Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 529 Surrender
"You don't have to pay the ransom, but you have to figure out how to leave." Li Yuan gave in, but not much.

The two bishops looked at each other, and finally the bishop said, "That's it, let's prepare the treaty!"

The treaty was made in duplicate, and the two sides still had some disputes over the specific wording. Spain insisted on taking the initiative to withdraw, while Li Yuan insisted on unconditional surrender.

Finally, an agreement was reached in which Spain surrendered unconditionally in exchange for the retention of trade routes and subsequent friendly agreements between the two countries.

The so-called friendly agreement means that the Spanish will no longer intervene in Southeast Asia in exchange for peace between the two sides and the Zhou Empire's recognition of Spain's other colonies in the world. At the same time, Spain also recognizes that Southeast Asia is the sphere of influence of the Great Zhou Empire. However, this friendly treaty is currently only a copy, and the Spanish governor is not qualified to sign on behalf of the country. It will only count after a formal delegation from the country comes to sign the contract.

The friendly treaty is still very important to the bishop and others, because they cannot guarantee that the ambitions of the Zhou Empire will not expand in the future. What if it sets its sights on the colonies in South America?

In fact, everyone knows that the treaty is signed now in order to tear it up in the future.

However, breaking the treaty will cost the country's credit.

The credit of a country is a mysterious thing. Even though the credit of Russia has hit rock bottom, isn't it still good?

Faced with the U.S. debt of 36 trillion U.S. dollars, Trump has even threatened to default on his debts.

Lighthouse is asking the whole world to pay for U.S. debt, and Trump is asking the country to pay for himself. Isn’t the logic very smooth?

The treaty was formally signed in duplicate, in two versions, one in Chinese and the other in Latin.

Fortunately, surrendering after defeat in a war is not considered a serious crime in the West. After these people return, they can be guaranteed to become wealthy with the money they have earned before.

Jia Lian signed and sealed the document in the name of Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and Envoy of Nanyang, while Li Yuan signed the document in the capacity of Inspector of Nanyang.

Ding, ding, ding! The church bells rang, and not many of the militiamen who were on high alert came, but quite a few women and children came.

The bishop personally announced the negotiation results to the believers who came, and the priests under him posted notices everywhere, reading out the negotiation results.

I have already notified you, so if you didn’t hear me, you’re unlucky.

The next morning, the Governor's Guards marched out of the city gate in neat rows, threw their weapons aside, and were guided to the prisoner-of-war camp with their belongings.

Next came the sailors of the fleet, who dropped their weapons and left. The third wave came from the clergy, those with titles, and officers of all levels, who received certain preferential treatment.

The so-called personal belongings are a suitcase or a bag.

Jia Lian was still very trustworthy. The captives who surrendered did not even take out their pockets. How much could a person take away with him? Even if it was all gold, what was really valuable was this victory and the huge amount of supplies seized.

The three Spanish giants in Manila appeared together, and the governors who were almost recovered from their illness were brought before Jia Lian and Li Yuan together.

"Sir, please allow me to rent a boat to leave." This was the first thing the governor said. Jia Lian took a step back and asked Li Yuan to come out.

"I can rent a boat, but how can I guarantee that you will pay the fees and return the boat?" Li Yuan asked back. It's no wonder that he is stingy, as it was originally a trophy.

"As rent, I can go to Java for you and help persuade them to give up resistance. I can borrow money from the Dutch to pay your rent." The Spanish governor did not intend to get it for free, but he wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

Li Yuan looked at Jia Lian, and seeing that he had no attitude, he turned back and said, "Okay! But we only agree to your side. The clergy and officers can be exempted from the ransom, but the people below cannot be free."

"Why do you keep these people, sir? You still have to feed them. Wouldn't it be better for me to take some of them away?" The Spanish Governor asked back a little depressed. How much ransom could the people below accept?

"A ship is worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Forget about renting it. Just borrow money from the Dutch to buy it. By the way, bring a message to the Dutch that the six ships they escaped with before were intercepted and captured by our fleet. I hope they can face the reality and not make unnecessary struggles and resistance." Li Yuan acted like a prince, his aura was quite oppressive.

The Governor knew there was no room for maneuver, so he nodded sullenly and said, "Okay, let's do it. You send a ship to Java to collect the money."

"We hope that the clergy who were captured before can be taken away." The bishop stood up and spoke. He also had his own interests to pursue.

