Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2357 The Baltic Wind Blows

"Hehe, what a big scene." Han Xi, the ambassador of the East Coast Republic of China to Berlin, put down the document in his hand, shook his head and smiled, "More than [-] nobles gathered in Warsaw to elect August as king. Haha , is really speechless.”

1697 nobles, it sounds a little scary, but this is a real thing that happened in Poland in [-].August, who came from the Wetting family of Saxony, was successfully elected as the king of Poland. He was extremely glorious and arrogant for a while.Of course, this election only needs to obtain a majority of more than two-thirds, not the one-vote veto system of the Federal Parliament.Otherwise, no matter how charismatic and powerful August is, it is impossible for everyone to like him. Anyone who votes against him casually can ruin the matter.

Let me add here that the 150 nobles are not the total number of nobles in Poland.In fact, among the current population of more than 20 million in Poland, the total number of nobles exceeds [-] million, that is, about [-]% of the people in the country are nobles.It sounds ridiculous, but it is a fact of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.There are too many wonderful places in this country, and it is far more than this one.

In fact, the throne of Poland is not so easy to sit on, there are many constraints, and it is extremely aggrieved.In the past, Prince Henry of France was ignorant, so he went to become the king of Poland, but after working hard for a few months, he refused to do it again. He would rather return to France and become a nobleman than become a king in Poland.Later, others also rejected the Polish throne several times.There is a Danish prince far away, and the exiled King James of England is nearby. They both did not come to Warsaw to be kings for various reasons.Now that the Elector of Saxony, August, has come in and put on a crown, it is hard to tell whether the future will be a blessing or a curse.

However, August is a bit ambitious, and at the same time has strength.As King of Poland, he didn't always live in Warsaw, because he was also the Duke of Saxony, the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and spent about half of the year in Germany to handle government affairs.Moreover, when he came to Warsaw to take office, he brought a full team with him, accompanied by thousands of soldiers guarding him, which is similar to the fact that William III brought 1.5 Dutch soldiers to London to become king—to put it bluntly, it’s not that Trust those Poles, afraid of being cheated.

August got the title of King of Poland and made the Elector of Berlin jealous.They have worked so hard for so many years, desperately trying to get the title of king, but the Vienna side has not let go.This is actually nothing, but the problem is that his deadly enemy, August of the Wetin family, has become king before him. How can this be tolerated?

Therefore, the relationship between Prussia and Saxony is very tense now. The two sides have unanimously imposed heavy taxes on businessmen from the other country, and canceled many cooperation projects at the same time, and the relationship has dropped to a freezing point.Later, it was Leopold of Vienna who came forward to mediate, and the two sides canceled the tariffs respectively, but the relationship was still not harmonious and very tense.

At this time, Frederick of Prussia once again appealed to the East Coast for help, persuading the Dutch to exert their influence and help him get a title of king.To be honest, this matter was handled by the East Bank a few years ago, but the energy of the Dutch was not as great as imagined, and the Vienna side never let go, and this matter has never been completed.This time, after Han Xi, the ambassador to Poland, reported to Zheng Dexiang, the people from the east bank came forward to carry out activities again, but the effect was not very good.But they also tested the bottom line of the Leopold family, that is, Prussia must stand on the side of Vienna in the next possible war, and send at least 1 people to join their army, and the Austrians will command the battle.Well, in the end, the Prussians had to bleed themselves, and the people from the east coast couldn't help much, so they could only pass the news on to Frederick.Frederick was a little moved when he heard about it. Prussia now has a standing army of more than 3, and they are all well trained. Yu agreed to this condition.

"The false name of a king can make both Saxony and Prussia fascinated. Alas, the false name is tiring!" Sitting behind his desk, Han Xi lit a pipe and said while smoking: "For Frederick To be a king, you are willing to let the elite soldiers trained by your family for generations die. In order to become a king, August would rather jump into the fire pit of Poland, what do you think?"

"It's really not easy to be the king of Poland." The secretary handed Han Xi another document and said, "I heard that the Swedes are very unhappy that August is king. They think this man is very ambitious, maybe It will damage the interests of the Kingdom of Sweden on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, so it has been active recently, asking the Polish Parliament to depose August and re-elect the king."

