Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 604 Bargaining
"I'm very busy! The adults of the Jesuits always have a lot of things to entrust me with." Lando twisted his lips and mustache in an extraordinary manner—this was specially reserved to enhance his masculinity.

"Really?" said the black slave girl, "are you interested in doing a little thing for my master in your busy schedule?"

"Who is your master?"

"This," the black female slave picked up the purse, "do you think my answer is satisfactory?"

Looking at this heavy purse, there are at least three hundred Spanish pesos.This is a great temptation for the cash-strapped Lando.After having the nightmare, his enthusiasm for defecting to Lingao has dropped a lot.With this money, at least I can live in Macau for a while.

"It would be even better if you have two masters," Lando said. "Okay, tell me, what's the matter?"

"You are a fine soldier."

"good."

"You served Aragones," said the black woman.

"Yes. Can't serve him since he went bankrupt. Too bad," Lando said.This Spanish playboy has been afraid to go back to Manila since he lost his boat, and has been hanging out in Macau all day. His condition is worse than his. It is unlikely that this person will come to recruit himself.

"You have been to Lingao."

Lando suddenly became vigilant: not many people in Macao knew about his participation in the adventure of Aragones and attacking Lingao.Aragones kept secrets when he first sailed, and after he fled back to Macao in a complete defeat, he was even more shy about such a humiliating defeat. As for the sailors on board, they were either from Europe or Malay recruited from various islands in the South Seas. People only know how to drive a boat, but they don't know where they are going.The few who knew either died in the night raid or in the battle with Zheng Zhilong.

As for myself, I have never publicized that I participated in this operation with the ship.

How did this black woman know that she had been to Lingao?
"Does this have anything to do with you?"

"That's all right, but my master wants to know."

Surely your master knows about this!Lando thought, who is this man?What the hell do you want to do by yourself?
"It can't be counted as having been there," Lando said cautiously, "I have been in the port of Lingao, that's all."

"You also saved Aragones' life in the South China Sea."

"Saving him is incidental."

"Would you like to go to Lingao again?"

"It depends on what to do." Lando realized that this man knew about his time on the Countess of Scarborough.

"It's certainly not a simple matter to invite a capable person like you."

"Okay. You nigga girl, little bitch, tell me: what does your master want me to do?" Lando began to get impatient, and he said arrogantly—he is a noble lord here , it's disrespectful to say so much to this ugly black woman.

There was a look of resentment in the black woman's crooked yellow eyes, but she continued: "My master, she, he wants you to go to Lingao, no matter what your identity is—to find out how their fortress is arranged Yes, how far their guns can go, what are the weaknesses of their armaments...all about the Australian defenses at the heights."

"Hmph, your master is plotting against Lingao." Lando said.

The other party was silent.

"Many people have been to Lingao here, why are they looking for me?" Lando felt strange.There are boats from Macau to Lingao every week to sell goods in Lingao
"This is the master's order," said the black slave girl. "He said that you know Australians better than anyone here."

Lando was dumbfounded by these words, what does this mean?It can be explained in any way, but saying it at this time seems to hit his vital point.

"Knows better than anyone here!"

For a moment, he even thought that he had been exposed, and he was discouraged a lot with his grand lord appearance.

Lando's first reaction was to refuse, but now he didn't dare to act hastily.He vaguely felt that the other party seemed to know something.

He became cautious: "This task is difficult."

"Four hundred Spanish pesos."

"I want eight hundred."

"Six hundred. Here are three hundred." The black woman took out a purse, "I will give you another three hundred when you come back."

"Deal." Six hundred pesos was a good deal.

"How long do you need?"

"One month."

"I'll be here waiting for you in a month."

"Okay." Lando then said to the stall owner, "Come on, give me a bowl of milk made from your beans, it's too dark here."

Half an hour later, the black female slave reported to Li Siya exactly how she met Hollandu.

"He really asked for six hundred." Li Siya commented boredly.

It has been more than a year since she escaped from Bopu's embarrassing change of boat.The macabre conspirator, the female pirate of the South China Sea continues to play with her intrigues and adventures.Sometimes he works for someone, and sometimes he advises someone.Nor would he turn down a lucrative heist at sea when the opportunity presented itself.

The more chaotic the situation at sea, the better her business will be.Even her volatile stance opens her up to opportunities that others don't.All parties hope to use her as a channel to build a relationship with a certain party and talk to them.The vertical and horizontal tricks are also enjoyed by many people in the South China Sea.

As a pirate and a mercenary at sea, Li Siya unexpectedly became a man of the moment.She appeared in Manila for a while, and for a while in Batavia, and sometimes in Guangzhou, and sometimes in Dayuan Port.

