Time flies so fast, and in the blink of an eye, the twenty-three years of Chongzhen have passed again.
During this year, the Ming Dynasty cut off Tsarist Russia's claws extending to the Far East and occupied Yakutsk, allowing the territory controlled by the Ming Dynasty to reach the North Pole.
In addition, with the help of the Portuguese, the Ming Dynasty seized the opportunity to send troops to Annan while the Zheng family in the north and the Ruan family in the south were in trouble, and successfully put down the Annan rebellion. Because the population of Annan was too small, the imperial court finally established Annan Prefecture, which was under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province.
Annan rebels Zheng Zha and Ruan Phuc jumped into Nanzhang country, triggering turmoil in Nanzhang country. However, its king Solinnawangsa was quite capable and suffered huge losses, but eventually eliminated the Annan rebels. The leaders Zheng Zha and Ruan Phuc were captured and subsequently cut into pieces.
Also within this year, the remnants of the Toungoo dynasty in the south of Dongwu still wanted to hire the Dutch to take back the Ava area. Unexpectedly, the Dutch were afraid of the power of the Ming army and did not dare to fight but were unwilling to return empty-handed. They rebelled against Dongwu. He conquered the southern capital of the Toungoo Dynasty, killed the passing Pingdali, and continued westward after plundering massively.
The entire Dongwu was re-incorporated under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, and the eighteenth province of the Ming Dynasty was established as Dongwu Province. At this point, the Ming Dynasty had an entrance to the Indian Ocean.
The imperial court adjusted the jurisdiction of the navy. The jurisdiction of the original Central Navy of the Ming Dynasty was extended to the south, including the jurisdiction of the Southern Navy of the Ming Dynasty. The Southern Navy of the Ming Dynasty was renamed the Daming Dong Wuyang Navy, and its base was Shalian.
Due to the focus of national policy in the future, relevant naval resources will give priority to the Damingdong Wuyang Navy.
Overseas, there are also things that the Ming Dynasty has not affected and are still developing according to the original history. For example, it was from this year that Anguilla was conquered and colonized by British colonists from the island of St. Kitts.
Also, the French arrived in St. George and began to colonize here. However, if history continues to develop, it will be snatched away by the British and eventually become one of the British Commonwealth.
In addition, there were some historical events that occurred during this year, but they were ultimately affected by the butterfly effect of the Ming Dynasty's changes.
Far away in Europe, in France, the ruling Cardinal Prime Minister Mazarin arrested the Grand Condé and his main followers, Prince Conti (the Grand Condé's younger brother) and the Duke of Longueville. But other supporters of Condé, including Turenne and others, managed to escape.
These fleeing aristocratic leaders actively planned to rescue the prince and others. They had actually rebelled, thus kicking off the aristocratic Fronde - the second Fronde rebellion.
Madame Longueville (Grand Condé's sister) negotiated with France's enemy Spain and obtained aid; Grand Condé's young princess gathered an army and occupied Bordeaux; Turenne fled to the Netherlands and fought with France's enemies. Spain cooperated and led a Spanish army to attack France.
These things happened in the 23rd year of Chongzhen and were not affected by the butterfly effect of the Ming Dynasty, but subsequent events were affected and changed the course of history.
The British royalists who were originally in Lisbon were expelled by John IV, but in the UK, Cromwell was at the height of his power and there was no sign of being defeated by them. In the end, they went into exile in France.
Just as the Ming Dynasty was celebrating the New Year, Pompeo, the leader of the British royalists, came to the Paris palace and was received by the Queen Mother Anna of Austria and the Prime Minister Cardinal Mazarin.
The Queen Mother of France, who was sitting in the main seat, did not speak, but Prime Minister Mazarin, who was standing on the side, showed a very concerned expression. When Lord Pompeo had just finished his salute, he was very concerned and even asked impatiently: " You said that there is a huge fortune to be dedicated to France, is this true?"
The civil strife in France today, also known as the Fronde movement, is ultimately caused by France's bankruptcy in the Thirty Years War of Religion. Only the Queen Mother and him would attack the aristocratic forces in the court, hoping to gain the support of wealth. As a result, the money of the aristocratic forces was not so easy to collect, and civil strife broke out.
This civil strife is very worrying for Anna and Mazarin in Austria.
Because the leader of the rebels, Grand Condé, was a very famous general in France, and the rebels were colluding with Spain, which made the two of them even more worried.
If the original historical development were to follow, Mazarin would soon be unable to withstand the pressure. The captured Kondai would be released, and he would leave his post in January of the following year.
