Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2458

"William III is dead? He just died like this..." In the Haji County Government, Sheng Dehong, the special envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, put down the information in his hand, and sighed in surprise.

William III is the king of England, full of hatred for France, and has always been unswervingly targeting Louis XIV. For this reason, he did not hesitate to reconcile with the people on the east coast. The old hatred between the heads of state of Britain and the Netherlands.In the previous Anti-French Coalition War and this second Anti-French Coalition War, it can be said that William III played a huge role in it.Every time, he tried his best to persuade his wife and ministers, and then made a speech in Parliament, and finally made the MPs agree with him, thinking that this was beneficial to England, and finally led to Britain's participation in the war.

Now that William III has died of illness, will there be any changes in England?That's something all its allies are worried about.For example, the Danes have already withdrawn their navy to the port of Bergen, Norway. They are small and weak, and they really cannot withstand the drastic changes in the outside world.Even the powerful United Provinces were deeply suspicious of William III's death. They immediately sent a high-level mission to England to take the opportunity of attending William III's funeral to find out whether the country's policies have changed. turn.In addition, what is interesting is that Louis XIV was also very concerned about the possible changes in the British situation. He spent a lot of money to buy intelligence, and at the same time tried to contact the British side secretly, but failed.

It was half a month after the death of King William III when Sheng Dehong received the news.Although the Tie Mansion had tried its best, the journey was far away and it took time to deliver the news. Sheng Dehong finally got the news later than Danzig and Riga.

Although he got the news late, Sheng Dehong still analyzed it.First of all, he does not think that Britain will withdraw from the war, because it will not get any benefits and it will be a loss-making business.Only by continuing to participate in the war, persist until the end, and win the victory, will it be possible to get a return on the previous investment—whether it is political or economic.

Secondly, he didn't think that Britain would be won over by France, and he believed that Louis XIV would not be so naive.The policy of the British towards the European continent is consistent and continuous, which stems from the psychology of the island nation and incorporates economic and trade factors.When Spain was in its heyday, the British dared to rob Spanish merchant ships against their pressure, so much so that they attracted the Armada.During the next 30 years of war, the British joined the Protestant side to fight against the most powerful Spanish Habsburg dynasty in Europe.After the rise of France, it quickly adjusted its relationship with the Netherlands and tried its best to attack France.In the future, if France declines and any power in the German region rises, they can unite with France to fight the Germans.In short, even if William III dies, his successor will be firm in his determination to attack France, lest it dominate the continent and annex more land and population.

Third, British industry and commerce have developed rapidly in recent years, and the output of various domestic industrial products has increased year by year.They urgently need a market that can stably sell industrial products. The French can't give it, but the Dutch can give it, and the Austrians who are extremely influential in the German region can also give it.From this perspective, the British really have no reason to jump to the side of France. The future interests are unclear and the risks are too great.

Combining these factors, Sheng Dehong believes that things will not have any practical changes, and the ongoing war will continue as usual.The British Army in the Southern Netherlands will not leave, and the British fleet cruising the sea will not return to the naval port.Well, maybe some people will go back first!At the end of this information, it was mentioned that Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, had left the front line of the Southern Netherland and hurried back to London, which reminded Sheng Dehong of many things.

Churchill, whose family was originally a die-hard royalist.After the king was sent to the guillotine last year, the family business began to decline slowly due to various blows. This was the normal trajectory of the remaining royalists or traditional conservative nobles at that time, that is, they were suppressed politically and economically. The times are seriously out of touch, but the price of goods in the society is soaring, and many nobles can't even maintain a decent life of their own.

When Churchill joined the army at the age of 17, his family business was not good. His father sold a lot of real estate to support his life and provide him with education.But he didn't have much interest in studying, so he joined the army, but his reputation in the army was not very good, he lived a dissolute life and spent a lot of time.But fortunately, because of nepotism, he was appreciated by King Charles II and became his close minister.Moreover, Charles II was easy-going and tolerant, and he was a very easy-going king.Once, Churchill, who was greedy and lustful, touched the bed of Charles II's mistress, and was unlucky enough to be blocked in the bedroom by the king, so he had to jump out of the window to escape.Charles II didn't blame Churchill when he found out. Instead, he smiled and said to the left and right: "I don't blame him. I'm afraid he needs a lover in his life."

