Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 516: Total War Against Austria
The second in line to the throne of Spain, Europe's only superpower, His Royal Highness Prince Rudolf of the Basque Country, who had been invincible in the past decade, had died suddenly. Such news spread quickly throughout Europe.
The death of such a person was of course a big deal. Not to mention other European countries, even in Spain, most people were surprised and sad when they heard the news. And the first reaction of most nobles was: Could it be that His Majesty the King thought that His Royal Highness was too successful and poisoned him to death?
These guys can't help but have such thoughts. Unlike ordinary people who are grateful to His Majesty Philip IV for gradually improving people's livelihood since he ascended the throne (after Philip ascended the throne, he quickly swept France, suppressed the Dutch independence movement, and defeated Britain, which reversed the kingdom's chronic blood loss. Through the industrial revolution, the quality of life of the Spanish people has been significantly improved by sucking blood from EU countries), rectifying the administration, and making everyone live a good life. The nobles in Spain respect and fear His Majesty the King.
The reason for respect is similar to that of ordinary people: since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has completely reversed the country's declining predicament, the country has become prosperous again, and everyone's income has become more and more. As for fear, it is because His Majesty, with the iron fist of Prime Minister Osvalles, has carried out severe anti-corruption actions in the country. Moreover, he has used the industrial revolution to suppress the economy of the big landowners in the country... Everyone has long experienced the power of His Majesty's methods.
However, before this idea could fully ferment, on March 5, major newspapers such as Marca and Madrid Daily published an autopsy report collectively issued by twelve scientists from the European Joint Scientific Institute headed by Galileo.
In this report, the twelve scientists all swore by their religious membership that they were not hindered or coerced in any way during the examination of His Royal Highness Rudolf's body, and conducted a detailed and careful examination of His Royal Highness's body in a completely free and scientific manner.
The final examination results showed that His Highness's body had no external injuries, no blood stasis in the body, and no signs of poisoning. In the end, everyone concluded that His Highness had been very tired from the long journey to North America. Finally, after seeing His Majesty the King, the tension that had been taut before broke, and his body was not able to adapt for a while, and he died of cardiac arrest.
Along with the collective endorsement of Europe's most famous group of scientists, Rudolf's widow, Princess Leonora of Denmark, also issued a statement saying that she followed the twelve scientists throughout the examination of her husband's body and agreed with the scientists' opinions.
Scientists like Galileo, in this dimension, because of Philip's strong support and Spain's absolute dominance in Europe. Therefore, at this moment, Galileo has many titles such as the father of the steam engine, the father of modern medicine in Europe (he led the research and development of penicillin in Europe. After all, Ming Dynasty penicillin entered Europe many years earlier, but the Spanish media still did not dare to give him the title of the father of modern medicine in the world), the father of smokeless gunpowder (for official propaganda purposes, Spain would never admit that smokeless gunpowder came from the Ottoman Empire), and the father of railway locomotives. That high reputation is really not a joke. With such a great scientist standing up to endorse Philip, the suspicion of His Majesty the King was almost gone.
Therefore, the suspicion against Philip disappeared quickly without even a splash.
As for the missing maid? Who Cares?
Not only that, Marca and other major newspapers also used inductive methods to suggest that Chinese medicine is well developed in the East, and their emperor is even more proficient in it. It should be noted that a doctor can save people, but he is also the best at killing people. His Royal Highness's death was unclear. Was it a Chinese conspiracy?
Of course, there are several reasons for this argument: First, the Chinese have taken away all our colonies in the Far East, so they are naturally afraid of our revenge. Although our European Union is now actively preparing for a holy war against the Ottomans and has no time to deal with those yellow monkeys, it is inevitable that these yellow monkeys are afraid. If they are afraid and want to do something against us, their first reaction will be to kill our most outstanding , His Royal Highness Prince Rudolf?
Secondly, did the Japanese invaders in North America carry diseases that we white people are very sensitive to? Just like when we first arrived in America, the Indians had no immunity to our smallpox? It is said that in order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, His Royal Highness Prince Rudolf accepted the request of the leader of the Japanese bandit group for a personal duel. Although His Royal Highness shot him dead in the duel, but this frequent physical contact?
In short, Orientals are extremely bad! They are robbers who robbed our colonies and demons who spread plagues!
For a while, these articles caused a fierce reaction in Spain and the EU: the common people were really fooled, and the nobles and bureaucrats had to lie with their eyes open. As a result, the whole of Europe quickly rang out the clamor of "eliminating the yellow monkeys and committing genocide against the yellow people."
