1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 2024
Fernando naturally also felt Lopez's eyes of hatred, but he didn't care about it now. For him, it was the last word to control the military power of the Philippine colony as soon as possible.

The current decline of the colonial authorities is naturally blamed on Aragones, the sinner, and Fernando has not directly participated in the battle with Haihan before, so there is no responsibility at all.Today, almost all the high-ranking generals in the colony have been defeated in the Battle of Manila. Most of the remaining local armed forces have been assigned to Fernando's command to accept his command. Whether Aragones will fall or not, Fernando will Sit firmly on the No.1 chair of the military.

But with a good relationship with Aragones at this stage, the process of Fernando taking over the command will be much smoother.As long as the military power is in hand, no matter who will be the governor of the Philippines next, shouldn't Fernando have to give three points of face?If Lopez wants to be the next governor, sooner or later he will humbly come to seek cooperation, and there is no need for Fernando to worry about the attitude of the other party.

Aragones insisted on resolving the dispute with Haihan by force, which was also in line with Fernando's wishes, which made it easier for him to integrate the military resources of the colony.And Lopez opposed the use of force, which naturally meant that Fernando couldn't pee in the same pot. The relationship between the two became alienated and even antagonistic, and it was precisely because of this reason.

If Haihan's intelligence department could learn about these contradictions within the Spanish colonial authorities early, or if the personnel who implemented this plan were experienced veterans, they would definitely take more targeted measures when formulating and implementing the plan to take advantage of these contradictions To create internal conflicts for the Spaniards, so as to maximize the effect of this plan.

However, after all, Jose and others are just newcomers who have just entered this industry for more than half a year, and it is obviously difficult to meet such high requirements, so even if they realize that the relationship between high-ranking Spanish officials is not so harmonious, based on their existing experience and knowledge, It is difficult to immediately think of how to take advantage of these conditions.All they can do right now is to wait and observe. Before they leave, their boss also asks them to try not to take any proactive measures, because only in this way can they ensure that they will not easily reveal their flaws.

Since the evidence presented by Aragones is indeed very convincing, and there are all the witnesses and evidence, even Lopez can hardly pick the bones in the egg. After all, from the standpoint of the Spaniards, it is politically correct to fight Haihan , if he forcibly opposes Aragones' claim without a basis, it will definitely be difficult to convince the public.Lopez can only wait and see the changes at the moment, to see if there will be other changes in the situation that he can take advantage of.

Regarding the authenticity of these news, the senior Spanish officials did not discuss further at the moment, because everyone, including the opposition officials, acquiesced that the escape experience of Jose and others was true, and the discovery from the ship they hijacked Naturally, it is impossible for the intelligence to come from the advance arrangement of the Haihan people, so its credibility is beyond doubt.

And Aragones also decided on the rewards for Jose and others on the spot. In addition to obtaining the right of residence in Cebu, each of them will receive a settling allowance. In addition, the sailboat they hijacked from Manila , was also given to them by Aragones as a reward for borrowing flowers and presenting Buddha.

Aragones even asked them on the spot if they were willing to join the army, but Jose and the others had already made clear arrangements in the plan they were going to implement, and immediately declined the invitation politely.

The intelligence department expected the possibility that the colonial authorities would invite Jose and others to join the army, but their main purpose of going to Cebu was to investigate the Spaniards’ cooperation partners and collect various local intelligence in Cebu. If they entered the army, I’m afraid In a short period of time, it will be difficult to contact the outside world, let alone collect intelligence.

As for the military intelligence that can be collected by entering the army, the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau are not very interested. Officer Francis finally took refuge in Haihan, and he already knew almost all the information he should have.

The tasks undertaken by Jose and the others were far more important than collecting military intelligence, so the instructions they received were to avoid joining the army. If they could keep the boat, they would first do some business by relying on the sea for food. , then we have to try to find a livelihood in the port first, so as to monitor the Chinese sailboats and Han merchants entering and leaving Cebu.

The reaction of the colonial authorities was indeed within the predictions of the intelligence agencies, and the sailboat was rewarded to Jose and the others as a reward.In this way, Jose and others have a better reason to operate in Cebu sea and land, and the scope of surveillance is also larger.The intelligence department also hid a sum of activity funds on the ship, so there was no need to worry about how to get it out quietly.

The next dinner party was also held in the temporary Governor's Mansion, but due to the limited scale of the manor, there is no large banquet hall, and after the meeting, some local celebrities came to the dinner party, so the scene seemed relatively It was crowded, so the celebration banquet could only be held in the form of a semi-outdoor buffet.

At the beginning of the banquet, Aragones still gave a speech. He explained to the guests present the reason for holding the banquet, and asked Jose and others to show their faces to prove that what he said was true.However, regarding the secret letter found on the ship and most of the content mentioned in the secret letter, Aragones did not show it off anymore.

"Everyone, let us now raise our glasses to these three brave young men! They have brought us the hope of victory, and what we have to do next is to win the battlefield, defeat the Haihan people, and take back the Manila!" Finally, Aragones raised his glass and made a loud toast.

"For the honor of the Kingdom of Spain!" Fernando immediately raised his glass in agreement.

The civil and military leaders all expressed their views, and these people present also cooperated with knowledge and interest.Jose smiled shyly, and then raised the wine glass in his hand.

Jose originally thought that these dignitaries would not really take them seriously, but after the dinner began, many people took the initiative to gather around and chat with them.Some people hoped that they could talk about this adventure in detail, some people were interested in the current situation in Manila, and some people asked them if they would like to work under their own hands, and the attention they received far exceeded Jose's previous expectations.

