Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 735 Macau Peace Treaty
With Yanyin as collateral, Gao Ju called together the rich merchants in the city: foreign merchants, salt merchants, and Chaozhou merchants to share the loan on a head-to-head basis. Although the interest on this loan is not high, but with Yanyin as collateral, there is absolutely no loss Unexpectedly, the 40 taels of silver were apportioned soon.Gao Ju can't help boasting a lot, and his prestige among Guangzhou businessmen has also increased.

Gao Ju raised the redemption fee by borrowing money, and it was quickly passed on through Meng Xian's channel.As one of the largest exchange banks in Guangzhou, Delong also lent 5000 taels of "city redemption fee" in this collective loan.

Gao Ju received the silver, except for the 30 taels sent by Li Fengjie to the Australian barracks outside the city in batches, the remaining 10 taels, according to Gao Ju's wishes, deposited 3 taels in Delong, and Delong sent them A ticket was handed over to Governor Li.

Boxes of silver were checked and checked in the military camp and shipped one by one—this amount of cash will greatly alleviate the current problem of insufficient reserves of precious metals in Lingao.

Gao Ju went to the barracks outside the city several times in person, presented a large number of gifts to Wen Desi and others, and sent a lot of sheep wine to reward the three armies.This time, his attitude towards the Australians became more respectful. They were not only wealthy and capable tycoons, but also robbers armed to the teeth.Fortunately, they are also businessmen who keep their promises. As business partners, Australians are exemplary.

Gao Ju is very happy that he can maintain a good cooperative relationship with the Australians. Besides Eunuch Yang, the Australians can also be a great backer. Compared with the greedy Eunuch Yang, the Australians are obviously in the category of "everyone who has money gets rich". "The kind of person with equal interests.

The gifts presented by Gao Ju were of high value, most of them belonged to the luxury goods and enjoyments of this era. Wen Desi was very satisfied with seeing them, and the caretaker accepted them all, and listened to a lot of compliments from Gao Ju. "Larger scope" and "deeper depth" cooperation.Originally, Gao Ju had been hesitant to provide the political and business channels of the capital, and he also expressed his willingness to provide them freely.

During the last visit, He Chengzong also went there together, and the two sides reached an agreement on launching the second phase of negotiations in Macau. According to Li Fengjie's intention, Li Luoyou will be in charge of the negotiations in Macau.As for the time for the Australians to return to Guangzhou, Li Fengjie asked for mid-December—after the commotion had subsided a bit.

Afterwards, Wen Desi and others went to the place of Jingshe and hosted a banquet for Gao Ju, He Chengzong and his party.The two sides exchanged glasses, toasted several times in a row, and then presented gifts, including Li Fengjie and others, all of whom had valuable Australian goods.The host and guest had a good time and broke up.

The redemption fee has been paid, and there is no need for the task force to stay outside the city.Chen Haiyang and others collected a "reasonable burden" outside the city, and after fully demonstrating their prestige, they chose a day to withdraw from the provincial river.

On November 11, the task force fired 20 guns.The whole army boarded the ship and left the camp.The task force arrived at Humen that evening.Converge with the remaining troops in Humen.Most of the facilities here have been dismantled, and the materials have also been transferred to Hong Kong, leaving only 24 squadrons of spy boats and 2 company of naval soldiers to continue stationing-this is the bargaining chip reserved for the next negotiation with the Guangdong local government.After resting for one night, Chen Haiyang and others led the fleet to leave Humen Anchorage, passed through Macau, Modaoyang, and entered Victoria Bay at noon on the 1st. The fleet finally berthed at Central Anchorage.The two-month "crusade against the Pearl River Basin" came to an end.

In the past two months, the construction of the 852 base in Hong Kong has been carried out rapidly-a large number of captives has enriched the labor force.When Chen Haiyang and the others returned to Base 852, several outposts and forts covering the entrances and exits of waterways around Hong Kong had been completed one after another.The construction of the first main road near Central is under intense construction.The main road runs roughly along the coastline.The first batch of docks, warehouses, and trading houses in Hong Kong will be developed along this road.

