Charles V's successor in Spain was his son, known in Spain as Philip II.

This king was a devout Catholic with outstanding military capabilities and very poor economic acumen.

As the protector of the Catholic Church, Philip II fought many large-scale wars with the Ottoman Empire in many parts of Europe during his reign. Although he won most of these wars, he also gained control of the Mediterranean Sea, turning the once powerful

The Ottoman navy suppressed the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. However, years of wars caused Spain's already heavily indebted treasury to be overwhelmed.

At the same time, he also sent an invincible fleet to expedition to England, and fought repeatedly. Although England was eventually exhausted, Spain continued to control the sea power in the Atlantic. But in addition to increasing the burden on the treasury, it also caused the Spanish navy, the strongest in the world at the time, to

decline.

In order to suppress the independence movements in the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, he deployed heavy troops here for decades.

In order to compete with France for control of northern Italy, Spain and France fought repeatedly...

In order to suppress the resistance of the Native Americans, heavy troops continued to be deployed in the Americas...

He is a fanatical Catholic. For him, there is only one word for Protestants and heretics: enemies. In addition to spending a lot of money and manpower to extinguish the resistance of Protestants across Europe, he built a large number of Inquisitions and turned many Protestants into ashes.

In addition, he also forcibly relocated Moors in the country (the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal are located was once conquered by the Arab Empire. The Moors mentioned here are the descendants of the combination of Berbers and indigenous residents of the Iberian Peninsula. They

During the period when the Arab Empire ruled the Iberian Peninsula, they believed in the Church of the Star and Moon. Later, with the rise of Spain and Portugal, they gradually converted to Catholicism. This led to the outbreak of large-scale rebellions and civil wars in the country, and also caused Spain to lose its best farmers.

.

In short, the ruler's first reaction to resistance and dissent is: suppression!

Although he annexed Portugal in 1580 and accepted Portugal's colonies in Africa and Asia, making the Kingdom of Spain the first empire on which the sun never sets in human history. However, no matter how great its military exploits, it cannot conceal its economic weakness.

Failure: In 1557, 1575, and 1598, Spain declared national bankruptcy three times.

When the emperor who fought all his life died in 1598, what he left to his successor Philip III was a man who looked majestic and invincible on the surface, but was actually riddled with holes on the inside and could catch fire at any time.

, a country that is strong on the outside but capable on the inside.

What is even more unfortunate is that Philip III, the heir to the empire on which the sun never sets, has more fanatical religious beliefs than his father, but has no ability to govern the country like his father.

In the late period of Philip II's reign, he realized that the national power was seriously overdrawn. The old man who had been strong all his life had actually begun to pay attention to shrinking his power. For example, he reconciled with Britain and France. However, such a move made the then Crown Prince Philip III and his wife

Close ministers could not accept it. After becoming King of Spain in 1598, Philip III changed the old king's slowly shrinking national policy and became more tough on foreign policy than his father had in his early years.

Just be tough, as long as you have the ability. But unfortunately, this Philip III has a lot of ambitions, but he does not have the quality to be willing to endure hardships and make hardships in order to realize his ambitions. After he came to power, he only focused on having fun.

Enjoy and entrust all state affairs to his favorite, the Duke of Lerma.

And this Duke of Lerma and many of his colleagues are a group of big corrupt criminals...

In the historical plane, Spain's irreversible decline occurred during the reign of Philip III.

In this dimension, on October 18, 1600, Philip III's Queen Margaret gave birth to twins - twins who were personally protected by the Archangel Michael.

Moreover, unlike other royal families who only have one child. Among the two newborns received by the Spanish royal family, one has the word "King" on his belly, and the other has the word "Guard" on his belly...

This shocked the whole of Europe much more than Zhu Youdong shocked the Ming Dynasty.

Philip III, nicknamed "The Pious", wanted to abdicate at that time and give the throne to his son with the word "King" on his belly.

Although this idea was quickly dismissed by the Duke of Lemar and other favorites, Philip III personally canonized one of his sons as Prince of Asturias when his two children were baptized, and named him Philip

——This is the standard title for the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Spain.

Another child was named the Grand Duke of the Basques - the Basques in this area are known for their strong character, bravery and tenacity. They were a famous source of troops for the Kingdom of Spain in this era. At the time of naming, Queen Margery from Austria

He expressed his opinion: If there were no such two children blessed by the Lord, one of them should be sent to Austria to inherit the Habsburg family's property in Austria, if there was no provision made by Charles V back then. Although he cannot inherit it now,

But such a son of God cannot all be given Spanish-style names. Therefore, this child has a typical Germanic name: Rudolf.

In 1604, the year of Zhu Youdong's enlightenment, Prince Philip of Asturias left Madrid and came to his fiefdom. He began to build a base for travelers in a low-key manner. And the Basque Grand Duke Rodolfo came from Madrid in the name of a study tour.

