Gao Yimin had shown a "courteous" attitude during the previous discussion with Gao Zhenxin, but this time he was very firm and insisted on the Lu Division landing first. Gao Zhenxin weighed it and decided to accept it.
So the two parties discussed the specific matters of landing in detail. These processes are too detailed and there is no need to go into detail.
Around noon the next day, the Beiyang Expeditionary Fleet arrived in the northern coast of the Philippines, about a hundred miles south of the west side of the Balintang Strait.
It is still some distance from Manila and takes about two days by sea. The reason why today is worth mentioning is that the expeditionary fleet encountered other ships: two merchant ships returning to the Ming Dynasty from Manila.
The long-term anchorage of these two merchant ships in the Ming Dynasty is the Jinghua Ningbo Private Port, and they are also merchant ships that travel with the Jinghua fleet all year round. Before this war, Jinghua's fleet had left Manila to return home, but the two merchant ships had an unexpected fire while docked in Manila. The two ships docked next to each other had some damage to their stern parts, so the ship was delayed. Return date.
It is actually a bit dangerous for two ships to return home alone, but just like the Caribbean pirates mentioned above, pirates in Southeast Asia also have many similar styles. Therefore, generally speaking, dangers rarely occur in the open sea - the open sea is vast and boundless, and pirates do not have satellite positioning, so it is of course difficult to find targets.
For example, this time the Northern Expeditionary Fleet encountered the Spanish Treasure Fleet. Firstly, it was due to chance, and secondly, it was also because of the large scale of the expeditionary fleet that it sent out reconnaissance ships.
This caused the two Ming merchant ships to be initially discovered by the expedition fleet. As soon as the reconnaissance ship approached, they were frightened and ran aside. However, because their speed was not as fast as the two light cavalry-class ships, they were gradually overtaken. At this time, the two parties came into visual distance from each other and realized that they were their own people.
The misunderstanding was resolved, the two merchant ships quickly came over, and were sent to see Gao Zhenxin by two light cavalry-class ships.
Since these two merchant ships usually anchored in Ningbo, they were obviously familiar with the Nanyang Fleet. Now they saw the huge Beiyang Fleet, and they were confused for a moment.
After meeting Gao Zhenxin, the owners of the two ships learned that the Beiyang Fleet was actually heading to Luzon. They couldn't help but be a little surprised and relieved. No wonder the first batch of merchant ships from the Nanyang Fleet were so stuck in returning home. They were co-authored to avoid damage to their cargo due to participation in the war.
Gao Zhenxin asked the shipowner—the owner of the two ships was the same person—about the current situation in Manila. Interestingly, this shipowner is an old acquaintance of Jinghua: he is Boss Hu, Gao Jue’s guide when he entered the Red River by sea to surprise Sheng Long.
Boss Hu was originally mainly engaged in the first-line trade from Guangdong to Annan. Later, Jinghua's power expanded rapidly. As a "hero of the older generation", he was also well taken care of. The business became increasingly prosperous and new trade lines began to be opened.
At this moment, Boss Hu's main business has actually become a circle: leaving the port from Ningbo, the trade route is Guangzhou, Haidong (Huang Zhiting Town in Annan), Jingang, Malacca, Manila, and then back to Guangzhou and Ningbo.
Among them, Ningbo and Guangzhou mainly replenish Hu silk Suzhou embroidery, Cantonese embroidery, porcelain and other goods. They can sell a small part in Annan, then turn around to replenish cheap food and ironware (Ha Tinh iron ore, Jingang processing), and then go to Malacca and Manila to sell , and finally packed the money and took it back to Ming Dynasty.
This is not the only trade route in Southeast Asia, nor is it the only trade route in the Ming Dynasty. For example, sugar from Annam (mainly produced in the part of North Vietnam near Guangxi), ironware from Jingang, bronze and tin ingots from Siam (later Thailand The world's largest tin ore reserves), grain and other transactions in Annan and Siam are mainly monopolized by Jinghua, so there is little private involvement.
[Note: By the way, Annan originally supplied grain to Liaodong. Now the trade volume of this transaction has been reduced due to the development of Liaodong, and the production capacity has been released to North China and other places, which has alleviated the severity of the disaster in North China to a certain extent. In addition, surplus grain from Siam and Cambodia is also being transported to the Ming Dynasty. Although the profit is not very high, it at least avoids empty ships heading north, and mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are. ]
In any case, Boss Hu has now sold his two original small broken boats and transformed into a big boss with four Jinghua standard armed transport ships.
