Although the French Navy has made unprecedented progress with the strong support of Louis XIV, it is something that the European Emperor is very proud of.
However, when the Ming Empire arrived, Louis XIV found that its main partner and main competitor's naval development was advancing by leaps and bounds.
The number of battleships (fourth- and fifth-level ironclads) between France and Ming Dynasty was 4 to 32. The size of the French navy's battleships was only one-eighth of that of the other side, which looked very pitiful.
This does not include the capital ships built by the Ming Empire in the past, but only those completed and launched in the past ten years. Otherwise, the strength gap between the two sides will be further widened.
The number of third-level ironclad ships that are the main auxiliary force is not much better than that of the same type of warships in the Ming Empire. The results are basically disastrous.
The French Air Force has introduced two hundred combat reconnaissance aircraft and has already discarded more than seventy of them.
Recently, with the help of Ming Empire engineers, small-scale mass production of the "Albatross" has been achieved.
The annual output can reach about 300 aircraft, which is insignificant compared with the Ming Empire's annual output of 7,000 aircraft.
This does not include the giant bomber with eight engines. Louis XIV was interested in it, but unfortunately he could not afford it.
Emperor Ou also has his eye on a brand new fuel tank, but unfortunately the unit price is as high as 200,000 silver coins, and a minimum of 100 tanks must be purchased, with the total price being as high as 20 million silver coins.
The French Army has equipped more than 5,000 steam tanks and thousands of bronze cannons, supplemented by 200,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry.
The field capability has reached its peak, and it is almost worthy of being the first army in Europe. This is what makes Louis XIV the happiest thing.
The total strength of the French Army has reached 500,000, exceeding the Spanish Empire at its most prosperous.
However, the number of regular troops of the Ming Empire fighting in North America reached 250,000, and the number of troops deployed on the former Russian lands exceeded 100,000.
Including troops from the mainland, Central Asia, Australia, Southeast Asia and other places, according to Marshal Turenne's estimate, the total strength of the Ming Empire Army will not be less than 1.5 million.
In addition, about one million reserves and half a million railway soldiers can be recruited at will, which means that the Ming Empire can easily organize an army of three million.
What is even more frightening is that the total population of the Ming Empire exceeded 300 million, and may be approaching 400 million.
However, France's total population is less than 40 million, and the war potential between the two sides is vastly different.
Today, the Habsburg family's lofty status in Europe has been shaken by the Qing army.
But in the Eastern world, the rapid rise of the Ming Empire shocked France and other European countries.
Not only is it completely unable to curb its momentum of external expansion, but its own strong strength is beyond the reach of other countries.
Now it has not expanded on a large scale again, but its territory has included Asia, Europe, America, Africa, and Oceania!
The Ming Empire occupied all of North America except the Caribbean, and Oceania was completely eaten away.
Although Europe's territory is in a state of ice and snow, it is difficult for other parties to take it away from it.
Marshal Turenne carefully estimated that in 1690, the Ming Empire's comprehensive national strength was more than five times that of France.
Regarding the European Emperor Louis XIV's plan to unite with Leopold, defeat the Qing army and the Austrian army, and expel their forces from Central Europe.
The old marshal could only have reservations for the simple reason that France's national power was increasing year by year.
France's involvement in a large-scale war in continental Europe will directly lead to the weakening of its national power.
Becoming the winner of the war can indeed allow France to reap the war dividends, but this is not enough to offset the early investment, at least not in the short term.
The chain reaction caused by this is that the national power gap between France and the Ming Empire will be further widened, which is almost a permanent loss that is difficult to make up for.
Turenne estimated that in order to defeat the Qing and Austrian armies, his side would need to invest at least half a million troops.
This means either investing all the local army or mobilizing at least another two to three hundred thousand people.
The expenses related to military pay, ammunition and logistics alone will reach about 50 million silver coins every year.
This is equivalent to pouring most of the financial income into this decisive battle, and the investment can be said to be extremely huge.
It is so big that it will affect the navy's project to purchase large ironclad ships, and it may even use French America to cash in.
Louis XIV was very interested in this possibility, and the value of French America was no longer great.
If this piece of land could be exchanged for arms worth one billion silver coins, he would indeed nod in agreement.
Before leaving, Louis XIV decided to use this piece of land to test the attitude of the Ming Emperor.
Buy a bunch of islands and northern South America with one billion silver coins?
