Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 320: Macau Soldiers
Next to the council pavilion in the center of Macau's Portuguese city, the Qianshan General's Mansion was still bustling after nightfall. Lin Hai was welcomed into the gate along with his personal soldiers including Viper.

This government office was not unfamiliar to him. Three years ago, Lin Hai used the silk tickets given by Li Guozhu to withdraw raw silk worth 1 taels of silver from here. This was all the capital he used to start his business.

It was also here that Lin Hai first met Wu Guoyi, a personal soldier of Xie Hongyi, the then commander-in-chief of Guangdong. Wu Guoyi was then a commercial spy buried by the Xie family in Simen under the Wu family of Zhoushan.

At that time, Lin Hai's identity was just the brother-in-law of Shibi, a bandit at the mouth of the Pearl River. Apart from that, he had almost no reliable social connections.

Three years passed quickly, and when Lin Hai returned to his hometown, the situation was very different. He brought a large fleet with him, and as soon as he arrived, the highest-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty stationed in Haojing directly gave up his mansion.

This was of course thanks to the face of He Rubin, the general of Guangdong, who sent a trusted aide to accompany Lin Hai to Haojing, and wrote a handwritten letter to Zhou the Director of the Supervision Office, asking him to give him a good reception.

Zhou Ti Diao was just a lowly military officer under the command of Lieutenant General Qianshan. Naturally, he did not dare to neglect the letter from the Guangdong general. Not only did he give up his office, he also sent two beauties to sleep with Lin Hai.

However, Lin Hai declined Zhou's kindness. He always paid great attention to his words and deeds when he led troops abroad. If he had not used He Rubin's tiger skin to raise his own status in front of the Australian barbarians, he would not even live in the Directorate, but would choose to stay on the Dingyuan with the navy officers and soldiers.

That night, Lin Hai still lived with his personal soldiers. After entering the Supervision Office, he quickly turned off the lights and went to bed. He knew that the head of the Macau army would come to visit him tomorrow, because Gongsha was on his way to the Governor's residence, the Ruins of St. Paul's Fort.

The current head of Macau’s military is Don Felipe Robbo, the second governor sent to Macau by the Vice King of Goa. He has been in this position for a year and a half.

This was a very frustrating position. Apart from the artillery, Rob, the nominal governor, could hardly control anything, so he could only devote his energy to his female slaves who came from different countries.

After Lin Hai and his party arrived in Nanwan, the governor, who was cut off from the news, was completely unaware of this. It was not until Gongsha arrived at the Ruins of St. Paul's that Rob was woken up from his bed by his close confidant.

Gongsha was very powerful in Macau, so Robo did not dare to neglect him. He quickly left the Japanese slave girl under him and got up to change his clothes. After all, few of the local elite Portuguese businessmen treated him as a big shot like Gongsha did.

"Welcome back, dear Mr. Correa, is your war with the Ming pirates going well?" Robo opened his arms warmly and hugged Gongsha. He was very pleased that the latter came to see him the first time after returning to Australia.

"Thanks to the Governor, we fought very smoothly this time and the Guangdong government was very satisfied with our performance. As the commander appointed by your Excellency, I will now report to you on the course of this battle..." Gongsha then began to talk about the Battle of Lantau Island, especially focusing on the performance of the Huiyou Company fleet.

Rob was a little absent-minded at first. Apart from Gongsha's own safety, he didn't care about the outcome of this battle. After all, this was a war of the Guangdong local government. Winning it would only make the Council look good, and it had nothing to do with him and the Portuguese royal family he represented.

However, out of respect for Gongsha, Robo listened patiently, but soon his expression became solemn: "Gonzavio, are you saying that General Lin has many skilled gunners under his command?" "Yes, as far as I know, Peter Jinshao, who used to work in the Ruins of St. Paul's Fortress, is now in the Huiyou Company. These gunners are likely trained by him." Gongsha is much more informed than Robo, and he has heard about the whereabouts of Miguel and Jinshao a long time ago.

"Damn it! I've heard of this guy's name before. He was the best gunner under my predecessor, Sir Masluka!" Before Robo took office, Jin Xiu had already sailed with Lin Hai along with his good friend Miguel. However, as the owner of the Ruins of St. Paul's Fort, he had heard many rumors about this retired gunner.

"Governor, are you worried that this will affect the decision of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?" Gongsha was keenly aware of why Robbo was so upset. He knew that in the capital of the Ming Empire, several Jesuits were pushing Emperor Chongzhen to recruit Portuguese soldiers from Macau.

"Yes, Gonzavio, if General Lin already has such excellent gunners under his command, what value does Portugal have to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Your Excellency the Governor, I believe that the courage of Portuguese soldiers is unique. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty needs excellent gunners, but he needs soldiers who are ready to die even more..." Gongsha was from the army. Although Western colonists relied on strong ships and powerful guns, most of them attributed the success of Western Europe's colonial cause to courage and believed that other nations were a group of cowards.

He went on to say: "What's more, the Ming Empire is so huge. General Lin is the naval commander of the southeast coast of the empire. He himself does not seem to have the ambition to go north to fight against the Tatars. His attention is only on the sea, and his goal is to defeat the VOC..."

"Are you saying that General Lin is planning to drive out the Dutch from Formosa?" Robo was very surprised. He had heard Gongsha talk about the feud between Lin Hai and the Spaniards, and originally thought that this was a pro-VOC Ming general.

"No, no, Your Excellency the Governor, General Lin's ambitions are far beyond your imagination. He wants to completely defeat the VOC and occupy Batavia!"

"Hahahaha..." Robbo seemed to have heard the biggest joke of the 17th century. "Gonzavio, are you serious? This Ming general named Lin is so arrogant. It's hard for me to imagine that the Spanish would be defeated by such an idiot."

"Your Excellency, Governor, you are wrong. General Lin's navy is very powerful. His sailors are no less powerful than any regular navy of any European country. And the warships he owns are even more powerful than the European navy in some aspects. You may not have listened carefully just now. Let me introduce the fleet to you again..."

Gongsha then described in detail the sails, steering wheels and number of guns of the Navy's Western-style warships, especially emphasizing the sailing performance of the Dingyuan, and also talked tirelessly about the excellent speed and maneuverability demonstrated by the frigates and dispatch ships...

Finally, Gongsha concluded: "Your Excellency the Governor, I think this is a maritime force that cannot be ignored. Even the VOC will find it difficult to gain an advantage over the Huiyou Company in the near sea..."

"More importantly, General Lin not only introduced powerful ships and cannons from Europe, he also established a complete naval industrial system. Moreover, Huiyou Company has strong capital and the Ming Empire has an unparalleled population base. I believe that in ten or twenty years at most, he will rule the entire East Indian Ocean!"

(End of this chapter)