The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 246 Hug the thigh

On January 1731, 1, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, a merchant ship from the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardinia (formerly the Kingdom of Savoy) quietly sailed into the Port of Lonning (now the Port of Pula, Croatia).

After the kingdom's special envoy Salvatore Rossini, Count of Cuneo, got off the ship, he got into a luxurious carriage provided by the Qi people. Under the escort of more than ten soldiers, he drove straight to the Governor's Palace in the city.

"What's going on with the Austrians?"

"My lord, more than ten days ago, the Austrians had a small-scale battle with the Qi people near the small town of Koper in the border area. They seemed to have suffered a little loss, losing two to three hundred people, and they have already retreated to Liya. "Emanuele Villarelli, a businessman from Turin, replied respectfully: "So far, the Austrians have not made any movement, and there is no sign of recruiting more troops. They probably have some problems with the Chinese. ... Fearful. Because the Qi people mobilized three professional naval warships and sailed near the Gulf of Trieste, which formed a certain deterrent to the Austrians. "

"So, do the Qi people have any plans to invade the empire?" Count Cuneo asked with hope in his heart.

"Your Majesty, the people of Qi may not want to break up with the Austrians for the time being." Emanuele Villarelli shook his head and said: "After their army entered the small town of Koper, they stopped all military operations and moved into Come to restore the order of local production and life. Oh, by the way, Lord Count, the people of Qi have announced the cancellation of all taxes in the entire Istria region, including the original church tithes and lords’ annuities, mediocre taxes, etc., only A fixed local agricultural tax is levied. Although the tax rate of this agricultural tax is 15%, which seems high, compared with the various taxes paid by farmers in the past, the burden has been reduced to a very low level. "

"Oh?" Count Cuneo was greatly surprised. "This move by the Qi people must have won them the support of tens of thousands of local people, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Count." Emanuele Villarelli nodded and said: "The Qi people distributed a large amount of unowned land to the local residents, winning them a very high reputation. I believe that even if Austria If people dare to gather troops to invade Istria, they will definitely encounter firm resistance from the local people. I have to admit that this policy promulgated by the Qi people has given them absolute popular support... Well, my lord, after that. After two years of hard work, the population of the entire Istria has been reduced to tens of thousands. A rough estimate is that there should be only more than 10,000 people left, or even less. Out of fear of the unknown fate, too many people have fled here. . In addition, the riots instigated by the Austrians also caused a large number of deaths and flight. "

"So, did the Qi people deliberately massacre or expel the local residents?"

We Italians have a tragic fate. Like a graceful and beautiful girl, we have been chased and played with by European powers for hundreds of years. It is inevitable for people to feel resentful and sad.

The Austrians took this opportunity to say to their Kingdom of Savoy: Xiao Savoy, let's also exchange land. I give you Sardinia and you give me Sicily. Anyway, if I hadn't helped you uphold justice, both islands would have been taken away by the Spaniards, and you wouldn't have gotten anything. Besides, Sardinia and Sicily are about the same size, and Sardinia is a little closer to your door.

When King Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy heard this, he burst into tears.

"Ah, a civilized country." Count Cuneo snorted coldly, "The Spanish, French, and Austrians all claim to be civilized countries, but what they did in Italy does not look like a civilized country at all. All of them He's a robber, a shameful thief, a despicable villain!"

"Well, I think that during the quelling of the riots, the Qi people must have killed many armed rebels, and perhaps accidentally injured or affected local residents. As for deliberate massacres and expulsions, the Qi people did not do it. I think they should I want to develop and build this newly occupied territory, so I have maintained the necessary restraint. Your Majesty, Qi is a civilized country and will not behave as barbarically as the Ottomans."

Although, there are still dukes in these two principalities, it doesn't matter, they will be handed over when they die.

Although we, the Kingdom of Savoy, have learned to sit on the fence and hug each other's thighs over a long period of time, and are accustomed to playing both sides, we will never be able to escape the humiliation of the big powers.

The unkindness didn't stop there. The Kingdom of Savoy, which had taken advantage in the war of succession, was also slaughtered.

After the War of Spanish Succession, the master of Italy became Austria, but this state was not stable. Because the European continent has now entered a period of "rapid expansion", and wars are frequent among countries in order to compete for hegemony and dominance of European affairs. And Italy's state of disunity has increasingly become the target of competition among major powers. This caused Italy's territory to change rapidly, constantly changing from the hands of one big country to another.

This is very unfair to Italians, because Parma and Tuscany are still controlled by local Italian wealthy families and are nominally independent Italian states. This time it was assigned to the Spanish royal family, which was equivalent to assigning the native Italian state to the name of a foreigner.

