Chapter 121 Western Battleship
On March 18, Yinzhen led a fleet of more than 20 warships of all sizes to the coast of Macau. The leader of the Fujian Navy and the general Zhang Chunlei came to report, "Report to Prince Xun, the fleet has now arrived outside the Lingdingyang, and further forward is the estuary of the Pearl River."
Yinzhen pondered for a while before saying, "I won't go to Guangzhou for the time being, I will go to Macau first."[.]
When he heard that he was going to Macau, Zhang Chunlei hesitated and said: "Reported to Prince Xun, all foreign ships entering Guangzhou must first go to the Macau Customs to apply for red cards for entry into the port. After passing through Humen, you can enter Huangpu Port. It is the peak season for sea trade. There are many ships waiting to enter the port. I am worried about it..."
"It's okay." Yinzhen waved his hand gently. He must have a trip to Macau, not to be aware of the docks in Macau. Secondly, he wanted to see if he could meet Western sailing warships. At this time, most of the merchant ships were armed merchant ships, but there were also many merchant fleets escorted by warships. Although there was no concept of territorial waters at this time, foreign warships were also impossible to allow entry into the port, and they were usually anchored on the offshores of Macau.
Macau was rented to Portugal in the Ming Dynasty, and it was still inherited after the founding of the Qing Dynasty. However, Macau was not Macau after the Opium War. The Portuguese only had the right to live in Macau and had to accept the management of local governments and did not enjoy any privileges. For this reason, Portugal handed over 500 taels of land rent to the court every year.
But Portugal may not think so. The Portuguese who lived in Macau not only set up a Macao council to manage the Portuguese community automatically, but also sent the Macao Governor to be responsible for Macau's defense. The Macao Governor's official residence was also set up in a large fort.
Macau Customs is one of the seven main ports of Guangdong Customs, also known as the Macau Customs Department. With the development of foreign trade, Macau has become a foreign port in Guangzhou at this time. Since all overseas trade ships must be licensed and released by the Macau Customs, Macau has developed abnormally. Once the peak season of maritime trade, the port will be particularly prosperous and crowded.
After sending Zhang Chunlei away, Yinzhen returned to the cabin to rest. In less than an hour, a low scream broke out from the ship. He hurriedly walked out and saw a large fleet slowly moving in front of them. The one behind was the Western sail warship he wanted to see the most. Although the appearance of the Western warships and armed merchant ships is not very different, the dense and closed gun holes on both sides of the warship were really too conspicuous.
Not to mention, the sail warships of this era are really beautiful. They look like works of art from a distance. Although the gun doors are all closed, it can still be seen that this is a warship on the second deck. Judging from the huge hull, it should be a warship of about 1,500 yuan. There is a half-red and half-green flag hanging on the mast of this warship. Yinzhen didn't know which country's flag was.
Aren’t the warships all moored outside the sea? How could this warship enter the port? Yinzhen frowned slightly, raised his monocular lens and observed it in detail. Only then did he find that the warship seemed to have just experienced a big battle, with a faint damage on one side of the side.
After thinking for a moment, Yinzhen called Zhang Chunlei and asked, "How big is this fleet? Which country is it from? Are there any other warships?"
Zhang Chunlei replied respectfully, "Brother Heng, this is the fleet of Portugal, the scale is unclear. It seems that this is the only warship. It seems that it was damaged at sea and entered the port for maintenance."
The person who entered Hong Kong to repair the matter? Yinzhen curled his lips and said with a smile, "Send two clutches to find out clearly, don't disturb them."
"I am humble to accept the order." Zhang Chunlei bowed and bowed and retreated.
Yinzhen from Macau Portuguese and Portugal couldn't help but think secretly that Portuguese sailing warships have arrived in Macau? Such a large warship cannot be only one, and at least it should be equipped with smaller auxiliary warships. When he thought of the fast armed sailing ships of about a thousand materials and capable of assembling 30-40 artillery pieces, he was very coveted.
The two small fast ships of Fujian Navy received the order and immediately left the fleet and rushed forward quickly.
On the Western sailing warship Montedo, Captain Bourne looked at the two fast- approaching fast-moving fast-paced fast-paced two fast-paced ships, and asked without looking back. "Matir, didn't you say that just hang your Portuguese flag? Can you explain the purpose of these two fast sailing ships?"
Martyr was an official of the Macau Council and made a special trip to sea to pick up the Dutch warship into port for maintenance. He heard Bourne's words, and shrugged indifferently, "Dear Captain Bourne, this is just a fleet of the Qing Dynasty's Fujian Navy cruisers. They should have also been to Macau, which happened."
"Ctually?" Bourne looked back at Martyr in confusion, "Are you sure? The warship has entered the pilot channel now. If it causes a misunderstanding, your Governor Jasdu cannot bear this consequence."
"Don't worry, my noble Captain Bourne." Martyr said leisurely: "It's just a little money."
The two Fujian Navy Clippers did not lean on to interrogate, but instead surpassed the Montdo and headed forward.
Bourne couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In this damn place, if there was a misunderstanding, Montdo didn't even have a chance to fight back. It was too close and the other party was in the rear again.
Before the Fujian Navy fleet landed, it attracted the attention of all officials from all over the Taiwan Straits of Macau. Song Fanjiang, who was stationed in the former village, hurriedly brought a group of subordinate officers and soldiers to the dock. The officials of the Portuguese Municipal Council of Macau did not dare to neglect them. Governor Jia Shidu hurriedly led a large group of people to the dock to wait.
Seeing someone waiting at the dock, Yinzhen ordered Yande, "I ordered the navy and the navy, without my permission, that the Western warship would not leave the port, and also asked people to strengthen maritime defense."
After Yande received his order and retreated, Yinzhen began to change his official uniform and ordered people to take the banner of imperial envoy.
When the officials and soldiers on the dock saw that the navy ship had actually raised the banner of the imperial envoy, they were immediately panicked. Their official positions were too low, and they were basically uninformed. They had no experience in greeting the imperial envoy, and they had never even seen each other. They didn't know where the imperial envoy came out, and they did not receive any notice, so they looked at each other for a moment.
When the boat was docked, Yinzhen, who was standing at the bow of the boat, was wearing a five-clawed blue python robe in Jiangya Sea. He was young, and they were even more shocked. This was something that only a prince, prince or above could wear. Could it be that the prince came? Everyone was just worried.
After Yinzhen got ashore, he stood south, but saw a group of officials and soldiers kowtowing, "You are still calling out to the Holy One." No one shouted. He immediately realized that these were all small officials who could not be on the table and had never seen the world. Zhang Chunlei, the general of the Fujian Navy, hurriedly reminded him, "You are not going to invite the Holy One yet. This is the current 14th prince, Prince Xun."
The name of the 14th Prince, Prince Yinzhen, is now famous in the court and the country. When he heard it was him, all the officials of all sizes in Macau were quite excited, and immediately said in a mess: "I'll invite the Holy An." "I'll ask the Prince of Heng An."
Chapter completed!