Macau Artillery: Almost Ming Dynasty Portuguese mercenaries during ManchurianNorthern Expedition.

In the northeastern border in the late Ming Dynasty, a group of Portuguesegunmen fought for the Ming Dynasty. Their performance and ultimate fateare the epitome of this great era. Among them are the pressure of defensein the north of the Ming Dynasty and the efforts of the Portuguese for theirinternational space.

As a result of the Dutch attack on the Portuguese Indian sailing ship, lossesof up to 50%

from 1580 to 1612, the power of the Portuguese Eastern Empire was atstake. As many as 50% of ships travelling between Asia and Europe weresunk by the Dutch. After the failure of the Macao attack, the Netherlandsstrengthened its friendship with Japan's Tokugawa shogunate and squeezed outthe living space of the Portuguese opponents. As a result, the Macao coloniesbecame increasingly dependent on Ming authorities.

However, on specific issues, local officials in Portugal and Australia havebeen in friction with Guangdong. The protest points in the Ming Dynastywere mainly the Portuguese's large-scale construction of fortifications and thetrafficking of Tang people as slaves. At the same time, robberies by theDutch often occur in Portugal. The Macau authorities are unhappy with theextortion by local officials in Guangdong. As a result of these frictions,Guangdong has cut off water and food supplies to Macau, making Macau, Portugal,which is already not rich, even more painful. As a result, the Portuguesewould very much like to have a direct dialogue with the Beijing court to gainmore space for the declining colonial empire.

The Guangdong authorities need Macau to guard the border, but are unwilling toexpand fortifications.

In 1628, the Portuguese seized 10 guns from a Dutch ship. Upon hearingthis, Emperor Chongzhen ordered China to purchase these weapons immediately,and hoped to invite 20 gunmen to become Ming army instructors. So theMacao parliament moved on and sent a group led by Gong Shadi and Lu Ruohan togo north. While imparting artillery skills, he communicated with theBeijing court, paving the way for further negotiations in the future.

In terms of composition, Miyasa himself defeated the Dutch invasion in1622. Lu Ruohan has served the Japanese shogunate for a long time and isgood at dealing with Eastern bureaucrats. Only five of the remainingmembers are purebred Portuguese. The rest are native Asians.

Most military advisers heading north have gone through the war against theNetherlands.

The scenery of the Pearl River Estuary written by Europeans in the 17th century

At the end of 1628, Gong Sha led this legendary team to Macau. Whenpassing through Xiangshan, Guangzhou and other places, their different skincolors and looks made the residents along the way very curious. Gong Shaalso met with the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Li Fengjie, and waspromised by the latter to punish traitors and correct corruption in Fujian.

Then, depart from Beijiang, pass Meiling, and reach Nanjing byboat. Despite the awkward situation of lack of money and food on the road,the trip continued with the help of Chinese Christians and Zhou Zhihan Han.

The post-Kin threat was the greatest motivation for the Ming Dynasty tointroduce advanced weapons.

By October 1629, Huang Taiji led the Jin army to bypass the Ningjin defenseline and reach Mongolia's capital via Mongolia. The news came that thePortuguese artillery team had just arrived in Jining, Shandong. To speedthings up, they abandoned the inefficient canal waterways andlanded. After arriving in Luzhou, they heard that the enemy was approachingthe capital. So immediately rushed to the gunpowder, ready to quicklyfight the enemy. The retired former etiquette minister Quan Feng alsorecruited more than 100 soldiers and 3,500 infantry at his own expense,escorting the Portuguese to Beijing for defense.

But when these guards arrived at Liu Lihe, they found that the place had beenconquered because Huang Taiji wanted to clean up the tomb of Jin Taizu. Asa result, everyone broke up, forcing Huang Sha to take the team back to Luzhou,where there was a lack of heavy guards. They installed eight cannons onthe wall and successfully repelled some post-Gold fighters. With theretreat of Huang Taiji from the north, the Macao Artillery did not return tothe road until March 1630.

The escort of the Ming Army automatically collapsed when he heard the news thatJin was heading south.

After the 17th-century restoration map of

Beijing in the Ming Dynasty arrived in Beijing, the artillery teamimmediately demonstrated the firearms and combat methods brought to the Beijinggarrison. In order to let the courtiers know the power of the cannon, thePortuguese gunmen staged a public c

soon. The Portuguese brought six cannons, all of which were awarded the titleof Divine General. The emperor Chongzhen gave them gold and silver, andsent someone to explain the court etiquette to the Portuguese. Because LuRuohan is physically strong, some senior officials think he is 250 yearsold. Every time Lu Ruohan travels, a large number of people come to watchand touch him, as if he can collect the immortal spirit of Shouxing. Atthe same time, Portuguese officers also inspected the existing equipment of theMing Army. They agreed with Xu Guangqi's point of view that the fast-fireguns, pinch targets, and three-eye large-caliber short guns commonly used bythe Ming army at that time had short ranges, low hit rates, and high gunpowderconsumption. Therefore, it is recommended that the Ming army in thecapital use a large number of firearms to build special fortresses for westernfirearms.

In view of the Portuguese's excellent weapons, the Emperor Chongzhen orderedthe relevant military departments and officials to cooperate with thePortuguese for defense. With the help of Gong Sha and others, Xu Guangqiput forward the idea of