"Isn't it just a clown who thinks he doesn't know the height of the sky because he trades with the Seris? Didn't they come once the year before last? I found a group of indigenous dwarves from the East Indies who claimed to be the Restoration Army, but they were beaten up as soon as they fought. Now, have they changed a group of dwarves and come to find death again? ”

Emperor Philip IV naturally had to maintain some of the emperor's majesty and manly demeanor in front of his new mistress, and if he was frightened by a group of clowns who jumped off the beam, wouldn't it be a loss of emperor's identity?

"陛xià! This gang of Portuguese rebellion is already the same as it was back then! ”

Before the prime minister could finish speaking, the emperor collapsed directly, grabbed the prime minister's neck and shouted: "Are you sure you are not talking in a dream?" The Prime Minister nodded, "I swear by the names of my ancestors that the fortress of Gibraltar and the Portuguese coastal cities loyal to the empire have been lost. The Emperor let go of the Prime Minister and roared, "This is simply insane! How could that clown of Gonzalez conquer the fortress of Gibraltar and the two cities of the Empire? There must be something wrong, you go investigate it immediately, go and ...... quickly"

"Your Majesty, there's no need to investigate. Our governor has already reported to him. ”

The wrinkles on Prime Minister Guzmán's face were full of bitterness.

The Spanish governors had bad news that Gonzalez had brought a large expeditionary force from the far east, said to be 100,000 men. Of course, this kind of thing usually has to be folded in half and then in half, and it is only when you are actually on the battlefield that it is easy to see how many people there are, but even if it is only a tenth, it is quite a terrifying number. And although the number of people is uncertain, the huge fleet is absolutely not wrong.

"According to the secret reports of the Portuguese nobles loyal to the empire. The army that had been put into the battle of Gibraltar claimed to be 20,000 men, and after careful surveys, they numbered more than 4,000 men, divided into six troop carriers of the Serisians. The Seris sent a total of 12 warships to escort them, followed by 12 supply ships. ”

After knowing this, the emperor couldn't help but feel a chill, this time, I'm afraid there will be big trouble.

But bigger troubles are yet to come.

Seeing Emperor Philip IV's bruised face, the people around him were a little frightened. I don't know what this emperor is about to burst out. Maybe it's the power of a volcanic eruption on the Italian peninsula, or maybe it's Poseidon wielding his razor-sharp trident to unleash a monstrous flood.

Even Prime Minister His Excellency Guzmán couldn't help but sweat on his face. He thought about it for a long time before hesitantly saying, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Gonzalez launched a despicable and shameless sneak attack on the Empire. When conquering the fortress of Gibraltar and the two coastal cities of Portugal. To cover up his cowardice and shamelessness, he gathered a group of Portuguese peasants and ruffians in the name of the Portuguese Restoration Army. The so-called Conference of the Restoration of Portugal was convened, which declared it the sole legitimate owner of the Kingdom of Portugal. At the meeting, they published the proclamation, which has been disseminated throughout Portugal. ”

"Bring me their proclamations!"

A large scroll of paper was written in Latin, and the palace guards standing in the doorway were instructed to read aloud the text, which had been cursed by the royal families of Europe.

"Declaration of the Portuguese Conference for the Restoration of the People's Republic of Portugal and of all the Portuguese people."

"In the course of the development of human affairs, when a people must dissolve its political ties with another and attain independence and equality among the nations of the world, in accordance with the laws of nature and the gods of nature, it is necessary to declare the reasons why they are compelled to be independent out of respect for the common will of mankind."

