Yi and others decided that since they had established a firm foothold in Guangzhou, it would be expedient to exchange the spoils of war for cash. If they could get an order for shochu, they would find a huge source of waste for the upcoming Leizhou sugarcane pressing season. way out. 【Read full text】
The Executive Committee agreed to this new pioneering action. Considering that entering Macau from Route 6 required passing through the customs gate, the Ming government's relations with Portugal and Macao had begun to deteriorate at that time. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, they decided to take the simplest method, by sea. Enter Macau Port.
The Portuguese regarded Macau as the pearl of East Asian trade and were extremely wary of foreigners, but they welcomed all Chinese traders, which was a favorable condition for entering Macau. The Executive Committee also hopes to set up a trading house in Macau if possible to export directly overseas without going through Guangzhou.
Macau in 1629 was the most prosperous era in the history of Macau trade. The triangle trade centered on Macau was the most profitable route in international trade at that time, and travelers who traveled through it naturally had attempts to get involved.
The Guangzhou Dispatch Station has obtained a 1-class sloop allocated by the Executive Committee for the dispatch station to use the ships seized from Baitu and purchased locally in Hainan, so that the Executive Committee already has a considerable fleet in its hands. The sailors on the ship were recruited from Guangzhou and were familiar with the hydrological conditions of the Pearl River Estuary.
However, both Guo Yi and Ma Shu believed that this trip to Macau was their first exploration, and it was best not to involve the newly hired locals. So a 7o~: ketch "Tongji" was still dispatched from Lingao to the prefecture dispatch station. The number of people was limited, and only one Zhang Xin actually went. He once worked in a small shipyard by Dongting Lake and wanted to see it in person. Look at Macau’s shipbuilding and ship repair capabilities, and also observe the status of Portuguese ships in Macau.
The remaining personnel were drawn from the Yue people in Lingao. As soon as this news came out, many people who had nothing to do wanted to go to Macau to broaden their horizons. In fact, most of them wanted to go to Macau to eat meat. As for the reasons for requesting participation, there are also various reasons for going abroad, such as business inspections, which are common in this time and space. Naturally, they will not pass the review of the Executive Committee, but everyone has their own tricks: for example, the Ministry of Industry proposed to inspect Europe. The level of industrial science and technology; the Ministry of Agriculture said that it wanted to know whether agricultural products from Europe and America had been introduced to the local area; the financial department proposed to conduct an inspection of foreign currency systems. As for Bai Duolu of the Wenyinshe, the reason was even more shocking - "I "I am a Catholic, and going to Macau will help me communicate with the local Portuguese people"... In the end, the inspection group actually expanded to more than thirty people, while it originally only needed about ten people including sailors. Those who were approved were naturally overjoyed and stuffed all kinds of modern gadgets into their luggage, preparing to go to Macau to do the same thing as European sailors in Africa and America using glass beads to seduce native women. There were complaints about not getting the "Macau Tour" quota, so the heads of the department naturally wanted to appease them and make wishes. The turmoil involved must be mentioned again and again.
The business inspection team to Macau was led by Wen Desi, and Diana Dosa was accompanying them as a translator. Zhou Weisen also followed on the pretext of taking care of his family. It would be difficult to deal with this big foreign horse if he lost himself in front of the foreign compatriots and ran away.
The Tongji loaded various cargo samples in Guangzhou and took Zhang Xin on board. Shopkeeper Shen heard that Mr. Zhang's family was going to Macau and planned to introduce a general manager to go with them, but Guo Yi was afraid that his strange group would be noticed by others, so he did not agree. Shen Fan wrote a letter and introduced that he had a client who opened a silk and satin shop in Macau and was fluent in Fanyi. If you need anything, go to him for help.
Macau is very close to Guangzhou. Strictly speaking, Macau and Hong Kong can be regarded as the outer ports of Guangzhou. Its jurisdiction belongs to Xiangshan County. Almost every traveler on board can recite the history of the Portuguese settling in Macau. Some people have also visited there in this time and space. Everyone is extremely interested in what Macau looks like in this time and space.
Boat: Pearl River Estuary. Entering the outer sea, you will find Macau. Everyone looked into the distance. I saw that this is a 6-connected island in the sea. There is a long and narrow land connected between the island and the mainland, shaped like a lotus. Macau is very small. Modern Macau is only 16 square kilometers. At that time, Macau had not yet expanded its territory. It's just "building a city close to the mountains and covering a vast area of four or five miles".
Flowers on stems. There is a city gate building. This is the gate closed. Go to Macau from 6 places. You must pass this gate. Theoretically, crossing the gate is equivalent to crossing the border. In fact, the governments of the Ming and Qing dynasties both had judicial power and administrative jurisdiction over Macau. It's just that the Portuguese in Macau have been practicing autonomy for a long time. The Chinese government rarely interferes. Macau would truly separate from the jurisdiction of the Chinese government after 1842.
