The sun never sets in America

Chapter 311 Philippines: Colonial Governance

Bang bang bang!!!

In a sugar cane field in the Philippines, there were bursts of "crisps", and then it became quiet again. Except for the seven or eight small indigenous corpses pulled out from inside, they were just a few old-fashioned flintlock muskets. The gun body is engraved with Latin characters, which seems to be left over from the Spanish period.

Next to the corpses, a dozen Han soldiers in green military uniforms were searching for threatening targets.

Three hundred meters across from them, there are some stilt houses built with wood. However, if you look carefully, you will find that many places are already "messy", giving people the feeling that they have just encountered a robber.

Ma Shaoju, who was standing opposite, was holding a pistol while looking at the freshly cold corpses on the ground, and said disdainfully: "It's really wishful thinking to stop us with just this!"

"They're nearby, chase!!"

Ma Shaoju took the lead and started running, and the people behind him followed. The reason for this was because it was difficult to use horses in the rainforest area. They either relied on buffalo carts or manpower. There was no third situation.

In the entire Philippines, there are actually not many tracking like this, because according to the calculations of the Philippine Governor's Office, if a large number of people are really sent to search the bottomless rainforest, apart from other things, the cost alone will not be affordable by the Philippines. It's affordable.

What's more, in a place like a tropical rain forest, where poisonous insects, snakes, ants and miasma are everywhere, if you stay here for a long time, you won't be able to stay there if you are not a native.

In fact, even the local indigenous people mostly live in the coastal areas of several large islands in the Philippines. There are actually not many indigenous people in the inland areas, and most of them have no hatred against the Chinese. After all, even if they want to cause trouble for the Chinese, they can't. You have to run out of the rainforest first.

But what’s funny is that these people are real indigenous people and don’t leave the rainforest at all.

Most of the indigenous people who really have conflicts with the Chinese are in coastal areas, or in farming areas. These indigenous people have the deepest conflicts with the Chinese. The reasons for both sides are cultural customs, racial issues, and a bigger problem. The problem is survival.

This was particularly important, especially after the Spanish colonized the Philippines.

If the arrival of the Spanish accelerated the development of the entire Philippines for at least a century, then the arrival of the Chinese directly lifted the local economy to more than one level.

Most of the local industries are run by Chinese and Spanish businessmen. The local plantations are basically divided into Chinese plantations and Spanish plantations. The Philippines is an economy mainly based on tropical planting, and the importance of the Chinese in it can be seen. Just imagine.

This is also the main reason why the Spaniards allowed the natives to massacre the Chinese. When there are two rulers in an economy, the probability of a fight is basically 100%.

However, the Spaniards rely on the Chinese for many taxes, so they can only compromise and suppress. This situation is actually very similar to the Dutch. They need the economic capabilities of the Chinese and do not want the Chinese to threaten their rule, so when necessary The indigenous people became the sharpest "scissors", ready to shear the Chinese's wool at any time, even in the process of shearing, even if they were rough and bloody.

But don’t think that the local Chinese are just good people. In fact, there are a few good people who can mix in the colonies and survive.

This is why after the Han Dynasty established the Viceroyalty of the Philippines, the highest position given to the local Chinese was the Financial Secretary. Most of them were counselors, who basically only had supervisory powers but no real real power.

[Similar to members of the Imperial Parliament, even less powerful, with no real power to intervene]

The reason for this is still because of Lanfang, because the original agreement retained the power of the Lanfang family, making the entire Lanfang seem to be under the control of the Han Dynasty. In fact, many economic lifelines are in the hands of those big families, making the local area, In particular, the group of civil servants in the cabinet were very dissatisfied. The so-called increase in tax on the wealthy by Zhu Dao's request was intended to add fuel to the flames and attack the local people in Lanfang.

It is also because of this that after acquiring the Philippines, the Han Dynasty learned the lessons of Lanfang and firmly grasped power in its hands. It even deliberately sold the properties left by the Spanish Viceroyalty to the local Han Dynasty. What the commercial companies left to the local Chinese were fragmentary assets such as small shops, and even a few plantations that occasionally leaked out, which were enough for those people to grab their heads.

Even the local Spaniards were not completely liquidated by the Han Dynasty. They only banned those irregular and illegal enterprises and retained the rest.

The memorial Lu Ting wrote to the cabinet can also explain the reason:

"Things in the Philippines are complicated and chaotic. After the Spanish withdrew, even though we, a big man, took over, they were still without a leader. The local Chinese were not good people either. Although the natives were ignorant, they could still be tamed. The Spanish merchants were also useful people. If they were introduced into the country, Business competition, with the Philippines’ strong foundation, it will not be difficult to revive!!”

"If you want to prosper, you need to control power. The lesson learned from Lanfang's past is especially true now. If it blindly relies on the local Chinese like Lanfang, the Philippines will become second to Lanfang, or even worse."

"Therefore, it is necessary to take advantage of the uncertainty of the overall situation to clean up the finance, taxation and land, and explore the real situation. If you can, fight the local snakes. If you can't fight, you can let them go, but you can't go any further."

