No, just listen to King Felipe IV of Spain saying to his minister, the Duke of Medina Sidonia: "The Ming Empire in the East has an allusion, which is called Gou Jian, who suffered hardships and suffered hardships, and then suddenly destroyed his enemy country. Destroyed, am I right?"
The unexpected changes related to the Ming Empire made him pay attention to the situation of the Ming Empire, and he learned his favorite allusion.
"Your Highness is wise, this is indeed the case!" After hearing this, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia quickly flattered him.
In fact, it was because Felipe IV's practice was a bit like Goujian's practice in the East, so it was mentioned, and then the Duke of Medina Sidonia told Felipe in a flattery The fourth generation heard that Felipe IV only knew about this.
Since then, Felipe IV has mentioned this allusion more than once, and the Spanish court has become very familiar with this allusion.
"Then tell me, am I more like this Gou Jian, or am I more like that King Chuzhuang?" Felipe IV asked again with a proud expression.
"Here we go again!" The Duke of Medina-Sidonia said a little speechlessly after hearing this.
If I had known this earlier, I should not have used these oriental allusions to flatter Felipe IV.
However, on the surface, the Duke of Medina Sidonia still replied seriously: "Of course our situation in Spain is more similar to that of Chu. Your Highness is also like King Chu Zhuang. If you don't make a sound, you will already become a blockbuster! By then, all Europeans will The country will surrender at the feet of His Highness!"
Felipe IV was very happy to hear this, and he was in a good mood every time he heard this. After hearing this, he said to the Duke of Medina-Sidonia: "I think the time is almost here. In the past two years, there have been more than 20,000 rifled flintlock muskets, and rifled artillery. There are more than five hundred ships and twenty-one steam paddle-wheel warships, so we can handle them!"
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia did not expect that this time would be different from the past. After flattering him, Felipe IV could not sit still, so he quickly advised: "Your Highness, I think it is better to wait a little longer." Well, once we send out troops, the secret can no longer be kept. Wouldn’t it be better to wait and get more new guns and warships so that we can complete the sweep of other countries?"
"No!" After hearing this, Felipe IV immediately shook his head and said, "I don't know what happened to Da Kong Dai. He was defeated repeatedly. How can he still have the slightest bit of style before? If this continues, the morale on the front line will become lower and lower. , the reputation of the French will become higher and higher. I have already heard that we in Spain are not good enough, that we can’t win against anyone, and that we even lost the Grand Condé, which is really unreasonable!”
The Grand Condé refers to the fourth generation Prince of Condé, Louis II de Bourbon. It can be said that he played an important role in the rise of France.
In his early days, he participated in the Thirty Years of Religious War and won many battles that others thought were impossible to win. Many famous enemies would become his stepping stones to fame, such as the Earl of Mercy, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Roman Empire army. He was defeated by the leader and the coach was killed by him.
For this reason, civil strife began in France, and a group of French people led by Grand Condé opposed France. Felipe IV was very excited and immediately supported Grand Condé, hoping to overthrow France and establish a pro-Spanish power struggle. For this reason, he not only sent an army and made Da Kong the commander, but also granted him the title of Luxembourg.
What Felipe IV never expected was that Conde only won a few games at first, and then was stopped by Turena.
You know, in the past, the battles that Tirena could not win could be won by Da Kongdai. Therefore, in everyone's eyes, Grand Conde is even more powerful than Turenne.
As a result, in the French Civil War, Turenne won the battles repeatedly and the situation was reversed. This not only surprised Felipe IV, but also made him very disappointed.
There are even rumors that the reason why Grand Condé was unable to defeat Turenne was because Turenne led the French, and many of Grand Condé's troops were Spanish troops and were held back by the Spaniards. Daconde was pressed and beaten by Turena.
This made Felipe IV very angry, and it was also the reason why he didn't want to continue holding back his ultimate move. He felt that the current new army was enough to make him feel proud.
At this time, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia also understood his mood, but still advised: "Your Highness, you have been enduring it for two years, it is better to endure it no longer. At least the speed of building new guns and warships has been accelerated. It’s getting faster and faster. If you wait a little longer, you can get more guns, guns and warships. When you look back, Your Highness will be able to make other countries surrender with the attitude of a king!"
"How long do we have to wait?" Felipe IV asked impatiently.
