While Chongzhen was busy communicating with the officials of the court and the central government in an effort to rectify the clan atmosphere and implement the rationing system, a storm was also brewing in Macao in the south.

After Isabella, who was the queen of Portugal and the concubine of the Ming Emperor, arrived in Macao, she originally thought that she could successfully complete the chapter and obtain the oath of allegiance from all the Portuguese living in Macao.

However, before the gates of Macau, the Bishop of Macau, Antonio, and the members of the Macau Council, who had come to greet her, told her with a sad face that the head of the Macau army, Ding Bao, who had been appointed by the Governor of Goa, refused to allow her to enter Macau as the Queen of Portugal, and declared that he would never meet with her unless she renounced her status as the illegal Queen of Portugal.

Moreover, he threatened the members of the council and the citizens of Macau that if they dared to receive Isabella with the ceremony of welcoming the Queen of Portugal, he would report the whole matter to the Governor of Goa and the Governor of the Philippines and arrest those subjects who were loyal to Isabella.

Because Guo Ding Bao occupies the most important fort on the hill of Macao, his own official residence is in the fort, and there are 200 European soldiers under his command, controlling 40 guns in two forts, which is the most powerful force in Macau. Therefore, Antonio and the members of the council are also at a loss to threaten him.

Antonio also gave Isabella a brief introduction to the fortress towering over the top of Persimmon Mountain in the distance. The fort covers an area of about 10,000 square meters, with an irregular quadrilateral, with a side length of about 100 meters, and the four corners of the wall protrude into a fortress, and the construction of the entire fort took up to 10 years, and was officially completed in 1626.

The four corners of the fort protrude into a fortress, and there is a three-story tower in the middle. The northeast, southwest and southeast walls are built on a 37-metre-wide granite foundation made of rammed earth.

The outer wall of the fort is about 9 meters high and narrows up to 27 meters wide. The parapet wall is about 2 meters high, in the shape of a pheasant, and 28 cannons are erected on all sides. The north-west wall facing them is mainly made of granite masonry, and the parapet is low and has no cannon muzzles, which is also a gesture to indicate that Macao still belongs to China.

This fort is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and controls the commanding heights of the whole of Macao, and the interior covers a vast area, and there are four rows of houses inside, which serve as the residence of the head of the soldiers and officers and soldiers. The fort was also equipped with a pool and a munitions depot, which was sufficient to cope with the siege for more than half a year. Because the geographical location of the fortress was too superior, when Gao Qiqian came to manage the forts and fortresses in Macao with Chongzhen's order, Guo Ding Bao was forced to give up half of the control power of the other forts and fortresses, but the only place that refused the entry of the Ming army was inside the fortress.

Gao Qiqian once had a very unpleasant quarrel with Guo Ding Bao, and even considered using the absolute traffic of Macau to force Guo Ding Bao to submit, but under the mediation of the Macau Council, Gao Qiqian finally forgave Guo Ding Bao's action of occupying the Fort.

However, the Macau Council and Gao Qiqian did not expect that today's Guoding Bao would poke such a big basket for them, which made them a little regretful. Especially Gao Qiqian, after hearing that Guo Ding Bao had closed the fort, he broke out in a cold sweat, for fear that this stupid foreigner would recklessly shoot in the direction they were standing.

As a eunuch in the palace, he really couldn't imagine that if the emperor knew... Even if those civil officials knew that a group of foreigners openly shot at the emperor's concubines in front of him, and made a move to despise the prestige of the Ming Emperor, as the eunuch who managed Macau, his head was estimated to be unable to be saved.

Gao Qiqian soon joined Antonio and the members of the council, and together with them he advised Isabella, who wanted to continue to enter Macau under the Portuguese royal coat of arms and flags.

The embarrassed appearance of the Chinese eunuch in front of Isabella made many members of the council realize that in fact, they were not without support in China, and with the help of this young girl in front of them, they could completely talk to His Majesty the Emperor of China, which might save them a lot of unnecessary trouble in China.

After the persuasion of Bishop Antonio, Gao Qiqian, and members of the Macau Council, Isabella finally gave up the idea of breaking into Macau. Although she reluctantly agreed to return to Guangzhou first, let Antonio and the Macau Council negotiate with Guo Dingbao. But as she boarded the carriage, she swore angrily in front of them: "Fifteen days from now, I will come here again, and I swear by the honor of the Portuguese royal family and my husband, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

If I come here again and there are still Portuguese people here who disobey me and make me Queen of Portugal, then I will declare him a traitor in my capacity as Queen of Portugal and expel him from Macau. From now on, the land under the glory of the Ming Crown and the Portuguese Crown will be a place where he will not be able to set foot..."