For example, just a few years after the signing of the Peace of Utrecht, Italy's old master Spain was unwilling to give up and sent troops to Italy twice, once conquering Sardinia and Sicily. Later, under the intervention of Britain, France and the Netherlands, it was forced to spit it out.

As a result, several major powers took the decision and assigned the Principality of Parma and the Principality of Tuscany in the middle of the peninsula to Prince Carlos of Spain.

But the politics of great powers are about the jungle of the jungle. Who will consider your Italian feelings?

The economic recession also caused widespread famine. Due to lack of food and clothing, desperate Italian men joined gangs of thieves one after another, making a living by robbing homes and even killing people. Women also became prostitutes in large numbers, making Italian women once become prostitutes. synonym for.

With the Spaniards' constant exploitation and oppression, Italy's capital and wealth accumulated over hundreds of years were drained away, leaving the local economy in a state of sluggishness. At the same time, the opening of new shipping routes has caused the Atlantic Ocean to replace the Mediterranean Sea as the main shipping route. The Italian countries have lost their original status as overseas trade hubs, which has made the entire regional economy even worse.

The current Duke of Parma and the Duke of Tuscany also didn't dare to let go of anything. They obediently accepted the unreasonable arrangements of the big country and only waited for their territories to be owned by the Spanish after their death.

Moreover, the Spaniards not only want our Italian money, but also our people. In order to compete for global hegemony, the Spaniards needed a large number of strong men to serve as soldiers, laborers, and sailors. Therefore, Spanish soldiers often inexplicably snatched Italian farmers or citizens directly from the fields or farmhouses, shackled them and sent them to ships.

Before the War of Spanish Succession, Italy was owned by Spain. For more than a hundred years, it had been squeezed by them like a cash cow, tortured to death by the Spaniards.

"...Alas!" Emanuele Villarelli looked at the angry Earl, his expression was slightly startled, and then he sighed secretly.

The Pope jumped out and protested a few times, but unfortunately no one took him seriously.

However, fights between great powers must come and go. Spain is willing to give up Sardinia and Sicily, so it must find some compensation elsewhere.

Damn it, although Sardinia is about the same size as Sicily, it is much poorer!
Although Sicily is farther away from us, is it closer to the mainland? Moreover, there are abundant products and a large population, so the tax that can be collected is several times lower!
Are you fucking exchanging an apartment building in Yanjiao area for my courtyard house in the Second Ring Road of Beijing?

Your Majesty, is it appropriate for you to do this? Authentic?

Do you want face?
But the injustice was unfair. The Savoy country was small and weak, and could not afford to offend either Spain or Austria. It had no choice but to give in and tearfully changed houses with the Austrians. Oh, no, changed the territory.

No, our Kingdom of Savoy had to change its name to the Kingdom of Sardinia. In Italy during this period, the entire structure was roughly divided into three pillars, namely, the local power of Italy, the power of the Spanish Bourbon royal family and the power of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty.

Among them, the local Italian forces include the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia occupying northwest Italy and Sardinia, the Republic of Venice in the northeast, the Principality of Modena in the north-central part, the Papal State in the center, and Genoa occupying the west and Corsica. Republic etc.

Spanish power included the central Duchy of Parma and the Duchy of Tuscany.

Austrian forces include the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the south, as well as Milan and Mantua, which are directly under the Holy Roman Empire.

Among the three, Austria, who is also the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, is the real talker in Italy. Not only does it occupy the golden treasure land of Milan and the vast territories of Naples and Sicily, but the Papal States also obey its orders. It can be said that it controls the entire Italy. two-thirds of the area.

The Austrians are so strong that the Kingdom of Sardinia is afraid and hateful. They have always been thinking about adding some trouble to them. It would be better if a big country can defeat them to reduce their influence in Italy. Influence.

I still remember that during the War of Spanish Succession, in order to make the Kingdom of Sardinia (it would still be the Kingdom of Savoy) rebel and attack France from behind, the Austrians promised them that once they defeated the French, they would conquer Milan. Half of the territory was given to them.

Who knows, after the war, the Austrians repented and were reluctant to cede half of Milan to the Kingdom of Sardinia, but only handed them Monferrato and a small area in the west of Milan.

This made the Savoy family's dream of acquiring Milan suddenly come to nothing, making King Vittorio Amedeo II ashamed and angry.

In addition, the Austrians later forcibly exchanged islands with the Kingdom of Sardinia, which made King Vittorio Amedeo II even more angry.

