Lu Ming

Page 236

Speaker Laro concluded: "We have 7 days to decide whether to surrender... to apply for the damn green card, according to the requirements of this official document. Of course, we can also go to Manila, or... After the speaker paused Said: Fight."

After a short period of silence, a loud voice came from the back row of the parliament: "Aren't only drunks and dirty debtors driven to Manila? Why do you want to leave Macau? I'm not going anywhere. This is my hometown! With everything I hold dear and I will never leave!"

With the sound of this oath, the hall of the parliament boiled, and the shouts of defending the homeland resounded through the hall and went straight to the sky.

Chapter 545 Portuguese Preparations for Anti-Japanese War ([-])

Now that the tone of the "National War of Resistance" has been set, there is nothing to hesitate, just do it.

The gentlemen of the Macau City Council made a series of deployments after unanimously passing the proposal to defend their homes that day.

First of all, the parliament authorized the governor of Macau, Jeromeno Shivela, and ordered him to immediately assume the post of commander of the city defense, and unified command of all armed forces on the island.

Jeromeno Shivela is the third governor of Australia.This man succeeded his predecessor, Philip Robau, only last year, in June 1630.

The difference from the real history is that in the plane of the traveler, the "expatriate" governor and the local council, who were originally not harmonious, put aside their differences and contradictions at this moment and reached a consensus.

This is a helpless choice.

No matter what contradictions there are among the Portuguese, in the current situation of facing a catastrophe, if there is no sincere cooperation, there will be nothing.Once Macau is lost, the lords of the local council will of course have their families destroyed and displaced, and the governor will also end badly.Not to mention the ominous words "coexist with the city", even a title like "the third and last governor of Macau" probably doesn't sound good?

The word governor itself represents the territory and the responsibility to defend the territory.Officials of the Ming Dynasty are not clear, but in the Western world, the action of sending a governor means that from the perspective of the suzerain country, the country has king-like rights over the local area and needs to send representatives to implement the suzerain rights.

Therefore, Governor Shivela was in the parliament that day and successfully took over the important task of guarding the land.The early Australian Governor's power was mainly military power, so it was called "Bingtou".It was not until 1652, when the King of Portugal set up the Overseas Committee to assist in the management of overseas colonies, that the powers of the Governor increased.As a soldier, war was originally the governor's purview, and Shivela's governor's residence was right next to the fort.

After placing the most important military power, the parliament also made many follow-up decisions.This not only included a series of preparations for the battle, but most importantly, the parliament also sent multiple envoys and messengers to try to save the situation at the last moment.

The most important thing here, of course, is working with Ming... To be precise, it should be working with Cao.

In fact, from the beginning, the Portuguese have not stopped this work, but the effect is not obvious.

As explained above, the issue of the status of Macao has been the core diplomatic issue of the "Portuguese and Cao" two years before this.

"How can you allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch."In the eyes of the arrogant and arrogant people who are digging their feet at the world map to divide their private estates, the group of Portuguese in Macau are the little hooligans who came to give the master eye drops.

So even when he was still nesting in Yizhou, the Cao family made public his policy towards Australia, showing his hostility towards the Portuguese nakedly.

The Portuguese certainly did not take this hostility lightly, not from the start.After all, this is a large local pirate group with mysterious power that miraculously rose rapidly and defeated Zheng Zhilong and many pirates.In the East Asian ocean where the weak are prey to the strong, no one will underestimate such a force.

However, all the diplomatic efforts of the Portuguese failed in the end, because the core contradiction between the two sides could not be reconciled-the cross-border people want to take back the sovereignty of Macau, and turn the Portuguese into foreign guests applying for green cards, while the Portuguese want to occupy Macau for a long time and make it here. Become your own colony, just like they did in the other world.

There is simply no way to reconcile this fundamental issue of sovereignty.Although in the past year or so, the Portuguese have made various efforts and concessions in the face of the increasingly powerful crossing forces.

