Chapter 219
Magellan led a Spanish expedition to the Philippine Islands in 1521. After that, Spain gradually invaded and occupied the Philippines and ruled for more than 300 years.
To be precise, during the 333-year colonial rule, the Spaniards left only some buildings to the Philippines, but not culture.
This shows that Spanish rule is actually very rough. Of course, this is also directly related to the weakening of the Spanish Empire. The current Spanish Empire's main colony in the Far East is the Philippine Islands.
The agreement signed between Cheng Shijie and the Spanish Governor-General Colaqui stipulates that Cheng Shijie will pay him three million bags of cement and 150,000 kilograms of steel on behalf of the Liaodong Governor-General's Palace. Rule and management, and ownership.
But for Manila, it is on the north bank of the Pasig River, north of the later Escoda Avenue, and eastward along the Old Street (today's Chinatown), with a total of 3,800 meters from east to west and 800 meters from north to south, totaling 3 million square meters. area, approximately 4,600 acres of land.
This agreement is different from that of Tamsui City. The Governor-General of Liaodong owns Tamsui City, including Tamsui Port, docks, and all the land, resources, and minerals within its jurisdiction, including more than 600 slaves brought from Spain.
However, in Manila, the Liaodong Governor-General only has the right to use and manage the old streets, and does not have the power to garrison troops. However, it can garrison armed security personnel, but the number must not exceed 800, and heavy weapons such as large-caliber artillery are not allowed to be deployed.
After the agreement was signed, Cheng Shijie asked his adopted son Cheng Shi to lead a bureau of Guards Division and more than 1,600 temporarily recruited craftsmen in Wusongkou to Manila.
The reason why Colaqui agreed to the Cheng Shijie cooperation agreement was also because of Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong monopolized all trade rights in the Nanyang region. All Spanish trade in Luzon would be peeled off by Zheng Zhilong. Since the Spaniards occupied the northern part of Dazhan, they have been unable to make enough profits to develop Taipei, and they have not been able to expel the Dutch.
When the Dutch had money, they instigated the natives of the Dajuan to fight against the Spanish. In this way, the Spaniards had to expand their investment in order to maintain the garrison in Taipei. The Dagong had never been able to support themselves, and instead had to rely on Manila to subsidize the operations of the Peking University. Therefore, after Manila's economy declined, the Spanish reduced their garrison, giving the Dutch an opportunity to take advantage.
Now it is simply killing two birds with one stone. Youning Navy serves as a buffer area between the Spaniards and Zheng Zhilong, and at the same time, it brings considerable benefits to the Luzon Governor's Palace. In fact, Colaqui did not want Cheng Shijie to occupy the area on the north bank of the Maranipa Shi River, but Cheng Shijie said that the Ninghai Navy needed a basic supply. If he did not agree, the cooperation agreement would be invalid.
Faced with a huge income of more than three million taels of silver, Colaqui reluctantly agreed.
However, after Colaqua agreed, he regretted it. Because Cheng Shijie moved too fast, Cheng Shijie and even Zheng Zhilong did not achieve a decisive victory. However, the fleet bound for Manila had arrived, and the craftsmen who arrived at the same time immediately built solid piers and plank roads with reinforced concrete. This made Colaqui We have to suspect that Cheng Shijie had a plan in advance.
To say that Cheng Shijie had a plan in advance was actually an injustice to him. His plan was to seize the senior officials, and these materials were originally prepared to expand the senior officials' foothold.
After learning about Cheng Shijie's plan, Xie Jinglin thought that he did not need to give the Spanish money and directly launched troops to rob them.
In fact, Cheng Shijie had his own considerations. The Thirty Years War in Europe ended with the defeat of the Spanish Empire. However, Cheng Shijie did not want the Spanish Empire to be defeated so quickly. If Spain could persist longer, more people would die in this war. , Europa's overall strength will also decline. By then, Ning Haijun's expansion to the world will also reduce huge resistance.
After obtaining the right to use the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila, Cheng Shijie gave the port a name: "Zhenghe Port". Zhenghe Port is a natural port that can originally dock giant ships of more than 3,000 tons.
