1599 Spring
Morocco took Ottoman's side and clashed with the Holy League led by Spain in Algeria, resulting in Spain to withdraw from Algiers, making the situation worse for the Crusade.
Meanwhile, in the Far East, a civil war broke up in Japan. It was a clash of two clans that took down Toyotomi - the Shimadzu Clan and the Tokugawa Clan. The East India Company took the former's side, since they were more trustworthy, hiding the Christians and the merchants of the company from the Toyotomi's fury at the beginning, while the latter remained neutral till the final moment and revolted suddenly against the Toyotomi.
1599 Summer
"My dear brother Eduardo, please help us. Send your strongest army and swiftest navy to the crusade. Let's fight against the Muslims together!"
And that was Felipe III's message. Although I've lent 40 million Ducats worth of money, war supplies and battleships to Spain and was half-participating in the war, this time, he wanted my troops in the battle as well.
I've again asked the Congress to vote on this matter, and finally at the third attempt, with an overwhelming majority they voted 'Aye'
The next day, I officially declared war on the Ottomans and its' allies - Morocco, for instance. From then, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Netherlands'(* The United Kingdom for short from now. I – Edward VII – inherited England and Wales from my mother, Mary I and received the Netherlands from my father, Felipe II. And I’ve conquered Ireland, Scotland and …)
privateers and Royal Navy burned the coastlines of Morocco. Several ports of Morocco were burned, and Muslims were captured as slaves and sent to the North American colonies by the West India Company.
Meanwhile, the Ming (*Chinese Dynasty at that time.) officially declared a victory of the Imjin war. The East India Company asked the Ming - which is a superpower in the Far East and has a huge influence on Southeast Asia - to allow them to occupy the Tsushima Island, an Island which they seized during the Imjin War.
But, thanks to Joseon (*Korean Dynasty at that time.)'s objection, it was rejected. Instead, the East India Company were given the Taiwan Island - a right to establish branches and forts and a right to pioneer at Taiwan, to be exact.
Also, although Joseon blocked the East India Company to "officially" occupy the Tsushima Island since they couldn't drive the East India Company's private army and its' merchants away, it was "unofficially" under the East India Company's rule.
1599 Fall
The Shimadzu Clan defeated the Tokugawa Clan in the Japanese Civil War, and the head of the clan became the new Shogun (*Regent of Japan), establishing its' HQ at Kyoto. Shimadzu Bakuhu (*The local word for samurai clan HQ) allowed the East India Company to freely establish branches in all over Japan, repaying their debt to the Company.
However, they "restricted" the acts of the missionaries of the Society of the Jesus's England Branch, out of fear that Christianity will topple their caste system and due to objections from the local shamans and Buddhist monks.
In reality, since it was not "forbidden", but "restricted", the missionaries still had a space to maneuver.
1599 Winter
The East India Company established several ports in Taiwan and stationed their private army. Although there were resistances from the local tribe kingdoms, they followed the same course just like Native Americans in North and South America. However, since they weren't classified as civilians according to the Catholic Church, they became slaves and forced to work in plantations.
Meanwhile, Casablanca, the largest port city of Morocco, which was in charge of Morocco's Atlantic trade, was burned down at the hands of Alliance of United Kingdom's privateers, Royal Navy and Spain's Armada. The pirates of the United Kingdom burned Casablanca into ashes and looted as much as they can, and took thousands as slaves.
"Fuck those English and Dutch pirates! They're not interested in the crusade, but in money and slave only!"
That's how the Spanish soldiers criticized my pirates and the Royal Navy.
'So what? If it was original history, with Elizabeth I becoming the Queen of England, you would have died in their hands!'
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Anyway, after I got permission from the Congress, I sent those slaves to both North American colonies and the Cape Town - which was near the Cape of Good Hope that the West India Company was pioneering in Africa. During the long voyage, most of them died and barely 1,000 arrived at their destinations.