Seeing that he was so impatient, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia did not dare to say more. Anyway, it would be best to accumulate more strength. After all, in the past two years, Spain has not gone to war everywhere, and its strength has also recovered a lot, so , he replied: "How about at least 5,000 new guns and ten new warships?"
Upon hearing this, Felipe IV still shook his head, obviously not wanting to wait any longer, and immediately said to the Duke of Medina-Sidonia: "Is that all? Then go to Portugal and ask Joao IV to lead the army Please lend us the new guns and warships first!"
"..." The Duke of Medina Sidonia was speechless. When he came to his senses, he quickly replied, "Your Highness, the distribution of the new firearms was agreed upon at the beginning. Now if we want those firearms, we must first It’s a broken agreement.”
When Felipe IV heard this, he said nonchalantly: "It's not like I won't return it, I'm just borrowing it first!"
After hearing this, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia still tried to persuade: "Your Highness, it was agreed at the beginning that once Spain officially uses new guns and artillery to fight foreign countries, Portugal will also take back theirs from the Netherlands. The colony, therefore, also needs those new guns. Therefore, I think it is unlikely that John IV will borrow them!"
When Felipe IV heard this, he immediately said: "That's it, the new guns and warships will be lent to us, and we can help them get back the Portuguese colonies that were taken away by the Dutch. Isn't this perfect? What?"
"This..." The Duke of Medina-Sidonia was still a little speechless after hearing this, because he knew that his son-in-law was unlikely to agree. If the colony was taken away by Spain, there is a high probability that it would not be returned to Portugal intact.
Seeing him like this, Felipe IV was a little unhappy. He immediately shouted with a cold face: "Are you siding with Spain or your son-in-law? What's your position? Where is your position?"
"..." The Duke of Medina-Sidonia was dumbfounded and came to question him again!
When he hurriedly wanted to express his position, he saw Felipe IV walking away, staring at him, and said in an unquestionable tone: "That's it, you go tell Joao IV, if he doesn't understand, , it would be bad to break up with him. It’s been two years, and he hasn’t married my daughter yet. Does that mean he dislikes my daughter? I haven’t even settled the score with him yet!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia was a little dumbfounded. He looked at his back and finally sighed in his heart.
He actually understood very well that Felipe IV became impatient with Portugal because he had so many new guns and warships. If he was really angered and ordered to re-annex Portugal first, that would be possible.
………………
In the end, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia was ordered to come to Lisbon, Portugal, where he met Joao IV and conveyed Felipe IV's wishes.
"No, it's all given to Spain. Doesn't Portugal have no ability to defend itself at all?" Joao IV categorically objected, "The contract has been in effect for so long, how can we not abide by it!"
"Alas!" The Duke of Medina-Sidonia sighed after hearing this, "You have been the king for so long, and you still don't know that the reason why the contract was signed was to tear it up?"
"..." Joao IV couldn't help but fell silent after hearing this.
How could he not understand some truths!
Strong countries have this power and can tear up treaties, but in contrast, weak countries can only emphasize treaties. Otherwise, can they still fight against strong countries?
The Duke of Medina-Sidonia looked at him and persuaded: "After giving you new guns and warships, you actually have no choice. Instead of angering His Majesty the King, it is better to hand them over than to let him go." Will Portugal send troops to fight?"
King Joao IV was silent after hearing this, obviously a little unwilling.
"I estimate that if you don't agree, you might not even be able to save those arsenals." The Duke of Medina-Sidonia said with emotion, "I have been holding back for the past two years. The longer the time goes, the greater the determination, and no one can We can’t stop him!”
"Alas..." Joao IV sighed heavily, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.
Maybe compromise is not the way out. Only by experiencing blood and fire can we finally stand up!
However, at least I don’t have the capital yet!
King Joao IV was worried that if he fell out with Spain and the Ming Empire would be blamed for what happened before, he would have no way out.
In the end, he could only agree to the Spanish King's request, handing over all the new guns and warships in his hands, along with a curse: fight, fight, it's best if we both die together!
After Felipe IV obtained a large number of new guns and warships, he could no longer bear it and planned to attack his neighboring France.
After holding back for nearly two years to unleash his ultimate move, of course he wanted to make a surprise move, so he immediately summoned his most trusted generals and finally came up with a plan.
The Spanish army would bypass both sides of the French Civil War and attack Paris directly by sea and land.
