The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 106 Europa Universalis ([-])

May 1725, 5, Duchy of Courland, Riga.

"I feel that in the Principality of Courland, the Russians are more like the masters here." Dutch businessman Gerrit de Vries watched a group of arrogant Russian envoys, escorted by soldiers, crossing the streets and heading out of the city. Leaving the dock, he couldn't help but shook his head and said.

"Of course, the Russians are now the guardians and protectors of the Principality of Courland." Riga Commercial Station Manager Hendrickus Klein glanced at the Russian envoy team and said disapprovingly: "You know, even Their dukes are Russians. ... Oh, a Russian duchess!"

"If they weren't afraid of the fierce reaction of Poland and Sweden, the Russians might have annexed this principality long ago. Oh, the poor Kurlanders!"

"Yes, poor Kurlanders." Gerrit de Vries nodded and said, "I heard that the Russians require the principality to pay a special tax of 50 rubles to St. Petersburg within a month. Can you imagine? , which is equivalent to asking every Kurlander to take a ruble out of his pocket.”

"The greedy Russians!" Hendrikus Kline said sympathetically: "According to the news from St. Petersburg, the reason why the Russians levied special taxes on the Courlanders was because they were going to war again. "

"War?" Gerrit de Vries couldn't help being surprised after hearing this. "Their Czar Peter I only passed away in February, and Queen Catherine took the throne of the Czar through a coup. At this time Isn’t it supposed to be a time to consolidate her dominance and strengthen national control? Why rush to launch a war? ... Oh, who is the target of the Russians? The Ottomans? Or the Swedes?"

"The new Tsar Catherine is a woman after all, and has no actual power in the country at all." Hendrikus Klein said: "Currently, the political power of the entire Russia is controlled by Field Marshal Menshikov and the Privy Council. Ambassador Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy and several other members of the Supreme Privy Council. As for why a war was launched, I guess it has something to do with the visit of the English mission a month ago. It is said that England They encouraged Russia to attack the Ottomans and Persia, and gave them a million pounds in financial aid for this purpose."

"Why do the English encourage Russia to attack the Ottomans and Persia?" Gerrit de Vries asked doubtfully: "As far as I know, England has no substantive conflicts of interest with these two countries, and there has been no such conflict in recent years. any political or economic disputes."

"Mr. De Vries, think about it, which country is standing behind Ottoman and Persia?" Hendrikus Kline said with a smile.

"Qi!" Gerrit de Vries suddenly understood. "The English encouraged Russia to attack the Ottomans and Persia because they wanted to attack the Qi State behind them. Haha... England really tried to fight against the Qi State. I want to recruit more allies to attack Qi together."

"Yes, Russia was forced out of the Caucasus by Qi State and the Ottomans last year and was unable to touch the Caspian Sea. It has always been resentful. In addition, Qi State vigorously supported two indigenous kingdoms in the Far East and continued to squeeze Russia's colonial power in Siberia. , causing heavy losses to the Russians. Now, after being instigated by the English, the rough and arrogant Russians will naturally find their way back to the battlefield and launch a war against the Qi State behind the Ottomans and Persians."

"England does not have any advantage over Qi from any aspect." Hendrickus Crane shook his head and said: "Even though the English are waiting for work, sitting on the convenient location, they are waiting for the people of Qi who have traveled thousands of miles. I am not optimistic about the outcome of the expedition launched by Qi. I think that even if the Qi people cannot defeat England in the end, they will suffer heavy losses and greatly weaken England's maritime power in Europe."

"If the Qi people and the English fight in the Atlantic Ocean and both sides suffer losses, then it will be the best outcome for our United Provinces." Gerrit de Vries said excitedly: "The power of the Qi people Although we have not taken this opportunity to penetrate into Europe, England will also lose its maritime hegemony in the Atlantic region, thus greatly alleviating the maritime pressure on our United Provinces. Haha... maybe we can also take this opportunity to seize England's commercial interests in the Caribbean. .”

"If everything turns out as you said, it would be for the best. But I still hope that the war between Qi and England can last longer, so that our United Provinces can gain more commercial benefits. Have you not noticed that due to the war, the number of English merchant ships in the Baltic Sea has been greatly reduced?"

