Felipe told Li Dan that he could deliver a million taels of silver to Shen Qi tomorrow, but if Shen Qi refused to accept the baptism, he had no obligation to continue to help a heretic, and when the time came, they would encounter terrible trouble in Manila at any time, and no one could guarantee that the million taels of silver would be transported back to Yuegang safely.

Issuing this **naked threat, Felipe also talked about the benefits of being baptized, only if Shen Qi becomes a Christian, he can go to the New World with him in the future, and open a silk factory in Acapulco, he can move the silver mountain of the New World back, you can imagine what kind of wealth that is! Of course, it all depends on Shen Qi's attitude, and he Felipe is not reluctant.

Li Dan also understands that Felipe suffered a lot of grievances when he was in Yuegang, and now he has returned to his lair and doesn't do something, which is weird.

Felipe has been bragging on the dock, sparing no effort to say to the Manila authorities that his mission to the Ming Dynasty was very successful, and through his efforts, he invited the "personal representative" of the governor of Fujian to Manila, and also developed him into a Catholic, which is enough to show that he has successfully helped the Spanish Empire, pried open the door of the Ming Dynasty, and if it continues to develop in the future, it will be able to establish such an organization as the Conghe in the Ming Dynasty, which is of great strategic significance to the Great Spanish Empire.

Shen Qi listened to Li Dan's explanation, considering that there was no good way to reason with Felipe, considering that there were millions of taels of silver and his own safety, he was ready to accept the baptism, but he was unwilling to do it, and he couldn't make up his mind, no matter what, it was an act of betraying his ancestors and ancestors.

Everyone thinks that Westerners are too unreasonable, and they are full of righteous indignation one by one. At this time, Zhu Hui suddenly remembered that the Christian fleet was said to have been invited by Archbishop Perez through the Coalition, and he suddenly had a hunch that this arrogant and arrogant archbishop was very likely to be fooled, so he might as well figure out the ins and outs of this matter, and suppress their arrogance by the way.

So, Zhu Hui called Li Dan to his side and asked in a low voice: "Brother, I heard that because Lin Feng took the initiative to collude with the Japanese and plot against Manila, he caused the governor of Manila to send troops to destroy the tortoiseshell port. Now, I have heard that there is a Japanese fleet in Manila Bay, and it was actually invited by this Perez archbishop, please help me ask this archbishop, what does he mean by inviting the Japanese fleet? ”

Li Dan was surprised when he first heard about this question, but he also felt that there must be something strange in it, so he immediately translated Zhu Hui's question to Perez.

Archbishop Perez replied arrogantly: "You citizens of the Ming Dynasty, as long as you have the opportunity to leave the mainland, no one will be loyal to your emperor anymore, because you lack basic faith; Nationals who are living abroad may become pirates, or become accomplices of pirates, intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, we do not trust the Chinese who have not been baptized! ”

After Li Dan finished translating, Zhu Hui stood up angrily and said loudly: "It's pure nonsense! Please don't answer any questions he asks. ”

Seeing the indignant performance of Zhu Hui and the others, Archbishop Perez waved his hand at them reservedly, indicating that he had not finished speaking, so he continued to preach: "We, the Jesuits, have established a joint merchant organization in the town of Rì Honsakai, and have spread the gospel all over the Rì Ben Islands. ”

At this point, Archbishop Perez paused and waited for Li Dan's translation to see how everyone reacted, so as to decide how to proceed.

At this time, I saw that Li Dan glared at Perez angrily, and did not rush to translate his words, but preached to him: "Your Excellency, please answer our questions head-on, please support Manila, don't you worry, they will cooperate with Lin Feng to seize Luzon?" ”

Finding out that the "subordinate" actually spoke in such a tone, Perez was very angry and immediately became furious, until Felipe came forward to persuade him, which made him angry.

Felipe had just heard about this, and he was also very suspicious of the motives of the Ryūben fleet, once this news reached the ears of the Ming Dynasty government, it would definitely arouse the resentment of the Ming Dynasty and be very unfavorable for him to do business in Fujian in the future, so he also decided to get to the bottom of it: "Your Excellency, is the Rìben Christian armed fleet the same as the Ryukyu Expeditionary Force, and its purpose is to suppress the Lin Feng pirate group?" ”

Archbishop Perez prayed silently for a while, rather reverently, and replied: "Monsieur Felipe, don't you know that the struggle between the Ottoman Empire and our Spanish Empire has reached the point of incompatibility, and there are disputes everywhere in Slavic, North Africa, the Middle and Far East, and other places. ”

So, Felipe frowned and asked thoughtfully, "What does this have to do with the fact that this fleet has come to Manila?" ”

At this time, Li Dan translated the conversation between the two of them to Zhu Hui and others without omission.

