Li Chengmou sat in the middle, accompanied by several of his main cruiser officers on both sides.
When Li Chengmou saw everyone gathered, he spoke first: "The matter in Macao has been delayed for a year or two. I didn't expect that the General Taxation Department would reach an agreement with other countries without authorization to transfer the interests of Macao. This time, the imperial court was very angry and ordered me to go to Nanyang Water
The division dispatched warships to blockade the waters of Macao."
When Li Chengmou said this, he looked at the people under his command.
Among the officers under him, except for Liu Hai, who was sitting there calmly, several others had begun to whisper.
You don’t need to know more to know that these people are already a little timid. After all, the Nanyang Navy fought with the French the year before last. There were five main battleships, but when they came back, there were only three.
Li Chengmou shook his head, and then asked Liu Hai, who was sitting beside him: "Admiral Liu, what do you think of this matter?"
Liu Hai quickly handed over his hand, "Admiral, Portugal is a small European country with a weak national power. It is not the same as France, England and other big European countries. If we have to give in to such a small country, which country in the world will be able to conquer us in the future?"
The Qing Dynasty takes it seriously. In view of its humble position, the court's handling this time is quite reasonable. As long as we block Macau, the other side will definitely compromise, because they do not have the ability to send warships to the waters near us from thousands of miles away."
Li Chengmou nodded repeatedly after listening to Liu Hai's words, "In recent years, Portugal can be said to be insatiable. It not only occupied the original Macau island, but also extended its claws to nearby islands. Now all the islands near Macau have been occupied by it, and now it is forcing my country to If you want to sign a treaty to cede Macau, we as soldiers will never tolerate it."
When Li Chengmou said this, he stared at several other subordinates with bright eyes. Only then did these people realize that their admiral had made up his mind.
So these people stopped making any small moves and said, "Everything such as humble positions will follow the orders of the Admiral."
Seeing his subordinates express their stance, Li Chengmou nodded and issued this combat order.
"This time we go south with the Jiangsu as our flagship, and the Kaiji and Huantai to block all waterways in Macau. If the Portuguese in Macau dare to block it, they will immediately fire artillery. At the same time, we will order ships to move south and assist a thousand marines to go south, ready at any time.
Landing on Macau Island.”
Liu Hai and other three cruiser captains immediately bowed to accept the order. After that, Li Chengmou asked the others to go down to prepare, but Liu Hai was left alone.
Liu Hai knew that Li Chengmou still had something to explain, so he stood there respectfully waiting for Li Chengmou's instructions.
Li Chengmou looked at Liu Hai still standing there, beckoned and said with a smile: "There is no one here now. Brother Liu, you don't have to be so reserved. Come, sit next to me, and let's discuss our trip south this time."
After listening to Li Chengmou's words, Liu Hai came forward and sat down with Li Chengmou.
When Li Chengmou saw Liu Hai doing well, he said: "Brother, how do you think the Portuguese will react when we go south this time?"
Liu Hai smiled contemptuously, "Portugal is no longer the powerful country that dominated the world in the 16th century. Now they are just relying on their status as foreigners to pretend to be powerful. If we block Macau, the most they can do is ask the minister to protest in the capital, but
They will never dare to take any military action."
Li Chengmou nodded with satisfaction. Although Liu Hai climbed up through connections, he did have some abilities. Otherwise, even if Zeng Guoquan promoted him, he would not be able to secure this position.
"Then Brother Liu thinks how should our court handle the affairs in Macau and what purpose should we achieve?"
Liu Hai thought for a moment, then went through the past events in Macau over the years in his mind, and finally said: "Although the Portuguese are said to be a small country and a weak people, they were once a European power after all. Now they have a good relationship with the British, so we can't
Too much pressure."
When Liu Hai said this, he quietly raised his head and glanced at Li Chengmou. Seeing that he kept nodding, he continued speaking confidently and boldly.
"I think it is better to return to the status quo in the 20th year of Daoguang, 1840 AD. Let the imperial court re-establish customs in Macau and dispatch officials to manage the affairs of the Chinese in Macau. At the same time, it will pressure the Portuguese to stop collecting taxes in Macau and force the Portuguese to return to the imperial court.
Pay rent in Macau.”
After hearing this, Li Chengmou nodded repeatedly, never expecting that Liu Hai had such a plan.
"Brother Liu, what you said is exactly what you want to do for the country. You can write a note when you go back, and I will sign it when the time comes, and we can report it to the court together."
Liu Hai repeatedly promised that if the court could really act according to his wishes this time, Macau's sovereignty would be guaranteed.
So that night, Liu Hai wrote a memorial all night, detailing the rise and fall of Portugal's national power over the years, as well as the current policies adopted by Portugal in Macau. Then he wrote what policies the court should adopt in Macau, and what the final achievements would be.
What purpose?
After Liu Hai finished writing, he suddenly discovered that he had written all the poems in vernacular Chinese, and now all the poems submitted to the court were written in classical Chinese. This made him scratch his head anxiously.
At this time, Liu Hai's wife Zeng Yuying saw that he still didn't return to the bedroom even after midnight, so she came to visit with a bowl of ginseng soup.
As soon as Zeng Yuying entered the study, she saw Liu Hai scratching her head and head anxiously. She went forward, put the drawing aside, and asked with a smile: "Master, what's going on?"
