Forty-eight years of Qianlong

While Zhao Xin was talking with Lu Qi, a fleet of two Manila galleons was heading north along the winding coastline of western North America.One of the two ships is named "San Fernando" with a displacement of 1500 tons; the other is named "San Antonio" with a displacement of 1900 tons.

You must know that before the arrival of Beihai Town, the Spanish Empire had no serious threats on the west coast of America. Apart from the forts at various ports, the Manila galleon based at the Port of Acapulco was enough to deal with it.Of course, Admiral Denava thought the same way before, and ended up sinking one ship and seriously injuring another.

Although the Spanish side already knew the power of Beihai Town's cannons, they didn't rush to dispatch battleships from the east coast.Besides, this time I came here to negotiate and ask for prisoners. It is meaningless to get two battleships to show off.

At this time, in the captain's cabin at the stern of the "San Carlos", several blubber candles as thick as a baby's forearm illuminated the room in detail. Brother Hilarion Diez, who served as the translator for this mission, He was telling the missionaries, including Archbishop Peralta, what he had seen and heard in San Francisco.As he told the story, everyone present looked sometimes surprised and sometimes angry.

Brother Deeds joined the mission in Monterey, and most of the members of the mission, except for California Governor Jose Joaquin de Aliraga and Franciscan Mission President Fermin de Rasuan, and the others all boarded from Acapulco.

"You mean the Chinese not only razed our church to the ground, but built a temple of their own there?"

"Yes, my lord bishop. It's just like the Temple of the City God I saw in Macau and Manila. It's just that in addition to enshrining their own patron saints, they also enshrine the Indian eagle gods and wolf gods."

Archbishop Peralta interjected: "Neoma?"

Brother Diez shook his head and said: "No. It's a female deity similar to 'Teyquam'. She has eight arms, sitting on a lotus seat, and each hand holds an object."

When the archbishop heard this, he said indignantly, "Heretics! They should be sent to the stake to be burned to death!"

Brother Diz said humbly: "You are so right!"

Okay, I have to explain the above conversation.

It is said that among the European countries before the first Opium War, Spain has the deepest research on China.Beginning in the 20s, in order to better infiltrate Christian forces into the interior of China, there appeared successively such Christian churches as Xavier, Martin de Rada, Gao Muxian, Escalante, Mendoza, etc. Spanish scholars with religious identity, they even became the earliest sinologists in Europe.

Among these people, the most well-known "Sinologist" is Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza, who belongs to the Augustinian Catholic Church.Interestingly, this person had never been to China and did not understand Chinese. However, he wrote a widely influential historical work - "History of the Great Empire of China" by collecting contemporary materials and other people's research results.

This book covers many materials of Ming Dynasty China, including natural environment, history, culture, customs, etiquette, religious belief, politics and economy. It can be called the most important encyclopedia for Europeans to understand ancient China.

How authoritative is this book?Basically from the [-]th century to the early [-]th century, every trade representative sent to Guangzhou or missionary sent to the East from various European countries must have a copy.

In this set of books, in the introduction to Chinese religion and idol worship, it was specifically mentioned that among the many gods worshiped by the Chinese people in the Ming Dynasty—it should be believed in the area south of the Yangtze River, three were the most important, namely Sichia and Teyquam. , Neoma.The first is Sakyamuni, the second is the Queen Mother, and the last is Mazu.

The problem is that the main god enshrined in the Taoist temple in Kinmen is Doumu Yuanjun, the innate god of Taoism and the mother of all stars.In the Taoist mythology system, this man had nine sons in total. The eldest son and second son were "Emperor Gouchen" and "Emperor Ziwei" respectively, and the other seven were the Big Dipper.

The reason why Taoist Ma Benchu ​​wanted to make an ingenious sacrifice to such a main god was because he was flattering Zhao Xin in a subtle way.

Emperor Ziwei, also known as the "Arctic Emperor", has the highest position and is the most noble, and is the "Lord of the Stars".Historically, Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang were all said to be the reincarnations of Emperor Ziwei, and their civil and martial arts were extremely high in Chinese history.Thinking that Beihai Town was founded in the northern land outside Guan, it goes without saying who Emperor Ziwei is alluding to.

