The officials talked so much that they read out the regulations of the European countries on the declaration of war.

Finally, he glanced coldly at the Portuguese and Spaniards: "His Majesty the Emperor will also issue a privateering order, and not only Dutch ships, but also all countries with which the Netherlands have an alliance agreement, or have a substantial act of assisting the Netherlands, privateers will have the right to attack the ships of these countries." ”

Privateers!?

This ancient, dressed as a Ming official, as if he had come out of a book, was full of words that they were familiar with, rather than the familiar "Zhihu Ye", which suddenly made the foreigners stunned.

Captain Popper jumped first: "We, the Kingdom of Britain and the East India Company, are still in a state of hostility with the Netherlands, and if your country's privateers attack us, we reserve the right to claim compensation!" ”

The tone of the words was strong, but the tone of the words was very low, the official looked at him in surprise, and Captain Popper handed over an ambiguous smile, and the two suddenly had a tacit understanding.

The Dutchman, who had thrown himself into the net, was escorted into the cabin, and the other foreigners were holding the credentials handed by the officials, and their hearts sank like the credentials containing several decrees.

Chen Xinghua, the director of the Privy Council's maritime affairs department, hooked his fingers, and Captain Popper, who walked at the end, smiled brightly, and the two found another cabin and began to have an unknown secret conversation.

The whole thing went through several times in his mind, but Hu Hanshan, who still didn't know the essentials, found Feng Jingyao again.

"Lao Feng, I didn't understand what His Majesty was doing to the Portuguese in Macao while dealing with the Dutch...... Declaring war, and also taking a tough posture with the foreign monks in Rome, plus the "Foreigners' Residence in China" and "Anglo-Chinese Foreign Trade Law", is this battle going to fight with all the foreigners in Nanyang? Your Majesty has also set up a right...... What kind of military plan, isn't that a bit ...... Desperate for the military? ”

Feng Jingyao looked at this emperor's henchman of the Chinese character generation, and sighed in his heart about the changes in the times. Although Hu Hanshan has a low rank, he is a veteran of the navy, and he is placed in the army, that is, the system of a military commander, and the treatment of a lieutenant general, but in the navy, he is still only a lieutenant of the left. It's not loyal, I'm afraid it's already in trouble.

It is precisely because it is a navy that the stakes are extremely complicated, so the navy, especially the navy of Nanyang, after Li Shi became emperor and established the strategy of Nanyang, on the contrary, they were attacking these civilian officials.

He joked, "Isn't it good for you to fight everywhere?" ”

Hu Hanshan sighed: "If you just want to be promoted and get rich, it is naturally a good thing." But our country is just the beginning, those foreigners really want to pull the big ship from Europe, relying on our current belongings, but not opponents, this sober mind, our navy still has it. ”

Feng Jingyao said with a smile: "You don't have to fight if you want to, not only can't you fight with other foreigners, but even the declaration of war order against the Netherlands is a superficial article, and the Dutch will soon send an envoy to make peace." ”

Seeing that Hu Hanshan still hadn't figured it out, Feng Jingyao explained carefully.

Issuing a declaration of war order and issuing a privateer license are all routines of foreigners, and what they seek is a gesture. Although the Dutch are tough and dare to join forces with the Qing State, they must calculate the capital and profit in everything, and the Netherlands, which is a country full of merchants, must be measured.

On the one hand, Yinghua has a certain amount of maritime power, and it is difficult to predict the outcome of a real fight. On the other hand, the Foreign Trade Law promulgated by Anglo-Chinese abolished monopoly intermediary firms, standardized the import and export trade process, and simplified customs inspection procedures. As long as they are in their right mind, the Dutch will inevitably seek to normalize relations with the British and Chinese, and His Majesty has long waited for them to deliver a peace agreement, and this war will never be fought.

Hu Hanshan was still very worried: "But when the Portuguese in Macao came to such an incident, they also competed with the foreign monks in Rome, for fear that other countries would entangle themselves and muddy the water and make profits from it." ”

Feng Jingyao nodded, he could make a preliminary calculation of the situation in Nanyang, this admiral was no longer a simple soldier.

