1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 276 The Spaniard's Mind

"Your Excellency, we have taken back all the captured officers, soldiers and civilians from the Dutch." Colonel Rorscheit, commander of the Spanish Navy in the Philippines, solemnly reported to Governor Sebastian Coquera, "However, Twenty-one died in captivity, and others did not fare well. They were tortured in very inhuman ways in the Dutch labor camps and plantations."

Governor Sebastian Coquera nodded, turned his head, and expressed his condolences to the Archbishop of Manila, Bishop Leisonen.On behalf of the colonial government of Manila, he entrusted Bishop Laisonen to deliver a pious edict to the dead and to heal the tortured and debilitated.

Governor Sebastian Coquera did not complain too much about the inhumane torture of the Dutch captives.For they did the same to Dutch captives.Except for a few officers who received certain preferential treatment, all the captured sailors were devoted to the reconstruction of the port of Cavite.

A dozen Dutch captives were also tortured to death due to heavy labor, poor diet and rough treatment.You must know that in the background of the times at that time, there was no international treaty for preferential treatment of captives.

"Your Excellency, we have received accurate information from Batavia. The Dutch seem to have suffered a great loss in the conflict with the Hanzhou. They lost a lot of people in Dili City." Colonel Rorscheid gloated. He said: "Moreover, the Dutch's Ambon in the Moluccas (Maluku Islands, that is, the Spice Islands) was also attacked by Hanzhou, and the entire city was looted."

"Oh, is it?" Governor Sebastian Coqueira asked with great interest: "The Dutchman will be ashamed by his little follower! What do you think we need to do?"

"Your Excellency, are you targeting the Dutch?"

"Of course! The group of Dutch commodity dealers and Hanzhou pirate gangs fought a lot because of the uneven distribution of spoils. We should further crack down on it and weaken it so that the Dutch will never have time to covet our Philippine territory. You know, we are currently Restoring strength cannot be accomplished in a short period of time. Since the bandits in Hanzhou gave us an opportunity to take advantage of it, why didn't we seize it?"

"But we have just signed a truce with the Dutch?"

"Colonel Scheit, that's just a truce, not a truce!" Governor Sebastian Coquera was a little dissatisfied with the dullness of the soldiers, he shook his head and said: "We have agreed with the Dutch to temporarily fight in the East Indies. A truce. Remember, it is only the East Indies. And Formosa (Taiwan) belongs to the surrounding area of ​​the Ming Dynasty."

"I understand, Lord Governor. Let's attack the Dutch cities of Chikan and Zeelandia at the southern tip of Formosa, and cut off their trade channels to Japan and North Korea." Colonel Rolscheid said excitedly.

"Our armed forces in San Salvador (now Taiwan's northernmost Heping Island) and Santo Domingo (now Taiwan's Danshui Port) in Formosa are obviously not enough to attack the Dutch stronghold. Therefore, we need to send a powerful Go there and attack the Dutch.” Governor Sebastian Coquera said: “You know, once we occupy the entire Formosa, we can not only cut off the Dutch trade channels, but also expand Our trade share with the Ming country. Those merchants from the Ming country came to Manila and earned us a lot of silver."

"Yes, Your Excellency Governor." Raolscheit said: "Occupying Formosa, we can use it to directly trade with the Ming Dynasty, saving a lot of silver and investing more in the Philippine territory. build up."

"That's right." Governor Sebastian Coquera nodded and said: "Several strongholds in our Philippine territory were severely damaged by the Dutch last year, losing a large number of soldiers and many Christians (Catholics) Luzon natives). We must do everything we can to restore those strongholds and give confidence to those people of the Lord. Moreover, we must try to weaken the Dutch as much as possible."
-
In the evening, Balian City outside Manila.

Cheng Guangyin observed the surrounding situation vigilantly, and then walked into an inn.

"Does this guest officer want to stay at the inn?" The innkeeper asked with a smile when he saw Cheng Guangyin walking to the counter.

"Yes, I'm staying at the restaurant. But first, I need to eat something. Serve up some of your special dishes." Cheng Guangyin also smiled back.

"The guest officer will be later."

Cheng Guangyin looked around the lobby of the inn. In a corner near a window, there were two bright businessmen sitting with their heads down eating.

After thinking about it, Cheng Guangyin walked to a seat next to the merchant and sat down, then turned his back to the two of them.

The two glanced at him and continued to eat with their heads down.Dressed like Cheng Guangyin, he should also be a businessman from Daming, maybe he just came here today.Since last year, the Spaniards have gradually reduced the berthing tax for cargo ships in Manila, and canceled it for a while, and the demand for incoming goods is very strong, attracting a large number of businessmen from Ming Dynasty.

"This Manila in Spain is alright, other places are Shura Hell." When a clerk from the warehouse brought the food, Cheng Guangyin seemed to be talking to himself, and also seemed to be complaining to the clerk.

