Only then did James II ask: "Is there still any objection now?"
Since signing the Treaty of London with the Ming Dynasty, James II has been planning to strengthen his royal power.
And for this reason, he had already used the loan he received in the Ming Dynasty to strengthen the strength of his Royal Army Guards, and used money to consolidate the loyalty of these guards to him.
But now, these congressmen are naturally at his mercy.
Turning back to the matter, these congressmen naturally did not dare to raise objections at the gunpoint of James II, and had no choice but to express their opinions and pass the bill.
They had to admit that James II was a different monarch than Charles II, and was obviously much more powerful and violent.
Monmouth and Xu Qianxue both looked at this scene with fear and did not dare to say anything.
It wasn't until after he left that Monmouth found Xu Qianxue and said through gritted teeth: "By doing this, he is already going against the people of England as a whole!"
Xu Qianxue smiled bitterly and said: "It's very similar to the current tyrant of the Ming Dynasty when he was in power in the early days! If I predict correctly, he will get worse next time and continue to deprive the people of their interests in the name of maintaining his own country. Until Only when the gentry is indistinguishable from the serfs; such a tyrant will do anything for his own property, he will collude with the serfs and force the entire dynasty to become his slaves!"
"The British Empire is not the British Empire of James II alone!"
Monmouth drew his sword angrily, and after speaking, he said: "I will organize the people to rebel against him and put James II on trial!"
"inappropriate!"
Xu Qianxue stretched out his palm to face Monmouth, and then stared at him closely: "Your Excellency, please don't forget that he is not only the king of the British Empire, but also a lackey of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Once you rebel, he will take the opportunity to collude with the Ming Kingdom to carry out a bloody suppression of you. Anyway, he can sell out all his interests at any time to win the sympathy of the Ming Kingdom. Once the Ming Kingdom gets involved, you should understand that the success of the rebellion will be very small. , Japan and Korea are examples. The powerful officials in their countries have raised armies countless times. As long as the Ming Dynasty does not want them to perish, they will not perish."
"It's Ming Guo again, this damn Ming Guo! If it weren't for Ming Guo, he might not be so cruel!"
Monmouth said.
Xu Qianxue replied: "I can only express my regret for this! All of this is indeed a disaster brought by the Ming Dynasty. To be precise, it was a disaster brought by the tyrant Zhu Youxiao! If the tyrant Zhu Youxiao had not appeared, , maybe I will not come here, the countries in the world will never fight, and the scholar-bureaucrats from all countries can roam in the woods without knowing the harm of weapons! It is a pity that the sky has no eyes to give birth to this tyrant, so that the world has no eyes. A peaceful place.”
Monmouth therefore continued to ask: "Is there really no way to prevent James II from becoming the second Zhu Youxiao?"
"There is a way, but it may not be successful. However, it is indeed more appropriate than direct rebellion."
"What can I do? Tell me quickly!"
"Naturally, he secretly made a sudden death!"
After Xu Qianxue answered, he continued: "As I see it, the Ming Dynasty cares more about their interests in the British Empire than who the monarch of the British Empire is. If we openly resist, James II can collude with the Ming Dynasty. to suppress us, but if we let him die suddenly, we can immediately elect a monarch who suits our wishes. At that time, as long as this monarch continues to recognize Ming's interests in our British Empire, Ming will naturally only Turn a blind eye."
"That makes sense! Then I won't raise troops to rebel against James II. Instead, I will find a way to make James II suddenly die."
Monmouth replied in agreement.
Therefore, after Xu Qianxue's persuasion, Monmouth and some English nobles who were close to him did not directly rebel, but resisted the iron-fisted rule of King James II.
However, there were still radical British nobles who could not stand the tyrannical rule of James II and resolutely rebelled.
Relying on the fact that his royal army was equipped with Ming-style equipment and he was also a famous English general, James II quickly put down the rebellion and bloody suppressed the English nobles who resisted him.
