"When can we take action?" Zhu Cihuan asked.
He is already sixty-seven years old! I can't wait...and it's rare for him to have so much power now.
Shimazu Noyoshi passed away three years ago, and Naomi Hoshina, who replaced Noyoshi as the concubine, was more obedient.
In addition, the three kings of ten thousand households sent by Zhu Cixiang to Qing Dynasty (actually the number of households brought to Xinzhou fiefdom was only a few thousand) also restrained the Qingzhou warriors, allowing Qing Wang Zhu Cihuan to take advantage of the situation and gain power. .
"We have to wait a little longer," Zhu Hehao said. "We have to wait until Carlos II dies and goes to war with Rome and the Ottomans. Only when they fight, can we be sure of victory."
"Isn't Carlos II the King of Spain?" Zhu Cihuan was a little puzzled. He didn't know much about things in Europe. "Whether he dies or not, does it have anything to do with whether he goes to war with Rome or the Ottomans?"
"It's a big deal!" Zhu Hehao laughed. "As soon as Carlos II dies, his Kingdom of Spain, Kingdom of New Spain, Kingdom of Naples, Principality of Milan, etc., will all be inherited by Emperor Louis. By then, Spain, New Spain, Naples and other places will become Roman provinces!
If there was no war, how easily could Louis the Great turn those territories into provinces? There are many princes, dukes, and regents in those territories! Can these people be convinced? "
King Louis XIV of France was already Louis I, Emperor of Rome!
However, the true unification of the Roman Empire was not easy. After all, Western Europe had been fragmented into one place for more than a thousand years. This state was not only reflected in the level of small countries, but also within the scope of each small country. There are various feudal separatist forces.
The difficulty of integrating these feudal forces has exceeded Louis XIV's imagination at the time!
Therefore, today, more than 20 years after the revival of Rome, excluding the distant overseas provinces, the Roman Empire only has five provinces: France, West Netherland, Rhineland, Rome, and Austria.
And among these five provinces, the traditional feudal separatist forces are still very powerful! That is to say, the situation in the French Province, Louis's hometown, and the Western Netherlands Province, which was conquered in the Heritage War, was slightly better.
Among them, the local nobles of France were all trapped in Rome and Paris by Louis. The local nobles of West Netherland suffered heavy losses in the Eighty Years' War, the Thirty Years' War, the Franco-Spanish War and the Heritage War. Many of them went to New Spain to join Don Juan Jose, and the rest also went to New Spain. Like the French nobles, they were imprisoned in Rome and Paris.
But in the Rhineland, Rome (central Italy), and Austria (western Austria), the power of the sword-bearing nobles is still strong! Moreover, there are quite powerful forces of the Catholic Church in these three provinces. The Rhineland Province is composed of three Catholic "bishop states". Austria has always been an important pillar of the Catholic Church, and Rome is the home base of Catholicism!
In these three provinces, there are not only many nobles with swords, but also many priests and priests who manage the army and the people.
So Emperor Louis the Great has been struggling to strengthen centralization of power over the years... This matter is not as simple as the local tyrant king thought. Although fighting can temporarily enhance Louis' authority, it will also strengthen a group of swordsmen. The power of nobility. These sword-wearing nobles must be turned into robe-wearing nobles (bureaucrats) in order to reassure Louis!
Fortunately, the distant Eastern Empire has provided His Majesty Louis with a ready-made solution to transform the sword-bearing aristocracy - the imperial examination system!
What a system!
Let the sword-bearing nobles and their legal or illegal sons, as well as the profiteers and their sons who have made fortunes through various means, take part in the imperial examinations of the Roman Empire and the entrance examinations of the army and naval academies.
Any Roman who passed the imperial examination could directly become a bureaucrat in the empire.
Romans who passed the Army and Navy Academy exams had to attend a military academy for three years and then pass a graduation exam before they could become officers.
In other words, becoming an officer is more difficult and time-consuming, and there is an age limit for admission to the officer school.
However, in the "promotion map" designed by Louis, the future (money path) of officers is also better. Not only do they have higher salaries, but they can also be transferred to higher-level civilian officials after serving for a certain number of years.
As early as 1678, the Roman Empire, which had just been revived, held its first national imperial examination!
According to Louis's edict, in February of every even year in the Western calendar, the Roman Empire would hold national civil service examinations (including military school entrance examinations).
Male nobles in all provinces, overseas provinces (New Rome and New France) and dependent countries of the Roman Empire could go directly to Rome or Paris (the Roman Empire also implemented a dual-capital system) to take the imperial examination or the entrance examination for the Army and Naval Academy without the preliminary examination.
Male civilians in the Roman Empire (excluding civilians in tributary states) must first take the preliminary examination in the capital of the province where they are located. Only after passing can you be eligible to participate in the imperial examinations held in Rome and Paris or the entrance examinations for the Army and Naval Academy.
Nobles or commoners who were allies of the Roman Empire were also eligible to participate in the imperial examinations of the Roman Empire. However, they had to arrive at the northern and southern capitals of the empire (Rome and Paris) to take the preliminary examination. After passing, they could take the imperial examination in even years.
In addition, the nobles and commoners of the four international neutral countries (Austria, Portugal, Batavia, and England) can also take the imperial examinations of the Roman Empire just like the nobles and commoners of Rome's allies.
This year is 1700, another double year, and it is also the last year of the 17th century... It is an important year no matter how you look at it!
So while war was brewing and drastic changes were taking place in the New World, in the Roman Empire, Louis the Great was not preparing for war with all his strength as Zhu Hehao imagined. Instead, he focused most of his attention on the imperial examinations in 1700. .
On April 6, in the Bull's Eye Hall of the Palace of Versailles, the three Roman Empire bachelors responsible for organizing the imperial examinations, Leibniz from the Rhineland Province, Newton from the Republic of England across the strait, and Newton from Switzerland Jacob Bernoulli is reporting to Louis the Great on the preparations for the imperial examination.
"Your Majesty," Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, the chief bachelor of the empire and the first in the imperial examination in 1678, respectfully said to the purple-robed emperor, "the imperial examination in 1700 The questions have been prepared...It is still the same as previous imperial examinations, divided into seven subjects including theology, law, politics, literature, mathematics, science and Roman history, and all answers are in Latin."
This Roman imperial examination is still very difficult!
Not only must one be proficient in theology, law, politics, literature, mathematics, science, and Roman history, but one must also be proficient in Latin. And the questions are very difficult, just look at who the examiner is! How could the exams from Leibniz, Newton, and Bernoulli be easy?
Emperor Louis nodded and asked: "So, how many nobles in robes are we going to admit this year?"
"Your Majesty, the admission quota for this year's imperial examination is 500." Newton from England replied in fluent French.
Newton was the "Number One Scholar of Rome" in 1680 and one of Louis the Great's most trusted bachelors.
"500 people...well, good." Louis smiled, "So when will the exam start?"
Bernoulli, the "Roman No. 1 Scholar" in 1682, took the question and said: "Your Majesty, according to previous practices, the imperial examination will be held on the day after the Ascension Day. The examination will last for 7 days, and then the examination will be concentrated on May 5. The marking will be completed before the end of the month. The 500 admitted people will also have a comprehensive examination in the Palace of Versailles, and His Majesty will personally mark the papers."
Emperor Louis the Great showed a satisfied smile and said to the three bachelors in front of him: "I hope that this examination can select good enough officials for the Roman Empire!"