However, due to lack of strength, the Kingdom of Sardinia can only bury all the humiliation and anger in its heart, while working hard to carry out reforms at home, promote industrial and agricultural development, reduce the privileges of the church and nobles, streamline the administrative structure, and strive to strengthen the kingdom. Strength, while waiting for major changes in the regional situation, so as to find a golden opportunity, or hug another thigh and give the Austrians a kick.

From the perspective of the Kingdom of Sardinia, none of the big countries around it are reliable, and they all have their own agendas. Their Kingdom of Sardinia is obsessed with Milan, and the French in the west also have a strong desire to covet Milan, and even have attempts to annex their Kingdom of Sardinia.

Not to mention the Austrians in the east, they always want to take advantage of their Kingdom of Sardinia, and out of fear of France, they are always wary that they will defect to France and attack Milan together, so that the Austrians are There are many troops hoarded in the border areas, and there is a danger of breaking into their core area of ​​Piedmont at any time.

What a sin, sandwiched between two big countries, the Kingdom of Sardinia has always been walking on thin ice, cautious, trying to balance as much as possible (jumping left and right), trying to maintain the independence and freedom of the kingdom.

Originally, they were counting on bringing in the power of their old master, the Kingdom of Spain, to maintain a delicate balance.

However, Spain is a real bastard, they just know how to grab territory and extort property, and they don't care about the life or death of their Kingdom of Sardinia.

I once wondered whether we could rely on the two maritime powers of the Netherlands and England to balance the forces of several parties. But after contacting them, I found that the Dutch were only interested in making dirty money through business and had no desire to get involved in the mess in Italy.

The English, on the other hand, were more enthusiastic. In order to compete with the Dutch for commercial interests in the Mediterranean, they actively intervened in Italian regional affairs and intervened several times in the Spanish and French invasions of Italy. They seemed to be a strong support that they could rely on.

But I never expected that five years ago, when the Qi-British War broke out, this "strong and reliable help" would be beaten up by the Qi State from thousands of miles away, and suffered a humiliating defeat, ceding territory, and paying compensation. , and also watched the former colonial territory of Ireland become an independent country.

What shocked the Kingdom of Sardinia even more was that after taking over England, the Qi State, together with the Ottoman Empire, beat up Venice, a maritime republic with a history of thousands of years. They wiped out the Venetian navy, marched to the city of Venice, and forced Venice to sign a treaty. It signed an extremely humiliating defeat treaty, almost destroying its hundreds of years of expansion.

Oops, this Qi country is really tyrannical!

What is even more surprising is that as Qi occupied the Istria Peninsula, they turned out to be Italy's neighbors.

So, do they have any idea of ​​​​intervening in Italian regional affairs?
Or, can we introduce Qi into Italy, use it as a support (hug a thigh), and then balance the power among Austria, France and Spain?
Looking at the Istria Peninsula, the Kingdom of Sardinia suddenly had such an idea.

The Qi State is rich all over the world, with influence spread throughout the Indian Ocean. It also has the most powerful maritime power in the world, and its strength cannot be underestimated. As early as decades ago, they extended their tentacles to Europe. During the War of Spanish Succession, they directly intervened in European affairs and beat Spain to pieces.

Now, Qi has defeated England, which has the strongest navy in Europe, showing its super overseas combat capabilities.

If our Kingdom of Sardinia establishes a certain alliance with the powerful Qi State, wouldn't we be able to rely on our support to fight against France and Austria?
You know, the Austrians have always been at odds with the Qi people. After Qi obtained the Istria Peninsula belonging to Venice, the Austrians secretly incited the local people to resist Qi's rule, and also funded the rebels to launch attacks on the Qi people.

If we bring Qi to our side and join forces to attack the Austrians, wouldn't it attract strong foreign aid to our Kingdom of Sardinia!
Therefore, after King Vittorio Amedeo II passed the throne to Carlo Emanuele III in August, he spared enough energy to personally preside over the foreign affairs of the country.

When contacting Qi, we must fully consider the feelings of the French and Austrians. Therefore, in order to keep the news secret, the Kingdom of Sardinia decided to send people to Istria to meet the local governor of Qi and test the attitude of the Qi people.

If he travels to France by land and directly visits the Minister of Qi, the French will definitely get wind of the situation in advance, and it will inevitably be detrimental to the kingdom.

Being on the side of a powerful neighbor, the weak Kingdom of Sardinia had to be so cautious.

too difficult!
May God bless us and hope that this trip to Istria will bring extremely good news to the kingdom.

Count Cuneo sat on the carriage, looking out the window at the slightly bleak street, and lightly made a cross with his right hand.

(End of this chapter)