Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 345: Envoy from the Celestial Empire
The Malay Archipelago has a long history of exchanges with the Ming Dynasty, but since the civil officials tried their best to prevent the fleet from going out to sea, the Ming Dynasty's official contacts with these places have gradually severed.

Originally, this was nothing.

Although Zheng He's seven voyages to the West brought great profits to the emperor, this was not a widespread commercial activity.

Even if it was cut off, it would only weaken the imperial power indirectly. The fleets of the aristocratic families would still go out to sea and do business as usual, and it would not have much impact on the overall trade.

But times are always changing.

As the Ottoman Empire gradually weakened, the maritime trade routes were gradually controlled by Europeans. By the time of the so-called Age of Discovery, a large group of robbers relied on their powerful military force to run rampant on the sea, and the rich land of the Malay Archipelago became their colony.

As a result of these two factors, the Ming Dynasty lost its official participation in the competition for the South China Sea, and the force composed of pirates and merchants was naturally defeated.

As a result, Europe, which had gained huge profits from maritime trade, suddenly took off. It not only gave birth to the Industrial Revolution, but also led the world in the following hundreds of years. It was not until the Renaissance of China that the trend of white people exploiting the world ended.

At this point I have to mention that national character is truly a magical thing.

Although they are people separated by more than a thousand years, certain characteristics remain unchanged within a certain group.

Just like the white people, their ancestors were a group of barbarians who only knew how to burn, kill and loot. During the so-called Age of Discovery, they used cruel means to plunder any nation they could plunder.

Hundreds of years later, although these bandits had been dressed in bright and beautiful disguises, their greed, cruelty and predatory nature were still firmly imprinted in the bones of this ethnic group.

It is ridiculous that the Chinese, who had been interacting with the Malay Archipelago for more than a thousand years, did not say "discovery", and the Arabs who brought religion here did not say "discovery" either.

However, a group of guys who came here to steal the local skills immediately brought the place under their jurisdiction, and then began to frantically exploit the wealth that belonged to the indigenous people.

If Zhu Cilang were asked to say this, what a bullshit great maritime discoveries! This was simply great maritime plunder!
Hmm. That’s getting off topic.

In any case, the Malay Archipelago had been divided between the Spanish and the Dutch at this time, and Manila, located at the northern end of the archipelago, became an important node for the Spanish to connect the Ming Dynasty and its American colonies.

Through this node, the Spaniards used precious metals from the Americas to exchange high-value goods such as porcelain, cotton, silk, tea, and books produced in the Ming Dynasty for Europe.

When they returned, they used gold and silver to exchange daily necessities such as cotton cloth produced in the Ming Dynasty for America.

In this way, the profit earned by the Spaniards was often enough to reach the same volume of the goods. It is no exaggeration to say that they made a huge profit.

But the situation in this world is never static.

Since Luis de Villasis became the Vice-King of New Spain, he issued an order prohibiting New Spain from importing cotton cloth from the Ming Dynasty.

Later, merchant ships changed their route from Ming Dynasty to a route circling the earth because the return journey was not profitable.

On the surface, this was just a change of route. In any case, the Ming Dynasty still had a series of goods such as porcelain, books, medicinal materials, silk, etc. to sell to Europe.

But this small change allowed the cotton trade from South America to Europe to flourish, which in turn planted the seeds of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and plunged the entire world into hundreds of years of darkness and turmoil.

Of course, this is only one of the reasons. A large part of the reason was also that the Qing government closed its doors to the outside world and took the initiative to isolate itself from the world.

But as of now, although the cotton ban has been in place for decades, there is still a constant stream of merchant ships stopping in Manila.

just
"Mr. Governor, the Count of Alcazar's fleet has been waiting for three hours. If we don't let them enter the port."

Today's Manila Port is no longer as busy as it used to be, but there are still many people on the shore looking forward to it.

To be honest, Forcado was also a little anxious.

After all, every merchant ship that docks has to pay a considerable docking fee to the Governor.

But when the adjutant reminded him, he glared at the other person and then started to scold him.

"Don't you know our situation?! If we can't get the Netherlands and Ming to fight, how long can we hold on in this gap?!"

The Count of Alcazar mentioned by the adjutant was the current Vice-King of New Spain, and the Governor-General of Manila was directly under the jurisdiction of New Spain. Therefore, in order to welcome the Ming fleet, Forcador blocked the private fleet of his direct superior outside the port.