As a result, the English nobles could only temporarily succumb to the strong rule of James II.
James II was quite satisfied with this, and determined to continue to strengthen his rule. On the grounds that the members of the Parliament were rebelling, and the House of Representatives would eventually become a place for unscrupulous people to plot rebellion, he issued a royal order to abolish the Parliament, and to expand the army by 100,000 people. Build fifty warships.
For a time, James II's royal power was greatly enhanced, and the military power he controlled was also greatly strengthened. He even relied on this military power to increase taxes on Wales, which had surrendered to him, and also strengthened control over Scotland.
In addition, James II also took advantage of the great increase in his national income to begin to vigorously develop science and technology and encourage scientific research.
To this end, he also went to Cambridge at the suggestion of his confidant Minister Liveland to encourage scholars who were transferred to Cambridge University from other places to continue to contribute to the scientific and technological undertakings of the British Empire in Cambridge.
But on the day he came to Cambridge, he suddenly fell into the water while taking a boat across Cambridge.
Plop.
He had to shout: "Help, help me."
Lifran, the confidant who was also on the ship, did not react at all and only sneered.
Then, he jumped into the water, then pushed James II to the shore, and shouted: "Save your majesty quickly!"
In the end, James II was rescued ashore, but he contracted lung disease and died suddenly a few months later after treatment failed.
…
Zhu Youxiao learned the news a few months later, and was quite shocked: "James II died of lung disease after falling into the water?! When did falling into the water become globalized?"
“By their own account, it was an accident, and their people have contacted our officials in London to say that even if something so unfortunate happened to James II, they would continue to recognize the king as he was before him. A series of terms signed with Ming during his reign."
Zhang Tongchang said to Zhu Youxiao at this time.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao roughly guessed the real reason behind James II falling into the water, so he nodded and said: "In that case, let's ignore this matter for now. James II may have expected such a step."
"At present, there have been incidents of kings falling into the water in both Britain and France. It is all related to the king's desire to concentrate the royal power, and to seize too much. To put it bluntly, they cannot rescue the serfs themselves, but I have to be enlightened."
Wen Tiren said something at this time.
"Both Britain and France must first destroy France and completely realize the unification of the European continent! Philippe, the regent of the French Bourbon dynasty, is not willing to fully Chineseize. He only wants to maintain his rule by cooperating with this dynasty. , However, as the Ming Dynasty advances steadily on the European continent, Philip must have become restless and began to worry that his Bourbon dynasty will be destroyed by the Ming Dynasty, right?"
Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.
At that time, the entire Bourbon dynasty was indeed in panic.
After all, the Ming Empire has indeed reached Vienna.
France is no longer far away.
Louis XV even couldn't help but ask Philip: "Uncle, will our dynasty be destroyed by the Ming Dynasty?"
Phillip didn't answer him, he just looked up at the starry sky.
He now somewhat regrets that he did what he did to let his brother fall into the water in order not to sacrifice the interests of nobles like himself.
Because he had to admit that his personal military capabilities were limited.
He really didn't know how to deal with the Ming Dynasty's westward expansion.
In fact, it is not just France that has no way to deal with the Ming Dynasty's current westward expansion.
Other European countries have no choice.
Karl Kesten and his nobles of the Prussian Principality failed to defend Königsberg. The Ming army used powerful explosives to blow open the walls of Königsberg and invaded with the help of local serfs.
As a result, Kalkesten was captured alive and executed by the Ming court to deter those Western barbarians who attempted to corrupt the officials and generals of the Ming Empire.
Next, the people who are most worried about being destroyed by the Ming Dynasty's westward march are not France, but the United Kingdom of Denmark, Norway and Sweden across the sea from the Principality of Prussia, as well as the Holy Roman Empire next to Austria.
