I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 220 It's Zheng Zhilong's Turn to Have a Headache
Chapter 219

Magellan led the Spanish expedition to the Philippine Islands in 1521.Since then, Spain has gradually invaded and occupied the Philippines and ruled for more than 300 years.

To be precise, during the 330-year colonial rule, the Spaniards left only some buildings to the Philippines, but no culture.

This shows that the rule of Spain is actually very rough. Of course, this is also directly related to the weakness of the Spanish Empire. The main colony of the Spanish Empire in the Far East is the Philippine Islands.

According to the agreement signed between Cheng Shijie and the Governor General of Spain, Coraque, Cheng Shijie paid him 300 million bags of cement and 15 jin of steel on behalf of the Liaodong Governor's Office. management, and ownership.

But for Manila, it is on the north bank of the Pasig River, which is north of the later Escoda Avenue and east along the old ancient street (today's Chinatown). About 800 mu of land.

This agreement is not the same as that of Tamsui City. The Liaodong Governor's Mansion has ownership of Tamsui City, including Tamsui Port, Wharf, and all land, resources, and minerals within its jurisdiction, including more than 600 slaves brought over from Spain.

But in Manila, the Liaodong Governor’s Mansion only has the right to use and manage the old ancient street, and has no power to garrison troops, but it can garrison armed guards, but the number cannot exceed 800, and heavy weapons such as large-caliber artillery are not allowed to be deployed.

After the agreement was signed, Cheng Shijie asked his adopted son, Cheng Shi, to lead a bureau of the Imperial Guard Division and more than [-] craftsmen temporarily recruited at Wusongkou to Manila.

The reason why Ke Lakui agreed to Cheng Shijie's cooperation agreement was also because of Zheng Zhilong.Zheng Zhilong monopolized all trade rights in the Nanyang region, and all Spanish trade in Luzon would be stripped by Zheng Zhilong. Since the Spaniards occupied the northern part of Dayuan, they were unable to make enough profits to develop Taipei, and they were unable to expel the Dutch.

When the Dutch had money, they provoked the natives of the senior officials to fight against the Spaniards. In order to maintain the garrison in Taipei, the Spaniards had to expand their investment.Therefore, after the economic recession in Manila, the Spaniards reduced their garrisons, giving the Dutch an opportunity.

Now it is killing two birds with one stone. Youning Navy acts as a buffer area between the Spaniards and Zheng Zhilong, and at the same time, it brings considerable benefits to the Luzon Governor's Mansion.In fact, Colaque didn't want Cheng Shijie to occupy the area on the north bank of the Stone River in Maraniba, but Cheng Shijie reasoned that the Ning Navy Navy needed a basic supply. If he didn't agree, the cooperation agreement would be invalidated.

Faced with a huge income of more than 300 million taels, Coraque reluctantly agreed.

However, after Coraque agreed, he regretted it.Because Cheng Shijie moved too fast, Cheng Shijie even Zheng Zhilong did not win a decisive victory. However, the fleet to Manila has arrived, and the craftsmen who arrived at the same time immediately built a solid wharf and plank road with reinforced concrete, which made Colaqui One has to suspect that Cheng Shijie had plans in advance.

To say that Cheng Shijie had planned a long time ago is really wronging him. His plan was to seize the big officials. These materials were originally prepared to expand the foothold of the big officials.

After learning of Cheng Shijie's plan, Xie Jinglin thought that he didn't need to give money to the Spaniards, and directly mobilized troops to rob them.

In fact, Cheng Shijie has his own considerations. The 30-year war in Europa ended with the defeat of the Spanish Empire, but Cheng Shijie does not want the Spanish Empire to be defeated so quickly. If Spain can persist for a longer time, more people will die in this war. The overall strength of Europa will also decline. At that time, the expansion of the Ning Navy to the world will also reduce huge resistance.

After obtaining the right to use the north bank of the Bashi River in Manila, Cheng Shijie gave the port a name: "Zheng He Port".Zhenghe Port is a good natural port, which could have docked giant ships over [-] tons.

