Unlike Liu Xiang, Zheng Zhilong is not his confidant, so he did not pay much attention to the movements of the thief in the past, and the reason is that the thief did not show the slightest intention to challenge his hegemony in maritime commerce.

Although the thieves had a huge iron ship, they were not to be seen sailing to Japan, the Philippines, or Batavia, or even to the coast - they were almost nowhere to go except Canton.

A small clique entrenched on the island that has never moved, like the "mountain owners" everywhere in Fujian, is not the object of his concern.

When he swept away the sea heroes, there was a faint news that some of the former pirate leaders were recruiting troops for the Australians in the broken gang, and I had also heard that some small units had gone to Lingao, but this alone did not mean anything, not to mention that he was trapped by Li Kuiqi's sudden rebellion, and there were only a few hundred people left in the most depressed time, and he had no ability to ask the thieves what they wanted to do.

As a result, when the thieves suddenly showed their fangs, he realized that he had very little information about the Australians, only a few scattered rumors.

Of course, there have been many rumours about thieves, and because they are full of adjectives such as "huge", "incredible", and "too many to count", Zheng Zhilong can only be skeptical of these rumors - indeed, the rumors about Australians are too absurd for his level of knowledge.

To this end, he has sent his own capable agents. Go to the ocean of Guangdong to collect news. And now they are suddenly in Taiwan. Zheng Zhilong was even more worried - the Australian fleet passed through Liu Xiang's territory, and Liu Xiang did not seem to express any objection to this. Guo Huaiyi's letter clearly stated that the Australians' ships and personnel were very energetic and had not weathered the storm or traces of battle, so did the Australians have some kind of tacit understanding or alliance with Liu Xiang? If the two converge, how much strength will it have?

Since Liu Xiang's whole division was transferred from the mouth of the Pearl River to the Shantou area of Chaozhou, he has constantly invaded the Fujian Ocean, challenging his newly established hegemony in the Fujian Ocean - he also received information that Liu Xiang's big ship is already on its way to Japan and Manila, which is where his important source of wealth lies, and no one will be allowed to get involved, not even the Dutch. His determination to monopolize Japanese trade must also be respected.

But Liu Xiang was different from the Dutch, who needed to rely on him for Ming goods, while Liu Xiang didn't, so he moved to Fujian. It was rumored that it would meddle in trade with Japan.

Why did the Australians suddenly come to Taiwan, could it be that they also took a fancy to the fat meat of trade with Japan?

What worries him even more is that Guo Huaiyi clearly proves some rumors that he has scoffed at in the past: although there are no legendary big iron ships in the Australian fleet, there are indeed big ships that emit black smoke and can sail without sails.

As a sea lord who has been crisscrossing the seas for many years, he certainly understands the great threat it contains.

The only thing that reassured him was that the Australians had very few ships. The first ships to arrive at the dog were less than thirty, although they were all large ships. There is no advantage in terms of quantity. If you want to meet in the army, as long as you find the right fighter to launch the main force to close the door and fight the dog. Even with a fireboat, they can be wiped out.

"Dog-beating," he thought, "it's a good name." ”

A slight smile appeared on his face at the thought of this.

At this time, a dark face appeared at the door, and although the person who came was wearing Chinese clothes, his dark skin and curly hair indicated that he was a black man. He reported to his master in Portuguese: Lin Yishao is here.

These blacks don't speak a word of Chinese, all of them are Catholics, and Zheng Zhilong uses them exclusively to take on his own confidential affairs. Lin Yishao was one of his spies, responsible for liaising with the Portuguese and ensuring their collection.

"Pass him in." Zheng Zhilong commanded in Portuguese.

"See your lord!" When someone came in, they bowed according to the rules of officialdom.

Although most of the sea lords are from ordinary people, they have a great admiration for the officialdom, and now Zheng Zhilong is a dignified imperial martial arts hall, and the use of this official style is also grandiose.

"Oh, is it a Shao? You're back! ”

The man slowly stood up. He was in his thirties, with brown eyes and black hair. Lin Yishao is of mixed Chinese and Portuguese descent, can speak fluent Portuguese, and like Zheng Zhilong, is also a Catholic.

Zheng Zhilong sent Lin Yishao to Macao to inquire about the situation in Australia, and he knew from many sources that Australians often operate in Macao and have a base.

Lin Yishao didn't talk nonsense and began to report his experience in Macau.

After Lin Yishao arrived in Macao, he immediately visited the local "guanxi".

As Zheng Zhilong's liaison, Lin Yishao has some connections in the local area. Among them are gray area figures like Huang Shunlong - they are well-informed.

But these relations, now showing a cautious attitude towards the sudden visit of Zheng Zhilong's men, are not so blunt.