Even though the armed transport ship had an average status when it went out to Beijing, it was a high-end large-scale ship that cost 55,000 taels of silver. Moreover, the external price of the ship is as high as 80,000 taels (Boss Hu enjoys a discount and bought it at a unit price of 75,000 taels). Boss Hu owns four armed transport ships, which is equivalent to a fixed capital of more than 300,000 taels. Shockingly, One party became extremely rich.
Boss Hu, who is so rich, rarely goes to sea in person, but he can't bear the thought of his son turning into a cousin last year. With 90% of his wealth in the sea, Boss Hu naturally has to personally take his son to familiarize himself with the sea, so he returns to his old business.
He taught me step by step on the previous trip, so of course nothing happened. On this trip, he handed over the day-to-day management of the ship to his son. As expected, the young man was still immature in doing things, and he was more or less indifferent to his head, so he caused a fire. Although the fire was quickly controlled due to Boss Hu's decisive decision, these two ships could not keep up with the merchant fleet escorted by the Nanyang Fleet.
Boss Hu had no choice but to let the other two boats go back first, and he took his son to clean up the aftermath of the two boats that had part of their sterns burned out. It’s hard to say how angry Boss Hu was about this. He has been through it himself and knows that it doesn't matter if he makes a few mistakes when he is young. Moreover, his son's mistake this time is not an attitude problem, but a lack of experience. Such mistakes will definitely reduce with experience until they no longer occur.
But he was not angry in his heart. As a traditional Chinese father, he still scolded his son bloody and even punished him by wiping the deck for ten days - the young man was just one of the first people to discover the "enemy situation" One day, when the lookout on the observation deck called down, the young man was the first to hear it and immediately reported it to his father.
After listening to Boss Hu's self-introduction, Gao Zhenxin realized that this man was also one of Jinghua's old die-hard supporters. He couldn't help but praise him and praise the young man. Young Master Hu was flattered and said he didn't dare. He seemed to be very polite, which made Gao Zhenxin very satisfied.
Boss Hu continued: "The puppy is stupid and reckless, so it doesn't deserve Commander Zhenxin's praise." Then he changed the topic and got down to business: "However, the situation in Manila is slightly different from the intelligence that Commander Zhenxin just said. "
Gao Zhenxin's face straightened up and he asked hurriedly: "What's going on?"
Boss Hu said with a smile: "First of all, there are only four galenic ships flying the white red cross and wattle flag of Castile in Manila Port, but there are two more galenic ships flying the red and green golden ball and white shield flag of the Kingdom of Portugal. Galenic ships. Although the total number is still six, judging from what I have seen in the next few years, Portuguese ships may not listen to the call of the Philippine Governor of the Kingdom of Castile."
Gao Zhenxin nodded thoughtfully: "Yes, what Boss Hu said makes sense... Is there anything else going on?"
"Yes." Boss Hu smiled even more: "The Kingdom of Castile's land division in Manila is probably even smaller than what Commander Zhenxin mentioned in your intelligence. I estimate that there are only about a thousand people. .”
Gao Zhenxin said in surprise: "Why are there so few? Where have they gone?"
Boss Hu laughed and replied: "They went to the south to conquer the local barbarians... Ah, although they are also barbarians."
Although Boss Hu is smiling, his tone is very serious: "The Castilian rule in Luzon is not stable. In fact, they have only established two main strongholds in the north and south. The north is currently generally peaceful. That's almost it. In the south, there are places such as Butuan near their stronghold that are not under their control. There are also some small kingdoms or small city-states in the area.
Not to mention the islands in the middle, almost none of them are under the control of the Castilians. The local situation is very complicated, but if you have to compare it, it is somewhat similar to the previous southern Annan. It can be regarded as a variety of tribes, but these tribes will occasionally unite to fight against outsiders.
This time the Castilians are going to conquer these central natives. In terms of military strength, it is very easy for them to defeat these natives - as far as I know, these natives don't even have a decent pair of armor. , the so-called war weapons are mostly wooden branches, wooden spears without iron tips, and very few have poisonous arrows. In short, it is difficult to compete with the Castilians head-on. "
Gao Zhenxin did not immediately show his joy. Instead, he asked with some confusion: "The timing is a bit coincidental... Why did the Castilians set out at this time?"