She is the guest of various sea lords, governors, commanders, merchants, everyone makes her work for them, pays her a large sum of money without hesitation, or grants her the privilege of allowing goods to be shipped in and out. , but everyone was secretly wary of her.

However, Li Siya knew that her good days of being both right and wrong would not be too long.

After Zheng Zhilong became a Chinese official, he was able to use the power of the Ming government to continuously obtain ships and people from the mainland. Xiong Wencan even directly sponsored cannons and ships to him.The goods he trafficked to Japan did not need to be purchased in secret, but were purchased in a fair manner and then transported to the Zhongzuo Office unimpeded.In contrast, Kuiqi's situation is much worse. Although he had much more people and boats than Zheng Zhilong at the beginning, it was difficult to replenish, and the sea trade business was constantly hit by Zheng Zhilong. Although Liu Xiang on the Guangdong sea He is at odds with Zheng Zhilong, but he is not Li Kuiqi's ally either.After Zhu Cailao was destroyed, most of the remaining power was absorbed by Zheng Zhilong, and the rest was taken in by Liu Xiang and Lingao. Liu Xiang's power soared, and he was eager to eliminate an opponent so that his power could be raised to a higher level and become the leader of China. The well-deserved overlord of the southeast coast.

Li Siya reckoned that Zheng Zhilong had a great chance of winning, not only because he had the support of the government, but also because his roots were much deeper than Liu Xiang's.Both the Portuguese and the Japanese have deep influence.Once Li Kuiqi is destroyed, Liu Xiang's destruction will be in an instant.

After Zheng Zhilong wiped out all his opponents, he will forcibly establish a new maritime order here. Not to mention that the Portuguese are helpless, even the Dutch may not be his opponents.

So recently, Li Siya's activities have begun to serve Zheng Zhilong's potential opponents—she still dare not offend Zheng Zhilong openly.Serving the Dutch, to be precise.

She had just met with Savanchi Gonzales, personal representative of Batavia's governor of the Dutch East India Company de Carpentier.The man was a real Spaniard, and had been a Spanish officer.Destitute after a disgraceful discharge, he had to try his luck in Manila.After failing to get lucky in Manila, he simply went to the Dutch side and became an officer of the East India Company.

The Dutch East India Company welcomes all European scum who are willing to serve it. The death rate of white people in the East Indies is very high, and the governor needs a large number of soldiers, officers and business personnel, so basically all comers are welcome.However, for Catholics like the Spaniards, serving the Dutch is in danger of losing their souls-the Dutch allow religious freedom in the country, but in the East India, all company personnel have to participate in Protestant religious ceremonies, otherwise it is rebellion. May be hanged at any time - the laws of the East India Company are known for their harshness and ruthlessness.

Desperate, Savanchi Gonzalez had to risk his soul for the Dutchman.An experienced ex-Spanish artillery officer, he served as an artillery officer in the East India Company's army, taking part in several expeditions, including the unsuccessful one to the Pescador Islands (Penghu Islands) some years earlier.That time, he was on the hastily built fort, commanding three 12-pound cannons, facing the densely packed junk ships on the sea and the continuous stream of Chinese soldiers pouring onto the land.

After the failure of the expedition to the Pescador Islands, he followed the fleet to Dazuo and built a castle there.Savanchi Gonzalez acted as the local fort artillery commander for one stage.During the period, they exchanged fire several times with the Chinese pirates and local aborigines who were harassing them.Survived battles and plagues.

He became gradually trusted.When the Viceroy needed someone to enter the Portuguese colony, the Spaniard Savanche Gonzalez was the man to go.A real Spaniard was obviously safer than a Dutchman sneaking into Macau - where the Jesuits were the Dutch's sworn enemies.What's more, the former Spanish artillery officer also played a big role in the next step planned by the governor.

Savanchi Gonzalez was tall and stocky.In the early years, he lost one eye in a battle with the Turks and became one-eyed.He wears an eye patch, which, along with his scars, creates a "real soldier" image.

Savanchi Gonzalez came to Macau as an unemployed veteran, and soon caught up with Li Siya's agent in the tavern.Then he visited the legendary female pirate and handed over the governor's letter.

In the letter, the Governor asked Li Siya to provide Lingao's information, including the real situation of the so-called "Australians" - there are many legends about them, and some goods have also been transported to the East Indies and various parts of India.But so far, no one has seen Australian long-voyage trade ships appear on the sea.

Your Excellency the Governor is very interested to know: what kind of people are the so-called Australians?Are they white people? Are Australians interested in trade? Are they building castles in Lingao to trade with China? If so, what is their current trade status?What is the attitude of the Chinese government towards them?What is the state of the Australians' iron ships and artillery; whether their performance is exaggerated; how many Australians are in Lingao, and whether there are blacks, Malays, Japanese, Europeans and Chinese serving them. Whether people are armed with weapons, how many of them are firearms, and how well the firearms perform...

