Zheng He's first trip to the West was indeed not smooth on the whole.

Because it was two years earlier than the first time in the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Zheng He's ocean-going fleet was not large enough at this time, but the lost eastern corner of the harvest of Sangyu, although the fleet size is smaller, but the forward base is also much farther away, there are two excellent seaports of Thanh Hoa Port in Annan and Tuo Ha Port in Zhancheng State that can be used, even if there is danger, it can be withdrawn in time, after all, these two places are now under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

Fleet commander Zheng He, deputy commander Wang Jinghong, and landing force commander Zhu Youjiao had already arrived in Luzon at this time.

Luzon, about the northern region of the Philippines in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, is a kingdom composed of Luzon Island as the core, and further south, there are countless islands in the middle, and another big island in the south, although they have also established large and small so-called "kingdoms", but rather than kingdoms, it is more appropriate to say that tribes, there are a lot of civilized barbarians, no matter how it is now the fifteenth century, even if the Ming Dynasty does not come, in another hundred years, the colonists of the "two teeth" should also come, but how developed is the civilization of this realm, Then don't count on it.

However, Luzon is different from these southern "kingdoms", because Luzon is relatively rich, and it is close to the political envoys of Fujian and Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, so in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, merchants from Fujian, Guangdong and other places went to Luzon to do business even reached tens of thousands of people, after the Ming Dynasty implemented a strict maritime ban policy, most of these traders lived there for a long time, started a family, had children, and their descendants lived in the land of Luzon, which was also regarded as the earliest overseas Chinese, and now has a scale of more than 100,000 people, is quite a large force.

These immigrants from the Ming Dynasty not only brought more advanced civilization and technology to the Luzon State, but also brought information, in the first month of the fifth year of the Ming Hongwu, the Luzon State pulled the southern Zoli Kingdom and other kingdoms together, sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, in order to establish diplomatic relations between the two sides, and determine the attitude of the Ming Dynasty towards them, when they learned that the Ming Dynasty did not intend to their small countries, the king of the Luzon State also put his mind at ease.

But all this obviously changed with the end of the largest civil war in the history of the Ming Dynasty, as the so-called Son of Heaven and a courtier, the Son of Heaven and the courtiers have changed, and the country's foreign policy has naturally undergone new changes.

Nominally, Zheng He and others came to issue an edict, that is, to read out the edict of the Ming Dynasty, and to issue them the "Great Unification Calendar" of the Ming Dynasty to appease and comfort these island countries, so as to demonstrate the national prestige and imperial grace of the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why there is this saying is because of this expedition to Annan and found that these countries in the south are still commonly used in the Yuan Dynasty's "Grant Time Calendar", which was given by Kublai Khan in the seventeenth year of the Yuan Dynasty to take the meaning of "respecting the people" in the "Shangshu Yaodian", Guo Shoujing basically undertook the main work, and implemented the world in the eighteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty.

For the first time, the chronological calendar introduced decimal places into the calendar, with 365.2425 days as a return year, only 25.92 seconds away from the modern observation value of 365.2422, and the average length of the current Gregorian calendar year.

The reason is also simple, although Liu Bowen's "Datong Calendar", compared with Guo Shoujing's "Time Calendar", is basically a new cover, but don't think that this is not important, the form is also very important.

At least for a feudal dynasty like the Ming Dynasty, which emphasized "etiquette", it was very important.

In fact, in addition to these official reasons, Zheng He's fleet came to carefully explore the situation of Luzon, to see if there were plains and a good climate and suitable for agriculture as the national teacher said, and then to see how the minerals and humanities were, whether it was better to rule directly or indirectly.

Therefore, Zheng He and others, at the suggestion of Zhu Youjiao, brought a full 4,000 heavily armed soldiers in addition to sailors and other auxiliary personnel, and the main purpose was to see if they could control the resources of Luzon as much as possible.

This point is also in line with Zhu Youjiao's temperament.

