Wang Xinyu, whose foreign geographical knowledge is very rubbish, did not know that this was Lingayan Bay, nor did he know that the later Philippine President Aquino was the descendant of the savages living here.

It's ridiculous to say, Aquino's ancestors, but more than 300 years ago, they were still a group of uncivilized people, not as good as Indonesians. The same Sulu, the Indonesians who had been enlightened by the Arabs, had already learned to use iron tools in this era, wore clothes made of linen, and knew how to build houses out of wood; At this time, the Filipinos were still wild men with leaves wrapped in their crotch, ** upper body, and stone tools. The Filipinos near Manila, despite their exposure to the civilization brought by Westerners, only the tribal chiefs had clothes and iron tools, and the average tribal inhabitant was still in a primitive society.

The sky was getting brighter, Wang Xinyu took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, at six o'clock in the morning, it was almost time to send someone to explore the channel.

Wang Xinyu called Wu Haodong: "You immediately send two small boats to enter from this estuary, one boat to explore the channel, and the other boat to follow for protection!" In case there is a canoe, if there are few people on the other side, you can fight it, and if there are many people on the other side, you can withdraw it immediately. ”

"No!"

The flotilla moored at the mouth of the river sent two small boats, and Wu Haodong personally led the team and entered from the delta of the estuary with two small boats.

There are two people on the boat, stretching into the bottom of the river with bamboo poles to measure the depth of the river; On the bow of the ship was a tiger squat cannon for self-defense; Ten oarsmen were paddling on board, and four flintlock muskezeers and two archers were guarding; In a small boat behind, Wu Haodong personally pressed the formation, with a light Franc machine cannon in the bow, two bowls on each side, four flintlock muskemen and two archers to protect, and ten oarsmen to paddle. The oarsmen on these two ships were also hand-to-hand combatants, and each was armed with a waist knife.

With the soldiers and weapons on Wu Haodong's two ships, even if the local primitive people came with two or three hundred people, they didn't need to worry. If nothing else, two small cannons fired shotguns, which was enough for those primitive people.

Two dinghies entered the estuary one after the other, and the depth of the channel was surveyed.

With a pen and paper in hand, Wu Haodong drew a sketch of the river and marked the route of the river on the map for large ships to sail.

On both sides of the estuary delta, there are overgrown fields. After entering the estuary for some distance, there are dense primeval forests on both sides, and towering trees reach the river. The water network of the delta is very complex, and some small rivers are even blocked by large trees that fall in the middle of the river.

During the exploration of the channel, everything went smoothly, and there were no encounters with local canoes, let alone attacks.

After a whole day of exploration, the boat finally found the main road of the river, and at the position of the main channel ten kilometers from the mouth of the sea, Wu Haodong found an open field.

This open area is a large meadow, estimated to be seven or eight square kilometers, and the terrain is very flat. It is surrounded by primeval forests and some hills that are not high.

"It's a nice port area! We can build a dock here! Wu Haodong pointed to the open grass in front of him and said.

After the depth of the water was explored, no deep water area was found near the river. But it doesn't matter, deep channels can be dug, docks can be built, and more importantly, there is tidal action to allow larger ships to enter the estuary. By building a wooden berth in the river and connecting it to the shore with a wooden bridge, it is possible to build a dock suitable for the mooring of large sea vessels.

The boat exits the river and returns to the flotilla.

After receiving the map handed over by Wu Haodong, Wang Xinyu found that the map marked the main river channel, the waterway, the terrain on both sides of the river in great detail, and even some navigable small rivers, and marked the depth of the channel.

"Well done! With this map, our large fleet will be able to enter the inner harbor. Wang Xinyu smiled and affirmed Wu Haodong's achievements.

However, this can only be a rough sketch, and it will take a long time to draw a specific map here. And it is not so easy to find out the situation of the fairway, how wide can the fairway be? Are there reefs underwater? These will take more time to probe.

Now it's dark, and you can only go ashore tomorrow. For the sake of safety, Wang Xinyu decided not to use a large boat to enter the depths of the estuary, and the fleet only entered the estuary five kilometers to anchor, and then used a small boat to send personnel and goods to the open land that Wu Haodong found.

This river was named Yanping River by Wang Xinyu, and the port inside was also named Yanping Port.

In fact, today's boat exploration operation was discovered by the local Sulu people.

Deep in the forest, in the camp of the Sulu Banshiran tribe, bonfires are lit, food is roasted on the fire, and Sulu women covered in leaves are dancing; Tribal chiefs and chieftains, large and small, sat on stones around a campfire, eating barbecue and drinking wine bought at high prices from the Spaniards.

Of these tribesmen, only the chieftain wore a linen garment, the fabric of which was originally made in the Ming Dynasty, and was sold to the Spaniards, who in turn sold it to the Sulus. But only chiefs and some of the larger tribal leaders could afford to wear clothes, use weapons made of steel, and drink wine brought from Manila. As for the ordinary tribal leaders, they are wearing animal skins, and they can't afford to enjoy the fabrics made by the Ming Dynasty. The things that the Spaniards sold them were very expensive, and they were all exchanged for gold.

On the island of Luzon, there is a large amount of gold and brass, and the tribal chiefs can enjoy these resources and use them to exchange the goods they want with the Spaniards, such as clothes, ironware, wine, clay pots and other items, and even the rich tribal chiefs will spend a lot of money to buy some beautiful porcelain, glassware and other luxury goods.

Ordinary tribesmen could not even afford to wear animal skins, so they could only wear leaves as trousers. The weapon in his hand is still a primitive stone tool.

