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After the Mawei Fleet left the Spanish naval base, all 130 warships of the other fleet, except for the Fourth Fleet, docked in the port of Manila to load cargo. No, it should be said that it is trophies!

Since the forty-fourth year of the reign of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, the Spanish admiral Andres di Urdanieta led a fleet from Mexico to the Philippines. In the same year, the colonial government was established in Manila, which was under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in present-day Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In the fourteenth year of Ming Chongzhen, the governor of Nanyang was officially set up in Manila. When Spain first conquered the Philippine Islands a hundred years ago, the level of social and economic development of the Philippine Islands at that time was very low; Local products could hardly even sustain the expenses of the colonial authorities, and China, which was close to Luzon, had a good reputation in Europe, Chengdu and South China for its cheap and high-quality handicrafts.

In order to reap the benefits of the primitive accumulation of capital, the Philippine colonial authorities engaged in entrepot trade with China on a large scale, and even daily consumer goods had to rely on China's supply nearby. As soon as they established themselves in the Philippines, the Spaniards sent missionaries and two military officers from Manila to Zhangzhou in the hope of making a treaty with China. In order to attract Chinese to resettle and do business in the Philippines, the colonial authorities also adopted some protection, reward, and preferential treatment measures for Chinese business travelers and Chinese goods.

Various Chinese goods, such as raw silk, silk fabrics, velvet, silk, silk, cotton, linen fabrics, jewelry, porcelain, handicrafts, food, poultry, livestock, etc., flowed into Manila in large quantities, and the most popular trade of Manilan merchants was the bulk of textiles and porcelain. Due to the great demand for Spanish American factories, Chinese silk and cotton fabrics soon jumped to the top of the list of goods exported to the Americas by Manila's merchant ships. And it remained until the end of the Great Merchant Sail Trade.

And start with the former Ming. China mostly imports silver, steel, tin and lead products, saltpeter, gunpowder, Western clocks and watches, "reeds" woollen wool, ships, glass, etc. from Manila. But the trade between the two sides is completely unequal. A large amount of silver flowed into the hands of merchants along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong.

Manila Bay is deep and wide, and can accommodate 10,000-ton warships. At this moment, more than 100 warships are moored here, but they are not crowded at all. It seems that the Spaniards have not been without benefits in developing Luzon for a hundred years, and they have helped the Mawei Army build such a superior port and a beautiful city of Manila for free. The amount of loot this time is quite large, and it is no less than the previous takeover of the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain. The total amount is much more. The most important thing is that it seized a lot of gold, silver and goods that the Spanish Viceroyalty was going to transport back to the Spanish mainland, and Manila was originally a commercial port, in which Spanish merchants accounted for the majority, and their goods and merchant ships all became the spoils of the horsetail army.

Nearly half of the loot was transported by captured merchant ships, and the rest was used by naval warships. These merchant ships returned to Mawei with the fleet, and the navy guards were next to them, which allowed these sailors to enjoy a super-high treatment. Li Guangdi had already done a good job of disposing of these captured merchant ships. According to Geng Jingzhong's long consultation with him, these merchant ships were all rewarded. It was given to the Chinese families in Luzon, especially the Hai family. The one with the most output will get the most ships.

The Haijia family, together with the small ships that existed before, can now form a small caravan. The same is true for other families, who reward them according to the size of their merits. From this point of view, Geng Jingzhong is still very generous. In fact, Geng Jingzhong and Li Guangdi had another consideration, sending these merchant ships to the Haijia and other families could not only help Geng Jingzhong quickly stabilize Luzon Island, but also promote the economic development of Luzon, and even more won the support of many Luzon Chinese, after all, they were half landlords.

Correcidor Island, at the entrance to Manila Bay, is currently resting on its former battery. The craftsmen have been going on for more than a month, and the fort built by the Spaniards here was not bad, but it was breached by the Mawei Army. The Spaniards were too arrogant, believing that there was no one in the east who could get past the blockade of this fort, and for decades, it had been relatively dilapidated, and Wang Zhenbang was very dissatisfied with this after inspecting it, and asked for it to be re-strengthened and expanded.

At this time, there were already many craftsmen and workers on the island building defensive forts, and all the artillery here had been dismantled, and Wang Zhenbang and other generals did not look down on these artillery at all. It's all old-fashioned goods, and they were still produced fifty years ago, and their power is far worse than that of the naval guns on naval warships. So Wang Zhenbang ordered to dismantle the next part of the naval guns from the naval warships and install them on the batteries on both sides to replace the original old goods. Each of the third class ships dismantled one twenty-four-pounder gun, for a total of forty-eight. With the guards of these new giant cannons, even if the Spanish Navy is coming, it can also make her suffer a big loss! At this moment, the forts on both sides are like a pair of large pincers of a huge crab with open arms, staring at the mouth of the bay.

