Dragon Sea Empire

Jin Nige and Guo Jujing glanced at each other, both felt that the situation was very bad; "What's going on, why did such a thing happen?" Jin Nige couldn't help it, and asked bluntly.

Baradas brought everyone into his residence, closed the door, and said in a low voice: "Captain Yin, oh, the local Qianhu, the inspection officer, the actual ruler of this island should be a person without any clear beliefs. , Moreover, he has a wife and concubine who is a Catholic. We originally planned to use the influence of this female believer to change his beliefs, but since he reconciled with the court, more and more imperial gentry came here, especially It’s the Zeng’s family, where Captain Yin’s wife belongs. There are many people who come here to work for the company. The Zeng family are disciples of Confucius, and many of them have taken the imperial examination...Father Guo Jujing, you know what this means... "

"This means that they are likely to reject the religion that opposes us,"

Baradas nodded: "This is one aspect of the problem. On the other hand, because there are thousands of congregants in our mission area, our funds are very problematic. The Macau City Hall has been unable to support us, so a brother of our missionary society In private, I want to make some money by reselling the guns of the Chinese company to make up for the shortfall of the church, but... the current situation is: Captain Yin believes that the existence of our church threatens his rule over Taiwan, and now our missionaries from Europe cannot go out of the city , only Chinese priests were allowed to attend mass at the homes of the faithful, the church was closed,...the board of directors of the China United Company sent us a statement, asking our church to compensate for all losses caused by the loss of their latest invention of muskets, The amount is as high as more than ten thousand taels of silver,"

Jin Nige shook his head: "Master Bishop, we can understand your plight, but this is not a reason to act recklessly,"

Guo Jujing also shook her head and sighed: "Can we meet Captain Yin? We plead with him in the name of Bishop Ricci. Doesn't he respect Father Ricci very much? We brought a letter from the priest."

Baradas thought for a while: "Let me go to Miss Li's house to find out. You guys are here by chance. The owner of the ship has just left for Quanzhou, the hometown of his regular wife."

……

Yin Feng was landing at Quanzhou Port with Zeng Jing and Mai Wan'er. The time was exactly the same day that Jin Nige and others landed in Taiwan. He was greeted by the company's inland business director, the big shopkeeper Xu Xinsu, and a large group of company employees and staff.

This is the second time that Yin Feng has landed in Quanzhou after being recruited by the government. He came here to pay homage to Zeng Yue's tomb, and also to meet the new Fujian governor Chen Xingxue.

Xu Xueju has been impeached by Nanjing Yushi Kedao, saying that he was corrupt and used military force to attack maritime merchants without authorization, and he has resigned and returned to his hometown to listen to him.

The news came very suddenly. Xu Xueju was originally rewarded by the court for his success in recruiting pirates. The newly appointed Chen Xingxue was a Jinshi in the Ding Chou Year of Wanli. He was from Zhuji, Zhejiang Province. He used to be the chief envoy of Fujian. , but he was very close to the eunuch Gao Cai, Xu Xueju was more or less a literati, while Chen Xingxue was completely the lackey of the eunuch Gao Cai.

He was recommended by Gao Cai after Xu Xueju resigned, and he was directly promoted to the post of governor from the position of chief minister. Obviously, Xu Xueju's sudden resignation must have something to do with Gao Cai. After taking office, the governor Chen Xingxue completely obeyed his orders Gao Cai, the eunuch of the tax envoy, ordered the supervisors of the eunuch of the tax envoy to station in the Haicheng tax office, regaining control of the taxation of Haicheng Port; and restarting the collection of various commercial taxes and port taxes that were abolished by Xu Xueju.

The governor's office also ordered that the tax eunuch's office will go to Taiwan and Hong Kong to supervise taxes.

The port of Taiwan is a free port, and all Chinese and foreign ships are exempt from taxes; of course, most of the ships entering the port are owned by the Chinese company. It is to cut flesh directly on the Chinese company.

Yin Feng invited Zeng Qi back from Luzon to discuss. This time he came to Quanzhou, he also invited Huang Cheng and other wealthy businessmen and gentry from all over Fujian to discuss countermeasures. Now, Zhonghua Company and all Fujian businessmen are a community of interests.

