After the fleet left Taiwan, they traveled for two more days and finally arrived at the end of this South Sea cruise, Manila Island in Luzon.
As early as three days ago, after Shang Yi arrived in Taiwan, he sent a message to Manila, informing Shang Yi that his fleet was about to arrive in Manila for inspection. At this time, the four squadrons of the Nanyang Fleet included the 17th Army of the Guangdong Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region. The Seventh Army had already arrived in Manila and was stationed in preparation for the battle with the Netherlands. Therefore, after receiving the report, the Governor of Luzon, Zhang Gengqiu, and the chief general of the Chinese Army, Cheng Gang, immediately made preparations to welcome Shang Yi and his party.
When Shang Yi's fleet sailed into the waters of Luzon Island, Manila sent warships to greet and escort the fleet. When the fleet sailed into Manila Bay, the army had formed a formation at the port, and at the same time gathered Tens of thousands of people watched, and when the fleet docked, a thirty-six-gun salute was fired, making the whole ceremony very grand.
When the Yue Fei stopped on the shore, Zhang Gengqiu and Cheng Gang led several important officials of the colony and boarded the Yue Fei to see Shang Yi.
After seeing the ceremony, Shang Yi said with some displeasure: "Governor Zhang, this is too exaggerated."
Zhang Gengqiu said with a smile: "Five years ago, the emperor personally led the army to expel the Spaniards, save the Chinese people in Luzon, and restore Luzon to China. The Chinese people in Luzon have always been grateful to the emperor, but since then, the emperor has been busy with everything. The state affairs have never been to Luzon again, and this time they finally came to Luzon. The ministers and others couldn't help but feel happy, so it is natural that the welcome should be more grand."
Cheng Gang also said: "Yes, Your Majesty, now we are about to start a war with the Netherlands. The Emperor's personal visit to Luzon is enough to boost the prestige of our army and embolden the enemy. Therefore, we solemnly welcome the Emperor to Luzon and boost the morale of the entire army." "
Shang Yi also nodded. This is true. Since ancient times, the emperor's personal expedition has been to boost the morale of the entire army, so he didn't care too much about the welcoming ceremony and said: "Cheng Gang, this time in Japan , your brother played well, now it's all up to you in Nanyang, don't let your brother compete."
Cheng Gang immediately said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will definitely be able to live up to your Majesty's wishes and the Hongyi devils will never come back."
In fact, China has now begun to use names such as Spain and the Netherlands to refer to European countries. However, among the people, the old words are still used. Hongmao and Hongyi are both common names for the Netherlands. Such names are also obviously derogatory. Yes, but China and the Netherlands are now in a state of hostility, so it is not wrong to call the Netherlands this way.
Zhang Gengqiu said: "The emperor has been bumped by waves all the way. I have already prepared a palace for the emperor in Manila. I would like to ask the emperor to go ashore first and then talk in detail."
Shang Yi nodded and said, "Okay, let's go ashore first."
After Shang Yi and his party disembarked from the ship, the soldiers lined up at the port immediately cheered "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor". Shang Yi also waved to everyone to express his greetings, and the people watching outside the port were even more excited. "Long live, long live" were shouted indiscriminately, and many people worshiped on both sides of the avenue.
At that time, the Chinese army occupied Luzon, and it was when the Spanish colonists were preparing to carry out another massacre of the Chinese in Luzon. Many Chinese were saved from death because of the arrival of the Chinese army. After the Chinese army ruled Luzon, the Chinese finally became The upper-class people in the Luzon area no longer have to be oppressed by foreign colonists and local indigenous people, so they are proud and proud. Naturally, they are also grateful to Shang Yi. Most of them came to welcome Shang Yi this time. Most of them came spontaneously. .
In fact, the size of Manila City is not large, it is just a small European-style castle. The Manila area actually includes the vast area around Manila City. The Manila Port is right on the edge of Manila City. Therefore, Shang Yi and his party only walked two steps after disembarking. We entered the city of Manila in ten minutes. Of course, we passed through bustling business districts along the way, and we could also see the prosperity of Manila. However, I haven’t been to Luzon in five years, and I found that great changes have taken place there. All the damage caused by the last war and riots has been repaired, and the entire city has more than doubled in size. Markets and commercial areas are scattered all over, and buildings of various styles are mixed together, forming a very peculiar urban landscape.
The Spanish colonists have ruled in Luzon for nearly a hundred years. Although the colonial rule was implemented in Luzon, objectively it did promote the development and economy of the Luzon region. Of course, a large part of this It is the result of the hard work of the local Chinese, so the foundation of Luzon is actually much better than that of Taiwan.
