When Felipe IV heard this, he immediately shouted angrily: "Okay, okay, okay, thanks to me for offering him such a good condition, he even wanted to drink fine wine if he didn't eat the toast! Okay, I will send troops to destroy him immediately." He, let’s see if the Ming Empire that he expects can save him!”
Hearing this, the Duke of Medina Sidonia felt a pain in his head, and he quickly comforted Felipe IV and said: "Your Highness, don't let your efforts fall by the wayside!"
"Why fail?" Felipe IV asked slightly surprised after hearing this.
The Duke of Medina Sidonia quickly seized the opportunity and tried to persuade him: "Your Highness, we have spent so much effort and mobilized so many troops on land and sea. The fundamental purpose is not to fight Portugal, but to It’s just new guns and the right to trade in fine products from the Far East. The ultimate goal is to make Spain strong and great again, right?”
"..." After hearing this, Felipe IV couldn't help but fell silent.
When the Duke of Medina Sidonia saw it, he immediately continued: "In the previous battle with Portugal, we also saw the power of the new guns. In itself, conquering Portugal is not our purpose. Therefore. , a war with Portugal will definitely destroy Portugal, but it is hard to say how many troops Spain will lose!"
At this point, he raised his voice and emphasized: "Your Highness, our eyes in Spain are the whole world, not just little Portugal!"
After finishing speaking, he stared at Felipe IV, thinking to himself, should he be able to persuade him now?
However, after hearing what he said, Felipe IV still sneered and said: "Since my eyes are on the whole world, can this little Portugal stop me, Spain?"
At this point, before the Duke of Medina Sidonia could speak, he sneered again: "He is more afraid of the Ming Empire than he is of me. Then if I don't teach him a lesson, he will be able to control all cats and dogs." You kicked your nose and got in your face!"
In fact, it was Felipe IV's pride that was wounded.
In his opinion, the purpose of mobilizing so many troops and giving up many other interests was to make Portugal feel desperate. Then he extended an olive branch, not only recognizing the independence of Portugal, but also marrying the princess. This was simply pie in the sky. However, that João IV dared to bargain. He really didn't take him as the King of Spain seriously. It’s in!
"I don't believe in any new guns. Under siege by so many troops, what can Joao IV do?" Felipe IV said, and he snorted heavily, looking very dissatisfied.
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia sighed in his heart, hesitated for a moment, and then said to him: "Your Highness, it seems to me... it seems that Joao IV has other people to rely on, and it is very possible. It’s also related to the Ming Empire in the Far East!”
"What?" Felipe IV was a little surprised when he heard this. He asked casually, and then stared into the eyes of Duke Medina Sidonia, as if he wanted to look straight into his heart.
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia couldn't bear the distrustful look, but he knew that he couldn't avoid it at this time, so he forced himself to look back.
"Could it be because he is your son-in-law, so you made up lies to scare me?" Felipe IV said this in a low voice, but with a bit of coldness.
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Medina Sidonia began to sweat on his forehead, and quickly replied: "No, absolutely not! It's true. I can't feel his fear. If he didn't have someone to rely on, it would definitely not be like this. Feel!"
"It's a joke, what else can I rely on?" After hearing this, Felipe IV sneered and said, "I mobilized the land and sea armies, how can Joao IV fly into the sky? Or, what about the Ming Empire? Send troops to rescue him?"
"..." When the Duke of Medina Sidonia heard this, he was speechless.
What he just said was indeed what he felt. However, he actually couldn't understand why Joao IV didn't seem to worry about his own safety.
Neither of them spoke, and the hall fell silent.
At this moment, I suddenly heard rapid footsteps coming from outside, breaking the silence in the hall.
"Your Highness, there is big news!" An official appeared at the entrance of the hall and said impatiently as soon as he entered the hall.
After he finished speaking, he saw the scene in the hall clearly, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Duke of Medina-Sidonia was here.
Felipe IV stared at the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, then turned to look at him, and asked with a little dissatisfaction: "What's the big news? It's the damn Mazarin who became France again." Prime Minister?"
"No!" When the official heard this, he quickly replied, and then said quickly like a treasure, "The Dutch East India Company's fleet has all been withdrawn. They were lost in Batavia in the Far East!"
"What?" Felipe IV couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard this, and asked quickly, "What is the specific situation?"
