The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 643: Nephew looks like uncle, what is this?
"This is betrayal, naked betrayal!"

Located in the heart of Brussels, the Grand Palace on Caudan looks like a large construction site.

There was the roar of Jan Frans Funck, a great lawyer who was deeply influenced by the French Enlightenment and represented the interests of the petty bourgeoisie and the citizens of Brussels.

The target of Frans Funk's anger was the representatives of the Brussels Municipal Council, headed by Hendrik van Note, who represented the interests of the old aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, and the large farmers in Brussels.

“That’s not selling out, France, that’s called compromise.

Brussels is part of the Grand Duchy of Brabant. We accepted the rule of the Habsburg family and called Francis II "majesty", so we should abide by the rules.

Archduke M is a member of the Imperial Royal Family and received his title from His Majesty Francis II, the Grand Duke of Brabant, in a proper and legal manner."

Hendrik Knott said calmly that Brussels is not on the sea, so the benefits it can gain from maritime trade are limited.

In addition, these people have controlled Brussels for thousands of years, and since Charles V, there has been no powerful king who has lived in Brussels for a long time in the two hundred years.

That is why these old aristocrats, big capitalists, and big farmers tried to oppose Mo Zirong's coming to Brussels to take up the post of Grand Duke of Brabant.

No one wants to have a fatherless person hanging over his head for no apparent reason.

But now after testing the quality, this father seemed to be very fierce. If they continued to object, it would not be stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, but their legs would be broken, so they immediately prepared to slide on their knees.

Jan Frans Funk looked at Hendrik van Noor and others with sneer and pity.

"The so-called compromise is just a fig leaf for you. You clearly have the opportunity to be free, but you still kneel down. I feel so sad for you."

"This compromise comes at the cost of the freedom of 70,000 Brussels citizens. It's naked surrender. Every one of you should be ashamed of it!"

Hendrik Nott looked at Frans Vonk and was not angry at all because of his words.

Hendrick stopped the MPs from his own faction from coming over to curse back. Instead, he looked at Feng Ke with a look of pity and said:

"France, you place too much emphasis on so-called freedom and human rights. These things are not the whole of life, nor are they sacred and cannot be tainted in the slightest. We should allow freedom and human rights to be more flexible.

Now, my compromise can bring peace and allow the people of Brussels to continue to enjoy a peaceful life.

If we refuse, what happened in 1695, when the Sun King Louis XIV bombarded Brussels, will happen again.

I don’t think the citizens of Brussels want to enjoy their so-called freedom while it is burning!”

During the Nine Years' War in history, King William III of the Netherlands, who crossed the sea to become king of England, led a grand coalition against Louis XIV, which brought an attack by the French army to Brussels.

During the bombardment of Brussels, the French army destroyed the Brussels City Hall, causing a fire that quickly spread throughout the city.

Nearly half of the buildings in Brussels were burned down, causing extremely serious losses. To this day, the city still retains many traces of the heavy bombing.

As soon as Hendrik mentioned this, the Brussels nobles who supported him could no longer sit still.

Today's artillery is more ferocious than that of the Sun King's period ninety years ago. If it is bombarded again, Brussels will probably be completely destroyed, if not half of it will be burned down.

After a brief silence, Frans Funke knew that he had no chance, because once he said this, even the most ordinary Brussels citizens would not support him.

Frans Vonk had to admit that when faced with serious life danger, most people would choose to surrender.

"You will definitely regret your choice today, especially you, Hendrik." Frans Vonk could only throw out these words.

"If you don't leave now and Archduke M's army enters Brussels, you will regret it, Frans."

. . . .

Military camp outside Brussels.

After waiting for almost four years, the time has finally come for him to enter Brussels. Mo Zirong is still a little excited.

Watching his younger brother Mo Zibu become the emperor, it would be a lie to say that Mo Zirong is not envious.

Moreover, in the past ten years in Shinra, Mo Zirong has been carefully handling his relationship with Queen Theresa and Francis II. For someone who actually doesn't like to curry favor with others, this is a bit painful.

And now, Mo Zirong is finally about to have the moment to speak loudly.

"Father, we shouldn't agree now but should continue the attack!"

Seeing that the Brussels nobles in the city were willing to welcome him into the city, Mo Zirong was very happy and almost agreed on the spot.

Fortunately, his son, fifteen-year-old Mo Gongze, reacted and stopped it immediately.

Mo Zirong, the third brother of Mo, has two shortcomings, which prevent him from becoming a true emperor.

