"Hey Philip, long time no see."

"Hey, Rudolf, it's nice to see you. You don't know how much I've missed you these past two years."

Just as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Empire in the East was busy preparing to move to the West, the Kingdom of Spain. As travelers, Philip and Rodolfo met again in the new capital of this country: Madrid after two years.

As a glutton who only enters but cannot leave, the Habsburg family strongly advocates intra-clan marriage in order to prevent the exodus of its territory. The most popular one is for uncles to marry nieces. The consequences of this are: genetic diseases within the family

It is very common. The members of this family are becoming more and more similar in appearance. Of course, the most typical one is that almost all members of this family have extremely long and protruding mandibles.

Although these two time-travelers are both in excellent physical condition, at least in appearance, they all have the appearance of a typical Habsburg heir. And the way the two very long mandibles talk together is, well, very...

Feeling happy.

"Rudolf, how has your study tour in Germany been going over the past two years?"

"Very good, Philip. Do you believe it? It only took me a short time to master the Germanic language proficiently. Oh, I think this must be a blessing given to me by God."

Haha, before you traveled through time, you were originally the Spanish military attaché in Germany. Unlike me, you are just a simple Spaniard... But don't be complacent. At least between the two of us, only I have mastered all the rules of this game.

Although the traveler named Philip had his own plans in mind, he had a warm smile on his face: "Of course, Rudolph is a genius."

The two six-year-old children were talking intimately, holding hands and starting to move forward quickly. Their guards and maids all consciously slowed down: a country with a strong religious atmosphere like Spain is different from Eastern countries.

.Since their birth, these two miraculous twins have been able to enjoy all kinds of privileges unscrupulously. When the two of them talk together, they are often referred to as "sons of god" communication. Ordinary people are

Don't dare to get close enough to eavesdrop.

After everyone around them had distanced themselves from the two of them, Philip looked around the empty room. After making sure that no one could eavesdrop, he looked at Rudolf with bright eyes: "How is the situation over in Austria?

Oh, the problem is huge, I mean, the economic situation."

"It's very bad, even poorer than here in Spain. Most of the wealth of the royal family and nobles has been converted into land, gold and silver utensils, expenses for various large-scale dances, tributes to the Pope, and even rewards to musicians.

Jesus, the wealth of those musician families makes even me, the Grand Duke of the Basque Country, jealous...The funds have gone to these useless places, and the development of handicrafts and agriculture has naturally been inhibited. It is the military expenditure of the army...Hey

…”

"Hey, isn't it the same in Spain? Speaking of which, our main god must hate our great-grandfather in this life very much at this time, right? If it weren't for his bastard decision, our career in this plane would be much smoother.

."

Why did Philip's traveler say this? This has to start with the origins of the Habsburg family that ruled Spain and Austria at this time.

In the mid-13th century (the period of confrontation between the Song and Yuan Dynasties in China), the Holy Roman Empire was without a monarch for a long time. As a result, the order in Central Europe was chaotic, which seriously affected the authority and interests of the Pope. Therefore, Pope Gregory X at that time

Send a message to the German princes: Please quickly choose a new German king or emperor of the Shinra Empire to restore order in this area! If you can't choose one, I will appoint one directly for you!

During that period, among the German states, the most prestigious and powerful one was King Otuka II of Bohemia: Bohemia, Bavaria and even Hungary were his... For the German princes,

The influence of the Pope is huge, and it is already very uncomfortable for the princes of various countries to be forced to submit to the Pope. What if such a powerful prince is allowed to ascend the throne again?

No! You can't rise to the top. We have to find a weakling to be the king.

Therefore, the pie in the sky fell on the then Habsburg Count Rudolf I.

This Rudolf I is said to be 2.1 meters tall and has a pudgy figure (you can refer to a famous NBA star, only for his figure, not his appearance and skin color).

Before he came to power, there was nothing remarkable about this person except for his very big nose. Moreover, the Habsburg territory at that time was also pitifully small.

Well, I have no ability, and the territory under direct jurisdiction is small. Well, it’s you, and everyone unanimously elects you as the King of Germany!

However, the political and military talents that this skinny man showed after he came to power made those German princes who thought they had a plan regret it: This guy is a genius! He is so fucking powerful that he can't handle it at all.

