At the same time that the Shang Fang Kingdom, the Yin Family Khan Tribe, and the Aztec Kingdom were rapidly rising in the New World, the situation on the European continent also underwent earth-shaking changes!
The person who promoted drastic changes in the situation in Europe was Louis XIV, the absolute monarch of France who "I am the country." After Leopold I resigned from the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and then fled to America in despair to become the emperor of his Spanish Empire, no one in the Christian camp on the European continent could compete with the two heads of the French King and the Frankish Emperor. The crown of Louis XIV.
However, after Louis the Great was elected Emperor of the Franks, he did not lead his 300,000 French troops to recover Vienna occupied by the Ottomans as promised. Louis the Great was not stupid. Only the flag of the Sudan was flying over Vienna. , he is worthy of being the emperor.
Of course, Louis XIV cannot always rely on the intimidation of the Ottoman Sultan to become the Frank emperor... If he wants to keep the Frank crown in the Bourbon family forever, he must completely tame the German electors who have no emperor. Emperor.
There are now nine electors in Germany - initially there were seven electors, namely the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, the Archbishop of Cologne, the King of Bohemia, and the Count of Rhine-Palatinate. (the father of Empress Therese), the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the Elector of Bavaria was added in 1623, and the Elector of Hanover was added in 1692. So now there are nine electors in the Frankish Holy Roman Empire, instead of seven.
Among the nine most important German vassal states, Louis XIV had the empty title of King of Bohemia from the beginning - because the Parliament of the Kingdom of Bohemia had to move backward due to military pressure from the Ottoman Empire. Those who pay tribute and surrender. So Louis' first task after becoming emperor was to capture the Kingdom of Bohemia!
After several rounds of fierce battles with the Ottoman Sultan's army, Louis XIV finally accomplished this small goal a few months ago...Marshal Vauban led the French-Frankish army and finally captured the heavily defended Ottomans. Prague, truly put the crown of Bohemia on the head of Louis the Great.
In addition to the Kingdom of Bohemia, Louis XIV also set his sights on the appointment rights of the three archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne. Obtaining the appointment rights of three archbishops is equivalent to winning three electors. Hou’s appointment power. Together with Louis's King of Bohemia, he can control four of the nine electors. As long as he wins over one elector, he can control the entire Frankish Empire.
By supporting Urban IX to become pope, and sending French troops to help the three bishoprics resist the Ottoman Empire, as well as a series of hard and soft measures, Louis XIV also gained support while regaining the Kingdom of Bohemia. The "right to nominate" the three Archbishops...is actually the right to appoint!
Since Mainz, Trier, and Cologne are very close to the Duchy of Lorraine (the duchy of the Duke of Lorraine) controlled by Louis XIV, these three archbishoprics plus Lorraine can combine the Rhine- The count of the Palatinate was surrounded. In this way, the Count of Rhine-Palatinate would not dare to disobey the orders of Louis the Great, and the five electors needed for Louis to effectively control the Frankish Empire would be gathered together.
While recovering the Kingdom of Bohemia, Louis XIV also fought against the Ottomans on the territory of the Principality of Austria. Although he failed to recover Vienna - it was not that he could not, but he was unwilling, he also recovered some territory, which made Louis He could legitimately become the Archduke of Austria, and he also controlled areas such as Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck. These areas, together with Bohemia and Mainz, formed a siege on Bavaria, thus making Vis in Bavaria The Terbach family had to follow Louis closely.
Thus six electors gathered under the command of Louis the Great of Frank!
However, Louis' expansion did not stop there. While recovering Bohemia and gradually controlling the Frankish Empire, he also focused on the Swiss Alliance sandwiched between France, Frankia and Italy, and used it to protect Switzerland from the Ottoman Empire. In the name of aggression, the French army was marched into this "neutral country", and then he was naturally elected as the king of the Swiss Union.
In the years since he became the Frankish Emperor, Louis XIV has taken over the three bishoprics of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, the Kingdom of Bohemia, most of the Principality of Austria, and the Swiss Union... ...It’s really rewarding!
