Macau, Fortress.

This is the main body of the Portuguese defense facilities in Macau, and it is also the seat of the Governor's Palace, which, of course, was appointed by Portugal and can only administer the Portuguese in Macau.

Because it is a military installation, all the buildings here are made of solid bluestone, so it appears deep and dim, and the corridors inside are long and winding, with a small number of torches providing light for those walking inside, but only covering a small part, leaving large shadows and shaky shadows.

Near the window, the light and shadow of the dense plants swaying and falling are even more dazzling, and the nerves of those who enter here are always involuntarily tense.

A young man with black hair walked down the long corridor and appeared in the dining room, where sat a man with a strange charm, his woollen wig meticulous, and his pale yellow eyes were deep, looking into it as if it were bottomless as the deep sea.

"Ferreira, I know the rules of you Chinese. I like to talk about things during dinner, and I'm going to see you like this today. Sitting behind the table was Governor Schroeb, who called the Latin name of the young man in front of him in Portuguese, while cutting the steak on his plate with a knife.

And Ferreira, like Zheng Zhilong in Fujian, is one of the countless Ming people in the Ming Dynasty who believe in Catholicism.

Ferreira was very young, but also very religious, and had some connections with the Cantonese government's reserve in Macau, because he was proficient in Portuguese and good at kung fu, he was also hired by the Macau Council to maintain law and order on the streets, and this was the first time Ferreira met Governor Schrobao after receiving this appointment.

As rumored to be, the Governor liked to live at Fortress, where the winters were cold and humid and the summers were sweltering, and the Governor, who had taken office five years earlier, was still willing to stay here for a long time, because it represented his supreme power.

"Your Excellency the Governor, it is a great honor to meet you." Ferreira said with a smile in Portuguese.

Schrobao asked, "Has it been peaceful on the street lately, and have the poor ghosts who lost their jobs fighting?" ”

"Business as usual, Your Excellency the Governor. The only change was that two days ago came an Ahat ship, which was somewhat peculiar. Ferreira said.

Shi Luobao nodded slightly, cut the steak on the plate, and asked casually, "What's so special?" ”

"The ship was of the Yahat type, and it was a configuration suitable for ocean voyages. Surprisingly, the ship belonged to a local trading company called Oriental Trading Company. This trading company is unknown and has never been heard of before.

They brought a lot of goods, spices, but also textiles, which is rare, and the last time Chinese traveled between India and China, it was twenty years ago, when the governor of Goa asked our Bugarao cannon foundry here to send a few Chinese craftsmen who were good at casting iron cannons.

They sold the goods and there were no problems with the process. There were all kinds of purchases, including weapons, gunpowder, and all kinds of tools. And today, they are recruiting at the crossroads. And there is also a fierce news that the shareholder of this trading company is Mr. Hai from Qiongzhou. Ferreira replied earnestly, trying not to give up a single detail.

After saying so much and talking about Hai Shuzu, Shi Luobao raised his head, made a broken accent, and called out the name of Hai Shuzu.

"Yes, it's him, and you've seen him." Ferreira said, and he had made sure that Schrobao must have known something about the Oriental Trading Company, and asked him to report it, either to verify it or to test himself, but fortunately he had nothing to hide.

"I saw the ship in my office, Ferreira, tell me about it." Schroebel put down his knife and fork, clasped his hands on his chest, and looked at Ferreira.

Ferreira nodded, and said at the signal of Schroebour, "I boarded the ship, and there was only one Englishman on board, and the rest were completely Oriental, with a small number of Malays. But I tested their accents, and most of them were sailors from the South Seas.

And that ship was a little bit special, it was an Ahat type, yes, but it was modified, I mean the hull, they used a lot of specially shaped sails, and the masts, especially the bow mast, were also improved. There were also guns on the ship, the guns were British-made iron cannons, but the gun carriages had changed.

I saw six six-pounder guns, maybe more, but maybe that's all. ”

Hearing this, Shi Luobao nodded slightly, pondered for a while, and asked, "You say, can this Dongfang carry out that mission?" ”

"I don't know." Ferreira hesitated for a moment, for he didn't think about it at all, and then said, "Your Excellency, at least for now, there is no evidence that she is capable of this. ”

"Maybe you should give it a try and ask that Mr. Hai." Schroeb said.

Ferreira nodded slightly and asked, "Your Excellency the Governor, can you tell me what made you think like this?" What your confidence comes from. ”

Schroeb stood up, opened the window, pointed to the Vostok moored at the dock in the distance, and said, "My dear Ferreira, I saw her when she docked at the port the day before yesterday, she is so special. The same was true of the priest, who told me that he had seen the sailors of the ship put away thirty-seven sails, perhaps more, after calling in port.

