The Spaniards were surprised to see that a new port city had been erected on the once desolate beach. The buildings in the city were neat and uniform. The streets were straight and clean. The roads on the seaside were all flat stone roads. All the facilities at the port terminal were complete. The scale is huge. Although it is the trading season, most of the merchant ships have already gone to sea. However, there are still nearly a hundred offshore merchant ships and fishing boats moored in the port.
According to the concept of centralized overall planning brought by Yin Feng from the modern world, the construction of the entire Taiwan Port appears to be in an orderly manner; the city is divided into areas according to functions and has good sewers and street lighting equipment. Therefore, although it is approaching night time, the sky is already dark It's half dark, but the entire Taiwan harbor area is already brightly lit. People are coming and going, and it's full of vitality.
"It's so interesting. Was this city really built in two years?" Father Catalina said in surprise.
Don Fernando paid more attention to the defense facilities of the port. He observed for a while and said: "The city only has fence walls. There are no city walls. There are forts and fortresses. But there is a lack of defenses around the port. There are armed sailing ships, but there are none like us Europeans. Battleships; where did these physiological men learn military technical knowledge? The Battle of Balian. They were just a mob."
Father Catalina said calmly: "Back then, you were dealing with a group of pagans without muskets and cannons. Now, they have organized and united themselves. Now I feel that our diplomatic mission will not be so smooth."
Fernando felt that the priest had overestimated the organizational ability of the physiological man. But he did not want to argue with Father Catalina. He did not want to offend this seemingly peaceful and serious priest.
Another identity of Father Catalina is more secretive: he is a juror of the Manila Inquisition.
…
At night, the Maria anchored in the port. Yin Feng put down his telescope and said to Lin Xiao, Zeng Jingshan and others: "We need to set up another fort south of Taiyuan Port to strengthen the port's defense capabilities. The Spanish They have larger warships. If their purpose is to attack Taiwan Port, they cannot be stopped by the Dajuan Fort alone."
Everyone nodded. Anping, who was in charge of the construction project, said: "Shipowner, further south from Damuan Port, there must be a fort to guard the area around Anping Port. The coastline there is completely undefended."
Yin Feng nodded: "That's right. Brother An. Send someone to survey the terrain immediately when you get back. Calculate the cost of building materials and labor required to build the fort. Make a budget and submit it."
An Heping nodded in agreement. Then he said, "Ship owner, how do you deal with these troubled people?"
Yin Feng smiled; "We want to put on a good show for them. They want to negotiate with us. We are not in a hurry. Let them take their time."
The Maria stopped at the C-shaped pier. The other two Portuguese sailing ships stopped at the A-shaped pier half a mile away. They were separated from the Spanish. The port pilot of the Chinese Company boarded the Maria and gave orders. He directed the Spaniards to park the boat and then said in Spanish: "You are not allowed to get off the boat yet. Everyone must sign and stamp the port entry registration certificate. Only after receiving the certificate can you enter the city."
Fernando did not expect that the management of the Taiwan Port was so strictly organized. Everywhere revealed a completely different atmosphere from the traditional Chinese trade port.
The pilot continued to speak: "Our Taiwan Port is a free port. Foreign merchant ships are exempt from paying entry tax. However, management fees must be paid for transactions in the port area. This is a detailed list of the management fees and other service fees of our China United Company. Please Check it out. If you have any comments, please put them forward in time."
Fernando took a piece of paper with good printing quality. The various charging terms above were clearly listed in Chinese and Portuguese. He handed the paper to Father Catalina. After reading it, both of them were very happy. They looked at each other and gave each other a wry smile; the terms clearly stated: Except for Spaniards, people from other countries are exempt from paying the poll tax.
This entry was obviously aimed at the Spaniards; at the Port of Manila, any Chinese merchant who wanted to go ashore to trade in Balian had to pay a head tax to the Spanish authorities.
Fernando asked the pilot, who was very young, almost like a child: "We are not merchant ships. We are diplomatic envoys sent by the Spanish Governor of the Philippine Colony."
The water pilot said expressionlessly: "No matter who you are, you must abide by the regulations of the China United Company. This port is under the jurisdiction of the China United Company."
"We are tribute envoys. We come to see your Majesty the Great Emperor. We should receive preferential treatment." Father Catalina suddenly said in Chinese. He learned Chinese from the Hokkien businessmen and fallen scholars in Manila. Later, he learned Chinese through Chinese Gu Ji taught himself some classical Chinese, so his Chinese accent was very strange. The young water pilot of the China Company glanced at the black-robed monk curiously. Still looking up, he switched to Chinese and said: "We, the China United Company, have our own It is stipulated that if you want to see the emperor, go to Fuzhou on the other side and go to the government. There is no need to go to our China United Company." He suddenly changed the topic and said without any emotion and endorsement: "Please be sure to fill in everything before dawn tomorrow. The list of personnel is so that the relevant departments of the company can issue you the port registration certificate. Please note that you are not allowed to disembark without the certificate. You are not allowed to enter the city."
