Xinshun 1730

Chapter 552 Utopia

Today's Macau is completely messed up.

Pious people who are unwilling to give up their beliefs pouring in from all over the world get spiritual satisfaction here, but spiritual satisfaction does not affect their stomachs to eat.

Tens of thousands of newcomers crowded into the tiny Macau, without a place to live, and had to build slums everywhere.

There is no job, no land farming, and gangsters are prevalent in various Chinese neighborhoods.

Opium dens, loan sharks, slave labor recruitment offices, child and slave boy purchase offices, contract maid agencies... are all over the Chinese neighborhood.

Even if the Chinese in Macau convert to Catholicism, they have no status.

What's more, the Chinese who shed blood and fought for Portugal in the past have not yet gained status. Even if these later are devout Christians who escaped the persecution of heretics, how can they have status?

98 years ago, 15 years before Ming Chongzhen, Portugal became independent from Spain. When the news reached Macau, the Chinese and Japanese in Macau held a grand ceremony to show their loyalty to Portugal.

Japanese Catholics who took refuge in Macau wore kimonos, Japanese swords, and fans. On July 7, they held a grand parade in the streets of Macau.

Chinese Catholics were not to be outdone. A large number of Chinese who joined the army held a grand military parade in Macau to celebrate the restoration of the motherland and the enthronement of King João IV.

However, less than two months after this grand event, these people discovered that "I had set my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditch", and their hard work was still not recognized by others, and they were still third-class people.

So they wrote a letter to John IV.

"Your Majesty:"

"The Chinese Christians in Macau declare: We all know that we have abandoned Chinese politics and laws, obeyed the Portuguese legal system, and remain faithful servants of His Majesty as always."

"From the day this city was created, we have been an important part of it..."

"However, the Portuguese here forbid us to participate in sailing activities and forbid us to go to Guangdong for trade. When there is a war, they use us as cannon fodder. But we are exhausted for our lives, so how can we have time to fight?"

"They even forbade us from wearing coats, because wearing coats is the privilege of Europeans, to distinguish us from our humble status."

"They forced us to amend the will, and the money of the orphans will be confiscated, and they will use it for sailing."

"In terms of words and attitudes, they insulted us, and even slandered us in front of Chinese pagans—they treated those Chinese pagans much better than us Christians, which is not conducive to The cause of the conversion of the motherland in Macau - Chinese pagans found that the benefits of not believing in Christ are more than those of believing in Christ, and they can get more freedom and grace. Christians have to face insults and slanders, and are not even allowed to wear coats .”

"We implore Your Majesty:"

【Allow us to join the Brotherhood as Jesuits】

[Allow us to trade in the same place as the Portuguese and the mixed races]

【Allow us to wear coats】

[Our alert and garrison duties are only during wartime.Don’t be a soldier at ordinary times]

[The money of our orphans is forbidden to be used by others]

[When living in Mumbai, Ceylon, etc., please give us the same rights as local indigenous Christians]

The letter was sent to Portugal, and the King of Portugal responded, but to no avail.The governor is nothing but a fart, how could the local council listen to such nonsense, it's just a formality.

The first class is the pure-blooded Portuguese and the pagan Chinese who traded with Macau; the second class is mixed-race; the third class is the converted Chinese Christians.

Now that the daughter-in-law has become a mother-in-law for many years, these Chinese Christians who complained at the beginning have taken root in Macau for a long time, at least they have their own property, job, and residence.

In the past few years, a large number of newcomers who have been banned from Dashun have no residence, no job, and no status.

People are not afraid of being inferior to others, they are afraid that no one is inferior to them.After this group of people entered, the conflicts between the old Chinese and the new Chinese also increased day by day, and the whole of Macau fell into chaos like an apocalypse.

Fighting, buying and selling people, slave trade, neighborhood turf, wharf fights, robbery, theft...

Many people have regretted that spirit and belief cannot fill their stomachs.As a result, many Christians who were expelled or came here voluntarily hoped to return to their original lives.

However, Dashun's policy is to allow entry and no exit.

Because the officials don't want to take responsibility, you say you regret it and don't believe it, but what if it is false?What if you continue to preach after you return?

I'm a good person and let you come back, but it's just a matter of little effort.But in the end, you pretended to convert, regretted it day by day, and quietly preached, the court will hold you accountable.

The prohibition of religion by the imperial court was an order from the Forbidden City. This is not a trivial matter. The people at the customs were so fond of money back then, but no one dared to ship the book of war horses to Japan. This official amulet.

This is a good man, it doesn't matter if he doesn't do it.

There are also good officials who went directly to Guangzhou to explain this matter to the Guangdong Jiedu envoy.

But the Guangdong Jiedu envoy only replied one sentence from "The Analects of Confucius".

