Those Dutch who took the initiative to participate in the war were also awakened by the sound of cannon firing from time to time. Many people complained that they could not sleep after the long voyage.
These two Dutch armed merchant ships belong to the Dutch East India Company. When Yin Feng was preparing to attack Macau, according to the contract signed between the Portuguese employees and the Chinese company, those Portuguese employees and mercenaries were not allowed to harm the company's interests, but they could choose to avoid participating in the war. After all, it is unreasonable for them to use knives and guns against people from their own country. Therefore, the foreign instructors and technical staff who followed Yin Feng into Macau this time are all Dutch.
At that time, some Dutch ships were doing business with Chinese companies in Taiwan Port. The owners of these two Dutch ships actually offered to participate in the attack on their own initiative because they all had friends and relatives who died in the last two Dutch wars against Macau. Yin Feng thought: It would just bring the Dutch in and muddy the water, so he readily agreed.
The benefits of the participation of Dutch ships were quickly realized. Officials of the Ming Dynasty in Xiangshan'ao reported to the governor's office in Guangzhou: the red-haired barbarians came again to attack the French people in Macao and colluded with a large number of local pirates. There was no mention in the report. Of course, the Zhonghua Company, the magistrate of Xiangshan County who accepted a large amount of bribes, was happy to turn a blind eye. According to the practice of the Ming Dynasty government, if the subjects of his own country took the initiative to invade the barbarians from foreign vassal states, the government would One must bring one's own citizens to justice; on the other hand, if foreign tribes paying tribute harm one's own subjects, they will usually be expelled.
If it were Chinese pirates who attacked Macau this time, the Ming Dynasty government would definitely take action to safeguard "justice" for foreign subjects. The experiences of Lin Feng, Pan and Wu can prove it.
Yin Feng is not afraid of the possible attack by the Guangdong army. But after all, one more thing is worse than one less thing. The Chinese Company is now preparing for the counterattack on Manila next year. At this stage, the company cannot break with the Ming Dynasty court.
Yin Feng had a relatively large cabin on the Feilong flagship. Mai Waner did not feel crowded after boarding the ship. Mai Waner was originally a girl from the Dan family. And most of the senior crew members below the captain of the Feilong, Ye Hua, were He is a son of the Dan people. Many of them are related to Wan'er. They don't care about the Fujian people's taboo about women not being able to board the ship. Therefore, most of the crew members welcome Wan'er to the ship. This young ship owner's wife is approachable and has no airs. She also gets along well with the sailors. We all walked around barefoot on the deck... even at home. Wan'er was not used to wearing shoes: she grew up on a fishing boat and only started wearing shoes when she became a maid at Yin Feng's house.
The night before leaving Taiwan Port, Yin Feng hesitated for a long time in the yard of his home. He didn't know how to say goodbye to Zeng Jing. Many people in the company's senior management opposed going to war with the Portuguese people in Macau. They believed that for such an important customer, it was necessary. Negotiations were resolved. However, Yin Feng insisted on attacking Macau and established a stable situation in the next few years with a war. Although the Portuguese in Macau are capricious, they are all businessmen. Therefore, they will use force for commercial profits: Zhengde and Jiajing years The Portuguese attempted to use force to open the door to China. After their failure, they tried to make ends meet. They bribed officials from the Ming Dynasty to stay in Macau, and petitioned the Governor of Portugal and India to drive away the Spanish royal judges. The purpose of this was commercial profits.
The move to detain Li Lihua is completely inconsistent with the usual behavior of the Portuguese people in Macau. After all, Macau legislators and the Chinese Company have reached an agreement to share goods in Taiwan. And because there are many Portuguese working for the Chinese Company, the strength of the company is that they It's very clear. There is no reason to break with the company so recklessly.
Yin Feng told those who opposed sending troops: Westerners are greedy and want to push themselves further. Only by beating them up and then feeding them some sweets and giving them some benefits will they become submissive.
Everyone discussed in private. Yin Feng was anxious to send troops just because Li Lihua was caught. Zeng Jing saw Yin Feng wandering in the yard. She greeted him generously and handed Yin Feng a cup of tea: "Have a rest. Take a rest. Then go to Macau to do business as soon as possible. Miss Li is a woman. She shows up everywhere for you and the company. It is not easy. Please rescue her quickly."
Yin Feng could only feel grateful. Privately he thought to himself: Is the marriage system of the Ming Dynasty still very good...
Zeng Jing also generously asked Wan'er to accompany Yin Feng on his expedition to Macau. This also made Yin Feng sigh. At the same time, missionary Baradas accompanied Yin Feng on his expedition.
…
The second day of the siege of Macau.
Early that morning, the Chinese Company once again dispatched 30 warships to bombard the Garthlan Fort. The fort was eventually basically destroyed by a total of nearly 800 shells in two days. The Portuguese braved the fierce artillery fire from the Chinese Company's fleet and destroyed three of the forts. The heavy artillery was moved to the edge of the monastery on Guia Mountain in time. The rest of the artillery was not taken care of.
Yin Feng was on the deck of the battleship, observing the panoramic view of Macau city with a telescope. The lookout sailor sent a signal during the battle on the main mast: "An envoy with a white flag is coming out of the port."
Yin Feng turned around and saw a sampan with a white flag. Several black people paddled hard. Several white people sat in the boat and kept waving to the Chinese company's warship.
"Let them come over." Yin Feng said to Ye Hua, the captain of the Feilong: "Wait a minute. Ask the other party's identity. If he is a person without any status or decision-making power, drive him back."
Ye Huahua said: "I'm afraid the ship owner and navy soldiers don't know the inside story of the Macau Folangji people. They can't tell their identity."
