Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 501: Three more military aid recipients
Yarkand needs to be fought because he is very strong now.

Dzungar needs to be suppressed because he will be very strong in the future.

Khoshut needs to be on a leash because he can be very strong.

Doesn't Spain need it?
Indeed, helping Spain is equivalent to containing the three countries of Britain, France and the Netherlands. This is a hundred benefits and no harm for the Ming Dynasty, which has not yet sorted out its domestic problems. However, helping does not mean letting Spain win the war.

In essence, Spain, with its vast overseas colonies, is too strong.

In this war that lasted for thirty years, he first suppressed the uprisings in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, and then defeated Denmark, the vanguard.

After that, Sweden, which dominated the Baltic Sea, was defeated, and the German electors had to return to the Holy Roman Empire.

The Catholic League, which had almost no rivals on the European continent, finally forced Britain and France to intervene personally.

It has to be said that Spain, with its vast overseas colonies, has exceeded the cognition of European countries.

After more than 20 years of continuous fighting, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire not only did not confront the enemy in a defensive posture, but even approached Paris at the beginning of the war.

If it weren't for the complete collapse of Spain's finances and the renewed betrayal of the German electors, it is possible that the Habsburgs would have really regained the upper hand in Rome.

Knowing this, Zhu Cilang naturally knew that he had to strike a careful balance in helping Spain and must not let the balance of victory tilt in any direction.

After all, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were exhausted, and the Protestant League was also exhausted. If Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were allowed to recover,
"Oh? So this is just Caron's personal behavior?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Caron has gone crazy in order to become a member of the Council. His actions in Taiwan have already aroused the attention of the Council. But who knew that he would choose such an extreme method after hearing the news."

Van der Rhein looked serious, and Zhu Cilang was also extremely shocked, as if the battle that caused the deaths of nearly 10,000 people was caused solely by Caron.

At this point, both sides knew that the only stumbling block that could hinder the negotiations had been removed. The three envoys looked at each other, and the count from France took the initiative to step forward.

"Your Majesty, this time I not only brought greetings from Queen Mother Anne and His Majesty Louis XIV, but I also want to verify something with the Ming Dynasty."

"Oh? My Great Ming has never had any dealings with France. I wonder what your Queen Mother wants to know?"

"Your Majesty, our Queen Mother and King want to know whether Ming has provided Spain with a large number of military supplies."

"That's what happened."

Faced with the Ming Emperor's frankness, not only were the envoys from the three countries stunned, but even the Ming officials accompanying them were extremely surprised.

Since Zhu Cilang came to power, officials from various families have become more concerned about overseas affairs, and they are aware that the situation among these families is a life-and-death struggle.

But under such circumstances, Zhu Cilang did not hide the fact that he supported Spain, which naturally made a group of officials a little confused.

But then again, such an answer only surprised the officials of the Ming Dynasty, but for the envoys of the Three Kingdoms, it forced them to overturn all the judgments they had just made.

During the conversation between Zhu Cilang and Van der Rhine, both sides unanimously decided to put aside all previous disputes without much effort.

Therefore, the three families thought that the Ming Dynasty had no intention of being their enemy, and they also thought that Zhu Cilang would deny this matter.

Their calculation was clear: as long as the Ming government denied supporting Spain, the Dutch, who controlled Malacca, would be able to openly seize Ming merchant ships carrying military supplies.

By then, regardless of whether the support to Spain was official or not, the Ming Dynasty would have no reason to cause trouble for them.

After all, the Protestant Alliance, which was at a critical juncture of the war, did not want to provoke the powerful Ming Dynasty. Although their arrival this time also had the intention of launching an attack, in essence they wanted to make concessions in exchange for the Ming Dynasty's abandonment of its support for Spain.

But the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually acknowledged it.

There is no room for anyone to turn around.

Is this for the sake of greater benefits?
But isn’t it the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty who values ​​face the most?

As his thoughts turned, Van der Rhein's eyes were filled with deep doubts.

Before they came, they had already discussed that as long as the Emperor Ming had the right attitude, they would not put the issue of supporting Spain on the table. But who would have thought
"Since Your Majesty has acknowledged your support for Spain, I, on behalf of France, England, and the Netherlands, formally request that the Ming Dynasty stop supporting Spain and its allies."

Alas~~~~~~, it has finally come to this.

