Xinshun 1730

Chapter 299
At this time, the power of Congress is always closely related to the outcome of the war.

The monarch is in charge of the army, and if he wins a battle, his prestige will be high, and he will be able to suppress the nobles, even dissolve the parliament, and strengthen the centralization of power.

lost...

The former Charles XII was quite capable. He fought the Russians for so long. Although he was driven to Turkey by the Russians to escape, he still had the ability.However, on his way back home to attack Norway, he was killed by an accidental bullet—it is said that his brother-in-law, the current King of Sweden, fired a shot, triggering the reaction of the guards, causing a stray bullet to kill him by mistake.

As he died, and his sister was next in line of succession to his nephew, Congress naturally assumed power and abolished absolute monarchy.

To get the trade issue right, you have to get the parliament right first.

The years of war with Russia have made the radicals in the parliament all aim to "defeat Russia and regain lost ground".

This is a moral kidnapping that can be used. After all, there was a war between Dashun and Russia before, and Dashun flirted with France again. This time, it returned the Swedish prisoners captured in the Great Northern War. This made many young Swedish nobles overjoyed. : This is a natural ally.

At this time, public intellectuals in Sweden had a good impression of China.

Like Voltaire and others, these public intellectuals will make up a utopia.Since the "heaven on earth" is too illusory and bound to religion, it is necessary to fabricate a real utopia to practice one's own political ideals.

This ideal country cannot be too close, if it is too close, it is easy to be seen by people, and then it will inevitably be disillusioned.

So this utopia is so far away that ordinary people can't touch it, so they can play it around and bring their own private goods.

This utopia must be long-lived and strong.

The vast majority of ordinary people hate the poor and love the rich, and judge heroes by success or failure. The richer and stronger the utopia is, the more attractive it is. Winners are justified in shitting, and losers’ efforts are wasted time.

For example, a few years later, in order to advocate the parliamentary system and freedom of the press, the Swedes published a book called "The Censorship System of the Tang Empire (618-907)", boasting that: the emperors of the Tang Empire were civilized emperors. They walked into the houses, Hear the voice of every citizen.They seek the well-being of the people, and any people can put forward their opinions to the emperor...

If you don't know this, after reading this book, you may think that there was a free press law and a national parliamentary system in the Tang Dynasty.

It is precisely what is lacking, and what should be depicted in the "Utopia".

Sweden is famous in Europe at this time for "not talking about state affairs" - no political books are allowed to be published, as long as they are written, even private letters - if private letters talk about state affairs, they will also be sentenced.

In this case, Congress can easily be incited, and people's thinking can easily be controlled.Thoughts on Russian revanchism can be discussed, but writing is not allowed.The people are extremely ignorant and easily incited by businessmen, nobles, and rich people. This is exactly where these shareholders of the East India Company can operate.

For example, what Cambier said, whoever does not support Dashun's businessmen to participate in the shares is a traitor.

This is an excellent entry point.

And... At this time in Sweden, a factional struggle is brewing, and these shareholders of the East India Company can decide who the loser of this party struggle is.

…………

stockholm.

The Swedish parliament is different from other places: it is divided into ranks and parties, it is louder than anyone in the meeting, and it pretends to make decisions that determine national policy.

The estates are different. They are divided into four grades, and there is an extra peasant grade, because Sweden's serfdom and feudal system are not complete, and more than half of the farmers are free farmers, not belonging to noble manors.

When the Congress was convened, the members agreed on laws and taxes—this was a compromise made by the Queen’s husband in 1723, and there was no such thing before—the members would stare at the specified tax standards, and whoever violated them would step down.

Laws and taxation are not the entire internal affairs and foreign affairs of the country. It is not this chaotic parliament that really governs the country, but a secret committee of 75 people and a senate during the recess of the parliament.

Nobles, monks, merchants, petty citizens, and peasants, although there are four levels of members of Congress, but there are no peasants in the 75 secret committees of the Senate.

The former queen's husband, now Count Frederick, King of Sweden, is the only one with two votes in the nine-member political council that actually presides over state affairs.

However, since the new law in 1723 rejected the co-governance of two kings and the absolute monarchy, and handed over the legislative power to the National Assembly, the king has been busy looking for a lover and having children.

Anyway, he is the earl of Shinra, and he has a fief in Shinra, so the royal family does not need to look at the faces of these Swedes.

At this time, it is the Chief Minister of Sweden, Arvid Horn, who is really in charge of Swedish policy.

If only from a policy point of view, this is a moderate.But to put it harshly, this one is called the "British-Russian faction".

His mind is still relatively clear, the era of Sweden has passed, and it is no longer the lion who kicked Shinra and beat the north.

The starting point of all the policies can be summed up in one sentence, which is Han Feizi's sentence "A small country should not be humbled, a weak country should not be afraid of the strong, a rude neighbor will be insulted, a greedy and clumsy friend will die."

Arvid is still very clear-headed. If he can’t beat Russia, he will be doomed. It’s better to be honest, don’t regain lost ground, don’t exaggerate revanchism, and improve relations with Russia.