Of course, these six countries are still independent or semi-independent, and have not been transformed into the Kingdom of France or provinces of the Kingdom of France. And the merger of the Kingdom of France and the Frankish Empire has not yet been put on the agenda... and may not even be possible.
So when he met with Pope Urban IX and Cardinal de la Malaga in the small conference room of the King's Suite in the Palace of Versailles, his mind was still on the land of Germany - Southern Germany was basically tamed now, while Northern Germany There are still three unruly electors in Germany... They have now formed an alliance, and they have also roped in the Netherlands, Sweden, and England, which is a bit troublesome!
"Your Majesty the Emperor, since the discovery of the New World and the opening of new sea routes, Europe, especially Western Europe, has become the leading force in the world. Although the area of Western Europe is not very large, because of God's blessing and the sacred mission given to us by God, In less than a hundred years after the discovery of the New World, we became the master of the world's oceans, controlled several entire New Worlds, controlled most of the world's precious metal production, and owned assets worth as much as gold and silver. Precious dyes, spices, and other specialties produced in the colonies. It is precisely because of these imports that Western Europe has become the richest, most civilized, most advanced, and most prosperous region in the world... and it is also the dominant country in the world. area!
But now, the prosperity and wealth of Western Europe, and our faith in God, are under serious threat from a powerful and evil Eastern race! If our generation of believers in God cannot put aside their past grievances, unite together, and form a truly powerful alliance to rely on the power of faith and strong strength to defend the order in which Western Europe leads the world, then... we will lose the future! Because although our world is very vast, it cannot accommodate two huge civilizations! Once the evil Easterners control most of the oceans and wild continents, we will lose our status as the world's dominator! "
Urban IX was eloquently selling his "Ming Threat Theory" to Louis XIV, but he did not talk about the devil... but compared the "clash of civilizations" with the prosperity, wealth, power, and prosperity of Western Europe. Progress will eventually become a "selling point" due to the strong rise of Ming Dynasty.
Of course, these words of the Pope make some sense. How can one be the Pope if they don’t make sense? That is God’s general agent on earth!
And what he said this time was indeed the truth... Louis XIV was a smart man, so you had to tell him the truth.
The white-skinned Western Europeans are of course a very capable race, otherwise they would not be able to create a brilliant civilization and develop advanced science and technology. But before they discovered the New World and took control of the great voyages, their civilization was just like that. It could only be said to be pretty good, but it was far from the point where it could lead the world or even crush the East Asian Confucian civilization of Tianfang Sect and East Asia.
After all, without sufficient resource injection, no matter how capable the race is, they can only use their talents on low-level involution... The most typical example is the several "Volume Kings" in East Asia.
But now, the New World, the most important resource gathering place for Western Europeans, is facing serious threats from Eastern civilized countries such as the Ming Dynasty, Shang Fang, and Yin Family!
And the sea power in the Pacific Ocean, which was originally firmly controlled by the Westerners, has basically been controlled by the Ming Dynasty!
If the Ming, Shang, and Yin families ultimately win, or partially win, the battle for the New World, then Western Europeans will lose at least half of their cheap resource inputs, while the Eastern civilization led by the Ming will receive a large amount of resources from the New World.
In addition, after controlling the sea power in the Pacific, the Ming Dynasty has become the master of the Nanyang region. Although the resources here are not as good as those in the New World, their economic value is extremely high because they are very convenient to transport! Moreover, south of Nanyang, there is a wild continent that has been discovered but has not yet been developed... If the Eastern civilization headed by the Ming Dynasty captured half of the Americas and developed the wild continent in the south, and then added If the resources of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia are taken into account, then they are likely to overwhelm Europe and become the master of the world!
"Then... what should we do?" Louis XIV, who was multitasking, was finally moved by Urban IX's words, but his brows became more and more frowned. "The war in Europe is not over yet. , I can’t send too many troops to the New World for the time being. And Leopold doesn’t want to see many French troops on the American continent, right?”
