Nearly 40 years have passed since the Spanish colonizers first massacred the Chinese in Luzon, and the story of blood and tears, which almost spans two generations, seems to have sunk into the abyss of memory at this time. Whether it is the local Spanish colonizers, or the elderly Chinese who survived from the sea of corpses and blood, or the new Chinese who have only moved in recent years, they are all accustomed to the false prosperity behind the peaceful coexistence now.

The waning Spanish Empire no longer had global military, political, and economic influence, and the first to show signs of weakness was Spain's Far Eastern colony, the Philippines. The addition of Huamei made Portugal glow like old trees and new shoots in India and Southeast Asia, and the strength of the Dutch East India Company was still retained, and even the English and Danish East India Companies had a place in India and Southeast Asia early, and only Spain, which was more and more disregarded for the affairs of the Far East colonies, was aging at an accelerated pace.

Of the more than 30,000 ethnic Chinese at the time of the first Manila massacre in history, only a few thousand remained. But in this new world, hurricanes from butterfly wings have carved out a different landscape on the fragmented island of Southeast Asia. No one could have imagined that in a few decades, the number of Chinese Americans in and around Manila would swell to more than 40,000 again, and the number of Chinese Americans throughout Luzon Island would reach an unprecedented number of nearly 70,000.

The trade in the Far East became smoother under the auspices of Huamei, and the more silver was shipped from the Americas to Luzon. The objective pattern that cannot be changed has made the Philippine colony a far eastern bloody mouth of the Spanish Empire, which is tasteless and a pity to abandon it.

The island of Luzon has been almost completely "kidnapped" by ethnic Chinese, who provide most of the local food, workshop labor, social services, and commodity trade. Taxes from overseas Chinese businessmen account for more than eighty percent of Manila's revenue. The large-scale influx of overseas Chinese businessmen has not only prospered the social and people's livelihood in various parts of the Philippines, but also brought the leading power of society into the hands of Chinese Americans. This situation has kept the governor of Manila City in the throat and helpless.

In the tangled mentality of redness and prevention. On more than one occasion, Governor Coquilla wanted to revert to decades of anti-Chinese policy, using guò to "shear sheep" to preserve Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. However, the close proximity of the Yan family, Temasek Liu Xiang, and the Chinese business leader Li Guozhu in Luzon were already openly in the maritime alliance, and the existence of Huamei, a power that openly acted as an umbrella for Chinese business trade in Southeast Asia, had to be restrained by Governor Coquela's impatient thoughts.

In order to prevent the inflated number of Chinese from challenging the dominance of the Spanish Philippine colonies, and considering the question of the ruling authority, Governor Coqueira racked his brains and thought of a special management policy.

In addition to appointing cronies to serve as colonial officials throughout the Philippines, Coqueira deliberately gave some of the privileges of nearby indigenous tribes to clash with ethnic Chinese. For example, Bagum, the indigenous leader of southern Luzon, was given the title of land administrator outside Manila by Governor Coqueira, and all land taxes of Chinese descent around Manila were entrusted to Bagum for collection. And privately allowed Bagum to get a part of it.

Of course, Bagum was too happy, and Bagum, who had long coveted the wealth of the Chinese, suddenly used chicken feathers as arrows, and all kinds of difficulties and extortion emerged in endlessly. The Spanish colonial officials deliberately turned a blind eye, and whenever some disputes arose, most of the fault would be attributed to the Chinese. Bagum, who was secretly connived, became even more unscrupulous, and the acts of expropriation and robbery became more and more frequent, which naturally caused great anger among the Chinese in Luzon against the natives.

In recent years, Coqueira has even delegated the management of some port waters to local indigenous chiefs, imposing additional taxes on the passage of ships by Chinese merchants. Not only does it collect a lot more money and goods from Chinese people every year than it did ten years ago, but it also cultivates a group of indigenous forces that obey the Spanish word, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Break down the relationship between indigenous and Chinese Americans, and use indigenous power to counterbalance the expansion of Chinese Americans in Luzon. It is even an opportunity to create a new round of "sheep shearing" through indigenous hands. This is the best Governor Coqueira can think of at the moment, and so far, it has worked out pretty well.

……

Monday, April 28, 1642. Northern Luzon. Lingayan.