Because the negotiations have not yet officially ended, the Military Administering Court sent a telegram to the task force to rest on the spot in Hong Kong. Some ships that need to be repaired and maintained can return to Lingao, and other ship personnel will continue to stand by.Once the negotiations break down, they will re-enter the Pearl River to start fighting.

Li Luoyou witnessed the Australian fleet sailing out of the Pearl River Estuary under the escort of small boats emitting black smoke. He knew that the overall situation was settled—the most urgent thing right now was to clean up the mess.Sure enough, an order came from Guangzhou to start negotiations with the Australians immediately.

Li Luoyou's mood towards this negotiation was both resistance and anticipation.Naturally, the expectation is that after this negotiation, trade can resume, and the normal life order on both sides of the Pearl River will return to the right track. No matter from his personal interests or the interests of the people, it is of great significance to conclude a peace treaty with the Australians.

The reason why he felt conflicted was because he already knew what the Australians had been doing on the Pearl River in the past two months.The officers and soldiers once again showed their absolute incompetence. The Australians had dozens of boats and 2000 people raging on both sides of the Pearl River, extorting "reasonable burdens" everywhere, and killing many local gentry. Thousands of captives were captured and a large amount of property was taken away.

The behavior of the Australians is like being another slave.Of course, they are more polite to the common people than the beast-like slaves, they don't arrest people casually, and they don't rob, murder and set fire everywhere.It's just that it's especially ruthless to the rebels.Li Luoyou was keenly aware that the Australians were much smarter and more dangerous than Jiannu.

The location of the negotiation was chosen in Huang Shunlong's private residence.Huang Shunlong felt honored to be able to serve both the shopkeeper Li Da and the Australians at the same time, and vacated the best courtyard for their use.

The negotiator sent by Lingao is Skaide, the office director of the Ministry of Colonial and Trade.In the past, this peace advocate has always advocated to negotiate a peace with Daming as soon as possible and even accept the recruitment.This time, the executive committee agreed with him to negotiate a peace, but no "recruitment" was allowed.

In addition to returning all the property of Zizihao, compensating for losses, and reopening bilateral trade, which had already been reached in the city of Guangzhou, Skaide put forward six requirements for the Guangdong side:

First, Australians are free to buy and employ people, and they can dispose of people at will and transport them abroad, and the government must not interfere.

Second, all ships under the name of Australians entering Guangzhou for trade are not taxed.The goods on board are exempted from sampling, that is, they are exempted from paying customs duties.

Third, Zizihao and other Australian industrial and commercial enterprises will continue to pay various official commercial taxes, but they will be exempted from bad regulations.

Fourth, Australians enjoy extraterritorial rights in Guangzhou, and all arrests, detentions and interrogations involving Australians must obtain the consent of Australians.

Fifth, Australians are free to buy land and build houses in Guangzhou.

Sixth, Hong Kong Island and its surrounding outlying islands are controlled by Australians.Prospective Australians act freely on it.

Skade finished reading these six items.Li Luoyou felt a little better -- there was no such thing as terrible compensation and old coins.Because of the lessons of the Song Dynasty, Daming was extremely vigilant about such things.But the last one caught his attention. Doesn't this so-called "control" mean that Hong Kong Island is to be ceded?

In the history of Daming, Xiangshan Ao was far less famous than Haojing Ao. Even a businessman like Li Luoyou, who had been doing business along the coast of Guangdong for a long time, was not familiar with it. .

"It is absolutely impossible to cede Xiangshan Oo." Li Luoyou is very clear that this little-known island is probably under the control of the Australians now, and it is nothing more than an exaggeration for them to ask to add this item when negotiating. It's just a matter of confirming your own rights.

Skade did not speak, and continued to listen to his statement.

"...This request to cede Hong Kong Island, not to mention that Lord Fujun dare not agree, even the emperor dare not mention the word 'cede land'." Li Luoyou said, "Furthermore, Lord Fujun will never agree to this clause. Don't dare to play it to the imperial court, so as to reach the heaven to listen."

