Luzon is, of course, the Philippines, which is currently basically in Spanish hands.
In this era that Westerners call the great geographical discovery, Spain continued to expand to the west of the Atlantic Ocean in accordance with the relevant laws of "Patronage", and finally crossed the American continent and crossed the Pacific Ocean. Year) established colonial fortresses and trading outposts.
Coincidentally, after many years of disputes over the opening and closing of seas, the Ming court, at Gao Gong's insistence, announced during the Longqing period that the sea bans in Fujian were partially opened, allowing ships to trade in the "East and West Oceans".
Ming commodities such as raw silk and porcelain have long been best-sellers in the global market, and the Spanish owned a huge amount of American silver. Therefore, under the urgent needs of the markets of both sides, the trade between the Ming Dynasty and Luzon, or the Spanish Philippines, began to flourish rapidly after the first year of Wanli, and its scale continued to expand.
However, until this time, the Spanish still did not fully control the entire Philippine Islands. Their rule was still of the "point-to-area" type, that is, they mainly controlled important strongholds such as Manila, but were unable to penetrate into the countryside. The main factor responsible for this is simply that there are few people.
To be precise, there are too few Spanish people. So far, Spain has only 2,000 troops in Manila, its most important stronghold in the Spanish Philippines, and Gao Pragmatic has long considered whether to capture the Philippines.
The reason why Gao Pragmatic did not take action in the end was that when he was thinking about this matter, Spain was in its prime moment. Although there were some signs of various troubles, they had not yet seriously entangled it; secondly, Gao Pragmatic was worried that it would be easy to capture the Philippines, but that the transfer station for American silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty would be cut off, which would intensify the silver shortage in the Ming Dynasty.
So why did Gao Pragmatic suddenly propose taking action against Luzon or the Spanish Philippines today?
The first reason is, of course, to divert the nobles' goals, so that they can temporarily withdraw their claws from reaching out to Japan, so as not to destroy Gao Situ's grand strategy; the second reason is very simple: the Spaniards have improved Rates of Ming merchant ships traveling to the Philippines for trade.
Out of the desire for commercial interests, as early as the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), when Legazpi colonized the Philippine Islands, officials from the royal treasury accompanied him there. The three most important positions in the Ministry of Finance are accounting officer, cashier and clerk. They are usually responsible for evaluating royal interests and recording relevant financial data.
At the same time as Manila was founded (1571), the authorities also established some "royal safes", where members of the royal treasury were responsible for managing revenue and expenditure and writing accounting documents.
Perhaps because the early scale was so insignificant, the Spaniards did not impose taxes at the beginning. However, this does not mean that Manila authorities have completely ignored this potential revenue source. Sand, the governor-general of the Philippines who once strongly advocated the military conquest of China, stated in his report on June 8, 1577 (this was the fifth year of Wanli):
To date, we have not levied any other taxes such as import and export taxes. When I arrived in the Philippines it was still in a difficult stage and the people were so poor that I did not dare to collect. It seems likely that taxation will be considered soon, and the benefits will then come from it. Now, no matter what cargo the ship brings from China, the tax will not be much.
Obviously, Governor Sander’s decision not to impose taxes for the time being was based on the realistic consideration that the trade between the two parties was “still in a difficult stage.” Because even if there is a tax, "the tax will not be much." But on the other hand, the prospect that "taxation can be considered soon" and benefiting from it clearly shows the long-term plans of the Manila authorities.
During the third year of Wanli to the eighth year of Wanli (specifically August 1575-April 1580) during the tenure of Governor Sand, the Manila authorities once levied a "berthing tax" on Ming ships. In this regard, the Philippine official Ledesma recalled in a 1585 report:
When Dr. Sander was the Governor-General of the Philippines, it was stipulated that Chinese coming to the Philippines must pay a parking tax for each ship, which ranged from 25, 30, and 50 pesos depending on the size of the ship. In addition, there are no other taxes to pay.
Considering that the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty mostly arrived in the Philippines for trade in the first half of the year, and Sander only arrived in Manila on August 25, 1575, the actual collection time of the parking tax will not be earlier than 1576, and it is very likely that it will be effectively implemented Delayed to next year (1577).
Gao Jingshi couldn't remember the specific time of this, because at that time he was busy studying on his own, accompanying him to study, and helping Gao Gong make plans, so he rarely paid attention to details.