On the shores of Lingayan Bay, more than 200 kilometres north of Manila, a new colonial town has flourished over the past decade. Today, there are more than 10,000 ethnic Chinese residents in and around the city, accounting for almost 90 percent of the town's population. There were fewer than 1,000 Spanish colonists there.

In addition to the fortress forts in the port, the buildings, streets, shops, and farmsteads inside and outside the city are almost all in the oriental style, and from the appearance alone, most of the time the maritime merchants who come and go will mistake it for a city under the rule of the Ming Empire, and it is almost difficult to imagine that this is a colony under the rule of the Spanish Governor of the Philippines. In a letter to the king, Philippine Governor Coqueira once dejectedly referred to Lingayen as "a colony of the Far Eastern Ming Empire built on the Spanish colony".

Refugees or businessmen from the Ming Dynasty have almost perfectly replicated the life of their homeland in the fertile land around Lingayen. The advanced agricultural civilization brought by the Chinese "occupied" the local area as expected, and the social network of self-preservation was formed, so that the surrounding Luzon natives who were lazy and lazy could only follow the Chinese immigrants to make a living, and they were not much bold to make waves.

Compared to the natives in other places who rely on Spain's support for the tiger, the indigenous leaders around Lingayen are a little more restrained, and it is basically difficult for them to do whatever they want like Bagum in Manila. On the one hand, there are a large number of local Chinese, and on the other hand, a considerable number of the Chinese in Lingayen are new immigrants who have been in Luzon for less than ten years, and they seem to be more hardened than the Chinese in Manila who have been submissive for decades.

Early in the morning, a Huamei OUCP 800 merchant ship appeared at the mouth of Lingayen Bay, and the Spanish officials in the port fortress recognized the identity of the owner of this beautiful merchant ship at a glance without raising a telescope to distinguish the flag on the ship.

According to the Far East Trade Agreement signed that year, the East American Union Group only needs to pay a one-time tax to the Governor's Office of Manila every year, and its merchant ships can enjoy the annual exemption from miscellaneous taxes in the ports of the Luzon colonies.

If it is other Luzon or Ming Chinese maritime merchants, it is estimated that it will not be so easy to dismiss. Even though the Manila Accords stipulated the "protection and preferential treatment of Chinese businessmen" more than ten years ago, the current Philippine Governor Coqueira only made superficial statements, and behind the scenes, he carried out all kinds of disguised detours, and the situation of Chinese businessmen gradually returned to the same situation as at the beginning.

Big embarrassment and blackmail may not be on the table, but small actions carried out by the hands of indigenous people are endless. It's tireless. In the past, there would always be a few Luzon natives who would happily row canoes on behalf of the Spaniards in the city to collect the "surtax", but this time, a wave of Luzon natives squatting in the shade of the harbor directly smacked their lips and stayed where they were, and then stared at the merchant ship with envy and hatred, and gradually grew larger, and then stopped at the dock.

……

The weather is just hot and unbearable, even the Chinese people who endure hardships and hard work at the wharf all day long are a little sluggish, but the port in front of them is a merchant ship with Huamei Oriental Union Group, which means that the livelihood of the next few days has been settled again, and suddenly more than a dozen men are calling friends under the scorching sun. A small Spanish official also had to wipe the sweat from his forehead to go about his routine.

"Huh. Mr. Almende, we meet again! ”

The planks were lowered, and the young European captain, dressed in a gorgeous short dress, walked ashore with an exaggerated smile and took off his hat very enthusiastically to the approaching Spanish officials.

"What a coincidence, it's actually Mr. Pedro, you're in the Far East again!"

The Spanish petty official, who was not in good spirits, was slightly stunned, and immediately recognized the merchant captain of the Huamei Oriental Union Group who had met several times in front of him.

"If I stayed on shore, I felt like I was going to die. You know, the sea is my paradise. I've taken my family to Pearl Island, so I don't have to rush back to my mainland every Christmas. ”

Pedro is an ordinary Portuguese teenager who immigrated to Huamei nineteen years ago, and because his mother is Hispanic, he also speaks Spanish fluently. Pedro spent his entire teenage years in Huamei. Now he is a merchant captain of the Oriental Transportation Company under the Oriental Union Group, and is mainly responsible for the trade routes from Pearl Island to Luzon.

