It doesn't matter if Richelieu dies, there is still the young and powerful Mazarin to succeed him.
As long as the new prime minister is willing to continue to pursue the established strategy of friendly exchanges with the Ming Dynasty, then a certain new emperor can help him get what he wants, whether it is boxes of silver coins or European hegemony!
Whether Mazarin asks for money directly or chooses goods without money, a certain new emperor will always meet his demands. It is really worth every penny to be able to erect such a huge target in Europe.
It is no exaggeration to say that if a new emperor continues to help France for five or six years, the country can become the Qin State in Europe. Even Qi and Chu cannot defeat this newly rising power.
There were no tanks on land and no airships in the sky. They would be attacked head-on by the French army on the battlefield. After repeated defeats, the only way out was to sue for peace and sign a contract.
According to the plan of a certain new emperor, use weapons and tactics to help France win, and the other side will use a large number of prisoners of war to pay for the goods. This is the best way to achieve mutual benefit.
If France is only allowed to pay for silver coins, over time, no matter how wealthy the Gallic chicken is, a new emperor will pluck all its feathers...
What's more, Ming silk, porcelain, tea, and all kinds of novelty products are all available, and there is basically no need to spend huge sums of money to import French products.
This would create an astonishing trade surplus for France, which would drain the French treasury over time. If Mazarin wanted to maintain trade on this scale, he would have to resort to crooked tactics.
Using prisoners of war as chips to pay for goods is definitely more beneficial than harmful to France itself, and keeping the prisoners of war in its hands will not be of much use, not to mention the consumption of food.
A certain new emperor can also ask the warlocks who returned to Europe to recruit mercenaries, and the price is the same as paying for the goods, but this is obviously not as profitable as supporting France's strategy.
Only by making France stronger as soon as possible can it pose a serious threat to its surrounding hostile neighbors, attract firepower for the Ming Dynasty, and contain the speed of external expansion of some potential powers.
A certain new emperor now supports the Netherlands at sea, France on land, and the Ottomans in the Middle East.
Daming stood on top of these three temporary friends, forming a relatively stable triangular pyramid.
No one can predict what will happen in the future. Let’s do this for now and make other plans when we fall out.
I don’t know if Cromwell killed the bastard, otherwise Europe would lose another person to talk about after dinner.
More than ten British armed merchant ships also arrived at Daming Port after receiving important news that the Dutch and French were making money one after another, hoping to get a share of the pie.
However, if you don't have cash or mercenaries, and if you haven't established any interpersonal relationships, it will be difficult to get Ming's goods.
Neither the merchants at the ports nor the new emperor looked down upon the gadgets produced in Britain unless they could get copper.
This kind of metal is a hard currency in the Ming Dynasty, especially fine copper. That thing is money. If you can't get silver, you can pay with fine copper. Choose one of the two.
At first, the British, who did not want to pay out of their own pockets, wanted to threaten with force. However, seeing the numerous Dutch and French armed merchant ships in the port, they could only give up in frustration.
The result of active fire is that both the people and the ship are sunk in the port, and no one will come to apologize, because this is the result of public outrage.
It is impossible to rob a fellow ship halfway. France and the Netherlands have reached a verbal agreement, and the ships of both parties will travel together on the routes between Europe and the Ming Empire.
The purpose of this was not to prevent the British, but to prevent a sneak attack by Spanish warships.
If the British are going to take desperate measures, it can also prevent them from violating the rules.
At present, the British Navy is far from being a rival to the Dutch Navy. Even if it wants to reach the strength of a challenger, it will take four to five years to build ships.
The Dutch were not resting on their laurels. After winning the Battle of Downs, they thought their navy was invincible, but they were attacked head-on by Zheng Yiguan's fleet in the eastern waters.
Although most of the warships in the East India Company's fleet were armed merchant ships, they were not regular warships.
But any regular warship is made of wood and will be scrapped if it catches fire.
The East India Company reported the entire attack on its fleet to the local navy. Admiral Tromp took this very seriously and set up a team to develop similar weapons.
The East India Company once offered to purchase this weapon from the Ming Empire and was willing to pay high royalties, but was rejected by a certain new emperor, leaving no room for change.
Certain weapons are priceless and can also be considered sky-high prices!
If you can come up with 100 million silver coins, I will sell it to you!
Otherwise, no need to discuss!
The "Harpoon" anti-ship missile is an epoch-making weapon in naval warfare. If any navy possesses this weapon, it will cause a devastating blow to other counterparts.
Before the ironclad ships are launched in batches, a certain new emperor will definitely not trick Mr. Zheng. This guy's fleet is equivalent to the Ming Dynasty's sea shield.
