The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 303 Frangji Resident Representative

Du Chen said with a bitter face: "Governor Nading promised me repeatedly, but he never expected to lose so quickly..."

Before he finished speaking, a soldier knocked on the door and entered the room, and said anxiously: "Report to Your Excellency, a smuggling ship has just sent back a message, indicating that the four thousand troops of the court have arrived in Shunde."

"Shunde?" Du Chen's face turned even darker. Shunde is only [-] or [-] miles away from Macau. How can the assistant king of the Ming Dynasty come here as soon as he comes?

He hurriedly looked at his think tank, "Caslo, what should we do?"

Castro, on the other hand, seemed quite calm, and bowed slightly: "Your Excellency, don't be too nervous. As far as I know, Governor Ding didn't send too many people to defend Guangzhou before, because he wanted to gather forces in Guangxi to launch a coup d'état and support Install another prince on the throne.

"When another emperor appears in Guangxi, how can the auxiliary king have time to take care of us?"

Du Chen vigorously pointed to the north, "But the Ming army will arrive in Macau soon, how can we get through the current crisis?"

Castro smiled and said: "My lord, it's not that we haven't offended Ming Ting in the past, and it's not the first time they have sent troops here.

"The officials of the Ming Dynasty have always been greedy. We are still bribed with gold and silver as before. They must have a way to delay the Ming army's journey. It's just that this time the incident is a bit big, and I'm afraid it will cost more money."

"Money is not a problem," Du Chen said immediately, "I will notify the financial officer immediately."

He thought for a while, and then continued: "I don't know what the assistant king of the Ming Kingdom wants from us.

"Caslo, why don't you go check out his words on my behalf. If the conditions are not too harsh, we will agree to him. It is also possible to consider changing the situation."

Castro was stunned. Since the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court’s control over the south has been decreasing day by day. Therefore, the Portuguese’s consistent policy is to fully cooperate with the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi. If they accept the Ming court’s conditions now, they will inevitably offend Ding Kuichu.

But he caught a glimpse of Du Chen's anxious expression, and knew that the fighting power of the Ming army this time would have greatly stimulated the governor, so he could only touch his chest and bowed: "Yes, my lord, I'll leave right away."

Another day later, near Xiangshan, Guangdong.

Castro, led by two soldiers in dark green uniforms, walked into the Dragon Guards camp. He saw the surrounding soldiers were neat and stately, and the patrolling teams in the camp were well-disciplined and well-disciplined.

It was really an elite army, he sighed in his heart, no wonder Ding Kuichu's 3000 troops plus the help of Portuguese soldiers were defeated after only persisting for four or five days.

He was still quite confident and relaxed, but he couldn't help becoming a little nervous.

At this time, if someone told Castro that during the Battle of the Pearl River, the Dragon Guards spent most of their time detouring and crossing the river, and it took less than half a morning to actually defeat more than 3000 Cantonese troops, he would probably be stunned. .

After entering Zhu Linming's big tent, Castro was well versed in oriental etiquette, so he was not stubborn, and immediately knelt down and saluted, and said in fluent Chinese: "Caslo, the special envoy of the Governor of Macau, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Coordinating King."

Then he habitually prepared to stand up, but he moved his legs halfway, but he didn't hear the other party's response, so he had to stop his movements abruptly, and still knelt on the spot.

"Special envoy?" Zhu Linmi squinted at him and said, "Why didn't Du Chen himself come?"

Castro hurriedly said: "Return to Your Highness, Your Excellency Governor... is seriously ill and cannot get out of bed, so I ordered this servant to act on my behalf. Oh, I have been authorized by the Governor of Macau, and I can make decisions on all matters."

"Governor of Macau?" Zhu Linmi frowned and shook her head, "First correct your mistake.

"Macau is under the administration of Daming Xiangshan County, and the imperial court has never set up the post of governor again. Your leader will be called the representative of the residents of Folangji in the future."

"Resident representative?" Castro hesitated, and hurriedly argued, "No, this governor was personally appointed by His Majesty Joao IV..."

"If you want to be the governor, go back to your Frangji to do it. There are only resident representatives in Macau." Zhu Linmin interrupted him unceremoniously, "This is my first request."

Castro thought to himself, how to call them is just a small problem, the big deal is to call each other their own, so he bowed his head and said nothing, it was a tacit agreement.

Zhu Linmi said relentlessly, "Say it again."

"Repeat? What?"

"Restate your identity."

"I," Castro suppressed his anger and looked aside, "the special envoy of the Frangji residents."

Only then did Zhu Linmei wave her hand to signal him, "Please sit down, special envoy."

Castro rubbed his knees and just sat down beside him when he heard His Royal Highness the Counselor King say coldly: "By the way, is Frangji planning to declare war on Ming Dynasty this time?"

Castro was startled when he heard the words, jumped up from the chair again, hurriedly waved his hands and said, "What are you talking about, Your Highness? Frangji and Daming have always been friends, and there is absolutely no intention of declaring war!"

"Really?" Zhu Linming's voice was still cold, "A few days ago, Franz sent troops to invade Guangzhou and attacked the Ming army in the Pearl River area. This is an act of declaring war."

Castro was already prepared for this, and immediately answered: "Your Highness, the ones fighting you in Guangzhou are mercenaries. They only charge money to fight, and they cannot represent Francois."

"What nonsense!"

Zhu Linmi turned to Shi Lin and signaled, "Show him the list of Flangji's sailors."

"Yes!"

Castro took the list, and saw a total of 92 people on it, all of them were naval soldiers.

He wiped off his cold sweat, thinking that these orientals have never been able to understand the difference between mercenaries and soldiers, why are they so clear now?

He could only argue, "Why these people come to Guangzhou, our governor, oh, the resident representatives don't know at all."

"You pushed it all the way." Zhu Linmi didn't tangle with him, but said, "These Frangji soldiers have caused serious harm to Da Ming.

"In the Battle of the Pearl River, four of our troops were killed and more than a dozen were injured. In addition, there was a large amount of food and supplies consumed, as well as the impact on the political situation and the people of Ming Dynasty.

For these, Frangji officials must pay 30 taels of war reparations as compensation. "

30 taels? !Castro thought, why don't you grab it? !The Ming army only killed four people, but we have more than 300 dead!And these people must be killed by us?Then there are more than 3000 Ding Kuichu's people participating in the battle...

But the seventeenth century was an era when whoever had the biggest fist was justified, not to mention that Frangji was already at a loss.

At the same time, Castro knew that Du Chen had ordered him to come here to calm things down, and he was also prepared for a hemorrhage, and 30 yuan was still within their ability to pay.

He defended again, but seeing that it was useless, he could only grit his teeth and say, "Then, on behalf of the general...the resident representative accepts His Highness's conditions.

"Flangji paid 30 taels of compensation, and Daming will no longer pursue the matter of Flangji's soldiers participating in the Battle of Guangzhou."

(End of this chapter)