"This-" Du Gu immediately realized that this Spaniard wanted to see Liu Cheng for a special purpose, and he couldn't help but regret a little in his heart, and his tone changed a little: "It's not impossible for you to see my general, it's just that he has a lot of things to do on weekdays, and not every cat or dog can see it, you have to tell him first, what do you have to do with him?" ”

"Yes, yes!" Seeing that Du Gu did not directly refuse, Silva couldn't help but be secretly happy in his heart, and hurriedly smiled: "Actually, it's simple, it's nothing more than that I, Spain, want to form an alliance with Daming and deal with the Dutch together." Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"That's it!" Du Gu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Then what do you want to see my general?" Aren't we already allied now? ”

"No, I'm talking about more than that!" Silva's expression became serious: "I mean that the Spanish Empire has an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, for example, the Ming Dynasty has since cut off trade with the Netherlands!" ”

"What? No, no! Du Gu hurriedly shook his head again and again, he naturally knew in his heart that this alliance was just an expedient measure to seize the big man, and after taking the big man, this alliance would not have a long life. In the eyes of those adults and gentlemen in the court, these Taixi barbarians are all raccoon dogs, how can they form an alliance with one against another? As for severing trade with the Dutch, it is even more nonsense, people come to buy things with white silver, and a lot of people are willing to sell, who can the court stop?

"Why not? Didn't we just ally against the Dutch? These insatiable guys are not going to give up and will definitely make a comeback, so why not build an alliance against them? Good for both! When Silva heard this, he was anxious, and hurriedly raised his lips and tongue and asked. It turned out that Europe was in the period of the Thirty Years' War, which could be described as the first "world war" in human history, not only did most European countries directly or indirectly participate in this war, but the scope of the war also affected their overseas colonies all over the world. This protracted and wide-ranging war was divided into four phases: the Czech phase (1618~1624), the Danish phase (1625~1629), the Swedish phase (1630~1635) and the Europe-wide melee phase (1636~1648), and it was about to enter the fourth and final stage. Although Spain's side of the Catholic League won successive victories in the first few stages of the war, even killing the greatest commander of the time, King Gustav II of Sweden, and completely defeating the mighty Swedish army, the balance of victory gradually tilted in favor of the other side. The reason for this strange phenomenon is very simple: the main battlefield of this war was in today's Central Europe, especially the German states, and it was mainly the territories of these states that were destroyed, which greatly undermined the strength of Emperor Ferdinand II, who was also a member of the House of Habsburg.

On the other hand, France, the Netherlands, and England, the most powerful countries in the Protestant League, did not directly participate in the first three stages of the war, and the treacherous French Prime Minister, Cardinal Richelieu, resorted to the method of paying allowances, taking advantage of the ambitions of King Gustav II of Sweden to lure him into the war. Although the Swedes were defeated after a bitter battle between the Spaniards and the Emperor's army, the finances of the two countries were already in tatters and their armies were exhausted, and the Dutch and British took the opportunity to lay siege to Spain's overseas colonies and loot their gold ships from the Americas, while the French recuperated and waited for the right moment. By the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), the Catholic League was already at the end of its power.

As a well-educated aristocratic officer, Silva was keenly aware of all this. He was well aware that the defeat of this war would not only be the defeat of the Catholic League, but would also sound the death knell of the vast Spanish Empire. Unlike the Ming Dynasty, the Spanish Empire was made up of many territories of different sizes, different faiths, different languages, different nationalities, different cultures, and even non-bordering territories, which even had their own governments, parliaments, and laws, and the only link that bound them together was that their monarch happened to be Philip IV. It is not difficult to see that once the war is lost, the resulting huge impact will shatter this empire full of internal contradictions, such as the Southern Netherlands, southern Italy, Portugal and other territories with centrifugal tendencies will be separated from this empire, and the Spanish Empire is likely to be reduced from the European hegemon to an ordinary second-rate country. And to win the war is not to win a few more victories on the inhospitable Pomeranian plains, the empire's finances are almost unsustainable, and the places that can win are not in Europe, but in India, in Suntaland, in China, in the Caribbean, where sugar, spices, silk, porcelain, and tea are abundant, and where the enemy can get gold to hold on. As soon as these channels were cut off, the Dutch would bow down to the Empire, lose their gold, and the enemy's army would collapse with it.

