Nanming: I can build wonders

Chapter 221 God, That's the Ming Army!

In the second year of Shenwu, on the morning of July [-]th, a large western-style armed merchant ship flying the British Union Jack flag and several boats were slowly sailing into the Qianshan Waterway. Its destination was the most prosperous place in Guangdong. Macau port.

The topography of Macau is somewhat similar to Dahao, the hometown of Qiu Hui, Minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. It is a small island close to the mainland.

On the west side of Macau Island, there is a Qianshan Waterway connecting the Pearl River and Xijiang River. On the north side of the island, there is a Guanzha River. On the southeast side of the island, there are Modaomen Haikou and Jiuliang Ocean.

Although Macau Island is surrounded by water, there is no place suitable for building a good port on the southeast side of the island. Although Hanoi, the border gate in the north of the island, can berth boats, it is still too narrow after all.

Therefore, the most important ports on Macau Island are all located on the west side of the island, which belongs to the front mountain waterway, but is called the inner harbor of Haojiang.

If you want to attack Macau by water, the best route is to drive from the former Shanshui Road all the way to the inner harbor of Haojiang.

But the Portuguese also obviously knew this, so they built a St. Paul's Fortress on the edge of Macau Island that could cover the entire former mountain and waterway.

In addition to the Saint Paul Fortress, the patron saint of Macau, the Portuguese Qianshan small fleet is also an extremely difficult opponent.

It's not that Portugal's navy is very powerful, but that this fleet is equipped with small galleys that are very suitable for fighting in narrow waters.

You must know that in Europa Universalis, the bonus of small galleys is very high in such inland sea operations.

Moreover, these galleys are also equipped with many brave and skilled mercenaries. They are either down-and-out adventurers from Portugal, or ronin from the Japanese country, and they are very good at fighting on board.

If the large sea-going ships coming from the open sea are blocked at the entrance of the waterway by these desperate galleys, they will become living targets for the twelve-pound cannon on the St. Paul's Fort.

In order to sneak into the former Shanshui Road, Zhu Kezang bought an armed merchant ship named Amherst with the British guy Thomas. , basically no obstruction.

After entering the Qianshanshuidao, Macau is getting closer and closer. From a distance, you can see the low city wall on the south side of the peninsula, and the bustling streets behind. That is the most prosperous place in Macau, Macau Street, and it is the most well-developed residential area in Macau. It is also in the city of Macau.

Soon, Portuguese inspection ships came to guide them for inspection.

A total of [-] Guards soldiers were hidden on the Amherst and several other boats, led by Qian Yan, the First Battalion of the First Town of the Guards.

If there is no accident, if the guards expand their army again, Qian Yan is expected to be able to lead a town alone.

Although he is not a student of the first phase of the Daming Royal Military Academy, he must be a striker in every battle, and he has made great achievements in battle. He just went to the military academy for a wave of training a while ago, and his education and qualifications are enough.

The soldiers of the first battalion each carried a trigger rifle, each of them carried several grenades, and fifty rounds of black whirlwind rockets. This was their trump card for taking Macau.

Facing the inspection of the Portuguese soldiers, there was no worry on board, because all the British on board had been employed by Daming a long time ago.

"British, are all six ships yours?"

"Yes, yes, the Amherst plus five driving boats, a total of six boats, all belong to the British East India Company, and they can enter the port without inspection according to the treaty." The Englishmen of the Ming Dynasty skillfully answered the Portuguese soldiers' questions.

"What cargo is on board?"

"There are Ming Dynasty cloth and rum on board!"

When they heard about Daming's rum, that is, Tibetan Immortal Wine, the Portuguese soldiers all looked sideways. They also liked to drink it.

"Is it rum from the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, authentic Daming rum! We'll be selling a batch of rum in Macau and then restocking. I can give you a cask of dark rum then! That's really good rum, maybe The best in the world!"

I don't know if it is the friendship between the British and Portugal, or the promised barrel of hidden fairy wine, the Portuguese patrol boat that blocked the way let it go without much inspection.

One of them was particularly enthusiastic, personally leading the way, leading the "British Fleet" into the narrow Qianshan waterway.

Then sail all the way to the Haojiang Inner Harbor Wharf, which is full of merchant ships and fishing boats.

It turns out that the British East India Company used to have a dedicated wharf and a dedicated warehouse in Macau!
The UK-only wharf is located in the deepest part of the inner harbor of Haojiang. The location is very good, and it is almost close to the Guanzha River.

The so-called Guanzha River is the boundary river between the Xiangshan County of the Qing Dynasty and the Macao colony.

In the future, the east side of the Guanzha River will be completely silted up, turning Macau from an island into a peninsula.

Although this is not the "city center" of Macau, the trade between Guangdong and Macau is carried out precisely through this Guanzha River.

On the north bank of the Guanzha River, the Qing Dynasty sent people to enclose a large area with wooden fences on the north bank of the Guanzha River, calling it the "Guanzha Discussion Field".

Daming's fleet could see from a distance that there were Han laborers wearing short jackets or shirtless everywhere at the gate.

They are all waiting here for work. As long as there are merchant ships coming, they will come to help move the goods and earn money.

Qian Yan admired the scenery of Macau with the binoculars, and muttered to himself: "The emperor is indeed right, these laborers are good materials for serving as soldiers."

However, unlike ordinary trading venues, this gate trading venue is an illegal trading venue for smuggling.

why?

Because the Qing Dynasty moved to the forbidden sea, this kind of private trade is not allowed.

However, the trade benefits here are too great!
Because they were given too much money, the Guangdong officials who simply turned a blind eye to the Qing Dynasty.

When Daming's Amherst brought five chasing boats to the pier mightily.

The real British merchant ship next door felt something was wrong.

"Fake Oil, Captain John, isn't that the Amherst that was sold to Ming before?"

Captain John looked at the Amherst in disbelief, "Fake oil, really, why is the Union Jack flag flying?"

Captain John hurriedly picked up the diorama to observe the Amherst, and he saw several yellow men with long hair.

He also often travels to and from Yizhou Island and the Protectorate of Luzon. He was very impressed with the temperament of the Ming army. He dared to swear to God that those few people were definitely soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

"My God, I understand, Little Mike, go and tell those damned Portuguese that the Amherst is the Ming army!" John yelled frantically.

However, at this time, the Amherst and several chasing boats had already parked firmly on the pier and lowered the gangplank.

The soldiers on the Amherst all gathered around Qian Yan, waiting for him to give an order.

(End of this chapter)