Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 642 Anti-Ming Alliance
"Clang... clang... clang..."

On the ninth day of February in the 23rd year of Apocalypse, when Daming was still immersed in the turmoil that King Qi was about to take over as a domain, an alliance to resist Daming came into being.

Amidst the melodious bells, three envoys dressed in costumes from various countries but full of thoughts walked into a stone house at the port of Hormuz.

They were full of thoughts, but cautious. Not only did they not bring guards, but they also dressed very low-key.

From some angles, they are more like merchants on three merchant ships.

The reason why they are so vigilant and low-key is to avoid the mysterious organization arranged by the Ming Dynasty in their countries... Jinyiwei.

However, when the three of them walked into the stone house one after another, they took off their robes and sat down at a triangular round table.

"Time is tight, we must achieve the result as soon as possible, otherwise it may attract the attention of Daming people."

When the foreign affairs representative of the Ottoman Empire, Alaha, spoke, Abbasi, the foreign affairs representative of Persia who controlled Hormuz, also nodded.

They still need such timidity on their own territory, which shows that they are very afraid of Jin Yiwei's intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities.

"Da Ming's power is too large, and now it is meddling in our state affairs from Eastern Europe to Hezhong, and then to South Asia. If we don't unite, it is very likely that it will break down one by one and easily replace us."

Mughal's foreign affairs representative, Hu Weina, tried his best to exaggerate the degree of Ming's interference in the national affairs of various countries. Although Alaha and Abbasi knew that the matter was exaggerated, they still couldn't help but nodded.

Such a weird scene is enough to make some politicians who know these three countries dumbfounded.

Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persian Empire, Mughal Empire...

These three countries are like the relationship between the three countries. Although Mughal and Ottoman did not conflict, Safavid Persia often showed favor to Mughal in order to prevent the country from being attacked.

Mughal also knew it well, so he often accepted such overtures, but at the same time he did not accept Safavid Persia's request for an alliance.

The reason is simple. Although Mughal accepted Persia's overtures, the two countries still had irreconcilable conflicts.

Kandahar, this area that has been taken by Ming Dynasty, is a contradiction that is difficult to mediate between the two countries.

Speaking of Kandahar, we have to start with the relationship between the two countries.

The mutual contacts between the Safavid dynasty and the Mughal dynasty can be traced back to the founding monarchs of the two countries.

As early as December 1510, when Ismail I defeated the Khiva Khanate, among the prisoners rescued by the Safavid army was the sister of Babur, the ruler of Kabul. This Babur was the later Indian Mughal The founding emperor of the Son Empire.

Ismail I warmly received the princess and sent her back to Babur. This was the beginning of the friendly relationship between the Safavid court and the Mughal dynasty.

The following year, relying on this relationship, Babur sent envoys to the Safavid Persian court, expressing his gratitude and sending out a request, hoping that Persia would send troops to help him attack Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire, and regain its territory.

After that, Babur also captured Samarkand with the help of Persian reinforcements, and prayed in the name of the Safavid emperor in the city.

Later, Babur sent troops from Kabul to attack India, occupied northern India, created the Mughal Empire, and died later, and his successor Humayun was also a supporter of Safavid Persia.

Such a relationship allowed Humayun to escape to the Persian court for refuge when he encountered the rebellion launched by the Afghan Sur.

Not only that, the king of Safavid Persia also promised to provide soldiers to help Humayun regain the throne.

However, in exchange, Persia required Humayun to accept the following three conditions:

First, convert to Shia.

Second, donate diamonds.

Third, ceding Kandahar, which was controlled by Humayun's brother Kamran at this time.

Faced with such three conditions, Humayun agreed without even thinking about it, and later used this army to successfully defeat the Afghan Sur, regain his lost throne, and restore the Mughal dynasty in India. rule.

However, Humayun has never responded positively to the original promise to cede Kandahar, which made Persia very angry.