Zhu Cixiang felt that his order was worthless!
At most 600 million, any more is not worth it!
Louis XIV counter-offered 900 million, and the two parties finally settled the deal for 800 million silver coins!
The content includes the delivery of two level six ironclads (Blücher) at one time and the transfer of relevant construction technology. These two capital ships must be the first batch of models launched.
The delivery time shall not be later than New Year's Day, 1697, and the technology transfer time shall not be later than 1700.
It also includes the later transfer of eight-engine "Hercules" bomber technology, along with 100 finished products.
Another time, 500 "Albatross" fighter jets and 500 machine guns were provided, as well as supporting ammunition and spare parts.
In fact, the total price of these weapons has exceeded 900 million silver coins. For Zhu Cixiang's sake, it is equivalent to 800 million silver coins.
Louis XIV also wanted to include the transfer of fuel tanks, so he could only choose between bombers and fuel tanks.
In order to directly allow the air force to destroy enemy targets, the French Army can only continue to use steam tanks to fight wars.
The delivery time of the bombers will still not meet 1800, which can be regarded as complying with Ming's previous commitments to various countries.
Seeing Louis XIV who was addicted to shopping, Zhu Cixi almost thought of the scene where this European emperor cashed out French Africa...
Rather than spending a lot of effort researching and imitating high-tech weapons, it would be better to come directly to the Ming Dynasty to purchase arms.
Buy directly! purchase! purchase!
Rich players like Poirot and Ibrahim do this all the time!
Since Emperor Ou wants to continue feeding, he wants to support a certain emperor to death.
Zhu Cixiang continued eating to show him how big his appetite was!
If you don’t eat this piece of meat, you will be sorry for our surname!
Apart from the frequent occurrence of tropical storms, the Caribbean is pretty good in other aspects. At least it is relatively healthy!
For those who are unwilling to accept the management of the imperial court, Zhu Cihong is willing to pay for them out of his own pocket, even if he does not have travel expenses.
200,000 people were moved to the Caribbean and 500,000 people were moved to northern South America.
If the population doubles every twenty-five years, it will reach 80 million in two hundred years.
Even less than twice that, there are 40 million, which is completely enough to deal with the local indigenous people.
Zhu Cixiang believed that by 1900, the total population of the entire Eastern Region, including the newly purchased territory, could reach 300 million.
There are 100 million people in the South and 400 million in the North, which adds up to 800 million.
In another hundred years, the number of intelligent people in the world will reach 25 to 3 billion.
It controls about 30% of the land, which is basically the most suitable place for human habitation.
The population of the Ming Empire accounts for about half of the world's total population, which will make it impossible for some challengers to stand up.
The prerequisites for becoming a Thousand-Year Empire are almost met. Just pair it with a certain "Eternal Emperor"...
The eldest son's work in Australia has begun to bear fruit. He first dug canals, then opened roads, and then widened water vapor transportation channels.
It will indeed take a hundred years to give eastern Australia a new look, so that the Great Dividing Range will no longer be a natural barrier hindering inland development.
There is a saying - when people unite, Mount Tai will move!
In this case, the obstacle of the Great Dividing Range can be demolished in the south, and Zhu Cixiang can also send people to carry out large-scale construction in the north.
The new capital, which is also the western capital, is set to be Omsk on the banks of the Irtysh River. Currently, the construction army is using the railway that has been built to move there to participate in the hot construction operations.
Zhu Cixiang planned to build a capital city in two hundred years. Since there was no shortage of wood locally and shipping and railway transportation could be used, the construction conditions were quite ideal.
Especially since it was a Rakshasa stronghold before, it would not involve the headache of land issues at all.
The imperial court spent about 100,000 silver coins worth of novelty products to buy some surrounding indigenous pastures.
Zhu Cixiang had also thought about moving his hometown to North America before, but it was too far from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty and had to rely entirely on ocean transportation.
Secondly, there is Zhang Tianbao lying on the west coast, which is more troublesome to deal with and can easily damage his reputation.
It is possible to let his subordinates kill this guy, but the target will die eventually, and it is easy for outsiders to let Zhu Cixiang take the blame.
Finally, in terms of mining alone, although the climate in the North is far inferior to that of North America, the resource reserves are too abundant.
This is the royal paradise for mining practitioners. Various resources are enough to support Ming Dynasty into the space age!