As the first batch of personnel from the Ning Navy arrived at Zhenghe Port in eleven large sandships, the first to land were 36 soldiers from the Ning Navy’s Guards Division. This is a light infantry. Large-caliber artillery, but [-] Thunderbolts were deployed.

Wearing a black military uniform, black armor, and a black cloak, Ning Haijun caused a sensation in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Luzon when he was in the old street.

A total of 260 large and small Chinese businessmen sent representatives to the scene to greet them.

It can be said that almost [-]% of the Chinese and Chinese businessmen in the entire Old Ancient Street, that is, Chinatown, were mobilized, but the most luxurious house on the Old Ancient Street was closed.

This house is a house with an area of ​​at least 50 mu. The facade of more than [-] rooms occupies half of the street. kind of weather.

Xie Jinglin observed carefully. He pointed to the house and said: "The corners of the eaves are quite damaged, and there are traces of new additions in some places. It seems that this mansion was beautiful when the foundation was just laid, but it is no longer its heyday. Yes. Look at these stone colors, these corners have been damaged for some years, but the additions are recent, it seems that the Aqimu family has been in decline, and now there may be a small revival, but it has not reached the glory of its heyday."

"The gate of this house is very strong!"

Cheng Shi smiled and said, "Whose mansion is this?"

Cheng Shi saw that there was a plaque hanging on it, but it was written in crooked characters, which he didn't recognize.

Lin Ahshui, a Chinese businessman, said: "This is the richest man in Manila, the president of Wu Jiahua Chamber of Commerce!"

Cheng Shi smiled lightly: "President Wu doesn't welcome us!"

Cheng Shi knew Cheng Shijie's true purpose for letting him come here. Since Chongzhen adopted Cheng Shi in the fourth year of Chongzhen, it is now February of the seventh year of Chongzhen. The originally young boy has grown into a real man.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was time for a 17-year-old Cheng Shi to get married. Although Cheng Shijie was only Cheng Shijie's adopted son, there were many people who wanted to marry Cheng Shi in Liaodong.

It's just that Cheng Shijie, the adoptive father, let Cheng Shi, Cheng Hu, Cheng Anjing, and Cheng Anning decide their own marriages, but in their view, Cheng Shijie was dissatisfied with these suitors and kicked the ball to them.Naturally, they will not easily decide their marriage.

After Cheng Shi arrived at Zhenghe Port, he began to inspect the planned area without even having time to rest. The Spanish Commercial Commissioner Luis was in charge of contacting.

Luis is a middle-aged man, a little scruffy, and of course Spaniards are very scruffy.

"Cheng, from here to here, it's all your territory!"

At this moment, Xie Jinglin smiled and said, "Louis, did you drop your things?"

Xie Jinglin casually threw a pack of gold coins on the ground. These are Dutch Ducat gold coins. Each coin weighs 90.00 grams and is made of [-]% gold with a purity of [-].

Louis looked at the money bag made of silk on the ground, reached out to pick it up, and weighed it in his hand. It looked like there were at least two or three hundred coins.

This is actually [-] ducat gold coins, placed in Spain, enough for him to buy a small castle, this money is like a North drifter, suddenly able to buy a set of tens of millions of courtyard houses in Beijing.

"Thank you, thank you..."

Louis also understood that Xie Jinglin must have given him the gold because he wanted him to do something during the surveying and mapping.

Ti Lewis changed the location on the contract to the area of ​​Zhenghe Port, from 800 meters to 800 meters, and the north-south dividing line from the original 640 meters to Xiaoshiqiao, which is 180 meters two meters.Three hundred gold coins expanded the original area by more than [-] nine acres.

Xie Jinglin got a larger port area, and Louis got [-] gold coins. Everyone was happy.

Cheng Shi is still facing a problem, that is, the original building of the old street, which does not conform to the customs of Liaodong, Cheng Shi decided to rebuild the old street and renamed it Zhenghe Port District.

According to the customs of Liaodong, the Zhenghe Port area only has more than 600 mu of land, and it should be divided into four areas, the port area, the commercial area, the residential area, and the storage area.

Cheng Shi learned a lot from Cheng Shijie, and he immediately started to make plans for Zhenghe Port and Zhenghe Port Area.

