Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 712 To fight or not to fight

On November 13, 26th year of Chongzhen, Jinghai Bo Zheng Zhilong sent a report about Luzon Island to the capital: the overseas immigrants of the Ming Dynasty were brutally massacred by the Spanish garrison and the local indigenous people. The immigrants claimed that at least thousands of Ming immigrants were killed. The survivors either hid in the deep mountains and jungles, or fled back to Fujian province by boat.

After Zheng Zhilong's report was delivered to the cabinet, it did not arouse strong repercussions. Most of the cabinet ministers did not take it seriously after reading it, because this incident has precedents, and this time it is just a repeat of history.

As early as the 31st year of Wanli, Spain massacred more than [-] Ming immigrants in Manila. After the incident, the Spanish governor in Manila was worried that he would be retaliated by the Ming court, so he hypocritically wrote a letter to the Ming court. A letter of apology, saying that this matter was a last resort, hoping to obtain the understanding of the Ming government, and the two parties can negotiate on compensation.

Unexpectedly, the whole Ming Dynasty reacted coldly to this matter, and it was only a symbolic reply to verbally condemn and warn, expressing that the dignified Ming Dynasty loves a peaceful country, and the imperial court pursues a stance of being kind to others, and cannot bear to blame the Spaniards. Don't make the same mistake again, protect the life and property of the Daming immigrants in Manila.

The Spaniards were ecstatic after receiving the reply. From this letter, they saw the attitude of the Ming court towards the overseas people. Second massacre.

In fact, the reason why the Ming emperor and the court were unwilling to take care of this matter was mainly due to two reasons.

First, Ming officials believed from top to bottom that these immigrants who left Ming Dynasty and went to Southeast Asia to make a living were no longer Ming Dynasty citizens, so there was no need for the imperial court to take care of them.

Second, at that time, in order to support North Korea, the Ming court launched a large-scale military war with Japan in East Asia, which consumed a huge amount of national power, and there was no national power to continue fighting with Spain.

It is precisely because of the above two reasons that this matter was dealt with lightly, but the attitude of the Ming court made the Spaniards more fearless. This mentality has been extended to this day, resulting in the second massacre The tragedy happened again.

Now, the reaction of some cabinet members is almost the same as before. Most people think that it is enough to follow the example and write a letter to condemn them. Anyway, the people of Ming Dynasty will not pay too much attention to this matter. took a dominant position.

These cabinet ministers also believe that these immigrants are no longer the people under the rule of the Ming court. Now that the country has just experienced more than ten years of turmoil, although the situation has improved, the current focus of the court should be to stabilize the people. A lot of financial and material resources should be spent, and even a lot of sacrifices should be made to retaliate.

"Baigu, Jiandou, what do you two think about this matter?"

In the public room of Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangsheng sat on the official hat chair made of huanghuali, discussing the drafting of Zheng Zhilong's report.

Draft drafts, also called bills and articles, that is to say, for the memorials from all over the country, before they are submitted to the emperor for approval, the cabinet bachelors "use small ink to write", that is, write the review suggestions on paper and paste them on the Each memorial is presented on the opposite side.

This is actually the draft of the "imperial approval" for the emperor to adopt.However, the cabinet's "proposal" is only a preliminary opinion for the emperor's reference, and the final decision still depends on the emperor's imperial approval (Zhu Zhu).

The existence and size of the cabinet's power and the actual status of the cabinet are also mainly reflected in the degree to which the proposed "proposal" is adopted.

If the cabinet ministers have proper advice on many matters and deal with them fairly, after a long time, the emperor will have great trust in the cabinet ministers' ability to handle official affairs, and will gradually transfer power to the cabinet, and vice versa.

"Duke Wen and Jiandou, the court believes that what Jing Haibo reported has precedents in the Wanli period, but the final handling of it is not in the style of my emperor!
Think of the so-called Spanish country, which is located in the far west, but relied on strong ships and cannons to attack and occupy the Luzon Islands across thousands of miles, resulting in the expansion of its territory. Its wolfish ambition is evident!
Most of the victims in these two massacres were forced to make a living and traveled across the ocean to Luzon, and their intention was nothing more than to make a living.There are also many innocent old and weak women and children among them. The Westerners blatantly killed such unarmed people. The methods they used were too cruel. The court thought that this act violated the rules of heaven, and my emperor could not just sit back and watch such a tragedy in the world Hair again and again! "

Although he has been on the battlefield for a long time and has seen countless bloody battlefields, Sun Chuanting still upholds the traditional idea of ​​helping weak scholar-bureaucrats deep in his heart, so he is indignant at the indiscriminate mass killing of the Spaniards.

"Xiang Sheng agrees with Brother Bai Gu's words!

No matter what the cause of the incident is, the behavior of the Westerners is like a beast, and it is even more hateful than the thieves and slaves!

My Emperor Ming has an army of [-] tigers and wolves, so I should send troops to punish them in the name of righteousness, so as to warn the western barbarians, don't make trouble in front of my Emperor Ming, otherwise you will bear the consequences! "

Lu Xiangsheng agreed calmly.

His mind was almost the same as that of Sun Chuanting. He also disdained the brutality of the Spaniards, and directly suggested that the Ming Dynasty army should be dispatched to attack the Spaniards. Where Daming is not far away, you have to be honest and don’t think about doing whatever you want, otherwise, the officers and soldiers of Daming will teach you how to behave.

Unlike Wen Tiren, Hou Xun, Li Banghua, Yang Sichang, Fan Jingwen and other pure civil servants, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng have led the army as civil servants for a long time, and they still respect force, so they do not reject the use of force to solve some things .

Although the cabinet ministers had known for a long time that the capital of the five armies and the Ministry of War had made a strategy to attack Manila, most of them did not take it seriously in their hearts.

Traveling across the ocean to Luzon is to take down the broken island that is very far away from Ming Dynasty. This move is really suspected of militarism.

Now that the world is at peace and prosperity is approaching, shouldn’t horses be set free on Nanshan Mountain and swords and guns put into storage?

If those generals have too many military achievements, it will be difficult to control them in the future.

It is well known that the officials of the Ministry of War and the military generals of the five armies' governor's mansions quarreled endlessly, which made the civil servants feel uneasy at the same time.

　Thanks to the cake robber for the reward.

　　Deep condolences to the compatriots who died in the epidemic.

　　Salute to the martyrs who died in the fight against the epidemic, and all the warriors who contributed to it!Your sacrifices have brought us a stable life, and we will never forget it from generation to generation!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)