"What? Sanchez, what did you say?"
The door to Juan Jose's office was opened immediately, and then the Spanish Prime Minister's livid face was seen.
"Prime Minister, I said that the Ming Dynasty occupied the port of Acapulco on the Pacific side of New Spain, and they carried the banner of 'liberating the Americans, establishing a republic and overthrowing the Spanish monarchy'!"
"What? Overthrow the Spanish monarchy? And establish a republic?" Juan Jose was shocked. "Are they really people from the Ming Dynasty? They can't be the radical republicans of the Netherlands or the Cromwell of England. Are you going to cause trouble again?"
"No, no," Sanchez said while handing over a letter from the Vice-King of New Spain from Mexico City. "Prime Minister, you'd better read it yourself. This is a personal letter from the Duke of Alvar to you."
Juan Jose took the envelope, took out the letter paper inside, then walked quickly to the desk, and then read it by the dim candlelight. This letter was written by a friend of Juan Jose, Antonio Alvarez, the seventh Duke of Alvar. In the letter, this Antonio Alvarez told Juan Jose five bad news!
First, when the large sailing fleet engaged in trade between Asia and America passed through Ryukyu Island, it was raided and captured by the Ming army stationed there. Eight Spanish Galen ships of 400 to 500 tons, together with 16,700 people on board, The brave Spanish sailors, officers and soldiers all fell into the hands of the insidious and evil Ming army!
Jose was shocked when he saw the news: He didn't expect the Ming people to be so insidious now! They were not like this in the past. Acapulco has been the home port of the galleon trade for more than a hundred years, and it has never been spied on by the Ming Dynasty. This must be a good thing done by the republican general!
Second, the people of the Ming Dynasty had mastered the route map for sailing from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty to America through torture and confiscated nautical charts! Then they sent a huge expedition fleet, including eight Spanish Galen ships captured by them and one hundred British Galen ships built in the Ming Dynasty, carrying a total of 12,000 soldiers, and no one could The prepared port of Acapulco launched a surprise attack!
After a bloody battle, Colonel Fernandez, the commander of the infantry regiment in Acapulco Port, still failed to withstand the attack of the Ming Dynasty. In the end, less than 100 people of the 3,000-person phalanx infantry regiment fled back to Mexico City in embarrassment. A phalanx infantry regiment!
Jose took a breath: I didn't expect the Ming people to be so capable of fighting! It was possible to kill an entire Spanish phalanx infantry regiment with 12,000 men!
Third, after learning of the Ming Dynasty's sneak attack on Acapulco, the Duke of Alvar immediately sent out five phalanx infantry regiments to try to recapture the lost port. As a result, they were ambushed by the Ming Dynasty outside the port of Acapulco and were killed. and captured thousands of people, and the rest withdrew to the foot of Potre Mountain northeast of Acapulco Port to build fortifications and hold on.
Seeing this, Jose couldn't help but blame his good friend - the Duke of Alvar didn't know how to fight. How could five phalanx infantry regiments with 15,000 people be defeated by 12,000 enemies? ? No, the enemy should not have had 12,000 people. The previous annihilation of a Spanish phalanx infantry regiment should have resulted in the loss of 1,000 people, right?
The fourth bad news is that a Ming general named Geng Dongzheng who landed in Acapulco issued a speech titled "Long Live GH!" in the Acapulco Municipal Plaza. "Down with the King" speech!
In his speech, the Ming general fiercely criticized the brutal rule of the Spanish monarchy in the New World, and announced that he would establish a colonial city-state with a republican system in Acapulco. All whites, native whites, and Indians who were willing to stay in Acapulco Mestizos and Indians will become citizens of this glorious republican city-state and enjoy the rights to participate in the citizens' assembly, freedom of religion, inviolability of property, and the right to obtain a piece of cultivated land outside Acapulco to ensure that they are not limited to poverty. .
Jose was shocked when he saw this! Isn't this Geng Dongzheng a guy wearing an ancient Greek robe and a laurel crown?
But the Ming, Qing, and Three Kingdoms that now rule the land of Ming Dynasty also seem to have emperors! How did they become a republic?
Thinking of this, Jose asked his secretary, the knowledgeable Sanchez: "Sanchez, when did this Ming Dynasty become a GH country?"
Sanchez replied: "Mr. Prime Minister, the original land of Ming Dynasty was divided into three parts, which were ruled by three hostile dynasties: Ming, Qing, and Zhou Dynasties. The supreme rulers of these three dynasties were all supreme emperors."
Jose was surprised: "They are emperors themselves, and they still have the nerve to export the republican system everywhere?"
"Prime Minister. What they implement is a republic with an emperor!"
"A republic with an emperor?" Jose was confused, "What do you mean?"
"There is an emperor, but the emperor does not hold real power. Instead, the generals or prime ministers hold real power together with the Senate and the Citizens' Assembly. People in the Ming Dynasty also called this system a republic."
"Is this a republic?" Jose frowned. "The monarch does not hold real power. The prime minister and the council hold power together. Sanchez, do you think this system looks familiar? You seem to have seen it somewhere?"
