Don Juan Jose left Vienna with an extremely heavy heart and continued towards Madrid.
The reason that made him feel heavy was that the imperial examination reform in the Holy Roman Empire was very incomplete - how could the crown prince not take the exam? All the king's sons, including illegitimate sons, should be allowed to take the exam together, and then the one with the best score should be made the crown prince. Only in this way can the country prosper!
The monarch of this monarchy country must not be confused!
The Kingdom of Spain has learned a profound lesson in this regard...
Nowadays, all major European monarchies, except Spain, have at least one monarch with normal intelligence. Louis XIV of France is said to be very smart; Carl -At least the disobedient heirs of large and small lords in the empire who have no inheritance rights will love His Majesty the Emperor. The energy of this group of people cannot be underestimated! Moreover, it is very common for heirs to die prematurely due to various reasons...
As for Cromwell, the usurper of England, he was even more wise to the point of trembling!
England, which was not worth mentioning under the rule of James I and Charles I, has now been built by Cromwell into a hegemonic country of land and sea!
As for Spain, when he thought of his mission to revitalize Spain and his damned illegitimate status, Don Juan Jose was so sad that he wanted to cry, but he still tried hard not to cry...until he When I arrived in Madrid on December 6, 1657, I couldn't help but burst out.
Because as soon as he saw that Madrid, which was originally shabby, had been beautifully decorated, and the city was filled with the short-lived joy that his father Philip IV had obtained by throwing away gold coins, he knew that something particularly bad had happened. !
It must be his father Philip IV and his cousin Maria Anna who gave birth to a son!
Because only when Spain wins a major victory, a king is crowned, or a crown prince is born, the shabby and desolate Madrid will be dressed up as a city of joy.
Major victories are impossible, but major defeats do happen...and it looks like they will continue to fail!
It was also impossible for the king to be crowned. Even though Philip IV had just died, Maria Theresa did not have a coronation ceremony so quickly.
After two impossibilities, there is only one possibility left! It was Don Juan Jose's biological father and Don Juan Jose's cousin who finally gave birth to a son - Don Juan Jose had heard that his cousin Maria Anna was pregnant a few months ago. According to the news, at that time he also prayed to God for a healthy and beautiful little sister.
It seems that God did not agree to his request... Now it's over, Spain has another foolish king!
In fact, Don Juan Jose was worried too early, because the boy named Philip Prosper who was born on November 28 was not the next fatuous king of the Kingdom of Spain - although he was also a child with stunted brain development. , but he did not persevere enough to become a faint king, and died of an epileptic seizure at the age of less than four years old.
The next fatuous king of Spain, Carlos II, would not be born until November 6, 1661...and he was also the last fatuous king of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.
But now neither Don Juan Jose nor Philip IV knew that Philip Prosper would not live long, so when Don Juan Jose and Garcia arrived at the palace together, Philip IV had already put on Dressed up, he is preparing to ride on horseback to parade through the streets of Madrid, accepting the cheers and blessings of his subjects.
Seeing his most outstanding son appear together with a nobleman who looked a little familiar, Philip IV danced for joy, strode up, hugged his son and kissed him: "Jose, you came so quickly. .....The messenger only set out on November 28th, and today is only December 6th. How did you get here? Did you pass through France on a fast horse?"
Passing from France? Don Juan Jose thought to himself: Is this what a person with normal intelligence can say?
"Father," said Don Juan José, "I did not know about the birth of His Royal Highness when I left Brussels. I came to Madrid for other reasons."
"Okay!" King Philip nodded, then grabbed Garcia and hugged him and kissed him. Then he realized something was wrong and asked, "Who are you? Why don't I know you?"
"Your Majesty the King, I am Garcia, Commander of the Eastern Armada... You should know me, I have been your guard officer."
"Garcia..." King Philip's memory was very poor. He just felt that he had seen this name somewhere a few days ago, but he just couldn't remember it.
A secretary who followed him reminded him: "Your Majesty, you just signed the order to dismiss and arrest Commander Garcia of the Eastern Armada three days ago!"
"Yes, yes, there is such a thing..." King Philip turned to look at his son, "Jose, you are really capable! You caught this stupid and incompetent Garcia so quickly!"
Grasp? Don Juan Jose was sweating on his forehead! Why is my father getting more and more confused? He's not very old. He's only over fifty. His mind is so confused. Can Spain still save him?
"Father, Admiral Garcia is not my prisoner, but my friend!" Don Juan Jose said, "And he also brought a personal letter from the Marquis of Spinola, the governor of New Spain... The Marquis's letter stated that the failure of the Eastern Armada was not the responsibility of the admiral, but that the Chinese navy had made leaps and bounds. They had an amazingly powerful wooden shell that could destroy our Wooden battleship.”
"Really?" King Philip nodded, "Well, since I am your friend, I can revoke the order to arrest Garcia." As he spoke, the King of Spain waved his hand at Garcia, telling him to disappear quickly.
Knowing that he would no longer be in jail, Garcia quickly bowed to the king and disappeared from Philip IV's eyes as if on the run.
Don Juan Jose took out a letter written by the Marquis of Spinola and handed it to the king with both hands.
"What was written?" Philip IV took the letter, but did not read it, but asked about his son.
"Two things have been said," Don Juan Jose said. "One is that the Ming Empire in the East is entering the New World in a big way... The emperor of the Ming Dynasty has raised funds equivalent to 140 million pesos. To form a joint-stock United States in the New World."
"What is a joint-stock United States?" asked the King of Spain.
"Father, this is not the key!" Don Juan Jose was too lazy to explain such a complicated problem to Philip IV. "The key to the problem is 140 million pesos! The continent we own is facing an unprecedented threat... ...If we don’t adopt a tit-for-tat policy, we will lose the New World within 20 years!”
"Tit for tat?" Philip shook his head, "But I don't have 140 million pesos!"
"Father, the issue is not the peso."
Philip IV looked at his son, "But you just said that the key is the peso!"
"This..." The stupid father actually got in. Don Juan Jose's face darkened slightly, "Father, for the Chinese, the key to fighting for the New World is money! Because China has more than 100 million With a population of tens of millions, they now have a shipbuilding capability that is no less than that of Spain. Sending immigrants to the New World is a question of how much money to spend!
And for us in Spain, the peso can still find a way, but the population... what to do with the population? "
The King of Spain was silent, and after a while he said with a wry smile as if he was self-deprecating: "I, the king of the earth, have neither money nor people...what should I do?"
"We should seek peace in Europe as much as possible," Don Juan Jose said, "and focus our main energy on New Spain! If we cannot keep New Spain, then Spain will lose her glory and wealth and become Become an insignificant country!"
"what should I do?"
Don Juan Jose said: "The Emperor of China established a vassal state in order to compete for the New World. You can also adopt the same method and upgrade New Spain to a kingdom. You will be the king yourself, and I can go to Mexico City. Serves as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of New Spain.”
