Chapter 769: The Spanish Empire is besieged from both sides
While Zhao Xin and Lu Qi were talking, a fleet of two Manila galleons was heading north along the winding coastline of western North America. One of the two ships was named "San Fernando", with a displacement of 1,500 tons.
; The other is named "San Antonio", with a displacement of 1,900 tons.
You must know that before the arrival of Beihai Town, the Spanish Empire had no serious threats on the west coast of America. Apart from the forts at various ports, the Manila galleons based at the Port of Acapulco were enough to deal with it. Of course, before Denava came to
The general thought so too, and ended up sinking one ship and seriously injuring another.
Although the Spanish side already knew the power of Beihai Town's artillery, they did not rush to mobilize battleships from the east coast. Besides, this time they came to negotiate and obtain prisoners, so there was no point in getting two battleships to show off their power.
At this time, in the captain's cabin at the stern of the "San Carlos", several blubber candles as thick as a baby's forearm illuminated the room in detail. Brother Hilarion Diez, who served as the interpreter for this mission,
He was telling the envoys including Archbishop Peralta what he had seen and heard in San Francisco. As he told the story, the expressions on the faces of everyone present were sometimes surprised and sometimes indignant.
Brother Diez met the mission in Monterey, and most of the members of the mission, except for the governor of California, José Joaquín de Arrillaga, and the president of the Franciscan Mission, Fermín de.
La Suen and everyone else boarded from Acapulco.
"You mean, the Chinese not only razed our church to the ground, but also built a temple of their own there?"
"Yes, dear bishop. It's just like the City God's Temple I saw in Macau and Manila. But in addition to enshrining their own patron saint, it also enshrines the Indian eagle god and wolf god...
.”
Archbishop Peralta interjected: "Neoma?"
Brother Diez shook his head and said: "No. It's a female god similar to 'Teyquam'. She has eight arms, sitting on a lotus seat, and each hand holds an object."
When the archbishop heard this, he said indignantly: "Heretics! They should be burned at the stake!"
Brother Diez said humbly: "You are absolutely right!"
Okay, I have to explain the above conversation.
It is said that among the European countries before the First Opium War, Spain was the one who studied China the most. Starting from the 1620s, in order to better penetrate the Christian influence into the interior of China, there were successively those such as Xavier
Spanish scholars with religious identities such as Luo Luo, Martin de Rada, Gao Muxian, Escalante, Mendoza, etc. They even became the earliest sinologists in Europe.
Among these people, the most well-known "Sinologist" is Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, who belongs to the Augustinian Catholic Church. What is interesting is that this person has never been to China and does not understand Chinese.
However, by collecting contemporary materials and other people's research results, he wrote a widely influential historical work - "History of the Great Empire of China".
This book covers a lot of information about Ming Dynasty China, including the natural environment, history, culture, customs, etiquette, religious beliefs, as well as politics and economy. It can be said to be the most important encyclopedia for Europeans to understand ancient China.
How authoritative is this book? Basically, from the seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century, every trade representative sent to Guangzhou or missionaries sent to the East from various European countries must have a copy.
In this set of books, the introduction to Chinese religion and idol worship specifically mentioned that among the many gods believed in by Chinese folk in the Ming Dynasty - probably in the area south of the Yangtze River, three were the most important, namely Sichia, Teyquam
, Neoma. The first one is Sakyamuni, the second one is the Queen Mother, and the last one is Mazu.
The problem is that the main god enshrined in the Taoist temple in Kinmen is Doumu Yuanjun, who is the innate god of Taoism and the mother of all stars. In the Taoist mythology system, this god has nine sons in total. The eldest son and the second son are "
"Emperor Gouchen" and "Emperor Ziwei", the other seven are the Big Dipper.
The reason why Taoist Master Ma Benzhu wanted to offer sacrifices to such a main god in a unique way was because he was implicitly flattering Zhao Xin.
Emperor Ziwei is also known as the "Arctic Emperor". He has the highest position and the most honor, and is the "Lord of the Stars". Historically, Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang are all said to be the reincarnations of Emperor Ziwei, and their civil and martial arts have played an important role in Chinese history.
