Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 804: The Final King vs. King
When Philip woke up, he suddenly found that he was in a dark space. And his hands and feet were all shackled!
"What's going on? Who dares to lock me up! Alfred, my lieutenant, the guards! Where are the guards?"
"Your Majesty, stop shouting. We should be in a container now."
"Osvalles? Why are you here too? What's going on?"
"Your Queen Elizabeth and your second son Philip launched a coup . They arrested us at the train station. Your adjutant Alfred was shot dead on the spot because he organized the guards to resist."
"Elizabeth? I...hahahaha~ I forgot that her father Henry was beheaded by me with a guillotine. I forgot that her brother is the current Grand Duke of Paris, Louis XIV. I forgot that she hasn't spoken to me for a long time since our eldest son Louis died in the war in America."
"You have had so many mistresses over the years, and the queen has long been fond of you... and she also has many lovers..." Of course, Osvalles did not say this out loud.
"How could they launch a coup? I may not be able to stop the collapse of the European Union, but the Spanish military should be loyal to me!"
"No, Your Majesty, the Spanish Navy is absolutely loyal to you. But the Spanish Army was built by His Majesty Rudolf. This coup was planned by the French, spies sent to Europe by China, the Queen, the Prince, and His Majesty Rudolf's former adjutant Coutinho. When Coutinho stood up and shouted that you had poisoned His Majesty Rudolf, a considerable part of your guards gave up resistance."
"…How do you know so much?"
"My loyalty to you has never changed, Your Majesty. After the skirmish at the train station, they persuaded me to betray you and stay and continue to serve Spain. I refused. But they also told me everything about the coup... In short, Richelieu was behind all this."
"Richelieu? This guy is not dead yet!"
"Yes. What's particularly ironic is that he sneaked back to Europe many years ago and has been hiding in Paris. He also ran an intelligence network in Europe for the Chinese. It's a pity that the idiots in our Spanish Intelligence Agency didn't even notice the slightest clue."
"It's not their fault." At this point, Philip calmed down: "I trusted Louis in Paris too much. Prime Minister, thank you for your loyalty and company. Do you know where they are going to send us now?"
"Because the navy is still loyal to you, and part of the army is still loyal to you. So they dare not let you stay in Spain for too long. If my guess is correct, now they are sending us to the seaside. When we are sent to the Chinese warships, I am afraid that Madrid will issue a telegram."
"Haha, I guess that's the way it is. How ironic that the Spanish people actually abandoned the king who brought them supreme glory. If it weren't for me, Spain would have fallen to an unknown level. How could one country suppress the power of an entire continent?"
"Your Majesty, it is useless to say this now. I guess we will be transported to China . I wonder if the Chinese emperor will respect our European traditions and save your life."
"..." After thinking for a long time, Philip suddenly laughed heartily: "Hahaha, Osvalles, please promise me one thing."
"Please give your orders, Your Majesty."
"Call the guard and tell him that you have thought it through and are willing to cooperate with the coup plotters and continue to serve the new king of Spain."
"No, how could I do that? You promoted me to Prime Minister of the Kingdom when I was in my thirties. You have trusted me and given me power for nearly forty years. I have made up my mind to follow you to the end. How could I betray you at this time?"
"Osvalles." Dragging his heavy shackles, Philip followed the voice in the dark and moved to Osvalles' side, grabbing his hand: "This is not a betrayal, this is your last loyalty to me. I can tell you with certainty that after I arrive in China, no matter what the Chinese emperor's character is, he will definitely kill me. Don't interrupt me, and don't have any fluke. The Chinese emperor will definitely kill me, there is no doubt about that. However, it doesn't matter if I die, and it doesn't matter if the European Union collapses, but Spain still needs to exist. And Elizabeth, that idiot woman, and little Philip, who is not even fifteen years old now, can protect this country? Only you, only you can protect Spain! Moreover, there is no doubt that I will bear the reputation of a devil in a short time, but in the future, whether everything I do for Spain can be fairly evaluated in history depends entirely on you and your descendants."
“…”
"Osvalles, please carry out my final order. The king was abandoned by his people, but he still can't let go of his people!"
"...I understand. I am willing to carry out your orders, Your Majesty."
"Thank you, Osvalles, for your companionship and loyalty over these decades."
On February 20, 1649, the "train station coup" occurred in Spain. Philip IV was imprisoned and quickly and secretly sent to the seaside and handed over to the Chinese navy who had been waiting there.
Afterwards, the Spanish government issued a telegram stating that our country had deposed Philip IV and handed him over to the Chinese emperor. Now, His Majesty Philip V has ascended the throne.
After the minimalist coronation ceremony, Philip V issued his first order after taking office: Spain would withdraw from the European Union and was willing to engage in peace talks with China alone.
…
On May 16, 1649, the 31st year of the reign of Emperor Tianqi of the Ming Dynasty, the two time travelers, Zhu Youdong and Philip, finally met.
The two met in a room that was specially built in a hurry in Tianjin Port: all the walls were soundproofed, and once the door was closed, no sound could be heard.
After the Ming guards tied Philip tightly, fixed him on a sturdy interrogation chair and left, Zhu Youdong walked in and locked the door from the inside out.
After walking to the front of Philip and sitting down, the two looked at each other for a long time, and then they both pulled the corners of their mouths slightly.
