How did they get in touch with Sheyang Lake? How many days have they been logged in? Zhao Xin was a little irritated. When he arrived at the communication room, he happened to hear a familiar voice on the intercom asking urgently: "My lord is here.
Really? Please urge me again."
Zhao Xin was stunned for a moment before he realized that the person calling from the opposite side was Xu Dayong. He walked to the table, picked up the intercom and said: "Xu Dayong, your skin is itchy? Are you having fun with me?!"
Xu Dayong at the other end of the line seemed stunned. After a while, he asked excitedly: "Sir, is it really you? Sir, are you really okay?"
Zhao Xin was feeling troubled, so he said angrily: "I can't die! If you need anything, tell me immediately!"
"Sir! Don't be angry. Listen to me first. Well, Mr. Shen, Miss Shen, and Brother Shoushan brought more than twenty men. They took a boat overnight to go south to Guangzhou yesterday!"
"Ah?!" Zhao Xin was shocked and asked quickly: "What happened?"
At this time, I only heard the other side whispering for a while, and then Xu Dayong's voice came: "Sir, is there anyone with you? Brother Shoushan explained this before leaving, and let me talk to you alone."
As soon as he said this, the two correspondents in the room couldn't sit still. They quickly got up and went out. After the two closed the hatch, Zhao Xin said: "There is no one here now. You can say it."
Xu Dayong then told Zhao Xin what happened.
Yesterday afternoon, Shen Jingdan and Shen Xuan suddenly arrived at Zhuangzi in Sheyang Lake, which surprised Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong. How many days have they been away? Why are the Shen family's father and daughter back?
Unexpectedly, when Shen Jingdan saw Lu Shoushan, he said that something might have happened to Zhao Xin and asked him to immediately take Zhuangzi's experts to go with him to Guangzhou to find Zhao Xin. When Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong heard this, they were frightened on the spot!
He quickly asked what happened.
Shen Jingdan couldn't talk nonsense about such a big matter, so he talked about what Shen Xuan had been feeling a few days ago.
Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong were confused when they heard this. How could such a thing be used as an excuse? If nothing happened to Zhao Xin's side, people like them would be in vain, and they would be punished just for making the decision without permission.
Heading into line.
Just when the two were hesitant, Shen Xuan, disguised as a man, knelt down for them. This scared Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong half to death. They both knew that Zhao Xin and Shen Xuan were engaged.
Regarding the matter of marriage, the future mistress wants both of her to do this, so don’t talk about it and just go ahead and do it!
After the two of them worked together, Lu Shoushan decided to take his own people to accompany the Shen family and his daughter to Guangzhou, and Xu Dayong was stationed at Sheyang Lake. In addition to the two of their original subordinates, Lu Shoushan also brought Chen Jishan's brother and sister and Zhuangzi to recruit
There are more than a dozen good players. The reason why I brought Chen Jishan's sister with me was to serve Shen Xuan on the road.
Because the Shen family and his daughter were anxious, Lu Shoushan gathered some people and left immediately. They boarded a sand boat that night and were estimated to be almost at Shanghai County by now.
When Zhao Xin heard Xu Dayong talk about Shen Xuan's feelings, he was very surprised. Why did Shen Xuan react when something happened to him? Besides, the jade pendant should have nothing to do with Shen Xuan. This happened so weirdly!
Although taking a boat is faster than traveling by land, according to the speed of sand ships in this era, it will definitely not be reached in less than ten days and a half.
It is said that navigation in ancient China was not calculated by speed, but by "shifts", even in the Qing Dynasty. According to the calculation of "shifts", the speed is 6.75 knots. Ancient navigation charts tell you how many shifts in which direction to go. Where to go, and then change direction and walk a few more times to get there. As for the speed of the boat, it all depends on the weather and the experience of the bow (captain).
Zhao Xin and the others traveled all the way south from Sheyang Lake, not including the stop at Flower and Bird Island, a total of nearly 1,100 nautical miles. The Thor relied on navigation radar and traveled for more than three days at a speed of 20 knots. This took If it were the turtle speed of a sand boat, it would be fast for ten days!