……

Li Lihua did not go back to Quanzhou with Yin Feng. Although her hometown can be regarded as Quanzhou, she likes to stay in Taiwan. She has no formal status and she is very free in Taiwan. Once she returns to Quanzhou, various rules and customs will overwhelm her. angry.

This morning, she was lazily sleeping on the bed, bored and unwilling to get up. Since the Macau incident, Yin Feng did not let her go out to do things for her safety, but in some religious festivals, she occasionally appeared In the place of activities of believers in the Catholic Church.

In fact, Yin Feng personally supervised many overseas intelligence work with her assistance, and some confidential personnel and paperwork related to overseas intelligence were handled by Li Lihua. Only Zeng Jingshan and Han Ping on the board of directors in the entire Chinese company knew about this situation. Father and son, apart from these three, there is only Lin Xiao.

Today, the Jesuit missionary Jin Nige and others who landed in Taiwan yesterday will come to visit her. Lin Xiao has already sent over their relevant information overnight, even including the general content of their secret conversation indoors.

Li Lihua doesn't want to know how Lin Xiao came up with these conversations, but she understands why Yin Feng treats the Catholic Missions so harshly. She was educated by the fact that people were imprisoned and died. The Catholic Church is sometimes an accomplice of the European powers. She is a baptized Jesuit. Rumors of missionary orders.

Decades ago, her father had witnessed the heyday of Jesuit missions in Japan; in the 16s, the Jesuit missionaries in Japan were enshrined by more than a dozen daimyos, with hundreds of thousands of Japanese believers, and thus began Appearing too stubborn and self-confident, Father Gaspar Coelho, the acting archbishop of the Jesuits in Nagasaki during this period, behaved almost exactly like a daimyo, even to the point of traveling around in light ships equipped with cannons, In 80, Toyotomi Hideyoshi took severe action against Coelho. After meeting with Coelho on board Coelho, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the famous "Bantenren Pursuit Order", an order to expel Jesuit missionaries. order, declaring that since Christianity was a pernicious doctrine, it would not be permitted in Japan, the "land of the gods," Father Coelho finally revealed the true colors of the colonists' advance army, who defended Nagasaki in 1587 On March 1585, [-], he sent a letter to the President of the Philippine Jesuits, Antonio Setenio, requesting the Governor of Manila to send troops for support. He and some priests asked the Spaniards to send them weapons, to fortify Nagasaki, and to rely on the military power of foreign forces. And unite the Catholic daimyo to fight against Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

After the Manila massacre, Li Lihua no longer has any sense of identity with Europeans, but she has become a lonely person because of this. The only connection she has with her motherland is Yin Feng. Now she looks at things from Yin Feng's perspective. The religious education she received since she was a child is completely vulnerable to the facts of blood and love, and she and Yin Feng share the idea of ​​maintaining a high degree of vigilance against what Europeans do.

On the island of Taiwan, the only person who can truly understand Yin Feng is probably Li Lihua.

Jin Nige and others got up early in the morning and rushed to the boat owner's lane of Yin Feng's house. Along the way, countless people could be seen busily going to the docks, factories, and shops to work. Common beggars, vagabonds or idlers in the market, of course, you can't see the servants and subordinates wandering around.

Baradas was introducing the local people while walking: "There are basically no idlers here. All these people from the opposite bank work in the factories, docks, and shops of the Chinese company, producing silk, various ironware, and chime bells..." He saw Seeing the expressions of Jin Nige and others, he smiled: "Chinese people are very capable of imitating. They can make anything as long as they see it. I heard from believers that the company's workshop can also manufacture all kinds of gold and silver wares and accessories. , cloth, embroidered satin, these are sold to the mainland and overseas, yes, the company is not only engaged in trade, but also produces things, so, I guess this Chinese company should make as much money as the Dutch East India Company, oh, They may have more money than them. On the island of Taiwan, the company monopolizes the land and ports, but other Chinese businessmen can also open shops and operate workshops here. Recently, the company has allowed domestic businessmen to buy land here."

They passed a small square, and a row of notice boards was set up on one side of the square. Many people were stopping to watch in front of the notice boards. Several people in Confucian robes kept reading aloud in front of the notice boards.

