"Alas, young people nowadays are so impatient." Tang Baolu squatted down, picked up the candy, blew off the dirt on it, and put it back into his pocket.

"You're just stretching too hard." Ximen Qing sneered and said, "When are you going to stand me up?"

"Wait a minute, it's not the right time yet." Tang Baolu shook his head, looked at the dark clouds in the sky and said, "Let's go inside and talk."

Seeing that it was about to rain, the overseas Chinese hurried back to their respective huts. They were stilted wooden houses with palm leaves covering the roofs, which were certainly not comparable to the Minnan-style brick and stone houses they lived in the city. Fortunately, it was still cool, but they had to be rebuilt when a typhoon passed through.

Luzon has entered the rainy season since May. The weather is hot, humid and rainy. It rains heavily almost every day, and sometimes it rains for several days in a row. Jiannei is located on the delta of the Pasig River, so the house is naturally very humid. Even the floor of the stilt house is wet with water beads.

After the two entered the house, they took off all their clothes except for their shorts. Ximen Qing asked the orderly to fetch some water and wiped his body, then he sat down on a bamboo chair and lit a cigarette, and only then did he feel a little better.

"In this horrible weather in Nanyang, this cigarette smells musty..." Ximen Qing spat out the door in frustration. It was raining heavily outside.

"Eat candy. Candy is not afraid of moisture." Tang Baolu also exposed his chubby upper body and peeled a piece of mint candy and handed it to Ximen Qing.

"You should eat it yourself." Ximen Qing rolled his eyes. This guy didn't know what it meant to treat someone to candy in the coast guard.

"Of course I ate it. Eating candy can make people happy." Tang Baolu threw the mint candy into his mouth and closed his eyes to enjoy it.

They came to Manila last month. Tang Baolu is now a director of the Nanhai Group and the son of Chairman Tang, so he is very valuable. Jin Ke sent Ximen Qing to lead a team of capable people, disguised as bodyguards and crew members of the trading house to protect him. In case of an emergency, he should not be left without troops to deploy.

After arriving in Manila, Don Paul visited overseas Chinese leaders under the introduction of Liu Xuesheng to learn about the local situation.

The situation in Luzon can be said to be very grim.

First, the Spanish were much more powerful than expected.

On the island of Luzon alone, there were one thousand Spaniards, two thousand Mexican soldiers, and two thousand black slave cannon fodder.

In addition, in order to maintain their rule in Luzon and attack Mindanao and Brunei, the wealthy Spaniards also hired tens of thousands of cheap indigenous soldiers from Southeast Asia. Among them, the brave and warlike Pampanga people had allied with the Spaniards, and the two sides became a community of interests... The Spanish rule in Luzon was stable, and they were the superior people. If the Spaniards retreated, the Pampanga people would have no foothold in Luzon, so they fought very hard.

Moreover, in Cebu, the Spanish's former stronghold, there were another 500 Spaniards, 1,000 Mexican soldiers and a considerable number of black slaves, which allowed them to support each other.

Although Cebu is more than 1,500 miles away from Luzon and it would take some time for reinforcements to arrive, the Spanish made great efforts to reinforce the original Manila Royal City after capturing Manila. They added thick stone walls outside the earthen walls and built complete artillery positions, which were enough to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The greater difficulties come from within the overseas Chinese community.

Just as Chen Yongquan hated, the hearts of overseas Chinese are quite divided.

Everyone comes from different places, different clans, and comes to Luzon with different purposes. It is almost impossible to make them think in the same direction.

Of course, they also have something in common, which is their distrust of the court.

They thought that in the eyes of the imperial court, they were criminals and abandoned people. Could the imperial court come up with a good plan? Even if they really went to war with the red-haired devils, they would settle accounts with them later.

But if you say that our Nanhai Group is not a government, then it is even less trustworthy... How can a private society defeat the powerful red-haired devils? What will we do if you just run away?

What is frustrating is that many people think that as long as they are obedient and submissive, the Spaniards will not do anything to them.

Some even believed that the reason why the Spaniards were hostile to the Chinese was because there were too many of them. Some of them should be asked to leave on their own initiative to dispel the worries of the Spanish.

If Liu Xuesheng hadn’t repeatedly assured them that the Nanhai Group would definitely protect us, and Tang Baolu had threatened them that if they dared to fight among themselves, they would be cut off from flying, that’s why they didn’t start a fight among themselves…

For these reasons, Tang Baolu delayed sending out the carrier pigeon to notify the task force in Kenting to head south again.

He lay on his back on the bamboo chair, enjoying the cool and tingling sensation on the tip of his tongue, and said to Ximen Qing beside him, "You're asking outside when to stand up. I'm actually anxious too. But I think we should delay it as long as possible. If we can delay until the north wind blows, we'll win."

"Oh, if I wait any longer, I'll be covered in green hair." Ximen Qing flicked the cigarette butt out the door, touched his arm, and found it was wet again. He couldn't help but complain, "I just took a shower, this damn place, is it for human beings?"

In fact, he also knew that it was too late for the army to march south to Luzon.

First, the weather was not good. In fact, in May, Mr. Zhao led a fleet from Houbihu Base to visit Manila to find out the situation in person and to intimidate the Spaniards.

