On the third day of the third month of the first year of Chongzhen, ten Tang-class warships, as well as the Munitis, Princess Alexandra, and ten clippers set off from Jeju Port on Jeju Island and embarked on a journey to the south. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

And as part of the promise, Zhao Lie will accompany Alexandra to Macau, and it is not easy to explain that he has abducted the girl for two years and does not come to apologize in person.

In addition, although there is still more than a year to go before the four-year contract in March, Zhao Lie believes that the opportunity to build a solid alliance has arrived.

Reaching an alliance early will also allow the Portuguese in Macao to see their own strength, which is conducive to the stability of the alliance.

It was spring, and the wind on the sea was uncertain, sometimes blowing a northwesterly wind with a sideways headwind, and sometimes a sideways southerly wind, so that the fleet constantly adjusted the sail line to borrow the wind, and only went southeast at a speed of four to five knots, and the fast clippers lowered their speed to go south with the Galen.

In the past few years, this voyage is the easiest for Zhao Lie, and the expedition to the northern channel of Luzon Island will be led by Li Hu and Muñoz, as the situation spreads, he will not be able to do everything himself, and he is very confident in the power of the Tang-class battleship.

After his trip to Macau, he will return to Jeju and go to Beihua Island, this year is the year of the development of Beihua, everything is complicated and will not be calm, this is the place where he is most worried.

Since it is a peaceful journey, Zhao Lie and Alexandra enjoy a rare holiday at sea, this is the most comfortable day after Zhao Lie's return to Ming, Alexandra is of course also addicted to the happy time with her sweetheart, and this time it is the lover who goes home to discuss marriage, which makes her feel very good.

At this time, the coastal areas of Fujian were surging, and Zheng Zhilong, Li Kuiqi, Liu Xiang and others were Nezha who made trouble in the sea, turning the narrow coastal areas of Fujian upside down, if the coastal maritime merchants and even fishermen did not crack down on these gangs. It's really a piece of sail that can't go to sea.

Most of the Fujian Navy Division was annihilated and captured, Zheng Zhilong and others used Xiamen as a base to harass the coastal areas of Fujian, and Fujian officialdom reached the point of three shocks a day.

Xiong Wencan, the new governor of Fujian, was as big as a fight, and a large number of warships were needed to rebuild the sailors to clear the pirates, and the recruitment of personnel was beyond the reach of Fujian's finances, and the previous governor had already done it by asking the imperial cabinet for help. The Cabinet's reply was that there was no money.

Now Emperor Chongzhen, who has not long ascended the throne, is wantonly collecting the salary and silver in Liaodong, and there is no need to count on the bandits in Fujian in the short term, which is told by his colleagues in the same year in Beijing, so what to do.

If pirates are left alone, pirates attacking and harassing the Quartet are the source of instability in Fujian, and it is simply an unsolvable problem to defeat pirates if they want to govern Fujian.

So the only feasible measure of appeasement was adopted by Xiong Wencan.

Appeasement is a two-sided thing, and the government has the meaning of appeasement. Pirates also have to be cared for, and a slap will not make a sound.

After several contacts, only Zheng Zhilong has the strongest intention of appeasing and being caressed, and has always been in contact and contact with the Fujian Metropolitan Government, while Li Kuiqi, Liu Xiang and others are half-hearted and do not want to be here.

Xiong Wencan noticed the appeasement of Zheng Zhilong, who was the most powerful, and sent more staff to encircle him, and the two parties began to make formal contacts.

It is at this time. At the end of March, Zhao Lie's fleet passed through the waters of Fujian, and Zhao Lie noticed that he had not seen the sentinel ships of the Daming Navy Division since the waters south of Zhejiang. The pirate sentinel ships that appeared were flying various flags and dressed in mixed clothes, indicating that the sailors of the Ming Dynasty were unable to enter the sea, and pirates such as Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang were the masters of this sea area today.

The pirates of the Grand Fleet of the Francophiles were not harassed at all and were allowed to go, and they had always profited between the Francos and the Dutch. Of course, I won't be offended, take Zheng Zhilong as an example, this year's close to the Macao Francois may be close to the Dutch people in Xiaoliuqiu.

On this day, the fleet separated off the coast of Guangdong. More than a dozen Galen warships and clippers slowly sailed towards the depths of the South China Sea, while the Princess Alexandra and Munitis, Flying Shark, and Flying Fox clippers turned north and sailed towards Macao.

On the second day, off the coast of Macao, Alexandra and Marta sailed to Macao on the Munitis accompanied by the Flying Shark. Zhao Lie waited on the Princess Alexandra.

Princess Alexandra has seven heavy guns on the upper deck, namely a twelve-pounder cannon in the bow, two twelve-pounder cannons on each side, an eighteen-pounder Tiago canner, and more than 100 armored, with enough self-defense capabilities, even if it is besieged by multiple Galen ships, the Alexandra can use its speed to escape.

Mr. Alonzo is discussing with his colleagues in the council the serious threats facing Macau, which has been a commercial port for more than a century, operating trade routes from Spain and Portugal to Southeast Asia and Japan, with a high annual income.

While the merchants returned with a load of money, the Macau city government collected a lot of taxes, and the Portuguese operated a variety of businesses related to it, such as shipyards, gunworks, shops, maritime trade, catering, etc., which were generally lucrative and lucrative in Macao.

