Chapter 20 War is in turmoil

Martin and they also had to make a detour to India to pull some rosewood and sell it to Macao, which was an extremely sought-after item in the Qing Dynasty, and the Chinese have been extremely sought after for rosewood products since ancient times. So Shuyun also took the opportunity to pick up a few small saplings that people didn't want, which were carried in a pile of mature trees, and when Shuyun found them, they were about to die, but fortunately, the root system was still intact.

For the sake of these small trees, Martin and the others also had a very unpleasant quarrel with the local wood merchants. The timber merchants said they were superb, and that they had found them on the way to come. Even the roots are rare treasures, so they asked Martin to add more money, which made Martin and his gang angry, thinking that these timber merchants were trying to blackmail, and almost did it. In the end, it was because Shuyun said that she was interested and wanted to keep the little tree, and she took two small gems to reluctantly send the reluctant businessmen away.

In order not to be suspected by Martin and the others, Shuyun only chose the two trees in the worst state to plant in the space at the beginning. The rest of Shuyun insisted on spraying them with some space spring water every day to prevent them from dying after they had been away from the soil for a long time. In that case, Shuyun will be a cup. I hope we can keep them as safe as possible.

May 12 of the 14th year of Kangxi (1674 AD). Shuyun and his entourage arrived in Macau.

The wharf in Macao is no longer prosperous and lively in the past, it is deserted and looks very depressed. Seeing such a situation, everyone was very puzzled, and they didn't know what was going on here. Out of an abundance of caution, the ship did not immediately dock, but lowered a small boat and sent a very clever sailor, Allen, to inquire about the news.

After about an hour, Alan hurried back. As soon as they got on the boat, the people were not yet on their feet. With an anxious face, he said to Martin who greeted him: "Captain, it's really bad, I inquired that the Qing Kingdom is at war now." It seems to be a war between their emperor and the three princes of the south. Now the merchants in Guangzhou have run out. The boats here have also been requisitioned. We've brought so much with us, what are we going to do? ”

"Ran out, where did they go?" Martin asked, frowning

"It is said that some of them went out to avoid trouble, and some of them returned to their hometown because they were worried about the old and young at home." Alan replied.

Martin frowned and thought for a moment, then ordered, "Let's get the boat to the shore first." ”

When Shuyun heard that the Qing Kingdom was fighting, as soon as she contacted the current time, she immediately reacted, it should be the famous Rebellion of the Three Feudatories. After hearing the words emperor and the three princes, it was even more confirmed. I secretly complained to myself in my heart, "It's been too long to be comfortable, and I can't even forget such an important thing." ”

The ship docked behind the empty dock. Martin immediately gathered everyone together and introduced the current situation to everyone. As soon as Martin finished speaking, the room immediately resounded with a buzzing discussion.

Martin cuffed the table, and the cabin immediately fell silent. Martin continued: "Gentlemen, our problem now is that we have to find a way to sell the goods on board. Who has a good idea? ”

After Martin asked, there was silence in the cabin, everyone looked at me, I looked at you, and they had no idea for a while. The last one was the first mate Abel who said: "Some of the goods we brought this time are clocks, tobacco and candies, which can also be sold in Nanyang, but the price will be lower." There is also red wine, which can also be sold to the garrison there. The big deal is to make less. It's just that the red sandalwood, which accounts for the majority of the rest, is more troublesome. There are also silk and porcelain that I originally planned to buy, but I wonder if I can still buy them now. If you don't have one, you can also go to Nanyang and buy some spices. In this way, there is still a profit. ”

Martin nodded and said, "If you really can't sell it here, you can only do what you say." In this case, I will take a few people off the ship first to see if there are any Qing merchants stranded here. Now that the situation is unknown, in order to avoid accidents, the rest of the people will stay on the ship. ”

Seeing that the meeting was about to end, Shuyun hurriedly said, "Martin, I'll go with you too." Tom asked me to bring a letter to Father John at St. Paul's Church, so that I could ask him to help you figure it out. ”

So Shuyun got off the boat with Martin and went straight to St. Paul's Church. Seeing Father John, Shuyun handed him the letter.

Father John opened the letter in front of them, and after reading it, he looked up and said, "Archbishop Zweig has instructed me to take care of Miss Yunyun, and if Miss Yunyun needs anything, let me try to meet it. Miss Yunyun, please rest assured, I will do as the Bishop instructs. ”

In fact, Shuyun is not at all curious about what the content of the letter is. She had already guessed what Tom would write. But I would like to express my gratitude to Father John. He was introduced to Martin and others, and told Father John about the problems he had encountered, and asked him to help him find a solution.

So Father John introduced us to Rotony, the Governor of Macau. Governor Rotony was very respectful to Father John, and not only immediately sent someone to inquire about the news, but also warmly invited us to have lunch with him. Martin then sent his men down to the ship to fetch four bottles of Rafael, which were of a good vintage, and gave them to Rotony and John.

