Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1376 The Morality of the Shit Stirring Stick ([-])

"What, do you want Trinidad?" Baron Raul Bravo, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the east coast, exclaimed in surprise, and his astonishment alarmed the entourage who were busy looking through the documents. These people who were from noble families looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

They are all young people, all come from aristocratic families, and they are all devout Catholics, all of which make them extremely repulsive to this powerful country established by pagans on the east coast.But as the saying goes, the situation is stronger than the people. Working on the east coast, one naturally has to accept everything here, including their increasingly domineering attitude and outrageous and greedy demands.

To be honest, things are not looking good for the Kingdom of Spain right now, especially when compared to their old rival, the Kingdom of France.Philip IV is old, weak in body, and not in a good mental state, and his internal and external policies are relatively chaotic and weak. Apologizing to Louis XIV and acknowledging the superiority of the French monarchy can be seen.

The cause of the incident was a dispute between the ambassadors of the two countries in London over who would walk first. At that time, the Spanish ambassador, Baron Waterville, called for the horse to be killed in the carriage of the French ambassador, Count Destrade, and then beat the earl himself and his wife. His entourage led to the expulsion of ambassadors between Spain and France, and Louis even threatened his father-in-law with war.Of course, the Spaniards were unable to fight anymore, so they could only apologize in the end, and admitted in front of the ambassadors of various countries in France that they would "no longer compete with the French ambassadors" in the future, which was considered embarrassing.

Another thing that made the Spaniards angry was related to the Holy See.The French ambassador to the Holy See, the Duke of Créquite, and his entourage had always been arrogant. Even in Rome, they were domineering, unruly, and reckless.Later, Mario Zigi, brother of Pope Alexander VII, led the guards to defend the French embassy, ​​and shot Mrs. Creckie's carriage, killing one of her young attendants and injuring many others.

Seeing this, the Duke of Crecchi left Rome quickly, returned to France and informed Louis of the incident. The angry Louis immediately ordered Praslin to be the commander and led the army to march into Italy. States mediate.As we all know, the Spanish monarchs who claim to be Catholic kings have always been closely related to the Holy See. Therefore, His Majesty Philip IV took on the task of mediating. Of course, the result was tragic. Their efforts only received the merciless support of the French laugh at.

Louis XIV's army ignored the pope's "excommunication" threat, insisted on entering northern Italy, and expel the influence of the Kingdom of Spain here. Later, he even claimed to be the "protector of the Italian princes" and annexed northern Italy His thoughts are also looming.

The end result, of course, was that the Pope begged for mercy, exiled his brother, disbanded the guards from Corsica, and sent a cardinal to France to make an apology—the first ever sent to beg for mercy. The special envoys of the Holy See, they used to read the Pope's laws or collect tithes - currently Louis still retains a small army in Italy, and at the same time confiscated the Earl of Avignon, the intention of annexing Italy is quite obvious, This terrified the Spaniards in particular.

People on the east coast who are well-informed in Italy have of course heard about these things. Of course, they also know that Italy has always been deeply influenced by the Habsburg dynasty. Therefore, Louis's move into Italy this time is undoubtedly a hit The sensitive nerves of Spain and Austria have been exposed, and it is completely nonsense to say that they are not nervous.

"An old friend of mine in The Hague told me that five months ago, on May 5, Louis XIV held an incomparable feast at the Palace of Versailles, inviting hundreds of distinguished nobles, merchants, foreign envoys Come to watch the ceremony. At this feast, the Pope’s nephew, Cardinal Zigi, came to Paris. Condé and his son), and then to have him bow down to Louis XIV in the presence of the nobles of Paris and the diplomats of various countries, there is nothing worse, Ambassador Bravo, really." In the East Mo San, who summoned the Spanish ambassador in the hotel, said, "Oh, I also can't understand the face of the French. They are so rude. I think they didn't even want to meet us. If there is a chance, we would like to Kill the majesty of this young king who is said to be wise, powerful and benevolent."

It is said that when Louis suffered a famine in France two years ago, he distributed his own bread to the people, and at the same time ordered the rich to hand over the food they had hoarded, and then gave it to the poor in front of the Louvre. The regional poll tax earned him a reputation as a benevolent and growing prestige among the kings of France.Compared with such a young and promising king, Philip IV, who is old and faint, is simply a person of two levels.

