With a clear sky and a cool breeze, the Governor of Macau, Lo Pao, stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the wide river in front of him, with mixed feelings.

The Ming Empire is really a good place, the land is vast, the products are abundant, and the population is large, so far he doesn't know how big the territory of the Ming Empire is, and he doesn't know how much the population of the Ming Empire is, as far as he can see, it is no longer comparable to Portugal or even Spain.

If only he could occupy this place as he did the American colonies, he couldn't help but think of such a greedy idea.

Soon, however, the thought faded away.

Because the river in front of it was densely packed with warships, the Ming Empire didn't know what it was doing, and it had gathered so many warships.

The front section of the river is more than ten miles long, and both sides are about to be filled with warships, one, two ......, ten ......, twenty ......, one hundred ......, two hundred, because the merchant ships are going upstream, he has enough time to calculate the number of Ming warships, but, counting, he is a little hairy in his heart, three hundred, it is not even half!

He was already so shocked that he couldn't do it, so many warships, it was the first time he saw it, perhaps, only the Spanish Armada had such a large scale, but the Spanish Armada had been exhausted in the five expeditions to Britain, could the most powerful navy in the world be the sailors of the Ming Empire?

This idea is a bit ridiculous, I heard that at this time, the Netherlands already has tens of thousands of ocean-going ships of all kinds, and they also have the most advanced super battleships, one battleship has hundreds of guns, of course, he has never seen the Dutch Navy assemble so many warships.

The Ming Empire and the Netherlands, it is difficult to say who is stronger at this time, but these are of little significance to him, because Portugal can't beat the Netherlands or the Ming Empire at all, and this time he came to find the southeast governor of the Ming Empire, just to subdue the soft.

The strength shown by the Ming Empire was enough to make Portugal desperate, and they had to accept the conditions put forward by the southeastern governor of the Ming Empire, but the instructions given to him by the governor of Goa, Conde, were not blindly subdued, according to his meaning, they should fight for it or spend as little money as possible.

He didn't know if he could get a certain reduction, because the Ming Empire, the governor of the southeast, was so powerful that he knew everything.

Tianzi Wharf was already in sight, Luo Bao cleaned up his mood and considered the details of the "negotiation".

At this time, Zhang Bin was looking at the map in the study, he was holding a brush and calculating this on the manuscript paper from time to time, and from time to time looking at the map to think about it for a while, he was thinking about the arrangement of the guards.

The pirates and bandits were all exterminated, and the Guangdong garrison was to be further reorganized, so he decided to leave only 10,000 infantry and sailor officers and soldiers, and the rest would be transferred to Nanhaiwei, and the rest would be sent back to the garrisons of the garrisons.

Where are these 10,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Sailor Division stationed for exercises, Longxue Island?

It seems inappropriate, because he has already decided to establish a mutual market near Macao, and for the sake of defense convenience, it is better to station the infantry and the officers and soldiers of the naval division there, otherwise as soon as the Dutch come, the mutual market of Macao will be destroyed.

Just as he was looking for a suitable place to be stationed on the map, Zhao Ru, who was on duty outside, suddenly said loudly: "My lord, the Governor of Macao asks to see you." ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, his eyes lit up, here, this guy should have come to soften.

He immediately said aloud, "Let him in." ”

Soon, Luo Bao walked in with an interpreter, and he gave a grand chest salute like last time, and then said politely: "Your Excellency the Governor, we meet again, and it is a pleasure to meet you." ”

This is the way of greeting from the European continent, Zhang Bin didn't know, he just nodded slowly, and then asked: "How is it, what did your Goa governor say?" ”

Luo Bao said respectfully: "Your Excellency Governor Conde, the rent and taxes are too high. ”

Zhang Bin immediately said unhappily: "What is too high, we rent it to our own merchants at this price, and the tax is the same, you are still too high, it is good for me to confiscate double for you." ”

Luo Bao stubbornly said: "After all, the place we rent is relatively large, and we have purchased more things, Your Excellency the Governor, can you give us a little reduction." ”

Zhang Bin said angrily: "The more things you purchase, the more you earn, do you still think you make too much?" As for the place, the official has already said that you can rent less, and the official did not force you to rent, so you can also choose not to rent, so that you don't have to spend a tael of silver. ”

When Luo Bao heard this, he just wanted to roll his eyes, His Excellency the Governor is really tough, he won't give an inch, what should he do?

