Chapter 1390: Accidentally Discovering the True Meaning of Westernization

What the Sun King Louis XIV cared about most was still his own American colonies — although there were only a little over ten thousand Frenchmen there, and there was not much profit in them either, on the world map they were still a fine large stretch of territory, and just looking at them was pleasing. He certainly could not let the nouveau-riche king of the United States of the New Continent take them away...

Colbert replied: "Your Majesty, at present the white and creole population of New Spain already exceeds 800,000, while the mestizo and mulatto population is as high as more than 2.6 million. In addition, there are nearly 2.5 million Indians who have converted to the Catholic faith, and several hundred thousand black slaves... The usable population is around 6.5 million, ten times that of the United States of the New Continent!"

"What are mestizos and mulattos?" Louis XIV asked upon hearing two new terms. "Why are there more than two million of them?"

"Mestizos are people of mixed white and Indian blood, and mulattos are people of mixed white and black blood." Colbert explained, "In the Kingdom of New Spain, the first class consists of whites who came over from Europe, the second class is creole whites, the third class is the mixture of whites and Indians, the fourth class is the mixture of whites and blacks, the fifth class is Indians who have converted to the Catholic faith, the sixth class is black slaves, the seventh class is unconverted Indians, and the eighth class is the Japanese!"

"The Japanese are the eighth class?" Louis XIV was taken aback. "Why is their rank so low? I distinctly remember that lacquerware sells for a very high price!"

"That is because the Japanese broke faith and, in the Battle of the Flood Valley, turned their coats and went over to the Great Ming Empire!" Prince Condé said with a laugh. "Actually, this whole matter is a joke caused by Don Juan José's failure to understand Eastern civilization... In the East, China is the Celestial Empire, just like the Roman Empire of old. And Japan is a colonial state founded by some ancient Chinese who crossed eastward. At root, the Japanese are also Chinese."

"Then what class do the Chinese count as in the Kingdom of New Spain?" Louis XIV asked again.

"They count as the enemy!" Colbert said. "It is only that war has not broken out yet!"

Before the United States of the New Continent appeared, the Kingdom of New Spain had never seriously counted the number of mestizos and mulattos, nor had it given them the rights and respect they deserved. But now, in order to prepare for the next war, mestizos and mulattos had become part of the Kingdom of New Spain, with the same obligation as whites to perform military service, and they could also hold lower-level public offices, and could own land and slaves.

In addition, the lands owned by Indian tribes that had converted to Catholicism could now receive the protection of the government of the Kingdom of New Spain... as long as they could bear the corresponding military service and pay the corresponding land tax.

Under the leadership of the regent Don Juan José, and at the same time under the threat of the United States of the New Continent, that "enemy of the Catholic faith," the Kingdom of New Spain had at last shown a hint of being reborn — if it did not work harder, New Spain would probably become part of the United States of the New Continent.

"Has Don Juan José gotten his hands on money?" the Sun King asked again. "The Kingdom of Spain is a pauper — it has not even given me Maria Theresa's dowry!"

You still have the nerve to ask for the dowry?

Prince Condé and Colbert were both startled — the queen's dowry was compensation for her renunciation of her inheritance, and Louis XIV had already seized such wealthy territories as Franche-Comté and the Spanish Netherlands in the War of Devolution that he had launched. Now he still had the nerve to bring up the dowry? Was he not too shameless?

But their contempt for the Sun King's character could not be shown on their faces.

Colbert said to the king with a smile: "Spain having no money does not mean New Spain has no money... The regent Don Juan José wields enormous power, almost equal to that of a king. Therefore he can levy a war tax on all the gold and silver mines in the land of New Spain. Roughly 20% of the gold and silver now belongs to the government of the Kingdom of New Spain.

In addition, the Kingdom of New Spain has now also begun to implement open trade... so large amounts of tariff revenue are flowing into the treasury of Mexico City."

Historically, New Spain had long pursued a policy of "closed borders and locked country," trading only with its mother country Spain and not permitting foreign merchants to enter or leave.

And Spain's own industry and commerce were not developed; moreover, the nobility and bureaucrats were all very corrupt, so smuggling became the main mode of trade in New Spain.

Basically, around 90% of the Kingdom of New Spain's foreign trade was conducted through smuggling — quite comparable to the former Great Ming!

Of course, the people who could smuggle goods into New Spain all had backers... Although the Kingdom of Spain was very poor, the nobles and the clergy of that country were all very wealthy.

"How did the regent of New Spain manage it?" Louis XIV was very surprised. "Is he not afraid that the nobles and bishops at home will all unite against him?"

Prince Condé said with a laugh: "Your Majesty, Don Juan José has the support of twenty thousand German mercenaries... and he has also obtained the support of the Pope in Rome.

Those German mercenaries were all hired by him from Europe, and the Pope, because he is holding high the banner of defending the Catholic faith, has no choice but to give him support."

Although Don Juan José could not be counted as an especially formidable politician or military commander, compared with those idiot kings produced by inbreeding he was far stronger. Moreover, he had been intensively groomed by Philip IV since his teens, and had been cultivated up to the present, when he was already an uncle of forty. As long as his intelligence was functioning, his abilities would have been tempered out no matter what.

"I did not expect Don Juan José to be quite formidable!" the Sun King Louis muttered. "Fortunately the Spanish throne does not require an examination, otherwise the present Sun King might well be Don Juan José... This shows that the Chinese method of selecting talent through examinations is really quite good."

The Sun King was of course very confident — if a French king were to be selected through an examination, the one who passed would certainly be him!

Not only was he exceptionally intelligent, he was also especially handsome... far more handsome than Prince Condé, and more handsome than that fat man Colbert too.

"Your Majesty... a king should still be a matter of bloodline. At most, the Great Ming selected a crown princess through examination." Prince Condé did not think so — if there were an examination, he himself would certainly become king! But he could not let Louis XIV know his ambition, so he hastened to declare his opposition to selecting kings by examination.

"That is true!" Louis XIV nodded and said, "But the method of choosing a queen by examination still has much to recommend it!"

If there were an examination, Spain's Maria Theresa would certainly fail... Louis XIV thought to himself: if Maria Theresa were unfortunately to die young, the next queen must be chosen through an examination!

Having made up his mind, Louis XIV's thoughts returned to matters of state.

He said: "It seems that in the Americas, we should contain the ambitions of the Great Ming by supporting Don Juan José... We can provide Don Juan José with weapons, equipment, and military advisers, and help him train an army capable of counterattacking California.

In addition, we should also, together with the Dutch, help Don Juan José build a naval fleet capable of confronting the Great Ming navy in the Pacific!"

The Sun King only said "help," and did not say "fight together with New Spain." Clearly, he had no intention yet of directly entering the field to go to war with the Great Ming.

"Now tell us about the situation in Russia," Louis XIV brought up Russia again. "How should we help them?"

"We can send military advisers to Moscow, provide new-style firearms and artillery, and mediate the conflicts between Russia and Sweden, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, so that Russia can concentrate its strength on dealing with the threat from the East."

"Will the Ottoman Empire listen to us?" the Sun King was somewhat uncertain.

"We can think of some way," Colbert said. "The Great Ming's vassals, the Dzungar Khanate and the Khoshut Khanate, have seriously infringed upon the interests of the Khanate of Khiva, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, in Central Asia... and the Khanate of Khiva and Russia have already formed an alliance. From this angle, Russia and the Ottoman Empire are already in a quasi-alliance relationship."