There are a total of 120 five questions on the letter.

The more Li Siya looked at it, the more suspicious she became. If the previous question was about general intelligence, the latter question about the Australian army, weapons, and the status of Lingao's port and fortification were all military in nature.

What do Dutch people want to know about this?Li Siya thought, do they want to do something to the Australians?Lingao's geographical environment is not the best, but it is much closer to the coast of China than Taiwan, and it is on the communication line from the East Indies to mainland China.the dutch occupy the place
"These questions are worth at least five thousand dong." Li Siya said to the visitor after reading the letter.

"This is one thousand guilders." Gonzalez generously took out a leather bag, "After you answer all the questions, I will give you another two thousand."

"I want [-] dong—the cost is extra." Li Siya said, "This job is very tricky, and I have to spend a lot of money myself."

"I only have this power." Savanchi Gonzalez said, "But the governor said: If your information is accurate, he can pay you more."

"What if it's not accurate?" Li Siya smiled and took a sip of the wine.

"This is beyond my understanding." Gonzalez bowed.

"I need time to answer your question. It will take about a month or two." Li Siya said, "Are you going back or waiting here for my reply?"

"Of course it is here." Although Mr. Gonzalez is not very religious, he also feels uncomfortable being forced to participate in Protestant prayers every day.Of course it would be great to be able to get rid of this religious slavery for a while-and Macao is much better than the East Indies in terms of climate and food.

"You can stay at the 'Crown Hotel'. The food is good, and there are some women you might be interested in." Li Siya said, and took out a money bag from the drawer: "This is three hundred riyals. "

After Savanchi Gonzalez resigned, she asked someone to call Li Chun—the so-called Li Huamei.She has just returned from Goa and is resting.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do your business." Li Siya said to her baby sister, "The Dutch are thinking about Lingao."

"Cheese eaters are asking for trouble." Li Huamei sat on the cushion—this action was a bit presumptuous for her status.But the relationship between them is more of a partnership than a master-servant relationship.

Unlike her young lady who puts more energy into intrigues and tricks, Li Huamei is more willing to do straightforward things, whether it's business or robbery at sea.

"I like the Australians better, although they are a bit stupid." Li Huamei giggled, "They can't even climb a mast and they all call themselves captains."

But it doesn't matter to Li Siya whether she has a good feeling or a bad feeling.The key is the question of interests.

According to Li Huamei, the Dutch alone could not destroy the Australians in Lingao. Li Huamei had seen the Australian cannons firing, and seen their defense system and iron ships.It is impossible for Bopu Port to be captured head-on - when there was no heavy artillery in Bopu Port, the joint assault of the Spaniards and Liu Xiang was completely defeated, not to mention that they have now fortified Bopu Port.

"Just as far as I can see: Bopu has two forts that are almost impossible to capture." Li Huamei marked on the map, "One is on the old beacon tower, and there is a heavy artillery on it, which can hit almost one league. Outside. Then there is a similar cannon on the foredeck of their 'holy ship'."

Li Siya looked at the line of fire of the artillery on the map - the coverage of these two cannons is too wide!As long as any ship is within range as soon as it approaches Bopu, the artillery of the Australians is simply unimaginable.

But the most frightening thing is not such a cannon.Li Siya knew that the firing speed of heavy artillery was very slow. Up to the 12-pound artillery, it could fire almost one round per minute.According to the size of the cannons mentioned by Li Huamei, the firing interval of the two cannons should be at least 1 minutes.

And it is very difficult to adjust the aiming of large artillery.If you are not afraid of losses, use large ships to attract firepower within range, and small ships to rush into the harbor at full speed-it is best to use a rowboat to rush in with the tide.

The key is that the Australians also have obvious advantages in small artillery.In particular, some artillery that fire pointed cone shells are far superior to all European artillery in terms of range, penetration, and firing speed.If she hadn't personally experienced the power of gunfire on the Countess of Scarborough-they had neither forts nor heavy guns, and they didn't even use iron ships, and they beat the Spanish galleons to the ground. ——How could she never believe that there is such a powerful artillery fire in this world.

"...It is completely impossible to attack or bombard these two places-the holy ship is taller than the largest galleon. The hull is so iron that the sailors can't climb it, and it is impossible to set fire It lost its combat effectiveness. As for the old beacon tower, it is located deep on the coast, and it takes a long distance to reach its feet after landing."

Li Huamei continued to mark on the map: "These two places are just the places I saw. There must be other forts or defense facilities where I didn't see them. They also have several key support points in the depth, all of which are Fortified."

(End of this chapter)