Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1228 Default
The name George is not bad. Although it originally meant farmer, it has become a common name. In Christianity, St. George is the name of a saint. As the King of England, it seems reasonable for Charles II to give his child this name.

However, naming a prince George was unprecedented for the Stuart dynasty. Most monarchs and members of the royal family were named James, Charles, Robert, or William. Women were typically named Mary or Anne. Therefore, Charles II's naming of his child George might be because the child was not actually his biological son.

After little George was born, and after Princess Catalina recovered from childbirth, the group continued their journey. Upon arriving in Europe and landing in Lisbon, their original itinerary was delayed by several months. Once in Lisbon, King João IV of Portugal immediately welcomed his daughter and son-in-law into the palace, including his grandson, little George.

King João IV was overjoyed that Princess Catalina had given birth to George II, as the child would, barring any unforeseen circumstances, be Charles II's first in line to the throne and the future King of England. If Charles II were to regain his royal status, the future King of England would be his grandson, and this connection would allow the Portuguese royal family to completely break free from Spanish influence, thus significantly enhancing its standing in Europe.

However, just a few days later, King João IV received a devastating piece of news: he learned from his daughter that little George's biological father was not his son-in-law Charles II, but rather the child she had with a nobleman in the Ming Dynasty.

This news greatly disappointed the initially delighted King João IV. Although Charles II did not deny George's identity, for this reason, no one could guarantee that Charles II would not consider George as his successor in the future, let alone ensure his legitimacy.

Just as King João IV was lamenting the situation and even pondering how to resolve the aftermath and salvage the dire circumstances, news from England brought a turning point to the matter.

Cromwell, who called himself Lord Protector, finally died. This Lord Protector, who had controlled the real power of Britain for many years and eliminated all his political enemies with an iron fist, and who was not a king but had more real power than a king, was called back to God's embrace.

With Cromwell's death, the internal situation in England changed. Although he had designated his son Richard as his successor before his death, to inherit his title of Duke Protector and become the second Lord Protector, and had even used methods to create conditions for Richard's ascension before his death—directly killing Richard's greatest rival and arranging for his most trusted confidants to assist him—all of this was in vain. After all, Richard was not Cromwell; he did not possess his father's prestige and methods. In addition, during the years Cromwell served as Lord Protector, his use of many brutal methods to suppress various factions had led to a gradual loss of public support.

If Cromwell were still alive, things might have been different, but his death changed everything. Richard's abilities were simply insufficient to secure the position of Lord Protector, let alone control all of England. Furthermore, the nobles and clergy had never abandoned their ambition to restore the Stuart dynasty; how could they possibly allow Cromwell's successor to continue ruling England?

This sparked unrest within England, with many nobles setting their sights on Charles II, who had just returned to Europe. It wasn't just the British nobles who wanted to welcome Charles II back to England to compete with Richard for the throne; even the royal families of other countries who had previously ignored Charles II began to share the same ambition.

Among them were France and Spain, who almost simultaneously sent representatives to Charles II in Lisbon, offering to help him return to England and restore his monarchy, even providing military assistance. However, they also imposed extremely harsh conditions. These conditions demanded that Charles II sign multiple agreements with France and Spain before his return to England to safeguard the interests of both countries. Furthermore, they intended to use this opportunity to extend their influence directly into England, requiring Charles II, on behalf of the King of England, to appoint nobles and even members of the royal family from both countries to important positions in the British court. This effectively treated Charles II as a pawn, intending to use this opportunity to directly influence the future of England.

In the actual course of history, although Charles II was indignant at the blackmail, he ultimately swallowed his pride and agreed to their demands. They had no other choice at the time, and eventually, with the help of France and Spain, they returned to England and, relying on their power, reclaimed the throne.

However, for this very reason, Charles II struggled for decades after ascending the British throne to break free from the control and influence of France and Spain, even waging war for it. Unfortunately, by the time of his death, Charles II had not been able to completely escape this situation, which is undoubtedly a regrettable outcome.

