"What on earth are you trying to say, Lord Zhao?"
Bishop Tang Ruola kept his composure.
"It's simple; if your country truly wishes to assist the authorities in suppressing the pirates, you should follow our tactical arrangements. Having so many warships enter the port constitutes a considerable risk, please understand our predicament."
Zhao Guangyi was neither servile nor overbearing.
Bishop Tang Ruola narrowed his eyes slightly. Ever since the seventeenth century, when the Portuguese King proclaimed that the bishop's status was above the governor, as well as any local princes and high officials, he had always been the one to mediate the conflicts between the officials and the Portuguese.
"I and Lord Zhao are old acquaintances, too," he said.
"Over the years, there have always been frictions between the official customs and ours. I have always been able to hear your name from the mouths of several of my subordinates."
Bishop Tang Ruola counted on his fingers.
