The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 338 Zhu Jianxuan and Napoleon

Napoleon took the coach of the Honglu Temple and got off in front of the Forbidden City. He looked at the Shenzhou-style palace gates and walls and sighed:
"This is the capital of the entire world. This is the palace of the ruler of the entire world."

Then, with complicated and inexplicable emotions, he continued to follow the officials of the Honglu Temple into the Western Garden and paid a visit to the office of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

After meeting, Napoleon bowed and saluted Zhu Jianxuan, who was of the same age as him, and shouted "Long live Zhu Jianxuan".

Zhu Jianxuan sat behind the imperial desk, looking up and down at this contemporary European hero.

Napoleon was very famous in the history of his previous life. Coupled with the influence of the strong cultural aura of Europe and the United States, his status in history was infinitely elevated.

However, Zhu Jianxuan has lived in this world for a long time, and has lived in a cultural atmosphere dominated by the Ming Dynasty for a long time.

My mentality when facing Napoleon had changed unconsciously.

In Zhu Jianxuan's current view, Napoleon and Alexander are very similar to other very famous conquerors in European history.

He conquered here, he conquered there, he was the greatest conqueror, but in the end he had nothing.

They are called great conquerors because they were only conquerors and not even rulers.

If we raise the standard to that of a monarch, this kind of person is simply not on the same level as the wise monarchs in the history of Shenzhou.

Originally, Napoleon in history had sufficient military skills, but his political and diplomatic skills were too poor, after all, he was a military commander.

History has also proven that a Napoleon like that could not have unified Europe.

Napoleon in this world has learned the history of China and has grown more than his historical self. He may have the ability to unify Europe.

However, this is just a possibility, and the probability is not particularly high.

The spark of civilization that Rome left to Europeans was very little, probably because Rome itself did not die quickly, but continued to exist in the Eastern Roman region for thousands of years.

It was as if the Zhou Dynasty never completely died out. Its power did not decline to the point where it could no longer control the local area, but it maintained its existence in the Guanzhong region for a long time.

At the same time, the countries established by the European barbarians were also different from the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Most of the princes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were enfeoffed by the Zhou Dynasty. They were essentially the same group of people who went to different places to establish similar countries.
Although the languages ​​and scripts are different, they are mutually intelligible, which is the basis for Qin Shihuang and subsequent emperors to achieve unification.

The top leaders of European countries were not the same group of people, nor were they the princes originally enfeoffed by Rome. Instead, they were the countries they established after they destroyed Rome.

The situation in Europe cannot directly correspond to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in Shenzhou, so naturally there is no way to accurately judge the possibilities of the future.

But Zhu Jianxuan would not observe whether Napoleon had a chance like playing a game.

Instead, as soon as they discovered that there was a slight possibility that Napoleon could actually unify Europe, they would take action in advance to forcibly eliminate his possibility.

It was like the devil directly massacred the novice village.

Zhu Jianxuan's thoughts raced for a while before he waved his hand to signal Napoleon to sit down.

When Zhu Jianxuan faces this celebrity from Napoleon's previous life, he is mainly impressed by the huge difference between the two worlds.

When Napoleon faced Zhu Jianxuan, he was excited but also extremely nervous.

Zhu Jianxuan holds a very high position in Napoleon's heart. He is the person who can truly become the ruler of the entire world and the person who can decide his own destiny.

Therefore, Napoleon, the famous hero in European history, was very cautious and respectful when facing Zhu Jianxuan.

When being stared at by Zhu Jianxuan, he dared not move or react at all.

It was not until Zhu Jianxuan gave permission that Napoleon bowed and thanked him, then slowly sat down on the chair.

Zhu Jianxuan asked about Napoleon's situation in Poland, and Napoleon gave a brief introduction.

After several rounds of direct dialogue between the two, Napoleon gradually formed an impression of Zhu Jianxuan.

Then Napoleon felt that the image and character of the Ming Emperor were far from the world ruler he had imagined.

The opponent is indeed quite strong, but he does not have the arrogance and conceit that are typical of a conqueror. He even makes people feel quite easy-going.

Napoleon couldn't help but sigh in his heart that people with such character would not be carried away by victory and would be able to rationally plan their conquest plans.

After listening to Napoleon's brief report, Zhu Jianxuan continued to ask about the situation at Napoleon's home:

"I remember you didn't have any children yet?"

Napoleon was obviously stunned for a moment, and subconsciously suspected that the Ming Emperor was going to arrange a marriage for him:
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My wife and I have been married and have no children. I am considering asking Your Majesty for permission to divorce my wife and remarry."

Zhu Jianxuan knew from his memories of his past life that Napoleon could not have children with his first wife.

Later he divorced his wife and married an Austrian princess, but now there seems no need to do so.

Now Napoleon is the most powerful foreign monarch of the Ming Dynasty in Europe, and Zhu Jianxuan will not allow him to marry Austria again.

In that way, France, Austria and Poland, the three largest vassal states in Europe, would become one family.

