Just when the advance fleet could already see the territory of Siam through the telescope, Wang Hui walked to Xiao Ruxun's side and asked Xiao Ruxun in a low voice, "Admiral, those Francis are asking if they can participate in the landing ceremony together. What do you mean?"
Xiao Ruxun raised his eyebrows and thought about it for a while before he figured out the meaning of these Portuguese.
Why did the Portuguese appear on Xiao Ruxun's fleet?
This matter had to start from half a month ago.
In the 36th year of Jiajing, the Portuguese officially obtained the right of abode in Macau from the Ming government. In the 10th year of Wanli, the Ming government and the Portuguese signed a land borrowing agreement. The Portuguese paid 500 taels of silver to the Xiangshan government every year in order to obtain the right of long-term residence.
There was a deeper reason why the Ming government allowed the Portuguese to live in Macau. The reason was that in the era of rampant Nanyang pirates during the Jiajing period, the Ming government was tired of dealing with the Southern Japanese and Northern Barbarians, so their attack power on the sea was very weak. They were very helpless against the big pirates who were mostly Zhejiang and Fujian natives. It was not until these pirates expanded their business to Southeast Asia and the South China Sea that the Ming government realized the role of these Barbodes rhododendri.
Fight pirates! Yes! Fight pirates!
The Western forces that approached China belonged to the Portuguese. The Spanish were focused on the Philippines and had no intention of touching China for the time being. Therefore, the Ming government first contacted the Portuguese. At that time, the seaport official Wang Bai was bribed by the Portuguese to allow them to go ashore. Wang Bai had a brainwave and gave the bribe from the Portuguese to the superior. The superior saw that the imperial court happened to be looking for allies in the South China Sea, so he took a fancy to the Portuguese who had excellent firearms.
The Ming government asked the Portuguese to send troops and ships to attack the pirates. In return, they allowed them to live and do business in Macau. However, residency, business, and missionary were restricted. Even food and fresh water were restricted by the Ming government, which made the Portuguese very depressed. However, they got a piece of land, so they worked very hard to attack the pirates for their own development and gained a lot of merits.
However, the arrogant Ming government did not trust them and did not intend to treat them as allies. As long as they had a complaint against the Ming government, they would be caught and sent to the Yamen in Guangzhou to be punished.
In this regard, the Portuguese had no way to deal with it. Since they were defeated by the Ming government twenty years ago, they had not dared to fight again. At this time, their maritime hegemony was also severely challenged. Not to mention that in the eighth year of Wanli, Portugal was forcibly merged with Spain and lost its independent status. It was not until the thirteenth year of Chongzhen that it regained its independence. For a full sixty years, Portugal was actually subjugated.
The Portuguese in Macau, who were dominated by the Spanish, actually maintained a certain degree of independence and autonomy. The Spanish encouraged the management of the Philippines and did not pay much attention to Macau. At that time, when the governor of the Philippines attempted to go to war with China, he was stopped by his Majesty the King. In fact, Spain was defeated by Britain in the sixteenth year of Wanli, and its national strength was greatly damaged. Although they still maintained military pressure on Britain, they no longer had the strength to officially go to war with the Ming Dynasty in Southeast Asia.
The background of the Portuguese in Macau taking the initiative to contact Xiao Ruxun was when the Daming defeated Japan and shocked many countries in Southeast Asia. At this time, the Spanish, who actually dominated this area, realized that although the power of the Ming government had never appeared here, its influence was everywhere. After the defeat of the Invincible Fleet, the Spanish no longer had the confidence to continue a full-scale war with the Ming government. After learning that the Ming Army Navy had more than seven hundred warships heading south, the Spaniards in the Philippines even thought that the Ming Army's Invincible Fleet was coming to attack.
For an unfamiliar opponent, everyone was always worried and afraid, especially when the opponent was a behemoth. The Spaniards instructed the Portuguese in Macau to take the initiative to contact the Ming Army, inquire about their purpose, and get some information.
When Xiao Ruxun first received the request from the Portuguese, he was replenishing fresh water and food at a port in Guangdong near Macau. He also picked up thousands of Wolf Soldiers who had been recruited and boarded the ship. While waiting for the Wolf Soldiers, he met the Portuguese missionary, the famous Italian missionary, Ricci, who could speak fluent Chinese. Accompanying him was an old Chinese scholar, Qu Taisu.
The two traveled together and came to the port where Xiao Ruxun's army was stationed. They asked Xiao Ruxun to meet them. Out of respect for Qu Taisu and interest in Ricci, Xiao Ruxun took some time to meet them on the shore.
Then Xiao Ruxun learned that it was the Portuguese in Macau who wanted to see him. Ricci was asked because of his reputation and previous experience in Macau. Qu Taisu was the guarantee that Ricci could see Xiao Ruxun.
Ricci told Xiao Ruxun that the reason why he wanted to see Xiao Ruxun was not only because he was asked by his friends in Macau, but also because he admired and was very interested in Xiao Ruxun. He wanted to have a good talk with the general from Beijing and get to know him. He did not evade that he hoped to go to Beijing to see Emperor Wanli so that he could get permission to preach freely in China.
As for Ricci's preaching, Xiao Ruxun had no interest at all. Even if the missionary was very persistent and had a good character, Xiao Ruxun had no interest in Catholicism at all. However, Xiao Ruxun was very interested in Ricci himself. In this regard, Xiao Ruxun and Daming's scholars were the same. Ricci himself had a rich knowledge of natural science. His knowledge of natural science was his most valuable place.
Daming's scholars were far more interested in the knowledge of natural science than in Catholicism. The purpose of these missionaries coming to China was to spread Catholicism. However, the flowers planted deliberately did not bloom. The missionaries did not let Catholicism take root in China, but they let Western natural science take root in China, thus triggering the first wave of Western learning to the East.
Xiao Ruxun was in urgent need of this systematic knowledge of Western natural science to dispel some of her doubts. She also hoped to build a relationship with the Portuguese and obtain the advanced level of firearms and firearms knowledge in Europe that they had now mastered. Ricci's arrival was like giving her a pillow just when she was about to fall asleep.
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