We believe that the following truths are self-evident: God created man and endowed him with certain inalienable rights, including the right to life and the pursuit of happiness. For this reason, although mankind has made great mistakes, God has only expelled mankind from paradise and given mankind a chance to make amends. However, there are always wicked things who try to infringe on these rights, and before Paradise is Satan, and after Paradise there are countless barbarians and tyrants. To defend our God-given rights, we have fought against savage barbarians, we have fought against the waves of the sea, and we have fought against the tyrants of the Sultan, who are rich in the forces of the four seas. Every village, every city, every family in Portugal has warriors who have given their lives for it, and even the Pope of Rome does not dare to deny our bravery and faith. However, we had given up our independence for the sake of God's mission, and we had entrusted our happiness and hope to Spain. For us, God's people, it would be nothing if Spain could allow us to enjoy our God-given rights. However, Portugal's forbearance and concession was exchanged for a history of repeated self-interest and forcible seizure, and the direct purpose of all these atrocities was to establish an absolute tyranny in the Spanish-controlled districts. Although they have always claimed to defend God, they have done the same thing as Satan. Portugal didn't mind shedding blood for God before and wouldn't mind today. In order to prove the truth of what has been said, the Portuguese Avenger declares the following facts to the just world. ”

"He refuses to do anything that is most beneficial and necessary in the public interest. He forbade his satraps to do things that were urgently needed and of vital importance, or to put them on hold pending his consent; As soon as these things were put on hold, he ignored them entirely. Spain and Portugal are now in danger, with invasion on the outside and turmoil on the inside. But he did his best to restrain the increase in the number of people everywhere, and for this reason he reduced his own expenses by making the Catalans bear the military expenditure; issuing paper money and using waste paper to plunder real money in the hands of the people; Weaken the rights of the aristocracy to satisfy their own desires for luxury. ”

He controlled the tenure, salaries, and payments of the nobles and officials, thus subordinating them entirely to his personal will. He built a variety of new yamen, sent a locust number of officials, harassed our people, and cannibalized the people's fat and anointment. At the same time, in the name of resisting the aggression of Sweden and France and maintaining the order in Europe, they carried out looting. ”

"In order to better loot the people's fat and ointment, a large number of armed forces are stationed here in our country; Cover them up with false interrogations. to give impunity to those who have killed our Portuguese soldiers and civilians; cut off our trade with the rest of the world; imposing taxes on us without our consent; depriving us of our rightful rights in many cases; fabricated charges to exile us overseas; to abolish the promises made to us before the union, to abolish our few pitiful and precious rights, and to radically alter the former form of Spanish-Portuguese union; Suspend our own royal heritage and claim their own right to rule over us and to be our monarch under any circumstances. He declared that we were no longer under his servitude and forced us to go to the East to be cannon fodder. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our shores, burned our towns and destroyed the lives of our people. At this time he was transporting large numbers of our people to be used as cannon fodder to be slaughtered by France and Sweden, a deposition that had already begun and was cruel and despicable even in the most barbaric times. He is completely unworthy of being the monarch of a civilized country. He forced our compatriots who had been captured by him on the high seas to be reinforced. against their own country. Become the killer of your friends and loved ones, or die at the hands of your friends and relatives. ”

"He has fomented civil strife among us, has caused bloodshed in the colonies abroad, and has tried to provoke the natives of those colonies to kill and plunder our inhabitants abroad. As everyone knows. The indigenous peoples of the colonies fought in a way that did not discriminate between men and women, young and old. Kill them all. ”

"In every stage of these oppressions. We have all pleaded for relief in the most humble terms, but the answers we have received from our repeated petitions have been repeated and hurtful. In this way, a monarch. He was not worthy to be the ruler of the Portuguese people when his character was branded as a tyrant. ”

"We are not without regard for our brothers in Spain. We have warned them again and again. We have also reminded them of the living conditions of our Portuguese people. We have appealed to their natural sense of justice and chivalrous courage, and we earnestly ask them to read it for the sake of the same kind of language, and to reject these unreasonable plunders which are bound to destroy our relations and dealings with each other. They have also turned a deaf ear to this call for justice and blood. As a last resort, we had to declare our separation from them. We will treat them in the same way as we treat other peoples: enemies in wartime, friends in peacetime. ”