Churchill was more loyal to the royal family at the time.Moreover, he fought bravely, was resourceful, made many meritorious deeds, and soon gained continuous promotion. King James II also valued him very much-could he not be valued, because the love of exile together is there.The Viscount Turenne, Marshal of the French Army, also admired him very much and believed that he would become a great weapon, but Louis XIV thought that although he was brave, he was too indulging in social life in the court.

In 1678, Churchill was married to Sarah Jennings, who was well connected in the circle of ladies, and in 1682 he was created Baron Emmons.During the Glorious Revolution, this guy stabbed King James II severely and announced that he would side with William III, Prince of Orange.James II never imagined that Churchill would betray him, and even led his troops to surrender to the other side, becoming a leading party.After William III secured the throne, Churchill was named Earl of Marlborough.

But Churchill's luck ended there.Because he harmed others and benefited himself on the Irish battlefield in the last anti-French coalition war, entrapped friendly troops, and cruelly treated the Irish nobles at the same time, which aroused the vigilance of William III, thus dismissing him from his post and even being imprisoned in the Tower of London for a time. It was only by his wife's intercession to William III that he was released, but at this time he still had no office.

In 1694, William III's wife, Queen Mary, died, and the Churchills were favored again because they participated in mediating the conflict between Princess Anne and William III.Especially Churchill's wife, Jennings, forged a deep friendship with Princess Anne.Anne, who has a weak personality, is greatly influenced by Jennings, and was even secretly influenced and manipulated by her for a time.

It is conceivable that now that William III is dead, and Queen Anne is about to become king, she has never had much opinion, and she will be in Churchill, a war lunatic who hates France. However, under the influence of being unable to be promoted, and often being ridiculed by the French, they will definitely continue to fight. England's navy and army will still continue to fight the French!

Sheng Dehong dropped the information in his hand, there is nothing to see, and everything will continue as usual.Instead of spending energy on that, it is better to think more about what kind of impact the things that the Ottoman Empire has done on the Eastern Front will have on the situation in Europe.Effendi, a religious madman, no matter whether he was intentional or unintentional, but the "jihad" he provoked objectively helped the French, so it must be summed up.

In fact, Cai Shengguo, the former special envoy, hated Fezullah Effendi very much during his tenure, thinking that he was unreasonable and full of jihadist thoughts.For this reason, he used a lot of resources in the Ottoman Empire, consumed a lot of favors, cooperated with the famous Koprulu family, and planned to get rid of this person and restore the normal order of the empire.

The candidate of the Koprulu family, which had begun to show signs of decline at that time, was Amka Zad Hussein Koprulu Pasha.Born in 1655, this gentleman is the best of the remaining members of the Coprulu family of this generation.When he was young, he fought with the Austrians in Hungary, and the family crest and flag of an unlucky nobleman in Germany are still kept at home. Later, his army was defeated by the Austrian army of Prince Eugen, and the commander was executed. Hussein, who was in the middle He was also implicated, and after being dismissed, he returned to Bulgaria to serve as a local official and began to take the route of government affairs.

The joint efforts of the East Coast people and the Koprulu family had a miraculous effect at the beginning, forcing the Grand Priest Fezullah Effendi to give up his post as Grand Vizier, and Hussein was able to take office and become the Prime Minister of the Empire.Afterwards, Grand Vizier Hussein began to rectify the army and places that had been messed up by Effendi. The damage to the local economy was also great, and the consultants on the east bank were furious and resigned one after another.

After Hussein came to power, the first step was to reduce excise taxes on hundreds of commodities including tobacco, coffee, and soap.During the war, the tax on these commodities was tripled, and the people suffered so much that it was time to abolish it.Subsequently, he cooperated with the people on the east coast, and with the help of a new loan of 400 million dinars provided by the Haji Mint, he stabilized the dire financial situation in the country.

