Chapter 749: You Are the Great Mongol Nation Now!

The five grand ministers the Great Qing had sent abroad had now become three, leaving only Soni, Lambai, and Duran, three old Manchus. Shang Ke'ai and Fan Yongdou had stayed behind in India and were preparing to cross the Himalayas to return home. Shang Ke'ai was all right — he was sturdy, after all — but Fan Yongdou was in a bad way: he had just recovered from seasickness, and now he had to climb onto the snowy highlands.

These old bones of his would most likely be left behind on the great mountains of Tibet!

As for Soni, Lambai, and Duran, when they arrived at Malaga, the port of Spain — no, it should be España — none of their faces looked very good.

Because on the way around Africa to España they had figured it out: these muddle-headed fellows of theirs seemed to have done an unheard-of foolish thing — they had changed the dynastic name of the Great Qing. They were now not envoys of the Great Qing, but envoys of the Great Mongol Nation!

This was not some problem of translation, but the substitution of another country's dynastic name for that of the Great Qing. The Great Mongol Nation and the Great Qing were not the same thing at all!

Although from Hong Taiji onward, the emperors of the Great Qing had all added a Mongol khan title for themselves, that did not mean they were the Great Khan of the Great Mongol Nation.

Even by the Western standard that a sovereign could hold multiple crowns, one still had to distinguish primary from secondary! For example, King Philip IV of España simultaneously held a whole pile of kingships, dukedoms, and marquisates, but the envoys España sent abroad could not possibly deal with foreign countries in the name of Portugal or Milan!

And Soni and his two companions had done exactly that sort of stupid thing in India: misled by Caballero, they had swapped the Great Qing for the Great Mongol Nation.

Now that they had reached España proper, that Caballero still wanted Soni and the others to keep pretending to be Mongols, and still wanted the Great Qing to keep pretending to be the Great Mongol Nation.

"Lord Justice, we have already reached España. Why do you still want us to pretend to be Mongols?" Soni's "Japanese" was growing more and more fluent. In a luxurious villa on the banks of the Guadalquivir River in Seville, they were waiting for España's foreign minister, Fernando Álvarez, Duke of Navarre, to come from Madrid to receive them.

While waiting for the Spanish foreign minister, Caballero told Soni and the others that they needed to continue acting as Mongols and as envoys of the Great Mongol Nation.

"Minister Soni," Caballero said, "the international influence of the Great Mongol Nation is something the Great Qing cannot compare with. Our lord the King has little interest in an alliance with the Qing state, but with the Mongols it is different — especially since you have now also brought in the Timurid Empire of Hindustan. They are universally acknowledged as a Mongol state!

Two powerful and wealthy Mongol states becoming allies of España at the same time — there will be a 'Spanish-Mongol Compact' uniting the Spanish world empire and the Mongol world empire!"

This was a union of two world empires! Setting aside the actual strength of the three countries involved, the name alone was extremely intimidating.

Just hearing it made one's heart surge. Philip IV would surely be too excited to sleep, and might even reward Caballero with some title of nobility.

As the second son of a noble house, obtaining a title was the thing he dreamed of.

Moreover, pulling in the Great Mongol Nation, the old hegemon of the Old World, would be enough to boost the flagging prestige of the Kingdom of España.

At the same time, in Madrid, capital of the Spanish world empire, where the spirit of "frugality and thrift for God" was everywhere in evidence, inside a shabby and gloomy royal palace, King Philip IV, who had a long face that looked rather ridiculous, had just finished an audience with a gloomy finance minister — the country was standing on the edge of bankruptcy once again, and all of Italy had fallen into panic!

But it did not matter. The Spanish were braver and stronger than the Italians; they were not afraid of national bankruptcy. And as the sovereign of España, the divinely favored Philip IV was naturally even less afraid of bankruptcy. In fact, when he borrowed money from the Italian profiteers, he had never intended to repay it!

Because those profiteers were all usurers, with interest rates so high that even Jesus could not tolerate them. Why repay anything at all?

