Lin Hongzhong hid in the city like a rat for a whole day, but never received any reinforcements from the government.

When it was dark, the old shopkeeper finally came back.

"Why did it take so long? Where is the official you found?" Lin Hongzhong had messy hair and was wearing the coarse clothes of a waiter. How could he look like a big boss in Guangzhou?

"Alas." The old shopkeeper sighed and shook his head. "Boss, there is no hope. The case has already alerted the governor, and no one in the prefecture or county dares to get involved."

"What on earth is going on?" Lin Hongzhong stamped his feet anxiously. He also asked the guards to inquire today, but there were many different opinions and no consensus. He had no idea who to believe.

"This is what happened..." The old shopkeeper finally found out the whole story. "Early this morning, a merchant named Jia went to the Panyu County Office to beat the drum and complained that a red-haired devil insulted his daughter last night. The girl couldn't bear the humiliation and jumped into the water to commit suicide. Please catch the murderer, sir!"

"He cried and beat the drum when he reported to the police, so it made a lot of noise and attracted many people. The old parents knew that Lin Zhongcheng hated the red-haired devil very much, so they did not dare to neglect him and quickly issued a warrant to arrest him." The old shopkeeper continued, "Captain Liu took a group of detectives to the Portuguese's old lock boat and asked the merchant to identify the man one by one, but they didn't find him after a round."

"But Captain Liu checked the list of names submitted by the Portuguese when they entered the customs and found that there was indeed a Portuguese crew member named 'Landik' missing. The captain had people search the entire ship but couldn't find him. He also gave them some bribes, so Captain Liu planned to call the team back. But the people on the shore who were watching the fun were not done yet. Someone said that the Wuyang Trading House must have hidden the red-haired devil! So they came to our trading house..."

"Damn it, how could there be red-haired people in my trading house?!" Hearing this, Lin Hongzhong felt relieved. It seemed that he had been affected, so the problem should not be serious. "Now that they have burned it and searched for it, they should be relieved now, right?"

"They are looking for you all over the street." But the old shopkeeper shook his head and said, "Several shareholders' homes have been smashed. Please don't show up, boss."

"Ah?" Lin Hongzhong's mouth elder said: "Why?!"

"Because they found that Langdick in our trading house." The old shopkeeper said with a sad face.

"How is this possible?!" Lin Hongzhong jumped up and said, "If it doesn't exist, then it doesn't exist. How can it appear out of thin air?!"

"But they did find it, and made him confess on the spot." The old shopkeeper also said with a look of horror, "He said that he insulted the girl in a moment of impulse after drinking, but he didn't expect that the girl from the Ming Dynasty was so stubborn that he jumped into the water and committed suicide. He was afraid that he would be handed over by the captain when he returned to the ship, so he ran to our trading house and asked you for help. The boss patted his chest and said..."

Having said this, the old shopkeeper swallowed his saliva and stopped talking.

"Go ahead, tell me what I said." Lin Hongzhong was so angry that he laughed, "How would I know if you don't tell me?"

"He said that his boss said that he has connections everywhere and all the officials in the county, prefecture and province listen to him. So just stay here and wait for the storm to pass, and then send him back to Macau." The old shopkeeper whispered, "He also said that the most worthless thing in the Ming Dynasty is the life of the common people. As long as you give the government some money, there is nothing that can't be solved..."

"Haha, that's true, but when did I ever tell him that?!" Although Lin Hongzhong was smiling, his smile was extremely creepy. He suddenly raised his voice and shouted, "Damn it! I've never even seen that damn Langdick!"

"Yes, from last night to this morning, not a single red-haired devil has come to the trading house." The old shopkeeper knew that he was telling the truth, but the problem was that others didn't know. "Boss, why did that red-haired devil slander us?"

"None of those damn red-haired devils can speak Chinese." Lin Hongzhong understood immediately. "It's just the people who framed me who are talking nonsense. Where is he now? Don't let him die!"

Master Lin was keenly aware that Langdik was the key to clearing his name.

"He was beaten to death by the crowd..." The old shopkeeper shrank his neck and said, "The rioters hung his body on a bamboo pole and went to the governor's office to ask for severe punishment for the red-haired barbarians and to prohibit them from setting foot on Ming territory again!"

"This is their real purpose!" Master Lin snorted coldly, regaining his composure and saying, "I have already guessed who is behind this."

"Who?" The old shopkeeper was puzzled.

"Jiangnan Group!" Lin Hongzhong gritted his teeth and spoke word by word. "They want to kill me!"

But beyond anger, there is more fear.

Before these few days, he didn't even notice any trace of Jiangnan Group's activities in Guangzhou City.

Apart from Chaozhou Prefecture, the Jiangnan Group has little influence in the entire Guangdong. It is hard not to give him the beautiful illusion that a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake.

However, the cruel reality is that the Jiangnan Group is not unable but unwilling to do so - they have kept a low profile for a long time only because the time has not yet come, so they have been quietly accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity.

