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

Chapter 225 Manila's Gift from Ming Dynasty
Chapter 224

Luzon is not the territory of Ming Dynasty. Zheng He Port and Zheng He Port Area are Cheng Shijie's private territory. Even the Ming court has no right to dictate Zheng He Port and Zheng He Port Area.

Now Cheng Shi is confident.

Because of Cheng Shijie's adopted son, Cheng Shijie handed over his only overseas private territory to him for management, which represented Cheng Shijie's trust in him, and it was also his responsibility.

In all fairness, Cheng Shi is not a material for studying. He has been with Cheng Shijie for more than three years, and he can barely write an ordinary official document, but he can't talk about literary talent. It just allows Cheng Shijie to understand what he wants to express. According to his judgment, Cheng Shi's cultural level is not as good as Cheng Jialong's.

Of course, Cheng Jialong went to kindergarten for three years and elementary school for four years in later generations. If Cheng Jialong's level is not as good as that of Cheng Shi who has just studied for three years, Cheng Shijie can only untie his belt and educate Cheng Jialong like a mountain of paternal love.

The logic of Cheng Shi's life is very simple. All the people in Zhenghe Port and Zhenghe Port District are like tenants of the landlord's family in the Central Plains. The landlord's family can beat and scold the tenant, but others cannot say a word.

As the saying goes, beating a dog depends on the owner. Now these Spaniards are beating the merchants in Zheng He's port area on Cheng Shijie's territory, which is to beat Cheng Shijie in the face.

The Lord worries about the humiliation of his ministers, and the Lord humiliates his ministers to death.

Under this subtle processing logic, Cheng Shi can die, but he must not pretend to be deaf and dumb, let alone sit on the sidelines.

Of course, Liaodong is a place where the rule of law is emphasized, especially before the law, everyone is equal.Even Cheng Shijie's direct troops cannot rely on their status to bully other people and override the law, let alone these Spaniards.

Now Wu Shangzhi feels that the sky is about to fall. In Luzon, the Spaniards themselves are the emperors of the land, and the Spaniards always like to use the local aborigines to deal with the Chinese. When they are free, they will still find trouble. Now Cheng Shi The guards actually beat the Spaniard to death.

"How should this be?"

Wu Shangzhi felt that his breathing was a little difficult, and he almost couldn't lift his breath.

Cheng Shi laughed disapprovingly: "It's just a few Xiyi, if they dare to resist the law, they will die for nothing!"

Wu Shangzhi said incoherently: "Young General Cheng, do you know that this is not Daming, this is Luzon, and it is the territory of the Spaniards."

"No, this is Zheng He Port, which is the private territory of my father."

Wu Shangzhi knew that Cheng Shi was young and energetic, and he was not too good at arguing. He looked at Xie Jinglin and said, "Mr. Xie, you should quickly think of a way, this is going to be a big deal!"

As the influence of the Chinese in Luzon became stronger and stronger, the authorities of the Spanish colonial government united with the local indigenous people to oppress the Chinese. Since the seventeenth century, there have been two large-scale massacres of the Chinese. The last time Only 30 to [-] years have passed since the massacre, and these Chinese have experienced the massacre first-hand, and their fear of the Spaniards has been deeply rooted in their bones.

Originally, during this period of time, when the Ning Navy did not arrive, Luzon was like a powder keg. The indigenous people who originally lived in the mountains or in the hinterland of Luzon Island came to Manila in groups to provoke the Chinese, and the Chinese have been patient.

But the problem is that the tolerance of the Chinese is seen by the aboriginal and colonial governors as weak and deceitful.Even if there is no such thing as Cheng Shi, it will be five years, in the 12th year of Chongzhen, the colonial authorities and the aborigines once again carried out a large-scale massacre of the Chinese.

Cheng Shi didn't take it seriously. He ordered the guards to arrest the three Spaniards who caused trouble, gather up the bodies of the other two dead Spaniards, and bring them back to the port area.

Located on the south bank of the Pasig River, in the colonial governor's mansion in Manila, Juan Cerezo, the governor of Luzon, is fighting fiercely with Marina, the wife of Colonel Omor of the Spanish Luzon Army.

Governor Juan is operating in the mainland and transferred back to the Spanish mainland.As the wife of Colonel Omor, she was actually fed up with Luzon's climate and harsh living environment.

Relatively speaking, there is no trace of modern civilization in Luzon now, except for the port area and the church area, and Marina's husband is also a madman training soldiers. Although Marina came to Luzon with the army, in fact, she alone Yue may not be able to see Omor several times.

In this way, Omor left the beautiful and charming land uncultivated, and let the governor do it for him.

However, at the most critical moment, Louis, the officer in charge of colonial affairs, said anxiously: "Your Excellency, something serious has happened!"

