Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 707 Entering the Pearl River
As usual, the "Yong'anju" tea house is bustling with tea guests.Teahouses in Guangzhou are different from teahouses in Jiangnan and Jingshi. Not only are the dim sum exquisite, but the teahouses also need to be spacious, and most of them are high-rise buildings with two or three floors.Its first floor is as high as the second floor of an ordinary building.Now that the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, every teahouse has hung a moon cake signboard seven and a half feet high and four and a half feet wide on the teahouse on the first floor.This signboard is very grand: it is carved with a full set of classical characters, flowers, birds, insects and fish. Not only is the carving exquisite, many signboards are also pasted with gold leaf.It looks regal.

Teahouses and teahouses have always been places where people from all walks of life gather for meetings. Although red notes are posted in teahouses as usual, "Don't talk about state affairs", many "state affairs" are not only discussed here, but some are even held in such places. Decided.

According to the custom at the time, people with different identities and occupations did not sit together to drink tea.The teahouse is also divided into different worlds according to the "hall" as the unit.One of the teahouses is called "Tingquan", and the people who drink tea in it are all people in green clothes and hats—although they are slaves, they are different from ordinary slaves who are beaten and enraged.No one in the city of Guangzhou dares to look down on them: they are all long-term follower concierges of dignitaries from various families.The trusted servants are in charge of affairs, each of them holds great power, and their words can reach the ears of the master.There are many things that cannot be done in the yamen. If you talk to someone here, if you offer a sum of money, maybe you can do it smoothly.

It is morning, and it is the time when the business of the teahouse is booming.Not only the lobby on the first floor is full, but also more than half of the second and third floors.The entrance of each teahouse is full of noisy voices, voices of voices, hawkers' cries, and singing... mixed together, it looks chaotic and full of vitality.

In a bustling and noisy environment, a young man was drinking tea on a tea table.There are several small steamers on the table.There are the most suitable snacks in this teahouse.The young man didn't look around, but his eyes glanced at the door of the hall from time to time

After a while, a small middle-aged man came in from the entrance of the hall, and with a slight movement of his brows and eyes, he found the young man sitting alone.So he came over and sat down. "Qitang" hurried over to make water and tea.

"Drink tea." The young man reached out and picked up the teapot to help him pour water.

"You're welcome!" The visitor was full of style, "Did you bring the money?"

"Of course. Delong cashes the bill at sight. It is a common bill in the whole province." The young man whispered and pulled out a paper ticket from his sleeve.Complicated patterns, chromatic printing, and crisp paper—it looks like Delong's banknote at first glance.This kind of bill cannot be counterfeited at all.

The middle-aged man looked at it, and it was clear that Delong's province-wide 50 taels were redeemed on sight.A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

"Okay, my brother is a happy person!" He said and stuffed the small bag under the table to him, "Everything you want is in it."

The young man nodded, and took a closer look at the corner of the package. There were several small handwritten books inside, and a small paper sign was attached to each booklet.The young man looked at the content carefully, and nodded his head when he felt sure.
"Don't worry, it can't be fake." The middle-aged man ate a shrimp dumpling and said with a smile, "This thing is not a rare item, but it is stored in the master's inner study. When idlers can't get in, it will take a lot of money all the way." money……"

The middle-aged man took the ticket and stuffed it into his boot tuck, talking about how difficult this matter was, as if to show that the package was not expensive.

"This is also the time we made friends. In the future, we still have to work hard." The young man nodded and said.

"It's easy to say, easy to say." The middle-aged man hurriedly drank his tea and left.

Inside the package were Gao Shunqin's last month's memorials and copies of his letters to and from the capital.This is a very confidential thing for the local officials, and it is usually kept tightly in important places such as their own inner study, and is not handed over to the master for preservation.However, it is difficult to guard against house thieves by day and night.As long as enough money is paid, the concubines and servants around him can bribe them and steal them out.

The outflanking document quickly reached Lin Baiguang through the traffic station.Lin Baiguang looked at it carefully, and quickly came to a conclusion after eliminating the irrelevant parts.The move that Gao Shunqin has been calling for to expel the Portuguese from Macau has finally officially started.

What Lin Baiguang was most interested in was not the memorial itself.For a matter to be negotiated in the court and become an imperial decree, it is not enough to rely on a memorandum. A lot of preparatory work must be done in advance, and it is necessary to negotiate with the big bosses of the cabinet, the officials of various ministries, etc. Communicate well and enlist their support.Some are political persuasion, while others involve the exchange of interests.In the late Ming Dynasty, there were also factional struggles.

In contrast, private communication, exchange of opinions, and letters entrusted with work have great reference value.By reading the correspondence, you can roughly judge how something is going.

