prosperous age

"Sir, Frank has already left."

In the back hall of the Xiangshan County government office, the Xiangshan County Magistrate stood respectfully before Liu Yaohui to report.

"Oh, did you tell him all those things?"

Liu Yaohui was reading a book with his body turned to the side. Hearing his words, he asked without looking up.

"I've already told him, and he's seen the adults' arrangements."

The magistrate of Xiangshan County answered truthfully.

"How many people do you think are still in the luxury hotel now?"

Liu Yaohui was not familiar with the area, and if anyone knew the place best, it would be these local bigwigs.

"this."

The magistrate of Xiangshan County hesitated for a moment before saying, "According to the constables who frequently patrol there, there are about a thousand Yi people permanently stationed in Haojing, but it should not exceed 1,500."

Although the county government mobilized the surrounding clans to recall most of the people working in Haojing, several hundred people still remained.

The population still residing in Haojing should be slightly over two thousand.

"Is the map of the moat finished yet?"

Liu Yaohui simply nodded, then immediately pressed for an answer.

"It's finished. I'll bring it to you right away, sir."

Although the Ming Dynasty did not station officials in Haojing to manage the area, the county government's constables still went there regularly to maintain the appearance of Ming Dynasty's rule over the area.

However, since these people had taken the money, they naturally wouldn't make things too difficult for them.

Take this city wall, for example. When the county magistrate inspected it, he would always order the barbarians to demolish it. The county yamen runners would also supervise them to demolish a small section before returning to report.

After the people left, the Yi people would quickly repair the city wall, and the cycle repeated itself with great coordination.

The county government's documents were all verifiable, but they were not properly implemented.

In other words, since the emperor was far away, even if the Guangdong provincial inspector came here, he would be quickly fed if he noticed anything amiss.

Just as Liu Yaohui guessed, it was impossible for Nanjing and the capital not to know what was going on here.

Back then, Nanjing sent many craftsmen to the Bugalau cannon foundry to secretly learn cannon-casting techniques. People from the South China Sea Navy also frequently entered the trenches. It's impossible that they didn't see it, and even if they did, they didn't report it.

It can only be said that the imperial court did not take the wall seriously.

Especially such a small city wall, it was destroyed in just a few shots.

However, using this as a starting point is a way to manipulate the barbarians.

"Alright, you can go and rest now. Wait for their reply."

Liu Yaohui waved for him to leave, then continued reading.

Liu Yaohui wasn't that stupid to fight in Haojing. Even if he could easily take Haojing, whether or not to send the battle report to his superiors would be troublesome.

The best approach would actually be to force them to accept the court's management, or rather, to supervise them, in accordance with the demands of Grand Secretary Wei's letter.

After all, the management of Haojing City is supervised by Xiangshan County, but it is still governed by the local people.

However, this "local" refers not only to the Portuguese people of today, but also to the Ming Dynasty residents of the city.

Well, the merchants doing business in the city weren't just Portuguese; some Ming Dynasty merchants also moved into the city to do business, and they were fully qualified to participate in the council as representatives of the Ming people.

As for Liu Yaohui's other arrangements, he naturally reorganized the garrison troops transferred by the Guangdong General into seven temporary battalions. Including his own standard battalion, there were now eight battalions outside Xiangshan County, all led by centurions, with each battalion having five or six hundred soldiers.

Although there are only a few thousand men, it is an overwhelming numerical advantage over the enemy, so we are not afraid that he will not submit.

Moreover, the South China Sea Fleet has already passed Chaozhou Prefecture and is now probably close to Huizhou Prefecture, arriving soon.

With a combined land and sea offensive, we have nothing to fear from the barbarians' unwillingness to admit defeat.

Frank and Nyssa were greatly alarmed when they saw the dense Ming army camps outside Xiangshan County and the elite Ming soldiers training there.

The troops transferred by the Guangdong General were almost the strongest and most capable main force of the surrounding garrisons, and they were also armed with the best equipment from the prefectural city's armory, so they naturally looked very powerful.

Guangzhou has always been an important port for foreign trade in the Ming Dynasty. In the past, it was a place for maritime trade for many years. Even during the years of maritime prohibition, trade with Southeast Asia did not actually stop.

Therefore, the idea that the Ming Dynasty closed itself off from the world is actually wrong. Guangzhou has always been engaged in various trade activities with Southeast Asia and even Middle Eastern countries.

The only difference is that it is not free trade, but a maritime trade market under government control.

