With the help of Ferdinand III, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Ji Kun and Gulcu could finally set off to visit France. Li Shaoyou was left in Vienna and served as the Ming Empire's temporary ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
The reason why it is temporary is because Zhu Cixiang has no intention of having deep relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, no letters of credence were prepared for these two countries, and no imperial edict was issued appointing a certain person (the name is left blank) as the special imperial ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
Therefore, Li Shaoyou could only be a temporary ambassador, and he did not have the authority of an "imperial envoy".
Ji Kun set out on the road with Emperor Zhu's personal letter to Louis XIV, Ming's credentials to the Kingdom of France, and the imperial edict appointing him as the Ming's imperial ambassador to France and the Netherlands.
In Zhu Cixiang's plan, France is the target that must be deeply friends and wooed!
And England is the one that must be guarded against and restricted!
In other words, Zhu Cixiang's world plan is to "win over France and restrain Britain." As for the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, they are not big players.
Portugal's highlight moment has passed and is now shrinking. There is no need for Ming Dynasty to accelerate its collapse. Because this will cause a sharp decline in Portugal's power in the Indian Ocean, and the Timurid Empire of Hindustan may fill this gap.
Although the Netherlands is very beautiful, by the time Louis XIV repaired the Netherlands, it was severely weakened and no longer had the strength to compete with the Ming Dynasty for territory in the east.
If Louis XIV in this time and space could complete his plan to destroy the Netherlands, wouldn't the Netherlands' few assets in the East have to be named "Ming"?
What's wrong with letting the Dutch build it now? If the East India Company is destroyed because of the small tricks of Dutch profiteers, will the rulers of Java and Malacca take the opportunity to rise again?
If they collude with the Timur Empire in India, the Ming Empire will be in big trouble!
As for the "nervous Spain", it is a bit troublesome, and it will have to wait many years before it is repaired by Louis XIV... but the general trend is also downward.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang does not intend to develop any friendly relations with Spain, but he is also unwilling to actively provoke a war with Spain - this is a crazy country. In history, it went bankrupt nine times in order to fight for God!
Who knows if he will go bankrupt again just to fight the Ming Dynasty?
Anyway, there is no difference between going bankrupt nine times and going bankrupt ten times. It is the financial markets of Spain and Italy that are unlucky!
This is where the Spanish world empire has an advantage over Ming Dynasty. The Spanish have a relatively mature financial market behind them that can withstand financial crises. Once the Ming Empire fell into a financial crisis, it could only defer it downwards, that is, pass the crisis to the bottom, and the soldiers and officials at the bottom would bear the responsibility.
Therefore, Zhu Cixiang must work hard to establish financial markets while carefully maintaining fiscal balance. We cannot rush into a war that will bankrupt the Ming Dynasty again...
However, Emperor Zhu's plan could not keep up with the changes brought about by Ji Kun's mission!
Because Ji Kun wasted time in Siam, he later borrowed the Ottoman Empire and signed a "good friend treaty" with the Ottoman Empire, which greatly deepened the "Ming-Ao Friendship", and the Ottoman Empire's Foreign Minister Gulcu followed him all the way. Ji Kun's visit to France obviously also has a special diplomatic mission.
A grand alliance composed of the Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the King of France is quietly taking shape!
At the same time, the envoys of the Great Mongol (Qing Dynasty) had completed their mission to the Timurid Empire in Hindustan and were heading to Europe at full speed on Spanish sailing ships.
A grand alliance composed of Great Mongolia, Indo-Mongolia and Spain has also begun to take shape!
As long as two major military alliances begin to take shape, war will be inevitable!
Little Louis, who was waiting for victory or defeat at the Chateau Saint-Germain outside Paris, did not know that he was moving towards the center of the stage of world hegemony.
He is now very unsuccessful, comparable to Emperor Chongzhen at the beginning of the 17th century!
The Fronde uprising broke out in France because Mazarin, the red prime minister, wanted to collect taxes to pay for the Thirty Years War. This was not just a riot by poor people who didn't have enough to eat! A large number of nobles participated, and many veterans who had just finished the Thirty Years' War were making trouble together.
Abroad, "Nervous Spain" refused to cease fighting and continued to fight France.
What's even worse is that the Fronde in the country actually colluded with the Spanish to attack the king regardless of national interests.
With internal and external troubles colluding together, how can the royal party in France withstand it?
So Louis XIV escaped from Paris with his mother more than two years ago and hid in the Saint-Germain Fortress on the outskirts of Paris. Every night he either had nightmares or secretly shed tears.
His nightmares were always related to losing his head. He either dreamed of the tragedy when Charles I next door was beheaded, or dreamed that he was caught by the crazy Fronde and was cheered by the crazy rebel crowd in a huge square. In the sound, heads fell to the ground...
Is this my destiny?
What did you do wrong? Why don’t the people of Paris and the nobles from other places love themselves as their king?
It seems like I haven’t done anything!
The King of France, who had just finished praying to God and was waiting in his study for his tutor to come to teach him, suddenly heard the sound of volley fire and artillery firing. But the little king was frightened. Could it be that the Fronde and Spanish troops had already reached the Castle of Saint-Germain?
No, it won't be that fast. The people of Paris must have revolted again!
Just when little King Louis was wondering whether he was going to move again, the voice of Mazarin's right-hand man, Deputy Director of Finance Nicolas Fouquet, came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, General Schaumberg personally escorted the Chinese delegation to arrive. Castle Saint-Germain."
It turns out that the firing of guns and cannons was to welcome the Chinese delegation!
Chinese mission? Little Louis immediately remembered that Mazarin had reported this to the Queen Mother and himself a few days ago as a good sign that France was about to get out of trouble!
"Should I go and greet him personally?" asked the little king.
Nicolas Fouquet, who had already entered the door, bowed to the young king first, and then said: "The Queen Mother hopes to hold a formal welcome ceremony tomorrow morning. Many nobles and diplomats will come from Paris, and Prince Condé will also come. Come, your Majesty will be required to dress up and attend when the time comes."
Paris was recaptured by the famous young French general Prince Condé in 1649, but Prince Condé, who captured Paris, believed that he had made great contributions and should be the prime minister. However, Prime Minister Mazarin in red had a very good relationship with Queen Mother Anna and had a strong backing, so he refused to give up his position and arrested Prince Kongdai on false charges.
As a result, Prince Condé's brother Conti and sister Anne made a fuss again, contacted a group of nobles and veterans to rebel, and also roped in the Vicomte Turenne, the famous French general second only to Prince Condé at the time, as commander-in-chief, and colluded with Spain The army rebelled together.
Prince Condé himself was detained in Paris and under house arrest.
"What? Prince Condé is coming too?" the little king asked, "Are the Queen Mother and Mazarin ready to release him?"
The imprisonment of Prince Condé was not only the trigger for the second stage of the Fronde movement, but also an excuse for the Fronde to cause trouble. If Prince Condé could be released, some of the Fronde might defect to the king's side.
That way, little Louis' head will be safe!
Fouquet replied: "If he will go to China as your Majesty's envoy, the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister will release him."
"Is he willing to go to China?" Little Louis asked again, "China is too far away."
Fouquet smiled and said: "Your Majesty, as long as you take the initiative, His Highness the Prince will have to go... Establishing special friendly relations with China is particularly important for the interests of the Kingdom of France!"