"This may be a bit complicated. Although I have some acquaintances in Manila, I only know some things from the side." Boss Hu touched the beard on his chin and said: "Generally speaking, this Governor de Vera seems to be a very good person." An impatient person, or in other words, he wants to make some achievements as soon as possible to show his king.
Commander Zhenxin must be aware of the fact that the Philippine Governor-General has continuously raised tax rates, but this is only one aspect of his eagerness for quick success. On the other hand, since he took office, the number of Castile's troops has been greatly increased, from the earliest 800 to about 2,000 now, and they have also controlled many tribal 'armies' in northern Luzon. Call it the 'Colonial Servant Army'.
It is difficult to say the number of these troops accurately, because these tribes are not loyal to Castile. Maybe Castile can force them to send out tens of thousands of people, but it may only be two to three thousand or three to four thousand. …It’s hard to tell anyway. But one thing is certain, that is, the combat effectiveness of these native servants is definitely not high. "
Gao Zhenxin nodded. In the pre-war analysis, they also made speculations about the local servants that Spain might have. The view was that the combat effectiveness of these people was not worth mentioning, and their actual function... was probably cannon fodder.
He thought for a moment and said with a strange expression: "The other side only has about a thousand people left. Can't we win this battle for sure?"
Boss Hu, who has "war experience", replied: "I'm afraid it's hard to say this. Commander Zhenxin, Manila is not a big city, in fact it is quite small. If you really want to say it, let alone Guangzhou, Foshan has it." Several big ones.
However, although it is small, Manila City is...how to put it, to use the words commonly used by Jinghua, it is a 'fortress-style' urban stronghold. So it is quite strong, and just because it is small, its city defense system probably does not require many soldiers. According to my observations, under normal circumstances, as long as there are 600 people, they can build a complete city defense system, and the remaining people can be used to supplement battle losses. "
Hearing this, Gao Zhenxin couldn't help but laugh and said: "Boss Hu is quite knowledgeable about military affairs."
Originally, this was somewhat of a joke, but Boss Hu actually felt a little emotional when he heard it, saying: "If it weren't for my background, and dozens of people in the house pointed at me for dinner, I would have really thought about joining Jinghua before. "After a pause, he then said: "But it doesn't matter. I have three sons. In addition to this son who has to inherit the family business, the other two sons also yearn for Beijing. It will take two years for them to reach adulthood and be crowned. I plan to train them and then send them to Beijing.
Maybe in the future, if they are lucky, they will be able to make some minor achievements, be granted farmland in southern Xinjiang, and be divided into several other genealogies. If you can really do that, I can be considered worthy of my ancestors. "
Although Gao Zhenxin is the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, he also knows a series of Beijing's policies in southern Xinjiang. For example, as Boss Hu said just now, "If you make some small achievements, you will be granted farmland in southern Xinjiang." This is the policy implemented by Jinghua for immigration purposes. Moreover, due to the existence of the "naturalized household registration system" for native people in southern territories, it is easier for Han people to be granted land and farms due to their merits.
The naturalized household registration system actually divides household registration into three, six or nine levels, with the highest level being 'Ming people', who are also called 'Chinese' according to the customs of various countries in southern Xinjiang. The current Chinese ethnic group in southern Xinjiang includes not only Han people, but also various ethnic groups from the Ming Dynasty such as Tong people and Yao people who can speak Chinese. Among the naturalized Han people, or people of the naturalized Chinese ethnic group, it is easier to obtain them from Annan scholars who originally knew Chinese and people of original Chinese ancestry from various countries in southern Xinjiang.
However, no matter which one, there are requirements for the person's Chinese language proficiency, and they need to take basic exams including oral and written language. In the final examination to obtain the "naturalized Chinese" household registration, you will also need to test some relatively basic semantic interpretations of the Four Books and Five Classics - the eight-legged essay will not be tested, as long as you can explain the meaning of the original words from the Four Books and Five Classics in the questions.