We set off and traveled throughout Spain, then went to Milan (at this time Milan was under the control of the Kingdom of Spain), the Two Sicilies, and then entered Austria. Then we passed through the German states, France, and returned to Madrid.

This is the time traveler doing field research for the upcoming war across Europe.

"Philip, the above is the general situation of my travels in Europe in the past two years. Well, as an officer of the Spanish Defense Force before traveling through time, I knew that Spain in this era, and even the entire Habsburg family, was in decline. But I really didn't expect that the decline was

It’s so obvious. Hey, Philip, weren’t you a history professor at the University of Madrid before you traveled through time? Why do you feel that your attitude was more optimistic than mine before you set off?”

"Well. After all, the things on paper are not as good as the actual investigation. Our European historians have a big shortcoming, that is, they pay too much attention to the emperors, famous ministers, and generals in history, and ignore the situation of ordinary people. Therefore, we

Research in the 21st century is far from the real situation of this era, which is normal."

"Okay, let's not talk about anything else. How have you been doing in your fiefdom during the two years I left?"

"Not bad. I have tried every means to invite the greatest scholars of this era to Asturias. At least, Galileo, Bruno, Kepler, Steven (Dutch engineer) and many other scholars are there now.

I live very comfortably. Descartes is still too young now, and I will invite him here in a few years...In my fiefdom, in terms of industry, all large-scale iron ore mines have completed all exploration, and some of them have begun production.

. Twenty steelmaking blast furnaces have been built. Within three years, domestic steel production can be doubled. At the same time, I have also organized scholars to explore steel types with various characteristics... In terms of military affairs, according to the drawings you gave me in advance,

The imitation Mauser 1871 breech-loading rifle has been finished. However, the output of the hydraulic machinery is unstable, and the products produced by it have large errors. Therefore, to ensure quality, it can only be produced by hand. And there is no smokeless gunpowder, so the breech-loading rifle

The practical value of the machine gun is not great, and the machine gun cannot be used in actual combat. Before these problems are solved, in the future European war, I suggest that the flintlock gun should be used as the main weapon of the infantry... In addition, I have already started to work on it.

With the improvement of the steam engine, once there is a practical industrial steam engine, the real industrial revolution will come."

"Very good! Then should we trigger a European-wide war in advance?"

"I used to think so, but based on what you and I have learned in the past few years, it's not possible." Although he didn't have glasses, Philip, who had a strong academic atmosphere, habitually touched the bridge of his nose: "Spain is this

The prosperity of the era is based on the continuous import of gold and silver from the Americas. But now the gold and silver output of Central and South America has begun to dry up. If such a large stall suddenly loses the support of gold and silver, it will definitely not work. Therefore,

My current idea is not to trigger a European-wide war for the time being, but to wait for the opportunity. After all, our enemies are not actually Protestants."

"Yes! The German wife I married before I traveled through time was a Protestant! Well, Philip, we have agreed that after the war across Europe, you must achieve religious reconciliation."

"Of course, Rudolf, I promise."

"Okay, let's not move for now. Well, no, in addition to accumulating strength, we also have to do something else, right?"

"I have an idea. Now, as the gold and silver mines in Central and South America are gradually drying up. In addition to writing to the governor of the Spanish Viceroyalty, I am heading to California to find new gold mines. I also want to contact East Asia.

The other two of the three time-travelers are China."

"According to our joint induction positioning, of those two, one should be in Japan, and the other should be in Southeast Asia, right?"

"It's not that it should be, but it must be. The Jesuit intelligence network is all over the world. The one in Southeast Asia was born in Thailand... Rudolf, I always feel that the only person who can ultimately pose a threat to our cause is China.

After all, in the era before we traveled, the rise of China was already visible to the whole world. For such a hard-working, tenacious and intelligent nation, as long as the qualifications of the Chinese traveler are slightly higher than the average,

It is enough to reverse the demise of China's central power in this era and make this country burst into powerful power... Therefore, I intend to bring together two Japanese and Thai people to join forces to fight against China. Otherwise, we have not yet integrated Europe and defeated the Ottomans and China.

The one who unified East Asia first would put too much pressure on us."

"It makes sense. You scholars are better at this kind of thing, so I don't care about it. Next, I'm going to my fief to train our personal guards. Oh, before that, Philip, I want to talk to you

Report something."

"Information? Rudolf, you don't mean consultation but notification?"

"Yes, report. More than two years of traveling throughout Europe have made me very anxious and uneasy. Seeing the miserable people in the country has made me hate the Duke of Lerma and his followers even more. I want to go to my fief.

Go up and train assassins! Lerma and his son, I won’t let them live long!”

"Uh...Okay." Philip, who still had a gentle smile on his face, said: "Dear Rudolf, I will support all your decisions. The Basque Country has always produced the most outstanding warriors in Iberia, and you will definitely
Chapter completed!