he only knew that the priest in the village asked him to send a letter to Captain Boone, and he set off.

Captain Boone did not get any information after repeated questioning, so he could only ask someone to take the believer of the Lord down to eat something. After all, there are not many natives on this island who can speak a few words of Dutch. The company is still useful.

After reading the letter, Lieutenant Meyer was also full of resentment, "Damn it, this expedition is really bad luck. First, we encountered continuous heavy rain, which delayed our trip for at least half a month. When we got here, these damn natives He also refused to pass us through. Now even the Chinamen have got their feet in. Mr. Captain, we need to go back and teach those Chinese pirates a lesson, let them know what to do if they pissed off the company, and call everyone back."

Captain Boone didn't answer his deputy immediately. He got up and walked to the gate of the yard. This position happened to be able to see the direction of the big river in front of the village. The river water looked extremely clear.

Although the scenery here is very good, Boone is not looking at the scenery but doing mental calculations. The distance here is at least 40-45 leagues from the mouth of the Danshui River. According to the forward speed of 3-4 leagues per day, it will take at least 10 leagues for them to return to Fort Anthony. More than [-] days, which does not include the time to recall those out-of-pathfinder detachments.

Is it too late to go back now?Ten days later, either Fort Antony was defended and the Chinese pirates had retreated, or Fort Antony had been captured by the Chinese, and they had nowhere to replenish supplies after returning.From a common sense point of view, it is obviously unwise to go back now. It is better to go directly south and return to Zeelandia by land.

However, choosing to go south and flee directly means that he has to take all the responsibilities, and it is obviously very dangerous to pass through the territory of this hostile native kingdom with their current armed forces, because they lack cannons for attacking fortifications. In this way, the villages built on the traffic tunnels cannot be opened.

Captain Boone could only request that all nearby expeditions be recalled, and discuss with several officers in the army about the news of the Chinese attack on Fort Antony.But obviously, several military officers agreed that it was Chinese pirates who attacked Fort Antony, not some Chinese army, because the company had dealt with the Chinese for so long, and the Chinese did not run out of the scope of offshore operations.The furthest Chinese military deployment was to expel the company from the Penghu Islands.

What's more, the news brought by Chinese businessmen from the mainland to the city of Zeelandia is that the mainland is said to be in the midst of war, and the rebels have even approached the capital of this country. How could there be Chinese troops coming at this time? Taiwan and the company go to war?Therefore, several officers believed that it was Chinese pirates who attacked Fort Antony.

As for the combat effectiveness of Chinese pirates, everyone thinks that they can fight a dozen at sea, but it is actually nothing on land, because these pirates lack cannons and armor.So if they run faster, maybe they can catch up.And even if Fort Antony is out of bounds, they can use the surrounding native villages to fight against the pirates and get relief from the city of North Holland.

Captain Boone could not go against the will of almost all the officers, so at dinner time, he could only get up and announce his decision to return to Fort Antony.When the Dutch returned from the edge of the Big Belly Kingdom, a huge fleet of 54 ships appeared at the Pearl River Estuary. Dongguan County sent an official document, and the magistrate of Dongguan knew that it was a joint fleet composed of the Fujian Navy and the Chongming Navy.

Zheng Zhilong, who personally led the team, delivered official documents to Guangzhou through Dongguan County, set up a supply camp in the gap division of Dongguan County, and then turned to Xiangshan County with more than 30 ships.

On November 11, Zheng Zhilong's fleet docked under the Jinxingmen waterway in Xiangshan County, and then opened up a landing site. On November 3, more than 11 soldiers from Li Chengdong's department landed and set up a big camp, and another 6 people were stationed in the Gap Division.

On November 11, Shen Yulong, governor of Guangdong and governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, sent an aide to Zheng Zhilong Xiangshan Camp. official documents.According to the official document, Zheng Zhilong gained the power to take over the former cottage and was able to mobilize Xiangshan County to provide logistical support for the army.

On November 11, Zheng Zhilong called the magistrate of Xiangshan County and the former Shanzhai to Daying, showed them the official document issued by the governor, and immediately took over Xiangshan County and Qianshanzhai.

