Ba Lian is just a transliterated place name and has no special meaning.

But the Eight Alliance Colony is special.

In 1603, when the Spanish carried out the first massacre of the Ming people in Luzon, the Ming people resisted extremely fiercely.

The Ming Dynasty did business, settled and farmed in Luzon much earlier than the Spanish. In 1602, there were more than 10,000 Chinese businessmen in the entire Luzon Island.

If you include craftsmen, farmers and other practitioners, there will be even more Ming people in Luzon.

Although the exact number is unknown, it is at least tens of thousands, and may even exceed 100,000.

At that time, there were only more than a thousand Spaniards in the entire Greater Luzon (Philippine Islands).

In addition, the number of Ming people was still increasing rapidly at that time, which aroused the fear of the Spaniards.

It happened that the rumor that "golden beans grow on Mount Yiji" appeared. Wanli sent people to investigate and found out that it was a rumor, so he returned to the Ming Dynasty.

The Spanish took this opportunity to spread rumors that the Ming people on the island would rebel and cooperate with the Ming army to invade, so they launched the first massacre of the Ming people.

At that time, most of the Ming people who dared to be overseas were bloody and brave enough to fight.

After the Spaniards massacred thousands of people with artillery and muskets in the canals outside Manila, they triggered a Ming uprising around Manila.

At that time, the Ming people had long been unable to bear the oppression of the Spanish. As soon as the uprising began, it quickly expanded to thousands of people and captured several Spanish estates around Manila.

However, in order to save their lives and property, some wealthy businessmen were deceived by the Spanish guarantees and did not join the uprising, leaving the uprising team without elite leadership.

Even so, the rebel force grew to tens of thousands within a few days. Not only did they capture all the Western estates around Manila, they also built ladders to prepare for the attack on the city of Manila.

Unfortunately, due to the huge gap in weapons and equipment, there was a lack of organization; the Spaniards were assisted by Japanese, Pampanga and other locals; and the wealthy business class betrayed at the critical moment, more than 1,800 people entered Manila City with their belongings to help defend the city.

City. The Ming uprising in Luzon ended in a disastrous defeat.

After the war, the Spaniards summed up their experience and lessons and felt that they were lucky to have allowed many Ming people to settle in the stream before, so that they could take advantage of muskets and artillery to massacre thousands of people from the beginning.

The reason why the Ming people's uprising troops were able to grow to the point of attacking Manila was because there were many Ming people living in other places, and they were not able to kill them all at the beginning of the massacre.

Therefore, after this, the Spanish strictly required the Ming people to settle only in the stream, and built multiple forts and fortresses around them to suppress the Ming people.

In addition, in view of the fact that many Ming people relied on brick and stone houses as defenses in the past to escape the bombardment of guns, the Spanish imposed a mandatory rule that Ming people could only use bamboo and wood in building houses, not masonry.

If Ming people need to go to other parts of Luzon to cultivate fields and manors, they will also dispatch troops and closely monitor the entire process just like prisoners.

In 1639, when the Spaniards carried out the second massacre of Akito on the island, this series of preparations indeed played an important role, allowing the Spaniards to easily massacre in the stream, which is now the Eight Alliance settlement area.

More than 20,000 Ming people!

After experiencing the benefits, the Spaniards enforced the relevant regulations more and more strictly.

Afterwards, the Ming people who came to Luzon learned about the previous two massacres, and then saw the desolate place where they were forced to settle in the surrounding forts and fortresses such as the Eighth Alliance. It was difficult for them to resist Spanish colonial rule.

thoughts.

The people who were invited to attend the secret meeting this time were not only members of the ten surnamed clansmen but also wealthy businessmen, so they did not care about their lives.

When Lin Lide and others learned about Hu Youcheng's identity, they mistakenly thought that the Ming court wanted them to serve as internal agents to help the Ming army capture Manila, so they were naturally unwilling to agree.

Because they feel that in the desperate area of ​​​​Balian Inhabited Area, if they make any move, they will be destroyed.

No, after everyone was silent for a while, Chen Min also sighed and said: "Hu Xiaoqi should also have seen that these Eight Alliances were set up by the Westerners to suppress us. Therefore, it is not that we are unwilling to help the court, but we really dare not

Can't help."

Hu Youcheng calmed down, took a deep breath, and said: "I think you have made two mistakes.

