I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 746: Is this a remote town?

Marcelo was shocked when he entered Longkou Port.

The huge harbor is filled with ships, like fish floating on the surface of a pond before a summer rainstorm.

The masts of different heights are like a forest, so dense that the wind can hardly get through.

There were European caravels, Arab sailboats, galleys, princely sailboats, and ships of countless shapes.

On the ship and on the shore, thousands of people, speaking various languages, chattered together like a big pot of boiling soup.

Through the ships and masts, one could see rows of tall towers on the shore, with long crane arms extending out and rotating in the air. Below them were huge net bags hung with ropes, filled with all kinds of goods.

There were four monsters standing behind the tower, with black smoke belching out of their tall chimneys and strange humming sounds coming out from time to time.

What new things have the Ming people come up with?
Leon and Marcelo stood at the bow, with their entourage behind them, Leon's lieutenants Condorcet and Suarez, and Marcelo's lieutenants Fernando and Badis.

Everyone watched this scene in amazement.

Guangshun No. 1 followed the pilot boat to an outer dock. The first mate walked around on the deck and shouted, "The border police will be on board soon. Please take out the entry papers you obtained in Goa Port."

The ship was moored steadily at the dock, close to the pier, with anchors dropped and ropes tied. A ladder installed on an eight-wheeled cart was pushed over and leaned against the side of Guangshun No. 1.

A chain was tied to the edge of the ship's side, an eight-wheeled cart was fixed to the concrete piles below, and eight people climbed up the ladder.

Leon asked the first mate, who was already familiar with him, "Fang, are these people all officials from the Border Bureau?"

“Leon, in addition to the Border Bureau, there are also people from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau. But the one that has something to do with you is the Border Bureau, they are in charge of people. The Anti-Smuggling Bureau only manages the goods, not the people.”

"Fang, I haven't been to Daming for several years. Now there are so many more government offices?"

"Now it's not called a government office, but a department or an office. Yes, there are many more departments. The Border Bureau is directly under the Ministry of War. The Anti-Smuggling Bureau is directly under the Ministry of Revenue's Taxation Department.

Aren't you going to go north?"

"Correct."

"Then you will have to deal with the people from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Bureau."

"why?"

Just as the first mate was about to speak, the captain called out, "First mate Fang, take out the cargo manifest and take the officer from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau to the cargo hold for inspection."

"Yes!"

First Mate Fang left in a hurry.

Leon looked around and found that those who knew the situation didn’t recognize him, and those who knew the situation didn’t know it, so he let it go.

Four border officers wearing blue uniforms, red shoulder straps, and round-brimmed hats came over. The leading officer had a four-star shoulder strap and said, "Please take out your entry papers. We need to register you. If you don't have entry papers, please raise your hands."

Leon understood, and turned to say something to Marcelo and his entourage, and they all took out their entry papers from their pockets, and other passengers also took out their own entry papers.

The leading police officer took Leon's entry paper and glanced at it. "Are you Portuguese?"

"Yes."

Leon looked at the police officer opposite him calmly.

He was wearing a short top and shorts and a pair of leather sandals, looking very neat.

"How many people are there in the group?"

"Twelve people."

"You hold diplomatic visas, which entitle you to preferential treatment. You can use the special channel when you register at the immigration office. Lieutenant Li, you will accompany the Portuguese delegation to complete the immigration formalities."

"Yes."

When the lead officer turned around, Leon saw his armband, on which was embroidered in yellow thread a pass gate with two bayoneted spears crossed above it.

"from where?"

“Basra.”

“Ottomans?”

"Yes."

When the border officer checked the other passengers, Leon discovered that their entry papers were different from his own.

Theirs is white paper with black frame, mine is white paper with red frame.
The sailors took out a small sheepskin book called a passport.

"Mr. Leon, Mr. Marcelo, everyone, please follow us." Lieutenant Li stepped forward and said.

He is very young, only twenty-one or twenty-two years old, and his face is full of vitality.

"What about our luggage?"

"It's okay. The transportation company will deliver them to your hotel. Don't worry, they will be very responsible."

Leon explained a few words to Marcelo, and the group followed Lieutenant Li up the ladder to the shore.

Giving Marcelo a wink, Leon took a step forward and followed Lieutenant Li.

"Second Lieutenant Li, may I ask if General Yu Dayou is still in the South China Sea?"

"Do you know Marshal Yu?"

"Several years ago in Goa, I had the honor of being defeated by General Yu."

Second Lieutenant Li looked back at Leon and had a better impression of him because he was very frank.

"The Duke of Tong'an was summoned to the capital last year and is now the Vice Governor of the Right Army."

"What about General Zhang?"

