Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 287 Three Years of Diary
"Keng~!" The huge guillotine lost the restraint of the rope and fell down at a very high speed under the action of gravity. The huge blade used the potential energy brought by the free fall to cut the skin of the neck of the person below without any hindrance, and then cut off the cervical vertebrae with great force. Finally, with a dull sound that made people's teeth ache, it came into close contact with the guillotine seat that had been separated for a long time.
In September 1613, the Battle of Sedan broke out and the Franco-Spanish War began.
In November 1613, the Netherlands and Denmark joined the war. On the 25th of the same month, Rudolf led the Spanish New Army to fight against the Danish-Dutch coalition forces in the Battle of Liège and won a great victory.
In January 1614, Great Britain entered the war and was subsequently almost wiped out in the waters of Bilbao.
That same month, the Ottoman Empire entered the war and its fleet raided Barcelona.
In February, two divisions of the Spanish New Army entered Barcelona, and the Ottoman landing troops were defeated. However, due to the limitation of sea power, the Ottoman army still retained the coastal area of Barcelona.
In the same month, the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet rushed back and the Ottoman Navy engaged in a fierce battle with it. Spain won a tragic victory and the Ottoman army retreated completely.
In May, Sedan was about to fall. King Henry IV of France assembled the remaining 40,000 troops in the country, together with the 40,000 in the Sedan fortress, and launched a decisive battle with more than 90,000 troops led by Rudolf of Spain. The battle lasted for five days, and France was defeated and Sedan fell.
In June, the Spanish army approached Paris. Henry IV proposed peace talks, but Rudolf's response demanded the abdication of the Bourbon family and the punishment of war criminals, but Henry IV refused.
In July, Paris fell. Henry IV led the remnants of his army out of Paris and moved to southern France. Rudolf summoned many Catholic nobles in France to discuss the "reconstruction" of France. He continued to send a small number of troops to hunt down Henry IV.
In the same month, the Spanish Atlantic Fleet destroyed the remainder of Great Britain's fleet and bombarded London.
In the same month, the Spanish Atlantic Fleet fought a decisive battle with the Dutch and French fleets and won a tragic victory. The coastal cities of Britain and the Netherlands began to be bombarded by Spain in turn.
In October, Great Britain signed a treaty with Spain, paying a compensation of 3 million silver dollars and ceding all the small islands in the English Channel to Spain in order to withdraw from the war.
In the same month, the Netherlands surrendered. John van Oldenbarneveldt was captured. The Maurice brothers fled to Saxony with the remnants of their army.
In November, Denmark signed an armistice agreement and withdrew from the war after paying a compensation of 1 million.
In December, the Ottoman Navy returned with a vengeance, but the Spanish fleet, which had suffered heavy losses in a series of fierce battles, was unable to resist and was defeated.
In the same month, Haussmann landed again in Barcelona.
Encouraged by this, Henry IV in southern France once again assembled more than 10,000 troops and launched a massive "Return to Paris"... guerrilla operation.
In March 1615, the Spanish Caribbean Fleet and the Manila Fleet returned to their homeland, along with the remnants of the original two-ocean fleet and the newly built ships. A total of more than 300 warships were assembled to fight a decisive battle with more than 500 large and small warships of the Ottoman Navy and the Tripoli Pirates Alliance. Spain won a tragic victory, and the Ottoman Navy was almost annihilated... The Ottoman Empire had no choice but to withdraw from the war.
In January 1616, the last organized resistance army in southern France was eliminated.
In March, Henry IV was arrested.
In May, Philip IV personally went to Paris and convened the major princes and lords of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Kingdom of France. In the presence of the Pope and Ferdinand II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he held the epoch-making Paris Peace Conference.
One day before the formal meeting, the joint court, which was very much like a time traveler , first tried the Dutch Regent John and King Henry IV of France.
