Chapter 1590: You All Hold the Funeral — We're Going to War!

In December 1700 by the Western calendar, just as the filial sons and worthy grandsons of the Chongzhen Emperor were setting out one after another to return to Yingtian Prefecture to attend a funeral of the century, over in Europe, Carlos II, only thirty-eight years old, had also reached the end of his life.

Unlike the death of Chongzhen, his death was what everyone had long been hoping for!

In European history, it would probably be hard to find another monarch like Carlos II, whose death countless people had been longing for from the day he was born...

Of course, people longed for his death not out of hatred, but out of their love for God and for Spain...

"God-favored Spain" had suffered enough from monarchs of deficient intelligence and not-quite-sound mind!

And compared with the earlier monarchs of the seemingly "cursed" House of Habsburg, Carlos II was even more foolish and more abnormal, and his health had been poor from childhood — that he had managed to grow to adulthood at all was a miracle.

Nor did he possess the Retired Emperor Chongzhen's skill at raising children; he could not produce a brood of highly capable sons. He lived thirty-eight years, yet left behind not a single child, son or daughter.

So the several kingdoms and duchies he possessed could only pass to his former enemy — Louis I, Emperor of the Romans.

For the Spanish nobles who had had their fill of idiot kings and mad kings, however, such an arrangement was a rather satisfactory outcome.

So when he lay gravely ill in bed, no one in all of Spain prayed for his health; people prayed only that his soul might ascend to Heaven.

If he had possessed the intelligence of a normal man, he would surely now be sighing over his miserable fate.

Fortunately, he was only a pitiful man of deficient intelligence, so he could now die quietly and peacefully.

When the funeral bells of every church in Madrid tolled together in mourning, all those who had prayed for Carlos II — praying that his soul might ascend to Heaven as soon as possible — could at last breathe a great sigh of relief.

The news of Carlos II's death from illness seemed to sprout wings, flying in the shortest possible time to the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, where Louis the Great resided.

Louis the Great was at that moment in his own office, head lowered, carefully reading a letter sent from Moscow.

The letter was written in French, and its author was Peter I, Tsar of Russia.

In the letter, Peter assured Louis the Great that when Louis the Great sent his troops to attack Hungary and Bohemia, he would certainly march south from Ukraine to attack the Crimean Khanate... If all went well, Peter I hoped that Russia's armies could continue southward all the way to Constantinople!

Constantinople!

Louis the Great put away the letter, let out a breath, and thought: This young Tsar of Russia is truly ambitious!

He is already thinking of recovering Constantinople — does he intend to turn Russia into an Eastern Rome?

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded, and then someone outside the door called out loudly: "Your Imperial Majesty, an urgent dispatch from Madrid!"

"Madrid... Come in, quickly!" Louis the Great had already guessed something, and hastily ordered his aide-de-camp to enter.

"Your Imperial Majesty!" Louis's aide-de-camp came in, bowed, and said: "An urgent dispatch from Madrid. Summoned by God, the King of Spain, King of New Spain, King of Naples, Duke of Milan, and sovereign of various other territories, the head of the House of Habsburg, Carlos II, has departed from his people and his country!"

"Carlos II... dead? He — he is finally dead!" Louis the Great drew a breath. "He is dead, and now the war in Europe is about to begin. But whom shall I send to command the mighty Roman legions to destroy the Ottoman Empire?"

Although Louis the Great now possessed the second-strongest army in the world, the famous generals who had once fought across the continent of Europe for France — men like the Prince of Condé, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Marshal Turenne, and others — were all no longer among the living. Only such former minor figures and small men as General Vauban, General Villars, and the Duke of Vendôme remained.

At the thought that he had no capable generals to call upon, Louis the Great could not help frowning.

Without the Prince of Condé, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Marshal Turenne, who could command the many legions of the Roman Empire in a life-or-death struggle against the ferocious Ottomans?

"Your Majesty, perhaps I could command a legion for you."

The one volunteering was none other than the aide-de-camp who had brought Louis the Great the news of Carlos II's death — a man whose looks were quite pleasing to noble ladies, named John Churchill, an unlucky second-generation English Royalist, recommended to the Roman court by Hortense Mancini, Queen of the Kingdom of New England, and very likely one of Hortense's male favorites.

Louis looked at that exceedingly handsome face and thought: If Philippe — meaning Louis's younger brother, the Duke of Orléans — were emperor, he might well be fond of a pretty boy like you. But what I need is a commander like the Prince of Condé, not a boyfriend!

"John," Louis said with a bitter smile, "I can recommend you to Austria. Grand Duke Henry is always complaining that his army lacks excellent commanders. If war breaks out, the Ottomans will certainly launch a surprise attack on the Archduchy of Austria in the first moment, and he very likely will not be able to hold it. If you can help Henry defend his country, then I will give you a Roman legion."

"Very well, Eugene, John — you two are very likely the last hope of the Austrian people. If Mehmed IV cannot guarantee Austria's neutrality, I hope you can lead the Austrian army to hold out for at least a month."

Grand Duke Henry de Mancini of Austria now had no choice but to devote himself wholeheartedly to preparing for war. Although he had sent his daughter to Yingtian for the funeral, and had also brought along the Black Prince of the Indian Ocean and a Turkmen khan to demonstrate to Mehmed IV the unity of the Zhu Ming dynasty.

But the Ottoman Empire, driven into a corner, still had a very high probability of forcing the Archduchy of Austria to disarm and provide enormous military funds. After all, the Archduchy of Austria was in theory still a vassal of the Ottomans!

So Mehmed IV had the right to do this, and the Ming Emperor far in the East most likely would not intervene — as long as Mehmed IV did not depose Henry from his position as Grand Duke afterward.

Yet Henry could not refrain from resisting, because his people all hated the Ottoman Empire and turned their hearts toward Rome. If Henry appeared too weak, then he would certainly be overthrown by the Austrians.

"Your Highness the Grand Duke, rest assured: our Austrian army has spent the past twenty years preparing for a life-or-death struggle with the Ottomans! We have stockpiled vast quantities of arms, trained and equipped an elite force of fifteen thousand men, and moreover established a conscription system through universal education. At a single order from you, the army can be expanded at any time to a hundred thousand strong!"

The short-statured Eugene François was brimming with confidence as he patted his chest and made this guarantee to his Grand Duke.

"Your Highness the Grand Duke, what now truly faces destruction is the Ottoman Empire, not the Archduchy of Austria! But your grand-ducal throne comes from the Ottoman Empire, so at this critical juncture you must show sufficient firmness! You absolutely must not bow to the Sultan, and you must be prepared to fight a great war. I suggest that you immediately issue the order for general mobilization — the earlier the mobilization, the sooner your army will achieve combat effectiveness. And defeating the Ottoman Empire will win you the support of the entire Archduchy of Austria!"

The one speaking was John Churchill, that pretty boy, who had once served in Marshal Turenne's army and later fought Indians in America — beyond that, he had little military experience.

Henry looked at the little dwarf and the pretty boy before him, and in his heart he was filled with regret. If only he had known better, he would never have become Grand Duke of Austria! How much better it would have been to go to Henry Island in the South Pacific!

But there is no medicine for regret in this world, and no amount of gold can buy foreknowledge!

Grand Duke Henry was also a man who dared to stake everything, and at that moment he made up his mind and declared loudly: "Good! Then general mobilization it is — either we do nothing, or we fight the Sultan to the death! You two go and assemble the army. I shall take the field in person, just like Leopold I!"

(End of Chapter)