Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

&eneses) stared dumbfounded at the councilors of the Macao Council in front of them. "Gentlemen, are you crazy? You must know that the Ming army has just won a battle with a scale of 10 people. At this time, let the Royal Navy go to fight them. No, no, even if the Qing regime imposes on us pressure, we must not take chestnuts from its fire."

"Your Excellency, the reason why we ask the Royal Navy to demonstrate to the senior officials is not only a request from the Qing Dynasty, but the key is that the British merchants of the senior officials have sent back an ultimatum to Dongning, requiring all merchant ships from various countries to Naha. Penghu pays a tax called Tonghai Tax, which will deal a fatal blow to Macau's economy and Macau's business community."

Due to Japan's lock-up and North Korea's closure, Portugal, which used to dominate the Asian sea trade, has lost its leading position in Northeast Asia. Its merchant ships can only rely on Naha as a transit to obtain Japan's gold, silver, copper and northern fur. Zheng Kezang's order is tantamount to pouring salt on the wounds of the Portuguese who have already lost a lot of blood. Therefore, even if the Qing court does not send people to negotiate, the business circles in Macau will encourage their own troops to support the businessmen.

"The Royal Navy in Macau only has two [-]-gun cruisers and a smaller communication ship, while according to the intelligence of the Qing people, the Ming Dynasty Navy has six to seven small cruise ships, and the Ming people also have Owns a large number of Junk ships." Wen Lishi tried to reject these red-eyed businessmen with facts. "The difference in strength between the two sides is too great. We simply don't have enough strength to compete with each other. Sending ships is tantamount to death."

"Your Excellency," the commentator who was born as a businessman only accepted death. "Nowadays, the Qing people enforce the sea ban and only occasionally sell some Chinese goods in Guangzhou. This has already made the merchants of the Kingdom feel heavy economic pressure. If the air route to Naha is blocked again, don't you want to see the merchants in Macau rushing to buy goods?" Bankrupt?"

Wen Lishi didn't shrug his shoulders for the income: "I personally think that you can pay taxes to the big officials, just earn a little less."

"Your Excellency Governor, do you know what nonsense you are talking about?" Several commentators were furious when they heard what Wen Lishi said. "It's not a matter of making less money. The Qing and Ming countries are in an extremely sharp confrontation. The war can only be ended by destroying one family. If the Qing Dynasty knows that we pay taxes to the officials, the Qing Dynasty must completely cut off the supply of goods to us, and even It is still possible to take back Macau, can you bear the consequences?"

"Actually, I think you don't need to pass through the Lequeopequeno (Little Liuqiu) Strait." Wen Lishi gave a seemingly reasonable suggestion. "Then why not pass through the waters on the east side of Formosa Island like the Dutch and the Spaniards? In this way, reasonable tax avoidance can be realized."

"We also want to pass through the east side of Formosa Island, but there is reliable news that the Ming army has established a cruise base in the north of Formosa Island, and the base seems to be very close to Naha, Even if our merchant ships do not pass through the strait, they will be intercepted when they arrive in Naha. It is precisely because of this that we hope that the Royal Navy will cruise with armed forces. The merchants of the kingdom will attack."

"So, Dutch merchant ships and Spanish merchant ships can't escape the sea tax?" Hearing what the members said, Wen Lishi suddenly smiled. "This is not very good. The Netherlands and Spain will definitely not let it go. It is better to see how they do it first, and then we can make a decision."

"The Spaniards are negotiating with the Ming people." A commentator broke the news. "The Ming people agreed to withdraw the settlers from the Philippines, while the Spanish agreed that the ships would no longer sail to Naha. The two sides set up business offices in Dayuan and Manila for trade. Although the treaty has not been formally signed, the Spaniards cannot rely on it."

"Although the Dutch have irreconcilable conflicts with the Ming people, the destination of Dutch merchant ships is mainly Nagasaki, so the merchant tax levied in Naha has nothing to do with them, and the Netherlands has been deceived by the Qing people, so they are expected to It is also impossible to extract chestnuts from the fire for the Qing people."

Neither of the two major colonial forces in Southeast Asia was willing to have a direct conflict with Ming and Zheng, so Wen Lishi naturally did not dare to make a mistake, so he strongly refused: "Gentlemen, in this case, I suggest that you either Give up the Naha route, or pay taxes to the Ming people, the Royal Navy will never easily get involved in the conflict between the two giants in the east."

