Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1367 Inheritance Secret Agreement

Valladolid at the end of May has gradually become warmer.

Taking advantage of this rare good weather, Philip IV sat up tremblingly. His body was already very decayed, and various physical diseases tortured him, making him want to end this last period of life every day. A painful life—he already felt that the time to be inspired by the Lord is not far away—but he dared not, he dared not leave this huge empire at this time, and let the wolves everywhere stare at Spain This big piece of fat, the young Carlos can't support this country that is gradually falling into the abyss, especially when his brother-in-law Louis XIV is watching.

This son-in-law of his is really too hard-edged, and he is very greedy for territory, which especially frightened Philip IV. In 1661, the monarch who was extolled by the whole Paris drove away Charles IV of Lorraine and occupied his majestic place. Before that, he once returned Lorraine to Spain (but demolished the fortress of Nancy , and forbade the Duke of Lorraine to have an army), but took it back after their marriage.

To be honest, it was really inappropriate for my eldest daughter to marry Louis XIV. She was originally the wife of Leopold of Austria, but who made Spain fail on the battlefield?Defeat naturally requires the consciousness of defeat, so Philip IV married his daughter to Paris in exchange for the return of cities including Saint-Omer, Ypres, Menen, Oudenad and other fortresses—— These were originally occupied by the French army.

But after the daughter is married, some of the beginnings and ends between the two countries may not be cleaned up.For example, the French were very annoyed that Philip IV failed to send Franche-Comté and the Southern Netherlands to Paris as a dowry for the princesses, not to mention that the Spaniards never paid a total of 50 gold crowns. Dowry (which is also a disguised compensation), so the French were angry, and they wanted something from the Spaniards.

Naturally, the Spanish court knew this very well, so they tried their best to avoid giving the French any excuses, such as selling land and the navigation rights of the Paraná River to the people on the east coast, in order to raise funds for Princess Teresa's dowry, Because Prince Carlos had not yet been born.But fortunately, their luck was not bad. In 1661, His Majesty Philip IV and his brother-in-law's daughter, Anna Marie of Spain, successfully created a man, and Prince Carlos, who was destined to inherit everything in Spain in the future, was born.According to inheritance tradition, the prince, who is only three years old now, has the priority of succession to the Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family, so the Spaniards stopped paying war reparations to France—or Princess Teresa’s dowry—because it seems It seems unnecessary.

Of course, the existence of just one Prince Carlos may still be unsafe. The perverted inbreeding of the Gein Habsburg royal family makes every member of the royal family more or less genetically diseased, and their bodies are often very fragile. Most children are doomed to never reach adulthood.Therefore, out of this kind of worry, under the unanimous expectation of the Spanish government and the public, Philip IV and his niece began to "work hard to create a man" again. Unfortunately, due to a trick of fate, Queen Anna Marie unfortunately Miscarriage, and at this time Philip IV's body began to decline, not to mention creating a man, even doing other things is difficult, so the Spanish royal family's sustenance is all on the young Prince Carlos—— Today, his survival is the guarantee of peace in Europe.

"Balboa, when Gaspar was sitting in your seat, he talked to me about the kingdom's policies in the Netherlands and Germany. How high-spirited he was at that time..." Philip IV was a court attendant. Sitting in the garden with his support, looking at the beautiful flowers in the garden, and thinking about his deteriorating body and the declining national situation, he almost burst into tears: "But then everything was messed up, no Know why it's all screwed up, I don't hate Gaspar, everything he does is at my behest, but he's offended too many people and knows too many secrets, so he has to die. But The country needs someone to do something, Balboa, do you understand that?"

Clerk Balboa, who was quite old, nodded heavily when he heard the words, and then said: "Your Majesty, I fully understand what you and the Duke of Olivarez have done for this country..."

After saying these words, there was an unspeakable silence between the two.

"Well, let's not talk about this issue." After recalling the past years, Philip IV asked a topic today: "How is the strength of the people on the east coast?"

"Very strong." Clerk Balboa replied without hesitation, "Through this war with the Portuguese, their navy has undoubtedly won great honor. This is a well-equipped, well-trained and experienced fleet. Even if the United Provinces and England want to defeat them, they can only rely on their numerical advantage. This alone is worth our wooing and betting, Your Majesty, the chances of winning are very high."

"What kind of conditions can we win them over?" Philip IV drank his water with the help of his male servant, and then asked, "Land, wealth or honor?"

"Honors cannot be conferred, my lord, unless they are all baptized as believers in the Lord. Although I am very happy to see this day come, the hope is really very small." Secretary Balboa said: " Wealth is not what they have been pursuing, after all, they have a strong ability to earn wealth themselves."

Having said that, Philip IV also nodded slightly.Yes, the markets in Spain, Naples, and Sicily are now flooded with a large number of goods from the East Coast, which are produced by those Genoese merchants through various channels, and the sales are very good, especially all kinds of textiles.

The reasons for the influx of goods from the east coast are extremely complicated, including the factors of Genoese merchants and the connivance of the Spanish royal family, which prevented a large number of French industrial products from the Pyrenees. , although it did not benefit the Spanish royal family, at least it caused the loss of the business interests of the French, which is enough.The Kingdom of Spain is most vigilant now, and it will always be the French family, because only this country has always coveted the Southern Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Lorraine and other places.

"Then only the land can satisfy these pagans?" Philip IV asked himself calmly and replied: "They are now planning my Mesopotamia region (that is, the river region), and the eyes may Still staring at Paraguay and La Plata, and maybe Chile. Hehe, what a greedy bunch, pagans always do! But these areas are extremely important to people on the east coast, but in my opinion, they are also very important. How can it compare to the Southern Nederland and Franche-Comté? The foundation of the kingdom is still in the old continent, there is no doubt that if the people on the east coast want it, then give it to them, as long as they can let Spain have Nanni Derain, Franche-Comté, Lorraine and, crucially, Iberia."