Juan yelled at Louis outside the door: "Damn it, if you don't give me a strong reason, I can guarantee that you will spend some wonderful nights with the gorilla!"

Of course Louis knew what the Governor was doing, but the problem was that it was too big.

After two incense sticks, Juan, who was dressed neatly, came to the meeting hall of the Governor's Mansion. At this time, the hall was full of senior police officials and military officials of the Luzon colonial authorities, including of course Juan's mistress Marina. Husband Colonel Omor.

When Juan came to the hall, everyone got up one after another.

Juan waved his hand and said, "Gentlemen, you already know the situation, what should we do now?"

"We must show them those Ming people a little bit of color, we will never back down, otherwise, Luzon will not be conducive to the rule of His Majesty the King!"

"The authorities have tolerated it, but they cannot continue to tolerate it indefinitely. The prestige of the civilized world cannot continue to be lost like this!"

"We should relax the suppression of those indigenous monkeys a little bit... In order to maintain order, we must let those indigenous monkeys express themselves..."

Omor said fiercely: "They captured three of my subordinates and killed two others. This is provoking the Spanish Imperial Army. Our army will never let it go!"

The opinions of the Luzon colonial authorities are almost unified, that is, they express strong dissatisfaction with the Ning Navy.

On the surface, it is for the three Spanish soldiers who were captured. In fact, the deeper meaning is the goods in the warehouse of Zheng He’s port. Recently, the main naval fleet of the Ning Navy has been frequently dispatched. They have hijacked a total of 55 merchant ships from the waterway. , 32 of them have been priced and dealt with to the Spaniards, and now they need these 22 cargoes, and they don't plan to pay.

Governor Juan was always silent.Waiting for everyone to look at him, he said softly: "Have you forgotten that more than 50 battleships of the Ming army are cruising around here?"

Compared with Zheng Zhilong's 37 warships, Ning Haijun's navy is undoubtedly weak, but the problem is that no matter how weak it is, it is not something that the Luzon colonial authorities can handle. The Spanish Empire only has 22 warships in Luzon. The Dayuan Squadron has only [-] ships in total, of which seven warships are permanently stationed in Dayuan, and [-] warships are permanently stationed in Manila. However, these [-] warships are old and broken ships of [-] to [-] tons.

Putting it on Europa is only a fifth-tier light cruiser, and seventeen are armed merchant ships.Even the flagship Grabona of the Spanish fleet in Luzon is only a 680-ton warship, but it was built 30 years ago and has not left Manila for a long time.

"Did their warships dare to fire on our Spanish Empire?"

Colonel Simon couldn't bear it for a long time, and said loudly: "They will definitely not be able to bear the anger of the Spanish Empire, and they will never dare to open fire on our warships!"

"It doesn't make any sense to say these things. I govern Luzon for His Majesty the King. I hope that Luzon will be safe and sound. The flag of Spain will always fly here. His Majesty the King does not want to see too many bloody incidents."

Governor Juan said indifferently: "Whether it is the indigenous people or the Chinese, they are the objects we need to be vigilant when necessary. Keeping them in such a confrontation is the principle of our rule... I think there are still opinions from gentlemen. Fair enough. Maybe we should do something about it, Louis!"

"exist!"

"You go to meet those Ming people, this matter must give us a satisfactory explanation!"

"Ok!"

"Gentlemen, you can go back and set up. Scare them, but don't go too far! The layout of this operation must be reported to the Governor's Mansion, waiting for my signature and approval!"

The ass determines the head, and the head determines thinking.

As the governor of Luzon, as the power of the Far Eastern region of the Spanish Empire, Spain’s power is too weak. There are only more than [-] Spanish in Luzon. They are Dutch and Portuguese who are Spanish in name. Together, there are only more than [-] people.

But the problem is that these 4000 people are too few.

After the destruction of the Spanish Armada, even now, the main battleships are still less than 130 battleships above the third rank, while the main battleships of the Ning Navy are the fourth-rank battleships or three-ship battleships, even the mighty Dutch East India Company. Dare to underestimate the sea power of the Ning Navy.

What's more, since the battle between Ning Haijun and Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhilong has suffered several big losses in a row. If this continues, the South China Sea will be easy to defend.

It is not in the interests of the Spanish Empire to start a war with the Ning Navy. Of course, if there are enough interests, what is the death of a few people, even dozens, or hundreds of people?

……

Zheng He Port Area, Wu's mansion.

Two or three hundred people from 240 five Chinese merchants and representatives of various clans in Manila came to Wu's house again, hoping that Wu Shangzhi could make an idea.

"It's all the fault of General Cheng!"

"With no hair on the mouth, you can't do things well!"

"Oh, who said it wasn't!"

"What a wise man General Cheng is, and Cheng Shi happened to be there!"

"Tiger father and son, not enough success, more than failure!"

"You can't blame General Cheng, it is said that this young general Cheng is only the adopted son of General Cheng!"