1600 Winter (January-February)
At the Far East, the Shimadzu Bakuhu negotiated with Ming, officially ending the Imjin War. Shimadzu Bakuhu attributed all the responsibilities to the Toyotomi Clan – the previous regime of Japan which started the war – and sent Toyotomi and his family’s corpse to Joseon. Joseon had the corpses’ head beheaded from the bodies and hanged it on the Seoul (*The capital of Joseon and current Korea)’s castle’s wall for over a decade.
Also, the East India Company officially granted the right to rule the Tsushima Island at the negotiation with the Shimadzu Bakuhu. Edward, the head of the Japanese branch of the East India Company was appointed as a feudal lord (*Daimyo in their words) of the island. After that, the East India Company wasted no time in transforming the Tsushima Island into a trade hub of a triangular trade between Joseon, Japan, and Ming.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales and my eldest son Richard was shot with an arrow during the hunt. Luckily, it missed his vital spot, hitting his left hand. But his wound got inflated and he had to be in bed for a whole month. I had a slight clue of who the culprit was, but since I had enough on my plates even without that, I just increased the guards of the palace instead of investigating this matter further.
1600 Spring
The last city of Morocco, Rabat, was burned into ashes. A city, which was home to thousands, turned into a ruin that less than 100 living in just a week. Since I’ve heard that there’s a conflict between settlers and the Muslim slaves in North America colonies, I’ve ordered the new slaves to be sold in the Mediterranean world - like Venice, for instance.
Since there was no port left to burn in the Atlantic side of Morocco, I’ve received the freedom of navigation from Spain. And I’ve ordered the Royal Navy and the privateers of the West India Company to burn all the port cities of the Mediterranean side of Morocco and Algeria.
“Long live King Edward VII!”
“Yeah!!! Literally, money is growing on trees, thanks to Muslim slaves trade!”
“…I hereby grant the West India Company the official right to declare war”
“Hooray!!!” “Long live, your majesty!” “Yeah, we can loot whatever we want, even in the Mediterranean Sea now!”
The lootings of the privateers of the West India Company, was of course, much serious than that of the Armada and the Royal Navy.
By that time, the Moroccans of the coastlines were begging to the Spanish
“Save us!”
“Please! Y…yes, we’ll be baptized and become Christians!”
“Don’t let those English take us as slaves! We’ll be royal to you and Jesus Christ from now on!”
It was a matter of shot or poison to them. The Spanish, on one hand, massacre Imams (*Muslim priests) and forcing the locals to convert into Catholic and try to rule the land they’ve conquered. The English, on the other hand, massacre everyone who resists, and captures the rest and sell them as slaves. So, they had no choice.
Even I had to warn the West India Company, since, by that time, it was even kidnapping the Moroccans who were baptized and converted into Catholic and sold them as slaves, claiming they were Muslims.
“Enough! Don’t do things that would be a disgrace to the Holy Father!”
“…Understood, your majesty.”
So, I gave a decree and restricted the West India Company for a while.
At the same time, my daughter-in-law and the Duchess of Cornwall Emilia was pregnant.
‘I…becoming a grandfather? Unbelievable. Well, it’s about time.’
So, I gave pardon to all prisoners in the United Kingdom but hid the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall into a shelter for protection.
1600 Summer
The Spanish army conquered the Fes, the capital city of Morocco. The Sultan managed to escape, but the command system that would control the entire army of the kingdom was crashed. Thanks to that, the private army of the West India Company swept into the inland of Morocco, kidnapping natives who were surely Muslims and sold them as slaves.
By that time, with the war extending and the wealth of the Mediterranean countries dwindling, I tried to sell them to the Ottomans with the excuse of a prisoner trade.
But since the Ottomans weren’t that eager, I ordered them to be sold at my kingdom’s coal mines. Because at that time, with the growth of manufacturing factories the demand of the coals which are used to run the braziers were surging.