However, what Zheng He did not expect was that when he arrived in Luzon, he was greeted with a not friendly welcome.

The headland at the entrance of Manila Bay is rocky and steep, shaped like a wooden pestle, although Jiang Xinghuo is watching the snow in Nanjing at this moment, but here in Luzon, the reef is covered with dense and unknown green plants, and the golden sun shines on these green leaves, shining with a little golden luster, which looks very beautiful.

"Whoa~"

As the tide rises, countless tiny droplets of water hit the reef, are thrown into the sky, and then sprinkled on the people standing on the edge of the cliff.

He looked up at the vast expanse of the sea in the distance, which was the largest natural harbor in Luzon and the most prosperous and prosperous area of Luzon.

And at this moment, he ushered in a group of uninvited guests in his eyes.

In fact, as soon as the ships of Zheng He's fleet sailed into the waters around Luzon and received reports from the fishermen, the military forces of Luzon began to be quickly assembled, and these military forces were not under the command of the king of Luzon, nor some chieftains, but from the local Ming immigrants.

This situation is actually very understandable, it's not that the so-called fellow sees the villager and stabs him in the back, but that these people are treason sinners for Daming.

Regardless of whether it is the old department of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen, or the maritime trade merchants and pirate gangs affected by the maritime ban policy, or the fishermen who have lost their livelihoods, they are all on the opposite side of the Ming court.

At this time, such a huge Ming fleet came to Manila Bay, and it was fake that they were not nervous, after all, the Ming Dynasty was likely to treat them as enemies, rather than wishful thinking "their own people".

So it's not surprising that they're putting on this attitude at this time.

And the leader of these immigrants is the person who was on the edge of the mountain just now, his name is Xu Chailao, who lived in Luzon in the early Ming Dynasty because of his good business, and became a huge rich man in Luzon, enjoying a high reputation in Manila and being the leader of the overseas Chinese community.

In this era, the maritime trade is not very peaceful, here in the South Seas, there are pirates everywhere, in addition to Chen Zuyi, there are hundreds of pirate gangs, large and small, so even if it is a merchant ship, it has its own armed forces, and sometimes, when you see a weak cargo ship, you will make a cameo appearance as a pirate.

The immigrants of the Ming Dynasty were also in an embarrassing situation in Luzon, and the natives in Luzon were wary of these outsiders who were ahead of them in culture and technology, but because the interior of Luzon was also scattered, and these Ming immigrants would pay a lot of taxes and fees to the king, so they were allowed to gain a foothold here.

And the military power of these Ming immigrants can only barely be called bluffing. Manila Bay is divided into big bay and small bay, for big bay, they are powerless to defend at all, only built two fortresses at both ends of the small bay, there are cannons in the fortress, but it is a scientific and technological product of the Yuan Dynasty, can only fire stone bullets, put in the face of the Ming Dynasty's strong ship cannon, it is very outdated.

And because Manila is centered on the seaport, there are many small towns scattered around, so the population is not concentrated, and the total number of troops is only one or two thousand.

The immigrants who were engaged in the maritime trade were not poor, and they could buy and craft armor and blades, but not other large ordnance that required complex military technology.

Therefore, in the face of the approaching Ming fleet, the Ming immigrants of Luzon appeared to have no confidence.

Their military deployment was to use the batteries on the forts at both ends, with their armed merchant ships and warships, to intercept the Ming ocean-going fleet in a narrow bay and block them.

At the very least, let them know the difficulties!

It's just that when they saw the size and composition of the Ming fleet clearly, they believed the fishermen's nonsense, and their faces showed despair.

You told me that this is called a small scale?

Intelligence mistakes are obviously meant to kill people.

In particular, limited by the curvature of the sea surface and the visibility of sea fog, the ships that fishermen can see from a distance are the tip of the iceberg of the entire Daming ocean-going fleet.

So at this time, on Manila Bay, where the wind is calm and the visibility is good, they are extremely shocked to see the terrifying fleet lined up in more than ten rows, each row with no end in sight.

