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Text Chapter 56 Declaration of War (Part 1)

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    On the right side of the ship's side is the long coastline of the Philippines, and on the left is the endless turquoise South China Sea.

    General Mario stood at the bow of the ship, staring at the empty sea level in front of him. Behind his flagship, which was leading the way, were Spanish galleons one after another. They formed a long snake, closely following the friends in front.  The ship headed north.

    ¡°We will become the laughing stock of the whole of Europe.¡± After hearing the footsteps from behind, Mario said without looking back. He knew that this must be Captain Leonardo walking behind him.

    "Shameless Chinese." The captain's rough voice reached his ears, and the anger in it was obvious.

    Spain is the empire on which the sun never sets in this era. Her colonies are spread all over the world. Good things from around the world, including gold and silver from the Americas, spices from Southeast Asia, and Chinese porcelain and silk, are continuously sent back to the mainland through her fleet.  .  But hundreds of years have passed since the Kingdom of Spain¡¯s heyday. It has been constantly challenged by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Unable to compete with many challengers, the Kingdom of Spain has been forced to remain on the defensive on all fronts. Now Spanish soldiers can no longer continue to fight for the Kingdom.  The ambition to expand the territory is just a hope to preserve the existing land.

    The trade between Spain and China has lasted for hundreds of years. The initial model was to purchase mercury from China, transport the mercury to South America and exchange it for a large amount of silver, then return it to China and purchase more mercury. The difference was enough to make Spain  Large quantities of porcelain and other luxury goods were purchased - these were extremely popular goods in Europe.  But forty years ago, because the silver mines in South America began to dry up, this incredibly profitable trade route was seriously threatened; fortunately, Japan successively discovered silver mountains, the scale of which has never been seen on earth.  The Spanish changed the original bilateral trade model with China and added Japan to it, maintaining the survival of the Maritime Silk Road.

    Later, they encountered aggressive challenges from the Dutch, but because the profits were large enough, coupled with Spain's maritime strength, the Spanish Governor's Palace in Manila and the Dutch Batavia Parliament were able to maintain peace.  However, as the Qing army entered the customs, the war throughout China caused Spain to lose most of its supply of goods.  At first, the Spaniards hoped that the Ming army would win or that the Qing army would quickly unify China so that trade could continue. However, the Manchu and Qing sea bans that began more than ten years ago dealt the heaviest blow to sea trade.

    In this dark age, the appearance of Deng Ming was like lightning piercing the long night to the Spaniards.  The young Duke Huangming's challenge to the Manchu Sea Ban made the Governor-General of Manila believe that he was simply a messenger sent by God.  At that time, Manila was still laughing at the short-sightedness of the Dutch, because Batavia actually placed its treasure on the side of the Qing court, hoping to provide the Qing court with weapons and naval support in exchange for the Qing court opening its maritime trade market to the Dutch.

    At that time, the Governor-General of Manila stated in a report to the local government that investment should be made in Deng Ming, the Duke of Huangming, and this would definitely receive an enthusiastic response from the other party, because the other party would undoubtedly need the profits from sea trade to help him win the civil war.  And before this cruel Chinese civil war produces a winner, the Ming army may maintain a friendly or even flattering attitude toward Spain, and may also adopt a tacit attitude toward the Spaniards' expulsion of Chinese forces in the Philippines.

    However, the Duke was obviously unwilling to cooperate with the predictions of the Governor-General of Manila. He did not show a strong interest in regaining his motherland's long coastline. Instead, he actively excluded the Spanish and Dutch from trade with Japan.  After losing Japan's silver mountain, the resources Spain could use to trade with China became very limited. In order to obtain Chinese luxury goods, Spain had to take out American gold that they had never been willing to take out before.

    Although the Duke looks less and less like an angel, Manila can comfort itself with the fact that the Duke's attitude towards sea trade has been unprecedentedly positive. The quantity of goods he has brought out is also unprecedentedly large, and there are reasonable tariffs, and he has tried his best to reduce indiscriminate tariffs.  Necessary transaction obstacles - until this time, the Governor's Palace in Manila could still convince the locals that the Duke was good-will and friendly to Spain.

    "We have all been deceived by this devil." Mario sighed again.

    Over the past eight years, the Duke had sent envoys three times to Manila and twice to Batavia to assure the Spanish Governor and the Dutch Parliament that he had absolutely no intention of changing the division of power in Southeast Asia.  To prove his sincerity, the Duke also did not hesitate to declare war on Britain during the conflict between England and the Netherlands a few years ago - a gesture, but a reassuring one.

    ¡°I have always believed that the Chinese have bad intentions.¡± Captain Leonardo said gruffly.

    In recent years, China has continuously sent reclamation missions to the Philippines, and unlike the previous Chinese, these people came with weapons. After landing, they immediately started to reclaim the land and dealt with those natives who dared to wander outside their estates.  Adopt tough policies without hesitation.

    ? ?Although the Spaniards adopted the same attitude towards the natives, they still felt extremely uneasy after seeing the always docile Chinese adopting a colonial posture similar to theirs.  This also made the Spanish in Manila wary of the Duke's intentions.  There have long been loud calls for the use of force to expel the Chinese from the Spanish sphere of influence. For example, Captain Leonardo is one of them.