However, Jose was very clear about his mission. While dealing with these celebrities, he was also silently paying attention to the few Han guests present.

Because Cebu is far away from Ming Dynasty, and the former colonial capital was Manila, Manila has always been the main place of residence for Han immigrants and maritime merchants, and there are very few Han Chinese who have settled in Cebu all year round.After the Battle of Manila, many Han Chinese maritime merchants simply cut off ties with the colonial authorities because they were worried that Hai Han would be liquidated. As a result, there were even fewer Han Chinese in Cebu.Although dozens of guests came to this occasion today, there were only a few people who looked like Han Chinese, and they were very conspicuous among the large group of Spaniards.

But the problem with Jose and others is that they do not understand Chinese, so it is difficult to take the initiative to talk to the few Han people present, and it is even more outrageous to find an interpreter.Jose didn't dare to act rashly, so he could only wait and see the situation first, while responding to various questions raised by the Spaniards around him, while paying attention to the movements of the few Han people in the field.

In fact, the intelligence department has already thought of the language problem when formulating the action plan, but they have not been able to prepare a proper solution for this.Out of comprehensive consideration, the intelligence department can only send intelligence personnel of non-Han origin to Cebu, and they must have fresh faces who have never revealed their identities. In the end, they can only select a group of newcomers like Jose to carry out the mission.During the execution of this special task, Jose and the others took advantage of the language, and they also suffered a lot from it.

However, Jose reckoned that the Han guests present should be able to speak Spanish, but he really didn’t have the right time to test it out now. There are too many people around him. , may cause unnecessary risks.Moreover, these Han people will appear in this place, and they must all have a pro-Spanish stance. Once they realize that there is a problem with his intentions, they will probably report it to the colonial authorities immediately.

It wasn't until the second half of the banquet that the number of people around Jose began to gradually decrease, giving him a little room to move.At this time, he noticed that two Han men were standing next to Aragones and talking. One of the old men he had seen in the afternoon had been standing behind Aragones. It seemed that he should be one of his staff.And the other Han is a middle-aged man. Judging from his dark complexion, this man should be traveling all year round, and he is not a pampered person.

When Aragones was talking with the middle-aged man, another old Han man also spoke from time to time, and seemed to be interpreting for the two of them.After talking for a while, Aragones called Fernando over to join the discussion. During the period, other Spanish officials came, but they were stopped by Aragones' men. Obviously, the content of the discussion should not be passed on.

Reminiscent of what Aragones said in the afternoon that he would discuss military export arrangements with his partner in the evening, Jose felt that the identity of this Han man was quite suspicious, and of course he wanted to get closer to listen to their conversation, but He saw that the people who joined in the fun in the past were stopped a few feet away, so he could only give up this idea at the moment.

But Jose may really be the chosen one. He was thinking about how to get close, when he saw Aragones looking towards him, and then gave a few instructions to a subordinate next to him, and the subordinate quickly walked over , let Jose and his two companions go to wait for dispatch.

Jose quickly put down the plate in his hand, raised his hand to wipe the grease from his mouth, and followed quickly.

"It's these three young men who found the secret letter on the boat they got back from Manila. Mr. Chen, you can talk to them." Seeing that Jose and the others were in place, Aragones signaled that he was talking to them. The middle-aged man he was talking to could question Jose and the others.

As expected, the middle-aged man spoke Chinese when he spoke, while another elderly Han man immediately translated it into Spanish.It turned out that he wanted to know the detailed time and process of the robbery of the ship by Jose and others. It is estimated that Aragones had shared this information with him just now, but it must be difficult to convince him that this is a real incident, so why? Sai waited for several parties to call over, and asked the man surnamed Chen to interrogate them in person.

Jose was a little suspicious that Aragones deliberately tested himself to see if some of the details he said were completely consistent with the previous description.Fortunately, the intelligence department has also arranged for this. Before they set off, one of the daily training contents is to repeatedly recite their personal experiences to ensure that these newcomers can keep all the details firmly in their minds, even if they repeat the experience many times There will be no discrepancy.

The man surnamed Chen was very patient. After asking a few words, he asked Aragones to provide a quieter place.So several people left the banquet scene and came to the meeting room in the afternoon, where the man surnamed Chen slowly asked Jose and the others what happened.

Jose was not sure of the other party's identity and purpose at this time, so he could only retell the story of the robbery and escape according to the script he had memorized by heart.Joaquin, Fernando, Aragones and other officials who had heard the story before all quickly believed his words in the face of sufficient evidence, which also shows that the story is indeed quite convincing.

However, this man surnamed Chen does not seem to be as easy to fool as the Spaniards. He asked many more details than the Spanish officials, and even many questions about navigation, such as how they identified the course at sea and found Cebu all the way south. .

Of course, it was impossible for Jose to tell him that he was guided by the detailed sea charts provided by the Haihan military, so he half-truthfully claimed that he was not familiar with navigation. I found a rough sea chart, and then groped all the way, and finally arrived in Cebu fortunately.But in fact, if there is no detailed nautical chart guidance or someone who is familiar with the route to navigate, just knowing the general course, it is definitely not a problem to find the destination in the Philippine archipelago with more than 7000 islands. easy thing.

The man surnamed Chen obviously knew a lot about navigation. After hearing Jose's description, he didn't immediately believe it. Arrived in Cebu smoothly? According to the voyage you mentioned, it’s just that you walked a little slower on the road, but you almost didn’t miss the direction. Isn’t this luck?”

(End of this chapter)