The Kingdom of Spain prosecuted the Dutch Regent John for treason - the Netherlands was a Spanish territory, and you led the local residents to seek independence, which was of course treason.
Prosecuted King Henry IV of France for blasphemy - as a Catholic and the king of a Catholic country, he repeatedly allied with the Ottomans to fight against Spain, the defender of Catholicism.
With such a crime, there was a lot of evidence, so the final verdict was: the prosecution was successful, the charge was valid, and the sentence was beheaded, and it was executed immediately.
Then the Pope, who was 'escorted' by a team of Spanish musketeers, first excommunicated them, and finally cut their necks with the guillotine.
Such a cruel and brutal punishment shocked all the princes and nobles who came to watch the ceremony - immediate execution after excommunication meant that the souls of these two people would never go to heaven! Such a punishment was truly unprecedented and ruthless in this era.
You have to know that in this era, the rulers of Europe were almost all relatives. Therefore, in the wars between countries in Europe at this time, most of the people who died were civilians. Except for the death of nobles in battle, the defeated were rarely punished. Like the twins in Spain, they refused to forgive and directly killed them. It was really unheard of!
After the two executions, the still-shocked pope, emperor, and nobles returned to their own residences to rest and prepare for tomorrow's official meeting. The two travelers naturally began their secret conversation again.
"I'm sorry, it really took more than three years, and I didn't fulfill my original promise."
"No, the war started in September 1613, and it has not even been three years yet. Anyway, Rudolf, you have worked hard these years."
"You've worked hard. Over the years, you've had to fight corruption in the country, deal with the Ottoman invasion, and ensure the supply of ammunition and food for the soldiers on the front line. Well, speaking of which, how is the national treasury now?"
"Nothing." Philip spread out his hands very straightforwardly: "I really don't have a single silver dollar left. In the last few months of the war, I used my own private property to support it."
"Ah? So serious? Philip, I have been the Lord of the Basque Country for many years and I have a lot of savings. Do you want it?"
"It doesn't matter. In the past three years of war, our country has lost more than 60,000 soldiers and no less than 100,000 disabled. The total cost of pensions and medicines is about 20 million silver dollars. Only this part of the expenditure is pure expenditure. As for the larger expenditure of guns, artillery and ammunition, although it is nearly 40 million, this money was paid to various steel mills and gun factories in Asturias. Although part of it was given to workers and part was spent on raw materials. But the bulk of the profit is not my own. Then I use this money to subsidize the national treasury, isn't it natural?"
"...Okay, but Philip, if you have financial difficulties in the future, you must tell me. After all, our goal is to make Spain dominate the world, and some private property is enough. More is of no use to me."
My goal is not just to make Spain dominate the world...
After muttering to himself for a while, Phillip said, “Okay, then I’ll thank you first.”
"Why should we be polite? By the way, how is Prime Minister Osvalles's anti-corruption work in the country? "
"Very good. The big net has been cast. I just didn't start because I was at war in recent years. I will close the net after the Paris Peace Conference ends tomorrow. Well, I estimate that the income will be at least 30 to 50 million."
"Haha, this way, our finances will be full of vitality again."
"Yes. But Rudolf, after this war, I deeply realized that our current national system can no longer adapt to modern high-intensity wars. Therefore, it is imperative to follow the example of China in the East, check the household registration, select officials through examinations, and establish a true centralized power."
"Agreed. So, what are you going to do?"
"I will fight corruption and clean up a group of nobles. I will use the victory of this war to transfer some nobles to new lands. In short, I will establish a purely centralized state in the whole of Iberia, except for Portugal, Barcelona and your Basque Country."
"Philip, this goal is correct. But it will take time. After all, we have only divided France, and the real Thirty Years' War has not yet begun!"
"Hmph, Rudolf, let me tell you a piece of good news. Before I came to Paris this time, Mr. Galileo told me that our steam engine can be put into practical use this year at the latest! I will use the Industrial Revolution to sound the death knell for these princes and nobles!"
