Chapter 1092: Philip's Inheritance Is Vast Indeed! (Please Subscribe)

Li Shaoyou and Johann Adam Schall von Bell exchanged glances and sighed at the same time.

As long as old Cromwell lives, young Cromwell will not make peace with Spain, because young Cromwell is a staunch Puritan who hates Spanish Catholics above all.

But once old Cromwell dies — young Cromwell is a filial son! Of course he will have no heart to keep fighting Catholics; won't he need to grieve for a while?

Moreover, the Puritan soldiers under young Cromwell can understand it too: the old lord is dead, and the Catholic remnants lurking within England will surely stir, so the young lord must concentrate his forces to quell internal disorder — for the war party within the New Model Army, this is a highly persuasive reason for a ceasefire.

At the same time, signing a ceasefire agreement will also satisfy the bourgeoisie at home — they can finally stop worrying about Spanish privateer fleets.

For young Cromwell, making peace with Spain is also a necessary means of stabilizing his rule at home. So he will certainly seize this opportunity to extricate himself entirely from the quagmire of the European war.

"England and Spain will make peace very soon!" Schall said with certainty. "Then France and Spain — the war between France and Spain has dragged on too long; both sides are somewhat exhausted, and neither has the strength to defeat the other completely."

"But we have no way to make peace with Spain!" Li Shaoyou sighed. "I must go to Paris and discuss matters with the Prince de Condé — perhaps I can obtain some useful information."

"Ambassador," Jabuse said, "after Paris, will you go directly to Calais? I will go and prepare a ship for you."

"Then I shall trouble you." Li Shaoyou nodded. Going to Calais was for the purpose of going to England.

Because of the possibility that France and Spain might come to share a single sovereign, strengthening relations with England was imperative. If Sino-French relations could not be maintained, then Sino-English relations would become especially important — the Great Ming must preserve its trade and technological exchanges with Europe. And France and Spain, these two countries, had very poor "trade attributes"; they would not necessarily maintain relations with the Great Ming for the sake of trade.

England and Holland, on the other hand, these two capitalist countries, were merchants — extremely dependent on international trade. So in the event that the Great Ming might become hostile with France and Spain, maintaining close relations with these two countries would be highly advantageous.

"Mister Ambassador, the peace negotiations between France and Spain are proceeding very smoothly. Philip IV has already agreed to cede Roussillon, Foix, Artois, and most of Lorraine to us — now we are only waiting to finalize Princess Maria Teresa's dowry. Prime Minister Mazarin wants 500,000 écus as compensation for the Spanish princess renouncing her right of succession to the throne, but King Philip actually cannot produce this small sum."

In a luxurious mansion within Paris, the Prince de Condé was laying everything out for the visiting Li Shaohua.

Old Cromwell's death had clearly become an important event pushing the wheel of history forward! Even the stalled Franco-Spanish peace negotiations had accelerated because of it.

"He doesn't even have 500,000 écus?" Li Shaohua was very surprised at the degree of "poverty" of the Spanish royal house. "That would be about 400,000 taels of silver, wouldn't it?"

"A little less than that," said Huang Jiang, the banker who had come with Li Shaohua, shaking his head. "Your king probably cannot get his hands on this money. The Spanish court is now deep in debt and will likely declare bankruptcy soon. It would be good enough if Philip can put on a decent wedding for Maria Teresa."

Condé smiled. "If he cannot pay, then it becomes 'dowry receivable.' But Louis will still marry Maria Teresa — she is a very beautiful princess!"

"Oh? King Louis has already seen her?" Li Shaohua was somewhat surprised. He had spent many years in Europe and had long known that the House of Habsburg produced nothing but ugly freaks. At any rate, during his time in the Holy Roman Empire he had not seen a single Habsburg with passable looks.

"Of course he has not seen her," said the Prince de Condé, himself an ugly man, with a smile. "If he had, perhaps King Louis would have to reconsider this marriage."