"Haha..." Gerrit de Vries laughed, "Not only in the Baltic Sea, but also in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, England's merchant ships have also decreased to varying degrees. What's more, what surprises us even more is that the Qi people moved the Atlantic Ocean to and the commercial transportation on the Mediterranean Sea will all be transferred to our federated provinces merchants. I believe that as the war progresses, Qi will transfer more commercial interests to our federated provinces."
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May 5, Stockholm.

The Great Northern War, which had just ended, brought the heaviest disaster to the Kingdom of Sweden. Over the past 100 years, the overseas territories that several generations of kings had worked hard to conquer were almost completely lost. It can be said that it has lost its status as a major power in Europe.

Estonia, Livonia, Ingria, Kekesholm and most of Karelia were ceded to Russia, and the kingdom also gave up its support for Holstein-Gotop, leaving it under Danish control , become their vassal.In addition, under the threat of England and Denmark, the kingdom also gave up its exemption from the Kattegat toll tax, thereby losing a considerable amount of revenue.

As the biggest winner of the Great Northern War, Russia has deployed their troops all along the Baltic Sea coast, replacing the Kingdom of Sweden in one fell swoop, gaining hegemony in the Baltic Sea, and is also eyeing Finland in an attempt to further weaken the Kingdom of Sweden.

King Carl XII of Sweden was unwilling to fail (due to the influence of historical time and space, this king did not die in the Battle of Norway). After the war, although he reduced the size of his army from 11 to more than 3 due to pressure from various countries, he With reference to the Qi model, it was built into a completely off-duty professional army and began to establish an officer training system.

However, considering that the total population of the Kingdom of Sweden is only 200 million, an army of [-] still places an extremely heavy burden on the national finances.

Like other European countries, the nobility of the Kingdom of Sweden owned a large amount of land and almost monopolized the positions of military officers and state administrators, thereby controlling the power of the entire kingdom.Likewise, the economic activities of the kingdom were controlled by the nobles.Because of the failure of the Great Northern War, Karl XII was forced to make significant concessions to the Parliament of Nobles and granted it more rights, allowing the Parliament to exert great influence on financial and judicial policies, forming a certain degree of control over the royal power. restrictions.

As early as the time of Gustavus I, Sweden created a compulsory conscription system that was different from European countries. This system treated farmers and nobles equally. As long as they enlisted in the army, they could exchange for the king's recognition of the autonomy of the land they owned. .Therefore, in Sweden, a large number of farmers have used this to keep their land and gain a certain political voice.It is hard to imagine that Sweden during this period was the only country in Europe that recognized farmers as an independent class and gave farmers representation in the national parliament.

However, this system was useless in promoting industrial manufacturing and commercial activities.This is because the nobles who own a large amount of land are simply unwilling to invest in risky business activities, and rely too much on the output of the land to maintain their wealthy and luxurious lives.Therefore, the tax base of the Kingdom of Sweden is very weak, which often makes the national finances unable to make ends meet.In order to obtain urgently needed funds, the kingdom had to rely on exporting mineral resources, mainly copper and iron, and its life was very difficult.

"Your Qi State wants to invest in building a steel plant in Sweden?" King Carl XII of Sweden personally met with the visiting Qi State Minister Su Weishan in Prussia and learned that the other party promised to invest in and build a series of factories in Sweden, especially in Sweden. Stockholm was immediately surprised when it built a steel plant with an annual output of [-] tons.

"If your government is willing, our Qi State can also provide you with a low-interest loan of 100 million yuan for the Kingdom of Sweden to promote the development of business and trade between your two countries." Su Weishan said with a smile: "At the same time, in order to support If your country resists the Russian invasion, we in Qi can also provide you with a package of military assistance."

"Your country has paid so much, what do you want in return from our Kingdom of Sweden?" King Karl XII was silent for a while, and then asked in a deep voice.

There is no love for no reason in this world, and there are no free benefits for no reason!

