Chapter 1088: A great and strong nation must learn how to bully the weak

Attacking Jiaozhi was not a difficult task for the Great Ming. Because of the opening of the seas, the Great Ming was even rapidly reducing the cost of war. The attack was extremely smooth; the key was the problem of governance.

Regarding the route of how to govern Jiaozhi, Zhu Zhu Yijun chose a route completely different from that of the Yongle era.

During the Yongle era, Zhu Di's main focus was to march north to attack the Mongols, so he chose the strategy of "gentleness to those from afar" regarding the Jiaozhi issue. Zhu Zhu Yijun, however, changed the route. Starting from killing Zheng Song, the overall route was one word: kill.

There were two important problems in governing Jiaozhi: first, to eliminate the enemy's will to resist; second, to prevent the fruits of victory from being plucked by one's own people.

Could the governance of Jiaozhi be stabilized? Regarding this point, the court officials still had doubts, but Zhu Zhu Yijun had no doubts; he knew it could be done.

Sometimes, some barbarians just bully the Great Ming for being kind-hearted.

During the period when Falanxi governed Annam, even the local women had to breastfeed the dogs raised by the Falanxi army, and they would kill until rivers of blood flowed at the slightest disagreement. At this time, these Annamese people didn't mention shame anymore; instead, they began to talk about how this was the necessary process required to become a part of civilization.

If it weren't for the help of New China, Annam would still be Falanxi Indochina.

In Zhu Zhu Yijun's heart, some barbarians were just left with the word "cheap" in their bones.

Why did Annam dare to act arrogantly toward the Great Tang and the Great Ming? Because these barbarians were just like Zheng Song; they felt that as long as they surrendered, they could survive, and as long as they made a scene, there would be great benefits. The imperial court would make concessions, feeling that the cost of governance was too high, and would give up.

This was also the result of Zheng Song being so composed before meeting the Emperor, and then becoming completely foolish upon hearing about the extermination of his clan.

Zhu Zhu Yijun didn't care what previous Great Ming Emperors or future Great Ming Emperors would choose. Anyway, his choice was like this. Although the ministers also had objections, time always proved that His Majesty was right. On such major matters, it wasn't easy to object.

"The situation in Annam is always this bad." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in front of him and fell silent.

The Great Ming was at war with Annam and had even occupied most of the Red River Plain, but the trade in imported grain and barbarian slaves had not stopped; instead, it had seen extremely high growth.

It was only April, and the total amount of imported grain had already exceeded six million "shi." In the past, it was about six million "shi" a year. The number of barbarian slaves had grown from three thousand a year to five thousand.

This was completely beyond the Emperor's own expectations.

"Selling grain to the Great Ming, the Great Ming gives the grain to the soldiers, and the soldiers fight Annam, right?" Zhu Zhu Yijun could actually understand why this happened. Although he didn't have military talent, he managed logistics very well and never let his soldiers go hungry while fighting.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had always felt that Qi Qi Jiguang's constant emphasis in "The Art of War" that fighting a war is fighting logistics was to sing praises and shape the sanctity of the Emperor, emphasizing the role the Emperor played in the war.

For this reason, Qi Qi Jiguang even quoted that famous saying from the founding of the Great Ming: "Build high walls, store grain widely, and be slow to claim the title of King."

But in the Emperor's understanding of current military affairs, he personally felt that logistics were not that important, because one could "feed on the enemy." If there was no grain, just rob; could one really starve oneself to death?

Upon hearing the Emperor's understanding, Qi Qi Jiguang indicated that it would be better if His Majesty didn't understand in the future.

In military administration, His Majesty completely referred to "The Art of War" and would absolutely not make any major mistakes. Even if there were, the powerful Great Ming army could handle it.

Can one really rob and get it?

One fundamentally couldn't rob it. His Majesty completely ignored the complexity of the battlefield.

Not to mention that the civilians of the enemy country have ears and legs. Hearing that the scourge of war was coming, they would drag their families and flee. Let's put this fact aside for now.

On the Annam battlefield, could your Great Ming army rob better than the Annam army?

His Majesty understood the army as an armed force to protect the home and defend the country, but the army itself is the concrete reality of violence. In the eyes of the Annamese people, the Annam army was not there to protect the home and defend the country. Such military discipline as "not taking a single needle or thread" was not something the Annam army could have.

