1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 959 Visiting the European Fleet ([-])

October 1679, 10, Königsberg.

All Brandenburg-Prussian nobles and officials, including the Great Elector Frederick William, were not expecting the arrival of a mission from a major eastern power.

Because, after leaving the Federation of Provinces, the Qi Mission visited England, the Danish-Norwegian United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Sweden, and then took a boat from Stockholm to the south coast of the Baltic Sea.

Just when everyone thought that the delegation of the State of Qi would visit the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania, the most important country in the region, they suddenly arrived in Königsberg to carry out an investigation on Brandenburg-Prussia, which does not even have the title of a kingdom. A friendly state visit.

In addition to being astonished, the Elector Frederick William felt a little flattered.Compared with the above-mentioned countries visited by the Qi State Mission, they are either current European powers or prominent regional powers, while Brandenburg-Prussia is only a coalition of several loose states. In terms of status, in terms of strength and scale, it is simply an unpopular role in Europe.

As the most important military ally of the United Provinces, Frederick William still had a certain understanding of Qi from the distant Hanzhou continent.It is said that this country is not only extremely rich, but also has a powerful navy.They and the East India Company under the Federal Republic almost monopolized and controlled the entire eastern trade, and they were well-deserved overlords in the Indian Ocean region.

In the Franco-Dutch war that just ended, among the navy and army of the United Provinces Republic, there was a Qi military observer group with more than 130 people.These officers are not only more professional, but also fearless of war, and their performance on the battlefield is also extremely heroic.

A few years ago, during the famous siege of the Maastricht fortress, under the attack of the French siege expert General Sebastian Le Prestre de Vauban, because more than a dozen The participation and guidance of the Qi Army's tactical staff enabled the Dutch defenders of the fortress to defeat numerous French attacks.

The entire siege lasted nineteen months (in the original history, the French army captured the fortress in two weeks), and when all the nearby fortresses were captured one by one by the French army in a very short period of time, Maastricht The fortress has been firmly standing on the banks of the Maas River, which not only effectively restrained more than [-] French troops, but also greatly encouraged the determination to resist in other parts of the Union Province.

In this battle, France lost more than [-] soldiers, the famous general D'Artagnan died in battle, and General Vauban himself was wounded by the artillery of the fortress. The loss was extremely heavy.

If the fortress of Maastricht hadn't run out of food and ammunition supplies in the end, and the defenders were forced to leave the city to surrender, maybe the French army, which was indomitable on the battlefield, would not be able to take this strong fortress at all.

The outstanding performance of Qi soldiers has also won the high recognition of the French. It is said that General Vauban, the French siege commander, invited more than a dozen captured Qi officers to his headquarters, and conducted various tactical drills on siege and defense. Had an in-depth and detailed exchange.

The siege tactics of parallel trenches and serpentine traffic trenches that General Vauban is proud of were already used by the people of Qi when they conquered the Kupang stronghold of the Dutch East India Company more than 30 years ago.As for the use of geometric principles to build a fortification system, Qi's military schools have also done a lot of research and implemented it in actual wars.

In the eyes of Frederick William, although the military power of Qi State is known for its navy, their army may amaze him even more.I heard that their army is composed of full-time professional soldiers. All officers have received very professional military training, mastered a wealth of war knowledge, possessed extremely high military literacy, and displayed bravery and fearlessness on the battlefield. The ideal army model he hopes to build.

In fact, when visiting Brandenburg-Prussia, which is composed of various states, not to mention Frederick William was very surprised, even the vast majority of members of the Qi State Mission were quite puzzled.In terms of influence, the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania next to it is definitely much larger than it. Not only does it have a territory of more than one million square kilometers and a population of tens of millions, but its ancestors were once rich and dominated Central and Eastern Europe. It has a glorious history .

However, before the mission left, His Majesty the Emperor specially instructed the Special Envoy Ji Changrong to pay a friendly visit to Brandenburg-Prussia and establish a good impression of each other.His Majesty claimed that although this small state is not yet established, it has great potential for development. If possible, it may wish to establish a full range of diplomatic, military, and trade relations with it to promote cooperation and exchanges between the two sides.

In 1618, Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia, died after a long period of mental illness.His son-in-law, Johann Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, also from the Hohenzollern family, inherited the duchy, and Brandenburg and Prussia formed the personal union of the monarchs (also known as the Commonwealth of the Lords) ).

