Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 563 Recovering Macau
Fengtian Church Hospital.

Bi Fangji finally welcomed his old friend Pang Tianshou, and complained to him endlessly.

Pang Tianshou, the young eunuch in scarlet robes, was holding a teacup and didn't answer his old friend's complaints about the emperor's new policies in Macau.

Pang Tianshou was deeply touched. Two years ago, he was a great eunuch who had soldiers, money, and guns. He had a good relationship with the church and a high status in the Hongguang Dynasty.When he first voted for Emperor Shaotian, he naturally relied heavily on him, but it was different now.

When the emperor first started his army, he only had a few housekeepers and a group of crazy students in his hands. He brought hundreds of Macau mercenaries and a battalion of Dongchang and Yongwei.

But now, the emperor's imperial camp is 20, and he holds half of the country, and beats the Tartars on the ground. An old eunuch like him has long since lost his troops and power.

The emperor said that the twelve prisons, four divisions and eight bureaus should be abolished, and the third prison should be changed. Who would dare to object?
The emperor said that eunuchs are not allowed to pass the fourth grade, and they are not allowed to lead the army, supervise the army, or interfere in politics. Who would dare to object?

Pang Tianshou is still angry, but he also knows that today is different from the past.He also knows that now he has to keep a low profile and be a man with his tail between his legs. Since the emperor abolished the twelve prisons, four divisions and eight bureaus, many madmen have shouted at the eunuchs, and wished that Wei Zhongxian and others had treated the scholars when they were alive. The oppression of the people is revenged on them.

"This matter, in fact, our family thinks it is a good thing."

Bi Fangjiao looked distressed, "How can this be a good thing, I feel that the emperor crossed the river and demolished the bridge."

"You can't say that." Pang Tianshou was a little flustered, and quickly told him to keep his voice down. "It's called norms. Everything has to be in order. Before the Portuguese settled in Macau, it was by bribing local officials. It was not clear. After these years of development, Macau is indeed not bad, but it is a tiny island. The imperial court didn’t know about it before, but now the emperor knows about it, so it has to be changed.”

Bi Francis was unwilling to accept this fact, and Macau was also unwilling to accept it.

"Have you read the newspaper recently? The wind direction is not very good. If you hesitate again, when this wind blows up, you will have nowhere to stand. You have lost Japan's trading rights, Malacca, and even In India, Ceylon and other places also lost many colonial strongholds,
Even the Spaniards in Luzon do not trade with you, and the Dutch have been plundering your merchant ships. If you lose Oriental Macau again, can you bear such a big loss? "

Bi Fangji answered, "It is precisely because we do not want to lose Macau that we hope His Majesty the Emperor will reconsider our cooperative relationship."

Pang Tianshou shook his head. Recently, several major newspapers in Beijing and China have begun to publish some stories about Macau, from the Portuguese coming to Ming Dynasty, the several wars between Ming and Macau, how they entered Macau, and how they obtained residency there step by step. .

Even the status quo of their autonomy and so on.

Macau is indeed just a small peninsula. For many years, there were not many Portuguese in Macau, only a few hundred people. Now including the Portuguese who had previously withdrawn from Japan, there are only 900 people.

Before Jin Yiwei sneaked into Macau, the investigation report said that there were about 870 four Portuguese in Macau at this time, there were about 400 mixed races, and more than 500 Chinese religious believers.

In addition, there are now about 1 Chinese on the island, most of whom are newcomers due to the turmoil in recent years. Three years ago, there were only [-] Chinese on the island.

In addition, there are less than [-] black slaves and Nanyang slaves on the island.

The entire island has a population of more than 5. Most of the Chinese are engaged in trade-related matters on the island, and most of them work for the Portuguese, but they are still under the administration of the Xiangshan County Government.

The Portuguese municipal council in Macau, including the governor who was officially dispatched in recent years, and judges, mainly deal with Portuguese and slaves.

Macau has been just a trade transit point for many years. In fact, its prosperity is the same as that of Zhangzhou Yuegang and Xiamen. It is because of the imperial government's policy that the scarcity of open ports has allowed them to develop.

