Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 8 The City of God’s Holy Name
The moonlight is like water, pouring on the Shenzhen River, and a lone Danjia boat travels through the light smoke in the winding water.As the boat moved forward, the rice fields, fish ponds, and mulberry gardens on both sides of the river appeared vaguely in outline, and soon disappeared into the night behind.

The Dan people's diet is mainly based on aquatic products, and they rarely suffer from night blindness. In addition, they are familiar with the water conditions. Thanks to the skillful boating skills of the Shi family father and daughter, the boat can gallop on the river like a water bird.

"Stand up! Look forward, keep your waist straight, heels close together, and fingertips close to the seams of your pants." Lin Hai used a small branch as a pointer to correct Qizai's movements.To his surprise, it was not Aunt Chunhua who leaked the news about Xiezhu, but Qizai's big mouth.

How about talking about naughty children and tigers?His grandfather's numerous instructions fell on deaf ears - this boy went to other people's houses to eat and brag about how rich his family was. When others asked, he mentioned the pearl. This matter quickly spread to the old man. In Wang's ears, the sound just now appeared.

"Master, can you please stop standing like a soldier and learn to read for half an hour more every day?" Qizai had no idea that he was in trouble. He seemed to be standing there in an orderly manner, with dark eyes. The child was wandering around.

"Look ahead, don't look around." Lin Hai slapped Qizai on the buttocks with a tree branch, "I've taken a good look at it. You just deserve to be beaten. It's better if you don't say you can read. If you say it, I'll be even more angry. .”

"Stand still, don't move." Lin Hai slapped Qizai's butt twice hard, put down the branch, and walked towards Zhu Niang who was holding a pole at the stern of the boat.Qizai peeked at Lin Hai leaving, and immediately slumped, slumping his shoulders and starting to move his hands and feet.

"Zhu Niang, Hao Jing is still far away. You go and get some sleep, I'll take your place." Lin Hai took the pennies from Zhu Niang's hand. Over the past two months, his boating skills had become increasingly proficient.

Zhu Niang handed the pennies to Lin Hai and looked up at the dark night. The familiar stilted house had long disappeared from sight.For a moment, the tip of her nose felt a little sore. The stilted house had been her home since she could remember, and she never imagined that one day she would have to leave forever.

After a while, she asked quietly: "Sister Hexiang said that there is also a government office in Haojing. Do you think the dog officer will look for it? If he does, how can we survive?"

Lin Hai knew that she was afraid that Qizai and her father would be worried, so she spoke very quietly.He said solemnly: "It doesn't matter, let's go to Haojing first, stay there for a few days and then take a sea ship to go overseas. There is no way to discipline him."

"I have had no mother since I was a child, and my brother loved me the most when I was young. If we went overseas, I'm afraid I would never be able to see him again in this life." Zhu Niang tilted her head, and tears fell from her eyes, weeping under the moonlight. Shining brightly, as crystal clear as a pearl.

Lin Hai had already seen her expression and heard the words: "I didn't kill anyone just now. I just didn't want to cause a murder. This way we can stay in Haojing for a longer time. There are many sea travelers there. Maybe we can find out the whereabouts of your brother." .”

He did think so, but mainly to gain some preparation time for going to sea.These days, the Macao and Portuguese authorities are not as arrogant as they were in the late Qing Dynasty, and they are subservient to the local government of Guangdong.If a murder involving four people occurred, it would probably alert the governor of Zhaoqing or the Haiphong Road in Nantou, and then he might not be able to stay in Macau for long.

As he spoke, Lin Hai stretched out his hand and gently wiped the corners of Zhu Niang's eyes. He had never seen her so fragile before, and pity welled up in his heart for no reason. He said warmly: "Zhu Niang, as long as I am here, you don't have to be afraid of anything."

Zhu Niang quietly rested her head on Lin Hai's shoulder, looking up at the night sky as quiet as a deep pool, with the gurgling water in her ears and the gentle sound of oars. For a moment, both of them were speechless.

When the boat sailed out of the Shenzhen River, the moon had already climbed above the head.Lin Hai gave the penny to Qizai and asked the naughty boy to go to the bow of the boat to explore the reef, while he paddled for Shi Wusi.

To go from Shenzhen to Macau, you need to cross the Lingding Ocean in the southwest direction. The straight-line distance is 160 miles, and it takes more than ten hours to travel by boat.Qizai was very excited. After standing in a military posture for half a night, he still didn't feel sleepy at all. He stood on the bow of the boat and shouted: "One Piece, I'm determined!"

"It's great to explore the reef." Lin Hai picked up the small branch beside him and threw it towards Qizai's butt.

