There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 391 Recapture of Macau
Ultimately, Jiří Ferrera signed the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Macau on behalf of Portugal.

They have no choice but to sign. If they do, the Portuguese in Macau can survive and won't starve. Moreover, the Portuguese communities can be preserved and remain autonomous, which is a way of preserving their last shred of dignity.

If they don't sign, the Macanese of Portuguese descent will definitely rebel immediately.

The Governor of Macau was already somewhat despondent. In the month before he stepped down, such a major event occurred, which almost caused Portugal to lose all its operations in Macau, and even led to China unilaterally revoking his position as Governor of Macau.

Jastufira did not know how to return home, nor how to explain himself to the Governor-General of Goa and His Highness the Regent.

Of course, he didn't actually need to worry at all, because next year Portugal would be attacked by the combined forces of France and Spain, and the country would be in chaos, so he wouldn't be able to care about the mess in Macau.

"Boom! Rumble!"

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~~!"

With a deafening roar and the ground trembling, the boundary wall built by the Portuguese to blockade Macau was being torn down and demolished by laborers conscripted by the Guangzhou government.

The land leased to the Portuguese during the Ming and Qing dynasties did not include the later Taipa Island and Coloane Island. Even the entire Macau Peninsula was not leased; only a small section was leased as a temporary settlement for Portuguese traders.

Moreover, the Portuguese not only had to pay a rent of 500 taels of silver to stay in Macau, but also had to bear a customs duty of 20000 taels of silver per year.

The Portuguese built a boundary wall, enclosing the entire Macau Peninsula. They also encroached on the residential areas of the Han Chinese in Macau and even sold Han women as slaves (as well as slaves from Japan and Southeast Asia).

This situation persisted from the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty until the end of the First Opium War.

In 1869, the Kingdom of Portugal abolished slavery, and Macau was completely free of the buying and selling of female slaves... all of them were adopted as daughters.

This is also one of the reasons why many Macanese people later chose to stay in Macau and become Chinese (Macanese people have intermarried with Chinese people for a long time, and their hair color has become darker and their skin color has become yellower).

Ye Wenfu, the newly appointed magistrate of Xiangshan, is personally leading his officials to prepare to distribute land and settle down among the Han people on the island.

Several officials banged gongs and shouted, "Fellow villagers, come out and register for land distribution! Everyone will get land now. Once you have land and are registered, you will be citizens of the Han Dynasty and will no longer have to worry about being bullied by the red-haired devils."

Upon hearing that land was available for distribution, many Han Chinese villagers in Macau immediately came out to help.

Upon seeing the officials, they asked, "Officers, is what you're saying true? Are we people from Macau also entitled to land?"

"Haojing'ao" is the official Chinese name, while "Magang" is the Portuguese name. The local Han Chinese in Macau usually refer to it as Macau (from "Macau Chronicle").

Ye Wenfu's Cantonese was not fluent, and he could only barely understand it with the help of a temporary translator he had recruited: "I am Wenfu, the magistrate of Xiangshan County who will be in charge of this area from now on. As long as the people of Macau are Han Chinese, they can participate in the land distribution. After the land is distributed, they will be subjects of the Han people and can enjoy a year of tax exemption. In addition, you can also report any families of foreign devils that have Han Chinese slaves. The person who reports them can be exempted from taxes for an additional six months."

To avoid frightening the people, Ye Wenfu deliberately used "I" to refer to himself at the beginning of his speech, instead of saying "this official".

Sure enough, the Macau Han people quickly closed the distance and were no longer so afraid of Ye Wenfu.

Moreover, many Han Chinese in Macau also paid attention to the second half of the sentence: those who reported Portuguese people who owned Han Chinese slaves could enjoy an additional six months of tax exemption.

More than ten people on the spot wanted to report the Portuguese who were leading the way to arrest the slaves.

……

On the other side, in the Portuguese settlement.

Wan Xu, the centurion sent by Chen Younian, led 500 Han soldiers into the settlement, including 200 riflemen and 100 mortarmen.

Wan Xu produced a copy of the treaty and shouted, "This is the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Macau signed by your governor. Lay down your weapons immediately and disband the Macau Security Forces!"

Inside the Portuguese-held area, Alberto, the commander of the Macau Security Forces, was furious: "I am the commander of the Macau Security Forces. I only obey the Portuguese Royal Family and the Governor of Goa. I did not sign that unequal treaty. You damned rebels, how dare you invade Macau! You are provoking a war between two countries!"

Not only was the shouting all bark and no bite, but the problem was that it was all in Portuguese, which Wan Xu couldn't understand at all: "What kind of gibberish is this red devil saying? But judging from his expression, it probably isn't anything nice."

"Pass down the order: prepare for the brothers to storm in!"

Wan Xu issued the military order.

The 500 Han soldiers immediately began their war preparations.

Alberto was alarmed and quickly mobilized his 150 Macau security troops.

However, before half of the security forces could be assembled, trouble broke out inside the Portuguese settlement.

The Macau Council, which had essentially become an appendage of the Governor's Palace, suddenly gathered together Macanese people living in the area.

