Chapter 542: Homeland

The establishment of the Macau City Council dates back to 1583 (the eleventh year of the Ming Wanli reign). However, at its inception, the focus of this council's work was not actually on the Ming state.

An important historical event occurred at that time: Chen Rui, the newly appointed Governor-General of Liangguang by the Ming Court, summoned the leaders and the Catholic Bishop of the Portuguese residing in Macau, formally granting the Portuguese permission to reside in Macau, thus settling the Ming Court's previously ambiguous stance on the matter.

What followed immediately was the establishment of the Macau City Council.

Since it was a city council, it naturally represented the interests of the local Portuguese in Macau. That is to say, this council was established by the local church and high-ranking Portuguese merchants with vested interests in Macau.

In fact, the primary mission of the Macau City Council at its founding was not to handle affairs with the Ming, but to "unite as one and jointly guard against the Spanish, who had annexed Portugal, from coming to share in the profits of the China trade."

Yes, the Spanish colonizers of that time were a great threat to the Portuguese colonizers—although the people of the two nations were legally one country at the time, to the Portuguese in Macau, the Spanish were a great threat.

This is a long story.

Five years earlier, in 1578, King Sebastian of Portugal launched a holy war against the Muslims of North Africa, but the campaign failed, and Sebastian was captured and executed.

As King Sebastian had no heirs, a succession crisis arose in Portugal. In the years that followed, claimants such as his great-uncle Henry and his nephew Antonio emerged. However, all of these figures were opposed by Pope Gregory XIII.

After this, King Philip II of Spain, who was favored by the Pope and had the strongest bloodline claim to the Portuguese throne, stepped forward. Thus, in November 1580, Philip dispatched the Duke of Alba to lead an army in capturing Lisbon, forcing Antonio into exile abroad.

In 1581, under military and papal pressure, the Portuguese Council conditionally recognized Philip as the heir to the Portuguese throne, making him King Philip I of Portugal. Although the Portuguese retained considerable autonomy, the two countries were legally merged from that point on. After this, the Portuguese in Macau gained recognition from the Ming state.

To put it simply, a group of homeless wretches, people of a fallen nation, harboring hatred for Philip I of Spain and filled with fear and wariness of the Spanish bandits who had just occupied the Philippines, established a native Portuguese city council in Macau aimed at protecting colonial interests.

By 1623, after the Macau City Council had operated happily for several decades, the Portuguese once again formally obtained a "residence" document from the Ming state, legally securing the right to "lease" Macau long-term at the cost of 500 taels of silver per year.

At the same time, mainland Portugal began formally dispatching a Governor-General to the colony of Macau.

The first Governor of Macau to officially take office there was named Mascarenhas. And this point in time was not far from the arrival of the Transmigrators.

Like the rotating officials of the Great Ming Dynasty, the Governor-General sent by the Portuguese "court" was naturally unwelcome to the native Portuguese. It must be understood that by this point in 1623, over 70 years had passed since the Franks first arrived during the Jiajing reign... The native Portuguese residing in Macau had flourished for several generations, many of whom had never returned to their motherland of Portugal, making them pure "colonial natives."

And the Macau City Council, controlled by the natives, naturally did not welcome the Governor-General, the imperial envoy sent from above. So, from the very first Governor of Macau, relations between the two sides were not harmonious. The Governor-General's authority was firmly restricted by the native council to military defense matters, and his official residence was also set at the Fortaleza do Monte. In the original history, this situation would require at least a hundred years of evolution before forming the later structure where the Governor-General controlled the colony's military and political power.

April 3, 1631, noon, Macau City Council.

The council hall, with its rows of fan-shaped desks and a central speaker's podium, already possessed the embryonic form of the mature parliaments of later generations.

At this moment, the council was in complete chaos. About forty or fifty Councilors, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, were clamoring without any decorum, completely losing their usual sense of order.

In the center of the hall, a group of important figures was gathered around a long table, deaf to the noisy voices behind them—everyone was listening intently to the words of a Ming translator.

This plump translator, wearing a long robe of patterned satin, was none other than Niu Xijian, Master Niu, who had recently swallowed up the shares of Zong's Trading Company.

At this moment, Master Niu extended a finger, tracing line by line across the Ming-style official document specially delivered by his brother-in-law. Simultaneously, fluent Spanish poured from his mouth, making him a human simultaneous translation machine of the seventeenth century.

Overall, this official document sent by the Ming Dynasty's Guangdong bureaucratic system was rather "special."

Its special point was this: although it was a standard Ming-format official document written in traditional characters, its wording and phrasing were shockingly blunt, completely unlike the Ming style... That's right, it was the Transmigrator style, the memorandum format of later generations that strives for textual accuracy and avoids ambiguity.

This was a deadly memorandum, or a final notice. It was divided into two parts.