The immigrant Chinese and naturalized Chinese in the naturalized household registration system have very special political treatment in southern Xinjiang. Simply put, "you must be rewarded first if you make meritorious service, and you will be punished lightly if you do too much." Therefore, whether it is for the locals " "Work hard and make progress" is still very attractive to immigrants from Ming Dynasty.
Unfortunately, these exams are extremely simple for local businessmen and their children in the Ming Dynasty - because as long as a businessman with a little financial strength, he and his family's children can definitely read. And because in this era, almost only four books and five classics can be read, so even if No matter how poorly you read, you won't be able to pass this kind of exam.
As a result, Ming Dynasty immigrants increased significantly, many of whom were voluntary immigrants. These active immigrants are mainly businessmen of various sizes. Their immigration will certainly bring technology and capital, which will significantly accelerate the development of southern Xinjiang.
In addition, the population or ethnic ratio of southern Xinjiang has also begun to change. The number of Chinese and naturalized Chinese populations is gradually increasing. This is self-evident for Beijing's rule in southern Xinjiang.
Boss Hu's words also revealed other information, such as what he said about "making some small achievements." There are roughly several ways to be awarded Zhuang Tian, among which the most "simple and crude" is military merit. This does not even need to be explained.
In addition to military merit, there are several categories such as "merit for pioneering", "merit for education", "merit for enriching the people", etc.
"Pioneering merit" As the name suggests, although the population in southern Xinjiang is not small, the degree of development is very low. Although the land conditions in many places are good, there is almost no development. If immigrants take the initiative to apply to open up wasteland in those places, they can enjoy many preferential policies, such as "tax exemption for three years and tax exemption for five years", which are all part of the policy.
As for the land they reclaimed, although they were very pragmatic and did not implement the "Homestead Law" and did not give it away for free, it was stipulated that "although it is state-owned by the country (the local countries in southern Xinjiang), they are allowed to cultivate it themselves until eternity. If it is illegal, it will never be taken back. If the country actually needs the land for other uses, the expropriation will be compensated at a price not lower than the market price."
As a result, many people are excited to open up wasteland, because in addition to being allowed to "cultivate their own land for eternity", they can also receive merit rewards for pioneering wasteland - but the reward for pioneering wasteland is generally not given to land, but to them. Homesteads in certain cities.
For example, the construction of Dingna City, which is currently attracting much attention in southern Xinjiang, needs to control the proportion of ethnic groups in the city's population. Therefore, except for special administrative and military land, most of the remaining lots and plots are not available for purchase.
How to get it if you can't buy it? Mainly depends on what is given. If you make corresponding achievements, you may be granted land in Dingnan City, allowing you to build a mansion and live there. Therefore, to a large extent, being able to live in Dingnan City is itself a symbol of a person or a family's status in southern Xinjiang.
This is very cool, because everyone has this kind of vanity. I say that our family is doing well, how can I prove it? Just compare the area of our residence in Dingnancheng and you will know. As a result, how many people have been inspired to make meritorious deeds?
On the other hand, these people have made so many contributions to Jinghua. Are you still worried that they have ulterior motives and do not support Jinghua from the bottom of their hearts and support Jinghua until death?
As the saying goes, all the heroes in the world are at my disposal. Isn't this one of the reasons why Dingnancheng is worth spending so much money to build?
What's more, Dingnan City also has the purpose of "Versailles in Southern Xinjiang" in Gao Pragmatic's mind. If these powerful families from all over the country are gathered in Dingnan City, wouldn't the various places be stabilized - just like Louis XIV's intention of building Versailles. : Weaken the power of local nobles, strengthen the central royal power, and demonstrate the power of the royal family.
As for the merits of enlightenment, they are mainly directed at local administrative officials, and the greatest "contribution of enlightenment" is the contribution of Chinese education. Roughly speaking, the more people in the local area who have obtained naturalized Chinese status, the greater the official's "educational contribution" will be.
The contribution of enriching the people is a bit like the policy of introducing immigrants in some later countries. If you immigrate with a large amount of assets, it is a merit in itself. At the same time, when you build a local factory and hire workers, you also owe this kind of credit.
Of course, there is the most direct one, which is to look at your tax amount - after Gao Pragmatic, a leader of the pragmatic school, lost the moral suppression in the Ming Dynasty, he directly linked the tax amount to social contribution. The more you pay taxes, the greater your social contribution, that is, the greater your "contribution to enriching the people."
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