Chapter 219

From 1521 Magellan led a Spanish expedition to the Philippine Islands. After that, Spain gradually invaded the Philippines and ruled it for more than 300 years.

To be precise, during the 333-year colonial rule, the Spaniards left only some architecture in the Philippines, however, no culture.

This shows that the rule of Spain is actually very rough, and of course it is also directly related to the weakening of the Spanish Empire, which is now the main colony in the Far East is the Philippine Islands.

The agreement signed between Cheng Shijie and the Spanish governor of Dayuan, Corraquay, stipulated that Cheng Shijie would pay him 3 million bags of cement and 150,000 catties of steel on behalf of the Liaodong Governor's Office, and the rule and management of the central part of Dayuan, including the "city of Santo Domingo" in Tamsui Fort.

However, for Manila, it is on the north bank of the Bashi River, north of the later Eskoda Avenue and east along Laogu Street (now Chinatown), with a total area of 3,800 meters from east to west and 800 meters from north to south, totaling 3 million square meters, or about 4,600 acres of land.

This agreement was different from that of Tamsui City, and the Liaodong Governor's Office had ownership of Tamsui City, including Tamsui Port, wharf, and all the land, resources, and minerals under its jurisdiction, including more than 600 slaves brought from Spain.

However, in Manila, the Liaodong Governor's Office only has the right to use and manage the old ancient streets, and does not have the right to garrison troops, but it can station armed guards, but the number shall not exceed 800 people, and heavy weapons such as large-caliber artillery shall not be deployed.

After the agreement was signed, Cheng Shijie asked his adopted son Cheng Shi to lead a bureau of the Guards Capital Division and more than 1,600 craftsmen temporarily recruited in Wusongkou to Manila.

The reason why Coraquay wants to agree to Cheng Shijie's cooperation agreement is also because of Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong monopolized all the trade rights in the Nanyang region, and all the trade of Spain in Luzon would be stripped by Zheng Zhilong, and since the Spaniards occupied the northern part of Dayuan, they could not make enough profits to develop Taipei, nor could they expel the Dutch.

Some of the Dutch had money, so they instigated the natives of the big staff to oppose the Spaniards, so that in order to maintain the garrison in Taipei, the Spaniards had to expand their investment, and the big people had not been able to be self-sufficient, but had to rely on Manila to subsidize the operation of the Peking staff. Therefore, after the economic recession in Manila, the Spaniards reduced their garrison, giving the Dutch an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Now it is simply a double win, the Youning Navy acts as a buffer between the Spaniards and Zheng Zhilong, and at the same time, it brings considerable benefits to the Luzon Governor's Palace. In fact, Kolakoy did not want Cheng Shijie to occupy the area on the north bank of the Maraniba Stone River, but Cheng Shijie used the Ning Navy Naval Division to need a basic supply, and if he did not agree, the cooperation agreement would be invalidated.

Faced with a huge income of more than three million taels of silver, Kolaquay reluctantly agreed.

However, when Coraquay agreed, he regretted it. Because Cheng Shijie's movements were too fast, Cheng Shijie did not even achieve a decisive victory for Zheng Zhilong, but the fleet to Manila had arrived, and the craftsmen who arrived at the same time immediately built a solid wharf and plank road with reinforced concrete, which made Colaquay have to suspect that Cheng Shijie had a plan.

said that Cheng Shijie had a plan, but in fact, he really wronged him, his plan was to seize the staff, and these materials were originally prepared to expand the foothold of the staff.

After learning of Cheng Shijie's plan, Xie Jinglin thought that he didn't need to give money to the Spaniards, and directly used troops to rob him.

In fact, Cheng Shijie has his own considerations, Europa's Thirty Years' War ended in the defeat of the Spanish Empire, but Cheng Shijie did not want the Spanish Empire to be defeated quickly, if Spain can hold out for a longer time, more people will die in this war, and the overall strength of Europa will also decline, and at that time, the expansion of the Ning Navy to the world will also reduce the huge resistance.

After obtaining the right to use the north bank of the Bashi River in Manila, Cheng Shijie gave the port a name: "Zhenghe Port". Zhenghe Port is a natural harbor, which could have docked huge ships of more than 3,000 tons.

