Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 904 Eastern Overlord
Facing the big eastern powers, all countries are vigilant, fearful and envious, especially the old empires such as Mughal, Safi, Ottoman, Tsarist Russia, and Shinra. They are declining day by day. , but the great eastern country can actually rejuvenate again, and it is so prosperous.

The Ming emperor held great power, but the country was still prosperous in business and industry. Their sailboats, artillery, and their merchants are now all over the East and West, and their products can be seen in any corner of the world.

Who is not envious.

However, many countries have already suffered losses before this emerging empire, and now they dare not provoke them easily. The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Tsarist Russia, etc. can only compromise step by step, and maintain the current friendly relationship. Doing business.

Full trade with Ming is now important to all countries.

Many of the Dutch sea coachmen's goods now come from the Eastern Ming Dynasty, and even most of the profits of the East India Company come from the Ming Dynasty. This is not only their important commodity supplier, but also an important sales area.

No one dared to offend Daming easily, especially for these business-friendly sea coachmen in the United Province of the Netherlands.

Even the Spanish Habsburg royal family, which was once the wealthiest, is now weakened and facing bankruptcy, and it is even more necessary to maintain trade with Ming.

Since this is a powerful and inseparable opponent, then don't be an enemy or a relative.

Marriage.

The Habsburg dynasty of Austria, which owns the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, also ruled Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, the Czech Republic and other places. Today, Emperor Ferdinand III of the Holy Roman Empire, whose rule is almost related to the 30 Years War , his father was a war madman, and he was unlucky, he was forced to sign the defeated peace treaty.

Now he desperately wants to get married with Daming, so he is willing to marry Princess Maria Anna, who was born to him and the second queen, to Daming, and at the same time, he also wants to marry a princess of Ming for his prince Philip. It is hoped that this alliance will be exchanged for an alliance with the Eastern Great Ming Empire.

The 30-year war caused the empire to fall into a state of separatist princes, but the 30-year war did not achieve nothing. At least the Protestants in Austria and Bohemia were purged and converted into Catholics.

Now the Habsburg dynasty of Austria after the war is more eager to further strengthen the control of its own territory. They hope to maintain a standing army of at least 5 people, and in Austria, Bohemia, and Sirisimi and other places. Both have established an absolute monarchy, which is their stronghold and must not be lost.

It’s just that the Austrian Habsburgs that fought the war and their relatives, the Spanish Habsburgs, almost went bankrupt. Whether it is to expand the standing army or strengthen the control of their own territories, they need money.

If they can strengthen trade with Daming, or even borrow money from Daming to buy arms, they can quickly expand their new standing army. They also have some coastlines and ports in the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean Sea, and they also hope to get the support of Daming. Help to build up your sea power.

These require both money, weapons, etc.

They hope to use the power of the great eastern powers to keep their existing territory and not be cut off from it any more. They also hope that Austria can continue to be elected as the Emperor of Shinra, although this emperor has no real power.

"Since the Habsburg dynasty of Austria has such sincerity, we can talk about it. The 30-year war in Europe completely separated Germany from the princes, and even split it due to Protestant Catholicism, but it also separated France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Become the three new overlords in Europe, they gained many territories, the Netherlands and Switzerland gained independence, France gained a strategic channel to Germany, laying the foundation for them to dominate Europe,

Germany and Italy are still torn apart. Although the Habsburgs have suffered a great setback, Austria is still the most powerful country in Shinra. They also control Hungary, Bohemia, and the Czech Republic. The marriage and cooperation of the former European overlords after the defeat is worth a try.

Talk to them, talk about it in detail, the focus is on trade. "

Marriage and alliance with the Habsburgs of Austria can also form an alliance with their relatives, the Habsburg royal family of Spain. Spain not only has colonies in Luzon in the South China Sea, but also controls the Pacific and American routes, and has many territories in the Americas.

They even hold Gibraltar, an important gateway into and out of the Mediterranean.

A few years ago, King Philip IV of Spain proposed to marry Anna, the daughter of Ferdinand III of Austria, for his heir, Baltasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias.But just three months after the engagement, the prince died, Anna lost her fiancé, and the king had no male heir.

At this time, Philip IV's original wife, Elizabeth, also died a few years ago, so the 44-year-old uncle simply married the deceased son's fiancee, that is, his own niece, Anna, who was only 14 years old.

This time, King Philip IV of Spain sent a princess here. He has no prince, so he sent the young and promising Don Juan Jose among his illegitimate children without the title of prince. He is the son of an actress. Although he is an illegitimate child, he has been educated like a prince since he was a child. He started as a guard officer, fought in Naples, Sicily and other places and became the governor. He also participated in the wars with France and Portugal. He is a great illegitimate child.

The king sent him to Daming as an envoy, and wanted to marry a Daming princess for him. If he could, he planned to make him the governor of Manila, Luzon, in order to comprehensively strengthen the relationship with Daming and increase trade.

The Spaniards were also losers in the 30-year war. The Spanish Army, which they dominated in Europe for a long time, was ended by the French Prince Condé, and their once invincible Armada had more than 100 warships, thousands of cannons, and tens of thousands of navies. The powerful fleet of China was defeated by the British long ago.