Louis XIV and Leopold I had a tacit understanding on the issue of "carving up the Old and New Continents". Louis's goal was the Old Continent, that is, Europe, and perhaps North Africa and West Asia. And Leopold was the master of the New World!
"Your Majesty the Emperor," Archbishop de la Malaga, who could represent Leopold, answered the question, "The Spanish Emperor does not need French troops to go to America at the moment... Spain's power in the Americas is enough to fight against the merchants. The Three Kingdoms Alliance of Fang, Yin Family, and Aztec. But if the Ming Empire sends troops to the Americas, the Spanish Empire may lose the war! Therefore, the Spanish Emperor hopes to have a powerful Catholic Alliance standing behind him to deter attempts to interfere. The Great Ming of American Things.”
"Catholic League?" Louis XIV suddenly thought of something, "His Majesty the Pope, do you really think that only the power of the Catholic countries can deter the Ming Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty," said Pope Urban IX, "England has actually stood with us... If other Protestant countries want to stand with us, of course we will be happy to do so."
Louis XIV nodded, "It should include Protestants...it can even include Orthodox Christians! Moreover, I think this alliance should not be a religious alliance. If it is just a religious alliance, then we will lose control. The most important force of the Ming Dynasty - the support of the Great Mongolia!"
Of course Louis XIV’s real purpose was not to win over the Great Mongolia. The contradiction between the Great Mongolia and the Great Ming Dynasty was simply irreconcilable!
Louis' purpose was to become the leader of this alliance and at the same time prevent the Pope from competing with himself for the position of leader - if it was a Catholic alliance, then Louis XIV would not be able to ask the Pope to step aside anyway, but for a secular alliance, it would be impossible for him to step aside. Nothing happens without the Pope.
"Then it shouldn't be called the Catholic League. It can be changed to..."
The Pope was still thinking about it, but Louis XIV had already thought of a name. He smiled and said: "It can be called the North Atlantic League or the Atlantic League... It can also be called the Great and Small Atlantic League. This alliance should first include all Countries on and around the North Atlantic coast, including Frankia, France, Spain, England, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Italian states, German states, Denmark, Poland, Rakshasa... Well, Rakshasa country Peter has done a good job in the past few years! Through him, we can bring in the Great Mongolia in the future and form a Great and Small Western Alliance (the Indian Ocean was also called the Little Western Ocean by Kangxi). Your Majesty the Pope, what do you think?"
Emperor Louis's handiwork is so great!
If this idea of an alliance between the Great and Western Oceans succeeds, the connection between East Asian civilization and the Tianfang Sect civilization will be severed, East Asian civilization will be completely isolated, and the Tianfang Sect civilization will be surrounded.
Once the Tianfang Sect civilization collapses, East Asian civilization will become the enemy of the whole world!
The Ottoman Empire was originally "a bandit maintained by Louis XIV" to scare the German states. Once all the German states are tamed by Louis, Louis will join forces with Poland, Rakshasa, and Mongolia to besiege the Ottomans. Not to mention regaining Vienna, it is entirely possible to seize Constantinople or even completely destroy the Ottoman Empire. .
The Pope is also a Frenchman. Of course he supports France, and he definitely has a place in this super alliance.
So he smiled and said to Louis XIV: "Your Majesty the Emperor, of course the Holy See supports your idea. But England, the Netherlands, Sweden and other Protestant countries..."
"Of course they will support me!" Louis XIV said with a smile, "These Protestants are all merchants who have fallen into the eyes of money. Although the trade with the Ming Dynasty has made them very profitable, the foundation of the trade is the gold and silver of the New World. ...Without the import of gold and silver from the New World, their trade would be impossible. Moreover, England and the Netherlands also had developed handicraft industries, and their colonies in India were also rich in spices and cotton cloth. The Ming Dynasty was both their trading partner and the Their competitors are more likely to take away everything from them, and the situation in Europe is completely different now from a few years ago! They must and can only stand on the side of the civilized world!"
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