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Seville is the oldest city in Spain and the only inland port city in Spain. From the 8th century AD, the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by the Arabs, and by the 11th century AD, a group of Moors founded the kingdom of Toomli in Seville. It was not until the 13th century that King Fernando III of Castile recovered Seville and made it the capital of the Kingdom of Cartile, which continued until the unification of the Kingdom of Spain.

After Columbus discovered the American continent, Seville had the famous "House of the Indies Trade", which monopolized Spanish overseas trade, and with the staggering influx of precious metals and New World specialties, Seville's golden heyday arrived.

In 1561, the Spanish royal family moved to Madrid, but Seville continued to serve as the capital of the Kingdom of Spain, both nominally and substantively. One historian has commented: "The kings of Spain ruled Seville by guò decree, but Seville led the entire Spanish Empire.

For a long time, Seville used the wealth of its own city as a benchmark for the rise and fall of the entire Spanish Kingdom, and its history can be said to be the history of the Spanish Kingdom.

Monday, January 6, 1625.

The westerly winds of the Atlantic Ocean still blow the sky over the Gulf of Cádiz, and every Qiē is shrouded in the cold of winter, but the earth is not still in this winter, and Seville, the uncrowned capital of the Kingdom of Spain, is unusually noisy and lively at this time.

The "Iberian Diplomatic Mission" from the United States of America of China finally arrived at the first stop of the trip to the Kingdom of Spain on the clippers of the Prisoner Bull.

Unlike the last time we cautiously boarded the European continent, the Sino-American diplomatic mission was a big fanfare, and a 50-member military band became the vanguard of the mission. The National Military Band, which belongs to the Army Command, is the most smelly vase in the country, with dark blue uniforms adorned with snow-white tassels and shiny metal badges, and its members are almost all about the same height. The female guard of honour at the head deftly wields her conductor's staff, followed by four rows of 32 drummers, followed by 18 musicians of all kinds, and the "March of Honor" (Elisabeth March), which has been beaten at some of the country's festivals, once again reverberates over the streets of Seville.

Colorful flags and flowers were waving, and countless people of Seville were piling up on the streets, looking at the diplomatic corps of the Chinese American Republic of China from the other side of the Atlantic, which had long been famous in Spain, and felt both novel and inexplicable at such a neat and beautiful military music and honor guard drumming.

The military guard of honour led two beautiful carriages and a team of horses slowly towards the former Royal Palace of Seville, accompanied by Portuguese nobles such as Theodosio, Duke of Bragança from Lisbon.

"It's amazing—ah, Lord Duke, our first meeting will be in Seville. When this diplomatic visit is over, I will travel to Lisbon again to raise a glass with you. In addition, in an oriental phrase, although we have never met, it feels like we have known each other for a long time, and I believe that I will be your best friend like Minister Su. ”

Shi Wenbo, who served as the diplomatic envoy of the United States of America, sat awkwardly on horseback at this time, but he still held his head high and waved frequently to the cheering Spanish people around him. And his wife, Anna, honestly sat in the carriage behind the horse team with the children.

"But this old friend in front of you now has to greet you as a 'Spaniard' all the time." The Duke of Bragança glanced at some of the Spanish officials in the horse team with a bitter smile on his face.

"Truth and justice take time to get out there, and I've always been resistant to Spanish, for example." Svenbo casually muttered about his unfamiliar Spanish, and the Duke of Bragança smiled knowingly.

The mission finally arrived at the Royal Palace of Seville, the trumpets sounded, and the local Spanish officials came out to greet the guests with what they thought was the grandest possible line-up.

"Oh! My friend, Mr. Shi! What a great moment, celebrated throughout the Kingdom of Spain. ”

In recent years, Fernando, the top administrator of Lisbon, Spain, has also made a special trip from Lisbon to take charge of the reception of the diplomatic missions of China and the United States. With a bright smile, Fernando directly gave Shi Wenbo a bear hug when he got off the horse.

