open sea

Chapter 425
There is an overlord in this world, of course he is not the young emperor Wanli who has just ascended the throne, but King Philip II of Spain, also known as Philip II.

Countless lands have been combined into a huge empire, and his blood and strength make him dominate Europe.

But compared to the entire European royal family, Madrid does not have a palace worthy of a king, nor is it a city worthy of a capital.

Most of the streets in Madrid are narrow and closed. Even when walking in the capital, men with stabbed swords still walk close to the left side of the wall. There are low two-story buildings everywhere. If there are buildings exceeding this height, they are either churches or monasteries.

There are no fountains, no gardens, no tall arches, and no unique palaces. Everything here is incompatible with the European royal family.

For the city was ruled by the Habsburgs of Austria, for whom extravagance was not a commendable quality.

However, Philip II had a large palace barely worthy of his status. The rectangular palace had four floors, the gate side was relatively narrow, and each floor had seventeen tall and spacious windows. The huge ceiling made of stained glass was full of paintings. Colored paintings that symbolize religion.

This palace was not built by Philip II, but a gift from the Archbishop of Toledo—Philip himself didn't have the money to build a magnificent palace of this scale.

Wearing embarrassing clothes, the wandering painter with the chart and the secret letter stood at the foot of the steps in front of the palace, waiting for the king to summon him.

During the period when the whole of Europe got American gold and silver and spices from East Asia entered an unprecedented period of prosperity, it was very rare for a painter to be as poor as he was, which can explain his painting level to a certain extent.

He had just returned from Morocco for the money to eat and maybe a couple of new clothes.While crossing the sea by boat, he hoped that the different style of scenery on the other side of the strait would bring him gold coins, but it was obviously not successful, but God answered his prayer and sent another person to his side.

The dead man was named Salcedo. According to him, he was a Spanish and Filipino colonel who was washed up on the coast after being shipwrecked while carrying an important letter.

The wandering painter was the first person to meet him. At that time, Salcedo suffered from severe scurvy, penniless and hideous. He said that as long as the painter could find someone to cure him, he would provide him with a considerable amount of money when he returned to Madrid. remuneration.

It's a pity that the painter can't afford a doctor, let alone a doctor can't cure Salcedo.

Before he died, he handed a long letter to the painter, asking him to go to the palace to deliver it to the king.

But Salcedo didn't tell the painter—the king didn't seem interested in seeing him.

Mr Philip really had more important things to do.

Inside the palace, through the cloister decorated in Gothic style after carving, the heavy door at the end slowly opened, and the court physician, who straddled the weapon box, stepped out quickly, met the noble ministers waiting outside, and reported the king's condition.

"His Royal Highness is in a poor state of mind, and his violent temper makes him unsuitable for making any decisions." The court physician patted the weapon box on his waist and whispered, "I will watch the astrology and find the right time to perform surgery on the king. The brief period of weakness after the bloodletting will help calm the temper of His Royal Highness, my lord."

What could the palace advisor say, he really didn't want the arsenal disguised as a medicine box to attack the king, but there was obviously no way at this moment.

Just three days ago, Philip II convened important court officials, hoping to declare the country bankrupt for the second time.

Philip was puzzled by the problem of the bankruptcy of the empire. The whole country did not have any financial wisdom, which made him try his best to figure out what he should do to turn the situation around in the face of financial bankruptcy.

He is used to doing everything by himself. At most, he even reads [-] letters from all over the world a day. Even if it averages out, he needs to read [-] letters and make a decision as soon as possible.

If this wasn't enough to exhaust him physically and mentally, the capture of Tunisia by the Ottoman Empire completely offset Spain's advantage in the Lepanto sea battle, and the financially important Netherlands rebelled one after another for the purpose of independence, almost becoming the last straw that crushed the camel's camel.

The country's credit is getting worse and worse. It is no longer possible to borrow money from bankers. If the war cannot be waged, the Netherlands will be independent, and Spain will be poorer after independence.

The king, who was ignorant of finances, still couldn't understand that he was not extravagant at all, and even now he still owed the painting money of the court painter Titian, why his country would even pay the interest on the loan Sorry?

"See you!"

Philip II, who was very tired with his eyes half open, dozed off while replying to the letter, and waved his screen back to remind him that there was an advisor waiting for a painter outside.

Damn it, the painter must be here to ask for debts!

Philip II scratched his hair irritably. If he declares bankruptcy this time, one or more Prussian banking families may go bankrupt under his rule.

However, there is no way around this. When last year’s Manila galleon carried goods to Spain, the money obtained from the sale must first be paid back by the Genoese bankers—those people will be armed to collect debts. Can not be ignored.

"Ugh…"

With a long sigh, Philip II silently sighed in his heart, the galleon that set sail from the Philippines last year should have arrived long ago, why it took so long.

These days, it is difficult to be a king, and it is even more difficult to be a king who defaults on his debts, and it is even more difficult to be a kingdom where a defaulter has bankers to borrow money one after another!
"News from Salcedo?"

Philip II widened his eyes, "Salcedo..."

"Who is he?"

The palace adviser was silent, as if reciting a formula: "Captain Salcedo is the grandson of the Governor of the Philippines, Sir Regasbee, and he is in command of the Manila Army."

"Let him in, Manila, Manila!"

Among the many Spanish colonies, Manila is not important, even if the profits brought by the Manila galleon are counted, it is not important. What really matters to Spain is the Americas and the Netherlands.

But at this moment, Manila means that the goods purchased by more than 30 tons of silver will be sold out when they arrive at the port, and the money in exchange will be enough to pay the interest on the loan of the Genoese banker.

The cramped painter entered the palace by stepping on his shoes with his thumbs exposed, and delivered the letter from the distant ocean to the emperor. Just as he was thinking about how to speak to Philip II about the reward Salcedo promised him, he Seeing his beloved king stand up abruptly, clutching the letter but unable to speak, his eyes were fixed on his face.

Then, he leaned back, rolled his eyes and spread out on the chair.

The court was in chaos, and the painter's face was pale.

(End of this chapter)