Chapter 952 Countermeasures

Although they are all unlucky, whether it is the Portuguese who took the lead in hugging Shanghai Han's thigh, or the Dutch who woke up after suffering several losses, their situation is obviously better than that of the Spaniards who just understood the situation. At least the first two or

More or less, it can retain some trade share in Northeast Asia, but Spain's current situation is that it has been excluded from this chess game. Aragones even suspects that the number of Ming merchants coming to Manila for transactions has decreased this year, perhaps because

Haihan consciously imposed restrictions during this period, with the purpose of cutting off the trade relations between Spain and the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Philippines is hundreds of nautical miles away from the Ming Dynasty, the colony's economic source relies heavily on the Ming Dynasty's commodity exports. Although the Philippines also has other high-value outputs, such as spices, timber, and copper mines

Wait, but after losing the market of Ming Dynasty, these outputs can no longer be exchanged for Ming Dynasty goods through barter as in the past, and their actual value will be greatly reduced. If it were not for the massive quantities sent by America

Silver ingots serve as the ballast stone to stabilize the local economy, and Aragones is probably worried about the declining trade situation at this moment.

But as the highest administrator of the Kingdom of Spain in the Far East, Aragones cannot sit back and watch the situation continue to deteriorate. Now that Manila has been excluded from the Ming Dynasty's trading partners, if he continues to sit back and watch the Haihan people continue to do this

, Aragones is very worried that Spain's living space in the Far East will be squeezed out bit by bit. If the goods shipped back to the Americas next year are still only half or even less than in previous years, then his job as governor of the Philippines will probably be over.

Already.

A head-on fight with the Haihan people? Aragones felt that he did not have much certainty of victory. Considering the geographical location of Manila, the risk of such a full-scale war still cannot be started casually. After all, the armed fleet of the Haihan people is not used

It is just a decoration to fill the stage. Since they have the ability to attack the pirate lair in Hangzhou Bay, which is thousands of nautical miles away from the base camp of Sanya, and the Ambunas Islands in the South China Sea, then Manila is only 600 to 700 nautical miles away from Sanya and Penghu. Speaking of which,

It should also be within its combat radius.

If the Haihan fleet arrives at Manila, not to mention whether it can land ashore to attack the city, even if it is just a battle at sea, the Spanish fleet cannot afford to suffer too much damage. After all, in addition to Haihan, there are also the Netherlands and Portugal.

These secretly coveting opponents may jump out and take a bite when Spain is at its weakest. This worst-case scenario must be guarded against.

But to take the initiative to talk to the Haihan people like this, Aragones also felt a bit embarrassed. After all, it was his side that was beaten in the first round. After suffering such a humiliating loss, he would have to deal with his side again in the second round.

It's a little unjustifiable both emotionally and rationally to show his face. The face of the Kingdom of Spain cannot be lost so easily.

Aragones thought about it over and over, but still couldn't come up with a perfect strategy. That day, when he was sighing in his office, a servant came in and reported that Sanchez, who was in charge of managing port affairs, came to see him.

Sanchez is a member of Aragones' staff team. He also contributed to the previous proposal to expand the Manila Port. The reason why he was not jailed like other staff members is because he happens to have another identity as Aragones.

A nephew. Even if Aragones wants to find someone to take the blame, he cannot push him off the cliff, otherwise he will not be able to explain to Sanchez’s family after returning to China. Of course, in order to show fairness, Sanchez’s two original deputies

He was still caught and punished to serve as a warning to others.

"Tell me, Sanchez, have you got any good news?" Aragones looked at Sanchez and asked in an indifferent tone. Since the last time his staff were collectively punished, the relationship between Aragones and his nephew is not what it used to be.

So close. Prior to this, Sanchez had won the trust of his uncle. Even after he suggested expanding the port, Aragones used his private property to invest in the construction of two new docks. However, the deterioration of the situation made this

All the investments were in vain, and Aragones lost thousands of gold coins. Naturally, he would no longer have a good opinion of his nephew.

"Sir Governor, I just heard some news at the port, and I think it is necessary to report it to you." Sanchez's face was a little flustered, and it seemed that the news he brought may not make Aragones happy.

What Sanchez brought was indeed not good news. He learned from an Arab businessman who had just arrived in Hong Kong that Haihan had sent a fleet to visit Borneo and Java in the south a few days ago, and invited local

Countries are sending representatives to attend a meeting that will be held on Amborna Island in the near future. It is reported that several major countries in the South China Sea have been invited, even the Dutch are among them.

"Is this news reliable?" Aragones was still very sensitive to intelligence information. Although Sanchez's report was very rough, he still smelled something unusual in it and immediately asked Sanchez.

"It should be reliable." Sanchez explained: "Captain Hassan has trade relations with the Matalan Kingdom and the Dutch, and before coming here, he witnessed the huge fleet of the Haihan people in the waters near Batavia. According to

He said that there are at least more than forty warships in the fleet, and there are two particularly large warships, which are much larger than our sailing ships."

Aragones thought for a while and asked abruptly: "How much did you spend to buy this news from Hassan?"

"One hundred silver coins." Sanchez responded honestly: "I think what Hassan said should be true, because his side job is an intelligence dealer. If someone is willing to pay, I think he will also tell the topography of Manila Port

Trying to sell it to people in need."

Arab merchants are a relatively unique group of merchants. They do not have large colonies in the Far East. They just constantly shuttle between various trading ports and obtain profit margins by transshipping goods. This business strategy requires them to cooperate with various trading ports.

If both the country and the camp have a good relationship, there will generally be no obvious political bias or partisan behavior. These Arab businessmen will often resell the intelligence information at hand and act as part-time intelligence dealers in various trading ports. Of course, these

Most of the intelligence information is only related to trade, and only a few involve military and political aspects. Generally speaking, the credibility is quite high.

