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During the capture of Manila City, not much gold and silver was seized. According to statistics, there were only 9,840 taels of gold and 124,000 taels of silver.
But in addition to the cash, a large amount of goods were also seized, including pearls, ambergris, blood root, agate, rhinoceros horn, ivory, tortoise shell, agarwood, white sandalwood, ebony, hematoxylin, pepper, borneol, and flower vine incense. , yellow flower tree, Dendrobium incense, lac, Chinensis incense, Jiangzhen incense, aphrodisiac, myrrh, glass, etc. It can be said that there is a dazzling array of everything.
If these things are transported back to Daqin, it is initially estimated that the value will exceed 1.5 million taels. This income alone is enough to offset all the expenses of the three fleets currently built by Da Qin.
Among them, ambergris was worth more than 30 taels of silver per catty in Da Qin, pepper was worth 3 taels of silver per catty, agarwood was worth 5 taels of silver per catty, agarwood was worth 3 taels of silver per catty, and anthrax was worth 15 taels of silver per catty.
Pearls, agate, rhinoceros horn, rosewood, yellow flower wood, etc. are also very valuable. China also produces a lot of silk, porcelain, lacquerware, tea, etc.
It can be seen that the Spaniards' main trading target is China. As far as the entire world is concerned, whoever controls the trade with China will have countless wealth.
China has a huge market with the most exquisite products, and it controls the world's trade initiative. China can stop trading with Western countries, but Western countries cannot afford to lose China as a trading partner.
The rise of the great voyages meant that the Ottoman Empire blocked trade between the East and the West, forcing Western countries to find ways to trade with China through the sea, which led to the great geographical discovery.
From this point of view, China is not afraid of going to war with any country. If it hurts you, you have to beg China.
His Majesty the Emperor of the Qin Dynasty has drawn up a grand blueprint for the navy. The first is to expel the Western forces from Nanyang and control the trade routes in the hands of the Qin Dynasty.
Controlling Luzon is only the first and crucial step.
Because there are more distant places to conquer. We cannot rely entirely on domestic supplies, so it is necessary to turn Luzon Island into a forward base for the Qin Dynasty and use this base to radiate throughout Southeast Asia.
How to achieve this ambitious goal, Gu Rong, Zheng Sihai, Zhang Mingzhen, Hai Rufeng, Wang Guichen, Shi Lang, Tong Haifeng, Zhao Han, Zhang Hui and others once again held a meeting at the former Spanish Governor's Palace.
This time, in order to avoid the irresponsible remarks of the old academics in the country, Qin Mu gave the navy generals face-to-face instructions in Yanziji, and at the same time gave the navy great power to make emergency decisions.
Although Qin Mu did not explain clearly how to act after taking Luzon Island, he had given them some hints.
Wang Guichen first said: "Luzon is relatively far from Daqin..."
"Hey!" Hai Rufeng immediately interjected, "General Wang is wrong. Now Luzon belongs to our country, Daqin. How can we say that we are separated from my country, Daqin?"
Everyone laughed, and Wang Guichen also smiled and changed his words: "After all, it is far away from our homeland. To rule this land, the most worrying thing is the rebellion of the natives here. Although they cannot make any big waves, they often cause trouble. The chaos is still very annoying. Although Your Majesty didn’t say it clearly, I can tell that Your Majesty is planning to move to Luzon.”
"We are all our own people, don't be hesitant, General Wang. Just say what you want to say. Damn it, these monkeys on Luzon Island have killed so many Han people. Blood debt must be repaid with blood. Why are you being polite to them?"
"Since Admiral Gu said this, I will tell you straight away. There are about 700,000 to 800,000 natives in Luzon Island now. According to my wishes, all women over ten and under forty-five years old will be transported back to Daqin. Work as a maid, or sell to merchants to work.
As for men, we have to grow food to eat in Luzon. Someone has to farm it. The Tang Dynasty opened up the Western Regions, established the Protectorate, and moved people to cultivate the land. We might as well learn from this and gather all the indigenous men for military reclamation. "
Wang Guichen's idea is bad. All the women are brought back to Daqin to work as maids, and the rest are all men. Men can't have children with men. Over time, and with some assimilation methods, it won't take long for the natives to be here. disappeared across the land.
And by gathering 200,000 to 300,000 natives to reclaim Luzon and establish military reclamation farms, I believe that large tracts of fertile land will soon be reclaimed.
After hearing this, Gu Rong chuckled and said, "That's a good idea. We are only responsible for arresting people. I believe Da Qin's caravans will swarm over soon. Just sell the women to them."
Zhang Mingzhen, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, said hesitantly: "Admiral, if you do this, I'm afraid it will lead to the impeachment of the imperial censor in the country."
"Impeachment is nothing. These are all prisoners of war. All dynasties conquered a place without having to take a large number of prisoners. The great eunuch Wang Zhi of the Ming Dynasty was still a prisoner. Your Majesty destroyed the Jurchens, so that's not... Well, anyway, these They are all prisoners, what are they impeaching?" Gu Rong's brain was not yet rusty, and he stopped talking about what His Majesty the Qin Emperor had done.