After saying that, the pilot turned around, pulled the cable from the bow of the Maria, jumped off, and got onto a communication boat. He left.
Temporary water pilot Chen Zhongji returned to the shore and the pier. Several people gathered around him and asked, "How are you doing, Ji?"
"Ji Zai. It's easy to deal with the Laban people."
Chen Zhongji laughed: "What's the matter? It's not all two eyes and one mouth. It's the same as us. What's difficult to deal with? Okay. Be more vigilant on duty at night. Keep your spirits up. Keep an eye on these people. Battleship. Don’t let the Greeks disembark secretly.”
Soon, soldiers transferred from the second post of Zhao Tie's infantry team quickly blocked Pier C and placed torches all around the battleship Maria. In the dark night, they forcibly blocked the surroundings of the battleship Maria. You could count the sand on the beach. In order to confuse the Spaniards and hide the true strength of the Chinese company's armed forces, the soldiers at the second post did not carry flintlock muskets. Most of them were on guard with swords and spears.
Early the next morning, the Spaniards were waiting for someone to check the registration status and issue entry permits, but no one paid attention to them. A group of small vendors came to the side of the Maria ship, selling various foods and strange treasures. After the Maria departed from Macau, it had not stopped at a port to replenish food and fresh water. The sailors had been wandering at sea for a long time and ate rotten food. When they saw the food from the vendors, they almost bought it all without discussing the price. As a result, In the afternoon, there were even small vendors carrying buckets to buy water. Each bucket of water was worth one tael of silver. They treated the Spaniards as the biggest and dumbest pigs and cut them up with knives.
On the third day, the Chinese United Company probably forgot about the Spanish ship. Still no one came to contact them. The Spaniards were getting angry. In the evening, some crew members tried to disembark privately. As a result, the guards in ambush around them swarmed up and took the ship away. The unlucky ones gave them a good beating and then were sent back to the ship.
Of course, Yin Feng and others have not been idle these days. He is very busy. At the same time, he sent Colonel Coutre and Luo Aquan to Macau. They planned to use money to open a way to rescue Bernardo first. Once the matter is urgent, they must be in Bell Before Nado was taken to Goa for interrogation by the Inquisition, he tried to rescue Bernardo. This group of people was assisted by Lin Xiao's secret informant from the Military Intelligence Department. At the same time, Li Lihua came forward again. Parked at No. A The Portuguese at the dock invited them to the private room on the third floor of the "Leshan Building". Yin Feng personally came to receive them.
Among this group of Portuguese people in Macau, Yin Feng and Li Lihua knew several of them; they were both big businessmen and members of the Macau Municipal Council.
On this night, Li Lihua was wearing a Western-style white velvet dress and holding a feather fan to partially cover her face. From the beginning, she shocked the audience with her Western-style nobility and Eastern-style mysterious temperament. After a few glasses of wine, the Portuguese businessmen began to speak freely. Yin Feng was secretly amused on the side; Li Lihua claimed to be the wife of the general manager of the company. In the half-teasing, half-teasing way of a Spanish noblewoman, she made several country bumpkin Portuguese businessmen fascinated. It didn't take long for several Macau Portuguese businessmen. They revealed their bottom line: the Macau City Hall did not want to fall out with the most powerful trading company on the coast of China. It was just because of the financial pressure that it used the Spanish to suppress the Chinese company's limelight and then ask for some benefits. The most important thing is point. They do not intend to advance or retreat together with the Spaniards.
At the critical moment, Yin Feng hurriedly appeared to smooth things over. He promised to transfer part of the silk fabric trade to Japan to Macao. The amount was about 1,000 tons. At the same time, the Chinese company could use Macao as a transfer station for Western goods to be resold to the country. As long as the business hall The reopening of the China Company's merchant ships will bring a large amount of tax revenue to Macau. At the same time, Yin Feng also encouraged the Portuguese businessmen in Macau to buy shares in the China Company. He promised them that they could be treated as original shareholders and the company's annual dividends would exceed those of ordinary shareholders. .
The negotiation at the wine table continued until late at night. Yan Siqi, who was in charge of the security guard, looked curiously into the box. He turned to ask Magalo: "Uncle Ma, why is this Miss Li wearing a white suit? It looks like she is attending a funeral." ah."
The black man Magaro's Chinese was already proficient. Hearing this, he almost burst out laughing: "What are you talking about? Westerners like white. They think it is a symbol of purity and angels. Look at the clothes worn by the captain. That's what the Westerners are wearing." Renzhong is a tight-fitting long-breasted formal suit worn by officers or nobles. Look at the captain and Miss Li. They are cooperating with each other. Those Macau people are playing around. Oh, these two are really... What do you say? Said."
Yan Siqi blurted out: "It's a perfect match..." After he said this, he was startled. He looked around and then said to Magalo: "You can't say this nonsense. Uncle Ma, just pretend that I didn't say it."
In just one night, Yin Feng and Li Lihua disintegrated the united front of the Spanish and Macau Portuguese.
And two days later, when the Portuguese sailing ship was loaded with goods and left with satisfaction, the Spaniards were still trapped on the dock unable to move.