And today, when everyone has a showdown, the Portuguese Parliament has no choice but to respond again: send envoys, send all people who can communicate with the Ming government and Cao's forces to be lobbyists, and offer all kinds of promises and bribes, just asking for one opportunities for peaceful resolution.

So after the meeting, multiple envoys set off from Haojingao on the same day.Some of them took a boat, and some went directly by land through the lotus stem gate... The gate is still open at this moment.In fact, the traversing crowd did not create a tense atmosphere, at least from the perspective of the 24 hours after the ultimatum was issued, the gate was closed as usual.

Three days later, news came from all over the Ming Kingdom.

First of all, Zhangchao Zongbing Yamen, with the toughest attitude, rejected all the arguments of the Portuguese as always, and told the envoy with righteous words: Only by fully agreeing to the conditions put forward by the cross-border people during the previous negotiations between the two sides, the Portuguese can avoid this. war.Otherwise, "you will lose everything."

The Portuguese were not surprised by this result.After all, the two sides had negotiated N times before, and the Portuguese were deeply impressed by the arrogance and uncompromising attitude of the people who traveled through the country.

Followed by the indigenous officials of the Ming Dynasty.

In the long years before, from the first time when the Franji people set foot on the land of the Ming Dynasty to "borrow the land to sell goods", bribery, a tactic that travels through multiple planes, has repeatedly demonstrated its power.

The series of countermeasures taken by the court of the Ming Dynasty, especially the official circles in Guangdong, against Frangji were all inseparable from the word bribery.Of course, the word "Gongqian" should be added here.

You must know that among all the colonists, the Franji people have the best attitude when dealing with Ming officials.This undoubtedly hit the itch of the officials of the Ming Dynasty who were full of thoughts of "the heaven above the kingdom".Therefore, compared with other colonists, the Portuguese got the biggest benefit from the Ming Dynasty: Macau.

This time, however, it was different.

No matter whether they were high-level or low-level officials in Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, after the Portuguese envoys came to the door, most of them closed their doors and pretended to be sick.

The few officials who were not in the way of their old friendship and today's respect for etiquette, when they met secretly, they also persuaded the visitors with earnestness/fear and caution: "That man has killed countless Tartars. Now the emperor must pinch his nose and pamper him, and he will be with you again." The one named Xiong wears a pair of trousers, and he looks like a devil in the world of Fujian and Guangdong! Go back and tell your master Diego, don’t be right with the big bug, this person can’t go forward or reverse... Let’s go along, there are some rules live."

……

After all the news came back, I knew that if I conceded or lost the war this time, the gentlemen would not only lose their homes, but also their trade privileges in East Asia, so everyone put aside all distracting thoughts and prepared for the war with peace of mind.

Next, a large number of families flocked to the sailboat docked in Macau's inner harbour.

The war of resistance does not mean that women and children should block bullets.While the Portuguese were frantically preparing for the war, they naturally had to send their family members away from this tiny place first.

No matter how loud the slogan is and how high the morale is, the Portuguese executives still know in their hearts: this war is more ominous than good.

So the women and children must be sent away first.

In the years before this, due to coveting the key role of Macau in the trade with Ming Dynasty, the colonists of other European countries organized landing wars more than once, trying to seize Macau from the Portuguese.

Among them, the Dutch are the most enthusiastic.

The Dutch invaded Macau five times between 1601 and 1627, among which the one that occurred in 5 was the largest.

At that time, under the order of the governor of Batavia Cohen, the Dutch gangsters united with the British gangsters. The two sides, with Admiral Lai Gechen as the commander, put together a Macao landing force composed of twelve ships and 1000 soldiers, and once broke through the city wall of Macao.

However, the Anglo-Dutch hooligans were eventually thwarted by the heroic Portuguese soldiers and priests.

Therefore, if you encounter a war launched by other forces, the Portuguese are not in vain.

But this time is different.This time, it was the mainland of Ming that started the war.Although the Portuguese knew very well that the actual planner and promoter of the war was not the Ming emperor, but the ambitious pirate Earl Cao.