At this time, fearing that Master Pompei would hear the question, he nodded quickly and replied: "Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, you do have a very huge wealth. The Oriental commodities of Liuhai Ship are all the most exquisite porcelain, silk and other items. "
Upon hearing this, Mazarin was immediately overjoyed. This is a commodity from the Far East, synonymous with gold, and is a hot commodity in European countries. If he can obtain this wealth, he can greatly alleviate domestic financial pressure and effectively respond to civil strife. Whether it is recruiting troops to quell the rebellion, or agreeing to the rebels' demands and making concessions, you will feel confident.
With this thought in his mind, he turned to look at the Queen Mother and found that she also had a greedy expression in her eyes. He immediately understood in his heart that a woman like the Queen Mother had no immunity to the exquisite products from the Far Eastern Empire.
Therefore, Mazarin immediately turned back and said to Lord Pompeo: "If this is true, then we in France can support your restoration of the country!"
After being Prime Minister for so many years, he certainly knows what these British guys want most. If it were changed to the past, although France did not want to see Britain rebel and seize power, and even the king was killed by them, France had a lot of problems of its own, so it could take care of Britain's affairs.
However, with this huge fortune, it is worth giving these British guys a verbal commitment.
When Lord Pompeo heard what Mazarin said, he was overjoyed and thanked him quickly. With the support of France, it would be much easier to defeat Cromwell and restore the king's rule.
Mazarin was a little impatient, and he didn't even care about being reserved. He quickly asked Lord Pompeo: "Where are those oriental goods? Have you brought them? Outside the palace or at some port?"
"..." Master Pompei was a little speechless. He didn't expect that the dignified Prime Minister of France, a gentleman worth less than ten thousand people, would be so impatient.
After coming to his senses, he quickly replied with a salute: "Dear Prime Minister, those exquisite goods from the Far East are all in Lisbon!"
"..." This time, it was Mazarin's turn to be speechless. Unexpectedly, those goods were actually in Lisbon, which meant that those things did not belong to these British guys.
Thinking about this, his face turned ugly.
Lord Pompeo saw his expression and quickly explained: "Dear Prime Minister, France wants the wealth in Lisbon, it's not just a matter of words. I'm afraid they won't admit that they have these properties. But don't worry, Prime Minister, then I saw it with my own eyes, and if João IV wants to deny it, I am willing to confront him face to face!"
After hearing this, Mazarin's expression turned gloomy and looked much better.
At least in his opinion, what the British guy said was indeed correct. Previously, the Portuguese begged him to come to his side and served him very comfortably, but he still looked down upon Portugal and ignored him.
Since it is profitable now, let's send someone over to talk to him. Anyway, just like dealing with this British guy, he can make a verbal promise. If he can exchange for those exquisite oriental goods, it will still be a good deal.
While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Master Pompei say to him with emotion: "The Portuguese don't know what channel they got. This time they were able to get the Oriental goods from the Six Sea Ships. There may be more in the coming year. Speaking of which, , that João IV is going to make a fortune!"
When Mazarin heard this, greedy eyes immediately appeared in his eyes. If what this British guy says is true, then Joao IV will really make a fortune! If this channel to obtain Eastern wealth can be controlled by myself...
Lord Pompeo stared at Mazarin, and when he saw that his face was full of greed, he smiled proudly in his heart.
Haha, that damn Joao IV dared to humiliate himself. Now let’s see what he does. Does he dare to offend the French Prime Minister who holds real power? Do you dare to offend the powerful France?
If you don't dare to offend, just spit out the wealth obediently! This is the price of humiliation!
Pompeo actually knows very well that at least for the time being, he will not be able to gain substantial support in France. But it doesn't matter, disgusting Joao IV is his main purpose. In addition, he believed that with this information provided, there would be no problem docking in French ports.
Sure enough, Mazarin quickly sent his closest men to Lisbon to ask for the money. At the same time, in order to alleviate his crisis in France, after discussing with the Queen Mother, he decided to start negotiations with those nobles.
With so many oriental goods as his backing, he promised not to raise taxes on the nobles and had something to say, in order to divide and disintegrate the rebels.
…………
In Lisbon, João IV is very proud of himself. With the goods of the Ming Dynasty as capital, he immediately started imitating the important weapons of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, he would not have the financial resources to do so.
Although rifled guns are difficult to make, it is just a flower in the world, and they can be made eventually. The imitation steam paddle-wheel battleships are not as good as the original ones of the Ming army. The main reason is that the workmanship of the steam engines is not good, but they can still be used.
Seeing more and more imitations of the Ming Dynasty's military and state weapons, João IV became more and more confident. On this day, when he was inspecting the ordnance factory, he suddenly heard a report from his men that a French envoy was visiting, and the envoy was also a confidant of the reigning Prime Minister Mazarin.
If it had been before, John IV would have been ecstatic. But now, he actually doesn't particularly care about France's support.
But if France can support Portugal, it will be a good thing after all. Therefore, he immediately ordered to receive the French envoy.