"I~"
"I~"
"Hahaha." Zhu Youdong laughed heartily: "You are the guest, you speak first."
"If you win, what are you going to do with Spain? Divide it completely?"
"It still has to be ceded. The Portuguese, Basques and Catalans have established independent countries, and the remaining land on the Iberian Peninsula still belongs to Spain."
"It's much better than I thought. You left behind a still powerful Spain. Are you going to use it to contain France?"
"I have this plan, but I don't completely pin my hopes on Spain." Shaking his head, Zhu Youdong put away his smile: "This is not a humiliation of the loser by the victor, but, my colleague, you are also a time traveler, don't you know what Spain is like in the 21st century? What qualifications do they have to contain France?"
"That's because the Anglo-Saxons had already established the world order at that time. Except for the Anglo-Saxons, the Jews who managed their money lived a better life. The Germans and the French could only hug each other for warmth. As for us Castilians, we were excluded from . How could we live a good life?"
"Well... you do have a point. But you know, although the Anglo-Saxons are annoying, they still have value in being a troublemaker."
"I roughly guessed that you plan to revive France and prevent Spain from being dismembered too fragmented, thereby retaining a certain amount of strength to contain France from behind. At the same time, let the British be the troublemaker, so that France can suppress Spain while not letting France dominate alone, so as to achieve a triangular balance in Europe?"
"The three corners are still somewhat unreliable. In fact, I am planning to have Germany born ahead of time. As long as Germany exists, the white race will never be able to unite completely."
"It seems that you have some understanding of our internal affairs. Well, I won't ask about the Spanish affairs. Next, I want to ask you, in this game, have I made you feel a sense of survival crisis?"
"Uh..." Zhu Youdong hesitated for a moment: "I don't want to lie to you before you die. To be honest, no."
"This, I am such an incompetent opponent. No, it's impossible. I once entered the South China Sea. Didn't you feel the possibility of failure at that time?"
"No." Zhu Youdong leaned back heavily on the chair. "It's not that I don't give you face, but it's the fact. You invaded the South China Sea and even bombarded several ports in my mainland. So what if you distributed leaflets? How many people betrayed their country and cooperated with you?"
"... Humph, if it weren't for Cardinal Richelieu connecting all the European countries for you, I wouldn't have lost so quickly even if you had fought at my doorstep."
"No, you are wrong." Zhu Youdong said solemnly, "Conspiracies and tricks are the worst kind of things. The reason why Richelieu's plan was able to work is that I have already reached your doorstep. Otherwise, Richelieu has been sent back by me for many years, why do we only see results now?"
"You mean to say that if I fight you at your doorstep, I will pose no threat to you. But if you fight me at my doorstep, I will be defeated immediately?"
"That's right!" Zhu Youdong stood up: "This is the biggest difference between Chinese civilization and European civilization!"
"Today's European civilization has its roots in Greece and Rome. But in my opinion, once such a civilization loses its ability to expand, it will soon fall into decline or even perish. In the historical plane, starting from the great geographical discoveries in the 16th century, Europe began to expand to the whole world, which led to more than four centuries of white dividends. However, when time entered the 21st century, your expansion was blocked, and its decline soon became apparent? Therefore, your white civilization, in essence, is a civilization that relies on expansion and plunder to survive and develop. Our Chinese civilization is different. We are a constructive civilization. Therefore, even if we fail militarily, we will never be devastated by one or two defeats."
"Haha." Although he was tied to the chair, Philip smiled contemptuously: "My colleagues, please don't flatter your nation and your civilization. Your Chinese people had only a small area of activity at the beginning, and later occupied the best land in East Asia. How did you get so much land if it wasn't expansion? Of course, the land of East Asia has its own particularity. The northwest and north are deserts, the northeast is ice and snow, the southwest is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the south is rainforest, and the east is the sea. So, when you expand to a certain extent, you have to stop.
But what happens when your territory is basically stable and no longer expands on a large scale? Dynasties constantly change, and each time there is a large number of deaths. The large number of dead people frees up living space. Then there is a short period of prosperity, and then as the population increases, domestic conflicts intensify, and then the cycle of order and chaos repeats again. Do you call this kind of civilization a constructive civilization?"
"I don't deny that China has been in a cycle of order and chaos for a long time. But you should see that our Chinese civilization has never been interrupted, and is in a cycle of order and chaos, with dynasties changing. We are not stagnant, but slowly spiraling upward. And no matter where the ethnic groups are, as long as they enter this land, they will be assimilated into one nation. This is the strength of our nation, and this is the biggest difference between our nation and your European civilization."
"…Yes, there are too many nations in Europe, and it is too difficult to integrate them. Once expansion is blocked and difficulties are encountered, it is easy to fall apart from within."
"So." Zhu Youdong sat down again leisurely: "In the process of development, our Chinese civilization, no matter how many other nations and civilizations it encountered, we assimilated them all as part of ourselves. And you? The Greeks colonized everywhere, but did they assimilate the local indigenous peoples? The Romans turned the Mediterranean into their own inner lake, but did they assimilate the peoples along the Mediterranean coast? Your conquest and plunder are superficial and low-level. We are the real and thorough conquest.
So, in my opinion, the most difficult part of this game for me is how to integrate the domestic forces and resolve the domestic conflicts. As long as I unite the country, neither you nor other colleagues can pose a fatal threat to me. The only ones who can defeat the Chinese are the Chinese themselves. "