Second Lieutenant Li was stunned for a moment, then thought of Zhang Yuanxun.

"General Zhang, Marquis of Fu'an, has been transferred to Hong Kong."

"Where is Prefect Song?"

"Former Sanbao Prefecture Governor Song?"

"Yes, yes, Prefect Song."

"Prefect Song was transferred to Haidong Province."

Everything is wrong.

Leon asked hesitantly: "Who is the highest official in the South China Sea now?"

"The current civil official is Lord Ye Mengxiong, the governor of Yanzhou, who is temporarily protecting Governor-General Lu Yan; the military official is Chen Lin, the admiral of the Suzaku Navy. Lord Ye is in Longkou City and should be able to meet with you in the next two days."

I don’t know anyone.

Leon thought for a moment and asked again: "Do you know Jose? He is a Portuguese who joined your Ming army and previously served under General Yu."

"Jose?" Lieutenant Li thought for a moment, "Is it the Jose whose courtesy name is Fengxian?"

"Zi Fengxian? Yes, he told me that he gave himself a Ming Dynasty-style name, Hesai, with the courtesy name Fengxian."

"Lieutenant Colonel He is the deputy chief of staff of the Second Fleet of the South China Sea. He often cooperates with our Border Bureau and Anti-Smuggling Bureau. He is an old acquaintance. I heard that he was recommended to go to Beijing to study at the Hongwu Military Academy.

It seems that we will leave in the next few days, but I am not sure about the exact date. "

"Lieutenant Li, can you help me find out?"

"No problem." Lieutenant Li agreed immediately.

Lieutenant Li took Leon, Marcelo and twelve others on a clanging tram.

In addition to them, there were five or six other men in the car, with short hair and vests, revealing their bronzed muscles. Three of them were smoking cigarettes, with smoke puffing out of their mouths and noses, which surprised Leon, Marcelo and others.

They were talking loudly, as if they were arguing, but they would burst into laughter from time to time.

Leon, who was sitting next to Lieutenant Li, asked softly: “Lieutenant Li, who are they?”

"They are dock workers, who operate cranes and load, unload and transport goods." Dock workers?

These people who radiate confidence and strength are actually just laborers at the docks?
Leon was a little dazed. Marcelo couldn't wait to ask, "Leon, who are they?"

"Dock worker." Leon first said the transliteration, and then explained, "It is the person who is responsible for loading and unloading goods at the dock."

"They are actually a bunch of stinky coolies!"

Marcelo and others also found it incredible.

There was a large wooden sign on the side of the road with a line of large characters painted on it, which flashed across their sight.

"Labor is glorious!"

Leon was thoughtful and seemed to understand something.

As we continue walking, in addition to the wooden signs on the roadside, we will also see a line of words painted with lime on some walls.

"Crack down on smuggling and tax evasion!"

“Illegal immigration is not only dangerous!”

"Keep the port area clean!"

"All parties are mobilized to create the first batch of sanitary and civilized cities in the Ming Dynasty"

What are you talking about!

The last time I came here, there was no such talk. The Ming Dynasty changed too quickly.

To what extent can my previous experiences and lessons in the Ming Dynasty have any effect?
Leon was distressed and racked his brains to translate the meaning of these slogans to Marcelo and others.

The carriage drove along the railroad tracks for four or five minutes and stopped in front of a row of houses.

"Mr. Leon, Mr. Marcelo, everyone, please get out of the car."

After everyone got off, the carriage carrying half of the dock workers continued to move forward. Their hearty conversations and laughter were like strings of sunshine, flying over.

The house in front is very tall, with only one floor, and is a hall. There are three doors and glass windows on the left and right. There is a large plaque on the door, "Longya Port Entry Inspection Station".

Many people were queuing here, holding the entry papers that had just been checked on the ship.

Lieutenant Li led Leon, Marcelo and others through the left door and walked directly to the leftmost passage, which had a sign on it: "Diplomatic Entry."

Lieutenant Li led twelve people along a half-person-high wooden fence and walked to a counter. Behind the counter sat a man wearing the same clothes as Lieutenant Li, with the same epaulettes of one bar and one star.

He is a border inspector.

"These twelve people are from the Portuguese diplomatic mission and have entry papers issued by the Goa Consulate."

"The Portuguese envoys? Wait a moment, I'll call an interpreter over."

After a while, a European man wearing the same blue uniform came over, with two horizontal bars on his epaulettes.

Marcelo couldn't help but ask, "Are you Portuguese?"

"I am the Portuguese naturalized Class B Sergeant Major Fei Nanjiang." The Portuguese man answered solemnly, and then smiled and greeted: "Hey, Lieutenant Li."

Leon and Marcelo were a little annoyed.

