In November of the 20th year of Chongzhen, a small boat from Fujian sailed across Lingdingyang with Guangdong's affairs and set foot on this small city. It is less than ten miles from north to south and less than four miles from east to west. It is Macau named by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Many civil and military officials who obtained the map of Huangming Kun were surprised. The crown prince seemed to be particularly concerned about this small town in the South China Sea. This was because of the education Zhu Cixuan received in his previous life: Macau was occupied by the Portuguese since the Ming Dynasty and became its colony. As the crown prince of Huangming, how could the future emperor tolerate colonies in his territory? Of course, we should pay special attention to this.

The feedback received forced Zhu Cixuan to change his prejudice. In today's era, Macau can only be considered an autonomous territory at most, not a colony.

From the Jiajing period, the Portuguese of Francisco entered Hong Kong in Macau and requested residence. It was not until the 44th year of Wanli, 1616th year of Yeli that Portugal formally appointed Francisco Carlogao as the governor of Macau. The governor did not take office until the third year of the Apocalypse, when Francisco Mas Galuye became the first governor of Macau to serve as the first governor of Macau.

Although nominally called the Governor, in fact, before 1783, the Governor of Macau was just a "soldier" who was responsible for Macau's defense, and the Governor's Office was also located in the fort. The entire city was managed by the Council under the influence of the Jesuits. This Council was called the "Loyalty Council" in official documents. Whether it is power or history, it is far from comparable to the Governor of Macau.

The Ming Dynasty did not give up its power in Macau, and still assigned officials to manage the land and collect taxes. According to the agreement between the Ming and Portuguese, the Portuguese had to pay 500 taels of land rent for the land they lived in, and also pay other unfixed taxes. During the Tianqi period, Guangdong could receive more than 20,000 taels of taxes from Macau every year.

For the Ming Dynasty government without the concept of sovereignty, such benefits are far greater than the benefits of the land. Since the Franji people are willing to do this transaction, why not do it?

Even now, the entire Macau city is filled with all kinds of Catholic mixed races. The population is nearly 10,000, and the Portuguese still do not think this is their colony, but just a piece of Chinese land governed by them.

Based on this sober understanding, after renting Macau, Portugal was always able to stand on the politically correct side. Whether it was the contribution of artillery during the Jiajing period, the help of training artillery, dispatching mercenaries during the Chongzhen period, and even the support for the Yongli regime in the original historical time and space, it made people believe that they were a group of "good tenants".

After receiving the news that the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty wanted to open a trade, the Macau Council immediately made a resolution and sent member Lourenco Mendes Cordeiro as plenipotentiary representative to go to Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian to meet with the Crown Prince of the Ming Empire.

Shen Youlong met Lorensu and his party in Guangzhou, opening the door of convenience so that the Portuguese delegation could go to the Crown Prince's Headquarters by land. As for the goods listed on the list, we would wait until the south wind blows next year before trading by sea.

When Lorensu and his assistants arrived at Zhangzhou Prefecture for more than half a month, Zhu Cilang had moved his headquarters to Xiamen for nearly a month.

This city was named after the 28th year of Hongwu and means the gate of the national building.

Since it is a door, there is entry and exit, and there is absolutely no reason to only enter but not exit.

Zhu Cixuan opened a Maritime Warehouse Department on Kinmen Island, which would inevitably require a larger warehousing and logistics center, but Xiamen's location is a unique and excellent choice. Therefore, Xiamen also officially established a county. Kinmen Island was incorporated into the jurisdiction of Xiamen County and was the residence of Xiamen Maritime Warehouse Department.

Lorensu arrived at Xiamen's main island by boat, and from a distance, he saw a group of workers leveling the foundation and working hard for the expansion of Xiamen City. He wrapped his coat, but still felt the cold sea breeze constantly tearing his body and soul apart.

——Why didn’t the crown prince of the Ming Empire stay honestly in Zhangzhou or Quanzhou? At least it was warmer there.

Lorensu complained in his heart, and followed the fured eunuch into the eastern palace headquarters in the city.

"Please allow me to express my highest respect to you on behalf of the King of Portugal, the great restoration of the country, Joao IV, and the Macau Council, and congratulate you on your successful birth." Lorensu met Zhu Cilang in a side hall, and several Ming officials dressed in Yanju clothes.

This was not a formal summoning. When the general affairs respectfully translated the words of the messenger Franji, both Xiao Mo, Zheng Zhilong, and Fang Jiahong all showed kind smiles.

"Give a seat." Zhu Cilang sat on the main seat in the middle, letting Lorensu sit opposite Fang Jiahong. On him were several gentle young civil servants, looking at his Franchise face with interest.

"This is just an informal meeting. And an informal banquet to welcome the arrival of the messenger." Zhu Cixuan glanced at the mixed-race news and tried his best to say in vernacular language that he could understand: "I am very pleased that Portugal had abide by the order set by the Ming Dynasty in the past years."

