The commander of Spain's large treasure ship fleet is named Pedro de Silva. It can be seen from his name that he is an aristocratic officer.
His father was the Marquis of Toldoa of the Kingdom of Castile (the main kingdom of Spain and the colonial empire itself), and he was his father's third son. According to the European tradition at this time, he entered the military service very early, initially in the cavalry unit, but soon transferred to the navy and began a vigorous career of making a fortune.
Tordoya is a town in the northwest of the Kingdom of Castile, close to A Coruña, an important town in northwest Spain that became famous for a certain football team in later generations.
However, although the northwest of the Kingdom of Castile is close to the Atlantic Ocean, it is not considered wealthy. At this time, the developed areas of Spain are mainly along the eastern Mediterranean coast (but most of them do not belong to Castile but to the Kingdom of Aragon). ), as well as the central capital area and the port of Serbia in the south), so although the Silva family held the title of marquis, his father did not have much money to give Pedro and could only let him make a living on his own.
The support of the Marquis of Tordoya mainly lay in "arranging work", and he was appointed as a mayor of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, located in the eastern part of the island of Cuba later, called Banes.
Pedro's job in Banes was quite comfortable, where he was clearly a man of the world and had his own "villa" with a sea view and several Indian mistresses. If it weren't for the fact that the Indian civilians in this town were too poor and had nothing to gain from, he might not be interested in returning to the navy again.
Anyway, he eventually returned to the navy and became a captain of the Great Galen treasure ship on the Atlantic route. As the number of open British pirates (those holding Queen Elizabeth's privateers' warrants) increased, the danger of the treasure fleet on the Atlantic route became increasingly high.
This aroused the concern of the Marquis of Toldoa, so with the old man's activities, Pedro got his wish and was transferred to the "Manila Route" last year. Even under the charm of money, he became the commander of the fleet.
This is not easy, after all... It is not only the Shandong officials who sent supplies to Liaodong in the late Ming Dynasty who would "float", the Spanish who sent silver to Manila would also "float", the difference is that the latter part of the float was larger than that in the late Ming Dynasty There are far fewer Shandong officials.
"Much less" refers to proportion, but considering that at least 90% of the goods sent by the Spaniards to Manila were silver, this is a huge discount. Although the Marquis of Tordoya spent a lot of money on this, who knew it would be repaid within one year.
Such income also gave Commander Pedro great motivation to work, so much so that after this trip started from Acapulco (a port on the Pacific Ocean in the southern part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the American starting point of the "Manila Galleon Trade") , Pedro urged "hurry up, hurry up" all the way.
It was precisely because of this mentality that he did not react at first when he discovered that the "Left Wing Hussars" was following or even escorting. After all, when they came to Manila this year, they had already been delayed because the Viceroyalty of New Spain had deployed a lot of forces to return home to participate in the war. If they didn't move faster, they might encounter unfavorable wind direction and weather on their return trip.
[Note: To explain the "Manila Galleon Trade", the galleon usually sails north from Manila on the southwest monsoon in June every year to the waters of 45° to 42° north latitude, and travels eastward along the "Kurotide" in the North Pacific, arriving at The Acapulco Port journey took more than 10,000 nautical miles and lasted about 6 months.
The return journey is a direct voyage along the ocean current, which only takes three months. On the outbound journey, we transport silk, porcelain, lacquerware, cotton, ivory, carpets, tea and other commodities from China, India, Persia, Japan and other countries, as well as textiles, embroidery, pearls, wood carvings, etc. from the Philippines, from Manila to the Port of Acapulco in Mexico. Sold throughout Mexico and Spanish America, and resold in Spain.
The return trip mainly carries Spanish silver dollars, copper, cocoa, etc. The galleon trade was exclusively run by the Spanish royal family, so the commander of this fleet of large treasure ships was a Spanish naval officer. ]
It has been delayed for nearly a month. Although the anxious Commander Pedro did not intend to pay attention to this "Chinese ship". However, he did not expect that this "Chinese ship" would in turn order him to stop the ship for investigation.
This is obviously absolutely unacceptable, because these ships contain American silver worth up to 1.06 million pesos, which is equivalent to about 850,000 taels of Kuping silver in the Ming Dynasty, as well as some other cargo.
Commander Pedro knew clearly that the Ming Dynasty goods exchanged for 850,000 taels of silver could be sold for about 6.3 million pesos when brought back to Acapulco - yes, six times the profit!
With such a huge fortune, if you say you want to stop the ship for inspection, I will cooperate with you to stop the ship for inspection? If you suddenly turn into a pirate, even if I only lose one ship, I am afraid that my work as commander will be over! This is not a war, losses are inevitable.
As for the high-flying book-sword flag, Commander Pedro does recognize it, and he doesn’t think any pirate company can drive such a standard warship and fly this flag, but what can I say... I’m used to being a colonizer People who believe that no one looks like a good person, even if they have always looked like a good person, it is just because they think it will be more beneficial to temporarily play the role of a good person.
