King Alfonso XIII of Spain, after receiving a telegram from Costa, the minister in the Qing Dynasty, his first reaction was to tear up the telegram. King Alfonso XIII was just about to tear the telegram in his hand to shreds, when he suddenly remembered the aggressive Americans, and could not help but hesitate again.

King Alfonso XIII looked down at the number on the telegram in his hand, 10 million pounds, sighed and ordered several high-level ministers of Spain to be summoned to the palace to discuss Lin Daxin's desire to buy the Philippines with 10 million pounds.

As a result, several important ministers of Spain were in favor of selling the Philippines to Lin Daxin, and now only the Manila area of the Philippines is still in Spanish hands, and the Americans have been aggressive towards Spain after the Maine incident, according to the news of Costa, the minister to the Qing Dynasty, the Americans have sent a powerful fleet to Hong Kong in Asia, and the purpose is obvious.

Now selling the Philippines to Lin Daxin will not only get a huge sum of 10 million pounds, but also transfer the Philippine army units back and send them to Spain, strengthening the troops of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which are more important to Spain.

However, Alfonso XIII was very uncomfortable with the sale of the Philippines to a Qing Dynasty, who was in his impression that the Qing Dynasty was synonymous with ignorance and backwardness, and how could the great Spanish Empire be reduced to the point of selling its colonies to the Qing Dynasty.

But now the situation in the Philippines is very critical. The sale of the Philippine colony was a good way out for Spain. Coupled with a huge amount of 10 million pounds, the shape was stronger than the people, and finally Alfonso XIII, under the persuasion of several important ministers, reluctantly agreed to sell the Philippines.

So King Alfonso XIII sent a telegram to Costa, the minister in the Qing Dynasty, and Franco, the governor of the Philippines in Spain, asking them to be responsible for negotiating with Lin Daxin about the sale of the Philippines, agreeing in principle to the price of 10 million pounds, but it would be best if more pounds could be pulled out from Lin Daxin's hands.

The Spaniards felt that the time for war with the United States was getting closer. Therefore, on March 12, the envoy to the Qing Dynasty, Costa, went to the governor's palace of the four northeastern provinces to meet Lin Daxin. He said bluntly: "Governor Lin, our Spanish king has agreed in principle to sell our Spanish colony of the Philippines to you!" But the price of £10 million is too low, at least £2,000! ”

Lin Daxin was overjoyed when he heard that Spain was willing to sell the Philippines, but it cost 20 million pounds. I really think of myself as the wronged leader.

Lin Daxin said calmly: "Mr. Minister Costa, 10 million pounds is my final bid, there is no room for negotiation, if you Spain feel that the price is not suitable, I will not buy it!" ”

Costa smiled helplessly in his heart, it seems that he can't pick out more pounds, the US fleet is eyeing the Philippines, and he doesn't have time to bargain with Lin Daxin, but 10 million pounds is already a very high price. So Costa nodded and said, "Okay then! Governor Lin, just make a deal at your price, but the situation is urgent. You need to send someone to the Philippines to sign the sale agreement and deliver 10 million pounds, and accept the Philippine colony! ”

Lin Daxin showed a happy smile at this time and said: "No problem, as long as the agreement is signed, I will pay you 10 million pounds immediately, do you want cash, or a check from a British bank?" ”

Ostentatious. This is Scott's deepest impression of Lin Daxin.

In the afternoon of the same day, Lin Daxin took the soldiers of the Guards Division of a regiment responsible for protecting his own safety. Invite Costa, the Spanish minister to the Qing Dynasty, to rush to the Lushun base, prepare to take a ship to the Philippines, and sign an agreement to take over the Manila area that Spain currently controls.

On March 15, at the port of Lushun base, 14 ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons of the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy included the Flying Bear, the Flying Tiger, the Flying Eagle, the Flying Wolf, the Flying Fox, the Flying Leopard, the Flying Deer, the Flying Lion, the Heavenly Bear, the Heavenly Tiger, the Aquila, the Heavenly Wolf, the Heavenly Fox and the Heavenly Leopard.

The Third Fleet of the Northeast Navy has 17 large fast armored cruisers, of which 13 have a displacement of more than 7,000 tons, Xinghai, Xinglong, Xingye, Xinghe, Xingsheng, and 8 general-level generals to eight generals.

4 large fast armored cruisers of the solar class with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, such as Lichun, Yushui, Shocking and Equinox.

A total of 31 large warships escorted 35,000 officers and men of the 15th Division of the Dingbei Army, 25,000 officers and men of the Marine Division, and 1 regiment of the Guards Division on transport ships, heading towards the Philippines.

With a land area of 299,700 square kilometers, the Philippines is an island country in Southeast Asia, consisting of more than 7,000 islands, located in the southeast of Asia, across the Bass Strait in the north, and Taiwan Province of China.

Among them, 11 major islands, including Luzon, Mindanao, and Samar Island, account for 96% of the country's total land area.

Throughout the operation, Lin Daxin asked all units to keep it as secret as possible, so that without being detected by other countries, after a three-day voyage, the fleet came to the sea outside the port of Manila in the Philippines.

The whole of Manila fell into a panic because of the sudden arrival of the Northeast Fleet, and in the Spanish Governor's Palace in the Philippines in Manila, the Spanish soldiers guarding the port immediately reported to the Philippine Governor Franco that a very powerful fleet had appeared in the sea outside Manila.

