[1660 was the darkest time in Spanish history. No one understands why the ancient and glorious Eastern power showed unprecedented hostility to Spain. Spain lost Portugal, Catalonia, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and Luzon. 】
In 1980, Spanish historian José Ramos wrote this sentence in his book, which has become an eternal pain in the hearts of Spanish people.
Only in the past few hundred years have the Spaniards truly realized what they have lost.
The Viceroyalty of New Spain put up little resistance and was defeated by the 12th Division.
Rodriguez and others had to evacuate hastily with the Spanish colonists.
Fortunately, on their way back to Europe, they passed by the ocean-going fleet that received Dominica.
Otherwise, there will be a lot more Spanish blood and tears in the vast Atlantic Ocean.
But even so, when the news of the Viceroyalty of New Spain came back, the whole of Spain was wailing and feeling the pain of the dark clouds.
Immediately, bad news came from the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
The IDF suddenly appeared in Panama and captured Panama City.
The governor of New Granada, Fisher Sebastian, hurriedly organized five thousand troops to go to the rescue. As a result, they were beaten by the National Defense Forces and corpses were scattered all over the field. Four colonels alone were killed.
Now the Spaniards are no longer thinking about how to recapture the Viceroyalty of New Spain, but they are afraid that even the Viceroyalty of New Granada cannot be saved.
What's even more terrible is that the Portuguese obviously got the news.
While the Viceroyalty of New Granada was tired of dealing with the National Defense Forces, it suddenly passed through the rain forest and launched an attack from behind.
The Spanish were caught off guard and lost thirty-five plantations one after another, causing huge economic damage.
"Gentlemen, what should we do? Who can tell me why the empire wants to exterminate Spain?"
Felipe IV was very anxious and very old.
After he became king, Spain's national power began to decline.
In the foreign war, it was first unable to suppress the independence of the Netherlands, and secondly, it lost the battle with the United Kingdom. Now the independence of Catalonia and Portugal has begun to threaten the homeland.
The most terrible thing is that overseas colonies began to be lost one after another.
Continental countries like Spain will become extremely fragile and may collapse at any time once there is no blood transfusion from the colonies.
But to this day, everyone in Spain is a bit puzzled.
They couldn't understand why the empire was so hostile to Spain?
Even if the Spaniards had invaded the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it was just a slap in the face. Why did they want to destroy Spain?
"Your Highness, judging from the current situation, the empire is more dangerous than France. We must find a way to get out of the quagmire, otherwise, we may be in danger of destroying the country."
Prime Minister Antonios Parejo is worried.
The current situation left him powerless.
There are beacons everywhere, and there are emergencies everywhere. But Spain can't even manage its own territory, so how can it deal with its overseas colonies?
The other ministers and nobles also stood up and supported Parejo's opinion.
Everyone knew that if the war with the Empire continued, Spain would suffer more serious losses.
"Your Highness, the King of France has been seeking to marry Princess Theresa. If France succeeds, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to our long-term future. I suggest that it is better to negotiate peace with the Empire, marry at the same time, and use the Empire to check France."
Upon hearing this suggestion of appeasement and compromise, Felipe IV could not help but frown.
If such a shameful thing happens to him, how will future history record it?
Will he become a disgrace?
But Parejo thinks this is a good idea.
"Your Highness, in the final analysis, the Empire is too far away and France is too close."
Although this sentence was short, it hit Felipe IV's weakness at once.
Yes, France is watching covetously from the side and can cross the Pyrenees Mountains at any time and fight against Spain.
Although the empire is more powerful and more terrifying, the center of gravity of the empire is in Asia, and what it demands cannot be compared to France.
One is a sharp blade that is always placed at the side of the neck, and the other is a dump truck that can rush towards him from a distance at any time.
How to choose, even if Felipe IV is stupid, he still understands.
Events that led to the surrender of the Spanish monarchs soon occurred.
On January 23, the Spanish army besieging Barcelona suddenly encountered a major counterattack by the rebels. The Spanish army was caught off guard and was completely disoriented by the rebels' change of clothes.
In the end, Zaragoza was able to stabilize its position with the withdrawal of its disciples.
However, this battle caused Spain to lose one-third of its troops, and it was no longer able to continue to quell the Catalan uprising.
At the same time, the Portuguese army also won a great victory in the Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo and was about to rush into the Pisuega Valley.
By then the Portuguese army would have passed through the Guadarrama Mountains and could even approach Madrid.
The ocean-going fleet also captured Bilbao and could attack Zaragoza with the Catalan rebels at any time.
By this time, even the most ordinary Spaniards had a premonition of the danger of annihilation.
Felipe IV could no longer care about his pride and face. He ordered Parejo to form a negotiating delegation and rush to Bilbao to fight for the last chance.
Shang Kexi and Xu Erjue met with Parejo and his party in Bilbao.
"You Spaniards have carried out brutal killings all over the world and killed countless indigenous people. It can be said to be a heinous crime. Even the blood on the Atlantic Ocean is caused by you."
When the slave trade began, Britain was the most criticized, but Portugal and Spain preceded Britain and the Netherlands.
Therefore, it is still tenable for Xu Erjue to denounce Spain's unscrupulous behavior when he first came up.
The Spaniards were puzzled by these words.
Everyone does this!
Doesn't the Empire do this?
So how does the empire maintain a large number of overseas territories?
If they knew that the empire's population had exceeded 400 million, they probably wouldn't think so.
But no matter what, as a mature politician, Parejo also understood that Xu Erjue's verbal and written criticisms were all excuses.
If the war is lost, everything you do is wrong.
In this regard, Europeans are still very clear.
When you are beaten, you must stand at attention.
"We have fully realized our mistakes and decided to make peace with the empire to avoid causing more damage to innocent lives during the war."
Seeing the Spaniards being so polite, Xu Erjue saved a lot of time talking.
He gave the conditions of Linguo.
Spain ceded the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the northern part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada;
recognition of the independence of Catalonia and Portugal;
End the alliance with Britain;
Allow the empire to establish embassies and consulates in Spain, and allow the empire to trade freely in Spain and overseas territories;
The empire has consular jurisdiction in Spain and its overseas territories, and customs duties require the consent of the empire.
The conditions were not harsh, but the Spaniards were overjoyed.
They originally thought that with the strength of the empire, all overseas colonies might be lost. Unexpectedly, the empire only asked for part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and New Granada.
Parejo was afraid that things would change, so he quickly sent the corresponding terms to Madrid, hoping that Felipe IV would sign immediately.
