Another fleet arrived, and Zhu Yihai saw many new ships.
There are even three sailing merchant ships in the fleet that arrived this time. They are all Spanish galleons, with a tonnage of about 500, and 24 cannons, of which about 18 can be considered heavy artillery. The ship's armaments are already
It's very strong, and it can also carry a team of armed guards in the cabin.
"This is coming from Luzon, and there is also an envoy sent by the Spanish Governor of Luzon on the ship." Accompanying the ship was a eunuch from the Guangzhou Shipping Department. After receiving the Spanish merchant fleet at Guangzhou Port,
Come with the ship.
Zhu Yihai had previously sent an envoy to Luzon to meet with the Spaniards to discuss trade and to join forces to suppress the Dutch.
The Spaniards were naturally eager for the Ming Dynasty to actively invite the Spaniards to carry out trade along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. The two sides had already cooperated privately before, but it was not so formal. After hearing that the Ming Emperor had repeatedly defeated the invading barbarians from the north, the Spaniards realized that this
It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Especially after their small stronghold at Beijilong Port in Taiwan was captured by the Dutch a few years ago, the Spaniards had lost their northward routes and trade rights.
Regarding the Ming Dynasty, the Spaniards in Luzon actually both yearned for and feared it.
As early as the end of Longqing and the beginning of Wanli, Lin Feng, a great pirate off the coast of the Ming Dynasty, led 62 ships and more than 4,000 pirate men, sailed into Manila Bay, and even surrounded Manila where the governor was. After a fierce battle, Lin Feng failed and retreated.
, came back soon, but still failed to capture it. Later, the Spanish assembled armed forces to attack the northern stronghold occupied by Lin Feng, and the two sides fought fiercely.
Later, officials of the Ming Dynasty learned that Lin Feng had fled to Luzon, so they sent officials to Luzon, summoned local natives, and more than 5,000 and 200 ships launched several attacks on Lin Feng. Lin Feng's men either surrendered or died, and the main force
Completely defeated, Lin Feng later escaped.
The Spaniards in Luzon were also impressed by the fact that the Ming Dynasty could have such influence over distant Luzon, and could even recruit soldiers in Luzon, and even execute Chinese businessmen who collaborated with pirates. This all made these colonists who had long regarded Luzon as a forbidden target of Spain.
The person is very vigilant.
At that time, the Spanish governor in Luzon actually did not have many people under his command, and they were mainly criminals, mercenaries, businessmen, etc. The number was limited, and he was very afraid of the Ming Dynasty's influence on Luzon.
Later, during the Wanli period, someone reported to the Ming Dynasty that a large gold mine had been discovered in Jiyi Mountain in Luzon. The Ming court sent people to investigate. Ming Dynasty officials arrived, and all the Chinese in Luzon paid their respects.
At that time, the Chinese in Luzon had gathered more than 40,000 people. Both in number and wealth, they far exceeded the Spanish colonists. When they saw Ming Dynasty officials coming again, and the Chinese came to visit them one after another, they were very panicked.
They thought that the Ming Dynasty was coming to rob Luzon, so although they later discovered that the Jiyishan Gold Mine was a scam, the Ming Dynasty officials returned disappointed.
However, the Spaniards began to massacre the Chinese, eventually massacring more than 25,000 Chinese, and only a few escaped back.
After Spain massacred more than 20,000 Chinese, it was afraid that the Ming Dynasty would blame it, so it sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to apologize, but lied that they were pirates and not good people.
But the matter finally reached Beijing, and after the imperial court punished Lu Song, they did not hold him accountable.
The reason is that at that time, the imperial court mainly adopted a maritime ban policy. Many merchants who went to sea actually went out secretly. This kind of behavior was strictly prohibited by the imperial court. They did not pay taxes when they went to sea, and they also evaded taxes and evaded service, let alone
In fact, what the Central Plains dynasties in the past were most opposed to was this kind of private travel to sea or even relocation.
This is different from those Western countries that like to colonize overseas. In the final analysis, it is a different country model. Most of the time, China is a unified dynasty, which emphasizes centralization. When you go overseas, you will lose labor force, taxes and even ruling power.
It's beyond your reach and you can't control it, so of course you don't want to.
Many countries in the West are small countries with fierce struggles and hard life. Even the king is actually just a leader under the feudal system. Moreover, they also focus on business, otherwise they will not have money to live, so they are encouraged to go out and explore the world, such as the Vikings in Northern Europe in the past.
People, build a boat and take a group of people to rob it everywhere. If you rob it back, you have to pay a sum to the lord according to the rules. Of course the lord is happy for his men to go out and rob it.
Countries in Western Europe and other countries encourage colonization. They can also invest in shares and get a group of criminals, pirates, businessmen, etc. to go out for adventure or robbery. If they succeed, they can get a big sum of money. If they fail, they are not afraid. Even if they establish colonial strongholds overseas.
, it doesn’t matter, because the colony was a base for plunder in the early days and could not be separated from the mother country.
The famous East India Company once had many shareholders investing and raised large sums of money, and later also paid generous dividends.
Under the two different systems of the Ming Dynasty and the West, they were also destined to have different attitudes towards citizens going overseas.