"You are so happy, I heard that Pearl Island has the most beautiful English dancers in the Far East......" The Spanish petty official, who is also of mixed Portuguese and Spanish descent, looked at the other party with a little jealousy, dressed in high-end clothes. Secretly swallowed spit.

(Note: During the Age of Discovery, England has always been ridiculed by European countries as an exporter of "tertiary industry women", and almost all European cities have English comedy girls.) ）

"This year's harvest in Lingayen looks good. Hopefully, the price of cereals will be a little fairer. Pedro glanced at the figures of several Spanish soldiers on the port fortress, turned around and took out a handful of silver coins from his pocket, and secretly stuffed them into the hands of the "fellow", "This time I brought wine, cloth, medicine, tools, and fertilizer, and I also had to buy at least 300 rusts (about 600 tons) of grain." Probably needs more people to help, and expect more people to have a delicious rum tonight......"

"Of course, Mr. Pedro can choose any of the movers on the docks, and your merchant ship will not be hindered in any way! Do you need a few more referrals? The eyes of the small Spanish official lit up, and he didn't even look at the list of goods handed by the other party, but directly bent down and saluted with a hippie smile, and hinted that the transaction tax would definitely give the greatest preferential treatment in the future.

The simple bribery of the lower-level officials was completed with ease, and looking at the Spanish petty officials who were gradually moving away, a subtle sneer appeared in Pedro's eyes. Just as he turned and walked towards a warehouse near the dock, a young man of Chinese descent in ordinary clothes appeared on the deck of the ship.

"It's Second Brother Liu, Second Brother Liu is back!" On the side of the dock, a Chinese guy with a cart wiped his sweat and was about to go up to grab some carrying work, when he suddenly saw an acquaintance who he hadn't seen for many years appear on the side of the pass, and hurriedly shouted at the top of his voice.

The young Chinese stepped off the board with a smile and came together with a group of dock movers, knocking on the chests of acquaintances quite affectionately. Liu Erchun, a native of Luzon, was born and raised in Luzon, and his family used to work as a tailor in Manila, and later the family moved to Lingayan, one of the Chinese families who have lived in Lingayen for a long time.

"Second Brother Liu, have you been to sea for five years? I'll finally see someone again this time! Your father and mother said they miss you last time! Hey, this material is so good, Second Brother Liu went to sea and made a fortune! Several young movers smiled and gathered around Liu Erchun, looking enviously at each other's well-textured clothes, and the youngest of them even reached out to touch them.

"Everyone, help unload things, it's all big boxes, be careful not to break them. None of them are bargains. Liu Erchun took out a cigarette from the backpack behind him, and regardless of whether he knew all of them, he distributed them to the Chinese movers present one by one.

Although high-end Double Happiness Huamei cigarettes are not an uncommon commodity in Southeast Asia, the average Luzon Chinese mover does not have the capital to enjoy it. Seeing that Liu Erchun made a pack of high-end cigarettes per person, everyone really felt that the other party must have made a fortune in the past five years.

With the help of the manpower triangular pulley frame, heavy large boxes were lowered one by one from the merchant ships of Huamei Oriental Union, and for the local port trade of Huamei Oriental Union Group, the Spanish soldiers standing guard on the distant port fortress have long been commonplace, and they are too lazy to take a few looks.

Under Liu Erchun's instructions, several Chinese moving boys also deliberately unloaded a rectangular wooden box and put it on the board truck. Then followed Liu Erchun and walked towards a wharf warehouse rented by the Oriental Union Group.

……

"This is Mr. Wei, who is very prestigious in Lingjiayan!"

"This is Mr. Liang, our old friend in Manila, and a friend of Mr. Li Guozhu!"

In the warehouse, Pedro and a few Chinese businessmen in Luzon who were waiting here early at an unknown time gathered together. When several of the movers who carried the cargo boxes left, Pedro quickly introduced several of the older ones to Liu Erchun.

"This Second Lieutenant Liu, who previously served in the Gray Wolf Brigade of our Foreign Legion, is now returning to Luzon. I'm going to work with you in the future. Pedro pushed half a step away and let Liu Erchun out.

"Liu Erchun was born in Manila, and his parents are now in Lingayan. Listen to my father. My ancestors were originally in Manila, but they died tragically at the hands of the Spaniards, and we were left with a remnant. Liu Erchun looked around the inside of the warehouse and found that there were only a few middle-aged and elderly businessmen. There are also more than a dozen big men guarding the key corners and looking out.

