Chapter 1027: Spain's Foolish Father (Please Subscribe)

Don Juan José left Vienna with an extremely heavy heart and continued on toward Madrid.

The reason his heart was so heavy was that the Holy Roman Empire's civil-service examination reform was far too half-hearted — how could the crown prince not be examined? All the king's sons, including his illegitimate ones, ought to be made to sit the examination together, and then the one with the best results should be made crown prince. Only then could the country flourish day by day!

The monarch of a monarchical state must absolutely not be muddle-headed!

The Kingdom of Spain has learned a profound lesson in this regard.

Among the major monarchies of Europe today, all except Spain possess at least one monarch of normal intelligence. Louis XIV of France is said to be extremely clever; Karl X of Sweden is an outstanding military commander; Ferdinand III of Austria, though lacking outstanding military ability, has pushed through a civil-service examination reform that clearly can strengthen the cohesion of the Holy Roman Empire — at the very least, all those disinherited younger sons of the disobedient great and petty lords within the Empire will adore His Majesty the Emperor. The energy of these people is not to be underestimated! And it is also quite common for heirs to die young for one reason or another.

As for Cromwell, the usurper of England, he is brilliant to the point of making one tremble!

England, which was beneath notice under James I and Charles I, has now been forged by Cromwell into a hegemonic power strong on both land and sea!

And Spain — whenever he thought of the mission he bore to revive Spain and of his accursed bastard status, Don Juan José was so grieved he wanted to weep, yet he still struggled to hold back his tears. It was not until he reached Madrid on December 6, 1657, that he could no longer restrain himself and the tears gushed forth.

For the moment he saw that the originally shabby, dilapidated Madrid had actually been decorated until it was beautiful, and that everywhere in the city was the brief merriment his father Philip IV had bought by scattering gold coins, he knew that something especially terrible had happened!

It must be that his father Philip IV and his cousin María Ana had borne a son!

For only when Spain had won a great victory, or at a king's coronation, or at the birth of a crown prince, would the broken, bleak Madrid be dressed up as a city of joy.

A great victory was impossible; great defeats there were in plenty, and it looked as though they would go on losing!

A king's coronation was also impossible; even if Philip IV had just died, María Teresa could not have held a coronation ceremony that quickly.

After two impossibilities, only one possibility remained! It was that Don Juan José's own father and Don Juan José's cousin had at last produced a son — Don Juan José had heard months ago that his cousin María Ana was pregnant, and at the time he had even prayed to God, asking for a healthy, pretty little sister.

It seemed God had not granted his request. This was the end now — Spain had another muddle-headed king!

In fact, Don Juan José was worrying far too early, because the boy born on November 28, named Felipe Próspero, was not the next muddle-headed king of the Kingdom of Spain — although he too was a child of poor brain development, he did not hold on long enough to become a muddle-headed king, dying of an epileptic seizure before reaching the age of four.

And Spain's next muddle-headed king, Carlos II, would not be born until November 6, 1661. And he would also be the last muddle-headed king of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.

But at this moment neither Don Juan José nor Philip IV knew that Felipe Próspero would not live long, so when Don Juan José and García arrived together at the royal palace, Philip IV had already put on his full court dress and was preparing to ride through the streets of Madrid to receive the cheers and blessings of his subjects.

Seeing his most outstanding son appear together with a nobleman who looked somewhat familiar, Philip IV was so delighted he nearly danced for joy, strode up, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him: "José, you came so quickly. The messenger only set out on November 28, and today is only December 6. How did you get here? Did you ride a fast horse through France?"

Through France? Don Juan José thought to himself: Is that something a person of normal intelligence could say?

"Father," Don Juan José said, "when I left Brussels I did not know of His Highness the Prince's birth. I came to Madrid for another matter."

"Good!" King Philip nodded, then grabbed García, pulled him over, hugged and kissed him too, and only then noticed something was off and asked, "Who are you? Why don't I recognize you?"

"Your Majesty, I am García, commander of the Eastern Invincible Armada. You should recognize me — I served as an officer of your guards."

"García." King Philip's memory was very poor; he only felt he had seen this name somewhere a few days ago, but could not recall.

It was a secretary officer attending him who prompted: "Your Majesty, three days ago you signed the order dismissing and arresting García, commander of the Eastern Invincible Armada!"

"Right, right, there was such a matter." King Philip turned to look at his son. "José, you are truly capable! You caught that muddle-headed, incompetent García so quickly!"

Caught? Sweat was dripping from Don Juan José's forehead! How was his own father growing more and more muddle-headed? He was not very old — only in his fifties — and his mind was already this addled. Was there any hope left for Spain?

"Father, Admiral García is not my prisoner, but my friend!" Don Juan José said. "Moreover, he has brought a personal letter from the Marquis of Spínola, Governor-General of New Spain. The Marquis's letter says that the defeat suffered by the Eastern Invincible Armada was not the Admiral's fault, but rather that the Chinese navy has made a leap forward. They now possess a terrifying wooden-mortar exploding shell, and can therefore destroy our wooden warships."

"Is that so?" King Philip nodded. "Very well then, since he is your friend, I can rescind the order to arrest García." So saying, the King of Spain waved at García, signaling him to disappear at once.

Knowing he would not be going to prison, García hastily bowed to the King and vanished from before Philip IV's eyes as though fleeing for his life.

Don Juan José then produced a personal letter from the Marquis of Spínola and presented it to the King with both hands.

"What does it say?" Philip IV took the letter but did not read it, instead asking his son.

"It says two things," Don Juan José said. "First, the Great Ming Empire in the East is entering the New World on a large scale. The Emperor of Great Ming has already raised funds equivalent to one hundred forty million pesos, to be used to establish a joint-stock united republic in the New World."

"What is a joint-stock united republic?" the King of Spain asked.

"Father, that is not the point!" Don Juan José could not be bothered to explain such a complicated question to Philip IV. "The key point is one hundred forty million pesos! The continent we possess is facing an unprecedented threat. If we do not adopt a tit-for-tat policy, within twenty years we will lose the New World!"

"Tit-for-tat?" Philip shook his head. "But I do not have one hundred forty million pesos!"

"Father, the key point is not the pesos."

Philip IV looked at his son. "But you just said the key point was the pesos!"

"This—" He had actually been led in circles by his foolish father. Don Juan José's face darkened slightly. "Father, for the Chinese, the key to contending for the New World is money! Because China has a population of over a hundred million, and now possesses shipbuilding capacity no less than Spain's. Sending migrants to the New World is simply a question of how much money is spent!

But for us Spaniards, the pesos can still be found by some means — but the population. What are we to do about the population?"

The King of Spain fell silent. After a while he gave a bitter laugh, as if mocking himself: "I, the King of the Earth, have neither money nor people. What am I to do?"

"We should seek peace in Europe as far as possible," Don Juan José said, "and at the same time devote our main energies to New Spain! If we cannot hold New Spain, then Spain will lose her glory and her wealth, and become an insignificant country!"

"What should I do?"

Don Juan José said: "The Emperor of China has established a subordinate state in order to contend for the New World. Your Majesty could adopt the same method — you could elevate New Spain into a kingdom, with you personally serving as its king, while I could go to Mexico City and serve as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of New Spain."

(End of Chapter)