For Xia Guo, the biggest obstacle to marching into Luzon was not the Spanish or the vast sea, but the climate and environment.
For thousands of years, the people of the Central Plains have always had a great fear of the south.
The so-called miasma caused the Central Plains dynasty to falter many times.
As for what the miasma is, no one can say clearly.
Even Zuo Mengeng's knowledge was still unclear.
However, he knows that the climate and environment in tropical areas are indeed a great test for people's health.
At the very least, the damage caused by malaria cannot be ignored.
To treat and protect against malaria, there are two best medicines.
One is cinchona.
But now cinchona is still in South America, and it is difficult to save the fire from afar.
The other kind is found everywhere in China.
That is Artemisia annua.
But which kind of Artemisia annua can cure malaria is beyond Zuo Mengeng's ability.
All he could do was inform the medical professionals about the situation, and then they would conduct repeated research and tests to find Artemisia annua that could treat malaria.
Lu An handed over this task to Wu Youxing.
This epidemic expert, who has left a bright mark in history, has been eye-opening and has made rapid progress after joining Xia Guo's medical system.
Seeing the appearance of germs through a microscope gave him a deeper understanding of the plague.
The subject he originally studied was the plague, which made him famous in history.
But for a virus like plague, even hundreds of years later, humans still have no good way to deal with it.
Therefore, Wu Youxing's research inevitably came to a standstill.
Seeing that he was making no progress, Lu An gave him the task of treating malaria.
Wu Youxing is very serious and responsible.
He even sent people to various places to collect various types of wormwood, and then refined hundreds of plant slurries.
After arriving in Taiwan with these things, they began to conduct experiments on Xia Army soldiers infected with malaria.
These soldiers suffered a lot.
Pouring various different kinds of Artemisia annua potions into your mouth, you feel like you are in a state of ecstasy.
But I have to say that this stupid method does work.
After two months of experiments, Wu Youxing finally found a symptomatic prescription for treating malaria.
Now his medical team has begun putting the final touches on the prescription.
Once completed, Xia's march into the tropics will be less troublesome.
There is no peace on the vast ocean.
A lone Spanish galleon was on the run.
And all around, several Galen warships were frantically pursuing them.
Both sides' boats reached their maximum speed, but there was no doubt that the pursuer's speed was superior.
Simply because these Galenic ships were manufactured in the Xia Kingdom and were the culmination of wooden sailing craftsmanship. They also made great progress in fluid mechanics, dynamics and other aspects.
The fleeing Spanish sailing ship was a Clark ship. There was no doubt that it lagged far behind in terms of performance.
On the Spanish galleon, a man who was obviously an official was extremely angry.
"Why did these damn pirates ignore our announcement? We are messengers, not soldiers, so why are they still attacking us?"
No one could answer his filial piety.
All the Spaniards on the ship felt desperate and could only desperately operate, hoping for a slim chance to escape pursuit.
The filial official's name was Alvarez.
He was sent by Asuro Torres, the Spanish Governor in Luzon, to Taiwan to negotiate with the Xia Kingdom.
News of Xia's attack on Spanish territory in Taiwan has spread back to Luzon, which shocked the Spaniards and at the same time, they felt a crisis.
However, Spain's power in Luzon is too weak.
Just to defend themselves against the Dutch has already exhausted their energy, and even if they wanted to support Taiwan, it would be impossible to do so.
After some deliberation, the Spaniards felt that Xia's attack was somewhat inexplicable, and perhaps the situation could be saved through negotiation.
Captain Alvarez, as the envoy, began to go north with a tragic mood.
All he could think about was how to negotiate with Xia Guo after arriving in Taiwan and ensure Spain's interests.
I just didn't expect that I would encounter pirates on the way before arriving in Taiwan.
Moreover, these pirate warships surprised him extremely.
Even in Europa, he had never seen such a good warship.
The pirates in the East are really a bit exaggerated.
Alvarez knew that he could not defeat these pirates with the force he had at his disposal. So he asked people to play flags and announce the purpose of his trip.
It stands to reason that after doing this, the pirates will not attack and will make way.
But something abnormal happened.
Those damn pirates completely ignored the report here, and came up with a barrage of artillery fire, leaving his ship full of holes and in tatters.
As soon as the pirates opened fire, Alvarez became even more desperate.
Not only are the ships inferior to others, but even the performance of the artillery is vastly different.
There was no other choice but to turn around and run for his life.
Are these pirates really lawless?
Aren't they afraid that the Xia government will hold them accountable?
Alvarez absolutely does not believe that these pirates have nothing to do with the Xia government.
After all, such a good warship cannot be built by pirates.
He was running for his life and obviously didn't know the situation of the pirates at this time.
"Speed up! Speed up! Give me the artillery to aim more accurately. You must not let the Spaniards escape."
On the Galen battleship, Zheng Zhilong was in high spirits.
The warship sailed rapidly, its sails were as full as the moon, and the strong sea breeze blew against them, as if they were flying.
This is the life a strong man at sea should live.
Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but reflect that it was too decadent to build a mansion in his hometown of Anhai Town and live in it to enjoy happiness.
These warships were provided to him by the Xia Kingdom.
The former pirates of the Zheng clan suddenly became pirates of the Xia Kingdom.
The first task they received was to harass the coast of Luzon, constantly attack the Spaniards, and provide pavement and intelligence for Xia's advance.
Of course he saw the briefing given by Alvarez, but he completely ignored it.
Just because Zuo Mengeng told him that this time in the Luzon war, there was no intention to negotiate peace with the Spanish.
Xia Guo has only one goal.
That is to completely occupy Luzon and incorporate it into the territory of China.
Zuo Mengeng didn't care at all as to whether it would attract the Spaniards to mobilize their country and expand the scale of the war.
He didn't believe that the Spaniards during this period dared to abandon their homeland and use all their strength to expedition to Asia.
If the Spaniards really did it, the Dutch, Portuguese, Italians, and even the English would all laugh.
Not to mention Spain itself, even Spain's power in the Americas cannot come over.
In his eyes, the Spaniards in Luzon are like fat on the chopping board and must be eaten dry and wiped clean.
And the competition with Spain is just the beginning!