Zhu Cizhuo once again demonstrated his commanding ability. In order to paralyze the coalition forces composed of the United Kingdom of Denmark, Norway and the Kingdom of Sweden, he concentrated a large number of ships in the Baltic Sea in the direction of Copenhagen, but secretly disguised the army as migrant workers to call back. In the end, he Three hundred thousand troops were gathered near Lake Ladoga near Vyborg City.
At this time, the combined forces of the United Kingdom of Denmark, Norway, and the Kingdom of Sweden thought that the Ming army was going to cross the Baltic Sea and directly attack Copenhagen due to misjudgment of intelligence.
For this reason, the Kingdom of Sweden transferred a large number of troops from the eastern Finland region to Gothenburg, which is very close to Copenhagen.
During this period, Finland was ruled by the Kingdom of Sweden.
The Kingdom of Sweden in this era was indeed a European power.
Because he also had his own colonies in America, and even more than ten years ago, he attacked Copenhagen, the capital of the arrogant Kingdom of Denmark, and the Kingdom of Denmark was forced to cede many territories to the Kingdom of Sweden.
If it were not for the emergence of Ming Dynasty, he would even become more powerful during this period.
However, today's Kingdom of Sweden obviously understands the truth of being indifferent, and actively supports the United Kingdom of Denmark and Norway in the showdown with the Ming Dynasty in Copenhagen.
And all the fifty warships that it had added after the same expansion of military preparations over the years were transferred to the waters near Copenhagen to help the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway detect the movements of the Chinese army.
But while the two major Nordic countries were busy, the Ming Dynasty's 300,000 troops had entered Finland, forming a long line of skirmishers, as if they were in an uninhabited land.
However, the Kingdom of Sweden did not leave many troops in this area, which resulted in the appearance of so many Ming troops. Not many Swedish officers and soldiers in charge of sentinels were aware of the large-scale appearance of the Ming troops.
When the Dragon Boat Festival approached in the fifty-fifth year of the Apocalypse, Helsinki, which was still a small coastal town in Finland, was gradually surrounded by the Ming army.
The leader of the three hundred Swedish soldiers stationed here, Bozorov, was extremely horrified and said in disbelief: "How could it be possible? How could there be so many Ming troops! Hurry, send someone by boat to inform His Majesty the King that the Ming troops are The goal is not Copenhagen, but to seize the Sumi territory first.”
In this era, the natives in Finland called themselves the Sumi people, so this area was also called the Sumi territory.
"Brandenburg, the Electorate of Saxony, the Electorate of Hanover and other vassal states of the Holy Roman Empire heard that the Ming army was going to attack Copenhagen by ship, and they all sent their own ships and troops to assist in the battle. Even France and Rome , Britain have sent fleets to support, and now hundreds of warships have been assembled in Copenhagen. Everyone hopes that we can prevent the Ming army from attacking."
When the Ming army launched a massive attack on Finland, King Carl XI of Sweden was speaking some words of encouragement to King Christian V of Denmark.
Because of the emergence of the Ming Dynasty, the two kings who had a deep hatred were now as close as brothers.
After hearing what Karl XI said, King Christian V of Denmark also said: "This is a critical moment for the survival of our West. We, the United Kingdom of Denmark and Norway, should do our best to defend Copenhagen! And protect our civilization!"
"Report! Your Majesty, the governor of Helsinki, Paolozov, has received an urgent battle report. A large number of Ming troops have appeared in the Helsinki area, as many as two to three hundred thousand, and they all have iron chariots to clear the way."
Otav, the bodyguard of Karl XI, suddenly came to Karl XI and said.
After hearing this, King Karl Eleven froze on the spot.
Christian V also opened his mouth half-open. After a while, he said: "So, the Ming army is not going to cross the Baltic Sea to attack Copenhagen, but is going to march from Finland?"
"What should I do?"
Karl XI also spoke at this time, and said: "There are only a total of more than 9,000 troops there! And I have concentrated almost all of the troops in Gothenburg."
