Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 321: Wei Liduo

The next morning, Lin Hai got up early. However, the first person to come to see him was not Don Felipe Robo, the military leader of Macau, but the current director of the Portuguese Council and the Han Chinese interpreter Wang Mingqi.

The Portuguese Council of Macau is elected by married property holders and has a total of 6 members, including 1 director, 2 judges and 3 elders. The director is responsible for dealing with the Guangdong government, the so-called commissioner, and his term of office is one year.

The current director was about 40 years old. He wore a Dongpo scarf and Chengzi clothes like Gongsha. When he saw Lin Hai, he kept nodding and greeting. However, his movements were obviously not standard, and his green eyes kept looking Lin Hai up and down.

The interpreter Wang Mingqi was much more experienced. He clasped his hands together and pushed forward, bending down until his upper body was level with the ground. He introduced himself, saying, "Wang Mingqi, a fellow villager from Quanzhou, greets General Lin. This is Wei Liduo, the leader of the Aoyi tribe. I am his interpreter."

Lin Hai sat upright on the imperial chair and replied with great authority, "No need to be polite. What is the matter that you want to see me for?"

Wang Mingqi raised his head, his back still slightly leaning forward: "General Lin, we are recommended by the Australian merchants. General Lin drove out the great thief Li Kuiqi at the mouth of the Pearl River, and the Australian maritime trade route was opened up. We are all grateful, so we have prepared a small gift to thank you for your kindness. I hope General Lin will accept it with a smile."

As he spoke, he presented the gift list. Lin Hai ordered someone to take it and glance at it. There were quite a few things listed on it, including local exquisite items such as ruyi, screens, and inkstones, as well as overseas treasures such as rhino horns, agates, and sandalwood. It was so dazzling that it really looked like a collection of items put together by many people.

Obviously, Lin Hai's use of He Rubin's reputation did work, otherwise the council would definitely not be so respectful to him, a guerrilla from another province.

"You are so thoughtful. I am a military officer of the imperial court. I was entrusted by Marshal He to come here to eliminate the pirates. This is my duty. Why should you be so polite?"

Lin Hai put down the gift list and continued with righteous words: "The Macao barbarians have lived in Haojing for a long time, and they are no different from the people of our Ming Dynasty. Moreover, my fleet often comes to Haojing. How can I allow Li Kuiqi to be so presumptuous? Let alone Li Kuiqi, even if the red-haired people come to attack in the future, you can come to Penghu to ask for help from me at any time."

After these words were translated, the Portuguese director was obviously a little surprised. He spoke to Wang Mingqi in Portuguese for a long time, as if asking a lot of questions in one breath.

Wang Mingqi felt a little rude, and before he finished asking, he said to Lin Hai: "Wei Liduo said: 'Thank you, General Lin, for your kindness. We are deeply grateful. How can we repay you?'"

This was obviously not a translation from the Portuguese director. Lin Hai felt that this way of communication would not be effective, so he put down his authority and said with a smile: "This is not Lin's office. There is no need to be polite. Please take a seat."

He then ordered the tea to be served. Wang Mingqi simply stopped translating this time and bowed repeatedly, saying, "We dare not."

The Portuguese director was about to take the tea bowl when he saw Wang Mingqi bowing repeatedly. The foreigner didn't know what was going on, so he didn't dare to take the tea bowl. He just waved his hands and bowed like a grandson with a smile on his face, which looked quite funny.

Lin Hai regretted not bringing the company's Portuguese translator, but there was no way to regret it now. He could only say to Wang Mingqi, "Wang Tongshi, do you know He Liangtao?"

"General Lin, are you talking about He Liehou?" Wang Mingqi certainly knew He Liangtao, who was one of the five interpreters under the Portuguese Council before joining the Huiyou Company. He was his former colleague. However, due to his personality, the Council generally did not use He Liangtao when dealing with Ming Dynasty officials. "Yes, he is now my assistant, helping me with the cannon manufacturing." Lin Hai continued with a pleasant face, "Wang Tongshi, you don't have to be nervous, sit down and have some tea first, and let the Australian Commissioner Liduo sit down as well."

After hearing this, Wang Mingqi gestured to the Portuguese director to sit down, and he took the tea bowl and sat down as well, but he still leaned forward, with only half of his butt sitting, just like when Lin Hai first met Hong Chengchou in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

"Tongshi Wang, just tell me what Wei Liduo asked you just now. I am a seafarer, so I don't have to be so particular. Besides, the Australians don't know Chinese etiquette, so even if they are offensive, I won't care, and I won't vent my anger on you..."

Wang Mingqi heard Lin Hai say this, and then he started to do his translation work: "In reply to General Lin, Wei Liduo just asked you if you have a grudge against the red-haired man? Also, he heard that you have a grudge against the Luzon barbarians, I wonder if it's true or not?"

"So that's how it is. Tell him that Lin and the red-haired man have no personal grudges. But the red-haired man has repeatedly invaded our Haojing, Penghu and other places, killed our Ming people, and abducted our gold, silk, and children. This blood debt must be repaid by them!"

Lin Hai then added: "As for the Luzon Yi, I did have some minor conflicts with them, but that was to regain land for my friend Queen Jinhe. Now, our Huiyou Company has reconciled with the Philippines, and we often have trade exchanges."

After Wang Mingqi finished translating, the Portuguese director looked very happy. It was obvious that his visit was also to test Lin Hai's attitude towards the Portuguese in Macau. After all, the rise of Huiyou Company could not be ignored by them.

After listening to him, the foreigner asked something, but Wang Mingqi avoided talking about something else...

At this time, a personal soldier happened to come in from outside the door and said: "My Lord, Gongsha is outside asking to see you, and he also brought another Australian barbarian with him, saying that he is their military leader."

"Hurry up and let them in." Lin Hai was relieved. He felt like he had finally found a reliable translator. This interpreter named Wang Mingqi was too cautious and his efficiency was too low.

How could he know that Wang Mingqi was so cautious out of helplessness. If he was not careful when dealing with Ming Dynasty officials, the consequences would be very serious.

During the Zhengde reign, there was a Portuguese interpreter named Huozhe Yasan, who caused public outrage because he refused to kneel before the head of the Ministry of Rites. During the Chongzhen reign, Wang Mingqi was also in trouble because the court wanted to recover the wages of the Portuguese soldiers who failed to go north, and ended up imprisoning him as an interpreter...

Soon, Gongsha came in with his military leader Don Felipe Lobo.

Lin Hai took a quick look and saw that Gongsha was still wearing a Confucian cap and robes. The so-called Governor of Macau was wearing a wig, an exaggerated ruff around his neck, fat pumpkin pants under a tight top, and sexy stockings and high heels below...

Lin Hai thought to himself, with the look on your face, it’s no wonder that you can’t get along in the Ming Dynasty. You don’t even understand the principle of adapting to local customs. And yet you want to compete for power with those people in the council who are always pretending to be grandsons. Isn’t that just a daydream?

(End of this chapter)