Who knew that this year seemed to be a bad year, first the coach was changed at the last minute, and then there was a typhoon...

As we all know, typhoons that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia are most likely generated in the western Pacific Ocean east of Luzon.

On average, there are nearly 20 tropical cyclones generated there every year, of which about 10 become typhoons and 5 develop into destructive super typhoons. Once these typhoons and super typhoons pass through areas where humans live and move, they will bring disastrous consequences.

According to experience, the typhoon season in Luzon is mainly concentrated from June to September. That's why Zhao Hao was anxious to rush to Manila in May, and then use the excuse of taking shelter to stay there. Anyway, what Luzon lacks the most is a good shelter.

Luzon is now a no-man's land. If the invaders can go there, I can go there too!

The staff had planned it all out. They would set up camp in Manila Bay, on the banks of the Malabon River, more than ten miles away from Manila Royal City, to monitor the Spaniards and see if they dared to act rashly...

If Spain feels that it cannot allow others to sleep soundly beside its bed, then that's fine, come and fight me. Mr. Zhao is just worried that there is no reason to start a war.

As the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. This year's typhoon came much earlier than in previous years. The group did not have the conditions to set up a wind-watching point on the sea east of Luzon, so it encountered the typhoon unexpectedly.

Although the fleet reacted quickly and turned around to return, it was still badly damaged by the strong wind, with personnel injured and material losses heavy. It had to return to Fengshan Base to rest.

This delay lasted until June. It was now the rainy season and typhoon season in Luzon, and the sea conditions were extremely bad. Those of them who were on the vanguard certainly could not urge the main army to take risks.

Furthermore, the time is not ripe for war. Although the war is over, business still needs to be done after the war. The silver in South America is very important to the group and Ming Dynasty.

However, the galleon trade routes were controlled by the Spanish. The group had no idea how to go to America, and if they went there they would be going to someone else's territory, and they would still stare at them even if they didn't want to do business with them.

Originally, Zhao Hao planned to lure the Spaniards to come and beat him up, but now the fleet cannot come, so he can only find another opportunity.

Another insignificant factor is that if we start a war now, the overseas Chinese may not appreciate it, and many people will think that the group is meddling. It will also be difficult to achieve the goal of uniting the overseas Chinese in one war.

Although the young minister had a kind heart and did not want to see his compatriots in danger, Tang Baolu was able to harden his heart and wait for the overseas Chinese to beg him to stand up...

The two were chatting casually when the guard suddenly pushed open the door.

A man in a straw raincoat walked in from the rain outside the door, covered in sweat.

"Old Liu?" The two looked at the person in surprise. It was Liu Zixing's cousin, Liu Xuesheng, who had visited Zhao Hao with Xu Kezhen during the New Year.

Although Liu Xuesheng is a nobody in China, he is the vice president of the local Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Manila. He is extremely wealthy, has many servants, and hundreds of relatives and nephews. He is one of the largest families in Little Luzon.

It was raining heavily outside. What was it that he had to go there in person and couldn't ask his sons or nephews to do it for him? Or should he wait until the rain stopped before coming back?

"What happened?" Tang Baolu asked anxiously while asking someone to pour him a cup of hot tea.

"Oh, Mr. Tang, something big might happen!" Liu Xuesheng said with trembling blue lips, "My nephew went to the west to do some work today. When he came back by boat, he saw a large group of Pampanga people coming along the Pasig River towards the Royal City. There were at least five or six thousand people. I think this is strange, so I have to report it to you two as soon as possible."

"Ah, so many?" Ximen Qing stood up in surprise. He immediately asked someone to bring a map and asked Liu Xuesheng to mark the current location of the indigenous army.

"We'll be there tomorrow!" Ximen Qing frowned and looked at the map of Luzon Island, on which the distribution of the Spanish army was marked.

Since last month, a large-scale rebellion has suddenly broken out in northern Luzon, which had just been pacified. The natives who had been driven away returned from the mountains and islands to attack the Spanish strongholds abroad and the missionaries who were preaching in various tribes.

Under their leadership, the tribes that had been subdued by the Spanish once again rose up in resistance and joined the attack on Spanish ships, churches and settlements. For a time, the North Luzon was in flames, and the rebellion even reached the central plains where the Royal City of Manila was located.

The besieged missionaries and subordinates had to be rescued, and the Spanish Governor Sander had no choice but to continuously send troops to the rebellion site to rescue and support the besieged people.

As a result, the army in Santiago City was reduced dramatically and was less than one-third of its maximum size.

Normally, the Reds would not mobilize so many Pampangans at this time. Although the two sides have formed an alliance, there is still a possibility that the Pampangans will suddenly turn against the Spaniards and not only not help them, but also take the opportunity to steal their nest.

Experienced Spaniards would not make such a low-level mistake...

"Unless..." Ximen Qing raised his head, looked at Tang Baolu and said, "They have something else that can feed these natives."

"Yeah." The two of them looked at Liu Xuesheng together.

The violent storm seemed to be about to overturn the shed. Liu Xuesheng's face was pale, and he looked pitiful, weak and helpless.