Chapter 85

The sea breeze at the end of October was cool and pleasant, with strong southeast winds and ocean currents making it smooth sailing for ships returning from the East Indies to Europe. On the southeastern sea surface of the Eastern Port, the Portuguese ships "Algarve Merchant" and "Molucca" were slowly approaching. The frigate "Red Trout," patrolling the sea surface under the command of acting captain Guo Zili, quickly moved forward to meet them. After a brief negotiation, they learned that these were two Portuguese ships carrying immigrants from Macau.

Upon hearing the news, Li Wei, the director of the Eastern Port Harbor Authority, sprang to his feet, signed the entry documents with a few swift strokes, and then hurried to the dock, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Portuguese ships.

The Eastern Port was wide and deep, with a massive stone breakwater built with great human and material resources, blocking the surging waves of the South Atlantic and creating a calm and sheltered harbor. Inside the harbor, four concrete piers extended nearly fifty meters into the sea, providing numerous excellent deep-water berths. Under the guidance of the harbor authority's pilot, the two Portuguese ships slowly entered the port and docked at the piers.

Captain Eduardo Paulo de Assunção stepped onto the sturdy reinforced concrete pier from the gangway. The harbor was almost empty, with only a three-masted sailing ship moored there. This medium-sized ship, flying a red flag with a double-sword eagle, seemed to be a frigate. Captain Assunção noticed that the ship was equipped with 20 cannons.

"Crazy Tartars!" With his experienced eye, Captain Assunção thought that a frigate of only 200-300 tons should have no more than 14-16 8-18 pound cannons. These Tartars were really overdoing it, didn't they fear the ship would become unstable? Thinking of this, Captain Assunção couldn't help but shake his head.

However, he didn't dare to underestimate these Tartars. The beautiful and sturdy artificial harbor had already earned his respect. The facilities of this harbor were first-class, even by European standards, not to mention the dense array of long-barreled heavy cannons surrounding the port. When he was resupplying in Goa, the Governor of Goa had hinted to him that the Brazilian colony was now in need of these Tartars and advised him to handle relations with them very cautiously, avoiding any unnecessary conflicts.

The wind on the sea was strong, and Captain Assunção slightly tidied up his appearance before walking towards the dock shore, accompanied by the first mate, second mate, and other officers. Captain João de Carvalho of the "Molucca" remained on the ship as a precaution. The dock was still flat and solid, and some indigenous people, dressed in old linen clothes, skillfully used pulleys to prepare for loading and unloading. However, these two ships might disappoint them, as they were immigrant ships. Captain Assunção had packed the ships with immigrants from Macau, leaving little room for cargo. Besides the specialized goods like spices, tea, porcelain, and silk, what cargo could be more valuable than the business of transporting people from Macau to Tartar Port for 8 cruzados (an old Portuguese currency, equivalent to about 400 yuan) per person?

After receiving news from Brazil at the end of last year, Captain Assunção and Captain Carvalho began their preparations separately.

Captain Assunção's work initially went poorly. The Ming Chinese he contacted were generally unwilling to immigrate, and even those who were willing preferred to go to Malacca or Luzon. This gave Captain Assunção a headache. After rounding up all the Ming Chinese beggars in Macau, he had to seek help from the pirate Liu Xiang in the South China Sea.

Liu Xiang's situation this year was not good. After being defeated by Zheng Zhilong, he was not averse to cooperating with the Portuguese in Macau. Thus, at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Liu Xiang gathered some men and, adhering to the principle that rabbits do not eat the grass near their burrows,冒险冲入浙江沿海，上岸掳掠一番后又仓皇逃去。回到广东后，刘香将掳掠来的几百人口一股脑儿扔给了葡萄牙人，换取了一些金银和武器。

阿松桑船长不敢在澳门停留，他将这些刘香掳掠来的人口带到了马六甲。同时，卡瓦略船长也从日本赶了过来。这个家伙更加过分，他一开始搜罗流落南洋的华人，但数量并不多，几乎没有人愿意和他去什么“亚美利加”，这使得他不得不强行掳人。尽管这样，弄到的人口还是少得可怜，最后这个没节操的家伙干脆去了趟日本，想办法弄了一批日本移民过来充数。在他看来，反正这些东方人长得都很像。

阿松桑船长等人在马六甲又耽搁了两三个星期，期间他们对这批移民进行了一番挑选。年纪太大的不能要、身有残疾的不能要、患有疾病的不能要、身体虚弱的不能要，同时参照当初穿越众的要求，尽量保持家庭的完整。这样一番挑选后，还剩下800多移民。于是，在开春的时候，两艘船离开了马六甲，沿着印度洋东北季风，取道果阿、索法拉，然后直达东方港。

