"Greetings to Your Majesty!" Zheng Zhilong bowed his hands.
"Give me a seat." Zhao Han said with a kind smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
When Zheng Zhilong sat down, Zhao Han asked straight to the point: "How many warships does Spain have in Luzon?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "At most, there were six large sailing ships and more than ten ordinary warships. In the past few years, the Netherlands has been intercepting and attacking Spanish ships, and both sides have suffered some losses. News has come out in the past few months
, Spain seems to have suffered a defeat in the Far East. Four large sailing ships are stuck in America and cannot return, and they seem to be preparing to fight another war in America. As for ordinary warships, there are less than ten left."
"What kind of ship is a galleon?" Zhao Han asked.
Zheng Zhilong said with emotion: "Giant ships with more than a thousand materials are all made of century-old hardwood. Our navy surrounds one of theirs with ten ships and bombards it with artillery for several hours, but it is estimated that it will not be able to sink it."
The Spanish Manila Galleon was engaged in trade across the Pacific Ocean all year round, so its hull was extremely strong.
The smallest of this kind of large sailing ship has a displacement of 500 tons, and the largest can reach a displacement of 1,200 tons.
Zhao Han asked again: "How is the northern part of Luzon Island?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "They are all indigenous savages."
The governor of the Netherlands really had a good plan. China and the Netherlands jointly attacked Spain. China only gained a barren land, but the Netherlands was able to seize prosperous ports and occupy the entire Pacific waterway.
Zhao Han asked again: "How many troops are needed to capture Manila?"
Zheng Zhilong thought carefully: "We need to use all the navy and send 3,000 strong troops. Manila cannot be attacked forcefully. We can only besiege the city with heavy troops until the food in the city is cut off. Therefore, we must prepare a large amount of food and grass, at least for half a year's travel."
"How sure are you?" Zhao Han asked.
Zheng Zhilong said: "If there are three thousand powerful troops, even if they cannot sink the Spanish galleons, they can surprise the troops and land north of Manila. By then, the food supply inside and outside the city will be cut off, and no matter how powerful the galleons are, they can only watch blindly.
The Red Fan Ghosts have few soldiers. Even if they recruit civilians as soldiers, they can only have two or three thousand at most. If they fight on land, as long as they don't attack the city, they can't win. There is no guarantee of defeating the Spanish warships.
.To land in Manila and capture Manila, as long as three months of food and grass are guaranteed, I am very sure of victory."
"Then let's fight, and let the Netherlands fight together," Zhao Han said, "You will be the coach, we will capture Manila, and I will make you the Duke of Nanhai!"
Create a Duke?
Zheng Zhilong's eyes were bright, he knelt down and said: "I will not give up even if I die!"
…
Maritime merchants from many ports, including Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo, were summoned by the chief envoy to discuss the matter in their cities.
Zhao Han didn't have enough money and food to fight naval battles, so he had to rely on merchants to do things!
The commercial taxes of major ports in the Philippines are used as collateral to issue war bonds to Chinese maritime merchants. In addition, companies that purchase war bonds can enjoy a certain proportion of goods at Philippine ports with tax reductions every year. This tax reduction and exemption can be transferred
to others.
As for how many goods are tax-free, it depends on how many bonds you buy, and the conversion will be done based on the bond purchase ratio.
Fuzhou.
Hundreds of representatives of Fujian maritime merchants spontaneously organized a meeting.
Lin Fusheng was the first to speak: "Gentlemen, most of the Han people doing business in Luzon are from Fujian. This time the Red Bo ghosts killed innocent people indiscriminately, and everyone suffered heavy losses. Some tribesmen were killed and merchant ships were robbed."
Now I don’t dare to go to Luzon to run a ship, and I can’t mess with business elsewhere. Many ships are idle at the dock. Now Your Majesty wants to seek justice for the dead Han people, and also wants to restore business for us Fujian merchants. I am Lin
Fusheng, I am willing to buy 2,000 shi of grain bonds!"