If you want to say who has the most relationship with Swavenbo in the Spanish Kingdom today, I am afraid it must be Fernando, and even Svenbeau's father-in-law, the Marquis de Santa Cruz, may not be as enthusiastic as him. As the direct coordinator of the Atlantic trade between the Kingdom of Spain and China and the United States, Fernando was able to enjoy the trust of the Spanish royal family, and it is said that he will be transferred to the New World as the governor of Mexico in New Spain.

"God forbid, you look spirited, Shi." The Marquis of Santa Cruz beside Fernando still looks like an old-fashioned admiral with his head held high, but the gaze in his eyes is much more sincere and gentle than Fernando's.

"Of course, Anna has always cared for me, and perhaps you can have a good conversation with your grandson tonight, who has always wondered what the greatest grandfather we have been talking about is like! But it may not be until he actually learns Spanish. ”

Swainbo blinked mischievously, and the Marquis de Santa Cruz finally smiled too, and then looked at the carriage behind him, it was obvious that he hadn't seen his daughter for a long time, especially his grandson, who hadn't looked at him since he was born.

When Anna, Swainberg's wife and the only daughter of the Marquis de Santa Cruz of Spain, stepped out of the carriage with her son in her arms, almost all the Spaniards at the scene let out a shocking cheer.

"God testify, I think of you all the time, my father!" Anna, a young woman who was only 19 years old, held her son in her arms, and after performing the proper etiquette in a reserved manner, she suddenly threw herself into the arms of the old man.

"He really looks like you, a very beautiful little bit, and he will be a qualified heir to the Marquis de Santa Cruz family in the future!" Looking at his grandson, who was predominantly European and European, the Marquis of Santa Cruz smiled badly and spoke in an extremely proud tone, and the Spanish aristocratic officials around him were even more flattering.

Shi Wenbo's face twitched slightly, as if he was very slanderous about his father-in-law's preconceived public statement, and daring to love himself was like being in trouble.

Regardless of the sour mentality of the Portuguese aristocracy who served as a foil on the scene, the Spaniards completely regarded themselves as the sole masters of the Iberian Peninsula and rightfully became the hosts of the Sino-American diplomatic corps.

At noon, the Royal Palace in Seville hosted a grand welcome banquet for Svenbo. The 20-year-old King Philip IV of Spain, who was deceived by a bunch of favored courtiers in the court, was still living a luxurious and boring life in the royal palace of Madrid, and among the Spanish nobles present, Philip IV's younger brother, Duke Carlos, was the most noble, followed by Albert, Marquis of Santa Cruz, and the third was Viscount Fernando, who Swenbo was most familiar with.

Duke Carlos, who was not yet 17 years old, looked sick and barely uttered a complete sentence before he was helped into the back hall, and if history had not changed much, the poor child would have lived only to be 25 years old. Of course, this cannot be regarded as the Spanish government's attitude of contempt for this diplomacy, and a wave of "pro-American" Spanish aristocrats led by Viscount Fernando, coupled with the existence of the powerful Marquis de Santa Cruz, Svenbeau's status as a "half" Spanish aristocrat was sought after by various banquets.

But none of this was in Svenberg's interest, and throughout the banquet, Svenbeau spoke half-baked Spanish and focused all his attention on Philip IV's sister, Princess Maria. Even if the youngest wife Anna can't interfere with Swenbo's normal "diplomatic etiquette" because of etiquette, Swenbo's behavior in the 21st century, which is obviously a "hooligan who does not aim to get married", still makes Anna secretly grit her teeth.

Shi Wenbo, who was carrying the pickle girl's equipment, took out a pair of precious pearl necklaces from the Ming Empire in the East from his suit pocket like a trick, which immediately aroused Princess Maria's favor, and the various Chinese and American gifts carried by the mission made the simple princess who had already enjoyed the luxurious life of Chinese and American squint.

