The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 186 Beating

"Servant Pan, will our Qi Congress exterminate the Kingdom of England?"

On a southbound train, Qi Zexuan stood by the window, looking at the villages, fields, and grasslands passing by quickly. He was silent for a long time, then suddenly turned his head and asked.

"Of course not." Pan Wei, the left minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, replied with a smile: "If the Kingdom of England is weakened too much, it will not be in line with our European strategic plan."

"Is it to prevent the Kingdom of France from taking advantage of the situation and becoming stronger?"

"Your Highness has a sharp eye!" Pan Weixue praised: "European countries are at odds with each other, constantly attacking each other, and have equal strength. Only then can we, the Qi State, divide and conquer them."

"Then after this war, will the Kingdom of England be willing to cooperate with our Qi country to remotely control the European continent?... Will it unite with the European countries to conspire with our Qi country?"

Qi Zexuan somewhat doubted whether the strategic plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was wishful thinking. Although the European countries were separated from each other, they had disputes, differences, and continuous wars, just like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

But after all, European countries all have similar civilizations and the same religion. It is said that the royal families of many countries are even married to each other, and they are all relatives.

Facing the outsider Qi State, I am afraid that we will have to share the same hatred with the enemy, unite to fight against the outside world, and jointly expel Qi State's forces.

Otherwise, when the Kingdom of England is at its wits end, why would their former mortal enemy the Kingdom of France step in to mediate? The Dutch, who have fought with England several times, are also willing to come forward to make peace, not to mention those who are beyond their reach. The Kingdom of Genoa, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania also came forward to call for an early end to the Qi-British War.

Now, the English envoy came to Hanzhou in person, presumably to admit defeat.

“In the terms of the Peace of Utrecht signed more than ten years ago (1713), England insisted on requiring the Kingdom of France to permanently dismantle the Dunkirk military port and prohibit France from establishing a naval base on one side of the English Channel to avoid threatening England. Homeland. Although the base of the French fleet is not in the English Channel, but in Brest outside the southern end of the English Channel and Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Although the French navy is unable to engage in a decisive sea battle with the English fleet in the English Channel, it is capable of avoiding England. The fleet either plundered English merchant ships in the Atlantic, or raided Ireland, or took advantage of the southwesterly wind that blew almost all year round to attack the English coast in the English Channel."

"As we all know, both France and Spain have a large number of colonial territories in the Americas. The Mediterranean and the North Atlantic are naturally the sea areas they must pass through when traveling to and from the Americas. With England's deployment like this, how can it not make France and Spain fearful and peaceful? Frightened? If coupled with the geopolitical disputes in Europe, the trade differences in the Caribbean, and the competition for colonial territories in the Americas, even if they want to unite to fight against our country, they still lack enough mutual trust and mutual benefit."

"The reason why England insists on occupying Gibraltar and Menorca is to build them as outposts to monitor and contain the Mediterranean fleets of France and Spain. These two strongholds, coupled with the strong alliance with the Kingdom of Portugal, As well as the Anglo-Dutch Alliance established during the War of the Spanish Succession, and the Kingdom of Denmark, they formed a chain of defense to monitor the threat of invasion from the European continent.”

"Your Highness, be careful!" Pan Weixue heard the words and immediately warned solemnly: "Private meetings with foreign envoys are... It is a taboo of the country. Furthermore, as Your Highness, I am afraid that... I am afraid that this will cause serious harm to the country. It caused a lot of criticism.”

As one of the big bosses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his reputation is not in vain. He is not only well versed in the situation in various European countries, but also knows a lot of geo-military strategies.

However, the geopolitical situation in Europe is complex, and one move can affect the whole country. If you are not careful, you may have to face a joint effort by various countries, dragging Qi into a long-lasting dispute.

Hearing this, Qi Zexuan nodded and looked at Pan Weixue with respect.

"Your Highness knows that before the war broke out, the Kingdom of England could have returned the Gibraltar and Minorca islands it occupied to the Kingdom of Spain, thereby trying to draw them into their camp to jointly deal with the maritime threats to our country. However, the Kingdom of England But they are still unwilling to give up the above two places, watching helplessly as Spain changes its position, stands on the side of our Qi country, and jointly attacks England. Why?"

"Therefore, even if we do not consider the balance situation in Europe, our Qi country cannot push England too hard to avoid backlash from the European countries."

