On April 29, Zhao Xuening learned accurate information while in contact with the Filipino natives near Manila.
In some areas north and south of Manila, military attacks by indigenous Filipinos against local Spanish colonists have begun.
It seems that Spain's colonial rule of more than two hundred years was not very good. The Spaniards, who lacked great virtue, did not gain anything like the support of the people, and even the number of Japanese devils was pitifully small.
After the news of the Battle of Manila spread, the indigenous Filipinos, who had suffered from the torture of colonial officials, immediately launched an anti-Western uprising.
As long as there are Spaniards, there will be fighting against the Spaniards. The natives attack the Spanish military camps, surround their cities, and engage in fierce battles with them. The leaders of the Spanish commercial colonial strongholds are worried about this.
However, such an uprising is still too small compared to the size of the entire Philippines. There was such an uprising more than ten years ago. At that time, the British and Spanish dogs bit each other. The British took the initiative to attack Manila and occupied Manila for seven full days. Year.
At that time, many Filipinos took the opportunity to resist. Unexpectedly, the British and the Spanish had the same interests on this point.
The British massacred the rebels in Manila, and the Spaniards massacred the rebels in other areas. The two sides had a tacit understanding to kill the Filipino natives first, and then continue to fight.
After that uprising, the resistance of the indigenous Filipinos was greatly weakened, and it did not slow down even after more than ten years, so that this time their resistance was still not enough to shake the foundation of the Spaniards.
They lacked muskets and artillery, lacked tactical organization, and lacked the decisive force to threaten the Spaniards. They often relied on the strength of their numbers to surround the Spaniards in a camp or a city, and then were massacred by the Spaniards using a small number of people to control sophisticated firearms.
They could only use old shotguns, bows and arrows, and a small number of artillery before the 16th century to attack the Spanish, trying to pile up victory with human lives, but this could not succeed.
The Spanish army in the Philippines was not Lanfang's opponent, but it was more than enough to deal with the natives. Otherwise, it would not have been able to stay here for two hundred years. Therefore, even though the natives suffered huge losses, they still could not achieve any results.
After Zhao Xuening learned the news, he thought for a while. When Chu Teng, Zhao Changan and other subordinates asked if they wanted to attack immediately, he shook his head.
"How can the icing on the cake be better than giving help when it's time? Let them fight, let them despair, and wait until they have nothing to do, then it's time for us to take action. We are not here to be good people, but to rule."
Zhao Xuening ordered his subordinates to closely monitor the progress of the war situation in various places and report the latest situation to him at any time. Then, he began to have close contact with the Chinese in Manila and nearby communities.
In this era, the Chinese groups in Nanyang were roughly divided into three types.
The first type is businessmen who come to do business. Whether they are officials and businessmen appointed by the Thirteenth Bank of China or private businessmen in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, they are all businessmen. They often have power and background in their hometowns, and they come and go frequently. The Qing government's ban meant little to them.
The second type is the local losers who can no longer survive in their hometowns and have no choice but to come out to try their luck to see if there is a chance to return home with honor in the future, as well as the refugee group who have no land to farm and no food to eat and can only take risks.
These people basically came to Nanyang secretly, and they took huge risks in and out. Therefore, if they didn't make it, they had no intention of going back. After arriving in Nanyang, most of them worked as coolies and miners, narrowly escaping death. , life is very difficult.
The third type is the descendants of previous generations of immigrants. Their ancestors are either survivors of the Ming Dynasty who fled overseas during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, or refugees with political attributes who later had to flee due to the coercion of the Qing government's various inappropriate policies.
Among these three types of people, the first type is not easy to win over, because they are often people with family property, and those with property have perseverance. If you want to win them over to work for Lanfang, it really depends on the situation. For example, Liu Chongwen wants to People who want to leave a way out for themselves.
The other two types of people are easier to win over. The Chinese in Zhao Xuening's own team are mainly the latter two types. They tend to be more adventurous and daring to fight. The brave spirit of the Han people is vividly reflected in them.
Therefore, after Zhao Xuening treated the first type of Chinese group headed by Liu Chongwen, he then spent a lot of time in contact with the second and third type of Chinese groups.
Overall, the contact was pleasant.
Because of Zhao Xuening's huge prestige in the Nanyang region, he was even worshiped as an idol by these Chinese groups. As soon as he passed by, the locals beat gongs, drums, and set off firecrackers to welcome him.
The local Chinese completely regarded him as the backbone of everyone, and they didn't even need him to express his intention to recruit. These people couldn't wait to get his protection.
The reason is also very simple.
The second and third types of Chinese are often second-class citizens in places like the Philippines. The few who get out can be won over by the colonial authorities, and they often have various dissatisfaction with the colonial authorities. Most Chinese are It’s hard to be seen as a human being doing hard and dangerous work in the Philippines.
Zhao Xuening sent several wars with Spain to seize control of several copper and iron mines. By the way, he also incorporated the professional miners who were mainly indigenous and Chinese at that time into Lanfang Company, and then gave them to the Lanfang Company. Their treatment is slightly worse than that of local workers in Lanfang.
For example, there are three working meals a day, wages are paid on time every month, ten hours of work a day, and one day off every ten days.
In addition, people were sent to build miners' dormitories for them, equipped with medical, bathing and simple entertainment facilities.
In Lanfang itself, this has been the standard welfare package for regular employees in Lanfang since the days of Lanfang Company. Later, as Lanfang Company became financially wealthy, the welfare standards became higher.
But in the Philippines, this kind of treatment is a myth among miners.