"Your Majesty," came the voice of the palace secretary, "the next audience is Cardinal Chigi."

"Chigi?" Philip IV frowned. "Has he come to demand repayment?"

Chigi's family ran a bank and had lent a great deal of money at high interest to Philip IV. The Chigi family was truly unlucky: they had thought that once the Treaty of Westphalia was signed and peace was restored in Europe, with the potential of the Spanish world empire, a few hundred million in high-interest loans could always be repaid. Even if not, the interest could be paid first and the principal extended.

But who could have known that Philip IV refused to stop the war and wanted to keep fighting the French and the Portuguese endlessly? At this rate, bankruptcy and default were only a matter of time!

"No," the palace secretary answered. "He has come to convey an oral message from the Pope."

"An oral message from the Pope? Does it concern the debts?" Philip IV was still uneasy and pressed with another question.

He knew that the Holy See had deposited a great deal of money in the Chigi bank. If the bank collapsed, the Holy See would suffer heavy losses.

"Your Majesty, the Cardinal did not mention the content of the message, only that it is extremely important."

Philip IV sighed. "Very well, then show him in. He is the Pope's representative. Even if he has come to press for repayment, I cannot refuse to see him!"

Chigi had not come to demand repayment. Although the Chigi family bank had lent a huge sum to the Kingdom of España, they had no intention of making Philip IV repay it — he was the ideal debtor!

Of course, the Chigi family would not do business at a loss. While Philip IV failed to repay his debts, he would have to compensate the Chigi family in other ways.

For example, by supporting Fabio Chigi as the next Pope!

The current Pope was already seventy-seven years old. How many more years could he continue to serve God? When the time came to choose the next Pope, España and the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire would have a great deal of say!

"Your Eminence, is His Holiness the Pope still in good health?"

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the Cardinal, Philip IV inquired about the health of Innocent X.

"Blessed by God, the Pope is in excellent health and can serve God for at least another twenty years."

Philip IV looked at Chigi with sympathy: if that were truly the case, could you still become Pope? If you cannot become Pope, then the money I owe your family...

"Your Majesty," Chigi said, still as refined and courteous as ever, with a smile on his face, "the Pope says: an alliance between España and the Great Mongol Nation would be conducive to the spread of the Lord's Gospel to the East."

"What? An alliance with the Great Mongol Nation?" Philip IV was taken aback. "Did His Holiness really say that?"

In fact, Philip IV had never thought of allying with the Qing dynasty or the Mughals, those two fake Mongol states. Although the Viceroyalty of New Spain had reported to him that a highly profitable fur-for-arms deal had been reached with the Qing dynasty, Philip IV had never considered starting a war in the East against the Great Ming Empire.

Bad relations with the Great Ming Empire were not a problem in Philip IV's view — the Habsburg dynasty had never been good at making friends. But bad relations did not equal war, and war cost a great deal of money! If war were to be started in the East, España would have to send an expeditionary force of at least five thousand men from Europe, and at the same time dispatch an expeditionary fleet of dozens of warships. How many gold escudos would that cost? And where would he go to borrow more at usurious rates?

"Yes, that is what the Pope said!" Chigi replied.

"Why?" Philip IV asked again.

Chigi said: "Because the Great Ming is preparing to conclude a secret alliance with France and the Ottoman Empire!"

"What?" Philip IV was startled. "Is there such a thing? But the intelligence I have received only says that the Chinese, the Turks, and the French merely want to do a little trade under the pretext of exchanging gifts. It has not yet developed to the point of an alliance, has it?"

Philip IV had his own spies and knew all about the friendship-building between China, France, and Turkey!

Chigi smiled. "Your Majesty, alliances always begin with friendship. Should the Kingdom of España not also begin to act? Think carefully: what sort of country is a Great Mongol Nation that includes India, the Mongol homeland, and part of Chinese territory? If such a country became an ally of España, Spain's world hegemony could be maintained for at least another hundred years!"

(End of Chapter)