Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

In fact, Zheng He has never considered stationing on this land now, so it is best to negotiate if they can, and fight only if they cannot reach an agreement.

The main mission of coming to Luzon this time, in addition to promoting the majesty of the Ming Empire, is to obtain information on all the resources on this land. As for colonization, it is purely a matter of taking one step at a time.

After all, the Ming Dynasty has just finished its conquest of Annan Kingdom. Annan Kingdom is such a big piece of fat meat. The best part has just been cut off and eaten in the mouth. It has not even had time to chew and swallow it into the stomach. How can there be an extra mouth? Come to eat Luzon? Therefore, Zheng He did not really want to start a conflict at this time. Even if he intervened in the Luzon Kingdom, he only needed to obtain the interests along the coast, and in the inland direction, he had to plan for it slowly.

As Zheng He issued the order, the entire fleet began to slowly adjust its course.

Zheng He's ocean-going fleet had treasure ships with 2,000 tons of materials as its main ships (approximately equivalent to modern 1,000-ton frigates). In addition, there were medium-sized warships with 1,500 materials and eight-scull ships and other small ships. Although they were different from those of later generations, The aircraft carrier battle group cannot be compared, but in this era, it is a completely invincible fleet.

Of course, just as more than half of the personnel in the army are engaged in logistics supplies, the same is true for the navy. In addition to battleships, there are also various auxiliary ships, such as those used to transport the food and logistics supplies needed by the fleet. Food ships for goods, water ships specially used to store and transport fresh water, horse ships similar to speedboats for reconnaissance, and boats used to transport landing soldiers.

As the fleet turned towards Manila Bay, the fleet, which shocked the local Han immigrants, gradually approached from the sea level and revealed its true appearance. The first thing observed was the garrison troops on the fortresses on both sides of the bay.

The treasure ship, as the largest wooden sailing ship in the world at this time, looks from top to bottom. Above, the nine masts on the ship can carry twelve sails, and the anchor weight is several thousand kilograms. The overall design of the sails adopts a longitudinal sail layout and hard sails. It has a structure with stays on the sail surface, which act as reinforcements; in the middle, the architectural form of the deck is similar to that of a traditional Chinese house ship. There is a deckhouse in the middle of the main deck to form a midship building, with bulwarks and stern sections. There is a three-story poop, with a two-story transparent forecastle at the bow. There is a majestic tiger head relief on the front of the bow. There are solemn flying dragon reliefs or paintings on the front of both sides. There are phoenix paintings on the rear. Above the stern plate There is a roc bird spreading its wings and about to fly; below, the internal hull structure under the deck is equipped with multiple transverse bulkheads, dividing the entire cabin into multiple small cabins according to function, with as many as 28 cabins, and as few as 28 cabins. There are also twenty-three cabins, which not only strengthens the structure and sub-cabinage watertightness and anti-sinking, but also helps divide the cabins into classified cargo to meet the requirements of different functions.

Of course, it is impossible for such a large fleet to pass through the fjord at once. This time the advance approaching squadron will have five treasure ships with 2,000 materials and four treasure ships with 1,500 materials as the main force, as well as a corresponding The transport fleet composed of nine ships was the auxiliary fleet, plus three eight-oar ships and seven horse ships, a total of twenty-eight warships formed this advance fleet.

Among them, nine treasure ships are very stable because they have more than 1,500 pieces of material and deep drafts. They are stable launching bases at sea. They can carry sixteen artillery pieces on one side. At this time, the row of black muzzles, The fortresses on both sides were full of oppression.

However, what Zheng He saw as a "small fleet" was extremely dangerous, even fatal, to the Han people in Manila.

Although the ordinary Han immigrants on the plains of Manila Port did not have the advantage of watching from a high position like Xu Chailao, the message from the fortress was still effective. They also immediately received the news that a powerful fleet in the distance had crossed the safe zone. , arrived at the fortress of Manila Bay, approaching the port. Although they did not get too detailed information due to limitations in communication methods, the Han people in Manila had already determined that this was an extremely powerful enemy.

Under relatively orderly command, during this period, the Han Chinese in Manila have been huddled within the not-so-high walls of Manila Port and dare not leave the city. Even the ships that usually travel to and from Luzon Island have been ordered to dock. As they were about to leave the port, the few warships and most of the armed merchant ships of each major family also began to leave the port to form a formation. However, since they had hardly ever fought in a unified manner, the formation seemed very chaotic.

