The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 694 Frenzied Robbery
De Shera has become the real governor.

With military force at his disposal, he quickly gained control of several territories in the northern part of the Governor-General's jurisdiction in Brazil.

He was now incredibly powerful, and the nobles here were as obedient as grandsons. These guys not only offered him food and various products, but even sent him several beauties.

Fortunately, he did not forget who he was because of this; he still remembered his mission.

He had just acquired these northern territories when he ordered the local nobles to send people to gather information.

Actually, it's not difficult for the nobles here to gather information.

Because European colonial bandits did not have the habit of exterminating their own kind who were also bandits.

Their custom is to spare lives upon surrender.

Especially the nobility. Nobles who surrendered were still nobles. They would just be locked up and released when their relatives and friends came to pay the ransom. This was a tradition that had been popular in Europe for thousands of years.

Even if the farmers here surrendered, they could still manage their farms; they only needed to hand over a certain amount of grain to the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces.

The farmers here are all confidants of the local nobles, and most of the nobles are relatives.

Therefore, the nobles here did not need to send people to the heavily guarded cities and ports of the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces if they wanted to gather information.

They only need to send someone secretly to the farms inland to ask.

This way, gathering information is naturally very fast.

De Sherr had only been in office as governor for less than a month when he had already gathered a fairly complete picture of the situation of the Dutch and Anglo-French forces.

The situation at this time is completely different from that in history.

The premature decline of Spain, the long-established maritime superpower, truly allowed later entrants like the Netherlands, England, and France to reap considerable benefits.

The struggle between the Gold Coast and the Brazilian colony is a prime example.

Historically, this event occurred even before Spain's decline; the Netherlands, England, and France also attempted to seize the Gold Coast and the Brazilian colony.

As a result, they were all driven away by Spanish troops.

Now that Spain was no longer sending troops, the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces had firmly controlled the Gold Coast, and had also occupied most of the Brazilian colonies.

Historically, the Netherlands and Britain and France, who were somewhat hesitant during this period, had already begun to aggressively seize the interests of their overseas colonies.

The Netherlands sent over two hundred warships and more than 20,000 troops. Although Britain and France did not have many warships, they had a large army. Both countries had already sent more than 50,000 troops to land in the Viceroyalty of Brazil.

In other words, the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces already had nearly three hundred warships and more than one hundred thousand troops in the Viceroyalty of Brazil alone, and there were as many as a thousand merchant ships transporting various supplies and provisions.

After Deshera investigated the matter thoroughly, he immediately sent someone to report to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, requesting support.

He originally thought that although the military force he borrowed from the Ming Dynasty might not be able to recover the lost territories, it would be enough to hold onto the colonies that had not fallen.

When he found out the strength of the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces, he was quite shocked.

They had nearly three hundred warships and more than one hundred thousand men.

He only had a hundred warships and fifty thousand men. Although he had thousands of centipede ships, he believed that centipede ships without cannons were no match for warships equipped with cannons.

Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not equip his troops with firearms, while the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces did.

In other words, he might not be able to withstand the elements at sea, let alone on land.

If he doesn't call for help soon, the Dutch and Anglo-French forces will attack, and then it will be all over.

Although he was quick to gather information, it took him quite a while to get to the Brazilian territory.

Piantou Bay is nearly 6,000 miles by sea from Pernambuco, and there are hardly any monsoons or ocean currents along the way.

Sometimes they even had to use centipede boats to pull the Fujian warships, and you can imagine how slow they were. It took them almost a month just to get from Piantou Bay to Bernambu.

Moreover, it took him a considerable amount of time to subdue the nobles of several colonies, and these nobles also spent a lot of time traveling overland to send people to investigate.

In addition, it would take the centipede ship nearly 6,000 li (approximately 3,000 kilometers) to travel back to Piantou Bay to report the news, so by the time Wanli received the message, it was already June.

It was incredibly hot in Piantou Bay at this time of year; it was hot at night, and during the day it was over 30 degrees Celsius.

Emperor Wanli was not too hot because of the ice sent from the Eastern Capital Commandery in North America, but he was worried that the elderly, women and children in Pianguan Town would not be able to stand it.

By this time, all the men, women, children, cattle, sheep, and horses in Pianguan Town had migrated there.

The more than 20 million mu of land near Piantou Bay cannot accommodate the more than 3 million cattle, sheep and horses of Pianguan Town.

