Thursday, December 25, 1642, Christmas Day.

The snow had stopped overnight, and the whole city was shrouded in snow. Although the temperature is cold, the festive atmosphere is very strong, and there are still many Europeans who take to the streets to shop, children in new clothes giggle and build snowmen in the streets, and the aroma of ingredients wafts through the air with beautiful music.

Although it is far from Europe, the Chinese Congress and the Cabinet of Foreign Affairs have sent holiday greetings to European embassies in the Consulate Quarter in the southern part of Manchester City. With a comfortable living environment, delicious and gorgeous food, and a rich and colorful city life, a group of European diplomats live in a foreign country far more privileged and happy than their own country. Being able to go to Huamei on the other side of the Atlantic to serve as a diplomat has now become the most desirable errand for aristocratic officials in European countries.

A carriage drove in from outside the consulate area and stopped outside the Spanish embassy building, Yan Xiaosong and his wife Caterina just got out of the car, and the Spanish embassy servants guarding the door quickly bowed down and took off their hats and saluted.

Today is Yan Xiaosong and his wife were invited to attend the Christmas luncheon of the Spanish Minister Baron Diego, although they have taken the trouble to accept each other's countless entertainments, but Caterina still made her own etiquette home, dressed very decently, and even prepared an expensive Christmas gift for Diego's wife, a set of original Ming porcelain.

"The festive atmosphere should be very relaxed, can we tell Baron Diego a day later?" Caterina took her husband's hand and gradually walked towards the door, muttering softly.

"Every night and every day, the injustice suffered by the Chinese Filipino will continue to worsen day by day." Yan Xiaosong tightened his scarf for his wife and looked serious, "And in the spirit of friendly relations between the two sides, we should also inform Baron Diego of the armed conflict that is taking place on Luzon Island today." ”

"It doesn't have to be all Spain's fault, dear ......"

Over the years, the original Spanish young man has become much more gentle. He no longer blindly stands out for all the things in the Kingdom of Spain, but habitually defends his "misdemeanors" for Spain in the spirit of what little hometown he still has.

"You mean the indigenous Filipinos who were ordered by Governor Coquilla?"

Yan Xiaosong stopped, looked back at his wife's eyes, and his expression became more and more stern: "Katarina, you should know very well how many shameless means Governor Coquilla has used to deliberately create internal contradictions in Luzon over the years, and those barbarians are just used as a shield for tyranny. This blood-soaked tragedy was the result of Governor Corquila's insistence from the very beginning, and it was even more insidious than Harvey, the Governor of Virginia, England, eight years earlier! ”

"But ......"

What the husband said was not exaggerated, about the filthy deeds of the successive governors of the Spanish and Philippine colonies against Chinese businessmen and overseas Chinese. Caterina has known this all these years.

"Hey...... There should be a more decent way to end it, right? The door was approaching, and the Baroness Diego appeared in front of the red carpet in a timely manner, and Caterina could only squeeze out a smile.

……

Expensive bamboo charcoal burned in the fireplace warmed the embassy's living room, but it was quiet except for the swaying of the wall clock.

The food on the table barely moved, and Baron Diego's glaring expression had been maintained for at least a minute, until Caterina on the other side raised the wine glass in her hand to suggest it, and then coughed slightly in embarrassment.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for this bad news for the Kingdom of Spain...... Baron Diego struggled to move his chair to free his big belly. Then he stood up and bowed slightly towards Yan Xiaosong.

"This is an obligation to friendly countries, but as I said earlier, the issue of Luzon is no longer just an internal conflict. It is clear that since the Governor of Coqueira took office. The terms of the commitments made in the Manila Treaty, signed by the multinational Treaty of Manila thirteen years ago, were not respected. Yan Xiaosong smiled and sandwiched a piece of food for Katarina, not caring about Diego's ugly expression at this time, "My country has a lot of commercial interests in Manila and other places, even just a week before the armed conflict. OUCC has also signed a large number of rice pre-purchase contracts with Chinese businessmen in Manila and Lingayen, and our businessmen are also stuck in Luzon in this conflict. ”

"I'm sure His Majesty the King will take care of the Philippines, but it will take time." Diego seemed to hear something. Quickly nodded.

