[252] The Ming and Portuguese alliances

At this time, Song Youliang, accompanied by his old friend Donat, went to Macao to conduct diplomatic negotiations with Du Chen, the eighth governor of Portugal in Macao

Thanks to the support of Song Youliang, Donat has gone from a dilapidated aristocrat with only one boat to a wealthy merchant with ten galleons specializing in spices, silk, and porcelain from the Far East, and is very famous in Portugal, Goa, and Macau

On May 3, the third year of Daming Hongde, it was a sunny day, and the Portuguese Governor in Macau, Du Chen, woke up in the arms of a Chinese woman. Because there were very few Portuguese women who came to China with ships, and Portuguese men thought that the South Seas Malacca and Indian women were too dark-skinned, they were more willing to marry Chinese women, and they bred a group of compradors who were proficient in Chinese and Portuguese languages, clerical work, and officialdom culture, and almost monopolized this industry for 3 0 0 years.

Du Chen didn't get up immediately, but just pillowed his head on his arm, looking at the ceiling as if he was looking at the ceiling, recently affected by the Japanese expulsion of the Portuguese, the income has declined, and he has to find a way to make up for the loss.

"Damn Dutch ~ lowlanders!" Du Chen scolded that the Japanese expelled the Portuguese merchants and accepted only the Dutch merchants, which was a good thing done by these hateful Dutch people. Du Chen was thinking about his thoughts, and suddenly there was an alarm bell outside, which startled Du Chen, who was immersed in the dream of making a fortune, jumped out of bed with his bare buttocks, and ran to the window to watch. The woman who slept with Du Chen was also awakened by the sound of cannons, hugging the quilt and trembling in the corner of the bed.

"What's going on?" Du Chen shouted

At this time, a sentry hurriedly ran to the door: "Your Excellency, it's the Orientals, they have surrounded us!" ”

"What?" Du Chen was taken aback: the Portuguese spent a lot of effort to occupy this small piece of territory, and took out a lot of silver to feed the corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, and the relationship with them has always been good. I heard that there has been a regime change in this ancient country recently, and now that the old emperor has been overthrown, and the new emperor has not come to ask about them, could it be that the new emperor's people have come?

Du Chen said to the Chinese woman while dressing: "Dear, don't worry, it's no big deal!" After getting dressed, he hurried to the bottom of the fort, and when he saw the panicked looks of his soldiers, he couldn't help but be angry: "What are you panicking about?" A volley of guns can't beat back the primitives? ”

Portuguese Captain Sánchez said angrily: "Your Excellency, you'd better see for yourself!" ”

Du Chen, who was standing on the fort, looked around and was immediately startled, there were countless warships on the sea, and the flags of the sailing ships covered the blue sea; On land, on the north side of the fort, hundreds of cannons were placed, and countless troops stood under the banner of the word "Ming".

"Don't be afraid~ I'm Baron Donat Fernández, begging to see your governor!" Donat Fernández, dressed in beautiful clothes, came under the battery and shouted loudly in Portuguese

"Is Donat Fernandez? The newly-minted broken baron? Captain Sanchez said dismissively

"Baron Fernandez, what are you doing with so many natives?" Du Chen shouted

"Roar~~"

The Ming army suddenly made a loud drum noise, which was so loud that Du Chen's ears on the fort buzzed

"Lord Governor, please be cautious in what you say. The Archon of the Great Ming Kingdom is very dissatisfied with you calling him an indigenous! Donat, because of his extensive contact with the Chinese, has long abandoned the prejudice of Westerners against the Chinese, "Duke Alexei of the Ming Kingdom invites you to come outside the city and negotiate peace!" ”

"Duke Alexei?" Du Chen was surprised

"That's right, Duke Alexei # Song is also a devout Catholic!" "If the peace talks are successful, many people will be spared injuries and deaths," Donat said. ”

Du Chen thought for a moment, straightened his military uniform and hat, and then, with his chest straight, accompanied by Captain Sanchez and ten soldiers, walked out of the fortress with his chest puffed up. Arriving at the Ming army, Captain Sanchez observed the army with the sensitivity of a professional soldier, and to his surprise, this army was not like the Ming soldiers he had seen before with broadswords and spears, they were all armed with muskets. He couldn't help but secretly rejoice in the governor's judgment of the situation, fortunately he didn't want to resist with his musket, and saw that the posture of others was no worse than his own people's weapons.