Aragones stood up, lowered his head and began to pace indoors, thinking about what Haihan's intention was. He sent a powerful fleet south to the Java line, but it was not for the purpose of starting a war. It was probably a special trip to show off his power.

A powerful fleet can often frighten the enemy before starting a war and make it lose the courage to resist. The Spanish fleet has used similar methods all over the world, and this is not uncommon.

But what is the meaning of the invitation for talks to the South China Sea countries by the Haihan people? Why did they also invite the Dutch, who are hostile to them? What issues do the Haihan people want to discuss with these countries? Is it related to Spain being excluded?

A series of questions popped up in Aragones' mind, but there was no clear clue. Although it was not yet known what the Haihan people's purpose was in contacting these countries in the South China Sea, Aragones already had a vague idea of ​​something bad.

premonition.

"What about other countries? Especially those countries that have good relations with Haihan, such as Annan and Champa. Is there any news from these places?" Aragones still had a trace of luck. Maybe the Haihan people wanted to hold talks.

Just talking about trade and commerce with South China Sea countries is not a big plan.

"I just want to inform you about this news." Sanchez's face became more and more gloomy: "More than a month before the Haihan fleet went south, I heard that Annan and Champa also sent warships to join Haihan.

The team. According to the information we received, they claimed to be holding military exercises in the South China Sea."

"Bullshit military exercise!" Aragones yelled angrily with an almost roaring tone: "Sanchez, they are trying to form a military alliance! They are deliberately excluding us! These damn upstarts! Heretics! Yellow-skinned

barbarian!"

Sanchez remained silent and did not dare to answer the conversation in such a furious mood. He did not think so much, but he just felt that there might be some connection between the information, so he hurriedly informed Aragones.

"According to what you said, Haihan and Annan Champa formed a joint fleet more than a month before they visited Java. So you should have received this news a long time ago. Why are you reporting it now?" Aragonet

Si was not angry yet, and after calming down his anger, he immediately began to question Sanchez.

Sanchez said in astonishment: "Haihan has been in alliance with these two countries for several years, and they have held joint military exercises every year in the past. Since their destination is not the Philippine waters, I think these trends have little to do with us.

relationship, so I didn’t report it to you before. It was only after receiving new news today that I thought that the two things might be connected to some extent..."

After hearing this, Aragones felt helpless. This was not because Sanchez was not vigilant enough. It was indeed because he could not have expected that the Haihan Fleet would go south to Java in the name of an exercise. And Annan, who went south with them,

, Champa, must have also played a role of flag-waving minions in the process of Haihan's contact with local countries. So many countries have been dragged into Haihan, but there is not even the slightest news in Manila, which is even more

It is certain that Haihan intends to exclude Spain.

Regardless of whether the Haihan people want to form a military alliance or some other transnational alliance, Spain will obviously not receive any benefits when it is squeezed out, and it will also face competitive pressure from these countries in the future. This is a big problem for the Manila authorities.

That said, it's absolutely bad news.

The only good thing is that it was not too late for Sanchez to discover the terrible truth. At least Aragones still had a glimmer of hope: "That Arab Assan..."

"It's Hassan, sir." Sanchez corrected carefully.

"Call it whatever you want!" Aragones was not in the mood to argue about these insignificant details. He waved his hand and continued: "Have he found out the specific time when the Haihan people invited these countries to send people to the Ambunas Islands for talks?

?”

Sanchez's expression was as if he was mourning: "If his information is more accurate, then this meeting started about a week ago. By this time, all participating countries may have finished talking and gone home."

Aragones suddenly felt a pain in his temples, as if his head was going to explode. He knew that his old problem had recurred. Every time he got excited, his head would swell like air. He could only rely on alcohol to anesthetize or

Bloodletting therapy can slightly alleviate this terrible physical condition.

"Sanchez, pour me a glass of wine, I have to drink." Aragones put his head in his hands and ordered weakly.

Sanchez did not dare to neglect, and immediately walked quickly to the wine cabinet, picked up a bottle of wine, opened it, and poured a glass for Aragones.

"Thank you, I feel better." After taking a few sips of wine, Aragones felt that his headache was slightly relieved. At this time, he looked at the wine glass and said quietly: "This is brewed by Haihan people.

They named the sugar cane wine "Sanya Special Wine", which means the special wine produced in Sanya. This wine is special enough. The sugar cane wine we brewed in the colony of New Spain is far from having such a good taste.

.Look at this glass bottle again. In the past, we could sell this thing to merchants in Ming Dynasty for at least five to seven pesos. However, the Haihan people use it to hold wine, and its appearance is even more beautiful than ours. Dear

My nephew, do you know how much this bottle of wine costs?"

Sanchez nodded and said: "I know, the price shipped to the local area by Ming merchants is eight pesos a bottle, and the retail price in the city can be sold for ten pesos."

"But the export price of this thing in Haihan is only equivalent to three to four pesos. Just because we have not established a trade relationship with Haihan, these profiteers can earn double the gross profit on each bottle of wine!"

Aragones got so angry that he couldn't help but hit the table hard, causing Sanchez to tremble in surprise.

"The Haihan people sell glass products at the lowest price, and even use them as containers for other commodities, such as various cooking oils, wines, and the very expensive perfumes they sell... This is really a genius idea.

, if this kind of wine is sold in earthen jars, it can sell for at most one peso, but now it can be sold for ten times the price with high-end packaging, and our glassware is unsalable because of this..." Maybe

It was because a glass of wine started to take effect, and Aragones's topic became more and more eccentric, ranging from the international situation to business marketing techniques.
Chapter completed!