Chapter 1550 Thirty Thousand Miles Away

"I understand. I will convey your intention to General Leonardo in Cebu." Father Franco felt that Zhao Hao's conditions were not too harsh.

Although the Papal Meridian was drawn by the Pope for Spain and Portugal, not only European countries, but even the church people disagreed. How could the earth be divided equally between the two of you just by a line?

He now even felt that it was natural for the Spaniards to be beaten up by the suzerain country after crossing the ocean to conquer land thousands of miles away.

After all, it was Spain that first destroyed their vassal states and then massacred overseas Chinese. After all this, they can't just not allow them to fight back, right?

Although this young master was indeed a bit ruthless...

Unconsciously, Father Franco's evaluation of Zhao Hao changed greatly. Perhaps it was his friendly attitude towards the church that Father Franco had not expected.

Moreover, people sometimes harbor hatred for the good man who spared them, but often have excessive affection for the devil who spared their lives. This is the despicable human nature, and even the servants of God are not immune to it.

Now Father Franco felt that having a place to stay here and being able to preach and trade freely was enough, so why did he need a bicycle?

~~

Zhao Hao did what he said and released Father Franco, ten priests and ten thousand Nanyang natives that afternoon.

This was the maximum transport capacity in the Luzon war zone at the moment. The remaining 90 priests and 90,000 Nanyang natives could only be sent to Cebu after the shipping fleet led by Chen Huaixiu sailed south when the north wind came.

Cebu is not close to Luzon. Even if you take the shortest route within the archipelago, it is still a full 1,500 miles away. The distance is too far. There are more than a thousand islands of all sizes in between, and there are countless sea areas for ambushes. It is simply a nightmare for the defending party.

This is also one of the reasons why Zhao Hao temporarily left Cebu unrecovered.

Of course, the more important reason was that he needed to clear out the original owners of the central plain of Luzon to make room for the immigrants who came with the shipping fleet.

Although he could use a knife to kill someone and let the Igorot do the dirty work, this trick could only fool people temporarily, and this blood debt would always be counted on him in the future.

Although Zhao Hao doesn't care about his reputation after his death, the negative impact of this evil deed is too great and will seriously increase the cost of the group's rule in Southeast Asia.

So it's better to go to the trouble and send them to the Spaniards. These natives followed the Spaniards to fight against the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty only sent them back to their masters, which was a very kind and righteous act, and no one could find fault with it.

Of course, Cebu could not bear so many people. If the Spanish did not want to explode on the spot, they could only find ways to consume this part of the population, such as launching them to attack Sulu and Mindanao, killing all those hateful Moors, or letting them be killed by the Moors.

As for who kills whom, that is none of Mr. Zhao’s business...

In addition, he also wanted to send a signal to let the Spaniards know that he was not a completely unnegotiable partner. This should reduce their hostility... right?

Even if we can't dispel their idea of ​​revenge, at least we can improve the dangerous situation faced by the small bamboo fleet sailing around the world a little, right?

~~

In early October, the transport fleet arrived at the Visayas Islands under the escort of the naval fleet.

Cebu is the central island of the archipelago, surrounded by many islands. It is a beautiful and quiet narrow island.

Cebu has a close relationship with the Spanish. When Magellan sailed around the world, he was killed here because he rashly pretended to be a barbarian and intervened in tribal conflicts.

This is also the starting point for the Spanish conquest of Luzon. Ten years ago, the expeditionary force led by Legazpi finally found the place where their ancestors died after a difficult voyage and established the first colony in Cebu. From then on until the Spanish captured Manila, this was the location of their governor's office.

Although the Governor's Office was moved to Manila several years ago, the Spanish had been operating here for a long time and most of the islanders had converted to Catholicism and became obedient citizens. Their rule here was much more stable than in Manila.

Therefore, the Spanish did not give up this hard-won colony, but used it as a base for conquering the Moorish regimes such as Sulu and Mindanao. Leonardo, the commander of the Philippine Military Region, was stationed here, forming a de facto dual-headed system with Manila.

Perhaps this is also a kind of check and balance on remote colonies that are out of reach.

The arrival of the huge fleet broke the tranquility of Cebu. The shrill alarm bells rang throughout the port city, and the Spaniards, Mexicans, and indigenous soldiers rushed to the fortress. The sailors rushed to the dock, climbed onto the warships, and hurriedly raised the sails to fight.

Fortunately, Cebu had two major generals at that time. Among them, Major General Leonardo was in charge of the coastal defense. As for the large and small warships, they were naturally under the command of Major General Bamonde, the fleet commander who withdrew from Manila.

In stark contrast to the former's calmness and composure, the latter was already panicking.

Major General Bamende had been traumatized by the fierce firepower of the Ming fleet. Whenever he closed his eyes, he dreamed of being raped by the Ming people, a thousand times!

