monarch

The will of King Joao III arrived in Madrid on October 1557, 10, the same day that the new Portuguese King Joao Manuel I ascended the throne, and on October 6, King Joao III arrived in Sintra. The palace died suddenly, and the news that Portugal accused the Spanish ambassador of being the murderer also spread among the Spanish court.

At ten o'clock in the morning on October 10, Duke Alva was having breakfast in his villa outside Madrid.For the past two months, the Duke had been touring all over Spain, inspecting the preparations for the invasion of Britain, and had not returned to Madrid until late at night the previous day.

Under the duke's iron-fisted supervision, the messy preparations for the invasion became much smoother. However, to his disappointment, even after sorting out and reforming, almost all the work was still behind the original schedule.The chaotic and inefficient bureaucracy, the corrupt officials and the inability to make ends meet are completely irresistible to the Duke of Alba's personal efforts. These are the cancers that have spread in the Kingdom of Spain, and even a brilliant doctor can only postpone it. For the death of the patient, it is completely wishful thinking to want to be completely cured.

More than sixty warships are being built in shipyards all over Spain, most of the firewood used for construction is inferior goods purchased at high prices, and the purchasers are always inextricably linked with some big figures in the court.Army quilts look like morgue rags, gunpowder is mixed with sand, and many of the weapons that are supposed to be in warehouses are just a false number on the ledger that never even arrived .

Duke Alva hanged a dozen quartermasters and unscrupulous businessmen, but he neither dared, nor wanted, nor had the ability to touch the people behind the scenes who manipulated these puppets.For the powerful and powerful, the grandest plan in Spain in decades was a feast for them, and countless vampires were counting on sucking a few drops of sweet blood from the veins of the Spanish Empire.These great nobles have huge political and economic influence, and Philip II dare not tear his face with them at this sensitive time, let alone the Duke of Alva who is just a servant.

The Duke of Alva had just half eaten his breakfast when he was interrupted by a servant who rushed in to inform the Duke of the sudden visit of King Philip II and Prince Don Carlos, who were now waiting in the living room.

Duke Alva couldn't believe his ears, and he even asked the servant to repeat it to confirm that the king had indeed come to his house.He hastily interrupted his breakfast, changed his clothes quickly, and went to the living room to meet the king and crown prince.

King Philip II was dressed in black as usual, with a white ruff collar tightly tied around his neck, making every bystander who saw the king wonder how he was breathing smoothly.He sat in the middle of the couch facing the door in the living room, with his back straight and his hands on the knees of his legs.

Prince Don Carlos looked much more at ease than his father, pacing around the living room, looking up at several Titian oil paintings on the wall.These paintings, like many works of art in the Duke of Alva's collection, came from the private residence of a cardinal or great nobleman in Italy.The cradle of the Renaissance has been tortured for half a century under the iron heels of the French and Spaniards. The entire Apennine Peninsula has been reduced to a battlefield. Those cities that were famous in Europe in the past are declining day by day. Some of the cultural treasures left by art masters were destroyed by war, while more fell into the hands of the French and Spaniards, and they could never return to the country that created them.

Duke Alva walked to the center of the room and saluted King Philip II, who nodded lightly.

He turned to Prince Don Carlos again, lowering his head slightly.

Prince Don Carlos did not turn his head, he responded to Duke Alva's courtesy with his back.

"Are you studying works of art? Don Carlos." Philip reminded his son with some dissatisfaction, "The Duke is greeting you."

Prince Don Carlos finally turned around, "It seems that you like Titian, Your Excellency the Duke."

"Yes." Duke Alva replied dryly, without even bothering to add the title "His Royal Highness".

"My grandfather, His Majesty, also liked the paintings of this Venetian," said Prince Don Carlos. "It is said that he shut himself up every day in a monastery in a gloomy room with his collection of Titian's paintings. The painting itself is scary, and it's even more eerie in that light."

"His Majesty Emperor Charles V is an excellent connoisseur of art," said the Duke of Alva.

"But I don't like it at all." Prince Don Carlos shook his head, "The tone of these paintings is so dark and without light, it makes people feel that each one depicts the dusk when the sun is about to set... …everything is bleak, maybe only old people like such pictures.”

"Titian's paintings embody the essence of the world. There is not much brilliance in this world. It is just self-deception to make it bright."

After the Duke of Alva finished speaking, he turned to the king, ignoring Prince Don Carlos who seemed to be planning to say something more.

