After Wang Yuan arrived in Luzon by boat, he did not go to Yanzhou (Manila), the capital, but disembarked at Dagu Town (Dagupan) in the north of Tortoiseshell City.
A middle-aged official was responsible for receiving them at the dock: "Your Majesty, Xu Weixue, pays homage to the Supreme King and his wife!"
Song Ling'er introduced: "This is the Minister of Rites of the Luzon Kingdom. Ce'er has copied the Ming style, but with some minor changes."
Wang Yuan cupped his hands and smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Xu Shangshu, for welcoming me personally."
"Your Majesty, please change the ship!" Xu Weixue said respectfully.
Wang Yuan really doesn't know much about the history of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise he would definitely know that the Xu Weixue in front of him should have been a big pirate!
The Minister of War of the Luzon State was named Wang Zhen. In history, this person took his mother's surname as Wang Zhi and was known as the "Wufeng Shipowner". The Japanese first purchased muskets and it was this guy who served as translator. In this time and space, the big pirate "
"Wang Zhi" no longer exists. He went to sea with Xu Weixue, and his first job was as a sailor in the Guangyuan Society.
Items in large and small packages are shipped directly to Yanzhou by sea ship.
Wang Yuan and his family, as well as the European aristocrats, took river boats and sailed upriver.
Xu Weixue pointed to the seaside town and said: "This used to be an indigenous tribe, but now the residents in the town are mainly Han people, with about 2,000 Han immigrants and their descendants."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "More than two thousand people can build a city overseas."
Xu Weixue explained: "Not all of them live in the town, but many live outside the town and make a living by farming and logging. As for the original indigenous people, some have made meritorious service and were naturalized, some were sent to cut trees and build roads, and the most stubborn ones were taken to the mountains.
mining."
The river is very wide and sometimes has branches.
Along both sides of the river, there used to be forests, but now a lot of them have been cut down. The wood can be sold to make money, and the cleared land can be used for farming. After half an hour's boat ride, Wang Yuan even saw a Han village by the river.
Half a day later, the river suddenly became narrow and hills began to appear on both sides.
The farther upstream we sail, the steeper the hillside becomes, gradually turning into a mountain peak.
That night, while resting in a wider river valley, there was actually another Han village in the riverbank area.
Xu Weixue introduced: "This used to be a headhunting tribe. The indigenous people were extremely ferocious and enjoyed beheading others for generations. They not only chopped off the heads of their enemies, but even chopped off the heads of relatives and friends of the same tribe. Young people who were married but had never had their heads chopped off would also do it.
Being discriminated against and ridiculed.”
Huang E was shocked and said: "How can there be such ethnic groups in the world?"
"Mrs. Haojiao Taishang knows," Xu Weixue said, "in the deep mountains of Luzon Island, headhunters are everywhere. The first two groups of immigrants suffered a big loss, and hundreds of them were headhunted one after another. The king of the country was furious.
Angry, he mobilized 3,000 fire-gun soldiers, which lasted for more than five years, and wiped out all the headhunters within hundreds of miles."
Headhunters are also human beings and cannot be killed all at once. They are still very useful for logging, building roads and mining.
Spanish nobleman Alfonso suddenly said: "Beheading people for fun? It's so barbaric. I heard that there are such tribes in Yinzhou."
Xu Weixue laughed and said: "In the deep mountains of Luzon Island, there are actually civilized ethnic groups. They are engaged in farming, and even reclaimed the entire mountain forest into terraced fields. These indigenous people, the king ordered to give them preferential treatment, give them the same courtesy as the Han people, and also
Teachers were sent to live in the village permanently to teach the children there how to read and write. The daughter of the chief of the largest farming tribe was also made a noble concubine by the king of the country, and this matter was passed down as a good story by the natives on the island."
Pretty nonsense, just the mouth of a scholar.
That night, everyone rested in the river valley village and continued their journey upstream by boat the next day.
After another half a day, the mountains were too steep and the water was too fast. Continuing to take the boat required a lot of trackers. Therefore, we got off the boat and took the mountain road instead. The accompanying items were carried by donkeys and horses, and even Huang'e had to walk on his own.
Wang Yuan looked at the gravel road under his feet and the chopped tree stumps on both sides, and he understood very clearly.
In order to build this mountain road, I am afraid many indigenous people died. Colonization is always accompanied by blood.
Xu Weixue had been paying attention to Wang Yuan and immediately explained: "Your Majesty, this road is called 'Golden Road'."
"Built for gold mining?" Wang Yuan asked.
Xu Weixue said: "Yes, three gold mines and one silver mine have been discovered in the mountains ahead."
Wang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Luzon is indeed rich in gold."
The European nobles' eyes turned red when they heard this.
Gold mine?
A whole three seats?
Also comes with a silver mine?
Xu Weixue added: "Copper mines have also been discovered here, but there are really not enough manpower, so we can only put it on hold for the time being."
Wang Yuan was speechless.
