I

  Chapter 495 492 [While he is sick, kill him]

   "Meet Your Majesty!" Zheng Zhilong cupped his hands and bowed.

   "Give me a seat." Zhao Han smiled kindly.

   "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

   Waiting for Zheng Zhilong to sit down, Zhao Han asked straight to the point: "How many warships does Spain have in Luzon?"

Zheng Zhilong replied: "At most, there were six galleons and more than ten ordinary warships. In the past few years, the Netherlands has been intercepting and attacking Spanish ships, and both sides have suffered some losses. In the past few months, there have been news , Spain seems to have suffered a defeat in the Far East. The four galleons were stuck in the Americas and could not return, and it seems that they are planning to fight another battle in the Americas. As for the ordinary warships, there are less than ten left."

   "What kind of ship is a galleon?" Zhao Han asked.

  Zheng Zhilong said with emotion: "The giant ships with more than a thousand materials are all made of century-old hardwood. Our navy surrounds one of them with ten ships, and the artillery bombards them for several hours. It is estimated that it will not be able to sink it."

  Spain's Manila galleon has been trading across the Pacific Ocean all year round, so the hull is extremely strong.

  The smallest of this kind of large sailing ship has a displacement of 500 tons, and the largest displacement can reach 1,200 tons.

  Zhao Han asked again: "How about the northern part of Luzon Island?"

  Zheng Zhilong replied: "It's all indigenous savages."

  The governor of the Netherlands really had a good plan. China and the Netherlands joined forces to attack Spain. China only got a piece of barren land, but the Netherlands was able to seize a prosperous port and, by the way, the entire Pacific waterway.

  Zhao Han asked again: "How many troops will be needed to capture Manila?"

  Zheng Zhilong thought carefully: "Need to send out all the navy, and send another 3,000 strong troops. Manila can't forcefully attack, and can only besiege the city with heavy troops, until the food in the city is cut off. Therefore, a large amount of food and grass must be prepared, at least half a year's worth of food and grass."

   "How sure are you?" Zhao Han asked.

Zheng Zhilong said: "If there are 3,000 strong troops, even if they cannot sink the Spanish galleon, they will be able to transport troops to the north of Manila by surprise. At that time, the food inside and outside the city will be cut off. No matter how powerful the galleon is, it can only be ignored. The Red Devils have few soldiers. Even if they recruit civilians as soldiers, they can have at most two or three thousand. Fighting on land, as long as they don't attack the city, they can't win. There is no guarantee of defeating the Spanish warships. Landing and capturing Manila, as long as three months of food and grass are guaranteed, I am very sure of winning."

   "Then fight, bring Holland to fight together," Zhao Han said, "You come to be the coach, take down Manila, and make you the Duke of Nanhai!"

   Canonize the Duke?

  Zheng Zhilong's eyes lit up, and he knelt down and said, "I will die!"

  …

  Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo... Maritime merchants in many ports are all in their cities, and they are called by the chief envoy to discuss.

  Zhao Han doesn't have so much money and food to fight naval battles, so he uses merchants to do things!

  Using the commercial taxes of major ports in the Philippines as collateral, issue war bonds to Chinese maritime merchants. In addition, companies that purchase war bonds can have a certain percentage of goods each year, which can be taxed at Philippine ports, and this tax reduction can be transferred to others.

  As for how many goods can be tax-free, it depends on the amount of bonds purchased by everyone, and the conversion is carried out according to the bond purchase ratio.

  Fuzhou.

  Hundreds of Fujian maritime business representatives spontaneously organized a meeting.

Lin Fusheng took the lead in speaking and said, "Gentlemen, Fujianese are the most Han Chinese doing business in Luzon. This time, the Red Tibetan ghosts killed innocent people indiscriminately, and everyone suffered heavy losses. Some clan members were killed, and some merchant ships were robbed. Now I don’t dare to go to Luzon to run a boat, and I can’t mess with the business elsewhere. Many seagoing ships are idle at the dock. Now His Majesty wants to seek justice for the dead Han people, and also wants to restore business for us Fujian businessmen. My Lin Fusheng, willing to buy 2,000 shi grain bonds!"

