Really won.

Geng Jingzhong couldn't stop crying as he was helped up to the castle of Santiago in Acapulco, overlooking the city beneath his feet, the ocean in the distance, and the lush hills around him.

The battle to storm and capture this city was unbelievably easy!

Although the city was as strong as a fortress, surrounded by mountains and the sea, the sea was a bay with a small entrance. Moreover, there are fortresses on the surrounding mountains and forts facing the sea, and it is completely a terrain that is impossible to open. But the Spanish army guarding here was surprisingly weak, and their number was far from the legendary 3,000, but at most 400.

As soon as Kayama Hisashi and Kiyohisa led the team to launch an assault, the Spanish defenders completely collapsed.

Thirty percent of the Spanish soldiers standing on the dock were killed and wounded on the spot by the sharpshooters who were ambushed on the ship with flintlock pistols, and the rest were either picked by the death squads led by the dispatch center and Biryama with bayonets, or the soles of their feet were anointed with oil - slipped! They did not sneak into the fortress to hold on, but fled directly, abandoning this city that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and leaving behind tens of thousands of stunned and helpless citizens.

After the escape of the Spanish defenders, Geng's occupation of Acapulco was simple, and in less than half a day, including Fort Santiago, the coastal forts, the town hall, and the junction to the Mexica Valley, were all under Geng's control.

Those generals who followed Geng Jingzhong to the New World, no matter what they were like when they were on the ship just now? Now they all ran to him like a dragon and a tiger to report the good news to him.

"General Zhengdong, the last general has already taken the fort!"

"General Zhengdong, the last general has defeated the Yamen of the Spaniards!"

"The last general has built a temple of God and captured a presiding abbot."

"The last general's men have already controlled the intersection in and out of the city, and now no one can get out!"

"Your Majesty."

I don't know if it's called Shunkou or deliberately, one of Geng Jingzhong's subordinates blurted out and called him the emperor. Geng Jingzhong, who was originally very happy, showed a frightened look, and waved his hand and said: "Don't, don't let me not be the emperor, and then not the emperor, for this unlucky emperor, I will make you all miserable. This emperor, whoever loves to be the emperor, anyway, I am inappropriate. ”

"If you are not the emperor, then what will you be in the future?"

Another subordinate asked a question.

"Be a general, a republican general!" Geng Jingzhong had already pondered, "Then Li Zhongshan is obviously in charge of the Ming Dynasty, but he doesn't usurp the throne and become the emperor, just be a general, isn't it very good now?" Japan's Tokugawa Ieyasu also controlled the country, but he was not a general instead of the emperor, so he could die a righteous life, and his children and grandchildren could continue to be generals and live a more comfortable life than the emperor. Wu Sangui and I just couldn't see through it, and as a result, one died in the world, and the other was defeated and died! Now Wu Sangui's son Wu Yingqi has seen through it, and he is no longer the emperor but the prime minister.

It can be seen that now this emperor is really no longer in charge, it is better to be a general! From now on, I will be called the shogun of Seito, and I will open a shogunate in this Akka castle and establish a republic! ”

"But how is this republic going to be founded?" Someone asked again.

"This." Geng Jingzhong thought for a while and said, "Let's learn from Li Zhongshan, and also engage in national scholars and Chinese people!"

Our own people. This time, all the people who came from the Ryukyus with me, no matter what color they were, and whether they could speak human language or not, if one of them counts as one, they are all national soldiers!

As for the people who put up the notices, all those who are willing to stay in Acre City and build a republic with the shogun are the people of the Eastern Shogunate!

All the people of the shogunate were guaranteed property, and if they did not have property and had no dependence, the shogunate would help them establish a manor outside the castle of Acre. Also, they can worship whatever god they want, and General Ben doesn't care!

All Chinese people can participate in the discussion of politics and make suggestions. ”

"What if you don't want to do it with us?"

"Let them go," Geng Jingzhong said seriously, "Although General Ben is here for the republic, he does not force them to reunite with General Ben!" They were going to be servants to the King of Spain, and General Ben would not stop them. ”

"But we don't know Spanish, how do you write this notice?"

Geng Jingzhong thought for a moment and said, "Call that Gonzalez, let him write, and then let him read it to the citizens of Acre who don't know how to read!" ”

"What? General, you are not for the opening of colonies, but for the republic? ”

In Fort Santiago, Gonzalez, the former Spanish consul in Guangzhou, had already washed himself and put on a gorgeous silk robe, looking like an oriental king.