When Liu Hai saw it was Zeng Yuying, he didn't hide it, "It's all because of my lack of knowledge and skills. Today the admiral asked me to write a note to report to the court. After I finished writing it, I realized that what I wrote was in vernacular. If I submitted it, I might be ignored by others.
A shame."
After listening to Liu Hai's troubles, Zeng Yuying stepped forward to pick up the memorial written by Liu Hai and looked at it carefully.
After reading it, Zeng Yuying began to admire her husband in her heart. Although he said that he was a mess in his hometown and did not go to school, his vision was first-class in the Qing Dynasty. She also met many young talents.
, compared to her husband-in-law, he was far behind. Now Zeng Yuying began to admire her own vision. There were so many young talents back then, but she chose this dandy. Now everyone can see that his talents are outstanding.
.
"If the master is worried about this matter, then there is no need. I also received guidance from a famous teacher when I was at my mother's house. I will revise it for the master, and then grandpa will just make a copy and hand it over."
Liu Hai was overjoyed when he heard this. He didn't expect that his daughter-in-law was still a talented woman. So Liu Hai quickly stood up, moved his seat, and then supported his wife to sit in the middle and polished her ink himself.
Zeng Yuying pursed her lips and smiled, picked up the pen, dipped it in ink, then looked at Liu Hai's memorial again, and finally considered the tone of it. After thinking about it, she wrote it off.
"Sir, what do you think?"
Liu Hai took the memorial in his hand and read it carefully. His tone and tone were indeed the same as those of the Qing Dynasty people. He was relieved. Then he grabbed Zheng Yuying's hand and said, "Madam is really a great talent. I will never be able to live without her."
"
Zeng Yuying was a little embarrassed by what he said, "Master, it's getting late. Let's finish writing quickly so we can have a good rest."
So Liu Hai copied Zeng Yuying's revised memorial again and packed it up. Then he went back to the bedroom with Zeng Yuying, who had been waiting for a long time.
On the second day, Liu Hai took the memorial and went directly to the Nanyang Navy Yamen and handed the memorial to Li Chengmou.
Li Chengmou read the memorial back and forth and nodded repeatedly, so he took up a pen and numbered his name after the memorial on the spot, and then ordered people to rush to the capital.
After sending off the memorial, Li Chengmou said to Liu Hai: "Brother Xian, you have been a little tired in the past two days. You will start to reorganize your armaments immediately. You will go south as soon as the imperial court orders you."
Liu Hai agreed, just like Li Chengmou said goodbye. He has been very busy these two days. After all, it is not easy for a large army to go on an expedition, especially the coal, food supplies, artillery shells, and equipment for 1,000 marines needed to go south.
, all have to be prepared.
Next, Liu Hai went directly to the ground station and ordered Liu Ying to immediately rectify the 1,200 people and carry 10 heavy machine guns, 10 60mm mortars, 5 80mm mortars, and 4 122mm artillery. After preparing enough
Ammunition and supplies are ready for orders at any time.
Then Liu Hai came to the dock again and confirmed the troop transport ships and the ships transporting supplies that were following the main force south this time.
By the time Liu Hai was almost ready, an order had been sent from the court.
This time the Qing court acted very quickly. Liu Hai's memorial had just been sent to the capital via telegram, and the order was sent back the next day.
The commander greatly praised Liu Hai's suggestion, then fully agreed with Liu Hai's proposal in the memorial, and ordered him to go south immediately.
At the same time, Liu Hai was appointed as the plenipotentiary ambassador for the talks, responsible for the negotiations between the imperial court and Portugal. It seems that those in the imperial court did not want to deal with foreigners, and secondly, they knew that Liu Hai had traveled abroad, so they appointed him to take over.
Got rid of this chore.
Liu Hai cheered up after receiving the order. After coming to the Qing Dynasty for so many years, he could finally fight for some rights for this country.
After Liu Hai reported to Li Chengmou, he immediately ordered the coal ship to start loading, and then ordered the Marines to reorganize their armaments and start loading the ship.
After all the supplies were fully prepared, Liu Hai boarded the Jiangsu armored cruiser, summoned the Kaiji and Huantai, and the three cruisers slowly sailed out of Wusongkou Pier.
Then it rendezvoused with several supply ships, and then the fleet slowly headed south.
Naturally, this action of the Qing court could not be hidden from the embassies of various countries in Shanghai.
As several battleships of the Nanyang Navy headed south, various countries began to exchange news. On the same day, Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, received news of the Nanyang Navy heading south.
Lisbon was also very worried after receiving the news that the Nanyang Navy was heading south and might use force against Macau.
King Luis I of Portugal immediately called for a royal meeting with the prime minister and cabinet members.
As a result, they discussed it for a whole day but failed to come up with a result. After all, Portugal is no longer the powerful country it was in the 16th century.
Portugal is now a small and weak country, and it only relies on its original prestige to gain a foothold in the world.
Now the Qing Dynasty did not consider Portugal's previous reputation and directly sent warships. This left them with no choice.
In the end, Portugal reached a consensus at the imperial meeting, that is, not to allow the Qing Dynasty to have a direct conflict for the time being, but to send a diplomatic note to the United Kingdom, hoping that the United Kingdom would come to mediate, and it would be best to achieve its own expectations at the negotiating table.