When Tian Ergeng, Sun Yuanhua, Hou Guoxing, and others arrived at Guangzhou Mansion, 7,835 miles away from Beijing, it was already the end of November.

The north of Guangzhou city is surrounded by mountains and mountains, surrounded by Hao on three sides, and was built from the corner of the Yue people's public teacher. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, after three years of Hongwu, two years of Chenghua, sixteen years of Hongzhi, thirteen years of Jiajing and four years of Wanli, the circumference of the city wall is now 2796 zhang (150192 steps, 21 miles), two zhang eight feet high, two zhang five feet wide at the top, and three zhang five feet wide at the bottom. There are seven city gates, except for the southeast name Dinghai, the southwest name is De, the rest are named after the direction.

The name of the street connecting the east gate and the west gate is Huiai, and the government secretary, the Guangzhou government office, the governor's department, the Huangcheng Temple, and the attached Guo Panyu County government are all located in the north of the street.

After Tian Ergeng and others arrived in Guangzhou, they had no time to admire the peach and plum blossoms on the street and the partridges shuttling through Ye Xiao, so they rushed to the governor's yamen in Xicheng that day, but they didn't want to be told that Xu Honggang had gone to Zhenhai Tower in the north of the city, and a group of more than 30 people did not dare to stop, so they came on horseback.

Zhenhai Building (the meaning of Xiongzhen Haijiang) is on the north city wall, by the wooden shell gang (Yuexiu Mountain), the building is five floors, eight zhang high, built by the ancestor of Zhu Liang, the Marquis of Yongjia in the thirteenth year of Hongwu, and is the first tallest building in Guangzhou.

Tian Ergeng has the highest rank and the oldest, and he is used to giving orders, Sun Yuanhua also obeys his command all the way, not to mention the little fat man Hou Guoxing, who has no opinions, all the way to Tian Ergeng and the horse, and after some communication to Zhenhai Tower, he was invited to the top floor.

The top floor has a wide opening, south-facing doors and windows, and a table and chairs in the room, which is very elegantly furnished.

Xu Honggang, who is 66 years old, is sitting on the chair of the Taishi facing the south, because Guangmiao has previously promoted him to be the assistant director of the military department of Jingrong government affairs, according to the routine of the letter to resign, and now he is waiting for the edict to stay, and when he heard the report of his subordinates, he did not let himself go to receive the order, thinking that something had changed, so he did not go out to greet him.

After some introductions and salutes, Xu Honggang looked at the few people who were fluttering in the wind, thinking of the death of the two emperors in succession, and had a bad premonition in his heart, "Commander Tian, I don't know if the saint is okay?" ”

Tian Ergeng arched to the north, looked at the more than ten entourages beside him, and looked serious, "The holy bow is unharmed, we are waiting for the emperor's order, and there are many people here, and I also ask the governor to retreat." ”

"Since the old minister and the governor of Liangguang, there is no mistake in asking himself, I wonder if Commander Tian can say it clearly?"

Tian Ergeng smiled, knowing that Xu Honggang thought that he and the others were here to arrest him, so he waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency the Governor is too worried, we are not here to get people, but the emperor explained that this matter is related to the war in Liaodong, and it should not be publicized...... What's more, if you take people, how can there be only three of us? ”

Xu Honggang saw that he was reasonable, knowing that he was suspicious, his face was extremely unnatural, and he pointed to the corridor outside the door, "Then go outside, just to see the beautiful scenery of the southern country." ”

"Well, the Governor, please."

Standing in the corridor on the fifth floor of Zhenhai Tower, overlooking the entire city of Guangzhou, the exhausted Tian Ergeng was refreshed, and after taking a deep breath, he presented Zhu Youxiao's secret decree, and after he finished reading it, he arched his hand and asked, "I don't know if the governor has ordered Hongyi to go north?" ”

After reading the secret decree, Xu Honggang knew that he still had to stay in Guangzhou, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad, so he said truthfully, "I knew earlier that I would be the acting bishop of Haojing, Frey? Rosario, they sent a batch of lists, including John Tong, Yang Mano and others, but asked to preach north along the way, and they would not leave until after Christmas, and it was estimated that it would be a year before they arrived in Beijing. ”

Haojing is in the south of Xiangshan County, Guangdong, outside the Tiger Leaping Gate, a corner of the sea (2.78 square kilometers, later the Macao Peninsula reclamation land was 3.779), that is, Macao, at the same time, there are Xiangshan Macao, Majiao, Jing Lake, lotus stem and other names.

Macao is under the jurisdiction of Xiangshan County, and Portugal is administered by the Portuguese and Indian Governors, and there are bishops, Chinese bishops (responsible for missionaries in Japan), royal justices, military chiefs, treasurers and other positions, as well as councils, St. Paul's College and other institutions.

In fact, the list obtained by Xu Honggang includes the Portuguese Francisco Furtado, the Bohemian Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer, the Belgian Nicolas Trigault, the Portuguese Jean Rodtrgues, the German Schallvon Bell (JeanAdam), and the Portuguese Yang Mano ( Manuel Dias Jr.), Italian P.Francesco Sambiasi, Niccolo Longobardi and other more than 20 people, all of them have their strengths, or astronomy, or geography, or cannon building......

