1595 Summer

A new issue came from the Far East to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Netherlands. (*My kingdom. I’ve inherited England from my mother, Mary I and received the Netherlands from my father, Felipe II. And I’ve received Calais from Henry for taking his side during the French Civil war and also acquired Jakarta, New York, Malacca, Sri Lanka, Macau, Goa from Felipe II as a prince of Portugal.) The East India Company’s 2 main trading partners – Ming (*Chinese Dynasty at that time.) and Japan were in a battle in a Korean peninsula (*Joseon Dynasty at that time.). So, several parties involved in the Far East all expressed their opinion on which side the kingdom should take to get the most benefit from this war.

“Your majesty. We must help Japan to conquer the Chinese Continent and spread Christianity!”

That’s what missionaries of the England Branch of Society of Jesus (* England is the Catholic nation in this timeline, thanks to me, who is a son of Mary I and Felipe II.) claimed.

“Bullshit! We’ll lose Macau if we fight with Ming! We should take the Ming’s side, your majesty!”

The native Portuguese of Macau, on the other hand, suggested that we should take China’s side, out of fear of getting kicked out of Macau.

“…Isn’t it just like Europe, your majesty? We only need to sell weapons on both sides and earn money, and spill no blood! That would be most simple and convenient!”

And that’s what the English merchants proposed.

“No, you idiots! Your majesty, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance! We should occupy Taiwan and make it as a colony of the East India Company!”

However, the Dutch merchant insisted that we should seize Taiwan at this chaos.

‘Shut up, all you fool. You’re all too narrow-sighted! I didn’t have a girlfriend from Hong Kong and took several Far East history lessons for nothing in the past life, you know.’

So, I answered like this.

“…As far as I know, the reason that Portugal could rule Macau and Malacca was that they had a treaty with Ming. ‘Portugal will fight against the Japanese pirates along with the Ming Navy in exchange for ruling Macau and Malacca.’ Even if the Ming is heretic nation, a promise is a promise. Am I wrong?”

“B…But, your majesty! That would leave our fellow Christians in Japan in pain!”

“Visit the Shimadzu Clan in Kyushu, the Far West island in the Japan Isles. Suggest them we would help conquer the Kyushu Island. Also, visit the Tokugawa Clan in Edo (*Now Tokyo) and tell them we would help them become the Shogun. (*The regent of Japan) Finally, visit Joseon Dynasty, however, not only us but also with a messenger from the Ming and ask them to open one port for free trade, just like Macau in China and Dejima in Japan."

“…Forgive our ignorance your majesty, but why should we visit three parties and provoke a civil war in Japan? Isn’t it a too complicated strategy and it might fail!”

“…Hahaha! The current Shogun – I mean regent of Japan - is neither a noble nor a far descendant of the Japanese emperor. He was once a serf but rose to power with a bit of sheer luck and wit. So, many other feudal lords of Japan, like the Shimadzu Clan and Tokugawa Clan, all hate him and try to stab him in the back if he has a weakness and to steal his position. And that’s why he tried a gamble of conquering the Joseon and Ming! Also, he’s not that friendly to Christians, neither!”

“In short, a serf became a Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire and is having a Crusade with the Ottomans to keep his head! Why should we let that maniac heretic become the Alexander of the Far East? We should help the other nations and change Japan’s regime into a more friendly one!”

“…Your majesty, how do you know the situation of the Far East so well?”

“…I am not only the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Netherlands (*United Kingdom for short), but also the prince of Portugal! How can I not study the lands that I should rule?”

“…Then, we’ll only follow your decision, your majesty.”

The UK’s parliament and the previous four parties were perplexed but persuaded at my words and that became the policy of the East India Company.

1596 Spring

The messengers from the East India Company asked the Ming to allow them to fight against Japan. However, the Ming replied

“Thank you for your hospitality, however, we’re currently having a peace treaty with Japan, so it’s unnecessary.”

So, the participation at the Imjin War (*War of Japan vs Joseon and Ming during 1592-1598) was postponed for the moment.

1596 Fall

In Keresztes, Hungary, the Ottoman army which was led by the Sultan himself and the Crusade of the Holy Roman Empire clashed with each other. At this battle, the Crusade lost. Although they were in the lead in an earlier battle, they were blinded by looting and so they were crushed by the Sultan’s cavalries which attacked from their side.

The Ottomans quickly chased the Crusade and tried to annihilate them, but at that moment, Spain’s Holy League which just arrived from Tunisia surrounded the Crete. The marines of Venice and Naples quickly landed at the Crete. At the sight of the Christian Navy at their metropolitan area in the Greece coastlines, the Ottomans wavered. In the end, the Ottomans had to give up their chase and put defense troops in the Greece coastlines and gathered their fleets to recapture the Crete.

