On February 7, 1642, the sky was still overcast and rainy. On the empty pier of Fort Xinhua, a Portuguese ship from the island of Mozambique slowly stopped at the pier. Luigi. Balaldi dusted off his white hunting suit, then stepped onto the rope ladder on the deck, and expertly descended it to the dock.

Next to his ship was a Dutch-style three-masted galleon, which looked like it had a tonnage of four or five hundred tons. There were obvious signs of repair on the ship's board, maybe this was the Dutch ship captured by the people on the east coast, right? God forbid, this poor bastard got headlong into the crossfire of the heavily fortified coastal batteries, and perhaps the only reason the East Coasters did not sink him on the spot was that they were afraid that the wreck would block the channel.

"Luigi. Mr. Balaldi? Rodrigo, Shi Qinjie's secretary, walked up to Balaldi with an oilcloth umbrella and asked in a questioning tone.

"Yes, I'm Balaldi from Siena." "I have been ordered by General Fernando to consult with you on the matters you raised some time ago," said Balaldi, speaking in Portuguese with a strong accent. ”

"Come with me, then." Rodrigo, who was born in Lisbon, nodded, then politely handed Balardi a couple of umbrellas and motioned for him to follow.

Without saying much, Balaldi handed out the umbrellas to a few of his followers, and the group followed Rodrigo along the highway towards the city.

Although there has been no large-scale softening under the heavy rain in the rainy season, some roads still inevitably have some slurry, so that the shoes of people walking are often covered with mud. However, such a road surface is already very good in Balaldi's opinion. You have to know that even big cities like Bordeaux and Florence. Most of the roads in the city are also muddy. When it rains, it's often muddy. Coupled with the sewage spilled and dumped garbage by residents, the road surface gives the impression that sewage is flowing sideways, making it difficult to get off your feet, and pedestrians often cover their noses.

There were many canopies on both sides of the road, and in the sheds sat many expressionless black slaves, occasionally mixed with some Malay slaves. The men had shovels and other tools at their feet, and they looked like they were in a break from work. You still have to work when it rains, and the people of the East Coast are really cruel masters. Hehe.

The road passes through a dense coconut grove and then continues to a large flat square. The square is paved with red bricks and is very flat, and it looks like the people of the East Coast are really ready to do a big job here. The Muscat and Persian merchants had been rumors that the Easterners were going to set up a large trading center here, but now it seems that this is not just a rumor, but that the Easterners are really preparing for it. It is conceivable that once this market is established for the people of the east coast, they should be able to slowly attract the merchant ships of various countries that originally went to Mozambique to trade with them, relying on the large resources of high-quality and cheap goods at their disposal.

In this way, the death sentence of Mozambique as a trading port has been pronounced. This cramped island is both in terms of hardware facilities. In terms of the quantity and variety of goods, it cannot compete with the newly emerging port city on the east side of the strait. Perhaps, the only advantage of Mozambique is that it is right on the shipping route. The port city known as "Fort Xinhua" on the east coast is a little off.

Between the highway and the plaza is a small drainage ditch with a rectangular cement roof with permeable holes. The rainwater in the gutters was flowing in one direction, and in spite of the heavy rainfall, there was very little water on either the road or the square, and most of it flowed down the gutters into a complex network of underground pipes, culminating in a huge channel into the bay – just like the circular concrete pipes that Baraldi had seen on the deck of the ship leading to the sea.

It's a very ingenious project, but it's also a huge project. Varaldi shook his head, General Fernando of San Sebastian Castle would not have been able to come up with so much money and supplies to build such a huge urban sewer facility. And it seems unnecessary, the people on the East Coast are so extravagant that they seem to be building the colonial city almost in the same way that they are building their own capital. Balaldi, who had served as a clerk at Fernando's side for many years, knew very well that the Portuguese, Dutch, and English were running most of the colonies with a predatory mentality, and they were looking for quick money and lacked patience to run the colonies well, and it was difficult to get proper investment unless the colony was important.