Although Charles II had many children, historically, he passed the throne to his brother instead of his son upon his death. Legally, this was because none of Charles II's children were legitimate heirs; they were all illegitimate. However, as King of England, if he truly wanted to pass the throne to his son, what difficulty would it have been for him to establish a legitimate heir? Yet, Charles II did not do so. This alone reveals that Charles II had already planned ahead; he preferred to pass the throne to his brother rather than his own bloodline, his aim being to completely eliminate the subsequent influence of France and Spain on England.

If the throne passed to his brother, his brother would be able to break free from the control of France and Spain and strive for the independence of the British government. And this proved to be true. Later, Britain did indeed break free from the control of the two countries. After James II passed the throne to William III, and William III passed it to Queen Anne, the Glorious Revolution broke out, and the British Empire officially rose to power.

In the original historical timeline, Charles II had no other choice. Even if some nobles in England supported his return to seize the throne, compared to Richard, who was Lord Protector, Charles II had neither power nor troops. He was a figurehead king who could not compete with Richard even if he returned to England.

Without the help of France and Spain, Charles II couldn't think of any other way to reclaim the crown, so he reluctantly agreed to their outrageous conditions. But things were different now. After living in the Ming Dynasty for several years, Charles II's political and military acumen was vastly different from before. Moreover, he wasn't returning alone this time; he brought nearly a thousand elite Eight Banner soldiers as his personal guard, along with a capable strategist, Prince Hui.

In order to recruit Prince Hui as his advisor, Charles II offered him a title and land, and promised to entrust him with important responsibilities once he was restored to the throne.

Prince Hui followed Charles II simply because he couldn't make a name for himself in the Ming Dynasty, so he decided to try his luck in Europe with Charles II. Furthermore, he and Charles II were already friends with a good relationship, and he trusted Charles II's ability to succeed, making it worthwhile to gamble with him. Therefore, Prince Hui accompanied Charles II back to Europe to seek a future. Along the way, he and Charles II discussed and devised numerous plans for returning to the country and vying for the throne, earning Charles II's deep trust.

With these bargaining chips in hand, Charles II's confidence grew significantly, and he naturally no longer considered France and Spain as his only options. Moreover, the conditions proposed by the two countries were simply too outrageous. Upon learning of this, Prince Hui directly advised Charles II not to agree to their conditions for the sake of immediate gains, as agreeing to these conditions would lead to endless troubles. Even if Charles II regained the throne, he would be nothing more than a puppet king.

At this juncture, to Charles II's surprise, his father-in-law, King João IV, once again extended a helping hand, expressing his willingness to unconditionally support Charles II's return to England to vie for the throne. Not only did he offer verbal support, but he also presented tangible benefits. These five warships were a testament to the Portuguese royal family's sincerity. Furthermore, King João IV indicated that several more warships would follow, along with one hundred elite musketeers allocated to Charles II by the Portuguese royal family. With these resources, Charles II had a certain degree of confidence even without the help of France and Spain.

The reason why John IV did this, even at the risk of offending France and Spain, to help Charles II was partly because Charles II was his son-in-law, and partly because of George the Younger.

Once Charles II returns to England and reclaims the throne, he will be the undisputed King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and his wife, Princess Catalina, will inevitably become his Queen. In this way, their son, George the Younger, will be the eldest son of the King and the first in line to the throne.

Regardless of who George's biological father is, he is, after all, the child of a Portuguese princess and the grandson of King João IV.

As long as Charles II tacitly acknowledges that the child is his, the child will be the next king. For European royal families, bloodline is both important and unimportant. Chaotic private lives are common among royal families, and it's impossible to know whose bloodline is whose. As long as it's not told to outsiders, it's not a big deal. Moreover, the fact that the child has the blood of a noble family from the Ming Dynasty is not a bad thing for Charles II. In addition, as long as he pretends to be ignorant and Princess Catalina and King João IV keep quiet, how would outsiders know the inside story?

(End of this chapter)