It is estimated that no one knows why the Swain Fair was so devoted to the courtesy, and even a large number of gifts that should have been transferred to the King of Spain were stuffed into Princess Maria's name. From the perspective of the aristocracy, this is probably the "love and respect" that any young nobleman should express to the members of the royal family.

Swenbo knew that Princess Maria, who had just turned 18, would marry Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III in a few years......

At night, after most of the day of excitement and "beautiful encounters", Swenbo sat in a secret study with Viscount Fernando and the Marquis of Santa Cruz. The two Spanish aristocrats stared blankly at the map and an unfolded letter spread out on their desks, while Svenbeau walked slowly around the room with a cigar in his mouth.

“… This information was obtained by the Chinese government through secret channels, and although the means were not very clear, it helped to consolidate the unbreakable traditional friendship between the United States and Spain. And personally, my dislike for the English and the French is growing day by day! As he spoke, Swenbo also showed a look of disgust, "Frederick of the Palatinate has gone to England, and the hostility between England and your country has become public, and it is clearly not in the interests of our country, because it will inevitably affect the neutral trade agreement that our country and England have just signed, and of course, my personal feelings."

"England and the French will ultimately pay the price for their ambitions・・・・・・ but you have absurdly carved up the east coast of the New World of North America with these two robber states, which is the funniest thing I have ever heard! Well, and Guadeloupe, which you are about to occupy! The Marquis of Santa Cruz blew his beard and glared, without the slightest hint of revealing information from Svenbe.

"Oh, that's a second thing that needs to be carefully communicated with allies. England and France, in collusion and shamelessly making concessions to our Government's position in North America, have not in fact harmed the interests of the Kingdom of Spain? The colonization of St. Kitts (north-west of Guadeloupe) by the Ingalls two years ago is considered by my Government to be a great threat to the trade interests of the United States and the West in South America, the Caribbean, and the East! Therefore, our government must have a safe space sufficient to defend its Atlantic interests! Swenbo waved his arm again, his expression of righteous indignation reappearing, "And I don't think Guadeloupe will have any negative impact on relations between the two countries in the hands of my government." I believe that in the past two years, His Excellency the Marquis has clearly seen a good situation, that is, the presence of the navy of the American Republic of China in the Caribbean, and the cooperation with the navy of the Kingdom of Spain, has greatly reduced the piracy of England, France, and the Netherlands, and our trade prosperity is enough to make any European country envious, and the wealth lost by the Kingdom of Spain on the Caribbean and Atlantic routes in previous years has been reduced by at least half! Isn't this my Government's selfless dedication to the security environment in the Caribbean and to the allies of the Kingdom of Spain? ”

Squinting at Swenbo's cheeky face, the Marquis of Santa Cruz also had to agree with the truth of what this son-in-law said. The Americans' fleet does have a "definite" reputation as a deterrent in the Caribbean, and even if the actual results of expelling pirates from other countries are not outstanding, the Caribbean Sea has indeed been much quieter in the past two years.

The Spanish navy was still strong on the surface, but it was so insignificant in the vast Atlantic and European waters. The Marquis de Santa Cruz's Spanish fleet was largely deployed in the Mediterranean to resist the growing Ottoman navy and the valiant Muslim pirates.

In the Atlantic, the colonization of the Caribbean, the French, and the Dutch left the Kingdom of Spain helpless and helpless to cope with the colonization of the Caribbean and South American Guiana. The royal family's long-term profligacy led to extreme financial embarrassment, which made the Spanish kingdom's control in the Caribbean increasingly weak and flawed.

Would threatening to stop the expansion of the American Republic of China in the Caribbean with the present relationship solve the ambitions of England, France, and the Netherlands? The answer is obviously no, not to mention that at present, the energy of the army and navy of the entire Kingdom of Spain is being dragged into the European continent.

