When the Portuguese Governor of Macau, Shi Boji, and the Acting Bishop of Macau, Luo Wenzao, took a Portuguese galley across the Lingding Ocean and arrived at Xiang Island, dozens of large bird boats were moored in the northern bay of Xiang Island. A huge construction site has appeared near a beach on the north shore of Hong Kong Island.
Eight years ago, Xiangdao was still a spice smuggling trade center. Although it is now abandoned, the foundation is still there - there are still flattened land, ruins burned by fire, and dilapidated docks. And all of this has now become the foundation for Wu Sanwei, the "Minister of Nanyang Trade of the Ming Dynasty", to establish himself in Hong Kong.
The first generation of Xiangdao people who were kidnapped by Wu Sanwei from Wenzhou are now in full swing building their new home on a large piece of ruins!
The foundation of a seaside castle has been sorted out, and a wooden fence has been built around the foundation. Shallow trenches have also been dug. Watchtowers to guard against sneak attacks by the Qing army have also been built on nearby heights.
On the land enclosed by the wooden fence, officials wearing long round collars and red hoods were instructing the Xiangdao people who spoke Wenzhou dialect as laborers to clean up the abandoned buildings. They would build on these ruins. Build your own home!
The various construction materials that were cleared out, as well as the materials transported by waterways, and the wood taken from the nearby mountains, were piled in open areas, and there were accountants with brushes and account books there who were responsible for counting and registering. and redistribute.
Rows of tents were set up in the "Nanyang Minister's Walled City". Some tents were occupied by single soldiers, while others were occupied by their families. A fence was built between them to prevent the two sides from disturbing each other.
Several tents form a small tent group, and the tent groups are separated by roads.
Everything looked so orderly.
The pier has been repaired to the point where it is barely usable. The red scarf soldiers, whose heads are wrapped in red cloth, are also led by officers. Some of them are still continuing the construction, and some of them are running around on and off the boat, carrying various items from one strip to the other. The bird ship, which could hold a lot of goods, was moved off the boat, loaded onto a carriage, and sent to the "Nanyang Minister's Walled City" for storage.
Wu Sanwei, "Wu Sangui's younger brother", and the "Hong Kong Island Aobai" who saw the dragon but never saw its end, were both supported by Geng Jingzhong and Chen Yonghua, and naturally received supplies from the Jingnan Palace. When evacuating Ruian, they took away all the supplies they could. Therefore, the things carried from the ship at this moment are diverse and extremely rich. From grain and grass, cloth, tools, carriages and horses, etc. to guns and gunpowder, almost everything is available.
In addition, the armor and flags of these Red Scarf Army are also quite distinctive! Flags and flags were fluttering on the pier and around the fence, and everyone in the Red Scarf Army who was on guard duty looked well-trained.
Passing through the "Nanyang Minister's Walled City", there is a flat land to the north of the "City Walled" that is used as a school ground. When Shi Bozhi and Luo Wenzao arrived, Wu Sanwei and He Tianran were there under the bright sun. Training!
There were almost two thousand neatly dressed red scarf soldiers who were constantly changing their formations under the command of flags and golden drums. Sometimes they were four battalion square formations, sometimes they were a standard horizontal formation, and sometimes they became a standard column, and they began to circle around. School field contact march.
Although the formation is not very strict and there is still a bit of chaos when changing formations, everyone can see that these red scarf soldiers have high morale and are training hard!
Nanyang Minister Wu Sanwei and his deputy Xiangdao Commander He Tianran also seemed to be very interested. The two met with the Portuguese Governor of Macau and the Acting Bishop in a large tent located on the edge of the school grounds and next to the walled city.
Both Wu Sanwei and He Tianran are full of official accents, and one can tell at a glance that they have been involved in official circles for many years.
At the meeting site, there was also a young official named Zhou Shujie from Dayuan Island, wearing Ming Dynasty-style official uniforms, who acted as a Latin translator, and there were several people dressed as masters who were responsible for taking notes.
