It is better to sell Australian goods in Lingao. Although the Portuguese may not be able to succeed immediately, a little pressure will be useful.

The tricky thing is that this is very difficult to do - the Portuguese may send out warships to patrol and try to expel the Australians for the purpose of safeguarding commercial interests. But their naval power - quite impressive in East Asia, can even make Liu Xiang heartbroken.

They were afraid to attack the Portuguese merchant ships wantonly, but they were simply vulnerable to the Australians. As long as one of the four clippers appeared at the Pearl River Estuary, they could single-handedly defeat the entire Portuguese naval force in Macau.

He had no doubt of this.

Regardless of whether the Portuguese had the ability to expel the Australians, since the government was asking for help, it did not offer any conditions that were beneficial to the Portuguese. The senior bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty had a mentality of "drinking water without forgetting the man who dug the well".

He always regarded himself as a well digger. In the view of Li Fengjie and his staff, the Portuguese's ability to settle in Macau was entirely due to the grace of the Ming Dynasty. If the Portuguese wanted to stay here, they had to serve the local officialdom unconditionally.

If they could not understand this, the bureaucrats were prepared to use threats to force the Portuguese to realize this.

In other words, this is not a reciprocal negotiation, but a constant threat that "you may suffer losses if you don't do this."

Of course, threats are also a means of negotiation. As long as the strength is strong enough, the threats can be fulfilled at any time. But when his own side is in urgent need of help, he is still threatening possible allies, which really makes him feel embarrassed. The Macau Municipal Council affirms

I want to know what benefits can be gained by spending a large amount of military expenditures and dispatching warships to attack the Australians, who have always been friendly with us?

After much thought, Li Luoyou had no choice but to use the major issue that the Portuguese were most concerned about, the maintenance of China's trade, to persuade them to dispatch warships: if Macao wanted to maintain its position as the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade gateway, it was necessary to maintain water security in the Pearl River Basin.

Ensure the safety of ship traffic.

The request of the governor of Guangdong brought by Li Luoyu was immediately submitted to the Macau Municipal Assembly for discussion. Portuguese dignitaries and dignitaries from the Chamber of Commerce held a long discussion on this issue and formed two completely different opinions.

Although the Portuguese did not like the Ming Dynasty government, after all, this government gave them a place of residence and gave them the monopoly on trade with China under the mentality of not wanting to deal with foreign businessmen. Once the Australians and the Ming Dynasty fell into a long-term war,

The lucrative trade operated by the Portuguese in the Pearl River Delta would be unsustainable. Therefore, there have been strong calls to help the Guangdong government fight against the Australians.

But other people thought that the Ming Dynasty was not a good trading partner. They constantly restricted the Portuguese's trade, restricted the types and quantities of goods they purchased, restricted the cash they carried, and even prohibited them from hiring or buying local slaves in Guangdong.

And there are constant proposals to expel them from this small colony. Some even believe that this "arrogant" government should be taught a "profound lesson" - if the Australians are willing to do this, there is no need for the Portuguese to intervene
Chapter completed!