For the Ming Dynasty, these people went outside and were no longer worthy of being called Chinese. Merchants were the lowest among the four people. Now they were doing business and stealing outside, evading taxes, and being killed outside. Then
Just kill them, why bother to launch an army for these untouchables?
Even when Lu Song was fighting Lin Feng, the Ming Dynasty sent people to help Lu Song.
It was you who abandoned the country, and of course the country will not stand up for you again.
This kind of thinking was not only true in the Ming Dynasty, but also in the later Qing Dynasty. Who told you to stay in China and have to go abroad?
You deserve to die!
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, these Chinese who left the country were not treated as citizens at all.
This kind of thinking is generally difficult for the colonists to understand, so the Spaniards in Luzon who massacred China have always been worried about the aftermath of the Ming Dynasty's settlement.
They had talked with the Ming Dynasty several times before, and wanted to trade with the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty was not interested and was unwilling. The Spaniards wanted to be tough, so they fought several times, but they did not win.
It occupied a stronghold in the north of Taiwan Island. In the end, due to the ban on trade by Japan, the trade volume of this route dropped sharply. This stronghold was of little value and there were too few people. Finally, it was occupied by the Dutch.
Originally, the Governor of Luzon thought of giving up, but who knew that the situation in Ming Dynasty had changed, and the emperor actually changed his policy and came up with the conditions that they had dreamed of before.
The Governor of Luzon almost laughed out loud. After finding some Chinese businessmen to learn about the specific situation there, he felt that this was a good opportunity and he must seize it.
So this time three Spanish galleons were specially sent here, loaded with a lot of cargo.
"What goods did you bring?"
"The Governor of Luzon plans to sell these three ships and their cargo to the imperial court." Eunuch Chen Jiu reported.
This somewhat surprised Zhu Yihai.
"With cargo on board?"
These three Spanish galleons from Manila Port in Luzon are all 500 tons. Each ship is equipped with 15 officers, 26 sailors, 19 apprentice sailors, plus 10 handymen, and
Twenty-one gunners, a total of ninety-one people, approximately 5.5 tons are allocated to each person.
In addition, there is a team of 125 mercenaries on the ship. The total number of people on the ship is 216, and the three ships have 648 people.
Although these three ships are a bit old, they are still relatively strong in the southeast. Even if they are just armed merchant ships, they are still very good.
The envoy of the Governor of Luzon got off the boat. This man brought a translator, but he could also speak Cantonese. It is said that this Spaniard is actually a mixed race. He has been mixed for several generations, with Cantonese Chinese ancestry and Luzon indigenous ancestry.
.
In addition to sailors and mercenaries, there were also some passengers on board, most of whom were Chinese businessmen who had been in Luzon for a long time. This time they also came to see the emperor and discuss trade.
The envoy met with the emperor and gave him a list of the cargo in the cabin and a list of the people on board.
Lots of goods.
The main ones are muskets, artillery, silver ingots, copper ingots, cotton cloth, spices, etc. Among them, silver and copper mainly come from the New World, spices come from Nanyang, and muskets and artillery are directly produced in Luzon.
The Governor of Luzon even planned to sell the goods of the three ships to Zhu Yihai.
Even the sailors and mercenaries on the ship can be hired together by Zhu Yihai.
The sailors and mercenaries lined up ashore.
There are some red-haired and yellow-haired Europeans, as well as dark and thin Nanyang people and even Africans. Of course, there are also Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. This is a mixed force, but it is also the fleet of the Nanyang Sea in these years.
Standard.
Even the Fujian Zheng family's fleet is basically like this, with people of all colors mixed together.
Zhu Yihai looked at the price quoted by the Governor of Luzon, and found that the price was very high. He said that their guns and cannons were no better than those made by Portugal in Macau, but the price was half as much.
These three ships, which already have a rich history, also commanded high prices.
But Zhu Yihai was not in a hurry to refuse.
In fact, there were many ships coming with the Luzon ship this time, including those from Guangdong and Guangxi, Fujian, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In addition to some merchant ships and supply ships, there were also some newly launched warships.
There were still many shipyards along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yihai drove the Tatars back to Jiangbei, and the coast was considered stable. Not only was the shipbuilding industry not affected much by the war, but it became more and more popular due to the increase in demand.
Orders from the court and the private sector have increased significantly, and Zhu Yihai even ordered the integration and construction of many large shipyards.
Now the Royal Dockyard has also begun building sailing warships.
However, shipbuilding has a cycle, especially for some new-type ships, which have to integrate a new industrial chain, which is not easy.
The new ships that are constantly being launched and delivered in various places are mostly old-style ships, which are relatively small. They are fine for temporary use now, but they are not enough for long-term development, especially to satisfy the Ming Navy or even form a real navy.
Whether the three old Luzon ships are expensive or not is not the important point. The important point is that once this business is launched, there will be more avenues for this business in the future.
Invite the messenger into the Star Castle.
The envoy came from Manila and had also been to Mexico and Peru in the New World. He had also been to Spain, England and France in Europe, and had seen the powerful people of this era.
But when Zhu Yihai told the envoy that he designed the star castle himself and built it in only half a month, he was still shocked.
This star fort is not big, but combined with the surrounding defenses, its defensive capabilities are already very strong, especially the combination of turrets, artillery, water forts, etc., coupled with the vigor of the Ming soldiers, it is difficult for him to imagine that this was the case before