As the first batch of personnel from the Ning Navy arrived at Zhenghe Port on eleven large sand ships, the first to land were 800 soldiers from the Guards Division of the Ning Navy. This was a light infantry force. Although in the agreement, the Ning Navy was not allowed to deploy Large-caliber artillery, but thirty-six Thunder Gun vehicles were deployed.
Ning Haijun, wearing a black military uniform, black armor and black cape, 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 90% of the Chinese and Chinese businessmen in the entire Laogu Street, that is, Chinatown, are out, but the most luxurious house on Laogu Street has its door closed.
This house is a house covering an area of at least fifty acres. It has more than twenty rooms and covers half of the street. The steps in front of the door are made of smooth polished stones. It is completely different from the earthen houses in the old street. Two kinds of weather.
Xie Jinglin observed more carefully. He pointed at the house and said: "The corners of the eaves are quite damaged, and there are signs of new additions in some places. It seems that this mansion was beautiful when the foundation was first laid, but it is no longer in its heyday. Look at the color of these stones. These corners have been damaged for some years, but the additions were made recently. It seems that the Azimu family has been in decline. Now it may be slightly revived, but it has not reached the glory of its heyday."
"The gate of this house is very strong!"
Cheng Shi smiled and said, "Whose mansion is this?"
Cheng Shi saw a plaque hanging on it, but it had crooked words that he didn't recognize.
Lin Ashui, a Chinese businessman, said: "This is the richest man in Manila, the chairman of the Wu family Chinese businessmen!"
Cheng Shi smiled faintly: "President Wu doesn't welcome us!"
Cheng Shi knew the real purpose of Cheng Shijie's asking him to come here. Since Cheng Shi was adopted in the fourth year of Chongzhen, it is now February of the seventh year of Chongzhen. The originally young boy has grown into a real man.
In the Ming Dynasty, seventeen-year-old Cheng Shi was already ready to get married. Although Cheng Shi was only Cheng Shijie's adopted son, there were many people in Liaodong who wanted to marry Cheng Shi.
However, Cheng Shijie, the adoptive father, let Cheng Shi, Cheng Hu, Cheng Jingjing, and Cheng Anning decide their own marriages. However, in their eyes, Cheng Shijie was not satisfied with these marriage seekers and kicked the ball to them. Naturally, they will not decide on their marriage easily.
After Cheng Shi arrived at Zhenghe Port, he didn't even have time to rest before he began to inspect the planned area. The person in charge of contact was Spanish Commercial Commissioner Luis.
Luis is a middle-aged man, a bit slovenly, and of course Spanish people are very slovenly.
"Cheng, from here to here, this is your territory!"
At this moment, Xie Jinglin smiled and said: "Louis, did you lose your things?"
Xie Jinglin casually threw a bag of gold coins on the ground. These were Dutch gold ducat coins. Each coin weighed 3.9 grams and was cast from gold with a purity of 92.5%.
Louis looked at the money bag made of silk on the ground, reached out to pick it up, and weighed it in his hands. It looked like there were at least two or three hundred pieces.
This is actually three hundred gold ducats, which is enough for him to buy a small castle in Spain. This money is like a North drifter who suddenly has the ability to buy a courtyard house in Beijing worth tens of millions.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Louis also understood that Xie Jinglin gave him the gold because he must have wanted him to do something wrong during the surveying and mapping.
Kiyi changed the location in the contract to the area of Zhenghe Port from 3,800 meters to 4,600 meters. The north-south dividing line was changed from the original 800-meter dividing line to Xiaoshiqiao. One thousand six hundred and forty-two meters. Three hundred gold coins expanded the original area to more than 10,189 acres.
Xie Jinglin got a larger port area, and Louis got 300 gold coins. Everyone was happy.
Cheng Shi is still facing a problem, that is, the original architecture of the old ancient street does not conform to the habits of Liaodong. Cheng Shi decided to rebuild the old ancient street and rename it Zhenghe Port District.
