812 Tough choice

Style: Historical Author: Call the skyWords: 3130Update Time: 24/02/20 19:09:56
Needless to say, envoys from various European countries were very angry about Ming's attitude!

This is simply unreasonable!

It’s too much to say that all the people and land in the world belong to their emperor, isn’t it?

In fact, as long as it is a strong country, or a country that thinks it is strong, there will be similar slogans.

For example, Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire means "ruler of the world" in Persian.

For another example, the young French King Louis XIV will be known as the "Sun King" from now on.

However, what really needs to be put into practice is that today's Ming Emperor wants to be the captain of the ball. Now only Europe is left.

As for the Americas, that place has not yet reached the strength to compete for world hegemony, and the same is true for Africa. As long as the European countries are defeated, they will be the real "ball leader".

The envoys from various European countries failed to achieve their goals, so they left the Yamen of the Ming Governor's Mansion cursing and prepared to go back.

However, when they walked to the front yard, they suddenly met a cardinal sent by the Vatican, which made them feel a little embarrassed.

Then, each one pretended not to know the other's purpose and was just laughing.

Afterwards, envoys from various European countries squatted outside, wanting to see what the cardinal was doing in the Ming Governor's Palace? What kind of answer will you get in the end?

In this regard, they can basically be sure that based on the situation they encountered, the Vatican will basically hit a wall.

They were right. If Xu Guangqi was still alive and took over Sun Chuanting's position, he would definitely treat the Cardinal well. However, Sun Chuanting was a serious Confucian scholar, so how could he give the Cardinal a good look.

Even if the cardinal hinted that the Ming Empire wanted to subdue European countries, it would be much easier with their help, Sun Chuanting still did not smile, and made it clear that under the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Emperor was the son of God, and no one else , no religion can override the imperial power. All religions must be under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

How could the cardinal accept this request? He immediately left with a full stomach.

Although he didn't curse, the look on his face that was about to rain could tell everything.

The envoys from various European countries who were hiding outside breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it, and then returned happily.

When they return to their respective countries, they must bring back the Ming Dynasty's wishes. They must either surrender or be destroyed. There is no other way. It is conceivable how shocked the monarchs of various countries would be after hearing such news.

After breaking the wishful thinking of European countries, the cloud of war against the Ming Empire in the Far East became more intense in the European war.

If someone who has an overview of the overall situation understands all the situations, he will know that there is a high probability that there will be a battle between the European countries and the Ming Empire.

Of course, now that it is limited to transportation issues, it will take time for such a war to be further understood.

……………………

Most of the European countries that have not sent anyone to Suez are those that are far away. For example, Tsarist Russia.

However, of course Tsarist Russia also heard about the developments in European countries, and was always paying attention to the relationship between other European countries and the Ming Empire?

At this time, Tsar Alexei was most worried because his side was already bordering the Ming Empire. Those people from the Torgut tribe who became Ming people, in order to retaliate against Tsarist Russia, actually jumped into the territory of Tsarist Russia, and in turn bought and sold by force. If they disagreed, they robbed everyone.

Later I heard that they were all arrested to build some kind of railway.

It's not that Alexei never thought about fighting, but today's Torgut tribe is no longer what it used to be. Their musket penetration rate and advanced nature have long surpassed that of Tsarist Russia. Moreover, they are all on horseback, and their mobility is too high, making them impossible to fight.

Later, Alexey also heard that the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate were attacked by the Brakha Khanate. Almost the entire country was looted and their flocks were robbed.

The reason for this is that the cavalry of the Crimean Khanate responded to the call of the Ottoman Empire, and the main force was not in the country. The Bukhara Khanate surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and its military strength was immediately strengthened.

Seeing this situation, Alexei couldn't help but his eyes lit up.

He knew very well that if this continued, Tsarist Russia would only end up being annexed by the Ming Empire. And if it can be like the Bukhara Khanate and get the support of the Ming Empire, it can expand its territory eastward and obtain the long-coveted Baltic Sea outlet.

However, it is definitely not that easy to surrender to the Ming Empire and become a vassal state of the Ming Empire.

The most basic thing is that in Tsarist Russia, royal power and divine power are inseparably linked.

Alexei himself was very obedient to the priests and appointed priests to take charge of his government.

In the original history, Patriarch Nikon, the political leader appointed by Alexei, proposed that divine power should be higher than secular power. This actually meant that the power of the church was higher than monarchy.

