General Fan Delang, with the wounded Hector, left behind a battleship and four merchant ships, and fled to Taiwan in disarray.

"It's really strange, how can the British have such strength in the South China Sea? And how did they cross the Straits of Malacca? Did you come around from somewhere else, make a fortune and leave? "The Dutch fleet was besieged by eighteen British warships in the South China Sea, which is a great deal! At the beginning of the battle, the ships of the Ming army were far behind, and the Dutch only saw British ships, and they never dreamed that those British ships were actually the Nanyang Company.

After returning to Chihkan Castle in Taiwan, Fan Delang reported the news of the attack by the British fleet to the governor of Taiwan.

Looking at the map of the South Seas, I wondered how the British had crossed the Strait of Malacca without being discovered by the Dutch. Circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean? That certainly can't be! He suddenly saw the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, and immediately understood: "Damn the British, you must have come in from this location by detour!" ”

Fan Delang asked, "Your Excellency the Governor, what should we do now?" ”

"What should have been done, what are you still doing now!" Rub it along.

"But the appearance of the British in the South China Sea is a mortal threat to our eastern shipping routes!"

"They sneak around the Sunda Strait, they don't have any friends in the South China Sea, they don't have a single supply base for them, can they operate within our control for long periods of time? Now those Britons must have run back after they succeeded! We will send another batch of merchant ships to Japan and Korea, and two more shipments to Batavia, and this time the losses will be compensated! ”

Anyway, the Dutch were robbed by the British a lot, and it didn't matter if they ran twice, even the loss of the ship with goods could be recovered. However, he sent people to report the situation to Batavia, hoping that the East India Company would step up patrols around the Sunda Strait to prevent the British from taking a detour.

In this way, the route opened up by Wang Xinyu to contact the British was cut off by the Dutch, which would cause great trouble for Wang Xinyu to continue to purchase British warships in the next step.

Besides, after Wang Xinyu boarded his Dafu ship, the Ming army fleet separated from the Nanyang Company fleet and sailed to Macao.

The naval fleet of the Nanyang Company led by Albert returned to Dingguo Bay, and the four Dutch merchant ships that were snatched up will be remodeled and changed to be unrecognizable to the Dutch, such as repainting, changing the exterior decoration of the ship, and even removing the soft sail and changing it to a hard sail suitable for the operation of the Ming people, and other renovation projects, and then it will be incorporated into the Nanyang Company transport team. Because the Dutch merchant ships were Caravelles, they looked small on deck, but they were particularly capable of loading. This is because the Dutch tried their best to evade tariffs, so they specialized in building the kind of merchant ships with small decks and big bellies.

The captured Dutch captives were also left in Yanping Port and turned into coolies to work for the Nanyang Company. Only after the Nanyang Company drove the Dutch out of Nanyang and took control of the Strait of Malacca could the Dutch prisoners be released.

However, to Albert's surprise, there were two Teutonic warriors among the Dutch captives! That Teutonic warrior is a treasure! They weren't Dutch anyway, so Albert picked them out and incorporated them into the Nanyang Army.

The stolen goods were loaded onto the ships of the Nanyang Company convoy and sent to Manila to be sold to the Spaniards. Later, Pan Liu took part of the money he earned from selling goods to Borneo and paid the first month's salary to the escorts.

Seeing the boxes of silver, the officers and soldiers of the Nanyang Company's escort team were suddenly full of blood and their morale was extremely high. They never thought that Nanyang Company would not deduct a penny of military salary! The military salary of two taels of silver every month was all paid in place.

Jiang Zhiping, who has repeatedly made meritorious contributions in the battle against Sulu Shengfan, has been promoted to a general. After receiving a full military salary, he preached in the army: "Everyone! General Wang is as kind to us as a mountain! We eat well every day here, live well, and receive a full military salary! Should we work harder for such treatment? What's more, the sacrificed soldiers can enter the Martyrs' Shrine! Admired by future generations! People live for a lifetime, and they can leave a name in Qingshi, so what regrets do they have even if they die in battle? ”

The soldiers applauded: "Good! We are willing to swear allegiance to General Wang! Swear allegiance to Nanyang Company! ”

Albert himself did not make contact with the Spaniards, but went to Borneo with his fleet and recruited a group of Han Chinese as sailors and gunners.

