After listening to Valdes's detailed introduction to the Spice Islands, Zhu Youzhen looked at Valdes thoughtfully, and suddenly opened his mouth to ask: "You abandoned your family and risked your life to run to Asia to serve your king, how much income can you earn in a year?" ”

Valdes, who was originally a little uneasy, found that the young man in front of him was focused on the Spice Islands, and naturally did not hesitate to confide in the Dutch.

If these Chinese and the Dutch turn against each other because of the interests of the Spice Islands, it will be good news for them Spaniards.

However, he didn't expect that after listening to his detailed introduction to the Spice Islands, the other party would focus on himself. He was a little nervous before he said cautiously: "Serving the king is originally my duty as a vassal. It's about my loyalty to the king, not about money.

But since Your Majesty asked, I will be honest. For a year of service to the king overseas, I can earn around 800-1000 pesos per year. Of course, this income does not include any other income I received in the colony. ”

Zhu Youzhen leaned back, crossed his hands on his chest, and asked again: "So, your immediate boss, the Governor of Manila, how much can he get in a year?" ”

Valdes secretly glanced at Chongzhen's face from the corner of his eye, and then continued: "I don't know very well the income of His Excellency Governor Silva, but it is about 3-50,000 pesos per year. ”

Zhu Youzhen asked with some curiosity: "How much is a peso worth?" ”

"Now, each Spanish peso is worth two silver guilders." Valdes replied very smoothly.

Zhu Youzhen secretly calculated in his heart, and then asked again: "So how much income can the Kingdom of Spain get from the Philippine Islands every year?" Is there 2.5 million Spanish pesos? ”

Waddleston was silent, this kind of secrecy about the benefits of the colony seemed impossible to tell the young man in front of him. However, he immediately realized his awkward situation, and if he did not get the young nobleman's attention, it seemed very likely that he would be deprived of his current treatment and become a real prisoner.

After thinking about it for a while, Waldes decided not to suffer this immediate loss, and he whispered: "In fact, the annual income that the kingdom receives from the Philippines, if you do not deduct the construction and defense costs of the colony, as well as the daily expenses of the colonial government and the church, is barely less than 1 million pesos. If the above expenses are deducted, it will be around 200,000 pesos in a normal year, and if there is a special event, there will be a deficit. ”

Zhu Youzhen was a little stunned for a moment, and he couldn't help but wonder and said: "If I heard it correctly just now, it seems that you once said that you Spaniards arrived in Southeast Asia only behind the Portuguese, much earlier than the Dutch. Why didn't you occupy the Spice Islands, but the Dutch? ”

Hearing this, Valdes was also quite resentful, and he complained for a while without thinking, so that Chongzhen understood what happened. Affection: The Spaniards and the Portuguese divided the world under the auspices of the Pope in the early days of the Great Discoveries.

On June 7, 1494, under the mediation of Pope Alexander VI (a Spaniard), Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesirias. The treaty stipulates that the north-south meridian, located 300 leagues (about 1,770 kilometers or 1,100 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands and about 46°37' west longitude, is the dividing line of power between the two countries: the west of the dividing line belongs to Spain and the east to Portugal.

But in 1500, the Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral accidentally crossed the Papal Meridian and discovered Brazil in South America. In 1512, Portugal discovered the Moluccas, a spice island, in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1521, the Spanish explorer Magellan, who had sailed around the world, also found the Moluccas, and the dispute between Spain and Portugal broke out again.

Negotiations began in 1523 and culminated in the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529, which revised the boundaries of the sphere of influence and defined the location of the dividing line in the Pacific. The dividing line of the Pacific Ocean was drawn east of the Moluccas, and Spain withdrew from the Moluccas, for which Portugal compensated Spain 350,000 gold ducats. The Philippines, west of the Pacific Dividing Line, remained under Spanish rule.

But no one could have imagined that after a gap of more than 70 years, the Kingdom of Portugal would decline, and the Dutch East India Company would single-handedly expel the Portuguese from the Spice Islands after the establishment of the Dutch East India Company.

The Spaniards did not foresee this day, after their withdrawal from the Spice Islands, the Philippine Islands, which were poor in precious metal resources, were not taken seriously by the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom devoted almost all its energy to the development of Central and South America and the search for precious metal mines in the American colonies.

The main significance of the Philippine archipelago to the Kingdom of Spain was that it became a transit port for various specialty goods from China. At one time, Spain lost too much gold and silver from the Americas through Manila, and once planned to abandon the Philippine colony.

