Chapter 2022
From Manila on Luzon Island to the Strait of Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, one needs to cross the entire South China Sea. The voyage is more than a thousand nautical miles. On this route, there is actually another Haihan colony called Amborna Island that is closer to Manila. . Why did Haihan travel far and near to transport people and supplies from Manila to Star Island at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca? Why did he use handwritten secret messages instead of the more time-efficient telegram transmission method? Regarding these issues that may make the Spaniards suspicious, Haihan The intelligence department has considered it in advance and made various detailed arrangements to eliminate the opponent's doubts.
The reason for arranging such a transportation method of materials has been explained in the discovered secret letter. Not all of these materials are official assets. A considerable part of them actually come from the private properties of individual high-ranking officials in Manila. They are used as official materials. It was transported to Sing Tao as a cover, and then sold to nearby countries such as Johor. The same operation was adopted on the return trip, and a batch of products from the region were also shipped back from Sing Tao.
The "benefits" of this operation are obvious. Shippers can save a lot of freight on transporting goods across regions, and because these materials theoretically do not exist, they do not have to pay official taxes on transactions. The additional income generated from this will naturally flow into the pockets of officials headed by Qiu Yuan.
This practice of using one's power to make profits is actually not uncommon in the Spanish colonies. The supplies transported by the fleets returning to Spain every year will also be mixed with a lot of personal goods belonging to colonial officials in exchange for High returns. So when Aragones heard Cheng Mu talk about this operation method, he already understood the secret.
To put it bluntly, Haihan officials in these two places are privately using official resources to operate some profitable projects. The scale is not large and it is not ugly, but after all, they have to avoid supervision from above. Therefore, it is impossible to transmit information through semi-open official channels. Instead, handwritten letters are used, which is a relatively primitive but easier to keep confidential method.
"Haihan people are most fond of pursuing profits, and it seems that these Haihan officials are no exception. Less than a year after Qiu Yuan was transferred to Manila, he is already using this method to make money for himself. He should have spent the money at the beginning. I spent a lot of money to get this lucrative position." Aragones had almost no doubts about this matter. In his opinion, this was a normal situation. If the Haihan official was so honest, he would be honest. Greedy, it is too unreasonable for a high-ranking official to not use his privileges to benefit himself.
In fact, the story background fabricated by the Haihan Intelligence Department is far from perfect. As long as you look carefully, there are still some traces of artificial arrangements that can be found. But people will always believe in their own experience and those situations that they think are reasonable. The Haihan Intelligence Department took advantage of this weakness of human nature and painted a quite detailed background story for the reason why Jose and others appeared in Cebu, making everything more reasonable and trying to draw the attention of the Spaniards. The power is diverted away from Jose and others, which is also a disguised protection for the inexperienced Jose and others.
Before dark, Jose and others, who had been waiting for news in a small hotel outside the city, were informed that they would be personally received by the Governor the next day, and there would be a banquet specially prepared for them. However, this banquet is limited to Jose and three other Spaniards, and the reward for the other Filipino sailors is the right of residence in the local area.
Although the difference in treatment is obvious, this is good news for Jose's team. At least they have achieved the first step of settling in Cebu, which is an almost perfect start.
These people who did not get the opportunity to be interviewed by senior officials did not have nothing to do. Now that they have been officially allowed to stay in Cebu, they can start activities locally with legal status. Although they are just novices, it is not too difficult to collect some basic information, such as the local population size, price levels, trade and port conditions, etc. Public information also has certain reference for Haihan. value.
Jose and others who have the opportunity to meet senior officials of the colonial authorities can obtain more high-value information. In particular, the Han people who will appear together with local senior officials are the focus of their attention - according to the intelligence previously obtained, the Spaniards' mysterious partners should be a group of Han maritime merchants.
Of course, it is very possible that the maritime trader is just a false identity used to cover up, and the true origin of this group of people still needs to be confirmed after in-depth investigation. However, there are currently no more clues about the other places where the incident occurred, so the intelligence department was asked to send people to Cebu to investigate the matter as soon as possible.
The next day, Second Lieutenant Joaquin specially sent three sets of clean clothes to the hotel so that Jose and the other three Spaniards could bathe and change clothes first to avoid losing etiquette in front of the Governor. That afternoon, under the leadership of Joaquin, they drove into the city and went to the Governor's Palace to be received by Aragones.
There was no dedicated Governor's Palace in Cebu before. This was after the colonial authorities moved from Manila to Cebu. A local Spanish wealthy businessman took the initiative to provide a small manor to Aragones as a residence. Of course, given that Aragones' official position was in jeopardy after a series of mistakes, and he could be removed from his position at any time by an order from the country, the wealthy businessman was not so free and easy to directly donate the manor to Aragones, only temporarily. Just lend it to him for free.
It was a troubled time when he was unlucky, and Aragones didn't have much capital to pick and choose, so although the conditions of this small estate were far inferior to those of his former Governor's Palace in Manila, there really wasn't much available for him locally. With no choice, we can only make do with it.
Before this dinner, Aragones wanted to meet these young people who had escaped from Manila. In fact, there have been as many as 800 Hispanic immigrants who have fled from Luzon to Cebu this year, but only a handful of them have been able to receive him personally. Jose and others can get this special The treatment was mainly due to their outstanding performance in killing people and robbing ships during their escape, and Aragones needed this kind of subject matter to guide the direction of public opinion within the colonial authorities. In addition, Aragones also hopes to understand the current situation in Manila through these young Hispanics, which is definitely more reliable than pure hearsay.