He went on to explain that if you directly drive away or even kill the people of Macau, and at the same time completely ban Roman Catholicism, your prediction may come true. But His Majesty acted according to the rules, agreements, decrees, this set of things, the Europeans had to admit it, and they had no excuse to get entangled together.

Hu Hanshan pouted, this is thinking too kindly to foreigners, what excuse did the Spaniards have for killing so many Chinese in Luzon back then, what kind of rules did they follow? , Feng Jingyao shook his head, rules are not everything, but without rules, everything is not. In the eyes of foreigners, if they don't pay attention to the rules, they are uncivilized barbarians, just like we look at them in China. Hu Hanshan said unwillingly: "Why do you want to cater to the rules of foreigners!?" Even if they cater to us, they don't want to treat us as some uncivilized barbarians, just like we look at them, that is, white-haired baboons! ”

Feng Jingyao was serious: "What do we Huaxia want?" Repay virtue with virtue, complain with straight! To put it rudely, it's an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Whatever they do to us, we will do to them. They talk about rules, let's talk about rules, what is this called pandering? ”

"Besides, where are these rules for foreigners? In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, merchants were in the world, what contracts, what redemptions, and what rights and responsibilities had already risen! There is already a set of rules and regulations for war and peace between countries! You are a martial artist, and you haven't even read Sima Fa? What kind of knightly covenants that foreigners are proud of, aren't they all in the "Sima Law"? When we practiced Sima Fa, the ancestors of these foreigners were really white-haired baboons! Your Majesty's "On the Dao" haven't you read it carefully? The Tao and the whole world, the world and the soul. These rules are common to everyone, and they have long existed in our Huaxia, but later they were just covered by officials and Confucians. But even in the Two Song Dynasty, didn't there be a set of rules for the war and peace between countries? ”

"The only thing we are inferior to foreigners is that they can make these rules that have been extended from business affairs as profound, and make them as meticulous as carving on their hair. But we Chinese people haven't learned from scratch, according to our cleverness, in these details, can we be worse than those white-haired baboons? ”

Feng Jingyao concluded: "Your Majesty founded the country, and everything should be justified, this is the rule, this is the truth. If they want to reason, they will reason with them. They can't be reasonable, if they want to do it, that's your warrior's business. And as long as we keep the basic truth, foreigners are not monolithic. What is Chen Xinghua, the director of Nan Cao, the director of the Department of Maritime Affairs, doing with that British? That's the disintegration of division! ”

Speaking of that British, Hu Hanshan's fists itched, that guy was their old enemy. However, he now has some understanding of the situation in the South Seas, and the Britons and the Dutch, who occupy most of the South Seas, are also old enemies, and they are really objects that can be wooed.

Thinking about it, Hu Hanshan still feels aggrieved, foreigners can do whatever they want, they can reason on the one hand and use force on the other, no matter how you reason with him, anyway, he will not treat you as an equal in his bones. Although they also think they are barbarians in their hearts, why don't they reason with them?

Feng Jingyao sneered: "Aren't the Dutch going to come to the door to reason soon?" ”

He said leisurely: "Our Yinghua is not the Celestial Empire that used to care about face in front of foreigners, and everything is a benefit, just like the plan that His Majesty wants us to prepare." When Your Majesty has adjusted our country, there will be more and more foreigners who will come to reason at that time. ”

Thinking of the top-secret plan and replacing the object with a foreigner, Hu Hanshan was also open-minded, and he laughed. That's right, Your Majesty is no longer the monarch of the monarchy, and our Yinghua country does not have to support the face of the Heavenly Empire, do things steadfastly, eat profitably and steadily, eat fat and strong, at that time, it was not that anyone was afraid of us, but everyone should be afraid of us.