  Buying 2,000 shi of grain bonds means transporting 2,000 shi of grain to the Philippine battlefield, and Zhao Han will return them with interest after five years.

  Freight and risk are borne by the sea merchant!

   At first glance, it looks like a loss-making deal, and the maritime merchants are definitely unwilling. But what they value more is the Philippine market and the annual Philippine port tax relief.

  Even if there is no tax cut, if Zhao Han can win Manila, Fujian maritime merchants will fall asleep and wake up laughing.

  Because of doing business in the Philippines, only Chinese ships have the heaviest tariffs, even twice that of merchant ships from other countries! In and outside Manila, the Chinese are also the most heavily taxed, and each Chinese has to pay an additional head tax.

  Fujian maritime merchants were hesitant. They were afraid of the risk of transporting grain, and they were afraid that they would not be able to capture the Philippines.

  Finally, someone gritted his teeth and said: "Go all out, my Li family subscribes for a 500 shi bond! After waiting like this, I don't know when it will recover. If we don't take down Manila, who would dare to go to Luzon to do business in the future?"

  Of course you dare, merchants are after profits.

  Historically, only one year after Spain’s massacre of China, Fujian maritime merchants went to do business again. It's just that I dare not settle in the Philippines, dare not open a business in Manila, transport goods to the port for trading, and leave immediately after repairs and supplies.

   Isn’t it mean?

  Because the maritime merchants had no choice, the Ming Dynasty was coming to an end at that time, the war was devastated, and the domestic market environment was very poor, so they had to ship their goods out for sale. How many folks are waiting to eat, how many handicraftsmen depend on for survival, and they can only smile when they are massacred.

  Now, Datong Emperor Zhao Han wants to stand up for them, and Fujian maritime merchants burst into enthusiasm.

  In just one month, Fujian Ocean Merchant subscribed for 60,000 shi bonds. In other words, they have to spend their own money to buy grain, and they have to send their own people and boats to transport 3,600 tons of grain to the Philippine battlefield.

  As for maritime merchants in other provinces, they have little interest in this, and they have no market share in the Philippines.

  …

  Zhao Han made an appointment with Holland to dispatch troops immediately after the beginning of spring.

  Governor Anthony Van Diemen couldn't wait any longer, and sent a fleet in winter to attack any Spanish ship in sight.

  Even if Zhao Han doesn't make a move, Holland will make a move himself, but the timeline has changed.

  In history, the Philippine Tuhua happened earlier. At that time, the Netherlands was at war with Portugal, and it was really impossible to make a fuss with Spain. When Chongzhen hanged himself in the second year, the Netherlands began to aggressively attack the Philippines.

  The Netherlands sent 18 warships and 800 soldiers to attack in three ways.

  Go all the way to the northern Philippines to incite the indigenous rebellion against Spain, and at the same time intercept Chinese merchant ships from Fujian (cut off Spanish supplies). The second route went further east to intercept the galleons from Mexico, when the Spanish Pacific shipping lanes had been restored. The third route cuts off Luzon and Borneo, preventing supplies from Borneo from being transported to Manila.

  After completing the preliminary plan, the three groups gathered together to launch a general attack on Manila.

  Eighteen Dutch warships and 800 Dutch soldiers besieged two old Spanish galleons in the port of Manila. The two sides bombarded each other for five hours, and the bow of the Dutch flagship was shattered. The Dutch suffered heavy losses, while the Spanish survived a ship and a man.

  Subsequently, two more galleons returned from Mexico. The Netherlands did not dare to fight naval battles anymore, and 800 soldiers began to land and fight.

   The siege lasted for two months, and 30 Spanish soldiers fought with a large number of servants.