These Annam troops would scrape the ground three feet deep when they robbed, not even letting go of the ash at the bottom of the pot.

"Feeding on the enemy" is something that might be used in surprise attacks or long-distance raids, but the grain robbed is not enough for the use of a large army. In large-scale warfare, one should fundamentally not think about "feeding on the enemy."

Qi Qi Jiguang told the Emperor very definitely that war is about rear supply, which is logistics, because logistics is morale.

Soldiers know exactly what they eat every day and how much they eat. Moreover, marching and fighting consume the most physical strength. If they don't eat enough, they will be hungry, and if they are hungry, they will let their imaginations run wild. In order to find a mouthful of food, they will do anything, and morale will naturally be low.

Without morale, no matter how strong the army is, it cannot fight.

Later, Zhu Zhu Yijun really didn't understand anymore. He had never been on a battlefield and didn't have the right to speak without understanding.

Zhu Zhu Yijun understood logistics very well. War is extremely expensive, and the reason why the trade in imported grain and barbarian slaves was so prosperous was that fighting a war for the Great Ming cost money, or rather, the goods represented by money, this general equivalent.

Gold, silver, grain, steel, gunpowder, etc. —all these required massive amounts of silver to prepare.

What if the Emperor's military talent is weak? Grand General Qi Qi Jiguang had a chapter in "The Art of War" specifically written about the "Holy Monarch Using Troops," teaching the Emperor hand-in-hand how to fight a war.

Moreover, it was a very simple "three-axe" method, a fool-proof one-click operation, which could not only achieve military victory but also political victory.

The three-axe method could be summarized in four words: bully the weak.

The operation of these three axes was very simple: Step 1, occupy a piece of land; Step 2, exert sufficient military pressure; Step 3, wait for the enemy to disintegrate itself, and harvest the reports of victory and the fruits of victory.

Looking at the conquest of Annam, one could understand the specific operational methods of these three steps.

Luo Luo Shangzhi first occupied Haiyang City and Guang'an City, and then began military pressure, forcing Zheng Song to react. Zheng Song either had to advance his large army to recover the lost territory, or face military threats and could only remain in a stalemate. However, the cost of a stalemate was higher; maintaining defense required massive amounts of silver.

Zheng Song chose to attack. At that time, it was not yet the stage of a general offensive, but Luo Luo Shangzhi, holding the mentality of giving it a try, broke Zheng Song's large army.

After the Great Ming occupied the Red River Plain, the conquest of Annam entered the second stage as a whole—the stalemate stage. The Great Ming exerted too much military pressure. In order to be able to contend, they had to sell grain and strong laborers, which were vital, through Da Nang.

In order to deal with military threats and pressure, they had to resort to internal means, constantly exploiting the common people, leading to a rapid rise in the dissatisfaction of the common people. The nation lost its great trust, and people's hearts became suspicious. The greater the military threat, the harsher the exploitation, and the final result was the alienation of people's hearts.

The four words "all people of one mind, sharing the same hardships" are very difficult to achieve in a state of war.

When the third step of the attack came, it was very easy to win. There were even scenes of people bringing food and drink to welcome the royal army. Without anything else, people are animals and have the instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

These three axes were truly very simple: attack, stalemate, and after the enemy's morale collapsed and people's hearts were scattered, sweep across the enemy army like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, harvesting military victory and political victory.

If one looks closely at this set of tactics, one discovers that it is a weakened version of the weakened version of the "take an inch for every foot" strategy of the founding Emperor Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Take an inch for every foot," establishing buffer zones and constantly nibbling away—Li Li Chengliang used this tactic when developing Liaodong, and the effect was very good. But for His Majesty's military talent, it was still a bit difficult.

Qi Qi Jiguang customized the three-axe method for the Emperor. In the future, when using troops, just follow this formula. It cannot be said that it will definitely win, but it will definitely not suffer a major defeat.

Bullying the weak is not a shameful thing. This is a very serious problem. There are always some small states and barbarian nations that have no sense of proportion. For various reasons, they provoke large and strong nations. Any large nation must learn how to bully the weak with lower costs and smaller prices.

Spain was powerful enough. The Invincible Armada and the Spanish Tercios ran rampant in the West, but the expedition to England directly destroyed the Spanish Empire on which the sun never sets.

For a large and strong nation, learning how to bully the weak is the most basic of basics.