Part One: The "Resolution Concerning the Expiration of the Haojing'ao Land Rent in the Fourth Year of Chongzhen," drafted by the Xiangshan County Household Office, had been approved by its superior departments, the Guangzhou Prefecture Household Office and the Left Administration Commissioner of Guangdong's Office: Starting this year, the Ming Guangdong government has decided to reclaim the land rights of Haojing'ao and cease leasing it to foreigners. Concurrently, the annual land rent of 500 taels of silver from the Franks will no longer be collected.

The document explicitly stated: All buildings and their attachments on the land of Haojing'ao are indisputable property of the Ming Dynasty Government, and anyone who deliberately damages or destroys them will face criminal prosecution.

The second part of the document concerned the resettlement of the Frankish tenants.

First, the Ming Dynasty Government generously gave the Franks seven days to find new housing. Here, the document amicably recommended Manila, Batavia, and Banten.

For those foreigners unable to leave, the Guangdong government also generously promised: foreign guests would be allowed to apply for Green Cards and work visas based on their family assets (the above asset verification and issuance services are entrusted by the Guangzhou Administrative Commissioner's Office to the Zhangchao General Military Command for processing).

All foreign guests who successfully apply for a visa will be provided with a temporary foothold and properly resettled by the Zhangchao Regional Commander in the Yi lands.

That was all.

When Master Niu, sweat beading on his forehead, loudly translated this document, the high-ranking Portuguese figures present fell into dead silence.

Before this, the Portuguese who had just received the document had not actually understood its meaning. This was because none of the several gentlemen present were familiar with traditional Chinese characters; they could only make wild guesses, supplemented by a bit of hearsay from Uncle Zhong.

Even so, the Portuguese sensed a strong danger, so Secretary Andrade urgently sent for the Governor-General, Councilors, and the Catholic Bishop.

As the Councilors gradually arrived at the council, the superficial meaning of the document had already been translated, which caused a collective uproar among them. After this, the official translator, Master Niu, who had arrived, then read out both the surface and hidden meanings of the document in Portuguese.

"A declaration of war, esteemed lords, this is a declaration of war sent by the Ming government!"

Although the document contained not a single word of killing intent, it was a declaration of war nonetheless. Master Niu, drenched in sweat, delivered the final verdict.

With Master Niu's words, the most urgent closed-door meeting since the establishment of the Macau City Council began.

First, the current Speaker, Laro, spoke. This descendant of nobility from Lisbon, assisted by Master Niu, clearly informed the Councilors and the attending Governor-General and Bishops: The Guangdong government of the Ming state, driven by the Cao Clan's power base, had officially made the most unfavorable choice for the Portuguese residents.

Yes, the moment the document was fully translated, the Portuguese high command realized who was behind this scheme.

After all, the Franks had lived on the land of the Great Ming for decades; they understood the Ming Dynasty's officials quite well and knew that those officials could not write a legal-document-style official notice like this.

So who could write it? Wasn't it stated in the document: the Zhangchao General Military Command.

The mastermind behind the scenes.

In fact, many Portuguese present, upon hearing the Speaker announce this shocking news, had a vague feeling: the other shoe had finally dropped.

In recent years, Cao's Pirate Group, a power base that had gradually emerged from the Yi lands, had long become a great threat to the Portuguese.

From the initial cutting off of the Japan trade, to monopolizing cross-strait trade, to suppressing the Portuguese power base in Macau, and finally baring its fangs and explicitly demanding the Portuguese get out of Macau—this series of upheavals had all unfolded right before the Portuguese's eyes.

Yet the opponent had developed far too quickly; whether in hard power or soft power, whether in large gunboats or the official post of Deputy Commander of the Ming Navy, all of this left the Portuguese with no opening to attack.

Today, the shoe had finally dropped. From the so-called Green Cards and visas in this document, the Portuguese could analyze who the mastermind was—after all, these were strange words that had appeared in previous negotiations with the Transmigrators. Not to mention the name Zhangchao Regional Commander was already blatantly displayed on the document.

"Therefore, gentlemen, this is Cao and his independent pirate group's official declaration of war against us, and it has received the endorsement of the Ming Dynasty's Guangdong administrative apparatus!"

Speaker Laro finally concluded: "We have seven days to decide whether to surrender... to apply for that damned Green Card, as this document demands. Of course, we could also go to Manila, or..." The Speaker paused for a moment before continuing: "Resist."

After a brief silence, a loud voice rang out from the back row of the council: "Aren't only drunkards and filthy debtors driven onto ships to Manila? Why should we leave Macau? I'm not going anywhere; this is my homeland! It holds everything I cherish; I will never leave!"

With this oath, the council hall erupted; shouts of defending the homeland resounded through the hall and soared into the sky.