"Adopted son, no wonder!"

Everyone in the Wu family's discussion hall was almost unanimous in condemning Cheng Shi's recklessness.

Wu Shangzhi looked at the crowd and said: "We have to give the face of General Cheng, and the face of the foreigners. Everyone hurry up and give some money to the foreigners! You must explain to the foreigners that this matter has nothing to do with us. No!"

At this moment, an old man in the hall slowly stomped out, with a typical Hakka appearance and deep eye sockets.Although the beard is white, it still looks very capable.

"Master Wu!"

"Father!"

This old man is the head of the Wu family in Lusong, who has developed the Wu family to such a state that it is incomparably rich.At the same time, he is also a member of the Council of the Colonial Bureau. Wu Dakuan, who stomps his feet, makes the Chinese community in Luzon tremble.

Mr. Wu looked at the crowd and said, "You guys think too simply!"

"too easy!"

Wu Shangzhi was a little puzzled: "My lord father means..."

"If the wolf wants to eat the sheep, there is no excuse!"

Wu Shangzhi and Wu Dakuan are people of two eras.In the era when Wu Dakuan grew up, the Spaniards had just arrived in Luzon. At the beginning, the Spaniards were actually very afraid of Daming.After all, Daming is a giant.

In the 21st year of Wanli, Governor Dasmarinas led a warship to attack the islands near the Philippines. Due to insufficient manpower, more than 200 Chinese were recruited to work on the ship.However, when they got on the boat, the Spaniards beat and scolded the Chinese, and some Chinese were even beaten to death.

This aroused the dissatisfaction of the Chinese brothers. At that time, there were only dozens of Spaniards on board, and the Chinese were several times more than them, so a sentry officer named Pan Hewu said to everyone: "We should just rebel. Death, not resisting is also death, if the rebellion is successful, there may be a way out."

Everyone nodded again and again, so hundreds of Chinese took advantage of the night to slaughter all the Spaniards on board, and the governor of Luzon was also killed.The governor's son, Lang Lei Maoshen, heard the news and reported it to the governor of Fujian, demanding that the perpetrators be punished. The Ming court did not conduct the so-called investigation and ignored it.

But as the national power of the Ming Dynasty became weaker and weaker, not to mention Luzon, even Fujian was attacked by the Dutch and Spaniards.

Wu Dakuan vaguely understood that those of them who lived overseas in the Ming Dynasty had to have a strong court if they wanted to live well and live like human beings.

When Wu Shangzhi was having a meeting with everyone, it was Xie Jinglin who visited Wu Dakuan and told Wu Dakuan how powerful he was. Daming's national power is weak now, and the army is not strong, and overseas Chinese are bullied everywhere.

Now Ning Haijun's people killed the Spaniards who were making trouble in the Zhenghe Port area, but why did the Spaniards just shout and kill instead of sending troops directly?
It is because they have 50 soldiers in Zheng He Port, and there are more than 50 warships nearby. More than [-] warships and hundreds of artillery are their confidence, and the Spaniards can only be polite.

What if the country is strong?What if there are many warships?Does that foreigner dare to look at you sideways and grab your neck?In the final analysis, it is just one sentence.Only when the country is strong can we have the status of everyone!The Zheng He Port Area in Manila was built by everyone, why should the Spaniards step on us?
Wu Dakuan relayed Xie Jinglin's words to everyone and said, "Everyone, tell me, is this the truth?"

"That's the reason, but the problem is, there are not many officials who are good!"

Wu Shangzhi said: "We rely on them. If they swarm up when they are making money, they will hide when they see difficulties. They have a boat and can leave at any time. What should we do? Everyone has a family and a business. If they want to leave, they are reluctant to save it." net worth!"

"that is!"

Wu Dakuan sighed and said: "Mr. Xie told the old man, let us wait and see, before making a decision!"

"have a look!"

"Correct!"

"Mr. Xie said, look at how Ning Haijun does things!"

Wu Dakuan said: "Everyone should pay attention during this period. Anyway, during this period of time, we also bought a lot of iron from Ning Haijun, and seize the time to build soldiers. If we really fight, we won't stand still!"

When Ning Haijun built the Zhenghe Port Area and Zhenghe Port, he bought a large amount of building materials from Chinese businessmen and hired many people for construction.

In fact, not to mention other people, even Wu Shangzhi and his family have reserves of equipment capable of arming 600 people. Although each family is not as good as the Wu family, they can more or less arm 8000 to [-] people! "

While talking, Wu Shichang, Wu Shangzhi's eldest son, came over and said, "My lord father, my lord grandfather, I just got the news that General Cheng's talks with foreigners have collapsed!"

"Talk broke down!"

