Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 517 The Alemanni’s request for marriage

When they were talking about this, Bai Saihan remained silent the whole time as before, only nodding occasionally. Tuohuan once wondered if he hadn't completely sobered up yet.

"So, will your majesties continue to consider the marriage plan proposed by several distinguished nobles on behalf of us?" The messenger asked cautiously: "His Royal Highness the Elector has been looking forward to your reply."

The queen looked towards Pasai Khan again.

"Did I forget to reply to him before?" Bai Saihan was a little surprised.

"No. We really haven't given a formal answer yet." The queen said, "You just came back and this happened to you."

"His Royal Highness Ludwig is indeed anxious, but they have no formal diplomatic relations with this place, so they have entrusted us to inquire about the situation." The Messenger Report: "Although it seems to be a cooperative relationship, you also know that Weiss It is impossible for the Terbach family to like Sigismund in their hearts. He promised that as long as the marriage contract is established, the two parties can unite to deal with other princes. The territories that were divided by his father to his younger brothers can also be handed over to His Majesty. Tube."

"The Rhine-Palatinate was originally in a very bad position. The east side of the territory was often attacked by powerful princes, and there was no peace; the French in the west had been eyeing the Alsace region, and it was obvious that they would be next. Fortunately, , now the French have no time to look eastward, and Sigismund and the others are also troubled by things in the east, so now is indeed the best opportunity. He also knows this and is willing to pay the corresponding price for it. "

"His Royal Highness does not have a wife yet, and there is no problem with his faith. The church can vouch for this. He is an educated and culture-loving man. He founded a university in Heidelberg and has been serving as the priest of the Holy Roman Emperor. In his case, the princess His Highness should not be troubled by the huge gap in cultural level. Moreover, he is only 15 years older than the princess, which is the right age and will not cause criticism." He introduced.

"We already understand these." The Queen replied: "But Theodora has no interest in him. Please help me send him a message, saying that we look forward to more cooperation with him, but regarding the marriage, we only I can refuse. Thanks to the care of Heavenly Father, my daughter has found a husband."

"What?" The messenger was very surprised: "Did I understand it wrongly... Is this her intention or your decision?"

The diplomatic environment of the Purple Horde Khanate was very special. When Guo Gai was persuading everyone, he once pointed out that if you want to establish hegemony, you may only be able to build a small country; if you want to build a small country, you may actually just keep these few villages; and if you just want to keep the countryside, forget it. Then they will definitely be wiped out by all kinds of barbarians in the end. Therefore, no matter what, we cannot be willing to be a self-defeating thief. We must broaden our horizons and target the entire Thai and Western world. At that time, Prime Minister Zhuge understood the world situation and put forward countermeasures before he came out of the mountain. Only with this vision can we build a country.

Like the Alemannic side, even if the Purple Horde later gave in, it would only recognize Charlemagne's lineage and completely deny the legitimacy of the current Holy Roman Empire, including their princes. Naturally, the Alemanni were not willing to surrender to them for no reason. As a result, the two sides cannot even establish serious diplomatic relations.

"We asked you to act as a transit agent to deal with other forces that are inconvenient to establish direct diplomatic relations. It's better for you to become a matchmaker." He smiled and said, "Don't worry, tell them. We have already decided and won't consider it." ”

At this time, Bao Saihan, who had been unresponsive next to him, finally spoke and finally made a decision.

"Ever since the last war, eastern Alemany has become more unstable. Heretical ideas have spread rapidly, and farmers in many places have been inspired to rebel frequently. Many princes have also been affected and shaken severely." The messenger reminded: "As long as you say something and make some statements, indicating that you can consider cooperating with them and maintaining their status, these people will be happy to propose very generous conditions, and these will definitely bring huge benefits to Rome."

"We recognize her choice." The Queen confirmed.

These two points make them incompatible with other countries. Because Guo Gai and others believed deeply in the thinking of the Han Dynasty - or the Qin Dynasty - and encouraged everyone all day long on the grounds that "the king's business cannot be left alone", they had offended all European countries.

