Chapter 556: Reception (Part One)

Time: Noon, April 18th, shortly after the Macau city entry ceremony concluded.

Location: The Macau City Council.

The council hall featured a traditional European dome. This architectural style, born from ancient churches, both eliminated the need for clustered support pillars and inadvertently conformed to acoustic principles, making it ideal for sermons and speeches.

At this moment, a Westerner in a long red robe was loudly expounding on something, his voice reaching every corner of the hall.

"... Hereby, we earnestly request... in accordance with the prevailing laws of the civilized world... that the necessary... be granted to these gentlemen..."

Old Master Zong Ben sat in the corner of the council's last row, observing something with keen interest.

In just a few short days, Old Master Zong had completely let himself go and thoroughly transformed his image.

Not only had he shaved his head and styled a handsome middle-aged 70-30 part, but he had also, on the recommendation of a tailor from the New District clothing shop, specially donned a "formal suit" reserved for grand occasions: a brand-new, Fujian-produced indigo-dyed, lapel-collared handmade Western suit and trousers, with gleaming water buffalo leather shoes on his feet.

Twisting his body uncomfortably, Old Master Zong adjusted his sitting posture; he was still struggling to get used to this outfit.

In the hall at this moment, those in the "Ming Side" faction wearing such "new-style" attire accounted for roughly one-third of the group.

This proportion was normal; after all, Chief Soldier Cao had not been in Guangdong long, and subtle influence took time. Aside from men like Old Master Zong, who had staked everything and were considered the most radical natives to surrender to the court, the majority of the others, even those close to the Crossing Faction, still wore long robes in public.

At the speaker's podium in the center of the hall, the "former" Secretary of the Macau City Council, Andrade, who was loudly speaking, and his strangely accented words, did not pique Zong Ben's interest. It was nothing more than the face-saving talk of the defeated; the city had already been opened, what use was any of this?

Truth be told, Old Master Zong had not expected the Red Hairs in Macau City to present their instrument of surrender so quickly.

After the Fortaleza do Monte was captured days ago, Old Master Zong had queued up to offer his congratulations to Chief Soldier Cao. Unexpectedly, the next day, just as everyone was eagerly relocating to the Fortaleza do Monte, ready to watch another grand show of attacking Macau City... the Red Hairs surrendered.

Perhaps it was due to the might of the cannons hoisted onto the city walls overnight, or perhaps the elite troops before the gates had once again deployed their sesame seed formation. In any case, the Red Hairs, who had suffered heavy casualties in the first battle, admitted defeat.

With this, there was no grand show to watch. The Red Hairs first sent envoys to negotiate back and forth with the official army. Finally, after several rounds of bargaining and settling all matters, another day passed, and Macau City opened its gates in the morning.

After the gates opened, the Red Hair nobles and defending troops filed out, surrendering their weapons to the official army. Following this, the official troops entered the city to secure key passes, then the various high officials entered, and after that, it was the turn of "local worthies" like Old Master Zong to enter the city.

Since the majority of the Ming people in Macau City had already fled beforehand, there was no scene of elders welcoming the army with baskets of food and jugs of drink when the troops entered, only desolate streets. This made Zong Ben, accustomed to Macau's bustle, feel very out of place.

After entering the city, as an honored guest, Old Master Zong followed behind the high officials into the Municipal Hall to observe the ceremony. Although the Portuguese had already submitted their instrument of surrender outside the city, that ceremony had been simple. Now that the high-ranking officials of both the Ming and Portuguese sides had come to the City Council, there were naturally many formal procedures to complete.

What followed was the signing of a series of documents concerning the post-war settlement of Macau. The most important among these were documents produced by the Transmigrators, incorporating legal concepts from later generations.

The Portuguese did not put up much of a struggle in this regard; after all, the city was now open, and they were like fish on the chopping block. No matter what they signed, it was all the same.

However, when it came time to sign the final documents concerning the settlement of Macau's property, the Portuguese were ultimately unwilling... as the saying goes, a rich man finds it hard to part with his wealth. This led to the scene of Andrade standing up to speak, fiercely contending on behalf of the "civilized world" against the "Ming Dynasty Government."

Regarding property, the divergence between the two sides was this: the Ming Dynasty Government side, that is, the Transmigrators, intended to confiscate everything of value within Macau City, including all public assets and private property.

Seeing this condition, the Portuguese naturally refused. Secretary Andrade, who knew Chinese, stood up to argue strongly, citing the European rules of engagement among nobility. He stated that the Portuguese accepted the confiscation of public property, but private property was sacred and inviolable; the Ming Dynasty Government could not treat the gentlemen of the civilized world so crudely.

Old Master Zong Ben utterly scorned this Red Hair rhetoric. In the view of a Ming native like him, warfare since ancient times had always been about winners becoming kings and losers becoming bandits. Now that the Franks had been defeated and killed, surrendering their city to the official army, they were lambs awaiting slaughter. Had they encountered a more brutal military commander... were incidents of city massacres and clan exterminations rare in the history books? Now these defeated Frankish bandits were haggling with the victors over mere worldly possessions—this was truly a path to their own destruction!

Having understood the Franks' intent, Zong Ben no longer paid attention to the impassioned Andrade. His gaze shifted to the front of the hall.

