The Zhang family did not recognize these two people and thought they were followers of other family heads and did not pay much attention to them.

After the guests and hosts were seated in the living room, the Zhang family servants immediately started serving tea.

When the tea was served, the servant wisely turned around and left. The master Zhang Shantang clasped his fists and said with a smile:

"My dear friends, I came here unexpectedly today, and the Zhang family is really in full bloom!"

The head of the Liu family, Liu Xiang, stood up and clasped his fists and said:

"Brother Zhang, I noticed that the atmosphere outside was a bit weird yesterday. I always had a premonition that something big was going to happen. Those lazy and ugly natives looked at us in the wrong way."

The head of the Li family also said:

"Yes, we also feel this weird atmosphere. We are very worried that it will happen again. We must be prepared. We must not let the colonists harvest us like leeks. Once someone is harmful to us, we must stand up.

Resistance and we can no longer let them act arbitrarily."

"Yes, the Ming Dynasty is very powerful now, and the status of us Ming people has also improved. I heard that many small countries in the surrounding areas have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. I heard that Batavia has also fallen into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. If there is another massacre of the indigenous people and colonists, we must unite

We are united and will resolutely resist to the end. I believe that the Ming army will come to support us..."

Upon hearing this, the head of the Zhang family slammed the table, stood up angrily, and said angrily:

"I haven't felt right in the past two days. We need to get in touch with Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. We must not sit still and wait for death this time. There are more than a hundred members of the Zhang family. Although they don't have firearms, they all know martial arts. As long as we unite, we are not without the power to resist.

This time the Ming Dynasty soldiers are in Nanyang, we sent people to ask for help in advance, they will not sit idly by."

As the head of the Zhang family spoke, he exuded a powerful aura, which made other family heads look at him with admiration.

They looked at Zhang Shantang carefully, and suddenly thought of a person. The head of the Li family stood up, clasped his fists, and asked:

"Brother Zhang, I would like to ask, do you know Zhang Pu?"

Zhang Shantang sighed:

"To be honest with you brothers, I am Zhang Pu, the leader of the uprising army who resisted the colonists and massacred the Ming people last time. Unfortunately, it ended in failure. More than 30,000 compatriots were massacred. I have lived in espionage and have kept my name anonymous to this day."

Hearing that the head of the Zhang family was the leader of the rebel army that resisted the massacre by the colonists last time, the other three heads of the family immediately stood in awe and hurriedly stood up to salute Zhang Shantang:

"I didn't expect that my eldest brother was actually the leader of the uprising. My brothers admired him very much and implored him to come forward again. I believe he will never fail this time."

Zhang Shantang hurriedly returned the gift:

"Brothers, don't be polite. If anyone supports it, Zhang Shantang is willing to fight for his compatriots again. There are hundreds of thousands of colonists plus indigenous people. They must seek help from the Ming army, otherwise they may fail again."

The other family heads looked at each other and didn't speak for a while. They had no contact with the Ming army. How to contact them?

The head of the Li family thought for a moment and said:

"Be prepared. I am willing to make a trip. I heard that Malacca has been taken by the Ming army, so I will go directly to Malacca to seek help..."

…

"No, I can contact the Ming army. These two are the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Guards. They have quietly brought their weapons and they are all hidden in the Liu family's cellar."

Before the other family heads could speak, the young man sitting next to them suddenly spoke.

Everyone hurriedly looked back and saw that the person speaking was Liu Hao, the eldest son of the Liu family.

The head of the Liu family glared at his son and said:

"Liu Hao, don't talk nonsense, now is not the time to joke."

Liu Hao smiled slightly:

"Father, how could my son lie to you? These two are not my bodyguards. I didn't tell you two days ago in order to keep it secret. In fact, the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Guards had already entered Manila under orders, and there were more than thirty people in total.

Both of them are members of the Imperial Guard, and each of them has unique skills. If you don't believe me, you can ask them."

The two held fists and said:

"It is indeed as he said. The two of us are the general banner of the Jinyiwei. My name is Yang He and his name is Zhang Shan. There are thirty-five Jinyiwei in the city. At this time, we are disguised and hidden among the people of the Ming Dynasty. Just don't worry.

The Emperor of Ming Dynasty will not sit idly by and ignore it."

"Are you really the Jin Yiwei? Are you the most powerful Jin Yiwei in my Ming Dynasty? Great, with your help, we will definitely succeed this time..."

The heads of several major families were overjoyed. They immediately stood up and came forward to salute. The two guards in royal robes hurriedly reached out to help each other:

"Heads of the clan, you are welcome. This time you are here with an order. I hope you can gather the Ming people together as soon as possible so that unified command can be facilitated."

Seeing that Jin Yiwei was about to gather the Ming people, Liu Xiang clasped his fists and said:

"Okay, I have an idea. Tomorrow is my sixtieth birthday. I will use it as an excuse to invite people nearby to celebrate my birthday.

Then exit the city through the tunnel and enter the plantation. The plantation is surrounded by a two-meter-high solid wood wall, which should be the best shelter."

