Chapter 704: The Qing Wants to Ally with Japan Against the Ming?

In the center of this "two-century great project," inside an already-completed Spanish-style official residence, in a meeting room hot enough to kill a man, a group of Spanish gentlemen in formal dress sat around a long table sulking.

The reason for the gentlemen's anger was an "evacuation notice" being distributed everywhere in the Chinese quarter of Manila — Zhu Cilang's court was simply efficient! The imperial edict had barely been issued when tens of thousands of copies of the "evacuation notice" were printed and delivered into the hands of the Chinese in Manila.

Guaranteed, on average, every Chinese could get two copies!

If they could not read, it did not matter, because someone had turned the evacuation notice into a ballad that was being sung everywhere. How did the ballad go: "Taxes are heavy, the barbarians are fierce, lately Luzon is hard to survive in. Board the ship early and go to Jin'ou, and be assured that great and small alike will rejoice. Land is divided, houses are granted, each household gets five hundred mu, and three years without paying grain tax..."

This was truly, barefacedly, digging at the foundations of the Spanish Empire!

And the effect was remarkably obvious. According to customs reports, in the past few weeks, six sailing ships fully loaded with Chinese emigrants had already left Manila harbor. And the price of hiring Chinese laborers at the Fort Santiago construction site had risen by fifty percent, and the fort's construction progress had already begun to fall behind schedule... At this rate, it probably would not be fully completed even by the nineteenth century!

And what was most worrying was that Manila's agricultural supply would soon run into trouble — Spanish gentlemen could not possibly farm the land themselves, and the natives of the Philippine colony were too indolent to satisfy the Spanish gentlemen. So most of the land around Manila was painstakingly cultivated by Chinese, and the vegetables, meat, dairy products, eggs, and other non-staple foods were also supplied by the Chinese.

At the same time, the Spanish restricted the Chinese from owning their own farms, allowing them only to lease land, and they also had to pay heavy taxes.

Under these circumstances, the farms provided free of charge by the Jin'ou and Jinghai armies were simply too attractive — how good was the land in Jin'ou and Jinghai? How could Manila's land compare? And they gave it away free, and it was tax-exempt... Only a fool would not go!

So most of the Chinese leaving Manila were farmers!

"Your Excellency the Governor-General," said the official in charge of colonial agriculture, deeply worried, "now the land around Manila is lying abandoned everywhere. The price of vegetables has tripled within a week, meat has doubled, eggs have risen by eighty percent... If this continues, the colonial army will soon have nothing to eat!"

"The Chinese should be forbidden from leaving!" roared the engineer in charge of the Fort Santiago project. "The workers are fewer and fewer, and there is no way to keep working... At this rate we will never be able to hold Fort Santiago!"

"Perhaps we could allow the Chinese to own land in Manila..." said the Archbishop of Manila. "As long as they are willing to convert to the embrace of the Lord!"

This seemed like a solution! Over the years, there had still been some Chinese settled in the Philippines who had joined the faith.

Governor-General Chacón looked at Chief Justice Vacarello.

"Your Excellency the Governor-General," said Chief Justice Vacarello, "the Archbishop's proposal is worth trying, but... we must not forget that over the past few decades, we have several times massacred the Chinese of Manila!"

"That was because they attempted to seize our colony!" said the captain of the Manila garrison, a Spanish veteran who had lost his left hand on the Netherlands battlefield. "Chinese pirates have always wanted to turn Manila into their property!"

Vacarello shook his head: "But now they do not want to take Manila immediately... They have something better!

They can first go and take Champa, Water Chenla, Siam, and Burma, while at the same time forbidding their subjects from entering the Philippines, turning the Philippines into an asset that bleeds the empire dry. By the time they have digested Champa, Water Chenla, Siam, and Burma, we will no longer be able to endure the losses and will withdraw from the Philippines... At least, that is what they are thinking!"

"The Spanish Empire will not abandon the Philippines!" said the Archbishop, making the sign of the cross over his chest. "Christ will not permit us to abandon His bridgehead in East Asia!"

