Daming Yinghua

That night, in the tent of the Dutch stronghold on Baisha Island in Penghu Island, Mabel, a Malay-Portuguese woman, did not feel sleepy at all.

She was waiting, waiting for the news that should come by dawn.

Not far away, the first batch of Ming men who were transported to Baisha Island as slave labor lived in simple shacks built of wood and palm leaves.

A few days ago, as soon as they disembarked, the Dutch officer Ruffin immediately ordered them to carry wood and carry stones.

Dutch sailors, whip them like cattle.

Mabel believed more and more that what Zheng Haizhu said was right, these Dutch people, like the Frankies, never had the word "benevolence" in their minds.

They cannot be allowed to occupy even a small island on this land.

Snoring came from the direction of the shack.

Mabel envied the men who could sleep.

Of course she already knew that they were actually soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

Putmans said angrily: "Bourne! Are you looking down on me?"

Mabel, who was in a state of excitement, simply got up, got out of the tent, and walked to the beach.

"After the new rain in the empty mountains, the weather is late to autumn. The bright moon shines among the pines, and the clear springs and stones flow upwards."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mabel rushed over from the beach not far away.

The translator glanced at Lufen timidly, saw him waving his hand coldly, and told Mabel in simple Chinese: "The Cod was detained at the Golden Gate by your owner's homeland army. They threatened us to withdraw."

"Mr. Interpreter, please tell me, what happened?"

At this moment, after the Japanese monk finished singing, Mabel asked in Chinese: "Do you know the Ming language? Are you from the Ming country?"

"Sir Ruffin," Bourne said in a deep voice, touching his freshly shaved chin, "I completely agree with Putmans and Michelle, but sir, Penghu is too close to Formosa (Taiwan) Island Now, if our warships are all headed for Kinmen, that General Yan in Formosa, even if he doesn’t go to rescue General Yu because of the holiday, will he come to destroy our fortifications in Penghu?”

Perhaps it was because of their long experience in the battlefield that they were able to be so calm and calm before the upcoming battle, and quickly fell asleep to accumulate energy.

"Admiral of the Navy?" Lu Fen kicked the translator down, and shouted, "Where did the navy of the Ming Dynasty come from? There is a damn naval commander! They only have greedy eunuchs, arrogant civilians who don't understand anything, And shit generals fighting each other like pirates for their turf!"

The Groningen is currently the largest warship anchored in Penghu, with a tonnage of [-], a crew of [-], [-] cast iron cannons, and more than [-] small cannons.

In the heart of this officer, who has won the trust of Governor Cohen, he has decided that Bourne and Putmans cannot appear at the same time in the first official battle with the Ming army.

Putmans, the captain of the Hope, was originally a pirate, bloodthirsty and warlike. He took the lead in speaking: "Mr. Ruffin, we should be happy. The stupid Ming army gave us the best excuse to go to war. Their It’s not like we haven’t seen a ship in the past two years. It’s not as good as the ship of General Yan in Taiwan. Not to mention, there is often only one decent cannon in the bow, and the rest are just small [-]-pound falcons. .The twenty iron cannons on board the Hope can completely sink ten small sheep-like junk ships."

Ruffin confirmed the semaphore in the binoculars, and turned to tell another native Chinese interpreter sent by the Batavia headquarters: "You and two sergeants, row the boat over."

In Ruffin's hawk-like gaze, there was a bit of satisfaction evident.

Although she couldn't see it, Mabel knew that behind the dense fog in the night sea in the east was the island of Taiwan where she had lived for two years and planned to be a writer for the rest of her life.

When the sentence was about to end, the monk patted the piano, patted himself, and said in a thick and blunt accent: "Ming, master."

As Luffin said, he sat down at the wooden table, picked up a quill pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote vigorously.

That's right, the Chinese in Malacca pronounce "moon" as "bend" and "stone" as "evil".

The translator didn't know how to accurately translate "Navy Commander" in Dutch, so he said vaguely in desperation: "It's their naval commander Yu Zigao."

But today's variables did make it impossible for him not to think a little bit, wondering if there would be a problem with that businesswoman surnamed Zheng.

……

What suddenly made Mabel feel cordial was that the song that the Japanese monk in front of him was playing the piano and humming in a low voice was actually sung by the Chinese when he was in Malacca.

Michelle hurriedly separated the two.

Mabel was about to sit down and continue to listen to the monk playing the piano and singing, but the monk's peaceful eyes looking at the ocean suddenly rippled.