"Without him, the rabbit will die and the fox will be sad, and everything will harm its own kind!" Pan Weixue said with a smile: "France does not want our Qi country to take the opportunity of this war to deeply intervene in the European continent. At the same time, it also hopes that England's maritime strength will not be lost too much. So as not to allow our Qi country, an outsider, to be unstoppable in the North Atlantic waters. The Netherlands is worried that England will collapse after being hit hard by our Qi country, which will allow France to annex the Southern Netherlands without any scruples, and even attack again. Into their Dutch mainland, threatening their life and death. The Kingdom of Denmark is afraid that without the support of England, it will not be able to cope with the invasion of the Kingdom of Sweden. Poland, Lithuania and Saxony are afraid that after the Kingdom of England is hit hard, Hanover will be directly affected and lose control of the Kingdom of Sweden. The constraints of the Kingdom of Prussia. As for the Kingdom of Genoa and the Kingdom of Sardinia, in addition to worrying about Venice being annexed by the Ottoman Empire, thereby endangering their security, they do not want our Qi country to completely control the Mediterranean and affect their commercial interests."

"After the train arrives in Weihai (now Cairns, Australia), I would like to pay a visit to the British envoy." Qi Zexuan suddenly had an idea.

"In view of this, the only feasible way for the English Navy to enhance its ability to promptly deter French fleet sneak attacks is to expand its defense scope and get out of the English Channel. Therefore, England spent more than 1698 pounds thirty years ago (). A large shipyard capable of accommodating first-class battleships was built in Plymouth, opposite the French naval port of Brest, at the westernmost end of the English Channel, and part of the main naval force was gradually transferred from the Portsmouth military port in the center of the channel to this place to focus on monitoring France. and Spain’s Atlantic Fleet.”

"Then why did the European countries intervene in the war between Qi and Britain and conduct diplomatic mediation and mediation?"

Our country, Qi, has great national strength. If we attack a small island country like England, we can easily defeat it completely as long as we pay a small price.

Qi Zexuan suddenly had a clear understanding of the situation in Europe as a result of Pan Weixue's explanation.

In this case, our country, Qi, would rather accept it as soon as possible and end this war as soon as possible after obtaining enough benefits.

Through this battle, the European countries must also know the power of Qi, and they should be cautious in dealing with us in future interactions and not dare to provoke war.

Although the European countries have not read the classic saying in "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya·Tangdi" that "brothers are jealous of each other and guard against their insults", they at least know that "those who are not of my race must have different hearts." "The truth will definitely not allow Qi to spread its power in Europe and expand its influence wantonly.

"Your Highness is worrying too much." Pan Weixue said: "The conflicts between the European countries are far greater than those of the various princes in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. They are even more suspicious of each other and are wary of each other, hoping to weaken all opponents and thereby strengthen their own strength. . Take the Kingdom of England as an example. After the War of Spanish Succession, this country established their maritime superiority on the European continent in one fell swoop, thereby further ensuring the security of its homeland. However, as an island country, it has inherent The vigilance against the rise and invasion of the continent is constantly balancing and dividing the entire European continent."

Although you are young at heart, as the grandson of the emperor, you should not be so wanton and indulgent.

Moreover, as the heir to the royal family, it is against the rules to rashly interfere in the foreign affairs of the cabinet!

In the past, Emperor Taizu made a good start. He established a cabinet to serve as the government, the royal family assumed military power to protect the world, the imperial court (legislative body) and the Senate established laws and regulations, and the supervisory council supervised all officials, forming a seemingly stable system. national framework that is mutually balanced and restrictive.

During the Taizong period, various systems basically followed the rules and regulations, and no major changes were made. Instead, members of the royal family were strictly restrained to prevent them from doing things that would harm the government and the people. After the current Emperor Taiping came to power, this national governance structure was fixed.

According to established conventions, children of the royal family who are not government affairs officers should not interfere or intervene in cabinet affairs.

Of course, if His Majesty the Emperor wants to adhere to his own will and forcibly promote a certain major policy, but the cabinet government refuses to implement it, then the emperor can only issue an emergency decree, dissolve or order the cabinet to resign, and then appoint an interim prime minister to form an interim cabinet government. .