While we had lunch and were drinking tea, the inquirer came back and brought back the three remaining Cantonese businessmen in Macau.

Martin spoke to them separately, and two of them expressed interest, but they offered a price that Martin couldn't accept. After several rounds of bargaining, they were unable to reach an agreement.

There is no way, it seems that it can only be done according to the method that the first mate Abel said. It's just that the batch of rosewood is not easy to deal with, and if it is sold to those two Guangzhou merchants, it will lose too much. Silk and porcelain are not in stock here in Macau now.

When everyone was worried, Shuyun offered to buy the batch of rosewood by her, but she didn't have that much cash and hoped to replace it with equivalent gems.

Everyone was very happy to hear Shuyun's proposal, only Martin frowned and asked Shuyun: "Then how can I do it, what is the use of you buying it?" Now it can't be shipped away. There is no place to put it. Besides, your money is used on it now, so what will you do in the future. I'll think about it again, don't worry about it. ”

Shuyun grabbed Martin, who turned around and wanted to leave, and said, "Martin, for God's sake, don't be so stubborn. You know how popular rosewood is in the Qing Kingdom. Wars are only temporary, and even if they last a little longer, there will always be an end someday. I am a Qing Guo myself, and what I have is time and so on. I'll make a lot of money right after the war. But you are different, you must return in the short term. Besides, you may not know that rosewood can not only be used as furniture, but also a very effective medicinal herb for external injuries. I'm a healer, even if I don't sell it. You can keep it yourself. You don't have to worry about money, in addition to the gems I have to pay you, I will have a few left, enough for me to spend. Besides, I know how to heal, and you know that being a doctor is a very lucrative profession. Rest assured."

"However, I still want you to go back to Europe with us, the current situation of the Qing Kingdom, I don't feel at ease if you are left here alone." Martin shook his head stubbornly.

Shuyun rolled her eyes, and then persuaded: "I will live in St. Paul's Church temporarily, with Father John taking care of you, you can rest assured." For Tom's sake, even if something unexpected happens, he won't leave me. So I'm not going back to Europe with you. I'll fetch you the gem right now. ”

When the batch of rosewood was bought, it was about three hundred taels of gold, and Shuyun gave Martin a gem worth four hundred taels of gold. Martin said he wouldn't accept anything. The two pushed each other for a long time, and in the end, Martin only accepted a gem worth about three hundred and fifty taels of gold.

The next day, Sook Yun went to Father John again and asked him to make a dry room for rosewood. Martin then led someone to move the rosewood in and helped to make the embalming treatment.

If it weren't for the fear of arousing everyone's suspicions, Shuyun would have already put this batch of rosewood into the space. Now I can only put it like this for now, Shuyun doesn't pay too much attention to this little thing, even if she loses it, it doesn't matter. The reason why I helped Martin and them was because they were friends, and it was just a gesture, so I would help them by the way. Second, there may be a place that can be used in the future, so you might as well sell your favor now.

After taking care of this, Martin and the others set off for Nanyang. By the way, he took the letter that Sook-yun wrote to Tom. When parting, Shuyun also told Martin not to tell Tom Qingguo about his current situation.

After returning to the room arranged by Father John at St. Paul's Church, Sook-woon immediately locked the door. With those dying red sandalwood saplings, he dodged into the space. Because they were afraid that they would not be able to survive if they were exposed to the air for too long, they were planted in the medicine garden first, hoping that the magical purple soil could rejuvenate them. Pour some space spring water on it. Then I went to the study of the villa, found the history book that recorded Kangxi's birth, and looked through it carefully for a long time.

I went back to my room and lay down to rest. It is time to seriously consider the future arrangements.

According to the book, the battle lasted for eight years. However, in 1676 and 1677, under the attack of the Qing army, Geng Jingzhong in Fujian and Shang Zhixin in Guangdong were forced to surrender one after another. After Wu Sangui's death in August 1678, Hunan, Guangxi, and Sichuan were also recovered by the Qing army.

Shuyun originally planned to go to Yibin to visit Mr. Xu's family first, but it would not be easy to go to Sichuan or return to the capital. It was now May 1674, and it would be at least four years before the situation calmed down a little in '78. Do you want to stay here in Macau all the time?

Shuyun was really worried about the current situation of Old Man Xu's family. No matter how difficult it is, we should rush to see it as soon as possible. That's a matter of planning. According to Father John, a checkpoint has been set up in Xiangshan County to prohibit passage in Guangdong, and it is impossible to go out of Macao to Guangdong under normal circumstances. Even if you don't take Guangdong, it will be equally difficult to take the route from Guangxi through Guizhou. During the war, who knows what will happen along the way.

Xiaoyu begged for a ticket!!! 11

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