Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 93 Frankie is coming

According to Zheng Guohui's plan
In the 2 to 3 years after occupying Mindanao, we will focus on immigrating here, vigorously developing heavy industry, commerce and shipping, and laying a solid foundation.

When the time is ripe, he will abandon the foundation he has laid in China, lead tens of thousands of troops to capture Manila and Cebu, expel the French colonists, and achieve his hegemony in one fell swoop.

I think its historical position is comparable to Zheng Chenggong's feat of regaining Taiwan.

But in reality
Zheng Guohui faced an unavoidable problem, that is, the colonization of Mindanao was now not legitimate and not justifiable, and there were a lot of problems with the positioning of the capital and the selection of landmark buildings.

Although on the Davao Pier
Zheng Guohui revealed his great ambitions, which greatly boosted people's confidence, but did not completely solve the problem.

This is like the Southern Republic and the Daiyan Republic established by the Chinese in Borneo. What is the name of this colonial regime on Mindanao?
Zheng Guohui considered that Tongzhou was originally the old territory of the Chu State, and most of the Chinese immigrants under his command came from Jianghuai, northern Anhui, and some refugees from Shandong, Henan and other places, and they had a stronger sense of belonging to the name of "Chu".

The country's name was "Chu", the kingdom was named "Chu State", the army was named "Chu Army", and the capital was named "Yingdu". This was all planned in advance.

As to whether to change "Davuo" to "Yingdu" or to establish another place as "Yingdu", there is indeed no conclusion.

At this moment, Zheng Guo was full of thoughts. He picked up the teacup on the desk and took a sip. The water was already cold.

He didn't pay attention to these details. When he saw that the tea was almost gone, he shouted, "Someone come!"

"The servant is here, please give your orders, Master."

"Make another cup of hot tea and bring some snacks and fruit."

"The slaves obey."

Su Mei Niang quickly brought freshly brewed hot tea, and then brought snacks and a fruit plate. She took the opportunity to steal a glance at the master and saw that he looked like he was frowning in thought.

Not daring to disturb him, he quietly retreated.

There are only four personal maids who can serve in the master's study: Qiao Yue, Qiao Xing, Qian Xiao Yue, and Su Mei Niang. They take turns working in shifts, and other maids are not allowed to stay.

No one else is allowed to enter the master's study.

Zheng Guohui stared at the map of Luzon drawn by Westerners, pondered for a while, and finally decided not to set the capital in Davao.

The reason is simple: it is too vulnerable to invasion from the sea.

As long as the enemy fleet enters the Davao Gulf and the warships mount cannons, they can directly bombard the royal capital. This is too ridiculous.

The British capital London is on the Thames River. It is 88 kilometers south of the Thames River to its estuary, and its defense is much higher.

In Mindanao, there aren’t many options to choose from.

Unless the capital is located in the inland area of ​​the island, such as the Hamda Valley or Valencia, which are near the Davao River or its tributaries, water transportation is more convenient.

Zheng Guohui's gaze moved upwards, and after staying in Manila for a long time, he moved to Cebu.

Cebu has good geographical conditions. It is surrounded by several straits dividing the archipelago, which is very conducive to building coastal artillery batteries and forming a strict strait artillery fortress defense system.

To be honest, it is much better than Tokyo Bay.

"Oh... I don't want to think about it for now." Zheng Guohui sighed lightly, picked up the cut fruit in the fruit plate and started eating, putting his worries aside.

It is not appropriate to raise the flag of Chu for the time being. Let's deal with it in this unclear way for now. Anyway, Mindanao has been basically occupied and it will not affect the reclamation and development plan.

In fact, there is an alternative plan. For example, if his father is still alive in his hometown of Tongzhou, he can welcome him to Mindanao, honor him as the King of Chu, establish a royal family, build a palace, change the country's name to "Chu", and change the army's flag to "Chu Army". Wouldn't everything be more logical?

How can things in the world be so simple?
As soon as this thought came to mind, Zheng Guohui quickly rejected it. There was no need to create unnecessary complications.

This night

The lights in the study were on until late at night. The general was thinking about important matters concerning the country and society, and no one dared to disturb him.

A few days later
Qian Jiang's troops returned victorious from the expedition to the Davao Oriental region, also returning by boat. There were more than 4000 people when they set out on the expedition, including more than 560 soldiers, but there were only more than soldiers accompanying them when they returned.

Except for the 26 people who were killed or injured in the battle, the rest stayed in the villages and towns conquered along the way and became the local defense force.

Zheng Shun's troops finally returned victorious from the expedition to the Davao Occidental region. There were more than 5400 people in the expedition. Except for 62 people who were killed or injured in the battle, the rest were resettled along the way.

When they returned in triumph, they only brought back 527 people out of the more than a thousand soldiers.

With the gathering of troops from several parties, the total number of troops in Davao City is more than 1,700, which is enough to guard the city.

Zheng Guohui planned an expedition to Cagayan in the north, but his military strength seemed to be stretched thin.

exactly at this time
Two Spanish gunboats sailed into Davao Bay one after another, immediately making the atmosphere in the bay tense.

Zheng Guohui led his troops to quickly board the large sailing ship "Guangming", and together with the "Fenyong" and "Fenjin", they went up to meet them and inquire about their intentions.

Several sailing warships confronted each other in the bay. The Spanish ship on the opposite side raised a white flag to indicate that it was not hostile and quickly released a small dinghy.

There were three Portuguese officers in total. They climbed up the rope ladder on the side of the ship. The densely packed soldiers on the sailboat made way for a small path for them to walk towards the stern deck.