He was so thoroughly naturalized that he considered himself a Ming citizen and his motherland Portugal as a foreign country.

"Mr. Leon and Mr. Marcelo, please bring out your entry papers and the relevant official documents proving your status as envoys."

Fenanjiang urged in Portuguese.

Leon and Marcelo looked at each other, suppressed their anger, and took out all the documents.

After receiving it, Fei Nanjiang read it carefully, and then said to Lieutenant Li and the border inspector: "Yes, this document is a letter of authorization signed by King Sebastian I of Portugal and stamped with wax.

Authorize Fernando Cassel da Marcelo, Marquis of Mahazan, Portugal, as the chief envoy to the Ming Dynasty, and Baron Conseda Aveiro León, Baron of Sebania, as the deputy envoy.

The inspector wrote down what Fenanjan said one by one, and asked Leon, Marcelo and twelve other people to make fingerprints of their left and right thumbs to compare with the fingerprints on the back of the entry paper issued by the Goa Consulate.

After the fingerprints are verified, the inspector will stamp the entry paper and fill in the date with a pen.

"April 2, the fifth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty."

After completing the entry formalities, Lieutenant Li placed the group in a border guesthouse not far behind the inspection building and said, "Mr. Leon and Mr. Marcelo, please rest here for one night.

I believe that the people from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Bureau will come tomorrow morning and take you to Bataan Island for quarantine for 15 days."

"Isolation? Why isolation?"

"Mr. Leon, this is our Ming Dynasty's entry rules. Anyone entering the country from overseas must be quarantined at a designated location for fifteen days."

"Anyone? Including yourselves?"

"Yes, if we want to go back to Guangzhou or Hong Kong, we must also be quarantined for fifteen days and get a customs clearance from the Health and Epidemic Prevention Bureau before we can board the ship heading north."

Leon and Marcelo looked at each other, "Second Lieutenant Lee, Bataan Island, as I remember it, is a deserted island."

"It is not a deserted island now. Our Longkou County includes Longya Island (Singapore Island), Batan Island and Bintan Island. Among them, Longya Port is an outer port, that is, a port for foreign trade. Bintan Port is an inner port, a port for domestic trade.

Longkou Port refers to Longya Port and Bintan Port.

You will be quarantined on Batan Island for 15 days, then go directly to Bintang Island and board a ship to Xiangjiang Port.”

The guest should follow the host's wishes, what else can he do?

Leon thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Lieutenant Li, please help me find out about Jose." As he said that, he handed over a bag of silver coins.

Lieutenant Li looked around in fear and said angrily, “Mr. Leon, don’t hurt me.”

"How dare I harm you?"

"You are offering bribes. I will be sued."

After saying this, Lieutenant Li left in a panic, as if he had been bitten by a snake.

Leon, Marcelo and twelve others stayed at the Longya Port Border Guesthouse.

This is still the port area and has not entered the city.

Leon and Marcelo each had a room, while Condorcet, Suarez, Fernando, Badis and others had two people in one room. After waiting for half an hour, someone who claimed to be from the Longya Station of the South China Sea Shipping Company drove a carriage and delivered their luggage.

There were a total of 21 boxes of various sizes, all with wax seals from the Goa Station of the South China Sea Shipping Company.

The people at Longya Station were so considerate as to move all the luggage to their room, and then asked Leon to sign several documents, leaving one copy for Leon.

Marcelo and others checked all the boxes and found nothing missing. They couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and admired the Ming people's rigorous work style.

At around six o'clock in the afternoon, the director of the guesthouse invited them downstairs for dinner.

“I’m sorry, but our place is remote and the skilled chefs are unwilling to come. We only have a few mediocre chefs to fill the gap.

The food is not tasty, please forgive me, my Portuguese guests."

Marcelo and others sat down at two tables. They were stunned when they saw the table full of dishes. They couldn't even look at them enough, let alone eat them.

Boiled sea fish fillets, lobster in sauce, oyster omelette, three-color sandworms, red crabs with Sichuan peppers, clams cooked with sauerkraut, sugarcane shrimps, and Hainan chicken fill the whole room with a rich aroma that makes people salivate.

The chef in a round cloth hat introduced the dishes, wiping his hands nervously on his apron. "My cooking skills are not very good, and there are not many ingredients here. I live by the sea and I am sorry for neglecting you all."

Marcelo glanced at the table full of dishes and couldn't help asking Leon: "Is this the most remote city in Ming Country?"

"Yes."

"Not their capital?"

"It's still thousands of miles away."

"Why is it that in such a remote town, the dishes made casually are dozens of times more sumptuous than what I ate in the Royal Palace of Lisbon and the Royal Palace of Madrid?"

(End of this chapter)