Song Youliang was wearing armor at the moment, pressing the Yanling knife in his hand, and appeared in front of Du Chen. Donat introduced: "This is the first consul of the Ming Kingdom, Alexei # Duke of Song! ”

Du Chen looked at the young Song Youliang and said with a smile: "Your Excellency the Honorable Duke, we have always gotten along well with your country, and there has been no war, why do we suddenly want to negotiate peace?" ”

Song Youliang smiled and replied in fluent Portuguese: "Your Excellency the Governor, you and your army have carried weapons on our soil without permission, and you have built forts and fortresses without all permission, if this kind of thing is placed in Europe, is it not an act of war?" ”

Du Chen replied with a smile: "Oh, Your Excellency Duke, I think you have misunderstood!" We just want to borrow a piece of space from your country to dry our goods, we built a fort only to prevent pirates, we have done so with the permission of your local government, we have no intention of invading your country. Moreover, we have been paying taxes according to the rules! ”

Du Chen's statement is true, the sovereignty exercised by the Ming Dynasty government in Macao at least includes the acceptance of Macao

The annual land rent paid by the Portuguese is set up to collect foreign taxes, and the administrative power is implemented by the Xiangshan County Order (Zhixian), and the final judicial disposition is enforced. As far as the collection of shipping taxes is concerned, the Ming Dynasty already had a river station near the A-Ma Temple in Macau. When the number of Portuguese in Macao increased, the Chinese government set up a customs office in Macao (near present-day Guan Street) to be responsible for the collection of taxes on Yiship. In the early days of the establishment of customs, the tax collection was still in accordance with the rules established in the 12th year of Wuzong Zhengde (1 5 2 1 years), the goods on ships were taxed.20 and stored in the treasury, and 80 of the goods were left to foreign merchants and Chinese merchants to trade on their own. In the fifth year of Muzong Longqing [1 5 7 l years], the Ming Dynasty "reported the goods to the Yi people, and it was difficult to check, so it changed the rules of the Zhang, and the tax was determined according to the size of the ship, and the Western ship was set as the ninth class; Later, due to repeated invitations from Yi people, the amount was reduced by three points... In the past, there were many curiosities, now it is a general cargo, the past and the present are different, ten ships are less than one ship, please subtract two points in addition to the original reduction; Oriental ships (according to the Portuguese ships of Macao, which are defined as Oriental ships) are carried out as usual. "The payment of taxes is a major event for the Portuguese in Macau to turn their selfish traders into profiteering merchants and to obtain legal trade qualifications. Since then, Portuguese galleons have not had to set sail and flee into the sea as soon as they see Chinese warships off the coast of China, often causing tragedy when the ships are destroyed and no one is killed. Since the Chinese government changed to levy foreign taxes, the Portuguese have been paying taxes according to the rules and regulations for about 3 0 0 years in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The original amount of the commercial tax paid by the Portuguese in Macao was 2 6 0 0 0 taels of silver per year, and in the 30th year of Wanli (1 6 0 2 years) minus 4 0 0 0 taels to become 2 2 0 0 0 taels of silver. However, this is only in terms of normal conditions, and due to some special factors and market factors, there are occasional exceptions to the excess or deficiency of foreign taxes. For example, the eunuch Li Feng, who was specially for the Ming God Sect to collect tariffs, entered Guangdong and increased the tax amount in Guangdong to 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 taels per year, so the Guangdong officials had to pass it on to Hao Jing for an additional 2 0 0 0 0 taels, that is, to increase the tax on the Portuguese by 2 0 0 0 0 0 taels, so that the shipping tax collected by the Guangzhou City Shipping Division was as much as 4 0 0 0 0 0 taels. And in 1 6 1 1 , as there were no ships sailing to Japan that year, the Portuguese in Macao paid only 9 0 0 0 taels.

During this period, a special preferential treatment given to the Portuguese by Ming officials was to allow the Portuguese in Macao to set up their own customs in Macao to collect additional taxes from Portuguese ships in order to maintain the operation of the Portuguese self-governing institutions in Macao.