First, I don’t like struggle and have no desire to fight.

Just like when he left Transylvania, if he had enough fighting spirit, he would have had a very good chance of taking over Transylvania and even the whole of Hungary.

Hungary appears to be in chaos, and there are risks involved, with more problems to solve, but it is definitely much better than Brabant and the Lower Netherlands, which are war-torn and unpopular.

If it were someone who enjoyed struggle and was ambitious, he might have already started to sort out Transylvania or even Hungary.

But what Mo San Ge wanted was to escape. He felt it was too difficult and was unwilling to engage in intrigue with Francis II and the Hungarian nobles for the so-called foundation.

The second, and most important, is that Mo Zirong does not have a ruthless heart. He lacks some cruelty in doing things. He likes to make money through harmony, and that's fine with just about anything.

With this kind of personality, he is fine for being a conservative king, but not for being an enterprising king, let alone a founding king.

Mo Zirong looked at his son in surprise and wanted to say that it was good enough to be able to enter Brussels and not to cause any more trouble.

But Mo Gongze knew his temper well, and quickly seized the opportunity to stop his father from saying anything. Before Mo Zirong could open his mouth, he continued to talk non-stop:

"Brussels hasn't had a true king for over a hundred years, and all the benefits in the city are completely controlled by nobles like Hendrik van Note.

If we accept their surrender now, we shall not get Brussels, but only an illusory crown and the royal palace on Mount Cowden, burned to rubble.

Also, father, don't forget that our uncle the Emperor gave us not the title of Grand Duke of Brabant, but the title of Prince of the Lower Netherlands.

Now part of the militia from Flanders and the militia from the Diocese of Liege have been defeated. It is a good opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity. As we Chinese say, this is called "killing him while he is ill" or "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys."

We must teach these old nobles of the Lower Netherlands a lesson and remind them not to forget that it is precisely because of the king that they can be called nobles! "

This makes a lot of sense. Although it sounds very cruel not to allow others to lose half after they have already surrendered, it is indeed what should be done.

"So what do you think we should do next? Should we attack the city directly?" Brother Mo San had unknowingly asked his fifteen-year-old son for advice.

"It doesn't have to be that troublesome. We just need to let the artillerymen heat up the shells and bombard the artillery positions in the north of the city!" A ruthless look that did not belong to his age appeared on Mo Gongze's young face.

"During the Nine Years' War, King Louis the Sun used this kind of incendiary bomb to burn down half of Brussels. It's only been over ninety years now, so I imagine the people in the city haven't completely forgotten it.

As long as they don't want to be burned to death again, they will quickly open the city gates. It is not surrender, but complete submission.

Of course, Brussels is our territory after all, so it's not a good idea to directly bombard a residential area, so we'll just bombard the fort as a small warning."

Mist grass!

Brother Mo San was shocked. He had always felt that his son was a little unusual. Now it seemed that he was not only unusual, but also a little too evil.

He's only fifteen years old, and he's already considered everything!

If Mo Zirong had not been very sure that his great emperor brother had never been to Europe and his wife Elizabeth had never been to the East, Mo Zirong would have suspected that he was being cuckolded by the fifth brother.

This guy, I've heard that sons look like their fathers, some look like their grandfathers, and some even look like their uncles, but what's going on with this uncle whose temper and scheming are like those he has never met?
Mo Gongze's method was indeed effective. As soon as the heated shells hit the artillery position in the north of Brussels, the nobles in the city responded immediately.

Those who were ready to surrender knew what this meant. The new Grand Duke wanted them to bleed heavily and would not accept their surrender without losing half.

Well, none of these Brussels nobles actually want to lose.

The nobles, unwilling to lose a lot of power, immediately carried out a large mobilization in the city and organized a large militia of more than 8,000 people.

This was a desperate fight. If we didn't count the officers and cadets from France and the remaining militia from Ghent and Liege, the entire city of Brussels had no more than 70,000 people.

These 8,000 men were just one in five. But this was useless, because the Brussels people were terrified from top to bottom and dared not fight any further. The reason they had so many men in such a hurry was simply because the losses were too great, beyond their expectations.

So, as soon as this doomed team walked out of the north gate, some people clamored to return to the city. They did not want to risk their lives against their monarch.

The nobles in the city quickly paid the reward on the spot with silver coins, and said that they could form a battle line against the city wall and would not rush over. Only then did the army not disband on the spot.