"This Ming army commander is really cunning!"
William, the Elector of Brandenburg, couldn't help but say something at this time.
…
"Pass the message! Speed up and eat rice dumplings again in Turku!"
Zhu Cizhuo was now sitting on Ming Dynasty's new internal combustion engine chariot, conveying the latest order with great energy.
Naturally, Helsinki was captured by the Ming army without any surprise.
In order to occupy more Finnish land as soon as possible before the Kingdom of Sweden brought back the army, he did not stay in Helsinki for long and continued to advance with the army.
After discovering the large number of Ming troops, the Finnish natives who called themselves the Sumi organized themselves spontaneously with the intention of resisting the Ming troops.
Therefore, not long after, Li Dingguo's troops, as the vanguard, discovered the appearance of a large number of Sumi cavalry, approximately tens of thousands of them.
But these Sumi cavalry were vulnerable to the Ming army, which was already a mechanized force.
With the continuous firing of cannons, the tens of thousands of Sumi cavalry turned into corpses floating on the grass.
Not long after, the Ming army invaded the important Finnish town of Turku, and then invaded Budden, thus approaching the mainland of the Kingdom of Sweden.
It stands to reason that the Kingdom of Sweden and the armies of European countries supporting them should surround Wei and rescue Zhao. They should ignore the Ming army marching in the cold north and directly send a large army to sneak attack the port of Kaliningrad, which has been occupied by the Ming Dynasty.
However, the number of these European armies was really insufficient, and their combat effectiveness and equipment level were not as good as those of the Ming army. They were unable to encircle Wei and save Zhao, and could only concentrate their forces for a decisive battle with the Ming army.
Of course, they can also use their familiarity with the local geography to carry out guerrilla warfare, but this will require them, the nobles, to voluntarily give up their wealth and resources in major towns.
Of course they are unwilling.
What's more, they can only send a small force of less than 10,000 people to do this, and once the large force leaves the castle, they will encounter supply problems.
Therefore, in addition to many small groups of European kings going north or along the coast to harass the Ming army, most of the main forces still went north honestly to prepare for a decisive battle with the Ming army and block the Ming army's progress.
When the Ming army invaded Budden, the Kingdom of Sweden and the armies from European countries that came to support them had just arrived at Umea, the important town of the Kingdom of Sweden.
However, after the Ming army captured Budden, they did not advance further.
Because it is impossible for the Ming army to ignore the supply problems that arise after a large-scale march, as well as the instability of the rear and the problem of being harassed by small groups of enemy troops.
Zhu Cizhuo played a trick for the European countries to build plank roads in secret to hide the old warehouses. Suddenly, he took advantage of the coming summer to march from Finland on a large scale and occupied Budden. Stations and highways, medical centers and schools were set up. After the highways were built, it was planned to use various military stations as points and highways as lines to send troops to suppress the remaining small groups of enemy troops in the area.
At the same time, Zhu Cizhuo also deliberately held a grand ceremony to worship the heavens in Turku and set up stone monuments. It seemed that he wanted to let the European countries know that he, the commander of the Ming army, had been staying in Turku.
"It's because he doesn't know the geography of Sweden and he can't have too many informants, so he told us in such a grand way that he, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army, is in Turku and asked us to take the initiative to fight him. This cunning man Orientals!”
After the leaders of the armies of European countries learned that Zhu Cizhuo had erected a monument in Turku to worship Tianjile, the Elector William of Brandenburg expressed his views on King Carl XI of Sweden.
Karl XI nodded and affirmed: "You are right! But what can we do now? If we don't take the initiative to attack him, we can only stay in the south! And his Ming army is like a sword. Hanging over our heads, we have no peace every day, and our organized soldiers and horses can only consume food in vain."