Clerk Balboa was silent again upon hearing this.King Philip is preparing for his death. After the loss of Philip IV, the kingdom of Spain, which has been plagued by disasters, will surely usher in a period of turmoil.And at that time, how could Louis XIV, the son-in-law of the old king, not jump out to fight for the huge inheritance of the Kingdom of Spain?The Southern Netherlands and Franche-Comté, which have been coveted by them for many years, must be acquired. The Lorraine region should also be legitimately included in the Kingdom of France, and Strasbourg had better be swallowed. , Facing the aggressive French army, what tricks does the Spaniard have?There is only one way to find allies!

The United Provinces and England, the two major European countries, should be striven for by Spain. In addition, it should be a good idea to contact the people on the east coast and ask them to help deal with the French.Although France is a continental country as a whole, they also have colonies overseas, such as the southeast of Xinhua Island, Guyana, the Caribbean islands, and French North America, etc., are all targets for attack. If you knock it off, the Frenchman will definitely be heartbroken.In addition, the French also have overseas trade. Whether in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean or West Africa, French merchant ships are not uncommon, so this is another great opportunity to give full play to the naval advantages of the people on the east coast.

In general, the United Provinces and England in the old continent need to be wooed, as well as the East Coast Republic of China in the New World, because these are countries that can bring real harm to the French.As long as the southern Netherlands and other places can be kept, the Mesopotamia area is nothing; as long as the French can station troops outside the Pyrenees, it is to send the people on the east coast an island in the Caribbean Sea. How; so what about giving La Plata to the people of the east coast as a reward, as long as the vast territory of Spain can be permanently returned to the Habsburg royal family-preferably Carlos the Younger and his direct descendants-rule?

This is a very simple truth. Once the little Prince Carlos fails to live to adulthood or is ousted from the throne by Louis XIV, the Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family will also sadly end its rule here. In this way, those The land may be cheaper for others, such as relatives in Vienna, such as the Bourbon royal family in France and so on.Then, in order to prevent this from happening, it became natural to sign a secret agreement with the people on the east coast, using land as reward so that they would always stand on the side of the Habsburgs in the possible West-French war. Something happened—our family is about to step down, why am I still thinking about so many things related to the future of the Kingdom of Spain?

"Balboa, go to Palermo for me, meet the plenipotentiary envoy of the East Coaster, and discuss these matters with him secretly. If he is not there, then go to Amsterdam to find him." After the glass of honey water was handed over by the waiter, Philip IV's spirit was much better than before, only to hear him continue: "Balboa, you'd better go to the New World again later—no, it's not the best, it's necessary ——You have to go to the New World once, and reach some agreements with the people on the east coast, some agreements that guarantee the territorial integrity of Spain and the rule of the Habsburg royal family over Spain. The reward is the land that the people on the east coast dream of. Balboa, you must and They signed some written agreements, but these agreements can only be secret agreements and cannot be made public for a period of time, do you understand?"

"Your Majesty, I fully understand your painstaking efforts." Balboa stood up and bowed, "No one wants to see the Southern Netherlands taken away by the French, and no one wants any trace of the Bourbon royal family to rule France. For this reason, I will go to the southern New World and conduct secret treaty negotiations with the people on the east coast. Of course, I will try my best to fight for the interests of the Kingdom of Spain, so as to prevent a large amount of land from being merged into the pagan country on the east coast, because I also don’t care much about them. Like the Kingdom of France, they are all hungry wolves, the only difference is that we don’t need to feed it with the Southern Netherlands or even Iberia.”

"Besides, the people on the east coast have a strong military production capacity, and the country's finances are relatively healthy. If there is any war in the future, if they join, the strength of the alliance against France will be stronger." Balboa added. .Inadvertently, the East Coast Republic of China has become an important variable in the deduction of the situation by the monarchs of major European powers. This country, which is extremely far away from Europe but is always involved in the situation in Europe, is simply a mysterious existence.Once upon a time, their special envoys lingered in Paris for many days without being received, were denied entry in Madrid and Valladolid, and were repeatedly despised and made things difficult for them in Amsterdam, but who would dare to do that now?

The United Provinces are quasi-allies with them, and England does not dare to turn against them suddenly. Although France is arrogant, it has to look at this country more, because Louis XIV was also embarrassed by the people on the east coast in New China Island. ——This country has really grown into a big and powerful country that cannot be ignored. It is already qualified to share the gluttonous world feast on the table, but the Kingdom of Spain is gradually losing this qualification. This cannot but be said to be a great irony.

"It's good that you understand my concerns, Balboa." Philip IV nodded with satisfaction, and then signaled that he could leave.After Balboa left, his other two favorites will soon enter this room to receive the king's instruction, and then they will go to London to strengthen their ties with the British.

In the past two years, because of the financial ability of Colbert's genius, Louis XIV easily bought Dunkirk and Madik (costing 500 million livres), and then recruited [-] troops into the area to carry out military operations. Defense, and built a dock between the fortress and the city that can accommodate more than [-] warships, which made Dunkirk a fortress on land and sea.This incident caused an uproar in London. Members of Congress questioned why the king sold the two lands (in fact, it was mainly because the king was too poor...), and England may be threatened by France from now on.Therefore, going to London to lobby at this time will definitely be able to find more allies-to deal with France, it is better to win more accomplices.

(End of this chapter)