When last we checked in, China was a thriving manufacturing power, about to be overtaken by Europe, but still heavily involved in world trade, especially an importer of silver from the Spanish empire.

我们上次入住时， 中国是一个蓬勃发展的制造大国，即将被欧洲超越， 但仍大量参与世界贸易， 尤其是从西班牙帝国进口白银的国家。

The Spanish empire’s silver trade was the first truly global market — even India was involved, but we’re really out of time — and its consequences were dire, even if it did make some people rich.

西班牙帝国的白银贸易是第一个真正的全球市场——甚至印度也参与其中， 但我们真的没时间了——其后果是可怕的， 即使它确实让一些人变得富有。

The year that brought Hawaii finally under the American flag likewise drew to a conclusion another long controversy over a similar outpost in the Atlantic, one of the last remnants of the once glorious Spanish empire—the island of Cuba.

——夏威夷最终归入美国国旗的那一年同样结束了另一场关于大西洋上类似前哨基地的长期争论，古巴岛是曾经辉煌的西班牙帝国的最后残余之一。