Skaide continued to remain silent. These issues were also mentioned by Yu Eshui of the Great Library when drafting the negotiation conditions. As far as the current situation is concerned, it is necessary for Ming to sign a treaty similar to the "Nanjing Treaty" It is institutionally impossible.No governor or governor would dare to sign such a document.

"Furthermore, the imperial court is very wary of people from overseas, and the debate on whether to ban or lift the ban in Shanghai has never stopped. You have to come to Guangzhou with the brand of Australians in a grand manner, let alone Mr. Fujun You can’t cover the sky with one hand—there are several officials in this city who can play the court directly—even if he can do it, what if the governor of Guangdong changes people?”

Skaide was very convinced: "According to what Mister sees?"

"Only you and I know about this matter, and it must not be announced to the world." Li Luoyou said.

Li Luoyou said that the local government in Guangdong could only secretly agree to the various conditions proposed by the Australians.

The Ming government prohibited all foreigners from living and doing business in Guangzhou. Except for the Portuguese who had the privilege of entering Guangzhou for trade twice a year, no foreigners could stay in Guangzhou.Neither do Australians, of course.

If this power is forcibly demanded, even if Li Fengjie is willing to play for it, the back and forth in the Guangchao Hall will never be fruitful without three or four years of effort.

"Fortunately, Australians are also descendants of China, and their appearance is no different from people from Ming Dynasty. Why don't you continue to be people from Ming Dynasty?" Li Luoyou suggested to let them pretend to be aboriginals in Guangzhou.

As long as the identity problem is solved, everything can be easily solved.

Since he is a native of Guangzhou, he can buy land, build a house, build a house, buy and sell people, hire workers, etc., and the government will never intervene. Not only will the government not obstruct the influx of refugees from other places, but they will also welcome them very much—otherwise they would have prevented the Australians from exporting population from Guangzhou a few years ago.

As for the second item, the tax on ships, since Australians are regarded as natives of Guangzhou, and the ships sail between Lingao and Guangzhou, it is an authentic domestic coastal trade, so naturally there is no need to pay taxes on overseas merchant ships and foreign ships. Needed share, zhang water tax.

As for the third tax exemption issue, as long as a tacit agreement can be reached with the government, it is of course not a problem-the commercial taxation of Daming is not high, as long as the merchants have a certain backing, the local officials dare not extort too much. Not much pressure at all.Of course, some necessary bad practices are unavoidable, but considering the reputation of Australians who kill people without batting an eyelid, I am afraid that no one who is not open-eyed wants to take this money.

Li Luoyou asked with a wry smile: "You still care about this? There is no one in Guangzhou who can punish you with such a blind eye. You are now noble gentry, and a piece of film sent to the yamen is murder and arson. Jiangyang's thieves can all be saved."

Regarding the issue of Hong Kong Island, Li Luoyou firmly opposed their occupation of Hong Kong Island.It is impossible for the governor to agree to this matter.

"The Fujun can only turn a blind eye to this matter. It is absolutely impossible to allow you to rent this place like the Portuguese." Li Luoyou said, "This matter is no small matter. The Portuguese can live in Haojingao. It is a matter of luck and cannot be forced."

After more than ten days of bargaining and letters and telegrams between the two parties to Guangzhou and Lingao, the two parties finally reached an agreement in principle in Macau.It was later called the "Treaty of Macau" in history, but there is great controversy among imperial historians about whether this agreement is a real treaty.The mainstream view is that this treaty can only be regarded as a memorandum of understanding between the empire and the local government of Ming Dynasty.The text of the treaty has not been officially signed and sealed, and even the text preserved by the Ming Dynasty has been lost since then.It is not an international treaty in the true sense. This document can only be implemented in Guangdong by relying on the powerful force of the empire's ships and guns.

Since the Guangdong government concluded this treaty privately, of course it will not be publicly stored in the archives.It was just stored in Li Luoyou's mansion in the form of a top-secret private document for future reference.This text has long since been lost.According to the text preserved in the Great Library, the entire "Macao Treaty" has eleven clauses

[-]. Australians are free to go to Guangzhou and several surrounding counties under the control of the Guangdong governor's office to live, do business, and farm, and they can bring their family members, servants, and buddies.Of course, you must pretend to be a native of Guangdong, and you must not openly call yourself an Australian.

