Bishop Antonio was apparently a skilful man who completely concealed Macau's autonomous status and cleared the Legion of Loyalty of trying to turn Macau into a merchant republic for Portuguese merchants in East Asia.

"Oh, is that so? So in other words, the inhabitants of Macau are willing to owe allegiance to me, to the Ming Emperor rather than to the King of Spain? Zhu Youzhen restrained his smile and said coldly.

Bishop Antonio's face suddenly became hot, and his forehead began to sweat. The merger of the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of Spain has always been regarded as a top secret by Portuguese merchants in Macao, and it is information that is absolutely not allowed to be disclosed to the Ming people.

The massacre of the Chinese by the Spaniards in Luzon caused the Portuguese merchants to be driven out of Macau for fear of being angered by the Chinese. Thus, the Council of Fidelity agreed to swear allegiance to the King of Spain, but at the same time decided not to make this relationship public.

Now that he heard this from the mouth of the ruler of the Ming Kingdom, how could Bishop Antonio not feel flustered.

There are now 800 married Portuguese men and 115 unmarried Portuguese men in Macao, in addition to 5 to 6,000 black slaves, and some Chinese and foreign merchants, the number is only 8 or 9,000.

Bishop Antonio pondered for a long time, and finally said with careful words: "The Portuguese of Macao are some merchants who arrived in the East in pursuit of trade profits, and we have been abiding by the laws of the Ming Dynasty since we came to China, and we are not in the same group as the Spaniards who plundered the wealth of the land and committed all kinds of atrocious crimes.

Moreover, the annexation of the Kingdom of Portugal by the Kingdom of Spain was not motivated by the will of the Portuguese people. It was completely King Philip II of Spain who took advantage of the lack of a successor to the Portuguese throne and sent the Duke of Elba to lead the army to capture Lisbon, and then brought the Portuguese crown for himself by force.

We, the Portuguese in Macao, do not approve of this behavior of the King of Spain, and we believe that the throne of Portugal should be inherited by Her Royal Highness Catarina, Duchess of Braganza, the sixth son of Manuel I and the second daughter of Prince Duarte.

As for the ruling power of Macau, we also think that it is irrefutable and unquestionable. It belongs to you, His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Ming Kingdom. If you order that the residents of Macau be required to swear allegiance to you, then I am sure that all the residents of Macau will happily swear to you. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the bishop for a long time before he smiled and said, "Bishop Antonio, you are really an excellent lobbyist, and your statement has convinced me a little. Now tell me a little bit about the relationship between Macau and Spain, whether it's Manila, Malacca or Goa, India..."

Chongzhen's smile relieved Father Jinnige, who was the translator, but the question he asked afterwards made Bishop Antonio secretly curse that it was that bastard who had told the emperor of Ming so much news.

Bill, who was enjoying a hot bath, let out a big sneeze, and said to himself, "That bastard is cursing me, is that little white face of Peternats back to the city of Geranza." Hehe, even if he curses again, it's useless, as long as I get the official documents of the right to trade and trade, the governor of Batavia will definitely kick this little white face back to China..."

In front of Chongzhen, who seemed to know everything well, Bishop Antonio had to say honestly: "After Philip II inherited the Portuguese crown, he had 'guaranteed the inviolability of all the old local laws, freedoms, and laws', so we had to pay allegiance to him in order to ensure that the agreement on the union of Spain and Portugal would be implemented in Macao.

In addition, the Portuguese in Macao formed a council, which officially established Macau as an autonomous city. Rejected the intervention of the colonial government of the Kingdom of Spain in Manila in the administration of Macau.

The Diocese of Macau, on the other hand, remained subordinate to the Diocese of Goa and was under the authority of the Portuguese and Indian Governors. As for the city of Malacca, it exists entirely for the spice trade. But now the Dutch have almost monopolized the entire Spice Islands, so the city began to decline.

Not only that, but the Sultan of Johor, a descendant of the Sultan of Malacca, has always wanted to retake the city, and the Dutch have attacked the city several times, but fortunately they have all been repulsed. ”

"Interesting, you arrived in Southeast Asia before the Dutch, but let the Dutch take over the entire Spice Islands?" After listening to Bishop Antonio's explanation, Zhu Youzhen asked.

Bishop Antonio could only prevaricate: "This group of Protestants has been lured by the devil and deviated from the right path, and they cannot help but slaughter the natives of the Spice Islands, even the British merchants who also believe in Protestantism. ”

Looking at Bishop Antonio's serious accusations, Zhu Youzhen only felt funny, would the black history of the Portuguese in the Age of Discovery be better than that of the Dutch?

Zhu Youzhen cleared his throat and officially said to Bishop Antonio: "I would like to make a suggestion to the residents of Macao, that is, the residents of Macao will be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and become a member of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Bishop Antonio nodded and said, "This is a matter of course, as long as I return to Macau..."

