On the sixth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar and the tenth day of the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival is getting closer and closer, but there is no trace of the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival in the Beijing Imperial Palace, and Concubine Dong E's illness is getting worse and worse. Shunzhi didn't know that his favorite concubine Dong E had only more than ten days left to live. As long as Concubine Dong E is not dead, those princes and brothers, Belle Bezi, and princes and uncles in Beijing will still have to celebrate the festival.

Dasu decided to stay in Beijing for the festival and wait for the Mid-Autumn Festival before sending troops to Quanzhou.

Off the coast of Manila, a fleet of ships flying the flag of the Daming Navy Division sailed to the port of Manila.

"It seems that we really can't go back to the Mid-Autumn Festival." Wu Haodong sighed.

Li Rui looked around at the vast sea around him, and said casually: "I miss my relatives every festival, alas! Mom and Dad are waiting at home. ”

"Let's spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Manila! That's pretty good too! There are also many Ming people here. Lin Rui said.

Li Rui counterattacked: "The golden nest and the silver nest are not as good as your own kennel, where is there a home outside!" ”

"But can you get back to your kennel for the Mid-Autumn Festival?" Lin Rui sneered.

Wu Haodong said: "That's right, it's okay to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Manila." ”

"We don't necessarily spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Manila, we may spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in East Borneo, and there are a lot of Ming people there. Because of the sea ban of the Tartars, they could not go back. Wang Xinyu didn't know when he suddenly walked out of the cabin.

"Your Excellency!" Several officers turned back and saluted.

Wang Xinyu's gaze swept over everyone: "Our time is very urgent, we will sell the goods here as soon as possible, and go to East Borneo after buying things." We still have to rush to Dingguo Bay to meet Albert. After that, I had to go to Macau and send the goods back to Xiamen. General Ben decided to try to make another trip to Zhoushan before the year, and to transport another batch of goods to Manila, maybe even directly to Chennai. ”

"Whoa!"

On the Pitas Fort on the north shore of the mouth of Manila Bay, the Spaniards spotted a fleet of Chinese galleons flying the flag of the Ming Naval Division heading towards Manila Bay.

"Oh my God! It's a Ming countryman! Since the damned Dutch monopolized the eastern route, it has been many years since the Ming people came! A Spanish officer exclaimed.

Another officer, who looked like the commander of the battery, asked, "Who of us here knows Ming Mandarin?" ”

"Me!" A soldier stepped forward, "I have dealings with those Ming people in Manila, and I know a little bit of Ming dialect. ”

"It's Horonimo! Then you can take a small boat and go over! The Spanish officer said.

On the battery, the Spaniards fired their guns first to stop the fleet, and then a small boat slowly rowed towards the Ming fleet.

The boat landed on the Ming fleet, and Hao Luo Nimo got on Wang Xinyu's big ship, and asked in stiff Cantonese: "Ladies and gentlemen, what are you doing in Manila?" ”

Hearing that it was Cantonese again, Wang Xinyu sighed in his heart: In this era, in foreign countries, you can't know Portugal, Spanish, and Cantonese, it's simply difficult to move an inch! Although I know English, only the British use it in this era, and the British have not yet expanded everywhere.

At that time, Cantonese was also a common language in Nanyang, and many Portuguese, Spaniards and Dutch knew Cantonese, but they did not necessarily understand Jianghuai, the Chinese language of the Ming Dynasty, let alone Beijing dialect, which was respected by the Qing court.

Lin Rui acted as an interpreter: "We are a merchant from Daming, and our ship is full of goods from Daming. ”

"Oh my God! Cargo ship! Hao Luo Nimo's eyes lit up, you know, every cargo ship from the Ming Kingdom is a treasure ship! In his memory, when he first came to Manila, there seemed to be a big businessman named Zheng Zhilong of the Ming Kingdom, who often went to Manila. However, the last time Daming's cargo fleet came was more than ten years ago, and then the Ming merchant named Zheng Zhilong was never heard from again, and since then he has monopolized the transportation task from the east to the west, and has become a Dutchman.

Damn the Dutch, who also claimed to be a coachman at sea, declared that all goods from the Ming Kingdom to Europe were only allowed to be transported by them!

Even the Portuguese, who were originally responsible for transporting goods from the East back to Europe, were bullied by the Dutch to the point that they had no temper at all.

"If it weren't for those damn Dutch, Java and Sumatra would still be ours now!" A Spanish soldier was angry that the Dutch had robbed them of their colony.

Hao Luo Nimo said: "Since it is a cargo ship of the Ming Kingdom, it is our friend, bring them into the inner harbor!" ”

Although the Ming fleet had cannons, but the merchant ships of that year had cannons, the Spaniards judged that it was a merchant ship based on the number of artillery of the Ming warships and the structure of the fir planks, because the number of cannons of the warships of the same tonnage was at least five times more, and the planks were also oak.

Led by the Spaniards' boats, the flotilla slowly entered Manila Bay.

Wang Xinyu looked at both sides and saw that the port of Manila was very lively, in addition to the Spanish warships and cargo ships flying the Spanish flag, there were also cargo ships flying the Portuguese flag, cargo ships flying the French flag, and even cargo ships of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Hao Luo Nimo introduced to Wang Xinyu: "We are the largest port in the East, and many countries come to us to trade. In the past, ships from your Ming Kingdom often came, and we also transported goods directly from your country. But the damned Dutch are getting stronger and stronger, they have a monopoly on everything, and now we have no fleet of your Ming Kingdom here for a long time, only some Ming merchants, and the little goods brought in here and there, are not enough to supply at all. ”

However, there was not a single English ship in the harbor, because the British had been robbing the Spanish ships all day long, and the Spaniards had long hated the British. The British pirates operating nearby did not dare to come to Manila to trade, and they preferred to run back to Chennai, or even directly transport the looted goods back to Europe.