"We, therefore, the representatives of all the Portuguese people gathered under the Portuguese Restoration Conference, for our legitimate intentions, call upon the noblest justice of the whole world: in the name and with their authority of all the good people of Portugal, we declare with the utmost solemnity that these united Portuguese people have hereafter become, and justifiably become an independent kingdom; They were relieved of their obligation to the Spanish crown, and their relationship with the Kingdom of Spain was henceforth severed, and must be severed; As independent states, they have every right to declare war, to make peace, to form alliances, to trade and to take all the actions and matters that independent states are expected to take and deal with. To strengthen this declaration, we pledge and swear together with our lives, wealth, and sacred honor, with faith in the blessings of the gods. ”

It must be said that this proclamation was written in an extremely favorable manner, especially when it pointed out the plundering of Portugal by Spain. In this dual imperial system, the same monarch can rule, adopt a consistent foreign policy, the same customs union, and share the same army, but the rest of the internal affairs are governed separately. However, the Iberian alliance between Spain and Portugal, although it was also a dual monarchy, committed a major taboo, that is, the taxes collected in Portugal were used to pay for Spain's military expenses.

What is even more insidious is that Gonzalez's proclamation clearly stands in the camp of France, Sweden and other countries that are currently fighting against Spain, and instigates the Catalans to rise up and fight for their rights!

Even the Earl of Kandel, who was privately denounced by the ladies as having mixed up the title of Earl only by virtue of his face and figure, smelled a hint of danger in this proclamation. Throwing an olive branch to the enemies of Spain, inciting a new rebellion within the Spanish Empire, intending to use such means to buy himself time and allies, the means are really vicious!

"If I were González, I would have taken some money from the loot and stirred up rebellion against the Catalans, who were also dissatisfied with the taxes levied by the Emperor in their ghettos. There are French people fanning the flames behind them, and now there is such a bandit in Portugal. How can they not see the stitches? Count Candel gracefully shook the feather fan in his hand, trying to remove the blush from his face. But Mr. Basten, who didn't know when he slipped in from outside, had a ** smile on his face, and handed the holy porcelain teacup that could vaguely see the pale yellow tea to the countess, and a half-warm cup of tea went down, and the countess felt that the desire to be provoked by the emperor subsided a little.

He took the copy of the proclamation from the guard, and without looking at the contents, Emperor Philip IV was very interested in the paper, which was white and flat, and had a wide size. It's smooth to the touch. There is not much difference between the front and back. Compared to the rough and dry yellow paper made in Spain, it is much stronger.

The emperor looked at it once, nodded his head as he watched, and finally laughed. The Emperor put his arm around the countess and handed the Declaration of Independence back to the Prime Minister. He said nonchalantly, "Not bad." The Declaration of Independence is in good shape. It can make me laugh out loud. But if he's willing to daydream, keep dreaming, I'm not dictatorial enough to care what other people dream. ”

But after the panic. The Emperor quickly calmed down. Behind Gonzalez, there must be strong forces to support it. Otherwise, the Portuguese nobles have a few catties and taels in their hands, and whether they can get money out of their hands, I am afraid that he himself knows better than the Portuguese nobles. As for the barbarians and adventurers overseas, it is even more impossible to do such a big thing. Britain and France in Europe have not completely turned their faces with themselves, although everyone's small movements under the table are constant, but they are still smiling on their faces. The Netherlands was cooperating, and Austria was fighting against the Ottomans. As for the Ottomans, it is easy to say that the Ottoman army defeated the Spanish army, but the capture of Gibraltar ...... What are you kidding, how many years have the Ottoman navy been impotent, and even pirates only dare to rob ordinary people with pure identity. Who, exactly?

The worst thing is that now that the damned Portuguese Avenger Army is in control of Gibraltar, they can block this narrow waterway with the cannons on the fortress and their own warships. The Spanish navy would not be able to enter and leave the Mediterranean freely, and the navy anchored in various port anchorages would be divided into two, and the part of the navy facing the Ottoman Empire would be at a disadvantage. If this group of damned fellows of the Avengers attacked the Imperial Navy behind the back of the Imperial Navy and that group of infidels again, then the Imperial Navy would be in a state of no return!

