Chapter 2024

Fernando naturally felt Lopez's hateful gaze, but he didn't care about it now. For him, it was the last word to control the military power of the Philippine colonies as soon as possible.

Naturally, Aragones, the sinner, is taking the blame for the current decline of the colonial authorities. Fernando had not directly participated in the battle with Haihan before, so it is impossible to say that he has any responsibility. Today's colonial situation

Almost all the senior generals were defeated in the Battle of Manila. Most of the remaining local armed forces were placed under Fernando's command and accepted his command. Whether Aragones falls or not, Fernando will remain secure.

In the top position of the military.

But with a good relationship with Aragones at this stage, Fernando's process of taking over the command will be much smoother. As long as the military power is obtained, no matter who becomes the governor of the Philippines next, will Fernando still have to give three points of face? What if?

If Lopez wants to be the next governor, sooner or later he will come to him in a humble manner to seek cooperation. There is no need for Fernando to worry about the other party's attitude.

Aragones insisted on using force to resolve the dispute with Haihan, which was in line with Fernando's wishes, which would make it easier for him to integrate the military resources of the colony. Lopez opposed the use of force, which was naturally incompatible with Fernando's inability to urinate.

After falling into the same pot, the relationship between the two became alienated and even antagonistic, and it was precisely for this reason.

If the Haihan intelligence department could learn of these contradictions within the Spanish colonial authorities early, or if the personnel executing this plan were experienced veterans, they would definitely take more targeted measures to take advantage of these contradictions when formulating and executing the plan.

To create internal conflict for the Spanish, thereby maximizing the effect of this plan.

However, after all, Jose and others are just newcomers who have just entered this industry for more than half a year, and it is obviously difficult for them to meet such high requirements. Therefore, even if they realize that the relationship between Spanish senior officials is not so harmonious, based on their existing experience and knowledge, it is still difficult for them to meet such high requirements.

It was difficult to immediately think of how to take advantage of these conditions. All they could do at the moment was to wait and observe. Before departure, their superiors also asked them to try not to take any proactive measures, because only in this way can they ensure that they will not

Easily expose flaws.

Since the evidence presented by Aragones is indeed very convincing, and there are both witnesses and material evidence, even Lopez cannot forcefully find fault with the eggs. After all, from the Spaniard's point of view, confronting Haihan is politically correct.

, if he forcibly opposes Aragones's proposition without any basis, it will definitely be difficult to convince the public. At the moment, Lopez can only wait and see if there are other changes in the situation that he can take advantage of.

Regarding the authenticity of these messages, senior Spanish officials did not discuss it in depth at the moment, because everyone, including opposition officials, acquiesced that the escape experience of Jose and others was true, and the discovery of the escaping experience from the hijacked ship

Naturally, the information cannot come from the advance arrangements of the Haihan people, so there is no doubt about its credibility.

Aragones also decided on the spot the rewards for Jose and others. In addition to obtaining the right of residence in Cebu, each of them will receive a settlement allowance, in addition to the sailboat they hijacked from Manila.

, and Aragones borrowed flowers to offer to the Buddha as a reward and awarded them to them.

Aragones even asked them on the spot whether they were willing to join the army, but the plan that Jose and others wanted to implement had already been clearly arranged, so he politely declined the invitation.

The intelligence agency anticipated the possibility that the colonial authorities would invite Jose and others to join the army. However, their main purpose of going to Cebu was to investigate the Spanish collaborators and collect various local intelligence in Cebu. If they joined the army, they might be in trouble.

It will be difficult to contact the outside world in a short period of time, let alone collect intelligence.

As for the military intelligence that can be collected by entering the army, the Ministry of Security and the Military Intelligence Bureau are not very interested. This is not because they look down on the Spanish, but because there were enough Spanish soldiers captured in the Battle of Manila, and even the city defense commander

Officer Francis finally took refuge with Haihan, and he already knew almost all the information he should have.