"When the servant informed me of His Majesty's visit just now, I thought I heard it wrong. If Your Majesty wants to see me, he can just send an attendant to summon me into the palace. Why do you have to come in person?"

"I just finished my morning class, and I felt a little bored in my heart, so I went out for an hour of horse riding with Don Carlos, and rode all the way to the vicinity of your villa. Now that I have arrived, I might as well come and see you. I just hope we haven't disturbed you, after all you just returned to your own home last night."

"Your arrival makes this house flourish." Duke Alva complimented, and his long career as a commander made his compliments become as blunt as a sharp sword in his hand.

Philip II stretched out his hand, motioning for Duke Alva to sit opposite him.

"I saw the reports you sent me," said Philip II. "It seems that you have made the entire invasion plan much more efficient. I want to congratulate you."

"It's not enough. We may not be as strong as planned when the invasion begins in early summer next year." Duke Alva shook his head, "But then I can only try my best to use the resources already in place. Urgent, the fleet must go before the end of the summer, or it will have to wait another year."

"Since the preparatory work cannot be completed according to the expected timetable, would it be a better choice to postpone it for a year?" Philip II asked tentatively, "One year can make the whole operation much more fully prepared."

The Duke of Alva frowned, "Britain is also expanding its armies and preparing for war. If we delay for another year, the balance of strength between our two sides will be closer. Although the situation in the Netherlands has been temporarily relieved, as far as I know, Britain is now vigorously Aiding the rebels in the north, the situation has reached a stalemate. This is a bottomless pit that swallows wealth. Our financial situation cannot allow another year of delay, Your Majesty. The purpose of the invasion of Britain is to solve the problem quickly. Source, if it is delayed for another year, then everything will be meaningless."

"That's not necessarily the case." Philip II narrowed his eyes slightly, "Perhaps this year can bring us more gains."

"You mean Portugal," said the Duke of Alva contemptuously.

"Have you heard?" Philip II smiled, "For a person who just came to the capital yesterday, your news is well-informed."

"Even the beggars on the street know this news. If I'm still kept in the dark, I'm not listening." Duke Alva also laughed, but he quickly recovered his serious expression, "But With all due respect, Your Majesty, Portugal is not worth our delay for her for a year."

"But that's a crown!" Philip II was a little dissatisfied with the Duke's attitude, "How many king's crowns can there be in the entire Christian world?"

"Crowns are just useless decorations." Duke Alva looked straight into Philip II's eyes, "In my opinion, it is enough for a monarch to have a crown for decoration, the important thing It is the land and the subjects, and that is the source of the nation's strength, like Samson's hair!"

"What can Portugal give us?" Duke Alva asked rhetorically, "That barren land can only grow grapes and olives, and even food has to be imported from us. The whole country is full of hills and mountains, with a population of less than 100 million. The valuable colonies seem to have been sold to the Britons, and the rest are just fortresses on the coasts of Africa and India. Besides, those colonial cities are so far away from the emperor that even if you capture Portugal, you may not be able to win their allegiance. Portugal’s finances are as sick as ours, and the spice trade in the East has been losing money for 20 years, and will continue to lose money for the foreseeable future. They are a pile of bones, and no oil can be squeezed out of it.”

"Britain is completely different. Those islands are now the richest places in Europe. They emptied our treasury with their own products, and ransacked us again with the banking industry. Taking Portugal can only bring us More problems, and landing in Britannia solves all of our problems! If you really want to add a crown to your collection, choose the Crown of Britannia instead of what 'Portugal and Algar 'King of Vi', the title is worthless."

Duke Alva's answer was obviously far from what Philip II wanted to hear.

"According to your opinion, we will hand over the crown that my son should inherit to two regicide criminals, one of whom is an ambitious nobleman and the other is a slut who can be married? In the end, this kingdom will be handed down to a bastard who doesn't know who his father is? That's the motherland of my mother and my late wife! Not to mention the shameless slander, they actually planned to push my uncle's death on my head , and that is clearly their own crime. In order to achieve this despicable purpose, those sinners actually murdered our ambassador to kill people, and the honor of our country was thrown into the gutter by them. I can never bear such insults! "

"I would like to ask Your Majesty to think twice." The Duke of Alva continued to persuade, "Invading Portugal is not a difficult task. I can guarantee that the heroic Spanish army will be able to enter Lisbon within a month, but this is only the beginning of the trouble. Elizabeth · Tudor is an unwelcome foreigner, and the blood of the child in her stomach is also questionable, so she is not worried. The problem is the Duke of Braganza, who has the support of the nobles, and those rebellious mountain people in the north And be loyal to him, it will be a protracted project to wipe out his forces, and if you don't pay attention, you will become the next Netherlands."