Zhao Han, the commander of the South China Sea Fleet, was much more pragmatic. He said: "In my opinion, if Da Qin wants to govern Luzon Island well, it is inevitable to strengthen its branches and weak branches. As General Wang said, Luzon is far away from Da Qin after all. In order to prevent chaos in the mainland, the number of natives must be controlled. "
Hai Rufeng said: "General Wang's idea is good. The natives around Manila are easy to deal with, but most of the natives live scattered in the mountains and old forests after all. We can't go all over the mountains to catch monkeys, right?"
This is a big problem. There are less than 200,000 natives living around Manila. It is not easy to go deep into the mountains and forests to catch the others.
Zhao Han thought for a while and said: "If you want to take something, you must give it first. We might as well treat the natives around Manila well first, and then post a notice. As long as the natives who are willing to move to the plains to live, in addition to each family being given a In addition to one hundred acres of land, they will also give five taels of silver, two bolts of cotton cloth, plus porcelain, tea, etc. As long as they are lured with huge profits, I believe there will be many natives willing to come.
If there are still those who are unwilling to submit to the Qin Dynasty, we will send troops to exterminate them, force them to use force, and induce them to gain benefits. I believe that it will not take long for a large number of native people to move to the plains. "
"Wonderful! That's great, let's do it like this!" Gu Rong couldn't help but cheer loudly after hearing this.
Shi Lang added: "No matter how we coerce or induce, there will always be some natives who are unwilling to move out. Instead of using the barbarians to control the barbarians, let Aquino organize thousands of native soldiers to go to the deep mountains and old forests to arrest people. Every time he catches one , given certain benefits, I believe they will work very hard.”
Not to mention these monkeys in Luzon who don't have any national concepts. Even if the Manchus entered the customs, China would still have countless Han Khans. Most of China was conquered by the Han and Khan armies with the help of the Manchus.
People like Aquino are originally the lackeys of the Spanish. As long as they give him a little sweetness, it would be strange not to beg for mercy.
We are all soldiers, we act neatly and neatly, and we just do what we say after discussing.
First, Zhao Han found Aquino and asked him to spread the word to the natives: You are all the subjects of the Qin Dynasty. His Majesty, the Emperor of Qin, is benevolent to the people and benevolent to all things. From now on, you will soon be able to get rid of poverty and live a life of infinite prosperity and happiness. life. All natives around Manila will be allocated 500 acres of land to each family. From now on, you are all landlords.
As for those who are still living in the deep mountains and old forests, they should move out as soon as possible. As long as they move out and become citizens of Da Qin, they will immediately receive countless benefits, including money, land, and goods, which will be given to every family. Anyone who refuses to move out means that he does not want to be a subject of Da Qin, and is an enemy of Da Qin. The mighty Da Qin soldiers will destroy them one by one.
At the same time, Zhao Han gave Aquino the title of general to conquer the barbarians. He also solemnly carved a seal and embroidered a battle flag for him. He was rewarded with one hundred taels of silver and even a Spanish woman in her thirties.
It turns out that the Spaniards organized an army of three thousand indigenous servants, and now they are all led by Aquino.
Aquino felt as if he was suddenly sent to heaven and into the arms of his heavenly father. The boundless happiness instantly overwhelmed him and almost suffocated him.
When he kowtowed to Zhao Han, he exerted such force that a dent was made in the mud.
The Qin army was not idle either, and began to set fire to the mountains around Manila. Well, don’t get me wrong, this is not to smoke out the monkeys. At this time, most of Luzon Island was still in its original ecology. To open up land, the woods must be burned first. After the thorns are burned, the large ash becomes the best fertilizer for the land.
As for environmental protection, that's a joke. The entire Luzon Island is now covered with trees. If you don't burn some of it, where will the land be for you to cultivate? Unless you are prepared to imitate the local indigenous people and go to the woods to become monkeys.
The caravan from Great Qin arrived faster than Gu Rong and the others expected. On the third day, dozens of Great Qin merchant ships arrived at Manila Port, bringing much-needed supplies to the navy.
Zhao Han was responsible for trading with the merchants, selling the seized goods directly to the merchants and transporting them back to the country for sale.
Aquino worked extremely hard, leading thousands of troops, armed with swords, guns, bows and arrows, into the deep mountains and forests, and drove the natives inside to Manila.
The local indigenous people live in simple shacks, and their families are usually very poor. They can just carry a few pots and jars on their backs and leave.
If you don't leave, you will die. Under Aquino's force, thousands of natives were driven out of the mountains and forests on the first day.
They were originally crying and desperate, but as soon as they arrived in Manila, they did not expect to receive land, silver, cloth, porcelain and other kinds of property that they would never dare to think about.
The native who was still crying just now suddenly burst into laughter and joy.
As soon as the news spread, the natives in the mountains and forests were all shocked. Is there such a good thing in the world? is that true? The natives who received the news first sent people to Manila to find out the news.
The person who comes to inquire does not need to bother to verify. In addition to the living examples in front of him, Qin Jun also gave him money in advance and asked him to go back and publicize Great Qin's policies.
***(To be continued...)
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