Grand Vizier Hussein also reduced or exempted the exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes owed by the people during the war, so that farmers dared to return to the land and businessmen dared to return to the market. It's completely different, and many people praise it.

Although economic reform is full of difficulties, as long as there is determination and ability, it can still be carried out to be honest.But the reform for the army is different. This is the deep water zone and dead zone for reform, and if you are not careful, big things may happen!But the people of the Koprulu family are more courageous. They have reformed the military system many times in history, and they have offended many people, but they still go their own way, and Hussein is no exception this time.

This gentleman is the first to take the famous Ganishari army!He checked the payrolls of the ministries, dismissed those unable to perform combat duties, and then recruited a large number of hardy farmers from the impoverished Anatolian plateau to replace them.In addition, the original system of recruiting craftsmen to serve temporarily in the army was also cancelled, because there was a lot of fraud in it, and many so-called craftsmen basically knew nothing.

Through this series of drastic reforms, the total number of the Ganishari Army, which once swelled to 7 in the last war, has dropped rapidly. It is now less than 4000, and it still includes many recruits from poor peasants in the east. Down.But the combat power has not decreased but increased, because out of the original 7 people, it is said that there are only more than 1 who can really fight and kill, and the rest are just waving flags and shouting to make up the number.

The Spaci cavalry was also rectified, a large number of unqualified personnel were eliminated, and officers who had not paid their salaries were executed or exiled.Hussein asked the sultan to exempt the Spasi cavalry from many taxes, so that they had a certain financial ability to recruit retainers and attendants.The recruited retainers and attendants were gathered and handed over to Sanjak Bey for training, and the training period was paid by the government.Hussain also specifically demanded that officers of all levels of the Spaci cavalry should not fire their subordinates for seeking bribes without success. This is a very common behavior in the past century, which has been rectified many times, but always resurfaces afterwards.

Hussein Pasha also reformed the navy.This is a relatively modern arm, and it has a very close relationship with the people on the east coast. A large number of officers have studied abroad on the east coast. Generally speaking, it is much stronger than the sluggish army.But it still has many problems!

Hussein used the city of Kaffa on the Crimean Peninsula (including the Kaffa iron mine outside the city) as a mortgage, borrowed 250 million dinars from the New World Friendship and Mutual Bank on the east coast, and customized a large number of sails suitable for the actual sea conditions in the Mediterranean Warships to replace the increasingly anachronistic oar-powered ships of war.

The naval fleet is divided into several detachments, and each detachment is managed by a Bay, who is responsible for commanding each ship, ensuring that everyone can receive military pay and receive training, and each ship has sufficient munitions and supplies, all in one fell swoop Several problems that have plagued the Navy for decades.

Under the strong suggestion of the people on the east coast, Hussein decided to set up a general staff between the commander-in-chief of the navy and the captain. The three main assistants of the commander-in-chief, the rear admiral, the vice-admiral and the chief of staff, all entered this institution.Under them, naval affairs are arranged by a multi-level chain of command, and the buying and selling of official positions is strictly prohibited. All vacant positions must be selected from low-ranking personnel based on ability and experience. It is no longer allowed for people to come over to serve as high-ranking military officers.The navy is a professional arm, so don't mess around!

Finally, Grand Vizier Hussein also reformed the palace clerks.For incompetent and stupid clerks (they are often well-born), the government pays them half of their salaries, allowing them to retire and go home to provide for the elderly, and young and well-trained clerks are added.He required these documents, and every government document or decree in the future, to be signed and dated (this is the first time in Ottoman history) and preserved, so as to change the lax and procrastinated efficiency of the previous government.

From here we can see that Hussein Grand Vizier’s reform efforts are still relatively large, and the consultants on the East Bank also appreciate it (he has gained a lot of benefits, of course he appreciates it...), but Sheng Dehong served as the ambassador to Istanbul. In fact, I have reservations about this, thinking that this may cause a huge backlash from the old forces, and eventually lead to the failure of the reform and the demise of the government. How many reforms of the predecessors of the Koprulu family are left?

