Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1482 Beiyang Expedition ([-])
The commander of the Spanish Grand Treasure Ship Fleet is named Pedro de Silva, and it can be seen from his name that he is a noble officer.

His father was the Marquis of Tordoia of the Kingdom of Castile (the main kingdom of Spain and the colonial empire), and he was the third son of his father.According to the European tradition at this time, he entered the military service very early. He was in the cavalry at first, but he was transferred to the navy soon after, and began a vigorous career of making a fortune.

Toldoia is a town in the northwest of the Kingdom of Castile, next to La Coruña, an important town in the northwest of Spain that became famous because of a certain team in later generations.

However, although the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Castile is close to the Atlantic Ocean, it is not considered rich. At this time, the developed areas of Spain are mainly on the eastern Mediterranean coast (but most of them do not belong to Castile but belong to the Republic of Aragon. ), as well as the central capital region and the southern Serbian port), so although the Silva family holds the title of marquis, his father does not have much money to give Pedro, so he can only let him make a living.

The Marquis of Toldoia supported him mainly by "arranging work", and he was appointed as a mayor of the Governor's District of New Spain, which is located in the eastern part of the later island of Cuba, named Banes.

Pedro had a comfortable job at Banes, where he was clearly a master, with his own sea-view "villa" and several Indian mistresses.If it weren't for the fact that the Indian civilians in this town were too poor to have anything to do, he probably wouldn't be interested in returning to the Navy again.

Anyway, he eventually returned to the Navy and became a captain of the Grand Galenic Treasure Ship on the Atlantic line.With the increasing number of open pirates (with Queen Elizabeth's privateer warrants) by the British, the danger of the treasure fleet on the Atlantic route became more and more dangerous.

This caused the Marquis of Tordoya to worry, so under the old man's activities, Pedro was transferred to the "Manila Route" last year as he wished.Even under the charm of money, he became the commander of the fleet.

This is not easy, after all... It is not only Shandong officials who send supplies to Liaodong in the late Ming Dynasty will "float", and the Spaniards who send silver to Manila will also "float". There are far fewer Shandong officials.

"Much less" refers to the proportion, but considering that at least 90% of the goods sent by the Spaniards to Manila are silver, this drift is very serious.Although the Marquis of Toldoya spent a lot of money for this, who knew it would be paid back within a year.

This kind of income also gave Commander Pedro great motivation to work, so that after this trip departed from Acapulco (the port facing the Pacific Ocean in the south of the Governor-General of New Spain, the starting point of the Americas for the "Manila Galleon Trade") , Pedro urged "Hurry up, hurry up" all the way.

It was precisely because of this mentality that at first he found that the "Left Wing Hussar" was trailing or even escorting, but he did not make any response.After all, when they came to Manila this year, they had been delayed for some time because the Governor General of New Spain had been mobilized to return to the country to participate in the war. If they didn't act faster, they might encounter unfavorable wind direction and weather when they returned.

[Note: To explain the "Manila galleon trade", galleons usually set sail from Manila in June every year by the southwest monsoon, to the waters of 45°-42° north latitude, travel eastward along the "Kuroshio" on the North Pacific Ocean, and arrive at The port of Acapulco traveled more than 6 nautical miles and took about [-] months.

The return trip is a direct flight along the ocean current, which only takes three months.On the way out, silk, porcelain, lacquerware, cotton cloth, ivory, carpets, tea and other commodities from China, India, Persia, Japan and other countries, as well as embroidery, pearls and wood carvings from the Philippines, were transported from Manila to Acapulco, Mexico. Sold throughout Mexico and Spanish America, and re-sold in mainland Spain.

The return journey mainly carried Spanish silver dollars, copper, cocoa, etc.The galleon trade is exclusively managed by the Spanish royal family, so the commander of this fleet of great treasure ships is a Spanish naval officer. ]
It has been delayed for nearly a month, although the anxious Commander Pedro does not intend to pay attention to this "Chinese ship".However, he did not expect that this "Chinese ship" would turn around and order him to stop the ship for investigation.

This is obviously absolutely unacceptable, because the value of American silver on these ships is as high as 106 million pesos, which is equivalent to about 85 taels of Kuping silver in Ming Dynasty, and there are some other goods.

Commander Pedro was clear in his heart that the Ming goods bought in exchange for 85 taels of silver could be sold for about 630 million pesos when they were brought back to Acapulco—yes, six times the profit!

With such a huge amount of wealth, you said that I will cooperate with you to stop the ship for inspection?If you suddenly become a pirate, even if I only lose one ship, I am afraid that I, the commander, will be at the end of it!This is not a war, and losses are inevitable.

As for the book and sword flag fluttering high, Commander Pedro does know it, and he doesn’t think any pirate can launch such a standard warship with this flag, but how should I put it... No one seems to be a good person, even if they have always looked like a good person, it is only because they think it will be more beneficial to play the role of a good person for a while.