It’s hard to say anything about this. The messenger was still trying his best to explain.

The strategy must be grand and the execution must be detailed. This is the way Prime Minister Zhuge can reverse the decline and achieve three points. Although there are no such powerful figures here, the political level of Europeans is also in a mess, and their vision is not as good as that of Sun Wu. As long as you do it well, there is definitely hope. After that, this idea almost became their national policy, and was gradually implemented with the efforts of Guo Gai and others.

"As for marriage, this is actually the tradition of diplomacy. The statement it brings is definitely the most powerful. Why don't you consider this?"

Bai Saihan nodded and did not ask further questions.

"But... marriage matters are usually arranged by parents based on political needs." The envoy said doubtfully: "The princess of your country is very noble, and she should be the only one. Many nobles are queuing up to marry her. If you feel that His Highness Ludwig is not suitable, you can also consider other people."

In other places it is even worse. Poland and Hungary were once unable to even send temporary envoys. Anyway, as long as envoys went there, they would definitely be killed. The Purple Horde Khanate could only continue to follow its previous habits, entrusting familiar businessmen to collect intelligence, or go to dangerous areas to conduct diplomatic activities on its behalf. Therefore, what these Venetian people said is actually the truth - even for their own business interests, they did try their best.

"We, Venice, are the little Rome of the West. We have always been very respectful to your country and have never shied away from paying homage or paying tribute. The commercial and diplomatic tasks entrusted to us have also been carried out faithfully." The envoy quickly defended: "As for this matter The matter was not initiated by us. For the Alemanni, marriage itself is an important part of diplomacy, perhaps even the most important one. We did not dare to withhold the request they reported, so we hurriedly sent it over. "

And when doing things specifically, you should try to be as stable as possible. Don't believe the words of those barbarian chiefs, and don't expect them to really accept our management with peace of mind. No matter where you go, you must also learn the story of Prime Minister Zhuge persuading farmers. This can truly increase the country's strength.

"European traditions are irrelevant to me." Baisai Khan said bluntly: "As for interests... we do not expect to dismember or annex the Alemannic Kingdom in the short term."

"You should understand our consistent strategy. We don't have much interest in places that cannot be consolidated, just like when my father was in southern Italy." He said:

"You should know better how difficult it is to cross a long distance, jump over the territories of several great nobles, and treat the Rhine River Basin as a frontier. Such mistakes were made by the Qin people back then, but we in Great Qin will not do it again now. To repeat the same mistakes. How these people will fight among themselves, who will win, and what will happen to their country in the end, to be honest, we don’t care. Just ask them to manage themselves.”

"Thank you for your advice, Your Majesty." The Venetian envoy said again respectfully: "We didn't quite understand the reason before, so we didn't understand the meaning. When we get back, we will clearly inform them and stop harassing them like this in the future." "It's okay, it's okay." Bai Saihan did not blame him and said, "If they can't understand, just tell them the truth. If you have to tell the reason..."

He thought for a while, and finally added: "Maybe our Rome is too strong, giving her the right to pick anyone at will."

The messenger responded repeatedly to show that he understood, and then bid farewell to them.

After several envoys left, Tuohuan asked curiously: "What? Do you agree with Guo Kang's plan?"

"How did you tell?" the queen smiled.

"By rejecting the Alemanni people so simply, they probably want to shift their business focus to other places. This is not hard to imagine." Tuo Huan said: "The place where we can still focus our business now is the Ross area. .”

"Yes." Bai Saihan nodded: "I think one sentence in his report is particularly reasonable. Looking at the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the countries that have development prospects and can establish hegemony are all countries in the peripheral areas. Because of the wars between countries , in the end it’s all about competing for national strength. There is plenty of room for development in the fringe areas, so they do have more potential. Rather than continuing to fight Alemanni, it is better to find ways to continue to enhance our national strength.”

"Your grandfather told me back then that the key to the way of a king is not to fight, but to improve one's own virtue. I think he has understood this truth thoroughly. If Hulu Buhua wants to marry him, then marry him Get married. As long as the Guo family is happy with it."

