On February 7, 1642, the sky was still rainy. On the empty Xinhuaburg Pier, a Portuguese ship from Mozambique slowly stopped by the pier. Luigi Baraldi dusted the white hunting equipment, then stepped on the rope ladder on the deck, and skillfully descended to the pier along the rope ladder.

Next to his ship was a Dutch-style three-masted sailboat, which looked like a tonnage of four or five hundred tons. There were obvious traces of repair on the board. Maybe this was the Dutch ship captured by the East Coast people? God blessed, this poor egg actually penetrated into the crossfire of the coastal turrets that were closely guarded by others. Perhaps the only reason why the East Coast people did not sink it on the spot was that they were afraid that the shipwreck would block the channel.

"Mr. Luigi Balardi?" Schenjie's secretary Rodrigo walked up to Balardi with a tarpaulin umbrella and asked in a questioning tone.

"Yes, I am Baraldi from Siena." Baraldi said in Portuguese with a strong accent. "I have been ordered by General Fernando to discuss with you the matters you have proposed a few days ago."

"So, please come with me." Lisbon-born Rodrigo nodded, then politely handed Balardi several umbrellas to him to follow.

Baraldi didn't say much, and distributed the umbrella to several followers behind him. The group followed Rodrigo along the port road towards the city.

The port road is still paved with broken bricks and tiles. Although there is no large-scale softening in the rainy rain, some pavements inevitably have some slurry, which makes people's shoes covered with mud. However, such pavements are already very good in Balardi. You should know that even in big cities like Bordeaux and Florence, most of the pavements in the urban area are mud. When it rains, it is often extremely muddy. Coupled with the sewage spilled by residents and dumped garbage, the pavement gives people the impression that sewage flows across and difficult to get off the feet, and pedestrians often cover their noses.

There are many rain sheds on both sides of the road, and there are many expressionless black slaves squatting in the shed, and occasionally some Malay slaves are mixed with them. These people have some shovels and other tools at their feet, which seem to be in the intermittent period of work. They have to work when it rains, and the people on the east coast are really cruel masters. Haha.

The road passed through a dense coconut forest and then extended to a huge flat square. The square was covered with red bricks, which was very flat. It seemed that the East Coast people were really preparing to do a big fight here. Those Muscat and Persian merchants had long been spreading to each other that the East Coast people would set up a large trade center here. Now it seems that this is not just a rumor, but that the East Coast people are really preparing in this way. It can be imagined that once the East Coast people are established, they rely on the large amount of affordable commodity resources they have at hand, and they should be able to slowly attract the merchant ships of various countries that were originally going to Mozambique for trading.

In this way, Mozambique Island has actually been sentenced to death as a trading port. This cramped island cannot compete with the newly emerging port city on the east side of the strait, in terms of hardware facilities and commodity quantity and type of supply. Perhaps, the only advantage of Mozambique Island is that it is on the route. The port city called "Xinhuaburg" by the East Coast is slightly deviated.

A small drainage ditch was dug between the port road and the square, and the drainage ditch was covered with rectangular cement roof with seepage holes. The rainwater in the drainage ditch was flowing in one direction. Correspondingly, although it rained heavily, there was very little water accumulation in both the road and the square. Most of them flowed into the complex underground pipeline network along the drainage ditch, and finally flowed into the bay along a huge channel - just as the several circular cement pipelines that went straight to the sea that Baraldi saw on the deck of the ship.

It was a very exquisite project, and it was also a huge project. Baraldi shook his head. General Fernando of San Sebastian Castle was definitely not able to afford so much money and supplies to build such a huge urban drainage facility. And it seemed that it was unnecessary. The people of the East Coast were too extravagant. They seemed to be building this colonial city with the attitude of building their own capital. Baraldi, who had been clerks for many years, knew very well that whether they were Portuguese, Dutch or English, they were operating most of the colonies with a plundering mentality. They were pursuing quick money and lacked patience to manage the colonies well. Unless that colony was very important, it would be difficult to get appropriate investment.