Otherwise, it would turn into Philip's expedition, losing both the wife and the soldiers.

Regarding these three axes, Zhu Zhu Yijun's evaluation was that they were easy to use and he would always use them.

Zhu Zhu Yijun finished reading all the reports of victory from Annam and issued an imperial decree to Luo Luo Shangzhi, praising the Great Ming army for shining with heavenly might.

Time passed like a white horse passing a crack. The Emperor fell into busyness again. Up and down Songjiang Prefecture, they finally thoroughly understood and realized why, during the month the Emperor was seriously ill, the people of Shuntian Prefecture went to the temple to burn incense and pray for blessings, and even those wealthy families in the Western Earth City were willing to go to burn incense and fulfill their vows.

His Majesty was truly active. As long as one paid attention, almost every day one could see His Majesty leaving the Yanqing Palace to go to the shipyard, the port, the camp, and the official factory, pushing for government decrees and issuing decrees to explain why this decree was formulated and what its purpose was.

Such an active Son of Heaven was very, very rare in the history of the Great Ming.

For the people of Shuntian Prefecture, seeing the Emperor's figure every day was as reassuring as seeing the sun rise as usual. Someone in Shuntian Prefecture specifically went to understand what the Emperor was busy with every day and compiled it into a small booklet for sale, and the sales were better than many miscellaneous newspapers.

If the Emperor didn't leave the palace for a day, people would be curious. The small train whistling with steam didn't run as usual today.

If the sun that rises as usual suddenly stops rising, if this isn't the sky collapsing, then what is?

Soon, Songjiang Prefecture also had a similar experience. The Emperor didn't leave the palace for three whole days. Added to the Emperor's serious illness last September, rumors soon flew, and people said all sorts of things.

"No, they even came up with 'secretly not announcing the funeral'?!" Zhu Zhu Yijun heard similar rumors and said to Zhang Hong with a wry smile, "I just rested for three days. Without me, can the sky of the Great Ming really collapse?"

"It can." Zhang Hong said very definitely.

"Nonsense." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand. The Earth keeps turning without anyone.

Zhang Hong immediately said, "Your Majesty shoulders the sun and moon and ties the nation's landscape to your body. You cannot be anything but heavy."

The Emperor hadn't done anything for these three days; he had just rested for three days. Zhang Hong thought His Majesty had done very well.

His Majesty had promised Zhang Zhang Juzheng to rest one day every six days. Because he frequently met with external officials, the Emperor adjusted his rest himself and made up for the days he hadn't rested before; otherwise, Mr. Zhang would have nagged again.

The Great Imperial Physicians conducted a five-year retrospective review of the Emperor's serious illness last September. They discovered that this illness of His Majesty was bound to happen sooner or later.

Looking at His Majesty's meals and other situations over these five years, he was really too busy, too busy. A prime-aged Emperor, in five years, without much change in diet, had lost a full eighteen jin in just two years because he was stationed in Songjiang Prefecture during his southern tour!

With no major changes in diet, exercise, etc., such rapid weight loss meant that the Emperor's body was always operating under overload. Let alone a person, even a machine, if it ran like this for two years, it would break down.

He lost another thirty jin during the month of serious illness. That is to say, His Majesty had a solid foundation from practicing martial arts since childhood; otherwise, this serious illness would have truly cost him his life.

His Majesty really couldn't rely on being young and act recklessly like this anymore. Moreover, for a Great Ming Emperor, thirty-three years old was really not young.

Illness caused by overwork was absolutely not something the Great Imperial Physicians said to shirk responsibility.

Therefore, who would supervise the Emperor's rest became the biggest problem for the Great Ming imperial court. Zhang Zhang Juzheng was still there and was willing to nag, and the Emperor was still willing to listen. Even if he worked overtime, he would adjust his rest back.

When the Emperor was willing to rest, Zhang Hong discovered that the Emperor's entertainment activities were truly very scarce. He liked standing on the Zhao Wenhua Tower the most, watching the grain boats passing on the Huangpujiang, and he could watch for an hour at a time.

Besides that, there was nothing else.

After Zhang Hong discovered this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. The Emperor had been so busy that his feet were hitting the back of his head for so long that Zhang Hong also felt it was a matter of course and didn't find any fun for His Majesty. This was his dereliction of duty as a Great Eunuch.

