"Who are you? What qualifications do you have to ask for surrender on behalf of the Portuguese people of Macau? Where is Rodoni? Where is Sampaolo? Why don't they surrender?"
"Your Majesty, this little old man is Luo Wenzao, the acting bishop of Macau. The Governor of Macau, Rodong Ni, and the bishop, Sampaolo, left an hour ago on the Angel galley anchored at the pier outside Macau..."
"Run away? Ran back to Europe?"
"I'm afraid they don't dare to go back to Europe. They lost Macau. Those who don't dare to go back to Europe should go to Guangzhou and work as slaves for the Qing Dynasty."
"What? Becoming slaves to the Qing captives? They are not afraid of embarrassment..."
Outside the west gate of the city outside the St. Paul's Fortress of Macau, a surrender ceremony is underway.
Zhu Heji's army had actually entered the city. They built barricades inside the city gate, deployed pikemen, and set up mortars for firing super-caliber explosive shells. Musketeers were also deployed on the city walls.
In addition, Anton Aoi, a "Japanese leader" who had made meritorious deeds as soon as he joined the group, also led a group of old priests dressed in black robes and little red riding hoods out of the city, saying that they were here to ask for surrender on behalf of the Portuguese people in Macau. Visited Luowenzao where Jesus spoke.
As soon as Rodoni, Sampaolo, De Figo, and a dozen other Portuguese priests and warriors fled, Macau became leaderless. Although there are still a lot of monks from this sect and that sect in the city, the roots of these monks are in Europe, and no one dares to be the first to surrender.
After much searching, only Luo Wenzao, a "Hu Jianren", was not afraid of the Holy See or the Portuguese Regent. So everyone could only pinch their noses and nominate Luo Wenzao as acting bishop, and let him negotiate for surrender... Surrender must be surrendered, but it cannot be unconditional. Negotiations must be made.
"Your Majesty, please take a look at this list!" Luo Wenzao surrendered "at the command of Jesus", but "whether the surrender looks good or not" is also related to his future future.
So he used that hour of surrender preparation time to make good preparations... and prepared a list of the church and the Governor's Mansion property!
Zhu Heji took the list and looked at it, and what caught his eye was the beautiful calligraphy.
Obviously, this Bishop Luo is a great talent who has learned both Chinese and Western knowledge!
Thinking of this, Zhu Heji started to look at the contents on the list again. This is the key!
"There are forty 12-pounder cannons and 8,820 heavy matchlocks...why so many? There are only so many people in Macau, how can there be so many muskets?"
Luo Wenzao had known for a long time that Zhu Heji would ask this question, so he replied with a smile: "Reporting to the Crown Prince, there are more than 5,000 Portuguese and mixed-race Portuguese in Macao, and there are seven black slaves and... Eight thousand people, a total of more than 13,000 people. Among them, there are about 2,000 people who can carry guns, and they can all be used by the prince."
"More than 2,000 people equipped with more than 8,800 guns? One person can carry four guns?"
"What the Crown Prince doesn't know is that the governor of Macau has to be replaced every few years. And most of the governors came from Europe, and they still spent money. So after taking office, they have to prepare armaments... ....”
That's the end of what he said, everyone understands it!
The world is as black as crows, and being an official for thousands of miles is just for wealth! What's more, the Portuguese governor came from thousands of miles away, how could he not make money? Therefore, after every governor came to power, the first thing he did was to send orders to Foshan's blacksmith shop and Bugalao gun factory. Don’t buy good ones, only buy expensive ones!
The heavy matchlock gun, also known as the turtle dove foot musket, was just one of the arms items purchased by the governors of Macau.
In addition to muskets, they also stocked a large number of ship helmets, light plate armor, lances, swords, maces, halberds, axes and other various weapons and equipment for the Macau colony. Together with muskets, the number was enough to arm a team of 10,000 people. An army of five thousand men!
The Government-General of Macau also reserves a large amount of gunpowder and food in the St. Paul's Fortress to cope with the enemy's long-term siege.
In addition, in order to be able to fight outside the St. Paul's Fortress and in the invasion areas, the Macau Governor's Palace even set up a military horse farm and raised more than a hundred Lusitano horses!