As a result, they had just finished forming their formation under the city wall when bullets rained down on them.

Mo Zirong had five hundred new rifled guns in his hands, and they were equipped with more than eighty thousand Minié bullets. Previously, according to Mo Zibu's request, this had been kept relatively strictly confidential, so the outside world was not aware of it.

But by now, Zhonghua has completed nearly 30% of its replacement, and sporadic samples have been obtained by some Europeans, so there is no need to hide them anymore.

However, just because the European elite know it doesn't mean these Brussels bumpkins know it too.

According to their past experience, they slowly formed their positions under the city wall, hoping to rely on the artillery batteries on the wall to make a final move.

The result was a disaster. Five hundred rifles equipped with Minié bullets fired like a storm, with more powerful firepower than two thousand smoothbore muskets such as Brown Bess.

Van der Meer, commander of the Brussels coalition, had a very rich resume. He served Louis XV during the Seven Years' War and later joined the Austrian army.

He was a comrade of Austrian Baron Moritz Kluge, former chief of staff of Mozibu. Because he was not of noble birth, he had to retire with the rank of colonel.

Historically, it was he who led the Brabant militia to defeat the Austrian army sent by Francis II to quell the rebellion, and in fact freed the Lower Netherlands from the control of the Habsburg family.

This is a typical talented person, but he is unlucky enough to be unable to break through the ceiling due to his background. This is why Van der Meer is still involved in this mess at the age of 55.

When Van der Meer saw that the enemy could shoot accurately from more than 200 meters away, he immediately knew that something was wrong. He grabbed the arm of the distraught Hendrik Nott and dragged the Brussels leader back to the city.

"Mr. Hendrik, you must make a decision immediately. Do you want to flee now, or do you want to hold your ground at the fortress on Mount Kolden and then express your complete submission to Grand Duke M?"

Hendrick couldn't believe his army had been defeated so quickly. He strained to look towards the city gate and said, "We still have thousands of men and cannons on top of the city walls."

"It's useless!" Van der Meer said sternly, "We are not a regular army at all, and the army of Grand Duke M is obviously the Seris guards. Even if we deal with them, the Seris Emperor will still support him.

And they have a secret weapon, the huge cannons on the city wall, which can't be hit at all!"

Hendrik Nott still believed in Vandermeier's military proficiency, otherwise he wouldn't have invited him here specifically. So after a brief thought, Hendrik said:
"Let's go out of the city and go to Ash City to find the Marquise of Ash. She's the only one who can save us."

As expected, he was born into a noble family and quickly thought of a way to protect himself.

The Marchioness of Ash was named Mary Joseph Tai.

She was the holder of two of the oldest noble titles in the Lower Netherlands, Marquis of Ashe and Marquis of Merville, and her husband was the nephew of Archbishop Maximilian of Ghent and Count of Van der Noor.

Hendrick was from a distant branch of the Marquis of Ash, and his distant relatives, the Marchioness of Ash, the Marchioness of Melville, and the Countess of Vandernoo, Mary Joseph Tye, were his supporters.

How to say it, the two marquisates of Ash and Melville are located around Brussels and are truly powerful local tyrants.

Count Van der Noor's territory is in Ghent, and the Ghent militia that came this time has a lot to do with them.

If Mo Zirong did not want to cause bloodshed, he would only weaken the power of these great nobles and would not force them to surrender to France.

On this side, Hendrik fled out of Brussels in a panic under the protection of Van der Meer.

The battle at the city gate was just as Van der Meer had expected. The cannons on the city wall could not hit the scattered light infantry at all, but the light infantry's bullets could easily kill the militia gathered under the city wall.

Soon, the militiamen could no longer bear it and rushed into the city, but there were still people in the city who were being drafted and were rushing over, and they had no idea what was happening outside.

The two groups of people suddenly collided with each other in the narrow doorway, pushing and roaring at each other, and a large-scale stampede was about to happen.

At this moment, Liu Guoqing rode his horse, holding a white flag high, and approached the chaotic Brussels militia.

The white flag means surrender, but it also represents envoys and negotiations, which is the same in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad.

So, when the people of Brussels saw Liu Guoqing coming alone, they did not think that he was coming to surrender. They all knew that this officer wearing a red battle robe and dressed very Serbian was coming to announce the decree of Archduke M I.

The cannons on the walls of Brussels stopped roaring, and the rifles of the Three Guards warriors stopped firing.

