Wanli 1592

Chapter 408 Cooperation

After Matteo Ricci and the bishop left, Xiao Ruxun changed to another place to accept requests from the Genoese and the French.

The appearance of the French this time was unexpected by Xiao Ruxun. The Genoese were not surprised, because the fleet was heading towards them, and the French, who were some distance away from Genoa, were so keen and attached so much importance to the Chinese caravan. This surprised Xiao Ruxun a little.

France is one of the traditional powers on the European continent. Now under the rule of Henry IV, it is going all out to end the harm caused by the religious wars. The Huguenot Protestants and Catholics in France The contradiction between China and the United States has long been intensified to the point where it needs to be resolved by war, and this war has lasted for more than 30 years, seriously disrupting French production and normal order.

As a king with a Huguenot background, Henry IV was widely resisted when he first came to power in France. He was forced to convert to Catholicism to successfully stabilize his rule, but he still maintained his loyalty to Protestantism in private, and became Afterwards, the king did everything possible to use his power to end the war, to be a good old man among sects, and to restore order in France.

Such efforts were successful four years later in 1598. He successfully ended the war and promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which ended the religious wars that had plagued France for many years, and the Huguenots also gained the soil for survival.

But now there are still three years before his success. He has just consolidated his position and is doing his best to end the fighting and restore peace in some areas. Looking at the devastated country, he wants to cry without tears and is worried. At this time, China The news that the caravan arrived in Genoa with a large amount of goods arrived in Paris, the capital of France, from Genoa, and entered his ears.

He was keenly aware that this was an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He immediately formed a caravan with the merchant forces among the Huguenots whom he trusted, and immediately went to Genoa to negotiate with Chinese merchants. People make connections.

Chinese people who come to Europe are not familiar with their places of life. If they want to do business, they will definitely find a suitable business partner. Chinese goods have always been a representative of luxury goods in Europe. They are deeply loved by European nobles and royal families. It can be sold at a price dozens or even hundreds of times higher than the cost price.

If you can get the source of goods from the Chinese and become a middleman, you will definitely be able to earn a lot of money and help France restore its national strength.

The situation he is currently facing is very severe. Not only is there a confrontation between the Catholic army and the Huguenot army, but also the Spanish army is taking advantage of troubled waters to seize the city. Under extremely difficult circumstances, it is very important to increase revenue and reduce expenditure to enrich the national treasury. Money is what is fought in wars.

Under such thinking, Henry IV took the initiative to send someone to contact Chen Longzheng. Xiao Ruxun did not mention the French to Chen Longzheng, he only mentioned the Genoese and the Holy See, but Chen Longzheng thought that the attitude of these Frenchmen was very low and their attitude Very humble, it seems that he is very eager to do business with China, and the conditions proposed are also very superior, exceeding the conditions of the Genoese.

Chen Longzheng thought about it, thinking that the businessmen in his hometown would shop around, and it might be good to have a few Frenchmen, so he promised these Frenchmen to return to Burma with him by boat.

When Xiao Ruxun knew that these Frenchmen appeared, he was a little surprised, because he did not expect that the Frenchmen would also appear. The suitable business partners he thought were Genoese bankers. The status of these capitalist aristocrats in Europe is detached. Generally, there will be no forces to make life difficult for them. Their combined strength can already affect these war-torn European countries.

France is a traditional power, but now it is also in the quagmire of war, but Xiao Ruxun still decided to contact, because at this moment, France and the Holy See are not dealing with it. It will not be until nearly a century later, after Louis XIV abolished the Edict of Nantes, France and the Holy See were in cahoots, and now France is the hotbed of the Huguenots, and the Huguenots are incompatible with Protestantism and Catholicism.

The most important thing is that King Henry IV is a Huguenot believer. He belongs to the comrades who penetrated into the enemy. Very uncomfortable.

He was an important opponent during the decline of Spain except Britain. According to legend, his death was assassinated because he wanted to provoke a war against Spain and annoyed Catholic fanatics.

Xiao Ruxun decided to attack the Philippines by force, remove all the strongholds of the Spaniards in the South China Sea, and expel all the forces of the Spaniards, then they are destined to fight against the Spaniards.

In Asia, Xiao Ruxun is not worried, he will kill as many Spaniards as they come, and if they dare to retaliate, they will be sunk in the South China Sea forever, but business activities in Europe will inevitably be retaliated against.

Xiao Ruxun doesn't have the foundation to go on an expedition to Europe now.

Then it is very important to find a country in Europe that has enough force and determination not to deal with Spain.

The Genoese are not enough on this point. As an absolute commercial republic, commercial interests are very important to them. Once the commercial trade with China fails, the benefits obtained cannot be compared with the benefits provided by the Spaniards and the Holy See. The bankers in Genoa will not turn their faces for China and the Holy See, and they don't have enough military power.

France is different. It has military strength, a king who does not agree with Catholicism, and has enough status. It will be a country that will be able to protect China's commercial interests in Europe.

Moreover, China's attack on Spain's overseas forces is also beneficial to Henry IV, who hates Spain. Henry IV will not give up China, a partner who can cooperate with him for a long time.

Henry IV needs money and time, and Xiao Ruxun needs him to contain the power of Spain and the Catholic Church. Everyone gets what they need. As for when Henry IV will die and when he will be assassinated, Xiao Ruxun doesn't care. All the forces of the Spaniards were expelled, and their hegemony in the South China Sea and the waters near Myanmar was consolidated, and a powerful navy was established.

Of course, before that, he needs an excuse to go to war against Spain. After all, although he actually controls everything in Burma, he is still a subject of Daming’s general Daming in name. This land does not have to pay taxes to Daming for six years, but It still belongs to Daming, and the army is indeed the frontier army in Burma Town, but it also belongs to Daming.

This kind of thing cannot bypass Ming Ting.

(End of this chapter)