The great eunuchs of the Emperor Wanli Reform era couldn't even accompany the Emperor to eat, drink, and play.

Moreover, His Majesty was no longer young. Fighting crickets? His Majesty thought crickets were noisy and childish—things that Zhu Zhu Changzhi, Zhu Zhu Changchao, and Zhu Zhu Changhong didn't even play with. Walking birds? His Majesty would rather go see the dodo bird breeding situation. As for cultural artifacts and the like, His Majesty would rather read a few more pages of the Hanlin Academy's research on oracle bone script.

Zhang Hong wished he could catch a few Japanese slaves for His Majesty to dissect for fun.

"Stop guessing blindly. I think this is also very good." Zhu Zhu Yijun leaned back in his chair and told Zhang Hong not to rack his brains to find fun for him. He felt that resting for these three days was very good.

He discovered that the biological clock thing didn't exist at all. Laziness is human nature.

For example, these three days, he slept until the sun was high every day before he was willing to crawl up. Even if he was awake, he was willing to stay in bed for a while. With nothing on his mind, there would fundamentally be no such thing as a biological clock.

When he woke up, he went to look at ships. After looking at ships, he lay on the lounge chair, read some miscellaneous newspapers, and made a few sharp comments. These three days, he also had an argument with Wang Wang Yaozhuo, and this time he won the argument.

The couple had been together for so many years, and they still argued, entirely because of the children.

Zhu Zhu Changhong had very strong military talent. As the Empress, Wang Wang Yaozhuo didn't really want Zhu Zhu Changhong to practice martial arts, fearing that the succession struggle between the Renzong Emperor and the Han Prince would be staged again.

Not allowing Zhu Zhu Changhong to practice martial arts, Zhu Zhu Changhong practiced secretly. Moreover, the palace maids and eunuchs around Zhu Zhu Changhong didn't dare to tell the Empress.

But in the end, the Empress still found out. For this matter, the Emperor specifically talked to the Empress. As they talked, they argued, and as they argued, they argued their way into bed. After the argument, the Empress was persuaded and allowed Zhu Zhu Changhong to practice martial arts.

One can only say that children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Zhu Zhu Changzhi was her own son, but wasn't Zhu Zhu Changhong one too?

Zhu Zhu Yijun also spent a whole day putting together a model.

Zhao Li Shizhen, the General Manager of the Songjiang Shipyard, knew the Emperor liked them, so every time a new ship went to sea, he would get a model and send it to the palace, and they were all disassembled, letting His Majesty put them together himself.

Zhu Zhu Yijun quite liked putting these things together, especially with Empress Wang and the children.

This time he rested, the model he put together wasn't a ship, but a birthday gift for Wang Wang Yaozhuo. He put together a nine-dragon phoenix crown ornament and gave it to Wang Wang Yaozhuo.

Since she was ten years old, Wang Wang Yaozhuo had received a birthday gift personally prepared by the Emperor every year. This was also a unique treatment in the Great Ming harem. Even the very favored Consort Ran didn't receive gifts from the Emperor, only the usual rewards.

One could only envy her. Even if one managed to topple Empress Wang, so what? His Majesty wouldn't care about anyone else.

Moreover, Empress Wang couldn't be toppled. That wasn't toppling the Empress; that was toppling the Emperor.

"Don't guess anymore. Tomorrow, I and Empress Wang, along with the Fourth Prince Zhu Zhu Changhong, will go to the Shanghai Relief Institution to take a look. It counts as making an appearance. These cheap scholars just know how to talk nonsense." Zhu Zhu Yijun decided to go to the Relief Institution to take a look and make a public appearance, which was to let people know that nothing was wrong with the Emperor.

The next day, the Emperor went to the Relief Institution, and nothing happened.

Assassinate the King and kill the driver? Now the powerful and wealthy had no motivation to do such a thing.

If they really assassinated the King and replaced him with someone unreasonable, it wouldn't be as good as this reasonable one. If they assassinated the King, these fanatical officials of the Great Ming would drag all the powerful and wealthy to be buried with him, so even fewer people would be willing to do it.

His Majesty was truly very reasonable now. For those cunning people who relied on the Salary Cutting Office to favor them and wanted to extort the powerful and wealthy, His Majesty didn't completely favor them.

