New Shun 1730

But.

However, Prussia broke its alliance and stopped fighting alone; the British found the Russians with the copper-smelling pounds, and the Russians were going to send troops to the Rhine; the British did not give Austria money to continue fighting Prussia, but would continue to subsidize the fight against France...

The situation became ugly again, and France could not continue to hold on anyway.

No matter how strong France was, it was impossible for it to fight Britain, Austria, Russia, the Netherlands, and the mercenaries hired by the King of Poland alone.

However, he withdrew from the war now?

How would the citizens and nobles view him as a king?

He fought for four or five years, tens of thousands of people died, and countless money was spent, but what was the result?

The result was that he didn't eat half a chestnut, but all the hair on his claws was burned?

Then Prime Minister Fleury was extremely opposed to joining the war before, but you insisted on doing it, thinking it was an opportunity to surpass your great-grandfather. What about now?

I told you to recuperate and maintain peace a long time ago. If you insist on fighting, it's not impossible to fight, and the winner will not be condemned. But if there is no result, you are not a winner.

Would people say, if the king had listened to the prime minister? If the prime minister had not died? Would the king be able to abolish the prime minister's monopoly of power and lead France forward?

If you are not capable and think too much, you will always have such thoughts.

Afraid of being looked down upon, looked down upon, and talked about.

The more you want to prove yourself.

On the one hand, you are conceited, and on the other hand, you are inferior. This contradictory combination is a reflection of Louis XV's mentality at this time.

Therefore, for Dashun, Russia's sending troops is a good thing.

Otherwise, with Louis XV's mentality, if Russia does not send troops, Louis XV will have to eat up the Austrian Netherlands and ravage the Netherlands in order to be called the Sun King again.

Liu Yu had talked so many truths with Louis XV before, but when the time came, Louis XV was ambitious, and those truths were far less useful than Russia's sending troops.

One of the prerequisites for Russia to send troops was Liu Yu's previous meeting with Elizabeth in St. Petersburg, and the two countries had dealt with historical issues. The various black pots of "losing territory" were all carried by Queen Anna, and Dashun also used the actual action of going to Southeast Asia to express its sincerity that Dashun had no intention of advancing northward.

Moreover, in terms of international law, Russia did not violate the secret agreement with Dashun not to ally with the enemy.

The Anglo-Russian Mutual Defense Treaty, to be more precise, is the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Russian Empire and the Electorate of Hanover, except that the Elector of Hanover happened to be the King of England.

If someone really landed in England, according to the treaty, Russia would not care.

This is completely different from the Anglo-Dutch Mutual Defense Treaty.

Dashun declared war on the Netherlands, but not on Britain; and Russia would not defend the Netherlands, in theory, it was to protect the Electorate of Hanover.

The current turbulent international situation constructed by this secret agreement, where many news are not disclosed to the public, makes it possible for Liu Yu's Dutch plan to get France to nod.

The Duke of Qi said this now, in fact, to remind Louis XV: forget to withdraw when there is more behind you, and want to turn back when there is no way ahead.

Don't wait until the Russian army really reaches the Rhine, that would be difficult to deal with.

If you stop now and start negotiations, France can still get a lot of benefits.

If you don't stop, if you fight well, France's economy will not be able to support it; if you don't fight well, if you lose to the Russian army, France will really lose more than it gains.

Because, at this time, France has lost a lot in colonies!

In India, North America, and the Caribbean, France's mysterious navy gave Britain an overall advantage.

Once the Russian army arrives, France can neither win because it has no money; nor can it lose. As long as it loses once, not only will the European advantage be gone, but the colonies will also be gone.

Dashun's operation here is to collude with the Dutch regent to launch a coup again. Then France recognizes the neutrality of the Netherlands and ceases war with the Netherlands, so that the neutrality of the Netherlands is not within the scope of the negotiations between Britain and France.

In this case, Britain and France still have the possibility of exchanging interests with each other: Britain returns Louisbourg in North America and Pondicherry in India to France; France recognizes the status of the Elector of Hanover in Britain, and France gives up the occupation of the Austrian Netherlands in exchange for the interests of Italy and Spain.

