A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 418 The rushing years ()

In Europe, Prince Condé and Louis XIV fought for a long time, but the French army still did not win.

Kong Dai, who was strengthened by Hua Chao, was too difficult to beat.

Seeing that they could not defeat Condé, Louis XIV and Queen Anne finally stopped trying to protect their prime minister.

They decided to abandon Masarino and sent envoys to Paris to negotiate peace with the Prince of Condé.

As for Kong Dai, there was nothing he could do about the royal family, so he naturally would not refuse peace talks.

A month later, the two sides signed a peace treaty, and Louis XIV officially announced that Masarino would be abolished as prime minister and that Prince Condé would take over.

This time, it is no longer a hasty exile as usual, and they will be recalled as soon as the matter is over. They will formally appoint Prince Condé to take over Masarino's position.

Of course, at the same time, Louis XIV also took back part of the power of the prime minister, and Queen Anne, who had originally planned to retire, finally chose to remain at the center of power, intending to use this to check Condai.

However, no matter what, Kong Dai, who succeeded him as prime minister, still gained great power.

And the development of things was not so smooth.

"The laying of railways has also gone very smoothly, and now we can reach all provinces directly."

However, because Prince Condé was not defeated, but Louis XIV finally chose to compromise, this resulted in the power of the aristocracy not only not being weakened, but even being strengthened to a certain extent, and having considerable local power that could compete with the royal power.

This also meant that the process of monarchical centralization in France was interrupted. Originally, after the governance of Richelieu and Massarino, the power of the aristocracy was constantly under attack, and France had gradually transformed into a centralized, autocratic monarchy. After Louis XIV came to power, he built the Palace of Versailles to gather the aristocracy, and this was completed. The last step was to obtain absolute royal power, laying an important step for France to dominate Europe.

After the peace treaty was signed, it stands to reason that the war should be over.

Everyone looked serious and spoke one by one.

……

Railways have spread throughout Dahua. Of course, they are only main roads, connecting the capitals of various provinces with each other, and setting up stations in some cities passing along the way. If we want to further connect various cities, it will take longer The development of time will be a long process.

At the end of the year, the emperor held a meeting again, and everyone in the cabinet and ministers from various ministries arrived.

But the Spanish army has paid so much, sent troops to support Condé, and paid a lot of casualties. Now if it says it won't fight, then it won't fight? Of course, they were not willing to withdraw their troops so easily. Philip IV was not helping Condé for charity. They occupied northern France and refused to evacuate.

The minister of the Ministry of Industry opened his mouth and said.

By this time, Condé had changed his stance and stood with Louis XIV. Instead, they became enemies. The rebels and the French army joined forces and launched an attack on the Spanish army.

"This is a big project, Your Majesty..."

At this time, not many days had passed since the death of the Prime Minister, and the decoration in the palace was still not luxurious, and was mainly simple and simple.

However, just this is actually enough. However, Yan Quan was obviously still a little dissatisfied. He said:
"Railway must be as accessible as possible to every city."

"Important factories such as steel mills and steam engine factories are now widely opened in various provinces, which can provide sufficient and high-quality steel for the imperial court. Tiangong Institute has recently been developing a new iron-making method, and I heard that it has achieved some results."

The war started again.

"But once it is completed, the benefits to our government will be huge... In terms of money, you don't have to worry."

Yan Quan turned his head and looked at the Minister of Household Affairs:
"How's the treasury?"

"Although we have spent a lot of money recently, we still have huge deposits. Counting the various taxes that have been put into the treasury this year, it has reached a huge amount of 100 million taels." Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue replied:
"Completing the construction of the railway is more than enough."

Dahua spends a lot of money and makes a lot of money, and now the wounds left by the war in various places have been basically healed, and are on the right track. Business is prosperous again, and the annual agricultural and commercial taxes are extremely high. number.

He continued:

"Not to mention the old inventory of firearms, the export of grain and cotton cloth in recent times is a huge number. Recently, Louis XIV's envoys have come again. They are expanding their army and ordering military uniforms from us... …”

"I suggest that support and preferential treatment for relevant enterprises can be increased. This is simply a God-given opportunity to support my country's local industry and commerce."

Yan Quan nodded slightly and asked the Ministry of Revenue to formulate a relevant plan as soon as possible and submit it to the cabinet ministers for approval.

How can you not make money if you have money?

But if you want to make money, you must first have the ability to remain neutral.

Otherwise, other countries will not just watch you and take advantage of you.

So next, the Minister of Military Affairs stood up and reported:

"The army and navy have completed their expansion and reorganization."

"The total strength of the army has reached three million, with troops as units, guarding various places. The navy currently has four fleets, namely the First Fleet guarding the Bohai, Huang, East and Three Seas, the Second Fleet guarding Nanyang, the Third Fleet guarding Japan, The Fourth Fleet guarding the Southern Continent."

"In addition, since Tiangongyuan's hot air balloon was successfully developed and started mass production in March, we have selected the brave ones and officially formed the air force. The current top commander of the air force is the third grade, and the troops under its jurisdiction, including logistics, total two thousand Man, owns fifty hot air balloons.”

Hot air balloons are now the main equipment of the Air Force.

Speaking of which, this is also the legacy of the deceased chief assistant "Lin Yan". He first proposed this idea to Tiangongyuan, and then later invested in the project, and finally succeeded in the current experiment and achieved mass production. .

The emergence of hot air balloons and the formation of the air force were of great significance.

It allowed many generals to see the effect of air attacks. Especially after the hot air balloon participated in an exercise, the combat effectiveness made the generals' eyes shine.

A hot air balloon combined with a telescope is a powerful weapon for reconnaissance. It can also be used as a simplified "bomber" at critical moments.

This attack is extremely difficult to defend against and is helpful in demoralizing the enemy. Even the soldiers of the Chinese Army couldn't help but look horrified when they met this air force for the first time.

Not to mention other armies.

More importantly, the emergence of this weapon has cultivated the concept of flying in the sky and attached great importance to the development of the air force ahead of the times.

The change in concepts may promote the research of various flying instruments by Tiangong Institute and scientists, and accelerate the emergence of aircraft and other things in later generations.

But that’s another story.

On this side, after the Minister of Military Affairs, the other ministers also reported on their work.

Yan Quan leaned back in his chair, listening to the reports from the courtiers below, and slowly stroking his beard.

A powerful empire is standing in the east.

(End of this chapter)