In order to squeeze the Portuguese away, the Dutch tried their best to show their favor to the Japanese shogunate and feudal lord. The troubled Japanese monk was also treated with courtesy by Officer Ruffin, and was given food, fresh water and a separate tent.

He turned around and looked at the Junk ship that had already sailed out of the range of the cannon, and ordered his guards: "Go and invite all the brave captains to come before me."

The qin is not the instrument used in Zhangquan's "Nanyin", but in the school in Tainan, several teachers that Yan Siqi invited from Fujian can play the qin, so Mabel knows this instrument.

Bourne nodded and said, "Mr. Lufen, although the translator just said that the Ming Dynasty regards the businesswoman surnamed Zheng as a criminal, we cannot trust the cunning Ming people. I don't know, the current Ming slaves on Baisha Island, Are they really slaves? For the sake of caution, I suggest killing them all."

So Ruffin didn't put on the woolen military uniform handed over by the guards. He took off the binoculars from the shelf and hurried out of the tent.

"Mr. Lufen, the captain of the interrogation said that the navy commander of the Ming Dynasty seized our slave ship, and detained our advisor Gullit, all the sailors, and that bad woman surnamed Zheng on Jinmen Island. Let you , Oh no, please go to negotiate, return the Ming slaves here, and promise to lead the fleet back to Batavia."

Mabel stepped on the moonlight and patrolled away.

Putmans is also a veteran of the rivers and lakes. From the deployment of his boss Ruffin, he has realized that his ship may stay in Penghu with the smaller one of the battleships that Batavia came to rescue.

Byrne was well aware of the intrigue within the company.

The captain of the Victoria echoed: "Yes, Putmans is right. There is nothing to negotiate with the people of the Ming Dynasty. It is not that our East India Company has not proposed the condition of underwriting silk from the Ming Dynasty, and the price is not lower than that of Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese are low, but the Ming people have been unwilling to grant us exclusive rights in Penghu and the North Island of Formosa (Taiwan) just like recognizing Portugal’s control of Macau. It’s time to use cannonballs to speak, Mr. Luffin .We should use Penghu as a base, take the initiative to go west, and attack Kinmen.”

The three Dutch warships anchored in Penghu, the captains of Groningen, Hope, and Victoria, quickly gathered in Ruffin's tent.

When he finished, Putmans laughed oddly.

Ruffin looked down thoughtfully.Of course he understands that behind the Groningen and the Hope are different forces in the company. Judging from the performance of the company for more than half a year, the two captains secretly have small conflicts.

Ruffin grabbed the document and stared at the red square at the end of the letter: "Whose seal is this?"

Lufen then adjusted his tone and said gently: "Brave generals with supreme glory, we should not be caught up in internal strife like the people of the Ming Dynasty. You are all right, so I decided to ask Badawi Ya then asked for three or four warships."

Unexpectedly, the qin soaked in seawater can still be played after being carefully wiped by monks and dried in the shade under the coconut tree.

Bourne turned his head, maintained his demeanor, and said in a calm tone: "Putmans, we have seven hundred tons in Groningen, which is two and a half of your Hope. Of course you should stay. I will follow Mr. Ruffin to get rid of it." The Golden Gate was razed to the ground."

Ruffin felt that Putmans' argument was justified, not just to oppose Byrne.

Ruffin stretched out his index finger and lifted the chin of the unique mixed-race woman in front of him.

The patrolling sailors on duty came up to report: "Mr. Ruffin, the junk ship has signaled that it will not attack us. It is a summons."

Mabel stepped forward and grabbed Ruffin's sleeve: "I beg you, sir, promise to the Ming people first, otherwise they will cut off Madam's head. At worst, after a while, I will bring more warships from Batavia. We promise that we will get more cheap and strong slaves for your country in the future."

He immediately turned to Captain Bourne of the Groningen: "General Bourne, what do you think?"

The captains who represent the interests of different shareholders are not fuel-efficient lamps.

Putmans put away his smile, glared at Bourne, turned to Lufen and said, "Sir, those Ming slaves are timid and obedient, and they work very efficiently. Kill them all? Then who will build the fortifications? Ours Sailors, are you paralyzed on this small island before going to war with the Ming people?"

The translator got up in embarrassment, and hurriedly responded humbly: "Yes, sir, ah, what you said is too right. This Yu, he had a conflict with Yan from Taiwan at sea a few days ago, and even the natives of Penghu I saw them open fire. If they are all loyal to the king's army, how can they point their guns at their warships."

