The Spanish were very nervous. The unusual actions of the Ming court made them very worried. Although the governor of the Philippines was worried about the strength of the Ming Army, he did not intend to give up this very important eastern stronghold.
On the one hand, the Spanish were preparing for war. They recalled the ships and the Spanish troops scattered throughout the South China Sea. On the other hand, they sent ships to Macau and Siam to inquire about the movements of the Ming court and strive to communicate with the Ming court to avoid war as much as possible.
The situation in the South China Sea became very strange. It felt like the wind was blowing and the cranes were in a panic. Many countries analyzed the movements of the Ming court and some rumors in the trading cities of Myanmar that the Ming court might attack the Philippines.
As a result, some merchant ships that used to be the customers of the Spanish gradually stopped doing business in the Philippines. This undoubtedly exacerbated the Spanish's worries. On the one hand, they were preparing for war, on the other hand, they were actively striving for communication, and on the other hand, they were preparing for both sides.
In the minds of the Spanish, they had offended the Ming court. One was a small-scale naval battle a few decades ago. They had killed some of the Ming court's soldiers and were then defeated by the Ming court. They had then returned to the Philippines and never sent troops to the inland of Daming in the north. The Ming court should not be in a hurry to settle this old score from decades ago.
The other was some unpleasant things that had happened between them and Xiao Ruxun, the Marquis of Zhennan in Myanmar. It was about hiding the local Chinese people and not letting Xiao Ruxun take the local Chinese people with him to prevent the loss of labor. After this incident, Xiao Ruxun seemed to be targeting the Philippines everywhere. He robbed them of their business and destroyed many pirates that were supported by the Spanish.
This made them very worried. They were worried that the powerful navy under Xiao Ruxun would attack them at any time. They were worried that the Ming court would order them to be destroyed. In short, they were worried that the Chinese people in the Philippines were also afraid. Coincidentally, at this time, a piece of news spread, adding to the worries of the Philippine governor's office.
This news said that the emperor of China planned to occupy the Philippines!
To be more specific, the emperor of China intended to occupy the Philippines in order to obtain the gold here. This news was brought back by a Spaniard who returned from Macau. To be more specific, this news came from a Han Chinese carpenter who had lived in the Philippines for many years. He said that there was a mountain in the Philippines where the gold beans grew naturally. This information attracted the emperor of China, so the emperor of China sent people to investigate.
The Spaniards couldn't figure out what was going on at the moment. Before the Siamese intelligence personnel returned, they stepped up their preparations for war, and the idea of seeking dialogue became stronger. They actively submitted documents to the Guangdong officials through Macau, asking for dialogue, but there was no response so far.
The uneasiness of the Spaniards was quickly felt by the local Chinese. In the place where they worked and lived, there were obviously more Spanish soldiers and Chinese businessmen's lackeys. They were all holding guns and knives in their hands, watching them warily.
It was as if they would rush over and ask all sorts of questions at the slightest sign of trouble. They even beat and arrested people indiscriminately. They didn't allow more than ten people to gather together to chat. They didn't even allow people to squat together to eat.
This situation, of course, aroused the dissatisfaction of the local Chinese, but at the same time, they were also puzzled. What happened to these foreign devils? Why did they suddenly become like this? It felt like they were in a state of panic …
While the uncertain days passed, the Black Water intelligence team led by Zhang Wu also summarized all the surrounding information and quickly passed it to Xiao Ruxun for Xiao Ruxun's reference.
"There is a mountain in Luzon? The gold beans grow naturally? Who spread this rumor? Who said this nonsense? Who are you kidding? If gold can grow by itself, why do we need to dig for food in the fields every day? What the hell is going on? "
Xiao Ruxun asked Zhang Wu strangely.
Zhang Wu replied, "According to our analysis, this may have something to do with the attack of the Governor of Xiyi by Chinese sailors two years ago. Of course, it can be traced back to more than 20 years ago when Lin Feng attacked the Xiyi stronghold in Luzon. Since then, the Xiyi people have been very afraid of our people and never trusted us. Therefore, our people may want to leave Luzon but can't, so they released this news to attract the imperial court."
Xiao Ruxun was silent for a while.
In the second year of Wanli, Lin Feng, the leader of the private armed forces active in the Fujian area, almost captured Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This made the Spanish colonists very afraid of the Chinese. This was the beginning of the Spaniards' dissatisfaction and vigilance against the Chinese.
In the 21st year of Wanli, the governor of the Philippines, Dás Marinos, went on an expedition to the Moluccas. Because he forced the overseas Chinese to work as oarsmen, he caused dissatisfaction. On the way, the overseas Chinese, Pan Hewu, and others on the flagship of Dás Marinos, rose up to resist.
Their resistance was very fierce. They directly killed almost all the Spaniards on the ship, including the governor, and then fled back to Daming. After this incident, the Spaniards did not dare to provoke trouble in Daming. They could only vent their dissatisfaction on the Filipino Chinese and incite a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment.
In the early days, the Chinese were able to get along well with the Spaniards. However, as the status of the Chinese rose and their number increased, as well as their influence on the economy of the Philippines, this inevitably caused the Spaniards to be dissatisfied and the local indigenous people to feel jealous. Under such an atmosphere, the emergence of anti-Chinese sentiment was no accident.
At that time, Xiao Ruxun also received the information. He planned to use this as an excuse to ask the court to fight and clean up the Spaniards in the Philippines. However, he later received news that at the beginning of the 22nd year of Wanli, a fleet of Daming ships, led by Fujian officials, arrived in Manila with soldiers and weapons, bringing back 3,000 Chinese.
This fleet showed off their strength and warned the local Spaniards, calming the situation. The anti-Chinese sentiment did not continue, and Xiao Ruxun did not continue to force it.
But now, these Spaniards were obviously frightened by the news. They remembered the deterrence of Daming's military force, so they were even more frightened. Maybe they would do something else.
"The court's current energy is on the nine borders, and the possibility of sending troops to attack Luzon is very low. Either that or an imperial edict ordering me to send troops. Those people are too anxious and actually made such a stupid move. If the court can't find the mountains of gold and silver, they will naturally retreat. They want the court to send people to pick them up, but the court has never valued them and does not treat them as Daming's people. How can they ask for support from the court?"
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