The East Coast people are different. Every time they go, they build magnificent city walls, mighty forts, solid docks and flat farmlands that have been reclaimed. The investment here is huge. The large stones, bricks, cement and lime alone are an astronomical investment. Unfortunately, these materials colonies often have no output and need to be transported from Europe thousands of miles away, which is even more costly. For example, the famous Spanish sailing fleet carries a large number of bricks on the ships departing from Seville every year. This is really ridiculous. Such expensive bricks may be really affordable for only those colonial nobles or merchants. I am so jealous of these East Coast people. Their government allows them to burn bricks locally. They also master unknown technology for firing cement, which allows them to build their own cities at a relatively low cost.

After passing through a city gate made of thick hardwood, Balardi and his group finally entered the city area hidden behind the tall city wall. Some of the buildings in the city were made of wood, while others were made of bricks. At this time, there were almost no pedestrians on the streets, and one or two people who occasionally passed by often had some tools for working. They didn't rest on rainy days, and they were really hardworking guys. Balardi couldn't help but sigh. Compared to those black people who like to sit under trees and stare blankly, these immigrants from the Ming Kingdom are really hardworking. Maybe he can suggest that the general recruit more Ming Kingdom immigrants to Mozambique to reclaim wasteland in the future?

"Mr. Luigi Baraldi?" Schenjie stood under the eaves of his office and nodded reservedly to the visitor.

"I am Balardi, respectful Mr. Shi." Balardi took off his hat, bowed slightly, and said.

"Please sit." Shi Qinjie pointed at the seat in the house and said.

Balardi didn't talk nonsense and took his entourage to sit opposite Shi Qinjie's desk.

"So, Luigi, General Fernando, what do you think of my proposal?" Shi Qinjie asked in a straightforward manner. He had no doubt of his worries. Although Wang Tiech had repeatedly comforted himself without worrying too much, the Dutch had only more than twenty ships traveling between Europe and East India every year, and it was generally difficult to threaten the safety of Xinhua Fort. However, considering the weak combat effectiveness of the Second Fleet, once the Dutch was siege of Mozambique, it was like the Dutch who had been besieging Mozambique that year.

If the port is closed like an island, the people on the east coast will be in a passive situation. Not to mention that he has just approved the construction of the southern Tacheng area. There is no such complete defensive facilities as Xinhuaburg, and it is most likely difficult to resist the Dutch invasion. Then, at this time, it would be wise to win over the Portuguese, who were also suffering from the Dutch, and strive to establish a common defense system against the Dutch - or a quasi-alliance - between the two sides.

"General Fernando agrees with this." Baraldi said directly to Schenjie without going around the circle: "Damn Dutch pirates, they are peeping at the rich Mozambique almost every moment. They also launched an unprovoked attack on us on Ceylon Island in the East. Last year, they colluded with natives from Johor and other places and occupied the city of Malacca, which we have ruled for more than a hundred years. They forbidden the ships of the kingdom from docking in Malacca, and imposed heavy taxes on all merchant ships from various countries that came here to trade, wantonly destroying the local trade rules that have been formed for many years. There is nothing worse than this. General Fernando also believes that it is time for us both to unite to fight the threat of the shameless Dutch."

"So what is going on to form a regular patrol fleet?" Shi Qinjie began to ask the core question. Establishing the China-Portuguese joint fleet regularly patrolling the major ports of both sides is the right thing for the two sides to join forces this time.

"As you proposed before," said Balardi. "The two sides each set out three ships to form a joint fleet. As for the command of the fleet, an experienced captain will be appointed by each side to negotiate and command. The cruise route of the joint fleet is Mombasa-Zanzibar-Mozambique Island-Sofara-Marquis de Lorenzo City-Ta City-Xinhuaburg. How about it? This cruise route map not only combines your opinions, but also takes care of the major ports here. Do you have any different opinions?"

"This cruise route map is very good, I have no objection." Shi Qinjie said after thinking about it, "But I have something to figure out. Are there any professional warships in the three ships you are about to send?"

"No, they are all armed merchant ships," Baraldi replied honestly, "but our sailors are the top, they are very experienced and brave."

"Since that's the case, I think we only need to send two ships, because our ships are professional warships, and there is a powerful warship equipped with 66 artillery pieces. The firepower of our two warships is far greater than your three armed merchant ships, so I think we only need to send two ships." Shi Qinjie said.

"I have to ask General Fernando for instructions. But I don't think the problem is big. As you said, your warships have exceeded their performance too much." Barardi shrugged and said. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, novels are better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!