In Pedro's eyes, there are no good or bad people in this world.As the saying goes, a man's loyalty is only because the price of betrayal is too high, and a woman's loyalty is only because the temptation she receives is not strong enough.

So Pedro immediately ordered to expel this damn bright ship, if they dare to fight back, then defeat it!

However, Domingo Zabalburu de Echevari, the vice-commander of the fleet and captain of the flagship "San Antonio", disputed this order, saying: "Your Excellency, I think we only need to expel This daring Chinese vessel will do, and there is no need for a direct military conflict with it."

"Oh? Captain Echevari, why do you have such an attitude? Do you think our strength is not enough to complete such a task?" Commander Silva asked.

"No, I'm not saying this with regard to whether the fleet can complete this order, I just don't think we have a good reason to do it."

Echevari said sternly: "Before we set off, the relationship between Castile and England had dropped to a freezing point, and the war had actually broken out. I think at this moment our army may have gone to England, Or already on their way to England.

You know, Your Excellency Commander, with His Majesty the Pope's excommunication of Elizabeth issued last year, our Catholic King Philip II will inevitably respond to His Majesty's call to launch a holy war against England.

Of course, I fully support your Majesty's inevitable move. There is no other way to avoid the problem of conflict of beliefs. There is only one way to solve it, and that is war-heretics deserve hell even more than heretics! "

In fact, Echevari mentioned a fuse of the Anglo-Spanish War, or the basic reason for its outbreak.

The cause of the Anglo-Spanish War can be traced back to the middle of this century.At that time, Britain was carrying out the religious reform movement, which overthrew the status of Catholicism, and then supported the Protestant forces and made it the state religion.The behavior of King Henry VIII immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Holy See, but the King of England did not take it seriously.

In 1534, England passed the "Supreme Act".The bill stipulates that the status and authority of the British king will override the church from then on, and he will have the power to appoint clergy.Until then, the right to appoint clergy has been in the hands of the Pope of Rome.Since then, the Church of England no longer submits to the control of the Pope of Rome, and then attaches itself to the King of England.

In 1558, the wife of King Philip II of Spain, Queen Mary I of England and Ireland (she restored Catholicism in England) died, and her sister Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne because she had no heir after her death.

In 1560, Philip II used various means to interfere in Britain's internal affairs on the grounds that Britain had betrayed the Catholic Church, and even intended to influence the candidate for the king.At the same time, the newly crowned King Elizabeth I vigorously promoted and developed Protestantism, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Pope of Rome, and even once declared that Elizabeth I's British kingship was illegal.

While vigorously developing Protestantism in the UK, it was also simultaneously exporting Protestantism to the outside world, with the goal being the Netherlands (Netherlands).The Netherlands had always been under the control of Spain (Philip II's father Charles V inherited it), and it was an important source of taxation for the latter.But since 1581, the Netherlands has declared its separation from Spanish control, and then established the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

In essence, there is a certain legal basis for Philip II's intervention in Britain, that is, he was the husband of the former Queen of England and the co-ruling king of the Kingdom of England at that time (although he did not stay in England for a long time, and he did not love Mary when she was alive. take care of British affairs).However, after Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne, Britain introduced Protestantism to the Netherlands. There is really no legal basis for it, and it can indeed be called a betrayal of Catholicism as Philip II said.

Moreover, the affairs between Spain and the Netherlands should be regarded as "internal affairs" in a sense.Britain's export of Protestantism to the Netherlands, which originally believed in Catholicism, would of course intensify the conflict with Spain.It is not surprising that Britain's relationship with the Netherlands has grown closer over time, while its relationship with Spain has worsened.

Another major event happened during this period. Elizabeth's cousin, Mary I, Queen of Scots (not Philip II's wife, Mary I), was recognized as the orthodox Queen of England by Philip II and the Catholic Church because of her Catholic belief.

In 1567, Mary was imprisoned due to noble mutiny and forced to abdicate the Scottish throne to her young son James.After a narrow escape, she quickly fled to England, but was imprisoned by her aunt Elizabeth again.During the 20 years until Mary's death, the enemies of Elizabeth and James continued to plan to push Mary to the throne of Queen of Britain and the Soviet Union.

The conflict of interests became more and more serious. The British private plundering in the Spanish mainland, the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean (Spain regarded them as pirates) seriously affected the Spanish royal family's income.

Britain's transatlantic slave trade - initiated by Sir John Hawkins in 1562 - was supported by Elizabeth, despite the Spanish government's complaint that Hawkins' trade in the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean constituted smuggling The British regard it as a bandit.

In September 1568, a slave trading expedition led by Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake was attacked by Spain, causing several ships to sink in Veracruz, Mexico, the Battle of San Juan.

This battle caused the relationship between Britain and Spain to deteriorate rapidly. In the following year, Britain seized several treasure fleets sent by Spain to the Netherlands to support the army.Drake and Hawkins stepped up privateering to break through Spain's monopoly on Atlantic trade.