"What enmity did the Ottoman Empire have against their Spanish Empire?" Zhu Hui asked in a low voice.

"Because of the different beliefs, there has been a war between Moslem and Christianity for hundreds of years, and that's all I know." Li Dan replied.

Suddenly, I listened to Archbishop Perez talk eloquently and answered questions of common concern:

"First of all, let us thank God for his favor in the Great Spanish Empire, Mr. Felipe has opened the door of the Ming Dynasty for us, and has made outstanding contributions to our Greater Spanish Empire, hoping that we can spread the gospel to the hinterland of the Ming Empire. Therefore, it was necessary to ensure that the Ming Empire was not conquered by the Ottoman emperors. Perez said this, his tone aggravated, and then he continued: "I have definite information that the Ming Empire is about to fall into the hands of Moslem!" Think about it, gentlemen, if we don't come to save the Ming Empire, then, there will be a second Ottoman in the East, it will be a nightmare for all of us, and the Spanish merchants will be expelled from the Ming Empire forever! ”

Zhu Hui heard about this rumor in the port market, and thought it was nonsense at the time, but when these words came from the mouth of the Archbishop of Manila, it was tantamount to a shock.

"May I ask you, Lord Bishop, did you invite the rì fleet here to attack the Ming Dynasty and prevent the mainland from falling into the hands of Moslem? Is such a big thing to be, do you know about Governor Lavizares? "Felipe feels incredible.

"We are not here to attack the Ming Dynasty, but to help them fight against Moslem, and of course the Governor of Lavizares knows it." Archbishop Perez proudly said: "According to my intelligence, it may not be long before the Ming Dynasty court will have to come to us for help, with their coastal defense strength, they will not be able to resist the attack of the powerful Ottoman navy at all, they can only rely on our Spanish Empire, and this rìben Christian fleet will join forces with us to stop the Ottoman army, the Ming Emperor should be grateful to Dai De!" ”

Felipe was taken aback by Archbishop Perez's statement, shook his head and sighed: "My God, as far as I know, the people of the Ming Dynasty have never heard of this!" ”

Zhu Hui, Shen Qi, Ma Zhishan and others listened to Li Dan's translation, and they also felt very incredible, where did the Ottoman Empire invade the mainland of the Ming Dynasty? They are puzzled.

At this time, Archbishop Perez pointed at Felipe and then at Shen Qi, and said seriously: "Mr. Felipe, you are a most devout Catholic, I will not have the slightest doubt about you, thank you for inviting the personal representative of the governor of Fujian to Manila, we must let the Ming Emperor know that once they have a conflict with Moslem, I, the Spanish Empire, will be their most loyal friend." Therefore, the coast of the mainland must be open to us, and the personal representative of the governor of Fujian should be baptized and let him testify in the future. ”

After listening to Li Dan's translation, Shen Qi was very embarrassed, he was not Pang Shangpeng's "personal representative" originally, and he also knew the attitude of the Ming Dynasty government towards Christians, but he couldn't let go of the million taels of silver in his heart, so he had to look up at Zhu Hui, revealing a helpless and helpless expression. Zhu Hui shook his head at him gently, expressing his resolute disbelief in Perez's nonsense.

At this time, Li Dan introduced Zhu Hui's identity to Perez, a detective from the Fusi Yamen of Weibei Town, who had never heard that Moslem's army was about to invade the Ming Dynasty.

Archbishop Perez laughed loudly when he heard this, he looked at Zhu Hui contemptuously, shook his head and asked, "Is there anyone better informed than me?" If you can't even find out such important news, what kind of detective can you be an empire? ”

After criticizing Zhu Hui, Perez looked at Li Dan reservedly, and waited for him to translate before continuing, at this moment, Li Dan closed his eyes and ignored Perez.

Archbishop Perez didn't care, and then said: "Lin Feng's pirate gang has been beaten to pieces, and it is about to be wiped out, but Lin Feng believes that the Ming court will not let him go, therefore, he has escaped from Luzon and joined the Waslem tribe in the Malay Peninsula, with the support of the Ottoman Emperor, the Waslem tribal alliance jointly elected Lin Feng as the vanguard of the expeditionary force, they are stepping up their war preparations in West Malaysia, no later than May this year, the Lin Feng pirate gang and the Ottoman coalition army, It will attack the coast of Guangdong and Fujian. ”

"Excuse me, Bishop, who is your source of information?" Felipe asked.

