Luzon, Port Manila. On the port, Spanish flags were flying everywhere …
A Spaniard, wearing a black hat with a feather, metal armor, leather boots, and a musket at his waist, stood on a platform built with boxes by the port with his hands on his hips. He was looking at the crowd around him with a smug look.
Behind this man was a group of Spanish musketeers wearing armor and holding rifles.
A short, mouse-like man with a moustache and a slightly strange pronunciation of Chinese stood in front of the Spaniard with a flattering smile on his face. He was reading aloud from a piece of paper in his hand.
"… Issue a decree to the Chief of the Franco Nation, the Luzon Tribe knows … Your Luzon Tribe has killed more than ten thousand of our Zhang and Quan merchants for no reason … Luzon was originally a barren island, a region of demons, demons, dragons, and snakes. Our Hai Nation's small people have been trading goods to foreign countries, trading with barbarians. For more than ten years, we have organized a great assembly. We have also been suppressing the people of Dong, teaching them farming skills, and governing their cities. Hence, we have become the Zhang District, the first Hai Nation … What has this generation done to you? What deep enmity do you have to kill so many people?"
…
"The culprit behind the overseas conflict is unknown. Among the four commoners of China, merchants were the most despicable. How can a lowly commoner incite a military revolution? In the midst of the merchants, he abandoned his home and wandered the seas, never returning in winter. His father, brothers, and relatives were despised by all. Abandoning them was not a pity, and instead of using soldiers, it was a waste of resources. "
…
Surrounding these people were densely packed with Chinese people living in City M and sea merchants at the port.
As soon as Xia Pingan opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of a crowd. The first thing he saw was the Spanish flag fluttering in the harbor.
The atmosphere here was slightly depressing …
Xia Pingan looked at the Chinese people around him. Their faces were filled with grief and indignation. Many young people were clenching their fists tightly.
…
Listening to the short man reading the contents of the paper in a strange tone, Xia Pingan was stunned. Four words immediately popped up in his mind, "Imperial Decree of Luzon". This was the reply of the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Emperor to the Spaniards in 1605 after the Spanish colonists massacred the Chinese in Manila in 1603.
In fact, after the Spaniards massacred tens of thousands of Chinese people in Manila, those Spaniards were also frightened. They were afraid that the Great Ming Dynasty's army would retaliate, so they sent envoys to the Great Ming Dynasty to "apologize", hoping to obtain the Ming Dynasty's forgiveness.
But in the end, the Spaniards did not wait for the arrival of the Great Ming Dynasty's army. Instead, they waited for the Wanli Emperor's "Imperial Decree to Luzon".
"Unknown culprit behind the overseas conflict. Among the four commoners of China, merchants were the most despicable. How can a lowly commoner incite a revolution … "It was precisely this sentence in the Imperial Decree of Luzon that buried the root of the tragic fate of the Southeast Asian Chinese that continued to be massacred for hundreds of years.
Since then, all the invaders and aborigines in Southeast Asia knew one thing — it was fine to kill the Chinese!
For Huaxia, this was really a great tragedy. The entire Great Ming Dynasty, until now, still regarded the Spaniards who invaded Luzon as the Franco people. They did not even understand who massacred tens of thousands of Chinese people in Manila.
The so-called Franco people was also the first mistaken name for the Portuguese.
…
Finally, the short man finally finished reading the things on the paper in his hand. The Spaniard next to him waved his hand. The short man had a humble smile on his face. He habitually said a sentence in Japanese, bowed humbly and left.
"This is the letter written by the Wanli Emperor of your Great Ming Dynasty to our governor. The letter is in the hands of our governor. You have all heard the contents of the letter. This is not forged by us …"
The Spaniard also spoke Chinese, but his accent was even stranger. He proudly raised the piece of paper in his hand and said loudly, "From now on, Luzon belongs to us, Spain. Your emperor has abandoned you, and it is impossible for him to avenge you and send an army over. You are just the lowly commoners of the Great Ming Dynasty. Let bygones be bygones. You don't have to think about what to do anymore. The army of the Great Ming Dynasty will not come.
That's the best thing to do … "At this point, the Spaniard's face showed a cruel smile. He waved his hand, and a group of Spanish soldiers on the dock escorted more than 30 Chinese people who were tied up.
Those Chinese people were all covered with scars and had been tortured to the point where they did not look human.
"We hope that you will do the business that we allow you to do, not that we don't allow you to do it. We strictly prohibit you from bringing sweet potatoes from here to the Great Ming Dynasty. Once we find out, it will be a capital offense!" The Spaniard pointed to the Chinese people who were escorted out. "They are the people who wanted to bring sweet potatoes from Luzon to the Great Ming Dynasty in the past year. Today, I will let you know the fate of these people. I hope that you will not follow their example …"
As the Spaniard's face turned cold, he waved his hand, and the Chinese people who were brought in front of the crowd were brought to the side of the beach by the Spanish soldiers and lined up in a row. The Spanish soldiers stood in a row and raised the guns in their hands …
"Bang …"
The guns were fired, and gunpowder smoke rose into the air. The Chinese people who were lined up on the beach were all shot to death.
Just shooting was not enough. After shooting, the Spanish soldiers checked one by one to see if there were any survivors. If there were any survivors, they would kill them with a knife.
The smell of blood and gunpowder mixed together, reminding many of the people present of the massacre by the Spanish two years ago. Everyone's face turned pale.
After finishing the shooting, the Spaniard waved his hand, indicating that the crowd could disperse.
The purpose of today's meeting was to make the Chinese in Manila give up on the Great Ming Dynasty completely.