Zheng Guohui stood on the stairs of the stern deck and looked at the visitors carefully. They were three Portuguese officials, one old and two young.

The leader had gray hair and a face that was obviously much darker than that of a white person. It was full of wrinkles eroded by the wind and frost on the sea, and he had a strong smell of an old sea wolf.

The man stopped at the bottom of the stairs, saluted Zheng Guohui above, and said in Frankish; "Mysterious strong man, on behalf of..." "Stop, we don't understand what you are saying. Let's speak English. This way both sides can understand each other more easily and there will be no misunderstanding." Zheng Guohui interrupted him and spoke in fluent English.

The man was obviously stunned for a moment, then switched to English and said;

“Of course, mysterious and powerful one.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Sergio Sanchez, the special envoy of the Governor-General of the Luzon Islands of the Kingdom of Franky.

These are my two companions, Fabian and Morata-Simon. We have brought the Governor's concern and asked about the purpose of the mysterious strong man's visit.

The Portuguese have no intention of making enemies with anyone, but they must always be aware of who their neighbors are.

Are you here to find out the details?
Zheng Guohui knew the other party's intention as soon as he thought about it, and he would not tell the details honestly.

This era
The Chinese pirate forces are rampant on the southeast coast. Coupled with the Malacca pirates and the British and French merchant ships that often turn themselves into bullies, it can be said that there is no order in the entire southeast coast, and the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak is practiced.

After occupying Mindanao for several months, the French, who were entrenched in the Luzon Islands, did not respond until a beat late.

Pretending to be a pirate is not a good thing, Zheng Guohui suddenly had an idea and said bluntly;

"We are the Prince of Jinghai, serving under the Heavenly King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. We were born in obedience to Heaven to defeat the Manchu Tartars, purify the world, and spread the great unification of China.

To spread the ethics and morality and shoulder the heavy responsibility of converting the barbarians is the destiny of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

You can inform the Governor-General to come to the court immediately to discuss plans for good neighborliness and friendship."

These remarks directly made special envoy Sergio Sanchez very upset.

You said it was the Taiping Rebellion of the God Worshipping Society, fighting against the Manchu Tartars and clearing up the world, but what does this have to do with Mindanao?

There are no Manchu Tartars in Mindanao, so what does the saying "shouldering the heavy responsibility of converting the barbarians is the destiny of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" mean?
His brain completely froze. Special envoy Sergio Sanchez discussed with his two companions using Frankie and Jijigugu for a while before he found a clue again.

He raised his head and said, "Your Excellency, the King of Jinghai..."

After envoy Sergio Sanchez said this name, three black lines appeared on his head. This name sounds like pirate and is full of heresy.

"Your Excellency King Jinghai

We have come here in compliance with the Governor's orders, hoping to show goodwill to you and to show that we have no intention of becoming your enemy. We would like to know why you have come here?
On this island

There are many French merchants and parishioners, totaling about 220 people. We are deeply concerned about the situation of these people, and their personal safety and property should be guaranteed.

This is a tacit understanding among civilized nations and an internationally accepted rule. Any force that undermines this principle will be unanimously condemned and attacked by civilized nations."

"Who are you to dare to speak to me like this?" Zheng Guohui turned hostile and shouted angrily.

He walked down the high steps step by step, staring fiercely at the Governor's envoy Sergio Sanchez, bringing with him enormous pressure that seemed tangible.

This made Sergio Sanchez involuntarily take a few steps back and his face turned pale.

He could feel the murderous intent hidden in the other party, and he was definitely not joking.

Zheng Guohui walked in front of him, snorted coldly, stretched out his finger and pointed directly at Sergio Sanchez's chest, poking it hard, and said as he poked;
"When you Portuguese were on the mainland, you colluded with the Manchurian Tartars and sold arms on a large scale, causing heavy casualties to our Celestial Empire army.

This heinous crime is hated by gods and ghosts alike and cannot be denied.

You are all traitors to God and will go to hell and suffer endless torment in purgatory.

Can forgiveness be obtained?

It depends on whether your white governor is sincere enough?

If you can respectfully offer generous gifts, kneel before my throne, and sincerely pray for forgiveness.

As we are both Catholics, I am not in a position to show leniency and forgive the offense of the white governor.

If not
If one comes, I will kill him one by one. If two come, I will kill them both. This is my answer. You guys can do whatever you want.

Tell your gunboats to leave Davao Bay immediately. If they do not leave within the prescribed time, I will deem it as a declaration of war and will annihilate them in one fell swoop."

After saying that, he waved his hand fiercely.

The surrounding soldiers all drew their bayonets, raised them high above their heads, and shouted enthusiastically, "Kill, kill, kill!"

Such cooperation sets the atmosphere just right. There are extremely hostile eyes everywhere, like invisible knives stabbing into the body. How can one stay here?
Special envoy Sergio Sanchez and his two companions, Fabian and Morata-Simon, hurried away in a panic and climbed down the rope ladder from the dinghy.

After the sampan returned to the Franky sailing ship, the Governor's envoy relayed King Jinghai's arrogant words, which directly angered the sailors on the Franky ship.

But the problem is that the Governor of Luzon did not grant the right to declare war.

Although we are angry, the wise thing to do is to go back and report first and wait until the governor decides whether to fight or make peace.

no way

The two Frankish warships stopped for a while, then raised their sails again, made a spin on the sea, and sailed far away towards the exit of the bay. Soon, only two white dots were left.

(End of this chapter)