Do you have to wait here for half a month? But if you take the initiative to look for it, the sea is vast. Who knows who is Shen Xuan and the others on that boat? Should you go over to check if you see a sand boat?
Thinking of this, Zhao Xin couldn't help complaining to Shen Xuan, it would be great to honestly buy a dowry in Yangzhou, why are you messing around!
The attention turned to Liu Sheng and his friends. They took a watermelon boat from Tanzai Island in the morning, and it was almost around five o'clock in the afternoon when the boat sailed into Macau.
"Mr. Liu, Captain Ding, we will arrive at the Nanwan Pier soon." Matos introduced Liu Sheng and the others with a smile on his face.
The area of the Macau Peninsula in this era was 2.78 square kilometers, which was much smaller than Macau in later generations. The mountains on the entire peninsula were not high, and the highest Guia Mountain was only 91 meters above sea level.
Macau in the Qing Dynasty was also called Haojing'ao among Chinese people; among the Portuguese and other Westerners, it was called "China's Majiao God's Name Port", or "Majiao Port" for short. As for the word Macau in later generations , comes from the homophonic pronunciation of Mazu Temple on the island.
Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng walked out of the cabin and stood on the deck looking at Macau. They saw beautiful houses that looked like a later-generation Italian style. The coast was protected by a wide grassland, and the outside of the grassland was surrounded by a building. Surrounded by low-walled breakwaters, the scenery is very beautiful. Looking north from the direction of the pier, the famous Ruins of St. Paul's is clearly visible (St. Paul's Cathedral, Sanba is the transliteration). And the one next to the Ruins of St. Paul's The hill is where the Ruins of St. Paul's Fort is located.
In addition to the fort in the center of the peninsula, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng also noticed that there are two more forts at the east and west corners of the Macau peninsula.
"Da Liu, do you think there is a casino at this time?" Ding Guofeng asked Liu Sheng beside him.
"Maybe, I've been here once before."
Liu Sheng came to Macau in another time and space, when he was working as a bodyguard for rich people. Although his salary was high at that time, most of the money was sent home to his ex-wife, and he lived frugally. At that time, Macau gave him My impression is that eating is too expensive, an order of mapo tofu costs 70 yuan.
"Haha, Liu, if you want to eat Mapo tofu in Macau now, you still can't." Ding Guofeng is right. Mapo tofu was not a dish until the Tongzhi period, almost ninety years later.
"At worst, we can invent it in advance. I'll ask Chef Hu to make it when we get back. From now on, we'll call it Fatty Hu's Tofu!"
While the two were talking and laughing, the watermelon boat landed on the shore.
Nanwan, the locals call it Nanhuan. The reason why we dock here is that according to the requirements of the Guangdong Customs of the Qing Dynasty, all foreigners coming to Macao must disembark here and undergo inspection by the Nanhuan Customs Office of the "Macao Customs Department" You can enter the country later.
The tax hall is located next to the Nanwan Pier, just two steps away from the shore. It is a small house with a wooden fence surrounding the door. There is a porch with a sunshade roof at the door. On the west side of the tax hall
Under the wall, there were more than a dozen guys sitting, looking at Liu Sheng and his group and pointing.
As soon as the watermelon boat docked, a middle-aged man wearing a green cloth gown came out of the house. Liu Sheng had seen this man before. He was the man named Zhou who had boarded the boat to have a secret talk with Wang Ping.
Sabu's staff.
Immediately following the man surnamed Zhou came out two patrolmen, with the words "Macau Guanbu Xingtai" written on their chests.
The man surnamed Zhou saw Wang Ping walking onto the pier and winked at him. Wang Ping, who was dressed as a Beihai Town soldier and wearing a thunder cap, nodded inconspicuously. When the man surnamed Zhou saw him, he turned around
Went back inside.
One of the leading officials came over and asked the boatman driving the watermelon boat: "How many people are here?"
The boatman looked back at Liu Sheng and others, bowed and replied: "Not counting the director and his entourage, a total of seventeen foreigners are here."
"Yeah. Let them all come in. We need to check the luggage."