But just as Governor Sande expected, in the eighth year of Wanli (1580) when Gao Pragmatic won the first prize, the number of Ming merchant ships going to Manila for trade increased sharply, and the scale of trade increased significantly. Therefore, Long Qili, who succeeded him as the Governor-General of the Philippines, began to "consider taxation" in the second month after taking office.
On June 20 of the same year, Longchili officially proposed to King Philip II that a 3% goods tax be levied on imports and exports from the Philippines, and a tax of 3% per day would be levied on ships heading to New Spain (one of Spain's main colonies in the Americas). 12 pesos shipping tax per ton.
Spain's excise tax is called "almojarifazgo", which is derived from the Arabic "al-musrif". It is also called royal tax (realesderechs) in some later literature. It was once widely implemented in Spain and the vast area of "West Indies".
In fact, although the scope of the goods tax implemented in the Spanish Philippines covers all imported and exported goods, because the local development level is still very low and the products are very limited, in fact, this tax is mainly levied on Ming goods entering and leaving the island.
However, the implementation of the excise tax in the Philippines has not been so smooth. In the ninth year of Wanli (1581), Governor Long Qili levied a 2% tax on goods exported to New Spain and a 3% tax on goods brought to Manila by the Ming Dynasty. Who knew that he was not allowed to implement this tax rate, and was even blamed for it.
These voices of blame first came from the nominal administrative superior unit of the Philippines, the colonial authorities of New Spain in the Americas.
On March 10, 1581, on his way to the Philippines, Dominican Salazar, who had just been appointed as the first bishop of Manila, wrote a letter to the Philippine financial official Ledesma in Chilapa, Mexico, insisting that the Philippines was now It is not convenient to levy goods tax. His reason is "because the country (Philippines) is in the new stage and is not yet strong enough to sustain itself."
Echoing this, in the year following the implementation of the New Deal (the tenth year of Wanli, 1582), "certain businessmen and important persons" in the Philippines anonymously reported to the Spanish royal family:
Governor Long Qilu imposed a 3% tax on all cloth, which caused great dissatisfaction among Chinese businessmen. Those Chinese businessmen claimed that they would never come to Manila again because trading was no longer free. Since we have not conquered this area for a long time, this country (Philippines) is so fragile and vast that if freedom is lost in all aspects, it may be destroyed.
The statement "Chinese businessmen are extremely dissatisfied" is not nonsense, because the representative of "Chinese businessmen" here is highly pragmatic. After Gao Jingshi captured Annan, he expressed his dissatisfaction to some local officials in Manila through Jinghua's fleet.
However, the main reason why Gao Pragmatic said this at the time was that Manila's infrastructure was still quite poor. The port facilities of Manila Port were not even as good as those of Qinzhou Port, which was temporarily built less than a year ago.
By comparison, when Hongchao was first re-opened, did it strive to improve all-round basic guarantees of hardware and software while also offering various preferential policies, including tax exemptions, in order to attract foreign businessmen and overseas Chinese businessmen to settle in? Your Philippine authorities haven't even built a port to a satisfactory level and are about to start imposing taxes. So as the number one businessman, why don't I express my protest?
Of course, having said that, at that time, he had already made up his mind not to move on. The Spanish's high pragmatism was actually just talk. He knew that the Europeans' way of thinking was different from the Chinese. At this time, the Spaniards, especially, could only rely on "profit possibilities". damaged" to force change.
But something happened that puzzled Gao Pragmatic at that time. Even though the new tax system encountered various criticisms, it was finally officially approved. On May 10, 1583 (the eleventh year of Wanli), the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which was ordered to investigate whether the New Deal was appropriate, reported the final results as follows:
His Majesty the King ordered the Supreme Court to investigate the policy of former Governor Long Qili to implement a 3% tax rate on imported and exported goods; to explore whether the policy is appropriate, and if it is inappropriate, it should be abolished, or corresponding measures should be taken to amend it. Considering that the royal treasury of the Philippines is short of funds and local expenditures are huge, the Supreme Court decided that the 3% tax rate policy will continue to be implemented.
The 3% tax rate seemed to be barely adequate in the pragmatic view of the time, so since the Philippine authorities insisted on levying it, they would levy it. Although the highly pragmatic Jinghua people protested from time to time and put pressure on the Philippine authorities and even the King of Spain, he did not really care about it as a big deal.
