Chapter 157: Selling Off the Loot

Thus, the Portuguese trade was severely damaged. Several Japanese Kirishitans sadly said that the Dutch “heretics” now controlled Japan’s foreign trade. They had a trading post in Hirado, while true Catholic believers were expelled. Although Portuguese-Japanese trade had recently recovered somewhat, it was only one ship per year. The local church had also suffered heavy losses. The Jesuits in Macau used to have the privilege of trading 40 dan (a unit of weight) of raw silk in the Portuguese-Japanese trade.

This news was very useful to the transmigrators. However, further inquiries yielded no more useful information. The Japanese were very excited to meet this strange fellow Catholic who was neither Chinese nor Western. The rest of their conversation was about the Tokugawa shogunate’s persecution of the Kirishitans, and various stories of Japanese martyrs and miracles. Bai Duolu, not being a very pure Catholic, was not very interested in martyrdom and was looking for an excuse to slip away. But the Japanese craftsmen insisted that he meet the local church’s priest. Bai Duolu thought he should consult the organization about this matter first. He quickly came to ask Wen Desi whether they should contact the local church and what their attitude should be after contact.

After consideration, Wen Desi decided to make contact and see what the Catholic Church could offer them. After all, there was no harm in establishing a good relationship for the time being, and they might even get some practical help. He agreed to let him go to the local church. As for his own origins, he should just follow the “Captured Personnel Manual.”

“Talk less, listen more,” Wen Desi instructed him. “If I remember correctly, the Catholic religious order here is mainly the Jesuits. These people are particularly good at being flexible in their missionary work and can easily confuse people.”

“I understand, Wen Zong,” Bai Duolu said and went with the craftsmen.

The rest of the people continued to wander the streets. Gradually, they found that there were fewer white people on the streets, and the streets began to look more Chinese. Upon inquiry, they learned that this was Dezi Street, the Chinese quarter of Macau. The street was lined with all sorts of shops with signboards. Zhang Xin noted that most of them were silk and silk fabric shops, and there were also many porcelain shops. There were also some shops that were clean and tidy but it was not clear what they sold. Apprentices in blue clothes and small hats greeted and saw off customers at the door. As they were guessing and looking around, a young apprentice suddenly came out of a shop and invited them in for a talk.

It was both unnecessary and troublesome for such a large group to go in together. Such a large group moving together was too conspicuous. Wen Desi noticed that several black men in livery had been following them silently from behind, probably local security personnel. To avoid trouble, Wen Desi decided that besides himself and a few others who would go in to see the situation, the rest would form groups of five or six and move about freely.

The streets in the Chinese quarter were already narrow, and with the many shops along the street, various awnings blocked out a good portion of the limited sky. The light was poor, and it felt even dimmer upon entering the shop. A faint, fragrant smell wafted out. After a moment, their vision returned. Passing through the entrance hall, they saw a typical Chinese-style hall with blue bricks on the floor and rosewood decorations. A pair of glass palace lanterns from Yiwu hung in the center. Wen Desi smiled when he saw them. It seemed their things had already become a status symbol.

As he was looking, a well-dressed Chinese merchant came out from behind a screen. He first bowed and introduced himself as Huang Shunlong, the manager of the “Tailong” trading house. After exchanging greetings and names, they sat down. This Huang Shunlong was quite straightforward. He got straight to the point and asked Wen Desi if he was an Australian merchant.

“Indeed.”

“People say that Australian merchants have their hair cut short and wear short clothes. Seeing you in person, it’s true.” Huang Shunlong seemed to smile. “Manager Wen has come to Macau to do business, I presume?” He then added mysteriously, “Could it be that you have some goods that you couldn’t get rid of in Guangzhou—”

Wen Desi and the others were startled. The so-called goods that couldn’t be gotten rid of in Guangzhou were none other than the loot from the Gou family. Could this place have connections with Gou Er? Wang Ruixiang, who was in charge of security, had already reached for the butt of his Type 54 pistol.

Seeing the tension in Wen Desi’s group, Huang Shunlong laughed heartily. “As for your origins, although I haven’t left Macau, I have heard some things. As soon as you set foot in Macau, I was waiting for your arrival. My shop is small, but its reputation is known far and wide.”

So the black men following them were his. Wen Desi suddenly understood.

“What reputation?”

Huang Shunlong, quite pleased with himself, took out a small gold-skinned box, picked out some tobacco powder with his fingernail, and sniffed it.

“Manager Wen is in great need of saltpeter in Lingao, isn’t he?”

“We are indeed in short supply.” I’ll go along with you for now and see what you’re up to, Wen Desi thought.

“Actually, Chief Manager Gao is an amateur at this,” Huang Shunlong said, wiping his lips, a yellow mustache forming under his nose. “When it comes to saltpeter and gunpowder, my goods are much better than his.”