"The most reliable friend from the Sakai Society, when they were passing through the Malay Peninsula, happened to meet Lin Feng and the Ottoman envoy together, this friend returned to Sakai Town, and immediately sent the news through Father Simon Almeida, with the help of the priest, with the funds of the Federation, immediately formed an army of Christians, and came to Luzon to assist us in dealing with the Ottoman Empire." Perez replied.

Ma Zhishan thought that this was a lie that even a fool could hear, and this archbishop would actually be fooled, so he asked through Li Dan: "May I ask what this rìben army is doing now?" ”

Perez replied: "This fleet has only been in place for three days, and it has immediately been engaged in intense training, and the Ryukyus have sent 200 men to help us exterminate the Lin Feng pirate gang, and after they arrived in Manila, they have been doing nothing for many months, and they have not even caught a single pirate, compared to this group of Christians, it is really a world of difference!" ”

Needless to say, Zhang Gou'er, the leader of the Ryukyu Expeditionary Force, was "passive and slacking off", which had his own intentions, and Perez was full of praise for Rì himself, indicating that he did not understand the Japanese at all, so Zhu Hui asked, "May I ask what is the name of the leader of this fleet?" ”

Perez replied, "General Wasuka Masakatsu, he is a well-trained samurai, but most of his soldiers are low-level ronin, and he is currently being trained by the Imperial Spanish Navy. ”

The general of this fleet turned out to be the bandit leader of the Kiso River, the retainer of the monkey Hideyoshi, and I heard that when Lin Feng escaped, it was he who sent Lin Feng and his wife to Ryukyu, and in order to thank the monkeys, Lin Feng gave them 300,000 taels of silver, and it was with this money that they recruited a large number of wild samurai, created the miracle of "Sumamata Night Castle", and obtained the status of samurai.

What a trick to hide from the world! Lin Feng and the monkey teamed up, and actually deceived so many people, and sent a fleet of pirates to the city of Manila, so Zhu Hui said loudly: "There are pirates and pirates in the Sakai Town Public Association!" ”

Li Dan had been staring at Zhu Hui, and suddenly listened to him make a judgment full of confidence, and when he approached him, he asked in a low voice, "When I was in Hawksbill Harbor, I once heard that there was a nun who was on good terms with Lin Feng, and it was said that she was from the Rì Honho Congregation. ”

According to the situation introduced by Guo Yi, Zhu Hui judged that Louise, Father Simon Almeida and Lonzo Konishi were all suspicious.

So, Zhu Hui replied noncommittally: "Brother Xian, please don't jump to conclusions, besides, it's none of our business to investigate the internal details, but it is certain that the people brought by Bee Suga Xiaoliu are definitely not the so-called devout Christians, the purpose of this fleet is to cooperate with Lin Feng to capture Manila, please tell them this conclusion, if you don't take precautions early, maybe it won't take too long, and Manila City will suffer a catastrophe!" Once Luzon falls into the hands of the Japanese Invaders, then the Ryukyus and TaiWan will not be guaranteed, and our Ming Dynasty will also fall into a situation from which it will never recover. ”

After Li Dan finished speaking, Perez looked at Zhu Hui very arrogantly, and said angrily: "As an intelligence officer of the Ming Empire, you can't perform your duties correctly, but instead question the kindness of our Great Spanish Empire, and even use strong words, I am ashamed of your behavior, you can do it yourself, even if you want to be baptized, I will not accept you." ”

Li Dan didn't translate these words, but persuaded Shen Qi: "Great officials, people are under the eaves and have to bow their heads, considering the safety of the silver, you can accept the baptism." ”

After pondering for a moment, Shen Qi said: "Zhu Gongzi, I also understand, no matter what, the Westerners still seem to be thinking about us, since this is the case, then I will promise them, when you expose the conspiracy of Lin Feng and Rì himself, it will not be too late for us to reason with them." ”

In order to find out the truth, Zhu Hui replied: "Brother is right, Mr. Perez is indeed thinking about us, we should thank him, for us, faith is Zì Yóu, everything is up to you." ”

So, Shen Qi no longer hesitated, and immediately agreed to Archbishop Perez through Li Dan's translation.

At this moment, Zhu Hui was anxious, and he didn't know how his righteous brother Zhang Gou'er was doing now? I don't know when Bee Suga Xiaoliu and Lin Feng will start?

*************************

Mr. Boiling Bing wrote in the book review "Travel, Alienation, Homesickness":

In essence, Western adventurers have a utilitarian and realistic drive for interests such as wealth and land, and they take root wherever they go without looking back, and they have a unique brave and decisive adventurous jīng god.

And the Chinese's long journey is more out of a kind of sustenance and feelings. The most striking feature is that the Chinese have an instinctive sense of return and a sense of nostalgia and homeland that has been with them since the beginning of their journey.

(End of chapter)