It is said that Sweden is really not doing well in recent years. There are many reasons, but there are two main ones.The most important thing is that they have no money. The agriculture and animal husbandry in their country is average, and the fishery is okay. Most of their exports are timber, leather and iron ore, and the business is still monopolized by the Dutch (some of them have been taken away by English businessmen in recent years). Earnings are low.To put it bluntly, this is an agricultural country that relies on the export of primary products for a living. The industry is pitifully small, and it is all invested by others. Therefore, the government's fiscal revenue is very limited, and it has to borrow from the Dutch every year.

The second is that their core population is too small.The Swedes are a nation, a first-class citizen, and hold political and military power, but their population is only about 120 million. The rest are either Finns, Livonians, or Germans, adding up to nearly 200 million.These people have a lot of opinions on the Swedes. They have been trying to get rid of Sweden's control for many years. Although they have not been successful, they have greatly dispersed Sweden's energy, making the country entangled in ethnic problems and internal friction.

These two problems may not be a big problem when there are no powerful external enemies.However, considering that the strength of the Russians has been growing steadily, it has posed an increasingly serious threat to the borders of eastern Sweden, and the Elector August of Saxony became the king of Poland, and began to try to recover the land occupied by the Swedes decades ago. In the coastal territories to which we go, this problem is quite serious.

Of course we can't forget about Prussia.This country has fought wars with Sweden, has a poor relationship, and is ambitious. It has always wanted to take back the Pomeranian territory that was ceded to Sweden. It is Sweden's biggest competitor on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea.

To sum up, the external threats to the Kingdom of Sweden are actually quite serious.The enemy is very strong, and under a series of operations by Tsar Peter, they have formed an offensive and defensive alliance, faintly forming a siege to the Swedes.Once there is a change in the future, it is likely that the three countries will jointly attack Sweden, which is very serious.

Therefore, this time August was elected King of Poland, which really touched the backs of the Swedes. They had a strong urge to act first and force the Polish Congress to remove August.If the text is not good, use the military, in short, use all means.For this reason, they have already begun to "beg" funds from the Dutch, but the Dutch government is currently burdened with debts, and businessmen are also nervous because they have eaten too much national debt, and they have not let go for the time being.But no matter what, the threat of war is always there.

"Poland is not the dog of Sweden. They have been trying to take back the seaport and the Livonia region for half a century. It is actually in their interests that August be king. Use force." Han Xi said: "In addition, the Russian Tsar Peter is also a character. He single-handedly facilitated the encirclement of Sweden, which is incredible."

In fact, Tsar Peter has not been in Moscow for the past year.On the contrary, he often exported and entered Poland, Prussia, Denmark and other countries in microservices, while learning new ideas from others and recruiting new talents, while planning conspiracies against the Swedes.

The people on the east coast gained a lot of information through the eyeliners planted in the Principality of Courland.Because the ships that Peter traveled between Prussia and Denmark were provided by the Courlands, and he even traveled long distances to the United Provinces and England, where he was awarded honorary certificates by Dutch carpenters, Prussian sharpshooters, and English shipbuilders. amazing.If it weren't for the unstable situation in Moscow, if there were soldiers making troubles, he would not go back in a short time, which shows his great ambition.

"I remember that August ordered a full set of equipment for [-] soldiers from us in the first half of the year. How far has this matter progressed?" Han Xi asked suddenly.

"Deputy Envoy Zheng Dexiang has approved it, and we are currently going through the local process. If there is no accident, it will be shipped to the Baltic Sea in the first half of next year (1699)." The secretary said without hesitation: "It is said that the funds for purchasing these weapons are three One-third is from Denmark. This country has vigorously developed the maritime industry in recent years. Merchant ships even went to India and China, earning some money, and their new king, Frederick IV, is also a restless master. , I am worried about the matter of ceding land to Sweden back then, and it is actually normal to pay for it.”

"Continue to observe." Han Xi nodded, and said: "The people of Courland should also pay close attention. This country has been vacillating for a long time. On the surface, it caters to us everywhere, but in private it keeps making small moves. A small country with a population of 30 But getting involved in the disputes between several big countries, I really don’t know how to write dead words.”

For the Principality of Courland, the patience of the people on the east coast in recent years has reached its limit.It is said that Deputy Envoy Zheng Dexiang intends to use the principality's poor financial situation as an excuse to force them to invest half of the annual profits from selling tropical goods into the construction of New Courland.The Courlandians will definitely not agree to this, but in the context that the East Coast Army has already landed in Europe and the navy is about to leave the port in large numbers, how much are the Courlandians' ideas worth?Dishonest?There are ways to cure you!

Recently went on a business trip again, exhausted, short and weak...

(End of this chapter)