Andrea Doria, Perpetual Censor of the New Ligurian Republic, was enjoying himself early one February morning. He liked that this new home had even nicer winters than his old one, and could sit outside comfortably and read even in the "coldest" of months. Another page, another sip of rum, and another contented sigh. Life was good.

Of course, as with all men in positions of power, his rest did not last for long. For as soon as he was about to finish his book, he heard the sound of men running and shouting.

"Mi Pater! Mi Pater!"

He shook his head and turned around. Speeding towards him were two Ligurian merchantmen that he recognized from his previous excursion into the jungles. They looked worried, and carried some sort of parchment.

"Mi Pater," one of the men spoke, "this was handed to me by someone claiming to represent the Spanish King!" They quickly handed the letter to Doria.

"The Spanish King? You mean to tell me they've united now?"

"Scì, Pater, under the Portuguese King! With Navarre uniting with Aragon under her own crown!"

"These are strange times. Strange times indeed..."

Doria turned his focus to the letter, penned by the Spanish King himself:

To the ruler(s) of the Ligurian people,

I must congratulate you for managing to sail your people to the harsh new world and establishing yourself on the island of Cuba, or that's at least what the rumors that have reached Lisbon have told me. Your people are fine sailors and settlers, and I have an offer for them:

Join the Spanish Empire as Viceroyalty, a colony under the Spanish King. Your current ruler(s) may keep whatever power they have in ruling the land, but now must report to me, your overlord, who has the power to raise a regular payment from your colony at any time, though this will not be anytime soon.

In return, we will aid your colony by connecting them to a global empire. You will also receive aid to explore, conquer, and convert this strange New World.

I hope to meet your people one day.

From, King Manuel, By the Grace of God, King of Spain, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, etc.

He read the letter once, then once more. His face drained of color, he turned gravely to the young men.

"Fetch the council. We must speak."

They ran off as quickly as they had come, and Doria downed the rest of his rum. This was going to be a long day.

While normally an animated spectacle, the Grand Council of the New Ligurian Republic had never seen such intensely heated debate as they did that February afternoon. Upon reading the letter, the first reaction of the Council was stunned silence, then panic, then personally attacking anyone who disagreed with their point of view.

"Treitô!"

"Rufiàn!"

"Fìggio de 'na bagàscia!"

Eventually some of the screaming died down, and the room separated into two major camps. One one side there were the Nationalists who, having fled all this way to escape overlordship, would literally rather die than see another foreign ruler make Liguria their puppet. On the other side were the Survivalists, who believed it necessary to find a strong overlord like Spain to secure their survival and prosperity. Both sides found about equal support, with long passionate speeches abound.

"My brothers," began one Councilman, "I understand your fear, your want for comfort under the Spanish, I really do. I want nothing more than for my new family here to be safe and secure. But brothers, is this truly the way? Did we not come here to escape this reckless puppeteer? Do we not call ourselves Respublicem Superiorem non Recognoscens? Have our brothers in arms back in Europe not died to secure our independence?! Because I say they have! We are Ligurians dammit! Not Spanish, not Habsburg, and not French! This is our home, given to us by the Spanish, and now they want to take it away from us? Well I say let them... over our cold dead bodies!"

"My brothers," began another, "I do understand your position. I too came here searching for a place to call home, a place where we would not be ruled over by a faraway King or Emperor, and hesitate to do so again. But my brothers, we came here not just to escape, but to live, and a life in conflict with all others is not one worth living. The Spanish promise overlordship, this is true, but they also promise goods, slaves, and cash, the things we need to survive. We held our own for longer than anyone expected against the Holy Roman Empire, long enough for us to escape. But we cannot hope to last for long against the Spanish, who have endless resources and allies to fight us every step of the way, in a land we cannot hope to leave. So my brothers, I urge you, do not choose a life of horrors, of pain, of war. Choose one of comfort, even if that means a loss of freedom. For what is freedom without the life to live it?"

"But what is life," began a third, "without the freedom to live it? We are told that we should accept a life as underlings in order to feel safe, but how can that be right? Those here who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither, for one is meaningless without the other. How can we truly hope to live, knowing our actions are dictated by a King all the way back in Iberia? We are a Republic for christsakes, have you all forgotten that? We will not simply allow some far-off ruler to surpass the rights given to us by the Queen of Castile and the Holy Father himself!"

"And how do you propose to enforce that right when you are dead?!"

"Well clearly by using your dead body as a shield and killing all the Spaniards myself!"

"Not if we offer you up as a tribute first, panê!"

