The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 247 The people of Qi are afraid

"...The fragmented Italian region can be said to be riddled with problems. The industry and commerce in the entire region are in decline, and agricultural production is in a mess. Their elite class owns a large amount of land and wealth, while the middle and lower classes are almost impoverished and have nothing. In Milan, which belongs to Austria - In the Lombardy region, the nobility, which accounts for less than one percent of the total population, accounts for almost 40 percent of the land. "

In a conference room of the Governor's Mansion in Luoning City, many officials, including the Governor of Anzhou, the Commander-in-Chief of the garrison, and the Civil Affairs Officer, were gathered together to hear from the person in charge of the Black Guards stationed in Anzhou, and the Captain Xuanjie. (Major) Sun Jiasheng tells intelligence about the Italian region.

"This is also the case in Venice. The nobles own up to 50% of the land. These nobles control a lot of wealth and are extravagant and extravagant, rather than developing production. The people in the middle and lower classes are starving and starving everywhere. In order to survive, Countless people chose to immigrate across the Atlantic to the Americas, and almost 40% of the immigrants in the Spanish American Territory were Italians.”

"In Italy, there is also a huge group of parasites, that is, the clergy of the church. They do not produce, but live a life of luxury and enjoyment. There are more than 45,000 clergy in Venice and 100,000 in Naples. One-third of the population of the Papal State is clergy. Hey, do you know how many people there are? Three million! It’s scary to think that there are so many clergy who do nothing all day long. The cross chants God, but it depends on countless people to support it. It’s really a shame that Italians can live a good life..."

"Don't talk nonsense, be specific." Anzhou Governor Yin Yugui frowned and interrupted Sun Jiasheng's words.

"Specific?" Sun Jiasheng was stunned for a moment, "What the General Constitution means..."

"What is the basic situation of the various forces in Italy? Let me briefly talk about it."

"Oh, okay, okay." Upon hearing this, Sun Jiasheng immediately pulled out a few pieces of information from the prepared information, glanced at it twice, then cleared his throat and said, "Let's talk about Venice first. This thousand-year republic is being destroyed by us. Before the defeat, it was completely corrupted. The upper-class ruling oligarchs controlled the domestic power, used prisons and courts to suppress the people in the country, and maintained their existing rule.

"Venice's administrative system is in chaos, its finances are riddled with holes, and debts are mounting every year. Three years ago, during a war with our Qi state, they were forced to surrender after suffering repeated heavy losses, which meant they were financially bankrupt. , banks, business groups, and loan sharks are unwilling to lend money to the Venetian government, making them unable to fight anymore. The Venetian fleet and merchants once made them the hegemons of the Mediterranean, but now their industry and commerce have long since shrunk."

"Actually, the Kingdom of Sardinia's behavior pattern of blindly and actively... struggling, seeking foreign aid while striving to expand itself, shows that it has an enterprising attitude." Yin Yugui said thoughtfully: "Zeng Taizu The emperor said that attitude determines everything, and opportunities will always come to those who are prepared. The Kingdom of Sardinia should be considered an enterprising country that has made due preparations, and is worth investing in. General Shi, What do you think?"

"Oh, by the way, the situation in Corsica, which is occupied by Genoa, is extremely unstable. The local forces on the island have launched armed riots one after another, seeking independent status. What's more, in order to become independent, what are the hidden tricks of the local forces in Corsica? They used them all to poison, assassinate, and kidnap Genoese officials. They also actively introduced foreign forces from Europe. For example, they once supported a noble from a certain German region as the king of Corsica. I hope England will support their independence cause. The Republic of Genoa is also struggling with this, and it is constantly consuming their little energy. If our country wants to focus on this country, I think Corsica will be a good fulcrum. "

"Looking at the experience of this country for more than a hundred years, we can see that the Kingdom of Sardinia has tried very hard to achieve something, but its performance has always been unsatisfactory. It is just jumping up and down, and there are some benefits. But there are many countries that have been offended, and it gives people the impression that they are capricious. As their allies, you must be prepared to be stabbed in the back at any time. "

"The situation in Genoa is not good either. Business is in a mess. The financial industry that was once proud of has been cheated by the Spanish a few times (Spain has declared financial bankruptcy several times, and all the large loans borrowed by Genoa have not been repaid. ), are in ruins, and several banks that have been in business for hundreds of years are also in deteriorating condition and are on the verge of bankruptcy. In addition, they are also facing external threats from the Kingdom of Sardinia, which is constantly losing territory, and they can only rely on the French and Austrians. The protection and hard support.”

