At present, the Netherlands East India Company no longer exists, and Zhao Xuening has successfully established a nation. If he wants to continue trade with the Tokugawa shogunate, he will inevitably have to go through some twists and turns.
However, it is impossible for Zhao Xuening himself and the Lanfang Republic to accept a trade relationship with them as a vassal of the shogun.
So Zhao Xuening thought over and over again and came up with a compromise.
He arranged for the Ministry of Commerce and Trade headed by Morris to select Dutch officials, reorganize the East India Company belonging to the Lanfang Republic, and then launch trade with Japan in the name of the East India Company, inheriting all the past methods of dealing with the shogun.
The kind that doesn't even change the style and flag of the merchant ship.
But the actual leader and beneficiary is the Ministry of Commerce and Trade of Lanfang Republic.
This is a name, a shell, a way to abide by the rules set by the Tokugawa regime as much as possible. If this method cannot be recognized by the Tokugawa regime, Zhao Xuening has other ways.
Use Spaniards as a greeting gift, or a certificate of name.
The political relationship between Japan and Spain has become quite bad. The Japanese hate the Spanish missionaries who spread Catholicism, and by the way they hate this country. Zhao Xuening is currently at war with Spain. As long as he succeeds in the future, Zhao Xuening will arrange for envoys to go to Japan.
He planned to send the heads of Manila Governor Jose and Manila Archbishop Rojo to Japan as a meeting gift to the Tokugawa shogunate, telling the Tokugawa shogunate that unlike the Spaniards, he was doing business sincerely, not doing business. Yes.
In this way, the Tokugawa shogunate will not be too resistant to business contacts with the Lanfang Republic.
After all, they also need some goods from the West. Wouldn’t it be great to make money through foreign trade?
With this thought in mind, Zhao Xuening planned to open trade channels between Lanfang and Japan from these Japanese merchants.
He met with Japanese businessman representative Ihara Ichiro and communicated with him in simple Japanese.
Ihara Ichiro was surprised that Zhao Xuening could speak Japanese.
Zhao Xuening laughed.
"There is also a Japanese samurai who wandered to Southeast Asia among my subordinates. I learned some Japanese from him, thinking that I could come in handy in the future, and sure enough, it has come in handy now."
Ihara Ichiro nodded repeatedly and praised Zhao Xuening for his fluent Japanese.
Zhao Xuening also took advantage of the opportunity to start a conversation with Ichiro Ihara, starting from his hometown and talking about his life in Manila and some business matters. After the topic started, Zhao Xuening began to get down to business.
"You should already know what happened in Batavia, right?"
Ihara Ichiro nodded.
"Yes, you conquered Batavia and drove out the Dutch. Such great military achievements are really admirable!"
Zhao Xuening shook his head and laughed.
"This is a good thing for me, but is it a good thing for Japan? Can you tell me whether General Tokugawa of your country already knows about this?"
Ihara Ichiro hesitated for a moment and nodded.
"A few months ago, this news has spread to the country along with the caravan returning home. Presumably, the general already knows about this matter at this moment."
"Then do you think the General will refuse my merchant ship to continue trading with Nagasaki and Japan because of this matter?"
Zhao Xuening asked this key question.
In fact, starting four years ago, with the tacit approval of Petrus, Zhao Xuening had begun sending merchant ships to Japan under the flag of the Netherlands in the name of Lanfang Company to participate in the Netherlands' trade with Japan, and in both countries He took over the entire business years ago.
The Japanese did not care about this at first. According to the regulations of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan only accepted trade with the Netherlands and only allowed merchant ships flying the Dutch flag to enter the port. As for who was on board, they did not know. care.
Batavia was still there at that time, and although the actual people in charge of trade had become Zhao Xuening and the Lanfang Group, the shogunate did not respond.
But the situation is different now. Zhao Xuening didn't even want this layer of skin, he just tore it off and established the Lanfang Republic.
If the Tokugawa shogunate has doubts about this matter, Zhao Xuening must resolve this hidden danger as soon as possible, otherwise he will lose significant benefits.
However, Ihara Ichiro gave an unclear answer to this question.
"This is a matter that can only be decided by the General. It is impossible for people like me to participate in the decision-making. We can only follow the orders of the General."