   We don’t know how many native servants died, but none of the Spanish soldiers died, and more than a hundred Dutch soldiers died. Then there was another month of confrontation, the naval battle broke out again, and the Dutch fleet fled in embarrassment.

   Batavia.

   Commander Peter, who came back from Cambodia, yelled in front of Governor Fan Dimen: "Your Excellency, we should send troops to attack Jimmy (Cambodia), otherwise the East India Company will lose face in the Far East!"

   "Spain is the real enemy, that disobedient King Jimmy, wait until you find time to deal with him." Van Diemen said.

   Sea Teddy Holland, not long ago went to provoke Cambodia, and was captured by Cambodia with two warships...

   To be precise, they were two armed merchant ships.

  They set out with more than a hundred Dutch soldiers and asked the Cambodian king to return the bribe, because the Cambodian officials took the money and did nothing. Not to mention the disastrous defeat of the army, two Dutch armed merchant ships actually sailed into the inland river to show off their power, but the Cambodian army blocked the river with obstacles, and then grinded to death with a large number of inland river boats.

  By the way, the Netherlands is still at war with Banten.

  In addition, the country of Matalam on Java Island also has fierce conflicts with the Netherlands, and is considering attacking the Netherlands together.

   But it doesn't matter, the Dutch East India Company is used to fighting on all sides.

  Twenty-six years ago, the Netherlands had just occupied Batavia, and within a year it was besieged by the British, Jakarta, and Banten in turn. The enemies of the Netherlands are also funny. The Netherlands has asked for surrender every time, but they failed to agree on the conditions of surrender, and then they retreated due to insufficient food.

   "Your Excellency, a letter from the Emperor of China." The adjutant hurried in.

  Fan Dimen frowned after reading the letter.

  Because of the letter from the Chinese emperor, it is only said that the expedition will be in April in the Western calendar, and the northern part of Luzon Island will be handed over to the Chinese navy, and Chinese soldiers will instigate indigenous rebellions along the way.

   How to share the results of the war, the Chinese emperor has never said.

   If you don’t make this clear, who will get the fight in Manila?

   Knowing that the Chinese emperor was dissatisfied, Fan Dimen wrote a new letter and sent it out, willing to hand over the Turtle City and the north to China.

   Tortoiseshell City is the capital of a land-state country in Luzon. It was destroyed more than a hundred years ago, and there are especially many Chinese and indigenous people. The local Chinese were massacred twice.

  Van Diemen believes that he has given enough sincerity. The geographical location of Hawksbill City is second only to Manila in Luzon Island.

  The Netherlands wants Manila, and China wants the Tortoiseshell City. The two parties are fair cooperation.

  Zhao Han didn't even bother to reply to the letter, let's talk about it after typing!

  In order to send troops to the Philippines, Zhao Han specially formed the "Luzon Expeditionary Army". Farmers and soldiers were recruited in Fujian and Guangdong, and musket training was conducted in winter, plus a total of 3,500 medical soldiers.

  In Li Banghua's view, it is really unwise to send troops this time.

  However, Zhao Han did not want to let go of the opportunity.

  Avenging the tragic death of the Chinese and demonstrating China's national prestige is just one of the reasons. What's more, the Spaniards committed a massacre and offended all the Chinese businessmen, and now they are sending troops with one mind.

  If we wait a few more years, the Chinese maritime merchants will go to do business with Spain again. When the time comes to send troops, many maritime merchants will still be dissatisfied, thinking that the emperor Zhao Han is delaying their business.

  In history, Zheng Chenggong's general Lin Feng led an expedition to the Philippines. It was a Chinese maritime merchant who leaked information about Lin Feng's army and also helped the Spaniards with ideas.

  At this time, Manila was in chaos, and the treasure-carrying galleon was blocked in the Americas. There were no Han Chinese standing on the Spanish side. It was the time when the Spanish colonists were at their weakest!

  Van Diemen, governor of the Netherlands, could see it clearly, and Zhao Han certainly knew it very well. The two wanted to join forces to kill Spain.

  (end of this chapter)