More than a dozen sailboats arrived in the waters of Luzon and were slowly heading towards Manila Bay, the largest of which was headed by several blonde and blue-eyed Western men.

The first is a well-dressed middle-aged man, looking at the endless sea ahead. He asked the people around him, "Captain Arthur, how long will we have to sail to Manila?" ”

"Sir Lucien, if the wind doesn't change, we'll be there this afternoon. It's windy on deck, so let's go back to the cabin. ”

Lucien smiled and waved his hand, "It's okay, I want to stand here for a while." Manila, we're finally here. Hehe...... Gentlemen, let us also see what the legendary Pearl of the Orient looks like, and I wonder if it is half the size of Paris. ”

"Haha......"

Several people around him laughed, and the mysterious East seemed to them to be incomparable to Europe. Although the legendary Eastern Empire was strong, it was still a barbaric and backward country.

Captain Arthur next to him frowned, and secretly despised in his heart, these arrogant Frenchmen, when you get to Manila, you will know why it is called the Pearl of the Orient.

Arthur was British, and his ships and a fleet belonging to the British East India Company had been trading in Manila for two years in a row. He still remembers the first time he came to Manila, and he was shocked by the Qiē in Manila.

This time he had a French nobleman and two servants on his ship, as well as a few French merchants. After the Far East occupied Manila, it gradually took control of the vast area north of Luzon, and a large number of luxury goods from the Far East were brought to Europe by European merchants.

These exquisite workmanship, high-end and atmospheric modern goods were soon favored by the upper aristocratic society, although the price was ridiculously high, but it was still a hard to find. Those merchants saw the prosperity of Manila, and called Manila the Pearl of the Orient, and many aristocrats in Europe thought that one day they would have the opportunity to see the legendary Pearl of the Orient.

It is said that there are a variety of exquisite goods that have taken Europe by storm in the past two years. Lucien was also a country aristocrat in France, inheriting a manor and land from his ancestors. Although the family was in decline, Lucien had a business acumen that other nobles did not have, and he was able to make a lot of money after many years of operation.

Lucien's destination this time was actually the New World, he met several French fur merchants in Quebec, they were about to go to Manila in the east, so Lucien and these French merchants hired this British merchant ship, all the way to Manila.

"Captain, an unknown ship has been found ahead of the fleet......"

Arthur heard the shouts of the sailors on the mast, and said to Lucien beside him with a smile: "Sir Lucien, don't worry, this is the coast guard in the Manila waters, and our fleet is flying the Manila flag, so we can ignore them." ”

Both Lucien and Captain Arthur picked up their monoculars and looked into the distance, only to see two long, slender galleons with great speed, sailing towards them like a wave.

A French merchant next to him shouted, "God, what kind of ship is this, it's so fast when it's against the wind." ”

Captain Arthur smiled bitterly: "This is a fast sailing ship of the Manila Coast Guard, which can reach 13 knots at the fastest when downwind. Those who are good and unwindy can sail freely, I don't know how they do it, I really want to get on their ship and see it. ”

Lucien looked at the two clippers and was stunned by their speed, and he observed that they had extremely high masts and low and narrow hulls, constantly jolting and speeding on the sea.

Two clippers with snow-white sails approached from a distance, sailing against the wind, but still fast. The two clippers inserted diagonally between the fleets from the side, then nimbly turned around and lowered their half-sails to sail parallel to the fleet.

Arthur and Lucien lay on the edge of the ship's side, their eyes fixed on the two clippers. They and the fleet sailed for a while, and then they raised their full sails, and the sails on the tall masts were suddenly propped up, and the speed of the ship gradually increased, and in a short time, they sailed into the sky and the sea in the distance.

Lucien and his fleet slowly approached the port of Manila, and along the way they saw a patrol fleet of Slupp sloops whizzing past their fleet.

"Captain Arthur, this dhow is also their patrol ship?"

"Sir, don't underestimate these little ones, they are not as fast as the fast sailing ships, but they are much faster than ours, and the sailing ships are nimble, and it will be very troublesome for our fleet to come across several of these ships. Now Manila is controlled by the Far East Company, which has twice defeated Spain and controlled the whole of Southeast Asia, so that we have come all the way to the East, but we can only trade in Manila, and the whole northern part of Luzon is their sea. ”

Lucien frowned and said, "Then you British, Dutch, and Portuguese are willing to be exploited by the Far East?" ”

"Huh...... They control thousands of pirate ships here, as well as a powerful fleet. Not only did they defeat Spain and expel the Dutch East India Company's interests on the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, but they also destroyed Macau, and it is said that dozens of Portuguese ships were lost in two years off the coast of the Ming Dynasty and in the waters near Japan. It is said that the Portuguese formed a fleet and tried to sail to the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty, but none of them returned.