Everything looks very formal and definitely does not look like a scammer.
Shi Bozhi and Luo Wenzao were relieved now, and began to inquire about the "treaty" with Wu Sanwei.
"Minister of Nanyang. Sir, I would like to ask you, are you really the brother of His Highness the King of the West?"
The person speaking was Macau Acting Bishop Luo Wenzao. He is an elderly Catholic priest. He is fifty-five years old this year. He joined the Dominicans during the Ming Dynasty. He also followed Tang Ruowang to preach in Beijing and knew many Ming court officials. officials of the Qing Dynasty in Guangdong, and later met Shang Kexi in Guangzhou. However, he didn’t know how to address himself as “Minister of Nanyang”. There was no such official in the Ming and Qing dynasties! So I simply added "Big Master" after the Nanyang Minister to show respect.
Zhou Shujie, the general secretary (translator) of the Yanping Palace, who came from Dayuan Island and whose family has been engaged in "sea zero-yuan shopping" and "road toll" services for several generations, smiled and said to Luo Wenzao: "Father Luo, you can be called the Minister of Nanyang." It is called 'Xuanfu' or 'Xuanshuai', because the Minister of Nanyang not only manages trade and foreign affairs, but also propagates and protects the various vassal states of the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang, so he is considered a commander!"
Wu Sanwei smiled and said: "Shi Junmen, Master Luo, whether I am the younger brother of the King of the West has been mentioned in the Qing court's newspaper, right? Don't tell me that you haven't seen it."
The Catholic Bishop's Office of Macau is in charge of the business of the entire Chinese diocese, which of course also includes collecting domestic intelligence in China. It not only obtains the Qing court's newspapers through various channels, but also maintains direct contact with Nan Huairen - Nan Huairen. Although Ren was an official of the Qing Dynasty, his real allegiance was to the Pope of Rome!
Therefore, Luo Wenzao had already fully grasped the brotherly relationship between Wu Sanwei and Wu Sangui by reading Di Bao and Nan Huairen's reports.
His question just now was just for final confirmation!
"Commander Xuan," Luo Wenzao said with a smile, "So, you can definitely represent His Highness the King of the West?"
Wu Sanwei said: "Of course I can represent my brother, just like Master Luo you can represent the King of the Holy See, just like Shi Junmen can represent the King of Portugal!"
Hearing what Wu Sanwei said, Luo Wenzao also felt a little guilty. He could not represent the Roman King Clement X, because he was not the bishop of Macau at all, he was just an agent.
Thinking of this, he said to Shi Bozhi "Shi Junmen" in Portuguese: "Governor, he should be the real Wu Sanwei. The brother of the Western King Wu Sangui!"
As soon as Shi Bozhi heard this, he immediately stood up and bowed to Wu Sanwei, and then solemnly said in Latin: "Brother of the future emperor of China, on behalf of His Majesty the King of Portugal, I would like to express my most sincere respect to you, and hope that In the future, when the Tartar court is replaced by the court established by you and your brothers, there will be completely free trade between the Kingdom of Portugal and China in the hope that the Catholic Church will also be free to spread the gospel of the Lord in China.”
"Xuanshuai," Zhou Shujie also understands Portuguese and immediately translated Shi Bozhi's words into Chinese, "This foreign military sect calls you the emperor's younger brother, and also greets you on behalf of the Portuguese King. He also hopes that the Western King will become the King of the West. After the sovereignty of the world, Portuguese businessmen can freely come and do business in China, and I also hope that the Catholic Church can freely seek alchemy and deceive people in China in the future."
He Tianran on the side interjected: "Free trade and free alms are of course possible, but a treaty must be signed first. It must stipulate how the Portuguese and Roman churches will help our Ming Dynasty against the Tartars!