In fact, even during the Tang Dynasty, foreign trade was strictly controlled by the Tang Empire and was a state monopoly.

Because of its long tradition of foreign trade, the Guangdong government attached great importance to the Wokou raids in the early years, and raised a lot of money to purchase armor and firearms, equipping the coastal prefectures and counties with the best equipment.

In fact, Guangdong was the first province to establish a navy. However, at that time, the Guangdong navy was mainly responsible for suppressing Japanese pirates near the mouth of the Pearl River. Even the task of suppressing Japanese pirates who invaded Chaozhou Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture was handed over to the Southeast Anti-Japanese Pirate Governor.

They only care about their own little corner of the world, since the Pearl River Estuary is the main waterway for Guangdong to access the outside world.

This situation continued until Yu Dayou took office as the General of Guangdong, after which things improved.

Ultimately, the emperor is far away, and even though the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi is a Beijing official appointed by the court, he still has to consider the attitude of the local authorities when it comes to actual administration; otherwise, he won't be able to hold office for long.

Now, these firearms, originally prepared for the suppression of Japanese pirates, have been brought out again to frighten the barbarians after being sealed in warehouses for many years. It can be said that they have made the best use of them and have not been buried in vain.

Frank and Nyssa returned to the Mirror and immediately convened all the councilors at the city hall to discuss the matter.

After Frank finished explaining the Ming government's opinion, the council hall suddenly became noisy.

"Impossible, absolutely unacceptable."

"We built the Haojing (a type of ancient Chinese mirror), and the Ming Dynasty actually wants to just take what's already there. No way."

"Frank, we built this place, including this city hall. Why should we let the Ming people sit with us and discuss politics?"

Almost all the merchants were indignant and expressed their firm refusal to agree to the Ming Dynasty's unreasonable demands.

"Clap clap clap."

Frank was also a businessman who worked in the Goa Governor's Office in his early years, but he was so envious of the huge profits that the merchants made from operating the Far East shipping routes that he joined in.

After that, they settled down in Haojing.

Because of his experience in public office, he was elected as the new governor of Haojing in the mayoral election a few years ago.

Seeing the commotion in the hall, he angrily slammed his fist on the table.

The council hall fell silent, and finally no one spoke.

“This time, when Niseya and I went to Xiangshan County, what we saw was different from what we had seen before.”

Frank then said, "The Ming government is determined to achieve its goal. They have already stationed thousands of troops in Xiangshan County, equipped with a large number of firearms, including cannons. Niseya has also seen this. Now is not the time for us to argue, but to assess whether we can defeat the Ming army's attack."

If you believe we can win, you are free to refuse their demands.

However, if we lose, I think everything we have here will be taken away by the Ming people.

Upon hearing that the Ming Dynasty had dispatched several thousand troops into Xiangshan County, the dozen or so merchants immediately calmed down.

In fact, they were well aware that they couldn't afford to offend the powerful Ming Dynasty, which is why they were willing to spend money to resolve their relationship with the Ming government.

However, they also clearly understood that once the Ming Dynasty intended to take back all of this, they would be powerless to stop it.

Don't be fooled by their previous clamor; that was only because they were all on their own when they were behind closed doors.

If there were any Ming officials present, even the magistrate of Xiangshan County whom they looked down upon, they wouldn't dare to act in this way.

The corrupt county magistrate's rule wasn't just directed at ordinary citizens of the Ming Dynasty; foreign merchants from overseas, once they arrived in this territory, all had to obediently bow down to the Ming county magistrate.

Diplomatic disputes? Non-existent. Nobody cares about the attitudes of these foreigners.

Well, at this point, the Ming Dynasty truly stood proudly at the pinnacle of the world's nations, not just in words.

Even in the city of Haojing, although the Portuguese were nominally the masters, they did not dare to go too far in front of the Ming people; it was merely an employer-employee relationship.

They could sense that while the Ming people in the city seemed to obey their orders, it was only because they were getting paid by them. As for the Portuguese, who had no connection with them, these Ming people walked with their heads held high and showed no regard for them.

They even knew that in the taverns run by Ming people in the city, the Ming people privately gossiped about their appearance and body odor.

Without perfume, the Ming people simply wouldn't stand with them.

Even worse, some educated Ming people in the city compared them to the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, saying that they were similar to those eunuchs, reeking of urine.

"Now, let's get back to the point. How many militiamen did we recruit?"

Frank then looked at Xenius and asked with concern.

