Ming Zuo

Chapter 1233 Prelude
For Xia Guo, the biggest obstacle to marching into Luzon is not the Spaniards, nor the vast sea, but the climate and environment.

For thousands of years, people in the Central Plains have always had great fear of the south.

The so-called miasma has made the Central Plains Dynasty daunted many times.

As for what miasma is, no one can say for sure.

Even Zuo Menggeng's knowledge could not be explained clearly.

However, he knew that the climate and environment in the tropics were indeed a great test for people's health.

At least the harm caused by malaria cannot be ignored.

To treat and protect against malaria, there are two best medicines.

One is cinchona cream.

But now Kinney is still in South America, and it is difficult to put out the fire near the water.

The other kind is everywhere in China.

That is Artemisia annua.

But what kind of Artemisia annua can cure malaria is beyond Zuo Menggeng's ability.

What he can do is to inform medical professionals of this situation, and then they will conduct repeated research and testing to find out the artemisia annua that can treat malaria.

Lu An handed over this task to Wu Youxing.

This disease expert who has left a brilliant mark in history, after joining Xia Guo's medical system, it can be said to be an eye-opener and make rapid progress.

Seeing the appearance of germs through a microscope gave him a deeper understanding of the plague.

The subject he originally studied was the plague that made him famous in history.

But for the plague virus, even after hundreds of years, humans have no good solution.

Therefore, Wu Youxing's research inevitably came to a standstill.

Seeing that he had made no progress, Lu An entrusted him with the task of treating malaria.

Wu Youxing is very serious and responsible.

He even sent people to various places to collect all kinds of wormwood, and then extracted hundreds of plant sap.

After bringing these things to Taiwan, they began to conduct experiments on soldiers of the Xia army who were infected with malaria.

These soldiers suffered.

All kinds of Artemisia annua potions were poured into his mouth, it was almost like dying.

But I have to say, this stupid method does work.

After two months of experiments, Wu Youxing really found the right medicine for malaria.

Now his medical team has begun putting the finishing touches on the prescription.

Once completed, Xia Guo's march to the tropics will save one great trouble.

The vast ocean is not calm.

A lone Spanish galleon was on the run.

And in the surrounding area, several Galen warships are frantically chasing them.

The speed of the ships on both sides was pulled to the limit, but there was no doubt that the speed of the pursuer was even better.

It's just because these Galen ships were made in Xia Kingdom, and they are a collection of wooden sailboat craftsmanship, and at the same time, they have made great progress in fluid mechanics and dynamics.

The Spanish sailing ship that was fleeing was a Clark ship, and there was no doubt that its performance was too far behind.

On the Spanish galleon, a man who was obviously an official was extremely frustrated.

"Why do these damned pirates ignore our announcement? We are messengers, not soldiers, why are they still attacking us?"

No one could answer his rant.

All the Spaniards on board felt desperate and could only do their best to operate helplessly, hoping that they could escape the pursuit with a slight chance.

The snarling officer was named Alvarez.

He was sent by Asura Torres, the governor of Spain in Luzon, to Taiwan to negotiate with Xia.

The news that Xia Guo attacked Spain's territory in Taiwan has been sent back to Luzon, which shocked the Spaniards and felt the crisis.

However, Spain's power in Luzon is too weak.

Just to defend against the Dutch has exhausted their strength, even if they want to support Taiwan, it is impossible to do so.

After some discussions, the Spaniards felt that Xia Guo's attack was a bit inexplicable, and perhaps the situation could be saved through negotiations.

Captain Alvarez, as a messenger, began to go north with a tragic mood.

All he could think about was how to negotiate with Xia Guo after arriving in Taiwan and how to guarantee the interests of Spain.

I just didn't expect that before arriving in Taiwan, I encountered pirates on the way.

And the warships of these pirates surprised him extremely.

Even in Europa, he had never seen such a good warship.

Eastern pirates are a bit too exaggerated.

Alvarez knew that it was impossible to defeat these pirates with his own strength.So he asked someone to play a semaphore and informed the purpose of his trip.

It stands to reason that after doing this, the pirates would not attack and would give way.

But something unusual happened.

Those damned pirates completely ignored the notification here, and when they came up, they were bombarded, and his boat was riddled with holes and dilapidated.

As soon as the pirates opened fire, Alvarez became even more desperate.

Not only is the ship inferior to others, but even the performance of the artillery is very different.

I had no choice but to turn around and run for my life.

Are these pirates really lawless?

Aren't they afraid that the Xia government will hold them accountable?
Alvarez absolutely did not believe that these pirates had nothing to do with the Xia government.

After all, such a good warship cannot be built by pirates.

He who was running for his life obviously didn't know the situation of the pirates at this time.

"Accelerate! Accelerate again! Aim all the artillery more accurately, and you must not let the Spaniard go away."

On the Galen battleship, Zheng Zhilong was in high spirits.

The battleship sailed at high speed, the sails bulged like a moon, and the strong sea breeze rushed towards me, as if flying.

This is the life a strong man at sea should live.

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but reflect that the act of building a mansion in his hometown in Anhai Town and living in it to enjoy the blessings was really depraved.

These warships were all provided to him by Xia Guo.

The former Zheng's pirates turned into Xia's pirates.

The first mission they received was to harass the coast of Luzon, attack the Spaniards continuously, and provide preparations and intelligence for Xia's advance.

Of course he saw the report from Alvarez, but he completely ignored it.

It's just because Zuo Menggeng told him that he has no intention of negotiating peace with the Spaniards in the Luzon war this time.

Xia Guo has only one goal.

That is to completely occupy Luzon and incorporate it into the territory of China.

Zuo Menggeng didn't care at all whether it would attract the Spaniards to dispatch all over the country and lead to the expansion of the war.

He didn't believe that the Spaniards of this period dared to abandon their homeland and use all their strength to expedition to Asia.

If the Spaniards did it, the Dutch, Portuguese, Italians, and even the English would all laugh their heads off.

Not to mention the mainland of Spain, even Spain's power in the Americas is impossible to come here.

In his eyes, the Spaniards in Luzon are fat on the chopping board, which must be eaten and wiped off.

And the competition with Spain is just the beginning!

(End of this chapter)