We also have to state how many artillery pieces, muskets, gunpowder, and warships the Portuguese and Roman churches have sold us, how many instructors they have provided us, and how much intelligence they have provided us with from the Qing court. When our army goes on a northern expedition, what can the Portuguese and Roman churches do? How many warships can be provided to help us transport troops from the sea to the Tatar lair in Liaodong!
If these things cannot be written down in black and white, we cannot hand over our exclusive free trade rights and missionary rights to them! This benefit cannot be given in vain! "
Wu Sanwei nodded, "He Zongrong is right. We need to make a contract in black and white. With a treaty, my brother, the king, can issue an edict! Otherwise, if there is no treaty, how can we just talk in vain? And this treaty also needs to be Take it to the King of Portugal and the King of Rome to sign and pledge it."
His words were translated into Portuguese by Luo Wenzao. Shi Bozhi originally wanted to sign a treaty with Wu Sanwei, but there was no treaty, so he couldn't repay the favor!
You can't say that you and Wu Sangui's brothers swore in front of the statues of Lord Guan and Lord Jesus, right?
Thinking of this, Shi Bozhi said to Luo Wenzao: "Priest, please ask them if they have prepared a draft treaty?"
Luo Wenzao then asked: "Commander Xuan, Commander-in-Chief, what kind of contract are you going to sign? Have you prepared a draft?"
"Everything is ready!" Wu Sanwei smiled and said to Zhou Shujie, "Zhou Tongshi, show the draft treaty to Director Luo! If both Shi Junmen and Director Luo have no objections, then we will initial it first."
"yes!"
Of course the treaty is ready!
And it was very formal, in duplicate, all written on the scroll, and there was also a place for writing the text of the Latin version of the treaty.
As for the content of the treaty, it is also quite thorough and reasonable.
Mainly, there are two or three major parts, and some of them are deals that can be concluded immediately - mainly the purchase of arms and the hiring of instructors.
Wu Sanwei hoped to get a batch of red cannons, heavy muskets, horses and gunpowder immediately. He also hoped to get a gunnery instructor and was willing to pay silk and sugar as reward.
The second part is the request of the Western King of the Ming Dynasty for long-term cooperation between the Roman Church and Portugal - mainly long-term arms contracts, obtaining intelligence from the Qing court through missionaries such as Nan Huairen, and hiring Portuguese navy to help with transportation in the future. The army of the Western King Wu Sangui went north by sea and reached Liaodong and Yanyun!
The third part is that after the victory of the Northern Expedition, the Western King of the Ming Dynasty can give rewards to the Roman Church and Portugal, including short-term money and long-term trade and missionary privileges.
In short, the draft of this treaty looks very reasonable! It is simply what the Portuguese and the Catholic Church have dreamed of!
And as long as the text of this treaty was initialed and sent to Beijing and placed on Kangxi's desk, Nan Huairen would probably lose his head!
The imperial edict to take back the Portuguese stronghold in Haao will probably be sent to Wang Fuchen, Shang Kexi and Zhu Guozhi soon.
When He Tianran arrived in Zhaoqing with the draft of the "Xiang Island Treaty" initialed by Portuguese Governor of Macau Shi Boji and Catholic Acting Bishop of Macau Luo Wenzao, Wang Zhongxiao, the mastermind behind all this, was busy running a school!
He is not in a hurry to go to Xiangshan to open some Guangdong Customs Yamen now because he knows that even if this Yamen is opened now, it will be useless. Because the Portuguese have been engaged in a gratifying "legal smuggling" trade for several years.
If you suddenly come to the Yamen to collect customs duties, who would be willing to give you money?
The worst case scenario is to continue "legal smuggling" in another place. There are so many places along the coast of Guangfu that are very popular. It won't be easy for Wang Zhongxiao to win them all!
Therefore, his main work plan before the Spring Festival in the eleventh year of Kangxi was to straighten out the two schools, Jingwu Academy and Reform Academy, which taught rebellion.
