Dominate the Country

[Thanks to ‘Dandansan’ for the 500-coin reward, ‘bqzhu’ for the 1,000-coin reward, thank you]

"There is no governor, Macau has never had a governor, that is the military chief, the military chief. He is just the commander of the self-defense force organized by the Macau Parliament itself. Macau has never been a Portuguese colony." Ribeiro's face was as red as a drunkard who drank a jar of strong liquor, and his expression was very excited.

There was no way not to be excited.

Whether it was Robert or Crulls, even François Philippe Perrier, the representative of the French East India Company, and Robin Lustig, the representative of the Swedish East India Company, all cast a pitying look at Ribeiro. Of course, Perrier's expression was absolutely excited, "He must be gloating now." Robert looked at Perrier with eyes like two small swords.

"We have lived here for more than 200 years. But the Portuguese do not own an inch of land here. They cannot even buy it. They cannot demolish or build walls or make holes in their homes to hang windows or repair ceilings. All of this requires permission from the magistrate. And the price of the permit is very high." The Portuguese only have the right to use.

"Our 'peace' with the Chinese government is completely at the will of their government. Because Macau is so far away from Europe and our motherland, many Portuguese people have never returned to their motherland in their lives, and our own strength is so weak. We have no power to resist the Chinese government, because they only need to cut off the food supply to destroy Macau.

In the past two hundred years, whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, every time the Chinese government has an order, we completely accept and obey. There are more than 22,000 Chinese in Macau now, and all Christians, including the elderly, the weak, the sick and the black slaves, are less than 7,000. Whether it is the previous Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty that controls Guangdong now, their government only needs to send some Chinese people at will, and each person throws a shoe into the river, which is enough to block the port of A-Ma. "So they dare not not send cannons, muskets and manpower. This is the Qing Dynasty's pressure on them. Shouldn't the Fu Han Army sympathize with them?

Ribeiro's voice was full of grief and indignation. In his mouth, the Portuguese in Macau seemed to be a perennial little bitch, constantly being bullied. In fact, the Portuguese in Macau are far less pitiful than he said. Because rules are dead, people are alive. When it comes to doing things, officials pay more attention to money. Money can make the gods!

Han Teng was not moved by Ribeiro's "pity". Before this meeting, the Fu Han Army also made a lot of preparations. Chen Ming even told them not to confuse the interests of Macau with the interests of Portugal.

"For the Kingdom of Portugal, Macau is just a small profit. The value of Macau lies in those businessmen. They are in love with the land here because this land can bring them yellow and shiny gold coins." There will be few of the six or seven thousand Portuguese and their slaves who are really willing to naturalize. But the Portuguese are now powerless to resist. The dark camp has received news that the morale of the Portuguese troops stationed in Macau is now very low. First Fernandez, then Blanco, the combat effectiveness of the Fu Han Army has been "deified" by them. If the Fu Han Army invades Guangdong at this time and the army arrives in Macau, as long as the name is announced, half of those soldiers will take the initiative to put down their guns.

If Ribeiro's performance were to be spread, it would hurt the Portuguese in Macau. These words seriously hurt their dignity. But as a performer, Ribeiro looked at Han Teng's face, which had not changed at all, and his heart was as cold as if he was soaked in ice water.

"Don't make yourself sound too pitiful. Just on the issue of opium, your existence has already greatly harmed the interests of our citizens." Han Teng stared at Ribeiro, and then observed Robert from the corner of his eye. As soon as the word "opium" came out of his mouth, the expressions of both of them changed.

Ribeiro could still maintain an expression of indignation and indignation of being wronged and oppressed, but his eyes shrank sharply.

"I don't need to say more about the disadvantages of opium addiction here, right? We have absolute evidence that since five years ago, Portuguese merchant ships have been trafficking more than a thousand boxes of opium to China every year, and this number is growing sharply." The opium trade of this era has really just sprouted.

"Each box of Indian opium only costs 300 rupees to buy, but if you put it in Guangdong, the price of each box of opium you sell is 500 to 600 silver dollars." This silver dollar refers to the Spanish Eagle Dollar. Three Eagle Dollars equals two taels of silver. That is to say, they will sell each box of opium at a price of about 300 to 400 taels, which is more than three times the purchase price.

Marx said: If there is a 20% profit, capital will be ready to move; if there is a 50% profit, capital will take risks; if there is a 100% profit, capital will dare to risk being hanged; if there is a 300% profit, capital will dare to trample on all human laws. Haven't the Portuguese worked harder and harder in the opium trade in recent years?

Only absolute huge profits can make the British and Portuguese so "brave" and run wild on that road full of sin. Compared with the Portuguese, the British trafficked more, not less than 2,000 boxes a year. They also used Macau as their own opium reserve warehouse.

The French also sold opium, but they could not compare with the British and Portuguese in terms of using Macau as a warehouse. Their opium warehouses could only float on the sea and use cargo ships as storage areas.

In India, Mawa, Bihar and Binales are the main opium producing areas in India. Bihar and Binales, two of the three, were under the direct control of the British colonial government in India. Opium can be sold at a high price in China, and it can also be sold at a high price in Europe. And judging from the current situation, more British people will smoke opium than Chinese. Because opium at this time was still a popular drug for treating colds and diarrhea throughout Europe, the British saw real benefits and established a complete system of forced opium cultivation in the two places.