Brother Diz obviously didn't understand this, so he took Doumu Yuanjun with a female face for granted as the Queen Mother.

At this time, someone interjected: "How many priests do they have?"

Brother Diez said: "I only saw three people. In China, such people are called Taoist priests. I have seen people with the same attire in Macau."

Archbishop Peralta nodded and said, "You continue."

Brother Deeds said: "On behalf of the diocese, I protested to the Chinese, hoping to allow us to restore the church and compensate for the demolition of the church. However, their governor clearly refused."

Hearing this, Archbishop Peralta and Fermin de La Suen looked at each other, frowning deeply.Compared with the Chinese occupation of San Francisco by force, the violation of religious rights made them more worried.

You must know that Spain's colonial conquest process in the Americas essentially used a combination of religious power and royal power, which was very different from the colonial methods of Protestant countries.

Protestant countries such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands practice mercantilism and put trade first. They don't care whether the natives believe in God or not. Those who make money are God. They must circle their sphere of influence first.This is especially true for the Russians. Their desire for furs makes them use both hands to kill and lure, and they also do not care whether the natives convert or not.Spain is different from Portugal. As an old colonial empire that started the Age of Discovery, its main motivation for overseas expansion was to seize the wealth of the East and spread Catholicism in an attempt to establish a "Catholic Empire" spanning the world.

With tens of thousands of missionaries as pioneers, they went deep into Indian tribes and villages, holding up the cross in one hand and wielding muskets and spears in the other.Forced the aborigines to change their beliefs and lifestyles, assimilated the colonies religiously and culturally, and turned the local aborigines into serfs under the plantation system; A hierarchy system parallel to the administrative system.

By the 20s, the total number of churches established by Spain in the American colonies was as high as 1.2, and [-] churches were built in the Viceroyalty of Mexico alone.For many Indians in western North America, the first Europeans they encountered were missionaries.

The chairman of the Franciscan Mission, Fermin de Rasun, pondered for a moment, and then said eagerly to Peralta: "Your Excellency, after returning this time, please be sure to report to the Royal Supreme Council Members of Parliament explain the situation, and the Diocese of San Francisco must not be lost under any circumstances. If necessary, I will make a statement to His Excellency the Governor and Members of Parliament.”

Don't think that La Suen is making a fuss. You must know that although it is the end of the eighteenth century, the Spanish Empire is still an extremely conservative and religiously fanatical country among European countries.Especially after the French Revolution, in order to resist the spread of the Enlightenment, the Inquisition, which had already declined, rose again. Religious and political absolutism and intolerance became consistent principles in Spanish politics and culture, which lasted for decades.

Although the political power of the church was restricted and the royal family intervened more and more in church affairs, the promotion of missionary work in the colonies was still an important means to consolidate rule.A few missionaries, a church, and a small army can often control a large area.

Therefore, what Beihai Town did in the Kinmen area was undoubtedly a challenge to the Spanish colonial system that combined royal power and religious power. This was a far more serious problem than the loss of several colonial strongholds!
Peralta sighed after hearing this and said slowly: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to get support from the mainland for this matter. You know, our war with the French has reached a critical moment, and neither the mainland nor the eastern provinces can Send troops to support. There is another one, you all know, that is Santo Domingo."

"Ah! How could this happen." All the monks present sighed heavily.

At this point in time, the Spanish Empire was in a very difficult situation. The "French Revolutionary War" far away in Europe had entered a critical period. The "Battle of the Pyrenees" was approaching the final moment of the decisive battle. The Spanish army was the main force that did its part.

It is said that in the first anti-French alliance war, the battles of Valmy, Jemappe and Toulon are usually talked about by future generations.But in fact, the "Battle of the Pyrenees" was an important weight in ensuring the victory of the French Revolutionary War, and it also paved the way for the subsequent Peninsular War in the Napoleonic era.

In response to the French army's offensive on the eastern front, the Spanish army made the best of it. With a huge force of 9 troops, they established a line of defense consisting of 90 fortresses from the northern border of Catalonia to the Mediterranean Sea.In the history of another time and space, this war will last until July next year, and it will end with the defeat of the main force of the Spanish army by the French army and the capture of Bilbao as the end mark, and the West and France will thus conclude a war alliance.

