The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 316 Sicily, Russia and Austria
Wang Tingzhen arranged matters concerning the Royal House of Savoy and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and continued to receive representatives of the King of Naples and King of Sicily.

The current King of Sicily, Ferdinand III, is known in Naples as Ferdinand IV.

Ferdinand was born into the Bourbon family. He was the great-great-grandson of the former French King Louis XIV, the cousin of Louis XV, and the uncle of Louis XVI.

He is also the younger brother of the former King of Spain, Carlos IV, and the uncle of the current King of Spain, Fernando.

When Napoleon occupied Naples, Ferdinand took members of the royal family and the kingdom's main nobles and went into exile in Palermo, Sicily with the assistance of Britain.

Compared to the insignificant House of Savoy, the Naples Bourbon family, which still ruled Sicily, was in a significantly better situation.

Ferdinand sent his son Francesco to lead the army to Antwerp.

The goal of Ferdinand and his son was simple, which was to take back Naples controlled by the Ming Dynasty. The problem was what the cost was.

The Ming Dynasty once had cooperation with Naples, and Taranto was originally the territory of the King of Naples.

Wang Tingzhen treated Ferdinand's delegation slightly better than the Savoy royal family.

After the two sides met and greeted each other, they sat down. Francesco quickly explained his purpose and asked about Ming Dynasty's conditions.

Wang Tingzhen also directly told them to let the King of Naples pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and offer Sicily and surrounding islands to the Ming Dynasty.

Crown Prince Francesco couldn't help but frown after hearing this:
“We are willing to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but your request is equivalent to exchanging Sicily for Naples.

"For us, this exchange is exchanging land that has not been damaged by war for land that has been damaged by war.

"And all of this land originally belonged to us..."

Wang Tingzhen knew that the other party would definitely be reluctant, so he warned him directly and added:
“If the Ming Dynasty had not intervened, Sicily could have been destroyed by war at any time, and you could have been driven out of Sicily at any time.

“At the same time, you should also know that the Ming Dynasty only needs Sicily, an island located in the center of the Mediterranean, as the core base of the Ming Dynasty Navy in the Mediterranean.

“We have no interest in Sicily’s population and wealth, so you can move all the people and wealth out of Sicily.

"If you really need it, the Ming Navy and the Immigration Company can assist you in completing the relocation."

Crown Prince Francesco was obviously stunned for a moment. He understood the threat in Wang Tingzhen's words and knew that the Ming Dynasty could seize Sicily at any time.

Francesco was surprised but then suddenly understood the additional conditions given by Wang Tingzhen.

For a traditional European monarchical family like theirs, the population under their rule is the most important source of wealth, and desolate and uninhabited land is useless.

But for the Ming Dynasty, although population is wealth, it is also a burden, and the Ming Dynasty must continue to export population.

During this European war, the Ming Dynasty should have noticed the civil uprisings across Europe, and the Ming people should have known that it would be difficult for them to directly rule these Europeans.

There was no demand for population in the first place, and ruling these Europeans would come at an extra cost, so the Ming Dynasty certainly had no interest in the local population.

So they simply drove the locals away, leaving only a piece of vacant land and moving in immigrants from the Ming Dynasty to develop and build the area.

Francesco also knew that this was what the Ming Dynasty man Taranto did.

Francesco thought about it for a while, and then whispered with his accompanying officials for a while, and finally decided to accept the exchange conditions.

The negotiations between Ming Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples-Sicily ended.

In this way, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete, the three large islands in the central Mediterranean, all belonged to the Ming Dynasty.

These islands surrounded by the sea are equivalent to natural moats and have their own natural access control system.

For countries with naval advantages, islands are the most suitable colonies.

Historically, the colonies acquired by Britain in mainland Europe were all extremely small islands and peninsulas.

The main reason is that the UK itself is too small and the population of the main ethnic groups in the UK is too small.

They were not able to fully control the larger European lands.

The Ming Dynasty could have handled an island the size of Sicily by using a similar colonial strategy as Britain.

According to Zhu Jianxuan's plan, the Ming Dynasty would not even set up vassal states on these three islands, but would directly place them under the jurisdiction of the European Province.

In the future, all residents on the island will be gradually replaced by Ming people.

It would still be too difficult to replace the entire population of Europe, but it would be much easier to deal with these three relatively isolated islands.

Wang Tingzhen has now solved most of Europe's problems.

If the problem doesn't come to you, or can't come to you, then of course there is no way to solve it.