According to Liaodong custom, the Zhenghe Port Area only has more than 4,600 acres of land, and it is divided into four areas: port area, commercial area, residential area, and storage area.
Cheng Shi learned a lot from Cheng Shijie, and he immediately started formulating plans for Zhenghe Port and Zhenghe Port Area.
At this time, many guests came to Wu Shangzhi's house in the Wu family. They are all Chinese businessmen from Luzon. Most of the Chinese businessmen from Luzon live in Manila. There is a lot of noise about Ning Haijun's arrival. Everything that needs to be known is known. Those who don't know 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 in the upper position. There was no way. Mr. Li was too old, and his seven sons contributed a lot when Spain massacred the Chinese. Three and a half of the seven sons died, but they survived. He also has a grandson, otherwise the Li family would be extinct.
Li Guoqun looked at Wu Shangzhi and said, "Who are this Ning Haijun group?"
Wu Shangzhi looked at Lin Ashui who was lowering his head and said, "How is your inquiry going?"
Lin Ashui said: "They are the army from the Ming Dynasty!"
"The Ming army?"
Everyone present was extremely surprised.
"Isn't it Zheng Zhilong who has the final say on the sea? Are they Zheng Zhilong's people?"
"Actually, they are not Zheng Zhilong's people, they are Marshal Cheng's people!"
"Who is Marshal Cheng?"
In the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, 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 Marshal Cheng!"
"Who is he?"
"He is the Ming Dynasty's Crown Prince Shaobao and the Governor of Liaodong. He has hundreds of thousands of elite troops under his command. The year before last, he beat the Jiannu slaves to a bloody pulp!"
Wu Shangzhi raised his hand and shouted: "Everyone, everyone, please be quiet. Where and how this Ming army came from, to be honest, I am very confused, but... let's go together tonight feast."
After Wu Shangzhi said these words, hundreds of Chinese businessmen started talking again. They were unwilling to go, but they didn't dare not to go. Then someone said: "President Wu, in your opinion, this group..."
Several people booed at the same time, and the man quickly covered his mouth and continued: "Why do these Ming soldiers invite us to the banquet?"
Wu Shangzhi said: "According to my judgment, since they have occupied this place, they will probably have to establish good relations with the locals to maintain their rule. Haven't they already sent people to invite us to a banquet?"
Li Guoqun smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's the Hongmen Banquet!"
Wu Shangzhi shook his head and said, "It should be a good intention."
"kindness?"
"If they really want to take action, they can do it directly. This time they came with two to three thousand people, and they also brought muskets and swords. We are unarmed and can't fight them. They don't want to fight with swords, they just want to have a good fight. Talk! Their army has done no harm to our Qiu, this is the goodwill they released, that is to see if we sincerely support them, as long as we show that we sincerely support the Ming army."
"Careful?" Li Guoqun said with a smile: "When you say "careful", do you mean...money?"
Wu Shangzhi nodded seriously: "Yes."
Li Guoqun said with a smile: "If they want money, it would be easier. Let's each prepare a generous gift for them."
More than two hundred people all said: "Yes, yes. If you just send some gifts to show your goodwill to them, that's fine."
Although the Chinese are wealthy overseas, they have no political status. They are used to being bullied and are 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 Ming army generals, but a military resource that is beneficial to them. The gathering of rituals is important, and the scattered rituals are more important." Light. Our two hundred and sixty-five merchants give gifts individually, and the gifts seem few and thin. It is better to put them together and give a thick and real gift. There is a saying: Don’t reach out to hit the smiling person. They just entered Manila, we Just reward the troops with a big gift, which shows our sincerity. Since we started with good intentions, they will not be able to treat us coldly and ruthlessly."
Then Wu Shangzhi took out a gift list to reward military personnel.
Here, Cheng Shi will draw up the planning document for Zhenghe Port Area and Zhenghe Port and hand it over to Xie Jinglin for viewing. Before Xie Jinglin has time to read it, a report comes from outside the door: "Report!"