Manila Bay is a large area with three batteries outside, and some waters at the mouth of the bay are sealed with stones and piles, so that ships entering Manila can only pass within range of the batteries. Because of this, the Dutch, although much stronger than the Spaniards, were simply unable to storm Manila.

"We and the Dutch are also enemies, you and the Dutch are enemies, enemies of enemies, aren't they friends? So we're friends! Wang Xinyu said.

Who knew that Hao Luo Nimo said: "The enemy of the enemy is not necessarily the friend!" The damned British are our enemies, but they and the Dutch are enemies! ”

"You and the British are enemies, the British and the Dutch are enemies, and the Dutch are enemies of you, and your relationship is a bit messy!" Wang Xinyu said.

Hao Luo Nimo nodded and replied, "Yes! They are all enemies of our Spain! But these two enemies are also killing each other! The harder they fight, the better it will be for us Spaniards! ”

Wang Xinyu was secretly thinking in his heart: Now the Dutch are our enemies, but in the future, you Spaniards will also be our enemies! As for the British, they will not be enemies for a short time, but what about the future? Once the maritime power of the Ming Dynasty develops to a certain point, sooner or later it will face the threat of the British, and at that time, I am afraid that it will only have to turn against the British. At present, however, the British are the most reliable friends of these European countries.

It took about an hour to get to the pier.

When the fleet arrived at the wharf, a Spanish wharf officer who could speak Cantonese came up, and when he saw Wang Xinyu wearing a Ming red official uniform and a black gauze hat, he thought he was a high-ranking official.

At this time, Wang Xinyu was wearing the usual official uniform of a military general, which was the same as the style of a civil official, but the pattern of the complement was different.

"Cargo ship! Daming cargo ship! "Merchants from various countries in the port have long been a sensation.

A translator dressed in Hanfu and dressed as a Han man came up with a few foreign sailors and asked Wang Xinyu: "What goods did you bring?" As long as it's tea, silk and ceramics, we'll buy as much as you have! ”

At this time, another group of foreigners also appeared, and an interpreter was sent to ask, "Can you sell us your goods?" ”

More and more merchants crowded up and were driven away by the Spanish soldiers.

"Get out of the way! Don't stand in the way of the Ming officials! Several Spanish soldiers drove the merchants.

A Spanish officer said: "Honorable Ming officials, welcome to Manila with these priceless treasures!" I wonder how happy the Governor would be if he found out about this! ”

"I'd love to see your Governor, too!" Wang Xinyu said after rewarding the Spanish officer with ten taels of silver.

The Spanish officer looked at the heavy silver in his hand and smiled so hard that his mouth could not close his mouth: "We will report to the Governor immediately!" ”

Hao Luo Nimo said: "Respected General Mingguo, you can open an auction!" But to auction in Manila, you have to get the consent of our governor! ”

Wang Xinyu asked: "But it takes time to hold an auction, is it safe for us to put these goods at the dock?" Will it be robbed by robbers? ”

"Don't worry! We, the Spanish army, will guarantee the absolute safety of every businessman who comes to Manila! ”

"But I don't just want to sell goods, I also want to buy some goods."

"What cargo? Hope I can help you guys. ”

"Telescopes, pocket watches, machine tools, glass chemistry experiment equipment, and by the way, vernier calipers!" Wang Xinyu suddenly thought of vernier calipers. Don't underestimate the small vernier caliper, it's a vital item! Without vernier calipers, your new weapons drawn on the drawings can only be on the drawings forever! With vernier calipers, you can sort your craftsmen, each craftsman produces one accessory, and then assembles all the accessories to get a great new weapon!

However, in the era before the birth of the steam engine, those new weapons could only be produced in small batches, which were expensive and extremely slow, and were only enough to provide special forces with dozens of people. Small-scale special forces played little role in Armageddon, but these new weapons were still useful in robbing Zhang Huangyan's wife and children, assassinating Zhu Guozhi, and creating chaos in Jiangnan.

Hao Luo Nimo said: "Telescopes, we can sell them to you here!" The rest of the stuff will only be asked after you meet our Governor. ”

"What's the price of a telescope?"

"You provide us with tea, silk and ceramics, and we can consider providing you with telescopes at a discounted price!" Hao Luo Nimo smiled very happily.

The Spaniards arranged the best hotel for these "merchants" from the Ming Kingdom, and after Wang Xinyu and his party stayed in the hotel, he asked Li Rui to take out a bag of tea and hand it to Hao Luonimo.

"Tea! Oh, my God! If this is sold in Europe, it will be gold! Hao Ronimo's eyes lit up.

Manila came a group of Ming merchant ships loaded with goods, which was a major event, and a Spanish officer had already gone to report to the governor.

"It's been a long time since the merchant ships of the Ming people have come! And since the Moon Harbor was occupied by the Tatars from the north, our Spanish fleet has not been able to trade there! The Governor of Manila was amazed to hear the officer's report.

Before Zheng Zhilong's surrender to the Qing Dynasty, Zhangzhou Moon Port, which is now Haicheng Port, was the favorite place for Spanish merchant ships. At that time, Zheng Zhilong had just defeated the Dutch, there was Zheng Zhilong's fleet in the Fujian sea area to protect, and the Portuguese fleet came and went, the Dutch did not dare to come in for a while, and the Spaniards often had ships to go to the Moon Port, although they had to pay a huge fee to Zheng Zhilong, but they could make several times the profit from the Moon Port to Manila. Daming's goods, after arriving in Manila, were shipped to all parts of the world. But now, Manila has not had a Ming shipment for a long time.