My dear friend, you should know that the more sails, the faster the speed. If this beautiful boat can run an impressive speed, I believe she is up for the task. ”

Ferreira nodded slightly, and immediately said, "I understand, I'll figure this out." ”

With that, Ferreira got up and was about to leave, and Schroeb said, "If she is really able to carry out that task, please explain to the friendly Mr. Xiang Hai that we need his cooperation, and tell him that I, in my capacity as Governor, am willing to give him a reasonable price."

If he agrees, he will have all my friendship. ”

As night fell, Ferreira appeared at the end of a street in the marina, where there was a tavern with huge beer barrels hanging in the doorway, a simple disguise.

This is the most chaotic place in Macau, because all the ruthless characters haunt here, mercenaries from all over the world, pirates, fugitives who have committed crimes in Daming, Annam, or whatever bullshit place, just because there are the cheapest drinks and prostitutes and women in Macau.

Everything in the tavern is about the old and the simple, the counter is cut out of a large bluestone, and the wine table is made of discarded old ship wood and nailed together with nails thicker than a finger.

The smell of low-quality alcohol, tobacco, and cheap perfumes permeated the entire tavern, with the guests offering the first two, and the prostitutes and women with heavy makeup serving the latter.

Ferreira came in, and everyone made way for him, he was a thief in Macau, covering this tavern, and also sharing dividends in this tavern, which was half the boss.

At night, the tavern was very lively, with hundreds of people gathered here, and occasionally erupted in the screams of women and the scolding of men, but when Ferreira entered, everyone restrained a little, except for the central table.

Dozens of men and women gathered around the large table, as if playing a game, and from time to time burst into cheers.

It was a very childish and simple game, with a large bowl full of wine on the table, and a bowl with money on the side. Every time you throw a rial into it, you can play it once, and the gameplay is very simple, pour your own wine into the bowl of the sea, and you can't let it overflow.

If the wine you poured spilled out, then the previous person gets all the money in that bowl.

The wine in the bowl has already extended a lot beyond the rim of the bowl, but it will not spill, so everyone involved is careful, they want to pour as much as possible into it, and make it difficult for the next person, but they are afraid that they will spill the bowl of wine, so everyone is nervous.

Gradually, more and more people participated in the game, and it was not only money that was used as a bet, but also all kinds of things that the drinkers could offer, such as sailors' hats, sabers, daggers, muskets, and even a pair of shiny, smelly boots.

A young man in his early twenties poured a large drop of wine into it, but it did not spill, and the crowd cheered. And as you know, this game was initiated by him, and unlike others, he threw in one peso at a time, which was worth a whole eight riyals.

Ferreira smiled, took a glass of wine, put his knife in the chip, and no one stopped him, and poured half a glass of wine directly into it.

It's impossible not to overflow, and when the table is full of drinks, it means that the youth who started the game wins.

Someone shouted that it was cheating, but when they saw that it was Ferreira, they immediately shut up.

Ferreira said to the youth: "Congratulations, you have won. ”

And the young man was Li Zhaoji, he laughed, pulled out a large rattan basket from under the table, threw all kinds of weapons into it, including the pair of boots, and then weighed the remaining money in the sea bowl, at least no less than ten pesos, Li Zhaoji handed the sea bowl to a passing prostitute, and told her: "Tell the boss, Li Zhaoji, the shopkeeper of the Oriental Trading Company, has a treat today." ”

"Roar!"

The crowd cheered again, and they all jumped up for joy.

"I really didn't guess, you are the one in charge of the Oriental Trading Company, not the Haishu Ancestor Hai." Ferreira said to Li Zhaoji.

Li Zhaoji didn't seem to listen to him, picked up Ferreira's knife on the table, pulled it out and took a good look at the knife, and praised: "A fast knife is worthy of being a knife for catching thieves in Macau." ”

"You know me?" Ferreira asked.

Li Zhaoji nodded: "I have to pay attention to all the sneaky guys on my ship, and you are still Ferreira, with a Portuguese name and converted to Catholicism, but you are a Ming person." ”

Li Zhaoji did notice him when Ferreira arrived on the Vostok, but it was this name that really made him pay attention.

Ferreira, who may be a thief now, but if he hadn't crossed over with Li Zhaoji, this Ferreira would have formed a musket team ten years later to save the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty from danger in Guilin, and the army funded by the Macau Council and the Catholic Church was also named after him, called the Ferreira Battalion.