First, judging from the virtues and past behavior of the Westerners, if the Ming Dynasty attacks Luzon, you will be massacred by them even if you do nothing, right?

After all, ten years have passed since the twelfth year of Chongzhen, and you have accumulated a lot of wealth in this Balian settlement area. Westerners are robbers, how can they not take the opportunity to massacre and plunder?"

After hearing this, all the elders were filled with worry.

They understand the Westerners better than Hu Youcheng, and it is almost certain that if the Ming army comes to attack, the Westerners will definitely use an excuse to carry out another massacre.

At this time, Zhou Yicai, the elder of the Zhou family, couldn't help but said: "Hu Xiaoqi, since you know this, why don't you help us write to the court and ask the court not to try to take Luzon Island?"

Zhang Jiazong sneered after hearing this, "We are all abandoned overseas citizens of the Ming Dynasty. How can the imperial court give up expanding the territory for the sake of our wealth and lives?"

Mr. Wang Jiazong said: "I heard that Your Majesty is a goddess descended to earth and loves the people like a son. He even issued an edict that people living overseas are also citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

I think that as long as someone tells His Majesty how powerful he is, Your Majesty will probably care about the lives of tens of thousands of people in Luzon like me, right?"

After hearing that several clan elders changed the subject and began to put high hats on the emperor, Hu Youcheng suddenly felt that these people were really unreliable.

If he were not pressed for time, he would rather develop slowly and contact the farmers, craftsmen and small businessmen below, rather than come to persuade these elders and wealthy businessmen from far away.

It's a pity that he doesn't have much time now. He can only rely on these elders and wealthy businessmen to organize the Ming people in Manila in a short time.

So he suppressed his impatience and asked: "Even if the Ming Dynasty did not take Luzon, wouldn't the Westerners massacre you? Why did they massacre you in the twelfth year of Chongzhen?"

Besides, are you really willing to be oppressed by the Westerners all the time and let your children and grandchildren live surrounded by Western forts? Your lives are in the hands of the Westerners?"

The clan elders were silent again.

Because Hu Youcheng's last words touched them.

If the situation on the island does not change, their descendants, Sun Zhen, will have no choice but to live surrounded by Western forts, and may be killed by Western artillery fire at any time.

As for those who have been baptized into Christianity and are allowed to live in Manila—doesn’t this mean that they are abandoning their ancestors?

They have abandoned their ancestors, and their descendants will also abandon their ancestors. Who will offer incense to them in the future?

If the descendants do not offer incense, what is the point of working so hard to make money, accumulate family property, and pass on the family line?

Seeing Lin Lide frowning and not speaking, Chen Min said: "What Hu Xiaoqi said is indeed true, but how can we crack the eight alliances? If we can't even get out of the eight alliances, how can we help the imperial army?

?”

Although the other elders did not speak, most of them looked over, and it was obvious that their thoughts had changed.

Hu Youcheng smiled when he saw this and said: "I just said that you have made another mistake.

I am contacting you not because the imperial court wants you to help attack Manila, but because I hope you can help me organize the Ming people in Manila and prepare for the possible third massacre."

Hearing this, Lin Lide, who had been silent for a while, said, "You mean, the imperial court does not need our assistance in attacking the city, but it just hopes that we can protect ourselves from the massacre by the Westerners?"

The other elders were stunned when they heard this, and then they all showed disbelief, thinking to themselves: Even if the imperial court gets better, it won't be so considerate of overseas people like them, right?

Just now, Mr. Cai Zong said that there were hundreds of thousands of Ming people in Luzon. It sounded like a lot, but in the Ming Dynasty, they were just the people of one county. How could the court bother so much?

Under the suspicious eyes of the elders, Hu Youcheng nodded affirmatively and said: "Yes, the imperial court just hopes that you can protect yourself, because Your Majesty does not want to see my Ming people in Luzon being massacred by Westerners again."

Even though these elders were all very selfish people, I couldn't help but be moved to know that the emperor actually cared about them so much.

At this time, Hu Youcheng said again: "The imperial court hopes that the Ming people in Manila can protect themselves, and it is not just words, but also practical support.

The Westerners' muskets and artillery are powerful, but the Ming Dynasty's muskets and artillery are even more powerful than them.

As for the Eighth Alliance Death Land, the higher-ups have already come up with a solution for you!"

Second update.
Chapter completed!