But Grand Vizier Hussein was full of confidence. He believed that domestic businessmen, farmers, and intellectuals supported him, and that officers and soldiers who had received full military pay and pensions also supported him, so there was nothing to fear.But he forgot that the old-fashioned class, corrupt military officers and noble officials who were touched by their interests opposed him.On top of that, Grand Imam Effendi and even His Majesty the Sultan are against him.You must know that the reason why the Sultan allowed him to reform was only the need to save the empire in the face of powerful enemies, plus a little pressure from the people on the east coast.Once the crisis has passed, the reforms will be sabotaged!

In 1701, with the tacit approval of the Sultan, Fezullah Effendi jumped out and intervened in various government affairs.Whether he is right or wrong, as long as Hussein supports it, he opposes it, and if Hussein opposes it, he supports it.At the same time, the opposition in the army also emerged under the instigation of Effendi. They procrastinated and procrastinated, which greatly affected the efficiency of reforms, and many places even reversed.

In July 1701, after a few months of exhausting life, Grand Vizier Hussein finally fell ill, and the Sultan dismissed him from his post (it can be seen that the previous agreement to reform was not sincere).People on the east bank strongly protested and suspended the loan to the Ottoman Empire, but the sultan was unmoved and continued to appoint Fethullah Effendi as grand vizier, Fethullah Effendi— — Son of Feyzullah — succeeding Patriarch.

After Hussein left, Fezullah Effendi took control of the government.The dignitaries, local warlords, tax contractors, and lords bribed him and his henchmen one after another. The Sultan had no intention of governing and went hunting in the palace in Edirne.Grand Vizier Effendi took all the funds obtained from "bribery" and used them as military expenses to prepare for the jihad. This kind of person is actually the scariest person who is used to promote his own "ideal".

Jihad was launched in the first half of this year (1702), and 15 Turkish troops poured into the empty Hungary and Transylvania like a tide. The Austrians were shocked and had to transfer troops from the Western Front to the east. Conscription, and the assistance of some German princes, was able to block the offensive of the Turks in Hungary.But no matter how occupied this side is, it actually helped the French on the western front objectively. Their pressure was lightened and the resistance they faced was greatly reduced.King Louis XIV of France is even planning an astonishingly bold plan, that is, the French army will use the territory of its ally Bavaria to go straight to Vienna and destroy the enemy's core in one fell swoop.

People on the east coast don't particularly care about the French killing and killing, but Osman has to take care of it.The East Bank has a lot of interests in this country, and it is really impossible to give up.But Effendi, a hot chicken, is in power, messing around, and the big ship of Ottoman will be sunk by him-because of the war, the Ottoman economy has deteriorated again, and the number of bankrupt small handicraftsmen, small traders, and farmers in the country has surged, and soldiers They are also very dissatisfied with the arrears of military salaries, causing great chaos everywhere, which will definitely affect the interests of the east bank.

A while ago, Hrabery Ahmed, the son-in-law of the former Hussein Grand Vizier who just passed away due to illness, secretly came to an underground contact point of the East Coast people late at night, and left a secret letter there side, and made it clear to the person in charge of the contact point, please notify Your Excellency the Plenipotentiary Envoy as soon as possible.This letter is very important, please make a decision as soon as possible, this is very critical to the future of the Ottoman Empire and the long-term interests of the East Coast Republic!

Hearing what he said, and coming here in person, the person in charge of the contact point immediately believed it, knowing that the matter this time might be very serious.He didn't dare to neglect, so he left the contact point through the secret road that night, and then sent it to the office of the General Intelligence Bureau in Haji County as required, waiting for Special Envoy Sheng to come and check.

Sheng Dehong didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that Hussein's son-in-law couldn't get along anymore and wanted to run away, so he asked the people from the east bank to help him?As a result, when he opened the letter, he was shocked immediately. This Hrabery even invited people from the east bank to assist him and launch a mutiny against the Sultan and Effendi and his son together!

What is rhythm? !

(End of this chapter)