There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 388 Governor of Macau
The Governor's Palace, Macau Peninsula.

China has not yet experienced the First Opium War, so Portugal has not dared to turn the Macau Peninsula into a colony, let alone annex and occupy Taipa Island and Coloane Island outside the Macau Peninsula.

However, Portugal was still secretly bribing local officials in Xiangshan County while building boundary walls, forts, and watchtowers there, clearly treating Macau as an overseas territory.

While there are Han Chinese settlers on the Macau Peninsula, the majority are Portuguese, with the local Portuguese population being the largest.

They are collectively known as Macanese Portuguese, and they share many similarities with Americans at that time. Because both were born overseas and grew up on overseas soil, they cannot be said to have no feelings for their homeland, Portugal, but they can only be said to be completely unrelated.

Learning from the experience of its ally the British, the Portuguese kingdom itself passed the Royal Decree in 1783, abolishing the council of Macanese Portuguese and replacing it with the power held by the Portuguese Governor of Macau.

"Your Excellency the Governor!"

The advisor attached to the Governor of Macau said, "Our envoys to Guangzhou were once again driven back by the Qing rebels. However, this time they finally replied to us, agreeing to negotiate with us, but with one condition: Your Excellency the Governor needs to go to Guangzhou in person to negotiate."

Justin Ferrera, this guy is the sixty-third Governor of Australia, and he's a complete slacker.

Since the Royal Decree was promulgated seventeen years ago, the legal term of office of successive Governors of Macau has been gradually standardized, and by his generation, the term has been approximately three years.

If the Han army hadn't come to recapture Macau, this guy could have just endured two more months before stepping down and returning home to enjoy life with his wealth.

Then the Han army arrived, and the two sides fought a battle, during which seven of their men died.

The Macanese of Portuguese descent were very dissatisfied and demanded an explanation from the Governor's Office.

Although the Macau Council had lost most of its power, Governor Justin Ferrera was, after all, an appointed governor from within the country, and he still had to consider the influence of the Macanese Portuguese. Therefore, he was forced to blockade Macau and refuse the takeover by the Han Chinese army.

After that, Macau ran out of food, and the shortage lasted for more than a month.

Justin Ferrera looked annoyed: "These damned Qing rebels! They're violating the agreement between Qing and Portugal. Macau is Portuguese territory. They're trying to starve us to death."

“No, no, no,” the consultant quickly reminded, “Your Excellency, it’s not Qing Dynasty, it should be Great Qing Dynasty. This is the written name of the kingdom that they asked us to pass on. Moreover, strictly speaking, Ma Port is only a leased territory of the kingdom in the Far East, not a colony of the kingdom.”

"..."

Justin Ferrira paused for a moment, then asked, "My advisor, what good advice do you have?"

“Your Excellency, I believe you should renegotiate with the rebels of the Qing Dynasty,” the advisor suggested.

Jastus Ferrila frowned and said, “But these Qing Dynasty rebels have no sincerity at all. They even cut off our food supplies and refused to meet with the envoy of the Kingdom’s governor.”

The consultant didn't say much, but instead took out a map that was clearly not owned by the Portuguese in Macau.

The consultant spread out the map and said, "This is a map that our envoys sent to Guangzhou brought back from the rebels. The areas marked in red on the map are the Qing Dynasty territories currently occupied by the rebels."

Jastus Ferrira glanced around briefly and was immediately astonished: "Have these rebels become so powerful?"

He could clearly see the territory of the Qing Dynasty marked on the map, with most of the southern part already turned into a red area. At the same time, he could see that Macau, where they were located, was just a tiny place compared to the vast red area.

Justus Ferrera was originally thinking about whether to cooperate with the Qing government to help them deal with the rebels, and perhaps afterwards turn Macau into a Portuguese colony in the Far East.

But now, the rebels are so powerful. Take, for example, the war that the Kingdom waged against the Ming Dynasty two hundred years ago. That war ended in a crushing defeat for the Kingdom.

The kingdom was forced to sign a treaty, turning its colony into a leasehold, paying an annual rent of 500 taels of silver, and also having to abide by the five terms set by the Ming Dynasty:
First, the keeping of slaves is prohibited;

Second, the purchase of people is prohibited;
Third, warships are prohibited from entering;
Fourth, accepting bribes is prohibited;
Fifth, unauthorized construction is prohibited.