As the first batch of personnel of the Ning Navy arrived at Zhenghe Port in eleven large sand ships, the first to land was 800 soldiers of the Ning Navy's Guards Division, which was a light infantry, although in the agreement, the Ning Navy was not allowed to deploy large-caliber artillery, but it deployed 36 thunderbolt vehicles.

Wearing a black military uniform, black armor, and a black cloak, Ning Haijun caused a sensation in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Luzon when he was in Laogu Street.

A total of 264 Chinese businessmen, large and small, sent representatives to the scene to greet them.

It can be said that almost ninety percent of the Chinese and Chinese businessmen in the entire Laogu Street, that is, Chinatown, have been dispatched, but the most luxurious mansion on the Laogu Street has a closed door.

This house is a house that covers an area of at least more than 50 acres, with more than 20 facades, occupying half of the street, and the stairs in front of the door are made of polished and smooth stones, which are completely different from those earthen houses in the old street.

Xie Jinglin observed more carefully, he pointed to this mansion and said: "The corners of the eaves are quite damaged, and there are traces of new additions in some places, it seems that this mansion was beautiful when the foundation was just laid, but now is not its heyday." Looking at these stones, these corners have been damaged for some years, but the additions are recent, it seems that this Azimu family has been in decline, and now there may be a small revival, but it has not reached the glory of its heyday. ”

"The gate of this house is very sturdy!"

Cheng Shi smiled and said, "Whose mansion is this?" ”

Cheng Shi saw that there was a plaque hanging on it, but it was crooked and twisted text, and he didn't know it.

A Chinese businessman, Lin Ashui, said: "This is the richest man in Manila, the president of the Wu Jiahua Chamber of Commerce!" ”

Cheng Shi smiled faintly: "President Wu doesn't welcome us!" ”

Cheng Shi knew the real purpose of Cheng Shijie to let him come, starting from Chongzhen's adoption of Cheng Shi in the fourth year, it is now February of Chongzhen's seventh year, and the originally young boy has grown into a real man.

In the Ming Dynasty, like the seventeen-year-old Cheng Shi should have gotten married, although Cheng Shi was only Cheng Shijie's adopted son, when he was in Liaodong, there were many people who wanted to marry Cheng Shi.

It's just that Cheng Shijie, the adoptive father, let Cheng Shi, Cheng Hu, Cheng Jingjing, and Cheng Anning decide their own marriage, but in their opinion, Cheng Shijie was dissatisfied with these courtiers and kicked the ball to them. Naturally, they will not decide their marriage lightly.

After Cheng Shi arrived at Zhenghe Port, he didn't even have time to rest, and began to inspect the planned area, and the person in charge of contact was the Spanish commercial commissioner Luis.

Luis is a middle-aged man, somewhat sloppy, and of course Spaniards are very sloppy.

"Cheng, from here to here, it's all your territory!"

At this moment, Xie Jinglin smiled and said, "Luis, did your things fall!" ”

Xie Jinglin casually threw a bag of gold coins, which were Dutch Ducat, each weighing 3.9 grams, minted from 92.5 percent pure gold, on the ground.

Louis looked at the money bag made of silk on the ground, reached out and picked it up, and put it in his hand to weigh it, at least two or three hundred.

This is actually 300 ducats of gold coins, placed in Spain, enough for him to buy a small castle, this money is like a north drift, and suddenly he has the strength to buy a set of courtyard houses worth tens of millions in Beijing.

"Thank you, thank you......"

Louis also understood that Xie Jinglin must have wanted him to make a move when he was surveying and mapping.

Kick changed the location of the contract to the area of Zhenghe Harbor, from 3,800 meters to 4,060 meters, and from the original 800-meter dividing line from north to south, to 1,642 meters at the small stone bridge. The original area of 300 gold coins expanded by more than 10,189 acres.

Xie Jinglin was given a larger port area, and Louis was given 300 gold coins, and everyone was happy.

Cheng Shi is still facing a problem, that is, the original building of Laogu Street, which is not in line with the habits of Liaodong, Cheng Shi decided to rebuild Laogu Street and rename it Zhenghe Port District.

According to the custom of Liaodong, the Zhenghe port area has only more than 4,600 acres of land, and it should be divided into four areas, the port area, the commercial area, the residential area, and the storage area.

Cheng Shi learned a lot from Cheng Shijie, and he immediately set about formulating the plan for Zhenghe Port and Zhenghe Port Area.