Yin Feng scratched his scalp: "Ah, I didn't think well. You bring Mr. Baradas and Yu Anfu from the Military Intelligence Department. We must strictly investigate."
The visitor was Riccardo, the constable of the Macau Municipal Guard, with a Chinese Catholic as his general officer. Yu Anfu had been appointed by Lin Xiao as the head of Macau's military intelligence department because he reported Li Lihua's arrest to Yin Feng in a timely manner. He worked as a translator for Portuguese people in Macau and was familiar with the inside story of Macau. At that time, he said to Riccardo very unhappily: "Our president and general manager have a lot of things to do and have no time to chat. He needs to talk to someone who has the power to make decisions. .I don’t have time to see you. Please come back.”
Riccardo was stunned after hearing this. He turned to look at the missionary Baradas. But Baradas shrugged and spread his hands helplessly: "I'm sorry, Your Excellency. I'm just their advisor. I have no way to interfere with their decisions. .You'd better go and give a message to Jesuit Father Fan Li'an or Father Guo Jujing and let them mediate."
Riccardo was slightly surprised after hearing what he said. The Italian missionary Guo Jujing is a well-known figure in Macau. He has contacts with some upper-level bureaucrats in the Guangdong government; and Father Fan Li'an is the director of the Jesuit Chinese Diocese Supervisory Committee. Yes. Even the bishop of Macau is a figure he respects.
Riccardo crossed himself on his chest and asked: "Dear Father, who are you?"
"I am the Jesuit missionary Baradas. Sir Valian knows me."
Yu Anfu drove the people away impatiently; "Let's go, let's go. We're busy. We don't have time to chat with you." Several armed sailors took axes and swords and drove Riccardo back to the sampan and cut off the cables. The first batch of envoys sent by the Portuguese in Macau were driven away.
The speaker of the Macau City Hall Council was furious: "How arrogant. Don't they know the power of Portugal? When the fleet sent by Malacca arrives, let's see if they can..."
Riccardo interrupted the Speaker rudely: "I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, I don't think all Malacca's fleet will come. They also have to prepare for the Dutch attack. If only one or two warships are sent, I think it will be It can't deal with the warships surrounding us."
The Speaker sat down slumped and sighed: "But we can't surrender like this. How is the envoy sent to Guangzhou?"
The congressman responsible for contacting the Chinese official said: "The enemy has controlled the sea around Macau. Our envoys cannot pass by sea. But they were detained at Xiangshanao Checkpoint. The government meant to verify their identity before allowing them to pass. .”
Those present could already feel that an invisible and heavy encirclement had enveloped Macau.
"Don't we still have five ships in the open sea?" Someone seemed to be grabbing a life-saving straw and shouted anxiously: "Let them go to Malacca for help."
The speaker smiled bitterly and said: "We are now surrounded in this isolated city. There is no way to contact them. Besides, what if..." Before the speaker could tell what he was worried about, a black slave quickly ran over and took the A document was handed to Riccardo. Riccardo opened it and sighed: "Sir, the enemies in the inner harbor have captured the rest of our fleet. Mr. Dias has just sent a report: The enemy is at sea. Show our five captured ships and send people to return several sailors to us. Let them bring us a message saying: Release them immediately."
Those five small warships belonging to Macau had no idea about the incoming Chinese Company fleet. Early this morning, they broke into the Chinese Company fleet camp on their way back early this morning and surrendered without any suspense.
"Let her go." The speaker could only sigh with a wry smile: "That damn Chinese woman is in the hands of the Inquisition. What can we do? The Royal Inquisitor is on their side. They are determined not to let her go. Without their intervention. We will not encounter such a crisis."
For seven days in a row, the city of Macau was surrounded by hundreds of ships. On land, the Ming Dynasty officials heard from the Han residents who escaped from Macau that Macau was in chaos and there was an epidemic. So they always responded to the situation. Conflicts between barbarians. The Ming Dynasty officials, who had an attitude of sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between tigers, transferred officers and soldiers to Guangzhou and completely blocked the land passage in the north of Macau. No one was allowed to enter or exit, for fear of spreading the epidemic to the mainland. Every day during the day, only A small amount of grain was transported to Macau. Other than that, supplies were not allowed to enter or exit. The Portuguese in Macau were able to obtain some urgently needed supplies through bribery. But after all, the quantity was extremely limited.
Within seven days, seven town hall meetings were held. The scale grew larger and larger. However, there were endless debates at the meeting. No resolution could be reached. More and more Portuguese businessmen petitioned for compromise in front of the city hall. The final city hall review meeting The chief couldn't bear it anymore. He stood up and said: The root cause of the war lies with the Royal Inquisitor and the Inquisition. The Macau City Hall has no jurisdiction over them.
So the petitioners went to the door of Judge Diaz Ricardo's house. A large crowd gathered and made noise all day long. Some people even threw rocks and bricks at Diaz's house.
Except for the first two days, Yin Feng's fleet launched a torrential bombardment on Macau, knocking down all the port terminals and coastal defenses. In the following days, the China United Company's fleet fired a few symbolic cannons every day. Patrols and drills were carried out along the coast of Macau. The infantry convoys landed on Wanshan Island and other surrounding islands and established camps. It was likely to be stationed for a long time.
Yin Feng was also busy entertaining powerful pirates and rich merchants from all over the coast of Guangdong. Lu Shitou also came with him this time. It was to contact the pirate gangs from all over Guangdong.
After Luo Aquan rescued Mr. Bernardo, he took a detour to Guangzhou and obtained a small boat through the Huaxing Alliance. Although the officers and soldiers had begun to be on guard at the Pearl River Estuary, they escaped from the officers and soldiers of the naval vessels with the help of Danjia fishermen who were familiar with the waterways. Patrol. Chenggong and Yin Feng met at the outer harbor of Macau.