Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 121 "Eastern Hope"

"After the Dutch launched a series of aggressive offensives against us, our losses in Asia have been mounting. To date, among all Portuguese territories in Asia, only Mannar (present-day Sri Lanka's Mannar Peninsula) and our company have achieved substantial financial surpluses. However, with the drastic fluctuations in the Japanese market and the exclusionary behavior of the Spanish in Manila, the trading environment for our company has deteriorated accordingly."

"Under these circumstances, we must make changes and come up with practical methods to save our precarious Far East trade. Therefore, whether it's Mr. Gongsha leading armed volunteers to the north of the Ming Dynasty to support their government in fighting back against the Tatar invasion, or our transport of immigrants to this North American colonial company claiming to be the Eastern China, it's a bold attempt to improve our greatly reduced trade income."

"Although we don't know the specific circumstances of the Oriental Chinese Colonial Company, their successful trans-Pacific voyage proves they possess considerable strength. ... More importantly, they knew the Pacific coast of North America was claimed by the Spanish, yet remained undeterred and persisted in their colonial activities in North America."

"Oh, by the way, did you see those two large ships? One of them is clearly a Manila galleon. I'm sure they must have captured it from the Spanish. This shows that they may have had armed conflicts with the Spanish. ... I'm curious, how did they manage to come to the Ming Dynasty from North America every year to trade and immigrate under the noses of the Spanish?"

On June 1629, 6, a Portuguese three-masted sailing ship with a fully loaded displacement of about 18 tons was quietly anchored at the berth of Guangzhou Port. A long line of immigrants, led by more than ten men from the Qiming Warehouse, was slowly boarding the ship.

The Portuguese were the only European country allowed by the Ming government to enter the Port of Guangzhou for trade, and they were required to pay corresponding import and export tariffs in accordance with the maritime trade management system.

Earlier, the Portuguese had to bribe in order to be allowed to enter Guangzhou and obtain the opportunity to trade in Guangzhou.

They were not like the brutal Dutch, nor were they like the arrogant Spaniards. In order to show their obedience to the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese also took the initiative to ask to pay customs duties in order to change the Ming people's prejudice against them and thus obtain more trade opportunities.

Of course, the reason why the Portuguese are so "rules-abiding" is that more than a hundred years ago, during the Battle of Tuen Mun during the Zhengde period (1521, when Jiajing had just ascended the throne), the Portuguese were defeated miserably by the Ming army and truly experienced the power of this Eastern empire.

In other words, after the failure of the armed colonization operation, the Portuguese had to lower their stance and adopt a submissive attitude towards the Ming Dynasty.

In the 1553nd year of the Jiajing reign (), the Portuguese landed in Haojing by means of bribery and on the condition of paying taels of silver every year. They privately carried out trade activities and established settlements, thus further consolidating and developing their trade with the East.

However, the territorial sovereignty of Haojing was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Officials were stationed in the nearby Xiangshan County, and three offices were set up, namely the Supervisory Office, the Anti-Japanese War Office, and the Patrol Office. At the same time, the Coast Guard Assistant Governor and the Maritime Customs Supervisor were appointed to station in Macau to control the Portuguese's commercial and land activities.

During the reign of Emperor Tianqi, coastal defense was lax and poorly managed, which allowed the Portuguese in Macau to gradually gain some autonomy and even secretly appoint a Governor of Macau in 1616.

What's more, several years ago, in order to respond to the invasion of the Dutch East India Company, the city walls and several artillery batteries were built despite the Ming Dynasty's ban.

However, after the Ming local government reprimanded and warned the Portuguese for their illegal behavior, they were still very nervous and even worried that the Ming government would directly expel them from the trenches.

In order to please the Ming government, last year, the colonial authorities of Haojing, at the request of the Ming Dynasty, sent an armed volunteer team led by Gongsha Disilao and Lu Ruohan, with more than ten artillery pieces, to Beijing to show their support for the Ming Dynasty's fight against the Qing invaders.