The tasks undertaken by Jose and others were far more important than collecting military intelligence, so the instructions they received were clear: avoid joining the army. If they could keep the ship, they would first do some business on the sea. If they could not, they would

, then we must first find a way to make a living at the port so that we can monitor the Chinese sailing ships and Han merchants entering and leaving Cebu.

As expected, the reaction of the colonial authorities was within the prediction of the intelligence agency, and the sailing ship was awarded to Jose and others as a reward. In this way, Jose and others would have a better reason to travel by sea and land in Cebu.

The scope of activities that can be monitored is also wider. The intelligence department also hid a sum of activity funds on the ship. Now there is no need to worry about how to take it out quietly.

The following dinner was also held in the Provisional Governor's Mansion. However, due to the limited building scale of this manor, there was no large banquet hall. After the meeting, some local celebrities came to attend the dinner, so the scene seemed more...

It was so crowded that the celebration banquet could only be held in the form of a semi-open-air buffet.

At the beginning of the banquet, Aragones still gave a speech. He explained to the guests the reason for holding the banquet, and asked Jose and others to show their faces to prove that what he said was true. However, regarding the discovery on the ship

The secret letter, and most of the contents mentioned in the secret letter, Aragones did not show off anymore.

"Everyone, let us now raise a toast to these three brave young men! They have brought us hope of victory, and what we have to do next is to win on the battlefield, defeat the Haihan people, and recapture the

Manila!" Finally, Aragones raised his glass and shouted a toast.

"For the honor of the Kingdom of Spain!" Fernando immediately raised his glass in agreement.

The top civil and military leaders expressed their opinions, and the people present also cooperated knowingly. Jose smiled shyly and raised the wine glass in his hand.

Jose thought that these dignitaries would not really take these little people seriously, but after the dinner started, many people took the initiative to come around and talk to them. Some people hoped that they could tell the story of this adventure in detail.

Some were interested in the current situation in Manila, and others asked if they were willing to work for them. The attention they received far exceeded Jose's previous expectations.

However, Jose knew his task very well. While dealing with these celebrities, he also silently paid attention to the few Han guests present.

Because Cebu is far away from the Ming Dynasty, and the former colonial capital was Manila, Manila has always been the main destination for Han immigrants and maritime merchants. There are not many Han people who have settled in Cebu all year round. After the Battle of Manila,

Many Han maritime merchants simply cut off contact with the colonial authorities because they were worried about the liquidation of Haihan. As a result, there are even fewer Han people in Cebu. Although there are dozens of guests here today, the appearance of Han Chinese

There were only a few people there, but they stood out among a large group of Spaniards.

But the problem for Jose and others is that they do not understand Chinese, so it is difficult to take the initiative to talk to the few Han people present, and it is even more outrageous to find a translator. Jose does not dare to act rashly, and can only wait and see the situation first.

Responding to the various questions raised by the Spaniards around him, he also paid attention to the movements of several Han people in the field.

In fact, the intelligence agency had already thought of the language problem when formulating the action plan, but failed to prepare a proper solution. For comprehensive considerations, the intelligence agency could only send non-Chinese intelligence personnel to Cebu, and

It is necessary to use fresh faces whose identities have never been exposed, and in the end, only a group of newcomers, Jose, can be selected to perform the task. In the execution of this special task, how much advantage Jose and others took advantage of in terms of language will also be

What a loss it suffered because of this.

However, Jose estimated that the Han guests present should be able to speak Spanish, but he really did not have the right time to test it now. There were too many people around. If he went up to chat rashly, he would accidentally be overheard by others.

, it is likely to cause unnecessary risks. Moreover, if these Han people appear here, they must have a pro-Spanish stance. Once they realize that there is something wrong with their intentions, they will probably report it to the colonial authorities immediately.