"Back then, Li Da's shopkeeper secretly selected Luzon's children to travel west to Huamei to train soldiers and practice martial arts, and now the five-year period has passed. Eventually there will be talents who stand out. Such a heroic posterity should be a blessing for my Luzon Chinese! The middle-aged businessman surnamed Liang pinched his beard, and his eyes flashed with a smug look, it seemed that he had a share in funding the selection of Chinese children from Luzon to go to the Huamei Foreign Legion.

"Sure enough, he is young and promising, and he is my son of Lin Jiayan, not bad, not bad!" Seeing Liu Erchun's temperament completely different from that of ordinary Chinese young people, the old man surnamed Wei, who was obviously much older, had his eyes shining and nodded again and again.

"I won't say much about the vulgar etiquette, two gentlemen, please look here!"

In the face of all kinds of praise, Liu Erchun just smiled slightly, didn't talk nonsense, reached out and took an iron drill from the side, and pried open the rectangular wooden box at his feet.

A ray of bright sunlight penetrated through the cracks in the wooden wall of the warehouse, which just shone on the unsealed wooden box, and I saw that eight brand-new, swarthy 34A rear-loading flintlock pistols and matching bayonets were neatly stacked in the box.

"This is a Huamei Model 34A rear-loading flintlock rifle that can be reloaded in a few breaths. The range, accuracy, and ease of operation are far superior to the 21B front-loading flintlock rifle in the hands of the Spaniards in Luzon! This time, Mr. Pedro brought in a total of 400 pieces, as well as a large number of ammunition packs. ”

Liu Erchun scooped up one, loaded the bayonet very quickly, simulated the action of loading ammunition, and then aimed at the window. A few seconds later, he lowered the muzzle of the gun again, and held it in front of the old man surnamed Wei with both hands: "Mr. Wei, this is the ordnance that Huamei funded me to Luzon Huamin, although it is not as good as the rear-loading rifled rifles and repeating machine guns of the Huamei Foreign Legion, but it is also a rare weapon in the military formation in the East China and South Seas." ”

"Good...... Good...... At that time, I was in Manila, unarmed and slaughtered...... With such a sharp weapon, if I can turn the years back, I will be blind to death......" The old man surnamed Wei trembled and took the flintlock rifle, and two lines of hot tears flowed, as if he was thinking about the nightmarish memories of decades ago.

"Wei Wengxiu is going to be angry. Over the years, Mr. Li has contacted maritime merchants from all over the world and moved Chinese people to Luzon, and now there are more than 40,000 Chinese people in Manilan. Lin Jiayan Huamin is also powerful, Xiyi does not dare to bully, and our Huamin self-reliance and self-improvement should be a great success! The businessman surnamed Liang on the side hurriedly supported the old man's body, and was also very satisfied with the ordnance brought by Liu Erchun.

"The old man recognized the heart of Li Da as the shopkeeper for the people this time, and the old man also had a thin face in Lin Jiayan, so he inherited these things. The Wei family is up and down, forty-five old and young, and they will obey the orders of Li Da and Liang Bao! The old man surnamed Wei clasped his hands together, and the expression on his face became extremely solemn.

"Liu Erchun, you have been practicing in the US military in China for many years, and now that the ordnance has arrived, how should you stop?"

The businessman surnamed Liang saw that Lin Jiayan, the most powerful old man, finally agreed to cooperate. Suddenly the love is very good. The beckoner carried away the arms in the box and hid them, and quickly pulled Liu Erchun aside.

"Don't hide it from Mr. Liang, now the service period of the three hundred Luzon children of the Gray Wolf Brigade of the Huamei Foreign Legion has ended, and they are all resting on Pearl Island now. More than 300 people are employed in Temasek's mercenary team of the Huamei Blackwater Security Company, and they are also resting in Temasek, ready to disarm and hide their identities and return to Luzon. However, there are too many people in total, so they can only come in batches. ”

"There are more than a dozen people who returned to Luzon with me this time, all of whom served as non-commissioned officers at the class or platoon level of the Chinese Foreign Legion before retiring, and have rich experience. With them as the backbone. Together with six hundred veterans, they scattered all over the place, secretly training young and strong, and after half a year, thousands of elite soldiers will be available! The only thing that is lacking is the insufficient number of ordnance. The Spaniards were extremely vigilant, and every time a Chinese merchant ship or merchant goods entered the port, they would open the boxes and strictly inspect them, and the guns, ammunition and a few cannons that Mr. Pedro and Mr. Li Guozhu had secretly brought in over the years were far from enough. ”

Liu Erchun, who has changed his context over the years, doesn't care if the other party can fully understand what he means. Immediately dip the tea and make a gesture on the table.

