While it was one thing for Hurd to set up an inspection team to thoroughly investigate corruption in the police department, the fight against the coolie trade was not delayed. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A large number of police officers and even officials were arrested together, and the number was huge, reaching more than 200 people, and the traffickers who sold coolies were only more than 300 people caught.

But the arrest of traffickers and the arrest of police and official umbrellas is not over.

Because of the exhaustion of evil, there are still a group of criminals who have absconded, and can receive the news early, or who have the ability to escape, all have a way, often the bigger the traffickers, the earlier they escape, and the place where they escaped gave the government a bit of a headache, and they ran to Macau and Hong Kong, two colonies controlled by foreigners.

Zhu Jinglun sent people to communicate with the British and Macao authorities in Hong Kong, but the British government in Hong Kong immediately refused, telling Zhu Jinglun that the Ming government had no jurisdiction over Hong Kong and had no right to demand that Hong Kong arrest the Ming criminals, and they stated that the list of criminals provided by the Ming government were all legal businessmen who invested in Hong Kong.

And these so-called legal businessmen in the mouth of the British, the industry they invested in Hong Kong is called the Pig House, which is specially used to hold the coolies from the trafficking, which is no different from a prison, but the British are unreasonable in law, they think that the coolies who enter the Pig House are all laborers with regular contracts, and they are all legal laborers who voluntarily go abroad, and they have the right to do so in the treaties signed with the Qing court and later with the Ming government on allowing Chinese workers to go abroad.

The British government in Hong Kong did not cooperate, Portugal in this era has been reduced to a protectorate of the British, they have followed the pace of Britain in any way, since the Napoleonic era, Portugal began to accept British protection, Britain and the French at war, they sent troops to fight with the British army, the British landed on the European continent, directly in Portugal, and Portugal got the protection of the British Empire's interests of them, including their colonial security and homeland security around the world, and now the British government in Hong Kong has rejected the request of the Ming DynastyThe Portuguese authorities in Macau immediately had the courage to refuse the request of the Ming government.

"Master Wu, continue to negotiate with the British. As for Portugal, what are they, what capital do they have to reject us? Tell the Macau authorities that within three days, they will either hand over all the traffickers in Macau's pig parlors themselves, or allow the Daming police to go in and arrest people, otherwise they will be responsible for all the consequences. ”

Zhu Jinglun didn't expect to get the British to cooperate in a single negotiation, and as for the Portuguese, it was just a down-and-out empire, and he really didn't look down on it.

But it was too difficult for the British to accept, because since ten years ago, the coolie industry has become the pillar industry of Hong Kong, and later, with Chu King-lun making every effort to build Kowloon Port and compete with Hong Kong, the current economy in Hong Kong is even more depressed, and the British government in Hong Kong cannot give up the coolie industry that brings them rich taxes at this time.

Therefore, Wu Chongyao's negotiations failed again, the British government in Hong Kong refused, and the Portuguese had no reason to agree, in fact, they were not too worried about the threat of the Ming Dynasty, but behind them stood the British, they believed that the British would protect their interests, because there were also a large number of British interests in Macau, and it can even be said that it was the British who gave them the courage to forcibly occupy Macao and expel the Qing Dynasty officials at that time, although now that the sky has changed in Guangdong, a new government has been established, When the Manchus controlled the whole country, they did not dare to confront the British Empire, let alone the Ming Dynasty, a small country that only occupied three provinces.

Therefore, the Portuguese were quite fearless, and it may be that the British authorities in Hong Kong gave them some kind of assurance, perhaps Robinson wanted to see the means adopted by the Ming Dynasty, and used Macao as a test.

Wu Chongyao gave a detailed report on the attitude of the Portuguese, although he said that the Portuguese were very respectful, but the refusal of the ultimatum was a refusal, and he said that if they were responsible, they had to be held responsible.

"Inform the Portuguese that they should withdraw from Macao within 24 hours, and all military and government officials must be evacuated, and our country has never recognized the Portuguese occupation of Macao, nor has the Qing court ever recognized the Portuguese occupation of Macao. Now is a good time to get rid of this unknown guy. ”

The British want to use the Portuguese to test the bottom line of the Ming Dynasty, why don't Zhu Jinglun want to use the Portuguese to warn the British and make an example of the monkeys, although the British are not thin monkeys, but a majestic gorilla, I hope they can understand that in the coolie trade, the Ming will not give in.