It was not until the second half of the banquet that the number of people around Jose began to slowly decrease, allowing him to finally have some room to move. At this time, he noticed that two Han Chinese were standing next to Aragones and talking. One of them

He had already seen the old man in the afternoon, always standing behind Aragones, and he seemed to be one of his staff. The other Han man was a middle-aged man, and he could tell from his dark complexion that this man should be

Traveling around all the time, I am not a pampered person.

While Aragones was talking to the middle-aged man, another old Han man also spoke from time to time, seemingly translating for the two of them. After talking for a while, Aragones called Fernando over to join him.

During the discussion, other Spanish officials came over, but they were stopped by Aragones's men. It was obvious that the content of their discussion was not suitable for publication.

Recalling that he had heard Aragones say in the afternoon that he would discuss military export arrangements with his partners in the evening, Jose felt that the identity of this Han man was quite suspicious. Of course, he wanted to get closer and listen to their conversation, but

He saw that everyone who had joined in the fun was stopped a few feet away, and he could only give up the idea at the moment.

But Jose might really be the chosen one. He was thinking about how to get close when he saw Aragones looking towards him, then gave a few instructions to a subordinate next to him, and the subordinate quickly came over.

, and asked Jose and his two companions to wait for their disposal.

Jose quickly put down the plate in his hand, raised his hand to wipe the grease from his mouth, and followed quickly.

"These are the three young men who found the secret letter on the boat they brought back from Manila. Mr. Chen, you can talk to them." Seeing Jose and others in place, Aragones signaled that he was talking to them.

The middle-aged man he was talking to could now ask questions to Jose and others.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man spoke Chinese when he opened his mouth, and the other old Chinese man immediately translated it into Spanish. It turned out that he wanted to know the detailed time and process of Jose and others' hijacking of the ship. This information

It is estimated that Aragones had just shared it with him, but it must have been difficult to convince him that this was a real incident, so he called Jose and several other parties over and asked the man named Chen to question them personally.

Jose somewhat suspected that Aragones was deliberately testing himself to see if some of the details he said were completely consistent with previous descriptions. Fortunately, the intelligence department also made arrangements for this. Before they set off, they would conduct daily training

One of the contents is to recite personal experiences repeatedly to ensure that these newcomers can remember all the details firmly in their minds, and there will be no difference even if the experience is repeated many times.

The man surnamed Chen was very patient. After asking a few simple questions, he asked Aragones to provide a quieter place. So several people left the banquet and went to the afternoon meeting room. The man surnamed Chen asked

Jose and others slowly asked what happened.

At this time, Jose was not sure of the identity and purpose of the other party, so he could only tell the story of the ship robbery and escape according to the script he knew by heart. Joaquin, Fernando, and Aragones had heard this story before.

The officials quickly believed his story in the face of sufficient evidence, which shows that the story is indeed quite convincing.

However, this man surnamed Chen does not seem to be as easy to fool as the Spanish. He asked many more details than the Spanish officials. Many of them were even about navigation, such as how they identified the course on the sea and found Cebu all the way south.

.

Of course, it was impossible for Jose to tell him that he had detailed nautical charts provided by the Haihan military as a guide. At that moment, he half-truthfully claimed that he was not familiar with navigation. Fortunately, there were some sailors on the ship who knew how to identify the course.

I found a rough chart, then groped all the way, and finally arrived in Cebu. But in fact, if there is no detailed navigation chart guidance or someone familiar with the route, just knowing the general course, I want to

Finding the right destination in the Philippine archipelago, which has more than 7,000 islands, is by no means an easy task.

The man surnamed Chen obviously knew a lot about navigation. After hearing Jose's description, he did not immediately accept it. Instead, he shook his head and expressed doubts: "You mean you can sail from Manila from Manila just by relying on an undetailed chart?"

Arriving in Cebu smoothly? According to the flight you mentioned, it was just a little slower on the road, but you almost didn’t go in the wrong direction. This is really good luck, right?”
Chapter completed!