As the advance fleet approached further, this move further aroused panic among the Han people in Manila.

They believed that these fleets from their homeland came to rob Manila's wealth and to rob and massacre the Han immigrants in Manila. Under such circumstances, it was obvious that the Port of Manila was in a precarious situation. After learning that the Ming Dynasty fleet came from afar After the news that they were about to arrive at the port, some Han people, local indigenous people, and even businessmen from various countries fled, but most people chose to pick up weapons and started collective self-protection activities.

It can only be said that overseas is indeed different from the Ming Dynasty, full of martial virtues.

Manila's port area suddenly became chaotic.

But some relief to Manila's nerves was that soon the advance fleet was no longer advancing, but a horse ship, usually used for communications, delivered a messenger to the port.

At this time, there was a sudden noise on the edge of the pier, and then there was the sound of hurried footsteps.

Xu Chailao came here with several patriarchs of local Han families in Manila.

Xu Chailao is not arrogant enough to think that "a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake". People's warships have run into his face, so he has to bow his head when he should.

He bowed to the leading envoy and said, "I am the president of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Xu Chailao, who is the talker here in Manila."

The messenger was a young eunuch of high rank. He did not have the feminine demeanor of an ordinary eunuch. Instead, he appeared to be extremely powerful. He was obviously an armed eunuch of Prince Yan's palace and had been on the battlefield.

So at this time the envoy calmly said: "President Xu, your behavior is probably not in compliance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. According to our laws of the Ming Dynasty, wherever the Ming Dynasty's army goes, as long as there are military commanders and five army commanders, According to the government's order, the people of the Ming Dynasty are not allowed to close the port and seal the city to defend themselves."

This is quite true.

But the premise is that this must be Ming Dynasty’s territory!

Suddenly, several clan leaders secretly cursed, "How did we know that there are so many people here!" Just because you guys can really break into the city, you can't kill all the Han people in Manila.

After all, there is a saying that goes: "The gangsters are like combs, the soldiers are like goads, and the officials are like shavers."

But Xu Chailao was vaguely aware of some key information, but he continued to smile without changing his expression: "Your Majesty the Envoy, I am willing to donate tens of thousands of military supplies to the labor force of the country, just to spare the people of Manila."

Xu Chailao's attitude seemed very sincere, almost condescending to the extreme, but the messenger still shook his head: "No, I can't agree to your conditions."

The negotiations reached a brief deadlock, and almost everyone realized the crux of the problem.

That was Xu Chailao's name for the Ming Dynasty, "Shangguo", and the envoy hinted that this place would also become the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, this is not a problem that money can solve at all.

In the face of absolute force, what kind of military resources are mine? After the city is destroyed, it is your turn to donate them?

But it was very difficult for Xu Chailao and the patriarchs of the local Han families to admit the need for envoys.

Because of the many aspects involved, they simply could not make up their minds in a short time.

The military commander next to him, who was wearing red armor and had been silent, finally reacted. He said coldly: "We are here to take over this place under the decree of His Majesty the Emperor. If you cooperate, then so be it. If you are stubborn, then so be it."

Hearing the words of this general, a look of horror flashed across the face of a clan leader on the side, and he cried out: "The Ming Emperor ordered to take over this place?"

The general glanced at him contemptuously and said, "What, you don't believe it?"

The young eunuch cooperated and took out a piece of yellow silk with a series of certificates such as a red pen and jade seal on it, and handed it to Xu Chailao in front of him. He did not go through the normal process of bathing, burning incense, kneeling and proclaiming the decree.

Xu Chailao took the yellow silk and looked at it carefully. After a long time, he sighed dejectedly, lowered his head and said, "That's it."

After the clan leaders circulated it, they were also a little surprised.

The above is the change in the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy, including the Ming Dynasty's newly promulgated overseas colonial policy. This was the information that Zheng He's fleet received when it was stationed in Thanh Hoa Port in Annan Kingdom.

The new maritime ban policy covers several aspects.

One is the restart of several major shipping companies.

The second is the trade policy for countries with existing trade contract relationships.

The third is the policy towards the people of the Ming Dynasty who migrated or fled due to the maritime ban policy, that is, the colonial policy.

What they focus on is this third aspect.

Those who have migrated overseas are allowed to return to the Ming Dynasty, but they are subject to strict review and will be placed under residential surveillance for a long period of time. They must report to the government in their hometown or place of residence on a regular basis every month.