So he was a specialist in smuggling contraband. This is a good thing, Wen Desi thought. Relying solely on Gao Ju as a purchasing agent was too dependent and too risky from a supply security perspective. It would be better to establish another line of contact.

It turned out that this “Tailong” specialized in foreign trade, with a dozen or so small, fast boats plying the waters off the coast of Guangdong, transporting local silk, porcelain, medicine, and handicrafts to Macau to be sold to the Portuguese. But he had another business: supplying various necessities to ships at sea. The so-called necessities ranged from timber and iron for ship repairs to grain, firearms, and gunpowder. Naturally, another business that came with this was specializing in buying stolen goods from pirates.

Of course, Macau was not a pirate port. Both selling stolen goods and supplying pirates were illegal. Besides the authority of the Portuguese governor, Macau itself could not protect him from the laws of the Great Ming. But Huang Shunlong had been in this business locally for many years, and there was naturally only one reason he could operate safely: he had money. In addition, he had married a Portuguese wife, which had ruined his reputation in his own clan, almost getting him expelled.

Such a person was clearly well-suited to the needs of the transmigrators. Wen Desi immediately took out a list of various trade goods from the Gou family estate, such as ironware, cotton cloth, woolen cloth, leather, and copperware, which were useful to the transmigrators and would not be sold. But the large quantities of porcelain, silk, and handicrafts were useless to them and were targets for quick disposal.

They immediately negotiated the price: Huang Shunlong would buy all the goods on the transmigrators’ list for forty thousand piastres. The transmigrators would be responsible for delivering the goods to Macau, and the transaction would be cash on delivery. In addition, Huang Shunlong would give the transmigrators an extra ten thousand jin of pig iron and one thousand jin of saltpeter.

“How would Manager Wen like to be paid?” Huang Shunlong asked.

“What’s the difference?”

“If Manager Wen prefers cash, I will have to prepare in advance. After all, forty thousand piastres is not a small sum.”

If the transmigrators didn’t want cash, Huang Shunlong would pay with bills of exchange from the Indian Brahmin merchants operating locally. These bills were accepted throughout Southeast Asia, all the way to Goa and Madras on the Indian subcontinent, and could be cashed at any time. For large payments, they could be used directly as checks.

If it were up to Wen Desi, he would have preferred to receive the bills. They would be making frequent purchases locally in the future, and carrying large amounts of cash was inconvenient. But then he remembered that the impending currency reform in Lingao would require a large reserve of precious metals. So they agreed on half cash and half bills.

The deal was done. Huang Shunlong smiled like a fox. He had clearly gotten a very good deal. Huang Shunlong then brought up the matter of the many strange Australian goods, hoping for some cooperation in that area. Wen Desi was secretly pleased: Our things are truly loved by everyone.

He immediately sent someone back to the ship to bring samples of the few products the Transmigration group produced themselves for him to see. These were mainly various small glass objects and the rhubarb wine from the Guangzhou dispatch station. After looking at them, he frowned and said, “These things are good, but their market is limited.”

He pointed at the various glass objects and said, “The Franks bring these glass things on every ship. Although they are just glass bowls and beads, and not as good as yours, they are enough to deceive the natives of the South Seas. As for the wine, they mostly drink fruit wine. I’m afraid they might not be interested in this spirit—”

However, the hundred or so tortoiseshells that the fishing team had incidentally collected while fishing sold for a good price. Huang Shunlong said that the Portuguese loved this stuff and would buy as much as they had.

Huang Shunlong knew some things about them in Lingao and seemed to want to inquire about the transmigrators’ future intentions: Would Australia send more large ships in the future? Did Australia intend to follow the example of the Portuguese and seize Lingao as a trading post with the Great Ming? If so, did the Australians intend to interfere with the trade here? These questions were clearly not just his own; Wen Desi suddenly realized that the Portuguese authorities in Macau were also very eager to know.

He collected his thoughts and said that Australia would not be sending any ships for the time being, but they would certainly continue to stay in Lingao. Huang Shunlong “kindly” reminded them to be wary of Zheng Zhilong’s actions. How can one tolerate others snoring beside one’s bed? This man was ambitious and had surrendered to the government. Sooner or later, all the various sea heroes on the Fujian-Guangdong seas would be attacked by him. It seemed Zheng Zhilong was very much resented. A flash of inspiration came to Wen Desi’s mind, but he found it absurd and shook his head.

When Wen Desi asked about the situations of Liu Xiang and Zhu Cailao, Huang Shunlong said that they both had agents in Macau, but they themselves and the main members of their gangs never showed their faces in Macau. This place was still under the legal jurisdiction of the Great Ming. If the government issued a warrant for their arrest, the Portuguese governor would still have to obey and hand them over. If the Xiangshan county magistrate was a tough one, he might even personally lead men into the city to make arrests. Even the governor couldn’t protect them.

Wen Desi asked, “Is there a woman named Li Siya here?”