While Zhao Xin and Lu Qi were talking, a fleet composed of two Manila galleons was heading north along the winding coastline of western North America. One of the two ships is named "San Fernando" with a displacement of 1,500 tons; the other is named "San Antonio" with a displacement of 1,900 tons.
You must know that before the arrival of Beihai Town, the Spanish Empire had no serious threats on the west coast of America. Apart from the forts at various ports, the Manila galleon based at the Port of Acapulco was enough to deal with it. Of course, Admiral Denava thought the same way before, and ended up sinking one ship and seriously injuring another.
Although the Spanish already knew the power of Beihai Town's artillery, they did not rush to mobilize battleships from the east coast. Besides, the purpose of this visit is to negotiate and obtain prisoners. There is no point in getting two battleships to show off one's power.
At this time, in the captain's cabin at the stern of the "San Carlos", several blubber candles as thick as a baby's forearm illuminated the room in detail. Brother Hilarion Diez, who served as the translator for this mission, He was telling the missionaries, including Archbishop Peralta, what he had seen and heard in San Francisco. As he told the story, everyone present looked sometimes surprised and sometimes angry.
Brother Diez met the mission in Monterey, and most of the members of the mission, except for the governor of California, José Joaquín de Arrillaga, and the president of the Franciscan Mission, Fermín de. La Suen, the others boarded from Acapulco.
"You mean the Chinese not only razed our church to the ground but built a temple of their own there?"
"Yes, dear bishop. It's just like the City God's Temple I saw in Macau and Manila. But in addition to enshrining their own patron saint, it also enshrines the Indian eagle god and wolf god."
Archbishop Peralta interjected: "Neoma?"
Brother Diez shook his head and said: "No. It is a female deity similar to 'Teyquam'. She has eight arms, sitting on a lotus seat, and each hand holds an object."
When the archbishop heard this, he said indignantly: "Heretics! They should be burned at the stake!"
Brother Diez said humbly: "You are absolutely right!"
Okay, I have to explain the above conversation.
It is said that among the European countries before the First Opium War, Spain was the one who studied China the most. Beginning in the 1620s, in order to better penetrate Christian influence into the interior of China, there have been such figures as Xavier, Martin de Rada, Gao Muxian, Escalante, and Mendoza. Spanish scholars with religious identities, they even became the earliest sinologists in Europe.
Among these people, the most well-known "Sinologist" is Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, who belongs to the Augustinian Catholic Church. Interestingly, this person had never been to China and did not understand Chinese. However, he wrote a widely influential historical work - "History of the Great Empire of China" by collecting contemporary materials and other people's research results.
This book covers a lot of information about Ming Dynasty China, including the natural environment, history, culture, customs, etiquette, religious beliefs, as well as politics and economy. It can be said to be the most important encyclopedia for Europeans to understand ancient China.
How authoritative is this book? Basically from the 17th century to the early 19th century, every trade representative sent to Guangzhou or missionary sent to the East from various European countries must have a copy.
In this set of books, the introduction to Chinese religion and idol worship specifically mentions that among the many gods believed in by Chinese folk in the Ming Dynasty - probably in the area south of the Yangtze River, three are the most important, namely Sichia, Teyquam , Neoma. The first one is Sakyamuni, the second one is the Queen Mother, and the last one is Mazu.
The problem is that the main god enshrined in the Taoist temple in Kinmen is Doumu Yuanjun, the innate god of Taoism and the mother of all stars. In the Taoist mythology system, this man had nine sons in total. The eldest son and second son were "Emperor Gouchen" and "Emperor Ziwei" respectively, and the other seven were the Big Dipper.
The reason why Taoist Master Ma Benchu had to go out of his way to worship such a main god was because he was trying to flatter Zhao Xin in a subtle way.
Emperor Ziwei, also known as the "Arctic Emperor", has the highest position and is the most noble, and is the "Lord of the Stars". Historically, Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang were all said to be the reincarnations of Emperor Ziwei, and their civil and martial arts were extremely high in Chinese history. Thinking that Beihai Town was founded in the northern land outside Guan, it goes without saying who Emperor Ziwei is alluding to.
Brother Diez obviously didn't understand this, so he took it for granted that the female-faced Doumu Yuanjun was the Queen Mother.