This order cannot be wrong.

If it is wrong, the neutrality of the Netherlands and the abolition of the Anglo-Dutch Alliance Treaty itself will become part of the exchange of interests between Britain and France.

And the price of this part is too high, and France will have to pay something else. It is very likely that the North American colonies or India will not be taken back.

But even if the order is correct, it is necessary to discuss with France in secret first: discuss with you, we are trying to make a coup in the Netherlands, you have to admit it, and also recognize the neutrality of the Netherlands and stop invading the Netherlands.

Only when France recognizes it, the Netherlands can carry out a coup.

Because, as long as it is not said, the Dutch people will think: It was the Regent Party who saved the Netherlands and prevented the Netherlands from being invaded by France, so why not recognize the Regent Party to come to power?

On the contrary, if France did not nod, the Regent faction staged a coup and France continued to attack, then the Regent faction would have to bear the blame after the war.

Therefore, the overall sequence is:

France nodded in agreement, China and France reached a secret agreement, and decided the fate of the Netherlands without the presence of the Dutch representative.

The secret agreement was reached, Dashun supported the Dutch Regent faction's coup, the Orange faction left, the Seven Provinces Republic declared neutrality, and abolished the Anglo-Dutch Mutual Defense Treaty.

France immediately recognized the neutrality of the Netherlands and announced a truce with the Netherlands. The Dutch people cheered the regent for saving the Netherlands.

Britain and France made peace. In the peace talks, the Netherlands was no longer a bargaining chip for both sides.

France took back Canada and India, and Britain protected Hanover and obtained French recognition.

The Netherlands joined the Armed Neutrality Alliance, reorganized the Sino-Dutch East India Company, and launched a smuggling business.

France took the lead in recognizing the Armed Neutrality Alliance Treaty, forcing Britain to recognize it.

The essence of the four words "armed neutrality" lies in this: the party with a weak navy must recognize and acknowledge it; the party with a strong navy must also recognize and acknowledge it.

Because, their neutrality is "armed" and "neutral".

If you don't give neutrality a chance, you have to be armed and non-neutral.

This is a chain of links. If the order is wrong, the problem will be big.

The Duke of Qi knew Liu Yu's plan very well, and he was able to deal with it at this time.

"Your Majesty, the fact that Luocha Kingdom sent troops is not good news for France."

"Marshal Hermann is good at fighting, but if the war continues, the treasury will be empty and the soldiers will be exhausted."

"The British live on the island and do not send out soldiers, instigating Austria and Romania to suppress France."

"Although I don't know much about Britain, I also know that when the British envoy came to the Celestial Empire, the title of the King of France was on the title of the credential."

He calmly reminded Louis XV: The contradiction between Britain and France is the main contradiction. If you continue to fight, the British will lose some money, but France, Russia and Austria will become mortal enemies. There is no need.

As for the issue of the credential, this is not nonsense from the Duke of Qi. Originally, in the credential brought by the Macartney Mission in history, the title of the King of England also had the title of the King of France. Who doesn't know this little thing about the title of the King of Britain and France?

"The Celestial Empire is a loyal and reliable ally of France, but the ocean blocks its influence, and it cannot even reach Malacca. It is powerless even in the dispute over India."

"Therefore, in my humble opinion, France needs an ally in Europe besides Spain. It is not my instigation, but Spain is not good at land warfare and is just average at sea warfare."

"While Prussia is good at fighting, it has been treacherous twice in a row. Who doesn't know that? It only wants what it wants, but will not care about its allies and may be sentenced at any time. Therefore, Prussia is not is a suitable ally. "

"Sweden was once strong and achieved hegemony as a small country. But after the war four years ago, it is known that Sweden is no longer the Sweden it once was. It is not worthy of its reputation. Although it is a tiger, it is now weak. Therefore, Sweden is not suitable as an ally."

"The remaining ones are Austria and Russia. One must be chosen from them. If both countries are allies of the British, France will be unable to sleep and eat."

