The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 28 Mercenaries

Qiao Weili pointed to a brown-haired man who was nearly forty years old and said, "This is Mr. Macedo. He has served in the Ezebana Army for 13 years as a captain. He participated in suppressing the Lowlands rebellion. Two years ago He retired with a left hand injury."

Ezebahnh?Zhu Linming and Qiao Weili talked and gestured, and it took a long time to figure out that they were referring to Spain.

"This is Pastore. He used to be a lieutenant in the Isibana cavalry. He retired a few years ago and bought a small manor. But last year there was a little accident in his manor."

"This is Mr. Coelho, a Lieutenant of Artillery in the French Army..."

"This is Faro..."

After a long introduction, Zhu Linmi had a general understanding of these people, and at the same time asked about Qiao Weili's situation after he arrived in Macau.

The missionary's acquaintance, Captain Bucarou, has returned to Portugal, and the dozen or so people in front of him are another mercenary group.They heard in Europe that there were conflicts between the Portuguese in Macau and the Dutch and the Ming Dynasty, so they came here by merchant ships to join the war and pan for gold.

Unexpectedly, just as they were about to arrive in Macau, the boat hit a rock and sank.All the property and weapons of these people sank into the sea, and they floated ashore with broken planks.

It has to be said that the backward communication level in this era is really deadly. They didn’t know until they arrived in Macau that the Portuguese in Macau had reached a settlement with Ming Dynasty a few years ago, and the Netherlands had also compromised with the Governor of Macau. There was no war to fight.

So these mercenaries were penniless and unarmed, and at a moment of embarrassment, Qiao Weili appeared in front of them—it was like an angel descending from the earth.

This Macedo is a loyal mercenary captain.Originally, Qiao Weili only needed to hire five ex-military officers, but Macedo insisted that the whole regiment go together, even if his salary was lower.

In the end Qiao Weili and Ying Tianxiang discussed and brought them all back.

Among them was a captain who had commanded spearmen and arquebus troops.There are also two lieutenants and two second lieutenants.Several others have only worked as non-commissioned officers or even ordinary soldiers, and three of them are artillerymen.

Zhu Linmei nodded, thinking that it might be okay to keep all these people.Needless to say, the officers, there are three artillerymen among the remaining people.Many people think that cavalry is difficult to train. In fact, good artillery is much more precious than cavalry.Artillery soldiers who can simply calculate the shooting elements must be able to do mathematics.

There is also a mercenary who can speak Chinese, which is also very useful.

Qiao Weili finally pointed to a tall man with a reddish complexion, "This is the test gunner of the Macau Bogarau Cannon Factory, Mr. Anthony. His shooting skills are very good."

Then he said to Zhu Lin in a low voice: "If he didn't always offend people with his words, he would have been promoted to the foreman." He paused and added, "It's even more impossible to get a salary cut."

Bugarau Cannon Factory?Zhu Linming was very surprised, Macau is a "special administrative region" established by Ming Dynasty, not a concession, yet the Portuguese built factories and cannons there!In the future, someone must be sent to find out what they want to do.

However, the test gunner is a talent, and his understanding of the performance of the artillery should far exceed those of the artillerymen.

"Then let's talk about the commission." He immediately raised the question that these foreigners are most concerned about.

Qiao Weili took out the copied notebook and replied: "Macedo needs 22 taels a month, Pastore and Coelho want 15 taels a month, several artillerymen need [-] taels a month, and others want [-] taels. , During the war, the salary was increased by [-]%.

In fact, these mercenaries wanted Spanish ducat gold coins, which Qiao Weili had converted into cash according to the ratio.

Zhu Linmin nodded. These mercenaries went to the other side of the ocean to pan for gold, and the asking price was quite cheap.If they saw the monthly salary they gave to the officers of the Dragon Guards, they would probably be dumbfounded.

"As for Mr. Anthony, he hopes to get a salary of twelve taels a month. But he will never participate in the war."

Zhu Linming didn't talk nonsense, and said to the foreigners: "Let's sign the contract."

These mercenaries had already brought blank employment contracts with them.And Anthony quickly wrote a contract out.

All contracts are in duplicate, one in Latin and one in Chinese, signed by both parties.

Zhu Linming was not worried that the other party would use Spanish to deceive her. This is Daming, so it would be good if she didn't deceive them.

After the contract was signed, Qiao Weili bowed gracefully to Zhu Linmi, "Your Highness, I have fulfilled my promise."

"That's right." Zhu Linmei nodded with a smile, "You have made great contributions to bringing these talents to the new army of Longwei. As I said, I will help you repair your church. I wonder if 500 taels is enough?"

"500 taels?! No, no, 300 taels is enough!" Qiao Weili waved his hands excitedly, "You saved my life before, how good is this..."

"Just 500 taels. I might need your help in the future." Zhu Linmei interrupted him with a smile, and turned around to signal Qiao Qian to give the missionary the money.In fact, he had other plans, this Qiao Weili knew Tang Ruowang.

Tang Ruowang is a genius!Familiar with astronomy and geography, he is proficient in calendars, especially he can cast cannons and make telescopes.At present, others are in Beijing, and they have contributed a lot to improving the military technology of the Qing army.

Even if you can't recruit him to your sect in a short time, you can still use Qiao Weili's influence to make him contribute as little as possible to Manren.

Qiao Weili happily took the money, and said that he would return to Longnan to thank him after making arrangements to repair the church.

After the guards sent Qiao Weili away, Zhu Linmi asked the officers of the Longwei Battalion to meet with these mercenaries for a brief introduction.Seeing that these foreigners were exhausted after a long journey, they were asked to rest first.

It wasn't until this time that the thin black man who had been respectfully standing beside him came forward and saluted Zhu Linmi again, "Grassman Ji Liang, I pay my respects to Your Highness."

Zhu Linmei stretched out her hand to help him get up, and before asking any questions, Ying Tianxiang said, "Your Highness, Manager Ji is a...maritime merchant from Guangzhou."

Zhu Linmei frowned slightly. Judging by the tone, the so-called maritime merchants might be engaged in smuggling at sea.

Ying Tianxiang continued: "This time, my subordinates, Qiao Weili and others were able to enter and exit Macau in a very short period of time, thanks to the help of Shopkeeper Ji."

It turned out that at this time, Ming Dynasty was imposing a retaliatory embargo on Macau. The reason was nothing more than the Portuguese arrears of taxes. Usually, the embargo would not be lifted until the arrears were paid in full.

Ying Tianxiang and the others arrived in Macau but were not allowed to enter.When they were in a hurry, they got "pointing" from the local official and found Ji Liang.

When Ji Liang learned from Qiao Weili that there was a new army stationed in Longnan, he immediately agreed to use his smuggling boat to take them into Macau and act as a guide for them. Even Anthony got to know him through his introduction.

"Treasurer Ji also found a few interpreters for us during this trip." Ying Tianxiang continued, "Otherwise, it would be really difficult to find someone who understands Fulang's language in such a short period of time."

Zhu Linming was overjoyed when he heard the words. He was still thinking about finding a Spanish translator. After all, daily training requires a lot of communication, and only one person who can translate is not enough.

　Because this is a newcomer, I hope all the readers will not hesitate to collect, recommend, and comment.Kneeling thanks kneeling thanks!
　　


(End of this chapter)