"It's soon! It's really soon!" Sheng Dehong, the plenipotentiary of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, murmured in the luxuriously decorated suite of the Danji Hotel.

He had just returned from Madrid, and it was meaningless. After the death of Carlos II, the aristocrats were in control of the overall situation. These nobles all had great favors for France and did not know what soup they had been poured. Anyway, after a few days of activity, Sheng Dehong found that these people were very polite to the East Coast, but they spoke very much towards France. From then on, he gave up and stopped trying to change their concepts. He went in and out of the palace and the residences of the regents, but did not talk much about politics. He talked about most of the business, such as the tariff rate for East Coast goods entering the Spanish market, and the sales of Spanish goods in North Africa. The East Coast people stipulated that Portugal and Spain imported Moroccan goods to the ports of Tanger and Ceuta.

When talking about business, the nobles are still easy to talk to, after all, no one will be unable to get along with money. The Spanish economy is like a bird, and it is difficult to make money in all walks of life, so it is already very good to have a stable path. From this perspective, the Spanish aristocrats led by the Madrid Regent are still grateful to the East Coast. However, if you put aside business and talk about politics, they have some opinions. The East Coast bullies Spain for so many years, cross-border cultivation, various loans, and various commercial privileges, and also serve as the general backstage for the Italian people to pursue freedom. If the Spanish aristocrats have no opinions, they will definitely be nonsense. Therefore, they will not be inclined to the East Coast in terms of emotional terms.

But will they lean towards France? It was negative thirty years ago, but now it is certain. Well, we have to expel the nobles of the South Netherlands from Spanish nationality. This is a bit like Stockholm syndrome in later generations. At the beginning, the two countries were competitors. After the Battle of Rocluir in 1643, they struggled for another twenty years, and finally accepted their fate, thinking that they had no strength to fight against the French, and they were willing to give up the disadvantage, and God would not stand on their side.

Since then, Spain still had several military conflicts with France, but the war was limited to the Pyrenees and parts of Catalonia, and generally peace was maintained. Spain did not spend much money to deal with the war, so that Britain, the Netherlands, the Austrians and other countries often accuse Madrid of not fulfilling their ally obligations and not putting enough pressure on the French. However, Spain did not go to such things from top to bottom, and still did what it was, and Britain, the Netherlands and other countries were helpless.

It is well known that King Carlos II was in poor health. Therefore, since many years ago, the Spanish nobles began to secretly discuss the ownership of the Spanish throne after the king's death. Of course, foreign forces are indispensable, mainly Louis XIV in Paris and Leopold in Vienna. These two guys have been trying to win over the Spanish aristocratic group, but at present, most of them tend to favor France, and they have no choice but to have no choice but to fight, so it is better to join them!

Sheng Dehong could not persuade the Spaniards to turn back, and this was not in line with the interests of the East Coast. The East Coast always had to attack the Spaniards. The large area of ​​rich and fertile land in Western America could only be "the virtuous ones." Therefore, he only stayed in Madrid for about ten days, spying on some information, and then left there and returned to Tange Harbour again.

In order to avoid the threat of war, he has ordered to spend a year to withdraw from the diplomatic institutions in Spain on the east coast and concentrate on the two counties of Dange and Ceuta on the other side of the strait. The settled population of these two counties has increased rapidly by about 20% in the past year, and a considerable amount of capital has flowed in, and various infrastructure has been greatly improved. At present, more than half of the roads from the port to the southern border area of ​​the two counties have been repaired, and the coastal roads from the port to the port of Dange and Ceuta have been surveyed and construction will start in the next few years. Even Shengdehong has begun to consider after the construction of the coastal highway is completed, a roughly parallel coastal railway will be built between the two ports to strengthen the speed of personnel and material circulation between the two core cities and promote economic development.

By the way, the Executive Committee has approved the establishment of the Straits Management Committee in principle. The design of the relevant institutions will refer to other overseas colonies of the East Coast people, and at most localized modifications will be made. In order to enhance the strength of the Management Committee, they have officially decided to include the Cape Verde Islands in the jurisdiction of the Management Committee. All 15 islands in the archipelago have been incorporated into Henghai County, which was established many years ago. The county government moved to Playa Port. The county already has tens of thousands of people and a considerable amount of infrastructure, and its living standards are still acceptable.

In the future, most of the Canary Islands under the control of the Kingdom of Spain will be taken down. If nothing unexpected happens, a county will be set up here and will be included in the jurisdiction of the Straits Management Committee. If Ceuta, Tangi and a county that will inevitably be occupied by one county in Gibraltar Bay, there will be five counties in the jurisdiction of the Straits Management Committee, with an area of ​​10,000 to 20,000 square kilometers and an estimated population of more than 500,000 (if a large number of refugees were absorbed during the war), this is a very large force.