Ruffin pulls on his shirt.This kind of Chinese textile is really wonderful, it feels so light and soft when weighed, but it actually has a solid thickness.Wear it on a spring morning, and the coolness of the sea breeze will not be able to invade the skin.

Captain Putmans of the Hope smiled mockingly: "Bowen, if you are afraid of the Ming people, you can stay with your ship in Penghu. You don't need to find General Yan as an excuse for cowardice."

Ruffin snapped: "Do you think this is a competition for women in a brothel in Amsterdam? It's more than size?"

The Cod, which was intercepted by the Ming Dynasty this time, also belonged to the Groningen.

Mabel realized something.Presumably, it was the people of the Ming Dynasty who taught the Japanese monk the art of piano and song.

At present, the people and ships detained in Jinmen are all under his command. If he is inclined to seek peace, not only is it meaningless in terms of votes of one to three, but it is more likely to bring negative comments to the shareholders behind him.

The monk raised his head and folded his hands together to salute, but his face was full of apology, and he still spoke in Japanese that Mabel could not understand.

Michel also smoothed things over and said: "From the charts, Xiamen and Zhangzhou both have troops from the Ming Dynasty, and they are very close to Jinmen. In order to prevent their reinforcements from arriving in time, we should send all three warships there."

"Michelle, you go out to sea tomorrow and look at the movement of General Yan over Taiwan. His fleet, um, if those broken ships can be called a fleet, they are mainly near Dayuan Port."

Mabel, who does not have any Chinese ancestry, fled back to Taiwan with her lover Wen Apeng, and learned this song to the old chief of Siraya, Wen Ama, who told her that the lyrics came from China A poet from thousands of years ago.Later, Mabel taught Yan Siqi to listen to it, and Yan Siqi said that it was sung in Mandarin in southern Hokkien, called "Nanyin".

She remembered that yesterday, Dutch sailors patrolling nearby rescued a monk with a wooden musical instrument.The monk gestured to the Dutch for a long time, trying to make them understand that he crossed the sea from Japan to the Ming Dynasty, and the sailboat he was on was capsized by wind and waves, but luckily he drifted to Penghu with the planks of the boat in his arms.

Not long after Mabel stopped, she suddenly heard the sound of a mellow piano and a gentle singing from a nearby rock.

"What's the matter Bourne, you have new worries?" Ruffin asked.

"Tang boat, Tang boat." He pointed to the sea and said in Japanese.

It was almost dawn, and the morning light was faint.

"Bourne, please send another boat to escort my soldiers, and send this letter of mine to Jinmen, saying that I must obtain the authorization of the governor of Batavia before I can sit at the negotiating table. Authorized The date is estimated to be ten days later. When you arrive at Jinmen, you can take a look at the coastal defense situation there."

The captain of the Victoria, Michel, is the nephew of the late Dutch admiral Wei Ma Lang.More than ten years ago, Wei Malang, who was born as an aristocrat, was driven out of Penghu by Shen Yourong, a navy general of the Ming Dynasty, without a single soldier.Michel sees her uncle as a disgrace to the family.Therefore, Michelle, like Putmans, had long held back his energy and wanted to fight the Ming army fiercely.

"Putmans, let your chief mate drive the merchant ship that Gullit left in the harbor, hurry back to Batavia, and hand over my request for war report to the governor, and you must persuade him to send the "Secret" The Deborah, the Orange, and the Prince came to help."

Not long after, the interpreter came back and handed over the document with the red seal, as well as Gullit's clothes, pipe and pocket watch with trepidation.

The Dutchman suddenly changed his gestures, slapped the woman heavily, and said angrily, "I thought your boss was such a powerful woman, but the second trip failed. Her stupid head deserves to be cut off." !"

After finishing the assignment, Ruffin raised his head and saw Bourne's frown was tighter than a moment ago.

At this moment, the young Yun'er must be sleeping soundly beside her aunt Wen Akun.I just don't know if my husband, Wen Apeng, has been hysterical these days.

Ruffin walked to the door of the tent and looked out.

He saw that the slaves of the Ming Dynasty had already been driven away, and in groups of two, they transported the thick tree trunks to the high slope.

His gaze changed direction again.

Outside the other tent, Mabel was hugging her knees, curled up like a snail, staring at the vast sea in a daze.

Ruffin turned to the guard and said, "Let all the slaves gather on the beach and bring that woman along."