Tsar Alexei clearly opposed this and gradually cooled his relationship with Patriarch Nikon. Beginning in 1660, the Moscow Church began a trial against Nikon. The trial lasted for six years, eventually depriving Nikon of his position as patriarch and banishing him to a remote monastery.

It can be seen from this that Alexei will not show mercy once the divine power threatens the imperial power.

Now, because of the pressure from the Ming Empire, he had to consider the possibility of surrendering to the Ming Dynasty. To do this, you must first pay homage to the domestic religion.

In this way, Alexei had been hesitating under the strong pressure of the Ming Dynasty, and finally heard what the relationship between European countries and the Ming Dynasty was like!

For him, if European countries and the Ming Empire finally form an alliance, this is the result he hopes to see most.

Because Alexey knew very well that once this happened, it would mean that European countries would surrender to the Ming Empire. How they deal with religious affairs in the country is also a problem that needs to be solved.

Since everyone has to solve this religious problem, Tsarist Russia will not have to bear it alone, and the pressure will be much less. Then it will be much easier for him to surrender to the Ming Empire.

However, the news coming back now is that the negotiations between European countries and the Ming Empire have reached a deadlock. This means that European countries are likely to have a war with the Ming Empire. Since none of them surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, the pressure on Tsarist Russia was even greater.

If Tsarist Russia does not surrender to the Ming Empire, once European countries go to war with the Ming Empire in the future, then Tsarist Russia will definitely join the European countries. Regardless of winning or losing, Tsarist Russia, as a country that borders the Ming Empire, is definitely the worst.

I don’t know whether the European countries can win. Tsarist Russia is highly unlikely to exist. Having fought against the Ming army for such a long time, Alexei was very self-aware of this.

This means that for Tsarist Russia and for Alexei himself, this is the worst outcome.

Then, Tsarist Russia actually had only one way to go, and that was to surrender to the Ming Empire.

But in this way, once the European countries unite to fight the Ming Empire, the Ming Empire may also lose. If we take the wrong side, Tsarist Russia will cease to exist. In addition, if you want to surrender to the Ming Empire, you must take action to deal with domestic religions.

Regarding this situation, to be honest, Alexey was really worried!

In less than half a year, he not only lost a lot of weight, but also became bald.

Until the cavalry of the Torgut tribe once again visited a place less than 300 miles away from Moscow. Alexei made a decision amidst the calls for help from local nobles.

On the pretext of inspecting local defense, he left Moscow and headed to the eastern border to inspect local villages and towns attacked by the Turgut troops. Suddenly, he fell ill and didn't see anyone, so he was recuperating in the home of a local noble.

In fact, accompanied by local nobles, he left at night and galloped eastward to personally go and see the highest official of the Ming Empire here, who was said to be a Ming governor named Zhang Tongchang.

Everyone who knew his identity was a little surprised by his arrival.

After all, the two countries are actually in a hostile relationship now. As the tsar, he took the initiative to come to the Ming Dynasty. His courage (actually forced by desperation) is admirable.

Of course Zhang Tongchang would not take him down. After all, he was also a scholar, and he was very particular about the struggle between the two countries. He did not kill the envoys, and immediately received the Emperor of Tsarist Russia in person.

Alexei would come to Ming Dynasty in person. In fact, he had already made a decision and was ready to surrender to Ming Dynasty.

However, he was unsure about some things.

The first is to deal with domestic religion. He wants to get help from the Ming Empire.

The second is to understand how strong the Ming Empire was, and what was the probability of winning in future wars with European countries?

If Tsarist Russia is defeated, as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, what arrangements can the Ming Dynasty make?

If defeated, how much benefit could Tsarist Russia gain as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?

His negotiation was essentially different from other European countries going to see Sun Chuanting.

For this reason, Zhang Tongchang himself could not give an answer. It was not that he did not dare to make the decision without the qualifications of Sun Chuanting, but that the matter was indeed beyond his scope of authority, so he called the court to ask for instructions.

After receiving the news, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but admire the tsar. When discussing with Duke Xingguo, his opinion was that he was inclined to accept this younger brother of Tsarist Russia.

Not only because the tsar came in person, but also because he saw some of this country’s history in later generations, its origins with China, etc. in the documentary.

Zhang Mingwei doesn't have any objection to this, and with Tsarist Russia as the vanguard of the Western Expedition, he can be considered a good dog!

(End of chapter)