"We respect the sincerity of you and His Majesty the King of Spain in the forthcoming affairs of the Far East, but our businessmen cannot wait a few months. Furthermore, my Government believes that all acts of provocation and persecution by Governor Coquela against Chinese businessmen or immigrants in Luzon must be thoroughly investigated. On this issue, since more than 10 years ago, we have always adhered to a clear position: the Republic of China and the United States of America reserves the right to stop and correct any humanitarian crisis caused by inappropriate policies against Chinese businessmen and overseas Chinese. ”

The implication was that Governor Coquela's actions were on par with, or even more severe, the mistakes of the Dutch East India Company in the Far East. To sum up, "human rights are above sovereignty" is not a colonial internal affair in which Spain unilaterally determines right or wrong.

Damn Coquilla...... Diego now completely understood what Yan Xiaosong meant, because of a long-suppressed internal conflict, the Philippine colony began to no longer have the final say unilaterally by the Kingdom of Spain. Huamei's ambitions for the Philippines are obvious, but there is nothing to be done.

More importantly, the Spanish kingdom was running out of war in Europe, and could hardly provide any substantial help to the distant Far Eastern colonies.

The home navy was heavily damaged by the French, Dunkirk was captured by the Franco-Dutch forces, the attack on Paris was lost again, and the Italian front was slow to open the situation. In addition, the Iberian Peninsula fell into a severe famine, and if Huamei had dug deep into the Chinese problem in the Philippine colonies at this time, the Kingdom of Spain, which had been cut off from external aid, would soon collapse.

"This ...... What would you like to do? After thinking about it for a long time, Diego said bitterly.

"The war should not be expanded, whether it is an ordinary Spanish expatriate or a Chinese diaspora, it is innocent. In order to avert a humanitarian crisis and to ensure the safety and investment interests of our businessmen in Luzon, our government has decided to send a 'peacekeeping force' to isolate the warring parties, facilitate negotiations, and appropriately punish the indigenous Filipinos who deliberately harm the Chinese. Yan Xiaosong gave the answer without blinking. Caterina on the side finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Also, today is Christmas, so I still have three pieces of good news for you......"

Probably another big stick and a few pieces of candy, Yan Xiaosong smiled and took out a letter from his arms and put it in front of Diego: "The first good news, our Congress has passed a special economic aid bill for the Kingdom of Spain, and in the next six months, China's Ministry of Agriculture will use the national strategic grain reserves to transport 20,000 tons of wheat for the Kingdom of Spain at a preferential price 50% lower than the European market price." and allowed the Kingdom of Spain to offset the payment of other goods in installments; The second piece of good news is that Banco Nacional Nacional has agreed to extend the repayment of your country's maturing debt for one year without additional interest rate hikes; The third piece of good news is your proposal for a military alliance against France, which is currently under active consideration by Congress...... The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will present these three good news to you through the Consulate in Seville, is there anything else you would like us to convey to you? ”

As soon as he heard these words, Diego's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up.

Is the Philippine colony important? Maybe it was a hundred years ago, but today. Even if no one covets it, that place has already hurt the Spanish Kingdom, and perhaps this time it is God who has begun to persuade the Spanish Kingdom to make the choice of giving up.

……

On the third day after Christmas, a detachment of the Huamei Asian Fleet appeared at the mouth of Manila Bay.

In full view. The "peacekeeping fleet" consisting of the Asian Fleet's warships such as the Kaneshiro Princess, the Republic, the Pearl, the Black Crystal, the Camellia, and the Jasmine dropped anchor in the port of Manila, and at the same time, an infantry battalion of the Gray Wolf Brigade of the Foreign Legion on board the transport ship Moby Dick landed and took over the defense of the port fortress.