In addition to trying to ease the relationship between the Portuguese and the Ming Dynasty, the colonial authorities of Haojing also tried to obtain permission from the central government of the Ming Dynasty to go to more ports and even inland areas of the Ming Dynasty to conduct trade in order to make up for the commercial losses caused by the decline of the Japanese market.

More than two months ago, Meng Shengxin, with the help of Lishunxing, successfully reached an agreement with the Portuguese to purchase a batch of firearms.

At that time, he proposed hiring Portuguese merchant ships that were temporarily idle to transport immigrants to the New World, offering an irresistible price. This immediately piqued the Portuguese's interest. Given the increasingly distant and even subtly hostile attitude of the Japanese shogunate towards the Portuguese, which repeatedly restricted the number of Portuguese merchant ships entering the port, trade between the two countries experienced significant fluctuations, leaving a large number of traders without business.

Now, this so-called Oriental China New Continent Colonization Company is willing to pay a high price to hire their Portuguese ships, which can be said to have given the Portuguese an opportunity to expand their business.

Captain Barreto de Noronha of the "Oriental Hope" stood on the high platform at the bow of the ship, looking at the Ming Dynasty immigrants who were filing into the dock, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, as if he was watching silver coins jumping onto the ship by themselves, and he was in a very happy mood.

"Captain, I think they must have hidden their territory very well, so that the Spaniards have not discovered them for the time being. Therefore, they can avoid the eyes and ears of the Spaniards and sail to the Ming Dynasty every year to purchase supplies and recruit immigrants." First mate Francisco Dinoc Vares pondered for a while and spoke.

"Well, that possibility can't be ruled out." Captain Nolonya nodded and said, "Then, by helping them transport the immigrants this time, we can discover the location of their established colonies. Haha, this secret may bring me some unexpected gains in the future."

"Captain, after we deliver the immigrants to their destination, will the Oriental Chinese Colonial Company seize our ship? In this way, they can not only keep their position, but also refuse to pay us the remaining immigration fees?

"No, no, no..." Captain Noronha shook his head and said, "They wouldn't dare do that! Besides having Lishunhang as their guarantor, this Oriental Huaxia Company must be desperately in need of us Portuguese to help transport immigrants. As far as I know, they've been recruiting immigrants from Guangzhou to the so-called New Continent for two consecutive years. Moreover, each time, they pack their ships to the brim in order to transport more immigrants and increase their population."

"If they could obtain our help, I believe that the speed and scale of their immigration would increase dramatically, which would greatly promote and enhance their strength, thus enabling them to resist the armed threat of the Spanish. Under such circumstances, they should not be so short-sighted and commit such despicable acts."

"Mr. Captain..."

"Well, dear Francisco, don't overthink it. This voyage will be smooth sailing," Captain Noronha interrupted, pointing to the gangway. "Look, they've sent two pilots to take us across the vast Pacific Ocean. Oh, and if anything goes wrong, you can immediately take your men and hang them from the bow."

Vares looked in the direction indicated and saw a man with European features and a man with oriental features walking towards them after asking the crew on the deck a few questions.

"Captain, First Mate," the European-looking man said sternly, speaking Spanish. "By order of our fleet commander, my companions and I will be your navigators on this voyage across the Pacific to the New World."

"Spanish?"

"..." Adro Papu Gomes' expression froze, and he glared at the two Portuguese with some annoyance. "Gentlemen, my identity is not important. What is important is that we must establish a good cooperative relationship over the next few months so that we can successfully complete this voyage."

"Now, please arrange for someone to show me and my companions a little bit about your ship and prepare a comfortable cabin for us."

"Haha..." Captain Noronha smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, Mr. Spaniard. I hope that we can have a pleasant cooperation on the upcoming journey. First Mate, please take them to familiarize themselves with our Eastern Hope and prepare for the upcoming departure."

"As you command, Mr. Captain."

(End of this chapter)