I

Page 401

In the late Qing Dynasty, opium was rampant in China, and the root of the disaster came from European businessmen in the late Ming Dynasty.The Netherlands alone sells more than 5 kilograms of opium every year, plus Britain, Spain, and Portugal, how many Asians will be killed!

After inquiring about the news again, Huang Zan couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, the joint dispatch of troops with the Netherlands..."

Zhao Han waved Huang Zan to back down, but did not give an affirmative answer. He wanted to ask Zheng Zhilong again.

Chapter 492 [Take advantage of his illness and kill him]

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

"A seat." Zhao Han smiled kindly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

When Zheng Zhilong sat 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 hardwoods. Our navy will surround one of them with ten ships, and the artillery will bombard 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.

This kind of large sailing ship, the smallest displacement is 500 tons, and the largest displacement can reach 1200 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 occupy the entire Pacific waterway by the way.

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

Zheng Zhilong thought carefully: "We need to send out all the navy and send another [-] powerful troops. Manila can't forcefully attack the city, so we can only siege the city with heavy troops, until the food in the city is cut off. Therefore, we need to prepare a large amount of food and grass, at least half a year's worth of food and grass."

"How sure are you?" Zhao Han asked.

Zheng Zhilong said: "If there are [-] 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, 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 didn't have so much money and food to fight the sea battle, so he used merchants to do things!

War bonds were issued to Chinese maritime merchants with the commercial taxes of major ports in the Philippines as collateral.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 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 2000 shi grain bonds!"

Buying 2000 shi of grain bonds means transporting 2000 shi of grain to the Philippine battlefield, and Zhao Han will return them with interest after five years.

Shipping costs and risks are borne by maritime merchants!

At first glance, it looks like a loss-making deal, and the sea merchants are definitely not willing.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, the Fujian maritime merchants will fall asleep and wake up laughing.

Because 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.

The 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, after Spain's slaughter of China this time, only one year later, 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.

Is it mean?

Because the maritime merchants had no choice, the Ming Dynasty was about to come 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, Zhao Han, the emperor of Datong, wants to stand up for them, and the Fujian maritime merchants burst into enthusiasm.

In just one month, Fujian Ocean Merchant subscribed for 3600 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 [-] tons of grain to the Philippine battlefield.

As for maritime merchants from 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 could not wait any longer, and sent out his 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.

Historically, the Philippine Tuhua happened earlier. At that time, the Netherlands was at war with Portugal, and it was really hard to spare to make trouble 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.

Going all the way to the northern Philippines, inciting the indigenous rebellion against Spain, and at the same time intercepting Chinese merchant ships from Fujian (cutting 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 the three parties completed the preliminary plan, they 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.

Later, two more galleons came back from Mexico. The Netherlands dared not fight any more naval battles, and eight hundred 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 100 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, we will deal with him when we have time," Van Diemen said.

Teddy Holland at sea, 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 100 Dutch soldiers and demanded that the Cambodian king return the bribe, because the Cambodian officials took the money and did not do anything.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.

Moreover, the country of Matalan on Java Island also has a fierce conflict with the Netherlands, and is thinking about attacking the Netherlands together.

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

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

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

If you don't make this clear, who will belong to Manila?

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

Hawksbill City is the capital of a native 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, and the later Lanfang Company established the Lanfang Republic in that area.

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 sides 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 3500 medical soldiers.

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

However, Zhao Han didn't want to let go of the opportunity.

To avenge the tragic death of the Chinese and to demonstrate 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, Chinese maritime merchants will go to do business with Spain again, regardless of eating or selling.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!

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

Chapter 493 [Series of Indigenous Allies]

In the second year of the Republic of China in Datong, no large-scale war broke out.

Li Zicheng thoroughly consolidated his territory, and made those warlord-like generals submissive—all those who refused were dead.

At the same time, Li Zicheng also recovered Ningxia Town and transferred his nephew Li Guo to Yinchuan to garrison.

Li Guo was also canonized as the prince to stabilize the country.