"There are three constraints in the local area. One is the indigenous people, who are ignorant and mostly familiar, and the other is the Chinese businessmen. This generation has been entrenched for hundreds of years and has controlled the economy since the Spanish period. Since the change of hands, it has become even more rampant, using the name of the Han Dynasty to seize wealth. The third one is the Spaniards. The local Spaniards have property in the local area, build many churches, confuse the ignorant people on the island, and use their religion to gather people..."

"If you want to relieve the three dangers, the indigenous people can go to war. The army can conquer the mountains and seas, and they can conquer it with a breath. The Chinese people can caress or suppress it. Anyone who has a heart for me, the Han Dynasty, can be rewarded with property, position, and publicity for the Han Dynasty. The benevolence and righteousness can also clear the name of the land, cut off the wealth and power, and the unruly ones can be quickly killed and win the hearts of the people!!"

"The Spaniards can hold down a few formations and then release them. The date of release depends entirely on the current situation."

"If the three crises can be cured, the court said: Within three years, the Philippines can become a financial and tax powerhouse!!"

This memorial was also handed over to Liu Peng for reading, and Liu Peng’s comments on it were:

"This place is a colony and can be governed by the British, without going too far."

Lu Ting knew very well what Liu Peng meant. Didn't he just hope to find a balance? ?

And Lu Ting was also "suppressing bandits" while working on this so-called "eternal plan."

.............................................

"Everyone, dear friends..."

"According to the recent battle reports, we have basically wiped out those traitors!!"

Watching Governor Lu on the stage talk about his so-called achievements in suppressing bandits, the representatives of the big Chinese families below showed no happy expression at all, because just two days ago, the governor announced that he would count all the local people. We need to ask clearly about the cultivated land and plantations, and even how many people live on the plantations.

Good guy, this is stricter than the Spaniards. Isn’t this because Master Wang didn’t come and I was bullied? Now Master Wang is here, will I still be bullied? ?

Lu Ting on the stage didn't care about this, but expressed excitedly:

"After removing these unstable factors, we will build canals and reservoirs and brand new roads throughout the Philippines to develop the entire region's economy."

"We will use the greatest sincerity to free the Philippines from the Spanish rule of terror and move towards the light..."

clap clap clap! !

There was a "coping" applause from below, as if they were weak.

At the end of his speech, Lu Ting did not forget to mention: "We will conduct land audits throughout the Philippines later this month. If you have any objections, please give us your advice."

When the people below heard this, they couldn't sit still at all. Some people mustered up the courage to stand up and ask:

“What is qualified and what is not qualified.”

"A lot of the land here belongs to the Spanish period. The Spanish don't care about it at all. It's hard to tell clearly. I'm afraid..."

Others also echoed one after another. The so-called echoes are just some "similar" answers. Anyway, the translation is, you can't check it, you can't check it, if you check it, something big will happen! !

And Lu Ting also understood very well what these people were thinking, so he expressed it directly:

"If you own one thousand acres or less, as long as it is mainly a family, we will basically not interfere. But if it exceeds one thousand acres, you will have to pay a land transfer tax. The amount is not much, 1%, for more than 10,000 acres It’s 2%, all the way up to a cap of 10%!!”

After all, Lu Ting did not take any direct action. After all, everyone is "Han Chinese" and must always adhere to "benevolence and righteousness".

But even this very favorable price still aroused dissatisfaction among many people. They complained that the rubber, cocoa, spices, and cane sugar businesses have been difficult to do recently, and asking for so much money all at once would probably kill them! !

Someone even said it directly:

“If you have to collect taxes even when buying and selling land, wouldn’t you be called a big man even if you are not as good as a Spaniard!!”

Although this person quickly said "apologise", it could be seen from the faces of others that they were very dissatisfied.

They were very dissatisfied with Han's behavior of "burning bridges across rivers". After all, if it weren't for them, would you Han people be able to establish yourself so quickly? It really complies with the saying, use people to move forward, don't use people to move backward.

Lu Ting’s answer to this was:

"Since the business is so bad, it is better to hand over the land to the Governor's Mansion, and the Governor's Mansion will auction it. After deducting the taxes and fees, the funds obtained from the auction are still their personal property."

Hearing such a "shameless" answer, those people were completely "dumbfounded". After all, according to their thoughts and Lanfang's current situation, after the arrival of the Han Kingdom, they should be able to "get rich" safely and live the life they dreamed of. The life of a "rich man".

Then we will follow the example of the Lanfang plantation owners and catch slaves everywhere.

But now the situation has changed, so much that they can hardly recognize it! !

Lu Ting on the stage was very happy to announce another piece of good news, that is, there are more than fifty companies in the Han State, and they are preparing to invest in the Philippines. They will clear out the war and sell the "excess" land to those Han States. Local enterprises, let them build factories and prosper the local market, thereby making the Philippines more prosperous.

As soon as these words came out, many people present couldn't stand it any longer, and their faces were as ugly as they wanted.

Good guy, with so many local enterprises from Han coming here, and they still have to give them land, what a fool they are! !