"No matter how ugly, he must marry her!" Huang Jiang interjected. "Perhaps he can marry his way into a Spanish kingdom!"

The Prince de Condé shook his head and said, "It is not that simple." His tone grew serious. "I can tell you a secret. But I want you to promise not to reveal it!"

"I promise!" Li Shaoyou said. "I swear by Heaven."

Huang Jiang said, "I swear by the God of Wealth!"

The Prince de Condé nodded and said, "If Philip dies and leaves no male heir, then King Louis will lay claim to the Spanish throne!

At that time there will be a war of succession, so Maria Teresa is merely the pretext for starting the war!"

"Is this true?" Li Shaohua was greatly startled, and asked again, "Then what if King Philip's son does not die? Would King Louis's plan not come to nothing?"

The Prince de Condé looked at Li Shaohua, was silent for a moment, then said, "Only partly come to nothing. Princess Maria Teresa has renounced only the right of succession to the Spanish throne, but she has not renounced the other inheritances! Philip is not only King of Spain, but also King of New Spain, King of Naples, Duke of Milan, and Duke of the Netherlands!"

A person of insufficient intelligence is indeed unsuited to be a king!

The dim-witted Philip IV had once again been deceived by those two clever men, Louis XIV and Mazarin — the inheritance rights that Maria Teresa renounced had been worked out between Philip and Mazarin, and somehow only the Spanish throne was specified, while everything else was left out.

Thus Louis XIV gained the moral justification for launching a war of inheritance — Philip's inheritance was so vast; why should it all go to his son and none to his daughter! That would be unfair!

Li Shaoyou, who had been somewhat dejected a moment before, immediately perked up. "Your Highness — if King Louis goes to war with Spain over the succession or the inheritance, the Great Ming Empire will certainly support King Louis!"

Huang Jiang also said, "If King Louis marches on the Spanish Netherlands, the Bank of Divine Europe is willing to provide a low-interest loan!"

He was very interested in France seizing the Spanish Netherlands, because the Spanish Netherlands — that is, the territory of what would later be Belgium — was far more suitable than metropolitan France to become a financial center. Its economy was more developed, its trade more prosperous, and it was also closer to Holland and England, the two economic centers of Europe.

The Prince de Condé smiled. "King Louis has asked me to convey to Mister Ambassador that if he becomes King of Spain, he will recognize the west coast of the New World north of California as belonging to the Great Ming Empire."

It turned out that everything this prince was telling Li Shaoyou and Huang Jiang had been instructed by Mazarin. Before Louis XIV obtained the Spanish crown, France still needed the Great Ming as a powerful ally!

At the same time, the King of Spain — whose intelligence had been insufficient in his youth and who had grown even more muddled with age — was receiving in his palace in Madrid the Cardinal Morales, who had just returned from Japan.

"Your Majesty, you must remain vigilant against the Great Ming Empire. For in the Manchu war that ended not long ago, the Great Ming's army displayed unprecedented fighting strength! With just over ten thousand men, they cleanly routed Dorgon's seventy thousand troops in a series of night attacks!"

"That must be because Dorgon's army was too weak, no?" the King of Spain said dismissively. "Our soldiers in Japan have fought quite well!"

"No, no, it is not that Dorgon's army was weak," Morales said. "It is that the Ming army is strong. As far as I know, the force that defeated Dorgon was an army similar to the Janissary corps. They call it the Nine Frontiers Youth Army. They select the strongest boys from the Great Ming's frontier regions, send them to the Great Ming's capital, and under the Emperor's personal supervision put them through six years of rigorous training and layer upon layer of selection, finally forming an exceptionally powerful elite army."

"Is that so?" The King of Spain frowned. "Still, it is only a land army; it poses no threat to us."

"Your Majesty," Morales shook his head, "I believe this army will be used in the New World in the near future!"

(End of Chapter)