That is to say, now. In the past, who would dare to extort the powerful and wealthy? If they didn't sink the other party into the Huangpujiang, they could already be called morally noble.

It was only because of the Emperor Wanli Reform that His Majesty was diligent, and the powerful and wealthy didn't dare to do such things anymore. How many years had it been since the days when they had to wear mourning clothes for dogs?

In mid-May, Zhu Zhu Yijun specifically issued an imperial decree to announce to the world, mainly to let the officials calm down, not to be fanatical, and to maintain sufficient rationality and sufficient vigilance.

"Criticizing the monarch is called respect; stating goodness and blocking evil is called reverence."

If the Emperor and monarch make mistakes, and the ministers do not correct them, do not criticize and state goodness, then they are treacherous officials, sycophants, flatterers, and thieves. That realistic example of Philip's expedition to England is there; do not fall into fanaticism and ignore the Emperor's mistakes.

The best way to deal with the Great Ming is to let the Great Ming head toward destruction in arrogance, and letting the monarch be arrogant is the fastest and most convenient way.

It would have been better if the Emperor hadn't issued this imperial decree. Once issued, it instead fueled this fanatical emotion. In a fanatical atmosphere, His Majesty could still maintain calmness—a wise monarch and holy master indeed.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered this, he no longer issued imperial decrees, but instead rewarded Shen Li. Shen Li had been opposing the Emperor recently. Sometimes the Emperor won, and sometimes Shen Li won.

At the end of May, the large sailing ship trade of the West successfully arrived at Manila in Luzon, and many definitive messages from the West were transmitted to the imperial court.

Zhu Zhu Yijun discovered that he had made a mistake; he had let Ricci run away.

When he let the person go that year, he hesitated. The person left, and he regretted it. Now, he finally confirmed that he shouldn't have let the person go back to the West. Ricci was different from Ma Liang; he shouldn't have let Ricci return to the West.

Ma Liang's martyrdom was worthy of respect, but Ma Liang had never lived in the Great Ming and could only imagine the wisdom of the Great Ming from between the lines. Ricci, however, was different. He had stayed in the Great Ming for too long, to the point that even his shell looked a bit like a Great Ming person.

Muscles atrophy from disuse. Facial muscles change because of speaking. Ricci slowly grew a Great Ming face.

Ricci understood the wisdom of the Great Ming too deeply, to the point that when he returned to the West, he brought about tremendous changes to the West in a short period of time. Taking Lisbon as an example, in the short month Ricci took over, Lisbon had once again shed its foul stench and become a city of flowers.

Even in the places Antonio conquered, Ricci established camps.

Having seen the light, one cannot tolerate the darkness.

Ricci's camps caused Antonio's conquest of the nobles to become exceptionally smooth. What the nobles were doing, how many troops they mobilized, and where they gathered—Antonio knew everything clearly before he even arrived at the place.

At least three times, Antonio led three thousand elite troops and had just arrived at a noble's castle when the castle opened its gates by itself. The nobles could only kneel on the ground to pay respects to the King, because if they didn't open the city and surrender, they would have their heads borrowed by the rebelling knights to claim rewards.

The Duke of Braganza, a Portuguese noble even the Great Ming Emperor knew, was the greatest noble in Portugal. In just one month, he handed over his castle and affiliated lands to the Portuguese royal palace, retaining only the power of the fief, and moved into Lisbon.

The minor nobles bowed their heads and surrendered, and the great nobles also began to surrender. In all the places Antonio conquered, all the nobles became virtual fief-holders, only able to receive part of the tax revenue from the land, and no longer held actual land.

This speed of change exceeded Zhu Zhu Yijun's imagination. Antonio fundamentally couldn't do it. If he could do it, he wouldn't have waited so many years.

"I forgot. This Ricci is Philip's Governor of the Far East, the actual King of the Philippines! I was careless, I was careless! I shouldn't have let him go back!" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the summary of the Western situation from the Ministry of Rites and slapped his thigh, regretting it too late.

Ricci performed like a scholar-official in the Great Ming, to the point that in the Emperor's mind, Ricci was a man of letters, lacking practical experience, a bit glib. Zhu Zhu Yijun indeed ignored the fact that Ricci was also a fierce pioneer in his early years, with very rich practical experience.

"Is His Majesty worried that Ricci has really brought light to the West?" Zhang Hong hesitated and asked the doubt in his heart. He frowned and said, "In that environment in the West, it shouldn't support him in doing that, right?"