If the local war is imminent, the Spanish Santo Domingo far away in Latin America is now in chaos, causing the army of the New Spain province in the Americas to fall into a quagmire.Santo Domingo is actually the later collective name of Haiti and Dominica. The former is now a French colony and the latter is a Spanish colony.

Beginning in 1791, the black slave uprising broke out in Haiti.In order to add chaos to France, and even take French Santo Domingo into its pocket, the province of New Spain has publicly supported the rebels since last year, and even incorporated the black rebel army into its second-line troops, giving black officers and soldiers the privileges enjoyed by Spanish nationals. Full rights.

The problem is that Toussaint Louverture, known as the "Father of the Founding of Haiti," had a lifelong goal to liberate all the black slaves on the island of Saint-Domingue, not just the four thousand officers and soldiers who joined the Spanish army.However, his proposal was rejected by Spain, and Toussaint became independent from the rebel forces and called himself "Commander-in-Chief of the Black Forces."Due to his huge appeal among blacks, plantation slaves from both French and Spanish countries fled to join his troops.

Now the Spaniards are quitting. They support you and let you create trouble for the French. How can a dog bite Lu Dongbin and turn around to poach our enemies?The Spaniards then turned to support other rebel leaders and even placed Toussaint's wife and children under house arrest.

This time Toussaint stopped playing with the Spaniards, and instead flirted with the French.In February of this year, the National Convention finally made a resolution to abolish slavery in Saint-Domingue. In July, when the news reached Toussaint's ears, he completely turned to France.

Seeing that Toussaint had turned his back, Spain knew that it could not be handled by its own family alone, so it sent an invitation to the United Kingdom. How about our two families carve up French Santo Domingo?
The British side readily agreed and sent the first expeditionary force of 7600 people.Although Britain and France are fighting each other to the death in Europe, when the British army landed in Port-au-Prince, they were welcomed by the French who supported slavery.

Ordinarily, the British attacked from the west coast, and the Spanish army attacked from the north and the border of the Western French colonies. The two empires were serving the Dusan family, and the small ones should surrender anyway.

However, what the Spanish did not expect was that within two months after the British army arrived in Saint-Domingue, a large-scale yellow fever outbreak occurred. Both officers and soldiers were either dead or waiting to die; so Du San took advantage of this opportunity to concentrate his forces against the Spanish army, which had now entered the territory of Spanish Santo Domingo.

So you see, Europe and Central America are in such a mess. How can the province of New Spain have the time to deal with the North Sea town entrenched in Upper California?As the representative of the Royal Supreme Council in America, Archbishop Peralta, whose status is second only to the governor of the province, knows this too well!

Compared to people like the Archbishop and the Franciscan Mission, California Governor De Arrillaga who is present here is more concerned about taking back the San Francisco area.However, just five days ago, when Archbishop Peralta arrived in Monterey, he also brought a letter from Juan Vicente de Guemes Pacheco, the governor of New Spain.

In this letter, Governor Pacheco ordered him to cooperate with the archbishop to bring back the captured officers and soldiers.Before fully understanding the strength of the Chinese, we must do everything possible to avoid continuing armed conflicts with the Chinese in Jinmen Town, so as not to cause further erosion of the situation in California. For this reason, we can even give up all jurisdiction north of Santa Cruz.

However, if the Chinese try to use the victory of this war as a threat to assert territorial claims on the west coast of California, they must resolutely push back.

After reading the letter, De Aliraga knew that his idea of ​​leading troops to retake San Francisco was dead.Moreover, what the governor said is tantamount to taking off his pants and farting, purely for the sake of looking good.The territory has been ceded to others, and you have the nerve to say that you disagree with their territorial claims?

19. About the Augustinians.One of the four major mendicant orders of the Catholic Church.During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Spanish Church sent Augustinian missionaries to Fujian many times to preach. It was not until the [-]th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty that a missionary base was established in Guangzhou. After that, parishes were established in Changde, Lizhou and Yuezhou in Hunan for a short period of time. After the "Da Liyi Incident", the faction was all expelled.[-]. Since the Song Dynasty, Doumu Yuanjun has become a deity that straddles Buddhism and Taoism, corresponding to the incarnation of Vairocana Buddha, Malizhitian Bodhisattva.