"Oh, the people of the Hip are so shili in Macau?" Zheng Zhilong was a little interested.

"The man is now the financier of Macau." Lin Yishao said.

Originally, trade between Macao and the Senate was quite frequent, and a vested interest group had been formed. Since the imperial court banned the Portuguese from trading in Canton last year, the Portuguese have lost their channel to import Chinese goods, and the government in Canton has been deaf and dumb to the trade of Australians. As a result, the Australians who occupied Hong Kong Island became the only import and export channel for the Portuguese in the face of the Ming Dynasty.

Having controlled such a lifeline, the Australians became the masters of the Portuguese. As long as they ordered the Portuguese trade to stop, it would be difficult for the Portuguese to stay in Macau.

"Are the smugglers a decoration?" Zheng Zhilong said with great interest. As long as you have money, you don't have to worry about finding a source of goods. The so-called government ban is often just a dead letter.

"Ever since the Australians arrived on Hong Kong Island, the Pearl River Estuary has become their world. Their ships were constantly patrolling, and none of them escaped their eyes. The smugglers either surrendered to the Australians and obeyed their orders, or they fed the fish in the Pearl River. ”

Lin Yishao continued, and he went to find Li Siya.

"Is that her?" Zheng Zhilong said thoughtfully. Li Siya once served him and provided a lot of information.

"Yes, she has a lot of information, and she's willing to provide it. It's just ......" Lin Yishao wanted to speak and stopped.

"It's a lot of money."

"Yes, she took out a pamphlet, and asked for five hundred taels of silver." Lin Yishao said, "She showed me a small part, which is very interesting. So I was brave enough to buy it. As he spoke, he took out a thin booklet from his bosom.

Zheng Zhilong didn't care. He is a businessman, and successful businessmen know when to spend money in addition to profits

The booklet was copied by hand, and it was written by Li Siya in a strange, but not lacking in delicate font - Zheng Zhilong knew that it was a quill pen, and the handwriting was different from that of a brush.

At a cursory glance, the content of the interview is very comprehensive, much more detailed than the various rumors he has heard in the past. Five hundred taels of silver is really worth the money.

Not in a hurry, he asked, "Are the Australians strong?" ”

"Yes, it's powerful." Lin Yishao replied without hesitation, "The Australian warships often operate in the Pearl River estuary. There were a few ships that were smoky, very fast, and none of them could go as fast as they did, and they didn't hang their sails at all when they were the fastest......"

Although this is not news, from the mouth of his most trusted spy, the pressure is completely different.

Then Lin Yishao talked about the Lichun - this ship appeared at the mouth of the Pearl River, which seemed to be too special. It's hard not to get the attention of people nearby. The Portuguese sent people to Hong Kong Island to spy on them. The news is clearly striking.

The most terrifying thing was the cannon on the surface of the ship, it is said that a shell hit more than ten miles, and after landing, there was a violent explosion. Someone saw the Lichun shooting at the floating target of a dilapidated fishing boat on the surface of the sea, and the ship was blown to pieces with a single shot, and not even a wooden wrench could be found.

For people like Lin Yishao, firearms and big ships are not things that particularly frighten him, Zheng Zhilong himself has large ships and heavy artillery that are not inferior to the sea powers at that time, but the rumors of the Lichun make him feel that the situation is very serious. To this end, he deliberately took a small boat to Kowloon to spy on the training of the Australian fleet. It was confirmed that the rumors were true.

"Although the Australians do not have many numbers and warships, they are all elite and have strong combat power."

"Hmm. It looks like we're in for a formidable opponent. ”

"What, sir?"

"Australians have arrived in Taiwan." Zheng Zhilong said, "It's just beating dogs." ”

"Dog beating? That's on the Dutch side. ”

"Yes, I think they deliberately chose to beat the dogs - with the Dutch, not with me. Over there, it's still our territory. "The Dutch made a covenant with them. ”

"I have checked it and found that there is such a thing. It's not a covenant, it's just a trade agreement. Lin Yishao said, "The Dutch allowed them to open commercial halls in the city, and the Dutch also opened commercial halls in Hong Kong and Lingao. It is said that there is also a merchant house in the south of Hainan Island. ”

"The Australians are very with the Dutch." Mr. Zheng said he had a strong aversion to the Dutch. Although the Dutch were his business partners, he was well aware of the incorruptibility and greed of the Dutch, and knew that only force was the way to speak to them.

"It's better to say that the Dutch are currying favor with the Australians. I have heard that the Dutch now have a lot of Ming goods from the Australians. ”

"That's why the Dutch don't have the same attitude towards us as they used to be. With a new love. Zheng Zhilong said jokingly. To be continued......