This operation is somewhat incomprehensible. After the prince canonization, shouldn't the prince be left in the capital?What if the prince rebelled abroad, or the emperor died, and the prince came back too late?

It can only be said that Li Zicheng is a bold man and thinks that nothing will happen.

On the side of Dorgon in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there was only a small-scale friction with the Datong Army in Liaodong during the autumn harvest.While stepping up farming and saving grain, they sent troops to suppress the Mongolian rebellion in northwestern Liaoning.

Those Mongolian tribes did not rebel directly, but attacked each other due to lack of food.

The Qing Dynasty did not allow such a thing to happen, so they helped tribes with better relationships to fight.The Mongolian tribes who were close at hand were robbed of their livestock and population by the Manchus, and the pastures were left to the tribes who were loyal to the Manchus.

North Korea is in ruins, but it is a pity that the monarchs and ministers are not in the mood to govern the country.

The lord of the country, Li Hao, is still cleaning out old ministers and supporting middle-level families in large numbers.As a result, the North Korean people were taxed more and more heavily, and were exploited so that a large number fled to the northern mountainous areas, and even fled to the border of Baozhou controlled by the Datong Army.

On Zhao Han's side, he only does three things:

First, send troops to attack the southwestern chieftain and swallow the corner areas of Sichuan and Guangxi.

Second, store food.

Third, immigration.

Henan's registered population has recovered to 120 million, of which immigrants accounted for 30.Shandong recovered to 180 million, and the number of immigrants was also 30.

According to the data from the Ministry of Household Affairs at the end of last year, the population under Zhao Han’s administration is: more than 200 million in Jinling Prefecture (Nanjing and surrounding prefectures and counties), more than 500 million in Zhejiang, more than 600 million in Jiangsu, more than 600 million in Anhui, more than 800 million in Jiangxi, and more than 500 million in Hunan , more than 400 million in Hubei, more than 400 million in Guangdong, more than 400 million in Fujian, more than 300 million in Guangxi, and more than 700 million in Sichuan.

Together with Henan, Shandong, and parts of North Zhili and Liaodong, the total population is 6200 million.

The above does not include children under the age of 12, because the ancient medical level is easy to die.

Although there are still several provinces that have not been conquered, and although a large number of people have been lost in the north, the population of 6200 million is already the official statistics of the Ming Dynasty at its peak.

Jiangxi's population is still too large, mainly because Zhao Han was the first to occupy it, and there was no major famine.

The three provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang suffered severe famines, resulting in a sharp drop in population.

In addition, although Jiangxi has immigrated heavily, there are too many children over the age of 12.After Zhao Han's rule, because the living conditions improved, the premature death rate was greatly reduced.There are also a large number of children under the age of 10, which are the Jiangxi baby boom brought about by the Zhao Han uprising.

Zhao Han has assigned tasks to the Ministry of Household Affairs. In the first three years of the Republic of China, the intensity of immigration from Jiangxi will be increased, and at least 20 people will be immigrated to Henan and Shandong each!

Only continuous immigration can alleviate the population pressure in Jiangxi. In recent years, there have been a lot of newborns.

In the third year of the beginning of the Republic of China, March in the new calendar.

The new Luzon Expeditionary Force assembled and boarded the ship in Fuzhou.The navy commander is Zheng Zhilong, and the army commander is Wang Hui.

Wang Hui previously served as the brigade commander of the No.14 Division. This time he was urgently transferred to Fujian to build the Luzon Expeditionary Army.The matchlock guns in their hands were replaced by the Liaodong Dragoons, who had already replaced them with flintlock guns.

More than 40 warships and more than 30 merchant ships sailed southward.

They are in Zhuluo County (Chiayi), Taiwan, doing a little fresh water supply.The merchant ships that transported supplies also left some waiting here, which is equivalent to using Zhuluo County as a transit point.

The Han people in Zhuluo County were very happy. They helped carry supplies, earned a lot of wages, and sold vegetables to the expeditionary army.

……