Perhaps the glorious kingdom of Spain was really going downhill・・・・・・ Marquis de Santa Cruz suddenly felt a little powerless.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled, and Viscount Fernando, the top Spanish official in Lisbon, remained silent like a humanoid statue, while Svenbo leisurely raised his wine glass and drank it as if no one was around.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, perhaps we need to establish a 'relatively strong and mutually beneficial, long-term relationship' with the Americans, and we need to maintain this good Atlantic trade. In fact, we can no longer guarantee control of the Lesser Antilles, where the Caribbean barbarians have exhausted the Kingdom of Spain for hundreds of years, and it is not a bad thing to leave it to the Americans rather than allowing England, France, or other countries to encroach on it with impunity. ”

Svenbeau had already left, and Fernando cautiously expressed his opinion to the Marquis de Santa Cruz, commander-in-chief of the Spanish Kingdom's home fleet and the general representative of the Kingdom of Spain in this diplomatic meeting.

"It seems that it is a wise choice that His Majesty the King is about to appoint His Excellency the Viscount as Viceroy of New Spain. We need to make trade-offs, at least until we can solve the problems of continental Europe and the Mediterranean. The Marquis of Santa Cruz stared at the fat man he hated in his heart, and nodded slightly, "But I don't want the Kingdom of Spain and His Majesty the King to lose more because of this."

"Remember a year ago? The cunning king of England wanted us to intervene and restore Frederick's Palatinate fiefdom to the Holy Roman Empire, but they did not accept the terms of conversion to Catholicism... ・・・Frederick is now in England, and the English have blatantly expressed their ambitions, and this is the direction we must focus on. The Americans, having signed peace agreements with England and France, continue to use their so-called neutrality to gain the benefit of all parties, but the potential conflict between the three countries in North America and the Atlantic is not something that this peace agreement can hide...... The Americans obviously want our support, so we must also make them pay reciprocal terms......" Fernando heard the Marquis de Santa Cruz and smiled confidently, "Since it is unavoidable, then the only way to recognize the rights and interests of the Americans in the Lesser Antilles...... Well, this would allow them to share the threat of the English, French and Dutch for us. ”

"What do we need? They will not choose to get involved in the war on the continent, they will also need to maintain the trade relations between England, France and the Netherlands, and we cannot push them into the arms of those Protestant bandits. The Marquis of Santa Cruz couldn't help but nod slightly.

"The Kingdom of Spain must have the ability to manufacture poison lilies for American flintlock rifles and cannons! The entire Lesser Antilles is guaranteed exclusive trading rights to the Kingdom of Spain! Guarantee that at any time, in the event of an invasion of the New Spain region by a third country, it must unconditionally form a military alliance with Spain and fight together! Guarantee the slave monopoly of the Kingdom of Spain in New Spain! guarantee

A series of quid pro quo came out of Fernando's mouth, and even the Marquis de Santa Cruz, an old man who had been immersed in the political circles of the Kingdom of Spain for many years, couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

"Your Excellency, Marquis, we cannot prevent the Americans from profiting on both sides of Europe and the New World, but we must keep New Spain, which is the fundamental interest of the Kingdom! I am sure that the Americans will be aware of this, and that our demands are not excessive, compared to the diplomatic agreements they signed with England and France. ”

"Well, they do prefer to judge things with the minds of merchants・・・・・・ hopefully His Majesty will understand our position." After thinking about it carefully, the Marquis of Santa Cruz finally nodded.

The next day's "family dinner" surprised Svenbeau, because the Marquis of Santa Cruz Albert's offer of some conditions "conducive to the long-term relationship between the two countries" sounded so crazy, he did not expect that a Guadeloupe would bring such a complex relationship into Spain.

No matter how much Shi Wenbo feels good about himself, he doesn't dare to assert himself. Soon, a message was sent from the Prisoner Bull to the Porto de la Rather Heroísmo in the Azores, which was docked in the port of Seville. With such a bunch of Spanish diplomatic conditions, it is impossible to get a final reply in a short time, and Shi Wenbo also leisurely accompanied his wife and his father-in-law and his family on a tour of the mountains and rivers after sending the telegram. To be continued. .ps: Embarrassed, I almost forgot that I should update today......