Buying 2,000 shi of grain bonds means transporting 2,000 shi of grain to the battlefield in the Philippines, and Zhao Han will pay them back with interest five years later.
The freight and risk are borne by the maritime merchant!
At first glance, it seems like a loss-making deal, and the maritime merchants are definitely not willing to do it. But what they value more is the Philippine market and the annual Philippine port tax exemptions.
Even if there is no tax reduction, if Zhao Han can win Manila, Fujian maritime merchants will wake up laughing from their sleep.
Because when doing business in the Philippines, only Chinese ships are subject to the heaviest tariffs, which are even twice as high as those of merchant ships from other countries! In and outside Manila, the Chinese are also subject to the heaviest taxes, and each Chinese has to pay an additional head tax.
Fujian maritime merchants were hesitant because they were afraid of the risks of transporting grain and that they would not be able to capture the Philippines.
Finally, someone gritted his teeth and said: "I'm willing to go all out. My Li family subscribes for a 500-ton bond! If we keep waiting like this, we don't know when we will be able to recover. If we don't capture Manila, who will dare to do business in Luzon in the future?"
Of course I dare, businessmen pursue profits.
Historically, after Spain massacred China, only one year later, Fujian merchants went back to do business. However, they did not dare to settle in the Philippines, open a business in Manila, transport goods to the port for trading, repairs and supplies.
Leave immediately after finishing.
Isn’t that mean?
Because the maritime merchants had no choice, the Ming Dynasty was almost over. The wars were devastated, and the domestic market environment was very poor. They had to transport the goods out for sale. How many workers were waiting to eat, and how many craftsmen relied on them to survive.
A massacre can only result in a smile.
Now, Emperor Zhao Han of Datong wanted to stand up for them, and Fujian maritime merchants suddenly became enthusiastic.
In just one month, Fujian maritime merchants subscribed for 60,000 tons of bonds. In other words, they had to spend their own money to buy grain, and they also had to send out their own people and ships to transport 3,600 tons of grain to the battlefield in the Philippines.
As for maritime merchants from other provinces, they have little interest in this. They have no market share in the Philippines.
…
Zhao Han made an agreement with Holland to send troops immediately after the beginning of spring.
Governor Anthony Van Diemen couldn't wait any longer, so he sent a fleet during the winter to attack any Spanish ships he could see.
Even if Zhao Han doesn't take action, Holland himself will take action, but the timeline has changed.
Historically, the massacre of Chinese people in the Philippines happened earlier. At that time, the Netherlands was at war with Portugal and could not spare any time to make trouble with Spain. In the second year after Chongzhen hanged himself, the Netherlands began to aggressively attack the Philippines.
The Netherlands sent 18 warships and 800 soldiers to attack in three groups.
It went all the way to the northern Philippines to incite rebellion among the indigenous people who were dissatisfied with Spain, and at the same time intercepted Chinese merchant ships from Fujian (cutting off Spanish supplies). The second route went further east and intercepted large sailing ships from Mexico. At that time, Spain's Pacific shipping lanes had been restored.
The third route cuts off Luzon and Borneo, preventing supplies from Borneo from being transported to Manila.
After completing the preliminary plan, the three groups gathered to launch a general attack on Manila.
Eighteen Dutch warships and 800 Dutch soldiers besieged two old Spanish galleons in the port of Manila. The two sides fought for five hours, and the bow of the Dutch flagship was shattered. The Netherlands suffered heavy losses, but not a single Spanish ship was destroyed.
, no one died.
Later, two more large sailing ships came back from Mexico. The Netherlands did not dare to fight any more naval battles, and eight hundred soldiers began to land and fight.
The siege lasted for two months, with 30 Spanish soldiers fighting with a large number of servants.
We don’t know how many of the native slave soldiers died, but not a single Spanish soldier died, and more than a hundred Dutch soldiers died. After another month of confrontation, a naval battle broke out again, and the Dutch fleet fled in panic.