The above are all very high. Thinking that Beihai Town was founded in the northern land outside the Guanhai Pass, it goes without saying who Ziwei Emperor is alluding to.
Brother Diez obviously didn't understand this, so he took it for granted that the female-faced Doumu Yuanjun was the Queen Mother.
At this time, someone else interrupted: "How many clergy do they have?"
Brother Diez said: "I only saw three people. In China, such people are called Taoist priests. I have seen people with the same attire in Macau."
Archbishop Peralta nodded and said, "You continue."
Brother Dietz said: "On behalf of the diocese, I protested to the Chinese, hoping to allow us to restore the church and compensate for the demolition of the church. However, their governor clearly rejected this."
Hearing this, Archbishop Peralta and Fermin de La Suen looked at each other and frowned deeply. Compared with the Chinese occupying San Francisco by force, they felt that their religious rights were being violated even more.
Worried.
You must know that Spain's colonial conquest process in the Americas essentially used a combination of religious power and royal power, which was very different from the colonial methods of Protestant countries.
Protestant countries such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands practice mercantilism and put trade first. They don’t care whether the natives believe in God. God is God if they make money. They must circle their sphere of influence first. The Russians are even more like this.
Desire allows them to kill with one hand and induce with the other, and they also do not care whether the indigenous people convert or not.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Spain is different from Portugal. As an old colonial empire that started the Age of Discovery, its main motivation for overseas expansion was to seize the wealth of the East and spread Catholicism in an attempt to build a world-wide empire.
"Catholic Empire".
With tens of thousands of missionaries as pioneers, they penetrated deep into Indian tribes and villages, holding crosses high in one hand and waving muskets and spears in the other. Those who followed me prospered, and those who went against me perished. They forced the indigenous people to change their beliefs and lifestyles, and changed their religion from religion to religion.
The cultural assimilation of the colonies turned the local indigenous people into serfs under the plantation system; thus, a huge church system was established in North and South America, and a hierarchical system parallel to the governor's administrative system was established.
By the 1820s, the total number of churches built by Spain in the American colonies reached 80,000, and 12,000 churches were built in the Viceroyalty of Mexico alone. For many Indians in western North America, the first church they encountered was
A European is a missionary.
Fermin de La Suen, the chairman of the Franciscan Mission, pondered for a moment, and then said to Peralta eagerly: "Your Excellency, Archbishop, after you go back this time, please be sure to present your message to the Royal Supreme Council.
Members, please explain the situation. The Parish of San Francesco cannot be lost under any circumstances. If necessary, I will make a representation to the Governor and the council members."
Don't think that Rasuen is making a fuss. You must know that even though it is the end of the eighteenth century, the Spanish Empire is still an extremely conservative and extremely religious country among European countries. This is inseparable from its history.
The birth of Spain was the result of the Crusaders retaking their territory from the Arabs, known in history as the "Reconquista". By the 16th century, the Roman Church split into Catholicism and Protestantism under the impact of the European Reformation, and most of Northern Europe seceded.
The rule of Roman Catholicism became the sphere of influence of Protestantism; while Spain became a stubborn fortress guarding Catholicism, and vigorously spreading Catholicism became the goal pursued by successive Spanish kings.
Therefore, what Beihai Town did in the Kinmen area was undoubtedly a challenge to the Spanish colonial system that combined royal power and religious power. This was a far more serious problem than the loss of several colonial strongholds!
Peralta sighed after hearing this and said slowly: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to get support from the mainland for this matter. You know, our war with the French has reached a critical moment, and neither the mainland nor the eastern provinces can
Send troops to support. There is another one, as you all know, that is Santo Domingo."
"Alas! How could this happen?" The monks present all sighed heavily.
At this point in time, the Spanish Empire was in a very difficult situation. The "French Revolutionary War" far away in Europe had entered a critical period. The "Battle of the Pyrenees" was approaching the final moment of the decisive battle. The Spanish army was the main force that had to do its part.
It is said that in the first anti-French alliance war, the battles of Valmy, Jemappe and Toulon are usually talked about by future generations. But in fact, the "Battle of the Pyrenees" was the one that ensured the French Revolution.
