prosperous age

Chapter 1005 Chapter 1096 The Ambition

In an unknown small bay in the northeast of Luzon Island, the bay was still brightly lit until the second half of the night, and countless small boats with torches were flowing in the bay.

It was a scene where the Ming army commanded more than a thousand people to take turns carrying food down from the ship. Many torches were lit on the shore to provide them with lighting.

In fact, the food sent by the Spaniards was not much, but their merchant ships were not big and only a few people could board at a time, which seriously hindered the speed of transporting food.

The Spaniards were still very generous and transported enough food for 500 people to eat for a month at one time.

After most of the day's hard work, we finally unloaded all the supplies.

Lieutenant Miguel did not leave under the cover of night. In fact, it is taboo to travel at night when sailing, especially near the mainland.

If you are on the vast ocean, you can also rely on a compass to sail in one direction, and use a theodolite during the day to determine the position of the ship and adjust the course.

But at night, that was almost impossible.

Being close to the mainland also means danger, which is hitting the bottom and running aground.

Therefore, Miguel did not return to the ship at this time. Instead, he watched the food being unloaded and rested in the tent arranged for him by Deng Zilong. He said goodbye to Deng Zilong after breakfast the next morning and left the bay with the merchant ship.

During this day, Miguel asked Lin Bixiu to deliberately get close to the Ming army generals to learn the situation from them.

Miguel is not stupid. He needs accurate information. He not only needs to rely on what Deng Zilong says, but also needs to obtain information from other channels to verify each other.

Miguel was somewhat relieved after finding out that the Ming army only had more than a thousand troops.

They know their own business. If the Ming army can easily recruit thousands of troops on Luzon Island, they really have to be extra careful.

Who knows whether after wiping out the Lin Feng pirate group, the Ming army will take action against them and wipe them out as well.

Yes, Miguel was worried all night, fearing that the Ming Dynasty would have ideas of interfering in Luzon, although before this, it seemed that they did not want to occupy it.

The armed merchant ship had already left the bay, and the continental shelf could only be vaguely seen. It was sailing slowly towards the south. Lieutenant Miguel, who was sitting in the cabin, summoned Lin Bixiu again.

"Lin, according to the information you have gathered, did the Ming people really just recruit these people from the few tribes they found, or did they persuade them by promising a large sum of money?"

Before in the Ming army camp, he simply listened to Lin Bixiu's report, and now he needed to understand the situation in more detail.

"Yes, sir, I talked to several Ming army captains. They promised to pay these locals and gave different quotes based on their efforts and casualties. Only then did the locals agree.

However, they promised to reward these people with Ming cloth.

As you know, there is not much production here, only coarse cloth is made, so when the Ming generals took out their cloth, the natives liked it very much, so they agreed to help. "

In one night, Lin Bixiu got to know the captains of several warships of the Ming Navy under the pretext of making friends, especially the four captains who arrived later.

Not only did we learn about how they employed local people, but we also asked them how many people they recruited.

It does match the number that Deng Zilong told Miguel.

Well, this made them believe that there were indeed more than 1,600 temporary mercenaries composed of local people in the Ming army camp.

"The Ming Kingdom is really rich and can make promises easily.

Do you think they will really give them so much cloth?"

Miguel was somewhat envious of the price offered by Ming Country and asked.

“It’s hard to say, but if it means the country has silver and cloth, then that’s absolutely true.

However, I also heard from Li Jin that Ming officials are quite greedy for money, and they would deduct money from the soldiers’ salaries and pocket the money, so.”

Lin Bixiu didn't say it explicitly, but he guessed that perhaps the Ming generals would report to the empire according to the rewards they were promised.

However, the actual compensation that the locals can get may not be what they promised.

It seems normal to skimp a little.

They even dared to embezzle the military pay of their own country's soldiers, let alone the people of Luzon who were thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, after the war, the Ming people boarded the ship and left, and the local people were dumbfounded.

Because they had no way of going to the Ming Dynasty to ask for money and cloth.