"Moreover, I heard that the French sent 4000 Huguenot soldiers into Portugal this year. These people are likely to be detrimental to the Kingdom of Spain." Mo San went further, "I heard the Portuguese say, These people are even paid by King Louis, apparently hired by King Alfonso. The French think that you have been breaching the Treaty of the Pyrenees since it was signed, so they intend to breach it once, to help The Portuguese are dealing with you. Oh, by the way, the Kingdom of Austria may not have time to take care of the situation in the Iberian Peninsula this time, because they are now at war with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and the war in Hungary may break out at any time. It is said that Louis XIV sent Corini The Count led [-] French soldiers to the banks of the Rab River, joined the Austrian army, and fought against Turkey. Their hands are really long, Ambassador Bravo, what do you think of these things? I Very interested."

Speaking of this, Mo San thought of another great secret, a shocking secret that France and Austria knew well but could not see, but the Spaniards were still kept in the dark.Gao Mo, who is relatively familiar with history, thought of this secret by chance, and then recorded it in the confidential archives room. As a member of the Central Executive Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mo San naturally has this authority to know, but after hesitating again and again, he still Not going to tell the Spaniards now.Because this "bomb" is too powerful, you can throw it in after a while, maybe you can get more benefits in that way.

Naturally, the Spaniards also found out about the fact that France sent troops into Portugal. These 4000 Huguenot soldiers were also experienced in many battles, and they were led by the Duke of Sternberg, who was older than the army. The Portuguese army of the Styrians - and perhaps some of the English army - so the Kingdom of Spain can recover Portugal?No, perhaps recovering Portugal is already an extravagant hope, and Spain should now consider how to protect itself!

Although Baron Raul Bravo has lived on the east coast all year round, this does not mean that he has no news. On the contrary, he has been paying attention to collecting news that happened in the Old World. The thing is crystal clear.And it is precisely because of these things that Baron Bravo is more deeply aware of the great crisis facing the Kingdom of Spain today, that is, once His Majesty Philip IV passes away, who can shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Spain? Banner?

The greedy son-in-law of the old king will never let go of such a great opportunity. It is hard to say whether Prince Carlos will live to adulthood. It is also hard to judge the situation of his relatives in Austria. Italy and Catalonia The calls for independence continued, and the Legion of Castile fought repeatedly against the Portuguese. To borrow an old Chinese saying, this is the autumn of life and death!If it is not handled properly, the huge Spanish kingdom may be torn apart, the Habsburg royal family will also be annihilated in the dust of history, and the Spanish Hidalgos will also suffer huge losses collectively, which they cannot promise!

"France is indeed the kingdom's biggest enemy now, and at the same time the most ferocious enemy." When he said this, Baron Bravo subconsciously glanced at Mo San who was sitting opposite him, thinking about the fact that he only wanted to invade the Spanish American colonies. Compared with the people on the east coast, the French who coveted the Southern Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Lorraine and other places are indeed more vicious, so he continued: "But we are powerless to deal with them. The current Kingdom of Spain , too weak, we have fought too many wars in the past few decades. So, people from the East Coast, are you going to help us fight against the French?"

"Of course we have a sympathetic and compassionate attitude towards the current situation facing the Kingdom of Spain, and we are also very uncomfortable with the aggressive Frenchman, but this does not mean that our government will devote itself to confrontation with France without limit, because this It’s not in our country’s interests.” Mo San said, “To fight against France is mainly to rely on your country’s own strength. As friends, we only want to help within our own capabilities, but this is limited, and we need Spain The Kingdom pays a certain price, such as the ownership of Trinidad."

Today, the gradually growing China East Coast Republic finds itself more and more eager to increase its influence in Spain. Having fought two East-West Wars, they are now more consciously maintaining the peace and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Spain. , This has to be said to be a great irony, the world is unpredictable, probably nothing more than this.In fact, it’s normal to think about it. The markets of New Spain and Peru have been opened to the east coast, and the cross-border reclamation in Hejian and Southern Cone has intensified. To some extent, Spain is the meat of the east coast. When do you think They can eat anything, but they are extremely jealous of other carnivorous animals coming to grab food. Therefore, their actions to maintain the territorial integrity of Spain can actually be understood as the instinct of animals to protect food.