Wu Chongyao instinctively was a little afraid, although he was no longer the Wu Chongyao of the past, he knew very well that Portugal was just an insignificant small European country, but the foreigner's arrogant attitude was formed from the beginning of his childhood contact with foreigners, for decades, although they have been bragging in front of foreigners, the purpose is just to make foreigners value them, in fact, it is just a bluff, because their government does not protect them, once there is a conflict with foreigners, the officials are afraid of getting into trouble and discrediting their future. They often punish these merchants, so they have developed a cautious attitude of being able to deceive in front of foreigners, as long as they don't cause trouble, and when he heard Zhu Jinglun say that he was going to send troops to fight Macao, his first reaction was to worry.

But seeing Zhu Jinglun's calm look, this feeling disappeared in an instant, he secretly scolded himself in his heart, telling himself that he was no longer an ordinary businessman who could be bullied, he was now a member of the court, the head of the foreign affairs department under the Ministry of Rites, the court official, and the current court is no longer the one who doesn't like to cause trouble, and the emperor has a good face, once the foreigner complains, he often feels that he has lost his face, and then the emperor cleans up the officials, and the officials clean up the merchant's court, and the current court is the court that dares to take food in the mouths of foreigners. Although Wu Chongyao himself sometimes feels that this is not the dignity of the country, he still feels that it is better.

But Wu Chongyao was still a little uneasy: "If Portugal doesn't let us, will we really send troops?" ”

Zhu Jinglun nodded and said: "You should understand the diplomatic norms very well, since there is an ultimatum, there is naturally no way out, can my country not speak but not count, or can I speak and not count, or you, the head of foreign affairs, can speak and not count?" ”

Wu Chongyao raised his head, that's right, he is now the head of foreign affairs, not only can the country not speak without words, the monarch has no jokes, the emperor can't speak without words, it is he, the court official, and he is a foreign affairs official who represents the country in front of foreigners, he can't talk and doesn't count, he is a decent person now.

But the Portuguese really didn't give him this decent man face for a long time, the diplomatic note he submitted, the Portuguese accepted, he asked the Portuguese to make concessions, the Portuguese did not say, 24 hours later, Wu Chongyao informed the Portuguese that the Ming army was about to enter, and asked them to surrender immediately, otherwise they would be regarded as an invasion of the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

The Portuguese built strong fortifications, combined with the castles and other buildings they had built in Macao for hundreds of years, putting on a posture of stubborn resistance to the end, but when the Ming 5,000-foot artillery drove into Macao and approached their position, they did not fire a single shot until the end, they had the courage to bluff, but they did not have the strength to fight-for-tat, and they actually did not want to fight from the beginning.

This made Wu Chongyao breathe a sigh of relief, he was really worried about fighting, not afraid of the dead, he was afraid that if he couldn't fight for a while, and if it was delayed for a long time, the British would also come to intervene, so the gaffe would be troublesome, knowing that Portugal was a small country, he now also knew very well that Britain was a big country, and it was a superpower.

What he didn't know was that the Portuguese didn't think so, they just relied on the superpower of Britain to think of a tough attitude, hoping that Daming would have scruples, but Daming had no scruples. On the other hand, the governor of Macao, who had already gone to Hong Kong for refuge, did not seek refuge, but asked Robinson for help, and put pressure on Robinson, hoping that Robinson could send troops into Macao as soon as possible to protect them and let them confront the Chinese army alone, and the Governor of Macao was under too much psychological pressure, and if British troops could enter Macao, he expected that the Chinese would definitely weigh it.

But whether he pleaded bitterly or hysterically frightened, Robinson just refused to send troops, believing that that would expand the gaffe, and at the same time constantly used diplomatic rhetoric to assure the Governor of Macao that the British Empire would not sit idly by and watch Portugal's interests suffer, and believed that the Ming government would refrain from doing so.

As a result, now the Ming army did not restrain itself, and really drove into Macao, and the Portuguese army in Macao did not resist at all, and suddenly let the conflict over the coolie trade heat up rapidly, Robinson saw the attitude of the Ming government, he understood that the Ming country did not intend to compromise on this issue, and he could not compromise, in order to attract merchants from all over the world to trade here, Hong Kong has long been positioned as ***, Hong Kong must be maintained through these merchants, It's too hard to get the British government to pay for keeping Hong Kong running.