An important weight for victory in the war, it also paved the way for the subsequent Peninsular War in the Napoleonic era.
In order to respond to the French army's attack on the eastern front, the Spanish army deployed its elite troops with a huge force of 90,000 to build a defense line consisting of 90 fortresses from the northern border of Catalonia to the Mediterranean coast. On another
In the history of time and space, this war will last until July next year, and will end with the French army defeating the main force of the Spanish army and capturing Bilbao, thus establishing a war alliance between Spain and France.
If the war on the mainland is imminent, the Spanish Santo Domingo in Latin America is now also in chaos, causing the New Spain Province's army in the Americas to be mired in quagmire. Santo Domingo is actually the country that later became Haiti and Dominica.
Collectively, the former is now a French colony and the latter is a Spanish colony.
Since 1791, a black slave uprising broke out in Haiti. In order to cause chaos in France and even take French Saint-Domingue into its hands, the province of New Spain began to openly support the uprising last year and even incorporated the black uprising army into
In its own second-line troops, black officers and soldiers were given all the rights enjoyed by Spanish nationals.
The problem is that Toussaint Louverture, known as the "Father of the Founding of Haiti," had a lifelong goal to liberate all the black slaves on the island of Saint-Domingue, not just the 4,000 officers and soldiers who joined the Spanish army. However, he
The proposal was rejected by Spain, so Toussaint became independent from the insurrectionary troops and called himself the "Commander-in-Chief of the Black Troops." Due to his huge appeal among blacks, both French and Spanish plantations
The slaves in the garden fled to join his army.
Now the Spaniards quit. They support you and let you create trouble for the French. How can they bite Lu Dongbin and poach us? So the Spaniards turned to support other rebel leaders and even put Dusan under house arrest.
Wife and children.
Now Toussaint no longer played with the Spanish, and instead flirted with the French. In February of this year, the National Convention finally made a resolution to abolish slavery in Saint-Domingue. In July, when the news reached Toussaint,
, he completely fell in love with France.
When Spain saw that Toussaint had rebelled, it knew that its own family could not cope with it alone, so it sent an invitation to Britain. How about our two families carve up French Saint-Domingue together?
The British readily agreed and dispatched the first batch of 7,600 expeditionary troops. Although Britain and France were fighting to the death in Europe, when the British troops landed in Port-au-Prince, the people who welcomed them were French people who supported slavery.
Ordinarily, the British would attack from the western coast, and the Spanish army would attack from the north and the borders of the Spanish colonies. The two empires were waiting for the Toussaint family. They should surrender anyway.
However, what the Spanish did not expect was that within two months after the British army arrived in Saint-Domingue, a large-scale outbreak of yellow fever occurred. Both officers and soldiers were either dead or waiting to die; so Du
Santos took advantage of this opportunity to concentrate his forces against the Spanish army, which had now entered the territory of Spanish Santo Domingo.
So you see, Europe and Central America are in such chaos, how can the province of New Spain have time to deal with the town of Beihai entrenched in Alta California? As the representative of the Royal Supreme Council in the Americas, its status is second only to the province
Archbishop Peralta, the Governor, knows this all too well!
Compared to the archbishop and the Franciscan missionaries, California Governor De Arrillaga who is present here is more concerned about taking back the San Francisco area. However, just five days ago, when Archbishop Peralta arrived in Monterey
At that time, he also brought a letter from Juan Vicente de Guemes Pacheco, the governor of New Spain.
In this letter, Governor Pacheco ordered him to cooperate with the archbishop in bringing back the captured officers and soldiers. Before fully understanding the strength of the Chinese, he must do everything possible to avoid continuing armed conflicts with the Chinese in Kinmen Town, so as not to cause California
The situation further deteriorated, and all jurisdiction north of Santa Cruz could even be given up.
However, if the Chinese try to use the victory of this war as a threat to assert territorial claims on the west coast of California, they must resolutely push back.
After reading the letter, de Arrillaga knew that his idea of leading troops to retake San Francisco was dead. Moreover, what the Governor said was like taking off his pants and farting, purely for the sake of looking good. The territory had been given to others.
Do you have the nerve to say that you disagree with other people’s territorial claims?