According to European tradition, it was not appropriate for Napoleon to marry princesses from other European countries.

That would allow Napoleon to formally integrate into the traditional European aristocratic circle, making it easier for Napoleon to cooperate with them in the future.

It would be best to marry the daughter of a commoner in the Ming Dynasty, just like Louis XVII did. The children of Polish workers would also be fine.
"You are already forty years old this year. Even if you are an ordinary person in the Ming Dynasty, you are eligible to take a concubine directly if you are forty and childless.

"An ordinary prince of the Ming Dynasty can directly take four concubines, and as a vassal prince, there is actually no limit on the number.

"So you don't actually need to divorce specifically, you can just marry a few concubines."

Napoleon felt a little confused as he listened to the emperor's muttering, and was not sure what the emperor meant.

If the emperor wanted to arrange a marriage for himself, he would definitely ask him to divorce first.

Even if he could take a concubine according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, he could let the concubine give birth to a son to inherit the throne.

But the person arranged by the emperor must be his legal wife. It is impossible for her to be his concubine, right?
Could it be that they are taking advantage of the differences in inheritance systems between the Ming Dynasty and Europe to completely transform the future Polish royal system into a Ming-style royal system?

If his heir was born to him and the Ming Dynasty's concubine in the sense of the term, he might be regarded as an illegitimate child by European nobles.

An illegitimate child in Europe has no right of inheritance and may be questioned among the European aristocratic circles.

But the Ming Dynasty would recognize such an heir and of course protect him, and should handle the procedures of enthronement and inheritance normally.

This will in turn make his successors more inclined towards the Ming Dynasty.

For Napoleon himself, the best way was of course to divorce and remarry, marrying a princess from a traditional European royal family.

Make his heirs completely legal heirs both in Europe and in the Ming Dynasty.

But the Ming Dynasty may not want to marry into other European royal families.

It would be in the best interests of the Ming Dynasty for Poland not to divorce now, but to take in a few Polish civilian children as concubines and let their children inherit the throne.

Napoleon felt that he understood everything.

At the same time, I also realized what it means that destiny is controlled by others and that I cannot decide my own destiny.

Napoleon had no choice but to sigh in his heart and then said respectfully:

"I don't know what to do, but I'll leave it to your majesty to decide..."

Zhu Jianxuan's thought process is different from Napoleon's, and he was a little surprised by Napoleon's reaction:

"Let me arrange it? Didn't I already tell you that as a vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, you can just take a concubine.

"Of course, if you still want a divorce, that's fine. I remember that your wife doesn't come from a good family.

“But if you want to get married again, don’t look for princesses from the old royal families in Europe. That will not do you any good.

"The culture of the Ming Dynasty has been spreading in Europe over the years, and you have been making trouble in Europe with the French for so many years.

"The traditional idea of ​​putting people first in China, which was transformed into the idea of ​​sovereignty of the people in France, has spread across the board with this European war.

"In the future, European people will also think that the monarch is the head of all the people in the country, rather than the owner of the land and property under their feet." In this environment, it will gradually become inappropriate for a country's monarch to continue to marry a foreign monarch.

“Because from now on, the war between two countries will no longer be a war between two kings or even royal families, but a war between all the people of the two countries.

"If a war breaks out between the country and the monarch's spouse's home country, the king and queen will have the potential to be traitors.

"If the husband or queen of one's own country is the princess of an enemy country, this situation will directly affect morale.

"A commoner king or queen can boost morale.

“Therefore, the marriage method of European royal families and aristocratic circles will definitely be abandoned by the times.

“As for how you monarchs should marry in the future, the Ming imperial family has already set a good example for you.

"The wife of a monarch of an independent country should be the daughter of a commoner in his own country, while the wife of a monarch of a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty can be the daughter of a commoner family of the Ming Dynasty."

In the past history, the relationship between European monarchs and citizens also underwent similar changes, but the speed was much slower than it is now.

It was not until the First World War that intellectuals in various countries felt that the relationship between their kings and the monarchs of the empire was particularly inappropriate.

It was not until the late 20th and even 21st centuries that European monarchs began to marry commoners from their own countries.

Zhu Jianxuan helped Napoleon step into the 21st century.

Napoleon originally thought that the emperor casually stated his arrangements and decided his fate at will, but he did not expect that he would teach him a serious lesson.

And Napoleon felt that what the emperor said made a lot of sense.

The previous royal wars were about to turn into all-people wars, and there was no point in the monarch of a Ming-style state marrying a foreign country.

The children of Ming Dynasty commoners or the daughters of commoners in one's own country are indeed the best choice for the future.

This time Napoleon bowed his hands and thanked him sincerely:

"Thank you for your teachings, Your Majesty. I will keep them in mind."

Zhu Jianxuan nodded slightly, changed the topic to another serious matter, and asked a question that intertwined history and reality:

"If I allow you to lead the army to attack Russia's inland areas from Europe, you must force Russia to surrender completely as quickly as possible.