But in war, distance is the tyrant who rules everything. The Viceroyalty of Manila would not have had more than 2,000 European-made Spanish troops, and it would be too much to deal with the fierce Moro chieftains in Mindanao, and it would be foolish to attack the fortified fortresses of the Dutch. Therefore, the main military operations of both sides are basically based on looting merchant ships and attacking remote strongholds, and they are avoiding frontal battles and sieges that may bring a lot of manpower consumption, and it is naturally difficult to achieve decisive results. And Silva found an opportunity, the Ming had almost unlimited human resources, a fairly good army, and most importantly, the Dutch had already had a sharp contradiction with the Ming on the issue of establishing a colony in Taiwan, so was it possible to use this contradiction to pull this behemoth into his camp?

"Okay, okay!" Du Gu was forced into a corner by Silva, and had to reluctantly agree: "Since you are so insistent, I can also pass on the word for you, but he will not see the master, and I can't guarantee whether he will listen or not!" ”

"That's nature!" Silva was overjoyed when he heard this: "Thank you very much for being able to pass on the message for me, you can rest assured, the alliance between two great empires like the Ming Dynasty and Spain is extremely beneficial to both sides!" ”

Naturalization City.

There was a crowd outside the city gates, and after nearly a month of haggling, the Zalut Ministry finally accepted Liu Cheng's offer - to hand over the second and third sons of Zalut Khan Neqi, as well as the wife and son of the eldest son as hostages, in exchange for Neiqi himself and hundreds of captured Zaruts. The guards escorting the hostages consisted of two hundred cavalrymen. Liu Cheng stood on the city tower and lazily looked at the crowd below.

"Your eldest son is here too?" Liu Cheng asked Neiqi on the side.

"Yes, yes, it's my eldest son!" Neqi hurriedly replied, this period of captivity had left a deep mark on his body, and the originally arrogant Zarut Khan had become pale and thin, and his whole person was like a frightened bird, which could leap up at any moment. He bowed down and asked respectfully, "Lord Jinong, can I allow me to call the child over to meet you?" ”

"Well, bring them here!"

In a short time Nezi came with his eldest son and his two younger sons as hostages, his eldest son Hatch was not tall in stature, but his shoulders were broad, he had a large chin, a pair of eyes that were very close to him were full of greed, his forehead and the front half of the hair were shaved fine, and the back half was combed into dozens of pigtails, and he was looking nervously at himself; The faces of the other two sons who were about to be taken hostage showed panic and uneasiness, and their sleeves trembled slightly.

"Hurry up and salute Lord Jinong!" Nezi was the first to kneel, his face pressed to the ground, and he respectfully led his three sons to say the eulogy. Liu Cheng stared at their faces and examined them, motioned for them to stand up, and asked, "What else?" ”

"We walked in front, my Fujin and the child were in the big car behind, she stayed in the big car, and I don't know what was going on!" Hatch replied in a low voice, a bead of sweat oozing from his forehead. Liu Cheng nodded, and said in a gentle tone: "I also know that this matter is difficult for you, but the situation is so unavoidable, I will treat them well here, and when the situation improves, I will put the mother and son back." ”

"Yes, yes, thank you for your understanding!" Hachi bowed his head gratefully, it turned out that in order to stabilize the alliance with the Mongol tribes, starting from Nurhachi, the Houjin nobles adopted the strategy of marrying with the Mongolian nobles, and he was the heir of the Zalut tribe, and his wife was the youngest daughter of Nurhachi's fourth brother Yarhaqi. Liu Cheng's harsh condition of asking him to hand over his wife and son as hostages was to make him hand over a letter of surrender and sever his alliance with Houjin. Hatch apparently did this to prevent his wife from having any accidents when she learned that she had been betrayed.