After Gao Qiqian left with Isabella's carriage in his arms, the Bishop of Macau, Antonio, and the members of the Macau Council immediately began to persuade Guo Ding Bao. Bishop Antonio and the leaders of the merchants of Macao, such as Agostinius and Petro, constantly threatened and lured them in their talks with the state of Dingbao, but the head of the Macao army appointed by the governor of Goa remained unmoved.

Bishop Antonio finally had to hint to Guo Ding Bao in private, and if his actions really angered Isabella and led the Ming court to officially participate in the matter, then the citizens of Macau would have to abandon them and choose to side with Isabella and the Ming court.

Guo Dingbao, who was already terrified in his heart, had to explain to Bishop Antonio earnestly: "Mr. Bishop, I know that what you say is very reasonable, but I am the head of the army of Macao appointed by the Governor of Goa, and I cannot recognize Madame Isabella's self-proclaimed status as Queen of Portugal without the Governor's order.

If I allow her to enter Macau as Queen of Portugal, I will betray His Holiness the Governor and His Majesty the King. Unlike you, my family still resides in Goa and in the Kingdom itself, and if I had welcomed this lady into Macau with the same courtesy as Her Majesty the Queen, His Majesty the King and the Governor would regard me and my men as traitors, and our family would be implicated.

Therefore, my men and I cannot accept the claim of you and the Council to recognize this lady as the Queen of Portugal. For the sake of our families back home, we are bound to defend the rights of the Governor of Goa and His Majesty the King over Macau by force. What's more, my term of office has expired this year, and when the trade fleet arrived last year, I brought the governor's order that this year's trade fleet would bring a new Macao leader.

You see, in a month or two, I will be able to leave my post and return to Goa, and all the affairs here will be none other than me. Why should I wade into this muddy water with you at such a moment? Also, Mr. Bishop, do you really think that this lady can snatch the crown of Portugal from His Majesty the King?

As soon as His Majesty Philip IV ascended the throne, Spain began to rearm, and the number of troops fighting for him is said to have reached 300,000. China may be a huge country, but they are so far away from Europe, does the Bishop think that the lady can return home with less than 1,000 Portuguese men and defeat His Majesty's army and win the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal?

No, it seems to me that this simply can't be done. The Restoration movement advocated by this lady would only bring a war to the people of the kingdom and allow us to be conquered by the Spaniards once again. ”

Bishop Antonio was silent for a long time before he reluctantly defended himself: "Even if we can't gain the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal from Philip IV, we can't endure it so silently."

The Dutch were not much larger than the Kingdom of Portugal, but they fought decades of war with the Spaniards for freedom and independence, and the Spaniards were not equally unable to bring them to their knees? Now that half of Europe is revolting against the Habsburgs, how do you know that Philip IV will not compromise as long as we raise the banner of restoration?

Even if we could not make the native people of the kingdoms of Europe independent, with the support of the Chinese Emperor, the Portuguese would at least be able to hold the trade routes in Asia and not continue to be squeezed by the Dutch, Spaniards, and British. ”

Guo Ding Bao lowered his head and thought for a while, before he whispered to Bishop Antonio: "But I still don't think about you, there are about 1,000 Portuguese talents in Macau, but how many people really support that lady to become the queen of Portugal and make Macao a base for the restoration movement?"

As far as I know, many Portuguese merchants were betting on both sides, swearing allegiance to the lady and writing letters to the Governor of Goa denouncing her treason. As far as I know, Bogaro III, the owner of the Bogaro Foundry, was one of those who opposed the lady becoming Queen of Portugal. He also often complained to me that the Chinese had not only blocked the channels for selling him pig iron and charcoal, but also required him to declare a contract before selling artillery, and that he could only sell it after being reviewed by Chinese officials, which was a clear violation of his trade rights.

You see, Mr. Bishop, you can't even grasp the hearts of the 1,000 Portuguese, so what are you talking about calling on the Portuguese people to retake their homeland? ”

Bishop Antonio and the members of the Council of Macau finally admitted that the persuasion failed, believing that the Guoding Bao had already made up his mind and did not want to participate in the cause of the restoration of the Kingdom of Portugal, and that some citizens of the island of Macao were also more ambiguous and wanted to seize the fortress by forceful means, which they could not do on their own.

It was learned from Guo Ding Bao that after the head of the Macao army who replaced him was about to arrive in Macao during the trade season this year, in order to avoid long nights, Bishop Antonio and several members of the executive committee of the council decided to unite the Chinese force to seize the fort and control the island of Macao before the arrival of the trade fleet.