"The only way to go north is to continue going north. I just hope that we can win the battle quickly. Otherwise, if it continues to be delayed, once the weather turns cold, the occupied territory of your country will not be able to be recovered this year, and it must be done before the weather gets completely cold. Move the army back to the south, because once the severe winter comes, the Ming army will definitely not attack from the north. Except for the local Laplanders, no one can withstand the winter there. If the Ming army wants to continue the offensive, they can only attack South."
When William said this, he added: "We should have thought that the Ming army would go to the north in summer, but we were deceived by the illusion they created."
King Karl XI nodded and said: "I hope we can achieve a quick victory. Even if we can't, we must withdraw quickly. I am prepared that I will not be able to regain the northern territory in a short time."
"The imperial court wants to use more machines and guns to destroy the enemy without causing too many casualties. What the dynasty lacks most now is not machines and ammunition, but people! People who can establish a consumer market as soon as possible. Even because of this, The imperial court has decided not to increase the number of troops on a large scale, but to adopt a strategy of elite troops and cultivate more technical arms. Most of the people should be transferred to local governments to serve as civil affairs officials and police soldiers, so that the economy of the newly opened territories can prosper rapidly. rise to meet the needs of the imperial court’s current rapid development of productivity.”
"The guys at the Academy of Sciences have gone completely crazy. Not only did they develop radios, but they actually developed a machine that can fly. In addition, they also developed a new chariot called a crawler chariot. I heard that it is even more difficult to travel across mountains and rivers. It’s a lot better. In addition, there have been new advances in food due to the development of genetics. What does this mean? It means that transportation costs will decrease in the future, communication will be more convenient, and in the future, we soldiers may really One person will destroy a country! But it is no longer necessary to fight in large groups, or in other words, it is unnecessary in front of these European armies that are far behind us. Therefore, this general decided to divide his troops and fight against Copenhagen!"
While Karl XI and William discussed the issue of going north to deal with the Ming army, Zhu Cizhuo explained to the officers and generals at the military meeting at the base camp of the Western Expeditionary Army the reasons why he would divide his troops to attack Copenhagen.
Zhu Cizhuo obviously did not intend to just wait for the European armies to fight in Turku. Instead, he wanted to take advantage of the European armies moving north to capture Copenhagen and send a large number of troops to land from the south for the future. Then prepare for the complete siege of the Nordic countries.
After hearing this, all the officials had no objections.
So next, Liu Zhaoji followed Zhu Cizhuo's order and took only 50,000 troops to make a roundabout route south, hoping to take the opportunity to capture Copenhagen.
After Zhu Cizhuo sent the Ming army to quickly capture Budden, he did not continue to march. Instead, he immediately built fort-type military depots and roads. The purpose was not only to simply solve the supply line problem that would arise after continuing to march into Sweden, but also to facilitate mobile warfare. , it is convenient to divide the troops to fight in other places, so that the Ming army can take full advantage of the rescued grassroots people to support the Ming army, and achieve the purpose of attacking wherever they want.
Along the way, because the Ming Dynasty organized a large number of migrant workers to build simple dirt roads here, and now a large number of steam and internal combustion engine-powered vehicles appeared in the Ming Dynasty, the 50,000 soldiers and horses led by Liu Zhaoji quickly arrived. After arriving in Vyborg, we quickly headed towards Berlin using the road built between Vyborg and Warsaw early in the morning.
At this time, the armies of European countries had just arrived near Budden.
The armies of European countries also attach great importance to the development of their own military science and technology. Especially after suffering several losses with guns and other weapons during the battle with the Ming army, they spent a lot of effort to develop various weapons, and there were still conflicts between countries. Actively collaborate.
As a result, today's armies of various European countries, especially the main force, have also been equipped with rifled guns and cannons, and have also changed their tactics. They no longer use traditional square formations to fight, but like the Ming army, they have begun to play skirmish lines. Conduct positional warfare.
Therefore, after arriving at the outskirts of Budden, these European armies also began to dig trenches and build their own defense lines.
7017k
