Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 381 Philip II: Quickly go to the East and ask Duke Medinaceli for help!
Just when Wang Cheng encountered an unexpected incident that prevented the First Island Chain project from being implemented as planned.

The news of his capture of Manila spread like wildfire, reaching the other side of the world.

The Escorial Monastery, the capital of the Eastern Franco Empire.

Wearing an aluminum "Supreme Crown," Philip II sat at his desk, dealing with a vast array of affairs from across the British Empire.

As a monarch, he was very diligent, spending a great deal of time each day reviewing reports and petitions from all over the empire and making decisions personally.

This monarch, who ruled a vast maritime empire, believed that only he himself could shoulder the responsibility of ruling the entire empire, and that if these matters were left to the nobles and lords, they would only mess everything up.

Picking up a document from the New World from the table, his brow suddenly seemed to be etched with several deep lines.

"Your Majesty, the grand fleet of treasures stationed in the New World will set sail from the Caribbean Sea to return home next spring, but we have some unexpected circumstances that we need to report to you."

According to the lunar calendar of Da Zhao, it is still the end of October, but according to the Gregorian calendar, it is already the beginning of December, and the return of the treasure fleet, which is scheduled for the beginning of next year, is not far away.

The New World Commission reported to him that many important events had recently occurred in the New World colonies.

"Britannia slave traders brought in many black slaves from the Black Continent, and the major plantations competed to buy them. A considerable portion of the colonies' gold and silver was consumed here."

But work efficiency did improve. It would have been even better if those slave traders hadn't castrated the slaves prematurely, so we could have bred our own slaves later.
In addition to slave ships, the number of pirate ships in the Caribbean is also growing rapidly, increasing by at least 30 percent last month alone.

Pirates led by Blackbeard Edward Teach and his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, are gathering, and intelligence suggests they may well attack the treasure fleet.
The worst news is that the colonial treasury was robbed in just seven minutes, and the "Leon's Universal Legendary Shipbuilding Techniques" has been confirmed to have been leaked to the black market in Pirate City, Bahamas.

Recently, pirates have been frequently using bloody methods to plunder merchant ships, seemingly to increase the legendary status of their flagships and prepare for creating a legend.

We suspect that the Level 0 artifact, the "Maya Golden City," which was transported back home with the treasure fleet, may become a target for many powerful pirates.

The New World did not bring Philip II any good news.

Leon's "Universal Legendary Shipbuilding Technology" was completed at the beginning of this year and was distributed to the Empire's major core shipyards with the necessary conditions for trial implementation.

As one of the main overseas sources of level zero artifacts for the Franco Empire, the New World naturally received a share as well.

At the very least, the governors of various regions should be informed of what kind of relics meet the shipbuilding standards, and targeted collection should be carried out accordingly.

At this time, the native [Holy Trinity] is waiting for a suitable level 0 artifact to be paired.

It should be noted that this first-class battleship was the largest warship in the entire Age of Sail, with four gun decks and an unprecedented 140 cannons!
It can be said to be the world's number one, having become a powerful first-class relic and a near-legendary warship shortly after its creation.

Shipwrights and alchemists hoped to achieve a mystical match between the Mayan Golden City and the Holy Trinity.

If the legendary shipbuilding technique is successfully verified, one of Leon's disciples can even be promoted to a higher rank.

"Damn pirates!"

Philip II cursed angrily and prepared to send more men to ensure the safe return of this level zero relic.

But when he picked up the quill pen to write, he suddenly forgot how to write the character.

Forgot how to spell even the simplest word, the pen tip falls, but it's like a child's scribbles, leaving meaningless circles on the paper.

This most sophisticated power machine seems to have inadvertently developed rust.

"His Majesty."

Philip II was jolted awake when his secretary respectfully reminded him in a low voice.

He changed to a new sheet of paper and quickly rewrote his decree.

When he looked up again, he saw his half-brother, Don Juan, a high-ranking naval admiral and "Tide Knight," who had been waiting silently for who knows how long.

