Outside the ward window, the unique water-plum peach tree in Lingnan has dense green leaves, and its crown is large and wide, like an umbrella, covering the scorching afternoon sun in the ward.

The dining table has been removed, and Zhao Hao and two old Lords Pan are discussing the plan to reopen the Maritime Silk Road while drinking tea.

"But it is difficult to take these millions of South China Tides for their own use." Pan Zhongyan picked up a small teacup and took a sip of the Beiyuan tea ceremony. "These people are naturally closer to those pirates in terms of emotions and have very distrustful of the government. Moreover, most of them have been rooted in countries in Southeast Asia for generations, and relying solely on fleets to intimidate, they do not have much effect."

"Yes, so what if you have a strong boat and a powerful gun? I haven't gone to sea for a few years, so I'm living a good life in the local area." Pan Jixun also nodded. He is a big river sect and has a bit of an instinctive prejudice against the Ocean sect.

"No, the Southeast Asian country is no longer peaceful." Zhao Hao shook his head and smiled faintly: "According to the latest news from Luzon Station, the Spanish have captured Manila, and the local Sultan Suleiman was killed in battle. After the Spanish occupied Manila, they adopted high-pressure rule. The lives of the local Han people were already very difficult..."

Zhao Hao ended his trial voyage in the previous season and returned to Tanluo, he received a report from Jiangnan Trading's trading stations in Cebu and Manila, saying that the Spaniards began to frequently spy on Manila, buying military supplies in Macau, Annan, Malacca and other places, and recruiting indigenous soldiers. All signs indicate that they are about to launch an invasion on the Little Luzon Sultanate in Manila.

When Zhao Hao arrived in Chaozhou, he received the latest report - Legaspi, the so-called "Governor of the Philippines" in Spain, formed a fleet of more than 2,000 people, and 23 ships of all sizes, with the support of Mexican reinforcements, and launched an invasion of Manila.

In the eyes of the Ming people, it was a delusion to use only more than 2,000 people, and most of them were indigenous mercenaries with low combat effectiveness.

But that was the illusion that the Ming Dynasty had been in a closed-door country for a long time. This army of two thousand people was more than enough to deal with the South China countries that had not yet formed a powerful national organization.

In fact, Legaspi only planned to invest half of his troops to deal with the local soldiers of Luzon. The other half of his troops were used to prevent the sneak attacks behind the sea lords of Portugal and the Ming Dynasty. Especially the Portuguese in Macau, they had already held a grudge against them for their blatant violation of the treaty to occupy Cebu. Now, seeing that the Spaniards are getting more and more aggressive, they will not jump out and ruin their good things.

As for the more powerful Ming Empire, Legaspi was not worried, because Spain was also a big empire, so he knew very well how slow it was to make decisions like this country. I am afraid that when the Ming Dynasty studied and decided to send a fleet, the grave grass of Luzon Sultan Suleiman would be two feet high?

Shortly after the Spanish fleet went out to sea, they encountered another storm. Two ships leaked and returned to the sea, and finally landed in Manila Bay. However, those giant ships like hills and rows of roaring artillery had already scared the chief Rajamatanda, the chief of the Lord and the Sect, removed the fortifications and raised the white flag to surrender, allowing the Spaniards to enter Manila without any damage.

However, the battle was not over. Because Suleiman, the Sultan of Luzon, had already taken the initiative to retreat to the north, and had to seek help from neighboring countries and suzerain countries.

But the plan was not smooth, and the countries in Southeast Asia were unwilling to offend the terrifying Florence people easily... They could not distinguish between Spanish and Portuguese, so they confused it.

There is nothing wrong with this, because they are all the same, but the former is stronger so it is more cruel and direct, while the latter is weaker so it will use more methods to detour.

The Ming Dynasty was not afraid of Spain, which was terrible trouble. Moreover, the Beijing court had always had a lot of objections to the Luzon, which attracted the people of Fujian and Guangdong to abandon their homes and traveled to the sea and fled the royal state. It even regarded the Spanish invasion as a punishment for defectors and harborers. How could it send troops to help?

With foreign aid cut off, Suleiman could only rely on his own people. However, the indigenous people on Luzon Island were dispersed, and the mobilization power was extremely low. In the end, Suleiman tried all his skills and only recruited two thousand people.

Compared with the lack of military strength, the gap in weapons and equipment is even more desperate. The so-called warships of the Luzon natives are 25 meters long and have a slender hull, which can carry more than 200 people. But 80% of them are paddlers, with only thirty or forty soldiers fighting.

These soldiers stood on the high platform in the middle of the ship, holding javelins, bows and darts to fight against the enemy, and were extremely primitive and backward. Compared with them, the Japanese navy members were all powerful invincible fleets.

Therefore, this was a desperate war that was doomed to end before it even began. Suleiman, with all his troops, had just entered the Bay of Manila when he was violently bombarded by the Spanish fleet and suffered heavy losses.