At this time, someone else interrupted: "How many clergy do they have?"
Brother Diez said: "I only saw three people. In China, such people are called Taoist priests. I have seen people with the same attire in Macau."
Archbishop Peralta nodded and said, "You continue."
Brother Dietz said: "On behalf of the diocese, I protested to the Chinese, hoping to allow us to restore the church and compensate for the demolition of the church. However, their governor clearly rejected this."
Upon hearing this, Archbishop Peralta and Fermín de Rasuen looked at each other and frowned deeply. Compared with the Chinese occupying San Francisco by force, they were more worried about the infringement of religious rights.
You must know that Spain's colonial conquest process in the Americas essentially used a combination of religious power and royal power, which was very different from the colonial methods of Protestant countries.
Protestant countries such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands practice mercantilism and put trade first. They don't care whether the natives believe in God or not. Those who make money are God. They must circle their sphere of influence first. This is especially true for the Russians. Their desire for furs makes them use both hands to kill and lure, and they also do not care whether the natives convert or not.
Spain is different from Portugal. As an old colonial empire that started the Age of Discovery, its main motivation for overseas expansion was to seize the wealth of the East and spread Catholicism in an attempt to establish a "Catholic Empire" spanning the world.
With tens of thousands of missionaries as pioneers, they penetrated deep into Indian tribes and villages, holding crosses high in one hand and waving muskets and spears in the other. Those who followed me prospered, and those who went against me perished. Forced the natives to change their beliefs and lifestyles, assimilated the colonies religiously and culturally, turning the local natives into serfs under the plantation system; and thus established a huge church system in North and South America, and set up a set of governors and The administrative system is parallel to the hierarchical system.
By the 1820s, the total number of churches built by Spain in the American colonies reached as high as 80,000, and 12,000 churches were built in the Viceroyalty of Mexico alone. For many Indians in western North America, the first Europeans they encountered were missionaries.
Fermin de La Suen, the chairman of the Franciscan Mission, pondered for a moment, and then said to Peralta eagerly: "Your Excellency, Archbishop, after you return this time, please be sure to present your message to the Royal Supreme Council. Members, please explain the situation. The Parish of San Francesco cannot be lost under any circumstances. If necessary, I will make representations to the Governor and councilors."
Don't think that Rasuen is making a fuss. You must know that even though it is the end of the eighteenth century, the Spanish Empire is still an extremely conservative and religiously fanatical country among European countries. This is inseparable from its history.
Spain was born as a result of the Crusaders taking back its territory from the Arabs, known historically as the Reconquista. In the sixteenth century, the Roman Church split into Catholicism and Protestantism under the impact of the European Reformation. Most of Northern Europe broke away from the rule of Roman Catholicism and became the sphere of influence of Protestantism; while Spain became a stubborn fortress guarding Catholicism and vigorously spread Catholicism. It has become the goal that successive Spanish kings have pursued.
Therefore, what Beihai Town did in the Kinmen area was undoubtedly a challenge to the Spanish colonial system that combined royal power and religious power. This was a far more serious problem than the loss of several colonial strongholds!
Peralta sighed after hearing this and said slowly: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to get support from the mainland for this matter. You know, our war with the French has reached a critical moment, and neither the mainland nor the eastern provinces can Send troops to support. There is another one, you all know, that is Santo Domingo."
"Alas! How could this happen?" The monks present all sighed heavily.
At this point in time, the Spanish Empire was in a very difficult situation. The "French Revolutionary War" far away in Europe had entered a critical period. The "Battle of the Pyrenees" was approaching the final moment of the decisive battle. The Spanish army was the main force that did its part.
It is said that in the first anti-French alliance war, the battles of Valmy, Jemappe and Toulon are usually talked about by future generations. But in fact, the "Battle of the Pyrenees" was an important weight in ensuring the victory of the French Revolutionary War, and it also paved the way for the subsequent Peninsular War in the Napoleonic era.
In response to the French army's attack on the eastern front, the Spanish army deployed its elite troops, using a huge force of 90,000 people to build a defense line consisting of 90 fortresses from the northern border of Catalonia to the Mediterranean coast. In the history of another time and space, this war will continue until July next year, and will eventually end with the French army defeating the main force of the Spanish army and capturing Bilbao, thus establishing a war alliance between Spain and France.