"Yes, it looks familiar." Sanchez shrugged, "It seems that we in Spain are a bit similar! Now the king of Spain is obviously unable to take power, and the Queen Mother is no longer regent. The power of the country has been delegated to you, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain and the ancient The Kingdom Council has jointly taken control of it.”
Jose had a stern look on his face: "In other words, those Ming people are exporting their republican ideas to a republic just like them?"
"No, our Kingdom of Spain is not exactly the same as them." Sanchez said, "The Ming Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was not an mentally retarded monarch. The reason why he did not actually hold power was based on a method called 'original rule'. The monarch's system, not his intelligence. And in Spain, if a monarch with sound intelligence succeeds to the throne in the future, then you must return the power to the monarch. So our Spanish republic is temporary, and the monarchy is lasting . And the Republic of the Ming Dynasty is lasting, and the royal government does not exist!"
"This" Jose said in his heart: If Spain is forced to become a republic like the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't I have to hold real power all the time? It seems that this republic is not impossible! If I learn from Ming Dynasty and become a republican prime minister who always holds real power, will they retreat from Acapulco? It doesn't seem that good, right?
At this time Sanchez said again: "The Prime Minister, that Ming Republican general also granted citizenship to all people who are willing to stay in Acapulco, no matter what religion he believes in, no matter where he was born, no matter what his skin color is. White, yellow or brown. In Acapulco, Spaniards, native whites, mestizos and Indians are all equal citizens!”
"This is not possible!" Juan Jose immediately shouted, "If the Spanish Empire implements such a system, the empire will cease to exist. All colonies and royal territories outside the peninsula will seek independence, and we will lose everything!
Our Spanish peninsula proper has a population of only six million, while the entire empire has a population of at least 20 million! If all these 20 million people had citizenship rights, the Spaniards would become a minority in the country. And why are those colonial citizens and citizens of the royal territories who have citizenship rights willing to pay various exorbitant taxes and taxes for endless wars? Why should those lowly Indians endure oppression on the land where their ancestors lived? "
After all, this Juan Jose was a "superior intellectual" figure in the Habsburg family. He immediately understood that he could not transform the Spanish Empire into a republic because the country was full of undisguised oppression and inequality! Moreover, the Indians and Indo-European mixed race people who accounted for the majority of the empire's population were simply worse than slaves in some parts of the American colonies.
Because the slave owners still need to consider the life and death of the slaves, but those Spanish governors who used the forcibly recruited Native Americans to develop silver and gold mines did not have to consider the life and death of the workers at all. They could continue to force the slaves even if they died!
Juan Jose immediately said to his secretary: "Draft two letters for me, one to the Marquis of Ascenta of the Netherlands Army, asking him to immediately transfer the command to Gaspart de Vie. Si, and then immediately came to Madrid and said that I, the Spanish Empire and our New Spain all need his military capabilities!
The other letter was written to our ambassador in the Netherlands, Pedro Longquillo Briseno, telling him about the Ming Dynasty's sneak attack on Acapulco and ordering him to immediately negotiate with the Prince of Orange: Now, Spain They are fighting France for the independence of the Netherlands! Therefore, the Netherlands is also obliged to join Spain in waging war against the Ming Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty! If the Prince of Orange is unwilling to fulfill his obligations as an ally, Spain will have to withdraw from the war with France! "
When Prince William III of Orange met the Spanish ambassador to The Hague and learned from him that the Ming Dynasty had invaded Acapulco and that Spain was preparing to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, he was so shocked that he almost couldn't speak.
It was his new wife, Princess Mary Stuart, who was a little fat and round, who responded quickly and asked the Spanish ambassador in fluent Latin: "Mr. Ambassador, are you mistaken? The distance between the Ming Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty is Acapulco is separated by the entire Pacific Ocean! How could they invade there? Where could they go after plundering Acapulco? The entire Pacific coast of the New World is Spanish territory, right?"
The Spanish ambassador, an older nobleman with a somewhat dry appearance, replied with a stern face: "Your Highness, there is no way this matter can be mistaken because Acapulco is still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty!"
"What? You didn't take it back?" These Princes of Orange couldn't help but exclaimed.
Although the current Spanish army is no longer top-notch, it can't defeat even a small Ming army that came across the ocean, right?
"There are many of them!" said the Spanish ambassador. "They dispatched 108 Galenic sailing ships with a deadweight of more than 500 tons, and transported 12,000 fully armed soldiers to Acapulco at one time!"
"What? How is this possible?" Prince of Orange didn't know what to say.
108 galenic ships with a carrying capacity of 500 tons. That’s a total carrying capacity of more than 50,000 tons! It is much less than the total tonnage of the Dutch Navy.
If the people of the Ming Dynasty had such strength, how could the Dutch East India Company still be so messy?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" William III shook his head repeatedly, "It is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to have so many large Galenic ships. They only have no more than 10 armed Galenic ships with a load of more than 500 tons at most."