However, Macau's fortunes began to change nearly a decade ago, and since its overlord, Spain, joined the Holy Roman Empire in its conquests, it was no longer able to defend its territory in Southeast and East Asia, let alone the Portuguese.

Later, the fierce Dutch and English began to establish strongholds in the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia, encroaching on the territories of Spain and Portugal, and plundering the merchant ships of the two countries.

In the past few years, the trade routes from Southeast Asia to Portugal have been intermittent, and Macao can now only rely on the trade routes from Macao to Manila and Macao to Japan, which of course is also a trade route of two million taels of silver a year.

The Dutch people now set their sights on this trade route again, and their attack on the Ming to seize the exclusive right of the Ming to trade with foreign countries failed, but they seized the island of Xiaoliuqiu, from where they continued to attack the Portuguese shipping routes from Macao to Nagasaki, Japan, causing the Macanese to suffer heavy losses on their merchant ships and halving their income.

At the same time, the missionary activities of Portuguese and Spanish missionaries in Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku attracted hundreds of thousands of Japanese parishioners to join, causing dissatisfaction among the Japanese shogunate, and some ministers within the shogunate called for severing maritime trade with the Portuguese and Spaniards as a punishment, and the crisis in Macao came.

Alonzo rubbed his forehead, and the council consulted for two days, and let the personnel of the town hall participate, repeating the calculations.

As a result, at least one million taels of silver had to be invested in Macao to preserve the two trade routes. As a result, the construction of 20 to 30 new Galen warships is something that Macao cannot afford, and Macao can invest up to 300,000 to 400,000 taels of silver to build more than 10 Galen warships to maintain the safety of a trade route.

Alonzo's headache was whether to really abandon the Japanese route. They still concentrated their efforts on securing the Philippine trade routes, which amounted to one million taels of silver a year, and the Netherlands in the Ryukyus did not harass the Japanese shipping routes for more than half a year ago, which made Macao breathe a sigh of relief.

However, in the last six months, they began to plunder the merchant ships of the Portuguese and Spaniards in the Ryukyu Strait, and later learned that they had lost several warships in the Ryukyus, and after being replenished by Jakarta, they began to act again.

At this time. He hated the Ming gang that robbed and left, and made him and Macau extremely humiliated. If the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that were robbed are still there, what is he worried about, since the dozens of Portuguese and this group of Ming people left two years ago, there has been no news since then, and the family members of these dozens of people have come to cry from time to time, which makes him have a headache.

Alonzo announced that the meeting would be adjourned today and would be discussed tomorrow under the disgruntled gaze of the maritime merchants.

Back home. Alonzo drank a glass of liquor wearily, and he had a hunch that his position as Speaker was hanging. After all, people don't let someone who can't solve the problem stay in the position of speaker for long.

He is still in this position because no one has yet put forward a proper proposal to solve the problems facing Macau, and if someone comes up with a solution that is even barely managed, it is possible to replace it.

At this time, the Ming slaves in the family reported to him, and Felipe, the commander of the garrison, asked to see him.

"Your Excellency. Miss Alexandra of the López family had just entered the harbor on the Munitis, along with a small boat of Akito, and now Alexandra had just returned to her uncle's business. Felipe didn't talk nonsense when he came in, and said hurriedly.

"Really?" Alonzo asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes, absolutely. Ensign Phil at the dock saw it with his own eyes. Felipe said categorically.

As if grasping at a life-saving straw, Alonzo drank the wine down, put down his glass, and said, "Let's go." ”

The two then went out.

When the two hurried to the house of Alexandra's uncle, Assunsan, they came out to meet them in the drawing room.

"Although Miss Alexandra has only returned for many years, and your relatives have not seen each other for several years, of course there are many things to say, but this time it involves the safety of dozens of people, please forgive us for coming uninvited." Alonzo said apologetically. However, he has a good relationship with Asungsan, and I believe he will not care too much.

"Life and death," Asongsan, who is in his forties, had red eyes, "My brother died a few years ago, leaving behind two children, who came to me from thousands of miles away, and last time, there was an accident in Macau, I was not at home, and I thought I would never see her again." ”

Alonzo and Felipe said a few words of advice, and they were really anxious in their hearts, what are the remaining people, what is the strength of the Ming people, it is related to the overall situation of Macau, you can talk about it.

"According to her, the people who went to Macau are safe and sound, as for the Ming people, they say that they have occupied Jeju Island and Bakhwa Island, are you in detail, wait for her to come out to talk," Ah Songsang touched his thick black beard awkwardly, "Alas, I haven't seen her for a few years, and she and her aunt talk a little more." ”

After hearing this, Alonzo's heart was even more itchy, it seems that the Mingren forces are developing rapidly, it is really possible to help Macau and himself, this, alas, can he come out earlier.

"Ahem, according to her, this time she came back to discuss her wedding with the head of the Ming people, so well... After waiting for another meal, Asung-sang was very apologetic.

Oh, God, you said earlier, this, this is about to become the mother of the country, a good thing, this time Alonzo is not in a hurry, just kidding, if the mother of a country is a Portuguese from Macao, then what is he anxious about.

"Mr. Assunsang, is there any good tea here, let's wait while drinking." Alonzo asked, feeling a little thirsty as he came in a hurry.

Ah Songsang's face turned red, and he didn't treat the guests with tea when he made this trouble, and ordered the Ming servants to serve tea and snacks. (To be continued.) )