"Can't you send troops to fight against the Kingdom of France?" Baron Raul Bravo was a little disappointed.In his opinion, if the east coast can be persuaded to enter into a military alliance with Spain, what is a useless Trinidad island?Give it and give it, it doesn't matter!But thinking about the 10,000+ elite standing army in France, Baron Bravo subconsciously dismissed the idea again. This is not something that people on the east coast can fight against.

"We can wipe out the entire navy of France, block their trade lines, occupy their colonies and commercial stations, and turn them into a continental country. Of course, the reward for sending troops is not the small island of Trinidad I can afford it..." When Mo San said this, his eyes were piercing, he was full of confidence, and his whole body was filled with a breathtaking aura, which was probably brought to him by the powerful naval fleet on the east coast.

In fact, under the "care" of the former Cardinal Mazarin, the French navy has only fifteen or six warships left, and the tonnage is not large. Only a few warships have more than 50 artillery pieces. It really couldn't be easier for the shore people to destroy this fleet, provided they dare to go out to fight.He still remembered that during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the French navy was weak and did not dare to go out to fight in the port. As a result, the Dutch kept urging them. In the end, the French were really embarrassed, so they could only blush and send a ship parked in the port of Brest to the sea. The attack ships were sent out, and it is said that Louis XIV was so ashamed of this at that time that he ordered the vigorous development of the French navy.

Baron Bravo was a little silent when he heard the words.In fact, Mo San’s proposal of dispatching the fleet to destroy the French navy and occupy their colonies is enough to make Spain feel excited, because it can indeed cause a lot of trouble to France—even if it’s just trouble—it’s enough to make Spain feel ashamed. The French thought carefully when signing the peace agreement, so as not to come up with unacceptable terms in advance.As for the so-called remuneration paid, what is Trinidad?Can it be compared to a city like Strasbourg?

Oh, right!Minister Mo San said just now that one Trinidad island is not enough for the east coast to participate in an all-out war with the Kingdom of France. Asia" region?That's right, the people on the east bank have always valued this flood-prone land very much and wanted to swallow it in one gulp, but if they can really sign a treaty of military alliance with them, it is completely acceptable to abandon this land. !

Unknowingly, the Spaniards are now lowering their limits. It might not be possible for the Hejian region to consider giving up, but now that so many things have happened, they are forced by the situation. There are too many, Hejian—if you abandon it, you will abandon it. As long as you keep most of the land in the Buenos Aires Prosecutor's Court District, what does it matter?It's just some wild land!

Thinking of this, Baron Raul Bravo stabilized his mind and responded to Mo San: "Honorable Minister Mo, I must report this matter to my superiors to listen to their attitude and obtain the necessary authorization by the way."

"It's natural." Mo San nodded gently, expressing his understanding: "But I have to remind you, it's best not to think about things for too long, otherwise things will inevitably change. And I heard that King Philip's health is not very good. Two years were especially bad (this is no secret at all among the aristocratic circles of Madrid and Valladolid), please reply as soon as possible for the good of your country and the peace of your people. You know, the Habsburgs are not Our only option, you—is but one attempt among our many options."

Mo San's last words were like thunder, leaving Baron Bravo speechless in astonishment.Yes, Louis XIV is now eyeing the territory of Spain. Although it is rumored that he only wants to get the Southern Netherland, Franche-Comté, Lorraine and other places, and has no ambitions for the Iberian Peninsula, who dares to guarantee that he will not Will you want your wife, Princess Teresa, to be the king of Spain?No one dares to say that!

Speaking of which, do people on the east coast really have to discuss with Spain what to do?Not necessarily!They can also negotiate with the French. In order to annex more land, they will definitely not mind selling the interests of Spanish overseas colonies. Although this may break the pattern of the east coast monopolizing the Peru and New Spain markets, you must not Do not admit that this possibility does exist.Therefore, Baron Raul Bravo really didn't dare to be careless, and decided that he must get in touch with Madrid as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)