"Yes, the environment in the West doesn't support it, but Antonio supports him!" Zhu Zhu Yijun said very helplessly.

No king could trust Ricci and let Ricci display his talents, except for Antonio. Antonio fundamentally didn't know how to be a king. His purpose in fighting these nobles was just to avenge the Sword Saint Marcus, and he had no other thoughts.

The torch of the West indeed lacked firewood, but Antonio gave all the miscellaneous affairs of Portugal to Ricci, and so there was firewood.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had never worried about this point before, because Ricci was a Spaniard. How could the Portuguese accept Ricci as a Minister of State?

And the Falanxi King Henry IV was clearing out the Great Bright Sect, and Philip hated Ricci to the bone.

No matter how one looked at it, Ricci's arrival in the West was a bleak future.

But the development of things completely exceeded Zhu Zhu Yijun's expectations. As soon as Ricci arrived in the West, he found his stage, quickly entered the state, and began his long-planned schemes.

"How did the Portuguese accept Ricci as Minister of State?" Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned. He would issue a decree to the Ministry of Rites to personally ask the Portuguese envoy. A Spaniard—weren't the Portuguese afraid that Ricci would sell out Portugal?

Three days later, the Ministry of Rites replied to His Majesty's inquiry.

Portugal really wasn't afraid that Ricci would sell them out, because they had seen too much. Sell it if you want; it doesn't matter.

After Antonio became King, the Portuguese nobles were still selling out the country, hoping to sell it for a good price. Philip's Tercios had already attacked, but these nobles only thought of surrendering, remaining unmoved as a mountain.

Even if Ricci sold it, could he be more abominable than the nobles?

One is not afraid of bad goods; one is afraid of comparing goods.

In fact, the previous Minister of State, Xu Fan, as a Great Ming person, was also selling out Portugal's interests to the Great Ming. Any Portuguese person knew this clearly, but the Great Ming, as the suzerain state, took away some interests through reasonable war loan interest, and Portugal still had more than half left.

For small barbarian states, perhaps there really weren't that many choices. Sell it if you want; at least sell it for a good price. If you can't sell it for a good price, at least sell it for a way to survive.

Facts also proved that Ricci was not selling interests to Spain, but giving them to the Great Ming.

As soon as Ricci became Minister of State, he canceled all taxes on Great Ming merchant ships in Portuguese ports and allowed Great Ming merchant ships and warships to dock at any Portuguese port for supplies.

In the State Council, Ricci scolded everyone from the King to the eighty-eight priests!

He set up a blackboard, explained the logic clearly, and told the King and the Han priests that tariffs have always been borne by the weaker party, just like the cost is always borne by the weaker party!

Taxing Great Ming merchant ships—who knows what they were thinking? In the trade between the Great Ming and Portugal, who is the weaker party? Don't they have any sense of proportion?

Such an obvious thing, and it still needed to be explained?

Antonio was scolded by Ricci until he was covered in blood, so he focused on fighting. It's better for people to do things they are good at; don't make things too difficult for yourself.

This was also the reason why the Portuguese accepted Ricci: Ricci was the Great Bright Envoy sent to the West by the Great Ming Emperor, and more than half of him was a Great Ming person.

"Sure enough, sure enough! He learned the real stuff!" Zhu Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial from the Ministry of Rites and said "sure enough" twice. Ricci had a complete set of plans for solving the problems of Western darkness.

The final plan he gave was three words: Great Unification!

If the West is not unified, it will only continue to rot. Even if it becomes rich for a short time by relying on colonial plunder, looking at it from the scale of centuries or millennia, it will still rot.

After Ricci arrived in Lisbon, he said a sentence that made Philip wish he could twist Ricci's head off with his own hands!

In the State Council, when talking about policy toward Spain, he said:

The glory of the sun that never sets has not shone on the ordinary people of Spain. The wealth plundered is concentrated in the hands of nobles and feudal lords, just like the land in the past. Madrid is still full of slums. It was like this thirty years ago, and it is still like this thirty years later.

Philip won the crown of the sun that never sets, but he has not pushed forward the progress of history at all. He hasn't even established a loose Western commercial alliance.

After Philip heard this sentence, he almost smashed the entire palace. He was truly, truly very angry. ===== CHAPTER 1089 =====