Jin Nige asked curiously: "What is this doing?"

"This is the so-called labor market in Taiwan Port. People who have just arrived on the island come here to look for jobs. Every day, the farms, factories, shops, and docks that need people to work are announced here. Any businessmen and factory owners who need to recruit people Anyone can come here to issue notices, and there are literate gentlemen hired by the company to read the notices here continuously. At the same time, the decrees of the ruler of the island are also announced here, so that people who come here for the first time can act in accordance with the decrees," Barada said. Si explained patiently.

"The decrees here are made public in the form of announcements, and the company's headquarters often release relevant business information here, such as which country's ships arrive at the port, what goods they carry, etc. Therefore, there are many people standing here listening A guy sent by a few merchants.

"What are you doing over there? Look, there are a lot of people queuing up towards the port. Are these the coolies at the dock, but why are there still children and packages there?"

Baradas smiled bitterly and said: "These people are immigrants to Luzon Island. The Chinese company organized many refugees who lost their land from the vast mainland of China, as well as fugitive criminals and homeless people who could not make a living. Get up and immigrate to Luzon, and when the Spaniards come to Manila again, they will see a city completely inhabited by Chinese,”

You Wenhui added: "Many of the immigrants are from Fujian Province. This year, the earthquake in Quanzhou Prefecture made many people homeless. Therefore, Captain Yin took the opportunity to recruit tens of thousands of refugees and organize them to go to Luzon Island. We see The third batch of people arrived. Before immigrating, they will undergo some military drills and training. Many people have signed a 20-year contract and will become long-term workers on the company's farm. After the 20-year period expires, They can get a small piece of land from the company and pass it on to the next generation as their own field," he said.

Jin Nige and Guo Jujing looked at each other and took a deep breath at the same time. They had traveled to many places in China, and they knew that the population of China was several times larger than that of the whole of Europe. There are refugees, and Chinese companies can easily recruit people who are willing to emigrate.

With such a huge population base to carry out the immigration movement, it will take less than 20 years for all the ports in Nanyang to become colonies of the Chinese. After nearly a hundred years of hard work, the Portuguese have a total population of less than [-] in each colony in Asia; If the Chinese launch a colonial operation, it will only take ten years to cover the entire Southeast Asia. Occupying the Philippines is only the beginning of this colonial operation.

Yin Feng's use of land and wealth to attract people to emigrate to various parts of Southeast Asia will undoubtedly have a strong impact on the colonial rule of Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries in the area, and the Jesuits and other missionary societies will also face a powerful force.

Guo Jujing whispered to Jinnige: "We used to despise this China United Company, but now it seems that in the future, our Jesuits will deal with them throughout Asia,"

The people living around the ship owner's lane are the senior managers of the Chinese company and the company's employees. Therefore, there are guards patrolling in many places with live ammunition. In fact, this is a typical trickery, everyone knows where this place is.

Several European missionaries and their Chinese entourage passed by the entrance of the company headquarters, and were stopped by black guards of Yin Feng's personal guards at the entrance of the ship owner's alley.

Standing at the entrance of the alley was Lin Yue, the captain of the personal guard who had been waiting for a long time.

He checked everyone's IDs meticulously. Seeing Jin Nige standing there and looking around curiously, You Wenhui quickly reminded him, "Take out your IDs. You need to check your IDs to enter Captain Yin's house."

"Certificate, what certificate?" Jin Nige was confused, raised his hand and patted his blond haired head: "Are you talking about..."

"It's the pass that the dock officials gave you when you landed at the pier yesterday. Without this pass, you will be arrested and thrown into prison,"

Jin Nige was nervous for a while, he didn't expect this document to be so useful, and he found it after groping all over his body for a long time.

They entered the alley, and at the entrance of Li Lihua's house, which is called "West Palace" by the common people in Taiwan, they were stopped by several maids. Guo Jujing, Baradas and others who were very good at the level did not understand anything. Fortunately, You Wenhui understood some local dialects, so he hurriedly said to several missionaries: "This maid is from Chaozhou. She said that the eldest lady has not woken up yet. , please wait a moment, "

The priests of the Jesuits had no choice but to stand at the door and wait patiently.