"Your Highness, do you doubt the authenticity of the report submitted by the Vice-President of New Spain to Madrid?" asked the Spanish ambassador.
That must be doubtful!
William III said to himself: How do those officials sent by Spain to the New World do things? The stupid king doesn't know, and neither does you, the ambassador, know? If they were all honest and reliable people, how could I possibly be the Prince of Orange? My grandparents should have been defeated by Spain!
In fact, the Spanish ambassador also knew that the report of the Vice King of New Spain must be nonsense. This guy probably took too many vacancies, so there was not enough troops to drive away the Ming people entrenched in the port!
Alas, Spain today is no longer the Spain that Philip II could dream of conquering the Ming Dynasty with 20,000 men.
William III is quite clever. He probably understands what's going on by now? It feels so painful in my heart! Why did I end up with this ally? Is there anything more reliable? Can he still defeat Louis XIV if he continues like this?
"Well," William III had no idea. He couldn't fall out with the Habsburg family now, otherwise there would be nothing to do. "How about I ask the Batavia Council of the East India Company to come forward and go Mediate the conflict between the Ming Dynasty and Spain? Let them withdraw from Acapulco. You will pay some more money? If you are too tight, we will pay for it in the Netherlands."
Of course William III was not willing to go to war with the Ming Dynasty. How could he make money if he went to war? And if the Netherlands and Spain declare war on the Ming Dynasty, will the Ming Dynasty form an alliance with France?
In addition, Britain has not yet joined the Dutch side against France. If the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty were enemies, would Britain still be willing to ally with the Netherlands? Do they hate money? Why don't you make good money and go to war with the Ming Dynasty?
"This is impossible!" The Spanish ambassador shook his head. "This is not a question of money, but a question of whether the Spanish monarchy and Spanish colonies in America can maintain stability!"
"Why is it related to the Spanish throne?" The British Princess Mary on the side was confused. "Does the Ming Emperor also have the right to inherit the Spanish throne? Could it be that all the marriages of the Habsburg family are connected to the Ming Dynasty?"
"It's not about the throne, it's about the royal government." said the Spanish ambassador. "The Ming people who occupied Acapulco established a republican city-state there and incited the indigenous and Indo-European people of New Spain to rebel against King Carlos. Challenge the rule of the Ming Dynasty. These Ming people seem to want to establish many republican city-states in America governed by senate and citizens’ assembly!”
"Are you sure those are Ming people?" William III looked at the Spanish ambassador in front of him, "Why do I feel like they are conquerors from Atlantis?"
Princess Mary disagreed with the Prince of Orange's analysis: "William, I feel like those people come from ancient Greece."
Although the Spanish Ambassador also feels that the opinions of William III and Princess Mary are right, his duty is to negotiate hard: "Your Royal Highness, Spain needs you and the Netherlands to fulfill their obligations as allies!"
The Prince of Orange said with some embarrassment: "Mr. Ambassador, you should understand that our Netherlands is also a republic led by the Grand Assembly. I cannot declare war on anyone without the approval of the Grand Assembly.
But I can assure you that I will try my best to win the support of the Grand Council and will make every effort to provide help to Spain. In addition, I still recommend solving the problem through negotiation first. Even if we have to resort to war in the end, please ask the Spanish Prime Minister to wait for a while, at least until we defeat Louis XIV. "
"Your Highness the Consul," the Spanish ambassador knew that he could not convince William III immediately, so he had to settle for the next best thing. "I hope that the Netherlands can forge an alliance to jointly put pressure on the Ming Dynasty in the near future. This alliance should at least include Spain, Austria, Prussia, Holland, England!”
"Okay," the Prince of Orange nodded, "I can give it a try. But I still hope that mediation can be carried out. If the problem can be solved with money, I suggest that the Kingdom of Spain exercise restraint and not start a war lightly. Even if there is a war, A broader coalition must be organized.”
The Spanish ambassador replied: "I will convey your proposal to His Excellency the Prime Minister of Spain."
On the second day after the Spanish ambassador met with the Dutch consul, on the other side of the world, Li Zhongshan was meeting with Zheng Jing, Chen Yonghua, and Zheng Jing's general He You in a living room next to his capital. and Li Jizhen’s brother-in-law Jia Liujia Guozhu.
Li Zhongshan also knew that a storm was about to sweep across East and Southeast Asia!
Because he knew very well that Louis XIV, the Sun King responsible for spreading hatred on the European continent, could not hold on for long. He would soon seek peace from the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and other countries.
Once the war on the European continent ends, Spain, the Netherlands, and England may join forces to put pressure on Ming.
Although the Ming Dynasty is not afraid of their pressure, the Ming Dynasty's navy is still relatively weak and has no chance to fight a decisive battle with these maritime powers. Therefore, preparations must be made in advance to hold on to key frontier strongholds to protect the home coast from intrusion.
He You and Jia Liu were the commanders of the amphibious and land garrison Li Zhongshan selected for Bintan Island at the exit of the Strait of Malacca.
(End of chapter)
