Chapter 340: God’s Whip, Welcoming the King’s Division!
The Golden Lion sank.

The entire treasure fleet was destroyed.

The soldiers of the First Treasure Ship Fleet were unaware of this tragic scene and watched indifferently as the Golden Lion sank completely.

As the commander-in-chief, Li Xi directly issued the order to continue sailing. He did not care about the lives of the Spanish Imperial Navy soldiers who were floating on the sea. He had no idea of ​​salvaging the dead or saving the living, and he had no interest in “touching the corpses”.

According to the Ming Dynasty’s strategy, nothing is more important than taking over the Kingdom of England as quickly as possible on the European continent.

The First Treasure Ship Fleet reorganized its formation and sailed in a swallow formation to carry out the established plan.

As the warships were destroyed, the Spanish Imperial Navy soldiers floating on the sea watched the mysterious fleet go away and collapsed instantly.

As the elite navy of the empire, their value inherently exceeds that of ordinary infantry and cavalry. It is sheer nonsense to say that one individual is worth an equal weight of gold or silver.

Throughout history, Portugal is the only country in the entire European continent that lost in the Eastern battlefield and redeemed its captured soldiers with an equal amount of silver.

But brass of equal weight is always available.

There are at least 40,000 to 50,000 naval officers and soldiers on more than 100 warships. Even if more than half of them are killed or wounded in the battle, there are still at least 20,000 people. Isn’t this a huge wealth?

The Spanish Empire Navy soldiers who were floating on the sea holding on to wooden boards were still cursing, but when they saw that the mysterious fleet really ignored them, they became panicked and shouted and prayed in the direction where the First Treasure Ship Fleet left, hoping that the First Treasure Ship Fleet could come back to rescue them.

But this hope will only lead to despair.

Li Xi didn’t know which fleet he encountered in the previous naval battle, nor did he know which European country the Treasure Fleet belonged to. In the eyes of the First Treasure Fleet, the Treasure Fleet was just a larger “pirate group” that could be easily destroyed, that’s all.

They had no idea that a battle along the way would destroy the Spanish Empire’s hegemony and blockade in the Mediterranean.

Li Xi may not know, and the First Treasure Ship Fleet may not know, but someone will always know.

Soon after the First Treasure Fleet left, a storm arose and many Treasure Fleet warships and the Golden Lion sank completely.

Tens of thousands of bodies of drowned people washed up on the beaches of the Mediterranean islands.

Thus, among the islanders, there was a legend that “Thomas Howard and Grenville, the extremely evil pagans, fell into the eighteen levels of hell and were reincarnated as demons for revenge.”

However, rumors and legends cannot deceive the wise. The countries along the Mediterranean coast combined what the fishermen and merchant ships saw and heard and basically deduced the overall picture of the “Mediterranean Battle”.

A mysterious fleet from the East entered the Mediterranean. The rude and arrogant Spanish Empire fleet, the Treasure Fleet, under the order of Commander Thomas Howard, launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Fleet, but was destroyed by the counterattack of the Eastern Fleet.

The Spanish Empire’s attempt to blockade the Mediterranean had long aroused dissatisfaction among the countries on the European continent, and the destruction of the Treasure Fleet made countless people rejoice.

The Eastern Fleet was portrayed as a messenger of God’s punishment on the Spanish Empire.

But the “elders” among the European countries are not so optimistic. Although Zheng He’s voyages to the West happened more than a hundred years ago, some people have more or less heard of that “powerful and peaceful Eastern Fleet.”

It was not the use of powerful ships and guns to open up colonies, but the peaceful exchange of culture and trade that deeply influenced the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa in the last century.

The East could have done so, but it didn’t. That was a civilization of the law of the jungle that had never existed on the European continent. In contrast, Portugal and Spain, which entered the Age of Navigation, were full of wildness and barbarity.

However, the East has already shown “peaceful goodwill” to the European continent once. Will it show peaceful goodwill to the European continent a second time?

Whether from an emotional or rational point of view, the elders of the European countries all thought it was unlikely. Specifically, the Eastern Fleet did not rescue the Spanish Imperial Navy soldiers who fell into the sea, and in the places they stopped, they only replenished supplies without doing any trade.

Obviously, this is a fighting fleet.

From a long time ago, the elders of the European countries had heard that Portugal was frantically expanding colonies in the East and boldly launching constant tests and even wars against the mysterious superpower.

Since then, the elders have been worried that Portugal’s actions would bring danger to the European continent. Now it seems that “Portugal has disturbed the Oriental Dragon.”

The Eastern Fleet was still sailing westward. The elders did not know and could not guess what the Eastern Fleet’s purpose was, but it did not affect the reminder to their own king.

