Chapter 1549: City Named Yongxia

After a night of thinking, Zhao Hao convened a senior staff meeting in the tent of the headquarters the next day. In addition to Jin Ke and other senior officers of the Coast Guard, senior staff officers of the General Staff Office, Tang Baolu and the review committee members of the Governor's Office also attended the meeting.

For three days, everyone discussed the contents of the Sander Report, how to deal with the Spanish counterattack, and most importantly, how to build Luzon next, and finally decided on a package plan.

Zhao Hao named it the 'Eternal Summer Project'.

Yongxia is also the new name given to Manila after everyone discussed it.

This place is as hot as summer all year round, so it is named Yongxia, which also means "forever the land of China"!

The new Yongxia City will become the headquarters of the Coast Guard Headquarters, the Luzon Governor-General's Office and the Luzon People's Armed Forces.

The People's Armed Forces Department is similar to the Zhechoufu in the Tang Dynasty. Under the guidance of the Coast Guard Headquarters, it is responsible for the regular training, assembly, and equipment storage of the Luzon soldiers. In wartime, the Coast Guard Headquarters will send officers to command operations.

Because the original Spanish old royal city was too small and required months of disinfection before it could be settled in. So Zhao Hao decided to build a new Yongxia City on the northeast side of the stream, opposite the royal city, as the future base for the three major agencies and the central city of Luzon Island.

At the "Yongxia City Naming and New City Construction Groundbreaking Ceremony" held the next day, Zhao Hao delivered an important speech to unify the understanding of 30,000 soldiers and civilians.

He told all the soldiers and civilians that after our analysis, the arrogant Spaniards would definitely not let it go after suffering such a big loss.

This was a heavy blow to the Luzon army and people who were still immersed in the joy of victory. The smiles on many people's faces froze...

"They will definitely retaliate, and the scale will definitely be beyond imagination!" Mr. Zhao's firm voice resounded throughout the venue through the loudspeaker:

"But we don't know when the Spanish fleet will arrive. I think it will take at least two years! So we can't delay the construction of Luzon because we are worried about the Spanish retaliation. Otherwise, if they don't come for ten years, can we just do nothing and wait for ten years in vain? If you are happy, the group will go bankrupt..."

Mr. Zhao's relaxed attitude greatly boosted the confidence of the soldiers and civilians. They burst into laughter, and the tense atmosphere disappeared immediately.

"This kind of war may last for a long time, so we must adhere to the general principle of 'taking ourselves as the main body and construction as the center'. As for this war, we will fight as long as it takes, and we will not set a time limit. Let the vice-king of New Spain or Philip II make the decision. If they come, we will fight. If they don't come, we will build, and we can even fight and build at the same time!"

The applause was like a tide, interrupting Zhao Hao's speech several times. This fearless spirit learned from the old man, "Let the rain and wind blow, I will walk leisurely in the garden", is the most contagious, uniting and changing people.

"The logic is simple. The better we build Luzon, the stronger our combat effectiveness will be, and the closer we will be to completely defeating the Spaniards!" Zhao Hao finally waved his hand with full enthusiasm and said, "Not only will we drive them away, but sooner or later, we will also fight our way to America and turn the Pacific Ocean into China's inland sea!"

The effect of this speech was extremely good. The military and civilians of Luzon were infused with infinite strength and were completely mentally prepared for the long-term construction of Luzon and the defense of their homeland.

At the meeting, Zhao Hao also announced the decision to establish the Luzon War Zone from that day on and personally serve as the commander of the war zone.

The war zone is different from the garrison zone. It is a wartime system under the unified leadership of the war zone headquarters. The Governor's Office and the People's Armed Forces Department must unconditionally execute all orders from the headquarters until the war with the Spaniards is completely won.

~~

After the meeting, Zhao Hao had the captured Catholic Bishop of the Philippines, Franco, brought to him.

Considering the red-haired ghost's strong body odor, Zhao Hao still met him on the beach and lit incense.

Father Franco was in good spirits, but his priest robe had lost its original color and smelled strongly of urine.

Zhao Hao couldn't help but secretly praise himself for being so foresighted.

The priest bowed to him, and Zhao Hao nodded slightly in return, then asked him to sit down and had someone pour him a glass of sherry.

Father Franco felt as if he were in another world. He thought that after becoming a captive of the devil, he would never be able to drink the fine wine from his hometown again.

But this son of the devil was obviously a noble man. This made Franco feel relieved, and he quickly took the opportunity to defend himself: "We are servants of the Lord, not soldiers. We came to Luzon to spread the gospel of the Lord. Our purpose is to do good and not evil..."

Zhao Hao sneered in his heart, if you barbecue lovers hadn't forced people to convert everywhere in America, would so many Indians have died?

But he was already a mature politician, and he could hide his disgust in his heart. He held the tall glass, gently swirled the scarlet wine in the glass, and said elegantly:

"I believe what you say."

