On June 18, the fifteenth year of Wanli, the day after the Ming army's artillery shells fell into Manila. The fast boat that the imperial court chased after the imperial envoy's sealing ship returned from Sulu to Manila Bay and joined the sealing fleet.
What the Zhengshitang sent was the latest speedboat developed by the Portuguese shipwright Slinwa in the twelfth year of Wanli. It was thirty miles per hour, truly as fast as a galloping horse. I thought I could catch up with the sealing ship on the sea - but the superior men ignored one thing. Even on the same route, the visibility is not enough for the fast boat and the sealing ship to meet each other most of the time, let alone when sailing at night.
Therefore, when Xiao Chongye was looking for traces at the stern of the ship, the fast boat carrying the imperial edict of canonizing the King of Sulu had already surpassed them. After completing supplies in Manila, it went south to Sulu.
After anxiously waiting for several days, Wang Da, the captain of the fast boat, thought that the fleet might be left behind by him. With the idea of giving it a try, he sailed the ship back and finally saw the sealing fleet outside Manila Harbor. .
What Wang Da didn't expect was that due to misjudgments on both sides, the blockade fleet that was planning to go to Manila for supplies had already fought with Spain. Xiao Chongye, who had taken the initiative, ignored Xie Jie's dissuasion and bombarded the city of Manila.
After seeing Wang Da, Xiao Chongye calmed down from his excitement and remembered that his main mission was to go to Sulu as an envoy. Fortunately, the imperial edict was accompanied by the Jun Order of the Political Affairs Hall: the canonization of the King of Sulu was the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's official intervention in Southeast Asia, and it might trigger a reaction from the Luzon colonial authorities. The imperial envoy is ordered to deal with the situation in a reasonable, beneficial and orderly manner, and if the situation is under control, he is allowed to act expediently.
fine! Fortunately, there are four words for "acting cheaply", otherwise the imperial envoys would seal off their ships and start a war overseas, and they may not be able to claim their huge achievements. The key now is to advance the date of Wang Da's encounter with Feng Chuan - otherwise there will be no way to write a report after returning. After all, the old guy Xiao Chongye attacked Manila first and then received the order to act expediently.
Why did he get sick at such an old age? Xiao Chongye said worriedly. Seeing Xie Jie pulling Wang Da aside and muttering, his old face turned a little red. After a while, he saw Wang Da nodding heavily from the corner of his eye, and then he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
With Wang Da's approval to advance the date of the meeting, Xiao Chongye was no longer afraid. It was amazing to cut a hole in the bow of the sealing ship, and just say that it was the "St. John" that made the hole. The prime ministers in the Liangzhengshitang did not dare to say that what they did was wrong.
Now that I'm out of anger, I hope the Spaniard also knows how powerful I am. Xiao Chongye did not want to expand the war, so he ordered a one-day suspension of bombardment, and sent an envoy to negotiate with the city lord of Manila, asking why he sent ships to attack the Ming Dynasty's sealing ships.
It was only at this time that I remembered to negotiate with the Manila authorities, which fully reflected Master Xiao's mentality of an angel in the country - I will beat you first and then talk to you.
The bombardment of the Ming Dynasty's sealing fleet stopped, and people were sent to Binandu outside the city to find two Chinese interpreters who were proficient in Spanish. They took the Ming imperial envoy's interrogation document and submitted it to Manila City.
Governor Santiago quickly received the imperial envoy document, and was furious after reading it. The Ming Dynasty's fleet came to Manila, and the reason they found was the St. John, which was dead without any evidence - I can't even defend myself against such shameless accusations.
Because the information reported by the Manila Bay Trumpet Observatory was incomplete, it only said that it saw the Grand Fleet, and the St. John never returned after leaving port. The Governor of Santiago didn't know why the St. John disappeared. Only now did he know that it was probably in trouble with the Ming Dynasty fleet.