He thought for a while, pretended to have a pitiful expression, and pleaded: "Your Excellency the Governor, we have come thousands of miles to Daming, it is really not easy to make some money, you can do it, reduce it a little." ”

Zhang Bin didn't eat this set, pretending to be pitiful and wanted to lose tens of thousands of taels or even hundreds of thousands of taels, how could there be such a cheap thing, he said with a straight face: "These are not the point, this official just wants to know, do you Goa Governor agree to pay rent and taxes?" ”

Luo Bao hurriedly explained: "Your Excellency Governor Conde, we can agree in principle to pay rent and taxes, but I hope that your country can give you appropriate relief. ”

Zhang Bin said solemnly: "Agree is agree, what is agreed in principle, this official is very responsible to tell you, it is impossible to reduce or exempt, our merchants in Daming are all charged like this, how can we give you a reduction or exemption." This officer asks again, do you agree or disagree?"

This tone is not negotiable, Luo Bao can only say helplessly: "This, okay, we agree to pay rent and taxes." ”

Zhang Bin nodded, and said lightly: "It's about the same, we are just about to build a mutual market, we need funds, you go back and prepare for this year's rent, and the official will send someone to get it in a few days." ”

Luo Bao nodded helplessly and said, "Okay, I'll go back and prepare." ”

Zhang Bin was about to wave his hand to let him step back, when he suddenly thought of another question, and he immediately reminded: "By the way, you can't garrison troops in Macao, and the garrison will be dispatched by us." ”

When Luo Bao heard this, he was dumbfounded and said, "Ah, how can we guarantee our safety?" ”

Zhang Bin rolled his eyes and said, "What's the use of being safe or unsafe, just your hundreds?" ”

More than 100 people have destroyed an indigenous country, okay, Luo Bao said aggrievedly: "You also know that land and sea are not very safe, if we don't have an army, not only may the goods be robbed, but people may have accidents, no army, your Excellency." ”

Zhang Bin said proudly: "I have wiped out the pirates and bandits, and there is no danger on land or sea." ”

Luo Bao stubbornly said: "We have always been stationed by ourselves, and we don't need you to send people." ”

Zhang Bin rolled his eyes and said: "We don't want to rob your things, but to protect you, do you know, we are going to war with the Dutch, can you people withstand the attack of the Dutch, we will help you defend, it would be good not to take your money!" ”

When Luo Bao heard this, his face changed greatly, and he said in a panic: "Ah, Your Excellency the Governor, what do you mean, the Dutch are coming?" ”

Zhang Bin said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of, have they not been here, and they are not beaten by us." ”

Luo Bao swallowed his saliva and nodded in fear: "Okay, I hope Your Excellency the Governor can send more people to protect us, the Dutch will also attack us in order to steal business." ”

Zhang Bin nodded lightly and waved his hand: "Don't worry, with our Daming Sailor here, the Dutch can't beat you." Okay, the official still has something to do, you go back, remember to prepare the rent. ”

When Luo Bao heard this, he hurriedly made a chest salute and obediently retired.

Zhang Bin looked at the map again and fell into deep thought, where are the foot soldiers and sailors stationed?

This map, I can't see the specific terrain clearly, he thought about it, and decided to go to Macao to see first, it just so happens that the Portuguese have also softened, and the mutual market can also start to build, and he can also take a look at the specific city to build.

Early the next morning, Zhang Bin took all his guards and rushed to Macao on more than 30 wheels.

Luo Bao heard that the governor of the southeast of the Ming Empire was coming, and hurriedly ran to the dock to greet him, as soon as Zhang Bin got off the boat, he said embarrassedly: "Your Excellency the governor, I'm sorry, the silver is not ready, can you come back in a few days to collect it?" ”

Zhang Bin rolled his eyes and said angrily: "The official is not here to collect the rent, the official is just coming to take a look." ”

When Luo Bao heard this, he immediately said happily: "Welcome, Your Excellency the Governor, please come with me." ”

Zhang Bin didn't plan to go to him to see it, but everyone invited him warmly, so he had to take a look at it, otherwise it would be a little too unkind.

He nodded, made a tidy up and walked with the Robao to the Portuguese gathering point.

