Church outside San Diego, Manila.

"Therefore, when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand says, but do it in secret, and your father will reward you when he sees in secret.

When praying, do not pretend to be pious and stand in the synagogue or in a conspicuous place for people to see.

If you pray, go into your closet, close the door, and pray to the Father who is in secret. Your Father's observation in secret will reward you.

Do not pray like fools, who repeat themselves over and on, thinking that they will be hear.......d. ”

Ferreira bowed her head and, like the devout believers around her, listened to Father Mera preaching under the cross.

His mind seemed to return to Macau more than a decade ago, and in that humble church, it was this Father Mera who baptized him into the Church.

But he was no longer the boy he had been, and Father Mera was not the priest he had been.

Today, Mela manages the Jesuits of the entire Metropolitan Governorate of the Philippines and has more than half a million believers, most of whom are indigenous people, who have unparalleled influence on the Governor of the Philippines and have made great contributions to the peace of the Metropolitan Governor.

Seven years ago, Father Mela mobilized believers to build a fortress in Zamboanga, named after the goddess Pilar Fort, which directly established the Spanish rule in the southern region of the Philippines, around Mindanao.

The Spanish fleet was stationed there, protecting the last vestige of Spanish influence in the Spice Islands, and the fleet and army from Fort Pilar conquered the two sultanates and took land from the Celestial Cultists.

Now, Father Mela has returned to Manila to exert his influence, this time to an audience of mostly local Chinese.

"Amen!" Mera on the altar made a deep voice, and all the worshippers responded with 'Amen'.

So Mera poured the wine into the dough, and the white bread became a mixture of red and white, and this was the sacrament.

One Chinese believer after another walked up to the altar, opened their mouths to receive communion, and then returned to their seats and whispered prayers to thank Jesus for giving him his flesh and blood to atone for their sins.

Are the Chinese guilty?

The Chinese are not guilty!

But the husband is not guilty. In Manila, there were once as many as 30,000 Chinese, whose status was no different from that of the natives, but who controlled commerce and trade, and who made most of the profits, but who did not believe in God and were not directly controlled by the Spaniards.

Religion, language, culture, the way the Spaniards ruled the natives, did not work for the Chinese.

The Spanish believed that the concentration of so many Chinese in Manila was a threat, so Governor Coqueira cooperated with the governor of Neihu to send the Chinese entrenched in the city and the harbor to the plantations, but the Chinese refused, and the massacre began.

More than 20,000 Chinese were killed, and the rest were left in slavery.

But without the Chinese, the Spanish colonies lost their most energetic part, the Spaniards had broken boots, no one repaired them, their hair grew long, no one cut them, the natives were deferential, but they were stupid, they could not do anything, and they could not replace the role of the Chinese at all.

So Mela came back and protected the Chinese by integrating them into Catholicism, and the Chinese protected themselves by joining the Church.

Of course, not only the Chinese, but also the natives.

Mela returned to Manila for a year, the mark of the original massacre gradually disappeared, for the sake of silver, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty poured here again, and the market in Manila gradually recovered.

"I am Ferreira, from Macau, Father Mela, and I have sins to confess to the Lord." Ferreira said to Mera.

Mera nodded slightly, and said to him, "Come with me to the confessional later." ”

After settling the believers, the two went to the confessional, but Ferreira did not really confess, but only found a place of peace to meet and talk to Mera.

"My child, I haven't seen you for seven or eight years, are you okay?" Mera said that the last time she saw Ferreira, Ferreira sent a Chinese believer, Luo Wenzao, to Manila for further study.

Ferreira said, "I'm fine, Father, but I miss you a lot. ”

"Me too, kid." Mera smiled and asked, "Why, did you come by yourself, why are you dressed like this, do you think that the brothers here will hurt you?" ”

Apparently, Mera saw that Ferreira had come quietly, and he thought that Ferreira had come in disguise because he was terrified by the Manila massacre that had taken place four years earlier.

Ferreira shook her head: "No, the reason why I infiltrated Manila without revealing my true identity is because this time I have a special mission. But seeing Manila peaceful and peaceful again makes me feel happy. ”

Mera bowed slightly, he felt very happy to be affirmed by a Chinese.

"Is there something wrong with you, something is wrong with Macau? I have heard from some merchants that the English fleet has arrived in Guangdong, the Ming Kingdom, and that they dare to challenge Macao's supremacy? Mera asked.

The reason why he had such doubts was because if something earth-shattering had not happened in Macau, Ferreira would not have had to come to Manila like this. Although Macau was loyal to the King of Portugal and the Philippines was a Spanish colony, there was an indissoluble bond between Macau and Spain: the Society of Jesus.

It is one of many religious orders of the Catholic Church, but it has an unrivalled influence in the colonies of Catholic countries.

For example, because of the Thirty Years' War, Spain's colonies fell into economic decline. The same was true in the Philippines, where the Jesuits, represented by Mela, gave strong support to Governor Coquela, allowing him to initiate the conquest of Mindanao.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, the Jesuits also have influence, these guys are the guests of the Donglin Party and many court officials, even in the center of the Ming Dynasty, they also have a certain amount of influence.