The more the imperial court opened up trade ports, the greater the impact on Macau, especially now that Portugal is weak and surrounded by several sea gangsters, life is even more difficult.

They want to continue to survive and develop according to the previous model, and even make a fortune silently.

But Da Mingzi didn't want to.

For the former Ming Dynasty, Macau was considered as the only two trading ports in the late Ming Dynasty, so it was naturally very important, but now, its status is no longer high.

"I collected the contents of these newspapers about Macau for you, take a look." Pang Tianshou took out a clip, in which he thoughtfully cut and paste the contents of Macau from the major newspapers.

Naturally, Bi Fangji also knew this, so he took it and read it.

After clipping together, it has more impact.

There is even a sense of oppression that is about to come.

There is an excerpt from the inscription given to the emperor by the Guangdong patrol, which said how the Portuguese in Macau bribed local officials to evade customs duties, and even set up a governor, a private court, owned an army, built castles and forts, and established fortification in Guangdong in violation of regulations. Church, preaching against the rules,
Slave trade, and even the evil practice of buying and selling Chinese as slaves.

The Guangdong patrol is the supervisory censor sent to Guangdong by the imperial court. He is an imperial envoy of the imperial court. His report is not ordinary.

The contents of other newspaper clippings are also shocking. Most of them are illegal things done by the Portuguese in Macau, such as underground gambling stalls, private minting of foreign money, and even the illegal detention and interrogation of Ming people on the island, etc.

If the fire continues to burn like this, the Portuguese in Macau will become the target of public criticism. At that time, the whole government and the public will regard them as enemies, and they will not be able to survive.

"Bishop Bi, we are old acquaintances and old friends, and I would like to advise you."

"It's not what it used to be,"

"But the current situation is getting better and better. You Portuguese have made big mistakes in your decisions over the years, whether you are at home or overseas. We don't care about other things, but in Daming, you should keep up with the times, Your Majesty. The conditions given to you are actually very face-saving for you, and they are based on your previous friendship."

"Why do you have to think about colonization and self-government? You only have a few hundred people on such a small island. If you want to fight against the Ming Dynasty, which has a population of hundreds of millions, isn't that like a man's arm? Why don't you just do business and trade with peace of mind and concentrate on making money? Even better, you came from thousands of miles, isn't it also for money?
Don't lose your qualifications to trade in Ming Dynasty just because of the tiny place of Macau, let alone anger His Majesty and let the fleet destroy them in the end.

Withdraw the governor, abolish the city council, abolish the court, hand over the mercenaries and forts, let the imperial battalion garrison troops on it, let the imperial court send officials to set up a government office, and the imperial court will manage it there in the future, and you can do business with peace of mind. As long as you abide by the law, you can formally apply for a residence permit.

You can live in peace of mind if you declare once a year and do not break the law or discipline.

With Daming providing protection and taking charge of management, how easy is it for you?

Do business with peace of mind, pay taxes according to law, and life and property can be guaranteed.

Even with the opening of Hong Kong, you are not limited to live in Macau, you can also live in Guangzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou, and even Fengtian, as long as you get a residence permit, how good? "

"Do you see that the Dutch are stronger than you now? The Spaniards are also stronger than you, but the Dutch occupied such a large island in Taiwan before, and what happened now? Didn't they also surrender unconditionally, but they didn't lose. When I came back to Taiwan, I got more than a dozen trading ports to open up.

Because of the siege of the Dutch before Manila, Spain had no ships in the past two years, and the business was bleak. But now, after negotiating with me, Daming, how many orders have been obtained? "

"There is one more thing I have to remind you, old friend, His Majesty allowed you to come to Ming Dynasty to preach, but there are conditions, you have to follow the rules of Ming Dynasty, but there are still many irregularities in your missionary work in the past two years , must be changed."

Francis Bi said nothing.

Pang Tianshou reminded him that if the emperor really wants to deal with Macau, it is a matter of one sentence, and there is no need to send an imperial battalion to attack. As long as there is a decree, all the Chinese on Macau Island will leave, otherwise they will be regarded as rioters. They cannot bear the consequences.

