Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 726 Borrowing Soldiers
The negotiations are still ongoing, and the Portuguese Municipal Council in Macau has a certain interest in the Guangdong officialdom's proposal - after all, ensuring trade with China is their top concern.The Australian Yang Fan's swaggering entry into the Pearl River Estuary also made the Portuguese feel an unprecedented threat.

Although this group of so-called "Australians" in Lingao has not directly harmed the interests of the Portuguese so far-except for granting a few ships India-Lingao trade concessions, they have done nothing in overseas trade. Make a big move.Most of the transactions with the Chinese in Guangdong are bulk goods such as grain, cotton and various minerals, metals and timber, which the Portuguese have no interest in.

Generally speaking, the Portuguese and the Australians in Lingao do not enter the river, and they also get what they need from each other-the Australians sold a large number of high-quality and cheap industrial products to the Portuguese, which made the Portuguese in many distribution and transfer industries. Make a lot of money in the sales market.The Portuguese also sold a lot of "Indian goods" to Lingao.This made the Portuguese, who were originally desperate to open up the Chinese market, become very interested in the Australians, thinking that if they could establish a stable trade relationship with the Australians, they might be able to open up commodity sales channels to Australia.

However, the Australians defeated the Ming army at Lingao, and then the fleet entered the Pearl River, which made the Portuguese alert—the Australians are obviously not a group of pirates or businessmen who are only satisfied with entrenched in small remote counties.They have bigger plans.

Among the Chinese in Guangdong, a faint rumor has already reached the ears of the Portuguese: Australians are Chinese who left overseas centuries ago, and they are now returning to regain their ancestors' throne, titles and fiefdoms.

Jalanzani can get the latest progress of the meeting every few days—it is no surprise that the middleman who came to negotiate with Guangdong officials was Li Luoyou. Macau has its own mansion, and every few days the Society of Jesus will visit some priests he is familiar with.

Li Luoyou did not conceal his purpose of coming and the content of the negotiation.In Macau, the Jesuits have great influence over the Macau Municipal Council.So he sees no harm in letting the Jesuits know about the negotiation process.

Li Luoyou was shocked by the attack on Lingao launched by the Ming government.He didn't expect that the government would attack Lingao so rashly - didn't they know to send someone to investigate in advance?Li Luoyou thought with regret that if they could send someone to take a look in person, this battle might be avoided.And the officers and soldiers also saved some energy.According to his understanding, the officers and soldiers in Guangdong are by no means opponents of the Australians.Li Luoyou knew that if there was no advantage in numbers, the officers and soldiers of Ming Dynasty might not even be able to deal with the Portuguese army assembled by various people, not to mention the Australians whose weapon quality and training organization were ten times better than the Portuguese.

When the wealthy businessmen and officials in Guangzhou were caught in the competition for the purple name, and many merchants cut off business contacts with Australians for various reasons, Li Luoyou still continued to maintain the transaction with Lingao quietly.Ships of medicinal materials, metals, grains, and cloth were transported to Lingao.He needs all kinds of Australian goods in exchange.It was not until the officers and soldiers blocked the Qiongzhou Strait that it stopped.This kind of trade made his Qionghai No. firm in Lingao earn a lot of money, which surprised Gu Baocheng who was doing business himself for the first time.

In Li Luoyou's business, in terms of scale and benefits, Qionghai is not ranked at all, but Li Luoyou set up here as an important business base, and it was Gu Baocheng's first business— ——He probably regards this property as the starting point for the Gu family to revive the family business in the future, so the investment in it can be regarded as lavish.

Li Luoyou spared no expense to buy a large piece of land in the newly developed area of ​​Dongmen City.Some of them started to build houses and build the Qionghai Commercial House. For the rest, he Guan Baocheng put up the place first, and didn't rush to use it, and don't sell it easily.

"Wouldn't it be a pity that this wonderful world would be abandoned like this?" Gu Baocheng asked.