On November 11, after three days of repairs, the officers and soldiers of Li Chengdong's department finally recovered. Li Chengdong sent a 9-man army to the former cottage and officially took over the passage between Macau and the land.At the same time, Zheng Zhilong sent more than a dozen warships to block the access to the sea from Macau, and arranged for Jesuit priests Minik and Bi Francis to go to Macau and issued an ultimatum to disarm.

In fact, before this, the magistrate of Xiangshan had interceded for the Portuguese in Macao. He believed that the Portuguese were always docile, and that the cannons and troops in Macao were built to resist pirates, and the city wall facing the mainland was demolished. , and there was nothing disrespectful, so he didn't understand why he had to go to war so much.

Naturally, Zheng Zhilong would not tell the magistrate that this was the intention of Emperor Dashun, and that the attack on Macau was just a preparation for the attack on Luzon, which would only cause greater chaos in the local area.As a pirate businessman, he knows very well that there is a good relationship between Macau Portuguese merchants and Guangzhou merchants and officials. That is to say, the current state affairs are in chaos, those merchants in Guangzhou have no intention of doing business, and Shen Youlong does not want to offend the prince and Emperor Yongchang. That's why we opened the door for them.

So he warned the county magistrate, saying that it was out of his own will, and the county magistrate shut up.Of course, Zheng Zhilong actually does not want to engage in a firefight with Macau. Although the Portuguese compete with him in business, the two sides still have a basis for cooperation when it comes to fighting the Dutch.

However, Zheng Zhilong knows very well that after dealing with these people a lot, if he doesn't show his power to them, these people won't sit down and have a good talk with you.Therefore, even if he hopes to reach a peace agreement with the Portuguese, he has to pretend to go to war now.

The news brought by the two priests Minik and Francis Bi was another bolt from the blue for the Portuguese in Macau.Why do you say yes again?Because the merchant ships from Macau who went to Japan to request the resumption of trade were driven back, although some people did not give up and went to Japan again, most businessmen were pessimistic that it was impossible to resume the Macau-Nagasaki trade route.

Prior to this, because the Dutch occupied the city of Malacca and its fortress in January 1641 and blocked the Strait of Malacca, the Macau-Goa-Lisbon route was interrupted.

Pushing forward further, in December 1640, when Portugal declared its independence, Manila sent Don Juan Cleodio as a special envoy to Macau to persuade Macau not to obey the decision of the mainland.However, the Portuguese merchants in Macau and the Macau Council decided to launch a coup and expelled the Spaniards in Macau, so Manila announced the severance of commercial ties with Macau, and the Macau-Manila-Mexico route was also interrupted.

Now Macau only has port trade with various parts of Southeast Asia, and this trade has been suppressed by the Dutch and the Spaniards.As a result, some businessmen originally living in Macau are leaving the city.Just at this time, the Chinese sent troops to expel them, and the reason was that the Spaniards had massacred the Chinese twice in Manila, which surprised and upset the Portuguese in Macau.

At this time, the power in Macau was still in the hands of the Macau Council, which was composed of three members, two ordinary judges and one civil affairs officer, in addition to the royal justice representing the king, the governor and the chief prosecutor .

However, the royal justice and the head of the Goa-Macau fleet, Rubo, was imprisoned by the Attorney-General Kavajo for murdering Macau officials, so it became a council with the Governor and the Attorney-General to manage the city, but Jesus The club also has a strong presence in Macau.

After listening to the opinions of the two priests Minik and Bi Francis, the vice-governor of the Jesuits of Macau, Father Zeng Dezhao, appealed to the parliamentarians and citizen representatives in the chamber: "War is impossible, and the ultimatum to us Not only the traitor who just broke through Beijing... well, the Grand Duke, but also the legal heir to the throne of this country.

That is, once we disobey them, then there will be a real war that will break out next, and we will not be able to hold on, because no Chinese will side with us.We can't lose China after losing Japan..."