Therefore, afterward, Persia sent troops to Kandahar and captured the province that had been under the jurisdiction of India since 1527.

Such a move caused the Mughal Empire to be very angry, and it simply interrupted its contacts with the Persian court.

However, if only this is the case, it is not enough to turn the two countries against each other.

What really turned the two countries against each other was when Persia was invaded by the Ottomans and internal turmoil broke out at the same time. They had no choice but to pray to the Mughals, but they were strongly rejected by the Mughal ministers.

While the relationship between the two sides dropped to a freezing point, Kandahar also became the fuse of the confrontation between the two countries as the relationship between the two countries continued to decline.

Since Kandahar is located between the Mughal Empire of India, Kabul and the Safavid Empire in Central Asia, for the Mughal Dynasty, Kabul and Kandahar are two doors of India.

These two doors, one leading to the land of Turks and the other leading to Persia, were extremely important to the Mughals.

At the same time, for Safavid Persia, Kandahar is not only the gate to enter Kabul from the southwest, but also controls the important route to India through the Pollen Pass.

It is precisely because of Kandahar's commercial and military significance that it has become the object of competition between the Safavid Empire of Persia and the Mughal Empire of India since the [-]th century.

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Kandahar changed hands several times between the Safavid Empire of Persia and the Mughal Empire of India. It was not until the Ming army sent troops to occupy Kandahar that the struggle between the two countries ended with the Ming army reaping the benefits.

When Kandahar was occupied by Ming, the conflict between the two countries ceased to exist, and this was one of the reasons for the peace talks between the two countries.

"We can bear the most direct pressure from Ming, but the only thing your country needs to guard against is Ming's servants, the Tatars."

"Therefore, your country must withdraw its troops on the border of Persia to ensure that Persia can join us in resisting Ming's invasion."

Mavina, the representative of the Mughals, told Alaha of the Ottoman Empire about the embarrassment of the Mughals and Persia, and at the same time explained why Ottomans wanted to join the alliance.

When Lin Dan Khan changed flags and became the Ming Mongolian State, the pressure Ottoman faced changed from Mongols to Mongols and Ming people.

Ottoman's coastline is particularly long, and it is necessary to cross the Caucasus region to send troops to the north. Therefore, for Ottoman, once he wants to help his vassal Crimea and the Mongols fight against the Mongols, the possibility of Ming joining the war will also increase. .

The most important thing is that the Sultan Murad IV who was close to Ming Dynasty in his country has passed away, and the Sultan who took over his position is called "Ibrahim I".

Ibrahim I was not as close to Daming as Murad IV, but was full of dissatisfaction with Daming because Daming seized the small western trade line.

This original dissatisfaction, coupled with the influence of the Mongols on the slave trade of the Ottoman Empire, naturally evolved into hostility.

It can be said that the three countries are full of complicated relations, but because of Ming Dynasty's attack on all sides, it led to the beginning of the Triple Alliance.

"We can withdraw most of the troops on the border, but the condition is that you must also withdraw your own troops, and if Ming directly participates in the war against us by the Tatars, you must find a way to deal with it."

Osman expressed his needs on behalf of Alaha, and the content seemed normal and comprehensive.

The alliance established by the three countries is originally an offensive and defensive alliance, and what needs to be guaranteed is that the three countries will no longer fight among themselves.

Withdrawing the troops is the first step of the three countries on the border between the two sides. Only when this step is completed and Ming continues to exert pressure on the West, can the second and third steps be carried out.

"Tuk Tuk..."

There was a knock on the door, and the three people in the house knew that it was someone from outside urging them, which meant that there were Daming people nearby.

Whether it was a merchant or Jin Yiwei, once Daming's face appeared, they had to leave.

"We will take the lead in withdrawing troops and hope your country will do the same."

Alahe got up and put on the robe representing the merchant again, Mavina and Abbasi also got up one after another, and the three left the stone house after a while.