Of course, it was not only the Jesuits who had influence in the East, but also the Dominicans and Franciscans, and these congregations were also in a stage of struggle because of their different ideas. The Franciscans, for example, competed with the Jesuits for clergy in the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Society of Jesus was founded because of its opposition to the Reformation, it also carried out doctrinal reforms for the benefit of the Ming Dynasty, such as allowing the followers of the Ming Dynasty to worship their ancestors and respect Confucius, but these behaviors were unacceptable to the Franciscans and were directly sued to the Holy See.

General matters, such as the relationship between Macau and Manila, can be resolved by the Jesuits through influence, as long as everyone faces it.

"That's right, Priest, I'm here on behalf of a Portuguese merchant from Macau and a Ming Kingdom company called the Oriental Trading Company. But in fact, it was to convey goodwill to the governor of Liangguang in the Ming Dynasty and the Haoqiang in Guangdong. Ferreira said earnestly, taking out the lies that he had already made up.

Of course, this lie was fabricated by Li Zhaoji and him, and the purpose was naturally to pull the banner and pull the tiger's skin.

Ferreira told Mera a story to the effect that Manila's massacre of the Chinese caused an uproar in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Kingdom did not come to the campaign because of internal and external difficulties. But the problem is that the coastal forces of the Ming Dynasty were shocked by this incident, and it also affected the trade between the Ming and Manila.

In order to improve all this, the gentry persuaded the governor of Liangguang to intervene, so when they heard that the Dutch were attacking the chicken coop, the governor sent the Oriental Trading Company to assist the Spanish soldiers in defending the colony, and all this was due to the strength of the Ming Dynasty and the goodwill released by the official.

Now, a trade fleet has arrived, but because of the previous events, there are still doubts about the Spanish, so it is a fleet of armed merchant ships, and the local government of Guangdong and the local gentry of the Ming Dynasty want to use this trade to determine whether the Spaniards are really hostile to the Ming.

The owner of the fleet, the Oriental Trading Company, was the white glove of the Ming Dynasty, and the Jesuits in Macau persuaded the merchants of Macau to put the goods on this fleet.

Only fair and reasonable trade can satisfy both sides, and Ferreira is only a pawn to test the goodwill of the Philippine colonial government.

While telling the story, Ferreira took out several letters, one written by the commander of San Salvador, Leo of Pol, and signed by the rest of the officers, describing the Battle of the Chicken Coop.

Except for this one, the rest were written in various guises, including letters from the governor of Liangguang and letters from the gentry of Guangdong, which had signatures but no seals.

Thus, only the Epistle of Leo of Pol can prove to be true, but it can confirm that others may also be true.

Deception, audacious deception!

This is Ferreira's job, in fact, many people will do this, such as Li Yerong, who has been killed by Ferreira, and He Bin, who is still picking up dung in fresh water, when the forces of the East and the West collide or cooperate, and when they negotiate, there will always be people in the middle to manipulate, and these people often tell big lies.

Ferreira dared to deceive Mera because even though Mera had a high status, Daming belonged to the territory of the Jesuits in Macau, and Mera was in charge of the Philippines and didn't know much about Daming. So he can't expose Ferreira's lies.

Whether Ferreira said was true or not, Mera didn't notice it for the time being, but one thing he knew very well was that the armed fleet of the Oriental Trading Company to trade was definitely a boost to the economy of the Philippine colonies, after all, after the Manila massacre, foreign trade here was only resuming for a short time, because the inability to provide enough Oriental products to the mainland and the Viceroyalty of New Spain, especially raw silk, had threatened the interests of Spain, and of course, the loss of those Spanish magnates and merchants.

After listening to Ferreira's introduction, Mera asked: "My child, do you want me to come forward and protect the merchant fleet of the Ming people, if this is the case, of course I am willing, even if they have no background, I am willing, I think that legitimate trading partners should be safely protected." ”

Ferreira shook his head: "That's not the case, three years ago, the governor of Manila was Lord Coqueira, and today, three years later, the governor is still Lord Coqueira, which makes the people of the Ming Kingdom very uneasy, so just your verbal promise is not enough to make them feel safe." ”

"Then what do you want, although Lord Coquela has realized that the original massacre was wrong, no one can do anything to him." Father Mera said helplessly.

Of course, this is also a lie, Coqueira did not recognize his mistake, but only regretted it, not regretted the massacre, but regretted that he should not have killed so many, without the Chinese, the entire economy and society of Manila were on the verge of collapse.

As the governor of the colony appointed by the King of Spain, Coquela had almost supreme power, and only the members of the Sanhedrin were qualified to restrict him, but those fellows were also involved in the massacres and spoils.

Ferreira could only say: "No, I said, the Eastern Trading Company came with sincerity, they want to temporarily have Koresi Island, anchor ships, during this time, trade, maintain ships, and will not build any military measures such as forts."

And when the time came, they departed. I came this time to ask Chen Liuzi, the commander of the fleet, whether this request can be met, and of course, only you can convince Master Coqueira. ”

"How did you get here, and where is the fleet?" Mera asked.

"They anchored the ship in Subic Bay," Ferreira said. ”