Such a welfare system is simply a fantasy to these miners. They can't imagine that coolies like them, who are not regarded as human beings by the Spaniards, can have such generous treatment.
Can coolies also get three meals, get paid, and only work ten hours?
Any rest days?
Can I still take a shower?
Are there any entertainment facilities available?
And bonuses for doing well?
Can you also be rewarded with extra meals and big fish and meat?
This group of miserable miners were knocked unconscious by the pie falling from the sky. They regarded Lanfang's institutional welfare policy as a grace and were extremely grateful. They built a shrine for Zhao Xuening on the spot, and then paid tribute to their family and friends in their living community. Spread the great "gospel" of Zhao Xuening.
They were all Chinese, and word spread from one to another. When the Chinese coolies working in other mining areas heard about it, they didn't believe it at first. Later, relatives came to visit and brought a lot of holiday benefits that Lanfang distributed during traditional festivals and were dazzled by it. .
Every traditional Chinese holiday, Lanfang Company will distribute holiday benefits to regular employees, such as rice, flour, oil, various kinds of pickled meats, or sweet foods such as fruits.
For the Chinese in the Philippines, these are also fantasy-level existences.
From this, Chinese people in the Philippines began to learn about Lanfang, Zhao Xuening, and how happy the Chinese living and working in Lanfang were.
Later, they took the initiative to spread the word about Lan Fang's victory and illustrious martial arts under the leadership of Zhao Xuening. Gradually, Zhao Xuening's image among the Filipino Chinese community became the light of the Chinese people.
As a result, Chinese miners here continued to flee with their families to the mines controlled by Lanfang to seek shelter. Of course, Lanfang would not refuse anyone who came, and some indigenous miners who could not stand the Spanish misbehavior also escaped. , Lanfang also accepted it correctly.
Finally, the Spaniards couldn't bear it anymore and approached Lanfang to negotiate.
Zhao Xuening retorted to them with a few words, telling them not to compete, to do it if they don't agree, and to shut up if they don't dare.
The Spaniards could only go back in despair and set up blockades one after another, and sent people to spread false news that Lan Fang was cruel, but they did not dare to attack the mining areas controlled by Lan Fang.
However, the Spanish actions had the opposite effect.
Their mouths are tough, but their bodies are honest. The tight blockade makes their lies self-defeating. On the contrary, people who were originally suspicious no longer doubt that Lan Fang's human behavior is true.
After two hundred years of colonial rule, local people in the Philippines basically know what the Spanish colonial authorities preached. If you listen to it in reverse, it is basically the truth.
As a result, the images of Zhao Xuening and Lan Fang became more majestic and brighter, in sharp contrast to the indifferent Spanish colonial authorities.
And then there’s now.
Zhao Xuening called over. Most of the Chinese community in the Philippines already regarded him as the light of the Chinese people. Zhao Xuening did not even need to express any attitude. As soon as he stood over there, the Chinese community immediately gathered around and cheered loudly.
Their good days are finally coming!
So Zhao Xuening knew that the foundation for his initial foothold in the Philippines had emerged.
Later, Zhao Xuening cordially talked with these Chinese people, asking about their life difficulties and their sufferings. If you don't ask, you won't know. When he asked, many Chinese residents shed sad tears.
In short, life was too hard. Not only those who worked as coolies, but even those who had some money in business were still fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered in the eyes of the Spaniards.
The Spaniards needed the Chinese to develop their productivity, but they were also afraid that too many Chinese would threaten their rule. So, like the Netherlands, they carried out planned massacres of the Chinese five times in more than a hundred years, with as many as five in total. More than 10,000 Chinese were killed.
The Chinese who survived were also subject to heavy restrictions. They not only had to convert to Catholicism, but also had to cut off their braids so that they could be allowed to live in the Philippines, marry and have children, and receive treatment similar to human beings.
As for those who are unwilling to convert to Catholicism or cut off their braids, they are no different from pigs. Being alive is considered a victory.
People were crying and confiding their sufferings to Zhao Xuening. Zhao Xuening shed tears and then ordered his subordinates to bring a few captured Spanish soldiers and hand them over to the Chinese people in the community so that they could vent their anger and dissatisfaction.
By the time the venting was over, the unfortunate Spanish prisoners no longer looked human.
From this, Zhao Xuening found a good way to further win people's hearts.
So, he sorted out the Spanish prisoners who were originally intended to be used as coolies. Every time he visited a Chinese community, he took a few Spanish prisoners there and handed them over to the local Chinese for disposal.
He would erect a high platform, tie up the Spanish prisoners, and make them kneel on the high platform with their heads lowered, while the Chinese people in the audience looked at them. Zhao Xuening would ask the Chinese people to talk about the sins they had suffered, and for every one of them, he would slap those Spanish captives with a whip.
When they were finally beaten to death, they were hanged collectively. The Chinese residents watching in the audience rejoiced and cheered loudly, as if they themselves had won this victory against the Spanish.
In this way, the 50,000 to 60,000 Chinese living in the surrounding areas of Manila were quickly incorporated into the Lanfang Republic's household registration by Zhao Xuening. They all expressed their willingness to become subjects of the Lanfang Republic and live under Zhao Xuening's protection.
Anyway, we can't go back to the Qing Dynasty. If we follow Zhao Xuening, we still have the possibility of being popular and popular, so why not?
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PS: I didn’t get any lunch meat from the steamed shrimp dumplings I had in the morning, so I wasn’t satisfied, so I didn’t add more.