Chapter 268 New Deal 83

With the support of most of the citizens' representatives, the three members of the council agreed with Father Zeng Dezhao's suggestion and appointed personnel to negotiate with Zheng Zhilong.Attorney General Kavajo and Governor Isouza remained silent on the Council's decision because they were no strangers to Zheng Zhilong, a former Chinese pirate businessman, and in fact this was not the first time Zheng Zhilong had besieged Macau.

When Zheng Zhilong was still called Zheng Yiguan, he started out as an interpreter in Macau.However, in 1635, when the Catholic Church in Japan was persecuted, Zheng Zhilong’s daughter in Japan fled to Macau. The Portuguese surrendered.

But the last time Zheng Zhilong was just bluffing. After all, he did not get permission from the court. After the Portuguese showed weakness and sent Zheng Zhilong's daughter and son-in-law out of Macau, Zheng Zhilong gave up.But this time is different. According to the news from Guangzhou, even the governor has expressed his support for the decision of the imperial court, which means that the other party can let go and do a big job.

There are about 240 soldiers stationed in Macau on behalf of the Kingdom of Portugal. The so-called Governor of Macau is actually the leader of this army. There are about 850 Portuguese families settled in this city, each with at least six armed slaves, and each with 6 - 12 matchlock guns or more advanced flintlock guns.That is to say, there are at least 5000 armed citizens at the disposal of the council.

Therefore, after the decision was made by the council and the representatives of the citizens, the Governor of Macau Issuza and the Attorney General Carvajo, representing the King of Portugal, could only express their obedience. At noon on November 11, Father Zeng Dezhao, along with Father Minik and Father Bi Fangji, represented the Macao Council and went to Zheng Zhilong's base camp for negotiations.

That afternoon, Zheng Zhilong received three priests.As soon as he met Father Zeng Dezhao, he affectionately called him by his Christian name, blessed him in the name of the Lord, and said to him: "How is Mr. Bello living in Anhai? I remember that he is also a devout Christian." only."

Zheng Zhilong has declared that he no longer believes in Christianity since the church prevented the return of his daughter to him. In fact, he is very dissatisfied with the Jesuit priests, believing that this organization is trying to control his family and interfere in his family affairs.However, as a sea merchant, he has enough respect for any gods, so he does not refuse the blessing given to him by Father Zeng Dezhao.

After Zheng Zhilong nodded slightly to express his gratitude, he said: "Belo had a good time in Anhai. He said that he would go back to Macau if he had time. But before reminiscing about the old days, shouldn't we settle our official duties first? Tens of thousands of soldiers The daily expense is astonishing, Father Monsieur."

Father Zeng Dezhao turned his head sideways, and gave a wink to Father Bi Fangji who was beside him. Father Bi Fangji immediately said: "Honorable Earl, the citizens of Macau have responded to the ultimatum. Please allow me to repeat it to you."

Zheng Zhilong walked to a chair beside him and sat down, then motioned Bi Francis to continue. The priest then said: "The reply from the citizens of Macao is: the Kingdom of Portugal is not subordinate to the Kingdom of Spain. 60 years ago, King Sebastiao I of the Kingdom of Portugal Died in the war, because he had no direct heir, King Philip II of Spain claimed the right to inherit the Kingdom of Portugal, and finally won the crown of the Kingdom of Portugal by force."

Zheng Hongkui on the side asked with some doubts: "Since the King of Spain won the crown of the Kingdom of Portugal, the Kingdom of Portugal is of course a part of the Kingdom of Spain. What can be explained?"

At this time, the Jesuit priests who have been blocking European history and geography from the Chinese had to reveal a little about the feudal system in Europe. It took Bi Fangji a lot of talking to let the Zheng brothers understand, what does it mean that my master is not the master? My master's European feudal principles also show that although the Kingdom of Portugal has lost its crown and part of its political power, it is still an independent country legally, not a part of a certain country.

Brother Zheng Zhilong still felt confused after hearing Bi Fangji's explanation, but Zheng Zhilong still signaled Father Bi Fangji to finish the reply from the residents of Macau first.

Father Bi Francis then continued: "Four years ago, the Duke of Braganza announced the restoration of the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal. He won the support of the Portuguese people and became the king of Portugal. Since then, the Kingdom of Portugal has regained its independence."