If the war on the mainland is imminent, Spanish Santo Domingo in Latin America is now also in chaos, causing the New Spain Province's troops in the Americas to be mired in quagmire. Saint-Domingue is actually the collective name for what later became Haiti and Dominica. The former is now a French colony and the latter is a Spanish colony.
Beginning in 1791, a slave uprising broke out in Haiti. In order to add chaos to France and even take French Saint-Domingue into its hands, the province of New Spain began to openly support the rebels last year, and even integrated the black rebels into its own second-line troops, giving black officers and soldiers the rights enjoyed by Spanish citizens. All rights reserved.
The problem is that Toussaint Louverture, known as the "Father of the Founding of Haiti," had a lifelong goal to liberate all the black slaves on the island of Saint-Domingue, not just the four thousand officers and soldiers who joined the Spanish army. However, his proposal was rejected by Spain, and Toussaint became independent from the rebel forces and called himself "Commander-in-Chief of the Black Forces." Due to his huge appeal among blacks, plantation slaves from both French and Spanish countries fled to join his troops.
Now the Spaniards are quitting. They support you and let you create trouble for the French. How can a dog bite Lu Dongbin and turn around to poach our enemies? The Spaniards then turned to support other rebel leaders and even placed Toussaint's wife and children under house arrest.
This time Toussaint stopped playing with the Spaniards, and instead flirted with the French. In February of this year, the National Convention finally made a resolution to abolish slavery in Saint-Domingue. In July, when the news reached Toussaint's ears, he completely turned to France.
When Spain saw that Toussaint had rebelled, it knew that its own family could not cope with it, so it sent an invitation to Britain. How about our two families carving up French Saint-Domingue?
The British readily agreed and sent the first batch of 7,600 expeditionary troops. Although Britain and France were fighting to the death in Europe, when the British troops landed in Port-au-Prince, the people who welcomed them were French people who supported slavery.
Ordinarily, the British would attack from the western coast, and the Spanish army would attack from the north and the border of the Western French colonies. The two empires were waiting for the Toussaint family. They should surrender anyway.
However, what the Spanish did not expect was that within two months after the British army arrived in Saint-Domingue, a large-scale yellow fever outbreak occurred. Both officers and soldiers were either dead or waiting to die; so Du San took advantage of this opportunity to concentrate his forces against the Spanish army, which had now entered the territory of Spanish Santo Domingo.
So you see, Europe and Central America are in such chaos, how can the province of New Spain have time to deal with the town of North Sea entrenched in Upper California? As the representative of the Royal Supreme Council in America, Archbishop Peralta, whose status is second only to the provincial governor, knows this all too well!
Compared to people like the Archbishop and the Franciscan Mission, California Governor De Arrillaga who is present here is more concerned about taking back the San Francisco area. However, just five days ago, when Archbishop Peralta arrived in Monterey, he also brought a letter from Juan Vicente de Guemes Pacheco, the governor of New Spain.
In this letter, Governor Pacheco ordered him to cooperate with the archbishop in getting the captured officers and soldiers back. Before thoroughly understanding the strength of the Chinese, we must do everything possible to avoid continued armed conflict with the Chinese in Kinmen Town, so as not to further corrupt the situation in California. To this end, we may even give up all jurisdiction north of Santa Cruz.
However, if the Chinese try to use the victory of this war as a threat to assert territorial claims on the west coast of California, they must resolutely push back.
After de Arrillaga read the letter, he knew that his idea of leading troops to retake San Francisco was dead. Moreover, what the Governor said was like taking off his pants and farting, purely for the sake of looking good. The territory has been given to others, but you still have the nerve to say that you disagree with their territorial claims?
1. About the Augustinians. One of the four major mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Spanish Church sent Augustinian missionaries to Fujian for missionary work many times. It was not until the 19th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty that a missionary base was established in Guangzhou. After that, dioceses were established in Changde, Lizhou and Yuezhou in Hunan for a short period of time. After the "Great Ceremony Incident", the sect was all expelled. 2. Starting from the Song Dynasty, Doumu Yuanjun became a god spanning Buddhism and Taoism, corresponding to the incarnation of Vairochana Buddha, Malizhitian Bodhisattva.
(End of chapter)