In addition to the local city defense commander Fernando, there were also several officials from the colonial authorities who participated in the interview. Aragones hoped that through this form, his officials would understand the necessity of fighting Haihan.
Regarding how to deal with senior Spanish officials, what should and should not be said, the relevant rules have been repeatedly instilled in Jose and others when they were receiving training, but when the matter comes, they will still be a little nervous.
After meeting Aragones and others, they were allowed to sit down and talk. Then Aragones asked them to talk in detail about their previous experiences, from the end of the war in Manila to when they came to Cebu. All things are of interest to Aragones. Hearing such a request, Jose and others relaxed a little, secretly admiring their boss's foresight and having provided targeted training for this.
Because they have practiced the content repeatedly, they appear to be more natural and calm when describing it, and they can also supplement each other's details from different angles to make these experiences more real and credible. Jose, who was entrusted with an important task, naturally played the leading role in this story of fighting Haihan. Whether it was poisoning the army horses or later killing people on the ship, it was all initiated by Jose, and the other two only Serve as an assistant.
Their entire experience was tailor-made by the intelligence department, and the plot was full of ups and downs and quite contagious. It quickly attracted the attention of those present to listen to these three young people telling their adventure stories.
This lecture lasted half an afternoon. After their story came to an end, Fernando's men also presented several Haihan-made rifles seized by Jose and others, as well as other items that could prove their experience. As for those corpses, they were no longer brought to the Governor's Mansion for display as evidence because they were decomposed and were really unsightly.
"Everyone, after the war in Manila, the brave young people did not give up their resistance to the invaders! Their performance proved one thing, even unarmed civilians, even in prison, as long as they resist the enemy If you are determined, a miracle will happen!”
Aragones stood up, waved his arms and delivered a passionate speech to the crowd: "Ordinary young people like Jose can have the courage to fight against Haihan. Do we, as the rulers of the Philippines, have to fight against Haihan?" Is this timid, or even groveling to pray for peace to the Haihan people? No, that is not the behavior a Spaniard should have. We can fail on the battlefield, but we cannot bow to the enemy cowardly. Only fighting can truly solve the problem! The way!”
Fernando had already received instructions from Aragones, and at this time he also cooperated and helped: "The Governor is right, we can't be merciful to the hateful Haihan people! These young people have made great mistakes for us. An excellent example. If we maintain this determination to fight against all odds, we will definitely defeat the Haihan people and drive them out of the Philippines.”
Spain's repeated defeats against Haihan in recent years have become a lingering concern for the colonial authorities. This year, even the colonial capital of Manila was occupied by Haihan, causing the colonial authorities in the Philippines to The archipelago's ruling area has shrunk by at least one-third, which is also the biggest setback the Spanish king has suffered in the East in recent years.
Aragones, who served as the Governor of the Philippines during this period, is definitely to blame. It is basically a foregone conclusion that he will be held accountable domestically. What has not yet been determined is the time and extent of the punishment. According to the practice of the Kingdom of Spain in dealing with overseas colonies, there is a high probability that Aragones will be replaced by a successor from home and then sent back to the country to face trial. If he is found guilty, it may be inevitable that his house will be confiscated and his property will be confiscated and he will be demoted to a civilian.
But Aragones is not without a chance to save himself. If he can fight two good turnarounds before the arrival of his successor and achieve some good results against Haihan, he may be able to alleviate his own guilt. Otherwise, even if he disperses his family property after returning to the country, he may not be able to completely reduce the punishment he will bear.
He wanted to give it a go and use all the manpower, material and financial resources of the colony to fight Haihan to the death. However, the poor record made more and more officials begin to disagree with the use of war to resolve disputes between the two countries. Some were even pessimistic. It is believed that if the war with Haihan continues, it will only be a matter of time before Spain is expelled from the Philippine Islands and even the South China Sea.
Aragones would definitely not agree with this view, but it was impossible for him to dismiss all his officials who held similar views. After all, the normal operation of the colony still required a mature bureaucracy to maintain, and he could only try to change it. The ideas of these people allowed them to abandon those weak ideas and instead support their own methods, putting the entire colony into a state of war preparation.
"But Lord Governor, in the past few years, we have had no victory against the Haihan people on the battlefield. If we can still only use the previous weapons and equipment and strategies, and cannot expand the size of the army on a large scale, then what? How to defeat the increasingly powerful Haihan people? Just rely on courage and determination? ”
The person who asked the question was Aragones’ current main political opponent, Cebu Chief Executive Lopez. As the governor of the second largest city in the Philippine colony, he has always been a strong contender for the position of Governor of the Philippines. Especially when Aragones has made major decision-making mistakes in consecutive years, many people believe that the country may not be far away. Wanli will send another person to replace Aragones, but will choose an official from the Philippines who knows the region better to take over. Lopez is undoubtedly one of the most suitable candidates.
However, after the colonial capital was forced to move from Manila to Cebu, the arrival of Aragones and the main institutions of the colonial authorities greatly reduced Lopez's original authority. Many things that were previously decided by him must now be decided first. It can only be implemented after getting Aragones's approval. However, the two have different political opinions. Almost most government affairs have to be delayed for several times before they can be resolved. This is naturally unacceptable to Lopez, who is used to being a Turkish emperor. .
From Lopez's point of view, he would definitely want Aragones to get out of the position of Philippine Governor-General as soon as possible, not to mention that he has a good chance of becoming the next Governor-General of the Philippines. Before that, he had to prove to everyone that the approach Aragones insisted on was wrong. Only by replacing this governor could the situation of the colony be improved.
(End of chapter)