Speaking of which, in this era when there are no large cranes. Such a heavy cannon was put on the fort by relying on a simple pulley block, and if Geng Jingzhong was here, he would inevitably have to sigh again

When the Mawei Navy triumphed, and the fleet walked to the waters of Fujian, the remaining fleet patrol found out. After discovering it, he immediately divided into two roads, one used a fast boat to dock quickly, and then changed to a fast horse and galloped to the starting point to report Geng Jingzhong, and the other road galloped to Mawei along the coastal road to report to Yao Qisheng. The fleet sailed much slower than it did when they were fighting, after all, they had to escort the merchant ships carrying the booty, and some of the ships themselves were loaded with some of the trophies. The soldier who reported the news did not care about the horse's feelings at all, and galloped at a high speed on the flat cement road without stopping for a moment, which was comparable to the imperial court's 800-mile urgent report. Until this moment, the people of Fujian did not know that the Mawei Navy had taken Luzon Island.

At Mawei Military Port, Yao Qisheng received the report and immediately organized the left-behind personnel to prepare for the reception. This operation was also relatively secret, and even some businessmen who usually went to Nanyang to do business did not know about it. The Fujian side had long informed them that all merchant ships would either assist the Mawei army in transporting the victims, or they could only trade with the Japanese state. Even the merchant ships that helped transport the victims were given gag orders, otherwise they would not want to do business here. The wharves of Mawei Military Port are different from those in other places, and the wharves here are generally built relatively high. Because the third-class warships are all as tall as a city, in order to facilitate the soldiers to walk up and down the deck, this pier is relatively high.

Mawei Military Port has always forbidden other unrelated ships to approach, and this moment is no exception. The Mawei battleship and the escorted merchant ship slowly sailed into the dock of the military port, docked the ship, and Wang Zhenbang and others walked down from the Zhenyuan. At the moment when they raised their feet, firecrackers were all in unison, and gongs and drums were noisy.

Yao Qisheng has been waiting at the entrance of the dock with the remaining generals for a long time. "Congratulations to General Wang for his triumphant return and a great contribution to the prince!"

"Prizes! Overpraise! "Wang Zhenbang and the generals behind him clasped their hands and fists, and returned the salute one by one." This is all the prince's strategy, I am just acting according to the prince's plan! Don't deserve to be praised by Mr.! Wang Zhenbang looked around, but he didn't find Geng Jingzhong, so he asked again: "Sir, why didn't the prince come?" ”

"Oh, it's been twenty days since the prince went to the starting point town, and he must have received the news of the general's triumph now, maybe he is on his way back now, but it may be a while before he returns. It is said that the prince is busy with big things now! Yao Qisheng saw the puzzled eyes of Wang Zhenbang and others, so he explained.

When the generals heard this, they suddenly realized. They thought that Geng Jingzhong was dissatisfied with their battle and deliberately didn't come to greet them. Since they are not in Fuzhou, of course there is no way to greet them.

"General Wang, generals, the camp has prepared wine and food to treat the soldiers, let the soldiers celebrate!" Yao Qisheng said to Wang Zhenbang.

Wang Zhenbang was slightly stunned, and immediately reacted. This is to invite them to eat and drink, the whole army celebrates, it is impossible to miss their commander. "Okay, there is Mr. Lao, Mr. please first!"

"Report to the king! The coastal patrol came to report that General Wang led the army to triumph! At this moment, it is estimated that Quanzhou has passed! "Today, Geng Jingzhong is also preparing to check several post offices in the starting point town, and early in the morning, Pegasus has already arrived to report. When Gu Ping got the news, he immediately came to report it.

"Oh, estimate the time, it's time for them to come back too. Come back, send an order for them to stay in the barracks and recuperate, and I'll be back in a few days. By the way, let Mr. Yao review Mr. Li's military merit list, and when I go back, I will reward the meritorious soldiers! Geng Jingzhong nodded and said, not surprised at all. If this expression is seen by the soldiers who report the news outside, they will definitely spurt out a mouthful of old blood, and they will be tired and half dead in a hurry, and it will not have any effect!

"Yes, I'll send someone back to give the order!" Guping received the order and immediately echoed. Then he turned around and walked out again. (To be continued......)