Seeing that Zhu Heji had already read the list about Macau's military preparedness, Luo Wenzao handed over another list and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is the Diocese of Macau, St. Paul's Cathedral, and St. Paul's Theological Seminary. The inventory list...please take a look at it!"
The Governor's Office of Macau spent more money and saved less money, so it had a long list of weapons and equipment, but only a little money was saved. Zhu Heji didn't care at all. But as soon as the treasury lists of the Macau Diocese, St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Paul's Theological Seminary were sent, Zhu Heji's eyes lit up.
"So much money? There is so much money!" Zhu Heji stared at the Chinese characters on it and couldn't hold it back. He actually shouted out. Then he didn't care about losing his composure. He raised his head and asked, "You missionaries Where did you get so much money? What do you need so much money for?"
Luo Wenzao smiled and replied: "Your Majesty, you don't know. This Macau Island is the Catholic missionary center east of Malaya...including the Chinese Diocese, the Japanese Diocese, the Korean Diocese, the Vietnamese Diocese and many other dioceses. The bishops and main clergy are all under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Macau. Before taking office, they will also study at St. Paul’s Theological Seminary in Macau. Therefore, Macau has naturally become the depository of Catholic wealth east of Malacca. !
As for the source of this wealth, it is mainly donations from believers... In addition, the church itself will also engage in some financial businesses, such as money lending and remittances. "
Luo Wenzao paused and then said: "Sir, if you are willing to maintain the status quo of Catholicism in the area east of Malacca, then the church is willing to give you the wealth stored in Macau as protection money."
Zhu Heji glanced at Luo Wenzao, "Protection money? Isn't this money a trophy?"
"This..." Luo Wenzao explained with a smile, "If your enemy is not the Ecumenical Church, then these wealth are not your spoils. After all, they belong to the church and not the Macau Governor's Palace."
"Understood!" Zhu Heji nodded, "Bishop Luo, I will temporarily freeze the money."
"Freeze?" Luo Wenzao was stunned, "What is freezing?"
Zhu Heji explained: "The freezing means that the money still belongs to the church, but it must be kept by us. The church can no longer withdraw and use it...until the Ming Dynasty and the Holy See reach a new agreement."
Luo Wenzao was stunned again and again, how could it still be like this? The money belongs to the church, but the church just can’t use it! Not only cannot it be used, but it is probably impossible to even look at it or touch it.
Zhu Heji then added: "At the same time, the Ming Dynasty will also freeze all activities of the Ecumenical Church in China...except Macau!"
"What?" Luo Wenzao was shocked. He originally thought that Zhu Heji would not take an too harsh attitude towards Catholicism, but he did not expect that he would actually "freeze" all Catholic activities in China!
Of course, he cannot control all of China now, so the actual scope of application of this "freezing order" is very limited.
But there is no doubt that Zhu Heji's stance towards the Catholic Church was not very friendly. However, the Macau church has no bargaining qualifications now... The only opponents that can bargain with Zhu Heji are the Holy See, the Kingdom of Portugal, and perhaps the Kingdom of England.
Seeing the surprised look on Luo Wenzao's face, Zhu Heji said to him warmly: "Mr. Luo is well versed in Chinese and Western studies, his talent is not inferior to that of Xu Wending, and he has such talent but does not serve in the Qing court. He is obviously unwilling to be a pawn of the Tartars. If Gujia wants to revitalize the world, what it needs is scholars like Mr. Luo...Mr. Luo should stop working for the Pope in Rome and become the Bishop and Steward of Macao of Gujia!"
Luo Wenzao has been waiting for this sentence for a long time!
He has been following the ecumenical church for so many years, but he can't even become a bishop. Is this fair? This is not fair!
It's better to change the master, and from now on it will be either a bachelor or an archbishop... Wouldn't it be nice?
Thinking of this, Luo Wenzao immediately bowed to Zhu Heji and said loudly: "My minister, Luo Wenzao, is willing to follow the prince to fight against the Qing Dynasty, restore the Ming Dynasty, and restore the Central Plains!"