All the guns were aimed in the direction of the Governor's Palace, the main city of Manila, and the Huamei Foreign Legion, which entered the city of Manila, established a separation zone on the battle line. Armistice letters were sent to both warring parties.

Brigadier General Liu Chang, commander of the Sino-American Asian Fleet, who led the team, unceremoniously issued a stern warning to Governor Coqueira this time if the other side dared to take any military action during the "peacekeeping" period of the Sino-American army. It is tantamount to declaring war on China and the United States, and the consequences are at your own risk. As long as they are obedient, then the Chinese and American troops will also protect the lives of the Spaniards.

I thought that after a while, the Chinese rebellion against the fortress of the main city of Manila would be suppressed by the Spanish reinforcements from Cebu Island and the indigenous leader Bagum who was secretly in contact, but it was cut off by the Chinese and American troops. Governor Coquilla, who learned of the arrival of the Chinese army, was so angry that he smashed one of his most cherished porcelains on the spot.

Compared with the panicked Spaniards who stayed in the fortress of Manila's main city, Li Guozhu and others, who were already in a bit of a dilemma, were ecstatic at this time, and the Chinese in Manila were even more jubilant, as lively as a festival.

Fighting continues in other colonial towns on Luzon, but for now, the Luzon Independence Army has a semblance of superiority. With the Chinese and American armies pulling the shelf, Li Guozhu and others were even more emboldened, and began to agitate the local Chinese to sue on a large scale, and then actively carried out military preparations in private, intending to take advantage of the opportunity when the Spaniards did not dare to act rashly, and then take the indigenous leader Bagum outside Manila who had been a fox and a tiger for many years.

Because just one day before the arrival of the Chinese fleet, Bagum had gathered thousands of native soldiers, eyeing the outskirts of Manila, and could surprise the Luzon Independence Army from behind at any moment.

……

Early morning, December 31, 1643. Without any greeting, the war of punishment under the personal command of Brigadier General Liu Chang, commander of the Huamei Asian Fleet, began. Almost half of the Chinese residents of Manila City flocked to the banks of the Bashi River, looking southeast.

Under the bombardment of the new 90-mm and 120-mm Wisworth naval guns, which had a maximum range of more than 7 kilometers, the indigenous Filipinos gathered southeast of Manila collapsed in less than half an hour.

More than 1,200 rounds of high-explosive shells were rained down by the rapid fire of six Chinese warships, and the rain of bullets ploughed all the inland indigenous assembly areas south of the Bashi River, and more than 4,000 Filipino natives lost their armor under the raging storm and flames.

Dressed in a beautiful suit of Spanish armor that clearly did not fit well, Bagum escaped with a handful of cronies within a minute of the start of the shelling, but more than half of the native soldiers were unlucky, either being torn apart by shrapnel or turned into indistinguishable scorches by the heat. The rest lost everything they had and slipped into the jungle.

It is difficult to see a few intact trees within the shelling range, and unrecognizable corpses can be seen everywhere, with stumps and severed arms scattered in large and small craters and hanging on tree branches. Luckily, the dead shrank at the bottom of the crater, smelling of feces and urine. Or foaming at the mouth and fainting, or walking around like crazy.

Even after listening to the rumors for more than ten years, including Li Guozhu, the Chinese in the entire Manila have never seen the artillery battle of the Chinese and US navies. When the last note was dropped by the tsunami-like barrage of shelling, almost everyone in Manila turned pale, and many of them sat on the bank of the river shivering.

At the end of the shelling, more than 1,000 militiamen of the Luzon Independence Army slowly advanced towards the war zone with flintlock muskets loaded with bayonets, and not far behind them, a company of officers and soldiers of the Gray Wolf Brigade of the Foreign Legion also followed with rifles.