Because the army has issued a full military salary as a precedent, and the navy's military salary is still higher than that of the army, the people who came to sign up were squeezed out of their heads. In the end, Albert could only select a group of young men with good water skills and strong bodies to join the navy.

After recruiting naval recruits, Albert took the recruits back to Yanping Port for training.

But that was what happened later, and when Wang Xinyu's fleet arrived off the coast of Macao, a Portuguese boat had already come to interrogate him.

The Portuguese boat approached, and a Portuguese officer alighted from the boat. After boarding Wang Xinyu's ship, the Portuguese officer asked in stiff Cantonese, "Did you come to us with smuggled goods?" ”

Wang Xinyu has also learned a little Cantonese now, but not as well as the Portuguese officer. So he asked the Nanyang Company's Franc machine translator who came with him to reply: "We didn't bring the goods here this time. But don't worry, we'll be regular visitors in the future. ”

It was evident that the Portuguese officer looked very disappointed, and he asked in a cold tone, "Then what are you here for?" ”

Wang Xinyu first rewarded the Portuguese officer with five pieces of Spanish ocean, and then replied: "We have come to your governor, because we will cooperate for a long time in the future." ”

Due to the Manchu Qing Dynasty's maritime ban, Macau was the only port capable of shipping goods out of China. At that time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty even banned the maritime trade in Guangzhou, and the only way to export Chinese goods was to transport them overland to Macao, and then from Macao to the Portuguese-controlled area of the Sultanate of Aceh, which is today's Malaysia, and then transshipped to Europe. At present, the Manchu government has not implemented a more stringent order to move to the sea, and Wang Xinyu can still smuggle goods from the coast of Zhejiang to the sea, but in the first year of Kangxi, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will implement a more stringent order to move to the sea, and at that time, Macao is the only export, so it is very important for Wang Xinyu to have a good relationship with the governor of Macao.

The Qing court's ban on the sea and the relocation of the sea were aimed at Zheng Jiajun and Zhang Huangyan, in order to prevent Zheng Jiajun and Zhejiang from obtaining export goods, cut off their financial routes, and stucked food supplies. However, the goods were sent to Macao by land, but they were not banned by the Qing court, because the money was earned by the Portuguese, and the food provided was also given to the Portuguese, and it had nothing to do with the "puppet Ming Haikou".

The Portuguese officer took the silver dollar and smiled, but he said worriedly: "Your clothing and hair accessories are not in the style of the Tatars, and I am afraid that it will not be convenient for our governor to do business with you." You'll have to find another way, or you'll have to smuggle the goods over. ”

"Why?" Wang Xinyu was stunned.

At this time, the Portuguese officer made up a lesson for Wang Xinyu, who was not very good at history: "Because the Tatars have a general's palace north of our Macao, and there are 1,000 officers and soldiers stationed there, nominally, they govern Macao." The Tatar garrison is in the former cottage, and the goods we need now are all sent by the sailors of the former cottage. The Tatars also often landed in Macao to collect rent. In addition, the permission of the Tatar government was required to do business here. The year before last, two British ships had come, and because they refused to pay the Tatars, our governor did not dare to let them ashore. If they find out that we are doing business with you, then they will cut off our source of goods, and our governor will be able to go back to Portugal!" ”

When Wang Xinyu learned about these things, he thought: It seems that he has to send someone to Qianshanzhai to buy those Qing troops and use silver to smash a way. The Qing army in the former cottage is always a little better than those along the coast of Zhejiang who strictly enforce the order to move to the sea, because in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Fujian and other places, there are goods going to sea, and it is a big crime to be found by the Qing court. It is legal to send goods to Macao here, as long as they are handled well, they will not be discovered by the Qing court, and presumably those officers of the Green Battalion are also willing to make this money. But bribing Qing officers and soldiers is another matter. And his negotiations with the Governor of Macao are another important matter, that is, he hopes that the Governor of Macao can provide a wharf for his Nanyang Company. So Wang Xinyu said: "On the side of the Tatars, we have a way to deal with it, I am here for the Nanyang Company, not for the Ming Army." As soon as I see your governor, I will explain everything to him. ”

However, Wang Xinyu still did not know one thing, that is, after the Qing court implemented the sea relocation order, because Tang Ruowang negotiated with Ao Bai, Sonny and others and obtained the consent of the Qing court, the Portuguese in Macao were not driven away by the Qing court, and Macao was retained as the only trade port.