He originally thought that Geng Jingzhong was a bad person, and he was going to come to the New World to grab money and territory. As a result, they were the heavenly soldiers who came to export the republic and liberate the oppressed people of the New World, and the bad guys seemed to have become the murderous Spanish colonizers and the Habsburgs!

"That's right!" Geng Jingzhong nodded, "No matter who you are, as long as you are willing to stay in Acre City to participate in the republic, you are all Chinese!" ”

This countryman should mean that he is a citizen, right?

Gonzalez knew the republican of the Roman Republic and the Greek city-state of Athens, and immediately substituted the Ming Republic into the Roman Republic.

He thought for a moment and asked, "General, whoever you are talking about. Does the package not include Native Americans? ”

"Of course!" Geng Jingzhong nodded, "Turen are also people!" Listen, no matter the natives, Spaniards, or hybrids here in Acre, as long as they are people, those who are willing to stay and participate in the republic are all Chinese! ”

This seems to have surpassed the Roman Republic and the city-state of Athens! Gonzalez thought to himself: There were slaves in Rome and Athens!

"They're all Chinese. What are the rights of the people? ”

Gonzalez inquired again.

"Power?" Geng Jingzhong said, "Of course, you have the power to have your own property can be inviolable, you can believe in whatever religion you want, if you are too poor, you can also get land outside the city of Acre, you can also write to the shogunate to make suggestions, and add a countryman to discuss politics. That's it! ”

What does that mean it?

Gonzalez said in his heart: Although the people do not have the power to remove the general, it is still much better than the hereditary republican of the consuls of the United Republic of the Netherlands! Now the trouble of the Spanish Habsburgs is coming!

This is not a matter of losing a small colony in North America, but the Habsburgs, no, the feudal dynasties of all of Europe could be overthrown by advanced institutions from the East!

"Citizens of Acapulco! I, Gonzalez from Seville, the advisor to the general of the Ming Republic, on behalf of His Excellency the General, would like to explain to you why the general is here and what the Ming Republic will adopt in the New World in the future! The Republic of Daming did not come to rob you of your wealth and land, they have more wealth than the rest of the world combined except India! Acapulco, and indeed the entire New World, had no wealth worth plundering.

And the purpose of this expedition was to bring down the inhumane and illegitimate royal rule which Spain had imposed in the New World, and to let the glory of the republic spread to every corner of the New World."

In the square of the city of Acapulco, the citizens who were frightened by the sudden change have been escorted by the fierce Geng family soldiers.

Although they are all Hispanic, all but a few were born in New Spain, and many have lived in peace, prosperity and comfort for generations in Acapulco. So they are not at all the same thing as the "old Spanish flag" in Spain itself, which has been living in an endless state of war. In the face of a sudden war, I am completely in a state of confusion!

In addition, only a small percentage of them were noble, native whites, and the rest were of mixed Indo-European descent. In New Spain, they were third-class citizens, and it never occurred to them that they needed to defend the empire and the king (Westerners generally refer to large territories, including colonies, as the empire). Of course, they didn't think about opposing the reactionary and conservative Spanish Habsburgs, who were doing a good job, so what's the point of fighting this and that?

As a result, this group of Hispanics who lived comfortably for too long did not even organize their resistance before they were controlled by the enemy.

When they were escorted to the town square, they thought they were going to see the Father, and many people were scared and cried, and they even drew a cross and begged for the Father's blessing.

Now, as soon as Gonzalez spoke, all of them were stunned.

What the? You came all the way not to colonize, but to overthrow the Spanish monarchy and establish a republic in the New World?

Also, why did this Gonzalez say that the Spanish monarchy in the New World was inhumane? Does the Ming Republic want to uphold justice for the Indians?

The thought of the extermination and suffering suffered by the Indians made the citizens of Acapulco feel weak at once.

At this time, Gonzalez continued: "Citizens, pioneers and natives of the Americas, you have an infinite continent, which has the most magnificent mountains and rivers in the world, the richest land, the richest resources, and this place is richer than any old continent, although it has not been cultivated on a large scale, but it also means that we can write the most beautiful poems on this land.

In the Old World, we human beings can use our industrious hands to cultivate and graze cattle on the most barren land, carry out handicraft production, carry out trade, and finally build brilliant cities and even brilliant civilizations with our own blood and sweat, through the efforts of generation after generation. This is civilization, a truly amazing civilization!

But what are we doing in the New World? What reason did the Habsburgs have to rely on inhumane slavery in order to establish a so-called civilized colonial rule?