They never expected that the scale of the Ming fleet would be so large, just those giant ships that looked like moving cities, there were more than ten giants, and what was even more terrifying was that there were countless large and small ships behind, adding up to probably hundreds, this is simply not a sea power that human beings can have, even if they are well-informed because of maritime trade, but they don't think that the fleet of any country in the world dares to say that it can defeat the existence in front of them.

Of course, the most important thing is that the banner of this huge fleet is - Daming!

This is what makes these Ming immigrants the most frightened, and it is also what they feel afraid of after they really appear.

This fleet turned out to be an expeditionary fleet sent to Luzon by the Ming Empire!

How is this possible?

This is the Ming Dynasty who "can't go to the sea on a piece of board", it is the strict sea ban policy that keeps them away from their hometown, and the Ming Dynasty who has almost given up the ability to go to the sea, how can they send an expeditionary force to fight in a foreign country?

It's impossible!

However, now the facts are in front of them, this Ming expeditionary force has indeed appeared near Manila Bay, and is even about to enter Manila's small bay!

Although it is still only at the end of the sea level, it is still faintly visible, but it will not be long before it will actually come to them.

However, this does not mean that they are finished, because no matter how strong the fleet is, it is useless to go ashore, they have more than a thousand to two thousand well-trained soldiers, and there are many sailors and men who can participate in the battle with weapons, and they may not lose if they really fight hard.

However, who would be stupid to fight with Da Ming?

Daming's army, but there are millions, even if these people are spelled out, for Daming, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Xu Chai Lao is a typical businessman, and businessmen are mercenary, since they can't help the other party, why do they have to make that useless sacrifice?

Thinking of this, Xu Chai immediately stepped down from the lookout and said to a short man next to him: "Ah Hu, hurry up and ride to the royal city, and send a message to His Royal Highness, saying that the fleet of the Ming Dynasty is coming." ”

At this time, it was not the future generations, Manila was not the capital of Luzon, the native indigenous people of Luzon were the capital of Luzon City, that is, the core of the plain, the king of Luzon, a bit similar to the weakened version of the king of Annam, not only was the economic, political, military and cultural aspects more backward, but there were more indigenous chieftains in the country, and the king's ruling power was limited to a large area near the royal capital.

"Ah, yes, President."

The stout man hurriedly responded.

At this time, Xu Chai Lao turned his head to look at another young man: "Ah Long, you immediately go and inform the few big and small chiefs within a radius of five hundred miles nearby, and tell him that the Ming Expeditionary Force is coming, and ask them about their attitude." ”

"Oh, got it."

The young man said yes and walked away quickly.

When the young man walked away, Xu Chai Lao turned his head and said to a few companions around him: "Everyone, we are afraid that we are in great danger, the Ming Dynasty has never sent a fleet out of the country, let alone sent such a large-scale fleet, either for us, or to annex this Luzon State, what do you say?" ”

Different from the two cronies Xu Chai Lao took away just now, these companions are all well-known figures among the local Ming immigrants, because they have not established political power, and although they hold each other together, there are sometimes some competitions in business, land, interests, etc., so they belong to a relationship of both cooperation and vigilance, but in a foreign country, cooperation is dominant.

These people listened to Xu Chailao's words at this time, and they all fell into deep thought.

"A while ago, I heard that the Ming Dynasty was fighting Annan, because of the war, the business to Annan and Zhancheng was stopped, and I didn't know the news over there for a long time, and I didn't know how the fight went."

After a while, someone said in a low voice: "Daming is such a big battle, it may not be coming at us, but now it seems that maybe it is to win the Annan Kingdom and get Longwangshu?" ”

The people present are all Han Chinese, and they can still understand what the classic idiom of Long Wangshu means, but in their opinion, it is the best way to describe the current situation.