The Spanish Empire's way of thinking was indeed different from the Dutch... For God's sake, losses did not matter! After all, they had already nearly bankrupted the empire!

"That is right, we will not abandon it..." said Vacarello. "But we cannot confront the Great Ming Empire alone! In the East, its position is like that of the Roman Empire, and a rather powerful Roman Empire at that, so we need friends!"

"Who should we seek as friends?" Governor-General Chacón asked, frowning despite himself.

Spain was not good at making friends!

In Europe they had made friends with the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope of Rome, and had been swindled into bankruptcy three times... Who could they find in Asia?

"The Qing state and its vassal Joseon!" said Vacarello. "They are mortal enemies of the Ming state!"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend!" Chacón nodded.

"Chenla can also become a friend!" Vacarello continued. "The destruction of Champa will certainly make Chenla feel endangered.

In addition, Siam can also become a friend... Siam possesses land as rich and vast as Chenla's, and sooner or later it will become an object of Great Ming covetousness!"

"The Qing state, Siam, Chenla..." Governor-General Chacón thought for a moment. "This would surround the Ming state! But what can we do for these friends?"

"Provide military advisors and arms!" said Vacarello. "The Ming state is now an awakened giant dragon... It is growing at a speed we can hardly imagine. If it is not contained, the Qing state, Siam, Chenla, Joseon, perhaps even Japan and Burma, will all become objects for it to devour.

And we, the Spanish Empire, have the duty to unite these countries threatened by Great Ming, so as to jointly contain this evil giant dragon that is rapidly growing!"

He paused. "As long as these countries are willing to unite with us, we will be able to find enough laborers to replace the Ming people in Manila!"

"That is indeed a solution..." said Chacón. "We can report to New Spain while beginning to act... Chief Justice, where do you think we should begin?"

"Begin with the Qing state!" said Vacarello. "We should immediately dispatch the Manila to a Joseon port... in the name of an envoy of the Spanish Empire, to request an audience with His Majesty the Qing Regent and Retired Emperor!"

The Qing Regent and Retired Emperor was of course Imperial Ama Dorgon. At the time the Spanish foreign aid was hurrying toward Beijing, he was in the Palace of Rebuilt Splendor, fuming!

Fuming at Oboi!

"Useless! Bastard! Good-for-nothing... All he knows is grabbing, all he knows is greed. It has only been a few years since we entered the pass! He has already forgotten how to fight! Armed with foreign muskets made in London, England, and he still let himself be beaten like this — a disgrace! By the way, Old Fifteen, where is Oboi? Why has he not been arrested and brought here? Has he already been killed? Where is his head?"

"Fourteenth Brother, what are you saying? You want to kill Oboi just like that? Victory and defeat are common in war. Even Manchu warriors cannot be victorious in every battle, can they?" Dodo was actually speaking up for Oboi!

It was not that he regarded Oboi as one of his own, but rather that he had carefully studied the engagements between Oboi and the Cossacks and discovered a very serious problem!

The Cossacks' way of fighting happened to counter the Eight Banners troops!

First, the Cossacks handled firearms far better than the Eight Banners troops — they dealt with firearms every day, so it was impossible for them not to be good at it.

Second, the Cossacks' skill on horseback was also better than the Eight Banners troops'! What the Eight Banners troops could do, the Cossacks could do too. But what the Cossacks excelled at, the Eight Banners troops did not necessarily manage.

Furthermore, the Cossacks' horses were better than the Eight Banners troops' horses! Their horses had great strength and good endurance. So when fighting the Eight Banners troops went badly for them, they could ride away to escape, and when they had the upper hand, they could rely on the superiority of their warhorses to pursue.

In other words, the few advantages the Eight Banners troops had previously used to counter the Ming army were now all countered by the Cossacks!

"Fourteenth Brother," said Dodo, "those Cossacks are formidable. We cannot treat them lightly!"