Liu Xiang also has more than 2,000 21B flintlock rifles in stock, as well as a batch of grenades, explosives packets and original ammunition. I've got permission from Director Kim to ship it from there at any time. As for the price. Mr. Li Guozhu should be negotiating with Liu Xiang. Pedro's answer after a little thought immediately made the eyes of those present light up.

"Since there is no problem with weapons and ammunition, then we can speed up the contact with Chinese businessmen with status in various places, but they must be people that Mr. Liang and Mr. Wei can trust. If you are not prepared, you will be discovered by the Spaniards. That's bad. ”

Liu Erchun glanced at Pedro, who was ostensibly the captain of the merchant ship of the Oriental Union Group, but was actually an agent of the Huamei Asia Intelligence Department, and spread out a plan for an armed uprising in Luzon that had been written on the ship.

"Second Lieutenant, I think I should recuse myself. Your Excellency Director Kim has made it clear. In addition to providing information, Mr. Fan, the head of Far Eastern Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will not give any further help after your public action, so you must organize yourself. ”

Pedro shrugged, saying he was not qualified to question the command of the Luzon War of Independence. But for a young ensign who had served in the Foreign Legion, he actually returned to Luzon to preside over the construction of Luzon's armed forces, Pedro felt a little funny in his heart, but it was just hard to say.

"No problem, as long as Huamei is willing to give us a signal of the best time, and find a reason to block the shipping routes and ports after we successfully capture Manila, we can do the rest independently!"

Liu Erchun had long known the bottom line of cooperation between Luzon and Huamei, and felt that Huamei had done a lot for Luzon over the years, so he also understood the meaning conveyed by Pedro.

"Of course, you still have at least half a year to prepare, and during this period, our Blackwater Security Company will provide some instructors to help you. If that fails, we'll find a way to get the most important of you out. Although Pedro grew up in Huamei and had a lot of dealings with Chinese, he was still a little too straightforward in the way he spoke, and the words he said made the businessman surnamed Liang present frown slightly.

……

Pedro left because he still had a superficial job to do, which was to purchase local rice from the Chinese merchants in Guò Lingayen.

The land around Lingayan is fertile, and the agriculture run by ethnic Chinese is very prosperous, and the average price of rice is as low as US$7 per tonne, and you can get nearly double the profit if you pull it to the Daming coast. Since two years ago, nearly 4,000 tons of rice have been exported to Hong Kong or Pearl Island every year, making it one of the important rice import channels of OUCC in Southeast Asia.

Most of the profits from the rice trade between the Oriental Union Group and Luzon went to local Chinese businessmen, which was also the material basis for Li Guozhu and others to secretly smuggle and reserve Chinese military equipment.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and some people in Huamei do not want the Chinese in Luzon to develop some habits of over-dependence, or feel that it is a matter of course for them to receive help. No matter what the channel, most of the arms obtained by Chinese businessmen in Luzon need to pay a certain amount, which is the basic mode of Huamei secretly supporting Luzon independence while also trading with Li Guozhu, but the price will be much cheaper.

While Liu Erchun and others were actively preparing plans for an armed uprising, Li Guozhu, the biggest boss behind the Luzon independence movement, stayed in Temasek's Liu Xiang's new lair, bargaining over some things.

According to the plan secretly led by the Huamei Asia Intelligence Department, in order to prevent possible leaks, Huamei will cut off the secret contact with Luzon in advance from now on, and turn it to the cooperation between Liu Xiang's semi-pirate group, the most arrogant and domineering group in Southeast Asia, and Li Guozhu, and Liu Xiang will provide Luzon with the necessary maritime support and arms smuggling trade at that time.

Of course, judging from Liu Xiang's character, as long as you don't go too far, being able to knock out a sum of money on Li Guozhu, a wealthy businessman, is really the biggest pleasure in life. (To be continued......)