At this time, many guests came to the house of Wu Shangzhi, who was located in the Wu family. They are all Chinese businessmen in Luzon, most of the Chinese businessmen in Luzon live in Manila, and the arrival of the Ning Navy is not small, and everyone who should know knows it, and those who don't know it are probably pretending not to know.

The first thing the Chinese businessmen did when they arrived was to ask Wu Shangzhi what they should do.

As one of the top Chinese businessmen in Manila, Li Guoqun sat on the top position, there was no way, Mr. Li was too old, and his seven sons contributed a lot when they massacred the Chinese in Spain last time, and the seven sons died three and a half, and he survived and had a grandson, otherwise the Li family would be extinct.

Li Guoqun looked at Wu Shangzhi and said, "Who is this Ning Navy?" ”

Wu Shangzhi looked at Lin Ashui and said, "How are you inquiring?" ”

Lin Ashui said: "They are the army from the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"The army of the Ming Dynasty?"

Everyone present was amazed.

"Isn't Zheng Zhilong in charge of the sea? Are they Zheng Zhilong's people? ”

"Actually, they are not Zheng Zhilong's people, they are Cheng Dashuai's people!"

"Who is Cheng Dashuai?"

In the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, and Thirteen Provinces, there are definitely not many people who don't know who Cheng Shijie is, but there are really not many people in Luzon who know him.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in the crowd said, "I know Cheng Dashuai!" ”

"Who is he?"

"He is the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, the governor of Liaodong, with hundreds of thousands of elite troops under his command, and the year before last, he beat Jiannu enough!"

Wu Shangzhi raised his hand and shouted, "Everyone, everyone, please be quiet." Where did this Ming army come from and how did it come, to be honest, I was also very confused in my heart, but...... Let's go to a feast tonight. ”

After Wu Shangzhi finished speaking, hundreds of Chinese businessmen began to talk again, and they didn't want to go, but they didn't dare not go, so they said: "President Wu, according to you, this guy ......"

Several people booed at the same time, and the man quickly covered his mouth and continued: "What is this group of Ming soldiers inviting us to the banquet for? ”

Wu Shangzhi said: "According to my judgment, since they occupy this place, most of them must establish good relations with the locals in order to maintain their rule. Didn't they send us to the feast? ”

Li Guoqun smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid it's a Hongmen banquet!" ”

Wu Shangzhi shook his head and said, "It should be a good intention." ”

"Good intentions?"

"If they really want to do it, they can do it directly, they have two or three thousand people this time, and they are still carrying muskets and big knives, we are unarmed, and we can't fight them, they don't want to see each other, they just want to talk about it! Their army has not committed any offense against our autumn, this is the goodwill they release, that is, it depends on whether we really support them, as long as we show that we sincerely support the Ming army. ”

"Hearted?" Li Guoqun smiled: "What you said is intentional, do you mean ...... Money? ”

Wu Shangzhi nodded seriously: "Yes." ”

Li Guoqun said with a smile: "If they want money, then it's easier to do it, let's prepare a generous gift for them." ”

More than 200 people said, "Yes, yes." If it's just a gift to show them goodwill, that's fine. ”

Although the Chinese are wealthy overseas, they have no political status, and they have always been used to being bullied, and they are also used to being submissive.

Wu Shangzhi shook his head and said: "My idea is that what we want to give is not a gift to please the generals of the Ming army, but a military fund that is beneficial to them." Ritual gatherings are heavy, and ritual dispersions are light. Our 265 merchants each give gifts, and the gifts seem small and thin, so it is better to put them together and give a thick and real gift. There is a saying: Reach out and don't hit a smiling person. They have just entered Manila, and we will treat the army with a big gift, which shows our sincerity. Since we started the scene with good intentions, they will not be able to treat us coldly and ruthlessly. ”

Then Wu Shangzhi took out a gift list for rewarding military seniority.

Here, Cheng Shi will make a plan for reporting to Zhenghe Port District and Zhenghe Port, and hand it over to Xie Jinglin to watch, Xie Jinglin has not had time to read it, and a notice came from outside the door: "Report!" ”

Cheng Shi took the gift slip from the guards and read: "Nine thousand stones of rice, one thousand horses, twenty thousand sheep, five hundred taels of gold, and five thousand taels of silver...... Here are all kinds of goods, such as clothes, shoes and hats, and all kinds of goods, which are also sold by various merchants of Mani-Chinese.