[-]. All the affairs of the Australians in Guangzhou are handled by the shopkeeper of Zizihao.Anyone who has commercial and civil disputes has full power to deal with the government.

[-]. All Australian properties in Guangzhou are taxed as usual according to government regulations, but miscellaneous and various fees are exempted.

[-]. Australians can buy land and real estate in Guangzhou.

[-]. Australian ships entering Guangzhou trade are exempted from paying all rates, quotas, and fees.However, it must pretend to be a Ming Dynasty ship, and must not claim to be an Australian ship.Otherwise, a taxable fee will not be waived

[-]. Australians are free to carry out any trade in Guangzhou, and freely transport goods, gold and silver in and out, and the government must not interfere.

[-]. Australians have to hire and buy people in Guangzhou.And free to take them wherever Australians wish.

[-]. The Guangdong government will not interfere with Australians staying and repairing ships in Xiangshanao.

3. All the property, land, business name, and property of the original Australians in Guangzhou shall be returned.Since some of the goods have been sold and some of the money-generating equipment has been damaged, the two parties have reached an agreement that the Guangdong side will pay Kupingyin [-] taels of compensation in one lump sum.

5000. The government will not infringe upon and arrest all the citizens of Ming Dynasty implicated in the arrest of the Australians before, and all those who have been captured will be released.The property infringed by it will be compensated by a one-time payment of [-] taels of Kuping silver from the government.

[-]. After all compensation, release and return work is completed, all Australian troops stationed in Humen will be withdrawn.

In addition to the eleven paragraphs, there are also supplementary treaties and several agreements.Many details were drafted by the vest of the arbitral tribunal in person, and the writing format was very grand.

Generally speaking, the Executive Committee did not attach great importance to this treaty, because this treaty was generally nothing more than a private agreement reached between the Senate and Li Fengjie.The binding force on the Ming government was limited to the period when Li Fengjie was in charge of Guangdong.Once Li Fengjie resigned, the entire agreement would be invalidated.

However, the traditional feature of Chinese officialdom is that bad practices are extremely serious. As long as this agreement operates smoothly for a few years and forms a certain interest group around it, the newly replaced Yuefu will have no choice but to do nothing.Furthermore, according to the current development momentum, it is still unknown how long Ming's rule in Guangdong can be maintained, and how many governors of Guangdong can be replaced.

The reason why this low-level memorandum has to be detailed and grand, the main purpose of the vest is to satisfy the Senate—to give the elders a sense of satisfaction that they have signed an unequal treaty.In Vest's view, the countless goods, population and the 30 taels of redemption fee brought back by the task force are worth all the treaties.

Although the treaty itself was of little significance, after the telegram of the signing of the "Treaty of Macau" was sent to Lingao, the Senate still ordered to fire 24 cannons and whistles for one minute at Bopu as a celebration.

The Macau Treaty did not deal with the disposal of the remnants of He Rubin trapped in Qiongshan.Li Fengjie thought that this matter had nothing to do with him, and so far, no state or county in Qiongzhou Prefecture had reported the fall, so he was happy to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

On the day after celebrating the signing of the Macau Treaty, news came from Guangdong: Wang Zunde, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, died of illness while taking office in Zhaoqing, and the governor's seal was temporarily taken care of by Li Fengjie.

In this way, the task of how to clean up the mess in Qiongshan and rescue He Rubin's subordinate fell to Li Fengjie.Of course, he can continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb until the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi comes to take over and let him handle it.However, Li Fengjie had an idea in his heart: he hoped that he could change from "nursing" to "acting", and finally he would directly become a regular.For this reason, he sent people flying horses to pass the letter to Beijing, so that the master of his zhezi study would be active in Beijing immediately. On the other hand, he sent Li Luoyou to Lingao again, trying to reach an agreement with the Australians on rescuing the remnants of He Rubin as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)