At this time, many guests came to Wu Shangzhi's house in the Wu family.They are all Chinese businessmen from Luzon, and most of them live in Manila. The arrival of Ning Haijun is not small, and everyone knows what they should know. If they don’t know, they are probably pretending not to know.

The first thing the Chinese businessmen did when they arrived was to ask Wu Shangzhi what they should do.

Li Guoqun, one of the best Chinese businessmen in Manila, sat in the top position. There is no way. Mr. Li is too old, and his seven sons contributed a lot during the last massacre of Chinese in Spain. Three and a half of the seven sons died and survived. He also has a grandson, otherwise the Li family would be wiped out.

Li Guoqun looked at Wu Shangzhi and said, "Who is this group of Ning Haijun?"

Wu Shangzhi looked at Lin Ah Shui, who was at the bottom, and said, "How did you find out?"

Lin Ah Shui said: "They are the army from Ming Dynasty!"

"Da Ming's army?"

Everyone present was astonished.

"Didn't Zheng Zhilong have the final say on the sea? Are they Zheng Zhilong's people?"

"Actually, they are not Zheng Zhilong's people, they are Cheng Dashuai's people!"

"Who is Marshal Cheng?"

In the two capitals and thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty, there must not be many people who don't know who Cheng Shijie is, but not many people in Lu Song know who he is.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in the crowd said, "I know Marshal Cheng!"

"Who is he?"

"He is the crown prince Shaobao of Ming Dynasty, the governor of Liaodong, and he has tens of thousands of elite troops under his command. The year before last, he beat Jiannu hard enough!"

Wu Shangzhi raised his hand and shouted: "Everyone, everyone, please be quiet. Where did this Ming army come from and how did it come from? To be honest, I am also very confused, but... let's go together tonight. feast."

After Wu Shangzhi said these words, hundreds of Chinese businessmen began to discuss again. They were unwilling to go, but they dared not not to go, so someone said: "President Wu, in your opinion, this group..."

Several people hissed at the same time, the man quickly covered his mouth, and continued: "What is the purpose of this Ming army inviting us to a banquet?"

Wu Shangzhi said: "According to my judgment, since they have occupied this place, most of them have to establish good relations with the locals in order to maintain their rule. Didn't they already send someone to invite us to a banquet?"

Li Guoqun smiled wryly and said, "I'm afraid it's a Hongmen Banquet!"

Wu Shangzhi shook his head and said, "It should be a good intention."

"kindness?"

"If they really want to fight, they can do it directly. This time, they came with two to three thousand people, armed with muskets and big knives. We are unarmed, and we can't fight them. They don't want to fight each other. They just want to have a good talk. This army of theirs has done nothing wrong with us, this is their goodwill, and that depends on whether we really support them, as long as we show that we really support the Ming army."

"Have a heart?" Li Guoqun said with a smile: "When you say heart, do you mean...money?"

Wu Shangzhi nodded seriously: "Yes."

Li Guoqun said with a smile: "If they want money, it's easier to deal with. Let's each prepare a generous gift for them."

More than two hundred people said: "Yes, yes. If it's just a gift to show their goodwill, then it's nothing."

Although the Chinese are rich overseas, they have no political status. They have always been used to being bullied, and they are also used to being submissive.

Wu Shangzhi shook his head and said: "My idea is that what we want to give is not a gift to please the generals of the Ming army, but a military resource that is beneficial to them. Gathering together is more important, while leaving is more important. Light. Our 260 five merchants gave gifts to each other. The gifts seem to be few and flimsy. It is better to combine them together to give a thick and real gift. There is a saying: stretch out your hand and don’t hit a smiling person. They have just entered Manila, and we will use one This shows our sincerity. Since we started the game with good intentions, they will not treat us coldly and ruthlessly."

Then Wu Shangzhi took out a gift list to reward military funds.

Here, Cheng Shi will make a plan for reporting to the Zhenghe Port Area and Zhenghe Port, and hand it over to Xie Jinglin for viewing. Before Xie Jinglin could read it, a voice came from outside the door: "Report!"