However, this is the reality: since Cao can push the Ming court to agree to his war plan, then this means that the Portuguese will soon face the endless manpower of the Ming country... Of course, there are also the elite army and navy under Earl Cao .

No Portuguese top brass can keep up with realistically optimistic forecasts.This is not the 1000 people put together by the Dutch hooligans. This is the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty with unlimited logistics in units of [-].

Therefore, the women and children must be sent away first, and then use the solid city defense and God-given courage to win a decent post-war agreement.

……

In the face of those large and small ships leaving Macau in a hurry, the passing crowd will not stop them.

The purpose of crossing the public is only to occupy Macau and resume the exercise of sovereignty, and then gradually shift the center of gravity of East Asian trade to the Guangzhou New Area.As for whether the Portuguese ran away or died in battle, it didn't matter to the people who traveled through.After all, after the war, Europeans still need to come back and spend money to digest those products on the assembly line.

So in the last few days of the seven-day deadline, two streams of people appeared in Macau.The first is the fleet of ships leaving Macau one after another.There are various types of ships, from Chinese style boats to Western style sailboats, and they are full of Portuguese women, children, old and weak.

As for the whereabouts of the ships...is there even a need to ask?Naturally, it is the Philippines, the new territory of the Portuguese great new emperor Philip in East Asia.Is it possible to go to Batavia, where the Dutch are entrenched?Aren't you afraid that Dutch hooligans will take women and children hostage?

The second flow of people in Macau is towards Daming.

There are a large number of merchants from the Ming Dynasty and their families in the city of Macau. Those who carry live goods, sedan chairs, sailors, vegetable sellers, fishmongers, etc., as long as they are yellow-skinned and black-haired, they will all carry their bags in the last few days. , Passed through the lotus stem gate in an endless stream.

Soon, in the small city of Macau, there were only Franz and their servants left.

The total number of left behind is still quite a lot.After decades of reproduction, the number of native Australians has exceeded 2000, even without counting traders and sailors like migratory birds.This is not counting their servants - a large number of Japanese, Indians, blacks, and slaves of different races, colors, and beliefs trafficked by colonists from all over the world.

Chapter 546 Portuguese Anti-Japanese War Preparation ([-])

April 1631th, 4, a short time before the ultimatum.

A large group of Portuguese aristocrats, led by Governor Jeromeno Shivela, came to Gao Ke Ning Street in the later generation, which was previously called Zhu Pao Xie Lane... and in the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Haojing Aoxi Zhuzai Inspection of the Bugarao Cannon Factory in Murocura.

This is what the title should mean.In the face of the coming war, the leader must inspect the military industry department.

In other words, the Macau Bucarao Cannon Factory has also been regarded as a provincial and ministerial excellent enterprise in history.

Since the Portuguese occupied Macau back then, they were often harassed by various pirates and British and Dutch hooligans, so as early as the 36th year of Jiajing, Portuguese cannon expert Pedro Bucarao opened a cannon factory here.

Since its inception, the Bugarao Cannon Factory has cast two products, copper cannon and iron cannon.Among them, the iron cannons were mainly produced by Chinese laborers, while the copper cannons, which were expensive and had higher technical content, were manufactured by the Portuguese under the command of Bucarao himself.

Due to the excellent quality of the products of the Bogarao Cannon Factory, the cannons not only have a long range but also are durable, so the reputation was quickly spread, and it became the most famous weapons factory in the Far East.

In the years that followed, the Bucarao Cannon Factory not only provided all the cannons for the forts in Macau, but also provided its products to armed merchant ships from various countries that stopped in Macau.Colonies in East Asia, including the Philippines, also sent people to purchase artillery.

Even the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the capital heard the reputation of the Bugarao Cannon Factory.As early as 7 years ago during the Tianqi period, the Ming court purchased 4 guns from Macau.And just 2 years ago, Emperor Chongzhen also bought 10 cannons with money, and named the Macau cannons placed on the Beijing tower as "General Shenwei".

But in the plane of crossing the public, the Bugarao Cannon Factory is still busy.