"Yes, Captain!" The little kid seemed a little over-excited. After listening to the story of the Straw Hat Kid for two months, he now wanted to go to sea.

The hydrology of Lingdingyang is very complex, and the Portuguese did not understand it even after operating in Macau for more than half a century.Until now, they cannot leave the open sea without the guidance of the Dan people's pilots.Fortunately, the Danjia boat is easy to control and has a slow speed. As long as there are people on the bow of the boat exploring the reef, it will be fine if it does not encounter big waves or whirlpools.The sun rose and set, and a whole day passed. The group arrived at Qi'ao Island near the west coast the next night, and made a fire on the island and spent the night.

The Shi family father and daughter had never been to Haojing, so they could only use the stupid method of heading west and then south along the coastline.The only way to identify Hao Jing was Lin Hai, who claimed that he had passed by there when he returned to his hometown.

The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight penetrated the mist, the boat continued to move southward along the zigzag coastline.At about noon, I saw a long and narrow peninsula diagonally inserted into the southwest sea from the northeast.There is a narrow sand embankment connected to the land in the northern part of the peninsula, and a tower stands at the throat of the sand embankment.

Lin Hai asked the boat to move slightly closer, and visually determined that the sand embankment was about four miles long and less than half a mile wide.The city tower on the sand embankment is a gate-type common in ancient China. It is three stories high. The stone tablet on the lintel is engraved with the three characters "Guanzhamen". There are several brave soldiers standing on the city with spears.

He had seen this stone tablet in the Civil Affairs Bureau building of Macau 400 years later, so he pointed to the narrow peninsula and said: "Hao Jing is right there. Let's continue walking south and find a place to go ashore."

Thanks to this monument, otherwise Lin Hai would really not be able to recognize the Macau Peninsula at this time.Later, Macao went through 400 years of sedimentation, especially nearly a century of artificial reclamation. The area of ​​the peninsula has tripled, and the landscape has long been changed beyond recognition.

After parking the boat at a small harbor where they could land, Lin Hai and Zhu Niang went ashore, leaving Shi Wusi and Qizai to watch the boat.Passing through Wangxia Village in the northeastern part of the peninsula, the two of them walked for a while and finally arrived at the north wall of the Portuguese city of Macau.

This city wall starts from the seaside to Sha Li Tau in the west, then turns southeast to the Ruins of St. Paul's Fort, then east to the water hole gate at the northeast end of Portugal City, and then turns south to the area of ​​the later Nanwan artificial lake.

The city wall was first built in the third year of Longqing, and was demolished twice by the local government of the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period.In the 45th year of Wanli, the Portuguese used the tried-and-tested method of bribery to gain the acquiescence of Guangdong officials and built the northern section of the city wall for the third time.

Five years later, in the second year of the Apocalypse, the Dutch-British combined fleet invaded Macau, landed at Gouhuan, not far from Wangxia Village, and attacked the Portuguese city of Macau from north to south.After this battle, the originally slow construction progress of the city wall was greatly accelerated, and it was completely completed within a year.

Lin Hai and the two walked eastward along the city wall for a while, and soon came to the gate at the end of the water hole. The black muzzle of the São João fort at the head of the city pointed directly to the north. This fort was just built not long ago and looked very new.

It is a coincidence that the Portuguese-Dutch Battle of Macau in the second year of the Apocalypse happened to be the festival commemorating Saint João Batista. The Jesuit priest Roo from Italy was lucky enough to fire a cannon and hit the Dutch powder keg. The Portuguese turned defeat into victory.After this, the Portuguese in Macau regarded Saint John as the patron saint of the city.

More than two years have passed, and the smoke has long dissipated. At this time, there is no trace of tension at the Shuikengwei City Gate.The enemies of the Portuguese in Macau come from the sea, and the city gate is always open when there is no warning at sea.After all, Macau is just a trading city, and the citizens' daily necessities are completely dependent on the nearby Chinese.

The gate on the sand embankment is opened six times a month. Every time it is opened, a large number of sellers will pour into the peninsula with burdens, selling various daily necessities.Of course, there are also two Chinese villages south of the border gate. The farmers in Wangxia and the Dan people in Shalitou live on the peninsula and can go to the city at any time to sell grain, vegetables and aquatic products.

Lin Hai had plundered more than ten taels of silver from Secretary Gou. He had already agreed with Zhu Niang last night to rent a house in the city when he arrived in Haojing and no longer live on a boat.

Seeing that the city gate was unattended, Lin Hai happily said to Zhu Niang: "We are finally here, let's find a place to live in this city."

Without encountering any obstacles, the two walked side by side into what the Portuguese call the city of the Holy Name of God.

(End of this chapter)