Once they hand over the Chinese pig leaders who do business in Hong Kong, it will definitely blow the confidence of Chinese businessmen, make them lose confidence in Hong Kong, or allow the Ming government to enter Hong Kong to arrest these people, and it will undermine Hong Kong's legal independence, no matter what the situation, Robinson cannot take risks, Britain is entering the early stage of two-party politics at this time, the two parties are fiercely competitive, each party comes to power has its foreign policy, the Conservative Party has never been keen to invest money in the colonies, and even they would rather not colonize, And don't want a colony that loses money.

Therefore, Robinson could not crack down on the coolie trade, just as the British elite knew that the opium trade was very immoral, but they would still fight a war with China for the benefit of the opium dealers, which was a matter of interest and had nothing to do with morality.

So when the Ming army completely occupied Macao, captured all the Portuguese soldiers, and then began to seize the piglets selling coolies everywhere in Macao, and arrested the piglets stranded in Macao, Robinson submitted a strongly worded note to the Ming government in his capacity as the governor of Hong Kong in the British Empire.

When he received this note, Wu Chongyao was indeed a little nervous, and even a little unassertive, he was a businessman, and they all said that businessmen could commit heinous crimes for the sake of profit, that was the outlaw businessmen of the West, and the Chinese businessmen had always been the most courageous class, and he dared to be arrogant in the face of the Portuguese, but when he heard that the British were angry, he was really a little scared, because he knew very well that it was impossible for the current Ming Dynasty to beat the British.

He felt that he could not call the shots, so he asked Prime Minister Chen Zhiting for instructions and hoped to see Zhu Jinglun.

Zhu Jinglun already knew the situation, the reaction of the Portuguese made him a little unexpected, he still thought about having to fight, he didn't expect that the Portuguese were not the pirate country of the year for a long time, more civilized than pirates, and less planted than pirates, Robinson's reaction was expected by Zhu Jinglun, but he was not afraid, he did not believe that when the British government and the Ming trade volume expanded year after year, it would fight with the Qing Dynasty for opium, and fight with the Ming Dynasty for the sake of the immoral piglet.

And even if there is a real war, Zhu Jinglun is not afraid, at most he will be defeated, and the most defeat will be reparations, at most, he will acquiesce in the legality of the coolie trade for many years to come, and lose a little face, maybe it will stimulate the awakening of the scholar class who are increasingly dissatisfied with Daming and divert their attention.

So Robinson protested because the Ming Dynasty occupied Macau, but Zhu Jinglun instead surrendered his eyes to Hong Kong, Macau and Hong Kong, two strongholds of the piglet trade, and now that the Ming army in Macau has entered, Hong Kong, the last sin city, is left, and I don't know if I can take this opportunity to take back Hong Kong.

Zhu Jinglun felt that he was thinking a little too much, so he casually asked Huang Sangong to go out and tell Wu Chongyao that he didn't need to see him, everything was decided by the prime minister.

The Ming Dynasty implements the prime minister system, and the prime minister is responsible for the country's political affairs, and the prime minister feels that he can't decide, so he will ask Zhu Jinglun, and the general ministers, except for Zhu Jinglun's summons, they can't directly contact Zhu Jinglun past the prime minister, Zhu Jinglun has always respected this rule, and has always respected the prime minister's power, because he knows that the most tragic power struggle in Chinese history is nothing more than the struggle between the imperial power and the prime minister, and he does not intend to fight with Chen Zhiting, who represents the old scholar, so he does not directly interfere with Chen Zhiting's work for the time being.

Wu Chongyao immediately understood his mistake, he almost broke the rules of officialdom, overstepping his authority is a taboo, and it is easy to offend Shangguan, so he first found Long Yuanxi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and then visited Chen Zhiting with Long Yuanxi to report to work.

But in the end, he came to Zhu Jinglun, because Chen Zhiting is also a person who has traveled around the world, and he knows the strength of the British very well, and he feels that the attitude of the British cannot be ignored, how to reply to the protests of the British, if it is not done well, it will cause a big conflict, he does not dare to make his own decisions, and must ask Zhu Jinglun to make a decision.

Seeing Wu Chongyao a few days ago, it was one of his few who did not notify the prime minister and directly summoned the officials of the six ministries, which was done for a purpose, and was to convey a message to Chen Zhiting, that is, the emperor was very dissatisfied with his work, and now that this information has been transmitted, there is no need to continue to personally grasp the specific work, if everything has to be handled by the emperor, then what does the prime minister do? (To be continued.) )