Their initial contact was relatively satisfactory. Now as long as the three countries withdraw their troops on the border one after another, they can enter the second step of cooperation at a deeper level.

Since this meeting is more like a simple meeting, the confidentiality of the information is in place.

It wasn't until March when various countries began to transfer their troops away one after another, deployed their troops on the border with Daming, and began to follow the example of the Ming army in building defenses, that the Jinyiwei in various countries probably knew about the possible alliance of the Three Kingdoms.

Jinyiwei from all over the country released pigeons, and the news was sent back to Daming in mid-March, and was successfully delivered to Zhu Youjian...

"Woooo-"

At sea, when the whistle sounded, a wooden [-]-ton steam cargo ship, escorted by two armed steam cargo ships, was on its way from Fuzhou, Fujian to Ningbo, Zhejiang.

The sea breeze was blowing the hem of Zhu Youjian's clothes. He was holding the information on the changes in West Asia compiled by Beizhen Fusi in his hand, and the expression on his face seemed to tell that he was in deep thought.

Lu Wenzhao stood aside and said worriedly: "If the three countries are truly united, they will soon become a country with a total population of 8000 million and an annual income of 6000 million."

"The most important thing is that Lu Miguo (Ottoman) has direct contact with Europe, and it is suspected that he has acquired the technology of the rifle."

"If they were equipped with rifles and shared this technology with Persia and the Mughals, then the country may have suffered a lot of casualties in the future siege of the Three Kingdoms."

What Lu Wenzhao said has some truth, but for Zhu Youjian, the spread of rifle technology does not mean anything. Zhu Youjian is more concerned about the volume produced by the Three Kingdoms, and whether the Three Kingdoms will pull more countries into this alliance Come against Daming.

"For at least 15 years, there will be no direct conflict between the North Korea and the Three Kingdoms. Don't worry about that."

Zhu Youjian said with a frown, and at the same time commented on the Three Kingdoms Alliance:

"The relationship among the three countries is complicated. If Ottoman is the only one caught in a war with the tiger and the rabbit, then in the long run, he will definitely feel uncomfortable with the Persian and southern captives who "coexist peacefully" with us."

"As long as there is a contradiction within it, we can disintegrate it, and finally divide and eat."

Zhu Youjian made his own inferences and foreign policy.

Since the supply pressure of the Ming army in Central Asia is extremely high, there is no way to further recover the ability of Persia and India to work together in a short time.

Even if attacking from the sea, the terrain of Persia is enough to cause problems for the supply line of the Ming army.

Unless the Ming army can send 10 people to attack Persia in one go, it will be difficult to destroy the country in one fell swoop.

What's more, even if the country is destroyed, the local situation is very easy to produce guerrillas. If things go on like this, Ming Dynasty will fall into a long security defense war.

Now the Ming Dynasty basically relied on inland supplies for the three provinces of Hezhong, Lingbei, and Taixi. In order to maintain local rule, it could only use hundreds of thousands of people to draw horses and build a long supply line in Anxi and Beiting.

Although Luchuan in the south can be self-sufficient, more than 400 million natives have gathered in Demasa Mansion, Xiling Mansion, and Bengal Mansion in the northwest of Luchuan.

These indigenous people often rioted, so they threatened Daming's supply lines at all times.

It will take more than ten years to assimilate them.

Therefore, in the next ten years, or even twenty years, the main theme of Ming Dynasty will be peace and proxy war.

Lin Danhan's "Ming Mongolian Kingdom" is the agent of Ming Dynasty to the West, and the war will be launched by them.

However, in addition to Lin Danhan, Zhu Youjian also needs to support several agents in Western Europe to stabilize the situation in Europe.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at Lu Wenzhao:

"How is the civil war in Aelia (Britain) going? What about the rest of Europe?"

"It's not optimistic..." Lu Wenzhao replied with a worried face:

"The people of Analia generally don't trust their king. Except for some dignitaries in the country who are willing to support him, other farmers and minor nobles stand against him."