Do you see that five-star red flag over our heads? For it our ship has to pay a few thousand silver coins, and every year. Only by hanging it can we sail in this sea area, and without this red flag, what awaits us is the encirclement of dozens or hundreds of pirate ships. Sir, both now and in the future, Nanyang is the pond of the Far Eastern Company's own pond, the Dutch...... Hehe...... Although they have now signed a contract with the Far East in order to protect the interests of the Spice Islands, sooner or later they will be driven out of the South Seas by the Far East Company. ”

Lucien listened to Captain Arthur's words, and couldn't help but be secretly speechless. He said angrily: "This Far East company is too domineering, there are so many countries in the South Seas, let them be so domineering? Moreover, there are also the interests of Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, so can't you unite to defeat them and share the interests of the South Seas? ”

Arthur smiled and said, "Sir, the Far East Company is very powerful, so strong that we don't have the courage to resist. You'll find out when you get to Manila. ”

The fleet slowly sailed into Manila Bay, where they were ushered into the dock by a small steam liner. It's spring, and it's the time when maritime merchants from all over the world gather in Manila.

The more than 1,000-meter-long port wharf has trestle bridges poking out, and each trestle wharf is full of various sailboats. The dense masts are connected together, and the pier is even more lively. Although there are busy crowds everywhere, everyone has their own responsibilities and seems to be organized.

There is no filth and garbage on the docks of other ports, and there are no hordes of homeless people and ruffians. A large number of local natives wearing bright vests were nervously busy on the docks. Lucien judged from the color of the vests on the natives that they were each responsible.

Large quantities of goods were unloaded from the ships by the natives and delivered to the platform in trolleys. There are two 762mm narrow-gauge railways leading directly to the storage area, which are towed by steam locomotives and send goods to the various warehouses in the storage area.

Lucien stepped off the boat and looked at the port of Manila in front of him, and he was extremely shocked by the sight of this place. He has been to many famous ports on the European continent, but they are like small towns in the countryside.

Just as a train full of goods let out a loud roar and slowly started, the steam locomotive was steaming like a monster spitting demonic flames. He was so frightened that his body went limp, and his face suddenly turned pale.

Seeing the monster pulling a full load of goods and roaring towards the storage area in the distance, Lucien silently prayed in his heart, God, is this a demon descending.

"Sir, it's time for us to go through the formalities."

It wasn't until his entourage reminded him that Lucien woke up from the shock. He took another deep look at the monster heading into the distance, and then followed the two men to the depths of the dock.

Lucien sold a shipload of goods from Europe to the local French immigrants in Quebec, and bought a quantity of furs and souvenirs from the local Indians, who had to return to Europe, but now he had come to the East.

He was received by a local Chinese youth in uniform, who opened his mouth to speak fluent French.

"Sir, we have completed the inventory of your goods, and our Manila Port Service Company will handle the loading and unloading, transportation, warehousing, tallying, consignment, customs declaration, inspection and other work of the goods. This is your proof of temporary residency and you can have residency in Manila for the next year. ”

Lucien took a green notebook, he heard Captain Arthur say that businessmen from all over the world call this thing a "green card", if there is no this notebook, the Far East Immigration Bureau will come to the door, the best outcome is repatriation, the worst outcome may be imprisoned in Manila, and the next few years will be spent in the mines of Luzon.

"Thank you so much, oh...... I would like to take the liberty of asking, is there a market for the goods I brought this time in Manila? ”

The Chinese youth smiled and said: "Sir, rest assured, the goods you brought are mainly all kinds of furs in the New World, judging from the transaction records in the past few years, the transactions are good, especially the beaver fur is also a very popular commodity, so you can rest assured, sir." ”

Listening to the other party's words, Lucien was also relieved. After all, he came to the East for the first time and was not familiar with this legendary Pearl of the Orient. He didn't believe Captain Arthur, because he was also a businessman, and the guy was an Englishman. R1152