The head of the Li family nodded:

"This is a good idea, and we agree with it, but after all, there are tens of thousands of civilians in Manila. If there are suddenly a lot less people, it will attract the attention of the Spaniards, and they may raise a butcher knife to the young and old at home."

Yang He shook his head:

"No, most of the Chinese are not here, but they dare not attack the young and old. They know very well that doing so will not only be ridiculed by other countries, but will also arouse stronger resistance from the young people of the Ming Dynasty."

Everyone thinks what Jin Yiwei said makes sense, but there is another problem. Jin Yiwei only has a few dozen people, so it is impossible for him to bring many weapons.

Lack of weapons is the biggest problem. Without weapons, how can we resist the colonists?

The number of Spanish colonists was limited, and they were worried about trouble between the indigenous people and the Ming people. They controlled firearms very strictly, and firearms were almost invisible to the public.

Swords are also strictly controlled, and their size and length must be scrutinized.

Of course, these weapons restrictions are basically aimed at Ming people. As long as the indigenous people do not hide their firearms privately, it will be fine.

As a Mingren who had led an uprising, Zhang Shantang knew very well how important weapons were to them.

The colonists had very strict control over firearms. As long as someone was found hiding a firearm, the entire family would be brutally killed. They did not care about wrongful killing.

In the eyes of the barbaric colonists, Ming people were just like the lambs they raised. When they had no money to spend, they would cut off a wave of wool.

As many firearms as Jin Yiwei can bring, Shantang believes that it will never be too many, at most a few dozen muskets...

There are more than a hundred employees in Zhangjia Manor, which are actually more than a hundred tenants. These people are all retired soldiers recruited from the Ming Dynasty.

To be more precise, they were those guards soldiers who could not survive and finally escaped. Although their combat effectiveness was not very strong, they were much stronger than ordinary people.

The Zhang family does not have firearms, but they secretly hide some cold weapons, most of which are secretly made in underground secret rooms.

Those colonists would have a wave of purges from time to time. They had already experienced it once, and Zhang Shantang was well prepared for it.

Zhang Shantang looked at the young Jin Yiwei of the Ming Dynasty, raised his hands and asked:

"Sir, we have more than 3,000 combat-effective Akito, but they are basically all bare-knuckled and bare-handed, with only about 200 weapons.

The colonists have muskets and artillery. If they really encircle and suppress the Ming people, our chance of success is very slim. How many weapons can your Excellency provide?"

Zhang Shan smiled slightly:

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhang. We have quietly brought in a batch of firearms through special channels and under the pretext of delivering food. As long as you are willing to cooperate, there should be no problem in defending the manor.

The key depends on how you gather the Ming people. If you gather the Ming people blatantly, it will definitely attract the attention of the colonists and worry that they will attack in advance."

Liu Hao stood up and held his hands:

"Don't worry, sir. It's just in the name of my father's birthday. It shouldn't be a big problem. Every time my father celebrated his birthday in the past, many people came to celebrate his birthday."

Yang He nodded when he heard this:

"Okay, let's just decide and start taking action tomorrow morning."

As soon as everyone had discussed it, the servant came in and reported:

"Sir, there are people from outside, people from the church."

"People from the church are here? What are they going to do? They're not here to inquire about information, are they?"

When they heard someone coming from the church, everyone immediately became nervous...

After Zhang Shantang passed the big scene, he was very calm and said to everyone present:

"Everyone will avoid it for now and go to the secret room. Zhang will see who is coming."

"Okay, let's avoid it for now. Brother Zhang needs to be careful about dealing with foreign devils."

Everyone cooperated and immediately retreated to the inner room, leaving only Zhang Shantang and his family in the living room. For safety reasons, the teacups from which they had just drank were also removed.

Seeing that there were no traces left, Zhang Shantang stood up and walked slowly out of the hall to greet the old man personally.

At this time, a middle-aged Ming man was standing in front of the Zhang family door. Judging from his dress, this man was also a well-established person in Luzon.

As soon as he saw this person, Zhang Shantang immediately smiled on his face...

This man's name is Ouyang Tian. He joined the church very early. I heard that he has a good relationship with the archbishop. They have known each other for a long time.

He has connections in Luzon and the Ming Dynasty, and is an intermediary between some Ming Dynasty merchants and Western traders. He does not have a physical company and only charges introduction fees.

Because of the large volume of trade, he made a lot of money and had great influence in the local area. Almost everyone in the Ming Dynasty, indigenous people, and colonists knew him.

The Chinese people have their own beliefs and are unwilling to join the church. The Eurasian people are different. Although they are also enlightened people, they have joined the church long ago. They are also well-rounded and sociable.

The Archbishop's influence is no less than that of the Governor of Manila. He has a good relationship with the Spanish Archbishop. Almost no one in Luzon dares to offend him easily.

The governor was mainly engaged in politics, while the archbishop was responsible for managing the congregation. At this time, almost all the indigenous people in Luzon joined the church.
To be continued...