Li Luoyou told him to find a few vegetable farmers, and rent out the free land to grow vegetables first.Vegetable growing is a very profitable project in Lingao - non-agricultural populations such as industrial mining, administration, and military with a large population need a large amount of vegetables as non-staple food.

"Growing vegetables is not only to make more money." Li Luoyou taught earnestly, "It is also to prevent people from gossiping! The good land is empty with long grass. When people see it, they will not think of other things, they will only think that we are wasteful. "

"My nephew understands."

"If you want to get the land, you can't let it go to waste. This is the strength." Li Luoyou expressed his appreciation to him.

On the eve when officers and soldiers began to block the Qiongzhou Strait, Li Luoyou, who got the news, sent a messenger to Lingao secretly.Because of the great momentum of the officers and men's crusade against Lingao, some of the crew members in Qionghai were in a state of panic all day long.He kept urging Gu Baocheng to go back to Guangzhou to avoid the limelight.

"The master said that if the young master feels that the situation is critical, he can come back. The master will never blame the young master." The messenger said.

"Go back and tell the master." Gu Baocheng said confidently, "Although the Australians are fighting a tough battle, it is extremely difficult for the officers and soldiers to win."

The messenger replied to Li Luoyou exactly what Gu Baocheng said.Li Luoyou nodded secretly, although this child's eyesight is still a little bit worse, after all, he is no longer following others' opinions, and has his own insight - insight is not bad.

He Rubin's entire army was wiped out in Chengmai, and then besieged in Qiongshan.None of this was beyond Li Luoyou's expectation.Even when Li Fengjie secretly sent someone to summon him and ask him to act as an envoy to negotiate in Macau, he was not surprised either.The offensive launched rashly by the governor is bound to fail, and after the failure, someone must come to clean up the mess.The one who cleaned up the mess was of course Li Fengjie.

Li Fengjie is Li Luoyou's biggest backer in Guangdong. Li Luoyou is responsible for many business affairs of the governor, including investment and lending. Officials are not allowed to get involved in lucrative industries.The collusion between the two can be described as close.When Li Fengjie proposed to compete for the post of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Li Luoyou immediately sent someone to remit 5000 taels of silver to the governor's yamen's zhezi study in Beijing as an activity fund.

This kind of friendship is of course no small matter.So as soon as Wang Zunde fell ill, Li Fengjie came out to arrange the defense of Guangdong, while secretly working to prepare for the peace negotiation, so he invited this "business partner" out -- let him come forward to talk with the Portuguese to help defend the Pearl River Estuary.

"I'm afraid you already know, brother." When Li Luoyou met He Chengzong, who Xingye was visiting in Foshan, he had a very ugly expression on his face. Counties in the South China Sea were shocked three times a day..."

"I heard it occupied Humen?"

"Humen is very dangerous, and it took two days for the thieves." He Chengzong was frustrated and uneasy, "It was a crushing defeat." He gave a rough account of the battle of Humen. Secretly surprised, because he heard from the other party's words: the Australians neither dispatched a large iron boat nor dispatched an iron clipper.Only 2000 or [-] ordinary sailboats and small boats that can emit black smoke and self-propelled have captured Humen, which has many forts and hundreds of artillery positions, and [-] officers and soldiers were defeated.

I didn't expect the Australian navy to be so powerful!Li Luoyou originally felt secretly satisfied with Guangdong's defeat, thinking that it was an excellent lesson for those arrogant officials.But now they are worried - the Australian military is so powerful, and now they are fighting with Daming, there is no guarantee that they will not be another slave in the future!
"Dong Weng has something important to entrust to your subordinates." He Chengzong whispered, "Only your subordinates can handle this matter. After the matter is completed, Dong Weng must thank you very much!"