"Sure! Just go to the POW camp and bring them back." Li Yuan agreed readily this time. These people were the most troublesome, so it would be best if they could be taken away.

These people were temporarily settled near the dock, and after the boats were selected, some people started to board.

Li Yuan asked Jia Lian curiously, "Sir, why didn't you stop me from renting a boat? After all, a boat is not cheap."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "The Dutch have a well-developed financial industry. As the Spanish governor, he probably has money deposited in Dutch banks. Besides, there is still a subsequent friendly treaty to be negotiated, and he dare not default on it. Your Highness handled this matter properly based on the overall situation in Nanyang, laying the groundwork for the future easy capture of Java and making a good start."

Li Yuan was very happy to hear Jia Lian's compliment. This was a high evaluation, and he immediately smiled and said, "Really? Hahaha, you are too kind, sir."

Coincidentally, on the day when the Spaniards opened the city to surrender, the First Squadron arrived with captured Dutch ships. Upon learning that the Spaniards had surrendered, they drove straight into the port.

The three Spanish giants who were selecting boats at the dock actually saw six Dutch ships entering the port. They knew that Li Yuan had not been bragging but had really captured them.

"They must have been captured with the help of the British!" The fleet commander disagreed, thinking that the Zhou Empire's fleet could not do this.

The Governor did not seem to be too upset, and said calmly: "What's the difference? Didn't we know a long time ago that a large number of British naval personnel were employed by the Zhou Empire Navy, and many of them were given important positions, and even became generals?" If it weren't for this, the fleet commander would not have been too dissatisfied, but when he talked about this, he was immediately quite annoyed: "They are a group of pariahs! Pariahs bought by the Great Zhou Empire."

The bishop said quietly, "If you were not from an aristocratic family, but were an ordinary naval officer, would you resist becoming a general of the Great Zhou Navy?"

The fleet commander was silent after hearing this. Yes. In the West, where one's background is valued, the ceiling for ordinary people to rise is too low. They are not even considered human beings.

"I was born a noble. Why should I think from the perspective of a pariah? This question is not within my consideration." The fleet commander refused to lose face and argued. The bishop said calmly, "If we had followed your advice and sent the fleet out for guerrilla warfare, I'm afraid we would have received the news of your death a long time ago. Admit it, the Spanish Navy cannot beat the Zhou Navy."

Although he was very unconvinced, the fleet commander did not continue to argue. After all, he was not mentally ill. Putting aside the weapons and equipment, the fighting spirit of the two armies was incomparable.

The navy of the Zhou Empire was willing to give high positions to those British pariah generals. Even for the sake of their descendants, those pariahs who were given important positions would fight to the death. The Spanish navy, on the other hand, did not have the courage to fight to the death. If it had, the Invincible Fleet would not have been defeated by the Royal Navy. Isn't the foundation of the Royal Navy a group of pirates? The King of England issued them a plundering warrant. These people made a fortune by legally robbing, and after landing, the King of England also gave them knighthood, which made the Royal Navy powerful.

After the first batch of pirates who came ashore were knighted, they began to stop others from following their example. It was normal for the first to block the door, as they were Brahmins in a small county.

If Jia Lian heard these words, he would definitely say, "Brother, don't laugh at your second brother. The problems within the Zhou Dynasty are also very serious." Although the narrow path of the imperial examination is still there, it is completely different to have connections or not. Otherwise, there would not be the saying that it is easier to be an official if you have someone in the court. The key is to do this and there is a saying to decorate the facade, to select the virtuous without avoiding relatives.

It was the next day that Jia Lian and Li Yuan saw the Dutch captives.

On the day of surrender, there was still a lot of finishing work to be done.

After the Governor's Guard and the main fleet laid down their weapons, the militiamen living in the fortress area, seeing that the big shots had surrendered, also handed in their weapons and left the fortress area with the elderly and children. The whole process lasted for a day, and the reason it was relatively smooth was entirely because there was no body search.

The Spanish civilians who surrendered their weapons were treated better and were resettled in a vacated community that originally belonged to the indigenous people. The resettlement process was too rough and simple, but it did not cause any major problems. During this period, some troublemakers were arrested and thrown into a prisoner-of-war camp.

The prisoners of war lived in much simpler places. They could only sleep in the open air on the first day, and built straw huts with tools on the second day. If they wanted to leave, they had to pay a ransom. Those who had no money had to work to repay the ransom.

