Although Spain grew from a small European country to a worldwide empire after the Restoration Movement and the Great Geographical Discoveries, the administrative structure and military composition of this kingdom still have a large number of medieval customs and institutions.

For example, Spain's army has always been the pride of the empire and a powerful force to deter its European neighbors, but the composition of Spain's army is still in the transition from a feudal army to a modern national army, and has not really formed a national standing army system.

The Spanish army was still no different from that of the rest of Europe, consisting of an unproductive population in society, with the aristocracy providing officers and the vagabonds and criminals becoming the main body of soldiers. Another way to save money is to directly hire a foreign ** team.

The "Swiss mercenaries", who were reputable and loyal, had been hired by the Protestant League and the Old Church League, respectively, and there was no shortage of such foreign mercenaries in the Spanish army.

Regardless of the composition of the army, however, most of the soldiers had little enthusiasm for the war they were engaged in, and served the king only for pay and plunder after victory. Thus, the Kingdom of Spain was able to carry on this futile war to this day, not because of the people's faith in Catholicism, but because of a steady stream of gold and silver from the Americas.

The looting of the Peruvian silver ship is likely to be the last straw for the entire Spanish kingdom, which has been in war for more than 20 years.

Gazpar de Guzmán, Duke of Olivares, whose title comes from his family lineage and Duke from the gift of King Philip IV, knew that the soldiers of the kingdom would not use their blood to defend the king and God when they were not paid, even if they were so devout to God.

The most embarrassing thing for him was that the Peruvian governor was still a friend he highly recommended, but he didn't expect to poke such a big basket for him. In order to be able to sustain the war and satisfy the personal luxury of King Philip IV, he had almost scavenged the last copper plate from the pockets of the Catalan and Portuguese nobles, but who would have thought that the seemingly safe and secure Peruvian colony would be looted by a powerful British pirate fleet.

In fact, Olivares did not believe in the existence of such a powerful British pirate fleet on the Pacific coast, but he also knew that the first issue at this time was not to hold anyone accountable for hijacking the silver ship, but how to fill the gap in the upper kingdom's finances, and to shirk the connection between the silver ship and himself.

Because of his policies of domestic reform, the court of Valeardolid was full of his opponents, and even Queen Elisabeth of Bourbon became increasingly dissatisfied with him. Olivares knew that if he could not properly address the immediate financial shortfall, his opponents would inevitably use the queen to launch a wave of attacks on him in front of His Majesty.

Fortunately, however, the Count of Chinchon, who was far away in Peru, was able to reverse, and sent a large amount of money from Peru before the arrival of the New Year in 1639, bribing the king's close ministers and queens, thus reversing the criticism that had been raging within the court.

Taking advantage of this favour, and the fact that Olivares finally received a proposal from Dutch bankers to solve the kingdom's financial gap, he hurried to the Madrid Pavilion to discuss with King Philip IV a package of proposals on how to fill the financial gap.

Before Philip II, Valladolid, the seat of the court, had been the center of political power in the Kingdom of Spain. But with the construction of the palace in Madrid by Philip III, Madrid finally became the capital of the Kingdom of Spain, and Valladolid became more of a summer palace.

At this time, the Royal Palace of Madrid is like a jewel nestled in the forest, surrounded by lush trees and babbling streams. Compared to Valladolid, the cramped seat of the old court, it is clearly more comfortable.

The weather in Madrid is very pleasant in spring and autumn, and Olivares came to meet the king in the twilight of spring, and the flowers inside and outside the court were very charming. When he arrived at the palace, Philip IV was dressed in a hunting suit and led his hound, planning to go hunting in the surrounding forest with a group of nobles.

The king, who seemed to be in a good mood today, could not help but greet him cheerfully when he saw his most trusted favored retainer: "Dear Gaspar, we are planning to go hunting nearby, if you have nothing important, why don't you go hunting with us, talk as we go." ”

After the Duke of Olivares bowed to the king, he glanced at the king's guards and young nobles before he said to the king: "Dear Supreme, I am afraid that you will have to postpone your trip for the time being, and the minister has a very important matter to report to you separately, which is about finances. ”

Looking at the solemn Prime Minister, Philip IV casually handed the reins of the hound in his hand to Velázquez on the side, and then said to the guards and nobles around him: "Gentlemen, please allow me and my chief minister to be alone for a while, you can wait here first." Dear Gaspar, let's go to the study and talk. ”

Philip IV was clearly not a very fond of reading, so his study contained hundreds of books, but they were neatly arranged, and it seemed that they had not been pulled out since they were put here. The Duke of Olivares quickly withdrew his gaze, turned and closed the door, and then gave a report to Philip IV, who was sitting behind his desk, for about half an hour.