If Spain was still at its peak, Fordoka would certainly not have done this.

But over the years, the kingdom not only fought against the British and the French, but also against the Ottomans and the Dutch.

After fighting for so many years, not only did the national strength gradually decline, Portugal chose independence, and even the last "Invincible Fleet" that was cobbled together was burned to ashes in the Battle of Downs.

Under such circumstances, Forkador has seen very clearly that the kingdom is no longer the same as it used to be, and it can no longer simply fight back when dealing with certain potential risks.

So after receiving the rather arrogant letter from the Ming Dynasty and Du Chen's extremely sincere advice, he decided to welcome the Ming Dynasty fleet with a hundred times more sincerity and enthusiasm, so as to divert the Dutch's attention away from their own territory.

In order to achieve this goal, he has made sufficient preparations.

At this point, he was willing to let the Dutch know how good the relationship between Ming and Spain was, even at the cost of having his immediate superior's private fleet wait outside the port. He really took great pains.

"I believe the Earl will understand."

Perhaps influenced by his adjutant's words, Fordoka, who had previously been beaming with joy, suddenly became worried.

The adjutant had nothing to say about the Governor's behavior, but when he kept glancing toward the sea, he saw black spots gradually appearing on the coastline.

finally come!

Seeing this, the adjutant finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The viceroy's private fleets all departed from New Spain and crossed the vast Pacific Ocean before arriving in Manila. It was reasonable to let them wait for a few hours, but if it took too long, they would not be able to explain to the viceroy on the other side of the ocean.

Fordoka and the others could be considered anxious, but what they didn't know was that in a small second floor near the dock, there were a few people who were a hundred times more anxious than them.

"The ship is coming!"

Following a deliberately suppressed cry, the other people in the room couldn't help but look into the distance through the window.

Although the warships on the sea could only be roughly seen at this time, these people had lived in Luzon for many years. Relying on their years of experience, they could easily tell the size of the warship from its length from the coastline and the style of its sails.

"The dozen or so ships ahead are all galleons."

"Gallen ship?!"

After hearing what that person said, everyone in the room exclaimed in unison.

They knew very well that the so-called galleon was the name of the main warships of the Spanish and Dutch.

How could they remain calm when the motherland Ming Dynasty could send out a fleet of such a size?

"We are saved! We are saved! The servants in the Governor's Mansion said that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had sent an imperial edict to question us. I never thought that His Majesty would actually send a fleet here!"

As he spoke, the young man who was the most excited inadvertently glanced at the figure still lying on the bed.

But who would have thought that the man would look back at them as if he had opened his eyes, and then he stood up from the bed. This man was Liu Linsheng who had escaped from Zhenjiang.

That night, Xiang Rensheng led his troops to launch a surprise attack on Zhenjiang, and he led his men to take the opportunity to rob the silver vault in the city.

Afterwards, he went down the river and not only brought the news that Yingtian was still holding out to Chongming Island, but also allowed Qi Laoer, who was unwilling to go to sea, to leave the team.

He thought that this voyage was to go to Southeast Asia with the capital to do big business, and the departure of some people with dishonest intentions would naturally be regarded as a way to purify the team.

But who would have thought that after he arrived in Luzon after going through so much hardship, he found that the situation here was far different from what he had heard in the village in his early years.

Not only were the Chinese in Luzon ostracized by the Spaniards and local indigenous people, but because of the uprising that took place in previous years, the Chinese also became the main target of the Spanish authorities.

Under such circumstances, Liu Linsheng naturally felt a little regretful.

But think about it, the Ming Dynasty is still in the midst of war, and all the men will have to go to the battlefield sooner or later. In comparison, although the situation of the Chinese in Luzon is a little more difficult, as long as they behave as good citizens, they will not lose their lives.

As a result, Liu Linsheng led his brothers to find a piece of land in the interior of Luzon Island, intending to do other things after they had gained a firm foothold.

But bad luck always comes one after another.

It was not known whether it was due to the natives’ report or for some other reason, but it was not long before they were surrounded by the Spanish.

It is easy to imagine what happens next.

Although the Spanish army could not defeat the French, they were able to crush them directly when they were armed only with steel swords and sharp spears.

