Li Shaoyou and Tang Ruowang looked at each other and sighed at the same time.
Unless the old Cromwell dies, the younger Cromwell will not make peace with Spain, because the younger Cromwell is a staunch Puritan and hates Spanish Catholics the most.
But once old Cromwell died... little Cromwell was a dutiful son! Of course he has no intention of fighting the Catholics. He has to be sad for a while?
Moreover, the Puritan soldiers under Little Cromwell also understood that after the old master died, the remnants of Catholicism lurking in England would definitely jump, so the little master had to concentrate on quelling the civil strife - for the main war faction within the New Model Army In other words, this is a very convincing reason for a truce.
At the same time, signing an armistice agreement would satisfy the domestic bourgeoisie - they could finally no longer worry about the Spanish privateer fleet.
For Cromwell, the armistice with Spain was also a necessary means to stabilize domestic rule. Therefore, he will definitely seize this opportunity and escape from the quagmire of the European war.
"Britain and Spain will armistice soon!" Tang Ruowang said with certainty, "Then France and Spain... The war with Spain has been fighting for too long, both sides are a little exhausted, and None of them have the power to completely defeat their opponents.”
"But we have no way of armistice with Spain!" Li Shaoyou sighed, "I have to go to Paris to discuss with Prince Condé... Maybe I can get some useful information."
"Ambassador," said Jabs, "after going to Paris, are you going directly to Calais? I'll prepare the ship for you."
"That's good work." Li Shaoyou nodded. He went to Calais to go to England.
Since France and Spain may share the same monarch, it is imperative to strengthen relations with Britain. In the event that Sino-French relations cannot be maintained, then Sino-British relations will be particularly important - Ming Dynasty must maintain trade and technological exchanges with Europe. The "trade attributes" of France and Spain are very poor, and they may not necessarily maintain relations with the Ming Dynasty for the sake of trade.
The two capitalist countries, Britain and the Netherlands, are traders and rely heavily on international trade. Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty may be hostile to France and Spain, it is very beneficial to maintain close relations with these two countries.
...
"Mr. Ambassador, the peace negotiations between France and Spain are going very smoothly. Philip IV has agreed to cede Roussillon, Foix, Artois and most of Lorraine to us... Now we are waiting to finalize Maria. .Princess Theresa’s dowry. Prime Minister Mazarin wanted 500,000 crowns as compensation for the Spanish princess giving up her right to inherit the throne, but King Philip couldn’t afford this small sum.”
In a luxurious mansion in Paris, Prince Condai was confessing to the visiting Li Shaohua.
The death of old Cromwell has obviously become an important event that pushed the wheel of history forward! Even the once stalled peace negotiations between France and Spain were accelerated as a result.
"You don't have 500,000 taels of silver?" Li Shaohua was very surprised by the "poverty" level of the Spanish royal family. "Is that equivalent to 700,000 taels of silver?"
"Absolutely," Huang Jiang, the banker who came with Li Shaohua, shook his head and said, "Your king probably won't be able to get this money... The Spanish court is now heavily in debt and is expected to declare bankruptcy soon." It would be nice if I could organize a decent wedding for Maria Theresa."
Conde smiled: "If you can't get it, it's the 'dowry due'... But Louis will still marry Maria Theresa. She is a very beautiful princess!"
"Oh? King Louis has already seen her?" Li Shaohua was a little surprised. He had stayed in Europe for many years and had long known that the Habsburg family was good at bad things... Anyway, he was in the Shinra family. I haven't seen anyone from the Habsburg family who looks relatively decent.
"Of course I haven't seen it..." Prince Condé, who was also ugly himself, smiled, "If he had seen it, maybe King Louis would reconsider this marriage."
"No matter how ugly you are, you still have to marry!" Huang Jiang interjected, "Maybe I can marry a Spanish kingdom!"
Prince Kongdai shook his head and said: "It's not that easy," his tone was serious, "I can tell you a secret. But I want you to promise not to leak it!"
"I promise!" Li Shaoyou said, "I promise to God."
Huang Jiang said: "I promise to the God of Wealth!"
Prince Condé nodded and said: “If Philip dies and there is no male heir, then King Louis will make a claim to the Spanish throne!
There will be a war of succession, so Maria Theresa is just an excuse to start a war! "
"Is this true?" Li Shaohua was shocked and asked: "What if King Philip's son had not died? Wouldn't King Louis' plan have failed?"
Prince Condai looked at Li Shaohua, was silent for a while, and then said: "It was only partially failed...Princess Maria Theresa only gave up the right to inherit the Spanish throne, but she did not give up other inheritances! Philip is not only the King of Spain , or the King of New Spain, the King of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and the Duke of the Netherlands!"
A person with insufficient intelligence is indeed not fit to be a king!
The stupid Philip IV was deceived by two smart men, Louis XIV and Mazarin again - the inheritance rights that Maria Theresa gave up were negotiated by Philip and Mazarin, but somehow they were just It stipulates the Spanish throne and leaves out other things.
So Louis XIV had the great righteousness to launch an inheritance war - Philip had so much inheritance, why should he only give it to his son and not his daughter? This is not fair!
Li Shaoyou, who was a little depressed before, immediately cheered up, "Your Royal Highness... If King Louis goes to war with Spain because of the succession or inheritance issue, the Ming Empire will definitely support King Louis!"
Huang Jiang also said: "If King Louis marches to the Spanish Netherlands, Sinou Bank is willing to provide a low-interest loan!"
He was very interested in France seizing the Spanish Netherlands, because the Spanish Netherlands, which would later become Belgium, was more suitable to become a financial center than France itself. The economy there is more developed, trade is more prosperous, and it is closer to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the two European economic centers.
Prince Condé smiled and said: "King Louis asked me to tell the Ambassador that if he becomes the King of Spain, he will recognize that the west coast of the New World north of California belongs to the Ming Empire."
It turns out that the things the prince said to Li Shaoyou and Huang Jiang were all told by Mazarin. Before Louis XIV got the crown of Spain, France still needed the strong support of the Ming Dynasty!
...
At the same time, the King of Spain, whose intelligence was lacking when he was young and even more confused as he got older, was summoning Cardinal Li Yufan, who had returned from Japan, in his palace in Madrid.
"Your Majesty, you must remain vigilant against the Ming Empire... Because in the Manchurian War that ended not long ago, the Ming Army showed unprecedented combat effectiveness! More than 10,000 of their troops actually fought in a series of nights During the attack, we cleanly defeated Donihan’s 70,000-strong army!”
"Isn't it because Donihan's army is too weak?" The Spanish King said disdainfully, "Our soldiers in Japan fought very well!"
"No, no, it's not that Doni Khan's army is weak," Li Ngoc Fan said, "but that the Ming army is strong... As far as I know, the one who defeated Doni Khan was an army similar to the Yenicery Army , they are called the Nine Borders Youth Army. Some of the strongest boys were selected from the border areas of the Ming Dynasty and sent to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to undergo rigorous training and screening for six years under the personal supervision of the emperor. Finally, a particularly powerful elite army was formed.”
"Really?" The Spanish King frowned, "It's just an army, it doesn't pose any threat to us."
"Your Majesty," Li Yufan shook his head, "I think this army will be used in the New World in the near future!"