"In addition to the original few dozen people, we mobilized the sailors at the dock, and now we have more than 700 people, which is the limit."

There are seventeen cannons on the fort, and six ships in the harbor with more than ninety cannons on board, which serves as our escape route.

If a battle really breaks out, they can support the city walls from the flanks.

However, you know the firing range; the key is still the three gun emplacements, because only there can cover the area outside the city walls.

Within a day, the Portuguese in the moat had already armed themselves.

Since they were adventurers, most of them carried weapons. Although most of them were melee weapons, they had no shortage of muskets, cannons, and cannons, so they quickly became equipped with them as well.

Although not all personnel were armed with firearms, more than half of them were equipped with thermal weapons, which gave them considerable combat strength.

In reality, it was unrealistic for everyone to have firearms in this era, because the loading speed of firearms at that time was too slow to form a sustained firepower.

Once the enemy gets close, without the protection of soldiers wielding melee weapons, musketeers are nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

"No, the chances of more than 700 men winning against several thousand Ming soldiers are very low."

If they deploy not only their army but also their navy, we have even less chance of winning.

Niseya shook her head and said.

Population was always a limitation for Portugal in establishing a vast colony and expanding its power. Therefore, they could only establish strongholds along the coast in some important regions, rather than occupying a large area of ​​land in Central America like the Spanish.

In fact, if these Portuguese people were in other parts of the world, they could easily conquer a province.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, they were confined to this small town and unable to move.

"Alright, let's discuss how to deal with the Ming government's demands. Let me repeat, they demand that the defense of Haojing City be the responsibility of their navy, which means that a portion of the port will be allocated to them to serve as a naval base, and they will station troops in the city."

As for this place, they demanded a limit on the number of councilors. Our number and the number of Ming people must be one to one. If there are disagreements on government affairs, and neither side can win the vote, then the Xiangshan County Government will make the final decision.

As for the rest, the previous rules can continue, including the tax collection system in the city. Taxes can be exempted from being paid to Xiangshan County, but the rent will continue, though it will be renamed as a tax.

Frank repeated what the Xiangshan County Magistrate had told him: now it depends on the attitude of the others. Now that everyone has calmed down, we should be able to talk things over.

"What about our status? Are we considered citizens? Will they issue us household registration subsidies?"

Bu Jialao did not express his own opinion, but instead asked about the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards them.

In Bu Jialao's view, it seemed very worthwhile to receive Ming Dynasty household allowances if he paid taxes to the Ming Dynasty.

Okay, what the hell is Portugal? If he could join the Ming Dynasty and become a citizen, he could return to the Iberian Peninsula as a Ming citizen. After all, the Ming Dynasty is the strongest country in the world.

"You want to become a citizen of the Ming Dynasty?"

Xenius looked at Bujala in surprise. This was a famous cannon maker in the kingdom, and he actually wanted to join the Ming Kingdom.

"Why not? The Ming Dynasty is so powerful. We are merchants, and joining the powerful side will benefit our business."

Bu Jialao said indifferently.

"You've only betrayed me."

Frank finally came to his senses and shouted.

"No, no, no, I am a businessman. I only know that joining the Ming Dynasty is beneficial to my business. It allows me to go to other parts of the Ming Dynasty instead of being restricted to this area and unable to go anywhere."

Bu Jialao replied.

Because they were renting the land, the Portuguese were only allowed to stay in the vicinity of Haojing and were absolutely not allowed to leave, at least not outside the Xiangshan County area, otherwise they would be arrested.

Even if they spent money to buy travel permits, it was no use; their appearance made it impossible for them to leave.

"Don't you want to be civilized people and do business on this land?"

Bu Jialao asked.

Well, he wants to become a Ming citizen so that he can open cannon factories in all the trading ports of the Ming Dynasty, and those maritime merchants will surely throw countless silver coins at him to buy the cannons he casts.

He had seen the cannons of the Ming Dynasty, and although they were decent, they were still inferior to those he had manufactured.

“They may not be willing.”

Finally, one of the merchants spoke up.

The nation? What the hell is that? In their hearts, they actually think the same way as Bu Jialao: if there are benefits, of course they're willing to go for it.

Even in later generations, merchants who did not have the support of a powerful country had to be extremely careful in doing business, lest they be devoured by others.

Among the world's powerful nations, the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly number one, followed by Spain, and then France.

Although Portugal made money through trade, its foundation was too weak. Now, Portugal has been forcibly annexed by Spain, a painful memory for all Portuguese people living abroad. (End of Chapter)