By the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, Europe had opened up new shipping routes to the East, with Portugal and Spain being the forerunners. This time, however, unlike the traditional trade exchanges of the past, these countries began to brutally slaughter, plunder and enslave the places they arrived with the help of their ships and guns, and the colonial era of the West also began.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty had reached the middle and late stages, although there were also the embryos of capitalism, but political corruption, peasant uprisings, especially the long-term isolation of the country made the Ming Dynasty isolated from the world, and gradually lagged behind the West. Because of the mystery and wealth of the East, after occupying the strongholds in Southeast Asia, the Western countries set their sights on the mysterious China, the first to come was Portugal, followed by Spain, the Netherlands, and even later Britain and France.
Historically, Spain occupied Taiwan for a while before being driven away by the Netherlands. But in fact, Spain's ambitions are not small, and even after occupying the Philippines, it plans to open the door of the Ming Dynasty by force. To this end, the Spanish Sea drew up a detailed plan, not only the strength of the troops, but also the route, all of which were recorded in detail.
Then 20,000 troops wanted to attack the Ming Dynasty, where did Spain's self-confidence come from?
Spain was the first empire where the sun never set, and this was not blown out, when Spain was ruled by Philip II of the Habsburg dynasty, an ancient and powerful family that was indispensable in Europe through continuous marriage.
Spain, on the other hand, opened up trade routes in the major oceans, which spread from Spain across the Atlantic to the Americas, from Mexico across the Pacific, through the Philippines to East Asia. Suddenly, with its experienced navy, the Spanish Empire dominated the seas.
In Europe, the old empire was not an opponent, especially the Italian war that lasted for half a century, which eventually ended in the defeat of France, especially the annexation of Portugal by Spain, which made Spain rampant.
Although Spain is rampant, it does not have much money.
In 1566, a popular uprising against Spanish rule broke out in the Netherlands, historically known as the Dutch Revolution, a battle fought for 80 years, and not only the Netherlands became independent, but Spain was also beaten badly.
The rapid rise of England also posed a great threat to Spain, and in 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated by the British navy in the English Channel, losing its maritime superiority.
Spain maintained its continued war mainly by plundering from Latin America. However, the robbery was far from faster than the spending, and the emerging Dutch, Britain and France and other countries continued to attack the Spanish maritime power, and gradually the Spanish treasury was empty.
Is the Ming Dynasty bound to lose? In fact, this depends on the government's determination to resist, although there is a gap between the two countries, but the Ming Dynasty is not India, and it has been occupied by multiple strongholds casually.
Although the Ming Dynasty is in decline, it is not vulnerable, if Spain really attacks the Ming Dynasty, it actually did not take advantage of anything at that time, although there was a big gap in weapons and equipment, but at that time it was not yet the late Qing Dynasty, weapons and equipment were not the decisive factor.