Before he finished his coffee, the phone on the table rang. It was Zhan Wuya from the Manufacturing Directorate. He knew that someone from the Foreign Intelligence Service was operating in Manila, so he asked if he could help cover a small exploration team.
The team entered the Philippines. The manufacturing director department focused on the rich mineral resources of the Philippine Islands. In addition to the well-known gold and copper mines, they also valued nickel and chromium, the two dominant minerals in the Philippines.
"...These two ores are very, very, very important to us..." Zhan Wuya used three very important words to emphasize his tone. His anxiety is justified. If the chemical industry department wants to expand its production capacity, it must get rid of glass and ceramics.
Two equipment manufacturing materials with seriously insufficient processing performance - using these materials to manufacture equipment, the chemical industry of the Senate will always be regarded as an expanded laboratory production.
The chemical industry department is clamoring for corrosion-resistant metal pipes and pressure vessels all day long, and the medical department is in urgent need of stainless steel to make new surgical instruments; the machinery industry department is also extremely thirsty for high-performance alloy steel and anti-corrosion coating materials, and even the financial industry department has proposed it.
The "Australian Mithril Coin" made of stainless steel is to be issued. However, chromium and nickel are scarce resources in Hainan and even China. Only some associated chromium iron sand was obtained when mining monazite in Wenchang. The Manufacturing Directorate Department concentrated its technical strength to experimentally
A small amount was smelted, but the output was far from enough for industrial production. Zhan Wuya was very troubled by this.
"It's quite difficult, but we will try." Jiang Shan said on the phone. "We have to wait until the intelligence agents have completely established themselves and established a considerable relationship with the top management in Manila before we can start. Yes, we will send our own ship
It is absolutely possible to go. But the Spaniards know much better about the current situation in the Philippines than we do. If we can get support from the local Spaniards, the exploration work will be much easier."
After putting down the phone, Jiang Shan began to consider the next question: how to support Mr. Lando to meet the new requirements of the Manufacturing Director Department.
Parian - Jiannei, the Chinese district outside Manila, among a large area of low buildings with bamboo and wood thatch roofs, the cockfighting ring is the most eye-catching. There is another one further north in Binondo mainly used by Tagalogs
cockfighting ring, but much smaller and cruder.
Parian originally had various casinos. Since the governor levied a gambling tax in order to expand financial resources, the gambling industry has become more and more prosperous. Cockfighting, a game full of local color, has become a gambling that is both entertaining and exciting.
Method. Even those who were originally not interested in gambling would spend a copper to watch the game in a boring afternoon or evening. They would often be incited by the fanatical atmosphere very quickly and lose the last "piece of lead" they had.
In the stream, you can hear every day that a rich businessman went bankrupt because of cockfighting or a pauper became rich because of a lucky break.
The Parian cockfighting ring looks like a large bamboo cage for keeping parrots, with holes all over it. Even from the outside, you can roughly see what's going on inside. The three floors of seats are made of wooden boards around the ring, and in the center is a circular cockfighting ring.
The conical roof is also made of bamboo. For lighting and ventilation, several skylights are opened on it. Whenever there is a sudden rain, there is no time to close the skylights, and the fighting cocks in the ring and the audience in the balcony become drowned.
Despite this, this large birdcage is always hard to find when a cockfighting competition is held. Each person needs to pay an admission fee of one copper, but the cockfighting ring that can accommodate more than 500 people is always full.
There were still people standing outside who couldn't get in, including large groups of indigenous people, Chinese, mixed-race people and white Europeans. Vendors selling drinks and snacks were squeezing in and out of the crowd, selling their goods. There was a loud noise in the place.
The cauldron was boiling; coupled with the roosters filling the pit and the valley, the noisy crows came one after another, resounding throughout the venue and outside.
There was no movement except in the cockfighting ring, where several Chinese people in silk shirts walked around collecting bets. The audience threw piles of "lead pieces", countless silver coins, and other items of various sizes and shapes.
A piece of Chinese silver ingot, and even bags of placer gold in small pockets. The referee placed the bets in piles on the sand floor of the cockfighting ring. The audience enthusiastically discussed the winner of the previous game and who would win this time.
The roosters were vying to make bets that the cock would win.
Two Tagalog chickens came on stage. It was obvious that they were experienced cockfighters. After a few teases, the two roosters' feathers stood up, their combs turned purple, and they were furious, looking like they were fighting to the death. The audience immediately became noisy.
, the crowd was excited.
"Bet another hundred pesos, bet the yellow one." A white European wearing a captain's uniform shouted. The sound was like a falling boulder on the shore causing countless waves. People started to commotion. You shouted and I responded.
Holding out hands or patting each other's shoulders indicates a need to increase bets.
The chickens took off the leather sheaths from their chicken feet, revealing the sharp irons mounted on the back of their legs. The audience was completely silent. A gong sounded, the referee made a gesture, and both sides released the roosters at the same time. The two fighters ran away.