Hearing the word "Netherlands", Philip II's face was clouded, and it was almost raining.These days, as long as someone who doesn't have long eyes mentions this word in front of the king, don't expect the king to look good.

But in front of the commander he relied on the most, Philip II also had to hold back his displeasure temporarily, "Then how do you ensure that when we invade Britain, the Kingdom of Portugal will not backstab us? At a critical time , A weight that is not too heavy can also change the balance of the entire balance."

"Then we will plunge Portugal into internal strife," replied the Duke of Alba. "The glue that temporarily holds Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Braganza together is our fear. When the threat of our invasion gradually dissipates." , the two of them will fight themselves first. Elizabeth Tudor is the weaker side, then we will support her and promise to protect her son's inheritance in the future. Let them kill each other, as long as it does not affect us, they Do what you like in that barren land."

Philip II's face was tense, obviously engaged in a fierce ideological struggle.

The room fell silent for a while, only briefly broken by the impatience of Prince Don Carlos coughing from time to time.

After about 5 minutes, Philip II looked at Duke Alva and shook his head slowly but firmly.

"Unfortunately, I can't agree with your suggestion... I don't trust Elizabeth Tudor, and I don't want to have anything to do with her. When I first saw her, I thought it was a sweet white rose, but that The stamen of the rose hides the fangs of a poisonous snake. The crown of Portugal belongs to the House of Habsburg, and I don’t want to see it stained by the dirty hands of outsiders.”

"Is this your final decision?" Duke Alva asked for the last time.

"Yes, this is my final decision." Philip II said, "The invasion of Britain is temporarily postponed for one year. I hope you can serve as the commander of the invasion of Portugal. You are an excellent commander and the most powerful commander of this era." Excellent! I believe you will fulfill your mission, and you will find that cooking those Portuguese is far less troublesome than you think."

Seeing that the king was so determined, Duke Alva no longer persisted, "If this is His Majesty's order, I will obey it, but please allow me to make a suggestion."

Seeing that his commander-in-chief finally nodded, Philip II also relaxed a lot, "Please tell me, Duke, you know that I always value your advice very much."

"The invasion of Portugal is bound to succeed. At that time, Prince Don Carlos will become the king of Portugal, and at that time he will need a regent."

Prince Don Carlos uttered a dissatisfied cry, which was ignored by the Duke of Alva, "I hope you can consider allowing the Duke of Braganza to maintain the position of regent he has now occupied, which is an acceptable position for him. Arrangement, we don't have to destroy his power, it will mean several years of guerrilla warfare, as I said just now, Portugal is not worth so much time and energy."

Philip II agreed to Duke Alva's suggestion without hesitation, "Of course, for such a nobleman, it is necessary to win him over. As long as he does not oppose Spain and obeys my instructions, I can allow him to Retain the Regency of Portugal . . . "

Prince Don Carlos interrupted his father dissatisfiedly, "I don't need any regent! I am already 12 years old this year. At this age, King Edward of Britain has already mastered the real power!"

Duke Alva snorted disdainfully, "That's because at this age, he already knows how to use the golden opportunity to bring the parliament to its knees, and he has been able to subdue those nobles who have been in high positions for more than ten years. If you can do this, you can also No need for a regency at all!"

Prince Don Carlos turned blue with anger, and he wanted to refute something, but Philip II stopped him with stern eyes.

"Duke Alva is right, you have got a crown, so don't pick and choose. As for power, it is like Julius' sun chariot, Phaethon driving it forcibly will only catch fire* **.Your hands are not strong enough, if you try to forcefully hold this Jupiter's thunder, the force will explode in your hands, and you will be blown to pieces."

The king stood up, "We have delayed you for too long, Duke, we will take our leave now, you can go back and have your breakfast." He said and walked towards the door.

Prince Don Carlos hesitated for a moment, and walked out with his father. When he was about to leave the room, he turned his neck and glanced at Duke Alva. His eyes were filled with hatred, hatred and jealousy. Even the battle-tested Duke Alva felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet.

He left the living room anxiously, and returned to the dining table, but found that he didn't even have any appetite left.