Selling the "whaling harpoon" to potential enemies of the Ming Dynasty would be an act of self-destruction of the Great Wall.
Rejection is rejection, but it is still possible to whet the appetite of the Dutch.
Five years from now, the weapon will be available for sale for the first time.
When the Dutch are willing to buy it, they will get what they want.
Of course, the prices were sky-high back then!
It's just that the price is not as high as it is now. You can buy it for 10 to 20 million silver coins.
The Dutch think it is expensive, so you can do your own research.
Once the research is clear, we will probably lose control of the sea.
"Sea Coachman" became "Sea Donkey Coachman"...
A certain new emperor would not sell such a sharp weapon, and Zheng Zhilong would not sell it either.
Once you let go, it is equivalent to giving death to the other party, turning your fleet into fish and letting the other party chop it up at will!
Regarding the news that the Dutch teamed up to study anti-ship missiles, a certain new emperor just laughed it off.
The principle of anti-ship missiles is very simple. There are two rare features. One is the collision warhead, and the other is the gyroscope.
In less than five years, it will be impossible to build a weapon close to the latest version of the "harpoon".
If you want to build something similar to the Congreve Rocket, of course you can.
It is feasible to use it as a cruise missile to attack shore targets, but if it is used as an anti-ship missile, the hit rate will be terrible...
In order to maintain the hard-won control of the sea, the Dutch are willing to study and no one can stop them.
A certain new emperor is waiting for good news in his room, hoping it is not a large "Sky Monkey"!
The most important thing at the moment is to take advantage of Huang Taiji's temporary inability to knock on the door and work hard to save "Hans".
Actual combat tests have shown that the combat effectiveness of a Hans veteran is equivalent to two or three braided armored soldiers.
If a certain new emperor could save fifty or sixty thousand Hans, the combat effectiveness of this mercenary army alone could be converted into more than one hundred thousand braided soldiers.
Compared with those local losers who spend the same level of money and food, a certain new emperor is certainly willing to accept the "payment" sent by Mazarin.
If there were one hundred thousand Hans under his command, a certain new emperor would be more certain of succeeding in his Northern Expedition.
The Hans who came to the Ming Dynasty were also very willing to serve for a certain new emperor. The treatment here was much better than that provided by Ferdinand III.
The treatment given to them by Wallenstein was not very good back then. In addition to being able to barely feed themselves, the soldiers had to rely on themselves to loot the war zone to get their military pay.
When they came to the Ming Empire, in addition to sixty kilograms of rice, they had a monthly military salary of three silver coins and a little meat every day, which made the Hans feel much more comfortable.
This was the treatment for the mercenaries who came to the Ming Dynasty later. The first batch to arrive had participated in many battles and exchanged their results for a lot of silver coins.
Guys at the officer level have saved a little money and either return to their homeland or stay in Ming Dynasty to settle down.
These people have money and can eat meat every day, and I heard that the Tatars have begun to expand again, which means that there will be many battles to fight in the future and a lot of silver coins to earn.
The mercenaries who have settled in the capital feel that this is the best place in the world, extremely prosperous, and as long as they have money, they can buy everything they want, except white-skinned women.
For example, Hans Bruck, who fought bravely, not only rose to the rank of major commander, but also had thousands of mercenaries under his command. He was also rewarded by a certain new emperor.
The latest reward is a horse sent by the Ottoman Empire to pay for the goods. Its appearance is no worse than the European war horses, and its sprinting ability is better.
Since there are soldiers responsible for taking care of the horse, Brooke can also receive hundreds of silver coins and two stones of polished rice every month, and his salary is even much higher than that of local knights.
Not only this big guy, but also a group of guys with him who worked for a certain new emperor and killed many enemies on the battlefield received rewards of this level.
This is how a certain new emperor wants to tell the remaining mercenaries that as long as they work hard, they can see the hope of promotion and wealth, and maybe the hope can become a reality.
The use of a large number of mercenaries costs the court's money, not the new emperor's own money.
Some people in the court were quite critical of this.
But a certain new emperor didn't care at all. As long as he appeased the military ministers, the matter would be settled.
Some military ministers headed by Li Shiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, also had different opinions, but after the new emperor adopted both soft and hard tactics, they became silent.
The hard one is very simple, that is to give some shopping coupons for Qianqi Department Store, so that you can buy your favorite pair of products without spending a tael of silver.
The soft ones are also very simple. You can play with the beauties in the military aircraft department casually. If you want to play with someone's belly but don't want to be responsible, a certain new emperor can also help him take care of his funeral.
After such a two-pronged approach, these people would no longer be able to disobey the new emperor's holy will.