——This is directly related to Wang Wu’s victory in the sea battle.

Zhu Cilang added in his heart, of course there is no need to say it out.

Lorensu finished listening to the translation and expressed his gratitude.

Zhu Cixuan continued: "I am also very happy to hear that the country can be independent from the savage and brutal Spanish rule, although it is a little late."

Lorensu deserves his identity as a diplomat and politely said: "It's not too late to give sincere blessings for a thousand years."

Zhu Ciyang nodded and continued: "Have you reached a settlement with the Netherlands in Europe?"

Lorensu felt that the strong prince had mastered the rhythm of the conversation and wanted to get rid of it. He simply replied: "The war in Europe is quelling, but the final peace has not yet arrived. No matter what Europe is, our competition with the Dutch in the East will not weaken."

He knew the friendly history of Portugal and Ming, and also knew the Confucian views on grudges. They believed in "repaying grudges with directness", and in this regard Portugal had an innate advantage over the Netherlands.

Zhu Cixuan did not allow Lorensu to turn the topic to the east, but still bite into Europe and said: "It's a pity that the Ming Dynasty could not support friends far away in Europe. I still remember that when many Ming troops surrendered, the soldiers of Erguo fought for the Ming Dynasty until their deaths, which made me particularly hope to provide assistance to Erguo within my ability."

This was the first time that Lorensu received such high praise from the Ming Dynasty officials, and quickly stood up to pay tribute: "This is the honor of our soldiers. Our country still needs the help of the Ming Dynasty in East India."

"East India is nothing." Zhu Cixuan once again blocked Lorensu's efforts: "There is an old saying in China: Where will the skin be attached if it does not have hair? If your foundation in Europe is damaged, it is impossible for overseas leaders to provide resources safely.

"I believe you know very well that the Dutch have driven you out of Japan and seized your ports and territories from Africa to India. In East India, our Southeast Asia, you can only live in a small area like Macau. In decades, you will be completely forgotten.

"And all this comes from the loss of support from Lisbon and the support of two million compatriots in our country." Zhu Cixuan concluded.

Lorensu knew that the Jesuit missionaries spared no effort to introduce Europe to the East, but he really didn't expect that the prince would even be so clear about the population of Portugal.

——A population of two million, is this number reliable?

Lorensu thought to himself.

"So, cooperation in Southeast Asia is not important, what is important is Europe." Zhu Cixuan said: "You need an ally who can directly help you improve your combat effectiveness."

"But Your Highness, the Ming Dynasty probably won't send a fleet to expedition to Europe." Lorensu finally gave up the dominant negotiation rhythm. Anyway, it was an informal meeting, so he comforted himself.

"We have no plan to send a fleet at present." Zhu Cixuan said this, and found that Zheng Zhilong seemed to be less nervous.

"But we can send an army of 5,000 people to take your ship to Europe to fight, if the war is not completely over by then." Zhu Cixuan said.

Xiao Mo did not doubt the military strength of the Ming Dynasty "then" but he did not understand why the crown prince was so enthusiastic about a world thousands of miles away. In his impression, His Royal Highness paid more attention to immediate interests.

"Five thousand men," Lorensu stuttered, "I have no intention of offending, this number of troops is not very large in Europe."

"What if one more thousand cannons are added? The specifications can even be larger than your naval cannons." Zhu Cixuan said.

Lorensu was quite moved, but reason made him wake up: "Your Highness, a thousand forty-two-pound naval guns require at least ten large sailboats to transport, and only these naval guns."

"It seems that the most important link is transportation." Zhu Cixuan looked disappointed and immediately said: "But since we are friendly countries, we should not stop for this little difficulty. The Ming Dynasty fleet once went to the southern tip of Africa and could go again in the future. It was just because it was too long and there were too few sailors suitable for long-distance voyages... In this way, we can arrange a delegation to Lisbon first, in addition to formulating a trade agreement, conducting investigations along the way, and training sailors."

Lorensu's heart was still full of doubts, but this kind of friendliness that he could not refuse. In order to increase his weight in front of the crown prince of the Ming Empire, he had already informed him of the title of "Personal Envoy", which meant that he had to respond to this.

"As a subject of the King Joao IV and a messenger of the loyal parliament, I am very grateful to Your Highness for his kindness to our country," said Lorensu.

"Very good," Zhu Cilang raised his palm, "Today is an informal meeting. Don't ruin everyone's interest because of such trivial matters. Zheng and General Xiao will treat you well on my behalf, please enjoy it. Tomorrow morning, our ritual officer will bring you to sign the relevant agreement to send the mission, hoping that you can prepare."

After saying these words, Zhu Cixuan left the side palace without waiting for Lorensu's response, giving Lorensu a deeper understanding of the power of his highness.
Chapter completed!