No! This must not be allowed to happen!

That night, Mr. Van Basten, on behalf of the East India Company and his own enterprises, signed a trade agreement with the Spanish Empire, which stipulated that Mr. Basten and the enterprises he belonged to and represented provided the Imperial Army with food, cloth, weapons, armor, guns, artillery, ammunition, alcohol, medical supplies, and other materials, and the Imperial Army paid for the goods in gold and silver currency. In order to ensure trade between the two sides, the Imperial Army was obliged to protect the safety of the ships of Monsieur Basten during the war, and all the ports of the Spanish Empire, including the river ports, were open to these vessels. During the period of trade between the two sides, the Spanish Empire used the American colonies as collateral, and the taxes levied by the colonies were used to pay for the goods purchased by the Empire from Monsieur Basten and to pay interest. If it is not possible to establish a guarantee for payment, Mr. Basten and his business have the right to offset the payment of the collateral.

Emperor Philip IV was pleased with this agreement, and that the desolate and barbaric colonies of the Americas were now only temporarily mortgaged to Basten. Wait until the war is over, and then go to the Americas to grab it!

A tempting scent came from behind, and Philip IV couldn't help but feel a wave in his heart, and he didn't have to look back, even if he knew that it was the smell of perfume on the Countess of Kandel. It was also a gift from Mr. Van Basten, a perfume made of roses. There are also different flavors made with various mysterious oriental spices, but he still likes this rose scent the most. Philip IV stubbornly believed that only a perfume of this scent could be fully matched by the passionate and feminine Countess of Kandel.

His most favored mistress, dressed in a newly-made bright yellow dress made of pure silk and, according to Van Basten, a colour that was only available to royalty in the mysterious East, known for its silk-producing fabrics. Therefore, the Countess of Kandal wore this long dress in a high-profile appearance at tonight's ball.

It was an occasion for her to prove her identity and status to the entire Spanish Empire and the whole world.

Melodious music sounded, and tonight's dance party began.

As usual, the first dance at the ball was performed by His Majesty the Emperor and his female companion.

Before the dance, Emperor Philip IV gave an enthusiastic speech.

In his speech, he paid great tribute to Monsieur van Basten, the most distinguished and friendly friend of the Spanish Empire. At the moment when the war had befallen the head of the Spanish Empire, when the pagans of the Ottoman Empire were ready to inflict sword and fire on the heads of the believers of God, Mr. Van Basten, with his noble character, signed this trade agreement with the great and powerful Spanish Empire, which was not only a trade agreement, but would herald the victory of the Spanish Imperial army!

What is even more precious is that Mr. Basten is willing to take great risks and pressures to sell all kinds of supplies needed by the Imperial army at extremely low prices, and at the same time, he is willing to accept the purchase of the American colonies as collateral by the Empire. He was even willing to accept the Imperial Government's worthless produce of the American colonies, such as potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers, as part of the payment, although the quantity was small, but from this it was evident that Mr. van Basten had a noble character.

"I have decided to confer on Mr. Van Basten the title of Marquis of the Spanish Empire. As for the fiefdom!? My friend," Philip IV looked at Mr. Basten with friendly eyes, "where do you think the Spanish Empire is worthy of your fame?" ”

To the music, Philip IV dances on the polished dance floor with Countess Candel in his arms, and Basten, the newly canonized Marquis of Spain, holds a fine glass in his hand, chatting and laughing with a group of nobles around him, occasionally exchanging business cards or handkerchiefs with a few ladies and ladies. During this period, he also reached trade intentions with several marquises, counts, governors and other figures regarding the production of their fiefdoms.

No one could have imagined that at the moment when the dance music in the Madrid court was shining brightly, the Catalans, with the support and direction of the French and the Portuguese Restoration Army, began to riot. (To be continued......)