Otherwise, when he led the fleet to reinforce Manila, he would not have given up halfway and fled back to Cebu again.

Now he doesn't have a single warship of more than 600 tons. Most of his weapons are armed merchant ships of two to three hundred tons, as well as inferior sea vessels built locally. How can he have the courage to fight the Ming people again?

He stood on the dock with a pale face, watching the sailors busy preparing to go to sea, muttering to himself.

"It's bad, it's bad. We're definitely going to die if we go out to sea this time..."

Heard that the Chinese have a saying that goes "Nothing can happen more than three times," and he himself felt that he might not be so lucky this time.

However, he was so lucky...

Just when the Spaniards in Cebu were in a panic, the Ming fleet sent a speedboat carrying a priest and flying a white flag into the port to explain the situation to the two generals.

Hearing this, Major General Bamende was overjoyed and wanted to twist his tight pants around. But he said with regret, "I missed the chance to redeem myself again."

Bishop Franco was the younger brother of the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of New Spain and was extremely powerful, so General Leonado dared not neglect him. After the two discussed, they decided that Major General Bamond would personally lead the ship to welcome Bishop Franco back safely.

When Bishop Franco went ashore, he had changed into a clean priest robe. After thanking God, he asked the two generals to send a boat to bring the 10,000 indigenous believers ashore.

The two men immediately looked embarrassed. How much supplies would be consumed by these ten thousand people?

Bishop Franco was furious and thought to himself, "I haven't even told you that the big boss is behind you, and you're already so resistant?"

"If you still hope that my brother can say a few good words for you in front of His Royal Highness the Vice Prince, you should be more proactive!" He snorted coldly.

"Understood." The two men had no choice but to give orders to send a boat to pick up the indigenous believers ashore, and then invite the bishop to the former Governor's Mansion for a talk.

~~

After listening to Bishop Franco's description of the current situation in Luzon, both of them were stunned.

Because the two places were too far apart, the two major generals didn't know that the Governor-General and all the Spaniards on Luzon Island had already gone to see God...

"At present, apart from us priests who have been released, only 400 captives including Colonel Sardo and more than 100 white people are still alive." Bishop Franco drank a glass of strong liquor to suppress his grief and said, "They all sacrificed themselves for spreading the gospel of the Lord."

"..." The two major generals were not as sentimental as him. They only had one thought in their minds: it was all over, it was all over.

Since the establishment of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, it has never suffered such a tragic defeat. The governor was killed, thousands of people died, and almost an entire colony was lost.

Any one of these three things would cause a stir in Madrid. What's more, all three things happened at the same time?

Someone had to take the blame for such a disastrous defeat. Now that the governor was dead, the only ones qualified to take the blame were his two major generals.

And it’s not just as simple as striking off from office, you might end up being hanged!

The two were so frightened that they were sweating profusely, not daring to imagine what consequences would be waiting for them.

They finally understood why the Bishop had threatened them just now. It turned out that he was reminding them that they could only rely on him to pass the test.

The two men quickly begged, grabbing the bishop's hand like a life-saving straw, begging him to save them.

When Bishop Franco saw that he had the two men under control, he said that he would write to his brother, the cardinal, to help them absolve themselves of responsibility.

"However, we brothers are all members of the church after all, and we can only try our best to influence the viceroy. It would be best if one of you two went back to New Spain in person and reported the situation to His Highness in person."

The bishop lowered his voice and said, "I think the responsibility for this matter does not lie with you. It was Governor Sander who took the initiative to provoke the Ming people."

Of course, we should try to push the responsibility onto the dead, because the dead cannot speak.

"Yes, yes, yes." The two major generals nodded hurriedly and said, "It is the responsibility of the Ming people and the Governor..."

"Even the Ming people can be forgiven." Franco said calmly: "Put yourself in their shoes. If we were in their position, we would have the same reaction, and it might be even more cruel."

The two major generals understood that the bishop wanted to make peace with the Ming people!

But the decision on such matters does not lie with them, or even with His Royal Highness the Viceroy. It lies with His Majesty the King of Madrid.

However, this did not prevent them from patting their chests and guaranteeing that they would say what the bishop wanted.

Finally, Major General Bamond took the initiative to take on the task of returning to New Spain. His father was the duke most trusted by the emperor, so he was definitely more capable than General Leonado in handling such matters.

Moreover, the latter also knew his level and was worried that if he left him to look after Cebu, Cebu might be lost before he even arrived in New Spain...

Just then, a large sailing ship loaded with cargo was returning to New Spain, so Bamond boarded the 600-ton sailing ship and personally served as the fleet commander. He left Cebu in late October and crossed the Pacific Ocean from west to east.

Half a year later, in late April of the third year of the Wanli reign, the treasure fleet, after sailing 30,000 miles, finally arrived exhausted in Acapulco, Mexico.

(End of this chapter)