"Meet Your Majesty!" Zheng Zhilong clasped his hands together.
"Give me a seat." Zhao Han smiled kindly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
When Zheng Zhilong sat down, Zhao Han asked straight to the point: "How many warships does Spain have in Luzon?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "At most, there were six galleons and more than ten ordinary warships. In the past few years, the Netherlands has been intercepting and attacking Spanish ships, and both sides have suffered some losses. In the past few months, there have been news , Spain seems to have suffered a defeat in the Far East. The four galleons were stuck in the Americas and could not return, and it seems that they are planning to fight another battle in the Americas. As for the ordinary warships, there are less than ten left."
"What kind of ship is a galleon?" Zhao Han asked.
Zheng Zhilong said with emotion: "The giant ships with more than a thousand materials are all made of century-old hardwoods. Our navy will surround one of them with ten ships, and the artillery will bombard them for several hours. It is estimated that it will not be able to sink it."
Spain's Manila galleon has been trading across the Pacific Ocean all year round, so the hull is extremely strong.
This kind of large sailing ship, the smallest displacement is 500 tons, and the largest displacement can reach 1,200 tons.
Zhao Han asked again: "How about the northern part of Luzon?"
Zheng Zhilong replied: "They are all native savages."
The governor of the Netherlands really had a good plan. China and the Netherlands joined forces to attack Spain. China only got a piece of barren land, but the Netherlands was able to seize a prosperous port and, by the way, the entire Pacific waterway.
Zhao Han asked again: "How many troops will be needed to capture Manila?"
Zheng Zhilong thought carefully: "We need the navy to send out another 3,000 strong troops. Manila can't forcefully attack the city, and can only besiege the city with heavy troops, until the food in the city is cut off. Therefore, a large amount of food and grass must be prepared, at least half a year's worth of food and grass."
"How sure are you?" Zhao Han asked.
Zheng Zhilong said: "If there are 3,000 strong troops, even if they cannot sink the Spanish galleon, they will be able to transport troops to the north of Manila by surprise. At that time, the food inside and outside the city will be cut off. No matter how powerful the galleon is, it can only be ignored. The Red Devils have few soldiers. Even if they recruit civilians as soldiers, they can have at most two or three thousand. Fighting on land, as long as they don't attack the city, they can't win. There is no guarantee of defeating the Spanish warships. Landing and capturing Manila, as long as three months of food and grass are guaranteed, I am very sure of winning."
"Then fight, bring Holland to fight together," Zhao Han said, "You come to be the coach, take down Manila, and make you the Duke of Nanhai!"
Canonized Duke?
Zheng Zhilong's eyes lit up, and he knelt down and said, "I will die!"
Maritime merchants in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo Many ports are in their cities, and they are called by the chief envoy to discuss.
Zhao Han didn't have so much money and food to fight the sea battle, so he used merchants to do things!
Issue war bonds to Chinese maritime merchants with the commercial taxes of major ports in the Philippines as collateral. In addition, companies that purchase war bonds can have a certain percentage of goods each year, which can be taxed at Philippine ports, and this tax reduction can be transferred to others.
As for how many goods can be tax-free, it depends on the amount of bonds purchased by everyone, and the conversion is carried out according to the bond purchase ratio.
Fuzhou.
? Hundreds of representatives of Fujian maritime merchants spontaneously organized a meeting.
Lin Fusheng was the first to speak and said, "Gentlemen, Fujianese are the most Han Chinese doing business in Luzon. This time, the Red Tibetan ghosts killed innocent people indiscriminately, and everyone suffered heavy losses. Some clan members were killed, and some merchant ships were robbed. Now I don¡¯t dare to go to Luzon to run a boat, and I can¡¯t mess with the business elsewhere. Many seagoing ships are idle at the dock. Now His Majesty wants to seek justice for the dead Han people, and also wants to restore business for us Fujian businessmen. My Lin Fusheng, willing to buy 2,000 shi grain bonds!"
Buying 2,000 shi of grain bonds means transporting 2,000 shi of grain to the Philippine battlefield, and Zhao Han will return them with interest after five years.
The freight and risk are borne by the sea merchant!
? At first glance, it looks like a loss-making deal, and the sea merchants are definitely not willing. But what they value more is the Philippine market and the annual Philippine port tax relief.
Even if there is no tax cut, if Zhao Han can win Manila, the Fujian sea merchants will fall asleep and wake up laughing.
Because doing business in the Philippines, only Chinese ships have the heaviest tariffs, even twice that of merchant ships from other countries! In and outside Manila, the Chinese are also the most heavily taxed, and each Chinese has to pay an additional head tax.
? Fujian maritime merchants were hesitant. They were afraid of the risk of transporting grain, and they were afraid that they would not be able to capture the Philippines.
Finally, someone gritted his teeth and said: "It's all right, my Li family subscribes for a 500 shi bond! I don't know if I wait like thisPart of it is handed over to China.
Hawksbill City is the capital of a native country in Luzon. It was destroyed more than a hundred years ago, and there are especially many Chinese and indigenous people. The local Chinese were massacred twice, and the later Lanfang Company established the Lanfang Republic in that area.
Van Diemen believes that he has given enough sincerity. The geographical location of Hawksbill City is the second only existence in Luzon Island after Manila.
The Netherlands wants Manila, and China wants Hawksbill City. The two parties are fair cooperation.
Zhao Han didn't even bother to reply to the letter, let's talk about it after typing!
In order to send troops to the Philippines, Zhao Han specially formed the "Luzon Expeditionary Army". Farmers and soldiers were recruited in Fujian and Guangdong, and musket training was conducted in winter, plus a total of 3,500 medical soldiers.
In Li Banghua's view, it is really unwise to send troops this time.
However, Zhao Han did not want to let go of the opportunity.
It is only one of the reasons to avenge the tragic death of the Chinese and to demonstrate China's national prestige. What's more, the Spaniards committed a massacre and offended all the Chinese businessmen, and now they are sending troops with one mind.
? If you wait a few more years, Chinese maritime merchants will go to do business with Spain again, regardless of eating or selling. When the time comes to send troops, many maritime merchants will still be dissatisfied, thinking that the emperor Zhao Han is delaying their business.
Historically, Zheng Chenggong's general Lin Feng led an expedition to the Philippines. It was a Chinese maritime merchant who leaked information about Lin Feng's army and also helped the Spaniards with ideas.
At this time, Manila was in chaos, and the treasure-carrying galleon was blocked in the Americas, and there were no Han Chinese standing on the Spanish side. It was the time when the Spanish colonists were at their weakest!
The governor of the Netherlands, Van Diemen, can see it clearly, and Zhao Han certainly understands it very well. The two want to join forces to kill Spain.