"I heard that the newly enthroned emperor of the Ming Dynasty is the fourth son of Emperor Zhu, King Yan, the warlike lord, if you want to fight Luzon, won't this land have to change its surname?"

"But Da Ming can't tolerate us after all." Some people said worriedly.

In this era, Manila made a living from maritime trade, and the trade network was very developed, and a large number of goods passed through Manila every year, and then transported to other parts of the South Seas, but if the Ming destroyed this place, even if they were not killed, they would lose their jobs, lose their means of livelihood, and eventually fall to the same economic level as the natives.

After all, they had never heard of any change in the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade or maritime ban policy in the last year or two.

In the eyes of most of the emigrant chiefs, this fleet would destroy not only Luzon, but also themselves.

Run, not to mention.

Several of the people present were reluctant to give up their wealth and the foundation they had so hard to accumulate.

"I estimated it, according to the size of the Ming fleet, not counting sailors and seamen, just the armor with me, I'm afraid it will be thousands of people."

But Xu Chai Lao saw that everyone was silent, so he snorted coldly, and changed the conversation: "But no matter what, we have to be prepared for defense, don't you forget, what did we rely on back then, and how did we gain a foothold in Manila, a foreign country?" If we really want to kill us all, we must not stretch our necks and wait for death. ”

"Of course, there's another possibility."

He paused at this point, and his eyes became deeper: "But I think that even if they really came to attack Luzon, not against us dead, even if we want to sell ourselves for a good price, we have to make a resolute gesture!" ”

When everyone heard this, they all nodded.

"What the president said is that we will follow the teachings carefully."

Xu Chai Lao smiled and said: "You don't have to be too nervous, it's really not good, even if it's the worst result, let's run to the mountains, I estimate, this is the elite of the Ming army, hundreds of boats look at the number of tens of thousands, but it must still be sailors and oarsmen, the army is estimated to be only a few thousand, we can't beat it, we really can't give up these industries, and it will be okay to run to the mountains." ”

What I want to say here is that now that Zheng He went to the Western Ocean for the first time, the fleet ships have improved their bows and some sails, but the main power is still the traditional hard sails plus the rotating oars, to put it bluntly, either relying on the sails with the help of the wind and the oars to paddle the water.

These two important links, the treasure ships of the Ming Dynasty have adopted a unique design.

First of all, different from the segmented soft sails used by European sailing ships at this time, Zheng Hebao's ship used a hard sail structure, with a brace on the canopy surface, although this kind of sail is heavier and laborious to lift, but the advantage is that it has a very high wind efficiency, so that the speed of the ship is increased, and the mast is not set with a fixed cross beam, which adapts to the sudden change of wind and clouds at sea, and the adjustment and turning of the feet are flexible, and can effectively use the multi-faceted wind.

Of course, it does not mean that the hard sail must be perfect, otherwise Jiang Xinghuo will not give an opinion, this is because the disadvantage of the hard sail is that the speed is slow, the efficiency of the transoceanic route is relatively low, and it is not suitable for transoceanic trade, and although the wind efficiency of the soft sail is lower than that of the Chinese hard sail, the advantage is that the weight is light, the area can be much larger than the hard sail, the mast can be higher, increase the absolute area of the sail, and the ocean voyage is more advantageous.

It can only be said that each has its own advantages and disadvantages, after all, the soft sail also has the disadvantages of complex operation, difficult and dangerous sailing, the required rope is too complicated, and the utilization rate is low, and for warships, the Chinese hard sail has a stronger ability to resist battle damage, while the Western-style soft sail is pierced or ignited, which is easy to make the ship's power drop rapidly.

But whether it's a hard sail or a soft sail, there is one thing that remains constant, and that is artificial power, that is, rocking the oar.

The treasure ship is equipped with a long oar on both sides and stern, this long oar enters the water depth, many people swing, the action of the oar in the underwater semi-rotation is similar to today's propeller, and the propulsion efficiency is higher, which makes the treasure ship can also maintain a considerable speed when there is no wind, and the wading area of the oar outside the ship is small, and it is suitable for navigating in the crowded waters of narrow harbors or reef areas.