And his idea of running a school is also very strange. He divided the two schools into three parts: "Outer School", "Inner School" and "True School"!
Each section has different teaching methods, different teachers, and different textbooks.
Among them, the outer gate of the Reform School is mainly for cultivating "junior masters at the grassroots level" - the construction of the grassroots civil servants in the Qing Dynasty can only be described as pulpy! Of course, the Ming Dynasty will be similar.
In Wang Zhongxiao's previous life, he had served the people for many years. Of course, he knew that "junior masters at the grassroots level" were very important. No matter how capable the masters above you were, and no matter how much they wanted to make decisions for the people, they would not be able to do anything without the help of the people below them. No more.
For example, Wang Fuchen is the only "employed" person in the governor's yamen. The others are senior masters, junior masters and "officials". If there are no junior masters, how can he be the governor alone?
And a good master, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, was a high-end talent!
Usually, the master leads the apprentice, with the master leading the junior master. Since the masters handed down from the Ming Dynasty have the most Shaoxing origins, and Shaoxing suffered less during the chaos in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there are more scholars who have survived. , after entering the Qing Dynasty, they lost most of their tax privileges and could no longer use their fame to distribute the country's taxes. So everyone went to worship the master as a master. Over time, the Shaoxing masters monopolized the officialdom, forming an officialdom ecology of "without Shaoxing".
But after doing this, the people who actually ruled the Qing Dynasty became Shaoxing people!
This group of Shaoxing people hold the power of officials and make a lot of money, but they do not have to bear the responsibilities of officials - they are masters! Officials were corrupt and perverted the law. How could the master be held responsible?
In addition, since there is no formal establishment of masters, they theoretically require officials to pay for their own hires!
But how much were the salaries of officials in the Qing Dynasty? How many masters can you invite?
A governor like Wang Fuchen, no matter whether he has money to support him or not, can't possibly support the entire governor's office by himself, right? This governor's office is equivalent to the "overall situation" of a large military region plus a region in later generations. How many officials will be needed? How about on the income of a governor? That must be corruption
Therefore, it was impossible for officials in the Qing Dynasty not to be corrupt, and this kind of officialdom ecology was simply an insoluble poison for grassroots governance!
But Wang Zhongxiao now has a solution!
His method was to first train a large number of qualified "junior masters at the grassroots level" through the outer gate of the Reform School, and then hang them under the corresponding departments of the Governor's Yamen. The Governor's Yamen would pay them salaries, and then let the Governor's Yamen appoint They go to local offices.
In this way, as long as Wang Fuchen's governor's office has a way to make money, the officials below will have the possibility of "not being greedy" - but they can be officials without being greedy, and let's talk about officials governing the Qingming Festival, otherwise they are all deceiving themselves and others.
The "inner sect" of the Reform School is to train "senior masters" and revolutionaries. They must learn not only practical knowledge such as Qian Gu and Xing Ming, but also New Confucianism, that is, "Mingyi Waiting for Visits", Things like "The World is Public" and "The Heavenly Land Acquisition System".
In addition, they have to join the Tiandihui and become the backbone of the anti-Qing Dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty!
As for the "true" disciples, they are outstanding members of the inner disciples. They will become Wang Zhongxiao's own disciples. While receiving inner education, they will also follow Wang Zhongxiao to learn more advanced knowledge such as mathematics and the study of objects!
As for Jingwu Academy, the situation is similar. Outer disciples learn martial arts and low-level military command, and can serve as junior officers in the future. Disciples in the inner sect must study "Records of Visits to the Ming Yi", "The World is Public", and "The Land System of the Celestial Dynasty". They will have the opportunity to hold higher positions in the future. And they also have to join the Tiandihui!
The true disciples are also selected from the inner sect of Jingwu Hall and are also students of Wang Zhongxiao. They also have to learn mathematics, object analysis and other aspects of knowledge.
(End of chapter)
