Ricci knew that Xiao Ruxun had military power, and the Ming Dynasty had a righteous name. With the two combined, Xiao Ruxun would send troops to attack the Philippines, and there was a possibility of defeating the Spanish colonial forces in the Philippines.
More importantly, a considerable part of the interests in the Philippines belonged to the Catholic Church and the Vatican. If Xiao Ruxun destroyed Spain, the interests of the Vatican would not be protected.
This was why Bishop Alexander was so anxious to send him to China to do diplomacy.
However, he could not afford to offend the China government, nor could he afford to offend Xiao Ruxun. If he offended the China government, the emperor of China would order Xiao Ruxun to attack the Philippines, and everyone would be finished. However, if he offended Xiao Ruxun, this local bully had many ways to make the Spanish people in the Philippines live a life worse than death. Just the fact that he did not allow merchants from other countries to do business with them was enough to kill them.
A rumor that China was going to attack the Philippines could make the Philippines panic as if it was the end of the world. It also prevented merchant ships from setting foot in the Philippines for two to three months, so that the rations of the Spanish soldiers on the island had become a problem. It could be seen how great the deterrent power of China was. Xiao Ruxun's stronghold was not far from the Philippines. If they really fought, they would definitely not be able to withstand it.
Although it was confirmed that the China government would not cause trouble for the Philippines, the personal grudge with Xiao Ruxun was also very serious. Ricci was thinking, what if Xiao Ruxun sent troops on his own?
"Taisu, is it possible for General Xiao to send troops to attack Luzon without the emperor's order?"
On the way back, Ricci asked Qu Rukui. He still did not understand the rules of the operation of the power of the officials in China.
Qu Rukui frowned and said, "Of course not. Xiao Zhennan's Marquis Manor is Marquis Zhennan's Manor. As the name suggests, it is for Marquis Daming to guard the southern border, not to expand the territory. If they encounter an enemy attack, bandits, or bandits, they can naturally take the initiative to send troops to eliminate them. However, it is impossible to start a war against a country without the imperial court's order."
Qu Rukui glanced at Ricci and said in a low voice, "Mr. Li, I'm not a person who knows nothing about the outside world. Tell me, are the Francis who invaded Luzon your compatriots?"
Ricci was shocked and immediately shook his head. "No, no, no, Tai Su, it's not like that. I'm not a Franci. I have nothing to do with the Franci. I'm just a missionary."
Qu Rukui nodded and said, "It's not that I want to scare you, Mr. Li, but the Francis invaded Luzon Island. Luzon Island used to be the territory of the Daming, and later became a vassal of the Daming. After it was invaded by the Francis for no reason, there were also descendants of the Luzon royal family who came to the Daming for help.
But at that time, the Daming had no spare power to help, so he could only accept those people to live in the Daming. But this matter has always been paid attention to by many people. My friends in the capital have mentioned it more than once. Once the topic related to the Francis is mentioned in the imperial court, this matter will inevitably be mentioned.
Not to mention that three years ago, after the Daming defeated Japan and restored Korea, there was a big debate about the restoration of Luzon. But at that time, the Myanmar invasion of the Daming was more urgent, so the imperial court allocated funds to send Xiao Zhennan to quell the rebellion in Myanmar. After the rebellion was quelled, Xiao Zhennan was allowed to stay in Myanmar forever.
The imperial court also wanted to rely on Xiao Zhennan's military ability to guard the southern border for the Daming to deter the vassal states. Of course, it also wanted to monitor the Francis. If you have nothing to do with the Francis, then don't get involved in this matter. If this matter is mentioned in the imperial court, the Daming actually has a righteous status. "
Ricci wiped the sweat from his forehead guiltily and nodded.
He was not Spanish, nor was he Portuguese. He was Italian, but he was also a Catholic, a member of the Vatican. The Vatican had properties and interests in the Philippines. Every year, the Vatican could also get benefits from the Philippines. Xiao Ruxun also knew about this matter.
Seeing Ricci's expression, Qu Rukui tentatively asked, "Could it be that the Francis on Luzon Island have offended Xiao Zhennan?"
Ricci looked at Qu Rukui and could only nod helplessly.
"Tai Su, since it has come to this, I will not hide it from you. It is very important that His Majesty the Emperor will not order to attack Luzon, but General Xiao's attitude is also very important. Three years ago, when General Xiao had just arrived in Myanmar, he had sent ships to various small Southeast Asian countries to bring the local Chinese people to Myanmar to live.
At that time, many Chinese people followed General Xiao, but on Luzon Island, those Francis hid tens of thousands of Chinese people and did not let General Xiao take them away. They also stopped General Xiao's ship, which offended General Xiao.
At that time, they did not care about it, but in the past three years, General Xiao's reputation had become more and more powerful. In addition, this time, His Majesty the Emperor had sent ships to Luzon, which made the people on the island panic. They were afraid that General Xiao would be ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to attack Luzon.
Before I came here, when I was in Myanmar, General Xiao had asked me to be a messenger to communicate with those people and ask them to release the Chinese people on Luzon Island, so that they would not mobilize troops. If they did not release the people, he would send troops to attack Luzon and rescue the Chinese people on the island. "
Qu Rukui frowned and said, "How can a general like Xiao Zhennan say such words? Doesn't he know that the imperial court … Wait, Mr. Li, you just said rescue? Really? What's going on? Is there another turmoil on Luzon Island? I remember that last year, there were officials from Fujian Province who went to Luzon to bring back three thousand people. What is going on? "
Qu Rukui seemed to have noticed something, which made Ricci stunned. Looking at Qu Rukui's puzzled and questioning look, Ricci knew that there were some things that Qu Rukui must know. Although he could hide it in exchange for Qu Rukui's support, it was not in line with his own beliefs and conscience.
"Tai Su, there are some things that I will not hide from you. Ever since a big pirate from your country attacked the Francis on Luzon Island twenty years ago, the Francis have been very afraid of the Chinese people living on Luzon Island. They have strictly restricted their weapons, their range of activities, and their residence.
Two years ago, the reason why the officials from Fujian Province wanted to bring back three thousand Chinese people was because several Chinese sailors on the ship killed the governor of Luzon Island … Well, it can be said that the governor of a province on Luzon Island was Daming. The reason was that the governor of Luzon Island excessively exploited the Chinese sailors, which made them dissatisfied. "
Qu Rukui was shocked.
"There is such a thing?"
Ricci nodded silently.
"So General Xiao knows that the situation of the Chinese people on Luzon Island is very bad. He has always wanted to take the Chinese people on Luzon Island away, but the population on Luzon Island is sparse. The Chinese people are very important labor force. The Francis are unwilling to let them go. Of course, there are indeed some who are unwilling to leave, so they offended General Xiao. General Xiao has said more than once that he will attack Luzon, so …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