Although the Portuguese in Macau later circumvented these clauses by bribing officials, they still left a deep impression on them. In their minds, the Ming Dynasty was powerful and not to be trifled with, and the Qing Dynasty, having destroyed the Ming Dynasty, was even more powerful and barbaric.

Merchants from the Qing Dynasty who traveled to Macau used to refer to the Qing Dynasty as "Tartars," which means barbarians.

Now, the rebel army of the Qing Dynasty has occupied most of the southern territory of the "powerful" Qing Dynasty.

What a powerful rebel army this is!
This classic Western logic of Jastus Ferrila inadvertently made him realize the strength of the Han army, and his previous disdainful attitude suddenly became more cautious.

The consultant continued, “Your Excellency, the rebel forces in the Qing Dynasty have become quite powerful. The envoy sent to Guangzhou even received news that these rebel forces, who call themselves the Great Han Kingdom, have officially ascended the throne as emperors of the Great Han Empire. They seem to be ready to replace the barbaric and powerful Qing Empire.”

Jia Shidufeila nodded slightly, then asked with some doubt, "I remember that these people from the Qing Dynasty also seem to refer to themselves as Han Chinese. The pronunciations are so similar, is there any connection?"

The consultant replied, "Our envoy also raised this question, and the other side answered that their ancestors established the first Great Han Empire more than two thousand years ago. Because the Great Han Empire was the most powerful empire in the Far East at that time, as powerful as the Roman Empire, the people of that time were called Han people. After that, the Great Han Empire was revived several times and then perished, and the descendants of this powerful empire are the Han people of today."

Jastu Ferrila suddenly realized and said, "It seems that the other party must be a descendant of the royal family of the Great Han Empire. Only then can he have such a strong appeal in the Great Qing Empire and rebuild such a powerful Great Han Empire."

Justus Ferrira was clearly mistaken. He regarded the Han Dynasty as a typical example of European princely restorationism, believing that the Han Dynasty was also a descendant of the previous dynasty's royal family and had successfully rebuilt and revived its country by relying on the influence of the previous dynasty.

Nie Yu doesn't have the surname Liu? That's alright. It's not like there aren't princes in Europe who changed their names and escaped the pursuit and persecution of new dynasties.

The advisor sensed that his governor seemed to have misunderstood, but he did not point it out.

The prince's restoration of his kingdom is a romantic tale that has fascinated Europeans.

A few years ago, the previous governor had even funded Nguyen Phuc Anh, a prince of Annam who had lost his country, to return and fight a war to restore his nation.

After recovering, Jastus Ferrila said seriously, "My advisor, it seems we really need to have a good talk with this Great Han Kingdom again. Since they were able to drive out the barbaric Qing Kingdom and revive their own Great Han Kingdom, they must be a civilized nation, not some evil rebel army."

The advisor understood that this was the governor giving himself an out, and he promptly reminded him: "Your Excellency, the officials of the Great Han Kingdom in Guangzhou demand that you go to Guangzhou in person, otherwise they will continue to expel our envoys, refuse to negotiate with us, and continue to cut off our contact with the outside world and our food supply."

"Then let's make preparations. We'll set off for Guangzhou the day after tomorrow to negotiate with the Great Han Kingdom."

This time, Jastus Ferrira did not hesitate much and gave the order to the advisor.

Jastu Ferrira thought that he would be stepping down as governor in two months and could return to his country to enjoy life, so there was no need to have friction and conflict with this Great Han Kingdom now.

Any problems can be left to the next governor to deal with.

Moreover, even if a conflict were to break out, Macau would actually be unable to resist.

It wasn't just a matter of food and water shortages; the Portuguese in Macau also had a very weak armed force.

This was a concession, not a colony, and Portugal itself feared the fate of the British. First, it issued the Royal Decree to strengthen the governor and weaken the power of the council. Then, it sent 100 musketeers and 50 artillerymen from the Goa colony to Macau, rotating them every six years.

This is the current total strength of the Portuguese regular army in Macau. If Macanese Portuguese were mobilized as auxiliary troops, another two or three hundred men could be pulled out, which should be enough to form an army of five hundred men.

What can an army of five hundred men do?
The Han Dynasty was not the puppet Qing Dynasty. Even if the puppet Qing Dynasty had faced the British during the First Opium War, it wouldn't have been completely outmatched.

The Qing dynasty was simply afraid of war and afraid of giving too much power to the Han people.

I would rather give to friendly nations than to my own slaves.

(End of this chapter)