Hello! I'm good! Everyone is good!
Isn't this a happy outcome for everyone?
Besides, except under special circumstances, these mercenaries are only responsible for external operations and are not used to suppress local rebellions.
A certain new emperor did this because he was worried about accidentally injuring friendly troops. To the face-blind Hans, Akito's appearance was basically the same...
Therefore, when the new emperor sent more troops south to attack the Dabie Mountains, he did not intend to let any mercenaries pass. They were all personnel from various departments of the government and army.
The troops departing from the capital were all commanded by Zheng Chongjian. A certain new emperor also reminded the generals of each department, especially the four brigade commanders of the East Palace Guards, not to forget about what they had done in the past, and there were still three rules to be agreed upon.
First, you must not destroy all your troops.
Second, we must not kill good people for credit, or loot the people.
Third, we must not wait and see and act timidly, thereby wasting the opportunity to fight.
A certain new emperor demanded that all ministries not only severely inflict heavy losses on the rogue bandits, but also ensure a certain battle-loss ratio. Replacing one by one would definitely not work.
As for how to fight, that's up to them.
I can’t take you to play so many times and still not use your brain after you go solo, right?
This group of officers and soldiers is different from the useless ones before. Not only do they have enough food and pay, but they also have excellent weapons and equipment. After many achievements, their morale is high.
Zheng Chongjian relies on the four brigades of the East Palace Guards. This is a force founded by a new emperor, and it is determined to be comparable to the elites of western Liaoning.
The cavalry went south along the canal, and the infantry and artillery were able to take boats. A month later, 90,000 troops arrived at the outskirts of the Dabie Mountains.
At this time, the war was already in full swing. With the participation of the Baigan Army commanded by Qin Liangyu, Hong Chengchou changed his siege strategy and launched an active attack.
The 30,000 white pole army is like a huge catfish. After entering the mountain, it keeps stirring up troubles, making it impossible for the four rogue bandits in the mountain to continue to stay here.
"Old Fenfen" Ma Shouying, "King of the World" Liu Xiyao, and "King of the World" Lin Chengcheng were still dissatisfied with the old woman at first and planned to give her a blow.
Zhang Xianzhong didn't want to go, but he had to follow the crowd and go with his troops to watch the battle.
Yes, the "Eight Kings" were frightened of being beaten in eastern Sichuan.
If we lose a large number of troops this time, we may not even be able to become rogue bandits in the future...
After the various units of the rebel army were assembled, the total strength was close to 40,000, and it was easy to deal with any official army.
But Zhang Xianzhong didn't have much confidence in dealing with the Baigan Army, which was good at mountain warfare.
The actual combat also verified the guesses of the "Eight Kings". Although the morale of the rebels was not low, they were no match for the White Army in terms of firepower.
At first, they wanted to set up an ambush to severely damage the old woman's troops. However, due to the bravery of the Baigan Army and the absolute advantage of guns and artillery, the ambush finally turned into a blockade.
In addition to obtaining supplies from the warehouse in Chongqing, Qin Liangyu led the White Army to eastern Henan. After meeting Hong Chengchou, he also received a large amount of arms that a new emperor had stored here and planned to entrust Hong Chengchou to give to Qin Liangyu.
Including 100 small guns, 300 mortars, 3,000 flintlock muskets, 300,000 grenades, 300,000 armor-piercing arrows, 30,000 sets of plate armor, and 2,000 pack horses. There are nine hundred thousand taels of silver and thirty thousand shi of polished rice.
These weapons can all be used for mountain warfare, which is what the Baigan Army urgently needs.
Qin Liangyu was naturally grateful for this. He had never fought such a wealthy battle in his life.
When Qin Liangyu came to Hong Chengchou, he was initially embarrassed to speak, but a certain new emperor had already arranged everything for him.
Not only that, Hong Chengchou also allocated a mortar company to teach the White Army how to use mortars.
Mortars capable of deflection are more effective in mountain operations than Folang machines, and Hong Chengchou knows this very well.
After some arming, Qin Liangyu's white-pole army almost took on a new look, and its combat effectiveness was also rapidly improved.
When faced with the siege of rogue bandits, they launched a counterattack without showing any weakness.
After all the white-armed soldiers are equipped with new plate armor, it will be difficult to kill them unless they can chop off their heads.
In this way, the Baigan Army has a large number of artillery pieces when conducting bombardments at long distances.
After the two sides fought hand to hand, every white-poled soldier was difficult for the rogues to defeat.
The two sides fought for more than an hour, and the rebels had to leave nearly 3,000 corpses behind, break away from the battle, and retreat eastward.