‘Yeah, who cares? Even the Papal State didn’t say no to Muslims being treated as slaves. And also, in the original history, the Barbary pirates kidnapped the Europeans and sold them as slaves! I’m not Lincoln or Wilberforce, you know.’
In the end, the local feudal lords of Morocco and free city dwellers tried to surrender to Spain, with the hope of escaping from the hands of the private armies of the West India Company. But then, the West India Company hired the local bandits – who were mostly Berbers or sub-Saharan Africans – and killed the messengers of the local feudal lords and free cities, seizing their cargo and burning the official surrender document.
At this point, my half-brother and king of Spain, Felipe III, who originally asked for my help a year ago in 1599 lamented
“What’s the difference between those English and Dutch barbarians and the Moors?”
And I answered him
“My dear brother, me and my people are the descendants of the Vikings.”
1600 Fall
The Holy League recaptured Algiers. The Royal Navy and the privateers of the West India Company tried to burn the city and capture the civilians to sell them as slaves, but the Spanish army and Armada blocked them and it failed.
In the end, the Ottomans suggested a peace treaty to Spain, under the condition of Tunisia’s return to Naples and independence of Morocco. And Felipe III betrayed the Holy Roman Empire and accepted that condition. The reason? He couldn’t withhold the national debt that was increasing every second.
With the ally Spain stepping out, there was no reason that the United Kingdom had to ‘fight’ with the Muslims, but there was a reason to ‘loot’ them. So, instead of declaring the end of the war and stepping out, the Royal Navy and the privateers of the West India Company swept the entire Western Mediterranean and literally made the coastline into ashes.
At the 2nd year of the war, the number of slaves that were traded was over 50,000 and reaching almost 100,000. Congress was more than pleased with this new slave trade and looting industry and wanted it to be continued.
1600 Winter
With the Ottoman’s Navy coming to the Western Mediterranean and without Spain’s army, the local Muslims fought back by organizing militias and guerillas, making the situation difficult. So, I’ve withdrawn from the war against the Ottomans with unconditional peace and asked the Spain, which withdrew earlier without consulting its’ allies (* The United Kingdom and Holy Roman Empire.) to pay back 10 million Ducat, which was 1/4 of what the United Kingdom has lent them so far.
But Spain didn’t have a single cent and Felipe III announced another default, just like his father – Felipe II – did. The stock markets of Amsterdam and London crashed, which was saved by putting the United Kingdom’s Royal money and the bankers of the United Kingdom ground their teeth to the Spanish.
“…I’ve had it with Spain! I hereby claim that the Philippines we held as a warrant from Spain for lending 30 million Ducats in 1597 is now officially United Kingdom’s territory! And the East India Company will be in charge of that!”
“…It shall be done, your majesty.”
Spain went bananas on that seizure, and diplomatic relations between Spain and the United Kingdom got worse day by day.
1601 Winter (January- February)
A boy was born between the Prince of Wales, Richard – my eldest son – and the Duchess of Cornwall, Emilia – my daughter-in-law and the younger sister of Prince of Orange, Maurice.
“Hahaha…Now I’m a grandfather? I hereby grant the Duke of Cambridge – eldest son of Prince of Wales – the name ‘Henry.’”
“…Thank you, f…I mean, your majesty!”
1 week later, a maid who was designated as nanny tried to murder the Duke of Cambridge (Henry) by suffocating him with a pillow but caught in the act. She killed herself by throwing herself on the spears of the guards who came to catch her.
I didn’t blame the guards who killed the maid unintentionally. Why? First, it was not their fault. Second, the culprit was too obvious.
The maid was a younger sister – lovechild to be exact – of a Charlotte of Glasgow.
Since Charlotte of Glasgow was Elizabeth’s – not Elizabeth I in the original history, but a daughter of mine and my late 1st wife, Maria of Austria. She’s also the current queen of France and wife of Henry IV – closest maiden (the daughter of Elizabeth’s nanny), it’s clear that a bitch by the name of Elizabeth is behind all this.
Yes…It’s time for revenge and to teach that bitch a lesson.