Dragon Sea Empire

This is the bank of a tributary north of the Pasig River, and Li Dan's home in Luzon is here.This is Dundu Village, where the church on the north bank of the Pasig River is located, and it is also the center of Binondo, a Chinese Christian community.This Spanish-style building with a garden is four stories high, with an observation deck on the top floor, where Li Dan's family lives.There are also some Chinese or Western-style residences of wealthy Balian merchants nearby, and even aboriginal-style stilt houses.Standing on the observation deck on the roof of Li Dan's house, you can see the Balian Chinese District on the south bank of the Pasig River, and you can also see the Manila King City next to the Chinese District.

Now, the tropical sun shines on the surface of the Bashi River. Countless small boats, Tagalog canoes, temporarily bundled rafts, and bamboo rafts are densely covered with this rather wide river, going back and forth between the north and the south. Ferry between the two shores.Countless Chinese rely on these means of transportation, dragging large bags and small bags, carrying pots and pans, pulling each other, crying and howling to the north to cross the Bashi River.Some Tagalog women followed their Chinese husbands to cross the river, and the babies in their arms were also crying.There were several thick smokes rising from the Balian Market behind them, and farther away from the city of Manila, the muzzle of the black cannon was aimed at this side.

Yesterday's massacre has become widely known, and all the Chinese in Balian were stunned for a while.Then, a great escape began.As early as January, the Chinese fleeing disaster had established a refuge in the swamp called Tondo in the north.Now, all the Chinese in Balian want to leave the city of Manila as far as possible, and the farther away from the Ganba people, the better.As a result, Tondo's Sanctuary has become a veritable place of hope for everyone.

When a large group of Chinese crossed the river and walked north through Binondo and Binandu, many physiological Christians also walked out of the settlement with gold and silver coins and joined the fleeing army.There are all kinds of people in this team: mainly domestic merchants who are wintering (overwintering) in Balian, merchants with fixed shops in Balian Market, shopkeepers, shopkeepers, craftsmen and their buddies, servants, apprentices, and those in the market. All kinds of refugees who do odd jobs in the area.

Standing on the top floor of Li Dan's house are Yin Feng and Li Dan.

Magaro found Li Dan, and at the same time found that Binondo was still safe for the time being. The Spanish missionaries and the priests of the church all went to the nearby Maquina Manor—the manor that massacred more than 300 Chinese. The owner is Captain Maquina of the Spanish Army.

Yin Feng waited until it was getting dark before entering Binondo and arrived at Li Dan's house.At this time, the news of the massacre at the Maquina Manor had spread throughout the Chinese community: three Chinese temporarily hid in the jungle beside the road to defecate, and not only escaped the catastrophe, but also quickly spread the news throughout the Pasig River The Chinese districts on both sides of the strait, and the Chinese temporary refuge in Tondo.

Li Dan's family is also planning for the worst. After buying the goods in the warehouse regardless of cost, they are packing up all the soft goods they can bring. "Brother Li, are you also planning to escape to Tongduo?" Yin Feng asked quickly.Li Dan has already told him about the current situation, and he is very surprised that Yin Feng can come to Manila at this time.

"Things are already bad. The massacre of the Tang people yesterday will only make things worse. Although I am a Christian, who knows what the Ganguan people will do?" Li Dan looked at Yin Feng and pointed to the river. The fleeing crowd laughed bitterly and said: "Look, everyone is scrambling to go north, but you are still thinking about going south. Brothers from the Zeng family may be among these people!"

Yin Feng also smiled bitterly, looking at the flustered Bashi River in the sun, and said after a while: "I have asked Magaro to take someone to the other side to find out the news. You are right, you should go now , let's go to my ship together."

A few Binondo residents passed by the garden of Li's family, and they hurriedly joined the fleeing crowd with their parcels.

