Chapter 276: Promotion

"Mr. Alonso, it seems there has been some error in your understanding. Please note: the person sitting before you now represents His Excellency Cao Chuan; that is to say, you are dealing with the Ming Dynasty Government."

"So." Tang Qiao rubbed his chin while studying the Portuguese man before him with an amused look. "Watch your words and your attitude."

This was already Alonso's second time coming to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office to negotiate.

The first negotiation between the two sides could be described as ending on bad terms. The moment Comrade Alonso laid eyes on that memorandum — which could only be called "brain-dead" — he was utterly shocked and immediately expressed outrage and an inability to comprehend such an absurd document, after which he stormed out in anger.

One must understand that, nominally, the Portuguese merely occupied the tiny speck of land that was Macau, but in reality, the Portuguese were the Sitting Tigers beyond the Pearl River Estuary. Exploiting the ignorance and inaction of the Ming Dynasty Government, they not only monopolized Guangzhou's foreign trade but also set up checkpoints along the Pearl River to skim profits, already acting as if they were an independent kingdom.

And for the Portuguese, long accustomed to arrogance, to suddenly find a gang of even more arrogant thugs popping up — it was only normal that they couldn't accept it emotionally right away.

But this was Dayuan. No one cared whether the Portuguese walked out of the negotiations or not. So after a few days, Alonso, having finally thought through his situation, could only request another meeting.

The second meeting was no smoother. Alonso, who had already resolved to lower his attitude and talk properly, could not help but flare up again when those outrageous clauses were brought up.

In fact, he was well aware of the semi-official nature of the Crossing Faction, so Alonso had originally intended to use the same tricks he used on Ming officials — a humble tone and a low posture — to resolve the issue. Usually, Ming officials fell for this; as long as one showed outward submission, the Ming people would concede on practical matters.

Yet this time he was wrong again. The Transmigrators were nothing like those Ming officials who handed foreign trade ports over to outsiders. So after Tang Qiao, without the slightest courtesy, sharply dissected the core interests the Portuguese held in Macau, Alonso had no choice but to get angry.

Suppressing his impulse, Alonso stared at Tang Qiao and said slowly, "Tang, you now have official status. But His Excellency Cao Chuan is only a low-ranking officer in the Fujian region. Guangzhou does not fall under his defense zone. You can't actually reach there, can you?"

"Haha, your information is outdated, Alonso." Hearing this, Tang Qiao leaned back smugly against his chair, then raised one finger. "First point: our boss just got promoted not long ago."

Great Ming Fujian Defense-Command Sea-Prevention Assistant Regional Commander of Xiamen and Other Places, Acting Deputy Regional Commander Rank — that was the freshly minted official title of the great Cao.

Ever since the Allied Forces captured Li Kuiqi and swept through Zhangzhou Bay in late August, the urgent military dispatches from Xiong Wencan and the various Fujian provincial offices had been sent to Beijing along with the heads of Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin, which had been preserved in Calcium Oxide.

High-level urgent military dispatches, according to regulation, required the use of relay horses. That is to say, except for crossing rivers by boat, the courier soldiers spent the rest of the time galloping on fast horses, switching mounts at post stations every 20 li, covering roughly 300 li per day.

In the Great Ming of 1628, the postal service had not yet been abolished by Chongzhen, and the number-one postal worker of all time, Li Zicheng, had not yet lost his job; urgent military dispatches sent by fast horse from Fujian to Beijing took less than half a month, usually arriving in about twelve or thirteen days.

So by early October, before Alonso and Tang Qiao held their second negotiation, the court's promotion document had already been issued.

This official position did not surprise anyone — Cao Chuan's substantive rank had been raised one level, from Mobile Corps Commander to Assistant Regional Commander. And unlike the historical Zheng Zhilong, this time there was an additional title of "Acting Deputy Regional Commander."

"Acting" means provisional. So Cao Chuan's current official position was Xiamen Military Subdistrict Navy Commander, concurrently Acting Deputy Commander of the Fujian Military District. Of course, as the word "acting" makes clear, Cao Chuan's Vice General role was nominal; his substantive post was the Sea-Prevention Assistant Regional Commander defending Xiamen.

All in all, the Transmigrators were satisfied with this position. One must know that the historical Chongzhen was harsh and ungenerous, showing no mercy to subordinates who made mistakes; yet now, to reward Cao Chuan for wiping out the Fujian Pirates in one sweep, the court had actually granted him one more nominal Vice General title than the historical Zheng Zhilong — this was already no small feat.

In addition, unlike before, this time the court's official document explicitly designated Cao Chuan's garrison location: Xiamen.

Before this, Cao Chuan's post as Mobile Corps Commander General was, bluntly put, an empty title of Commander — the court not only failed to issue troop pay, but hadn't even assigned him a garrison location. For someone who had accepted Recruitment and Amnesty to work their way into the system, it wasn't that easy.

This kind of exclusion was deeply galling. Although Cao Chuan, like Zheng Zhilong, had no shortage of territory and subordinates, those were private assets. As a dignified Mobile Corps Commander General, had Xiong Wencan not temporarily assigned him the Mawu Water Camp, in theory Cao Chuan could only have gone to work in some office inside the General Headquarters in Fuzhou City — that office being, legally speaking, Cao the Mobile Corps Commander's territory.

But now it was different. In the Ming system, a substantive Assistant Regional Commander was of the upper third rank, and a Deputy Regional Commander was of the lower second rank; both grades had the qualification to establish their own command. This time, the court finally stopped excluding the meritorious Cao and directly assigned the already de facto Zhongzuosuo City in Xiamen to Deputy Commander Cao — this was tantamount to an open endorsement; the court acknowledged the area near Xiamen as Cao Chuan's Territory, just like the Guanning Army guarding Shanhai Pass.

Let us now turn to the other side of the story.

Tang Qiao, in the midst of negotiations, naturally would not tell the Portuguese about all the nuances and twists within Cao Chuan's new official post. He simply informed Alonso that the boss here, the King of Pirates, had been promoted again, and that the Ming Empire had formally enfeoffed the Xiamen area as Cao Chuan's domain — this explanation was for the convenience of the Europeans' understanding.

After stating this point, Tang Qiao raised a second finger. "Mr. Alonso, since your family is a long-established Nobility, you should be no stranger to bureaucratic systems."

Seeing the Portuguese man nod, Tang Qiao continued, "In terms of short-term actions, we can now, through the Guangzhou bureaucracy, seal off the Lotus Stem Pass Gate and starve you for a few days first."

"As for long-term actions..." Seeing Alonso's face already turning somewhat pale, Tang Qiao paused for effect here. "You only need to know that by this time next year at the latest, when you stand on Macau's City Wall, you will be able to see the fleet setting out from Dayuan, heh heh."

"Tang, these conditions and threats you've raised have already exceeded my authority to handle. I think it is time I returned to Macau for a trip."

"Safe travels. I won't see you out."

The dejected Alonso could, in the end, only respond to the aggressive Tang Qiao by walking out.