Chapter 1683 Compromise
The dilemma that Francis and his son are currently facing is certainly not a coincidence, but a situation deliberately planned and arranged by Haihan officials. After capturing Manila and driving away the Spanish colonial authorities, Haihan seemed to have successfully taken over the governance of the areas around Manila Bay, but he still faced many practical difficulties in the specific governance process.
The Spanish colonists ruled here for decades, leaving a deep imprint on all aspects of social life. As a latecomer, Haihan wanted to re-formulate social systems and laws and regulations, so that this place would be consistent with Haihan's domestic The convergence of social conditions cannot be accomplished overnight. Especially those Spanish immigrants who have been living here since their birth are unwilling to leave the place they regard as their hometown, nor do they want to accept the "foreign" rulers calmly. Although they are frightened by the force of the Haihan Army, they dare not try again. Resistance, but also unwillingness to comply with various arrangements made by the Haihan government, invisibly greatly slowed down the pace of local post-war reconstruction and restoration of social order.
As the current ruling body, the Manila Provisional Council can of course take some coercive measures to suppress all people who are unwilling to obey the arrangements, but the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious and will make it more difficult for Haihan to win the obedience of the people. Therefore, after obtaining the permission of the Executive Committee, Qiu Yuan and others proposed a new governance plan based on local public sentiment, that is, to activate some influential Spanish officials in the region and establish an interim agency to assist the Interim Management Committee to appease Public sentiment and maintaining law and order.
In the opinion of the Interim Management Committee, the former Philippine Governor Aragones is actually the best person to carry out such a task. After all, he knows the local people's conditions best and has a relatively large influence in the minds of the people. But although the old Spanish man was a bit greedy for life and fearful of death, and even sold all the information he had to save his life, he didn't even have the slightest idea of changing his family to serve Haihan. Moreover, Aragones had already sent his family away from Manila at the beginning of the war. Haihan had no conditions that could be used to blackmail him. They could only fulfill the contract after cleaning out the valuable information in his mind. He let go.
There are two first-class candidates, one is city defense commander Francis, and the other is Manila fleet commander Juan Luis. However, Juan Luis has been active at sea all year round, and his personal influence in the minds of the people in Manila is obviously not as good as Francis. . Moreover, after a little inquiry, Haihan found out that Francis' only son also lived locally, so the follow-up operation was much simpler.
As for the local Han family who married Francis, the Provisional Management Committee actually had no other intentions. As long as the Ding family did not take the initiative to cause trouble, the Provisional Management Committee did not intend to impose any series of punishments. After all, during the Spanish rule, which of these Han families who were able to prosper in Manila did not have inseparable interests with the Spanish? If they attack the Ding family because of the marriage, it will inevitably chill the hearts of the local Han gentry. This is not a situation that the Interim Management Committee wants to see.
Of course, taking this opportunity to give the Ding family a little hammering to stop them from following the Spaniards all the way to the dark side and to clarify their future stance is also a very necessary measure in the eyes of the Interim Management Committee. As for whether the Ding family will take the initiative to sever the marriage relationship with the Francis family during this process, this kind of trivial matter is not an issue that the interim management committee needs to worry about.
Now that Francis was selected as the target, the corresponding action plan was quickly put into effect. The Haihan Army arrested little Francis and imprisoned the father and son together, allowing them to deepen their dependence on each other in a prison environment. In this way, when using the method of separate exile to blackmail Francis, it can have a better effect.
Just as Haihan expected, such measures did work. Francis was uncharacteristically hesitant when faced with the conditions proposed by Haihan. In a state of despair and helplessness, even a determined soldier like Francis inevitably began to waver emotionally.
Before the Francis and his son could make a decision, the guards came to inform them that Haihan officials would meet with them later and asked them to prepare first.