Franco's face was very bad at this time, he already knew the origin of this fleet, he didn't expect that the king of Spain actually sold the Philippines to a warlord of the Qing Dynasty, he said to the soldiers who came to report in a panic: "Don't panic, this fleet should be the fleet of the Qing Dynasty, they are here to buy the Philippines!" ”

On the day the fleet arrived in Manila, Lin Daxin signed a colonial transfer agreement with Franco, the Spanish governor of the Philippines, and Costa, the Spanish minister to the Qing Dynasty, on the Flying Bear, the flagship of the Second Fleet. Lin Daxin bought the Spanish Philippine colony for 10 million pounds, and Lin Daxin promised to protect the lives and property of those Spaniards who were willing to stay in the Philippines. In addition, Lin Daxin paid another 1 million pounds. I bought Guam and Wake Island, two important strategic islands of Spain in the Pacific.

Spain even sold the important Philippine colonies in Asia to Lin Daxin, so when Lin Daxin proposed to buy Guam and Wake Island together, the Spanish side considered that since it gave up the Philippine colonies in Asia, it was meaningless to keep the two Pacific islands, so it agreed to sell the two islands to Lin Daxin together, and Spain earned an extra 1 million pounds.

After the agreement was signed, Lin Daxin happily handed over the cheque of 11 million pounds to Franco, the last governor of the Philippines in Spain. Then Lin Daxin ordered the 15th Division of the Dingbei Army on the transport ship to land in Manila and begin to take it from the hands of the troops of the Spanish Philippine colonies. Accept the defense of the entire Manila area.

At the same time, the Marine Division was ordered to take over the port of Manila, and the 8 large general-class fast armored cruisers of the Third Fleet were ordered to be divided into 2 teams to escort 2 battalions of Marines. With the rubbish of the agreement signed with Spain, and the Spanish guide sent by Governor Franco, he went to receive Guam and Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean.

The Philippines has always been one of the places with the largest number of Chinese immigrants overseas, and the Manila area is the largest concentration of Chinese in the Philippines.

Liu Achang, a Chinese born in Manila, is 18 years old this year, working in a very small bar owned by Spaniards, and is also the only employee of the bar other than the owner Moklai. Because the bar is open from 1 p.m., Liu Achang is more than 12 noon. After helping his parents wash their clothes at the laundry for most of the day, he hurried to the bar where he worked.

On the way to the bar, Liu Achang suddenly saw an army wearing black military uniforms appear on the street. drove over from his side, and to Liu Achang's surprise, this army of at least thousands of people turned out to be composed of yellow people.

There was also a yellow army in Manila, but it was a Spanish servant army made up of indigenous Filipino peoples. There is no way to compare the bearish appearance of the servant army with this army in black uniform, where did this army come from?

After Liu Achang, who was full of doubts, came to the bar, he found that the door of the bar had not been opened. It means that Moklai, the owner of the bar, has not come over yet.

Liu Achang was waiting for his boss at the door of the bar, but he waited for almost 1 hour. The boss Moklay still didn't come to the bar, so Liu Achang turned 2 corners along the street and came to the house of the boss Moklay to find his boss.

The Moklay family lives in a Western-style courtyard with a brick structure of more than 200 square meters. Liu Achang walked into the courtyard and knocked on the door of the house.

Moklay opened the door and saw that it was Liu Achang, and said dejectedly: "Liu, you are here, do you know what happened in the Philippines?" ”

Liu Achang said suspiciously: "Boss, I saw an army in Manila that I haven't seen again. Boss, what's going on? Is the bar not open today? ”

Moklay smiled bitterly and said, "Liu, my bar can't be opened!" My family is leaving the Philippines! ”

Liu Achang was shocked: "What! Boss, you're leaving the Philippines? ”

Moklay nodded and said: "A Chinese like you, that is, Lin Daxin, the military strongman of the Qing Dynasty mentioned in the newspaper, spent money to buy the Philippines from our Spain, and we, the Filipino immigrants from Spain, have been notified that our Spanish army and fleet are about to leave!" I was also ready to leave Manila and return to Spain, as most Spanish immigrants do. ”

When Liu Achang heard that the army he encountered on the street turned out to be the army of Lin Daxin and Lin Dashuai, whom he admired very much, and the Philippines would belong to Lin Dashuai's territory from now on, Liu Achang was immediately excited.

Because of the reports of foreign newspapers on Lin Daxin, a military strongman in the Far East, Lin Daxin is very influential among overseas Chinese, and the entire Chinese nation has not seen such a figure as Lin Daxin for too long.

What surprised Liu Achang even more was that the bar owner Moklay continued: "Liu, my family is about to leave Manila now, I don't know if you are interested in my bar and this accommodation, I can transfer it to you at a low price." ”

Liu Achang felt his heart pound suddenly, suppressed the excitement in his heart and said: "But boss, I don't have much savings, you know, I have 4 younger brothers and sisters at home, my parents just opened a small laundry, and they can't afford to support me!" ”

Moklay covered his head and said, "Oh! My God! Damn it, why would the empire sell the Philippines to that military strongman in the Far East? Leaving Manila will cause me a lot of loss of property, it must be those damn Spanish bureaucrats who even sold the Philippines, Spain is really in decline. ”

In the end, Liu Achang only used a mere 12 taels of silver to sell Moklai's small bar and bungalow worth no less than 400 pounds.

The Moklay family packed some of their belongings and hurriedly boarded a ship back to Spain. (To be continued)

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