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Chapter 1199 The whole story
Gallas was a good speaker, and after receiving a cup of hot cocoa tea and a few sweet biscuits, he felt that the Ming emperor was very polite and not like a barbarian. So he waved the unique Italian chicken claw gesture and explained the whole story of the Venetian mercenaries.

"Money really makes the world go round!"

After listening to this story that was full of twists and turns but also in line with current situation and logic, Hong Tao could only sigh that man proposes, God disposes. His plan of keeping a low profile, which he had carefully designed for more than ten years, was ruined by a woman who looked not very smart, and was not very smart in fact.

This woman is the queen's maid of honor, Louis XIII, the second king of the Bourbon dynasty of France, the Duchess of Chevreuse, Marie Aime de Rohan.

In the winter of the 1635st year of the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui (), she followed a European delegation to the capital of the Ming Dynasty and was received in person by Emperor Yang of Sui.

The talks between the two sides went very well, and the Ming Dynasty was able to send military observers to France to conduct on-site assessments of the armed forces of various countries involved in the religious wars, which was very helpful in understanding both ourselves and the enemy.

At the same time, France presented King Louis XIII of France with goods worth 5 pounds in exchange for France's neutral attitude in the Battle of the Cape of Good Hope and its refusal to support Spain and Britain in sending fleets to the East.

This was a good thing for both sides. The Ming Empire was able to free up some of its energy to integrate Asia, and France and Britain did not have to send troops on a long expedition and could focus on resisting the expansion of the Habsburg dynasty.

But the bad thing was that the Duchess was a socialite. Not only was she very influential in the French court, she also often frequented the Vienna court, flirting with various princes at the balls.

As time went by, the story of her traveling to the mysterious Eastern country and going deep into the palace to have a long talk with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty became the most popular topic of conversation at the ball. It was not clear how this was exaggerated, but the effect was obvious.

According to her description, the Ming Empire was very wealthy, and people wearing silk and satin could be seen everywhere on the streets. The Ming Emperor was even more generous, and he would spend tens of thousands of pounds without blinking an eye.

Such a rich country was protected by only dozens of sailing ships and tens of thousands of navy, which was obviously a bit weak. The people of Ming Dynasty were very docile, and quarrels were rare, and there was no fighting at all.

As the saying goes, "One who speaks unintentionally may listen to what he hears." These words soon reached the ears of Ferdinand III's eldest son, Ferdinand IV. The father and son were at a loss in the face of the increasingly tight empire finances and the endless war. When they heard about such a good place with stupid people and a lot of money, they immediately had evil thoughts.

However, the Holy Roman Empire Navy was not very effective, and the Spanish Navy was also defeated. It was obviously not a good idea to attack from the sea. At this time, Murad IV was negotiating with the Polish Confederation and began to withdraw European troops and shift the focus to Asia, but he was defeated in Suez.

Ferdinand III thought this was a good opportunity, and immediately sent a secret envoy to Istanbul, who then went to Tabriz to meet Murad IV. He proposed a plan that would benefit both parties and they would work together to trick the Ming Empire.

Gallas was not clear about the specific details of the agreement, but he had heard the general content. Ferdinand III instigated Murad IV to use the Ming merchants and envoys in Suez as bait to deliberately anger the Ming emperor.

If the Ming Empire did not send troops to retaliate, Murad IV's ruling power in Egypt would be significantly enhanced, and no one would dare to provoke him in a similar way in the future, which would be very beneficial to the consolidation of the regime. If the Ming Empire sent troops, it would be a trap. As long as the Ming army was defeated, it could negotiate with the Ming emperor for benefits, which would not only meet Ferdinand III's needs, but also make Murad IV famous and even drive the Ming Empire's forces out of the Arab region in one go.

In fact, Murad IV faced similar problems as Ferdinand III. He had fought wars in Europe for many years but had not gained much, and his finances were a bit out of reach. In Asia, the Persians took the opportunity to rise and continued to encroach on the territory that originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire. If he did not take action, he would be in trouble.

But war costs money, a lot of money, and Murad IV lacks money the most. At this time, the Ming Empire was flirting with the Persians and trying to get involved in the Arab region. It was really hateful.

In this way, the two monarchs who were originally hostile to each other and had fought each other not only shook hands and made peace because of common interests, but also became allies who fought together. It must be said that interests are really the most convincing reason in the world, and there is no one who cannot be dealt with by them.

According to the agreement between the two parties, the Holy Roman Empire would not send troops into the control area of ​​the Ottoman Empire first, but would only provide a certain number of muskets and artillery, and the task of fighting the Ming army was left to the Ottoman army to complete independently.

Murad IV probably didn't trust this new ally, fearing that Ferdinand III would come to the East again and plunder Constantinople. In addition, he was quite confident in the military strength of the Ottoman Empire and didn't think that the Ming army would have much combat effectiveness on land after a long expedition.

But Ferdinand III was even more cunning. Fearing that the Ottomans might stumble and encounter an accident, he turned around and found the Venetian profiteers. He used the importance of opening up the trade routes between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean as a bargaining chip and fooled another ally.

Then the Venetians began to act, transporting waves of elite cavalry from Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and the Polish-Lithuanian Confederation to Cyprus in the name of mercenaries, ready to land at any time.

"What would you have planned if the Ottomans had not retreated to Damascus but had blocked our army in the city of Basra?" Hong Tao was only half-believing and half-doubting this story. Besides the fact that it could not be verified, there was also an obvious loophole in it.

"Your Majesty, Christians and pagans were enemies before and they are still enemies now. If the Ottomans are held back by your Majesty's army, I will still lead my troops to land, first occupy several coastal cities, and then march to Jerusalem."

Regarding this issue, Gallas did not hesitate or feel embarrassed at all, and sold out the Ottomans very straightforwardly. They had already made a small calculation, no matter who won or lost between the Ottomans and the Ming Dynasty, they would take a big bite here.

"Are you willing to become a special envoy and actively promote a peaceful resolution to this war?"

Since the Europeans are here for profit, then the problem is easy to solve. Hong Tao suddenly had an idea and planned to use the Ottoman Empire's dominance in the Arab region to see if he could completely solve the situation.

(End of this chapter)