The main task remaining was to wait for the Habsburgs' response and for the Russians to negotiate a solution to the Polish issue.

However, until the meeting time given by Wang Tingzhen, the Russian delegation never arrived.

Wang Tingzhen originally thought that Russia would continue to be stubborn and continue to fight against Poland led by Napoleon, intending to take back the territories that had been divided from Poland in previous times.

Wang Tingzhen considered this possibility very high, so he prepared to write a report based on this consideration and put forward strategic recommendations against Russia.

As a result, Wang Tingzhen waited for the news sent by the Western Factory that the Ottoman Empire had declared war on Russia.

Ottoman Sultan Selim III sent Alamdar Mustafa Pasha with 30,000 new troops to attack Russia.

The aim was obviously to retake Wallachia and Moldavia.

Then came the news from Yang Yuchun in Hamburg that the Russian delegation had arrived in Hamburg.

He demanded that a treaty be signed in Hamburg as soon as possible to end the war between Russia, France and Poland, and at the same time invited Ming and Austria to join the war against the Ottoman Empire.

Yang Yuchun was also the person in charge of the negotiations and received news of the Ottoman attack on Russia.

Yang Yuchun believed that the Russians were probably not satisfied with the existing occupied areas and did not want to end the war with the current border line.

Therefore, they deliberately delayed the negotiations and did not send an envoy to Hamburg or Antwerp.

However, the Ottoman declaration of war forced them to end the war with Napoleon as soon as possible and concentrate on dealing with their arch-enemy, the Ottomans.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty should seriously consider delaying the negotiation time a little and asking for higher conditions from Russia.

It is better to accept Russia's advice, sign a contract with Russia as soon as possible, and then participate in the war against the Ottoman Empire.

This kind of decision cannot be made by two people alone, and they must report to and ask for the emperor's opinion.

Wang Tingzhen agreed with Yang Yuchun's judgment, so the two of them wrote urgent reports to Zhu Jianxuan respectively.

Zhu Jianxuan had also received news from the Western Factory, and the reports from Wang Tingzhen and Yang Yuchun were delivered the next day.

After reading it, Zhu Jianxuan subconsciously wanted to intervene and deal with the Ottoman Empire and Russia in one go, forcing the two countries to cede territory and become vassal states.

If it were a traditional oriental feudal monarch or a conqueror from the European cultural circle, it would be difficult to give up such an opportunity. However, Zhu Jianxuan's impulsiveness soon subsided because the time to conquer Russia and the Ottoman Empire was still not ripe.

The Ottomans chose a good time to send troops this time. They took advantage of the opportunity when Napoleon led the Poles to fight against Russia and caught Russia off guard.

It's just that their efficiency in going to war was a little slow. They should have cooperated with Napoleon to fight against Russia a year earlier.

It is also possible that the Ottomans had just sorted out the situation and confirmed that Napoleon's France had already submitted to the Ming Dynasty and paid tribute, and that European countries were now suffering heavy casualties and had ceased fighting.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire were real enemies, and the two sides had been fighting for hundreds of years over the Black Sea, the Caucasus, and the Balkans.

From Shenzhou's perspective, these two guys feel like a bunch of losers fighting each other. They have been fighting for hundreds of years without a final result.

However, looking at the whole of Europe, compared with the wars in Shenzhou, there is often a feeling of weaklings fighting each other.

Or it is because the situation in Europe is too complicated. There are various problems within each country, and the key is that it is difficult to solve them under the interference of external factors.

Countries can only fight each other with a bunch of problems, so it is often the case that the fight starts well but ends badly.

Zhu Jianxuan didn’t know how many times this war was fought between Russia and Turkey, but he was sure that it would not have a happy ending like the Shenzhou one.

The most typical problem is that the current Ottoman Sultan Selim III should be a reformist, but in the original history he should have been deposed by the Janissaries by this time.

Although he has not been deposed yet, the new army he formed has gone out to fight. Will the Imperial Guards do something according to historical inertia?
Zhu Jianxuan was not sure how long Selim III could hold out, nor was he sure what he could gain by intervening in the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, but it was certainly not in line with the current plan of the Ming Dynasty.

Directly intervening in the European war was no longer something that Ming Dynasty had planned, and continuing to forcibly participate in the Russo-Turkish War would further deplete Ming's national strength.

Although the current strength of the Ming Dynasty is enormous and can support a large army fighting in distant overseas, it ultimately has its limits.

Although his use of Ming's national power and military strength has certainly not reached its limit, no one knows where Ming's limit is.

