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Chapter 335

On the tenth day of December in the seventh year of Jingyang in the Ming Dynasty, another large-scale indigenous rebellion occurred in Manila Port. Why say again? Because this has become a habit, every ten or eight years there seems to be a wave of indigenous people who suddenly become bold and arrogant, and the targets of looting are all Chinese.

This time is no exception. It is still the Chinese who are being robbed and killed. But what is different from the past is that the Chinese settlements in the streams on the outskirts of the city and the Chinese shops in the city are no longer the main targets. Instead, they are replaced by hundreds of Chinese merchant ships anchored in the port.

As before, the Manila authorities were always slow to respond to this kind of thing. It was only after dawn that a hundred Spanish soldiers arrived with hundreds of Pangang servants, looking at the shipwrecks and floating boats on the sea. The body was spread out with both hands, helpless.

Afterwards, according to rough statistics by the Manila authorities, [-] merchant ships anchored in the port were burned overnight, most of which were owned by Chinese from the Ming Dynasty. The exact number of casualties cannot be calculated for the time being. Anyway, the beach on the west side of the pier was filled with corpses fished ashore. It is initially estimated that [-] people could not survive.

Who should be held responsible for causing so many casualties? The Manila authorities had no intention of shirking responsibility and soon found out the truth. It turned out that a group of indigenous people contacted a group of pirates operating nearby and jointly planned the robbery of Chinese merchant ships.

The Governor-General of the Philippines, Aguna, expressed deep sympathy for this and ordered all Spanish garrison troops to mobilize to arrest the criminals. Unexpectedly, the Luzon area was densely covered with jungles and there were many indigenous tribes, and the objective conditions were indeed quite harsh. After searching for more than half a month, only a dozen thugs were caught, and they were all hanged on the city gate.

The local Chinese people's attitude towards this matter is divided into two groups. The Catholic people believe that there is no big problem with the local government. The mistake lies in the fact that the Zhangzhou and Chaozhou fellow villagers should not believe the Ming Dynasty government's bewitchment and change the previous way of exchanging goods with money, and put the indigenous people Forced to rebel.

Another part of the non-religious people remembered the tragedy that also happened in Manila seven or eight years ago. The Chinese were the ones who suffered the most at that time. The governor at the time was also Aguna. It seems that he said so, and more than ten criminals were hanged.

Anyone with a normal mind would have noticed something at this time, so many Chinese families began to quietly pack up their belongings and look for boats to leave. Even if there were no direct boats to their hometowns, they had to leave this ominous place first.

News of the massacre in Manila Port spread rapidly with the merchant ships that escaped, and reached the ears of the Guangdong capital commander five days later. While reporting to the Chief Envoy and the Governor, Li Rumei personally led the coastal defense vessel of the Guard to visit nearby small docks to find the parties involved and collect more detailed information.

"These two question books were just delivered last night. They were urgently sent by the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. What do you think after reading them?" Just after the Spring Festival of the eighth year of Jingyang, the emperor sent the six volumes of Jiuqing All the cabinet academicians were summoned to the Cining Palace and handed over a thick memorial with ugly expressions on their faces.

"The Folangji people in Luzon have always been like this, but people from Zhang, Chao and other places are still flocking to it. Your Majesty doesn't need to pay attention to it." It was not long before Ye Xianggao gave his opinion on the matter on behalf of the cabinet.

"What Mr. Ye Ge said is absolutely true. If the Ministry of Rites sends an edict to Chief Fo Langji and reprimands him for his behavior, then he will correct himself." Zhao Shiqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, became the spokesman for the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, and his meaning was the same as that of Ye Xiang. It's about the same height, too lazy to care.

"What do the Directors of Ceremonies think?" The emperor's fat face drooped throughout. He was obviously not satisfied after hearing this, so he went to ask Wang An again.

"I think this wind can't last!" "Oh? Please tell me carefully, why can't it last?"

"Going to sea to do business and exchange what is needed is what Long Live Lord's New Deal advocates. The people of Zhangzhou and Chaozhou have no land to cultivate, but they have learned water skills since they were young. They sail out to sea to return goods and respond to Long Live Lord's New Deal. What crime is there?

The natives of Luzon killed my merchants and destroyed my ships. It seemed to be a civil conflict over property, but in fact it was an obstruction to the implementation of the New Deal. If merchants dare not go to the sea, the goods produced by the factories, sugar mills, and breweries in Guangdong, Fujian and other places will have nowhere to go. "

Today's Wang An is slightly different. It is also an imperial meeting. In the past, he listened more and spoke less. As long as the Chief of Ceremonies was not involved, he basically did not speak. Not only did he speak at this time, but he also spoke in a series of words.

"Bah bang bang... Everyone, these are mature and prudent words. Not only can I see the present, but I can also see the future. It's rare. I'm very happy!" Today's emperor is also a little abnormal, his mood changes from left to right, and suddenly He was gloomy and silent, and then suddenly clapped his hands and applauded. He was startled and looked like a lunatic.

"Your Majesty, the people from Zhangzhou and Chaozhou who violated the ban and entered the sea mostly settled in Luzon. Although they were citizens of the Ming Dynasty, they did not obey the orders of the Ming Dynasty. The reason why they were humiliated overseas was because of the cause and effect. The people of Fulangji were not educated and were barbaric. , if the imperial court turns against him over this matter, it may make it difficult for the coasts of Guangdong and Fujian to remain peaceful, so I hope you will think twice."

Some ministers, such as Ye Xianggao, Fang Congzhe, Li Dai, and Zhao Shiqing, had already begun to care when they saw the two people's faces. They immediately looked at their noses, noses, mouths, and mouths, and stopped expressing their opinions casually.

They had been frightened by the emperor's torment, and it was obvious that they were a master and a servant teaming up to play a double act, asking and answering questions to attract everyone. Before you understand the emperor's true thoughts, it is very dangerous to say one more word.

But there are also people who are not familiar with the emperor's routine, or who have been beaten less, and have not learned lessons from the pain in time. For example, Xu Honggang, the censor of Zuodu, heard that Wang An wanted to involve the Manila Port incident in the New Deal, and immediately stopped him.

Now the New Deal is the emperor's rebellion. Anyone who opposes it will be hated even more than those who rebel. Once the emperor is angered and has a rash conflict with the Folangji people, the southern coastal areas will fall into war again, which may be more troublesome than the Japanese pirates back then.

"Xu Aiqing, I have something unclear that I would like to teach you?" That's right, Hong Tao and Wang An had discussed it in advance, and they wanted to achieve a certain goal by singing along at the imperial meeting.

Although the civil service group at this time was at an unprecedented low point, the imperial power was growing day by day and becoming more powerful. Without seeking the opinions of the six ministries and nine ministers, it could still act arbitrarily on many national policies relying solely on the cooperation of the cabinet. But Hong Tao doesn't want to save things like this. The process must be followed, and it must be done beautifully.

To achieve this goal, it is definitely not perfect to just rely on the emperor to talk to himself. Someone must stand up and lead the charge, and offer advice on some issues that are more likely to cause controversy. No, this brings up another one. I don’t know if it’s Yu. Anyway, the argument is quite reactionary.

"I'm scared! Your Majesty, please tell me. I'll answer everything I know." Xu Honggang saw the emperor's smiling expression, and he might have regretted it a little, but he couldn't be too timid in terms of face. After all, he was also the censor of Zuodu, so he must not Fear the power and tell the pros and cons directly!

(End of this chapter)