“Please be on high alert against the Eastern Fleet. If necessary, please temporarily put aside all disputes between the enemy and us on the mainland, including but not limited to political and religious power, territorial issues, racial and group hatred, etc., and face the possible ‘yellow peril’ together.”

From the Qin Dynasty in the East and the “Great Qin” in the West, two similar time periods, people from the East and the West had exchanges and contacts. On the European continent, there has always been a view that the East is a threat to the West and that the countries on the European continent should unite to deal with the East.

The evidence is three major events.

The first event occurred 1,200 years ago: in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the Huns split into the Northern Huns and the Southern Huns.

The Eastern Han Dynasty defeated the Northern Huns, forcing some of them to migrate westward, while the Southern Huns surrendered and became its vassal.

Many elders in Europe believed that the Northern Huns who migrated westward were the Huns who came from the East. These Huns who migrated to Europe continued to conquer the Germanic people and the Eastern Roman Empire, forcing the Germanic people to migrate south. The Germanic people who migrated south eventually destroyed the Western Roman Empire.

The second event occurred five hundred years ago: During the Sui Dynasty, the Turks split into Eastern Turks and Western Turks, both of which were successively destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, and some Western Turkic tribes moved westward.

The conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire by the Turks who migrated to West Asia triggered the Crusades, and eventually the Ottoman Empire established by the Turks destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire.

The third event took place three hundred years ago: After the Yuan Dynasty captured Budapest during its second westward expedition, the vanguard attacked Neustadt near Vienna, and the main force crossed the Danube and captured the city of Gran.

Later, news of the death of Great Khan Ogedei came, and the commander-in-chief Batu withdrew his troops and returned east due to the issue of succession to the Khanate.

But this time the Yuan army’s westward expedition caused panic on the European continent.

The elders of various countries in Europe, either out of public spirit or prejudice, all sent letters expressing their thoughts to the royal family, parliament, and the Vatican.

However, most of the letters fell on deaf ears. Members of the royal family, nobles in the House of Lords, members of the House of Commons, and clergymen of the Vatican were too busy working for their own interests and did not care about the interests of the mainland.

As for the interests of their own countries, just like Portugal’s expansion of colonies in the East, the European continent did not believe that Portugal could cross thousands of miles to open the door to the East, nor did they believe that the Eastern Fleet could cross thousands of miles to open the doors of the countries in the European continent. The dignitaries disdained the warnings of the elders, and to explain it with an Eastern idiom, that is “worrying about nothing”!
But what all Europeans did not expect was that when the Eastern Fleet sailed from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean, the Kingdom of Portugal immediately announced its allegiance to the East!

A miracle has arrived!

The arrival of the First Treasure Ship Fleet made Bernard Dayon, Duke of Jinhua, and Duke Alfonso the Younger realize that a miracle had happened.

In addition, Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief Lu Bing also sent a message from the Holy Roman Empire, reminding the two that since it was not easy to peacefully force the Portuguese royal family, nobles, and clergy to hand over power, they might as well change their thinking and take advantage of the First Treasure Fleet passing through Portugal to plan a violent change.

In simple terms, since good negotiations could not solve the problem, then we would use strong measures, relying on internal and external cooperation to forcibly incorporate the Kingdom of Portugal into the overseas territory of the Ming Dynasty and establish a special province.

After seeing the letter from the Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Jinhua immediately showed it to the young Duke Alfonso. In response to the Commander-in-Chief’s proposal, the two had a heated discussion.

Ultimately, it was believed that the Kingdom of Portugal could be conquered peacefully. Not only would violent change carry the risk of failure, but even if it succeeded, the court would have to put a lot of effort into governance to appease the people.

In addition, Alfonso Jr. was extremely reluctant to undergo violent change. If he was merely a guide in the peaceful evolution, he would be a complete traitor to Portugal if he joined forces with the outside world in the violent change.

Although it is true that “success is called revolution, failure is called rebellion”, it is not a good idea to say it.

However, Lu Bing’s letter also gave Dayong and Alfonso Jr. “inspiration”.

Since it is impossible to make the Grand Council ask Portugal to hand over the royal power to the Ming Dynasty from top to bottom, then what about from bottom to top?
Political power comes from military power.

If political power cannot be fought for, then fight for military power.

The Afonso family had deep ties with the Portuguese military and had always had a good relationship with them. So Afonso the Younger personally visited his father’s old friends and subordinates, and passed on the news that the Eastern Navy was about to arrive in the Kingdom of Portugal to those he trusted.

The speed of transmitting news on land is much faster than that on sea. The news that the mysterious Eastern Fleet destroyed the Spanish Empire’s Treasure Fleet in one battle in the Mediterranean Battle had long been known to the Portuguese military.