If copper mines were discovered somewhere during the Ming Dynasty, the government and gentry would rush to exploit them. Luzon actually left the copper mines idle due to lack of manpower.
After walking on the mountain road for another half a day, we finally reached the top of the mountain. Everyone was shocked by the beautiful scenery in front of them.
I saw a small flat basin between the mountains on all sides.
Under the reflection of the setting sun, the mountain basin is shrouded in golden color, and there is also a light mist floating in it. Even the mist is illuminated by the setting sun and turns golden. It is like a fairyland outside the world!
Xu Weixue pointed to the basin at the foot of the mountain and said: "This place is called 'Baguio'. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. It is a holy place to escape the summer heat. The king of the country built a city here for ten years, built a Baguio city, and also built a Baguio city specifically for his mother.
Yao Palace."
Song Ling'er said happily: "That kid has some conscience."
Huang E was quite envious and could not help but speak sourly: "Sister, you are so lucky. My boys are not so filial."
Wang Yuan stood on the top of the mountain and scanned the surroundings. He raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, without revealing his son's true intention.
The Baguio City in the basin below is definitely a military city, specially used to store troops to protect the three nearby gold mines and a silver mine. The Han immigrants here and the construction of the Baguio Palace for Song Ling'er are all incidental.
thing.
Of course, hundreds of years later, people would definitely prefer to hear gossip: the famous Baguio City and Baguio Palace were built by the king for his biological mother!
Xu Weixue led everyone down the mountain and discovered many vegetable fields and melon orchards along the way. He introduced: "Luzon is hot all year round, so some fruits and vegetables are difficult to grow. But here in Baguio, everything can be grown.
Vegetables from here are even trafficked to coastal cities.”
Wang Yuan asked: "How many Han people are there in Baguio?"
Xu Weixue said: "This is a key immigration area, with more than 8,000 immigrants. More than 70% of them have wives who are local aborigines. In addition, there are 3,000 troops stationed in Baguio City, all of whom are rifled gunners, and their family members also have four
Five thousand people.”
What is warm in winter and cool in summer, what is as beautiful as a fairyland, what is a summer resort, these are not the fundamental development of Baguio City.
The real motivation for development is the gold and silver mines in the surrounding mountains!
Inside the mine, it is absolutely dark and bloody. It is estimated that natives die in the mine every day.
When the natives died, they would be captured. The men would dig and build roads, and the women would be assigned to the immigrants. Once a tribe was captured, it would just make room for the immigrants. It could be said that it served multiple purposes. If Wang Ce were to be disemboweled, his heart would definitely be broken.
Dark.
Of course, for Han immigrants, the king of the country Wang Ce is definitely a good person.
The closer you get to Baguio City, the more Han people are scattered outside the city.
The sun gradually sets, and smoke rises from the wild kitchens. The farmers carry hoes and go home, talking and laughing with each other. Their smiles are full of leisure and prosperity. They don't have to pay taxes now, because they have been farming for less than ten years and their family granaries are full.
When it is full, I usually grow a lot of vegetables, just waiting for merchants to come to buy grain and vegetables.
Although my wife is an assigned indigenous woman, she technically has a blood feud with the Han people. But after a few years, they all gave birth to children, and their lives were better than before. Most of the indigenous women have "forgotten" the bloody past.
.
What else can we do if we don’t “forget”?
Wang Yuan passed by a village and saw a group of children chasing and playing, each of them carrying a canvas schoolbag. He asked: "Is there a school here?"
Xu Weixue was also a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, and now he is the minister of the Ministry of Rites of Luzon. He is in charge of the national education affairs. He smiled very proudly and said: "In Luzon, wherever there are immigrants, there must be a school. There must be a school for the children or scholars of the Ming Dynasty."
, as long as you have read the Four Books and Five Classics, you can get a hundred taels of silver when you go to sea, and you can get hundreds of acres of land when you get there."
When we arrived outside Baguio City, the sun had already set.
This is a stone city wall. Its area is not very large, but its military defense performance is extremely strong. The gold and silver collected from the surrounding mines must first be transported to Baguio City for storage.
The city is mainly inhabited by soldiers and their families, and the rest are craftsmen and traders, with iron shops, taverns and the like.
By the way, there are iron ores in the nearby mountains, and the quality is very high. The blacksmiths hire their own people to dig for them.
There is no way, copper mines are too lazy to be mined, and the government is even less interested in iron mines.
Xu Weixue held a lantern and led everyone into the city. Pointing to an Arabic-style building in the distance, he said: "In front of you is the Baguio Palace."
There are many Green Religion countries in the Luzon Islands. When Wang Ce conquered those islands, Green Religion craftsmen grabbed a lot of them. The Baguio Palace in front of us was designed by Green Religion architects, and the stones were all sourced from the surrounding areas.
Mountain.
Although it was difficult to see clearly in the dark, Song Ling'er was still extremely happy and said with a smile: "I like it here, and the name of Baguio Palace is also very nice."