Now the East India Company measures the land for opium cultivation every year, determines its boundaries, and then signs contracts with farmers living in opium cultivation areas through intermediaries. Under the contract, opium growers receive an advance payment from the company and then sell the product to the company at a price determined by the contract when the harvest is completed. If local farmers grow and sell opium without signing a contract with the company, their property will be immediately confiscated.

Hundreds of years of East-West trade, the Western world, including the British, continued to import silver into China, but it was still not enough to make up for the trade deficit caused by the rapidly expanding imports of Chinese goods. The British East India Company, which monopolized official direct trade with China, repeatedly encountered difficulties in capital turnover in Guangzhou. In 1762 AD, the East India Company's treasury in Guangzhou still had a balance of more than 200,000 taels of silver. However, in 1762, there was a deficit of 220,000 taels. Today's deficit is as high as more than 900,000 taels. This is the figure after they made two arms trades with the Manchu Qing Dynasty and wiped out a large part of the deficit.

Of course, the overall trade volume between the two countries is different from that between individual traders. Taking the opium traders as an example, the East India Company closely linked the Chinese traders and their opium smuggling through a lending model, thereby strengthening the turnover capacity of the Chinese opium brokers and using limited funds in exchange for unlimited profits. As a result of the British doing this, the price of opium will "increase" as they expected.

This kind of loan is a standard loan shark. The annual interest rate is generally 18 to 20%, and the highest rate is almost 40%. The monthly interest rate can reach 5%.

Therefore, buying opium into China is an absolute huge profit business. If the history does not change at all, the British will soon be completely intoxicated in the huge profits of the opium trade. As for the filthiness of this sinful road, they don't mind and are afraid of it.

"Mr. Ribeiro and the gentlemen sitting here, if any of you think that smoking opium is harmless, you can raise your hand and explain it to me. I will ask the attendant to provide the gentlemen with sufficient opium cream in the following days. Yes. "?" The answer is of course no. Therefore, the Fuhan Army had the 'right' to launch an attack on Macau.

Han Teng's eyes swept over everyone's faces, and finally rested on Robin Lustig, the representative of the Swedish East India Company. "On the issue of opium, on this ugly and sinful trade issue, I Fang sincerely hopes that everyone can learn from Sweden.

In the forty years since the direct trade between China and Sweden began, the Swedish East India Company has never sold a box of opium to China. "

The interpreter lowered his head and translated to the person he was responsible for. Robin Lustig's face immediately turned red as if he had passed out from drinking. At this time, he really felt as if he had passed out from drinking, and felt a little light under his feet. Han Teng's words like this are an absolute compliment to Sweden. As for whether Britain, France and others will join forces because of this, Lustig is not worried. How can the politics between countries be affected by a small opium?

The talks would not start immediately. Just because Ribeiro was too impatient and asked about the definition of Macau as soon as he entered the hall, Han Teng had no choice but to answer bluntly. Just in time for a wake-up call!

Ribeiro lost all energy after Han Teng left.

Lustig and his entourage were brought into the residence by the attendants and interpreters of the manor. It was a very oriental courtyard. There was a corridor at the entrance. The wooden pillars and horizontal beams were carved with exquisite relief patterns, and there was a bluestone pavement in the middle. The path is made of trees, with pine and cypress flowers planted on both sides. Entering the next door was the bedroom where he was staying. The interpreter walked to the bedroom and opened the window at the back, facing a green pond, with a gentle breeze blowing. At this time, the lotus flowers in the pool are in bloom, and there are green weeping willows and stone round tables and square stools next to them.

"Mr. Lustig, the name of this yard is 'Hibiscus Garden'. Hibiscus refers to lotus in China, which is synonymous with holiness. The lotus grows in the black mud, but it is not stained by the dirt at all. Just like The upright and friendly Swedish East India Company. This courtyard was specially prepared for you by His Highness Duke Lu."

Lustig felt really flattered. Today's Sweden has long been beaten to the ground by the giant bear Russia, and it is no longer the superpower that shocked Europe in the 17th century. The Swedish East India Company's trade volume with China was only a fraction of that of the British.

After the interpreter left, Lustig was so excited that he couldn't contain himself. The Swedish East India Company cannot compare with big names such as Britain, France and the Netherlands, but it still has several merchant ships. Every time you go back and forth, it is a huge amount of wealth.

On January 11, 1745, the "Gothenburg I" departed from Guangzhou and returned to China. The ship was loaded with items from China, including tea, porcelain, silk and rattan ware. At that time, if this batch of goods had been shipped to the Gothenburg market for auction, it would have been estimated to be worth 2.5 million to 2.7 million Swedish silver coins.

Eight months later, the "Gothenburg I" sailed to the sea surface about 900 meters away from the port of Gothenburg. The crew members who had left Gothenburg for 30 months could already see the land of their hometown with their naked eyes. However, at this time, the bow of the "Gothenburg I" hit a reef and sank immediately. The people who were waiting for the triumphant return of the "Gothenburg I" on the shore had to watch the ship sink into the sea. The Swedes salvaged 30 tons of tea, 80 pieces of silk and a large amount of porcelain from the sunken ship. After auctioning in the market, it was enough to pay the full cost of the "Gothenburg I" trip to Guangzhou, and it could also make a profit of 14%.

In this era, every European country that went to the East to conduct trade was running for money.

Lustig, who came to China more than once or twice, understood how powerful politics was in the daily life and trade of this ancient empire. Compared with the emperor of China, the monarch of Europe was a pitiful creature. If the Swedish company could gain the friendship and care of the Han Kingdom...

Lustig shook his head fiercely. What did he see? He saw a river of gold coins rushing towards him.