The Kingdom of Spain did not pay attention to the Philippine colonies to such an extent that naturally there would be no investment in them. The most ridiculous thing is that the Philippine Islands are separated from the Spanish American colonies by a vast Pacific Ocean, but the Governor of Manila is a subordinate of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Politically, economically, and militarily, the Philippine colonies did not receive much domestic support, so the Spanish had little to do on the issue when the Dutch fought with the Portuguese over the Spice Islands.

In fact, although the Spanish claimed to occupy the Philippine Islands, their rule over the Philippine Islands was not so strong, except for the coast of Luzon in the north and most of the islands of the Visayas, the interior of Luzon and Mindanao were still controlled by the indigenous people.

In Mindanao, in particular, the fierce and aggressive city that the Spaniards called the Moro did not recognize the Spanish rule over the Philippine archipelago at all, and the two sides were always at war.

In this situation, the Spaniards, even if they coveted the wealth of the Spice Islands, were in a state of powerlessness. Occasionally, sending a few dozen or hundreds of people over for a sneak attack, or colluding with the natives of the Spice Islands to smuggle some spices back, is already a good result.

It was precisely because he could not challenge the absolute superiority of the Dutch in the Spice Islands head-on that Silva the Governor of Manila sent Waldes north, hoping to fight the growing Dutch by cutting off trade between the Netherlands and China and Japan. It's just that they didn't expect that as soon as they gained a foothold in northern Taiwan, they were attacked by the Chinese and the Dutch.

Zhu Youzhen's fingers of each other's hands tapped lightly on each other, and he looked at Waldes quietly and thought for a long time before he said gently: "In this way, the Dutch are really too domineering, this spice archipelago was originally a place where everyone could go to buy spices, how could he let his family monopolize it."

Moreover, they treated the natives of the Spice Islands, as well as the merchants from various countries who came to buy spices, and they acted too badly. I feel that, in the spirit of humanitarianism, I have an unshirkable responsibility to protect the original life of the indigenous people in the Spice Islands, as well as the trade order in Southeast Asia. I wonder what the attitude of the Kingdom of Spain will have on this matter? ”

The European colonizers of this era had obviously not yet learned how to package themselves, and their plundering of colonial wealth was still at a rather low stage. And for the Spaniards, they did not understand what humanitarianism was, and the means that the Spaniards carried out against the indigenous people in their colonies around the world were enough for themselves to be humanized a hundred times.

From the moment the young nobleman inquired about the Spice Islands, Valdes had a vague guess that he had taken a fancy to the Dutch-owned gold mountain. Although he was a little tempted by the young nobleman's invitation, Valdes did not intend to get involved in the war between China and the Dutch East India Company so easily.

In his opinion, China occupies a geographical advantage, but the sea power of the Dutch is too strong. If the war had taken place off the coast of China, the Dutch would have had little chance of winning. But if the war takes place in the sea between the Spice Islands and Java, the Chinese may not win.

For the Spaniards, there was no better way than for China to lose with the Dutch East India Company, and maybe Manila could take advantage of it.

However, Valdes knew that he could not say it so directly, and he said to Chongzhen with a look of embarrassment: "This honorable lord, although I personally would like to see that the Kingdom of Spain can establish a friendly alliance with your country, I also hope that Manila can stand with your country and teach that group of greedy Dutch merchants a lesson."

However, I am only a small officer and cannot influence the Governor of Manila. And it seems to me that even Mr. Silva can't decide on such a big issue.

But I am more than willing to try to pass on your opinion to Mr. Silva if you wish, and then report back to the Viceroyalty of New Spain..."

"Ishei."

"Huh?" Valdes, who was thinking about delaying time, looked at him with some astonishment after being interrupted by Chongzhen.

Zhu Youzhen said very simply: "After the matter is completed, the spices produced by the entire Spice Islands will be divided into 10 portions every year. If you can convince the Governor of Manila to join forces with the Ming and let the Dutch spit out the monopoly of the Spice Islands.

Then one of the spices can be divided into two halves, half for you and the Governor of Manila, and half for the other people who need to be convinced. ”

Wadeston fell silent, his forehead began to sweat, his neck began to stiffen, and after a while he said a little stiffly: "Respectful lord, you may not understand that there is no shortage of people loyal to the king in the Viceroyalty of the Philippines, and if this matter is transmitted back to the country, we will not be able to enjoy the wealth you promised..."

Zhu Youzhen spread his hands and said in surprise: "Oh my God, Mr. Valdes, are you joking with me?" A tenth of the spices is worth at least 2 million guilders, and you want to tell me that your loyalty to the King of Spain is more than 2 million guilders? Or every year. ”

Valdes felt the sweat on his head flow into his eyes, making him feel his eyes astringent and hot, but he always stood still, not reaching out to wipe the sweat.