Rewind time for a moment, back when Charles II was still in Chittagong, Li Quan had already made a second ocean voyage to the Americas.

Let's start with a poem:

Over here

Spain is united with China,

Italy combined with Japan, finally

Trade and order all over the world are also combined.

Here, we enjoy the treasures of the West;

Here we get the essence of all the splendor created in the East.

This poem is called "The Greatness of Mexico", written by the Spanish poet Balbuena, and was written in 1604, that is, in the 32nd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty.

It depicts Mexico City, where Chinese, Japanese, and Italians came to Mexico to integrate into the colonial system due to the lack of Spanish colonial population.

As early as the Chongzhen period, the number of Asian immigrants in Mexico has exceeded 100,000, which is the official statistics of Spain. Mainly Fujianese, Filipino Chinese, indigenous Filipinos and Japanese, but they arrived in Mexico and were collectively referred to as Chinese (Chinese).

The "Chinese" basically lived in Puerto Acapulco, which gradually spread to Mexico City.

The indigenous Filipinos were mainly slaves and were the doglegs of the Spanish colonizers.

The Japanese were responsible for protecting the trade route, the overland artery from the port of Acapulco to Mexico City. They were allowed to wear weapons, were hired by officials or caravanserans, and were simply a group of dart masters.

Chinese professions were varied, tailors, shoemakers, butchers, musicians, clerks, embroiderers...... And there are also people who have made a fortune and gradually started to do business. There was even the emergence of Chinese goldsmiths, a trade dominated by Europeans, which at one time worried the Viceroy of Mexico.

In the early years of Chongzhen, a Dominican missionary lamented: "The Chinese became Christians, and they kept coming [to Mexico] every year, and they completely defeated the Spaniards in that industry." ”

This phenomenon, after Zhao Han recovered Fujian, became more and more rare.

After the Datong Army occupied Luzon, no Chinese immigrated to the Americas, because they did not have to travel thousands of miles to make a living.

Puerto Banderas (Vallarta).

Li Quan's fleet arrived again, immediately making the town a sensation.

A number of well-informed businessmen have been waiting here a month in advance. Hearing the news, there are also Mexican colonial officials, as well as ...... Mexican fleet!

Before entering the port, the Mexican fleet surrounded it.

The other party sent an envoy to Li Quan's boat in a small boat, and said violently: "Get out of here immediately, no ship of any country is allowed to dock without the king's order!" ”

Li Quan sneered: "I can leave, but after I leave, there is no Philippine galleon that can come to Mexico from Asia." Luzon, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Islands are all part of China's territory, and they are also the Kuroshio Belt for galleon trade. The Chinese Navy controls the waters of the Kuroshio Current, not a single ship can pass! ”

As he spoke, Li Quan deliberately instructed his deputy in Spanish: "Turn south, go back to Luzon, and no one will do business in the future!" ”

Watching the Chinese fleet turn en masse, the Spanish envoy was dumbfounded.

In fact, Mexico has already received a letter from the Governor General of the Philippines. The Governor of the Philippines told the Governor of Mexico that if he refused to allow Chinese merchant ships to come and go, the galleon trade would be over, and he could not make his own decisions about it, and asked the Governor of Mexico to consider it as appropriate.

The governor of Mexico did not report to the king, but called the colonial officials to consult, and everyone agreed not to interfere for the time being.

As for the naval envoy in front of him, he purely came to rip off the bamboo. wanted to intimidate Li Quan by force to make Li Quan pay more money for the road, but who knew that Li Quan would leave without saying a word.

"Everyone, please wait." The messenger hurriedly shouted.

The man returned in a dinghy, and the fleet commander went ashore to discuss with the colonial officials.

Soon, Li Quan was asked to get off the boat.

After much bargaining, the two sides finally decided as follows: the officials of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico, Central America), the officials of the fleet of New Spain, and Li Quan's fleet formed a three-party auction committee for goods. After the Chinese merchant ships docked, the auction was carried out in a centralized manner, and 10% of the total auction price was used as customs duties (bribes).

As for the bribes, the Spaniards distributed them themselves, and they certainly wouldn't go into the king's pocket anyway.

In addition, the Chinese fleet will be charged a berthing tax, which will be calculated according to the size of the vessel and the berth time.

Smuggling was thus "legalized" and everyone had something to gain, except for the King of Spain.

The mayor of Banderas is the guest auction host, and Li Quan submits a list of goods.

Inside and outside the town, it is crowded.

There are even many small merchants who cannot afford to eat large quantities of goods, so they temporarily form group auctions and distribute the goods after they buy them.

Li Quan was chatting with Mexican officials when suddenly two Asians came up and opened their mouths to speak Hokkien.

Li Quan was very surprised, and he didn't expect that there would be Chinese businessmen in the Americas. He hurriedly interrupted: "I don't know much Hokkien dialect, either I speak official or Spanish. ”

So, three Chinese people communicate in Spanish in the Americas.

"In Xia Wu Chunlin, whose ancestral home is Quanzhou, he went to sea to Luzon to make a living in his early years, and has been coming to Mexico for more than 20 years."