Once the time is ripe, the force will be as powerful as thunder and lightning, and the sky in Guangdong will change color in the blink of an eye!

Within a few days, they first dealt with the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then took down high-ranking officials in the province. Together with the Governor of Guangdong who had long been in cahoots with the Jiangnan Group, the entire Guangdong officialdom turned to them in an instant.

With the support, or at least the tacit approval, of the officialdom, they no longer have to worry about anything and can frame others based on their greatest weakness!

It doesn’t matter whether Langdik raped the woman or not. What they want is an excuse, an excuse to incite the people to cause trouble.

The people of the Ming Dynasty had a strong sense of racial pride, and this was the most eye-catching romantic affair, which naturally aroused their xenophobia. Then it would be easy to direct their anger towards the Wuyang Trading Company, which had made its fortune by relying on the red-haired devils.

"Why are they messing with us?" The old shopkeeper couldn't help but grumble. "We are just doing business, and we have never had any conflict with them..."

"Hiss..." Lin Hongzhong couldn't help but gasp. He was reminded by the old shopkeeper's words.

The Jiangnan Group's intention in setting up the Wuyang Trading House was probably not their real purpose. They just wanted to stir up trouble. Their ultimate goal was definitely to drive the Portuguese out of Macau!

Without Macao, the long-established forward base, how could the Portuguese gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty? Where could their fleet dock? The only option was to retreat to Malacca...

"What a great plan to wipe out the whole family!" Lin Hongzhong couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. If the Portuguese retreated to Malacca, he would be the one who suffered the most. Without the support of the red-haired fleet, he would be a piece of fat meat that could be slaughtered at will. Would the Jiangnan Group let him go?

I'm afraid I'll die without a burial place!

"No, we can't just sit there and wait for death!" Lin Hongzhong said as he was about to go out, but when he reached the door, he felt that it was too risky to show up at this critical moment. He turned back and said to the old shopkeeper, "Go and meet the masters again and tell them that I am willing to give up 30% of the shares of Wuyang Tongshangguan if they help me and the Portuguese get through this hurdle!"

"Master, real money would be more useful at this time, right?" the old shopkeeper reminded him in a low voice.

"Well..." Lin Hongzhong nodded with a dark face, gritting his teeth and said: "I'll pay one... no, two million taels to settle this matter!"

"Yes." The old shopkeeper responded and left.

Lin Hongzhong did not wait for the result from the old shopkeeper, and took advantage of the cover of night to sneak out of the city and take a boat to Macau.

Because he knew that the matter had been brought to the governor's office, and there was not much the officials below could do.

The so-called two million taels are just a pie in the sky to keep them hanging and try to speak for themselves.

The key now is that Macau must not allow any chaos. As long as it can keep its footing and get through this period, there will still be room for mediation in the future.

If the Portuguese fell into the trap and clashed with the Ming army and civilians, there would be no hope for them...

~~

The next morning, the boat arrived at Xiangshan County.

Lin Hongzhong suddenly felt hungry and remembered that he hadn't eaten for more than a day. There were more people who knew him here, so it was inconvenient to show up, so he asked the guards to go ashore to buy some breakfast and take a look around.

Not long after, the guards came back with some siu mai, barbecued pork buns and porridge, and brought back some very bad news - what happened in Guangzhou City had spread here yesterday afternoon, and it was getting more and more outrageous.

"They said that the red-haired devils went on a brutal rampage in Guangzhou City. They burned, killed, and looted everything in a village outside the city. They also loaded the girls onto a boat and took them back to Xiangshan Bay for the red-haired devils' enjoyment there." The guard reported in a low voice to Lin Hongzhong, who was eating a barbecued pork bun.

“Damn it!” Lin Hongzhong immediately lost his appetite. He squeezed the barbecued pork bun in his hand to get out the juice and growled, “It never ends!”

"In addition, they also said that the Portuguese ship had fled back to Macau." The guard added: "I don't know who started it, but the people in the county all rushed to Macau, shouting that they wanted to capture the ship and not let the red-haired devils escape."

Lin Hongzhong suddenly realized that it was no wonder that he felt the dock was much quieter. It turned out that everyone had gone to Macau.

"Hurry, let's go back to Macau!" He stuffed the flattened barbecued pork bun into his mouth and said vaguely, "By sea!"

~~

Macau is a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. The narrowest part of that land is less than a mile, and there are high city walls with a gate in the middle of the wall. There are round Portuguese towers with pointed roofs on both sides of the gate, and fully armed Portuguese musketeers stand in the towers.

Inside the city walls is Macau, which was occupied by the Portuguese through fraud.

On weekdays, this gate is always open, and ordinary people are willing to push carts and carry loads to do some small business in Macau. The red-haired devils are easy to fool, and the sailors are generous with their money. No matter what business they do, they can always make more money than in the county. Therefore, this only passage from Macau to the land is always crowded with people during the day.

The number of people gathered here today is more than ten times the usual number. But they are not here to do business today, but to settle accounts with the red-haired devil.

ps. The next update will be available soon.