William's strategy of "fighting cattle across the mountains" achieved immediate results. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In this era when the power of artillery could not shake the fortified castle, the panic caused by the projectile of explosive bombs into the city was far greater than the effect of the siege - a dozen 52-pound explosive bombs worth ten taels of silver were thrown into the city in exchange for a compromise from the governor's palace and 10,000 taels of military expenses.

Governor Salamanca finally chose to compromise under pressure from the colonial elite and wealthy merchants in the city, and drafted an agreement at the suggestion of Mayor Isabella, which was sent out of the city along with 10,000 taels of silver from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

As the proposer of the draft agreement, Mayor Isabella became the plenipotentiary representative of the Governor's Office, responsible for negotiating a ceasefire agreement with the other side, and Li Yifan, the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, also accompanied him.

Before boarding the Canton, Isabella took a closer look at these beautiful galleons and came to the conclusion that these new Galen were more agile than the British's Galen, and that their thick hulls were no less robust than the improved Spanish galleons - although the Armada abandoned the old Clark after the defeat of the Royal Navy and modified it according to the characteristics of the Galen, which is now the Spanish galleon, maneuverability and agility were still inherent shortcomings. No wonder the other party claimed to have defeated Zheng Yiguan in the Far East and had to formulate new rules of the game, all of which were confident. Although the news of Zheng Yiguan's defeat has not yet reached Manila, it is pointless to tell this lie, and it will soon be exposed, and it should all be true. With such a Galen ship and the enemy's terrible naval guns, even if the fleet of the New World came to Manila, it might not be able to defeat this fleet.

With this realization in mind, Isabella gave up her unrealistic illusions after boarding the ship, and honestly negotiated the corresponding terms with the commander of the other fleet.

“…… Abandon the stronghold of the chicken coop and the freshwater, and withdraw all the soldiers...... Porcelain, tea and ......silk worth at least three hundred thousand pesos are provided annually," William scratched his head as he read the other party's draft agreement. Before leaving, the general gave himself the task of "persuading" Batavia with the fleet and artillery, and by the way, also putting pressure on Manila to voluntarily withdraw the soldiers from the chicken coop and fresh water, so as not to prevent the Qiongzhou battalion labor division from going on an expedition. But the draft in front of him was beyond the scope of his own authorization, and William could not make the decision.

He spread out the agreement and said to Isabella, "Mr. Mayor, right? I am the commander of the fleet, the commercial part is not my responsibility, I can only bring your agreement back and let my boss decide. But until then, you must give up the stronghold of the Commander, otherwise next time it will not only be a blockade of the port, but our army will also come to deal with you! ”

Isabella thought for a moment and asked, "Since Your Excellency can't call the shots, and it takes too long to go back and forth, can Manila send a negotiation team to your territory for business negotiations?" ”

"That's fine." William agreed to his request.

Seeing that the agreement negotiation could not be carried out, Li Yifan on the side stood up at the right time and said respectfully: "Your Excellency the commander, I am the president of the Luzon Chinese Chamber of Commerce, named Li Yifan. May I ask if your Shangguan is a general of the Ming Dynasty? Is it Han Chinese? ”

William nodded: "He is the general of the Ming Kingdom, and his official position is the general of Qiongzhou, who commands the entire island, and the entire Far Eastern Sea is his sphere of influence, and he is also a yellow-skinned and black-eyed Han like you." ”

Li Yifan was excited, as a Ming businessman who was alone overseas, although he was in Luzon, he was always looking forward to the expansion of the influence of the Celestial Empire to Luzon and support them Chinese. Although the Chinese in Luzon were well-versed in business and wealthy, their social status and wealth did not match, and they were always worried about being sheared. Now there is a Ming Dynasty general who has replaced Zheng Yiguan and can reach far away to Manila, with a powerful fleet that even the Spanish and Dutch cannot match, which is really a blessing for overseas Chinese.

He said excitedly: "The Chinese merchants in Luzon are all the people of the Ming Dynasty, and they are of the same Han blood as your superiors. If you send a merchant ship to Manila, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce will definitely support it, and at the same time, it is also willing to go to Qiongzhou to do business, and make a modest contribution to promoting the prosperity of Qiongzhou. ”

Although William is British, Britain has always had a tradition of protecting colonial subjects, and can understand Li Yifan's mentality, and according to his understanding of Xia Nan, he will definitely agree to such a request, so he nodded: "Don't worry, I will convey your words." ”

Isabella watched from the sidelines, sneering in her heart. Sure enough, it was a white-eyed wolf who couldn't be raised, earning Manila pesos, but he was worried about Mingguo in his heart. In view of his rhetoric, there was a plan to transfer property, and it seemed necessary to inform the Governor that some strong measures should be taken to avoid the losses of the possible northward migration of the Chinese, and that it would be better to force them to remain in Manila than to let the great fortune go to the Ming Kingdom. Li Yifan didn't know that the enthusiasm he showed for the Ming army would bring a bloody storm to himself and the Chinese in the entire Philippines.

After reaching a verbal agreement with Manila and agreeing that the Spanish colonial government would send people to Qiongzhou for negotiations, William ordered the fleet to lift the blockade of the port, and after the Governor's Palace had provided the necessary supplies, he withdrew from Manila and headed for the next destination, Batavia.

Putmans witnessed the blockade of the port, the shelling of Manila, and the compromise of the colonial government, and although he despised the incompetence of the Spanish colonial government, he could not hide his fears about the East India Company. Although the East India Company maintained a fleet of a certain size in the South Seas, stronger than the barely defended Manila, it did not seem to be able to withstand this fleet capable of destroying Zheng Yiguan in 24 hours.

With such fears, Putmans remained silent on the journey from Manila to Batavia, and did not care to mock the British's seafaring skills. A few days later, the fleet bypassed the Philippines, crossed the South China Sea and reached the sea off Batavia, where the island of Java was in sight.

Batavia is today's Jakarta. Also known as Coconut City, it is the largest city and capital of Indonesia, located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, the largest city in Southeast Asia, and a world-famous seaport.