Batavia.
Commander Peter, who returned from Cambodia, roared in front of Governor Van Diemen: "Your Excellency, Governor, we should send troops to attack Jimei (Cambodia), otherwise the East India Company will lose face in the Far East!"
"Spain is the real enemy, the disobedient King Guime. We will deal with him when we have time," Van Diemen said.
Teddy Holland at Sea recently went to provoke Cambodia and was captured by Cambodia with two warships...
To be precise, they were two armed merchant ships.
They went out with more than a hundred Dutch soldiers to demand the return of the bribe from the Cambodian king, because the Cambodian officials took the money and refused to do anything. Not to mention the army's disastrous defeat, two Dutch armed merchant ships actually sailed to the inland river to show off their power, but were blocked by the Cambodian army with obstacles.
The rivers are then worn to death by a large number of inland river boats.
By the way, the Netherlands is still at war with the Banten Kingdom.
Moreover, the Mataran Kingdom on Java Island also has a fierce conflict with the Netherlands and is considering attacking the Netherlands together.
But it doesn't matter, the Dutch East India Company is used to fighting on all sides.
Twenty-six years ago, the Netherlands had just occupied Batavia, and within a year it was besieged by the British, Jakartans, and Banten people in turns. The enemies of the Netherlands were also funny. The Netherlands asked for surrender time and time again, but was unable to do so due to the terms of surrender.
We didn't reach an agreement, and then we ran out of food and evacuated the siege on our own.
"Your Majesty the Governor, a letter from the Emperor of China." The adjutant came in hurriedly.
Van Diemen frowned immediately after reading the letter.
Because the letter from the Chinese emperor only said that the expedition would be launched in April of the Western calendar, and the northern part of Luzon Island would be handed over to the Chinese navy, and the Chinese soldiers would incite the indigenous rebellion along the way.
The Chinese emperor never said how to share the results of the victory.
If we don’t explain this clearly, who will win the victory over Manila?
Van Diemen knew that the Chinese emperor was dissatisfied, so he sent a new letter, willing to hand over Tortoiseshell City and the north to China.
Tortoiseshell City was the capital of a country in Luzon. It was destroyed more than a hundred years ago. There were especially many Chinese and indigenous people. The local Chinese were massacred twice. Later, the Lanfang Company also established the Lanfang Republic in that area.
Van Diemen believed that he had given enough sincerity. The geographical location of Tortoiseshell City was second only to Manila in Luzon.
The Netherlands wants Manila, and China wants Tortoiseshell City. The two sides are cooperating on a fair basis.
Zhao Han didn't even bother to reply, so he had to call later!
In order to send troops to the Philippines, Zhao Han specially formed the "Luzon Expeditionary Force". Peasants and soldiers were recruited in Fujian and Guangdong, and musketry training was conducted in the winter. Together with medical soldiers, the total number was 3,500.
In Li Banghua's view, it was unwise to send troops this time.
However, Zhao Han did not want to miss the opportunity.
Avenging the tragic death of the Chinese and demonstrating China's national prestige is only one of the reasons. Another reason is that the Spaniards committed a massacre and offended all Chinese businessmen, so sending troops now is a sign of unity.
If we wait a few more years, the Chinese maritime merchants will forget about food and fight, and go to do business with Spain. If the troops are sent out by then, many maritime merchants will still be dissatisfied, feeling that the emperor Zhao Han is delaying their business.
Historically, Zheng Chenggong's general Lin Feng led an army to the Philippines. It was a Chinese maritime businessman who leaked information about Lin Feng's army and also helped the Spanish with ideas.
At this time, Manila was in chaos, and the treasure-carrying galleons were blocked in America. There were no Han people on Spain's side. This was when the Spanish colonists were at their weakest!
Dutch Governor Van Diemen saw it clearly, and Zhao Han certainly understood it very well. The two of them wanted to join forces to kill Spain.