The two Ming merchants behind him raised their heads and looked at him suspiciously. After hesitating for a moment, they lowered their heads and ate their meals.

"However, the current world is the same everywhere, and Da Ming is like Shura in many ways." Cheng Guangyin shook his head and sighed.

This time, the two people behind were startled, looked at each other, and then stared at Cheng Guangyin's back.

"I entered Shura in this life, but I don't know where to enter in the next life?"

The two people behind seemed to confirm some information, and one of them got up and walked to Cheng Guangyin.

"Brother, I came from Daming two weeks ago. I don't know the market in Luzon very well. Can you bother me and give me some pointers?" the man said politely to Cheng Guangyin.

"Please sit down." Cheng Guangyin looked at this person with inexplicable excitement in his heart.

"Brother just said that the world is like a Shura, so where is the heaven?"

"The world in the extreme south is the heaven." After finishing speaking, he stopped talking and buried his head in eating.

"Are all the people who come out of Asura Hell reincarnated as hungry ghosts?" Xu Xingmin could already confirm that the wolf-eating man in front of him was the black-clothed guard lurking in Luzon, a hidden stump nicknamed "Sura".

"If you drank porridge and ate wild vegetables every day for half a fucking year, you would probably be more embarrassed than me!" Cheng Guangyin said in a low voice.

"Are you still colonizing in that Calamba place?" Xu Xingmin also asked in a low voice.

"Yeah." Cheng Guangyin swallowed the food in his mouth hard, "I can only stay here for one night. I have to go back early tomorrow morning, and I will run seventy or eighty miles. If I don't see you this time Man, I guess I can only wait another month to come."

"What do we need to do?"

"Get me some knives."

"Do what?"

"kill."

Xu Xingmin was stunned, and then asked carefully, "Kill the Spaniard?"

"What do you think?" Cheng Guangyin obviously choked on the food, poured the white water on the table into his mouth, and then let out a long sigh of relief, "Damn it, that place can't survive!"

Seeing Xu Xingmin looking at him suspiciously, Cheng Guangyin gave a wry smile, and said with a sad and indignant expression: "The six to seven thousand people gathered in the past few years have already lost four to five hundred people. If this continues, I don't know how many people will be left in the end. Dog The Spaniards of Japan don’t treat us Ming people as human beings at all!”

"At the end of last year, the Spaniards collected 25 pesos per person for land rent. In addition to the extortion by those Spanish dog officials, almost everyone had to spend more than 30 pesos, killing more than a hundred people. You said, they are all The miserable settlers, where did they get the money to hand over to the Spaniards. Almost all the food they planted was confiscated, and we couldn’t even get enough to eat there.”

"The question is, give you some knives and you kill the Spaniards. They can't take revenge on you?"

"Can you find a way to get us some more swords and send them to Kalamba?"

"What do you want to do?" Xu Xingmin was taken aback and asked in a low voice.

"If I can't survive, I will lead those people to fight the Spaniards." Cheng Guangyin said: "The island of Luzon is full of mountains and forests, just find a place to hide."

"It's easy to hide, but what do you eat?"

"Then what should I do? I won't wait to die."

"At night, let's do the math together and find a proper solution."

"That's fine." Cheng Guangyin began to lower his head and start eating again, "Give me some more money later."
-
"Brother, I think Chen Hui's proposal to attack the Dutch stronghold in the south of Taiwan (it was called Taiwan during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty) is worth a try." Zheng Zhibao said softly: "We are overseas, so we should find a way out to Prepare for emergencies."

"In the third year of Chongzhen (1630) when Fujian was hit by a drought, I suggested to Fujian governor Xiong Futai (Xiong Wencan) to recruit hungry people to go to Taiwan to cultivate wasteland. Each person would be given three taels of silver, and the three would be given a cow. Taiwan is being colonized. But seven or eight years have passed, have they ever provided my Zheng family with a penny of money and food?" Zheng Zhilong said: "Taiwan colonization costs a lot, and it is far less beneficial than the Central Left Institute (Xiamen)."

"The Zhongzuo Institute is too close to the mainland after all." Zheng Zhibao said: "If there are foreign enemies, they can just float through the water, which is not the ideal retreat for our Zheng family."

"However, Taiwan is too remote, miasma is prevalent, and the natives are brutal and brutal. If we want to build a livable place, it may not be possible in the short term."

"The Dutch can go, so can the Spaniards. Why can't we Ming people go?" Zheng Zhibao said: "Now the refugees from the north of the Ming Dynasty have been poisoned to Huguang, Sichuan, and Huaibei. Maybe after a while, they will cross the river." Coming from the south. We'd better make plans early."

Zheng Zhilong remained silent, thinking about the third brother's suggestion.This Ming Dynasty seems to have entered the end of the world, and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, which it occupies, may not be able to defend it in the troubled times.Taiwan, perhaps can be used as a way out, and operate one or two ahead of schedule.

(End of this chapter)