However, this is a rift between the royal family and the cabinet, which will cause shock to the entire country's political situation. If the new cabinet government once again becomes too strong and fails to cooperate with the emperor, then the emperor cannot roll up his sleeves and do it himself.

Although Emperor Taizu did not establish any insurmountable ancestral rules during his lifetime, if subsequent emperors acted so willfully and violated existing rules, they would more or less be counterattacked by domestic public opinion and lose a bad reputation.

Well, that's right. The Qi State has been very enlightened and developed education over the past decades, which has made the people in the country more capable of thinking. If the emperor behaves wildly, goes too far, and makes the people resentful, he is afraid that he will be spit on. Drown.

The types and quantities of newspapers, books and periodicals published in Qi are indeed a bit too many!

What’s more, the empire’s control of public opinion still had the latent rule of the former Song Dynasty that “you will not be punished for your words.”

This made the emperor somewhat fearful.

However, no one in the world would dare to stop the shameless emperor from overturning the table by relying on his military power!

Fortunately, since the Taizong period, the heirs of the royal family have received systematic and formal education from an early age. They have been self-reflective, knowledgeable about righteousness, and sensible. Well, they also know some sense of proportion in political disputes, and they have to be trained in many common affairs, and they can be politically competent. Maintaining the necessary restraint will not create a domineering tyrant.

In fact, for the Qi royal family, not only the emperor was restricted to a certain extent, but also the princes and grandsons had to behave with their tail between their legs.

In addition to considerations of title and inheritance, the reputation of the royal family still needs to be taken into consideration.

The emperor can't act arbitrarily, and as a member of the royal family, he can't be too bastard, right?

You can eat, drink and have fun, but you can't bully men and dominate women.

You can also use the royal family's channels and reputation to accumulate wealth, but you can't plunder private capital.

More importantly, royal children cannot rashly intervene in cabinet and local government affairs, or break the rules.

Regarding Pan Weixue's reminder, Qi Zexuan felt awe-struck and also extremely depressed.

As the emperor's eldest grandson, the future heir to the empire is also subject to many restrictions, and he cannot do anything arbitrarily.

If you look at Uncle Dan Wang who accompanied him on his visit to Da Qin, he was a little less restrained. He was supposed to eat and drink in Da Qin, and in the end he was able to carry the beauty all the way back to his homeland, so he was very relaxed and happy.

And that Uncle Min Wang, who had finally won the position of governor of Runzhou, actually wanted to raise a large army to plot the Kingdom of Cambodia, expand the territory of our Qi Kingdom, and demonstrate his great martial arts.

However, this move by Uncle Min Wang is not without risks. If he messes up the matter, he may be deprived of his position as governor, and may even have his title reduced and his salary reduced, thereby losing all opportunities for political advancement.

As the legal heir of the empire, he must resist all kinds of temptations. Not only must he keep himself clean and quiet, but he must also be cautious in his words and deeds and not let others accuse him of any wrongdoing.

The idea of ​​meeting with the English envoys arose in his mind, but it was actually not to do some diplomatic act to test their negotiation conditions, nor to ridicule them face to face for their failure and loneliness.

He was just out of curiosity and wanted to get in close contact with the English people. Let's sit together and have a simple chat, talk about their customs in England, their secular customs, and exchange cultural differences between the two countries.

It is said that when Emperor Taizu was in power, he attached great importance to this island country and believed that with their development path and geographical environment, they would inevitably become a strong competitor of Qi.

Over the years, Qi first cooperated with the Dutch to squeeze the English out of Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula. Later, after gradually controlling India, he spared no effort to drive the English out of the subcontinent through two local conflicts. A few years ago, at the request of the Safavid Empire, Qi State sent a large number of troops to help it expel Afghan tribal rebels and restore imperial rule. I believe that from then on, it will also control Persia's trade dominance and completely drive the English forces out of Persia.

In this way, there will be no place for the English to settle in the entire Indian Ocean Rim region, and their commercial influence will be almost nonexistent.

In this war between England and England, the English navy suffered heavy losses. Not only was the country at risk of invasion, but Ireland, which had been colonized for hundreds of years, would also be lost. It can be said that the losses were extremely heavy.

In Qi Zexuan's view, after England was beaten by Qi, it would not be able to pose a threat to Qi in the future no matter what.

Emperor Taizu knows that he can rest in peace!

(End of this chapter)