Waldes kept walking back and forth in the small room where he was imprisoned, thinking, and after being captured by the Chinese, he had changed into his usual aristocratic clothes to show his status and avoid being humiliated by the Chinese soldiers.

The most striking feature of his outfit is the high stand-up collar around his neck, topped with white ruffle lace, which looks like his whole head has grown out of it.

Although the wearer does not feel comfortable with this type of garment, the stand collar framed with layers of paste can force the wearer to lower his head and always maintain a posture of holding his head high.

In the eyes of the European aristocracy, this arrogant and cold posture is a manifestation of the nobles' unique noble blood and status. Therefore, as soon as it appeared, it spread among the nobility of Europe and has now become the standard attire of the nobility of European countries.

Of course, in the eyes of the Chinese, Valdes' outfit is really silly, like a fighting with a big chest. When he landed in Tianjin, he was not less watched by the citizens.

Naturally, Valdes would not think that the onlookers of these Chinese people were that his costume was too weird. He didn't know anything about Chinese, but he was more willing to regard the behavior of the Chinese people as an ordinary person who paid attention to his noble Spanish lord, and he even did not hesitate to return a few Western-style etiquette to these Chinese civilians.

Mr. Silva, the Governor of Manila, was the most trusted colonial officer, and in addition to his rich experience in colonial warfare, he also had a good political sense.

When he saw the Dutch in the Chinese fleet at the head of San Salvador, he began to think about how Manila should deal with the dangerous situation of Sino-Dutch alliances.

In fact, when he confirmed the presence of Dutch ships in the Chinese fleet, he already decided that the city of San Salvador would not be able to hold out.

He was more worried than the loss of the newly occupied northern part of Taiwan, whether the alliance between the Chinese and the Dutch would be detrimental to Manila.

Ever since the king went to war against the Protestant League, the Governorate of Manila had received few supplies from ships and troops. The failure of the invasion of northern Taiwan not only consumed Manila's limited strength, but also seemed to further offend the most powerful country in the East.

With the power of the Dutch at sea, combined with the near-inexhaustible manpower and material resources of China, this nightmare would be 100% realized if they wanted to drive the Spaniards out of Luzon and the nearby islands.

The Kingdom of Spain, far across the ocean, could not afford to provide Manila with sufficient resources to sustain it. The mere invasion of Britain and the Netherlands, which were also in Western Europe, had exhausted the Spanish kingdom without achieving any commendable results.

If you were to challenge a huge country in Asia with a population close to all of Europe, which was not one of the savage tribes of the Americas, the outcome of the war would be self-evident.

Although many of Manila's native Spaniards believed that "the Chinese are a mean, shameless and hateful people, and that the kings and officials of China abuse the poor and treat the people with unheard-of tyranny, and none of their people will be loyal to their king." As long as they had a strong army, they would be able to land from Canton and then conquer this large but not strong country from south to north, province by province, and conquer a vast and rich territory in the east for His Majesty the King. ”

However, Walders was not one of those who held such stupid and arrogant claims, and he always believed that if they could not find supporters inside China, they would not even be able to get close to Canton by force alone.

It's just that the Chinese seem to only focus on the coastline and have never had any interest in Manila, which is separated by a sea, so those Spanish compatriots can still stand on the streets of Manila's royal city and express all kinds of false opinions without worrying about the Chinese coming to the door to settle accounts.

But now, with the help of the Dutch, then they can land in Manila at any time if the Chinese want to, and settle with the Spanish compatriots the crimes they have committed against the Chinese.

"This is intolerable and unacceptable." Valdes said to himself. From the beginning of his surrender to the Chinese, he cautiously approached the commander of the Chinese fleet, hoping to learn from the Chinese whether their alliance with the Dutch was accidental or normal.

After his unremitting efforts, perhaps due to the carelessness of the commander of the Chinese fleet, Waldes finally learned something about the relationship between China and the Dutch East India Company.

The joint operation between China and the Dutch East India Company was only an accidental alliance, and the two sides did not reach any offensive and defensive alliance, which was indeed good news for the Kingdom of Spain. At least the two sides have not yet reached a tacit agreement to jointly send troops to Manila.