"Chen Fusheng, from Zhangzhou, also made a living in Luzon first, and will come to Mexico for 20 years."

Li Quan smiled: "It's a good mix." ”

Chen Fusheng sighed: "All the money earned is hard money, if you can't live, who wants to cross the ocean?" When I first came here, I worked as a tailor for several years, and after saving a little, I went to Mexico City to open a shop. ”

Wu Chunlin said: "I am worse than Brother Chen, when I first came, I dug up a lot of dung for two years. Partnered with others to reclaim wasteland, specializing in growing sugar cane to boil brown sugar. We don't have slaves to call, we have to do everything ourselves, but we don't need to collect manure, and we can make a lot of money, and these ghosts don't know how to use manure. ”

Chen Fusheng said with a smile: "Haha, Brother Wu is not only a landlord, but also a dung tyrant of Acapulco Port. Those red-haired ghost landlords have also learned to compost, and they still want to grab dung from Brother Ng. However, the red-haired ghost can't snatch the dung, and the people who are responsible for collecting the dung are all Han people. Brother Ang gave an order, and the port of Acapulco would be turned into a dung port within a few days. ”

Li Quan had a solemn expression and asked, "How many Chinese are there in Mexico?" ”

"There are estimated at 10,000 or 20,000 in Acapulco Port, and there may be 20,000 or 30,000 in Mexico City, but it's not very clear elsewhere," Wu said. The Chinese who first came to the Americas could even run all over the ground with their grandchildren. The wives are all local indigenous women, and there are also Spanish women of mixed race. ”

"Can you still speak Chinese?" Li Quan asked.

Chen Fusheng said: "Most of them speak Hokkien and Spanish, and the Han people have their own settlements. ”

Not only are there Han Chinese settlements, but there are even Chinatowns in Mexico City, and a large area is inhabited by Chinese.

Li Quan asked again: "What religion do you believe?" ”

Wu Chunlin restrained his smile: "If you want to come to Mexico to make a living, you must first convert to Jehoism in the Philippines, and all the Chinese here are Jewish." First-generation immigrants can switch back to Buddhism and Taoism at any time. But in the second and third generations, some bastard boys have already believed in religion and stupidity, and they really think that Jesus Lao'er is some kind of savior. ”

Li Quan said: "If there are Chinese who can't get along in Mexico, the two can be connected privately, and they will all be sent here next year, and I will take them to the north to cultivate." It's all fertile land in the river valley, and I don't have to worry about going hungry to grow food, and I will give them cloth and salt every year. ”

"That's no problem, it's on me," Wu Chunlin patted his chest, and then asked, "Can Mr. Li get some goods and sell them to us directly without auction?" ”

Li Quan said: "You are in the south, choose a place with convenient transportation, and I will put a batch of cotton cloth and silk down halfway." ”

The two were immediately overjoyed, and they were grateful.

Chen Fusheng asked again: "Mr. Li, can you get some weapons next year?" ”

"Yes, we need weapons," Wu Chunlin said, "neither the Chinese nor the indigenous Filipinos are allowed to have weapons, only the Japanese can carry swords." When I reclaimed the wasteland, I took a group of brothers with me and fought with the natives with sticks and guns. ”

Li Quan thought about it carefully and said, "The fire gun is too much of an eyesore, I am afraid it will bring disaster to you." Next time I'll bring in a batch of iron spear heads, and you will make your own gun shafts. When not in use, the tip is removed and hidden wherever you want. By the way, I will leave two more peasant soldiers to help you train your Han brothers. ”

"That's great!" The two of them laughed happily.

Li Quan asked them about the goods they could eat, and the quantity was not much, so he instructed his men to go back to the ship.

After a short time, his subordinates came back and replied loudly: "Commander Li, a batch of silk and cotton cloth has entered the water, and it has been soaked and cannot be sold." ”

"I know, you go down and check again."

Li Quan sighed and went to Mexican officials to explain the situation of the goods being soaked, and then crossed out the goods from the auction list.

At the end of the auction, although 10% of the sales were used as bribes, Li Quan still made a lot of money. On the way south, followed by the Spanish fleet and merchant ships, Li Quan asked one ship to pretend to be stranded, and then the entire fleet stopped.

When the other ships left, he had people rowing small boats, transporting the goods to the shore and selling them to Wu Chunlin and Chen Fusheng. This transaction can be regarded as smuggling within smuggling.

Halfway to Hawaii...... Well, Danzhou, nothing big happened here, and there were more than a dozen mixed-race children.

Half of the people who stayed in Danzhou were replaced, but my wife stayed here because she would have to come back next year. Those who have children simply don't leave, and let Li Quan pick up their wives in China.

They felt that Danzhou was very good, with a pleasant climate, fertile land, wives and concubines, and children, and they could get supplies every year.

This time through Danzhou, Li Quan also transported some sandalwood, which he could sell at a high price when he returned to China.

In another time and space, the sandalwood in Hawaii was cut down because it was popular with the Chinese market.

Of course, the biggest gain of Li Quan's trip is to know that there have been Chinese in the Americas for a long time, and the number has reached tens of thousands. It's more convenient than starting from scratch!

(End of chapter)