Bogarao is a middle-aged Portuguese with wavy black hair and a wrinkled face.Although he was wearing overalls when he greeted the big shots, with a smoky face and calloused and oily hands, but due to the important position of the gun factory in Macau, Bucarao has a considerable status among the high-level people in Macau , In other words, he was originally a member of the high-level people.

"Dear gentlemen, what you see now is the bell foundry."

In history, the Bugarao Cannon Factory was only for casting cannons when it was first built. Later, when it expanded in scale, it added bell casting business.After all, casting bells and casting cannons are both large metal castings, which have the same purpose.And in this era, there is a huge demand for bronze bells in both the East and the West.There are monasteries in the west, and monk temples in the east. These are rich and powerful households that are analogous to state-owned enterprises. It is right for the artillery factory to cast bells.

However, following the fingers of the director of Bugarao, the current bell casting workshop is completely in shambles.In addition to the empty sheds and pits, there are only some scattered wooden and iron workpieces. There are no workers, and the furnace has not fired.

Soon, the councilors understood: "Has the business of casting bells stopped?"

Bugarao bowed sadly: "Actually, as early as three months ago, all bell casting business stopped, gentlemen."

Things are constantly interacting and changing.In the plane of the traveler, the life of the Bogarao Cannon Factory is not easy.

First of all, as early as 2 years ago, Macao, which has been importing copper materials from Japan in history, was cut off by the crossing people.

At that time, Travelers used the right to export raw silk to win over big Japanese businessmen, and then cut off the purchase channels of the Dutch and Portuguese through the Japanese high-level in one fell swoop.

After that, as the power of crossing became stronger and stronger, patrol ships spread all over the east and west of the strait, and the Japanese copper and silver mines were increasingly unable to pass this level, and were all intercepted by the crossing crowd to Taijiang Wharf.

As a result, the sources of copper mines for the Portuguese in Macao became increasingly scarce, and they could only be supplemented by smuggling from the Ming Dynasty and India.This has caused the business of the Bogarao Gun Factory to shrink.

Then in the last six months, as the relationship between the "Cao and Pu" parties deteriorated day by day, the Bugarao Cannon Factory simply stopped the copper bell business.The Portuguese are not fools. Since the military pressure on this plane has increased greatly, the limited metal resources must be deployed in preparation for war.

After walking past the empty shed, not far ahead is the bustling cannon casting workshop.

In the workshop where a large amount of charcoal, copper and iron materials are piled up, there are gray colors everywhere, and suffocating dust floats in the pungent air.After arriving here, the gentlemen covered their mouths and noses with their silk handkerchiefs.

A large number of shirtless workers with cloth kerchiefs covering their faces are casting cannons with various tools.They diverted the molten iron and copper from the iron smelting furnace to the molds placed on the ground, and then followed the standard operating procedures to produce a series of bronze and iron cannons by using the ancient clay mold casting method.

"Have the Ming workers left yet?"

Andrade, who is the clerk of the Macau City Council, couldn't help asking curiously when he saw that there were many yellow-skinned Ming people with hair buns among the workers.

"Some Ming workers have left." Bu Jialuo nodded: "But there are still many left, after all, the gun factory has increased their salaries. You know, those who go back will face unemployment... Living in the Ming country There's a lot of pressure."

"How is the readiness of the artillery?"

Governor Shivela, who was in charge of actual combat readiness, interjected a little impatiently at this time.As commander-in-chief on the Portuguese side of the war, he was closest to Alexander.The Commander didn't have the time to study the survival pressure of Ming workers, but directly asked about the aspects he cared about the most.

"Your Excellency, in addition to the orders that have been delivered to the various forts, in the last week, the artillery factory has rushed to work on 20 artillery pieces of various pounds, including six 6-pound bronze cannons and two 18-pound cannons."

"Very well, that's the only good news I've heard today."

The governor's beard on his face was tilted at an angle: "Can you provide more bronze artillery? Dear Mr. Bogarao, as you know, our opponents also have excellent artillery. We've been shown it on the gunboat."

"My lord, what you see now are the cannons we made with the last batch of copper materials. There are about fifteen of them."

