Chapter 945: Big Profit

Governor's Office. Reading

Zhao Xu asked Bater to sit opposite him, and took out a goose feather pen from the ink bottle on the table, and he began to write on a piece of paper.

After a quarter of an hour, he pushed the paper to Bater.

Bater could read because his mother could read.

According to him, his mother and grandfather were once a family of scholars in Dasong.

They were attacked by pirates and plundered to Manila.

"Your Highness, there are many things on it that I don't understand very well." Bater took the paper and looked at it carefully, a little confused.

Zhao Xu then explained it to him.

The first clause of this contract was that the Manila Governor's Office would be renamed the Southern Domain Protectorate, and at the same time, all the property of the Portuguese in Luzon would be taken over by the Dasong court.

Bater didn't understand what the Protectorate was, and when he learned about the duties of the Protectorate from Zhao Xu, he was not angry, but very excited.

The King of Yan in Dasong said that he would support him to be the king of Manila.

Although he was willing, he was more afraid.

He was afraid that the native officials and generals in Manila would disobey his orders.

After all, he was just a slave before.

Now, there is a Protectorate in charge of guarding the southern region in the whole of Luzon, and he immediately took a reassurance.

With the protection of the Dasong army, who can do anything to him?

"The second article is about trade..." Zhao Xu continued, and some of the following clauses were basically the same as those in Goryeo and Japan.

Of course, the most important one is to abolish the Portuguese currency circulating in Luzon and replace it with Songyuan.

As for how General Bater governs Luzon, he doesn't care.

But there is one thing, as long as the Protectorate is there, no matter how the throne of Luzon changes, the Protectorate will protect the interests of Dasong in Luzon.

"Your Highness, everything will be as you wish." After understanding all the clauses, Bater said respectfully.

Before the Portuguese arrived, the King of Manila sent envoys to the Central Plains Dynasty every year to pay tribute.

For him, this was just a restoration of the former order in the East.

As for other clauses, he didn't care.

Compared with the oppression of the Portuguese on Luzon, the King of Yan can only be said to be kind to them.

After all, the previous King of Manila did not have much freedom.

After the matter was agreed, Zhao Xu handed Bater over to Zhou Yi.

After taking Manila, the navy could not act for the time being.

On the one hand, Cebu and Cotton Island had to be recovered, and on the other hand, the assets of the Portuguese had to be taken over.

Of course, there was another very important thing, which was to assist Bater in establishing his kingdom order.

For example, to establish an indigenous army that obeyed Bater.

The muskets and artillery captured from the Portuguese could be used for this.

After that, there were civil servants who obeyed Bater. He would take the opportunity to stuff some overseas Song people into this government system.

In this way, the control of Luzon was perfectly closed.

The two left, Zhao Xu left the Governor's Mansion, walked east along the streets of Manila, and headed to the largest rubber plantation in Luzon.

In order to protect his safety, in addition to the guards led by Xu Lie, Pan Chang also led two thousand soldiers to accompany him for protection.

"This Manila is really prosperous and poor at the same time." On the road, Xu Lie looked at the buildings on both sides of the street and said.

In the whole Manila, as long as the central area close to the coast is prosperous.

The buildings on both sides of the street there are basically white, and the road is paved with stone slabs, which looks clean and tidy.

There are many kinds of shops along the street, including tailor shops, taverns, casinos, and jewelry stores.

The natives in the shops are also dressed neatly.

They all serve the Portuguese in Luzon.

And outside this street is like a refugee camp.

Muddy dirt roads, black dome-shaped thatched houses and skinny and dark natives.

"As long as the colonists have been there, it's like this." Zhao Xu snorted softly.

Xu Lie has never seen it, but he has seen a lot in history books and video materials.

The group chatted and arrived at the Manila Plantation after half an hour of trekking.

At this time, there were Marines guarding the entrance to the plantation.

Seeing Zhao Xu and his party coming, the leader of the team bowed to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu returned the bow and asked, "How is the plantation? Is it not damaged?"

"No, Your Highness, but the workers in the plantation have all run away." The general flag returned.

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment and smiled helplessly.

He was not worried. When the order in Manila was restored, these people would come back.

Thinking of this, he once again focused his attention on the rubber plantation in front of him.

It is said that the rubber plantation in Manila is the largest, but he wants to see with his own eyes how big it is.

Now, at a glance, he has an understanding and is happy.

In front of them, the rubber trees are neatly arranged, one row after another, and each row is about three meters apart.

This is because the rubber plantation is artificially planted, so it pays attention to neatness.

And the rubber plantation is also very clean. There are no weeds under the rubber trees, and it is obvious that weeding is done regularly.

One meter above the ground of each rubber tree, there is an iron ladle with a wooden tube on it. White rubber juice is slowly flowing out through the tube.

"I really made money this time." Zhao Xu smiled.

From south to north, from east to west, the rubber forest is endless.

When I came here, Bater said that this rubber forest is about 100,000 acres, and it is true.

It can be said that this rubber forest is about 30 miles long and 5 miles wide.

This is just one of the eight rubber plantations in Luzon.

Total, the rubber forests in Luzon can reach about 500,000 mu.

Since the rubber forests in Luzon are all old rubber trees over ten years old, one mu of rubber forest produces 200 kilograms of rubber per year.

Luzon can provide Dasong with 100 million kilograms of rubber every year, which is equivalent to 100,000 tons of rubber.

A ton of contemporary rubber costs about 10,000 yuan. Even if calculated at contemporary prices, he has won Luzon, which is equivalent to an industry with annual sales of 1 billion yuan.

Moreover, rubber is more expensive in this era.

After walking along the rubber forest for a while, Zhao Xu went back happily.

Not only the rubber plantation, but also the spice plantation, cocoa bean plantation, and tobacco plantation of the Portuguese in Luzon are all his.

In addition to spices being native to Luzon, cocoa beans and tobacco were introduced by the Portuguese from South America.

Both are tropical crops.

Due to the suitable climate, the cigars and chocolates in the Philippines are also of high quality.

Previously, the Portuguese had plantations, cigar and coffee workshops in Luzon, which was an industrial chain.

In addition to plantations, Luzon is also known as the kingdom of bananas and coconuts.

Just along the way, I saw banana trees full of green bananas, which were as common as weeds on the roadside.

These things were transported to Dasong, not only to provide the material living standards of Dasong people, but also as industrial raw materials.

Coconuts can be used to extract coconut oil, and bananas can be used to extract medicinal materials.

These are agricultural aspects, and the mines left by the Portuguese are also of great value.

In short, he really made a fortune in the battle of Luzon.