Can't all of us work together as equals to share and develop this continent? This continent is so vast that it can give us far more than we need to live a rich and decent life, and everyone can live well. So why are we still enslaving each other, why are we so greedy, and are all we doing in the past and now in accordance with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ?

And how much wealth does our sin give us? Do these riches really fit into our pockets?

No, without them all became the war funds of the Habsburgs, which were used to wage war after war in the Old Continent! And in the name of the Father! This is so evil that Spain has not been blessed by the Father, so much so that it has spent all the money of a continent and always loses in Europe! Even we, the Spanish Habsburgs, are now ironclad.

Isn't this a judgment of divine will? Now that the wind of republicanism is coming from Asia, to put an end to the sins of the Habsburgs, is it not the will of the Father? ”

Gonzalez said it really well. He's a diplomat who is good at fooling! He also received rigorous training in the best church schools in Spain and has mastered the skills of using words to move people's hearts.

Moreover, what he said is also true!

The Kingdom of Spain was indeed inhumane in the Americas, not only was it insatiable, occupying lands that they could not digest, exterminating countless natives, and subjecting the remnants to inhumane enslavement, but the wealth of exploitation was not used to improve the welfare of Spain itself, but was used in the endless war for supremacy on the European continent.

What is even more speechless is that the Habsburgs have not achieved hegemony on the European continent despite spending all the wealth they have plundered from the Americas and still incurring huge debts.

By now, the Habsburg dynasty of Spain is destined to become extinct, and the wind of republicanism has come from the west, and the entire Spanish world empire is coming to an end!

"Long live the Republic! Down with Wang Zheng! ”

The people in the square suddenly boiled!

"Bang bang! Bang bang! ”

On the other side of the world, the footsteps of the soldiers changing the guard came from outside the capital room of the general's officer's residence in Nanjing, and the thick-soled old cloth shoes stepped on the bluestone floor tiles, making a dull sound. The four exemplary soldiers of the Great General's Mansion Guard Regiment saluted each other, exchanged places, and then two of them left.

Li Zhongshan raised his head from the pile of briefs and rubbed his eyes. The sound of the change of people at the sentry outside reminded him that he had worked for the country and the people for another hour.

It is now the winter of the fourth year of the Republic, and the war between the Ming Dynasty, the Great Zhou, and the Qing Dynasty has been suspended for several months. However, for Li Yat-sen, it was just a change of battlefield, from a battlefield of bullets and bullets to a battlefield of struggle against fiscal deficits and land annexation.

To be honest, compared with the battlefield where bullets rained down, the new battlefield made Li Zhongshan feel more prickly. Because on the battlefield where bullets are raining, he still has a "golden finger" to drive, he knows how to line up and shoot, knows the combination of artillery and cavalry, knows column tactics, horizontal team tactics, hollow phalanx tactics, slash tactics, and knows what is going on with Mini bullets? I also know the general direction of development of artillery and rifles.

Although this knowledge is far from the level of a military strategist, the skills he possessed in this life include how to command a medium-sized army in the era of hot and cold weapons - the original Wang Zhongxiao was trained as a future general from an early age. So when the knowledge from the two eras was combined, Li Yat-sen had a military "golden finger".

In addition, he also has a deeper understanding of the "national republic". I also know how to organize a heaven and earth association that serves the republic.

But at the same time, he also knew that the above alone was not enough to sustain a republican system for a long time.

As long as you have enough knowledge of the history of Rome and ancient Greece, you know that a good national republic can be very powerful, but at the same time it is difficult to maintain. Because the basis of the people's republic is in fact a huge middle class, and in the era of underdeveloped productive forces, they are the rich peasants and small landlords.

A national republic is strong and effective only when the kulaks and small landlords are numerous and sustainable. Once this class decays and withers for various reasons, then the republic will also decay, and even if it exists in name, it will only survive.

For example, Rome after the Phoenician Wars, and Athens after the Peloponnesian War, which restored the republican system, may still have the name of the Republic, but the substance has completely changed.

For the Ming Dynasty ruled by Li Yat-sen, the power of small and medium-sized landlords and rich peasants was not very strong, and the strength of large landlords and big businessmen should not be underestimated.

For example, the Wing King Zheng Jing and the Shangshu Zuo Cheng Chen Yonghua and the Shangshu Right Cheng Lu Sanhao, they actually represent maritime merchants, silk merchants and southeastern gentry

Just when Li Zhongshan thought of Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Lu Sanhao, Zhou Chang's voice suddenly came from outside the door of his capital room: "General, Yiwang and Chen Zuocheng have something important to see!" ”

(End of chapter)