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On the boat back to Jinling, Qin Mu, Yang Shen and Jin Gongnan were discussing strategies to deal with the Qing Dynasty. Yan Gaofei, sitting in a small boat, hurriedly caught up with Qin Mu's dragon boat and brought a very annoying news.
"Your Majesty, a merchant ship that escaped back to Ningbo just brought back news that another round of massacres against the Han people broke out in Luzon. Under the instigation and deception of the Spanish, various forces including local natives and Japanese ronin participated in the massacre. More than 10,000 Han people have been massacred. According to the merchants who escaped, the massacre was still going on when they escaped."
After hearing this, Qin Mu's eyes were filled with coldness. As far as he knew, the massacre of Chinese people in Luzon had already happened twice;
The first one occurred in the 31st year of the Wanli reign, when at least 20,000 Chinese were killed. When the news reached the Ming Dynasty, it was not known whether the Wanli Emperor regarded overseas Chinese as pariahs and did not want to care about them, or whether it was because the three major expeditions had just ended and the Ming Dynasty had suffered huge losses in military and financial resources. In short, he did not send troops to Luzon, but only issued an "Edict to Luzon".
Two years later, this "Edict to Luzon" was brought to Manila by the owner of a merchant fleet and handed over to the Governor-General of the Philippines, the Supreme Court of Manila and the Archbishop of Manila.
The manifesto did not further investigate the massacre, but only demanded that the Spanish colonists guarantee the safety of life and property of overseas Chinese in the future. It also declared that "it is not bearable to punish the colonists" and "their overseas killings will not be stopped." It demanded that the Spanish side "should think about the emperor's great grace and the great benevolence and righteousness of the Chinese."
The connivance of the Ming Dynasty made the Spanish colonists more fearless in their oppression of the overseas Chinese in the Philippines, and the overseas Chinese in desperate situation could not bear the suffering. In the 12th year of Chongzhen, the Chinese in Luzon launched an uprising and persisted for nearly 4 months.
This time, the Spanish colonists were completely bloodthirsty and countless overseas Chinese civilians, including devout Catholics, died in the massacre.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse, the Qing Dynasty was eyeing it covetously, and civil unrest was raging in the country. It was even less able to take care of the massacre against the Chinese in Luzon.
"No one will stop bullying China!" Qin Mu punched the small table, causing the wine glass to jump. He took two deep breaths and asked, "What caused this massacre?"
Yan Gaofei replied, "King Qin, it is said that the Spanish in Luzon saw that our Great Qin had conquered Taiwan and was on good terms with the Portuguese, and they suspected that the Great Qin was going to send troops to attack Luzon. They were worried that the local Chinese would become the accomplices of the Great Qin, so they instigated the local natives to massacre the Chinese."
Preemptive strike, the Spaniards are taking the initiative!
Yang Shen saw Qin Mu was angry. He quickly advised: "King Qin, small impatience will ruin big plans. I hope King Qin will not raise an army out of anger."
Qin Mu also knew that sending troops to Luzon would not be accomplished in a day or two. No matter how unwilling he was, he had to face the fact: it was too late to save people.
Then all that remains is revenge.
If you want to avenge yourself, you must prepare yourself first, otherwise it will only add to the hatred.
"Don't worry, Yang Qing. I know what's going on." Qin Mu said, clenching his fists. "However, all land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. I will let the Spaniards know that this is not just talk. Anyone who offends the Great Qin will be punished no matter how far away they are!"
As Qin Mu's close ministers, Yang Shen and Jin Lei have also taken a serious look at Westerners recently. They are no longer like before, unable to distinguish between Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands, and calling them all Western barbarians or red-haired barbarians.
Jin Lei said: "King Qin, as far as I know, the Spanish are mortal enemies with the Dutch and the English, and now they are enemies with the Portuguese. They are isolated and helpless, so it is okay to use him to establish your authority.
However, if our dynasty really sends troops to Luzon, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance of other Western tribes. Moreover, the Dutch must be unwilling to accept the loss of Taiwan. Now that the Dutch occupy the Dagang area, their strength cannot be ignored. If Daqin sends troops to Luzon, we must guard against the Dutch shooting arrows from behind and reaping the benefits. "
This is something we really have to guard against. There are now roughly four European countries that have extended their influence to Southeast Asia, namely Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and England.
In the past, Portugal was a vassal state of Spain, and the two were in the same camp;
Britain and the Netherlands came later. Initially, the two countries each established the East India Company, formed an alliance, and came east together to compete with Spain and Portugal for the waterways and fortress strongholds in the Far East.