In order to achieve the life purpose of promoting Protestantism, Elizabeth provided assistance to the Protestant forces of the French War of Religion and the Dutch Revolution against Spain.At the same time, Philip II vigorously suppressed the spread of Protestantism, funded the Catholic League in the French War, supported the Second Desmond War in Ireland (1579-1583), and supported Irish Catholics against Elizabeth.

In 1585, Elizabeth and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Nansage, agreeing to provide manpower, horses and subsidies.Philip II saw this as Elizabeth's declaration of war on Spain.

The war actually broke out in 1585.Drake sailed to the West Indies, raiding at Santo Domingo, Cartagena, and St. Augustine, Florida.The United Kingdom entered the war, later known as the "80 Years' War", on the side of the Dutch Protestant Commonwealth, the Commonwealth of the Netherlands, which had earlier declared independence from Spanish rule.

Philip II decided to invade England, but in April 1587, Drake blew up 4 Spanish ships in the port of Cadiz, and the invasion plan was blocked.

On February 2 of the same year, Queen Elizabeth I executed Mary I, Queen of Scots, which angered Catholics in Europe.Her British royal power (referring to Mary I, Queen of Scots) was passed on to Philip II according to her personal wishes-to put it simply and roughly, that is, her cousin transferred her right to inherit the Queen of England to her uncle.

On July 7, Philip II obtained the approval of the pope and overthrew the rule of Elizabeth I in England; at the same time, Pope Pius V issued an order of destruction, excommunicating Elizabeth from the church, and arranging anyone to take over the British monarchy.

So this war is actually a war caused by religion and intertwined with interests. However, in Spain, a country with a strong religious atmosphere, when everyone talks about this war, they will definitely say that religious factors are the only reason. Same.

Now that the religious factor was shown, Commander Silva had no choice but to follow his words: "Yes, I agree with your judgment and appreciate your piety... But, this has nothing to do with whether we want to defeat the Chinese warship in front of us." What does it matter?"

"Your Excellency, the Manila galleon trade exists because it can bring benefits to the kingdom. I think you must have a clear understanding of this." Echevari paused for a while and continued: "Then if In this way, as a member of the Royal Navy, we need to always consider actions based on the interests of the Kingdom.

For example, the other ship, although I am also surprised why it behaves so strangely, after all, we have never had a sea conflict with them in the past few years-except for the one you know.However, since it has such a move now, it is reasonable for us to respond a little bit and push it back, but if it really forms a battle, I don't think it is in the interests of the kingdom. "

"Are you worried that the Chinese will not come to the Philippines to trade with us?" Silva shook his head and said, "I don't think so. The Chinese's desire for silver has far exceeded our previous expectations. I don't think they will Giving up so much silver for a small battle."

"You are right, Your Excellency, the Chinese's thirst for silver is indeed surprising, but in my opinion, I am afraid that we need more of them."

Echevari sighed, and said: "You are already familiar with such things as trade volume and profits, so I don't need to repeat them. What I want to say is that the war between the Kingdom and England may not be decided in a short while. Victorious—I mean, even if the Armada had defeated the English and the army had landed on England itself, the battle would not have been as simple as we imagined."

"The British have shown amazing resilience in the Hundred Years' War, and I learned before departure that although our Armada is large enough, it actually carries only 8000 army soldiers, plus soldiers who can disembark for land battles." Sailors, at most, will not exceed [-].

Will England be beaten by 2?They may suffer, but with all due respect, it may not be easy to bring England to its knees with less than 2 men. "

Silva frowned: "We can send more reinforcements."

"Where does the money come from?" Echevari spread his hands: "Don't you know the financial situation of the kingdom now? If this expedition hadn't been generously gifted by His Majesty the Pope, we would have been granted permission from the Catholic Church in Castile." If the war tax was levied during the production, I am afraid that there is no way to send troops now. Even so, His Majesty the King still owes Genoa a large amount of money again."

Silva said impatiently: "So, do you think we are more short of money than the Chinese now, so even if they provoke the Spanish Navy so much, we still have to swallow our anger, just to not affect the profit of nearly 20 million pesos this year? Oh, by the way, the royal family takes 200% of it, so in reality all His Majesty gets is [-] million pesos."

"Is 200 million pesos less?" Echevarri tried hard to persuade: "Maybe His Majesty the King is not afraid of losing 200 million pesos, but I think that even if he is rich in the world, he is not willing to lose a single year that can create 200 million pesos of wealth. long-term business."

Silva let out a long breath, and said helplessly: "Okay, okay, Captain Echevari, you convinced me, I decided..."

"boom!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of cannon shots interrupted Commander Silva's words. He was taken aback for a moment, and then roared angrily, "What's going on? It's not within range yet, who fired the cannon?"

The first officer who ran in from the outside answered his words, and he and Echevari were stunned at the same time: "Report, Your Excellency, Commander, it is the Chinese warship that fired first!"
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(End of this chapter)