And just like that, the room was back in panic mode, hurling insults, screams, and general fear. This continued for about a minute, before Doria let out a long sigh and rose to his feet. Almost instantly an unsettling quiet came over the room, as everyone waited with bated breath to hear what their beloved Censor would say.

"My friends... I am scared. I admit it. When we began this grand experiment of ours, I genuinely did not believe that we would make it this far. I had hope, I prayed harder than ever before, but when we saw the Pillars of Hercules disappear into the darkness behind us, I truly believed we would never see land again.

And yet here we are. We have not only survived, but we have thrived. We look out to the waves, to those who have been lost down below, and know that we are there but for the Grace of God. And we have made this island, once an untamed mess of barbaric and uncivilized brutes, into a new homeland, one of culture, riches, and peace.

But while we have succeeded in our goal, we cannot ignore reality. While it is true that we have the right to be on this land, a right granted to us by the Pope and the then Queen of Castile, that right is only true so long as there are those with the power to enforce it. The Papal position here is essentially moot, as they would not dare try to supersede the Spanish Crown, and while God above may side with us, the new Crown of Castile does not. And as they have the power here on Earth, the treaty is theirs to ignore.

However, our situation is not hopeless. I have heard tales of King Manuel, and know of him as wise and business oriented. He is a man who can be reasoned with, and I believe that we may be able to do so. Our offer will be rough on all of us, and require a sacrifice of some of the rights we have come to enjoy, but at the end of the day, if accepted, it will keep our independence.

So, my brothers, do not forget our strength. We cannot keep our freedom without sacrifice, just as we cannot so recklessly throw away the Ligurian dream for sheer pride. Join with me, as Ligurians, and let us answer this new Spanish King with an offer he cannot refuse."

And with that, Perpetual Censor Andrea Doria tuned and left the Great Hall, to return to his study and being writing a letter. Eventually a draft was settled on to be signed by the whole of the council, and send to Spain with a large shipment of tobaco.

To the Good King Manuel, By the Grace of God, King of Spain, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, etc.

We do hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits. Along with this letter please enjoy this shipment of our finest tobaco and cigars, to do with as you please, for your own enjoyment and/or enrichment. We have also included a few bottles of our finest rum for you to further enjoy.

It is our belief that we have already received rights to the island of Cuba through their purchase from Queen Isabella of Castile, and its sanction by His Holiness Pope Julius II. However, we are not blind to your claim over our homeland, and therefore will make you an offer we believe will be extremely beneficial to your nation.

Most importantly to your nation is the flow of goods from the Caribbean to the ports of Lisbon and Seville, and so I have two things to offer you there. One, and most importantly, is the guarantee that goods originating from New Liguria - our tobaco, our sugar, our rum - will flow in a dominant fashion to your ports. You will see great trade increases from our goods, and will earn much money as their main distributor throughout Europe.

In addition, we intend to give to you the secrets of our trade. It should be no secret to you that our merchants seem to cross the Atlantic faster than any other, and we will freely share this information with you, greatly improving the value of your colonies in the area and the value of the trade that comes through them.

More than just this, we will allow Spanish ships free access to any Ligurian port, free of dockage fees and prioritized in terms of spacing. This should keep the island of Cuba as a good base for you in the Caribbean.

Furthermore, we will promise to only use your slave market when purchasing workers for our plantations. This will increase your income, as they will be paid for, and allow for a guaranteed market in our island republic.

We will also pledge a pact of mutual defense in the Caribbean, allowing for our navies to work in conjunction to kick the non-Latin would-be colonizers, such as France and England, out of your rightful territory.

And even more than this, we wish to give you a direct steady flow of cash - 36 thousand ducats per year for the next fifteen years. We understand that purchased rights usually come as a cost, and this is the one we are freely willing and able to pay.

In return, we ask for very little. All we would like is for you to recognize our claim to the island of Cuba as the new homeland of the New Ligurian Republic, and for your permission to make trading stops out of these few islands, which will give the same rights to Spanish sailors as the rest of Liguria. This will not only increase both of our trade abilities, but prevent them from falling into the hands of the dirty French.

We are your friend in the Caribbean, good King. Our existence is justified by treaty, gifted by God, and one that can be very profitable for you, especially as it prevents the further settlement of the French in the area. We hope that this can be the beginning of a very friendly and prosperous relationship for both of our nations, and we are open to further discussion.

We wish you good health and good spirits.

Signed,

The Grand Council of the New Ligurian Republic

Andrea Doria, Perpetual Censor