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "I mean true allegiance, Macao is part of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and I will never allow a group of foreigners to set up their own army, courts, and independent parliaments on the land of the Ming Dynasty." Could it be that the Ming Dynasty could establish a city in Lisbon that would be under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty like Macau? ”

Before Bishop Antonio could speak, Father Kinnige could not wait to defend the Jesuits: "Your Majesty, the Jesuit monks in Australia have never had the idea of occupying the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and we have always come to the Ming Dynasty with the intention that the people of this land can listen to the gospel of God. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said: "I have seen the kindness of the Jesuit priests these days, since you are willing to follow the local customs and spread the gospel of God according to the Chinese tradition, I think there is nothing wrong with it."

But I would like to remind you that China has always been a secular country, and no religion is allowed to interfere in politics, and there will never be such a thing as an inquisition. ”

Chongzhen's words made Father Jinnige a little stunned, but then Chongzhen's next sentence made him completely abandon Bishop Antonio and those merchants in Macau.

"I thought that starting next year, the Jesuits could establish a meeting place in the capital as a place to spread Western culture."

Looking at Father Kinney Court's elated appearance, Bishop Antonio knew that if he made one wrong choice, the history of Portugal in Macau would be over.

Bishop Antonio was glad that the three members of the council were all in the capital, so he did not need to make such a difficult decision alone.

"Your Majesty, Macau is not a city run by a dictator. I will need to consult with the two executive members of the Council before I can reply to your request. Of course, personally, I am infinitely in favor of His Majesty's opinion. ”

"Of course, once you've made your decision, you can tell me about your decision through Father Kinnige." Zhu Youzhen nodded, and then wanted to get up.

Bishop Antonio gritted his teeth, and finally spoke: "Your Majesty, if you don't think I'm presumptuous, can you answer me a little question?" ”

Zhu Youzhen sat back in his chair and said, "Of course you can, please speak." ”

Bishop Antonio said hurriedly: "If we are willing to swear allegiance to you, then how do you plan to govern Macau, Your Majesty?" ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said: "I think that the current autonomy of Macao is still good, so I don't plan to make major changes. However, Macao's military and diplomatic power must be vested in the Ming Central Committee.

First of all, the Macau Council is still the highest authority in Macau, and unless it makes a resolution that violates the laws of the Ming Dynasty, harms the interests of the Ming Dynasty, or attempts to divide the territory of the Ming Dynasty, I intend to recognize it.

Secondly, every resident who has reached the age of 18 and has settled in Macao for more than three years has the right to vote. However, only residents who pay more than 100 taels of tax and swear allegiance to the Ming Dynasty have the right to be elected. Of course, the Jesuit priests did not need to be limited in the amount of tax they could pay.

The term of office of the members of the Macao Council has been extended to six years, with half of the terms replaced every three years, and the number of members is one deputy for every 1,000 people.

The Chief Executive of Macao is the Mayor of Macao, and the Council elects two candidates, one of whom is selected by the Central Government to serve as Mayor for a term of five years.

The Court of Macao has three Supreme Judges, two of whom are appointed directly by the Governor and the other is elected by the Council for an unlimited term of office.

The laws of Macao shall be enacted by the Council and shall be implemented after being approved by the Central Committee, but shall not contradict the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Except for those who need to be submitted to the central government for review, the rest of the cases can be finally tried in the Macao courts.

Eventually, the jurisdiction of the city of Macau will be extended to the entire Macau peninsula, as well as the islands of Taipa and Coloane.

All Macao merchants who oath allegiance to the Ming Dynasty can fly the banner of the Ming Dynasty and accept the protection of the Ming Dynasty. ”

After listening to Zhu Youzhen's plan, Bishop Antonio was suddenly a little shocked and frightened, this plan was obviously formulated by people who were very familiar with Macao, and it was obvious that someone had betrayed Macao.

But soon he calmed down, the Jesuits had been trying to open the door of the Ming Kingdom for so many years, to preach in this rich and populous land, and the gains and losses of a Macao must not have been taken to the hearts of these monks.

Although through this plan, Macau lost its current semi-independent status. However, Bishop Antonio was well aware that Macau's semi-independent status was not due to the benevolence of the Spaniards, but to the fact that they did not want to cut off trade from China, which tolerated Macau's independence from the Manila colonial system.

It can be said that Macau's ability to maintain this semi-independent status is also due to the traditional prestige of the Ming Dynasty in Asia, not because of the strength of the Portuguese merchants in Macau.

Moreover, the acceptance of this plan of autonomy for Macau, although it would temporarily make the Portuguese feel that they had lost control of Macau, would also enhance Macau's future trade status between China and Europe, if the Ming Emperor could really keep his promises.