Meanwhile, thanks to Ming’s pressure, the hermit kingdom Joseon allowed the East India Company to open its’ branch in Mokpo, the southwest port city in the Korean peninsula. In the Mokpo branch, there were 10 fluyt ships and 1,600 sailors.

“Are you fucking me? Weren’t we – Japan and the East India Company – friends? How could you betray me?!?!”

That’s what Toyotomi, the Shogun(*Regent) of Japan exclaimed to the Head of the Japanese Branch of the East India Company, after summoning him to Osaka – which was his feud.

However, the Head of the Japanese Branch of the East India Company replied

“Your highness. Japan was just a trading partner, so the East India Company isn’t responsible for anything besides buying and selling goods with Japan. However, we had a treaty with Ming that we’ll fight against the Japanese pirates for the price of leasing Macau. So, we didn’t break any promise or agreement.”

At his words, Toyotomi shouted

“Fuck you! From this point, I’ll officially ban Christianity and exile all the Western merchants from Japan!”

So, after escaping from Osaka, the Head of the Japanese Branch of the East India Company secretly contacted the Shimadzu Clan and the Tokugawa Clan just as I ordered previously. It was a half success. The Tokugawa Clan didn’t give any answer, but the Shimadzu Clan was more than delighted, promising to hide the merchants of the East India Company and Christians in their feud.

1597 Spring

The Holy League was devasted by the surprise attack of the Ottoman navy. The damage was serious since the countries making up the Holy League were in a quarrel of which country should occupy the Crete after the war is over and was not taking precautions against the Ottoman’s attack.

So, the Holy League’s navy was stuck ports in Crete, Sicily, and Dalmatia and the Ottoman navy retook the control of the Mediterranean Sea. However, the Ottoman navy suffered a great loss at the last attack, so they just ended up surrounding the Crete.

At the same time, my eldest son Richard, the crown prince had a coming-of-age ceremony. He was officially granted the title of Prince of Wales.

I told him

“Fulfill your duty as the crown prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Netherlands.”

But he answered weakly

“Fath…, I mean your majesty? Can’t I fulfill my duty at Oxford University as a scholar?”

‘How disappointing. You are neither Gladstone nor Wilson, my boy. But since he just became adult, I’ll just have to wait and see.’

1597 Summer

Toyotomi reattacked Joseon, with the peace treaty being failed. At this attack, Shimadzu Clan proclaimed to not send troops but only to supply goods to the Japanese army, just like the Tokugawa Clan does, with the excuse of their head being ill. Although Toyotomi smelled something fishy, he postponed their punishment until the war is over.

At the Japanese branch’s report that the Japanese navy has left Japan, the East India Company summoned all the privateers at their hands. With the Mokpo’s fluyt which was positioned last year and the Portuguese, English, and Dutch’s armed vessels put together, there were 40 ships in total.

When the East India Company alerted the Japanese re-invasion news to the headquarters of the Ming army HQ, they were only trying to put more emphasis on the defense since only 5,000 armies were left at Korean peninsula with the rest returning to the Chinese Continent. Also, Joseon was reluctant to receive help from the Western Barbarians with blue eyes and yellow hair whom they’ve seen for the first time in their life last year.

So, the famous Francis Drake, who was the admiral of the privateers of the East India Company exclaimed

“Fine! I’ll do this myself!”

And he left with 40 fluyt and fought with the Japanese navy at the Tsushima Strait

The privateers of the East India Company, which was well prepared for an ocean voyage, literally smashed the small Japanese ships(*Sekisens) at far distance. And after the battle, there were countless wrecks of the heretic ships and sea was covered with the blood of 30,000 dead heretic soldiers.

On the other hand, our side didn’t lose anything, except the loss of 3 ships due to a storm on the return voyage and a few soldiers died during the ship battle, and the loss of a dozen heretic ships.

1597 Winter

…and that’s what Francis Drake’s report which arrived in London said.

Okay, killing 30,000 heretics in a single battle is one thing. But you said you fought alone without any help from the heretics and there was a loss of heretic ships?

“Pirates. Is he, Francis Drake, pulling my leg?”

I know that he couldn’t have done it alone. Why? At that time, there’s a legendary admiral in Joseon, called Yi Sun-sin. He never lost a single battle against the Japanese Navy, even though his fleet’s size was 1/3 to 1/10 of the enemy. (*It’s different from battle to battle) Although his feat is comparable with that of Nelson, due to the Joseon king’s jealousy and suspect that he might steal his crown and the Joseon army’s series of defeat on the land at the start of the Imjin War put much burden on him.

Anyway, history has changed, thanks to my intervention. I wonder what would happen to that famous admiral.