The dinner ended with all the local Chinese family representatives secretly "cursing" each other, marking the end of an era.

…………

The city of Manila, more than a month ago, was still under the control of the Spanish, but now, the dragon flags flying everywhere will tell you whose world is here! !

Even the Spaniards could only watch all this happen, and then be as polite as "grandchildren" when they came to the door at the population registration office.

(The local population registration is actually to understand the economic situation)

Even because the local Spaniards performed well, Lu Ting promoted several Spanish officials. Although many of them were originally Spanish colonial officials, after such a "raucous" propaganda, it stabilized many Spaniards. Fearful heart.

Of course, as Lu Ting said privately:

"Everything must serve the great cause of Han."

Although the entire city of Manila has remained unchanged except for the changing of the national flag and the addition of some Han Chinese elements, the people's hearts have changed a lot.

The first to bear the brunt are the Chinese. Although the local "local snakes" are not happy about the current land liquidation and the introduction of a large number of Han companies to compete with them, for the ordinary Chinese, the arrival of the Han is like they have The backbone is the same. From now on, I can straighten my back and speak "Mandarin".

And without the "greedy" Spaniards, their lives are actually much easier. Even the natives can only behave obediently, instead of shouting and killing them like before.

The accountability of the indigenous people some time ago allowed these Chinese to see the sincerity of the Han Dynasty.

After several times of this, the "chaos" that the Governor's Mansion was worried about did not happen. After all, as Lu Ting said:

"As long as we win over the Chinese people living below, if those old ghosts above can't cause trouble, who can they look for, the natives, or the Spaniards who are already honest?"

Lu Ting has a very accurate grasp of the psychology of this group of people. After all, he has a background in taxation, and he knows where people's biggest weaknesses are.

According to the recent land clearance situation, the entire Philippine Governor's Office can receive almost more than 12 million Chinese dollars from transaction taxes alone. This money can be used for local construction.

This is also the reason why Lu Ting hopes to build a Philippine railway.

Of course, Lu Ting was still very smart. Although he cut so many leeks, he still sold half of the shares of the railway to various local forces, including Chinese businessmen, Spaniards, and even some indigenous people who came to seek refuge. , as for those who do not seek refuge, or are not active in seeking refuge, they are already on the "buy and sell" list.

After several consecutive calculations, the situation in the entire Philippines was stabilized to the state before Spain left, and it only took a month and a half.

Everything Lu Ting did was seen by Liu Peng, who was thousands of miles away.

"Currently, it is estimated that the Philippines as a whole can only pay 5 million Chinese dollars in profits and taxes this year."

The person who manages the finances is a young man named Huang Xingke. He is the eldest son of a large local family. He is a relatively active person. Therefore, after taking refuge, he was appointed by Lu Ting as the Financial Secretary, which is what the locals can do. Yes, the biggest official.

Lu Ting looked at the financial table in his hand, threw it on the table, looked at Huang Xingke and said:

“How much did Spaniards earn at the end of last year??”

"Twenty-five million Chinese dollars."

Huang Xingke answered immediately.

"But the Spaniards pay taxes every year, and the local taxes have long been collected."

Huang Xingke added one last sentence, fearing that this "Lu Tossing" would notice something was wrong again.

"We are currently implementing tax farming, mainly for the indigenous people, but I'm afraid we won't be able to count on it this year."

After a month of chaos, Lu Ting could not completely restore the situation even if he tried his best.

Finally I can only ask:

“How many unclaimed lands have been confiscated??”

"A total of 734,200 acres."

When Huang Xingke mentioned this number, his mouth trembled a little. After all, it included the Huang family's 3,000 acres of paddy field, which was confiscated because he couldn't tell the origin.

(To be clear, it means collecting transaction tax)

"More than 730,000 acres, good, really good!!"

After Lu Ting heard this number, he perked up and became "excited". After all, no matter what, this was considered an achievement. Reporting it up would blind many people's eyes. After all, these places can be It is not wasteland, but cultivated land. The value of this can be imagined.

Thinking of this, Lu Ting hurriedly ordered:

"It's a pity to keep so much land in our hands. It's better to rent it out."

"In this way, all the land will be rented out at 70% of the local price. Except for some land around the city, no one will be left."

When Huang Xingke heard this, his eyes lit up and he quickly answered:

"This is easy to handle. I'm afraid if I rent it out like this, I'll have to pay millions more."

"The imperial court has also given an explanation."

"Yes, we have an explanation!!"

Lu Ting looked at Huang Xingke and said something meaningful.

Looking at Huang Xingke's "excited" pace, Lu Ting felt like he was watching a "joke".

In his opinion, there is no difference between this group of local Chinese and the Spanish. It's just that the Spanish are in power and can do whatever they want, but they can't, but this does not mean that this group of people is good. Thinking of the "piglets" found in the search.

Lu Ting's whole temperament changed, becoming more "silent". He looked back at a poem he had hung behind his desk and sighed:

"Thousands of miles away, I can do the king's business and solve the king's worries. Why should my wife plan for the future?"

　Asking for monthly tickets and rewards

　　

　

(End of this chapter)