After all, the world economic ties of this era were not as close as those of later generations. Whether it was the Ming Dynasty or Japan, almost no citizens settled in Europe at that time. Therefore, the clamor of Europeans did not bring real and specific harm to the people of Eastern nations.
But no matter what, the blame has been passed on.
Zhu Youdong, who was far away in Beijing, certainly had no idea that he had inexplicably become the scapegoat. Even if he knew, he would probably just smile faintly: He is still the despicable white pig as always.
Of course, he had sensed Tianxuan's disappearance. While lamenting the loss of another of his colleagues, he quickly instructed the Royal Guards to step up their efforts to gather information from the West.
As for why Tianxuan disappeared, there is no need to guess, it must have been Tianshu who killed him.
Not only Zhu Youdong, but also Yiplashim and Datar, naturally affirmed that it was Philip who killed Rudolf. After sensing this, Datar just said with melancholy: "Almost half of them are gone." Then he stopped paying attention to this matter: the Vijayanagar Kingdom had destroyed the three small Hindu countries between it and the Mughal Empire, and launched an attack on the Mughal Empire. Although this country is backward in military equipment, it cannot withstand its vast land area, large population and large number of soldiers. Under the premise that its internal relations have not been straightened out, fighting with such a big country is really a hard and tiring job, and there is really not much mood to feel the death of a colleague.
As for Ibrahim, he certainly used all his domestic propaganda tools to launch a strong attack on Philip's character. However, the Ottoman Empire and most European countries had been enemies for hundreds of years, and European Christians instinctively did not believe what he said.
…
In May 1623, after giving Rudolf a grand state funeral and bestowing him with a large number of titles and honors, Philip once again convened the League Conference in Berlin, the center of Europe.
"Twenty-three years ago, Archangel Michael escorted Rudolf and I into this world. Our mission is to unite the Lord's believers and restore the Lord's glory. For twenty-three years, we have worked hard and devoted all our efforts to accomplish our mission. Now, the whole of Europe has been united. Although there are often disputes between Catholics and Protestants, they no longer have to fight each other!
In the past 23 years, we have eradicated smallpox, found effective drugs to treat pneumonia, syphilis, and tuberculosis, established a system for controlling infectious diseases, built modern hospitals, established hospital infection control programs, and vigorously promoted personal hygiene... The average life expectancy of Europeans has increased from 28 to 36 years.
Over the past 23 years, with the help of scientists, we have brought Europe into the steam age. Countless new factories have been built, and the wealth they produce in one year far exceeds that of the past ten or twenty years!
In the past 23 years, we have developed smokeless gunpowder and ironclad ships. Our military strength has become incomparably strong... We Europeans have united together, followed the will of the Lord, and spread the glory of the Lord to America and Africa, bringing modern civilization to the ignorant natives there!
...But, my brothers, while we have achieved such great success, we must also see that the world is still not peaceful, and there are more souls that need to be forgiven and saved by the Lord. In the Near East, the evil Ottoman Grand Vizier Ibrahim imprisoned his own monarch, wielded the butcher knife wantonly in the country, wantonly slaughtered the believers of the Lord in the Ottoman territory, and shamelessly slandered our cause.
In the Far East, China, which uses the dragon as its totem, has driven away our honest business people in the Far East and has taken over the Far East. They have also deliberately spread their viruses all over the world! They have also ignored the reality that the alliance form of equal coexistence is the mainstream of modern countries, and stubbornly and ignorantly promoted the cruel and backward vassal tribute system...
My brothers, our cause has achieved great results. However, it has also paid a great sacrifice. This year, my most loyal brother, His Royal Highness Prince Rudolf, traveled back and forth between Europe and the United States. He was extremely tired and contracted an unknown virus and died suddenly. This is a great loss to our cause. In the past 23 years, in addition to him, countless loyal believers of the Lord have returned to heaven at the call of the Lord...
However, to spread the glory of the Lord to every corner of the world, this is the price we must pay! In the future, if my life is needed to fuel this cause, I will definitely do my best! I have lost my twin brother, the most loyal guard given to me by the Lord. But I will also gain countless brothers, countless loyal and powerful guards because of my dedication to the Lord's cause!
…Now that Europe is integrated, we have a strong army with the same equipment, a unified currency, and a unified official language. Now is the time to restore the Lord’s rule over Jerusalem and Constantinople for the glory of the Lord!
I hereby solemnly propose to the alliance that the alliance should launch a full-scale war against the Ottoman Empire in the second half of 1624, or at the latest in the first half of 1625! Who is in favor? Who is against? "