Losing land and sea, the hegemony of the Spaniards has gone. The Armada fought against the British for many years, and finally ended in five expeditions. They had to give up their ambition to conquer Britain. Spain, which was once powerful, wealthy, and invincible In other words, the situation is going downhill, and the 30-year war has given them the last blow.

They are now in the same predicament as Shinra Austria.

How rich he was once, how embarrassing he is now.

Having annexed Portugal for several decades, they were forced to recognize the independence of the Portuguese more than a decade ago, and even after 30 years of defeat, they were forced to recognize the independence of the Netherlands. King of Portugal.

Their neighbor France has fully replaced their land hegemony, and their old rivals, the British, overwhelmed them at sea, and even the Dutch suppressed their colonies overseas.

Their most powerful ally, Austria, cannot protect itself, and can only turn to look at the great eastern power.

Although the 30-year war was over, the French did not intend to end the war with the Spaniards, and the Spaniards could only fight. Historically, they continued to fight for more than ten years, and Spain performed well, at least they could concentrate on fighting against the French. People died, and even regained Naples and Catalonia in the past few years, but it is still difficult to change the fact that France, the new overlord, is stronger. In history, the Spaniards still had to sign a peace treaty with France a few years later, ceding many land to France.

Even the territories of overseas America and Luzon can't take care of both. They can only concentrate on one side. In the end, they can only strengthen the American territories, and let Luzon turn to defense, not daring to fight fiercely with the Dutch in Nanyang.

If it can form an alliance with Ming Dynasty, then Luzon can keep or even continue to maintain the Pacific route, and even borrow the power of Ming Dynasty to join forces with Ming Dynasty to suppress the Dutch.

The Spaniards still have a basis for cooperation with the Ming Emperor. Lunila cooperated to build a shipyard and trade silk, tea, porcelain and silver. The Spaniards can no longer monopolize the Americas. They are facing challenges from those new forces. It is also the best choice.

Zhu Yihai talked about these international relations with the ministers of the Prime Minister’s Office and the prince, and still set the tone. Of course, there will be competition with the Netherlands and Spain in Nanyang, but cooperation should be the main focus. After all, it is not yet the time to be irreconcilable. , cooperation, and when we reach that step in the future, it will be a matter of course if we meet again in battle.

The long-term strategic goal that Zhu Yihai gave Daming in Southeast Asia is to take the Indochina Peninsula first, and then the Malay Peninsula. As for the Java Islands, Sumatra Island, and Borneo, there is no need to rush to move. Now that Daming has Singapore, then With the initiative and security for entering and exiting the Strait of Malacca, mutual restraints with the Dutch were formed, and there was no rush to start a war.

The same is true for Luzon. There is no need to move the Port of Manila, and there is no rush even on the main island of Luzon. You can establish a stronghold on other islands first.

Trade cooperation with the Spaniards will be a better choice for a long time.

Competition and cooperation are the themes of the future.

Except for Cromwell, the Lord Protector of the United Kingdom, whom Zhu Yihai looked down upon, knowing that he was about to be defeated, so he was too lazy to cooperate with them.

"Have a good talk with Tsarist Russia, Mughal, Persian Safi, and Ottoman, draw a line on the current actual spheres of influence of the two parties, and then conclude a treaty, so as to avoid unnecessary conflicts."

Zhu Yihai is very satisfied with the current western border, and does not plan to continue land expansion. With Turghut, Nogai, Khiva, Dawan, Ladakh, and Siberia as strategic buffers, the western part of Ming Dynasty is very safe.

If it wasn’t for the emperor’s three-year tour to the West, he personally settled this situation in the Western Regions. In fact, the center of the imperial court is more inclined to develop towards the ocean. The Yuanxun Department is originally from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang schools. , the farther areas are really out of reach, and the income is low.

However, Zhu Yihai insisted on several big axes. He took Qingkang Weizang, the north and south of Tianshan Mountains, even the Hezhong area, Qinchao Grassland, and even the Lihai Coast and Siberia. Large buffer.

With this buffer zone, we can now negotiate peace and treaties with those old empires, and we can avoid further bad wars, and can concentrate on expanding in the southeast direction of Daming.

Although India, Persia and other places are also beautiful mountains and rivers, it is too difficult and costly to expand from the Western Regions by land, and the Mughals and Persia are also old empires, and the rotten ships still have three pound nails. If it is an endless war, It will greatly drag down Daming.

It’s better to make a peace agreement in the west, and then reopen the Silk Road trade, focus on the southeast coast, open up the mouth of Burma, and take down the Annan coast, and finally go all the way to take down the Malay Peninsula. That’s what Ming needs to focus on.

It is the basic state policy to keep west and advance east.

No matter how involved Europe is, they can do business and discuss trade together, and they can also marry and become relatives.

"I'm tired, so let's talk about this first, and you can do the specific things."

The crown prince stood up and helped the emperor, "I send my son off to my father."

He knew that it might be time for the emperor to use poppy milk again, so Zhu Yihai leaned on the dragon stick in one hand and helped the prince to leave from behind with the other.

It was gloomy.

The first snow in Beijing is coming soon, and the time for his abdication is getting closer.

"There is no problem in marrying other countries, but we must keep in mind that we cannot easily get involved in their disputes. The Ming army must never go to Europe to join the war easily. We will concentrate on the East. Business is business and relatives are relatives. "

"My son understands!"

(End of this chapter)