At this time, the Portuguese had built a lot of bungalows on several small islands, and also built low city walls, these things were simply not worth it in Zhang Bin's eyes, he looked around casually and then said goodbye: "This official will go to the north to have a look first, and come back when he has time." ”

Luo Bao naturally had no opinion, and sent him away respectfully.

Zhang Bin walked directly to the north of the Portuguese gathering place, just walked out of a few tens of meters, he found that there were several hills not far from the north of the port, the location of these hills is very good, he simply took out his personal guards to climb one of the hills, and then took out the binoculars to observe the surrounding terrain.

He found that in fact, there are about 100,000 acres of flat land in the north, and there is a relatively high mountain area to the north, which means that this mutual market can be built at most about sixty or seventy square kilometers.

The location of this hill was quite good, as long as a fortress was built on it, not only could it hold the port, but also block the mouth of the river in front of it, and there was a large piece of flat land in the middle of several hills, which could be used to build a barracks, and soon, he sketched a rough outline in his mind.

In fact, not all of this place is used to build a mutual market, he also wants to build a large cannon factory, and even he wants to build a large weaving factory here, invested by Dongshengtang, to study steam looms, and when the time comes, once it is developed, the profit will be great.

The more he thought about it, the more he thought about it, and in the end, he even thought of engaging in real estate, that is, Dongshengtang rented all the here, and then built all the shops and warehouses, and then rented them directly to other merchants, in that case, the rent of 30 taels per mu would not be a problem, and 50,000 mu would be set aside to build a mutual market, and 500,000 taels of land rental money would be removed in a year, and one million taels could be earned!

In fact, this construction does not cost much money at all, the city walls and streets are built by the guards, and the shops can recruit special masons, as for the materials, they can be collected by captive pirates and bandits, and the upper reaches of the Pearl River for timber and stone are directly pulled by boat after the collection is completed, and they go down the river, which is very fast.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible he felt, with his current power, it was too simple to build such a city, all kinds of craftsmen, all kinds of free labor, all kinds of labor could be summoned at the first order, and even, as long as they were fed, they didn't even have to be paid!

Of course, he won't do this, it's a bit wrong to use power for personal gain, and then exploit the labor force of the artisan household, it will be a bit excessive, besides, this salary is nothing to Dongshengtang, as long as the city is built, it won't be used for a year to earn it back.

After making a preliminary plan in his mind, he immediately returned to Guangzhou City, spent a day, drew a simple plan, and then began to order.

He ordered Qi Yuanfu to take 5,000 Qi family troops and more than 20,000 pirate captives to the upper reaches of the Pearl River to find suitable woods and cut timber.

He also ordered Qi Yuanbi to take 5,000 Qi family troops and 20,000 bandits to the upstream to find suitable mountain land to mine stones.

and then ordered Yu Chenglong to lead all kinds of ships to be responsible for transshipment, and the material problem was almost solved.

Immediately afterwards, he recruited Sun Yuanhua and Song Yingxing, handed over 10,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Guangdong Metropolitan Division to them, and asked them to command them to start building city walls, building fortresses, and repairing roads in the north of Macao.

He also recruited Zhang Guowei to let him and Wang Zheng cooperate to recruit all kinds of craftsmen and start to build barracks, factories, shops, warehouses and other buildings, and the construction of the city will be regarded as a complete life.

Luo Bao finally saw the terrifying construction speed of the Ming Empire, and the wood, stone and other materials were like no money, and they were sent back and forth one by one, and I don't know how many ships were sent every day.

Tens of thousands of people started work at the same time, and the city walls, houses, and fortresses were like performing magic, rising slowly, and every day they had to rise a lot.

Look at the Ming army to build the fortress, "wow" a few days, the first floor will be leveled, "wow" is a few days, the first layer of the city wall will be repaired, "wow" is a few days, the second layer will be piled up, "wow" is a few days, the second layer of the city wall will be repaired, "wow" is a few days, the third layer will be piled up, "wow" is a few days, the third layer of the city wall will be repaired.

In less than a month, a huge three-story bastion was repaired!

You know, such a large fortress will take at least a few years to repair in continental Europe.

And that city, he couldn't believe his eyes, there was no such huge city in Europe at all, the Ming Empire, it was repaired in more than a month!