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Chapter 993: Puzzled 2
There is no way these two countries can become allies in any way. England is a Protestant country, while Spain is the most loyal supporter of Catholicism. There is no basis for an alliance between them.

England is an island country and must and can only vigorously develop its navy; Spain's maritime hegemony has been maintained for hundreds of years. Even though the Invincible Armada was defeated by the English, it still has the most powerful navy among all European countries.

There is natural hostility between a traditional big brother on the decline and an up-and-coming star eager to try.

Hong Tao is not just talking behind closed doors. This information is regularly sent back by ambassadors of the Ministry of Rites stationed in European countries, so it is highly credible.

A few years ago, England did send troops to fight Spain, apparently for the ownership of a certain noble fiefdom, but was defeated. According to the ambassador to England, the King of England seemed quite unconvinced and was raising military funds everywhere, planning to make a comeback and fight Spain again.

"Charles was like a country bumpkin in Europe, trying desperately to become a king who attracted attention, but he achieved nothing. And the Duke of Buckingham, who had the most mistresses in Europe, seemed unable to teach Charles more about statecraft except dancing and horse riding.

If it was really the English and Spanish fleets that appeared in Port Enbird, it was probably the handsome George who gave Charles an idea. Charles was short of money, and the House of Commons ignored his military spending requests, so in addition to raising taxes, a substantial increase in the share of trade from the East was also a solution.

But Philip IV may not really be willing to give Charles his share of Eastern trade. He may have done so to ease the situation in the New World.

In these years, Spain was challenged successively by England, France and the United Provinces in the New World, lost several colonies one after another, and its silver ships were often robbed, causing great economic losses.

Spain had to face wars with the Protestant princes of North Germany, Sweden, the United Provinces, England, France and the Ottoman Empire at the same time, as well as unrest at home with the Portuguese and in Catalonia.

In fact, the Spanish government was already heavily in debt and unable to pay the huge military expenses. However, the royal family still lived a luxurious life, and the court expenses were getting bigger and bigger. After Felipe IV ascended the throne, in order to alleviate the financial crisis, he issued too many low-quality coins, which led to widespread inflation.

In this situation, unless they can win most of the wars and occupy most of the trade share in East India in a short period of time, there is no solution. "

When talking about the situation in Spain, Cohen immediately showed his political talent and made a well-reasoned analysis. Compared with him, the ambassadors sent by the Ming Dynasty to various European countries seemed too amateurish, and often it was difficult to discover important intelligence in time even when it was right in front of them.

"Is this Duke of Buckingham called George Villiers?"

But Hong Tao had a hard time listening, mainly because the names of European kings and ministers were too confusing, and it was even harder to figure out the relationships between their families. However, he remembered one name, but he didn't know if it was the same name as the other.

"Your Majesty is wise...it is that handsome European man." Seeing that the emperor was interested in his story, Cohen did not forget to make a little joke. He deliberately imitated the eunuchs' accents and words, and spoke Chinese.

"I heard that he is the mistress of the Queen of France?" Hong Tao really had no idea whether the Duke of Buckingham was a handsome man, because his impression of this person did not come from the intelligence department, but from later novels.

Alexandre Dumas wrote about the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers. I forgot the details, but I remember the general idea that this English Duke seemed to have an affair with the Queen of France. "No, this is impossible! Anne of Austria is the daughter of Philip III and the sister of Philip IV. Her sister, Princess Maria Anna, is the wife of Emperor Ferdinand III. How could she have an affair with a Protestant from England?

In fact, the Duke of Buckingham may have tried to seduce the queen, who also had Spanish and Portuguese princesses and the Archduchess of Austria, during the meeting in Amiens, but was rejected. And when Louis learned of this, he banned the Duke of Buckingham from entering France for a long time.

Cohen firmly rejected the rumor and gave a reason that sounded quite credible: The camps, beliefs and interests were different and it was difficult to get them together.

"But you just said that he has the most mistresses in Europe!" As a Dutchman, Cohen has no need to defend the Duke of Buckingham, but Hong Tao had clearly heard him make such comments just now.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Buckingham's mistresses are not necessarily all women..." Cohen did not deny this statement, but only emphasized the gender.

"Oh! Can you tell me about it?" Who said that men don't gossip? At this moment, Hong Tao was no different from the old ladies gossiping at the entrance of the village. He lowered his voice and a mysterious smile involuntarily bloomed on his face.

"Of course, this is no secret in the courts of England and even Europe...but Your Majesty, are you sure you want to hear it now?" Cohen did not have any contempt for the emperor's expression. He just felt that the war was about to come, so shouldn't they talk about things related to combat first!

"There is a saying in our military tactics: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Since the Duke of Buckingham is related to this Anglo-Spanish coalition, of course we must know everything about him.

Sometimes you can infer a lot from a person's character, background, and habits. Oh, by the way, does Felipe IV have any favorites similar to the Duke of Buckingham? Tell us about it!"

Obviously he wanted to get some gossip, but Hong Tao didn't want to appear shallow, so he insisted on getting to know his opponent and even brought up the art of war.

This lecture lasted the whole morning. It was not because the Duke of Buckingham had a complicated past, but because Hong Tao always liked to interrupt Cohen's story and ask all kinds of questions that might be gossip or not. In addition to the Duke of Buckingham, Cohen also talked about the favorites of Philip IV.

In ancient Chinese dynasties, there were often favorite ministers, such as Gao Qiu and He Shen, and powerful ministers, such as Zhao Gao, Huo Guang, and Yan Song. Such figures also existed in ancient European courts, such as the Duke of Buckingham in England, the Duke of Richelieu in France, and the Count of Oliverius in Spain.

These three are all examples of people who hold great power, but they obtained it in different ways. Count Oliverius was a childhood friend of Philip IV and a minister in the palace. Duke Richelieu was a person with strong personal ability and made steady progress based on his achievements.

Compared with the two of them, Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was the most special. He was neither the king's confidant before he ascended the throne, nor did he have any merit in governing the country, nor was he a second-generation official. He relied entirely on his handsome face and good words to become the king's male favorite and became a top noble and powerful official.

(End of this chapter)