At this moment, a ** Sulu native soldier with a feather on his head, a leaf on his waist, and a stone spear in his hand broke into the camp, ran to the chief, and knelt down on one knee to report: "Honorable king, there are a lot of ships of Ming people outside!" They went deep into the river to explore the way during the day, and they didn't know what those Ming people wanted to do. ”

The chief stood up: "Why don't you send someone to stop these Ming people?" ”

The Sulu native replied: "My lord, these Ming people are very well armed, almost the same as the weapons of the Spaniards!" We found that not only were they sharp with sharp spears and covered with sturdy iron sheets, but they, like the Spaniards, were also using an iron pipe that emitted fire! On their ship, there are those coarse jars that breathe fire! With just a few of us, we can't beat them at all! ”

The Sulu chieftains were also well aware of the power of those thin iron pipes and thick iron cans, which the Sulu Sons had fought with when the Spaniards had first arrived. But the thick tin cans spewed fire and made a loud noise, and a large number of Sulu warriors fell in pools of blood before they could get close. There is also the kind of iron pipe that looks thin, which can also make a loud noise, can emit fire, and emit a puff of white smoke. Before his warrior could understand what was going on, blood holes appeared in his body.

After thinking for a moment, Chief Sulu made a decision: "Then let's observe first and see what they want to do tomorrow!" ”

Early the next morning, before dawn, Wang Xinyu ordered a fire to be lit and cooked.

By eight o'clock in the morning, the tide was already very high.

"Sail!" With Wang Xinyu's order, the fleet pulled anchor and set sail, sailing from the mouth of the river into the depths of the Yanping River.

The flotilla entered the estuary and entered a position of about five kilometers, and Wang Xinyu ordered the flotilla to stop advancing. Then he personally took his Marine Battalion and some officers and men of the Naval Division, changed to a small boat, and arrived at the meadow that Wu Haodong found yesterday.

The officers of the landing force in advance were: Wu Haodong, commander of the naval division, Gong Xiaoda, commander of the musket team, Zhang Wei, commander of the long knife team, Wu Zhudan, chief of the short knife team, and Li Rui, captain of the pro-soldier team. A total of 380 officers and men of the Marine Battalion and 200 officers and men of the Marine Division were the first to land in small boats. Another naval commander, Lin Rui, served as the commander of the remaining fleet, just in case the Sulu people attacked his fleet.

Wu Haodong rowed back with 100 officers and men of the Marine Division, and another 100 officers and men of the Marine Division went ashore and, under the protection of the officers and men of the Marine Battalion, began to cut wood at the edge of the surrounding forest.

After about an hour, Wu Haodong sent 200 people and 100 sailor auxiliaries ashore.

Wang Xinyu saw Lin Furong and called him to him: "Lin Furong, you take your people and help those auxiliaries cut wood!" I need to build a camp soon! ”

"Yes! My lord! The grass people obey! ”

"You're not a grass dweller anymore! In the future, you will also be my official of the Ming Dynasty! Wang Xinyu corrected Lin Furong's statement.

Lin Furong was overjoyed in his heart, and even more emotional, he was a prisoner, and he could actually be an official! He immediately threw himself to the ground and thanked him again and again: "Thank you, sir!" Obedience! ”

The participation of the people has accelerated the pace of deforestation. Towering trees were cut down and dragged back to the grass by the people.

The soldiers, in cooperation with the people, began to dig a trench at the edge of the forest. The excavated earth was used to build the earthen city. Some sawed the cut wood, and the thinner wood was made into a wooden fence and erected on the earthen wall. The thick wood was sawn into planks and could be used to build houses and wooden fortifications.

Soon, the soldiers dug out a trench more than 20 zhang long, 1 zhang wide, and 5 feet deep, and an earthen city five feet high, one zhang wide, and more than 20 zhang long also began to be built.

Wooden arrow towers, towers, and barracks are also under construction.

Wu Haodong sent a group of people ashore again, and there were more and more people, and the speed of construction was getting faster and faster. The moats and earthen cities gradually extended, forming a certain scale. Large swaths of towering trees fell and became building materials.

In the depths of the primeval forest, the Sulu people with primitive weapons looked at these Ming soldiers who were building in horror.

"Oh no, my lord! These Ming people are cutting wood, they are building fortifications! A Sulu soldier panicked and reported to their chief.

The situation was urgent, and the chief of the Banshiran tribe immediately sent people to report everywhere, and urgently summoned the chiefs of the four tribes, large and small, to come to a meeting.

When it got dark, almost all the tribal chiefs in the vicinity arrived at the central camp of the Banshiran tribe.

The Great Chief beckoned the chiefs to sit down, and then he began to speak: "Ladies and gentlemen, now those Ming people have not only set foot on our land, but they are cutting wood on our land to build castles!" If we don't take urgent measures, sooner or later they will repair the castle here! We'll also build the castle to our gold mines! In view of this situation, how should we deal with these invading Ming people? ”

A chieftain of a small tribe spoke: "O king, we should organize all our Banshiran warriors and drive these invaders out!" ”

"That's right! Chase away the invaders! "Almost all the tribal chiefs have taken a stand.

"But these Ming people are well-armed, and the weapons they use are almost as good as the weapons of the Spaniards! How many warriors will we need to die to defeat them? The Great Chief said worriedly.

A chieftain of a medium tribe replied, "Great King! Those Spaniards were so well armed and so physically strong, and they didn't just dare to occupy a Manila territory? It's not like we haven't beaten the Spaniards! Why be afraid of these Ming people! ”