How long can Portugal and their slaves last without the Chinese?
The imperial court gave the island a letter, and they couldn't last half a year.

"There is an old saying in our celestial dynasty that those who know the current affairs are the best. Let's be straightforward, don't toast or eat fine wine, that's all."

Pang Tianshou got up to leave, but Bi Fangji hurriedly stopped him.

"Actually we are in Macau..."

"Bishop Bi, you don't need to tell me these things. It's useless to say it. What I said is straightforward enough. If you still persist in your obsession, you will have to bear the consequences."

"I have to discuss this matter with the governor."

"There's no need to discuss it. Let's deal with it according to the order. You should hurry up. You'd better write a letter to His Majesty now. Otherwise, if the fire continues like this, it will be too late for you to repent."

Bi Fangji's eyes were gloomy, he was silent for a while, and finally gritted his teeth, "Okay."

Pang Tianshou returned home satisfied, the errand was done very well.

After returning to the palace, please see the emperor's return.

After Zhu Yihai listened to his report, he nodded in satisfaction. The general situation forced the Portuguese to obey and naturally it was the best result.

Otherwise, we can only use force to use force, but there is no pressure to use force. After all, Macau is only a peninsula, not an island. The gate has been established long ago, and once the lock is closed, the peninsula plus several other small islands will become dead island.

However, Macau has been developing for so many years, and it is pretty good, and Zhu Yihai is not willing to destroy him.

The next day, Prime Minister's Office.

Zhu Yihai had a special discussion with the ministers about Macau for half an hour, and decided to station a battalion on land and water in Macau, and send a guerrilla commander to garrison them.

In terms of administration, Xiangshan County sent a county magistrate to open a government office in Macau. In the Ming Dynasty, in some large counties, there was a tradition of assigning county magistrates to guard them separately. Because Haojingao was small, there was no need to set up a county.

Set up a customs office in Macau, which is affiliated to Guangzhou Customs.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty granted the Portuguese in Macau as barbarians, and let them manage the Portuguese like the local officials in the mainland. Now Zhu Yihai canceled the establishment of the barbarians, banned their parliaments, courts, etc., and prevented them from self-government. They were all managed by the Ming Dynasty and passed the laws of the Ming Dynasty. .

There are even special regulations that although Portuguese and other foreigners can apply for temporary residence permits and long-term residence in China, they are not allowed to own land or house ownership in China, they can only lease, and they are not allowed to build houses privately. The existing castles and real estate in Macau must be taken back. The official has it, and then leases it to the Portuguese.

Macau used to pay a rated tax of 9000 taels at first, but later it was reduced to [-] taels. After losing the Japanese trade, they even only paid [-] taels. Now the rated tax is cancelled, and the standard tariff is uniformly levied.

The last one, regardless of Portuguese or foreign businessmen from any country, when trading in ports such as Macau, Tuen Mun, and Guangzhou, ships must first go to Daxishan (Dahao Island) for registration and inspection, and must unload guns and hand over guns to obtain a permit Afterwards, the water pilots of the Ming Dynasty led them to the port wharf, and when they left the port, they went to the Daxishan Camp to retrieve the guns and other weapons and left.

Macau allows foreign businessmen from various countries to enter and live in Hong Kong, but they are not allowed to own weapons.

The governors of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governors of Guangdong, the Guangdong inspectors, the sub-inspectors of Guangzhaoluo Road, the prefects of Guangzhou, the magistrates of Xiangshan County, the shipping department of Guangzhou, the admirals of Guangdong, and the generals of Humen are all responsible for the management of Macao.

In addition, anyone who believes in Western sects, regardless of Huayi, must pay an additional tax of tithe, and the church must also pay a tax of tithe.

If a foreigner obtains a residence permit in Ming Dynasty, abandons foreign religion, and is easy to change his clothes and accept Sinicization, he can be exempted from the [-]th tax.

Macau will also implement the Baojia registration system and the Baojia regiment training system. Foreigners such as Portugal are also obliged to be conscripted to serve in wartime.

(End of this chapter)