"Thank you so much, I don't dare to take it." Seeing his strange expression, Li Luoyou knew that it must be an important matter - most of this matter was related to the Australians, did he want him to come forward to negotiate peace with the Australians?He also whispered, "What does your lord want to do next?"

"This matter is not humane." He Chengzong continued.

"rest assured!"

Only then did He Chengzong whisper the purpose, and Li Fengjie asked him to go to Macau in person to let the Portuguese send troops to block the Pearl River Estuary.

"...The Folangji people have seven or eight big ships like a city in Haojing, with cannons on them like a forest. Even the warships of the Kun bandits may not be able to win." He Chengzong said, "The bandits are rampant on the river now, but the guns they use The gunpowder and cannons are all transported from Lingao, so as long as the Folang Robots cut off their supplies and the bandits are short of weapons and ammunition, they will have no choice but to retreat."

Li Fengjie chose Li Luoyou as this envoy, first of all, of course, because he is his confidant, and he can rest assured; second, Li Luoyou has a deep relationship with the Portuguese; finally, Li Luoyou is a businessman, not an official, nor him. People in the shogunate.

To ask the Portuguese to send troops to help, to put it bluntly, is to seduce foreign vassals.If the Censor Yanguan finds out, there will be an uproar.Only a businessman with no official background like Li Luoyou can make it easier for officials to deny and deny the news if it leaks-after all, he is a serious "citizen", not even a "temporary worker".

Li Luoyou fell silent.He finds this difficult.Whether the Portuguese is willing to do this or not, he is not sure.As a Chinese who is very close to the Portuguese and understands their way of thinking, he knows that the Portuguese are willing to maintain the smooth flow of their business and trade, but how determined and capable they are is a question mark.In addition, since the Portuguese opened their port in Macau, the relationship between Daming and the Portuguese can hardly be said to be harmonious - at most it is mutual tolerance.Official calls for the expulsion of the Portuguese have never ceased.Especially recently, the news that the high inspector wants to expel the Portuguese and ban trade has been circulating everywhere in the market. The words are so clear and vivid that even the Portuguese have heard of it.

In this case, the Portuguese should send troops, and he is really not sure what the other party will think about it.

"This matter is very difficult." Li Luoyou decided to tell the truth, "Gao Xun's memorial is already full of wind and rain in the city, and most of the Folangji people know it. When the time comes, how to deal with it?"

"Just say that there is absolutely no such thing."

This is simply child's play!Li Luoyou thought to himself that the matter of Gao Xun's press release would not be groundless, and he vetoed it without explanation. In case the Portuguese got the exact news later, wouldn't they regard Ming officials as people without integrity?
"This...if something really happened in the future, wouldn't it be a big loss to the government..."

He Chengzong smiled indifferently: "Why did the government ever say that?" The expression on his face was very contented.

Li Luoyou glanced at him in disbelief—he fully understood what He Chengzong meant, and this was not said by anyone in the Guangdong government but by him, the representative.And Li Luoyou is not an "official", so there is no problem of the government lying.Besides, at that time, the government could completely deny that Li Luoyou had any relationship with the government.

This group of people is really ridiculous!To think of lying as a strategy!And judging from He Chengzong's triumphant and unobtrusive utterance, it is obvious that it is no big deal for a businessman like Li Luoyou to tell a few lies.Immediately felt extremely cold.

"This group of scholars have read every book into the stomach of a dog. They can come up with any despicable and shameless ideas." Li Luoyou was furious in his heart.But there was no surprise on his face, he just smiled slightly and said, "This, isn't it appropriate?"

He Chengzong still had a look on his face: "What's wrong? You are always a businessman, so what's the problem even if you make a few mistakes? Just deal with what is in front of you first."

"Haha, haha." Li Luoyou said haha.He can rely on "integrity" to gain a foothold in the mall.If he deceives the Portuguese this time, it will be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the business community in Macau in the future.So he absolutely can't tell this "Li Daitao stiff" lie.