If you can't stand this condition, have adapted to overseas life, and still want to be a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, you can also apply the policy for overseas citizens. They have a separate identity certificate and are only allowed to stay at the port of the Shipping Department of the Ming Dynasty for no more than 10 days. For one month, entry to other areas is not allowed.

At the same time, we must also submit to colonial policy.

That is official colonization, or private colonization.

Needless to say, official colonization is managed by the government, while private colonization is similar to the management model of "Three Propaganda and Six Comforts", that is, its chiefs are hereditary from the leaders of local tribes or political powers, and they are internally autonomous, but they have to bear the economic responsibilities of the imperial court. The local soldiers (local troops) had to accept the dispatch of the court or superiors.

The conditions Zheng He gave them were the latter model of civil colonization.

Manila can become the Xuanfu Division or the Xuanwei Division for internal autonomy, and they can also become subjects of the Ming Dynasty again, but this territory belongs to the Ming Dynasty in name only.

At this time, a red card with gold letters appeared in the young prisoner's hand.

This was something that the Ming Dynasty awarded to the Xuanfu envoys or Xuanfu envoys of the "Three Propaganda and Six Comforts". Considering that Zheng He's fleet wanted to gather some local forces at key nodes on the waterway, Emperor Yongle also gave some.

Xu Chailao felt a little entangled in his heart.

As long as he gets this gold-lettered red card, he can transform into an officially recognized Xuan Fu or Xuan Comfort envoy of the Ming Dynasty.

But at what cost?

First of all, from within the Han community in Manila, although Xu Chailao's power is strong, it does not crush the other forces. He is just a temporarily elected leader. Any decision now must be made collectively. After consultation, he himself cannot act arbitrarily.

And once he becomes the Xuanfu envoy or the Xuanfu envoy, and his status begins to be higher than that of others, conflicts will immediately break out. In Xu Chailao's view, this may also be a strategy of the Ming Dynasty, and it will be easy to cause internal strife among them. Control them better with little effort.

And even if you don't take these into account, just looking at it from the outside is not optimistic.

Because although there are more than 100,000 Han people in Luzon, there are millions of natives on Luzon Island alone. The proportion of Han people in the overall population of Luzon is probably only 100%. About ten out of ten, they are still the weak side, and these natives are not uncivilized savages. Because they often participate in international trade, their iron smelting skills are not bad, and they also have basic weapons and armor forging capabilities, so the Han people Although China's other technologies are leading, military technology does not have much advantage.

In the era of cold weapons, the quality of soldiers and military technology were basically the same, so the comparison was about military strength. In terms of military strength, the Han people in Luzon could not compare with the local natives and were at an absolute disadvantage.

After all, if they recognized the dominance of the King of Luzon, everything would be easy to say. The King of Luzon would not specifically target these egg-laying hens who paid high taxes on time.

Because the Han people in Manila were able to settle here before, the important reason was the support of the King of Luzon. The King did not want the unruly chiefs here to grow bigger, so he introduced this foreign force.

But once they announced their separation from the Luzon Kingdom and became the Xuanfu Division or the Xuanwei Division of the Ming Dynasty, their nature changed.

Not only will the King of Luzon take action, but the surrounding chiefs may also form a coalition to attack and plunder the Manila they have coveted for a long time.

At this moment, a clan leader who was unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty spoke.

"Do we have to fight to the death?"

After hearing this reply, the young supervisor said calmly: "The fish dies and the net breaks? You are smart people and know what you are doing. It will not do you any good. After all, if all the fish die, the net may not break."

However, just when the negotiations fell into a tense situation, suddenly, the fortress on Manila Bay opened fire for no apparent reason.

The stone bullets fired by the old cannon did not cause any damage to the advance fleet, but they immediately attracted a counterattack from the advance fleet.

Although Zheng He ordered not to take the initiative to attack during the negotiation, the generals who were eager to make a contribution now seized the opportunity for the other party to fire first and immediately ordered the attack, without any intention of asking Zheng He at the rear for instructions again.

When the general is out, military orders are not obeyed.

When it is time to make meritorious deeds, you must not hesitate. This is also a good tradition of the Yan Army. Many of the miraculous battle details were performed by enterprising grassroots commanders on the spot.

After the commander ordered the attack, a deafening roar immediately sounded from the opposite side of the fortress, and then countless iron balls filled with sparks rose into the sky.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang."

Countless solid iron bullets roared towards the fortress, and then hit hard objects such as walls and wooden boards. The debris and smoke raised blocked the field of vision and blinded the defenders. But even so, such an attack Still not enough to shake the relatively strong fortress.