In Pedro's eyes, there are no good or bad people in this world. As a saying goes, men are loyal only because the price of betrayal is too high, and women are loyal only because the temptation is not strong enough.
So Pedro immediately ordered to expel this damn bright ship. If they dare to fight back, defeat it!
However, Domingo Zabarburu de Echevarri, deputy commander of the fleet and captain of the flagship "San Antonio", objected to this order. He said: "Your Excellency, Commander, I think we only need to expel This daring Chinese ship is enough, and there is no need to engage in direct military conflict with it."
"Oh? Captain Echevari, why do you have such an attitude? Do you think we are not strong enough to complete such a task?" Commander Silva asked.
"No, I'm not saying this out of consideration for whether the fleet can fulfill this order. I just think we don't have a good reason to do it."
Echevarry said seriously: "Before we set off, the relationship between Castile and England had dropped to a freezing point, and the war had actually broken out. I think our troops might have gone to England at this moment. Or already on the way to England.
You know, Your Excellency, Commander, with the issuance of His Majesty the Pope’s edict of excommunicating Elizabeth last year, our Catholic King Philip II will inevitably respond to His Majesty the Pope’s call and launch a holy war against England.
Of course, I personally fully support your Majesty's inevitable move. There is no other way to avoid the problem of conflict of faith. There is only one way to solve it, and that is war - heretics deserve to go to hell even more than heretics! "
In fact, Echevarry talked about a trigger of the Anglo-Spanish War, or the basic reason for its outbreak.
The cause of the Anglo-Spanish War can be traced back to the first and middle years of this century. At that time, Britain was undergoing a religious reform movement, which overturned the status of Catholicism, then supported the power of Protestantism and made it the state religion. The behavior of King Henry VIII of England immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Holy See, but the King of England did not take it seriously.
In 1534, England passed the Act of Supremacy. This act stipulated that from now on the status and authority of the British king would be superior to that of the church and he would have the power to appoint clergy. Until then, the power to appoint clergy had been in the hands of the Roman Pope. Since then, the Church of England has no longer submitted to the control of the Roman Pope and has become dependent on the King of England.
In 1558, Queen Mary I of England and Ireland, wife of King Philip II of Spain (who restored Catholicism in England), died. Since she died without an heir, her sister Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne.
In 1560, Philip II used various means to interfere in Britain's internal affairs on the grounds that Britain had betrayed Catholicism, and even attempted to influence the choice of the British king. At the same time, the newly crowned British King Elizabeth I vigorously promoted and developed Protestantism, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the Roman Pope, and even once declared that Elizabeth I's position as the British King was illegitimate.
While the United Kingdom was vigorously developing Protestantism, it was also exporting Protestantism to the Netherlands (Netherlands). The Netherlands had always been under the control of Spain (inherited from Philip II's father, Charles V) and was an important source of taxes for the latter. But starting in 1581, the Netherlands declared its independence from Spanish control and established the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
Essentially, Philip II had a certain legal basis for intervening in England, that is, he was the husband of the former Queen of England and the co-king of the Kingdom of England at that time (although he did not stay in England for a long time, and he did not love Mary when she was alive). deal with British affairs). However, when the British introduced Protestantism to the Netherlands after Elizabeth I took the throne, there was really no legal basis for it, and it could indeed be called a betrayal of Catholicism as described by Philip II.
Moreover, the affairs between Spain and the Netherlands should be regarded as "internal affairs" in a sense. The British export of Protestantism to the already Catholic Netherlands would of course intensify the conflict with Spain. As time goes by, it is not surprising that the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands has become closer, while the relationship with Spain has become worse and worse.
A major event also happened during this period. Elizabeth's cousin Mary I, Queen of Scots (not the Mary I who was Philip II's wife) was recognized by Philip II and the Catholic Church as the orthodox Queen of England because of her Catholic faith.
In 1567, Mary was imprisoned due to the rebellion of the nobles and was forced to give up the throne of Scotland to her youngest son James. After a narrow escape, she quickly fled to England, but was imprisoned by her aunt Elizabeth. In the twenty years since then until Mary's death, the enemies of Elizabeth and James continued to plan to push Mary to the throne of Queen of England and the Soviet Union.
The conflict of interests became increasingly severe. British privateering in the Spanish mainland, America and the Atlantic Ocean (Spain regarded it as pirates) seriously affected the Spanish royal income.
England's transatlantic slave trade - initiated by Sir John Hawkins in 1562 - was supported by Elizabeth, who ignored the Spanish government's accusation that Hawkins's trade in Spanish colonies in the Caribbean constituted smuggling, and further increased Spain's Britain regarded them as enemies.
In September 1568, a slave trading expedition led by Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake was attacked by Spain, resulting in the sinking of several ships in Veracruz, Mexico, known as the Battle of San Juan.
This battle rapidly deteriorated relations between Britain and Spain. The following year, Britain seized several Spanish treasure fleets sent to the Netherlands to support the army. Drake and Hawkins stepped up their privateering efforts to break Spain's monopoly on Atlantic trade.