In case the Portuguese really wanted to ask about Gao Xun's memorial, he decided to put it bluntly: he said he didn't know about it.Let the Portuguese judge for themselves.There are plenty of people in Guangzhou who are willing to sell everything for foreign money.They themselves will naturally find the real answer.

After He Chengzong left, he began to seriously consider this task.Of course, unless he no longer wants to do business in Guangdong, Li Fengjie's request cannot be refused.And you have to try to achieve it.

Although he is a business partner of the Aussies, he thinks the Aussies have gone too far this time.Disturbing Guangdong will only further bleed Daming's already severely weakened body-in his opinion, it is better for Australians to stay in Lingao and sell Australian goods.Although the Portuguese may not be able to succeed immediately, a little pressure will also be useful.

The tricky thing is that this is difficult to do-the Portuguese may dispatch warships to patrol and try to expel the Australians for the purpose of safeguarding commercial interests.But their naval power - quite impressive in East Asia, even made Liu Xiang feel jealous, and did not dare to attack Portuguese merchant ships wantonly, but they were simply vulnerable in front of the Australians.As long as one of the four fast boats appears at the mouth of the Pearl River, it can single-handedly defeat the entire Portuguese naval power in Macau.He had no doubts about that.

Regardless of whether the Portuguese had the ability to expel the Australians, since the government wanted something from others, it did not offer any conditions favorable to the Portuguese.The senior bureaucrats of Ming Dynasty had a kind of thinking of "drinking water without forgetting the well digger", and always regarded themselves as the well digger.In the eyes of Li Fengjie and his staff, the fact that the Portuguese were able to stay in Macau was entirely due to the grace of Ming Dynasty.If the Portuguese want to stay here, they have to serve the local officialdom unconditionally.

If they can't understand this, the bureaucracy is ready to use threats to force the Portuguese to realize it.

In other words, this is not a reciprocal negotiation, but a constant threat of "you may lose if you don't."

Of course, threats are also a means of negotiation, as long as the strength is strong enough to be strong enough to honor threats at any time.But when his own side urgently needs help, he is still threatening potential allies, which really makes him feel embarrassed.The Macao Municipal Council must want to know, what benefits can it gain by spending a large amount of military expenditure and dispatching warships to fight against the Australians who have always been friendly?
Li Luo had no choice but to persuade them to dispatch warships with the big topic of maintaining China's trade that the Portuguese were most concerned about: in order to maintain Macau's position as the gateway of Ming's foreign trade, it is necessary to maintain water security in the Pearl River Basin.Ensure the safety of ships.

The Guangdong governor's request brought by Li Luoyu was immediately submitted to the Macao Municipal Council for discussion.The Portuguese dignitaries and dignitaries of the Chamber of Commerce had a long discussion on this issue, and formed two completely different opinions.

Although the Portuguese do not like the Ming government, after all, this government gave them a place of residence, and gave them the monopoly of trade with China under the thinking mode of not wanting to deal with foreign businessmen. Once the Australians and Ming are caught in a long-term war, The lucrative trade the Portuguese ran in the Pearl River Delta would have been unsustainable.Therefore, the voice of helping the Guangdong government to fight against the Australians has always been high.

But another group of people think that Ming is not a good trading partner. They keep restricting the trade of the Portuguese, restricting the types and quantities of goods they buy, restricting the cash they carry, and even forbidding them to hire and buy slaves for the locals in Guangdong. And there are constant proposals to expel them from this small colony.Some people even think that this "arrogant" government should be given a "profound lesson"-if the Australians are willing to do this, the Portuguese do not need to intervene.On the contrary, the Portuguese can even use their transcendent status as a middleman in the peace talks between the two parties to reap greater benefits.

　The Guangdong local government in the Qing Dynasty once asked the Portuguese in Macau for military assistance because of pirates.The Portuguese also dispatched naval ships and Qing army sailors to jointly carry out bandit suppression operations.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)