But the disadvantage is that the thief is a waste person, and it is not an ordinary waste person, even if this thing is a long-trained oarsman to shake, in the calm sea surface is good to say, once against the current, the sea resistance is very large, and it will not take long to shake this feeling that modern people can experience it through a rowing machine full of water resistance and magnetic resistance, no more than half an hour, and the arm will be completely numb.

Therefore, the largest proportion of people on the treasure ship are neither heavily armed soldiers, nor sailors responsible for operating the ship, nor logistics personnel such as cooks, but oarmen responsible for rocking the oars.

It was precisely because he was well aware of the staffing of ocean-going ships that Xu Chai was able to roughly estimate the land strength of this huge Ming fleet, and thus made a decision.

Soon, in the small bay in front of the port of Manila, people were quickly sent to the forts on both sides to play flags, and the flags conveyed by the forts were also observed by the Ming fleet.

Since it is the common flag of Nanyang Maritime Trade, they can understand it without hindrance.

"Let's stop moving forward? It's just a joke. ”

On Zheng He's flagship, Zhu Youjiao, who was holding a telescope, couldn't help laughing when he heard the news of the report of the banner soldiers: "These Luzon people are too conceited, don't they, they actually want us to stop advancing?" It's stupid, in this case, our shells don't have long eyes. ”

After speaking, Zhu Youjiao asked Wang Jinghong next to him: "Deputy Envoy Wang, what do you think?" ”

Wang Jinghong shook his head slightly and sighed softly: "This is the worst situation."

Zhu Youjiao put down the binoculars, frowned suspiciously, and asked, "Why?" ”

In his opinion, the small bay of Manila Bay is not a natural hazard, it is a rare natural harbor, and it is also very suitable for fleet attacks, and those two fortresses are insignificant.

So Zhu Youjiao couldn't figure out what it mattered even if the other party didn't give in easily.

Wang Jinghong explained: "When I came, I heard the Han people in Annam say that Manila in Luzon is inhabited by immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, and they have only experienced two or three generations, and the number is tens of thousands, accounting for half of the Han people in the entire Luzon State. ”

Zheng He, whose face was tanned more black and red than in the edict prison, and who looked more like a red-faced Guan Gong, took over: "King Runan, the reason why the deputy envoy said that this is the worst situation is because the people on the shore, obviously seeing the size of our fleet, still dare to play such a flag, it is definitely not ignorance. The Han Chinese in Manila are all engaged in maritime trade, and it is impossible for them not to know our strength. ”

"So, they're afraid of us, so they resist?"

After listening to this, Zhu Youjiao showed a thoughtful expression.

Wang Jinghong said again: "Our fleet now occupies an absolute advantage, and there should be no threat to the people on the shore, but if they choose to set up blockades on both sides of the bay and on the beach, it will still cause us trouble." ”

Zheng He finally added: "There is also a possibility that they deliberately promoted peace by war. ”

When Zheng He said this, his face unconsciously showed a look of worry.

What he worries about is not whether he can win the battle, but if he hurts the local Han immigrants and forms a blood feud, it will be difficult to cooperate in the future.

In fact, this is also Zheng He's consistent style, and he does not abuse superior force in such diplomatic incidents.

Because Zheng He knows very well that the fleet has always been rootless, and a momentary force of force cannot change anything.

Of course, if you want to occupy it completely, then you must either kill it all or dominate it, which is another way of thinking.

"But I think we can't be too merciful, maybe people don't treat us as their own at all, but treat us as enemies, we should be beaten or beaten." Zhu Youjia still insisted on his own point of view.

"Well, what the king of Runan said also makes sense."

Zheng He nodded, and made a decision: "Send an envoy to negotiate first, and at the same time prepare for war, and once the negotiation breaks down, immediately attack Manila Port!" ”

(End of chapter)