"Yes, it is said that the Spaniards asked Ning Haijun to kill and pay for his life. Major General Cheng ordered two donkeys to be brought in. In front of the Spaniards, he chopped off one of the donkeys with a knife! He also told the Spaniards that a life pays for a life , they killed two Spaniards, and they paid for the lives of two donkeys!"

Wu Dakuan understood that Ning Haijun had no intention of negotiating with the Spaniards at all.

In fact, it is.

Before Cheng Shi arrived in Luzon, he knew that the large force of Ning Haijun had already gone to Dayuan, and was led by Chen Dayong. Never fear any enemy on land.

As for the hundreds of Spaniards in Dayuan, once they fight, they will be the first to die.

"Now, let's see what they do!"

Unlike later generations, there were six road bridges along the Bashi River in later generations, but now, there is not even a bridge on the Bashi River. The only way to travel between the south bank and the north bank of the Bashi River is by ferry.

Manila Bay, the Spanish Fort on the south bank of the Pasig River.

At this time, the alarm sounded, and the sixteen forts in Manila, the cannons took off their gun coats, and the cannons pointed at Zheng He Port and Zheng He Port area. The sixteen forts of the Spaniards had 46 artillery pieces, and most of them All large caliber guns.

In fact, two-thirds of the artillery can bombard Zhenghe Port and Zhenghe Port Area. According to regulations, the Ning Navy is not allowed to deploy artillery in Zheng He Port and Zheng He Port Area. Once the two sides fight, the Ning Navy will definitely suffer.

At the moment when the two sides were on the verge of breaking out, the main warship of the Ning Navy appeared on the sea in Manila Bay, but the problem was that in Manila port, only five Spanish warships were under inspection, and other warships or armed merchant ships were either transported or transported. Patrol the open sea.

At least more than 30 large warships appeared on the sea, and the naval guns of the Ning Navy were also aimed at the Manila bombardment and the port on the south bank of the Pasig River.

Standing on the pier, Juan looked at the opposite Zheng He Port with binoculars. On the pier of Zheng He Port, soldiers from the Ning Navy and the civilian men who accompanied the army piled bags of sand into sandbag arrays.

In the Zhenghe Port area, all the commercial streets are empty, the shops are closed, and there are few people.

"Ming warships, listen up, you must not take off your guns and enter Manila Bay!"

"Damn it, you're going to bomb our Zheng He port, and I still abide by the original agreement?"

Li Zhixiang cursed at the translator who came over: "Go back and tell the Spaniards and give them half an hour. If after half an hour, I still watch the Spaniards' naval guns aiming at Zheng He Port, we will regard the Spaniards as the same as Ninghe!" The navy goes to war at its own peril!"

Although the fort has a lot of advantages when facing the warships, the question is, do the warships of the Ning Navy need to confront them?
It is not necessary at all, just like the merchant ships protected by Zheng Zhilong hijacked before, the Ning Navy warships with superior sea power can blockade Manila. Within a month, Governor Juan can't even drink whiskey.

Li Zhixiang is also afraid of beating the wolf with a stick, but he understands that if he compromises with the Spaniards today, he, the commander of the Ning Navy Navy, will be done.

As the small boat returned to the Manila Fort, Juan learned of Ning Haijun's request, and he asked instead: "Gentlemen, are you ready to fight the Ming warship?"

"It will only take half a day at most for our warships to come back after hearing the news!"

"Okay, even if we can repel the Ming army with the help of warships. Have you thought about the future?"

"after?"

"That's right!"

Juan said angrily: "We are far away from the mainland, and will not receive any support for half a year. They are in Liaodong, and with their speed, they can reach Manila in a month at most!"

"What are you afraid of, we have the Armada!"

"Ignorant, they can build dozens of warships in a year at most. Can the Armada come to the east?"

Everyone in the colonial authorities fell silent.

The Spanish Empire is facing the attack of more than a dozen countries in Europe, and they are already overwhelmed, otherwise the Dutch would not dare to be so arrogant.

Once a war with the Ning Navy is launched, whether Manila can hold it will not be discussed, but the officials will certainly not be able to hold it. The most important thing is that they will not be able to get cheap goods from Ming Dynasty.

To start a war with Ning Haijun is to make life difficult for one's own money.

While Juan was thinking, the main battleship of the Ning Navy began to turn on the sea in Manila. All the warships lined up and began to move. At the same time, they pointed the side deck at the fort in Manila.

Once the battleship is in motion, it is very difficult for the turret to hit the target.At the same time, the Sea Shark-class warship and the Jusha-class warship began firing shells from their broadside guns.

"Boom boom boom..."

The battleship of the Ning Navy fired the first round of test shells. Although the twelve shells missed the target, the shells that fell into the sea exploded a huge column of water.

Although the cannon was not hit by the explosion, one of the five warships on the dock that was being overhauled was hit, and this warship instantly turned into a huge torch.

Juan's face changed drastically: "How dare these barbarians?"

(End of this chapter)