Although the rebellion against Francis was planned by the military earlier, all the troops have now withdrawn from Manila, and the task of setting up a security maintenance agency has been handed over to the Interim Management Committee, under the overall management of Qiu Yuan. After Qiu Yuan learned about the progress here, he thought it was necessary to put more effort into promoting this matter, so he came to meet Francis in person.
Qiu Yuan had many matters at hand and did not want to waste too much time here, so after meeting with Francis and his son, he announced his identity and purpose of visit straight to the point: "I am Qiu Yuan, the current chief executive of Manila in Haihan Kingdom. I hold this position." I am probably equivalent to the former Governor of Aragones. To put it simply, I am responsible for all local affairs, including your general requirements. Someone has already discussed it with you before. I won’t repeat it. I will only add two points. First, if you are willing to follow our arrangements and take up the post, then after three years, you and your son can go and stay as you please. Even if you have to return to Spain, we will try to arrange it. . Second, you are not the only ones who can benefit from this, but there are also thousands of Spanish immigrants living here. You can think about the truth. ”
After Qiu Yuan finished speaking, he leaned back in his chair and told the translator he brought with him: "Tell them what I mean."
Francis and his son listened to the translation attentively, but in fact there was nothing new in Qiu Yuan's words. Even the two supplementary points had actually been mentioned by the officer who had previously interrogated Francis. It's just that when these words are spoken by an ordinary officer, the impact is naturally different from when a senior official like Qiu Yuan makes a personal promise.
You can go and stay at your own leisure after three years. This is undoubtedly a very attractive condition. As long as you work for Haihan for three years, you can regain your freedom in the future. Moreover, this job is like being an official, and you can even get financial rewards. It is much better than being exiled to an unknown place overseas to work as a coolie on a plantation or as a miner in the shadows.
As for the second point added by Qiu Yuan, Francis had never thought about it. After Haihan captures Manila, there will inevitably be many Spanish immigrants who were born and raised here and will choose to stay here, but these people may not be able to obey the management of Haihan's government well, or follow the instructions of the Haihan who communicated with him before. According to the Han military officers, there was a lack of an intermediate institution that could act as a buffer between the Spanish people and the Haihan Provisional Management Committee. The Interim Management Council hopes that through such an intermediary agency that takes orders from itself, it can appease the emotions of the local Spanish people and mobilize them to restore production and normal social order, instead of resorting to various types of resistance and non-cooperation against the new rulers, or even Deliberately disturbing the peace and causing trouble.
"Then what will happen to you if I still choose to refuse?" Francis asked, staring at Qiu Yuan.
Qiu Yuan smiled after listening to the translation and said: "I don't have much time to spend time with you, so if you still choose to refuse this time, then you and your son will leave here before dark, and your son will probably be sent away Go to the front line thousands of miles away in the north, where our army is fighting the barbarian countries in the north. We just need young and strong men to serve as civilian husbands. If you are lucky, he may be able to live for another year or two. As for you, maybe. The tin mine that was sent to Bangka Belitung Island, or the coal mine in Annan Black Earth Port, or the Shilu Iron Mine in Hainan Island... In short, be mentally prepared, because the rest of your life is likely to be in the mine. spent.”
Qiu Yuan's words were not false threats. He really didn't have the patience to slowly bargain with the prisoners of war. As long as Francis rejected the proposal, he and his son would have lost their most important use value to Haihan and could only be sent away. Go overseas to extract the last bit of labor. As for their life and death, Qiu Yuan was not a soft-hearted person. During his tenure in Haikou, he signed orders to execute quite a few criminals, and two more would not be considered too many. What's more, these two people will not be executed directly, but will be sent to a remote place to be slowly consumed to death. There is no need to explain this truth, Qiu Yuan believes that Francis can also figure it out. If he was so stupid that he couldn't even think clearly about the stakes involved, then there would be no need for Haihan to offer amnesty in exchange for his submission.
