The reason why Spain could control the entire Philippines with more than a thousand troops was not only because of the power of their army and firearms, but also because their 400 troops could defeat the hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in the Philippines.
Instead, with the assistance of political means, they isolated and overthrew the old regime by roping in the local indigenous leaders. Then, they protected the tribes of the Filipino indigenous leaders from being invaded by foreign enemies in exchange for their taxes. With the assistance of the tribal leaders under the original Filipino regime, they established their rule.
Then, with the help of the Catholic Church, they bewitched the people, controlled the land, and turned the resistance of the Filipinos into nothing. Then, they moved against the Chinese and other foreign ethnic groups. This was the reason why the more than a thousand people could control the treasure land of the Philippines. It could be said that the Catholic Church contributed a lot to this, so the bishop and Ricci felt that they deserved to be treated with courtesy. But now, it seemed that the governor did not think so.
"What did General Xiao say? Will he not attack us? Is there any possibility of peaceful negotiation? I think we should try to avoid war and solve this problem through peaceful negotiation. We can return the Chinese in batches. "
The governor seemed to be a little impatient.
Ricci understood the reason and kept silent awkwardly. The bishop was very dissatisfied. Bishop Alexander was very dissatisfied with the governor's neglect and disrespect for God. He said, "Mr. Governor, as a devout believer, I think we should first worship God and ask for blessings from the great God. Then, we can talk about the secular affairs. What do you think?"
Logically speaking, the Governor-General should have already heard the Bishop's dissatisfaction. However, it was unknown if the Governor-General was too anxious or if his hemorrhoids were acting up, he actually didn't hear the Bishop's dissatisfaction. Instead, he hurriedly said, "Mr. Bishop, let's not talk about this anymore. The situation is very urgent now. Our people who came back from Macau said that the Chinese Emperor wants to attack the Philippines and control this place!"
With that, the governor roughly told Ricci and Bishop Alexander about the situation here.
After listening to this, Alexander was stunned. The emperor of China? That should be higher than General Xiao's position, right? General Xiao was a Marquis, and the emperor … was the highest!
Alexander panicked.
This was not within the scope of the commission!
"Matio, we came under the commission of General Xiao, but the emperor of China … General Xiao and the emperor of China, who has the final say?"
Bishop Alexander was probably panicking, so much so that he actually asked such a stupid question to Ricci.
But it was actually not a big deal. For the past few years, everything in the South China Sea and the coastal areas of Myanmar had been decided by Xiao Ruxun. He was equivalent to the spokesperson of the Daming Kingdom in Southeast Asia, representing the emperor of China to exercise power. His words and actions could actually represent the emperor of China.
Of course, this was before the emperor of China personally issued an edict. If the emperor of China personally expressed his stance, according to Ricci's understanding, Xiao Ruxun would still have to obey the emperor's orders and serve the emperor.
It was just that the emperor of China basically did not pay attention to the matters in the South China Sea. The small countries in the entire South China Sea basically surrendered to Xiao Ruxun and were willing to follow Xiao Ruxun's orders. When fighting pirates, Xiao Ruxun could also mobilize the navies of a few small countries with a little bit of naval strength to fight together.
But this matter itself was very strange. The emperor of China sent a ship to the Philippines to survey the terrain, and then there was a rumor that the Philippines had its own mountain that produced gold. Wasn't this nonsense? Making up a story also had to follow scientific principles. How could gold grow in nature? Not to mention things like golden beans. Gold was a mineral, and it had to be mined by hand.
How could the emperor of China believe such a ridiculous rumor?
Therefore, Ricci said with great certainty, "Mr. Viceroy, Mr. Bishop, I think this is completely a rumor. It doesn't exist at all. The emperor of China must have other things to do by sending a ship here. Any normal person would suspect that gold would grow on a mountain. Gold is a mineral, and it has to be mined and smelted by hand. If gold can grow on its own, then our science can also be restarted."
Bishop Alexander and the Viceroy looked at Ricci and thought carefully. They felt that what he said was very right and very reasonable. A person of the emperor of China's status must be very knowledgeable about the matter of gold growing on its own. Why would he believe such a ridiculous rumor?
Then, even greater doubts and panic followed.
"Then the emperor of China didn't send people here to look for gold, but because we are targeting the Chinese and are preparing to send people to attack us, so he specially sent people to survey the terrain first?"
The Viceroy's imagination was very wild, and it sounded very reasonable. Bishop Alexander and Ricci were instantly stunned.
"Mr. Viceroy, we were entrusted by Myanmar's General Xiao Ruxun to come here to discuss with you about the migration of the Chinese citizens to Myanmar. General Xiao said that as long as you release the Chinese citizens who are willing to return to their homeland, then everything that happened before will be written off and he will no longer pursue it. These are his exact words. We are here to discuss with you because of this. Before this, General Xiao will definitely not use force."
Ricci immediately expressed Xiao Ruxun's intentions. He felt that if he didn't express his stance now, the Viceroy might think too much and cause unpredictable consequences.
But when he said this, the Viceroy's imagination flared up again.
"But General Xiao is a Marquis, a noble lord, not the emperor. If the emperor of China wants to attack us, doesn't General Xiao have to obey the emperor's orders? If the emperor of China orders General Xiao to send troops to attack us, what will we do? What do you think, Mr. Bishop? "
Bishop Alexander was also confused. He didn't know much about the situation here. He had just arrived in the East and only had a little impression of China. He didn't have any opinions of his own. Ricci, who knew the Chinese better, was also frowning in deep thought.
Ricci quickly came to a conclusion.
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