A Saint John attacked four warships several times larger than itself. How could a civilized country's reason for launching a war be so shameless? Santiago thought to himself. Then Rodriguez's arrogant look appeared in front of his eyes, and he murmured in his heart that it was really possible.
But now that the big black cannonballs have been thrown into the city, you guys thought of asking us, is it too much? Bullies don't deserve to be bullied like this.
If it weren't for the small number of Spanish troops and the unreliability of the indigenous troops, the Governor of Santiago would have ignored the peace gesture and fought to the end with the blockade fleet. We must not surrender now, but we must seize the dawn of peace that appears.
He pinched his nose and replied with a letter, saying in the letter that the Manila authorities did not know about Rodriguez's attack on the Ming Dynasty's sealing fleet, and we cannot accept the slander imposed on us. However, the Ming fleet attacked the city of Manila with naval guns indiscriminately, and also knocked down two forts near the port - you Ming Dynasty must give the great Spain an explanation.
Oops, Xiao Chongye got a little excited after receiving the reply. I am in the country, but I can still slander you with empty words. You were rude to me first, and then I punished you lightly and you still want to explain? There is a saying, I will continue to tell you with a cannon!
When he was about to give the order to continue firing, Xie Jie advised again: "Mr. Xiao, although we have soldiers on board the ship, most of them are sailors. Such a big city will definitely not be defeated with artillery bombardment, and the infantry will definitely come by then - Manila and the Ryukyu Royal City The difference is that the foreign devils are good at using firearms, and we don’t have thousands of elites who can’t take down such a tightly defended fortress. Besides, we are here to supply, not to fight, and we have other business to do.”
Xiao Chongye smiled bitterly when he heard this and said: "Brother Xie, I don't know what you are talking about. But I have already ordered the cannon to be fired. If you fail to return home, it will be difficult to explain. If we get their apology documents, we can use the ladder to come down." .”
While the two were talking, a servant reported that a small boat was approaching the fleet with a white flag. Xiao Chongye and Xie Jie thought that Santiago had changed his mind and hurriedly called people to board the ship.
Those who boarded the ship were not messengers from the Manila authorities, but a group of people from the Ming Dynasty. One of them also knew Xie Jie:
"I've met the two imperial envoys! I've met Mr. Xie! The younger one is from the Zhou family. We haven't seen each other for many years and we met here. It's really true that you still remember me."
"Sun Laicai! Why are you here?"
"Sigh - it's a long story. The five or six years old have been hanging out in this area in order to order some aduo. I introduced to the two imperial envoys that this is Mr. Zhong Yanwen, the Luzon steward of our Prince Zhou's Palace. He's here. Report important things."
Zhong Yan, who looked like a scholar and wore a cool silk shirt, met the two imperial envoys. After the guests and hosts were seated, Xiao Chongye felt that the man named Zhong looked familiar. After looking at it repeatedly, he asked before Zhong Yanwen could speak: "Mr. Zhong used to work at Xinmin Daily?"
Zhong Yanwen's face turned red, and he cupped his hands and said, "Yes. When I was young, I worked in Xinmin Daily under the pen name Xin Zhongping. Because I preached in the newspaper that horse racing was beneficial to the country, I was attacked by gangsters in the capital and couldn't live in peace. Now I'm going to sea. Just work for the King of Zhou to earn a living."
Xie Jie opened his mouth wide, wanting to laugh but feeling embarrassed. He also remembered this incident. At that time, he was working at the Military Intelligence Headquarters. The Military Intelligence Bureau must subscribe to newspapers. Xie Jie also saw reporter Zhong's seemingly reasonable article.
At that time, the censor He could not help being angry with Shi Zhongqian, but the people in the capital, whose families were ruined by horse betting, were not used to this guy. Rotten eggs, rotten vegetable leaves and gravel greeted his home every day, and the yard was full of them. He was ridiculed in a series of articles by the "Jingshi Daily", saying that the man named Zhong was paid to write frivolous articles, and he suffered such evil retribution. This is the truth of heaven, which proves that public opinion cannot be underestimated!
(End of chapter)