"At the very least, Russia must pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and give up the areas east and south of the Urals, the Caucasus and the Black Sea coast.

"How many troops do you think are needed and how long will it take to complete the mission?"

Napoleon was stunned again, and almost instinctively felt in his heart that the Ming Dynasty was indeed going to deal with Russia.

However, Napoleon was also a little surprised. From what the Ming Emperor said, did he want him to be the commander-in-chief of the attack on Russia from Europe?
Is he really confident in handing over the command of the army to himself?
However, this question only appeared in Napoleon's mind for a moment.

Napoleon immediately realized that it was useless for him to take command of the main force of the Ming Dynasty and the armies of other vassal states.

They will only obey me when I attack the target designated by the Ming Emperor.

And they were unable to supply them with equipment and supplies.

However, Napoleon was still quite looking forward to it. As a natural military general, he had a strong interest in commanding stronger and more numerous troops.

Moreover, Napoleon understood that the Ming Emperor was willing to assign him tasks, which showed that he was very useful to the Ming Dynasty.

The key point is that he was also regarded as a normal vassal monarch, rather than a vassal who was enthroned out of necessity at the time.

Only if you can play your own role can your future position be more stable.

A bunch of thoughts flashed through Napoleon's mind, and then he quickly began to seriously consider the emperor's problem itself:
"May I ask, Your Majesty, which armies can I command? The main forces of the Ming Dynasty or my own army, or other traditional European armies?"

Zhu Jianxuan answered casually:
"You can command anything, but you have to complete the mission at the lowest possible cost. That's my problem."

Zhu Jianxuan has already received the exact report from the Western Factory.

Knowing that Prince Shun Li Celing had already secretly signed an alliance with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the three countries were ready to unite to fight against the Ming Dynasty.

By the time the Ming Dynasty conquers Shun State by force, there is a high probability that Russia and the Ottoman Empire will join the war.

That would be the largest war he had ever faced in his life.

The area of ​​the three countries is more than twice that of the rest of Europe, and the population of the three countries is also more than twice that of the rest of Europe.

Even with the current size of the Ming Dynasty, it is unrealistic to swallow up the Three Kingdoms in one bite.

Moreover, this war will not be too sudden, and both sides will have time to make special preparations for war.

Once the war officially begins, its intensity will be unprecedented.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan considered dividing the entire war into several aspects and dealing with them according to different stages.

We should also make full use of the power of the vassal states as much as possible and let them share some of the tasks.

Napoleon thought about it carefully:
"First, the Ming navy must completely block the sea routes, and then Your Majesty will dispatch 100,000 Ming ground forces.

“I can draw 200,000 troops from Poland myself, and Austria and other vassal states can provide another 200,000 troops, which should be enough.

"If Russia dares to fight our army head-on, it can be resolved in at least three to six months.

"If Russia pursues the policy of clearing the countryside, then our army can only advance cautiously and divide the land equally in the occupied areas.

"The Russian nobility could only keep their land if they surrendered, otherwise they would be completely abolished.

“This should allow complete control of Russia within three to five years.

"If Your Majesty could send another large army to attack from east to west, the speed would be much faster.

"At the same time, the winter temperature in inland Russia is much lower than that in western Europe, and if a protracted war occurs, supply security must be ensured.

“So I suggest that as the front gradually advances inland, railways and roads should be built from the ports along the Baltic Sea to the inland areas of Russia.

"These preparations will take time, so I think the war should start two years from now at the earliest..."

Napoleon was now the King of Poland in the Ming Dynasty, and all his brothers became nobles in the Ming Dynasty, and each had a stable fiefdom.

The most important thing is that you don’t need to be forced by the situation to continue fighting.

Napoleon's mentality now is completely different from that in his previous life. He can choose to recuperate and make perfect preparations before going to war again.

Of course, Napoleon also knew that allowing the Ming court to build docks, railways and roads in Poland would be equivalent to allowing the Ming court to strengthen its control over Poland.

But Napoleon also knew that the reason why the Ming Dynasty was so powerful was because of the new power represented by these facilities.

Without these, Poland would have to remain in the old era.

Even if Poland was independent, it would still be vulnerable to the powerful Ming Dynasty, and it would not be able to decide whether it would perish.

So Napoleon took the initiative to propose that the Ming court come to Poland to carry out these constructions.

Zhu Jianxuan felt that Napoleon's suggestion was very steady and reliable:

“Well, that’s right. If we want to attack Russia from Europe, we need to build infrastructure in eastern Poland.

“There must be docks, railways, and roads, as well as artillery, firearms, and motor vehicle assembly and repair plants, and supply warehouses for storing coal, fuel, and ammunition.

"When you return next year, start preparing manpower and wait for the imperial engineering personnel to contact you.

"These facilities are not only useful to the imperial court, but also beneficial to Poland. At least they can help ordinary people there earn more money."

Napoleon understood these basic principles, so he immediately took the order seriously and thanked him:

"I accept your order and thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)