Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Upon seeing the Spanish ships approaching, the Portuguese in the harbor were thrown into chaos.

There hadn't been such a large-scale operation in a long time. Suddenly, more than a dozen warships were right in front of us. Who wouldn't panic?

The officials in Macau were also quite puzzled. It wasn't that the Spanish hadn't come before, but they had mostly just made announcements and established contact, without any intention of governing. Surely they weren't coming to interrogate him this time?

Besides, I had just given gifts to the king, so how could I be the one to be guilty?

But no matter what, we definitely can't prevent these people from getting ashore.

After several ships docked, Moore and Chi Honghai disembarked and went ashore together. The seven or eight warships behind them did not dock together, but lined up in a row facing the Haojing, although their cannon windows were not yet open.

The officer in charge of Macau was uneasy at the sight of this situation; it didn't seem like the other party was here to say anything nice.

But he soon noticed an Asian man next to the leader. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was an old friend of his. What was he doing? Had he gotten involved with the Spaniards?

But it's nothing, just dealing with people. He's a businessman, he deals with everyone. But a surge of anger rose in his heart. They agreed to do trade with him, so why did they go to other people, especially Spanish ones?

But now was not the time for him to confront the man; he knew that the Spaniard next to him was no nobody.

After the two sides met, the officer from Macau glanced at Chi Honghai with an incredulous and displeased look, but Chi Honghai did not respond at all, as if he did not know him.

Just as the officer from Macau was about to greet him, Moore spoke first: "You're in charge here? Your name is... what's it, Gray?"

Gray looked a little embarrassed, and smiled slightly. "Uh...ha...yes, I'm the officer here...my name is Gray, and you are?"

"Never mind who I am! I heard you colluded with the Dutch to rebel?!" Moore's voice was loud enough for everyone around to hear clearly.

The men behind him immediately raised their muskets and pointed them at the Portuguese, causing the group on the other side to tremble, completely bewildered as to what was going on.

"Rebellion? What kind of nonsense is this? I am utterly loyal to the king, how could I possibly rebel?"

Gray was bewildered by the question, not knowing where the other party got the information that he had rebelled. After thinking for a while, the only thing he could think of was that the Spanish wanted to use this as an excuse to get rid of him and take over Macau. But he knew that he would not have the advantage if a direct conflict broke out. There were seven or eight warships at sea, and there were also many troops on land. Moreover, the conflict could break out at any moment, and he could not avoid being shot.

"Hey, sir, what are you saying? I just recently presented the King with several precious paintings from the Ming Dynasty. How could I possibly do such a thing? I am utterly loyal to the King!"

Mentioning these paintings only fueled Moore's anger, and he realized that Chi Honghai wasn't lying to him.

"Trying to exchange a few fake paintings for our real gold, silver, and titles—what's the difference between that and treason? Do you think we're all fools?" Moore roared.

"No? Sir, you've misunderstood. These paintings are definitely genuine," Gray explained hastily, then glanced at Chi Honghai beside him, pointing at him and saying, "That...that...he can vouch for me! He's the one who sold me these paintings!"

Moore looked at Chi Honghai beside him, only to see him step forward, his tone becoming somewhat anxious.

"Commander Gray, please don't slander me. Although I have traded with you before, I have never sold you any counterfeit goods. You know, calligraphy and paintings are not only difficult to obtain here, but also difficult to store. Porcelain and tea are much faster to obtain."

"You say I sold you calligraphy and paintings, but do you have any evidence? Do you have any witnesses? If you have none, isn't this slander? You can't pin the crime of selling fakes on me just because I'm of Asian descent. How am I supposed to do business like this?"

"You!" Gray pointed at Chi Honghai's nose, "Have you forgotten what we agreed on? I'm the one who sold you the boat!"

"No? Where did you sell me your ship? Governor Moore, you can see the ship I came in on. It's an English ship, the very warship they captured at Humen. I bought it from Guangzhou at a high price. What does it have to do with him?"

"Oh, so by saying that, he's admitting to privately trading arms and warships, isn't he? If he had a license and was selling to the Ming Dynasty government, that would be one thing, but Governor-General, aren't you worried that he might have sold them to the pirates in the area, or even to Dutch middlemen?"

Gray bared his teeth, his face flushed, and was about to grab Chi Honghai to argue, but Moore stepped forward and kicked him aside: "What a bastard, just like that Dutchman, no wonder they can stick together."

Moore's kick was full of resentment, and Gray slid a distance on the ground. He was in so much pain that he didn't even dare to breathe loudly, let alone explain anything.

Before any of the Portuguese present could react, they were all disarmed and surrounded.

Before Gray could catch his breath, Moore shot him dead.

Seeing the blood splatter, Chi Honghai didn't blink; he was secretly pleased. Who told him to swindle so much silver from him? I've always said that businessmen should be honest.

"Sir, you keep your word. Take whatever you want from here."

Although Moore is a bit irritable, he is indeed trustworthy.

Chi Honghai looked at the group of Portuguese people, not in a hurry to say what he wanted. This is the art of negotiation. If you ask for too much, or ask for what the other party needs, not only will you not get it, but it will also easily widen the distance between the two parties. If you ask for too little, then it will be difficult to make a request whenever you have the opportunity to ask the other party for something in the future.

"Your Excellency, what are your plans regarding these Portuguese?"

Moore sneered: "Them? With their looks, they wouldn't even fetch a good price in America, and might even lose money. It would be too good for them to be taken back to the chicken coop and publicly executed. They'd have to ride on our ship, and we'd have to clean it up inside and out."

Moor's words were full of rejection of these Portuguese people.

That's when the opportunity comes.

"Governor, these filthy fellows are going to soil your ship. Why don't you leave them to me?"

"You? What do you, a businessman, need them for?"

"Sir, doing business also requires assistants. Moving goods and cultivating fields all require manpower. If I put these people under my command as slaves, I can save a lot of wages. Just give me the people, and I won't ask for anything else on this island."

Good thing, of course it's good thing. It saves me from having to deal with this group of people. Anyway, being a slave is the same no matter where you are. So I handed these Portuguese over to this Easterner in front of me to deal with.

Finally, Moore left Chi Honghai some supplies and two ships on the island.

"Mr. Chi, you've seen my sincerity. I've given you the people, and I've also reserved some goods for you. I hope we can cooperate well."

"Of course, we hope we can get rid of those damned Dutchmen as soon as possible."