In the "Ming Country Phalanx" at the front of the hall, the ones currently occupying the center position were undoubtedly two high officials in red robes: Chief Soldier He and Chief Soldier Cao. Seated around the council table between the Ming and Portuguese sides were a group of "bilateral" clerks in shirts and long robes. The most conspicuous among them was the County Deputy of Xiangshan, dressed in a green official robe, the only one truly representing the Ming Dynasty Government—the Transmigrator's brother-in-law, Zhong Sheng.

But what truly captured Zong Ben's attention at this moment was a Transmigrator he had never seen before.

This man had an ordinary appearance, with a fair amount of flesh on his face and a portly, wide build, giving him a wealthy look. As for his age, because Transmigrators generally shaved their faces, making them look younger, and had reasonably balanced nutrition, Ming people often could not judge their true age. Zong Ben could only guess this man was between 35 and 40.

Like most Transmigrators, this gentleman Zong Ben was carefully observing also had neatly trimmed short hair and wore a proper Western suit... the one addition compared to Old Master Zong's outfit was a red necktie.

What first drew the attention of Old Master Zong and other observant individuals was this Transmigrator's seating position: he was right beside Chief Soldier Cao.

Secondly, there was this high official's demeanor. In the current solemn setting, this man sat with his legs crossed, chatting and laughing with Chief Soldier Cao with a face full of smiles, looking completely unconcerned.

And what secretly alarmed an old hand like Zong Ben was that, perhaps it was an illusion, he actually sensed that Lord Cao showed a degree of... deference? Or wariness? towards this man.

At this, Old Master Zong had already made up his mind to find an opportunity to pay a visit to this newly arrived official: for someone who could make Lord Cao humble himself so, could he be a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang or a rebirth of Kongming?

Zhang Dongdong naturally had no idea that his unintentionally revealed body language and facial expressions had betrayed his true thoughts about Li Dazui to these Ming natives, whom the Transmigrators considered "very rustic and ignorant."

Yes, as for that fellow Li Dazui, purely from within the Transmigrator circle, Zhang Dongdong was indeed wary of him. Or rather, most Transmigrators viewed this fellow with a somewhat special regard.

As for Li Dazui himself, as mentioned before, he was a cheat-code character. Before crossing over, this man had learned of Cao Zong's true ability, yet this former failed web-novel writer and wholesale slipper dealer still chose to cross over without hesitation, leaving the Old World to Cao Zong.

As a result, after crossing over, Li Dazui was beyond anyone's control. The Cao Emperor, in his shock and shame, was now just short of making him a King of Equal Standing. So others, especially those in the Transmigrator faction who already held high positions of power, were certainly somewhat guarded against this cheater.

Fortunately, Li Dazui had no great ambitions. After crossing over, although he messed around with various things, it was all on a whim, with absolutely no grand aspirations or brilliant strategies, which put certain people's minds at ease considerably.

For instance, Li Dazui, who had been leading forced demolitions in the New District, immediately became interested upon hearing about the attack on Macau and decided to become the Governor of Macau.

With Li Dazui wanting to exile himself as the Governor of Macau to play a deserted island development game, Chief Steward Xia of the Cabinet naturally approved it at light speed. Thus, this fellow happily arrived in Macau just before the city opened.

However, with his arrival, people like Ding Liqiu, the Governor of Guangzhou Prefecture who had originally planned to attend the city entry ceremony, and Tang Qiao, the Old Chief of the South Seas General Company, all kept a respectful distance... leaving only Chief Soldier Cao, who had no choice but to come, to rally his spirits and keep Li Dazui company chatting in the City Council.

Chatting intermittently like this, Chief Soldier Cao finally waited for the Portuguese representative speaking on the floor to shut his mouth, which made him let out a long sigh of relief—he knew that next, it was that fellow Li Dazui's turn to step in. After all, he was the one who wanted to be Governor of Macau, so naturally, he should deal with the Portuguese himself.

Just as expected, Li Dazui, who had been idling about, saw that Andrade had finally finished his nonsense. He immediately stood up and walked to stand opposite the Portuguese phalanx.

Sweeping a glance over the solemn-faced, complex-eyed Portuguese opposite him, Li Dazui let out a hearty laugh, then extended three fingers of his right hand and loudly declared in Mandarin: "I am the newly appointed Governor-General of Macau, LI. Regarding Mr. Andrade's previous protest, I have three points in reply."

"First: In the cultures of the Eastern nations, winner-takes-all is a recognized principle. So please do not try to apply European rules here in the East. After all, this is Macau Island, not the Iberian Peninsula."

"Second: Even according to European rules of engagement, noble lords captured in war must pay a private ransom before they can regain their freedom."

Li Dazui's expression turned playful: "My dear gentlemen, it seems you have not yet grown accustomed to your change in status... Do not forget, you are now prisoners of war."

"Third."

A cryptic smile appeared on Li Dazui's face: "Now, here is some good news. After further consideration by this official, and taking into account the need to align with international standards in the future, the ransom this time will be appropriately discounted, reduced to a reasonable level. Hmm, after all, we are all nobles, and nobles should look out for one another."

After Li Dazui finished speaking, he gave a light wave of his hand. A translator beside him immediately stood up and loudly relayed his words in Portuguese.

After hearing the translated words, the Portuguese phalanx immediately began whispering among themselves, and a buzzing sound instantly filled the council hall.