He could only order the soldiers of Pianguan Town to take most of the cattle, sheep, and horses to graze on the plains east of Awana, leaving only those that could be used to pull carts. At this time, they had not yet begun to build cities, houses, or courtyards; the men, women, and children of Pianguan Town were still living in tents.

The grain they planted in February was already ripe, and the rice ears were heavy with grain, so it was clear that the harvest would be good.

The problem is, in such hot weather, how can the men, women, and children of Pianguan Town endure both harvesting and rotating farming?

Around noon that day, the sun was blazing overhead, and the air itself seemed to be distorted by the heat.

Despite the sweltering heat, Wanli left his cool flagship and went to a small town near the port where hundreds of households lived.

Right now, the men, women, and children of Pianguan Town are trying their best to beat the heat.

Their tents weren't set up on the ground; they were suspended in the air by four and a half person-high wooden beams.

In this way, rain can't get inside, the sun can't shine inside, but the wind can still blow inside.

They even connected the tops of adjacent tents with thick cloth, thus covering the open spaces between the tents and creating more shady areas.

It was lunchtime, and the rows of joint camps in the Hundred Households were filled with wisps of smoke from cooking fires and bustling with activity.

Accompanied by Du Song, Wanli walked under a huge canopy made up of more than twenty tents and was taken aback.

The men inside were all shirtless and wearing shorts, the women were also wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts, and many of the children were completely naked, running around between the tents and having a great time.

Uh, that's really a bit indecent.

The men inside were stunned when they saw the General accompanying the Emperor into the room.

They didn't know whether to quickly get up and find a short-sleeved shirt to put on, or to quickly kneel down and pay their respects.

Wanli was only stunned for a moment before raising his hand and saying, "Everyone, just go about your business. There's no need for formalities or to put on any clothes. Don't catch a cold in this heat."

He didn't act like an emperor at all, especially in front of ordinary people, which everyone knows.

These days, everyone has gotten used to it. If they're working in the fields and see His Majesty arrive, they just bow and greet him, then continue working. There's no need to go over and perform a grand ceremony.

Upon hearing this, everyone, young and old, bowed and clasped their hands in gratitude, and then busied themselves preparing the meal.

Upon seeing this, Wanli Emperor began to examine the interior more closely.

They didn't seem to be very hot; some of them didn't even have a single bead of sweat on their faces.

The space inside is quite large, with about ten five-person tents on both sides, neatly arranged in a row. There is a distance of two or three zhang between each tent, and the distance between the two rows of tents is about four zhang.

Moreover, all the tents were covered with thick cloth on the top, while the front and back were open to the elements.

In other words, it was like a huge canopy, forty or fifty feet long and more than ten feet wide.

More than a hundred people, including soldiers, men, women, and children from over ten households, live here without feeling crowded at all.

They still used large cooking pots, each about half a meter in diameter, and more than ten of them were neatly arranged in two rows in the middle.
Several pots in one row were covered, clearly indicating that rice was being cooked, while several pots in another row were open, some for stewing soup and others for stir-frying vegetables.

Emperor Wanli walked over to the side where the food was being prepared and took a closer look. He couldn't help but nod slightly in approval.

The soldiers ate quite well; you could tell just from the soup.

There are three pots for stewing soup. One pot is for stewing whole lamb soup, which should contain a whole lamb. Another pot is for stewing fish, which should contain at least dozens of fish. The third pot is for stewing pumpkin, which should contain at least a hundred pounds.

There were also three stir-fried dishes: one pot of stir-fried greens, one pot of stir-fried smoked meat with chili peppers, and one pot of stewed chicken with potatoes.

He was watching the border soldiers cook when a guard from the outer perimeter suddenly strode in, holding an urgent report and bowing, saying, "Your Majesty, urgent report from the Governor-General's jurisdiction in Brazil."

De Shera finally made it into the news.

When Emperor Wanli received the urgent report, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

The Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces clearly brought their main forces; otherwise, they wouldn't have numbered over 100,000 men.

These guys probably want to take over the Portuguese Viceroyalty of Brazil as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications.

The problem is, they weren't ready at that point.

Now, he had no choice but to send troops, even if he didn't want to.

De Shera's small force of vassal soldiers was simply no match for the more than 100,000 Dutch and Anglo-French allied troops.

(End of this chapter)