"In addition, in the Battle of the Edge Hills last year, three thousand royalist soldiers armed with rifles changed their positions, causing the royalist army to lose their position and lose the battle."

"In this battle, the royal army lost a lot, and many uprisings broke out in the rear because of the failure of the war."

"The parliamentary army won consecutive battles in Grantham, Gainsborough, and Winsby. King Charles of Anelia also asked us for additional loans to buy firearms."

"As for other European countries, the war is still going on. After receiving the treaty and trade support from Qi, the Great Francobot (Spain) has basically stabilized the front line."

"Using the sail battleships purchased from Guochao, the Dafranc machine can be regarded as keeping the trade line at sea."

"However, as far as they are still using backward maritime tactics, this trade line will not last long."

Lu Wenzhao's words made Zhu Youjian frown. He didn't expect that Charles I of England would be defeated by the parliamentary army with an army of [-] fusiliers.

At this time, if Daming does not continue to support Charles I, then the time for him to be guillotined is really counting down.

As for the situation in Spain, it is still within Zhu Youjian's expectations. As long as there are no economic problems in Spain, the 30-year war may continue.

The direction of the war must end with the victory of the Catholic League, otherwise Ming would not be able to promote the Second War of Religion.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian ordered Lu Wenzhao: "Let the bank lend another 100 million taels to Charles I, and at the same time let the arsenal produce 200 rifles, [-] Yanshan five-jin guns, and [-] million jin of gunpowder."

"These rifles, artillery, and gunpowder are all supported by trade to the Big Franji, Anelia, and Tiger Rabbit."

Zhu Youjian is supporting the Three Kingdoms because he needs the Three Kingdoms to win three wars respectively.

Lin Dan Khan's demise of Crimea can directly threaten Poland and increase pressure on the Ottoman Empire.

Britain's Charles I won the civil war, which could delay the arrival of the constitutional monarchy and interrupt the course of British history.

Felipe IV of Spain wins the War of Religion so that the Second War of Religion can be triggered.

After these three battles are fought, the world pattern will not change for at least 50 years.

In 50 years, under the existing education system, the technological level of the Ming suzerainty system will progress rapidly.

At that time, even if Europe wakes up, I am afraid that there will be two or three generations of weapon generation gap with Daming.

What's more, the population of Daming 50 years later will be enough to double the original base.

Coupled with the repair of the train, the Ming army can continue to move the population to assimilate the local area while marching westward.

The wave of explosive population growth in the world began after 1720, because the end of the Little Ice Age and the reduction in grain yields due to lower temperatures no longer occurred.

Prior to this, countries could only maintain their original population, and even the population declined for a time.

Daming and Qi are the first countries to enter the industrial revolution, and they may be the only two countries that can advance the population explosion.

Therefore, before the advent of the eighteenth century, the Han population is likely to rise from one-fourth of the world's population to three-fifths of the world's population.

Population produces volume, and with such a volume, it is easy to regain the whole of Asia, and even Europe is not out of the question.

Therefore, this 50-year opportunity must be created by Zhu Youjian.

When Zhu Youjian thought so, footsteps came from behind him.

He and Lu Wenzhao looked sideways, and it turned out that Zhu Youxiao had woken up after his lunch break.

"How long will it take to get to Ningbo?"

Zhu Youxiao was a little seasick, and his tone was sickly.

After hearing the words, Lu Wenzhao bowed and replied: "Going back to Long live, there are still about four hours, and we have already reached the waters of Wenzhou Prefecture."

"Four hours...Okay." Zhu Youxiao said listlessly, Zhu Youjian looked at him like that, and also took out information to distract him:
"Brother, if you feel bored, you can read the information."

As he said that, Zhu Youjian also explained his idea of ​​wanting to win 50 years of stability for Daming.

