My British Empire

  Chapter 516 Macau

  Macao, in 1553, that is, the 32nd year of Jiajing, the Portuguese bought Wang Bai, the deputy envoy of Guangdong Haidao, with a lot of money, and asked to live in Macao temporarily to expose the goods under the pretext of a storm on the merchant ship, and was allowed to live ashore.

   After that, he expanded his residence at will with an annual rent of 20,000 taels of silver.

  In the end, it developed to build city walls without authorization, build forts, and set up officials, forming a self-governing situation.

   That is to say, the Portuguese obtained the right of residence through bribery, not the so-called colonization.

  However, in order to do business well, the Portuguese have gone through untold hardships to get the small land of Macau.

  The first time: In the 11th year of Zhengde (1516), the Portuguese Billy Terro arrived in China on his first voyage.

  The second time: In the thirteenth year of Zhengde (1518), the Intrit brothers went to Tuen Mun Island to do business.

  Aroused the public indignation of the Chinese people.

  In the 16th year of Zhengde (1521), the deputy envoy of Guangdong Haidao, Wang Hung, led troops to attack them, expelled them from Tuen Mun Island, closed the port, and put the Portuguese minister Biris in prison.

  The third time: In 1522, Milo, the new Portuguese minister, led a fleet into Tuen Mun Island. Guangdong soldiers and civilians severely punished the invaders in Xicaowan, Xinhui, killing 35 people, capturing general Shu Shili and other 42 people alive, and seizing two warships.

  The fourth time: In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing (1548), he cooperated with Japanese pirates to invade Dinghai, Zhejiang and Zhangzhou, Fujian.

  The Ming Dynasty appointed Zhu Wan as the governor of Zhejiang and also supervised the military affairs of Fujian. After Zhu Wan took office, he immediately blocked the sea, Zhoushan Islands and Zhangzhou defeated the joint invasion of Portugal and Japan, and severely punished 96 people including Li Guangtou, a wealthy businessman who communicated with Portugal and Japan.

   In desperation, in 1553, a group of Portuguese merchant ships asked to go to Haojing (today’s Macau) to dry their "water-wet tribute" under the pretext of encountering storms and waves at sea. Guangdong officials accepted 500 taels of bribes and agreed.

  Portuguese talents were able to go ashore, and since then they have settled in and occupied Macau.

  The Portuguese only have the right of residence, while the judicial, administrative, and military powers are still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, in order to manage the Portuguese well, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the Portuguese in Macau must pay land rent every year, and set up customs to collect ship taxes, set up officials to guard Macau, and use Xiangshan county magistrate (prefect) to implement administrative power and implement final judicial sanctions Right etc.

  However, with the erosion of the power of money and the Portuguese’s leadership (paying taxes on time, collecting Longyanxiang for Jiajing, etc.), the Portuguese gradually built city walls and forts, and gained the ability to defend themselves.

Until 1877, Portugal forced the Qing government to sign the "Sino-Portuguese Conference Draft Agreement" and the "Sino-Portuguese Beijing Treaty" (also known as the "Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Reconciliation and Commerce"), stating that "China still allows Portugal to permanently reside in and manage Macao and its territories." The terms of the land” were imposed on China.

  Since then, Macau has been reduced from an autonomous place like a Chinatown to a colony.

  So, in the spring of 1565, as the first Englishman to come to the ancient eastern country.

   On the eighth day of March, a flotilla of ten ships, large and small, came to the prosperous port of Macau.

"Old Zhang, there are a lot of ghosts here this time, and we're going to suffer a lot!" A young man with a pimple face squatting on the ground at the port pouted his mouth at his partner who was not much older than him. , said with some excitement.

   "Yes, there are more boats coming today than yesterday, so we can live a good life today!" The young man named Lao Zhang immediately stood up and said happily.

   Sure enough, after the ten relatively tall ships entered the port, hundreds of dock workers rushed over, eager for work.

   "Galia, are these people from the Ming Dynasty? It looks different from what you described!"

  Robin Hunt stood on the deck, looking at the swarming laborers, squinting his eyes and asking questions.

"No, my dear Captain, these are just the lowest part of the Ming people. The real Ming people are gentle, courteous, and personable, and they wear expensive silk and precious ornaments. , more elegant than a real nobleman!"

  The Portuguese captain shook his head again and again, and denied it. His eyes were shining brightly, staring into the distance, and his face was full of intoxicated expressions.

  "They eat exquisite food, live in gorgeous mansions, wear expensive silks and satins, are humble and polite, and are no different from real nobles! Even European nobles can't compare with them in life!"

  Looking at the envious Portuguese captain in front of him, Robin didn't take it seriously. He didn't see this scene with his own eyes. It's hard to imagine that ordinary Ming people live better than nobles.

   Soon, after paying the mooring tax, Robin brought a few people to the streets of Macau.

  At this time, there were only two or three streets in Macau, and there were no more than a thousand Portuguese people living there.

   But there are a lot of pedestrians coming and going, crowded and crowded, and at a glance, they are all heads, which is more prosperous than the streets of London.

  The well-dressed young lady did not attract Robin's attention, but the Ming people who came and went locked his eyes.

   I saw that their average height was about five feet five inches (1.7 meters), which was much taller than the Englishmen he had seen.

   And all of them have fair skin, wearing cloth shoes, burly figures, with their hair coiled up, their heads held high, and they are wearing unknown expensive silks and satins, which is simply surprising.

  Short nose, black and white eyes, and wide sleeves, fair skin, this is another race, Robin has no doubts.

   "Are these people white?" Robin opened his mouth wide and said exaggeratedly.

   "Yes, sir, when we came here, we found that their skin was fairer than Africans and Indians, and even whiter than our Europeans, so at first, we called them whites!"

   "Afterwards, we learned that this ancient oriental country was named 'Ming'! That's why we call them Ming people!"

  The guide saw his doubts and explained immediately.

   "Ming people?" Robin read this twisting name, his mind full of doubts.

   "It means light!"

   "Kingdom of Light, it really is a good name!" Robin suddenly felt a little confused.

  Robin was walking on the street, observing the Ming people one by one, as if seeing a fresh toy, his face was full of excitement.

   Mingren walking on the street didn't take it seriously. They basically saw such a curious ghost once a day, and they were used to it.

   "Oh! My God, what is this?" Robin asked curiously, looking at the red things strung up in a row by wooden skewers.

   "This is ice tower paste—" the guide twisted his mouth with a face full of confusion.

   "Ice Tower Paste, what a strange name!"

  Robin looked at the ty goods on the street, which made him feel that he had come to another world, a place that was more prosperous and civilized than Europe.

  At this moment, he is full of desire to understand this ancient country.

  (end of this chapter)