"We hope that your Kingdom of Sweden will maintain its due neutrality in the war between our country Qi and England." Su Weishan said: "In addition, we also hope that during the war, our Qi naval ships can operate in your country's coastal ports Convenience in obtaining supplies.”

"Mr. Minister, if you allow your naval ships to dock at our coastal ports during the war, it will easily involve our Kingdom of Sweden in this war." King Karl XII solemnly said: "Currently, our Kingdom's external The main tone of our policy is peace and neutrality, and not participating in any regional wars or conflicts. I am very sorry that I cannot agree to your conditions."

"Your Majesty, although the Kingdom of Sweden maintains the will of peace and neutrality, some countries may not be willing to see your position." Suvishan said: "As far as I know, England signed an agreement with the Kingdom of Denmark eight years ago. The military alliance contract does not seem to have been abolished because of the end of the war. In addition, the Royal Navy of England still has a squadron stationed at Sitshals Port in Denmark all year round. Which country does your Majesty think England is targeting with this move?"

When Carl XII heard this, he immediately became speechless.

In the past decade or so, as Britain's strength has grown, it has not only completely controlled the North Sea region, but has also continued to penetrate into the Baltic Sea.Since the Hanoverian Dynasty took over London, Britain has used Hanover as a fulcrum to intervene in the affairs of the North German region, constantly squeezing and excluding Sweden's influence.

During the Great Northern War, the Swedes and the Russians fought fiercely, and the British were at both ends of the spectrum, constantly changing their positions.After the Kingdom of Sweden was defeated by Russia, it lost a large territory in the east, so it thought that "the east is not bright and the west is bright", and planned to completely capture Norway to make up for it. In 1716, King Karl XII personally led an army to Norway. Unexpectedly, Britain, which had nothing to do with it, immediately pulled Denmark and declared war on Sweden.

Later, in retaliation, Sweden also actively negotiated with the Jacobites to seek allies and try to cause chaos within Britain.

As the Great Northern War came to an end, Sweden humiliatedly signed the Treaty of Stockholm with England, Hanover, Denmark, and Prussia. The three countries carved up most of Sweden's territory in North Germany, and Hanover received the Swedish Bremen-February. With Erden, Denmark acquired Holstein, and Brandenburg-Prussia annexed the southern regions of Swedish Pomerania.

If France had not used some force during the peace talks to prevent the complete collapse of Swedish power on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and carried out strong mediation, successfully allowing Sweden to retain the two territories of Wismar and northern Swedish Pomerania, then Sweden would have been very More territory may be lost and more interests may be lost.

As a result, the two countries formed a deep rift and wanted to kill each other.If the Swedish Navy had not suffered heavy losses after the war with Russia and was no longer able to control the Baltic Sea, it would not have tolerated this and maintained the so-called "neutral peace."

Su Weishan, Qi's minister to Prussia, was sent to Stockholm in order to persuade the Kingdom of Sweden to stand on Qi's side during the war and to provide Qi naval ships with the convenience of docking for supplies.Even if this task cannot be completed, it must ensure that the Kingdom of Sweden does not fall to the British.It is best to use the principle of neutrality to prevent Sweden from exporting strategic materials to Britain, especially copper and iron.

As long as the UK cannot obtain enough strategic supplies, how many strategic reserves can it have based on the broken island it is based on?
When it comes to fighting consumption, which country in the world can compete with me, the Daqi Empire!

"We, the Kingdom of Sweden, are constrained by the principle of neutrality and are indeed unable to provide corresponding docking and supply services for your naval ships during wartime. But at the same time, we also promise not to export war materials such as copper and iron to the United Kingdom." Karl Ten The second waved around for a long time, but finally refused to clearly choose a side.

After all, Qi is too far away and Britain is too close.

Just when Suvishan was about to say goodbye, King Karl XII politely stood up to see him off. When he walked to the door of the palace, he said casually: "In order to increase the kingdom's financial revenue, in the near future, I will persuade the parliament to prepare to transfer the land near Gothenburg to Several small islands are either leased or sold in exchange for some necessary funds... I wonder if Qi is interested in those small islands?"

(End of this chapter)