Cheng Shi took the gift list from the guard and read: "Nine thousand shi for rice, one thousand horses, 500 sheep, 5000 liang of gold, [-] liang of silver... Below are various commodities, such as clothes, Such as shoes and hats, as well as various commodities, are also sold by various merchants in the Mani Chinese merchants.

Cheng Shi decided to follow the original plan, build the house with wood, and directly use the steel in Liaodong to trade with the Chinese in Manila.

The unscrupulous oppression of the Chinese and overseas Chinese by the Spanish Governor's Office in Luzon has long made the Chinese in Luzon unbearable. In the 31st year of Wanli, Spain carried out a large-scale massacre of Chinese in Luzon, killing more than 1603 people. (Massacre of Chinese in Manila in 3000), while there were no more than [-] Chinese in Luzon at that time.

In history, in the 12th year of Chongzhen, in 1639, Spain would carry out the second massacre of the Chinese, and now the life of the Chinese is very tormented.

Soon, the garrison barracks of the Ning Navy stationed in Zhenghe Port will be completed, and the materials needed for the construction of the port will not be troublesome. Liaodong can produce its own steel and cement. The tonnage of sailing ships in this era is not large. It is very simple to build a port. In the future If the demand cannot be met, just continue to expand.

Compared with ports, what is more important is that ships can be easily repaired and replenished. This is the meaning of the existence of the supply base.

As the navy of the Ning Navy hijacked the ships that had paid protection fees to Zheng Zhilong to Zheng He Port, Cheng Shijie also followed Zheng Zhilong's example and resold the seized supplies directly to the Spaniards in Luzon, and the price was higher than Zheng Zhilong's. It's nearly [-]% cheaper, which is equivalent to a [-]% discount.

Cheap selling is theoretical. The silk and porcelain that Zheng Zhilong sold to the Spaniards were three to five times the price. Besides, Cheng Shijie didn't feel bad about selling other people's things.

As for the captive crew and sailors, they participated in the construction in Zheng He Port.

According to the agreement with Spain, the Ning Navy can build houses and warehouses in Zhenghe Port, but it cannot build a city wall. However, this is not a problem for the Ning Navy.The land warfare system of the Ning Navy is trench warfare, with trenches and barbed wire forming the defense system of the Ning Navy.

When Zheng Zhilong's fleet forward arrived in Hangzhou Bay, it immediately started a decisive battle with the Ning Navy. At this time, Zheng Zhilong learned that the Ning Navy's naval warships were occupying the route, and they were stuck on the route to grab the ship protected by Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood in the face of Ning Haijun's indiscriminate tactics. The ships that were robbed were not only the merchant ships protected by him, but also the merchant ships of the Zheng Group. You must know that the silk and porcelain produced in Fujian, As well as the purchased goods, they are all transported by the Zheng Group's own transport ships.

The benefits of this are earned by Zheng Zhilong himself. If the European countries did not have too much demand for Ming's goods, Zheng Zhilong himself would completely ban the sea. Whether it is Jiangnan maritime merchants or Fujian maritime merchants, even a ship will not even think about entering the sea.

Zheng Zhilong's current problem is that his own production capacity is seriously insufficient, and he still needs these goods.

"Tell our people not to go to sea recently!"

Shi Lang's uncle, Shi Daxuan's younger brother Shi Daxian, one of the Eighteen Zhi, is one of Zheng Zhilong's main advisors. He frowned slightly: "If you don't go to sea for a day, you will lose a lot. Those foreign devils..."

"Let them wait, if anyone is dissatisfied, let them come to me!"

But Shi Daxuan said: "There are only fifty or sixty ships left and right. Should we send a fleet to go there and clean them up? If this continues, I'm afraid it will damage the admiral's prestige!"

"Humph!"

Zheng Zhilong said flatly: "Cheng Shijie's plan is to divide the troops now. As long as we turn around and go south, Cheng Shijie will definitely spread the word everywhere. This admiral is afraid of him!"

"But those losses are somewhat...some...severe pain!"

Zheng Zhilong actually didn't know that his so-called skin pain was just the beginning, far from the end.

"Report to the admiral, those black skins have landed in the officer!"

"what?"

(End of this chapter)