Don't let Russia fight again.At the mouth of the Baltic Sea, what should be thrown away and what should be cut should be cut, and there must be no war with Russia.

Economically, although he supports mercantilism and encourages the development of domestic handicrafts, he believes that Sweden is not capable of competing with Britain and the Netherlands.
Therefore, the tariffs are appropriately reduced to allow British and Dutch goods to be sold in Sweden.

On the issue of the East India Company, proceed carefully, do not make a high profile, and do not provoke Britain and the Netherlands, lest the Anglo-Dutch dissatisfaction.

To develop a hammer-like textile industry, do you have no idea whether the environment, population, and temperature in Sweden can develop the textile industry?It's better to import foreign textiles honestly, improve the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands, and sell our own special products such as steel, copper and wood tar.

Stop and stop, be a small country, don't dream of a big country.

The times have changed.

The parliamentary opposition to the First Minister was a Radical faction headed by Karl Girondberg.To put it bluntly, this one is called "French Pie".

His mind is quite unclear, and he thinks that Sweden should continue the glory of the old era, kicking Russia, kicking Prussia, and flattening Britain and the Netherlands.

Historically, the French have given a lot of verbal support but zero swipes.

In history, as soon as this person came to power, he declared war on Russia, wanted revenge, wanted to restore the former glory, and wanted the Russians to cede St. Petersburg.

However, the French only supported their mouths. In Russia, Queen Elizabeth came to power, the female czar second only to Catherine II. She beat Sweden, cut off Finland, and established Elizabeth’s former fiancé’s brother as Sweden. Prince.

The economic policies of the radicals are also very strange.

Substantially increase tariffs, control foreign textiles under high pressure, and strive to support the interests of large textile owners in the country. It is better for Sweden to have no good cloth than to use British and Dutch goods in Sweden.

Try to support the East India Company and undercut the Dutch and British.Historically, taking advantage of the start of the Austrian throne war and the opportunity of privately plundering and plundering ships between France, Britain, and Spain, merchant ships were dispatched to Guangdong, and smugglers were colluded with everywhere, and smuggled tea was sold to Britain with all their strength, opening up a smuggling route to the Americas.

In other words, the surrounding neighbors were all offended.

Getting closer to France is called long distance and close attack.But the premise of long-distance and short-distance attack is that one is a strong country, and it is too slow for a weak country to engage in long-distance and short-distance attack.Are Russia and Prussia now, or Russia and Prussia back then?
It is conceivable that those who supported them were young military officers, young aristocrats, big businessmen, craftsmen, and the most conservative and patriotic peasants.

The directors of the East India Company such as Cambier are targeting the radicals in Congress, hoping that they will win in Congress and support them in exchange for their rewards. What do they have to do with each other?As long as you have money, go to the UK, the Netherlands, or Russia. Isn’t it the same as being a rich man?

Moreover, Cambier was not originally a Swede, but an Englishman.

Taking advantage of the fact that February had not yet arrived and the merchant ship had not set sail, Cambier hurried back to Stockholm and found the leader of the radical group, Karl Girondberg.

The three-year Congress is about to be held, and Carl is also full of ambition.

His supporters learned from the way the British wore wigs and did not wear wigs during the Civil War, wore hats that were completely different from those of conservatives, and used the censorship system of not being allowed to write state affairs or publish books to incite speeches of revenge against Russia everywhere , gained a lot of support.

He is confident that in this congress, he will kill the conservative Arvid and become the Minister of State himself.

Moreover, not long ago, the French special envoy brought him good news: the diplomacy between France and Dashun was very smooth, and it was impossible to say what was discussed in detail, but it was very smooth.Obviously, this means that France and Dashun are conspiring to deal with Russia. Anyway, it is impossible for Dashun to send warships to attack Britain.

If Sweden chooses to go to war against Russia, France is willing to provide an aid, including some guns, artillery, and even some fleets.

At the same time, this lovely French envoy also brought a large order to Sweden.

Bordeaux, France, is rich in wine, and the production of wine barrels requires high-quality iron hoops, and the quality of iron in Sweden is quite good.Therefore, France cut off the iron trade with other countries, and handed over the iron orders for Bordeaux hoop barrels to Sweden.

In this way, as the sincerity of supporting Sweden's war against Russia this time.

This order is for the radicals, and France will not count this order as the achievement of the conservative Anglo-Russian faction.

The order will not take effect unless the radicals control Congress; and if it is still the old man of Arvid, this order will not be handed over to Sweden.

The order means that he can gain the support of some industrial and commercial people, which brings Karl's dream of becoming a minister of state one step closer.

Now, the founder and chief director of the East India Company, the Lord Kambier of Sweden, has approached him again. Karl Girondberg feels that the affairs of the Congress are more stable.

He thought that he would guide the Swedish people, capture St. Petersburg, and then... Maybe he could use his prestige to completely destroy the embers of Sweden's absolute monarchy, and he could become the protector of Sweden.

(End of this chapter)