If they had such sailing technology, they would have gone to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute to the Ming emperor long ago.

You know, there are many benefits to paying tribute to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Lin Bixiu didn't say it explicitly, Miguel understood it.

Well, in fact, the issue of withholding wages was practiced not only in the Ming Dynasty but also in Spain.

However, generally speaking, they will fulfill the offers they promise to their own citizens, otherwise who would follow them to this faraway East Asia.

But for the colonists or other people sold into slavery, it was another matter.

Just like Lin Bixiu said, once you get on the boat, you can just walk away and no one will care about you.

Of course, only the Ming people could do such a thing; they couldn't.

This is certainly not because the Spanish people have noble morals or abide by the spirit of the contract, but because they want to live here permanently and naturally cannot abandon their own credit.

Otherwise, how can they recruit local people to work for them in the future?

The future development of Luzon Island will require the manpower and efforts of these people.

It would be absolutely impossible to rely entirely on them.

Not to mention how many people in Spain are willing to come to this distant East Asia, even if a large number of people are willing to come, transportation conditions limit their arrival.

In addition, the high salaries that need to be paid to these people are also a huge expense.

They didn't come here to support the construction of the Philippines, they came here to make money.

The difference in remuneration means that they will definitely not pay high wages, and they must try their best to reduce costs so that they can earn more money.

So, now that he knew the Ming people's method of recruiting people, Miguel also knew that he could not use this method.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to recruit the large labor force needed to build the city in the future from the local area.

"Well, I see."

Miguel just said this with regret and didn't want to continue the conversation.

"By the way, sir, there may be another condition that will make the natives here trust the words of the Ming people."

Lin Bixiu hesitated for a moment and continued.

He also noticed that Miguel didn't seem to be very interested in chatting, but he still had to talk because he was now working for the Spaniards.

"what?"

Miguel just asked calmly.

"Ming has always regarded itself as the suzerain of Luzon, and I have the impression that the locals also think so. Your country has been here for too short a time, and those people may not have adapted to the current situation, especially the tribes in the north, so they have even less contact with us.

Perhaps in their eyes, the Ming Dynasty is still their suzerain state.

Therefore, when the sovereign country has requests, it is possible to try our best to satisfy them. "

Lin Bixiu continued to explain.

When Miguel heard Lin Bixiu mention that Ming was the suzerain state of Luzon, he couldn't help but clench his fists, but soon loosened them as if nothing had happened.

"Now, this land belongs to the King of the Kingdom of Spain and is no longer a vassal of the Ming Kingdom."

Miguel just emphasized to Lin Bixiu.

"Yes, I accept your point of view, but they may not accept it."

Lin Bixiu still sighed and replied.

Miguel did not comment on Lin Bixiu's words, but he still planned to remind Governor Vesalius and Commander Savera after returning.

They, Spain, need to continue to send more troops here to ensure the kingdom's interests in the Philippines.

After Lin Bixiu left the cabin, Miguel whispered, "What annoying Ming people! Why did they come here?"

In the eyes of the Spaniards, no matter where they go, it is the land given to them by God and it belongs to them.

It is of course not allowed for others to get involved, not even the locals, let alone other countries on a distant continent.

The best way to prevent others from encroaching on their territory is naturally to conquer them and enslave them.

Miguel had not been in East Asia for long, but he seemed to remember hearing from his colleagues that a few years ago the Governor-General of the Philippines had received a letter from a missionary named Martin de Rada, which boldly proposed to capture the cities of the Ming Dynasty by force.

I vaguely remember that China was huge, wealthy, and highly civilized, with cities much larger than those in Europe, and protected by walls like fortresses, but the Chinese were not warlike at all...

They depended entirely on numbers and walls for defense; if the fortress was taken, they were doomed…

God help us, with very little effort they can be conquered.

However, the first Governor-General of the Philippines was afraid of the power of the Ming Dynasty, so he did not adopt it.

Miguel had never thought about this problem before, but when it became clear that the Ming Dynasty's tentacles might have extended to the colonies under their control, the situation naturally changed.