In the cabin, Popper smiled hypocritically: "China is the kingdom of the Celestial Empire, we are small and savage countries, just begging the kingdom to give some favors, His Majesty the Emperor ascends the throne, our British Kingdom will definitely send envoys to send a congratulatory letter, I will explain to them, in the congratulatory letter to keep the courtesy, and the etiquette of meeting Your Majesty, what three kneels and nine bows, it must also be done." ”

Chen Xinghua sneered: "I'm afraid that the envoy is from your East India Company, not an official of the kingdom...... Don't use these to coax people, this official is from the Chen family in Hoi An, Annam, and I am very clear about the situation in Nanyang. ”

He lowered his head and pressed Popper, who looked a little sluggish, and raised his palm: "Give you a five-percent discount on British shipping, and a fifty-percent discount on shipping materials if it is a ship carrying saltpeter!" In addition, in addition to the western district of Huangpu, Kowloon Bay in Xin'an County has also opened up a settlement for foreigners, and special concessions can also be given to deed tax and property tax, and your Anglican Church in Britain can also build a church there......", Popper's eyebrows gradually stretched, and as Chen Xinghua continued to tell, his face and flesh also bloomed layer by layer.

"You have no foothold in Malacca and Sumatra, the route from India to China is always threatened by the Dutch, and our navy is weak, but we can still exert our strength in the Malacca area. When the time comes, we will join forces to build a trading port and kick down the Dutch who dominate the whole of the South Seas, and I believe that not only your company, but also your kingdom will be greatly profitable, and you yourself will be able to ......."

Popper swallowed his spittle, and said in his heart, "I, an unfortunate man who started out in the port trade, worked hard in the East India Company, and was still just a small clerk, now I have to take advantage of this monsoon and set sail."

"Machines, officers, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography textbooks! Good! None of this is a problem! ”

Popper took over a list made by Chen Xinghua, and with his repeated promises, the history of Britain and Britain officially began to heat up.

But he still held a sense of sobriety, and asked again: "I really don't want congratulatory gifts and envoys, and those three kneeling and nine bows!?" ”

He knows well the psychology of the Chinese, face is the first, is the biggest politics, as long as the Chinese face problem is satisfied, you can get more real benefits.

Chen Xinghua smiled: "If you can convince your Sir Newton to serve in our country, I don't mind kneeling down to you......"

Popper gasped, of course it was a joke, but from this joke, he realized something that made his ecstasy ebb in an instant.

Chinese don't want to lose face, as long as they are profitable, what kind of terrible scene will it be?

At this time, the scene of Macao, in the eyes of Ma Yu, the former governor of Macao and Portugal, was an incomparably terrifying scene.

Unwilling to accept such a drastic change, many Portuguese are selling their possessions and preparing to go to Manila, Goa and even back to Europe. Huge groups of Chinese businessmen are flushed-faced, talking to them about business at the price of their garbage.

Capable Portuguese are lining up in a long queue to be vetted by Chinese officials, hoping to join the military, government and hospitals, schools and other industries with their skills in order to obtain preferential residency in China. The incompetent Portuguese could only huddle in the house, take stock of their possessions, and begin to worry and even cry about life after paying heavy taxes.

It's a hellish sight, just a little better than a corpse on the ground. Seeing the tax officials walking towards St. Paul's Church, and several priests pleading with the officials with miserable faces, Ma Yu suddenly felt that this was more terrible than hell.

He couldn't help but scold Xiao Xie angrily: "You Chinese, why have you become so arrogant!?" ”

Xiao Xie shrugged: "I myself am wondering, why have we Chinese been confused for so long?" ”

Then he smiled and said, "This is just treating you foreigners as equals, you just need to get used to it." ”

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snow also welcomed the tax collector under the Shang Zheng of the Macao District of Xiangshan County, who handed out a tax bill to the priest who presided over the church, and said in a cold voice: "If you don't pay all these taxes a year ago, you won't want to open here next year." ”

When the words came into the church, Father Doro and Bishop Silbo blushed, and Lang Shining looked at Xu Lingfu as if asking for help, he knew this chief priest and knew that he was a person who was extremely close to the emperor.

Lang Shining said: "The whole world is His Majesty's subjects, and the place where he steps on is His Majesty's land, is Your Majesty's treatment of our Jesuits a little ruthless?" ”