算上等待季风、躲避风暴和中途休整的时间，再加上是第一次走这条航线，整个航程竟然耗时7个月，几乎比从摩鹿加群岛返回欧洲本土一次还要耗时更久。整个航程内移民死亡率达到了3成，到东方港时船上还活着的移民共有605人。

说实话，阿松桑船长等人运送这批移民算得上是有良心的了。“阿尔加维商人”号载重550吨，“摩鹿加”号载重500吨，这两艘大船要是按照他们那些葡萄牙同行们贩卖黑奴的节奏，能给你塞一两千人进去。

如今一切都有了回报。码头上似乎有鞑靼人的官员走了过来，阿松桑船长深吸一口气，迎了上去。双方用西班牙语进行了简单的确认，然后鞑靼人官员便心不在焉地看着码头上的船只，让满心准备结识一下对方的阿松桑船长有些不快。不过他很快调整好了情绪，只要他们信守承诺足额支付自己4840克鲁扎多的移民费用，自己受一些轻微的怠慢又算得了什么呢？那么，就满足这些鞑靼金主的愿望，让他们尽快见到自己的“货物”吧。

很快，第一个蓬头垢面的移民在码头工人的协助下踏上了水泥栈桥。码头上清新的海风让习惯了船舱内污浊空气的他为之一振，但是他的面庞看起来仍然有些呆滞，站在栈桥上甚至不知道该怎么办。两名查鲁亚检疫局劳工轻车熟路，一人一边夹起人就往码头一侧的隔离房而去。洗澡、消毒、隔离，这套流程他们干过很多次了，已经烂熟于心。

说实话，李维此刻的心情稍稍有些失望。原本自己脑补的来自天朝礼仪之邦的移民竟然是这么一副落魄乞丐的模样，看样子甚至比那些欧洲移民刚来的时候还要寒酸，这着实令他有些失望，他甚至连这些人的面目都看不清。唉，看来明朝那边天灾人祸的，老百姓混得确实是惨啊，他暗暗想道。这么一来，李维也没有心情继续看下去了，他干脆也带着手下一帮无所事事的码头劳工们上前帮忙，让这些已经被折磨了大半年之久的“家乡人”赶紧上岸。

移民们进入隔离区后，卫生局的人将他们按男女分成了两组，这在移民中引起了一些小小的骚动，不过骚动很快就在内务部警察们凶狠的眼神下消弭于无形。毕竟又不是生离死别，只是按男女分成两组去洗澡消毒而已，移民们还犯不着和这些凶狠的番兵拼命。

隔离区内修建了可同时容纳上千人洗澡的大型公共澡堂，每个人分到了一份由草木灰与动物油脂制成的简易肥皂（原始肥皂，穿越众之耻，囧），他们被要求身上每处都要洗干净。由于检疫局并不强制他们剃掉自己的头发，所以他们就连头发也要洗得干干净净。每个人洗完澡经工作人员检查并通过后，会有工作人员给他们发放一套机制棉布衣服，然后再将他们集中领到对面的公共食堂内吃饭。

公共食堂内的饭菜较为丰富，除了主食土豆管够外，每个人还能分到一条咸鱼、一碗鱼汤、一份黄豆烧牛肉，外加少量蔬菜。这些移民们在船上渡过了半年多，吃的都是长蛆的面包之类的粗陋食物，身体已经比较虚弱了。不过能熬过海上长途航行的人，一般身体底子都不会太差，按照卫生局的过往经验，经过这段隔离期内的营养补充后，这些人基本上都能很快恢复过来。

此时，很多下班或者不当值的穿越众纷纷跑到码头上来看稀奇。这些被他们围观的明朝移民麻木地跟着卫生局的劳工往前走，对于周围在对他们品头论足的穿越众，他们理都懒得理，只是闷头往前走。这让大家看得很是无趣，不一会儿便散了。

不过明朝移民到来的消息仍然开始在县城内飞速扩散着，几乎所有尚在县城内的穿越众都第一时间内知道了消息。不管将来这些明朝人怎么看待穿越众，至少此刻穿越众们是将他们看成了自己的同类。

当然，也仅仅是种族和血缘上的同类而已。至于文化、价值观和生活方式，他们和穿越众们一直在改造的欧洲移民并无太大的不同，都需要慢慢灌输、慢慢改造。