Overall, there is too much uncertainty in moving to Australia due to the volcanic eruptions in Java.
North America was too far away, and the cost of moving there was too high, even a certain emperor with deep pockets could not afford it.
Only operating the cold and freezing Beidi requires minimal investment and can still get continuous and generous returns.
There is oil, minerals, and timber here, and there is almost no shortage of anything. It can be said that the land is vast and rich in resources.
Going south can directly open up the connection with the Ottoman Empire, making the cooperation between the two countries closer.
Going west, you can eat Ukraine and gain one of the three largest granaries in Europe.
The most important thing is that by occupying the Northland, you can use the local raw coal, uranium mines, and water resources to play the infinite nuclear bomb mode...
An additional benefit brought by this is that after developing long-range missiles, they can be launched from Moscow and directly hit a shooting range north of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Only Northland and Eastland support this gameplay, and other opponents, such as Southland, cannot play it.
The construction cost of the new capital was one million per year spent by the imperial court, and Zhu Cihong paid half a million out of his own pocket.
The early stages include cutting down trees, building roads, laying foundations, etc., to ensure that a certain amount of construction materials are collected.
The money Emperor Haojing borrowed was for the construction of the palace, and everything other than the palace was funded by the court.
Royal palaces were made of masonry, not wood, and could be inhabited for hundreds of years. The ancient castles in Western Europe are the most typical examples.
Zhu Cixiang's requirements for his living environment are not too high. As long as the building is strong and reliable, the ventilation and lighting design are scientific and reasonable.
In winter, if the indoor temperature can reach more than 20 degrees, then there will be no problem.
If you want to live comfortably, you can definitely move to the Gold Coast of Australia.
With the self-produced elixir, there is no need to relieve cold diseases such as bronchial asthma and cold legs.
Anyone who comes to settle in the Northland will be given enough land for each household.
As a farmer, your annual income is no less than 500 to 1,000 shi of grain.
In addition to being consumed at home, it can also be sold in large quantities.
If there is enough food production, it will not cause famine and reduce the chance of rebellion.
Wait two hundred years until the local resources are fully exploited.
To the north of the Yangtze River is the Yimin North Land, and to the south is the Yimin South Land.
If you don’t want to go to these two places, you can go to the East or the West.
Even if the time for technological progress is shortened by fifty to a hundred years, mining will still be needed by then.
Emperor Haojing relied on mining and trade to turn defeat into victory for the Ming Empire. Now, with each passing day, it has finally achieved greater glory!
Now it seems that the previous small goal was set a bit low.
By 1900, Ming Dynasty's GDP could account for 65 to 70 percent of the world's GDP.
Because if the total population reaches half of the global population, technological strength and industrial production efficiency will be considered.
Then GDP can definitely exceed half of the share and become a true global hegemon.
Louis XIV wanted to dominate Europe, while Zhu Cixiang was planning how to secure the throne of global hegemony for a long time.
In Emperor Haojing's mind, Louis XIV wanted to use the advanced weapons that he had recently acquired to fight back, and he was in favor of it with both hands.
It is said that Braid's actual available troops have reached more than two million, which is a big threat to both Western European countries and the Ming Empire.
If we continue to leave things alone and let Kangji's dog-legged troops continue to develop, I'm afraid the total strength may exceed three to four million!
If combined with a large number of cavalry troops to launch an assault into the enemy's hinterland, the destructive power would probably be no less than the torrent of steel.
On the frontal battlefield, the Braid Army will probably not be able to defeat the European coalition forces.
But when it comes to mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare, few in the world can match the braided cavalry group.
The "Hercules" bombers ordered by Louis XIV were to be delivered as early as New Year's Day, 1700.
If he starts a fight with the Braided Army before this, it means that he can only count on the "Albatross" troops of the French Air Force.
The firepower is definitely much weaker than the "Hercules" that can carry out carpet bombing, so it can only be used as a makeshift weapon.
The "Albatross" is equipped with a machine gun and can also drop bombs.
If you invest enough in quantity, it can play a decisive role.
Zhu Cixiang had already guessed that the 500 "Albatross" fighter jets that Louis XIV was eager to obtain were used for this purpose.
Otherwise, you have to endure it for more than eight years. For people who don't have much patience, such a long time is almost unbearable.
Louis XIV could endure it, but Leopold might not be able to resist the braided troops who frequently invaded his territory.