However, another five years passed, and at the beginning of this year, Gao Pragmatic received a report that the Philippine authorities had raised tax rates twice in a row.
According to the report, the sixth Philippine Governor Santiago de Vera first adjusted the tax rate to 6%. More than half a month later, he suddenly changed his mind and announced that the tax rate would be adjusted again and directly raised to 10%.
The tax rate suddenly more than tripled, and businessmen in the Ming Dynasty naturally refused to trade. After the failure of contact with the Spanish authorities, Jinghua's trade fleet leader led the trade fleet including thirty-seven private merchant ships directly back to the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he immediately reported to the Nanyang Fleet, Guangzhou Port, and Quanzhou Port.
In the news Gao Pangshi received, both the Nanyang Fleet and the managers of the two ports said: Governor de Vera is simply crazy. Although maritime trade is highly profitable, it is precisely because of such high profits that a 10% excise tax is a bloodletting-level slaughter. For a colonial authority, this move is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the eggs.
But Gao Pragmatic knew what was going on as soon as he saw the report: Governor de Vera was not crazy, at most he was "forced to go crazy."
The reason is simple. This year is the 16th year of Wanli, which is 1588 AD - the first expedition of the Invincible Fleet to England took place this year!
The Armada's expedition to England was never a one-and-done deal. In fact, the "Anglo-Spanish War" was a tug-of-war that lasted for about twenty years. This war was an intermittent armed conflict between the Spanish colonial empire and the Kingdom of England without a formal declaration of war. The entire war consisted of multiple large-scale battles. It began in 1585 (the fourteenth year of Wanli) when the United Kingdom and the Netherlands signed the Nansage Treaty. Treaty, Britain supported the Dutch in their resistance to the Spanish Empire.
In other words, the premise for the outbreak of the Anglo-Spanish War was the Dutch Revolution. There is no need to say much about this revolution. It only needs to be clarified that Spain is now deeply mired in the Netherlands and has experienced two national bankruptcies in terms of finance.
Spain, which had already gone bankrupt twice, was about to mobilize a huge Armada to expedition to England. The funds required were obviously extremely huge.
To make matters worse, France's religious wars also reached a critical moment at this time, and Henry III, the last king of the Valois dynasty, could no longer bear it. According to estimates in Spain, Henry III, who is seriously ill, may die at any time, and Henry of Navarre is most likely to succeed.
Henry of Navarre was a figure that King Philip II of Spain hated extremely, not for any other reason, but mainly because the later Henry IV was a Huguenot (the name of Calvinism in France). .
As the guardian of the Holy See, Philip II's religious enthusiasm can only be described as fanaticism, so he began to actively prepare to intervene in the changes in France. Of course, France is undoubtedly a powerful power, so the funds required to intervene in France are also huge.
To put it simply, the three wars Spain is fighting and preparing to fight are all crowded together, and each of these three wars can be described as a gold-eating beast. In such a situation, how could the Governor of the Philippines remain indifferent and stay aloof?
Gao Pragmatic believes that this is why Governor de Vera raised tax rates continuously within half a month. However, understanding the motivation does not mean that he has to acquiesce and endure it.
If the Spanish-Philippine Governor-General honestly lets Manila serve as a transit point, the tax rate of 3% can be tolerated, but if they want to adjust the tax rate to 10%, then Gao Pragmatic will not bother to reason with them.
Is my thousands-sailed two-ocean fleet here just to reason with you? Since you are in the first grade of junior high school, don't blame me for doing the fifteenth grade.
The reason why de Vera dared to raise the tax rate in this way is probably because he believed that Manila's business activities had already formed inertia. In his opinion, as long as the merchants of the Ming Dynasty still need this huge benefit and the silver from the West Indies (America), they will still come even if taxes are raised.
However, for Gao Pragmatic, this idea in turn is also no problem: since Manila's business activities have formed an inertia, as long as Spain still needs this huge benefit, it needs to use money that cannot be eaten and clothed in exchange for Ming products, even if Luzon Even if the owner changes, they will still come.
But when Gao Jingshi talked about snatching Luzon, Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong were stunned. After being stunned, they were ecstatic: Gao Jingshi was actually willing to let them set foot in Nanyang!
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