It is worthwhile. Although it is not expected to develop as rich as Denglai and Ningshao in the Far East, it is not a problem to have economic self-sufficiency with the strategic throat of the strait and important nodes of ocean currents, coupled with the high competitiveness of east coast commodities. Even if the European economy develops well, the Strait Management Committee can benefit from it and become an important window for Europe's foreign trade and a safe haven center for hot money, and it is not impossible to replace Amsterdam's status.

The shift of the economic focus of Europe from Nordic to Southern Europe has always been something that the Mediterranean people pursue. This has never been done in later generations. It has been economically colonized by Nordic countries, such as Germany, trying every means to destroy the ports of southern European countries, forcing ships to go to Hamburg Port to unload their goods. But in this time and space, it is still very likely that there is a help from the East Coast people and Italy that are unified in advance.

"Let Nordic fights quickly. If we fight, it will be more conducive to our work." After handing over the coat and hat to the secretary, Sheng Dehong lay tiredly on the sofa cushion.

"The Special Envoy, according to the latest news, the Spanish Regent sent a large mission north to Paris in October to inform King Louis XIV of France, to ask his grandson Duke Anjou to Madrid, to swear to abide by Spanish laws, to guarantee the interests of the nobles, and then take office as the king." The secretary followed and whispered: "There is another unconfirmed news. The Madrid Regent also secretly instructed that if France refused, the mission would return in place. The Special Envoy himself immediately changed his way to Vienna and made the same suggestion to Grand Duke Leopold. In any case, Spain cannot be divided, which seems to be the idea of ​​the Regent."

"Oh, what news came from me when I was on the road?" Sheng Dehong found out that the documents in his secretary's hand, and after a brief look, he smiled and said, "It should not be fake, but that's the truth. The Regents in Madrid are quite terrible. I thought they were France, so I had made preparations. But in fact it was not a big deal. It can be seen that they prefer France, because the Duke of Anjou would definitely not reject this tempting proposal."

"The special envoy, and there is also a top-secret information from Paris." The secretary handed over another document and briefly introduced: "In early October, the Spanish had actually sent a nobleman to Paris and talked to Louis XIV. There were more than a dozen French nobles present. We also spent a great cost and used countless favors to obtain the news. It is said that Louis XIV introduced the Duke of Anjou to the Spanish noble envoy and announced on the spot that he was the West.

The new king of Spain. The document is followed by Louis XIV's original words at that time, which means that "(Duke of Anjou) is the desire of the whole of Spain and the will of God. Your first duty now is to be an excellent Spanish, but remember that you were born in France, so you must maintain the unity of the two countries and maintain peace in Europe. The Spanish nobleman is also very good at doing things. It is said that he knelt down in advance at the Louvre, pledged allegiance, and said, "The Pyrenees will no longer exist."

Sheng Dehong looked up at the excited secretary, smiled, swallowed the words he planned to teach him, but he was very impressed by the work of the Paris Intelligence Station. What kind of senior spy would it take to obtain the first-hand information of Louis XIV meeting with the Spanish envoy? Sheng Dehong had been working in the Ottoman Empire before, and after taking office, he had been running around and around. Before he had time to integrate the intelligence systems of various countries, and some senior spies had been in the hands of the General Administration of Intelligence, so he might not know that this matter could only be discovered slowly.

"The Spanish mission has entered Paris, right? Today is November 8, and the ceremony has almost been completed. Then, the Duke of Anjou will go to Madrid, and Louis XIV will probably send an army to Spain in the name of escort, which will not be later than the end of November. Then there is the coronation ceremony of Madrid. In early December, multiple missions will be sent to Spanish enclaves such as South Netherlands, Milan, Naples, Sicily, and other countries in the continental region to announce the news of the new king's ascendance to the world. Louis XIV has the will of Carlos II, and the Spanish nobles also agree with this matter. The Pope also hopes that the two most powerful countries in the Catholic world can unite, and this matter is basically correct. If you don't resort to force, hehe, it is impossible to turn the tables by just grinding your mouth."

"French people, it's really not easy to get to this point." At the end, Sheng Dehong stood up and sighed: "In order to break through the siege of the Habsburg family that occupied the Southern Netherlands, Franche Conte, Northern Italy, Spain, this country fought bloody battles for two hundred years. Now, we finally see hope. Franche Conte has become history, and Northern Italy will also undergo drastic changes. The South Netherlands is just a fish to be slaughtered on the chopping board. If the fortress of Spain is broken again, the Habsburg family will be self-defeating. Leopold, what will you think about this? Should you swallow your anger or try? Once France and Spain are integrated, Louis XIV will definitely put your hands deep into Germany, leaving you with little time."
Chapter completed!