The Rise of the European Emperor

After the Braga and the Viseu escaped from the range of the Weiyuan Fort, they approached Da Gama's flagship Prince Enrique. The two captains angrily came to the flagship in a small boat and complained loudly to Da Gama.

"My lord, those Ming smugglers deceived us! At the beginning they said that the Ming army at the mouth of the Pearl River was unprepared, and there were only a few ordinary small warships without artillery. But now? This artillery fortress alone has killed both of us." A ship was damaged!" the Viseu captain Pereira complained.

Joao, the most unlucky captain of the Braga, frowned and said:

"My lord Da Gama, the side of the Braga was damaged by a fatal shell. If there is no overhaul, once it goes to the deep sea and encounters strong waves, it will easily sink! Please help me think of a way, Bu The Raja needs a major overhaul of her side!"

Da Gama was also very helpless:

"How about a major repair? We don't have a port in the Ming country, and the Ming people's port won't let us dock, so there's nothing we can do. If we return to the port of Malacca, we're afraid that the Braga will sink midway..."

And Captain Pereira interjected:

"I want to know now, how many artillery fortresses of this kind are there in Ming Dynasty? If they are everywhere, we can't attack at all! I just checked and there seems to be a similar artillery fortress on the west bank of the river mouth. I don't know how many cannons there are. How about the firepower..."

Da Gama thought for a while and said:

"Then I'll send a few warships to test the firepower of the artillery fortress to the west..."

Then, the three Portuguese warships approached the Dingyuan Fort on the west bank and fired test shots. However, out of caution, the three ships did not lower their sails to stop, but fired while sailing to avoid the shelling.

The fort on the west bank commanded Qianhu Liu Feng, and the soldiers who also commanded the fort launched a counterattack—the Portuguese tried it out, and it was also 10 large-caliber artillery... Moreover, in this test, despite maneuvering to evade, go to test The warship Setubal was also damaged on the side by iron ball shells and needed repairs.

"Where did the Ming Dynasty get the large-caliber artillery? I have to find out!" Da Gama frowned. What he is most worried about is that there are many artillery fortresses like the Ming Dynasty, so the Portuguese fleet will not dare to go deep into the Pearl River Estuary and enter Guangzhou Port.

"My lord, why don't we go to the shore and arrest a local nobleman for interrogation and ask about the situation in Guangzhou?"

Da Gama no longer believed the information provided by the smugglers from the Ming Dynasty at the port of Malacca, so he also approved of this method. In his opinion, the local nobles must have some inside information.

As a result, the entire Portuguese fleet withdrew and docked at a seaside fishing port in Nanlang Town, Xiangshan County (later Zhongshan City) on the west bank of the south, and sent people ashore to surround the house of a wealthy family in the local Cuiheng Village.

"This is the Sun family, the most powerful family in your area? Does he know the news from Guangzhou?" Bernardo, a translator who can understand Chinese, asked Wu Ren, a restaurant guy who was arrested from the town.

The timid restaurant guy Wu Ren nodded and said:

"Yes, Mr. Yi, this Sun family's master, Sun Wei, is a Juren master. He has gone to Guangzhou City to take exams many times, and he often goes to literary fairs. Therefore, the person who knows Guangzhou best in the local area is probably Master Sun."

"Okay, come here, rush in, and arrest that Master Sun!" Bernardo waved his hand, and hundreds of Portuguese sailors brought large stones and smashed open the gate of Sun's house.

Captured and tied up all Sun Wei's family, who were stubbornly resisting.

After Bernardo captured the six members of Sun Juren's family, and ordered someone to put a knife on the other people's necks, he threatened Sun directly and asked:

"Mr. Sun, tell us what you know about the situation in Guangzhou. Otherwise, if I shake my hand, your family will go to hell..."

Sun Wei is about 35 years old, handsome, and one of the only two Juren in Nanlang Town. However, another Juren from Nanlang Township had already moved to Xiangshan County, only he stayed in Cuiheng Village, unfortunately he was caught by the Portuguese.

Seeing the sword on his eldest son Sun Bin's neck, Sun Wei was a little worried. As a scholar, he himself is not very afraid, at worst, he will kill himself and become a benevolent. However, if all six members of the family fall into the hands of the enemy, then there is a problem.

Ancient scholars paid attention to "family, country and world", among them, family should be ranked ahead of country. Scholars honor their ancestors, and to put it bluntly, they are still for their families. If his only son, Sun Bin, dies, if he dies, his family will be wiped out...

