Chapter 268: Spaniards, Portuguese, and Englishmen

Macao, Governor-General's Residence.

Over a decade ago, this place was still a fort.

At the time, the King of Spain ruled Portugal in a joint monarchy, a situation the Portuguese here in Macao had never accepted. The King of Spain dispatched the first Governor-General, which not only ignited the ruling conflict between the two kingdoms, but also ignited the conflict between the homeland and the colony, and further ignited factional strife within the Catholic Church.

With these three layers of conflict compounding, the Macao councilors allied with the Jesuits and launched a coup to expel the Governor-General.

The first Governor-General of Portuguese Macao suppressed it by force, seized the Jesuits' fort, and converted it directly into the Governor-General's Residence of Portuguese Macao.

"Your Excellency the Governor-General!"

The adjutant said anxiously, "The envoy we sent to Guangzhou has been driven back by Zhao, the rebel leader of the Great Ming. Zhao has declared that Your Excellency the Governor-General must come to Guangzhou in person to negotiate, or else he will starve the Portuguese in Macao to death."

Shi Baoluo, the sixth Governor-General of Portuguese Macao, full name: D. Sebastião Lobo da Silveira.

This fellow had only arrived in Macao two months ago; before he'd even warmed his seat, Macao had been cut off from grain for twenty days.

Shi Baoluo asked, "How much longer will the grain last?"

"Half a month at most," the adjutant replied.

Shi Baoluo asked again, "This rebel leader Zhao — has any more information been gathered about him?"

The adjutant produced a handwritten document: "Zhao's full name is Zhao Han, and he assumed the title 'Heavenly King' when he rebelled. Heavenly King, that is, the king of heaven..."

"Wait," Shi Baoluo interrupted, "is this man a believer?"

"No, no, no," the adjutant explained, "the heaven of the Great Ming is not the heaven of Catholics; its supreme ruler is called the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor is equivalent to the emperor of heaven, and the Heavenly King is the king of heaven."

Shi Baoluo had a sudden realization: "I understand. The difference between the Roman Emperor and the King of Spain — this Zhao is a follower of Daoism. He launched a rebellion to establish a Daoist kingdom, which is very disadvantageous for us. A religious fanatic — he will expel European missionaries and destroy our churches and hospitals."

The adjutant had also only been in Macao for two months, and he said in confusion, "But I've heard from the Macao Senate that the Great Ming has very few religious fanatics; perhaps things are not as bad as we imagine."

"This Zhao is definitely a Daoist fanatic," Shi Baoluo said. "The Great Ming is a powerful country; only a religious fanatic could rebel and grow so rapidly. I hear he has nearly completely occupied Guangdong... the map?"

The adjutant brought over a world map. Japan and Korea were marked in considerable detail, as were a few coastal provinces of the Great Ming.

But as for the inland provinces, only rough outlines had been drawn.

"Jiangxi... it's here. They've fought their way into Guangdong and are also attacking Huguang," Shi Baoluo said. "This is a very powerful rebel force. Perhaps we can assist the Great Ming. Once the rebels are exterminated, the Great Ming Emperor will surely reward us, and we will gain even greater benefits."

"No, no, no," the adjutant said anxiously, "Your Excellency the Governor-General, the Great Ming is on its last legs. I've heard from the Senate that there are also rebels in the north of the Great Ming; they are utterly incapable of quelling the rebellion in the south. For the next few years, even decades, Guangdong will be under Zhao's rule. We must cooperate with Zhao. We may not even have that long — if the grain is cut off for another month, the Spanish and Portuguese in Macao will all starve to death."

"But he shows not the slightest sincerity, refusing to receive my envoy." Shi Baoluo was very angry.

The adjutant suggested, "Your Excellency the Governor-General, I think you should go to Guangzhou in person."

"No, I cannot go," Shi Baoluo said, slapping the table. "He is a Daoist fanatic, and I am a devout Catholic. He is very likely to kill me in Guangzhou! I will mobilize troops, I will mobilize troops from the Philippines, I will capture Guangzhou. This is merely a rebel force; they are certainly no match for Spanish warriors."

The adjutant reminded him, "Your Excellency the Governor-General, you do not have the authority to mobilize troops from the Philippines. You can only mobilize the Macao Guard and the China-Japan trade fleet. Moreover, these forces may not obey your orders."

The Macao Guard numbered 300 men in total: 100 Portuguese Macao soldiers and 200 Spanish Philippine soldiers.

Those Macao soldiers in particular were all Portuguese born and raised in Macao. Their ties to Portugal were already rather weak, let alone to this Governor-General sent by the King of Spain.

At present, two-thirds of Macao's armed forces came from the Philippines, their purpose being to suppress Portuguese rebellion!

"Dong dong dong!"

"Come in."

A Portuguese Macao councilor strode into the Governor-General's office, slapped down a council document, and said, "Your Excellency the Governor-General, you are requested to depart for Guangzhou immediately, and you must bring three council members with you. Otherwise, the Senate will guide the citizens to take action. Macao has no welcome for an incompetent Governor-General!"

"Very well, I will consider it, Councilor." Shi Baoluo smiled.

The councilor turned and left, not taking the Governor-General seriously at all.

Macao had already gained autonomy; even the Governor-General could not interfere in administrative affairs.

Moreover, Portugal proper was in the midst of an independence struggle. Shi Baoluo was a Governor-General sent by the King of Spain, and he was terrified of angering the Macao Senate and causing Macao to declare independence from Spain.