After Qiu Yuanjian finished speaking, Francis still looked hesitant. He frowned and added: "If you can't make up your mind, I'll go see the next person. I think there are more than a dozen Spanish people locked up in this building." Official, it’s impossible for everyone to be like you and still be so hesitant about the opportunity that comes to your door. If you don’t do it, there will always be someone who is willing to do it. Even if you refuse to cooperate with us, you still can’t change anything.”
These words were quite heart-wrenching. Francis was indeed not sure whether the other officials imprisoned here would reject the Haihan people's proposal. In fact, he also knew that there would definitely be people who were willing to exchange it for starting from scratch. opportunities, and I am not a special existence that no one can replace. He could fully imagine that the Haihan people would even use his lack of cooperation to blackmail their next target. This special organization will inevitably be established, and someone will inevitably choose to cooperate with Haihan, but the outcome of their father and son will not affect the future situation in Manila at all.
If they can live well, how many people are willing to actively choose to sacrifice themselves, suffer, or even die in obscurity. Francis is more willing to be loyal to the Kingdom of Spain in his heart, but unfortunately he is just a sinner to Spain. Even if he and his son are executed by the Haihan people, this established fact cannot be changed, and it is impossible to obtain the royal family after death. of forgiveness.
Since there was no way out, Francis seemed to have little choice, so he asked Qiu Yuan: "Then what are you going to do with my son?"
This sentence undoubtedly showed a compromising attitude. Qiu Yuan suppressed his secret joy and promised Francis: "As long as you are willing to stand up, he can regain his freedom immediately. If he wants to be an official, then we can also Arrange a decent position for him, and at least ensure that you and your son can live in this area with dignity for a period of time in the future. Remember, if you cooperate with us, you are ours, and we have always taken good care of our own people. . Do you have any other questions? ”
Francis turned to look at his son and saw uncontrollable joy on his face. He was obviously excited about the coming freedom. He slowly let out a breath and said to Qiu Yuan: "Yes. I have two requests. First, please give us another place to live, there are too many cockroaches in this damn place!”
"No problem, what about the second one?" Qiu Yuan responded immediately after hearing the translation.
"Second...please give us a decent meal. Every day is rotten fish and shrimp. I haven't had beef for about half a month." Francis complained about the food here without politeness.
Based on his living standard when he was the commander of the city defense, it was naturally difficult to tolerate the food arrangements in this prison. But in fact, this was considered preferential treatment for these special prisoners of war. Otherwise, according to the food standards of the prisoner of war camp, there would only be three meals per day. I had two bowls of vegetable porridge in the morning and one in the evening. It was a luxury to even see oily flowers in the bowl. After three to five days, I felt dizzy when I walked. As for wanting to eat beef here, he really thought too much.
But having said that, Francis, who is very particular about his standard of living, has been able to endure these complaints for so many days, so he has probably been holding back these complaints for a long time. If Qiu Yuanlai hadn't reached a consensus with him during the interview, he would probably have continued to hold his nose and eat what he called smelly fish and rotten shrimp every day.
Qiu Yuan almost laughed out loud after hearing this request. I dare say that what the Spanish officer is most concerned about is the quality of life. Of course, there is nothing to refuse, so he just agrees.
"Arrange it, we'll make it right away." Qiu Yuan agreed without taking it seriously at all. Being able to win Francis's cooperation is worth far more than a few cows. Even if he can eat enough, there will be no problem.
Haihan was always very efficient. After the meeting between Qiu Yuan and Francis, a carriage came quickly and took Francis and his son to another manor closer to Manila. Hot water and a change of clothes have been prepared here, allowing them to bathe and change, and then enjoy a fresh steak dinner.
"In addition to not being able to leave here, try to meet their requirements." Qiu Yuan's arrangements for Francis and his son were very generous, which was also to further undermine their will. They are soft-spoken when trying to eat people, but short-handed when taking advantage of others. When they are asked to do things later, they no longer have any reason to refuse.
(End of chapter)