With its righteous name and the diligent governance of successive rulers, this family, which originated in France and had long lived in the Swiss mountains, quickly expanded and gradually took control of Austria.

In the mid-to-late fifteenth century, the family ushered in a new leader: Maximilian I, who claimed to have conquered half of Europe with his lower body.

Maximilian occupies an important position in European history: through his own marriage, he carefully arranged marriages for his children and quickly brought a large amount of land under the rule of his family.

In 1477, Maximilian married the only daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. After the death of the Duke of Burgundy, large areas of southern France, eastern France, and even the Netherlands and Belgium were included in the rule of the Habsburg family.

In 1496, Maximilian asked his son Philip to marry Anna, the daughter-in-law of the King of Spain (Philip was a well-known handsome guy in Europe at that time, nicknamed "Beautiful Man". And Juana was "crazy").

A nickname for a woman. As the saying goes, there is only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname. So from this aspect, Maximilian’s investment was not small). After the death of the King of Spain in 1516, the entire

All the huge industries of the Kingdom of Spain were accepted by the Habsburg family.

In 1521, Maximilian's grandson Ferdinand married a Bohemian princess. In 1522, Maximilian married a granddaughter to Lajos II, King of Hungary and Bohemia... By 1526,

After Lajos II died in the battle against the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Hungary and Bohemia also became Habsburg.

The results of all marriage alliances were finally reflected in his grandson, Charles V.

Because this emperor concentrated all the results of hundreds of years of hard work by the entire Habsburg, his specific titles are: Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V), King of Germany, Netherlands (now the Netherlands and Belgium)

) monarch, King of Spain (known as Carlos I in Spain).

If viewed on a 21st century map, the territory it governs includes Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, part of southern Germany, part of northeastern France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, the southern part of the Italian peninsula, Milan, and Sicily.

Sardinia, Tunisia in North Africa, Oran, etc....the above are all things he can actually control. At the same time, he is nominally the co-owner of all German states.

He funded Magellan's circumnavigation, sent Cortes of the Netherlands to conquer the Aztec Empire, and Francisco Pizarro to conquer the Inca Empire. He established the Spanish Viceroyalty on the American continent (including Mexico and Central America).

Countries, West Indies), Viceroyalty of New Grenada (Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador), Viceroyalty of Peru (Northern Peru, Chile), Viceroyalty of La Plata (Northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay)...

The Habsburg family reached its peak under the rule of this great emperor (Charles V).

However, after reaching its peak, it was time to decline. During the reign of Charles V, although Spain's four major viceroyalties in the Americas shipped back 5,000 kilograms of gold and 246,000 kilograms of silver from the Americas to the mainland every year. But the huge wealth, in addition to

In addition to satisfying the luxurious life of the nobles and royal families, more of it was used in war.

As the protector of the Catholic Church, he was at full war with the Ottoman Empire in North Africa, Italy, Hungary, and the Balkans. In order to compete for control of northern Italy, he fought repeatedly with France. In order to suppress the Protestant movement in Germany, he fought repeatedly in Germany... Although

He won most of the battles, but the country was slowly overdrawn.

In 1555, Charles V, who had been suffering from gout for a long time and was still unable to completely quell the Protestant movement despite all his efforts, was exhausted and disheartened. So he announced his abdication. Before abdicating, he took over the Kingdom of Spain (including the southern part of the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and other places).

) and its colonies, as well as the rule of the Netherlands, were handed over to his son: Philip II (called Philip II in France, and will be referred to as Philip in this book from now on). He gave the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the title of Austria and Hungary

, the governance of Bohemia and other places was handed over to his younger brother: Ferdinand I.

The territory of the Habsburg family is so vast and scattered that it would be a strategy to follow the example of the Roman Empire and divide it into two. But what drove the two travelers crazy was that when Charles V divided his property

It is clearly stipulated that from now on the Habsburg family will be divided into two. The Spanish Habsburg family has no inheritance rights to the Austrian Habsburg family territory! On the contrary, the Austrian Habsburg family also has the right to inherit the Spanish Habsburg family's territory.

There is no right of inheritance in the territory.
Chapter completed!