In the Manila Massacre that year, the indigenous Filipinos were instigated by the Spaniards and did not lose the blood of the Chinese. These bitter hatreds make Liu Erchun and others almost have no emotion for the indigenous dogs. However, such a large-scale naval bombardment of land ships was deeply shocked by some of the world's Liu Erchun. After five years in the Huamei Foreign Legion, Liu Erchun himself had never seen more than ten cannons firing.

"Second Brother Liu, those natives are stupid, right?"

He had already stepped into the battlefield, but he could barely see much of the original color of the earth except for the corpses and the craters of green smoke. Dozens of frightened native soldiers appeared in sight, wandering the battlefield unkempt, and a small leader of the Luzon Independence Army couldn't help but shake his head.

"Just do target training for the newly recruited recruits!" After Liu Erchun finished speaking, he replied and raised his hand. "Get ready, stay in formation!"

The militiamen, who had moved one step deeper around the crater, immediately moved closer, and then began to raise their guns and aim under the organization of the small leader of the team.

Billowing muzzle flames and smoke appeared like waves in the ranks of the Luzon Independence Army, and dense flintlock bullets instantly drowned the indigenous madmen on the battlefield. Like a big broom, it instantly knocked these natives who had lost their souls to the ground.

"Go ahead and go straight to Bagum's hometown!"

Liu Erchun was extremely excited at this time, and looked back at the officers and soldiers of the Huamei Foreign Legion who followed closely behind. The young commander-in-chief of the Luzon Independence Army was confident at this time.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the indigenous population of the Philippines was no less than one million, and there were at least seven or eight hundred thousand on Luzon alone, more than ten times the number of Chinese in Luzon. Revenge on the natives as if they were exterminating. At this stage, it was the most unwise act, when Bagum was captured alive by the officers and soldiers of the Foreign Legion in a cave, Liu Chang, the commander of the Huamei Asian Fleet, duly stopped Liu Erchun and others from expanding the war.

As if it no longer seemed that there was any possibility of taking advantage of the Spaniards or the Chinese, some of the leaders of the small indigenous tribes in the Philippines who had heard of the news had decisively changed their raiding targets to the remnants of the Bagum tribe, and then made overtures to Li Guozhu in order to draw a line with Bagum. This primitive tyranny of cannibalism has not stopped since the fall of the ancient kingdom of Luzon.

Several Spanish warships from Cebu Island carried nearly 1,000 reinforcements, and when they arrived at Manila Bay exhausted, they were immediately surrounded by the Chinese and American Asian fleets, and they were shocked to find that their capital had become a different world. After receiving the warning from the Chinese and American sides, the Spanish naval and land officers laid down their weapons under the guns of the Chinese and American warships and stayed in the area designated for them by the Chinese and American troops in despair.

Knowing that Bagum had been purged and Cebu reinforcements had been detained, Governor Coquela was furious. If it weren't for the dissuasion of the nominal Philippine colony, the Bishop of Manila, Corquela would have ordered heavy artillery to bombard the Chinese and American troops.

……

By mid-January 1643, the Chinese uprisings in Luzon were coming to an end, and the Spanish colonial army, which was outnumbered and fought on its own, either relied on artillery to resist in the last small defensive fortress, or was beaten by the ruthless Chinese militia.

As the news of the "mediation" of the Chinese and American sides spread, only a few Spanish colonial towns in Luzon were left with Manila, Legazpi and other places still holding on, and Li Guozhu and others also lost the ability to continue to chase and fight. Especially in the north, Lin Jiayan, the 1,100 Chinese militia at the time of the uprising, had fought with the Spanish army for less than a third, and Zhang Xin, who was in charge of the command, was also seriously wounded. If it weren't for the timely arrival of the Huamei battleship, I'm afraid that Zhang Xin and the others and the entire Lin Jiayan would have been wiped out.

Once the skin of the face is torn, there is no possibility of restoring it to its original state. After receiving a safety guarantee from Liu Chang, commander of the Huamei Asian Fleet. Governor Coquela and others, who were holding the fortress of Manila's main city, finally knew that the situation was over, and they could only announce their acceptance of the demand for an armistice and peace talks.

