Lu Ming

Chapter 276 Malice
"This kind of behavior that blatantly destroys and violates the interests of Portuguese businessmen is unacceptable to the gentlemen in Macau! This is an extremely dangerous behavior, and no one can monopolize Japanese trade!"

After listening to the Manila story told by Juan, even though he knew that he could no longer get help from his allies, Alonso still clearly expressed his attitude.

Juan was not surprised after hearing the statement from his peers.The highly profitable Japanese trade cannot be easily abandoned by any force. That trade line was once the coveted target of the gentlemen in Manila. Otherwise, what is the reason for the big pie faces to build a city in Taipei?
Suppressing the little gloating thoughts in his heart, Juan stretched out his hand to lead the way, while hinting with a smile: "This kind of behavior is dangerous for both parties."

Standing at the southernmost tip of Dayuan Island, you can see the "Er Kunshen" sandbar floating in the sea hundreds of meters away.The area of ​​this series of sandbars named after Kunshen shrinks successively. In the future, all these small islands will be silted up by sea sand and thus become integrated with the main island.

And in the plane of crossing the crowd, there is an extra sand embankment connected to the main island at the southernmost tip of Dayuan Island.This sand embankment and the sand embankment at Weidao on the northern line were built with seabed fishing to dredge the Taijiang River. Today, the Taijiang River has been completely blocked by the two sand embankments, and outsiders can only enter from the Dajiang River. The crew enters and exits the main channel.

The two Catholic envoys stepped onto the wide and long sand embankment.

Finding that Alonso was looking at the bustling scenery on the other side of the Taijiang River, Juan couldn't help shaking his head slightly, and then he kicked something under his feet: "Look at what this is."

Alonso lowered his head when he heard the sound, and found a long black iron pipe half buried in the sand under his feet, leading to the opposite bank of the sand embankment.

"I think this should be some kind of water pipe?" Although he had never seen such a thigh-thick cast iron pipe, Alonso still guessed the purpose of the iron pipe.

"Yes, the owner here has brought clean water from the far opposite bank, and through this water pipe, it has been led to the bathroom of the commercial building."

Having said that, Juan took a few steps forward, then bent down and pointed to the junction of the two water pipes and continued: "The craftsmen here have superb skills. They can create many wonderful machines and buildings. You should go to Look at that 'water tower'".

After Alonso bent down and looked at the flange connected to the water pipe, he nodded in agreement: "Yes, no one will deny that. Those boats without galleys left a deep impression on me. They have some A strange machine that can move on its own."

"So, hostility is dangerous for both sides." Juan said meaningfully.

Alonso understood what he meant: if the craftsmen here can make those fine machines, they can also make powerful weapons. In fact, the Dutch were sunk by the artillery of the defenders at a distance of one league. The story of the ship has already spread to all the powers in East Asia along with the rum in the pirate bar.

If the above-mentioned legend is just a joke, then Erba Dagai's rifle with exaggerated range, rate of fire and accuracy is not a legend-many sailors have seen the power of this rifle, especially at the entrance of the pirate bar Those who drink and fight.

Therefore, Juan is not optimistic about Macau's use of force to resolve the dispute. In order to take care of Alonso's face, he has repeatedly reminded this implicitly.

"These barbaric, backward Eastern pirates, the Lord's people shouldn't be oppressed by them!" Alonso said a little angrily, but also a little helplessly.

"It's not a pirate anymore. The mysterious pirate king Cao Chuan has been canonized by the local governor as a general of the Ming Dynasty." When Juan said this, the expression on his face was full of sarcasm: "Elizabeth I and the great pirate Francis Derek It is not uncommon in this ancient country for a local governor to complete it."

Having said that, Juan's expression couldn't help becoming bitter again: "It is worth noting that pirate leaders like Francis Drake and John Hawkins are often quite good in warfare."

Hearing this, Alonso nodded heavily: "Yes, the defeat of the Armada 40 years ago can prove it. Please forgive me, it was a tragedy."

Juan waved his hand indifferently, and then he said solemnly to Alonso: "The Ming nobles who rule this land are undoubtedly civilized people. Because no pirate can build such a beautiful and clean city. Mr. Special Envoy, you will soon feel that they are completely different from those barbaric Ming people on the mainland."

"So." Juan continued after a pause: "Believe me, don't use the old way of thinking to deal with the masters here, they are very powerful."

After walking for a while on the several kilometers long sand embankment, the two envoys turned back after exchanging opinions.

After that, Alonso began a long wait.And it wasn't until he traveled all around the Taijiang River that he was finally summoned by the crossing people—seven days had passed since he came to Dayuan.

It was Tang Xiaoqiao who received the Portuguese envoy.

Due to the relatively late travel time, Comrade Tang Xiaoqiao, a high-end talent who can speak three foreign languages, had no choice but to become a dirty job in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Like going to the Dutch fleet as a hostage, receiving a Portuguese envoy, etc. are all his tasks.

So, when Alonso came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in formal attire, he naturally saw Tang Xiaoqiao in a bad mood.

Therefore, the initial meeting between the two parties broke up unhappy.

The process was simple: Alonso first raised a series of protests, while Tang Xiaoqiao rejected all of them, and then threw out a memorandum intensified.

The content of the memorandum made Alonso furious: the crossers not only demanded the establishment of a consulate in Macau, but also set up customs on the Portuguese territory. what's the matter.

Alonso was dumbfounded by this ridiculous memo.You know, after the "visit and study" activities in the past few days, Alonso, who has already realized part of the power of the time-traveling country, actually no longer intends to fight with the time-traveling people on the Japanese issue.

For the Portuguese, although the loss of the Japanese trade is regrettable, it is far from the point where it hurts: the Portuguese, who have monopolized the Guangzhou trade 75 years ago, are not as dependent on the Japanese trade as other forces.

In Alonso's plan today, if he can give up Japan's trade in exchange for the trade rights of the big staff, just like the Dutch did, it would be a way to solve the problem.

However, after seeing this memo, Alonso's nose seemed to smell a smell of gunpowder.

(End of this chapter)