Zhao Xuening nodded.
"I know this, but what I want to say is that I am very serious about continuing to trade with Japan. I know that there has always been a conflict between Japan and Spain, so I sent troops to attack Manila and prepared to completely Expelled the Spaniards.
I hope that after you return to Japan, your Majesty can convey this respect to General Tokugawa on my behalf, and tell the General that I very much hope to continue trading with Japan. Compared with the Dutch, I am even less able to preach. Just do business and never have any other opinions about Japan. "
"Is this why you attacked Manila?"
Ihara Ichiro was very surprised by this.
Zhao Xuening gave an accurate answer.
"Since you want to do business, you must show sincerity and eliminate the Spaniards who have evil intentions towards Japan. This is my sincerity. I hope General Tokugawa can see my sincerity, please!"
Zhao Xuening bowed slightly towards Ihara Ichiro.
Ihara Ichiro pursed his lips, was silent for a while, and then bowed to Zhao Xuening. His upper body and legs were directly at 90 degrees.
"I have already felt the sincerity of His Excellency the President, so after returning home, I will report the matter to the General immediately."
"Thank you."
After sending Ichiro Ihara away, Zhao Xuening had almost finished handling the needs of businessmen from various countries in Manila. He asked his subordinates to handle these matters while he focused on the military.
In the Battle of Manila, Lanfang's army defeated the main Spanish navy and army in the Philippines. However, in addition to the regular army, Spain also established many militia forces in various provinces of the Philippines to assist in its rule.
And through the interrogation of captured Spanish colonial officials, Zhao Xuening learned that before the army broke through the city, some Spanish colonial officials had already fled to other places. It is very likely that these people fled to a safe place and reorganized their forces.
So Zhao Xuening decided to immediately investigate all directions and be ready for a second battle at any time.
A few days later, Zhao Xuening received accurate information and learned that some of the escaped Spanish colonial officials had fled to the Pampanga region north of Manila, and some had fled to the Bulacan region east of Manila, and settled in these two places. Come down.
It is not surprising that they chose these two places, mainly because Jose had previously ordered the provincial militia organizations to move closer to Manila to prevent Lanfang's attack. Now that Manila has fallen, the militia organizations who have received the order are still advancing.
The largest number of them are currently gathered in the Pampanga and Bulacan regions. Two groups of officials fled to these two areas respectively and assembled militiamen to settle down. It is not known what other plans they have.
But no matter what their plans were, Zhao Xuening was not going to let them go.
I have beaten the regular army into a sieve, what can the militia do to me?
Zhao Xuening ordered the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Corps and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Corps, and ordered Xie Feng, captain of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Corps, and Yuan Jianben, captain of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Corps, to lead their respective battalions to attack the Pampanga and Bulacan regions respectively. , wiped out the militia organizations in the two places, and killed all the remaining colonial officials.
At the same time, Zhao Xuening began to send people to contact the Filipino natives around Manila, and sent people everywhere to inquire about the Spanish colonists and Filipino natives in other places.
On April 27, Xie Feng led his soldiers to the Pampanga area and started a battle with more than 2,000 militiamen in the Pampanga area. After half an hour, they successfully defeated the team and captured all 16 Spanish colonial officials. .
On April 28, Yuan Jianben also arrived in the Bulacan area, fought with more than 3,000 militiamen, defeated their defense lines with artillery, killed six colonial officials and captured 20 alive. The battle also lasted only half an hour. about.
The militia team, mainly composed of Filipino indigenous devils, really lacked the determination and courage to fight to the end for His Majesty the Great King of Spain.
It turns out that when the cannons of Lanfang's army roared, they ran much faster than the colonial officials.
All of these are speedy, natural track and field athletes. If there is an Olympics in this era, they will definitely win medals on behalf of the Philippines.
At this point, the regular army and militia organizations affiliated to the Spanish colonial authorities in Manila were completely annihilated, and the military power of the Manila area, the core of Spanish rule in the Philippines, was completely destroyed by Lanfang's army.
Throughout the Philippines, the Spanish colonial authorities had only twenty or thirty scattered military strongholds and a small number of armed personnel left, and no longer had an organized force to resist Zhao Xuening.
Since then, the Philippines has changed hands irreversibly.