Regardless of which camp the Westerners were in, they used to look down on the fighting power of the Chinese army and believed that the Chinese army was vulnerable. Sandy, the governor of the Philippines, once proposed a plan to conquer China in a report to the King of Spain;
The report claimed that "only 4,000 to 6,000 men, equipped with spears and muskets, ships, cannon and the necessary ammunition... would be sufficient to occupy the desired province,... and once a province has been conquered, it would be sufficient to conquer the whole country."
Even though the Dutch were driven out of Taiwan, they simply thought that it was a sneak attack by the Zheng family, and that they failed because of their large numbers when the Dutch were caught off guard.
The fact that the Spaniards now dare to massacre the Chinese in Luzon also shows that they do not take China seriously.
If the Qin army attacked Luzon, the Dutch would definitely not send troops to help Spain. However, driven by the general arrogance of Westerners, the Dutch were very likely not afraid of offending the Qin army, and would take advantage of the situation. After the Qin navy fought the Spaniards, they would probably suddenly attack and take the fruits of victory into their own pockets.
Qin Mu nodded and said to Yan Gaofei: "Pass on my order and order Yuan Zongdi to dispatch 2,000 land forces to Taiwan for defense. Send someone to Macau to ask the Portuguese Governor Vahiki to prepare to cooperate with our army to attack Luzon. Order Gu Rong to be the commander and Zheng Zhibao to be the deputy commander to reorganize the navy, prepare for the attack on Luzon."
"Yes, King Qin."
Jin Lei advised: "King Qin, I have no objection to sending troops to attack Luzon, but I am afraid it is not appropriate to let Zheng Zhibao be the deputy general. Not to mention whether the Zheng family will change their ways, just from the personalities of the chief and deputy generals, it is not appropriate to let them attack Luzon together;
King Qin, please think about it. Although Gu Rong is loyal, he is also a rebellious person by nature. Looking at Zheng Zhibao, his character is even more rebellious. Although the Zheng family was defeated, Zheng Zhibao may not be convinced in his heart. After all, Gu Rong was once defeated by the Zheng family.
The King of Qin asked Zheng Zhibao to be Gu Rong's deputy general, which must have made Zheng Zhibao even more unhappy. After the troops are dispatched, there is a high possibility that the general and the deputy general will fall out. "
Yang Shen also said: "Mr. Jin is right. King Qin, Zheng Zhibao is not fit to be a deputy general."
Qin Mu appointed Zheng Zhibao as his deputy general because he was familiar with the situation in the South Sea. In addition, Qin Mu planned to draw 10,000 troops from the Zheng family in addition to the East China Sea Fleet for this expedition to Luzon. Sending a member of the Zheng family to lead the soldiers would make them more willing to risk their lives.
But after Jin Lei's analysis, Qin Mu also realized that it was inappropriate to send Zheng Zhibao as the deputy general. He asked: "Who do you think is the right person to send as the deputy general?"
Yang Shen said, "King of Qin, I think it would be enough to send a member of the Zheng family to do it as a show."
Jin Lei said directly: "Zheng Sen."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Okay, let's send Zheng Sen."
The Zheng family army had just surrendered and was sent to fight, so they really needed a so-called spiritual leader. Zheng Sen was a good choice.
Although Zheng Sen was not very familiar with the situation in Nanyang, it was not important. He just needed to find someone who was familiar with the situation in Nanyang to serve as an advisor.
Well, Tong Haifeng and Shi Lang are good choices, especially Tong Haifeng. Although he is young, he has been traveling on the sea for seven or eight years and often travels to Southeast Asia.
During this period of contact, Qin Mu discovered that he was a very loyal person and had rich experience in naval warfare. Zheng Zhilong once regarded him as Zheng Sen's future right-hand man. However, Tong Haifeng was very disgusted with Zheng Zhilong's collusion with the Qing Dynasty and was not loyal to Zheng Zhilong, so it was very appropriate to send him.
Qin Mu ordered the navy to prepare for war, but did not immediately send troops to Luzon. The Northern Expedition was imminent, and a comprehensive coordination between the north and the south was needed. Korea, Yunnan, Guanzhong, Mongolia and other aspects all needed to be planned clearly, and what was important and what came first needed to be considered comprehensively.
After this incident, Qin Mu ordered to speed up the journey, not to stop the ship along the way, and hurried back to Jinling.
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ps: I went to check today and the people behind me have caught up. At this rate, I will be raped by someone tomorrow. The monthly ticket has been weak for a few days. Brothers, can you please stand up and give me monthly tickets
.(To be continued..)
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