Bugarao stretched out his arm and waved slowly: "The artillery factory has been unable to obtain enough copper materials for a long time, so it can only increase the number of cast iron cannons. However, our artillery shells are sufficient... Smugglers from the Ming Dynasty brought A lot of pig iron."

"My dear gentlemen, this is an obvious question."

Governor Shivela said loudly after hearing the words: "If this war follows our concept, it will be a protracted war. We need a large number of artillery to bring casualties that the Ming government cannot bear, so that we can get a decent job." postwar agreement."

"There will be assistance." Speaker Ralo gave the governor a reassurance at this time: "The representatives of the parliament have now met with the governor of the Philippines. If it is calculated according to the sailing schedule, the Spaniards will definitely assist us. Lost Here, they also suffer losses."

……

After inspecting the sweltering workshop of the Bugarao Cannon Factory, the gentlemen probably wanted to have a change of air, so the gentlemen came to the beautiful Fortress again.

Mount Fortress is located on the side of the Ruins of St. Paul's in later generations, on a small hill with an altitude of 52 meters in the middle of the Macau Peninsula. It is one of the main places of interest in Macau.

The Big Fort is also known as St. Paul's Fort, Central Fort or Ruins Fort.Construction began here as early as 1616 AD during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are several forts inside and outside the small city of Macau, the Ruins of St. Paul's is the largest, the best location, and the strongest garrison. It is undoubtedly the core of Macau city's defense.

The Fortress of Macau in the [-]th century has very practical military significance, and it is still different from the tourist scenic spots of later generations.

Although there is also a large open space above, it lacks green shade and towering old trees.In addition, there are no cultural relics and historical buildings on the current fort, such as the ancient tower of the Society of Jesus.In fact, apart from a circle of low brick buildings used to garrison troops, there are no redundant buildings inside the fort.

In terms of scale, Mount Fortress is actually a small pocket town.The side length of the fort is about 100 meters, and the four corners of the walls protrude to form a bastion.The fort wall is built on a 3.7-meter-wide granite foundation, built with rammed earth, and solidified with oyster shell powder as cement, which is very strong.

The wall of the big fortress is about 9 meters high and narrows upwards to a width of 2.7 meters.The female wall is about 2 meters high and has a crenelated shape, which can accommodate up to 32 cannons.

In the history of the Fort, there are only blockhouses at the two corners of the southeast wall.As for the northwest wall facing the Ming Dynasty, the female wall is shorter and has no muzzle.This is mainly because the Portuguese showed their focus on the defense of the outer seas and their friendly attitude towards the Ming Dynasty officials at that time.

On this plane, however, everything is different.

As early as a year ago, the northwest female wall of the Ruins of St. Paul's Fortress was intermittently reinforced and heightened, and artillery positions were set up.

Recently, the Portuguese not only dug the foundation outside the fort in the northwest, built a brick wall flush with the ground, but also prepared a large amount of construction materials... There are also red bricks and bricks that they bought at a high price. cement.

Then counting from the day when the ultimatum was received, today, 6 days later, on the side of the Ruins of St. Paul's facing the Ming Dynasty, a solid blockhouse has been built out of thin air.On the cannon muzzle of the female wall at the top, there is also a cannon muzzle shining with blue light.

When the gentlemen came to the fort, the soldiers were busy, making preparations for the battle.

The soldiers stationed on the cannon are not hired goods of varying levels, they are regular Portuguese soldiers.

These soldiers uniformly wear brown jackets, jackets and shirts.They wore a wide tie around their necks, and they wore shorts, leggings, and leather shoes.All soldiers wear Western-style bonnets with white or gold bands on their heads.In addition, those with bright feathers on their hats are military officers.

The soldiers stationed on the entire Ruins of St. Paul's Fort have expanded to 400 due to the war.

These people included 200 garrison artillery, and 200 guards composed of musketeers and spearmen.

In addition, in the city of Macau not far behind the fort, there is a reinforcement channel, and troops can be added to the fort at any time.