Fernando, Miguel, and Gabriel were the three who accompanied the governor to Guangzhou for negotiations and brought back the contents of the "unequal treaty" offered by the Han Dynasty.

These "unequal treaties" were indeed unequal terms for Governor Justus Ferrilla, but for the Macanese, they made almost no difference. In fact, the clauses explicitly expelling the governor, retaining the council, and disbanding the security forces were extremely advantageous to them.

Fernando and his group worked hard to persuade the other members of the council, and through the council they quickly gathered the Macanese people of Portuguese descent and distributed muskets to them.

There are many Macanese Portuguese in Macau, far more than the Portuguese from the Kingdom and Goa, and their political status in Macau is low. Especially after the Royal Decree was promulgated more than a decade ago, their professional status has generally been inferior to that of native Portuguese.

Now, the chance to turn things around has finally arrived.

Before the Han army even entered the Portuguese settlement, fighting broke out within the settlement itself.

Alberto's 150 security forces stationed in Australia had only assembled half of their force when they encountered fierce resistance from the Macanese.

There were thousands of Portuguese in Macau, more than half of whom were Macanese. They took up muskets and surrounded Alberto's security forces.

Jastus Ferrila was shocked upon hearing the news and rushed to the council and the political affairs department: "What's going on? Why are so many people taking up arms and surrounding our army?"

The Chief Secretary for Administration looked indifferent, as if he had already resigned himself to his fate.

The council representative, Fernando, said: “Your Excellency, you have signed the Treaty of Macau. Now you should fulfill the contents of the treaty, immediately disband Commander Alberto’s security forces, and at the same time, you yourself should resign from the post of governor and leave Macau by ship.”

Jastus Ferrira immediately realized: "It was your council that incited the people!"

Miguel, standing next to Fernando, said sternly, "This is originally the council's port of Ma'an. Since Your Excellency has already signed the treaty, you should leave Ma'an immediately and never set foot here again."

Realizing that all was lost, Justus Ferrera roared in anger, "You have betrayed the royal family, betrayed the kingdom, and betrayed Portugal!"

Fernando shook his head: "The Macau Council is certainly loyal to Portugal, but Portugal doesn't need the Macau Council. The Council hasn't received any orders from the Governor of Goa for many years. Even Your Excellency, during your three years in Macau, you never contacted Goa even once, did you?"

Justin Ferrera fell silent; this is the current state of affairs in Macau.

Despite the Portuguese later occupying Macau, the current Kingdom of Portugal is too busy to care about Portugal itself.

Historically, the British came to Macau twice, in 1802 and 1807, and the second time they actually landed on the island and occupied Macau.

The reason was that Portugal was unable to cope with the Franco-Spanish coalition; the Governor of Goa was even too preoccupied with his own problems to contact the Governor of Macau. As an ally, Britain naturally had a duty to protect its ally's overseas territories.

In the end, the Portuguese in Macau had to ask the Jiaqing Emperor for help. The Jiaqing Emperor ordered the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi to dispatch 2,000 Green Standard Army soldiers and more than 100 warships to surround Macau.

Under pressure, the British, also unwilling to engage in a full-scale war, finally had their fleet leave Macau.

This was also the last time the puppet Qing dynasty rose to power in modern history!
While Justus Ferrilla was arguing with Fernando and other council members, a battle was about to break out outside.

Even if the Macau Security Forces were fully assembled, how could a Security Forces force of only 150 men possibly fight against hundreds of Macanese militiamen, plus 500 Han Chinese soldiers attacking from the outside?

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"kill!"

The battle lasted no more than half an hour from start to finish.

The body of Alberto, the Macau Security Commander, lay on the ground, riddled with bullet holes, some from Han Chinese soldiers and others from Macanese Portuguese.

Of the 150 security troops, one-third were killed in action.

Without even using artillery, the remaining 100 surrendered soldiers were all captured.

Governor Justin Ferrera, whose power was waning, was forcibly expelled from the Macao Council, which was backed by the Han Chinese army, and forced to board a ship at the dock.

Fernando said earnestly, "Please go back and tell the Governor of Goa that Macau will no longer be subject to Goa, but will remain loyal to Portugal."

Upon hearing this, Jastus Ferrila was completely speechless.

The battle to retake Macau ended in a chaotic manner, and a large number of Portuguese from Goa, including officials from the Governor's Office and the Secretariat, were expelled from Macau.

The scenario that the Kingdom of Portugal feared most came to pass: the Macanese expelled the Portuguese.

Internal strife, how exciting!
Fernando didn't see anything wrong with it. These Macanese didn't know what their motherland was; they only knew that their grandfathers had been born and raised in Macau. The fact that they could say they were loyal to Portugal was purely for the benefit of the Chinese, to show that they still had powerful backers.

Fernando disbanded the Macanese militia and handed over all the muskets: "We have signed a treaty. From now on, Macau belongs to the Great Han Kingdom, and the Portuguese-populated area belongs to Portugal. Please, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Kingdom, do not violate the treaty."

The magistrate of Xiangshan County, Ye Wenfu, who came to take over the duties, nodded: "His Majesty's word is law, and he will certainly not go back on his word!"

(End of this chapter)