He rubbed his temples, looking somewhat tired.

"It's Juan. I hope you can bring me some good news."

Tang Juan secretly withdrew his covetous gaze from the [Supreme Crown] on his elder brother's head, and bowed respectfully, placing his hand on his chest:

"My lord, I have brought good news."

The astrologer has already divined the most suitable time to venture into the 'Gates of Hell'.

Six days later, on the winter solstice according to the Eastern Twenty-Four Solar Terms, the Big Dipper points to the Zi direction, and the sun's ecliptic longitude reaches 270°.

On this day, the Great Zhao Dynasty held sacrifices to Heaven and ancestors. The emperor offered sacrifices to Heaven, while commoners paid homage to their elders.

There is also a saying that "the winter solstice is as important as the New Year," which is said to be a good time for the Great Zhao Dynasty to carry out water conservancy projects, and also one of the times when the power of the Mountain and Sea Curses is strongest.

Tang Hu'an explained the significance of this solar term in detail to his elder brother.

The winter solstice is a solar term that reflects the direct movement of the sun's rays. On this day, the sun reaches its southernmost point and its rays shine directly on the Tropic of Capricorn.

Then the point of direct sunlight begins to return northward, and the winter solstice becomes the turning point of "the sun's journey from south to north and back again." After that, the sun's altitude rises and the daylight hours in various parts of the Northern Hemisphere gradually increase.

"In the sixty-four vassal states of the Showa era, the winter solstice was celebrated in various ways."

"If Your Excellency Leon and your companions enter the 'Gates of Hell' at this time, they can use the powerful willpower and rising yang energy of the Eastern nations to suppress the dangers beyond the gates and maximize their harvest of high-quality red potion raw materials."

The Frankish people need astrologers to calculate the appropriate timing, but the various forces near Shenzhou do not, which is common sense.

Emperor Shaozhi ordered the treasure ship fleet to set sail within a specified time, precisely to meet this deadline.

After Don Juan finished speaking, he noticed that Philip II's eyes were somewhat vacant, a trickle of saliva dribbled from the corner of his mouth, and he murmured a question:

"Winter what?" "Winter Solstice!"

"What do you mean by 'to'?"

"It is the winter solstice, Your Majesty."

Don Juan wondered, is the pronunciation of this word really that difficult?
Bang!
At that moment, the study door was suddenly pushed open, and Archbishop Granville, the religious advisor and chief judge of the inquisition, rushed in, disregarding etiquette and offense, holding up a letter.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. Archbishop Francis Xavier of the East Bharata Diocese has just sent word."

The empire's Manila colony was conquered by the expeditionary force of the Great Zhao Dynasty.

From Governor Miguel down, our garrison, all our expatriates, our Bangbangya servants, and our entire tribe were all slaughtered, not a single one was spared!
Lord Xavier's spirit descended, but was ambushed and severely wounded by several living spirits.

Upon hearing this, Admiral Don Juan's face turned pale instantly.
"What?! Archbishop, say that again!"

Philip II's previously slightly dazed gaze sharpened again.

His intermittent amnesia lasted only a few breaths, and occurred at most once or twice a day during this period, without alerting any princes or ministers, including himself.

He took the letter from Cardinal Granville and quickly scanned it.

The weather above the Escorial Monastery darkened along with his mood.

Woo woo woo.
Before long, a heavy snowfall began to fall on the ground.

He looked at his two trusted ministers:

"With the loss of the Manila colony, we lost our most important trading port in the Far East and a steady stream of goods from the East."

With one of the three strategic pillars missing, the empire can no longer support its strategic goals in the South Seas, nor can it guarantee a stable supply of the Red Elixir!
However, pursuing the responsibility of the deceased is now futile. Declaring war on Da Zhao as planned and retaliating with the evil spirit [smallpox virus] can be postponed.