Macau has two bays: inner and outer bays. Mond and others manned the ship. Head towards the inner bay. View from the boat. The whole of Macau has been vividly experienced. It has been almost half a century since the Portuguese officially obtained permission to live in this city in 1583. With the support of high trade profits. Urban construction is on a rough scale. tall
A city wall surrounds the city. The forts at various key points were very conspicuous, and the British tried to seize Macau for the first time. The Portuguese and Macao authorities are very concerned about the fortification of cities. 1623 years ago. All major forts in Macau have been completed.
Apparently the Portuguese and Macao authorities did not pay attention to the Chinese ship. Access to the bay is casual. There was no obstruction to inspection. "Tongji" has easy access to the ports in the Inner Bay. There are several Portuguese ships anchored throughout the inner bay. The towering masts of two large ships left a deep impression on everyone. According to Wen Desi's estimate. This ship is above 15. It looks quite spectacular in a wooden boat. This should be the big ship used by Portuguese merchants to run the triangular trade route. As for the various small and medium-sized wooden boats in China. There are countless more in the bay. Most of them are merchant ships trafficking goods from Guangdong and Fujian.
Bai Duolu, who used the excuse of being a Catholic to sneak into the inspection group, followed everyone ashore. I don’t know how the foreign woman brought by Mr. Wen negotiated with the Portuguese. Everyone landed smoothly. Bai Duolu's English is pretty good. But English is as invalid as Chinese here and now. As everyone walked on the streets of this tiny place, their ears and eyes were filled with the chirping of birds, and a sense of confusion arose in their hearts.
The urban layout of Macau is completely different from that of traditional Chinese cities. It has the feel of a small Spanish town, with neat and uniform streets. The whole city is not big, with a cross street as the core of the city. A tall cross stands at the intersection of Cross Street. Most of the buildings along the street are small Iberian-style buildings with porches on the ground floor. The walls are painted snow white. From the street you can see that the windows along the street have their shutters closed. Someone remembered playing the guitar under the window. Ms. Mendoza told Mr. Wen in English that this place was very similar to some small inland towns in Venezuela. Mr. Wen thought it was not surprising that both were typical Iberian colonial cities.
As for the pedestrians on the street, it has the feel of a colonial city: Portuguese, Chinese, blacks and mixed-race people of the period are naturally all there. There are also many Japanese, most of them wearing the uniforms of Portuguese servants running around. The Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch employed Japanese as servants, craftsmen, sailors, and soldiers throughout East and Southeast Asia. There are also characters with dark skin and curled heads who look like Ah San. There are also many Southeast Asian natives with sly eyebrows and wretched eyes.
The streets were bustling with people: nobles on horses, sitting in sedans carried by two people, ladies wearing veils and sarajas, followed by black slaves holding umbrellas. Even in a colony thousands of miles away from the motherland, it still maintains its original style. As for sailors of all colors and ragged clothes, they are naturally a scene on the street. They are all drunk and staggering around in the street. At the door of the houses of wealthy families, servants wearing uniforms and carrying canes sat, and if they saw a drunk guy trying to break in, they would give him a hard slap.
At this time, the population of Macau also increased greatly. The permanent Portuguese population, including their black slaves, was about a thousand people. There were also local Chinese who were not included in the statistics, and people who stayed for a short time due to trade or as sailors. There are also many Indians and Malays.
Everyone walked along the street and looked around, but they never found the legendary "tavern" with a waitress named Ocean Horse. So Bai Duolu proposed to see what the famous Dasanba church looked like before it burned down, and everyone agreed. When I touched the original site with a rough impression, I realized that the place was under construction. It turned out that the big Sanba church, St. Paul's Church, was still under construction. The ground was full of stones and wood, but the craftsmen were all Japanese. I found someone who could speak Japanese to inquire about it. It turned out that the church started construction in 1612. Everyone thought that the efficiency was really low. After seventeen years of construction, the church was still in an unfinished state. What on earth have these Japanese been doing for the past seven years?
Bai Duolu used his Catholic identity to quickly get some useful information from the Japanese. Most of these people were Chechidan, and working here was both a living and a dedication. The Japanese were quite enthusiastic about Bai Duolu, a Chinese church member. After reading a few lines of the Bible together in halting Latin, the Japanese craftsmen talked about many local conditions.
It turns out that the great triangular trade that once made Macau prosperous has been cut off. According to the Japanese: In 1608, Arima's ships had a fierce conflict with the Portuguese when they passed through Macau. Andre Soa, who was the governor of Macau at the time, suppressed the rioting crew on the Japanese ships and killed many The leader was executed, and the lives of 15 captives were spared only with the intercession of the Bishop of Macau.
When Andressoa went to Japan for trade in 161o, he suffered fierce revenge from the Arima clan. The liner was besieged, and finally, in desperation, André Soa set fire to the ship's gunpowder magazine. Trade between the Portuguese and Japan was interrupted. To be continued, if you want to know what happened, please log in to 6qidian, there are more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!
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