When Brandenburg-Prussia merged, it happened during the tragic 30-year war. As one of the main battlefields, Brandenburg-Prussia was severely damaged, and its economy was almost on the verge of collapse.

In the early days, the three states of Brandenburg, Prussia, and Clover-Mark only jointly enshrined the Hohenzollern family as monarchs, but each state had its own set of political systems, and each state regarded each other as its own. for foreign countries.The development of each state is also uneven. The two states of Brandenburg and Prussia are dominated by the Junker manor economy, and the Clover-Mark on the Rhine is dominated by the commodity economy of the burghers.

Elector Frederick William, who came to the throne in 1640, spent his early years in the Netherlands, witnessed the prosperity and advancement of the Netherlands, and was determined to transform several states and establish a unified country.He established absolute dominance over the hierarchical councils in the state, reformed the Privy Council, established the Cabinet, and reformed the Public House, the governing body of the Crown Territories.

Frederick William also imitated the Dutch economic model to levy various new taxes, which gradually brought the financial status of the territories back from the brink of bankruptcy.In order to expand his territory, he also established a standing army of about 2 people.In the just-concluded Franco-Dutch war, he also accepted the employment of the Dutch and fought the French to death. In addition to expanding the influence of the state, he also wanted to earn a little pitiful commission.

When the people of Qi requested to establish trader stations in Königsberg and other state cities to actively expand trade around the Baltic Sea, Frederick William immediately agreed.

Because the Dutch directly left Brandenburg-Prussia and signed a peace treaty with France alone, Frederick William felt a deep betrayal, and in anger, he directly severed the diplomatic peace with the Netherlands. Commercial relations, but also closed the business station established by the Dutch.Now, the people of Qi came here on their own initiative, just to fill the vacancies of Dutch businessmen and prosper the local economy.

Qi State fully understood and supported Brandenburg-Prussia's commitment to get rid of the shackles of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire, and finally achieved the status of a kingdom, thus ranking among the European powers.

The Qi State Mission only stayed in Königsberg for three days, but left an excellent impression on the host.Although they only gave some favorable verbal support when dealing with the disputes between Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden, the Kingdom of Politics, and Shinra and other neighboring countries, these statements still made Frederick William feel that An inexplicable joy and excitement.

As a de facto monarch of the state, Frederick William was always in an awkward position.On the one hand, as the elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he has a dominant position in the empire and can compete with the emperor, but in many matters, he is always excluded from the empire by the Habsburg family.

On the other hand, he is also the Duke of Prussia. Although in 1660, taking advantage of the Poland-Switzerland War, he lifted Prussia's vassal status to Poland, but in the eyes of other European countries, he still couldn't get rid of his inferior situation.

Although, in the just-concluded Franco-Dutch War, Brandenburg-Prussia actively responded to the call of the Dutch, declared war on France, invested a large amount of military power, and fought the French army in the German region.But the Dutch seemed to regard them as a group of hired thugs, and according to the changes in the battlefield situation, gave them some money at will, and then drove them to work on the battlefield.

Today, a big country from the East has solemnly stated to them that Brandenburg-Prussia is a country with great potential, and under the leadership of His Royal Highness the Elector Frederick William, it will inevitably usher in a brilliant future The future of China will become a big country.

Well, it feels good to be valued.

In addition to being excited, Frederick William announced very generously that all businessmen from Qi who came to Brandenburg-Prussia to invest and trade, in addition to enjoying the various preferential treatments previously received by Dutch businessmen, they would also directly sell all their commodities Tax and transaction tax reduced to 5%, while granting extraterritorial rights to all incoming Qi merchants and expatriates.

For this reason, Frederick William allocated a large piece of land in Königsberg free of charge, and granted the Qi people to build commercial houses and embassies in order to better promote political, economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two sides.
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October 10, Rotterdam.

"Sir Dole, the people of Qi seem to be preparing to leave Europe."

After entering the house, Hugo Bent, senior manager of England's Royal African Company, took off his hat, bowed to Baron Thomas Dole, a member of the Privy Council of England, and sat on a chair opposite.

"Coffee? Or tea?" Baron Thomas Dole said with a smile: "The visit of the Qi people is probably over, and it's time to leave here. Why, did you see the Qi people's fleet at the pier?"