However, according to Zhu Jianxuan's own assessment, if the Ming Dynasty continued to forcibly swallow up most of the land and population of the Ottoman Empire or Russia before the basic reorganization of the occupied areas in America and Europe was completed, the power of the Ming Dynasty might reach its limit.

Because that means directly swallowing up nearly 200 million people, most of whom are Europeans with a certain degree of national consciousness. The pressure of suppression and control is enormous.

Once the whole of Europe rebels, the old European monarchs and the new nationalists join forces, and the rulers of the internal and external vassal states take the opportunity to cause trouble, the Ming Dynasty may really lose sight of one thing while focusing on another.

Even if it is eventually suppressed by force, the war will certainly be protracted and the losses will certainly be huge, which means that the gains will not outweigh the losses.

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it is best not to push the Ming Dynasty to its limits, as that would be tantamount to exposing your own bottom line.

Even though this bottom line is very high, as long as it can be evaluated, all enemies and conspirators can estimate what means are needed and what capabilities need to be accumulated in order to destroy the Ming Dynasty.

Unfathomable and immeasurable, this state is the greatest deterrent.

Based on this consideration, Zhu Jianxuan wrote back to Yang Yuchun and Wang Tingzhen, asking them to arrange for France and Poland to sign an armistice agreement with Russia.

Do not form an alliance with Russia or the Ottoman Empire, and do not participate in a war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Cooperate with the new vassal monarch to concentrate on reorganizing European affairs.

Wang Tingzhen and Yang Yuchun received the reply and were very surprised after reading it.

"Your Majesty really wants stability..."

"As long as we take the opportunity to defeat the main forces of Russia and the Ottoman Empire and eliminate the two remaining powerful countries in the world, the remaining small countries will not be a concern at all. The unification of the world is just around the corner, and His Majesty actually held back..."

Although both of them felt quite regretful, they had no choice but to obey the emperor's will.

As a representative, Yang Yuchun arranged for representatives from France and Poland to sign a formal armistice agreement with the Russians in Hamburg.

The war between France and Russia ended and Poland returned to its 1771 borders.

Russia then left a small number of troops to garrison the western border and transferred more troops to the south to fight the Ottomans.

At the same time, Habsburg Crown Prince Franz returned to Vienna in person and reported to his uncle the several different conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty.

After hearing this, the Habsburg monarch, Joseph II, looked serious and sad:

"The Ming Dynasty really wants us to surrender, and the conditions are indeed very tempting...

"Keep all the existing territories, and gather them together, and get the whole of Venice as an additional bonus.

"Even if we really agree, there should be a chance to ask for another part of the Pope's territory in Italy."

Franz subconsciously asked and confirmed when he heard this:
"These conditions are indeed very good, so uncle, what you mean is that we Habsburgs...will become vassals of the Ming Dynasty..."

Joseph II shook his head directly:
“Of course not, and I certainly don’t want to do that.

"I have devoted my life to building a unified and powerful Austrian Empire.

"If I accept this seemingly good offer, all my efforts over the past few decades will turn into empty bubbles..."

Franz was a little puzzled:
"Why? Didn't the Ming Dynasty allow us to bring all the family territories together through territory exchange?"

Joseph II immediately asked in a very serious tone:

"You have also been studying the cultural history of Shenzhou over the years. Do you remember that Shenzhou had a law called the 'Enfeoffment Order'?"

Franz seemed to understand all of a sudden:
"Will the Ming Dynasty split up the Habsburg territories again in the future?"

Joseph II continued his analysis:
“It is possible that the Ming Emperor will divide the Habsburg territories equally among your brothers after my death.

“You may not agree, but your brothers may agree.

“Emperor Ming can even expand the scope of fiefdoms to include your sisters, daughters, and nieces.

"Then arrange for members of the Ming royal family to marry your sisters, daughters, and nieces.

“This way, the children of the Ming royal family can inherit these territories.

"The Habsburg territories may be temporarily concentrated, but there is a high probability that they will be completely broken up.

“As for the so-called gradual integration plan, it seems quite reasonable.

“South Tyrol is important to Italy, but its value is far less than that of Bavaria.

“That’s why the Ming Dynasty asked that even if it was an exchange like this, we must separate Bavaria and establish a separate kingdom to pledge allegiance to the Ming Dynasty.

“However, this integration process is the process of gradually dismembering all Habsburg territories.

“What eventually merged into the Ming was a group of small independent kingdoms.

"But compared with Shenzhou's history, this is not even the worst possible outcome..."

(End of this chapter)