Fortunately, no one was hungry, so no one caused trouble. Even if someone wanted to cause trouble, others would stop them to avoid being implicated.

After a busy day of taking over the affairs, they also had to move into the fortress area. The Governor's Mansion became the new residence of Jia Lian and Li Yuan.

When moving in, Boss Chen wanted to help out and sent a few maids to serve him, but Li Yuan would rather use the maids he had left behind than accept Boss Chen's offer.

For this reason, Boss Chen was quite frightened and specially asked to see Jia Lian to ask if he had done anything wrong.

Jia Lian was speechless to this old man. You and your ancestors were not considered good citizens in this country, okay? Don't you have any idea at all?

"Your Highness has always been upright and moderate, so there is no need for Mr. Chen to embarrass Your Highness." After Jia Lian's words, Mr. Chen seemed to understand, but also seemed to understand nothing.

Jia Lian was too lazy to explain further. This old man could do nothing but send the women of his family away. How naive! Are Li Yuan and Jia Lian people who have never seen a woman?

Do you have the qualifications to rely on a few women to build connections?
Unless Li Yuan and Jia Lian are sure to stay, they will selectively accept some women. And it's not just from a certain family. Everyone will be treated equally. Do you understand?

Jia Lian could not empathize with Boss Chen's sense of crisis at all. The difference between the two people's levels was too great. It was very kind of him to be able to explain it patiently.

Of course, when thinking about this privately, Jia Lian also realized something. Now he began to feel that he was not the same kind of person as Chen Lao Da and must keep his distance. It was hard to say whether he could still look down at the people below him when he was in a high position in the future. It was like a director who made a movie and it flopped at the box office. The director would not reflect on himself, but would only think that the audience was rubbish.

A group of people who scored 300 points in the college entrance examination wanted to use movies to educate the audience who scored 600 points. The reality is so absurd.

The next day, Jia Lian got up early and took a few followers to take a walk in the fortress area, looking around at the so-called city center of that era.

After walking around, I felt that it was not interesting. In terms of urban infrastructure, Manila in this era was really not good enough. Not to mention, the streets were in a mess now. After the Spanish residents were driven away, they had not had time to clean up. Jia Lian turned around quickly, and Li Yuan also got up.

"Sir, the interrogation records of the Dutch prisoners have been delivered. They are being held in a warehouse near the dock. Do you want to go take a look? And by the way, send the Spanish governor and others off as well."

Jia Lian didn't care much at first, but after thinking about it, he felt that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go and take a look. After all, although there were a lot of things to do, they were all done by the people below, and Jia Lian was just a ruthless signing machine.

The key point is that Jia Lian wants to see what the captured spoils are like. If those people don't follow the rules, don't blame Jia Lian for being ruthless.

The two of them came to the dock together. The smell here was not very pleasant. Jim and his men lined up to greet them.

"Why did you come in person?" Jia Lian was a little nervous when he saw Jim coming in person. He was not afraid of anything else, but he was afraid that the people below would not obey Jim. After all, the composition of the Nanyang Navy was quite complicated, and some of the old men did not obey Jim and the British. If they insisted on tampering with the spoils, then even if Jim knew about it, he would not dare to make it public at that time.

Jim didn't speak immediately, but looked at Li Yuan first.

Jia Lian said in dissatisfaction: "Are you crazy? This is the Second Prince!"

Li Yuan felt a little uncomfortable at first, but after Jia Lian got angry, he felt much better and didn't hold too much grudge against Jim. After all, Westerners don't understand the situation in China, so it's understandable.

Jim then stepped forward and whispered, "White reported that someone has hidden part of the spoils."

"Well, how many are hidden?" Jia Lian asked calmly. If only one or two items were hidden, Jia Lian would not pursue the matter.

Li Yuan was very quiet at this time. He just wanted to learn how Jia Lian handled the situation.

"Quite a lot. White and the others were all forced to accept some gold and silver." Jim said it very skillfully. White and the others were forced.

They were indeed forced to do so. After all, they were the ones who valued being able to become naval commanders the most. In contrast, some of the old-timers in the Nanyang Navy valued money more.

Jia Lian did not express his opinion immediately, but turned to look at Li Yuan and said, "Your Highness, will you handle this?"

Hmm? Li Yuan was stunned. What does that mean? Give me a chance to show some mercy?

(End of this chapter)