Said: Who are Boyi and Shuqi?

Said: The ancient sages are also.

Said: Do you complain?

Said: Seek benevolence and get benevolence, why complain.

This matter, then stop.

Today's chaotic Macau is completely out of control.

This kind of place is the most suitable for this kind of private transaction, and it is also the most suitable for recruiting people here to serve as mercenaries.

Moreover, there are many grievances and grievances between Macau and the Netherlands, and this is also a place where the Dutch have no influence. The Chinese rebels in Batavia chose to join forces here, not only to guard against the imperial court, but also to guard against the Netherlands.

Soon, Fazaklei met the Chinese who wished to meet at the agreed hotel.

At the beginning of the meeting, Fazaklei looked at the liaison officer of the Chinese insurgents very carefully.

Not very old, only 27 or [-] years old.

His complexion was dark, and he had obviously lived in the tropics.

He wasn't tall, but he was very strong, not the same as the thin and dry slave labor, but the relatively well-nourished one.

Looking at the past at first glance, Fazaklei judged in his heart that this person should be the core figure of the group of Chinese rebels in Batavia.

Not those slave laborers who were forced to revolt, but more like the kind of city ranger who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to make a big deal.

Fazaklei has studied Chinese history, knows about Han Gaozu, and has always known that there are many ambitious Chinese in Nanyang.

There are many Chinese in Southeast Asia who occupy the magpie's nest to seek positions, seize ships and become pirates in uprisings, become generals in small countries, and pay taxes to stand on their own.

Fazakley summed up this kind of person: ambitious, capable, rebellious, rebellious, disobedient to the court, and disobedient to anyone.

Just like Zheng Zhilong back then, he could do things for the Dutch when he was weak, but he would bite back when he got bigger.

However, this disadvantage has nothing to do with the East India Company.

Now Southeast Asia belongs to the Netherlands, and it is the core interest of the Dutch East India Company. It is impossible for these rebels to overthrow the Dutch East India Company, and only one side is possible.

However, what Britain needs at this time is a chaotic Southeast Asia that the Netherlands cannot monopolize.Because the UK is not yet able to reach out here and make a complete replacement.

This group of people is exactly the strength that the British East India Company needs.

Under the premise that the Dashun court would not end, the British East India Company determined that the breaking of the Dutch East India Company's monopoly in Southeast Asia was greatly in line with the company's interests.

After revealing his identity, Fazaklei knew that this person called himself Wang Wu, which was obviously a pseudonym.It should be because he was worried that his relatives would be retaliated against, so he used such an obvious pseudonym.

And Fazaklei also knew that when the Chinese revolted, they liked to use aliases.For example, many of the rebels in the late Ming Dynasty used nicknames and aliases, and in the book agitating "rebellion" that was widely popular in China, the [-] rebel leaders also had aliases.

This is not difficult to understand.

Knowing the other party's name, Fazaklei also went straight to the point.

"Mr. Wang, what is the goal of your uprising?"

The person named Wang Wu took out the charter of the insurgents, as well as the pamphlets of the earth-digging faction when the British king was beheaded.

"We hope to build a better country in Batavia. We want to change the land system in Batavia, to abolish those corvée, so that the people can freely cultivate the crops they want to cultivate, and the land of the village community Break it up and distribute it to individuals."

"And...we hope to emulate your system, and we have heard of some of your system."

A few simple words made Fazakle more convinced that this matter was feasible.

These few words prove that there is absolutely no power of the Dashun court. Although the Dashun court called for the so-called benevolent government, it is absolutely impossible to allow such a situation to happen.

Among these people, there should be pro-British factions.

At this time, there were many people in Europe who dreamed of China, and Voltaire was the most famous one.He has been to the UK and knows what the UK is really like, but in order to "awaken the French", he blew up both the UK and China.

From the perspective of the enlightened, the truth is not important, but the conscience.Let people know that there is a perfect utopia.

As for the truth, look at the titles of some books published in Europe at this time, such as Sweden's "The People's Supervision System of the Tang Empire"... The truth is not important, what is important is that the kingdom of heaven has been shattered and the age of great navigation is coming, and one who has heard of it is urgently needed , a real existence, a mysterious utopia that most people have never seen, cannot see, cannot touch.

Before the vast majority of people can go abroad to experience it in person, in the era when information is transmitted on paper, this utopia can carry all the thoughts of individuals.

And here, it is too close to China.

Therefore, Britain, like China in the mouth of some people in Europe at this time, has become an utopia that some people have heard of but never seen.

Fazaklei had heard the fanatical stories of those converts in Macau, and thought that if these people really regarded Britain as an ideal country, they would definitely become the key to the company's foothold in Southeast Asia in the future.

(End of this chapter)