In order to achieve her life purpose of promoting Protestantism, Elizabeth provided assistance to the Protestant forces in the French War of Religion and the Dutch Revolution against Spain. At the same time, Philip II vigorously suppressed the spread of Protestantism, funded the Catholic League in the French war, supported the Second Desmond War in Ireland (1579-1583), and supported Irish Catholics to resist Elizabeth.
In 1585, Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nansage with the Netherlands, agreeing to provide manpower, horses and subsidies. Philip II viewed this as Elizabeth's declaration of war on Spain.
The war actually broke out in 1585. Drake sailed to the West Indies, raiding at Santo Domingo, Cartagena, and St. Augustine, Florida. Britain entered this war, later known as the "Eighty Years' War", on the side of the Dutch Protestant Confederation, the Netherlands, which had earlier declared independence from Spanish rule.
Philip II decided to invade England, but the invasion plan was thwarted after Drake blew up 37 Spanish ships in the port of Cadiz in April 1587.
On February 8 of the same year, Elizabeth I executed Mary, Queen of Scots, which angered European Catholics. Her British royal power (referring to Mary, Queen of Scots) was transferred to Philip II in accordance with her personal wishes. To put it simply and roughly speaking, her niece transferred her power to inherit the Queen of England to her uncle.
On July 29, Philip II obtained papal approval and overthrew Elizabeth I's rule in England; at the same time, Pope Pius V issued an edict of annihilation, excommunicated Elizabeth from the church, and arranged for any candidate to take over the British throne.
So this war was actually a war caused by religion and intertwined with interests. However, in Spain, a country with a strong religious atmosphere, when everyone talks about this war, they will definitely talk about religious factors as if it is the only reason. Same.
Since the religious factor was brought up, Commander Silva had no choice but to follow his words: "Yes, I recognize your judgment and appreciate your piety... However, this has nothing to do with whether we want to defeat the Chinese warship in front of us. What does it matter?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, the reason why the Manila galleon trade exists is because it can bring benefits to the kingdom. You must clearly understand this." Echevari paused for a moment and continued: "So since In this way, as a member of the Royal Navy, we need to consider our actions in the interests of the Kingdom at all times.
For example, the other side's ship, although I am also surprised why it behaves so strangely, after all, we have never had a maritime conflict with them in the past few years - except for the one you know. However, since it is acting like this now, it makes sense for us to respond a little and force it back. However, if a battle really breaks out, I think it is not in the interest of the kingdom. "
"Are you worried that the Chinese will not come to the Philippines to trade with us?" Silva shook his head and said: "I don't think so. The Chinese's thirst for silver far exceeds our previous expectations. I don't think they will For giving up so much silver in one small battle.”
"You are right, Commander. The Chinese's thirst for silver is indeed surprising, but in my opinion, I am afraid we still need them more."
Echevary sighed and said: "You are already familiar with things like trade volume and profit, and there is no need for me to repeat them. What I want to say is that the kingdom's war against England may not be decided in a short while. Win or lose - I mean, even if the Armada defeats the English and the army lands on the English mainland, this battle is far from as simple as we imagined."
"The British have already shown amazing resilience during the Hundred Years' War, and I learned before departure that although our Armada is large enough, it actually only carries 8,000 land soldiers, plus those who can disembark for land battles. There will be no more than 20,000 sailors at most.
Will the English be defeated by twenty thousand men? They may suffer some hardships, but with all due respect, it may not be easy to bring England to its knees with less than 20,000 men. "
Silva frowned and said, "We can send additional reinforcements."
"Where does the money come from?" Echevary spread his hands: "Don't you know the financial situation of the kingdom now? If it weren't for the generous gift of His Majesty the Pope, this expedition would allow us to get the Catholic Church from Castile. If China levies that war tax, I'm afraid we won't be able to send troops at all now. And even so, His Majesty the King still owes Genoa a large amount of money again."
Silva said impatiently: "So, do you think that we are more short of money than the Chinese now, so even if they provoke the Spanish Navy in this way, we still have to swallow their anger, just so as not to affect this year's profit of nearly ten million pesos? Oh, by the way, the royal family takes 20% of the tax, so in fact all His Majesty the King can get is two million pesos."
"Is two million pesos still too little?" Echevary tried to persuade him: "His Majesty the King may not be afraid of losing two million pesos, but I think that even if he is rich all over the world, he is not willing to lose a man who can create two million pesos a year. A long-term business for millions of pesos of wealth.”
Silva exhaled a long breath and said helplessly: "Okay, okay, Captain Echevari, you have convinced me, I have decided..."
"boom!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of gunshots interrupted Commander Silva's words. He was startled at first, and then roared: "What's going on? Who fired the gun before we were within range?"
The first mate who ran in from outside answered him, making him and Echevarry stunned at the same time: "Report, Your Excellency, Commander, it was the Chinese warship that fired the gun first!"
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