The Dutch East India Company was very famous and he knew it. It can even be said that the reason why the Dutch were able to persevere and finally forced him to recognize the independence of the Netherlands was related to the fact that the Dutch plundered a large amount of wealth from various colonies.
In the Far East, the Dutch spent a lot of financial and material resources to build Batavia, but now they lost that place. To be honest, Felipe IV was really curious.
When the Duke of Medina-Sidonia heard the word "Far East", he immediately felt keenly that it might be related to the Ming Empire in the Far East, so he immediately pricked his ears and listened.
I only heard the official report: "First, the Dutch garrison's army was wiped out by the Ming Empire's army, and then the Ming Empire sent a fleet to Batavia. Although the Dutch sent reinforcements, they still could not defeat the Ming Empire. The Navy was therefore forced to abandon Batavia!”
"Haha!" When Felipe IV heard this, he immediately sneered and said, "It's another human wave tactic. It's not enough to bully the Dutch, right?"
"No!" The official shook his head after hearing this, "If that's the case, it's not big news. But according to the Dutch, the warships of the Ming Empire are very powerful and have never been seen before. They emit smoke. , not afraid of wind direction changes but able to move freely, and the guns have a long range and high accuracy! Therefore, the Dutch Far East Fleet couldn't defeat it at all, so they had to give up on Batavia!"
"What?" Felipe IV was very surprised when he heard this.
He heard it, and it meant that the Ming Empire in the Far East had new warships that could emit smoke and were not afraid of changes in the wind direction but could move freely. But, how is this possible?
But having said that, it was said before that new guns and cannons were invented by the Ming Empire. Therefore, it seems that it is not impossible to have new warships now!
And if these are true, then maybe the Ming Empire in the Far East was indeed very powerful?
While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard the Duke of Medina-Sidonia say "Ah!", which immediately attracted his attention.
When the Duke of Medina Sidonia saw Felipe IV looking at him, he quickly said: "I saw a very special warship docked in the port of Lisbon. There was a cylinder on the ship. Now that I think about it, it should be Chimney. This means that Portugal has the new warships of the Ming Empire!"
"What?" When Felipe IV heard this, he was immediately surprised and couldn't help but ask subconsciously.
"By the way, the new warships also have special protrusions on both sides, which are covered with iron sheets..."
Before the Duke of Medina Sidonia finished speaking, the official kept saying: "Yes, yes, the Dutch said that the new warships of the Ming Empire are like this. There are bulges on both sides of the ship and they are covered with iron sheets. Yes, it’s the power of the ship!”
"Yes, yes, that's it, that's it!" When the Duke of Medina Sidonia heard this, he became a little excited for some reason and kept echoing.
After hearing this, Felipe IV looked at them and couldn't help but ask the question he thought was the most important: "Is this new type of warship really so powerful that even our sail warships can't do anything about it?"
Hearing this, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia has the most say. His grandfather, the former Duke of Medina-Sidonia, was the commander of the Spanish Armada.
So, I listened to him explain to Felipe IV in detail how powerful the warship was, which was not affected by the wind and direction, but was still very fast. After superimposing new guns and cannons, it becomes even more powerful...
Felipe IV listened carefully without saying a word.
After the Duke of Medina-Sidonia finished speaking, he did not speak immediately. He was just deep in thought, obviously thinking about the problem.
The Duke of Medina Sidonia looked at him for a while, and then suddenly said: "Now I finally know why Joao IV is so confident. It's because of this new type of warship docked at the port. Even if he can't defeat Spain, he can't." Can escape!"
These words were not what he wanted to say the most, but the following words were what he really wanted to say. He continued: "Your Highness, if we in Spain can also obtain this new type of warship, then let It’s really just around the corner that Spain will be strong again!”
The Spanish Armada was a glorious place in the past, but it is no longer there.
The invincibility of the Spanish Army was a glory in the past, but now it has almost become a phoenix.
Moreover, Spain was rapidly weakening in the hands of Felipe IV. It could not defeat anyone, and it was still fighting for independence everywhere.
Of course Felipe IV knew this, and he was definitely unwilling to do so. It can even be said that all Spaniards are unwilling to accept that the glory of the past is no longer there!
At this time, Felipe IV lowered his head and thought for a long time, then suddenly raised his head and looked at the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