"Coward! I want to appeal to Goa and revoke your governorship!" The furious councilors were excited. "For a real knight who can protect the kingdom's merchants"

"Everyone, please." Wen Lishi said indifferently. "But I would like to remind gentlemen that this is no longer the era of Da Gama and Abuquerque Now, we must face up to the weakening of the kingdom in the east"

Malacca was called Manlajia in the Ming Dynasty.As early as the Hongwu period (AD 1396), a Sanfoqi Palembang (Note: Sumatra) prince Paramisura fled to the Malay Peninsula to avoid the attack of Majapahit from Java Island. Afterwards, the natives who conquered the local area established the Managa Sultanate (the Malacca Dynasty), and named it "Sultan Iskandar Sand" (Note: "Sand" is the name of the ancient Persian monarch, and "Iskandar" seems to be a transliteration of Alexander. ) claiming to be.Since then, the Sultan of Manga has been in constant contact with Ming Dynasty in order to fight against the invasion of Siam. Zheng He, the eunuch of Sanbao, visited this place many times when he went to the West.

In the first half of the 1641th century, the Malacca dynasty was overthrown by the Portuguese, and Malacca became a European colony. In [-], the Dutch took Malacca from the Portuguese with the help of the Sultan of Johor.However, although the Dutch occupied Malacca, they were not interested in developing Malacca into a regional trade center due to their limited strength in East Asia. As a result, the importance of being the governance center of Southeast Asia in the Portuguese era was gradually replaced by Batavia. However, even so, there is still an endless stream of merchant ships coming and going to this place.

"Sir, a junk ship has entered the port." The soldier on duty reported to the Dutch sergeant in charge of the commercial port. There are only 120 Dutchmen in Malacca at the moment, and the number of soldiers does not exceed 50. Therefore, these puppet troops played a considerable role. "Do you want to send someone to check?"

"Junk ship?" The red-nosed sergeant was drunk, so he subconsciously regarded the other party as a merchant ship from Siam or Guangnan. "No need to check, you remember to collect taxes from them, collect taxes, as long as they don't run around, just give them money"

After paying the 20 taels of business tax, Deng Kejian walked off the ship in a hurry. The Baba (note: that is, Peranakan) on the shore immediately surrounded him as soon as they saw his appearance. There were those who introduced the inn, some who picked up goods, and noisy people. Although most Baba spoke Hokkien, there were too many Malay and Siamese words mixed in, which made him dizzy. Yes, it can be said that the seven orifices are cleared and the six orifices are not understood.

"You!" After a long time, he tried his best to find a relatively fluent Hokkien speaker from the crowd. "What's the price for an interpreter?"

"One and a half guilders a day, if you only need six guilders a month." The man who called himself Huang Jinwen quoted the price in this way. According to the exchange rate of three Dutch guilders equal to one tael of silver, the asking price for a single day is too high, and the quotation for the whole month is also It is reasonable. "If the master stays for a long time, the remuneration can be discussed again."

"It's up to you," Deng Kejian settled without haggling. "Take me to find a place to live first." The sailors on the ship may not leave the ship, but he wants to penetrate the local Han immigrant circle, so he must settle down first. "Accompany me for a walk in the market after we're done, but it's just for profiteering. Don't blame the master, I won't give you money."

"Where does this old man talk? Do you want to kiss people in your hometown? You always come from your mother country. Even if Baba wants to deceive you, you won't be deceived." Huang Jinwen flattered. "You are looking for a place to live. That's just right. Baba's family has a spare house. It's cheap. You can eat and live together. It only costs six dong a month."

"Okay, let's count together at that time." Deng Kejian nodded indifferently, and asked Deng Kejian to help hire two men to take his salute from the boat, and then explained a few words to the bow of the boat, and then Shi Shiran He followed Huang Jinwen all the way out of the dock area, asking Deng Kejian as he walked. "Baba Nyonya? How are you doing now?"

"If you go back to the master, you will just have a bite." Huang Jinwen thought he was asking himself at first, so he answered casually, but later realized that Deng Kejian was still looking at him, and then he suddenly realized the answer. "Most of them have their own fields, and only a few are helpers. It's just that the taxes in the Netherlands are too high, and life is not easy."

"Then has anyone thought about going back to China?" Deng Kejian asked seemingly casually. "Captain, I can say a few more words."

"This?" The so-called three-generation Chengba brought the Han people in Malacca to adapt to the local society long ago. They really were not mentally prepared to let them suddenly give up all this and return to China. "Master is just joking, but if there is such an opportunity, there will not be too many people who want to go back. Most of them are new customers who have just escaped from China." Huang Jinwen's words were more perfunctory than those who fled along with the people. "Master, may I ask, where are you from?"

"Dongning." This cannot be concealed from anyone, even if it is concealed now, it will be exposed when Deng Kejian recruits people back to Taiwan in the future. "You wouldn't have tipped off the Dutchman for a reward."

"Look at what you said, although Baba knows that Dongning has a feud with the Dutch, it's not that Mr. Liu Guoxuan's fleet has never come to Malacca to trade, and he hasn't seen anything about the Dutch, so it's very interesting here. It's safe, you can rest assured and stay."

"That's good"