The bow of the two thousand material treasure ship began to turn around. The small-caliber artillery on both sides was not enough to destroy the fortress, so the big guns would have to be used.

The gun jacket was lifted, and not far behind the mighty tiger head relief on the bow of the ship, there was a fixed large-caliber main gun!

This large-caliber main gun is limited by its firing range and cannot move left and right. It can fine-tune its trajectory up and down, but it mainly relies on the hull to aim at the target.

The main gun looks like a huge black steel monster. It is made of steel and its surface is covered with complex lines. The front barrel is nearly three feet long and is pointed straight at the fortress in front.

This kind of main gun is not available in all 2,000-material level treasure ships. Due to the production capacity of the Ordnance Bureau and the Warfare Bureau, there are only a few in the entire fleet.

This type of bow main gun, named "Raging Wave", is a powerful firearm used to deliver firepower at medium and long distances. Due to its caliber and weight, its power is almost as powerful as ordinary destroyer guns of the 20th century. It has It has an extremely long range and can easily destroy enemy defenses in close combat at this distance, giving it a suppressive advantage.

When Jiang Xinghuo agreed to build this kind of bow main gun, he intended to use it as the navy's trump card for attacking maritime fortresses or ports.

After receiving the instruction to fire, the gunners showed excited expressions, and then followed the steps that had been rehearsed many times in advance, each performed their duties, began to load the shells, and aimed at the target.

When the large-caliber artillery was finally loaded, the gunner was ready. Not long after ignition, the cannon spit out hot smoke, and the projectiles roared and slammed into the center of the fortress ahead.

The huge reaction force caused the entire treasure ship to shake violently, and even some fixed tables on the nearby deck had small cracks due to the force.

But compared to the trivial damage to the treasure ship’s hull, the more serious damage to the fortress has just begun——

Unfortunately, they hit the jackpot.

The outer wall of the room where the gunpowder was stored was penetrated, and the solid projectiles continued to exert their force. The sparks from the friction ignited the gunpowder barrel. With a dull explosion, the inside of the fortress was filled with a sea of ​​fire. The central area of ​​the fortress was destroyed by a huge The shock wave ripped open directly, and the soldiers inside were instantly devoured, while the nearby buildings suffered a huge disaster. They were staggered and devastated by the violent shock, and many buildings even collapsed.

"The middle part of the fortress has been blown down!"

"The enemy fort has stopped shelling!"

"We have the advantage!"

Under the huge damage caused by the main gun on the bow of the ship, the interior of the fortress in Manila Bay was in chaos. It was unable to hinder the actions of the advance fleet. They could only watch helplessly as several treasure ships worth 2,000 materials led the fleet forward. , began to surround them.

"Damn it, what kind of cannon are they? It's too powerful and can't stop their attack at all!"

"Quick, send someone to notify President Xu and ask them to send reinforcements overland as soon as possible!"

In the fortress, the people responsible for commanding the defense roared in an attempt to stabilize the morale of the troops. However, the chaos in the fortress was getting worse and worse at this moment. Almost every soldier hired by the major chambers of commerce was in a deep panic. They did not care at all. Without any orders, he ran away frantically, dodging incoming shells and trying to escape from the edge of the fortress.

However, the passages inside the fortress were almost completely destroyed due to the big explosion. Except for a few passages, most of the houses were blocked. Coupled with the crowds, all the entrances and exits of the fortress became inaccessible.

"Damn it, our people can't escape, hurry up and rescue, rescue!"

"No one can leave but stay with me!"

At this dangerous moment, soldiers belonging to different chambers of commerce have lost their minds and are desperately fighting each other, fighting for the few remaining entrances and exits, trying to escape from this ghost place.

However, the defense line outside the fortress had already been breached, and the advance fleet had sailed into the sea in front of the fortress. Some Ming soldiers on board the ship had already begun wading to land.

At this moment, it was too late for the people in the fortress to escape from the fortress, and the surrounding area of ​​the fortress was covered by broadside fire from the treasure ships with 2,000 and 1,500 materials. If they wanted to retreat, they could only choose to jump into the sea. , otherwise there is no possibility of escape!

Although the defense measures in the fortress were complete, they lacked weapons to effectively resist the artillery. Under such circumstances, the gunners of the advance fleet vented their anger without restraint, pouring artillery shells on the fortress, and the soldiers in the fortress They were trembling under the baptism of gunfire.