Tian Ergeng shook his head, "Hongyi wants to get beauty, I have Taoism and Buddhism, if I let it bewitch the people, it is no different from the White Lotus, so this matter must not be." ”

Xu Honggang listened to him and complained, and the same values brought the relationship between the two closer a lot, "The old man once served as a minister in the same hall as Tian Shangshu, and I don't want the descendants of Lao Shangshu to say it, and the future is terrifying." Yes, the Portuguese are asking for a sky-high price, and the old man has refused, and he is in a stalemate, and he has to bear the emperor's order. ”

"I'm not satisfied, my lordship, I waited for the thirty-six Hongyi cannons that I salvaged before."

"Ahh Xu Honggang was shocked when he heard this, and he held on to the vermilion lacquer railing to stabilize his figure, "Does the emperor know about the iron gun?" ”

Tian Ergeng nodded, took a step forward, and whispered the purpose of Yuan Yu and himself and the others, and finally said, "The emperor heard that the power of the Yi cannons is amazing, and he wants your lord to exchange at least fifty cannons from Macao next year's tax. ”

Xu Honggang knew the difficulties, and bought more than 50 doors at 500 taels each, and he had to start shipping before the fifteenth of next month. Now, he also knew that it was Zhang Tao and Sun Xueshi, who had come to buy artillery before, who had sent the news back to Beijing, and felt a little relieved, "Who of those two is Sun Yuanhua, the secretary of the Ministry of War?" ”

Sun Yuanhua was summoned to the corridor, and after saluting again, "The subordinate has just arrived in Guangzhou, I wonder if the four artillery pieces purchased before were transported north?" ”

"Are you a student of Xu Guangqi? Also enrolled? Xu Honggang did not answer the rhetorical question.

"His subordinates have been learning artillery from their mentor for several years, and they have not yet become a Christian, but our Lord Jesus ......"

Xu Honggang was a handful of years old, and he had long been immune to these nihilistic beliefs, and seeing that Sun Yuanhua had the intention of justifying, he interrupted, "The four iron guns have been transported north at the beginning of the month, and they are by land, so they should go to Shaozhou Mansion now." ”

"The emperor's will is that the cannons must be transported to Liaodong by February next year, and if you take the land route, I don't know how ......long it will be delayed," Tian Ergeng muttered a few words, and then instructed Sun Yuanhua, "You go and write a letter to Zhang Tao now, ask him to transport the artillery back to Guangzhou, and then go north by sea ship." ”

Xu Honggang has been in Guangzhou for more than two years, and he very much agrees with Tian Ergeng's use of sea ships to transport those behemoths of more than 3,000 catties, "The sampan is indeed faster than the carriage and horse, and it takes three days to go to Haojing by land, and one day by sea. ”

"The subordinate has an immature idea, please refer to the two adults for details."

Tian Ergeng had already had enough of Sun Yuanhua's habit of dropping his bookbag along the way, "What else are you rubbing?" There is less than three months, and if the artillery cannot be delivered on time, how many heads do you and I have? ”

Sun Yuanhua was still not in a hurry, "The subordinates pondered all the way, and when we arrived in Guangzhou, the four artillery pieces must have been shipped, and now it is true." If you order someone to recover it now, won't you have to wait for a month, we can wait, there will be a battle in Liaodong next spring, we can't wait. ”

Tian Ergeng didn't know much about the battle situation in Liaodong, and seeing his words, he lowered his voice and asked, "Then what do you say?" ”

"According to the agreement, the four cannons will be sent to Yingtianfu and then go north to the canal, and the subordinates think that they should be sent to Kaifeng and handed over to the teacher."

"Why does Xu Guangqi want so many artillery?" Tian Ergeng didn't know what Xu Guangqi was doing in Henan, and was furious when he heard this, "Without the emperor's will, I see who dares to hide it privately." ”

"Lord Tian, the request is inevitable, and this cannon is not a private possession, but has other uses, and I will explain it to my lord later." Sun Yuanhua was not annoyed, and continued to explain, "The subordinate knows a little about Western firearms, so he dared to assert that even if the purchase of guns on this trip is not smooth, the more than 30 guns salvaged before can still hold Liaodong." ”

Tian Er trembled angrily, "The soldiers and civilians in Liaodong who die under the guns of Jiannu every year don't know how much, you... You... It is really unashamed and arrogant to be so underestimated by the enemy. ”

Xu Honggang saw that the two of them had their own opinions, and they were nervous, busy and muddy, "The old man thinks that what the two of them say is reasonable." Why don't you go back to the government with me first, and then discuss it after negotiating with the Portuguese, how about it? ”

Although Tian Ergeng and Sun Yuanhua were angry, they were not stupid, and immediately understood that this was on the premise of 20,000 taels of silver per year, and extorted a few more artillery pieces from the Portuguese. Knowing that now is not the time for infighting, with the same thoughts as Xu Honggang, they all nodded and acquiesced.

Their differences are not serious, they both have the idea of overfulfilling the emperor's mandate, the key to the conflict is that both of them look down on each other's backgrounds in their hearts, one is in the shadow of their father, and the other is recommended, neither of them is from the right path of the imperial examination, and some of them are fifty steps and a hundred steps of laughter.