Liu Guoqing galloped a few hundred meters, found a conspicuous high place, and then shouted loudly:

"By the divine Providence, and with the great blessing of the Lord, Prince Lu of the Seres Empire, Prince of the Netherlands of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Transylvania, Duke of Luxembourg, Marquis of Mallorca, and Grand Duke Karl Franz Mo of Brabant decree:

You are subjects of the Holy Roman Empire and also my subjects. How can you be misled by rebels and commit evil acts against the monarch?

Now, considering that you are not far from the right path, if you can turn back, you can use the tax to atone for your sins!"

Wow, that’s quite a lot of titles, and besides the Marquis of Mallorca, which he got from his wife, Maria Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma, a princess of the Holy Roman Empire.

The rest of the titles were earned by Mo Zirong himself with the support of China.

With just this string of titles, he is the most high-class and powerful nobleman in Europe, second only to the kings of these great countries.

It was not easy for Liu Guoqing either. He only knew French, and he could barely express this string of Chinese hyperlink phrases as briefly as possible.

When the militiamen heard that they could pay gold and silver to atone their sins, they were naturally willing to do so. It was inevitable that nothing was more important than life.

But there were also people with sad faces because they had no money to pay the ransom.

"It's not a big deal if you don't have money." Liu Guoqing, having controlled some of the people, immediately continued shouting:
"If you can't pay the taxes, then find the people who conscripted you to fight against the Grand Duke, and use their wealth to pay your ransom."

This is called a two-pronged approach. The silver from the crimes was collected, and the purpose of inciting the militia to overthrow some ignorant nobles was also achieved.

After Liu Guoqing finished speaking, he immediately rode his horse several hundred meters away without looking back.

Many of the officers in these militias are of aristocratic origin. If they don't run, they will be shot.

. . . .

June 1789, 6, the 2th year of Emperor Guangzhong's reign in the Great China, originally the th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, was the ninth day of the fifth lunar month.

While the battle of Xinwan Town in the Greater Khingan Range was still going on, Mo Zirong finally captured the city of Brussels.

On the first day of entering the city, Mo Zirong arrested a large number of nobles who opposed him, raided their homes, and imprisoned them in preparation for sending them to Vienna for trial.

At the same time, he immediately announced that since the confiscation of the property of these nobles was enough to pay for military expenses, he would give up the ransom money that the people of Brussels had to pay to him, and immediately gained a tide of support.

On June 6, just when France was about to explode, the Dutch nobles including Marquisate of Ash, Marie Joseph Tay, Marquisate of Merville, Jean Antoine, Count of Van der Noor, Prince-Bishop of Liege Huonbrusque, and representatives of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg arrived in Brussels.

The arrival of these nobles from the entire Lower Netherlands meant that Mo Zirong had gained not only the Grand Duchy of Brabant, but the entire Lower Netherlands.

Apart from the fact that the Duchy of Lorraine had been incorporated into France, he was the true Prince of the Lower Netherlands.

Mo Zirong was full of vigor and raised two flags on the site of the Grand Palace in Brussels, which was burned down in the Great Fire of Brussels in 1731.

A double-headed eagle flag of the Holy Roman Empire, and a large flag with a red sun and moon on a white background used by members of the Dayu royal family.

Brother Mo San was so happy. He just needed to wait for confirmation from Vienna and he could officially become a semi-independent monarch.

At the same time, he also used the war to severely weaken the power of the great nobles in Brabant, Ghent, Liege and other regions. The treasures seized from the homes of more than 20 arrested nobles alone were worth millions of silver dollars.

On June 6, Mo Zirong delivered an inspiring speech at the Brussels City Hall.

He said he would use 500,000 pounds, equivalent to 1.65 million silver dollars and 12.25 million livres, to rebuild Brussels and make it the most prosperous and wealthy city in the entire Low Countries.

But at the same time, in Paris, even the death of the crown prince could no longer arouse the people's patience and sympathy for the king.

The famous Jesuit priest, one of the main theorists of the French Revolution, Sieyès bypassed the three-level parliament and united with some first- and second-level parliamentarians who sympathized with the third level to form the National Assembly.

This is very important and is a sign that the struggle is beginning to move rapidly in the other direction.

The Third Estate could no longer tolerate the king's inaction and had begun to reorganize France's power structure.

Anger was rising, and the revolutionary mood was so intense that many nobles and high-ranking clergy were infected, and Louis XVI and the nobles he depended on could no longer control the situation.

(End of this chapter)