Song Youliang said with a smile: "Commercial tax is commercial tax, don't the merchants of your country need to pay commercial tax to your king?" Your Excellency yourself said that it is to lease the land of the Ming Dynasty, that is, your country needs to pay rent like our country. ”

Du Chen shook his head and said, "Your Excellency the Duke is not right to say this, since 1535, we have paid a rent of 500 taels of silver to your country every year, and we have never stopped. ”

Song Youliang also shook his head and said, "At this time and that time, at that time, the place rented by your country was only in the South Bend area, but now? There's more than that, right? So it's time for the rent to go up! ”

Isn't Du Chen's psychological secret way just a matter of money? So he said generously: "How much does that increase?" ”

"Not much~" Song Youliang stretched out a finger, "One million taels!" ”

"Oh my God!" Du Chen exclaimed: "This is blackmail! ”

"No, it's fair trade!" Song Youliang said with a smile: "Originally, the land in Nanwan was only worth 500 taels a year, but now because there are merchants and shops, the land has appreciated. At least one million taels a year~"

"Donat~" Du Chen looked at Donat with some indignation, wondering if this dilapidated aristocrat was colluding with the Orientals

"Please call me Baron Fernandez~!" Donat raised his head

"Baron Fernández, is this what your Oriental friend wants me to convey to the King of Portugal?" Du Chen asked in an unkind tone

Donat smiled and said, "Lord Doge, if it weren't for your clever rap, Duke Alexei would have directly told you a more favorable condition for Portugal. ”

"More favorable?" Du Chen hurriedly asked, "What conditions!" ”

"Ally with my Ming Empire!" Song Youliang said

"What about the conditions?" Du Chen asked

Song Youliang smiled and took out a yellow silk and handed it to Du Chen by Donat, Du Chen looked at it and frowned. A series of articles were listed on the yellow silk: first, Macao was the land of the Ming Dynasty, so Portugal had no right to set up a governor here. Therefore, Portugal should remove the governor and set up a consul to be responsible for all diplomatic affairs with the Ming Dynasty; Second, the Portuguese military installations in Macao were unconditionally accepted by the Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese were only allowed to keep an armed force of ten men to protect the security of the consulate. No cannons are allowed or no weapons are allowed to leave the consulate; Third, Macao was administered by officials sent by the Ming Dynasty, and the Portuguese in Macao must unconditionally abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

In exchange, after the alliance, the Ming would unite with the Portuguese against the enemy. Any war against Portugal or the Ming would be considered a war against the Alliance.

Du Chen said angrily: "Isn't that just to remove me?" ”

Donat said: "Your Excellency, it seems to me that you are aware of the acceptance of this treaty. If the Ming regained Macau by force and expelled all the Portuguese, then Portugal's trading stronghold in the East would have been almost lost, would you be able to take this responsibility? ”

Du Chen was silent, indeed, since the Japanese expelled the Portuguese merchants, Portugal's trade situation in the Far East depended almost entirely on China. The treaty now at least preserved the Portuguese trading base in China, and the alliance would have benefited the Portuguese in the Far East.

"I need to report this matter to the king~" Du Chen still wanted to shirk it

"No, I must hear an answer before sunset!" Song Youliang's posture is extremely tough

"Your Excellency, what are you waiting for?" Donat also urged

"Okay!" Du Chen finally accepted the terms proposed by Song Youliang and signed the "Ming-Portuguese Treaty of Macao" at the Governor's Palace of Macao

After Du Chen returned to China, he was thrown into prison for a time, but after Donat's lobbying and later developments, Du Chen was wise to accept the "Ming-Portuguese Macao Treaty" at that time. Du Chen was released and appointed by the king as the first Portuguese consul in the Ming Dynasty, and Donat became the commercial attaché.

After that, more Portuguese merchants came to Macau, bringing a lot of European information to the Ming Dynasty. Song Youliang also took this opportunity to send a large number of outstanding young people of the Ming Dynasty who had received Western-style education from various schools to study in Portugal, mainly to learn naval skills such as navigation. At the same time, with Portugal as a springboard, a large number of European intellectuals were hired to teach in the Ming Dynasty, and three naval universities belonging to the Ming Empire were opened in Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Ningbo.