"Well...then, let's talk about the Kingdom of Sardinia now. Let's see how good it is and whether it is worthy of our Qi State's investment and support."

"...Well, our black-clad guards estimate that the Venetian merchant group only has about three hundred merchant ships at most, and they are mainly small galleys of one to two hundred tons. As for naval warships, I estimate that there are still a few left. It can be said that after being severely hit by Qi, Venice not only lost its maritime combat capabilities, but also lost the territory on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea that they had gained through hundreds of years of expansion. It’s completely gone. Without strong foreign aid, this country has no future at all.”

"Yes, General Constitution." Upon hearing this, Sun Jiasheng immediately pulled out several pieces of collected intelligence information, "Among the several Italian native countries, the Kingdom of Sardinia is still somewhat decent. Their king Vittorio ·Amedeo II played both sides in several European wars and made many real gains for the country. The country also expanded its territory seriously. It was not only gradually reforming. They unified laws, clarified politics, actively rectified the market, and promoted the development of domestic industry and commerce. They tried their best to reduce the privileges of the church and hereditary nobles, establish various schools, develop education, build cities, and streamline administrative agencies. The Kingdom of Din looks like an aggressive country, much stronger than the other Italian states that are like mud.”

"The Papal States were also in decline during this period. As the secularization of religions in European countries accelerated, the power and influence of the Pope were also increasingly weakened. Since the political reforms in many countries often deprived the church of power, this caused the Pope to frequently Spending a huge amount of money to collude with the local church to obstruct the reform process in the host country and try to preserve their own privileges. This is actually doing everything possible to go against the political tide and reverse the course of history. How can they be expected to have the energy to govern the local area well? To put it bluntly, the Papal States is the worst country in Italy and even in Europe. If it weren't for the support of the Austrians, this country ruled by religion could be burned down with a little fire."

"However, the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia is indeed... somewhat unworthy. Whether it is the war with France, or the war with Austria or Spain, they rarely win. Their capital was even attacked by the enemy several times. Those who were conquered relied on foreign aid or rescue by allies to survive until the end of the war."

"Where's Genoa?"

"..." Yin Yugui took a deep look at the other party. Although there was still a smile on his face, he was already very unhappy in his heart.

"My opinion is not important." General Shi Hanrong, the commander of the army stationed in Anzhou, said calmly, "Whether to support the Kingdom of Sardinia and then intervene in the affairs of the Italian region should be reported to Ambassador Pan, the general representative to Europe, and then decided by His Majesty the Emperor and the Prime Minister. Soldiers like us should take obeying orders as our bounden duty and just lead the troops to fight. We should not get involved in decisions concerning such important overseas matters."

Why, didn't it just reject your military's proposal to invade Trieste, an important port in the Shinra?

As for such a yin and yang weirdness?
"I myself am cautiously supportive of establishing a special relationship with the Kingdom of Sardinia. I can use this opportunity to penetrate the power of our country into Italy." Yin Yugui glanced up at the military and political officials present and said firmly: “Although Italy is in a state of fragmentation and belongs to different countries politically, and is also between the major European powers such as France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain. However, Italy’s east, south, and west sides are bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. The Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea are extremely important geostrategically. If our country can work hard here for decades, we can consolidate and expand our influence and control in the Mediterranean region."

"General Constitution, if we support the Kingdom of Sardinia and intervene in regional affairs in Italy, I am afraid it will arouse the fear and dissatisfaction of the French." Anzhou Civil Affairs and Economic Affairs Officer Weng Tinglin said softly: "A few years ago, we defeated Venice and attacked the Holy Roman Empire. The threat is greater, so we have the acquiescence of the French, allowing us to do whatever we want without intervening. However, the Piedmont mainland and the Republic of Genoa, where the Kingdom of Sardinia is located, have always been regarded by the French as being within their inherent sphere of influence. . If they learn that our country of Qi is approaching the Kingdom of Sardinia, they may cause a lot of disputes. You know, when we leased Dehua Port (now Tangier, Morocco) during the Qi-British War, we attracted France. They believed that it would pose a direct threat to their Mediterranean interests until we declared Tianmen (today's Spanish North African city of Ceuta) and Dehua to be free ports, and any foreign merchant ships could stop by without restriction. The French are content to enter and leave the Strait (Strait of Gibraltar). Now, if we extend our hands to France’s backyard, we will inevitably encounter strong opposition from them.”

