Matteo Ricci knew that Xiao Ruxun held the military power, and the Ming court held the name of righteousness, and if the two were one, Xiao Ruxun would use troops to attack the Philippines, and there was a possibility of defeating the Spanish colonial power in the Philippines in one fell swoop.

And more importantly, a considerable part of the interests on the Philippine island belong to Catholicism and belong to the Holy See, and if Xiao Ruxun destroys Spain, then the interests of the Holy See cannot be protected.

This is the reason why Bishop Alexander sent him to China for diplomacy in such a hurry.

But he can't afford to provoke the Chinese government, and Xiao Ruxun can't afford to provoke it, and if he provokes the Chinese government, the Chinese emperor will order Xiao Ruxun to attack the Philippines, and everyone is finished, but Xiao Ruxun is provoked, and the snake has the means to make the Spanish on the Philippine island worse than dead, just by not allowing merchants from various countries to do business with them, they can kill them.

A rumor that China is going to attack the Philippines can make the rumors on the Philippine island look like the end of the world, and it also makes merchant ships from all over the country not set foot in the Philippines for two or three months, so that now the rations of the Spanish soldiers on the island have become a problem, which shows how great China's deterrent power is, Xiao Ruxun's stronghold is not far from the Philippines, and if you really want to fight, you will definitely not be able to bear it.

Although it is certain that the Chinese government will not trouble the Philippines, the personal grudge with Xiao Ruxun is also very bad, and Matteo Ricci is thinking, what if Xiao Ruxun sends troops privately?

"Taisu, is it possible for General Xiao to send troops to attack Luzon without the emperor's order?"

On the way back, Matteo Ricci asked Qu Rukui that he did not quite understand the rules governing the power of Chinese officials.

Qu Rukui frowned and said: "Of course not, Xiao Zhennan's Hou Mansion is Zhennan Hou Mansion, as the name suggests, it is for the Ming Dynasty to defend the southern frontier, not to expand the territory, if you encounter an enemy attack and encounter a robber and a robber, you can naturally take the initiative to send troops to exterminate it, but it is impossible to start a war against a country without an order from the imperial court." ”

Speaking of this, Qu Rukui glanced at Matteo Ricci and said in a low voice: "Mr. Li, the old man is not a person who knows nothing about the outside world, you always tell the old man that the Franciscans who invaded Luzon's hometown are not your compatriots?" ”

Matteo Ricci was shocked, and immediately shook his head: "No, no, no, too plain, no, I'm not a Franco, Francois has nothing to do with me, I'm just a missionary." ”

Qu Rukui nodded and said: "It's not the old man who intimidates you, Mr. Li, the Francois invaded the hometown of Luzon, and Luzon Island used to be the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and later it was a Daming domain, and after it was occupied by the Francos for no reason, there were also descendants of the Luzon royal family who came to the Ming Dynasty for help.

But at that time, Daming had no spare strength to help, so he could only accept those people to live in Daming, but this matter has been concerned by many people, and the old man's friends in the capital have also mentioned it more than once.

Not to mention that three years ago, after the Ming Dynasty restored Korea and helped Korea to restore the country, there was also a lot of controversy about the restoration of Luzon, but at that time, the Burmese invasion of the Ming Dynasty was more urgent, and the imperial court allocated funds to send Xiao Zhennan to quell the Burmese rebellion, and after the rebellion was quelled, Xiao Zhen Nanyong Town Burma.

The imperial court also has the idea of relying on Xiao Zhennan's ability to use troops to defend southern Xinjiang for the Ming Dynasty to deter vassal states, and of course there is also the idea of monitoring the Franco people, if you have nothing to do with the Franco people, then it's good, don't get involved in this matter, if this matter is mentioned in the court, the Ming Dynasty actually has a righteous name. ”

Matteo Ricci wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.

He is not a Spaniard, nor a Portuguese, he is Italian, but he is also a Catholic, a member of the Holy See, the Holy See has property and interests in the Philippines, and the Holy See can also get benefits from the Philippines every year, Xiao Ruxun also knows about this.

Seeing Matteo Ricci's expression, Qu Rukui asked tentatively: "Could it be that the Francois on Luzon Island offended Xiao Zhennan?" ”

Matteo Ricci looked at Qu Rukui, and could only nod in desperation.

"Taisu, the matter has come to this, I will not hide it from you, His Majesty the Emperor will not order the attack on Luzon is very important, but General Xiao's attitude is also very important, three years ago, when General Xiao was just in Burma, he sent ships to various small countries in the South Seas to bring the local Chinese to Burma to live, which can be regarded as returning to his homeland.

At that time, many Chinese followed General Xiao, but on Luzon, those Francos hid tens of thousands of Chinese, did not let General Xiao take them, and blocked General Xiao's ship, thus offending General Xiao.

At that time, they didn't care, but in the past three years, General Xiao's prestige has become louder and louder, and this time His Majesty the Emperor sent a ship to Luzon, which made the people on the island panic, for fear that General Xiao would attack Luzon on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.

Before I came, when I was in Burma, General Xiao had asked me to communicate with those people as an envoy and let them release the Chinese on Luzon so that they would not send troops, and if they did not release them, he would send troops to attack Luzon and rescue the Chinese on the island. ”

Qu Rukui frowned and said, "How could a military general in Xiao Zhennan say such a thing? Doesn't he know the imperial court...... Wait, Mr. Leigh, you just said, rescue? Is it? What's going on? Is there unrest again on Luzon? The old man remembered that last year, a Fujian official went to Luzon to pick up 3,000 nationals, what was going on? ”

Qu Rukui seemed to notice something, and was stunned by what Ricci said, looking at Qu Rukui's puzzled and questioning look, Matteo Ricci knew that there were some things that Qu Rukui must want to know, although he could hide it in exchange for Qu Rukui's support for him, but it was not in line with his beliefs and his conscience.

"Taisu, there are some things that I won't hide from you, since there was a big pirate in your country who attacked the Franco-Mechanics on Luzon Island twenty years ago, the Franco-Mechanics have been very jealous of the Chinese people living in Luzon, strictly restricting their weapons, and also restricting their range of activities and places of residence.

Two years ago, the reason why Fujian officials went to pick up 3,000 Chinese was because a few Chinese sailors were on board to bring ...... on Luzon Well, it can be regarded as the governor of a province in the Ming Dynasty, who killed the governor of Franco, on the island of Luzon, because he excessively oppressed the Chinese sailors and made them dissatisfied. ”

Qu Rukui was shocked.

"And that matter?"

Matteo Ricci nodded silently.

"So General Xiao knows that the situation of Chinese on Luzon Island is very bad, and he has always wanted to take the Chinese on Luzon Island, but Luzon Island is sparsely populated, and Chinese is a very important labor force, and the Francos are reluctant to let go, of course, some of them are not willing to go, so they offended General Xiao, and General Xiao has said more than once that he wants to attack Luzon, so he ......"

Matteo Ricci's words didn't continue, but Qu Rukui also understood about it.