Liu Sheng frowned after hearing this and was about to speak when his sleeves were pulled by someone. He turned around and saw Wang Ping. Seeing that the other person winked at him and nodded, he stopped talking and strode toward him with a quick stride.
Walking to the tax hall, Ding Guofeng waved to his subordinates, and they all arrived at the door of the tax hall.
The man surnamed Zhou was sitting behind a desk in the house. When he saw Liu Sheng and a group of people trying to go in, he quickly shouted: "Come in one by one, what a shame!"
At this time, Liu Sheng and Wang Ping had already entered, while two patrolmen were standing guard outside the door.
"Three days? Not enough?" The man surnamed Zhou seemed to be uneasy about the previous secret conversation on the ship, so he asked again in a low voice.
Wang Ping nodded and whispered: "Don't worry!"
The man surnamed Zhou stopped talking, picked up the brush, lowered his head and started writing on the booklet on the table. Liu Sheng looked carefully at what the other person wrote on the booklet, and almost didn't laugh out loud. He thought to himself, this is okay?
"Today, 16 American sailors have landed. Their ship is anchored at the dock of the outer island. The name of the ship is the Clayton. The foreigners did not bring any cargo with them. Each of them only had a backpack with him, and the luggage tax was 1, 2, and 5 cents per person.
"
The man named Zhou finished writing on the book and said to Liu Sheng with a straight face: "Pay the money!"
Just after landing, more than 20 taels of silver were gone. This made Liu Sheng very unhappy, thinking that this was too expensive!
Seeing Liu Sheng's expression of concern, Wang Ping whispered: "Mr. Liu, this is the rule. Guangzhou charges more than Macau."
Liu Sheng took a silver bar from Beihai Town from his bag and gave it to the man named Zhou. When he was issuing the receipt, he said to Wang Ping: "Manager Wang, are you going to come with us or not?"
Wang Ping said quickly: "Don't worry about it, Mr. Liu, I will leave with you in a moment."
Liu Sheng nodded and said nothing. He took the tax payment certificate issued by Zhou, turned around and went out. At this time, Wang Ping quickly entered a small room in the tax hall. After changing his clothes inside,
Then you can leave with Zhou.
When Liu Sheng walked out of the tax hall, he was about to talk to Ding Guofeng when suddenly several guys in green cloth gowns gathered around him. They hunched over and muttered a lot to Liu Sheng. Liu and Ding were stunned.
Roll your eyes.
"I'll go! What are these guys talking about!"
At this time, a person who gathered around suddenly showed surprise on his face and said in a poor Mandarin: "Master, I really didn't expect you to speak our Mandarin! We are all general officers of the Ministry of Finance, Sir, you
There are so many people, let’s find a few more.”
Liu Sheng asked: "We have to stay in Macau for more than two days, how do you calculate the money?"
Another clerk quickly replied: "It's not expensive, five cents a day, plus two cents for fire expenses."
"Is it a waste of money to invite someone?" Ding Guofeng couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this.
"Ah! This master can also speak Mandarin." A few laymen wondered why this foreigner spoke Mandarin better than me. "This is the rule of the imperial court. Please be lenient, Master."
At this time, Matos on the side said to Liu Sheng in Cantonese: "Liu, you can only invite them. This is the Haiphong Yamen's rule."
"Oh, thank you very much." Liu Sheng said to several of the counselors: "We can all speak Mandarin. There are two people per person. We need to invite eight people. You don't have enough people."
"Enough is enough!" As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a few more guys standing up under the wall of the tax hall. Their clothes were not as good as those of the people in front of Liu Sheng, and their clothes were all patched.
Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng looked at each other, and then nodded, which meant that this was the case.
At this time, outside the Ruins of St. Paul's Church, a welcoming team headed by the Macau Municipal Committee had been waiting for a long time. These people were all dressed in gorgeous European formal clothes, and there were also several Portuguese women wearing European-style long skirts and veils.
Chatting on the sidelines.
Behind them was a group of Portuguese soldiers with guns, gathered together in twos and threes; all the soldiers were wearing European-style military uniforms, and their heads were wrapped with a white cloth handkerchief.