"Uh..." Franco was stunned. He saw that the other person was a ruthless and decisive person. He didn't expect that he would believe his lies so easily.

"Thank you." What else could the priest say?

"The priest may not know this yet," Zhao Hao explained with a smile, "I met several priests when I was conquering Japan. Although those Portuguese were cunning and despicable, I was deeply impressed by the noble character of the priests, such as Father Torres and Father Luis. I also gladly agreed to their request and became the protector of the Christian Church in the Far East."

"Is that so?" Father Franco was surprised. However, those Italians did not have the power to decide on the patron for the church. They should have invited this person to become the patron of the Jesuit missionary work in the East.

Although there can be many patrons, this still makes Father Franco feel extremely absurd. This person is obviously the son of Satan and a member of the dragon clan, but he has become the patron of the Lord's servants.

But his life was at stake at the moment, so he did not dare to create unnecessary trouble and say that our Dominican Order... Oh no, the Dominican Order and that group of unscrupulous Jesuit monks were not the same thing.

He expressed his gratitude vaguely and tentatively asked Zhao Hao whether he was willing to restore freedom to all the priests?

"Of course." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile and said, "In any country, imprisoning people of noble character is not a glorious thing."

As he spoke, Franco raised his glass and said, "After drinking this glass of wine, the priest can take them away."

"Thank you so much, sir." Father Franco was ecstatic. God bless, it's really a fine line between hell and heaven!

He quickly bowed and raised his glass, wanting to clink glasses with Zhao Hao.

But the other party's movements suddenly stopped.

Zhao Hao held the wine glass in his hand, and added lightly, "And I will also release the 100,000 indigenous believers. Does that make me a competent protector?"

"Ah?" Father Franco felt dizzy, his hands trembled, and the wine spilled on the beach. "That's a full 100,000 people!"

"Yes." Zhao Hao nodded and said with admiration: "When I heard that there were still 100,000 natives in your camp, I wondered what you were doing. After interrogation, I found out that you were worried that once you left, the Igorot people would retaliate against the Lord's followers, so you took all the native believers with you on the road."

"In our country, this is called 'benevolence and righteousness'. It is because of your compassionate actions that I decided to release all of you." Zhao Hao then emphasized in a stronger tone.

Franco could naturally hear that Zhao Hao regarded these 100,000 natives as a prerequisite for releasing their priests.

"This, this, this..." He wanted to refuse, but he couldn't say it at this moment!

Because Zhao Hao thought that the priests were merciful, that's why he offered to release them. If he said, "We won't take the monkeys with us," wouldn't that be the same as denying his own mercy? Then the premise for the other party to release them would no longer exist...

"Fuck!" Father Franco looked as if he had eaten a hundred thousand flies, and he forced a smile and said, "Of course we can't abandon the Lord's flock, but we really don't have the ability to bring so many believers back to Cebu!"

"Don't worry about that. I'll arrange the fleet." Zhao Hao said calmly, "The north wind is about to blow. It's a good time to send them to Cebu."

"But Cebu is too small to accommodate so many people..." Father Franco made another excuse.

"This is the responsibility of the Spanish. Aren't they a powerful country, known as the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets? They have made a lot of money from the sailing trade over the years, so it shouldn't be a big deal for them to support just 100,000 believers, right?!" Young Master Zhao said with obvious impatience:

"Father, we Chinese have an old saying, 'know when to stop'. Please don't let me down."

"I understand. I will take them with me." Father Franco swallowed his saliva and had to shoulder this heavy burden. He then asked, "Can Colonel Sardo and other Spanish officers and soldiers be released as well?"

"Of course not!" Zhao Hao sternly refused. He told Franco that the two countries were now at war. He would not consider releasing prisoners of war until the Spaniards realized their heinous crimes and promised never to invade Luzon again.

After saying this, he looked at the pitiful Father Franco, sighed helplessly and said, "Well, in order for the Spaniards to accept those indigenous believers, you can tell the officials in Cebu that I can temporarily not attack Cebu until they settle these believers, so as to avoid a great famine."

"Your Excellency is so kind." Father Franco felt relieved and said, "I will also try my best to mediate and see if the two countries can stop fighting."

As he spoke, he sighed and said, "Actually, I don't agree with Spain going to war with your country. It would be great if peace could be restored."

"Peace is not impossible, but our three conditions must be met." Zhao Hao raised three fingers and said:

"First, apologize for the atrocities of massacring my compatriots and compensate the victims. Second, promise never to invade Luzon and all other vassal states of the Ming Dynasty again, and recognize the sovereignty of the Ming Dynasty over all vassal states. Third, increase the trade volume of the galleons, and the annual trade quota will be negotiated and decided with us. If you do these three things, I can consider letting them stay in Cebu. Otherwise, drive them out of Asia forever!"

ps. Keep going~~~

(End of this chapter)