These words are of course reasonable, and the starting point is the consensus that the contradiction between Britain and France is the main contradiction in French diplomacy.

Louis XV had heard Liu Yu talk about similar things before. When he heard Duke Qi talk about it again, he sighed and said, "Your son-in-law once said this, and I agree with him."

"But the war between France and Austria lasted for a long time."

"I wanted to form an alliance with Russia, but that bitch...that venomous woman didn't agree. She shamelessly took the pounds and completely forgot about the help from China and France during her coup."

"Moreover, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Privy Council is a staunch anti-French faction. He is also in charge of diplomacy."

"Your Excellency the Duke's reasoning is very correct. But it's very difficult to do it. Don't I know that Britain is France's most hateful enemy?"

Duke Qi thought to himself, since you understand this and agree that the Anglo-French conflict is the first, you have made a good start.

"Your Majesty, judging from China's strategy, Russia and Austria are inseparable. Your Majesty's idea of ​​forming an alliance with one of them was probably wrong from the beginning."

"Since the Russian Queen ascended the throne, she has followed her father's policy and has taken westward development as her strategy. Therefore, Prussia must be her enemy."

"Austria has lost Silesia and is thinking about revenge every day. Prussia is also an enemy of Austria."

"This is the matter on the west side."

"On the east side."

"The Ottoman Empire is mortal enemies with Russia and Austria. Russia and Austria have joined forces many times to resist the attacks of the Ottoman Sultan."

"There are common enemies on both the east and the west. In this case, how can Austria and Russia be separated and one of them be chosen as an alliance?"

"Therefore, if we look at the essence of this matter, we can know that if we want to ally with Russia, we must first ally with Austria. Once we ally with Austria, Russia must ally."

This is the truth, but the truth is just the truth.

Louis XV frowned upon hearing this and said, "Isn't it a way of thinking that should be avoided in diplomacy? Alliances are for the sake of a purpose, and the purpose should not be to form an alliance for the sake of an alliance."

"France is allied with Austria and Russia, so where is France's expansion direction? You Chinese have a saying, "Make friends with distant countries and attack nearby ones." This is not the truth."

The Duke of Qi shook his head and said, "This is a strategy for becoming emperor. If Your Highness believes that Austria can be dismembered and the Roman states can be controlled, this strategy is correct."

"As for the current situation in Europe, in my opinion, it should be the Spring and Autumn Period's hegemony, not the Warring States Period's emperorship. If you want to be a hegemon, you can't make friends with distant countries and attack nearby countries. You can only make good friends with nearby countries and attack distant countries, command them, maintain order, and maintain your own advantages; if you want to be an emperor, you must make friends with distant countries and attack nearby countries, first swallow up the surrounding areas, grow your power day by day, and finally become an empire."

"So, Your Highness, do you think France should be a hegemon? Or can it be an emperor to unify Europe and rebuild the Frankish Empire?"

"If the purpose is not clear, how can you know which strategy is right and which strategy is wrong?"

"Rebuild the Frankish Empire?" Louis XV murmured, and he was shocked by what the Duke of Qi said. He thought that this was of course impossible, and no one had ever thought of it.

Even the most radical French people, the greatest ambition they envisioned was to restore the so-called natural borders. The idea of ​​rebuilding the empire was simply something they would never even dream of.

The so-called hegemony, Liu Yu had described to him before, and the meaning was very easy to understand.

Louis XV had to admit that the Duke of Qi was right. Russia and Austria were either allies or enemies. The idea of ​​wanting to ally with Russia while being an enemy of Austria was unrealistic. It seemed that, indeed, the alliance with Austria was the basis for the alliance with Russia.

The Duke of Qi said this to draw out the real purpose: whether to ally with Austria or not, we will talk about that later. But since Russia and Austria are one and cannot be separated, if you don't want to be hostile to Russia, Austria and Britain at the same time, then at least you can't have irreconcilable contradictions with Austria: you may be allies or not, but you must not leave only the option of hostility.

If you have the ability and want to be emperor, you can play it this way.

If you don't have the ability to be emperor and just want to dominate, playing this way is courting death.