On 20 January, Governor Coquela ordered the laying down of arms and opened the main fortress of Manila, and the Chinese Foreign Legion took advantage of the situation to enter the "military administration" and prepare to send the armistice order issued by Governor Coquela to various places.

In this way, the Luzon War of Independence, which lasted for more than a month, entered the stage of an unconditional armistice before formal diplomatic negotiations. Once the tense nerves relaxed, both sides felt extremely tired. Spanish civilians who had been retaliated against during the war wept and searched for their former home in the ruined city, while most of the Chinese residents returned home in silence.

The war led to the almost complete interruption of Luzon's maritime trade with foreign countries. In order to ensure the basic livelihood of tens of thousands of residents in Manila, a large number of humanitarian relief materials began to be shipped from Hong Kong or Pearl Island to Manila. Both the Spaniards and the Chinese were given food, clothing and medicine. For ordinary people, life still has to go on, and most people can't guess what the final outcome of this war will be.

Liu Xiang's arms smuggling to Luzon also began to be semi-open, and on January 25, a pirate ship of Liu Xiang docked in Cavite. A large number of weapons and ammunition were sent to Li Guozhu.

At the end of January, Fan Li, head of Far Eastern Affairs at the Chinese and American Foreign Ministries, rushed to Manila. When Fan Li saw the eggplant-like governor of Coquilla, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

Even if Coqueira knew that the other party was telling nonsense, he really had no ability to stop the "investigation" and "peacekeeping" operations unilaterally launched by Huamei. But Coqueira vehemently denied that Bagum had been instructed by him to assign the local Chinese to carry out the persecution designation, and refused to accept any accusations that were not under the laws of the Kingdom of Spain.

……

Far away in Europe, 15,000 nautical miles away, the Spanish royal family, which completely discredited the actual situation, received diplomatic letters from the Chinese and American sides. I couldn't believe it at first. After more than a month of procrastination and entanglement, we had no choice but to send a plenipotentiary envoy at the invitation of the Chinese side to understand the situation.

Baron Philip, plenipotentiary diplomatic representative of the King of Spain. It will take the Huamei Ministry of Foreign Affairs liaison ship to the twin ports of Butterfly Island, the capital of the Chinese Caribbean, then transfer to the merchant ship of the Caribbean United Shipping Company to Nanshan Port, and finally take the merchant ship of the Oriental Union Group to the Far East.

Just as Baron Philip was departing from Seville, Governor Coqueira, the distant capital of the Philippine colony, Manila, was under house arrest and suddenly fell ill and died. According to the diagnostic report of the Chinese Navy medic who participated in the examination afterwards, Governor Coquela died of alcoholism caused by excessive drinking.

On the night of Governor Coquela's violent illness, several agents of the Chinese American Asian Intelligence Division infiltrated a deeply hidden underground warehouse in the backyard of the Governor's Palace, and the next day a large group of Chinese American Foreign Legion officers and soldiers emptied the entire Governor's Palace.

Like all Spanish viceroys of the overseas colonies, the governor of Coqueira, who had only been in office for seven or eight years, used his power to amass a great deal of wealth. In the cellar of his own backyard, Governor Coquela hid as many as 15 tons of silver and a large amount of jewelry, gold, and porcelain, with a rough calculation of the total value of more than $1 million!

No matter how mentally prepared, Fan Li was still taken aback by Coqueira's private wealth. If you think about it, everyone, including the Bishop of Manila and the Colonial Tax Collector, has such a small amount of gold in stock.

The harvest was so abundant, Fan Li once germinated the idea of simply doing a big sweep. However, the Luzon issue still needs an open and decent result in the end, and it is not good to be too ugly, not to mention that once this kind of thing is spread, it is difficult to keep it secret, so Fan Li quietly pressed the idea of comprehensively robbing the Spanish colonial officials. (To be continued......)