Compared with Taiwan, Luzon is larger in scope and is located closer to the center of the ocean. It can not only serve as a transit point for trade with China, but can also conduct maritime trade with other countries in Southeast Asia and even the United States. Mainly trade exchanges, so Luzon's location is more advantageous than Taiwan. In addition, China attaches great importance to overseas trade. At this time, there are six or seven European countries here, including the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden. He established his own business hall and conducted trade with China and Southeast Asian countries, which brought a lot of wealth to Manila and further promoted the socio-economic development of the entire Luzon region.
Moreover, after China ruled Luzon, the rights of the Chinese were guaranteed, and the Chinese government also intended to strengthen support for immigrants to Luzon. Therefore, at this time, nearly 600,000 Chinese have settled in Luzon, which is more than the Spaniards. The rule here increased more than ten times, and exceeded the local indigenous residents. Most of the Chinese are concentrated on Luzon Island, about 400,000. Although many of them are businessmen, there are also some A considerable number of Chinese came to Luzon to open up wasteland and start businesses, and they basically settled in Luzon. They opened up wasteland in Luzon, planted rice, sugar cane, fruits and other products, and used their hard work to quickly make Luzon prosperous. stand up.
However, after a large number of Chinese immigrants arrived in Luzon, they also squeezed the living space of the local indigenous people. Moreover, the Chinese were smarter, more diligent, and mastered advanced production technology than the local indigenous people. Therefore, the local indigenous people It is simply impossible to compete with the Chinese. If it was during the Spanish colonial period, the Spanish could still rely on the power of the Spanish to seize the Chinese wealth. But now China is the ruling class of Luzon, and there is also a garrison of Li Huamei's fleet. The local indigenous people were unable to bully the Chinese. They could only watch helplessly as the Chinese took root in this land, turning the wilderness into fertile soil, the jungle into farmland, and harvesting wealth.
Although there were a few tribes who were jealous for a while and couldn't help but rob farms, but they were quickly exterminated by the Chinese army. Therefore, most other tribes chose to cooperate with the Chinese or were hired by the Chinese to work on the farms. , factories are jobs, and their ultimate fate is to be gradually assimilated by China. A small number of people simply relocate their families and move to Mindanao, Sulu Islands, Palawan and other places in the southern part of the Luzon Islands.
Shang Yi's palace in Manila was located opposite the Manila Governor's Palace, the Manila Cathedral, which was the former Augustinian Cathedral. Of course, it is now used by the Jesuits.
The Manila Cathedral is the largest building in Manila, and it is just opposite the Governor's Palace in Manila. Therefore, it is the most suitable palace for Shang Yi, and the missionaries in the church have no objection to this, because now Jesus The Society still maintained a very good relationship with the Chinese government, the royal family, and members of the royal family. The ability to obtain missionary rights in the Luzon area was entirely the result of China, and even Shang Yi's personal role. Therefore, the missionaries had great influence on Shang Yi. Yi was also very grateful. In addition, it was a great honor for the Chinese emperor to stay in his own church. Although the missionaries were all monks, they were also vain and everyone felt that they were very respectable.
Therefore, the missionaries also cooperated very well and immediately asked most of the missionaries, church members, and believers to move to other churches outside Manila, leaving only a small number of missionaries and freeing up most of them. A room for Shang Yi and his entourage to live in.
After Shang Yi entered the city, the Bishop of Manila Cathedral also welcomed Shang Yi and his party into the church and arranged for them to be accommodated. Alessandra was a Catholic, so of course she would not exclude them from living in the church, and she was the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines in the past. I am an officer who has come to this church many times to conduct some religious ceremonies, so I am no stranger to everything here.
This is the first time for Kaoru Toyotomi to visit a Catholic temple. Although there are churches in Hangzhou and Nanjing, Kaoru Toyotomi has always been immersed in China, and Kaoru Toyotomi received traditional oriental cultural education. , the religions I believe in are Buddhism and Japan’s native Shintoism, and I also have an instinctive rejection of Western religions. It was only after entering the palace and living in the same palace with Alexandra that I gained a little understanding of Western style, so She was also very curious about everything in the church. Fortunately, Alexandra was with her, and the missionaries left behind could also speak Chinese, so they could answer all her questions.
Of course, they don't need to worry about decorating the room. After choosing their own rooms and office locations, it will be left to the accompanying staff and missionaries to take care of the arrangements. Shang Yi is also eager to know what is going on now. The situation in Nanyang, so he only briefly explained a few words, and together with Alexandra, they met with Zhang Gengqiu, Cheng Gang and famous generals of the Chinese Army in the church hall to discuss the battle plan this time, and the people in the inner room Let Toyotomi Kaoru take care of the arrangements.
However, when leaving the inner room, Alessandra specifically asked Toyotomi Kaoru to arrange three rooms because there would be another person moving in. However, Shang Yi patted her firmly on the arm. After a while,
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