Li Dan sighed, looked at the busy family servants in the garden, and shook his head: "I am 36 years old this year, and I have worked hard here for ten years. Ten years! I was penniless when I first arrived in Manila, and now I am considered One of the best Chinese merchants in the local area. There is still half of my family property in Manila, and there are countless Guanla people who owe me the money. Also,..." He looked at the busy family members in the yard, and suddenly made up his mind As if to say: "These family members, Jiannei and my more than 100 associates, I can't leave them alone!"

After sighing, Li Dan patted Yin Feng on the shoulder: "Since you are here, I want to entrust you with one thing. In today's world, there are not many men like you who don't sacrifice their lives to save friends, and value love and righteousness. I believe you .”

Yin Feng shook his head: "It's too good, I just want peace of mind."

Of course, Li Dan didn't know that he knew about the Manila massacre in advance, so he thought he was still being modest: "You don't have to be polite in front of me. Although we are just business partners, you are the person I trust most now after two years of dating." .”

He walked down the stairs and motioned Yin Feng to follow.

As the breeze blew, the fine gauze curtains in the corridor fluttered with the wind, brushing against Yin Feng's cheeks.Li Dan pushed open the door of the room on the second floor, and a girl in a Spanish-style white dress stood in the middle of the room. The long skirt with a tight waist showed a slender figure; Li Dan bent over and said, "Brother..."

Yin Feng rubbed his eyes. Such a beautiful Chinese girl in a foreign dress suddenly appeared in a Chinese family in the early 17th century, almost making him wonder if he had traveled back in time.Li Dan looked back at him, was very satisfied with his surprised expression, and smiled knowingly: "This is sister Lihua, 17 years old, who has lived here for 10 years, and learned the same things as those women who are related to Layang. "

Yin Feng quickly closed his opened mouth, swallowed, and hurriedly nodded his head.

Yin Feng's surprise seemed to Li Dan a normal reaction: Chinese women are very rare in Luzon.

At that time, Fujian and Guangdong Chinese were more taboo to bring women on board, and at that time, Chinese women generally lived in closed families, and it was impossible for Chinese who came out to explore the world to bring their families. Therefore, there were very few Chinese women in the Balian Chinese area, and the gender ratio was serious. Imbalance, and even lead to a lot of homosexual phenomenon.

Homosexuality was relatively common in China during the Ming Dynasty, and traditional Chinese culture did not particularly reject it; the Spaniards were different. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposed homosexuality, and Spain was a country with strong religious sentiments among European countries at that time. Therefore, Archbishop Tang of Manila Father Miguel de Benavidez regularly used this to attack biological people during mass in the church.

The bishop is also the most active advocate of strict measures against biological people.

Yin Feng's mind turned around in the historical materials, and suddenly he thought of a question: Li Dan has a family in Quanzhou. Although his family background is poor, he is now rich, so there is no reason to bring his sister to Luzon Island. Live with the Ganla people.

Li Dan sighed and said, "Just in case, in case...you take Lihua away and bring her back to Quanzhou. This is my entrustment."

Yin Feng didn't know whether he was happy or worried for a while, and his expression was very strange.

Li Dan was whispering something to Lihua, Yin Feng watched them: obviously, the girl in dress treats Li Dan with the same respect as her father.

Suddenly, there was a burst of musket shooting from the direction of Bashi River, followed by bursts of sharp cries and roars.

Startled, Yin Feng turned around and ran up to the top floor, and Li Dan followed.

On the north bank of the Bashi River, a large group of fleeing Chinese marched northward scatteredly, and the sound of gunfire came from the direction of Maquina Manor in the east.Several Spanish officers rode tall horses and led a dozen Spanish armed men to appear there.A group of Pampanga archers followed, and after approaching the Chinese crowd, they began to draw their bows and shoot arrows.The Spanish officer commanded the troops to rush towards the Chinese with swords, driving them to flee in all directions, leaving dead and wounded everywhere.

Those Spaniards also had armed men dressed as civilians, probably colonists like Spanish planters.