After a one-sided massacre, only seven or eight of the sixty or seventy brothers who followed Liu Linsheng abroad were left. If they had not encountered the remnants of the uprising in previous years, they might have been buried in the dense rain forest.

Only then did he realize that the root cause of the uprising of the Chinese in Luzon was that the Spaniards prohibited the Chinese from farming within their jurisdiction.

And the fact that dozens of men gathered together to open up new land was exactly what the Spaniards hated the most.

As the saying goes, it's all about fate. Liu Linsheng had been looking forward to finally being in the "army", but he didn't know what to do.

"I advise you not to hold out too much hope. The Tartars almost occupied my hometown a few years ago, and it's not certain where the imperial court has retreated to now."

"You are talking nonsense! If the imperial court was really as bad as you say, how could it send out so many fleets, and how could it possibly defeat the Dutch?"

Faced with the young man who didn't believe in evil, Liu Linsheng didn't explain any further.

He knew that in the uprising a few years ago, these people either lost their parents or their wives and children.

But facing the powerful Spaniards, these poor people had no hope of revenge.

Under such circumstances, they not only believed the inexplicable rumors, but even hoped that the court would give them justice.

I guess he regarded this as a life-saving straw.

Thinking of this, Liu Linsheng sat on the bed in a daze, but did not even bother to check on the Ming fleet.

After a while, the atmosphere in the room became more and more heated, and Liu Linsheng finally couldn't help but turn his head to take a look.

It wouldn't matter if he didn't look at it, but just this one glance shocked Liu Linsheng, the most knowledgeable person in the room, and he was speechless.

At this time, the huge Manila Port was packed with warships and armed merchant ships flying the Yellow Dragon Flag.

Even though he didn't know what a galleon was, when he saw nearly twenty giant ships that stood out from the crowd, he knew what a main battleship was.

just
How can this be?

When he left, the Tartars had not only surrounded Yingtian, but also occupied most of Zhejiang to the south.

If the situation continued to develop in that way, the Ming Dynasty, which was already on the verge of collapse, would only last for a year or two. How could it possibly create such a grand scene?
conspiracy!

It's definitely a Spanish conspiracy!

Thinking of this, Liu Linsheng couldn't help but feel alert. After hesitating for a moment, he finally patted the leader gently from behind.

"Uncle Liu, you and I are from the same family. Have I, Liu Linsheng, ever told a lie since I got together with you?"

"Never."

"Please trust me. There is something strange about today's incident. We should inquire more and then ask for help after confirming who is the one who came."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man called Liu Bo couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The reason they were able to enter the city of Manila today was because of the visit of the fleet from their motherland. The Spaniards relaxed their vigilance against the Chinese in order to save face.

But if we miss this opportunity, let alone whether we can enter the city, even if we can really get in, how can we easily meet the envoys from our motherland?
"Mr. Lin, you know we can't hold on any longer."

After he finished speaking, Liu Linsheng couldn't express himself even if he had ten thousand reasons.

Over the past six months, he has realized how difficult it is to survive in the forest. Coupled with the encirclement and suppression by the local indigenous people and the Spaniards, the remaining hundreds of people really can't hold on.

"But."

"No buts, this is our last chance. If the envoy from our motherland doesn't care, I'm afraid we will have to come down from the forest soon."

After hearing this, Liu Linsheng felt sad but also helpless.

No matter what, these people still believe that the Ming Dynasty has the strength to send out such a large fleet.

Thinking of this, Liu Linsheng couldn't help but sigh, but when everyone in the room started to dress up like merchants, he also started to move.

"Remember, if one person is stopped, the rest must rush over before they can react."

"Ah."

After some more explanation, the group left the small building one after another. When Uncle Liu went out, he looked at Liu Linsheng, who was dressed in merchant clothes, and smiled slightly, which made him feel mixed emotions.

Alas~~~~I’m afraid my death will be in vain.

With another sigh, Liu Linsheng finally left the small building. But before he reached his designated location, he heard faint shouts coming from the dock.

"The Minister of Maritime Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace, and the Minister of War!
Shen Tingyang!
By order of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Make Luzon~~~~!"

The Spanish word viceroy actually means governor, but a territory like New Spain is higher than Manila, so in order to distinguish it, it is called viceroy.

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(End of this chapter)