Their usual practice was to send troops to defeat the enemy so that they would have no chance of resisting.

"Ming Dynasty's Warships"

Miguel began to recall the Ming warships he had come into contact with and the details.

Soon, he came to the conclusion that regardless of whether they could capture the Ming city or not, they would still have an absolute advantage if they encountered them at sea.

As for the news that the Portuguese had suffered a great loss at the hands of the Ming people in an earlier naval battle, Miguel couldn't help but feel contempt for them.

How could they be defeated with such military force? The only thing we can say is that the Portuguese are simply too incompetent and have brought shame to the Europeans.

A small country is, after all, just a small country.

As they seized more and more territory and destroyed one seemingly powerful country after another, the Spanish people's self-confidence was unprecedentedly inflated. They believed that they were the people favored by God and could be invincible.

Suddenly, Miguel had the urge to go to Ming Country to take a look. He wanted to see with his own eyes this powerful country that others talked about.

The merchant ship sailed on the vast ocean for more than a day and finally returned to the port where they set out.

After entering the bay, Miguel took his men on a small boat and quickly reached the shore.

After getting off the boat, we soon found Commander Savera's temporary barracks. It was just a slightly larger tent. No matter whether it was a wooden house or something else, it would not be as fast as a tent.

As for why Savera didn't stay on the boat, generally speaking, as long as they could go ashore, not many people would be willing to stay on the boat.

Soon, after the guards outside came in to report, Miguel was called into the tent to talk.

After Miguel finished telling Commander Savera about his visit to the Ming camp, he looked incredulous.

Savella was the first soldier to participate in the occupation of the Philippines. It was only after they fought more than ten battles, big and small, and killed many people, that they made the people here surrender.

When Manila was being built, it took the threat of force before the locals were willing to help them build the city.

Of course, the use of force could not continue forever, so after a month, they distributed money to those people for the first time. After they knew that they were not working for free but could get something in return, the confrontation between the two sides gradually eased.

Yes, although they do not recognize Spanish money, they can use this money to buy various items they need from the Spaniards.

After a few years, the locals also accepted their rule and currency.

However, it had only been a short time since the Ming talents arrived here, and they were able to easily recruit thousands of soldiers to fight for them and work for them.

"Are you serious? They recruited more than a thousand people to fight for them?"

Savilla was still a little unconvinced, although deep down, he had actually already believed it.

After getting another frustrating answer from Miguel, he was silent for a moment and then said to Miguel: "You are right to worry, Governor Vesalius had the same worry before.

These locals are between us and the Ming people, and they seem to be more willing to believe in the distant Ming country."

"Commander, I heard someone say that a long time ago someone suggested attacking Ming, saying that as long as we occupied Ming, all the nearby countries would submit to us."

Miguel asked.

“Yes, but it has been rejected by Omegal. The Ming Kingdom is quite powerful and it will be difficult for us to defeat them, just like we did against the Inca Empire.

We didn't even have the chance to meet their emperor himself, so how could we possibly replicate the miracles of the Inca Empire here?

Moreover, according to the news sent back by missionaries in the past, more than a hundred years ago, their emperor was captured by the Mongols in the north, and the Ming Dynasty's countermeasure was to immediately support their emperor's younger brother to sit on the throne."

It has become a widely circulated legend that more than a hundred soldiers conquered the Inca Empire with an army of 100,000.

All the citizens who left Spain and went to the New World were fascinated by this miracle and wanted to replicate this myth at all times.

"We tried?"

Miguel probed.

"Yes, their emperor refused to see us."

Savilla shook his head and smiled bitterly, "But the messenger came back and said that their country is huge, more than ten times bigger than our homeland, and almost as big as the Americas we conquered.

Moreover, they do have a lot of people. The number of Ming people the envoys saw along the way was too numerous to count.”

"Commander, I hope to go to Ming Dynasty to do some trade after this war is over."

Savilla understood what he meant, looked at him meaningfully, then nodded and said, "Go, go and take a good look at what the Ming Kingdom is like, and come back and tell me."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."