At this time, there was a commotion under the city gate, Liu Cheng poked his head out, and saw a sealed carriage, pulled by six strong pack horses, with sturdy men guarding the front and back of the carriage, and the brown wool curtain on the carriage blocked the sight of outsiders.

Liu Cheng got down the tower surrounded by his own soldiers and walked to the carriage, and the guards next to the carriage carefully made a way. Hatch walked over to the carriage, reached out and lifted the curtain, and from inside helped a young woman out of the carriage with a sleeping baby in her arms. The girl was of medium stature, with a round face, her plump cheeks trembling slightly under the sable hood, and she took a deep breath as she got out of the carriage, and smiled at her husband: "After walking for so many days, it's finally here, suffocate me to death, Aigen (Manchu husband), such a high city wall, where is this?" ”

Hatch lowered his head in shame, his mouth opened and closed twice, unable to speak. Liu Cheng greeted him with a smile: "This is the Three Ladies City, also known as the Naturalization City, and the Silver Buddha Temple is here!" ”

"Three Ladies City? Silver Buddha Temple? That's not in—" The young woman noticed the color of Liu Cheng's clothes, showed a vigilant look on her face, and subconsciously leaned over to Hatch and asked, "Who are you?" ”

Liu Cheng smiled and owed a slight debt to the woman: "The next surname is Liu Mingcheng, he is the chief soldier of the Ming Dynasty, and he knows the same thing, and he has seen his wife!" ”

"Liu Cheng? The Great Ming Xuan Army? The woman's face suddenly turned pale, as Hatch's wife, he naturally heard from her husband that this military general named Liu Cheng was a very powerful character, not only his father-in-law was defeated and captured alive, but even his cousin Yue Tuo, who had always been known for his bravery and good fighting, was also defeated at his hands. Such a big man suddenly appeared in front of her, smiling and saluting herself, and an ominous thought rose in her heart.

"What's going on? Love roots? Why did you send me to the Ming people? The woman grabbed her husband by the sleeve and asked. Hatch lowered his head, wishing that a crack would immediately open in the ground to get himself into it, where could he speak.

"Madame! Let's explain it later! Liu Cheng smiled and stepped forward: "A few days ago, your father-in-law went south with Huang Taiji and was captured by General Ben. After the general knew about his interests, he decided to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and return to the Great Khan's Sulu ingot! To prove his sincerity, he sent you and your children to me as hostages in exchange for his father! ”

When the woman heard Liu Cheng's words, she seemed to have been struck by lightning in the head, and her body shook, and if it wasn't for the maidservant behind her, she would have fallen to the ground. The child in her arms seemed to feel something, and cried loudly. But the woman, as if she was deaf, gave the child to her servant, turned to her husband, and asked, "Aigen, is what he said true?" ”

In the face of his wife's questioning, Hatch was speechless. When the woman saw her husband like this, she looked at the soldiers around her who were dressed in bright red robes, and she understood most of them in her heart, and she couldn't help but feel heartbroken, and pointed to Hatch and said, "Hatchie, since I have married you, I am your man, and I have given birth to a child for you." Even the male dog will sacrifice himself to protect the female dog who gave birth to his puppies, but you handed me and the child over to the Ming people as hostages, and surrendered on your knees. I thought you were a man to rely on, but now it seems that my eyes are really blind! ”

Hatchie's face was flushed by his wife's words, and he almost wanted to drip blood, so he said a few words: "I, I can't help it, my father Khan fell into the hands of the Ming people, and there are still hundreds of people in the tribe, if I don't agree, not only will my father Khan's life be difficult to protect, but those hundreds of people will not survive." ”

"Phew!" The woman spat at her husband: "Victory or defeat has its own destiny, if a warrior is unlucky and falls into the hands of the enemy, he will die as soon as he dies, how can there be any reason to survive with shame?" Speaking of this, her gaze turned to Neiqi on the side: "Not to mention handing over your daughter-in-law and grandson, breaking the covenant in exchange for your own life!" (To be continued.) )