Now, knowing the threats and promises of Alfonso the Younger, Marcelo, the supreme commander of Portugal, convened a secret meeting in the Lisbon military camp on a rainy night without the knowledge of the royal family, parliament and the Vatican, attended by all officers above the rank of lieutenant.

Before the secret meeting began, only a few people guessed Marcello’s thoughts, but those people were all old friends of the Alfonso family, and they made their guesses based on previous conversations.

The vast majority of Portuguese officers of all ranks, upper, middle and lower, received the order in confusion and came to Lisbon to attend this secret meeting. After the participants arrived, Marcelo directly ordered the blockade of entry and exit to the Lisbon military camp.

Without Marcello’s order, no one, not even Marcello himself, could leave the barracks.

This strange order was enough to prove Marcello’s determination.

The principle of “if things are kept secret, they will be successful, while if things are leaked, they will fail” is not only true in the East, but also in the West.

Marcelo’s unusual behavior caused anxiety among the Portuguese officers. Fortunately, Marcelo had a very high prestige in the military and suppressed all the unrest.

After bringing the situation under control, Marcelo explained to all officers the current state of internal and external troubles in the Kingdom of Portugal, and explicitly stated the possibility that the royal family, parliament, and church might surrender to their neighboring enemy, the Spanish Empire.

In an instant, the Portuguese officers burst into anger.

The hatred between Portugal and Spain has a long history. In the past, the two countries, located on the Iberian Peninsula, have always had fights and wars on the border. It can be said that the border between the two countries is covered with the blood of soldiers from both countries.

It is no exaggeration to say that every inch of land is stained with blood.

In order to defend (expand) the kingdom’s territory, the Portuguese military did everything they could, but they did not expect that the royal family, nobles, and clergy who were high above them would “betray” them.

Many positions in the military are hereditary, especially for officers. The problem of hereditary succession is even more serious. This resulted in many officers’ relatives, fathers, and even ancestors dying at the hands of the enemy during the previous wars between Portugal and Spain.

National hatred and family feuds were intertwined. The Portuguese officers hated the Spanish Empire, but they hated the royal family, parliament, and church even more for not treating the military as human beings.

There is no doubt that if Marcelo raises his arm at this time, the Portuguese military will immediately lead its troops to attack the capital Lisbon and kill those who want to betray the military.

But Marcello remained calm and continued to talk about the current power of the Spanish Empire. It was as if a basin of cold water was poured on the heads of all the officers.

If the Spanish Empire attacked the Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal’s defeat would be inevitable given the national strength and military power of the two countries.

A feeling of unwillingness spread in the military camp.

At this moment, Marcello mentioned the mysterious Eastern power, the Mediterranean battle that took place not long ago, and the wealth and strength of the Eastern power. Marcello, who had just extinguished the flames in the officers’ hearts, rekindled the flames in their hearts with his own hands.

If the kingdom’s defeat was inevitable, what should the Portuguese military, which could not sit idly by, do?
In response to Marcello’s question, the officers roared from the bottom of their hearts, “Find hope for the kingdom’s survival!”

Why should they let the royal family, the nobility and the clergy control their destiny? Can’t they control the destiny of the royal family, the nobility and the clergy in turn?
If we have to join another country, is the Spanish Empire the only option?
The East, the big country, might be more appropriate.

When Marcello told the Portuguese officers that the Eastern Fleet was about to arrive in the Kingdom of Portugal, they immediately thought of what to do!
Starting from the Lisbon military camp, the military launched an operation, taking advantage of the cover of night to occupy the royal palace, churches, schools, and aristocratic estates, and controlled members of the royal family, nobles, clergy, parliamentarians, and other major transportation routes.

The change was successful, and Marcello immediately announced to all citizens that the Kingdom of Portugal would become a special province of the great Eastern power.

After dawn, the people who learned the news were extremely excited and flocked to the streets to cheer and celebrate.

They all held carnations in their hands, and when they saw soldiers on the street they would rush up to them and pin these bright red flowers on them to show their gratitude.

Soon, the soldiers on guard and patrol were all wearing carnations, and even the barrels of their guns had flowers stuck on them.

Therefore, this revolution, in which only four people died, is affectionately called the “Dianthus Revolution.”

The European continent was the first to enter the Age of Navigation, the first to explore the East as a maritime overlord, but also the first to surrender to the East!

When the two pieces of news, namely, the destruction of the Treasure Fleet by the Eastern Fleet and the annexation of the Kingdom of Portugal to the East, reached the Spanish Empire, it immediately caused an uproar within the empire, and all kinds of rumors and legends spread like wildfire!

(End of this chapter)