"You are right. Cromwell went to war with Spain because he wanted to get his hands on the New World of America!" Prince Kongdai, who was responsible for the important mission of pulling the Ming Empire into joint fight against Spain, smiled and said to Zhu Cihong, “America is the most precious asset of the Spanish world empire, and it is also the most envied...and Philip IV’s idea of monopolizing the American continent will definitely bring endless wars to Spain!
And all powers that want to get involved in the New World of America must fight Spain for the vast and rich land of the New World! "
Because the Portuguese War of Restoration had not yet ended, Philip IV could still regard the Portuguese territories in the Americas as part of the Spanish world empire.
So judging from Spain's own map, the "King of the Earth" still owns almost the entire American continent!
But Spain cannot digest this coveted vast real estate - because the population of Spain is too small!
So the concept of owning the entire Americas now became a huge burden for the Spanish world empire. Although the Kingdom of Spain seized a large amount of gold and silver from the Americas, these revenues were not enough to pay for the military expenditures to defend the Americas.
Moreover, apart from the Holy Roman Empire, which is also ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, Spain, which owns the entire Americas, is almost impossible to find truly reliable friends in the world... Any country with a few ships that can go out on the ocean Everyone is drooling when they look at America, how can Spain make friends with them?
So the war between Spain and the Ming Dynasty is inevitable, the war between Spain and Britain is inevitable, the war between Spain and France is inevitable, the war between Spain and the Netherlands is inevitable... Spain and almost all maritime powers are inevitable The war is going to be fought!
But having said that, Spain in the Age of Discovery was still very capable.
In the original history, the Anglo-Spanish War that took place between 1655 and 1660 was Spain fighting France and England alone.
Although Spain was defeated by Britain and France, as the main force fighting Spain at sea, England also suffered heavy losses in this war!
In this war, the Spanish main fleet could not defeat the British fleet. But the Spanish privateers' tactic of breaking diplomatic relations was very successful. During the six-year war, the British lost a total of 1,500-2,000 merchant ships!
Therefore, in the historical Anglo-Spanish War, both Britain and Spain suffered losses, and the real winner was France, which relied on its strength to fight. This war not only helped France end the domestic Fronde rebellion, but also helped France from France escaped from the long war against Spain and also weakened France's two important allies, Britain and Spain.
It can be said that this war laid the foundation for the glory of France in the era of Louis XIV! The man who led France to fish in troubled waters in this war and made a lot of money was the enemy of Prince Condé, the red prime minister Mazarin (Mazarin).
Now, of course, the red prime minister will not forget that there is a great dynasty on the other side of the earth that is also hostile to the Kingdom of Spain.
Through the report submitted by Prince Condé, Bishop Mazarin had a fairly accurate understanding of the financial and military strength of the Celestial Empire.
So I came up with the idea of recruiting Ming Dynasty to join the group... Although the Chinese Empire was too far away from the European continent, it was impossible to send troops to Europe and the Atlantic to participate in the war. But the Chinese Empire can provide military expenditures for the cash-strapped French royal family!
In addition, bringing China into the alliance will help establish Sino-French trade relations in the form of a treaty after the war - there is no free trade these days, only gunboat trade!
France and the Ming Dynasty were both countries with rising navies, so there was no way to obtain enough wealth from the abundant overseas trade. Although the two countries have long had the idea of large-scale trade, they have never been able to launch it. To this day, they can only do it in the form of "gift trade".
And this war between Britain, France, and Ming against Spain is very likely to create an international trade order that is more beneficial to both Ming and France...
"So," Zhu Cihong looked back at Prince Kong Dai, "What can I get from the war against Spain? What do I have to pay?"
Prince Kongdai smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I can't guarantee you anything... What you can get depends entirely on the performance of the Ming Dynasty's navy!
Although your army may well be the most powerful in the world, it is completely useless in this war unless you have a powerful enough navy to send them to the front line far enough! "
The prince used two "enough" to describe the distance. It was obvious that he also realized that Zhu Cixiang was also eyeing the new continent owned by the Spanish World Empire!
He paused, "As for what you have to pay... I think you must be willing to pay a long-term low-interest loan in order to defeat Spain, the villain who has occupied the beautiful, rich, and vast New World, right?"
I need to borrow money! Zhu Cixiang was noncommittal.
The prince added: "Your Majesty, that's all I can say now... As for other conditions, we still need to wait for this year's gift fleet to arrive.
By the way, His Majesty the King of France's letter mentioned that Bishop Mazarin has prepared the most wonderful gift for you, which is also the most sincere gift from France. "
"Gift? What is it?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
Prince Condé shrugged and said: "I don't know, I don't know either, but the answer will be revealed soon, because the gift fleet should arrive in China soon. And you don't have to worry about the safety of the fleet, because apart from France sending In addition to the armed merchant ships, the British East India Company will provide security for this voyage!"
...
Prince Condai did not know what gift Bishop Mazarin prepared for the Ming Emperor. If he knew, he would definitely try his best to prevent this gift from being delivered to Zhu Cihong.
Because this gift is the most delicate "Italian pony"... She is Mazarin's niece, named Mary Mancini.
Cardinal Mazarin himself had no children, but he had seven beautiful nieces, the most beautiful of whom was Marie Mancini.
She is currently staying on board the 600-ton armed galenic ship Saint-Germain, which sailed from the port of Calais in France. This ship belongs to the French royal family and is called the "Gift Ship", which is used to send gifts to the big tomorrow. The sailing ship that brought gifts to the North was actually a trading ship.
The China-Ottoman-France "gift trade" pioneered by Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou still continues, but the trade routes no longer pass through the Mediterranean, and Chinese-style bird ships are no longer used. Instead, we take the long-distance route from China to Aden Port to the Cape of Good Hope to France.
Moreover, the "gift ships" sent by China and France will not "exchange gifts" in the Gulf of Aden, but will sail directly to each other's ports.
Of course, the scale of the gift ship trade is still very limited. There are only 6 merchant ships from China and France busy on this route, and China and France have 3 ships each.
However, this time the "gift fleet" sailing from France was unprecedented in scale, including not only 6 Chinese and French ships originally sailing on the "gift route", but also 6 other armed merchant ships of the British East India Company, and a British The navy's warships, a huge fleet of 13 warships and armed merchant ships, set out from Calais and sailed at sea for more than seven months. It was not until the third day of October in the ninth year of Hongxing that they slowly sailed into the emerging and prosperous sea. Wusongjiang River, the commercial port of Shanghai.
Marie Mancini, wearing a velvet dress, was standing on the stern of the Saint-Germain, curiously looking at everything in front of her. The Shanghai magistrate and diplomatic envoy Luo Dagong, who boarded the ship at Wusongkou, was looking at this stunning Western beauty intently. Mary Mancini's eyebrows are long and curved, her nose is high and her eyelashes are curved and curled. Her eyes are big and bright, and her eyes are jet black. The lip line is soft and sexy, and the corners of the lips are raised, with an elusive and charming smile.