Most of the Chinese people dispersed. Only a few short Japanese people followed the Spaniards and left with them …
…
"Bah, those Japanese slaves!" A man next to Xia Pingan spat at the back of the Japanese people. "Boss, these Japanese slaves are the worst. Two years ago, it was these Japanese slaves who led the way and cooperated with these red-haired devils to kill a lot of people in Manila …"
"Let's go back to the warehouse first …"
Xia Pingan said.
The warehouse was the place where Chen Zhenlong and the other sea merchants settled down in Manila.
The sea trade between the Great Ming Dynasty and Luzon was very developed. The porcelain, silk, and other things exported from the Great Ming Dynasty were the favorite of the Spanish colonists. Luzon produced various spices, copper, iron, tin, various kinds of furs, hawksbill corals, precious wood, and even some western goods.
Chen Zhenlong was a sea merchant between Fujian and Luzon.
…
The sea merchants and sailors in the warehouse had personally experienced the scene at the dock just now. The atmosphere was a bit depressing.
"Tens of thousands of people of the Great Ming Dynasty were massacred by these red-headed ghosts in Manila, but the Great Ming Dynasty remained indifferent and even called us lowly people. They even said something like 'how can we be lowly people'? They even started a revolution. The Great Ming Dynasty is going to perish …" An elderly sea merchant drank wine and complained in the warehouse. He shook his head bitterly. "Back then, when Grandpa San Bao went to the Western Ocean, our Great Ming Dynasty was so mighty. Now, we are actually being bullied by those red-headed ghosts in Luzon …"
"We traveled thousands of miles to sea to trade. Every time we returned, the port officials were like wolves and tigers. They exploited us. We paid the taxes that we should pay, but we are still untouchables!" Someone sighed. "The emperor treats his subjects like grass, and the subjects treat the emperor like an enemy!"
Emperor Yongli's "Imperial Edict to Luzon" really made all the sea merchants and Chinese people in Luzon bitterly disappointed.
"I heard that France is also a small country in Europe. It's like a province in the Great Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect …"
"Everyone, although sweet potatoes are good, it's better if you don't smuggle any more. That's a matter of losing your head!" The owner of the warehouse came out and said to the crowd with a bitter smile, "Those red-haired devils are very strict with their inspection. All the goods on the ships leaving the port will be carefully checked. As long as they find even the slightest bit of sweet potatoes, they will lose their heads …"
"No, no. So what if we bring the sweet potatoes back? We are not untouchables. Even if we bring them back, the imperial court won't look at us highly. We might even lose our heads because of this. It's not worth it!" The sea merchants shook their heads.
At the sight of Chen Zhenlong, the boss of the warehouse remembered that Chen Zhenlong often asked him about sweet potatoes last time. He hurriedly reminded Chen Zhenlong, "Zhenlong, you need to remind your buddies and sailors. If someone brings sweet potatoes on board, it would be a disaster. All the people on board would be in trouble..."
"Okay, thank you for the reminder. I know …" Xia Pingan said calmly and shook his head regretfully. "If we can't bring the sweet potatoes back, we can only eat more here. I want to eat more fried sweet potatoes today. Shopkeeper Wang, can you ask the kitchen to prepare it …"
"No problem, no problem. In Manila, sweet potatoes are everywhere. You can eat as many as you want!"
"It's a pity that the sweet potatoes are drought resistant and easy to grow. They can be eaten raw and cooked. They have six benefits and eight benefits. They are like the five grains. If we bring them back to the Great Ming Dynasty, they can save a lot of people in the future when the Great Ming Dynasty encounters a famine!" Xia Pingan pretended to be regretful and shook his head. "It's just that this thing is not something that untouchables like us should worry about!"
At this time, if you want to take away the sweet potatoes from Manila, you need not only courage and courage, but also wisdom.
… …
In the evening, before dinner, Xia Pingan left the warehouse for a while. In less than half an hour, he came back. Xia Pingan came back with a one-meter long sweet potato vine.
After eating dinner in the warehouse, Xia Pingan returned to his cargo ship. Taking the opportunity to check the cargo ship, he twisted the sweet potato vine into the cargo ship. Inside the soaked cable, the cable did not look the slightest bit abnormal.
… …
Two days later, a team of Spaniards boarded Chen Zhenlong's cargo ship. They carefully checked every corner and every person on the ship. When they didn't find any sweet potatoes or illegal things, they let Xia Pingan's cargo ship leave.
It was not until the ship had completely left the Port of Manila that an old sailor on the ship came to Xia Pingan, trembling with fear. "Master, why are you doing this?"
Xia Pingan smiled. "I am a failed scholar. I abandoned Confucianism and became a businessman. I don't care about the national affairs, but I know that the people can't go without food. I have read books for half of my life. I don't know about other things, but I know that the sweet potato vine has the words of the sage and the righteousness of Confucianism. I will do what I have to do. Even if I lose my head, I will do it!"
… …
Xia Pingan returned to Fujian with the sweet potato vine and successfully planted it in his hometown. As a result, in the second year, there was a drought in the southern part of Fujian. There were no weeds, no crops, and starving people were everywhere. The sweet potato vine saved countless people.
… …
"Fu ordered him to quickly find a place to raise it. After four months, he succeeded. Fu Sui ordered all regions to follow the law and plant widely. The fruits were plentiful, the drought and hunger were greatly alleviated, and the people were all happy. Jiawu and Yi Wei successively suffered from famine, he apologised. Only potatoes survive alone, and seventy to eighty percent of the villagers live on potatoes. "
— — Notes of the First Potato Pavilion
…
After successfully fusing with the third realm pearl, Xia Pingan left the secret room and saw Elder Jing.
"We have arrived at the entrance to the secret realm of the Godslaying Insect Realm …" Elder Jing said to Xia Pingan.
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