Cheng Shi decided to follow the original plan, build the house using wood, and directly use the steel of Liaodong to trade with the Chinese in Manila, on the one hand, to enhance the strength of the local Chinese, on the other hand, to fertilize and leave no outsiders to farm.

The unscrupulous oppression of the Chinese and overseas Chinese by the Spanish Governor's Office in Luzon has long made the Chinese in Luzon unbearable, and in the 31st year of Wanli, Spain carried out a large-scale massacre of the Chinese in Luzon, killing more than 20,000 people. (The Manila Chinese Massacre of 1603), when there were no more than 23,000 Chinese in Luzon.

In history, in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, in 1639, the Spanish Society carried out the second large-scale massacre of the Chinese, and now the life of the Chinese is very tormented.

Soon, the barracks of the garrison barracks of the Ning Navy stationed in Zhenghe Port were built, and the materials needed for the construction of the port were not troublesome, Liaodong could produce its own steel and cement, and the tonnage of sailing ships in this era was not large, and it was very simple to build a port, and it would not be able to meet the demand in the future, so it would continue to expand.

Compared with the port, it is more important to be able to carry out simple repairs and replenishment of ships, which is the meaning of the existence of the supply base.

As the naval division of the Ning Navy hijacked the ship that had paid protection money to Zheng Zhilong to Zhenghe Port, Cheng Shijie also followed Zheng Zhilong's example and directly resold the seized materials to the Spaniards in Luzon, and the price was nearly 20% cheaper than Zheng Zhilong's, which was equivalent to selling it at a discount of 20%.

Selling cheaply is theoretical, the silk and porcelain that Zheng Zhilong sold to the Spaniards are equivalent to three to five times the price, and besides, Cheng Shijie is not distressed when he sells other people's things.

As for the captured crew and sailors, they participated in the construction of Zhenghe Port.

According to the agreement with Spain, the Ning Navy can build houses and warehouses in Zhenghe Port, but it cannot build city walls, but this is not a problem for the Ning Navy at all. The land warfare system of the Ning Navy is trench warfare, and the trenches and barbed wire fences form the defense system of the Ning Navy.

Just when Zheng Zhilong's fleet arrived in Hangzhou Bay, he immediately started a decisive battle with the Ning Navy, and at this time, Zheng Zhilong learned that the Ning Navy's naval division warships were occupying the shipping route, and they were stuck in the route to grab the ship protected by Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood in the face of Ning Haijun's indiscriminate tactics, these robbed ships were not only the merchant ships protected by him, but also the Zheng Group's own merchant ships, you must know that the silk, porcelain, and purchased goods produced in Fujian were transported by the Zheng Group's own transport ships.

The benefits of this are Zheng Zhilong's own earnings, if it weren't for the large demand for Daming's goods in Europa countries, Zheng Zhilong himself would have completely banned the sea, whether it was Jiangnan maritime merchants or Fujian maritime merchants, a ship would not want to go to sea.

Zheng Zhilong's problem now is that his own production capacity is seriously insufficient, and he still needs these goods.

"Tell our people not to go to sea recently!"

Shi Lang's uncle, Shi Daxuan's younger brother Shi Daxuan, one of the eighteen Zhizhi, was one of Zheng Zhilong's main advisers, and he frowned slightly: "If you don't go to sea for a day, the loss will be great, those foreign devils ......"

"Let them wait, and if anyone is dissatisfied, let them come to me!"

Shi Daxuan said: "There are only fifty or sixty ships left and right, do you want to divide a fleet and pack them up, if you continue like this, I am afraid it will damage the tiger prestige of the Admiral!" ”

"Humph!"

Zheng Zhilong said lightly: "Now the division of troops is just in Cheng Shijie's hands, as long as we turn around and go south, Cheng Shijie will definitely spread it everywhere, Admiral Ben is afraid of him!" ”

"But those losses, but somewhat...... Some...... Pain in the skin! ”

Zheng Zhilong actually didn't know that his so-called skin pain was only the beginning, far from the end.

"Tell the Admiral, those blackskins have landed on the master!"

"What?"

(End of chapter)