"Please give me a cup of tea, thank you." Hugo Bent ordered to a servant next to him, and then turned to look at Baron Thomas Dole, "Yes, when I just arrived at the pier, I saw several Qi State warships are preparing to leave the port. However, I have a question about this, the Qi State people's visiting fleet seems to have ten ships, but there are only four Qi State warships that are about to leave."

"Oh?" Thomas Dole frowned slightly, "What does this mean? Are they going to meet at a certain port?"

"No, Sir Dole." Hugo Bent shook his head and said: "I think that the four warships left probably not to join their main fleet, but to perform a military mission. Because, According to the port staff on the pier, the four warships stayed in Rotterdam for half a month, during which time they purchased a large amount of ammunition and other combat materials."

"Are they going to attack a certain military target?" Thomas Dole sat up straight and his expression became serious.

"Spain." Hugo Bent said softly: "The target of the Qi people's attack is probably Spain."

"Are they crazy?" Thomas Dole was amazed. "The Qi people dare to attack the Spanish mainland with a few warships? Although the Spanish naval strength has continued to decline in recent years, they have at least deployed no less than three ships on the mainland." Ten battleships. No matter how powerful the people of Qi are, they wouldn't be so big, right?"

"Spain's home defense is strong, and it may not be easy to fight, but what about their overseas territories?" Hugo Bent said: "Spain has several places in Ceuta, Melilla, and Mamura in northern Morocco. Territory... Oh, yes, there is also their Canary Islands. Although there are some armed merchant ships in those places, they cannot pose any threat to the people of Qi except for bullying the local Moors. So, more Sir, if the people of Qi collude with the Moroccans and launch an attack on the above-mentioned places through land and sea, the Spaniards will probably be caught off guard."

"Will the Qi people collude with the Moroccans?" Thomas Dole looked at each other hesitantly.

"The people of Qi can mingle with the Ottomans, so naturally they can also collude with the Arabs in Morocco." Hugo Bent said with certainty: "You know, the people of Qi don't seem to have any religious taboos. Whether it's Catholicism The country of Portugal, or the United Provinces of the Protestant country, and the Ottoman country of the true religion, they seem to be able to get along very well."

"Oh, the people of Qi are really a very inclusive country." Although Thomas Dole said words of praise, his expression revealed a bit of disdain and contempt, "I really want to know, What is the belief of the people of Qi?"

"Well, it is said that the Qi people are inherited from the Eastern China. The people are all Chinese immigrants, and their beliefs are also the same. As for the beliefs, it seems to be very complicated, and there are many. The main thing is to worship the heaven and the earth, worship the ancestors, and worship many gods and Buddhas." Hu Ge Bent thought for a while, and then took a sip of the tea handed over by his servant, "The outstanding feature of traditional Eastern religious beliefs is that theocracy has always been attached to the king's power, and has never formed a system of political and religious unity. Power. Their king is both the political leader and the leader of the group of witches. Some important sacrificial ceremonies are still presided over by them personally. However, those witches and priests are vassals of the royal power, and they have neither privileges nor formed an independent Social forces. They play the role of serving the royal power, surrounding the king, or offering sacrifices to the king, or dancing fish to pray for rain, or exorcising severe epidemics, or descending to the gods to dream....Qi Guo, it is the same if you think about it. Like."

"Oh, God! Then, don't the Qi people and those Easterners have a unified religious belief?" Thomas Dole was quite surprised. "Without religious cohesion, how can they knead a complete and unified country?"

"I'm sorry, Sir Dole." Hugo Bent shrugged and said with a wry smile: "I think this issue is a very profound social and political issue. I'm sorry that I don't understand it in detail and complete enough to give you an accurate answer. . . . However, our conversation seems to be getting a little off topic."

"Oh, what did we just say?" Thomas Dole smiled and said, "By the way, you just said that the Qi people are likely to collude with the Arabs in Morocco to attack Spain's overseas territories. Regarding this, we What needs to be done?"

"Sir Dole, we should warn the Spaniards." Hugo Bent had a hint of cunning in his eyes, "Let them make the necessary defensive preparations, and it is best to give the Qi people a head-on blow. I believe that the Spaniards will definitely Thank you for your kind reminder.”

(End of this chapter)