"Alright then, your boat will be parked outside, and a few of you will get into our boat, and I will introduce you to the Governor." said the Portuguese officer.

Wang Xinyu remembered one more thing: "By the way, do you have a missionary named Nan Huairen here?" ”

"Nan Huairen?" The Portuguese officer was stunned, "You're late!" He went to Beijing last year. ”

Nan Huairen, a Belgian missionary who later cast artillery, manufactured various machinery, and trained artillery for Kangxi, once lived in Macao for a while. Originally, Wang Xinyu wanted to poach this person, but when he heard that he was no longer in Macau, he had to give up this idea. However, Wang Xinyu soon thought of a more powerful character than Nan Huairen: Dai Zi! When his own special team grows up, he will arrest Dai Zi's family and serve him.

But Wang Xinyu didn't know that Dai Zi was still an eleven-year-old child at this time.

Wang Xinyu asked again: "Do you governors have any hobbies?" ”

The Portuguese officer laughed: "I don't have any special hobbies, I just love money!" ”

People who love money are easy to deal with. Wang Xinyu already has a plan.

But the Portuguese officer said again: "You still have to change your clothes, otherwise you will be seen by the Tartar spies here, and they will send troops!" Three years ago, there were our merchants doing business with you Ming people, but they were discovered by Tatar spies, who sent troops to land and captured all our merchants! ”

It was impossible for Wang Xinyu to shave his hair, so he gave the Portuguese officer another ten silver dollars and asked him to buy two sets of melon skin hats and riding coats in Macau.

The Portuguese officer took the money, and he knew that he could make another handful, so he happily agreed.

After an hour and a half, the Portuguese officer, with the purchased horse coat and melon skin hat, boarded Wang Xinyu's ship again.

At this time, Wang Xinyu had already untied his bundle of hair, tied a braid on the back of his head, and shaved his sideburns. If you wear a melon skin hat, you can't tell if you have shaved your hair.

It was getting late, and the fleet had been anchored off the coast of Macao for one night. For the sake of insurance, Wang Xinyu ordered the Ming army fleet to put down the flag of Zheng Jiajun and the flag of the Ming Navy, hang the flag of the Nanyang Company, and all of them became merchant ships. However, even if the Qing army came to find trouble, Wang Xinyu was not afraid, although his eight big ships could only exert a quarter of their combat effectiveness due to lack of manpower, but with those small ships of the Qing army, without a quarter of their combat strength, they could be wiped out with one percent of their combat strength.

The next morning, the Portuguese officer came again and told Wang Xinyu that he had contacted the Governor and that they could go ashore with him.

Wang Xinyu went ashore with an interpreter and, under the guidance of a Portuguese officer, arrived at the Governor's Palace in Macao.

After waiting for more than an hour, the Governor of Macao, Bu Jialu, personally walked to the door to greet him. The Portuguese procrastinated, and just made Wang Xinyu wait for more than an hour, not because Bugalu did it intentionally, but he was wearing a suit, spraying perfume, and grinding for more than an hour. But to greet them in person, it is the etiquette of the Portuguese to meet important foreign figures.

Wang Xinyu finally met the 11th Governor of Macau, Bougalou, and according to the customs of the Portuguese, he warmly hugged the Governor and patted each other on the shoulder: "Honorable Governor! My name is Wang Xinyu and I am an employee of Nanyang Company. It is a great honor to meet the Governor! Allow me to say hello to your family and wish them good health! ”

The Portuguese have a special respect for women and a strong sense of family, and generally like to greet each other's wives, but Wang Xinyu does not know whether the governor is married, so he greets his family.

Listening to the interpreter's words, Bugaru was very happy: "It's a pleasure to meet you! Bless your family too! Inside, please! ”

In fact, Bugalo can speak Cantonese, but unfortunately Wang Xinyu's Cantonese proficiency is too poor, so he has to speak Hokkien and then let the translator communicate with Bugalo in Portuguese.