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Chapter 352 Knowledge is everything

"Whoosh...what the hell...could it be that the Imperial Guards are also doing something good by the King of Spain?" Letting the silver coins slip from the cracks in his palms and listening to the crisp collision sound, Huang Nanping's expression was neither greed nor excitement, but Deeply confused.

This kind of silver coin with a cross pattern on one side, a square pattern on the other side, and another pattern of two pillars has appeared since the Franconians came to the coast of the Ming Dynasty. They were called seven coins by maritime merchants.

Because they all weighed a little over seven qian, although they were very pure, they were not favored by the Ming Dynasty merchants because they were difficult to convert, let alone circulated, so most of them were re-smelted into silver ingots.

But the emperor not only knew these silver coins, he could also tell what the patterns on them meant. The cross and square patterns are the emblems of the Kingdom of Castile, the predecessor of Spain.

Those two pillars are even more interesting. They are a European myth called the Pillars of Hercules. Europeans believe that the world has an end, and these two pillars stand at the end of the world, which happens to be in Spain. There are inscriptions engraved on them, which means that there is nothing beyond this point, the end.

I just asked two Spanish captains, and their answers were basically consistent with what the emperor said. This made it increasingly difficult for Huang Nanping to understand why the emperor knew so much about the Europeans and even knew their secret routes. It seems that the only reasonable reason is that the emperor has placed a lot of details on the Europeans.

"Dear Captain, can I ask a question?" Angelo was not too disappointed as he watched boxes of silver coins and silver ingots being counted and sealed. Even if these silver coins are not robbed by outsiders, they have nothing to do with me, so why should I feel distressed.

However, there is one question that has always stuck in my mind and cannot be relieved. The Manila route is very, very secret. Except for a small number of ships that specialize in traveling between the New World and the East Indies, even ordinary Spanish captains do not know about it.

Even if you know it, it's useless. The hydrological and climatic conditions of this route are very complicated. Without following a familiar captain for a few trips, it's easy to get lost when sailing alone. But it makes no sense that these black sailing ships from the Ming Dynasty can accurately find the route and set up ambushes.

"Hehehehe... This is a secret. Don't worry, you can return to our port in half a month. If you have a chance to see His Majesty the Emperor, please ask again then." Huang Nanping did not intend to answer this question, but It's not that it's kept secret, it's just that I don't know.

The chart was given by the emperor, the route was drawn by the emperor, the entire robbery plan was drawn up by the emperor, and the navy was just the executor. After the news of the Manila incident spread back to Beijing, within a few days, more than a thousand navy officers and the governor were summoned by the emperor to the Cining Palace for a meeting. There was only one topic: how to deal with it.

Li Ruzhang of the Marine Guards proposed a plan to attack Manila Port, intending to use all ships of the navy, and then requisition some merchant ships from the coast of Guangdong to transport no less than 3000 Marines, and land and attack under the cover of warships.

But this plan was rejected by the emperor for only one reason: losing money. The emperor calculated an account for everyone. Regardless of winning or losing, all the expenses incurred by the navy's marine and marine guards, plus pensions, could not be earned back just by robbing the Spanish banks and warehouses in Manila Port.

Occupying the Manila Port requires corresponding construction and ruling the local indigenous people. Whether they are allowed to mine, open up wasteland for farming, or cut timber, they will continue to invest a lot of manpower and material resources. But where does this money come from? Where did the troops, officials, subordinate staff and technical personnel who had been stationed locally for a long time come from?

If the emperor devoted all the manpower and resources at his disposal to the port of Manila, it would definitely be enough, but Beijing would be empty. What should be used to deal with the opposition forces in the court, and what should be used to defend against threats from the north?

The emperor was worried about the border troops. The reason why the Royal Horse Guards are required to go to the Marine Guards for rotation training, and the Navy is required to maintain at least 2000 Marines at the Tianjin Guards at all times, is to fortify the capital, and these troops cannot be transferred away for a long time. Since it was impossible to attack by force, Qianhu, a member of Shuizhanwei, proposed a surprise attack plan. He planned to follow the example of Shenglong Mansion and have a quick victory. He would rob and run away, and then wreak havoc as he went along. This would be considered revenge, and he should make some money.

But the emperor refused again because the location was favorable and the people were not on his side, making it too easy for accidents to happen. During the raid on Thang Long Palace, Annan Moh was sent as an internal response, and he knew every road and town in the area. Moreover, the army of Shenglong Mansion is empty and there is an opportunity to take advantage of it.

The situation in the Port of Manila is much more complicated. The local Chinese cannot be trusted, and the natives are even less reliable. Although the Spanish garrison is not large in number, its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of Annan's army, and it is also equipped with muskets and artillery on a large scale. Once the sneak attack fails and enters the confrontation stage, casualties are inevitable and the cost is too high.

In addition, the emperor also said that the Luzon area is guaranteed to be plagued by constant windstorms from March every year. It rains heavily for several days at a time, and there are no roads. By then, let alone fighting, traveling will be a problem, and the success rate of the raid will be too low.

It was impossible to attack and occupy the city openly, nor could it secretly raid and rob Chencang. This made a group of generals and a group of staff members dumbfounded, and they couldn't think of a third feasible solution.

At this time the emperor spoke, one word, steal! There was a corresponding smile on his face when he said it. He didn't look like a benevolent emperor, but he looked like a homeless man on the street.

But no matter how dirty his expression was, the content of his plan was very tempting. The emperor categorically said that the Spaniards would transport at least one shipload of silver coins to Manila Port every year, and he not only knew the time but also the specific route.

The concepts of the equatorial westerlies, the North Equatorial Warm Current, the North Pacific Warm Current, and the Kuroshio Current were first introduced into the Navy's tutorials because of the emperor's plan to steal money. Coupled with the previous knowledge of equator, latitude and longitude, it is easy to understand.

According to the emperor, from the New World to the east to the Luzon Islands were separated by the vast Pacific Ocean, with almost no land in between. It seemed impossible for a sailing ship to sail directly.

But if you know that there is an undercurrent hidden under the sea between 10 degrees and 20 degrees north of the equator, flowing day and night from east to west, you can sail the sailboat in and let the undercurrent push it to move slowly westward.

If we can skillfully use the not too strong westerly wind in the equatorial westerly belt to provide power, even the Spanish galleons with mostly square sails can reach an average speed of more than 5 knots.

Coincidentally, the large sailing ship that transported silver to Manila every year departed from the port of Acapulco, Mexico. This port, like Manila, is between 10 and 20 degrees north latitude.

(End of this chapter)