Born in the port of Tiuchiu, Li-ma-hong at an early age evinced a martial spirit and joined a band of corsairs, which for a long time had been the terror of the China coasts. On the demise of his chief he was unanimously elected leader of the buccaneering cruisers. At length, pursued in all directions by the imperial ships of war, he determined to attempt the conquest of the Philippines. Presumably the same incentives which impelled the Spanish mariners to conquer lands and overthrow dynasties--the vision of wealth, glory and empire--awakened a like ambition in the Chinese adventurer. It was the spirit of the age.[9] In his sea-wanderings he happened to fall in with a Chinese trading-junk returning from Manila with the proceeds of her cargo sold there. This he seized, and the captive crew were constrained to pilot his fleet toward the capital of Luzon. From them he learned how easily the natives had been plundered by a handful of foreigners--the probable extent of the opposition he might encounter--the defenses established--the wealth and resources of the district and the nature of its inhabitants. His fleet consisted of sixty-two warships or armed junks, well found, having on board two thousand sailors, two thousand soldiers, one thousand five hundred women, a number of artisans, and all that could be conveniently carried with which to gain and organize his new kingdom. On its way the squadron cast anchor off the province of Ilocos Sur, where a few troops were sent ashore to get provisions. While returning to the junks, they sacked the village and set fire to the huts. The news of this outrage was hastily communicated to Juan Salcedo, who had been pacifying the northern provinces since July, 1572, and was at the time in Villa Fernandina (now called Vigan). Li-ma-hong continued his course until calms compelled his ships to anchor in the roads of Caoayan (Ilocos coast), where a few Spanish soldiers were stationed under the orders of Juan Salcedo, who still was in the immediate town of Vigan. Under his direction, preparations were made to prevent the enemy entering the river, but such was not Li-ma-hong’s intention. He again set sail; while Salcedo, naturally supposing his course would be toward Manila, also started at the same time for the capital with all the fighting men he could collect, leaving only thirty men to garrison Vigan and protect the State interests there. On the 29th of November, 1574, the squadron arrived in the Bay of Manila, and Li-ma-hong sent forward his lieutenant, Sioco--a Japanese--at the head of six hundred fighting men, to demand the surrender of the Spaniards. A strong gale, however, destroyed several of his junks, in which about two hundred men perished. With the remainder he reached the coast at Paranaque, a village a few miles south of Manila. Thence, with towlines, the four hundred soldiers hauled their junks up to the beach of the capital.