When Matos led Liu Sheng and others over, the captain ordered the soldiers to beat the drums, and the others lined up. At this time, a five-gun salute sounded from the Sanba Fort to show welcome.
When several Australian and Portuguese women saw Liu Sheng walking beside Matos, they couldn't help but turned their heads and exclaimed: "What a tall man!"
When Liu Sheng and others approached, these Macao-Portuguese people were stunned when they saw the guests in white uniforms and strange-style big-brimmed hats.
A leading municipal official stepped forward and said: "Gentlemen, on behalf of the Macau Municipal Council and all residents in Macau, I welcome you all!"
Liu Sheng and others were also frightened by the formation in front of them, so he ordered his men to line up and salute to show their solemnity. Unexpectedly, this movement in Beihai Town shocked a group of Macao and Portuguese people.
Sixteen people were all dressed in snow-white navy uniforms. They lined up horizontally and vertically and saluted uniformly. The captain and his men, who were wearing bandanas, were so ashamed that they wished they could find a mouse hole to crawl in to settle the matter.
The eight general officers in charge of translation stood aside, smiling and looking at Liu Sheng and the others as they lined up, pointing.
The tall Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng were wearing captain's uniforms with ribbons, and they looked even taller and more powerful, with extraordinary heroic looks, which made several Portuguese women jump on their nerves and keep ogling them.
After the welcome ceremony of the municipal committee, there was a grand welcome dinner. The banquet was held at the home of a wealthy municipal official. The long table was covered with snow-white tablecloths and there was a dazzling array of Portuguese dishes.
From fish to pork, beef and mutton, they were all served with fresh vegetables, high-quality olive oil, and mellow red wine. However, because Liu Sheng had warned him before, the soldiers did not indulge in eating and drinking; and most of them
People are simply not used to drinking red wine.
A group of officials and women could not help but feel a little disappointed when they saw that Liu Sheng and others only tasted many dishes. They had put a lot of thought into this meal, but they did not expect that the other party did not like it.
Matos quickly said to Liu Sheng: "Your Excellency, I want to apologize for our poor greeting. I ignored that you are all Orientals."
Liu Sheng shook his head and said: "Don't mind. Because of the cold climate, my people are used to greasy and heavy-flavored food. They just think these Mediterranean-style dishes are a bit too bland."
After dinner, when Liu Sheng was about to say goodbye and go back to his residence to rest, Matos suddenly told him that the Governor of Macau, Sir Faria, would meet with Liu Sheng and his companions tomorrow morning.
Because Zhao Xin didn't come, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng were a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the Portuguese. They thought to themselves that this was just a simple business inspection and they didn't buy anything. Why are the Portuguese so enthusiastic?!
What he doesn't know is that the Portuguese in Macau are actually having a miserable time.
As the saying goes, "Those who are not of our race must have different hearts." The Manchus and the Qing Dynasty seemed to take care of the Portuguese in Macau, but in fact they were very wary. In order to curb the power of the Portuguese, the Guangdong Customs stipulated that foreign merchants could not stay in Macau for a long time, and the people of the Qing Dynasty could not live in Macau for a long time.
Living in Macao, the Portuguese were not allowed to go to Guangzhou for trade, etc. Moreover, foreign merchants coming to China could go directly to Guangzhou after completing inspections abroad. In addition, Portugal's own country was declining, which seriously affected Macao's foreign trade.
The current Macao and Portuguese authorities often condone smuggling, and some Portuguese have become opium smugglers. Yes, of the more than two thousand boxes of opium flowing into the Qing Dynasty every year, one thousand boxes are smuggled in from Macau.
If Zhao Xin knew about this, he would definitely blow up all the forts in Macau and the Ruins of St. Paul's.
The ancients said that a day and a night are divided into ten shifts, that is, every two hours, twenty minutes and four minutes is one shift. Use the number of incense sticks to calculate the time, throw the wood chips into the sea, and people will run quickly from the bow to the stern.
If the wood chips arrive at the same time, the calculated watch number is standard. If the person arrives first, it is called "no watch", and the wood chips arrive first, it is called a past watch. One watch is a thirty-kilometer voyage. In this way, the speed and range can be calculated.