Philip IV was not a foolish king, although he was a pleasure seeker, so he quickly heard something else from the Prime Minister's report. He pondered for a while before he said to his prime minister: "Those Dutch offered to help us through the difficulties, but they asked us to open up trade between China and the Viceroyalty of Peru, and asked us to hand over the kingdom and royal property in the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Chinese for transport back to Europe.

Gaspar, don't you think it's a rather rude request? This is the internal affairs of the kingdom, when will it be the turn of the Dutch to interfere. Also, when did the rebellion of these kingdoms reach peace with the Chinese? Doesn't it mean that they are at war in the East for the Spice Islands? ”

The Duke of Olivares replied with a calm face, "Yes, Your Majesty, the Dutch are indeed very rude. But we need loans from these Dutchmen, otherwise we would not be able to pay the army. Your Majesty, the soldiers will not refuse the Dutch's gold coins, but they will refuse the orders of the king, who will not be paid. If we stop there, then the war of the past 20 years will be in vain.

What kind of agreement the Dutch have reached with the Chinese, I will send someone to inquire as soon as possible. But judging from their proposals, it would be much cheaper to entrust the Chinese to transport the gold and silver of the Peruvian colonies back to Europe than to send our own fleet back. ”

Philip IV put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment, still a little troubled, and said, "But we have just issued a ban on the trade of the Viceroyalty of Peru and all foreign ships at the request of those merchants.

If we repeal it now, will it cause them to protest? They gave a lot of money to the kingdom. Also, are those Chinese reliable, and if we give them gold and silver, can they really send them safely to Europe? ”

The Duke of Olivares was silent for a moment before he assured the king: "It doesn't matter if the Chinese are reliable or not, as long as the Dutch are willing to vouch." Anyway, we owe them a lot of debts, and if the Chinese dare to swallow our gold and silver, we can write off these debts all at once, which is not a loss for the kingdom.

As for His Majesty's concern for the protests of the traders of the monopoly colonies, in fact we do not need to issue any new decrees. On the Pacific coast, we don't have a fleet strong enough to seal off the coastline. As long as the minister writes a private letter to the governor of Peru, so that he does not have to drive away the Chinese trading ships, it is considered to fulfill our promise to the Chinese.

As for the merchants who are dissatisfied with smuggling on the Pacific coast, we can ask them to fund the creation of a fleet to curb smuggling on the Pacific coast. Of course, when this fleet can be formed will depend on how long His Majesty is willing to tolerate the Chinese in Peru. ”

Philip IV lowered his hand, leaned back on the back of the leather chair, and the expression on his face became slightly relaxed, "I heard that the Emperor of China took in Antonio's granddaughter, and she also formed a restoration committee in Macau to claim the Portuguese throne to me. Can I use this agreement to get the Chinese to send Antonio's granddaughter back to Spain? ”

The king's sudden question caught the Duke of Olivares a little off guard, he was quiet for a long time, and the room seemed to be able to hear the wind through the pine forest outside the window, and the Duke of Olivares lowered his voice and said: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this won't work, it is said that which one has become the concubine of the emperor of China." If we make this request to the Chinese, it may lead to the breakdown of the entire agreement.

And it seems to me that Antonio's granddaughter has almost no influence in Portugal, and the real threat to His Majesty's Portuguese crown is João, Duke of Bragança, who has the support of the Portuguese nobility.

In fact, if Your Majesty were to show a little kindness to this Lady Isabella, he would have publicly appreciated her. Not only will we be able to gain the friendship of a powerful monarch in the East, but we will also be able to divide the support of the Portuguese nobility for Joao. Compared to the Duke of Bragança, Madam Isabella is a harmless little sheep to you.

China may be powerful and rich in the East, but they cannot exert their power on the peninsula. And for the Portuguese, it would be better to let a pagan monarch wear the crown of Portugal than to continue to maintain the status quo. ”

Philip IV finally got tired of the thought of continuing to kill his own brain cells, and he stood up sharply and said to the Prime Minister: "Gaspar, you have always been the person I trust the most, do you still maintain your loyalty to the kingdom and to me?" ”

The Duke of Olivares put his hand to his heart, bowed to the king and said, "Of course, my majesty. ”

Philip IV walked over and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Then let it go, as long as you think it will serve the interests of the kingdom and me."

Tell the Dutch to increase the loan by another 100,000 dacat, the palace here needs to be repaired, and many rooms are already leaking. By the way, I would like to greet Count Chinqiong on my behalf, although the Chinese can smuggle into Peru, but they also have to pay taxes, which belong to the royal family and are not allowed to be used in the affairs of the colonies..."