The most urgent task is to find a way to remedy the situation, prioritizing ensuring that the exploration of the 'Gates of Hell' will proceed smoothly six days from now.

Without any prompting, a name automatically came to everyone's mind:
"The new Duke of Medinaceli!"

Don Juan firmly believed that they still possessed enormous interests in the Far East and a crucial source of medicine necessary for achieving immortality.

If the Eastern Sea Kingdom is willing to serve the Empire, it can fill the military vacuum left by Amakusa Shiro and the failure of the colonies, becoming an important fulcrum of the Far East strategy.

Its strategic value is even greater than that of the Haojing, which was built within the Great Zhao Kingdom.

Especially at this critical moment when Manila fell, the Franco Empire lost an important strategic foothold, and the importance of Duke Medinaceli, the only imperial noble in the Far East, rose sharply!
Even if they couldn't help them reclaim the colonies, their role in coordinating with subsequent reinforcements to ensure unimpeded east-west shipping routes and logistical support for personnel was still crucial.

So Tang Juan quickly said:
"Your Majesty, the two-way mirror that enables instant communication was sent to the Eastern Sea Kingdom a long time ago. How have your communication with that duke been during this time?"

Philip II waved his hand dismissively:
"I will contact him as soon as possible."

The two high-ranking officials of the empire exchanged a glance, realizing that Philip II did not want to disclose the details to the public, and tactfully took their leave.

Once the two had left, the second-rank [Crown Knight] unleashed his spiritual power, his senses instantly filling the entire monastery, where he saw the busy imperial officials under his command.

Aside from nobles of all ranks and their blood relatives, the rest were church clergy. There were not many who were purely imperial officials; everyone had their own selfish motives and interests.

Deep frown lines:

"A bloated imperial bureaucracy, and nobles of all ranks who wield enormous power to divide the entire empire into mosaics."

They possessed private armies, administrative systems, and judicial powers on their own territories, and many dared to openly defy royal orders; the nobles of Aragon and the Netherlands were typical examples.

As the supreme ruler of the empire, I don't even have a way to effectively collect taxes on their territories.
This is absolutely ridiculous!

Especially after hearing a series of bad news today, Philip II blamed the incompetence of the executors.

He desperately desires to elevate his authority, the "royal power," to its ultimate form, the "imperial power"!
More than ever, they wanted to embark on that path of advancement that, even without seeking Roman legitimacy, could potentially lead to the highest rank of First Rank.

Philip II's eyes revealed his deepest, most hidden ambition:

"The troubles of the great nobles have become an imminent threat to the empire's survival and the greatest obstacle to my ascension to the highest position."

Only centralized states can maintain a large standing army, build a truly invincible fleet, and fight enemies on multiple fronts simultaneously.

But how can centralized power be achieved? Western countries have no experience to draw upon.

He took out a two-way mirror and connected it to another mirror in the distant East Sea Kingdom.

Seeing the young king opposite him, dressed in a black royal robe and with purple aura around his eyebrows, he felt that if it weren't for the [Supreme Crown] on his head, the other party would probably have a more regal appearance than himself.

He frowned slightly, and instead of mentioning the failure of the Manila colony in his first sentence, he asked another question:
"Your Majesty, I need your profound knowledge to solve my problems."

Last time we talked about the empires' efforts to weaken the power of regional warlords and eliminate the powerful clans that had ruled for millennia in Chinese history. Now I'd like to hear your specific suggestions for implementation.

Wang Cheng, who was opposite him, was clearly already familiar with him, and nodded upon hearing this:

"I know you have always been wary of those powerful nobles, and the reason you asked me for advice is because I have no business dealings with the domestic noble circles."

So I'll be frank: the Frankish Empire is indeed suffering from a ailment that requires a dose of traditional Chinese medicine.

"What medicine?"

Wang Cheng smiled mysteriously:
"Has Your Majesty ever heard of the imperial examination system? You could also call it the civil service examination system."

(End of this chapter)