The people of the East Coast, on the other hand, built great walls, mighty forts, strong docks, and reclaimed farmland everywhere they went. The investment was enormous, the large strips of stone, bricks, cement and lime alone were an astronomical investment, and unfortunately, the cost of these material colonies was even higher because they were often unproductive and had to travel thousands of miles from mainland Europe. For example, the famous Spanish galleon fleet, which carries a large number of bricks on the ships that depart from Seville every year, is so ridiculous that such expensive bricks may really only be affordable for the colonial aristocracy or the great merchants. They were so jealous of the East Coasters, whose government allowed them to burn bricks locally, and their unknown skills in firing cement, all of which allowed them to build their cities at a relatively low cost.

After passing through a city gate made of thick hardwood, Baraldi and his party finally entered the city, hidden behind the tall city walls. Some of the buildings in the city are made of wood, others of brick, and there are few pedestrians on the streets, and the occasional passing one or two often has some tools in their hands. They don't rest on rainy days, what a group of hard-working guys, Balaldi couldn't help but sigh secretly. Compared with those black people who like to sit under the trees in a daze, these immigrants from the Ming Kingdom are really diligent, maybe I can suggest that the general recruit more Ming immigrants to Mozambique to reclaim the famine?

"Luigi. Mr. Balaldi? Shi Qinjie stood under the eaves of his office and nodded reservedly to the visitor.

"I'm Bharaldi, respected Mr. Shi." Balaldi took off his top hat, bowed slightly, and said.

"You may be seated." Shi Qinjie pointed to the chair in the room, and then said.

Balaldi didn't talk nonsense, and sat directly opposite Shi Qinjie's desk with his entourage.

"So, Luigi, what does General Fernando think of my proposal?" Shi Qinjie asked bluntly. He had made no secret of his worries, although Wang Tiehammer had repeatedly relieved himself that he did not need to worry too much, and that the Dutch only had about twenty ships a year between Europe and the East Indies, and it was generally difficult to threaten the safety of Fort Xinhua. However, considering the weak combat effectiveness of the Second Fleet, once the Dutch closed the port as they did when they besieged the island of Mozambique, the situation of the people on the east coast would be very passive. Not to mention that now that he has just approved the construction of the Tacheng area in the south, there is no such complete defense facilities as Xinhuabao, and it is likely that it will be difficult to resist the invasion of the Dutch. At this time, then, it would be wise to co-opt the Portuguese, who were also suffering from the Dutch, and strive for a common defense system – or a quasi-alliance – against the Dutch.

General Fernando agreed. Balaldi didn't go around in circles either, and said directly to Schchinje: "Damn Dutch pirates, they are peering at the rich island of Mozambique almost every moment. They have also launched unprovoked attacks on us in the eastern island of Ceylon, and last year they even colluded with the Bumiera of Johor and other places to invade the city of Malacca, which we have ruled for more than 100 years. They forbade the kingdom's ships to dock in Malacca, imposed heavy taxes on all foreign merchant ships that came to trade there, and wantonly undermined the long-established rules of trade. It doesn't get any worse than that, and General Fernando also thinks it's time for both of us to unite against the threat of the Shameless Dutch. ”

"And what about forming a fleet of regular patrols?" Shi Qinjie began to ask the core question. The formation of a joint fleet between China and Portugal to regularly patrol the major ports of both sides is the proper meaning of this joint between the two sides.

"As you have previously proposed." "Each side will send three ships to form a joint fleet. As for the command of the fleet, it is up to each side to appoint an experienced captain to negotiate the command. The combined fleet's cruising route is Mombasa - Zanzibar - Mozambique Island - Sofala - Marquis de Lorenço - Tower City - Xinhua Fort, how about it? Do you have any disagreement with this route map, which combines your comments and takes into account our major ports in the region? ”

"It's a good route map, and I have no opinion." Shi Qinjie thought for a moment and said, "But I have one thing to figure out, are there any professional warships in the three ships you are going to send?" ”

"No, it's all armed merchant ships." "But our sailors are the best, they are very experienced and brave," Baraldi replied honestly. ”

"In that case, I think we only need to send two ships, because our ships are all professional warships, and one of them is a powerful warship with 66 guns. The firepower of our two warships has far exceeded that of your three armed merchant ships, so I think we only need to send two ships. Shi Qinjie said.

"I'll have to ask General Fernando about this. But I don't think it's a big problem, as you said, your ships are too much more than in terms of performance. Balaldi shrugged his shoulders and said. (To be continued......)