In addition, the Macao church was locked in constant strife: the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Augustinians — the four major orders each represented different factions.

Historically, in the year Chongzhen hanged himself, the Macao Senate directly expelled the Spaniards, and the four major orders also began their fierce struggles. The Governor-General of Macao was among those targeted for expulsion. And indeed, the native Portuguese of Macao actually drove the Governor-General of Macao away!

Shi Baoluo was now under immense pressure: externally from Zhao Han in Guangzhou, and internally from the Macao Senate.

Even more disgusting were the Dutch. The previous year, a Dutch fleet had directly blockaded Malacca for half a year, forbidding any Spanish or Portuguese ships from passing.

"Make preparations. I will go to Guangzhou in three days."

Shi Baoluo slumped in his chair, looking utterly world-weary. He must have been cursed with eight lifetimes of bad luck to be sent here as Governor-General of Macao.

Three days later, they set out.

The Governor-General, adjutant, councilors, guards, and trade delegation — over forty people in total — arrived in Guangzhou.

Deng Yundan, the Superintendent of the Maritime Trade Office, received them and then left them there, ignored, and forbade them from moving about freely.

"We are under house arrest," said Sarmiento, the commander of the China-Japan trade fleet.

Shi Baoluo, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It is not house arrest; it is a pressure tactic for negotiation. It seems Zhao does not truly wish to expel us, otherwise he would not need to apply pressure like this." Shi Baoluo suddenly smiled. "Gentlemen, relax your spirits a little. Zhao will negotiate with us sooner or later."

"Perhaps," Desino said with a cold laugh.

Desino was the Macao Senate's negotiation representative. His grandfather was Portuguese, his father was Portuguese born in China, and he himself was of mixed Portuguese and Chinese blood.

Portugal?

That was his grandfather's and father's homeland, not his own.

What's more, with Portugal having been ruled by Spain for many years, he had no desire to serve a King of Spain.

Desino could speak not only Cantonese but also the official language of the Great Ming, and he frequently dealt with Great Ming officials. It was precisely because of this that he, a mixed-blood of lowly status, had been able to climb his way up step by step to become a Macao councilor.

Just then, a foreigner was led past by an official runner, passing through the courtyard of the Macao delegation and heading toward the inner compound.

"Hello, are you Portuguese?" Sarmiento quickly called out.

The foreigner turned with a smile: "No, I am English."

With that, the man followed the official runner and left, having clearly been deliberately brought this way to make a detour.

Desino suddenly said, "I've seen him before. The English merchant and travel writer Peter Mundy."

"Damn it, what is an English merchant doing here? They've come to steal our business!" Sarmiento fumed, pacing back and forth.

Shi Baoluo sighed: "This rebel leader Zhao is not only an excellent general but also an excellent negotiator. In these negotiations, we have already lost half the battle; it only remains to see what price he will name. To be frank, we have very little room to bargain."

Historically, the first English travelogue dealing with China was *The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia*, written by Peter Mundy.

This man had come once several years ago, accompanying an English fleet to do business in Guangzhou — the very time they lost 2,800 taels of silver and stole thirty pigs. Peter Mundy was not the commander; he was merely a merchant aboard ship. Though he failed to procure a full cargo, he still returned to England and turned a small profit.

Last year, Peter Mundy came to Guangdong again, sailing a merchant ship alone. That he was not robbed along the way counts as heaven-defying luck.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese obstructed him at every turn. Peter Mundy's merchant ship anchored at Macau, and more than half a year passed without him being able to buy any goods at all. The fellow simply toured Macau, then bribed an official of the Great Ming, took his retinue into the Guangzhou suburbs to sightsee, and ended up lodging at a gentry household, where he became friends with a young scholar.

Peter Mundy's descriptions of China, throughout the entire seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were the most objective and fair-minded of any English writer.

There was praise and there was censure, seeking truth from facts.

Returning to his lodgings, Peter Mundy took out his goose-quill pen and began recording the day's observations —

"Through my friend Huang, I learned that there is a rebel leader named Zhao who has seized Guangzhou, the greatest city of the Ming realm. I think this is an opportunity. I must make contact with Zhao, otherwise I can only sail back with an empty hold. Damn the Portuguese!"

"…Zhao is very young. Good God, he actually speaks English. Although his broken English sounds as if taught by some rustic peasant, we can at least manage to communicate."

"Zhao told me that my understanding of the Ming realm is far too partial — as if I had arrived at one port in England and imagined I knew the whole country. Perhaps this is true. Zhao and his rebels are unlike any other Chinese I have met."

"In my long experience, the people of the Ming realm — or rather, the Chinese — are xenophobic, cowardly, greedy, and superstitious. They will erupt into a peasant war over a single grave site. They refuse contact with foreigners, and when asked to guide the way, they invariably demand many silver coins… After Zhao arrived, things slowly began to change. Officials no longer dare solicit bribes, at least not openly. They keep it from Zhao and secretly demand silver dollars."

"Zhao said he would deal with these corrupt officials. He invited me to a meal. The dishes were not extravagant, which sets him apart from other wealthy Chinese…"

"But it is a great pity that an outstanding young man like Zhao should also eat with chopsticks, just like the other Chinese. Some of them hold the bowl, some set the bowl on the table, exactly like pigs rooting for food in a trough. I absolutely cannot accept it. So many Chinese, clad in sumptuous silk and using exquisite porcelain, yet eating like swine. My fine illusions about the Chinese were shattered… by their manner of eating."

(End of chapter)