Judging from these letters, Gao Shunqin has generally completed all the preparatory work. Once this memorial is uploaded, it is very likely that it will be approved. Firstly, the ancients did not know much about the importance of maritime trade; secondly, the Portuguese and their partners. They are not good men and women, trade is often accompanied by naked robbery, murder and arson.

To sum up, Emperor Chongzhen's decree to ban Portuguese trade next year probably happened according to the original appearance of history.

The question is why is Li Fengjie so unusually nervous about this matter?Whether the Portuguese can do business has nothing to do with him.He is so focused on making great requests to the Portuguese that once the news is confirmed by the Portuguese, his request will be rejected.

Lin Baiguang couldn't think of anything that could make Li Fengjie care so much about the attitude of the Portuguese. You must know that in the old time and space, at least in the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese could be regarded as "obedient" to the local officials in Guangdong.The small capital of Xiangshan County once rushed into Macau in a big way and arrested the Portuguese in the Macau Senate and spanked them.

New news came soon, that Li Fengjie's envoy sent to Macau was not his staff, but Li Luoyou, an old acquaintance of the veterans.

Li Luoyou lived in Macau since he was a child and studied under the Jesuits, so he has a close relationship with the Portuguese.He also has a close connection with the officialdom. Wang Zunde borrowed Portuguese cannons to make samples in Guangdong, and Li Luoyou handled it all by himself.It is also expected that Li Fengjie sent him to contact the Portuguese.

Lin Baiguang decided to send a telegram to Lingao immediately, asking Jiang Shan and others to arrange for people to go to Macau to contact Li Luoyou through Gu Baocheng immediately, so as to spy out the specific inside story.

On September [-], after several days of rest and waiting for reinforcements to arrive, Chen Haiyang finally launched an operation to enter the inland waters of the Pearl River.Under the leadership of the survey ship "Haitian", he led the task force to leave the Sanmen anchorage and entered the inland river of the Pearl River.

There are two waterways from the Pearl River Estuary to the Pearl River to Guangzhou.One is an external route.Go up from the east of Macau, pass through Humen, pass two sandbars, and go straight to Huangpu.This is the main route for general merchant ships to Guangzhou.The sailing conditions of this channel are better.

The other is called the "inner route", which goes up from the west of Macau, crosses the "Hengsha Shoal", and then arrives at Xiangshan.Then go up from Xiangshan and pass through Humen to Huangpu.Because this route has to pass through many shoals and river branches, it is generally sailed by small-tonnage ships.

Chen Haiyang has the aerial survey data of the Haitian and various information provided by local sailors and old shipwrights.For the first time he decided to take only the outer routes.Ensure the safety of the vessel.The final destination of this voyage is Humen.If possible, he will set up a stronghold in Humen to ensure that this strategic point does not need to be attacked every time he goes to Guangzhou.

The fleet, headed by the two-masted survey ship Haitian, weighed anchor from Sanmen and sailed through the waters east of Macau.It was a fine autumn day, with a breezy breeze, and the scrubbed ships at Sanmen Anchorage lined up with their sails set.The red imperial banner with golden ribbons was hoisted on the mainmast, and many banners were fluttering in the wind.The cannons roared and the bugles sounded in unison.A fleet of large steamboats spewed thick black smoke and advanced on the two wings of the fleet.Then came groups of small boats, towed by the big boats.The flag of the Marine Corps was flying.arrive
The Portuguese in Macau knew that this was an Australian fleet - a few days ago, the Macau Senate sent people to Hong Kong Island, and the two sides also exchanged gifts and exchanged opinions.Australians are no strangers to the Portuguese because they support the mission of the Jesuits in Lingao and trade with the Jesuits.What they were nervous about was the purpose of the Australians' sudden arrival at the Pearl River Estuary - they not only defeated a group of pirates here, but also repaired the fort on Hong Kong Island.

Chen Haiyang assured that the Australian fleet had no intention of attacking Macau. Although the Portuguese were afraid and did not fully believe in the Australian guarantee, the disparity in strength between the two sides forced them to welcome the new arrivals with a peaceful attitude.The Portuguese even allowed the Australians to send small ships into Macau for supplies.

Chen Haiyang noticed that there were four large galleons parked in the harbor of Macau, and five or six smaller ships.In terms of scale, the Portuguese's naval strength in East Asia is indeed not weak.If it weren't for one's own new weapons, power and ships as bonuses, relying only on traditional ships and weapons may not be the opponent's opponent.

A thick smoke rose from the fort in the distance, and there was the sound of rumbling cannons.The Portuguese are firing salutes.

Gun salutes were fired from the forts in Macau, followed by salutes from Portuguese ships moored in the harbor.The fleet responded with a salute.White smoke billowed across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary, and gunfire rumbled.Announcing the official arrival of the Traveling Group to the mainland. .

(End of this chapter)