"If you don't have any objections, I will tell Guo Kanganda." Tuo Huan continued.

"I've never had any objections, as long as your father doesn't object." The queen shrugged and asked him, "What do you think? What's the best way to marry your sister?"

"I don't think there is a need for marriage. Although marriage is common, Europe is not as good as the Central Plains. The Central Plains area is unbearable. The cost of control is too high, so we can only restrict the relationship. The so-called marriage is actually one of the methods of restraint. species." Tuo Huan analyzed: "But what about our side? The enemy countries around us are not barren places. Some of them may have better natural conditions than ours, but they don't know how to run it themselves."

"Besides, my father also reminded them just now. In the current environment, if you want to truly expand the territory of Rome, it is no longer possible to rely on diplomacy with those nobles. The way we expand our strength is fundamentally in conflict with the local nobles. It will definitely harm their interests. These people even dare to kill their parents for some benefits, so what can marriage restrict?"

"So, there is really no need to give them a good look here. Anyway, we have tried it before, and it is useless." He concluded: "Mr. Huang also told me at the time, 'There is no king without exception. ', the conflict between us and them is fundamental. In this case, there is no need to worry about anything. And to put it ugly, if a woman can solve the border troubles of Alemanni, we still need six regiments on the northern front to do it. What?"

Bai Saihan listened and nodded.

This matter is well known to everyone in the Purple Horde Khanate. In the early years, they had no diplomacy with European countries.

Because of the way he started his business and his special religion, Zi Zhang has long been disliked by people and disliked by dogs. At that time, the enthusiasm for the Crusades in Europe had long passed, but after the Purple Horde Khanate became somewhat famous, there were still people in many places organizing expeditions to eliminate the Purple Horde Khanate.

Fortunately, before entering Constantinople for the first time, the power of the Purple Horde Khanate was still relatively small, and Eastern Europe had always been considered a remote place. The major countries had little interest in it and focused mainly on competing for hegemony.

Britain and France were at war with each other, and the Shinra Emperor was very busy trying to establish the elector system. The various local princes were ineffective, and even Osman, a true pagan, could not defeat him. Only Poland and Hungary can pose a threat, but they have some strength now, and they both want to move westward - these nobles seem to have always lacked the ability to actively organize large-scale reclamation, and they only know how to compete with each other. The Hungarians attacked Vienna several times and even entered Naples as far south as possible. With those goals, who would be happy to fight in Eastern Europe.

Therefore, although there were some nobles and priests who came over to join the battle, the number was very small. But conversely, the Purple Horde Khanate and them could not establish normal diplomatic relations.

The real traditional partners who started communicating at that time were actually only two groups. One group is Venetian pirates entrenched on the Aegean Islands, and the other is Turkic bandits entrenched in Asia Minor.

The Purple Horde was founded on the northwest coast of the Black Sea, and most of the trade around the Black Sea was monopolized by the Genoese. Even the seaport at Constantinople was controlled by the Genoese. The Venetians have long been dissatisfied with this, and in the spirit of "whoever beats Genoa, I will help them even if I pay them a favor", we started cooperation from then on.

It's a similar situation on the other side. After the rise of the Ottomans, they posed a huge threat to the various Turkic states in Asia Minor. Moreover, the Ottomans treated the Turks extremely cruelly. After the collapse of the Ilkhanate, Xiaoya, which had recovered slightly, soon fell into crisis again. Every handicraft and commercial city was plundered and massacred by the Ottomans, and the countryside was also swept away. The local Turks were miserable and contacted other forces one after another, hoping to jointly fight against them.

Therefore, the Venetians seemed so proactive just now - in the history of the Purple Horde Khanate, they were indeed considered "traditional allies".

Tuo Huan estimated that on the one hand, they wanted to assess the current situation as soon as possible, and on the other hand, they also wanted to find out information about other merchants - despite their benevolent words, in fact, if merchants in other city-states really suffered heavy losses, these Venetians can probably wake up laughing from their dreams.

(End of this chapter)