Cheng Shi took the gift list from the guard and said: "Nine thousand dan of rice, one thousand horses, 20,000 sheep, five hundred taels of gold, five thousand taels of silver... Below are various commodities, such as Clothes, such as shoes and hats, and various commodities are also sold by various Chinese merchants in Mani.
Cheng Shi decided to follow the original plan and use wood to build the house, and directly use steel from Liaodong to trade with the Chinese in Manila. On the one hand, it would enhance the strength of the local Chinese, and on the other hand, it would not leave any land to outsiders.
The unscrupulous oppression of Chinese and overseas Chinese by the Spanish Governor-General in Luzon has long made the Chinese in Luzon intolerable. In the 31st year of Wanli, Spain carried out a large-scale massacre of the Chinese in Luzon, with more than 20,000 victims. (The Massacre of Chinese in Manila in 1603), and the number of Chinese in Luzon at that time did not exceed 23,000.
In history, in 1639, the twelfth year of Chongzhen, Spain carried out the second large-scale massacre of Chinese people. Now the life of the Chinese people is very painful.
Soon, the barracks of the Ning Haijun garrison in Zhenghe Port were built. The materials needed to build the port were not troublesome. Liaodong could produce its own steel and cement. The tonnage of sailing ships in this era was not large. It was very simple to build a port. In the future If you can't meet the demand, just continue to expand.
Compared with ports, what is more important is that simple repairs and supplies can be carried out on ships. This is the meaning of the existence of a supply base.
As the Ning Navy Navy robbed the ships that had paid protection fees to Zheng Zhilong to Zhenghe Port, Cheng Shijie also followed Zheng Zhilong's example and resold the seized materials directly to the Spaniards in Luzon, and the price was higher than Zheng Zhilong's. It's nearly 20% cheaper, equivalent to a 20% discount.
Selling at a low price was theoretical. The silk and porcelain that Zheng Zhilong sold to the Spanish were three to five times the price. Besides, Cheng Shijie didn't feel bad selling 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, Ning Haijun can build houses and warehouses in Zhenghe Port, but he cannot build city walls. However, this is not a problem at all for Ning Haijun. The land warfare system of the Ning Navy is trench warfare. The trenches and barbed wire fences form the defense system of the Ning Navy.
When Zheng Zhilong's fleet forward arrived in Hangzhou Bay, they immediately started a decisive battle with Ning Haijun. At this time, Zheng Zhilong learned that Ning Haijun's naval warships were occupying the route and were blocking the route to grab the ship protected by Zheng Zhilong.
Zheng Zhilong was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood when faced with Ning Haijun's indiscriminate tactics. The robbed ships were not only the merchant ships he protected, but also the Zheng Group's own merchant ships. You must know that the silk and porcelain produced in Fujian, As well as the purchased goods, they are all transported by the Zheng Group’s own transport ships.
The benefits were earned by Zheng Zhilong himself. If the demand for Ming goods from European countries was not too great, Zheng Zhilong himself would completely ban the sea. No matter whether it was Jiangnan maritime merchants or Fujian maritime merchants, not even a single ship would be able to enter the sea.
Zheng Zhilong's current problem 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, the younger brother of Shi Daxuan, one of the Eighteen Zhizhi, was one of Zheng Zhilong's main advisers. He frowned slightly: "If you don't go to sea for a day, the losses will be great. Those foreign devils..."
"Let them wait. If anyone is dissatisfied, let them come to me!"
Shi Daxuan said: "There are only fifty or sixty ships on the left and right. How about we detach a fleet to go over and clean them up? If this continues, I'm afraid it will damage the admiral's power!"
"snort!"
Zheng Zhilong said calmly: "Now the division of troops is exactly what Cheng Shijie wants. As long as we turn around and go south, Cheng Shijie will definitely spread the news everywhere. I, the admiral, are afraid of him!"
"But those losses are a bit...a bit...deeply painful!"
Zheng Zhilong actually didn't know that his so-called skin-cutting pain was just the beginning, far from the end.
"Report to the Admiral, those black-skinned officers have landed!"
"What?"
(End of chapter)