In this regard, if it was the past, Zhu Youxiao probably would have said, "My brother can do whatever he wants, and I can do it."

But now, as the time for Zhu Youjian's resignation is getting closer, it's time for Zhu Youxiao to take on part of the burden.

He hastily read the information, and after reading it, he followed Zhu Youjian's thoughts and said:
"What does my brother mean, that Daming needs to recuperate and hide his strength and bide his time for 50 years?"

Zhu Youxiao frowned at this. After all, 50 years is too long, and no one can guarantee what will happen to Ming Dynasty.

If Zhu Youxiao can wait in 20 or 30 years, after all, Wang Kentang has diagnosed his pulse, and also said that as long as he does not take pills and exercises diligently, he can probably live to around seventy.

Therefore, he can still wait in 30 or [-] years, and he is sure that he can control the court.

But 50 years... that's not what he should worry about, but Zhu Ciran.

Even going too far, even Zhu Ciran may not be able to wait for these matters, only Zhu Heyin can handle them.

"50 years is too long..." Zhu Youxiao expressed his thoughts, and Zhu Youjian also laughed when he heard the words:
"If my brother wants to move ahead, then we have to look at the technological progress of the Armament Academy and the medical and population progress of Daming."

"You guy..." Zhu Youxiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, cooperating with his younger brother was waiting for him here.

While he couldn't help but laugh, he couldn't help but make a promise:

"Brother, don't worry, I will focus on the research of the Military Armament Academy in the future, as well as the Huimin Pharmaceutical Bureau and the Department of Law and Law."

"Then the time can be shortened." Zhu Youjian nodded with a smile after hearing this, which made Zhu Youxiao feel helpless again, thinking that he was tricked into a promise by his younger brother again.

However, even if he doesn't care about the affairs of these three yamen, his own prince will.

My younger brother's calculations are just to get a heavy insurance, which is nothing, but makes Zhu Youxiao constantly realize the importance of technology.

"I can understand the importance of technology that my brother said along the way."

Zhu Youxiao looked into the distance with the discomfort of seasickness, and said with a little emotion:
"There is a greater difference between people having machines and not having machines than having animal power and not having animal power."

"If tractors can be popularized, it will not only allow a family to easily cultivate [-] acres of land, but also allow fishermen to harvest more fish and allow the court to increase more taxes."

"Although I can't imagine what my younger brother once said that one person can cultivate thousands of acres of arable land, it makes sense when you think about it carefully."

"So don't worry, my brother. The investment in the Armament Academy will not decrease, but will increase after the disaster."

"Also..." Zhu Youxiao took a deep breath, turned to look at Zhu Youjian, and said with some hesitation:

"What my brother said before is very reasonable. I shouldn't always think about controlling the people, and I shouldn't think that the people will cause chaos when they are idle."

"The people of the Ming Dynasty lived too hard. As long as the court is a little more lenient, they can live comfortably."

"It is not the Ming Dynasty that feeds the people, but the people feed the Ming Dynasty."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it... I listened to my brother's words."

Zhu Youxiao said these words to Zhu Youjian seriously, and Zhu Youjian can make Zhu Youxiao, who grew up in the feudal era, feel the difficulties of the people. This is more meaningful than him conquering countries sense of accomplishment.

A strong country does not necessarily mean that the people are rich. Since the Qin Dynasty, the dynasties have been stable for no less than a thousand years, but the days when the people can have enough to eat are only a few hundred years.

Zhu Youxiao can understand the sufferings of the people, so Zhu Youjian doesn't say that the people of Ming Dynasty can enjoy a hundred years of prosperity, but there is no problem in being rich for 30 years.

"My brother can think like this, so I can rest assured..."

With a bit of exclamation, Zhu Youjian said this, and turned his head to look at the sparkling sea.

Zhu Youxiao followed his gaze, and besides the sparkling light, there were also fishing boats fishing at sea.

(End of this chapter)