The two roosters lowered their heads and stared at each other for a long time. Suddenly they jumped up and flew towards each other. The captain let out a burst of cheers like wild beasts. The two roosters turned around, stood facing each other with their bows and bows, and fiercely
They bumped into each other and fought for three or four rounds, with pieces of chicken feathers flying everywhere. The yellow chicken flew over the opponent's head and grabbed it hard with its claws; the white chicken that was fighting against it did not show any weakness and fought back.
, knocking the opponent staggering with one kick. The white captain began to curse, until the yellow chicken stood up again and pounced on the enemy with redoubled ferocity. The captain was the first to stand up, waved his arms and shouted, yelling with him.
The audience who bet on the yellow chicken also cheered in unison. But at this time, nothing could be distinguished. The battle entered the melee stage. The fighters bit the comb and twisted into a ball. Suddenly one fell down and another was knocked to the ground.
, chicken feathers stained with blood were flying into the sky everywhere.
On the top step, there was a hunched-over man sitting there quietly. He was wrapped in a black cloak and did not bet with anyone. This man did not pay much attention to the situation on the cockfighting stage.
He seemed to be quite interested in the fanatical captain. The captain was raising his convulsed fist above his head and letting out a blood-curdling scream. The yellow fighting cock had fallen sideways to the ground, and then struggled to stand up, limping.
He ran away; after a few steps, he fell down again, dragging his wings and crawling slowly on the sand, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
The crowd roared again, some were smiling, some were pale, and they could only silently hand over their bets to the winner. The owner of the loser lowered his head and picked up the yellow rooster, "Make it into a salad!"
This bastard cheated me out of three hundred pesos," the captain roared, waving his fists furiously. His frenzy did not calm down until the next pair of cock warriors appeared.
The audience was excited because the new two fighting cocks were taller and stronger than the previous pairs. When the Tagalogs installed spurs on the fighting cocks, there was a commotion in the seats, and the gamblers took out their bets one after another. "Three hundred pesos."
," the captain raised a bag high, "all in for the red one, it will definitely kill the gray one!" The audience became more noisy as they whispered to each other, and soon they formed new piles around the ring.
Betting stakes of varying sizes.
The two Tagalog chickens put down their chickens and backed away. The red-feathered fighting cock and the shorter silver-grey chicken immediately became a mass and flew into the air. As soon as their claws landed on the ground, they immediately pounced on each other and pecked at each other with their sharp beaks.
, the talus shined, the action was dazzling, the venue was temporarily quiet, everyone had almost never seen such a ferocious fight in the cockfighting ring. Suddenly, the silver-gray chicken was hit, and the flaming red chicken threw a talon
Brazed into each other's wings, the two chickens fell to the ground together. One was struggling desperately to get rid of the iron in the body, and the other was pecking at the other's head relentlessly.
"Okay, okay," the captain shouted: "Peck it to death, stab it to death, kill that damn chicken!"
The two chickens finally separated, jumped up and collided with each other, then fell to the ground. The red chicken rushed forward and tried to hit each other, but the silver-gray chicken suddenly dodged sideways, making everyone gasp. Before they could rush through, the two chickens suddenly separated.
The dead flaming red chicken turned around, and the silver-gray chicken had already attacked. They rolled fiercely on the ground, then stood up again, fighting beak to beak, flapping violently with their wings above, and using the talons on their legs below.
They slashed at each other; then they flew into the air, and then they all landed on the ground, and they started fighting on land again with great fury.
There were several cheers from the audience, but they were immediately suppressed by the captain's scolding. The silver-gray chicken chopped off its opponent until it bled. Expanding black spots appeared on the chest of the fire-red chicken, and its red feathers fell off. But it
It once again beat the opponent with its powerful wings until the enemy fell down, and then jumped up and prepared to kill the opponent. However, the silver-gray chicken squatted down, dodged, and avoided with incredible speed. The situation changed rapidly, and the fire-red chicken turned around.
He beat the opponent upside down and hit the silver-gray chicken's chest twice, leaving a little blood on the ground. But the silver-gray chicken managed to retreat and jumped into the air to avoid the enemy's attack. When it fell, it hit the red chicken's chest.
neck.
The two roosters, now with feathers scattered and dripping with blood, were kicking each other with their paws, spinning in circles, lowering their heads, looking for their opponent's weak points. The captain almost jumped up and let out a series of wild screams mixed in Spanish and French.
The flaming red chicken seemed to be inspired, and suddenly launched a dazzling wind-like attack, gaining the upper hand. It beat the silver-gray chicken with its wings, and stabbed the opponent with its talons until blood spattered. The silver-gray chicken continued as usual.
Stepping back, seeing failure imminent, just as the captain shouted in ecstasy, it unbelievably rose into the air, fell down and inserted a piece of iron into the heart of the flaming chicken. The latter fell down and became a heap.
The feathers were squirming slightly, and blood was coming out of the mouth.