But there was bad news, a trade agreement was formalized between China and the Dutch East India Company, allowing the Dutch to trade directly in ports developed by the Chinese. As a result, Manila's status as a transit port for Chinese goods is about to decline.

Valdes was now racking his brains about how to break up friendly trade relations between China and the Dutch East India Company, or to try to get Manila the same treatment as the Dutch.

He seized northern Taiwan on the orders of the Governor of Manila, mainly for the purpose of trading with China in the vicinity and, incidentally, cutting off trade routes between the Dutch East India Company and Japan.

If a direct trade with China can be found, Manila's interests will be protected even if the city of San Salvador is lost, and he will not be held responsible for the defeat of the war.

Waldes did not think his idea was whimsical, after all, since he landed on Chinese territory, the Chinese have treated him with great courtesy, except for restricting him from moving around at will, and not treating him as a prisoner.

Since the Chinese did not throw him into the cell, he felt that perhaps the Chinese had something else to think of him. He is not worried about the Chinese using him, he is only worried that he has no value to be used by the Chinese. In that case, only the guillotine would be his home.

While Vades was thinking wildly, the door to his room suddenly opened, and one of the lieutenant officers who was guarding him walked in. After looking around the room, the lieutenant officer said a few words to the Spanish priest who walked in with him.

"Sir, this lieutenant wants you to follow him, and that General Xu wants to see you now." The priest spoke quickly to Vades.

Waldes glanced at the priest and replied cheerfully, "Tell this officer for me that I am more than happy to go to that General Xu and ask him to lead me the way." ”

Valdes followed the lieutenant officer, followed by two Chinese warriors, and after passing through several corridors and courtyards, he came to an elegant courtyard.

Valdes looked up slightly at the scenery in the lower courtyard, two tall trees were planted on both sides of the bluestone paved road, and the broad canopy was entangled above the bluestone slabs, just covering the space above the road, just two trees, creating a feeling of walking in the forest.

The Chinese's ability to master garden art is indeed unmatched in Europe today. Valdes even felt that if the courtyard in front of him could be moved back to Madrid, he would probably be inferior to His Majesty's royal garden.

Perhaps the only thing that could rival this garden art was the painting and architecture of the Spaniards, and Valdes, who was walking on the road, could not help but think so.

Following the bluestone paved path, the group quickly passed through the courtyard of natural interest, stopping at a wing house where vines crawled around the walls.

The officer who had come with Valdes entered the chamber first. He stayed inside for a short moment, then walked out and entered the room with Valdes.

The door to the wing room was not large, but after the two of them entered the room, Valdes realized that there was a hole in the sky.

The room they were in was inward, and there was a space with a splendid screen to separate the view. Under the officer's leadership, Valdes bypassed the silk screen embroidered with plum blossoms, and suddenly opened up in front of him.

Behind the screen is a doorway shaped like a full moon, flanked by bookshelves and multi-treasure grids with antiques, and inside the doorway is a small living room covered with Persian carpets.

In the living room, there are several elegantly shaped circle chairs. Surrounding the living room is a double tabernacle made of red brocade and plain silk. Obviously, this living room is not only intimate but also warm if used in winter.

In this small living room, General Xu, whom Valdes knew, sat on the side, while a well-dressed young man sat upright, as if this young man was the owner of the place.

In addition to these two people, there was also a middle-aged man with a white face and beard, standing behind the young man.

While Valdes was surveying the living room, Xu Xinsu, who was sitting next to him, motioned for both the officer and the priest to step back together, leaving Valdes alone.

He stood up and said vaguely to Valdes, who was standing at the entrance, "The young man above is from our Ming Dynasty... Well, you should be the descendant of a powerful duke in your country. In short, he has great power.

I reported to this lord what you told me on the boat. My lord thinks what you said is quite interesting.

So I came to meet you today to give you a chance to convince him. Why did the Ming maintain friendly relations with the Kingdom of Spain, but beware of those Dutch friends?

You have to think about it, but adult time is very precious. If you're just wasting adult time, I can assure you that you won't get a second chance. ”