"The French?" Yin Yugui couldn't help but twitching when he heard this, "Could they prevent us from intervening in Italian affairs?" "...The French will not sit back and watch our Qi forces penetrate into the Kingdom of Sardinia." Weng Tinglin He shook his head with a wry smile.

What a joke, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia are separated by an Alps. They are adjacent to each other with mountains and rivers, and are dependent on each other on land. How could we, Qi, be allowed to cause trouble on their backs?

By the way, our country, Qi, is helping France build its first railway in the country, from Paris to the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. Lyon, an important city passing through on the way, seems to be not far from the Alps. When the railway is opened to traffic, the French can easily They mobilized their troops to fight to the foot of the Alps, and they could kick open the gate of the Kingdom of Sardinia with just a lift of their feet.

France has what is known as the largest army in Europe. During the Louis XIV period, it was invincible throughout Europe.

If the French confront our Qi State because of the Kingdom of Sardinia, will they still have to fight a war?
Although the French navy is not that good, the army should still be quite capable of fighting. Don't look at the awesomeness of our Qi army. It can beat whoever it wants in the Indian Ocean region, and it has destroyed countless kingdoms.

But looking at the more than 90 years since the founding of the Qi State's army, it seems that it has never experienced a war involving hundreds of thousands of people. The biggest war was the battle with the Mughal Empire more than fifty years ago. It still involved more than a dozen vassal states and princely states, pieced together here and there, and mobilized more than 20,000 troops.

However, the Mughal Empire's army had backward weapons and outdated tactics. It was defeated by our Qi army in a devastating way, which cannot truly reflect our actual combat power.

As for areas such as Southeast Asia, Indochina, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, the fighting was even more petty. The number of troops dispatched was only a few hundred to thousands, and it was purely a battle of a cruel nature.

In other words, our Qi Army has never fought a battle as evenly matched as on the European battlefield, let alone a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands.

Although our army has stationed military staff groups in many countries such as the Qin State, the Ottomans, and the Netherlands, and many army officers have personally observed or participated in the planning of many large-scale battles, which can be regarded as some experience and examples of "big battles", but in the end there is no Practice it with your own troops.

In fact, it can be seen from the establishment of the Qi Army that it does not look like it can fight a big war, because the largest military unit of the Qi Army is only a regiment. Many European powers already have brigades and legions in their armies. In wars, there are often large battles involving tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

It can be said that Qi's operations in the Nanyang and Indian Ocean regions are dimensionality reduction strikes, and the difficulty coefficient is too low. Even in the two wars with the Kingdom of Spain, there were no large-scale battles. They were basically battles involving thousands of people.

As for defeating England and making an emergency landing in Venice, it was purely a battle at sea, and the army was playing tricks from beginning to end.

Although Qi had defeated Russia's tens of thousands of troops in the Caucasus, that didn't mean much.

The main reason is that the Russian army's equipment is so poor that it cannot even equip every soldier with a musket, the number of artillery is even pitiful, and the logistics supplies are extremely poor.

Moreover, Qi also had the full support of the Persian Safavid Empire, which provided more than 20,000 troops, including more than 4,000 cavalry, which was no less than the Russian army in terms of military strength.

To put it bluntly, the Qi Army has never experienced evenly matched opponents, nor has it fought an extremely difficult battle. On the European battlefield, the Qi Army, which lacks experience in large-scale combat, is not necessarily sure that it can defeat others.

Especially for a land power like France, although it has overseas colonies and a certain scale of overseas trade, its self-sufficiency is very high due to its superior resource endowment. It cannot be casually blocked by a powerful naval fleet. can make it surrender.

When fighting against maritime countries like England and Venice, Qi was absolutely sure of defeating them. It could only achieve its strategic goal by mobilizing a large number of warships, conducting several decisive battles at sea, and then blockading and besieging their mainland.

But if you want to challenge a continental country like France, you have to use the army, and the number of the army cannot be too small.

During the Thirty Years' War and the War of Spanish Succession, hundreds of thousands of troops galloped across the European continent, fighting to their heart's content. Even island countries like England organized tens of thousands of troops to cross the English Channel and were involved in large-scale wars. The European battlefield and the alliance with many allies have just curbed France's attempt to dominate Europe.

If we, the Qi State, insist on wading into the troubled waters in Italy, meddling in the affairs of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and provoking the intervention of the French and Austrians, and they directly mobilize a large army to crush the Qi State and forcibly expel the Qi State, what can you do?
No matter how much money is invested and how much materials are supported, it will all be wasted in the end.

Just wait, only when strife breaks out on the European continent will our country of Qi stir up trouble.

(End of this chapter)