Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 216 Preparations for War against France (I)
"Swish, swish, swish..." After signing fluently, Philip stood up and handed the memorandum to the local council representative of Catalonia.
"Thank you for your mercy, my Lord."
"I hope my kindness will be richly rewarded."
"Of course, the Catalans will be loyal to you."
In June 1613, when the Ottoman traversers were forced to rush east to resist the Persians, the new Spanish King Philip IV also signed memoranda of understanding with the local councils of Catalonia and Portugal in Madrid, allowing the two places to have limited autonomy.
Legally speaking, the so-called Kingdom of Spain is not a truly centralized kingdom. It is essentially a personal union - this country was originally formed by the merger of many kingdoms such as Castile, Aragon, León, and Navarre.
Strictly speaking, the official title of Philip the time traveler is not the King of Spain, but the King of Castile, Aragon, Portugal and Valencia, and the Count of Barcelona...
In 1469, the Crown Princess Isabella of Castile married Prince Ferdinand of Aragon. Their countries merged , thus forming the main part of today's Spain. However, while Ferdinand was the king, Isabella was the queen instead of the queen consort. This was the famous era of the two kings.
This is the case for the main part of the country. In other marginal areas, especially the Catalans and Basques, who speak different languages from the main Castilian people and have a certain amount of power, have always had a serious tendency to separate. In addition, Portugal was forcibly swallowed in 1580... In short, on the eve of the European war, these problems must be solved.
Basque Country is now the fief of another time traveler Rudolf. His Royal Highness has a very high prestige in this fief, so it does not need special treatment for the time being. But for the other two places, we have to give them some sweet treats to appease them.
After many attempts and bargaining, the Spanish central government and the Catalan local council reached an agreement: Catalonia has a high degree of autonomy, gives up its claim to national sovereignty, and gives up its diplomatic and defense rights. In terms of taxation, Catalonia only needs to pay a fixed amount of gold coins to the central government every year. In view of the continuous depreciation of gold and silver, the tax amount will be renegotiated every five years. The Catalan region allows the Spanish government to recruit soldiers locally, but does not implement the current compulsory military service system of Castilians.
For Portugal, before being annexed by Spain, it had a large number of overseas colonies, and its technological level, people's martial spirit and combat effectiveness were not comparable to Catalonia. Therefore, in addition to granting a high degree of autonomy like Catalonia, Madrid was much more relaxed towards Portugal economically, and the taxes it collected were very light. However, in terms of military, it required the implementation of compulsory military service, and in terms of science and technology, it strictly prohibited the outflow of technology and talents.
After that, Philip successively met with representatives of the Moors, Galicians , Valencians, Andalusians, Gypsies, and mixed-race Spanish and Indian peoples from the American continent. He changed the arrogance of previous Spanish kings, bent down to listen to the demands of each nation one by one, and gave them some satisfaction as appropriate.
Anyway, although the terrorist activities of ETA in later generations and the news of Catalonia's independence often make the world laugh at Spain, the main ethnic group of this country, the Castilians, account for more than 70% of the total population of the country. Moreover, as a professor of history, the time traveler knows what the many ethnic minorities in this country are pursuing, and the time traveler does not have the persistence of some paranoid people in the Spanish royal family at this time. In addition, with the blessing of Tianshu, after more than half a year of efforts since ascending the throne, the separatist tendency in the country has been basically appeased.
In terms of religion, the time traveler obtained the highest right to interpret domestic doctrines through the coronation ceremony. However, Spain was the strongest fortress of Catholicism, so Philip very cleverly adopted the strategy of doing things but never making them public. Various religious inquisitions were gradually abolished, witch hunting operations were gradually stopped, and the persecution of Protestants was significantly reduced. However, His Majesty the King and the newspapers never mentioned religious reconciliation and freedom of belief.
After ethnic and religious issues showed signs of easing, Philip's first move in domestic affairs was to fight corruption.
Limited by the means of transportation and communication at that time, the Spanish central government was certainly unable to effectively and meticulously manage its vast overseas colonies. The so-called colonial governors often paid taxes to the imperial government in the form of tax farming. Such a management model naturally brought about a problem: whoever became the governor would get rich, and to be the governor, of course, one had to bribe the king's favorites.
At the same time, in order to prevent the governor from rebellion, Spain also insisted on appointing ordinary officials in the colonies from the local area, and strictly prohibited the promotion of local whites or mixed-race people in the colonies. In this way, the wind of corruption and bribery naturally blew from the top of the country to the grassroots.
Originally, the corruption of colonial officials harmed the local natives, so the problem was not serious. But you have to know that it is difficult to improve the official style, but it is very easy to deteriorate. If the colonial officials are rotten, the local officials will naturally become rotten as well. So by the 17th century, among the many European powers, the Spanish government was ranked at the bottom, if not the worst.
The country was about to go to war with the whole of Europe, and every bit of strength had to be fully mobilized. How could such a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy work? So after the ethnic and religious issues, Philip had to focus on the issue of official administration.
On the issue of anti-corruption, Philip, as a time traveler, naturally chose Duke Osvalles, and even went to great lengths to promote him to the high position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom ahead of schedule.
Because in the plane of history, he was a determined idealist with a very upright character and a strong ability to get things done. When Spain inevitably declined, it was he who did his best to run around to continue the glory of the empire.
"My Prime Minister, who are you going to open a gap in?"
"Your Majesty, I have decided to arrest the Duke of Osina first! On his way from Valencia to Madrid, he had a team of forty carts full of gold, silver and jewelry, which damaged a lot of the road along the way. His thousands of servants, whether they were musketeers, swordsmen, or even black slaves, were all dressed in the utmost luxury! That alone would have been fine, but after he entered Madrid, he actually led such a team through all the streets of Madrid... Your Majesty, there are too many corrupt officials in our country, and we can't possibly arrest them all. To fight corruption, we must start with the biggest and most arrogant corrupt offenders!"
"Okay, just go ahead and do it boldly. I will be your solid backer. No matter how shocking your anti-corruption actions are, I will support you to the end! For your convenience and personal safety, I will transfer 500 guards that I personally trained in Asturias to your command!"
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I will definitely give you a clean and efficient Spain!"
After watching Osvalles leave, Philip's mouth curled up slightly: This prime minister was the most capable politician in the Kingdom of Spain during this period in terms of history. However, he also made a fatal mistake: The earl stubbornly believed that the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands were the root cause of Spain's decline, so he wanted to suppress the Dutch independence movement at all costs.
But as a time traveler, Philip knew clearly that without the support of Britain and France, how could the Netherlands, with a small land area and a population of only 2 million, hold out for so long against the powerful Spain? Didn't you see that the Netherlands, which lost the support of France, quickly lost everything to the newly rising Britain?
Therefore, if England and France are not defeated first, no matter how many times Spain defeats the Dutch mercenaries on the battlefield, they can quickly revive with full blood...
To solve the problem, we must find the root cause - Spain’s biggest enemies are Britain and France. At present, when Britain has not yet truly risen, its biggest enemy is France!
"Juan."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Please help me invite the three editors-in-chief of Marca, Espanyol and Madrid Daily to do an exclusive interview with me."
"Yes, my Lord."