    Since the Spanish came to the Philippines, they have been adopting hostile and repressive policies towards the Chinese because the Spanish colonists believed that the local indigenous people lacked commercial and agricultural talents, as well as the ability to organize and resist, and did not pose a threat to Spanish rule¡ª¡ª  In Deng Ming's previous life, after the rise of independence movements in various colonies, Chinese were also leaders and organizers of the Philippine independence movement, and were the number one enemy of the Spaniards.  Manila's usual practice is to confiscate the property of the Chinese, instigate the natives to rob the Chinese, and then abduct the Chinese to Spanish concentration camps for agricultural production.

    But this policy became unsustainable after the armed reclamation organized by Duke Deng, because there were too few Spanish people, and the natives were no match for the organized Chinese armed farmers.  Moreover, the Duke carefully avoided areas sensitive to the Spanish, which made it difficult for Manila to make up its mind and was unwilling to risk trade severance and sacrifice a large number of Spanish lives to fight a long-term war.  In particular, these Chinese colonization groups also greatly improved the agricultural conditions of the Philippines. They sold large amounts of grain to Manila, making the Philippines self-sufficient for the first time.  The combination of these factors has prevented Manila's militant faction from becoming a mainstream voice.

    In addition to China¡¯s local luxury goods and the food provided by the Chinese colonization group, the increasing rubber trade in the past three years has also made Manila feel more at ease.  This gum is a specialty of South America, and the Duke's demand for this crop is so hungry that it almost doubles every six months.  Although Manila and the governors of South America were puzzled and could not figure out what the use of this gum was, since the Chinese needed it in large quantities and could alleviate the loss of South American gold to a great extent, the Spaniards would not  Refuse to sell.  Just a year ago, Manila was trying to plant rubber tree species in several places, hoping to solve the export problem once and for all when the trees mature in more than ten years.

    After learning that rubber trees had begun to be successfully transplanted in the Philippines, the Duke sent a special envoy for the third time.  When the Duke's envoy arrived in Manila three months ago, he again loudly announced his determination to maintain peace with the Kingdom of Spain, repeating the argument that "the Philippines has been the sacred territory of the Spanish since ancient times."  Relying on this friendly argument and the pledge of eternal peace written by the Duke himself, the envoy purchased ten more cargoes of gum at a low price - almost the same amount as the entire previous year.  When it was discovered that the Chinese were so enthusiastic about this kind of goods, South America also vigorously stepped up the exploitation of this kind of gum. Otherwise, it would really not be able to meet China's increasing demand for gum.

    We will definitely become the laughing stock.  "Mario sighed again. Leonardo's complaint contained accusations against the Governor's Palace, which made Mario smile bitterly.

    The result of Spain selling a large amount of rubber at a low price was an ultimatum from the Duke.  At the same time as this ultimatum, a letter was sent from the Duke to the Spanish King and the Parliament. In the letter, the Duke stated that although he tried his best to lobby, the Chinese Parliament had made up his mind, so although the friendship between the Duke and the Spaniards had not changed at all.  , but still had to painfully choose the motherland between friends and the motherland. He tearfully took up the post of commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force and personally brought the fleet and army to wait for Manila's answer to the ultimatum of the Imperial Congress.

    After the news spread back to Europe, Mario knew that the Governor of Manila would be fiercely criticized and put under great pressure in Madrid: knowing that the other party was just a duke and knowing that the other party had an imperial parliament, why not sign directly with the Chinese parliament?  treaty, and pin your hopes entirely on a personal relationship with a duke?  Any normal person would find this approach extremely stupid. Are the Spanish in Manila all idiots who think that the Duke can resist the orders of the Royal or Parliament?

    The problem is not in Europe, but in extremely authoritarian Asia.  And this Duke is by no means a vassal of the emperor or a tool of the Parliament. He should clearly be the master of the Parliament!  This was not a painful choice on the part of the Duke or a stupidity in Manila, but a wanton treachery.

    But none of this can be explained clearly to people as far away as Spain.

    After rejecting the ultimatum from the Chinese Parliament, the Governor of Manila immediately ordered the fleet to set off. He must annihilate the Chinese expeditionary fleet as soon as possible, capture the Duke and take him back to Manila, forcing him to issue an order to the Chinese Parliament to declare an armistice.

    If this war fails, Manila will bear more of the blame, accusing them of foolishly sending the fleet out of the heavily fortified Manila Fortress.Decisive battle with the Chinese.  But Mario knew very well that this was a last resort. They could not even allow the Chinese fleet to disperse and land, because the Chinese army would be supported by tens of thousands of armed farmers from the colonization regiment. Not only did the Chinese have an absolute advantage over the Spaniards in terms of numbers, but they also  Have enough food.  It is impossible to win in a long-term confrontation without food.  As for letting the natives fight the Chinese Expeditionary Force, that is even more idiotic. China's armed peasants can drive the natives out of their homes in droves within a few years. Can we still expect those natives to help the Spaniards defeat China's regular army?

    "The Chinese fleet is much weaker than ours. We must defeat and annihilate them at sea." Mario reiterated: "The devil's safety must be guaranteed. We also need him to order a ceasefire and continue to supply us with food and supplies."  Maintain trade.¡±
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