At the edge of the woods where Yin Feng could not see with naked eyes, the disheveled Zeng Yue and a servant of the Zeng family fled under a tree and sat down on the grass exhausted. Sit down: "Master, the Ganguan people have gone to the river beach, what should we do?"

Zeng Yue took out a few ingots of silver from the bundle he was carrying, stuffed them back in, and handed the bundle to his servant.He gasped and said, "Take this. The Ganguanla people are chasing after you. If you throw money at them, you may be able to escape. I have to go to Jingshan. You should go to Tongdo first."

The servant panicked and said, "My lord, what are you doing here?"

Zeng Yue smiled wryly and said: "The third son and the others haven't escaped, and the money earned from this trip is still with Jingshan, I don't worry about it!" The servant shook his head: "How can this be, it can't be like this, master. I'll go to Master Jingshan, You go to Tondo! Mr. Li

The people should have been there. "

Zeng Yue pushed him and said, "Stop nagging, run away, you have quick legs, maybe there is a chance of life, leave me alone. I can't run anymore!" Tears rolled out of his eyes, and he lay in despair On the grass, the servant was wringing his hands at a loss.Zeng Yue's despair was not only for the 10,000+ taels of silver lost this time, nor for Zeng Jingshan who was lost by the river just now, but also for himself that he might never return to Quanzhou.For the past few years, he has been in charge of a well-known firm, and Zeng Jingshan and Yin Feng are the only ones who go out to work. In recent years, the business of the Zeng family has depended on these two people working hard outside.Zeng Yue is actually a very strong person, but he is calm by nature, so outsiders can't see it.This year, Yin Feng was injured and ill. He insisted on taking Yin Feng's place and coming to Luzon to do business. He also wanted to prove his talent to the older generation in his family.

Yin Feng's sense of guilt and his insistence on coming to Luzon to save people are partly due to Zeng Yue taking his place.

There were still people crossing the Pasig River, and they gathered with the people who had been driven back by the Spaniards, forming a panicked and clueless crowd, scurrying on the river beach in terror, and some people were shot by Pampanga's bow and arrow from time to time. He was shot in the hand and fell down screaming.

Gunshots rang out again, and Spanish officers on horseback appeared on the riverbank, followed by a Tagalog man, shouting something to the Chinese fleeing in panic.He can speak Chinese, but with a heavy accent, and his general meaning is to ask people to stop participating in the rebellion and return to Balian immediately.No one of the Chinese listened to what he was saying, and they were still running around on the river beach to escape the Spanish cavalry.The leading Spanish officer reined in his horse, raised his gun, and knocked a Chinese man who had just landed into the river with a bang! A stream of dark red blood gushed out of the river.

Yin Feng felt that unreal feeling of watching a movie again.It's ridiculous!So unscrupulous!This is how the Spaniards, who claim to be a Christian civilization, treat people of other nations.

These are his compatriots, so they were treated like animals and slaughtered at will, and a surge of anger can't help but surge in my heart.He turned around and was about to go down; the reporter's instinct to come to the scene in person, fearing that the world would not be chaotic, came out again.Li Dan had been prepared for his character, which is prone to overflowing sense of justice. He stretched out his hand to hold him, stopped him and said, "What do you want to do again? You can't save them!" Fortunately, he had been a pirate before, and he was strong enough. Otherwise, it may not be able to hold Yin Feng, who is tall and burly.

Yin Feng stared at him with wide eyes, took a breath, and calmed down.

At this time, the desperate Chinese gathered bamboo sticks, wooden sticks, stones by the river, and branches from trees. Under the leadership of a big black man, they braved arrows and bullets to gather. He was shot and fell to the ground, but once someone led them, the Chinese stopped running around like chickens without their heads.Many angry Chinese youths who were driven into a hurry followed the big black man, rushed towards the Spaniards with branches and stones in their hands, and shouted loudly at the same time: "Folks, there are only a few foreign devils, kill them! Go!"