However, Suleiman still ordered the fleet to continue charging, hoping to approach the invaders and use their strength to launch hand-to-hand combat.

However, he did not know that his opponent's navy was the strongest in the world and would not give him any chance. Faced with these fragile small boats that were overestimated, the Spanish sailboat did not need to fire. They directly snatched the wind and hit Zhang Manfan and sank these indigenous people easily.

In the end, Suleiman was killed by artillery and his fleet was wiped out. In order to shock the local natives, Leathbi ordered all the prisoners to be killed and his head was hung in Manila City to serve as a warning. As expected, the locals were trembling and no one dared to resist the invaders again.

Then, Legaspi moved the Governor's Office from Cebu to Luzon and forced all Luzonians to convert to Catholicism. This was nothing for the local natives, because the Grand Catholic Church had been spreading for a short time in the local area, only the upper nobles believed in Allah, and the vast majority of lower civilians were still very unhalal. Therefore, Legaspi killed all the upper class who dared to resist and forced the upper class who did not dare to resist to convert, and the matter was settled.

What the Spanish people were most worried about was the Chinese group with a population of more than 20,000. With one-tenth of the population, this group controls 80% of the local wealth. It also has the strong Ming Empire as a backing... This is of course a misjudgment by Leyashibi. In fact, the Ming Dynasty regarded these overseas Han people as bandits and wanted to get rid of them quickly.

Of course, the Chinese would not inform the Spaniards of this. The Spaniards invaded the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty and knew that they would be in the wrong, nor would they take the initiative to confront their sect leader countries, so they have been kept in the dark for many years...

~~

"The country of Spain is very interesting." Mr. Zhao savored Chaoshan Kung Fu Tea and slowly said to the two old masters Pan:

"Although they were the first countries to start their voyage, they were always very conservative. They did not want gold and silver to flow out, nor did they want to earn wealth by foreigners. With the mentality of "there are always unruly people who want to harm me", they were extremely hostile and prepared for all foreigners, especially pagans. Therefore, the situation of local Chinese can be imagined."

"Isn't this 'washing duck' just a local tyrant who does something bad?" Pan Jixun sneered and said incredible: "All this kind of thing can establish an empire...the sun never sets?"

"First, I took the initiative." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "And their army is really strong, not only the navy, but also the army. If we want to reopen the Maritime Silk Road, they are the enemies we must defeat!"

"Then let's do it early. While they are still in a stable position, drive them out of Luzon!" After Pan Zhongqian came to Guangdong, he truly felt how close the red-haired ghost was to the Ming Dynasty. How could he allow others to snore on the side of the bed? The old professor who has always won people with virtue naturally started to shout and fight and kill.

"I think too, but how easy is it?" Zhao Hao spread his hands and said, "It's not our fleet that has only been formed for more than two years, is it an opponent of the Spaniards? Even if we can fight with it, we don't have the conditions to fight with it at all!"

"Why?"

Facing the puzzled eyes of the two old masters Pan, Zhao Hao pointed to the tea cup on the far left of the tea tray in front of him and said, "Our coast guard fleet is on Danluo Island."

He pointed to a teacup on the far right and said, "The Spanish fleet is on Luzon Island, and the two places have a voyage of more than 4,000 miles apart."

Then he pointed to the teapot, justice cup and other vessels in the middle of the two tea cups and said, "There are Ryukyu in the middle, Taiwan... Oh no, the masters, and the lords of Fujian and Guangdong who are making waves in the middle. If these forces are not settled, how can our fleet move south?"

"Uh..." The two old Lord Pan smacked their lips and said nothing. They were once officials of the Ming Dynasty, so they naturally would habitually despise the forces at sea. But this time, a fleet that covered the sky and the sun did not impress them.

Fortunately, Zeng Yiben attacked the city this time by catching up with his shortcomings and avoiding his strengths. What would happen if he met such a huge fleet at sea? Just thinking about it makes people shudder?

"In addition, both internally and externally, you must be famous for your masters." Zhao Hao sighed again, saying with a hint: "For the outside world, Luzon is not a hostile Japan, and the flow of personnel and information in Fujian and Guangdong is very frequent. So it is impossible that if the sky is broken, no one knows when the country breaks through it like in Japan."

Both old Lord Pan are old cadres with extremely high political awareness, so naturally understand what Zhao Hao means. Without a righteous and open name as a cover, he rashly sent a fleet to Luzon to start the war, which will eventually attract the fear of the court. At that time, the trouble will be great!

"What about the outside world?" Pan Jixun asked again.

"For the outside world? The countries in the South China Sea are probably vassals of our Ming Dynasty. Although they have been powerful for more than a hundred years, they have received a lot of grace from the Celestial Empire." Zhao Hao smiled teasingly and said, "After all, the sect leader country that pursues the 'thin and thick journey' for two hundred years is rare in a thousand years."
Chapter completed!