"How about I make up a lie to fool these barbarians?"

After making up his mind, Sun Wei cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, please hold your hand high and let my family go, I will know everything."

Seeing that he was so "on the road", Bernardo stopped talking nonsense and asked directly:

"We want to know, like the two artillery fortresses on the left and right sides of the Pearl River Estuary, how many are there near Guangzhou? How many artillery are there? Are there such artillery fortresses in other places?"

Sun Wei's spirit was shaken. As a master who often travels between Guangzhou and Nanlang Town, he happened to know this situation. Because, in the same year, he happened to be an aide in the Guangzhou government office, so he knew something inside.

According to what he said in the same year, the court cast a total of 107 "Pinglu Cannons" this time, of which 50 were transported to Guangzhou for use in city defense. Among them, the imperial court built two forts, Weiyuan and Dingyuan, at the mouth of the Pearl River. Subsequently, the imperial court built two forts in Huangpu Port outside Guangzhou to protect Guangzhou. As for the other 57, it seems that they were sent to Hu Jian's Quanzhou and Fuzhou to build forts.

However, the fort at Huangpu Port is still under construction. Therefore, the forts that were actually built and put into use are actually only two forts at the Pearl River Estuary.

However, this does not prevent Sun Wei from fooling the Portuguese. So, he cupped his hands and said to Bernardo:

"My lord, I happen to know something about this matter..."

"Hurry up!" Bernardo said happily.

"It's like this. I'm in Guangzhou City. I heard that this time the imperial court newly cast a kind of 'Pinglu cannon' that can fire 10 catties of shells. A total of 214 pieces were cast..." Sun Wei directly doubled the number, In order to scare the Portuguese from attacking Guangzhou.

"214 doors? God, so many?" Bernardo was taken aback.

"Yes, it is said that these 214 'Pinglu Cannons' were deployed in the two provinces of Guangdong and Hujian for coastal defense. Among them, but on the Guangzhou side, there are 107, used to build 10 forts, The other 7 extra doors are deployed at the head of Guangzhou City..."

Bernardo's face changed - 107 12-pound guns, more than the entire fleet's 12-pound main guns! And, still deployed in 10 artillery forts...it's horrible...

Therefore, Bernardo hurriedly reported the situation to Da Gama. Da Gama didn't believe it, so he asked:

"Is this true? Don't let him lie to you..."

After learning of Da Gama's suspicion from Bernardo, Sun Wei raised his hand with a righteous face and said:

"I, Sun Wei, swear to God, if there is even the slightest lie, I will surely go to hell after death!"

"Swear to God?" Bernardo was also shocked. Bernardo is a Catholic. In his eyes, swearing to heaven is swearing to God. Such a solemn oath must be right. After all, in the eyes of Catholics, no one dares to make fun of God...

But how did he know what was going on in Sun Wei's heart at this moment. As a child of Confucianism, there is a saying in his chief classic "The Analects of Confucius" that "Zibuyu speaks strange powers and confuses gods".

Although there were Confucian scholars who believed in gods and Buddhas in ancient China, most Confucian scholars did not believe in ghosts and gods. The so-called swearing and swearing is nothing more than deceiving these Fanyi. Anyway, he doesn't believe in ghosts and gods, so Sun Wei doesn't believe in hell, nor is he afraid of retribution. Therefore, he is also fooling around casually, saving the lives of his family first and then talking...

Unexpectedly, the Portuguese respected Heaven too much, and Bernardo mistakenly confused Heaven with God when he was learning Chinese. So, he actually believed in Sun Wei's "oath"...

Da Gama also doubted him, and he also believed that no one would dare to make fun of God casually. Therefore, both of them believed in Sun Wei's oath, thinking that Guangzhou Port was ready...

Therefore, Da Gama gave up his plan to forcibly break through the blockade of the fort and march into Huangpu Port to loot...

Before leaving Nanlang Town, Da Gama forced the local carpenter to find a lot of wood to repair the side of the damaged warship. Before leaving, the Portuguese colonists looted all the gold, silver and food from many families on the shore, including the money and food from Sun Wei’s family...

But Sun Juren didn't care at all. More than half of the 800 mu of paddy fields in Cuiheng Village were dedicated to him. As long as the person is still there, the more than 400 acres of paddy fields under his name will make the Sun family rich again in a few years. Besides, the 300 taels of silver in my secret room, these Fan Yi have not found it...

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