As the French Count's extremely tough words came out, Van der Rhein couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Earlier, he did support the use of force against the Ming Dynasty, and even intended to seek some reinforcements from his homeland. However, over the past year, various intelligence reports about the Ming Dynasty have come in, and he has completely given up this idea under their influence.

Of course, in order to safeguard the interests of Batavia, Van der Rhein had to take some action.

However, those Tatars were so incompetent that after forming a large musket force, they lost most of them in one battle.

After receiving the news of the Tatars' defeat, Van der Rhein knew that the idea of ​​using land enemies to contain the Ming Dynasty had failed. With the war on the home front becoming tense, making some concessions in exchange for the Ming Dynasty staying out of the matter became the only option.

But now.
Alas~~~~~~~~.

Van der Rhein sighed in his heart again, and then his gaze turned to the golden dragon throne.

At this time, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was already furious with these words. Even though he was trying to suppress his anger due to the situation, Van der Rhein still judged the other party's true emotions from the clues.

"My Ming Dynasty and Spain are doing normal trade. You, France, have no right to interfere!"

Sure enough, a voice filled with anger echoed in the huge hall without delay, and the surrounding soldiers also showed signs of being ready to take action.

Seeing this, Van der Rhein took a step forward and played his part before the situation became completely deadlocked.

"Your Majesty has misunderstood. This time we do not want to question the normal trade of the Ming Dynasty, but we want to exchange Your Majesty's abandonment of support for Spain for an appropriate price." An appropriate price.

Van der Rhein, who had been paying attention to the Emperor Ming's expression, keenly caught the young man's unusual reaction after hearing these words, but that reaction disappeared without a trace in an instant, and it was obvious that it had very limited appeal to the Emperor Ming.

Why?

Are you losing interest without even hearing the price?

Could it be that the benefits Ming Dynasty gained from Spain were so great?

As his thoughts turned, Van der Rhein's doubts grew stronger, and at this time Emperor Ming's explanation came along, and he was stunned where he was.

"I might as well tell you that Philip IV used something to exchange for a huge loan from me, and this loan must be used to purchase goods from the Ming Dynasty. With such conditions, not only can you not come up with the money, but even if you do, I will not damage the reputation of the Ming Dynasty."

Luzon?

As soon as Zhu Cilang finished speaking, this name immediately appeared in the minds of the three envoys.

Indeed, this archipelago, located on the edge of the South China Sea, naturally has great appeal to the Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, unless the Netherlands was willing to give up Malacca, the Ming Dynasty would never give up its trade with Spain.

At this point, the French envoys were already planning how to get Britain and the Netherlands, which had a certain amount of power in Asia, to declare war on the Ming Dynasty, while van der Rhine was weighing the possible losses that Batavia might suffer.

All in all, the reason why the Netherlands was able to gain independence from Spain was due to the support of the French Army.

Under such circumstances, even though Van der Rhein knew that the cost of going to war with the Ming Dynasty was beyond Batavia's ability to bear, he had to make the worst-case plan under the influence of the reality.

just
"I really admire the fact that His Majesty the Emperor keeps his promise."

Just when the talks were about to break down, the British envoy, who had been silent since performing the ceremony, suddenly spoke up. Then, with everyone's eyes focused on him, the Marquis began to speak leisurely.

"But since your Majesty is able to provide assistance to Spain, it shouldn't be difficult for you to add three more targets for assistance."

As soon as the words fell, the hall suddenly fell silent.

It seemed that the French envoy, who maintained the land power thinking, was confused by the words of the British envoy, while Van der Rhein, who came from a military background, was still in a state of confusion.

But at this moment, Zhu Cilang couldn't help but praise in his heart, and even his eyes showed some approval.

It's truly a troublemaker that has been passed down for hundreds of years.

This person's brain is indeed slightly more active than that of the French.

In Zhu Cilang's original plan, these words would come out of his mouth when the Dutch thought that war was inevitable.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty could use the excuse of negotiations to keep these three countries on hold, and when the war situation in Europe changed, it would decide which side to support based on the needs at that time.

Of course, since this condition was proposed by the Ming Dynasty, it is reasonable to suffer some losses during the negotiation process.

But then again.

If Europe could continue to fight at such a negligible cost, it would be a good thing. People like Zhu Cilang who like to watch the fun would not worry too much.

But to his surprise, the traditional skills of the British had already begun to emerge at this time.

No wonder the European continent was in turmoil. Apart from fighting a few battles with Spain at sea, the British only instigated pirates to attack Spanish merchant ships.

As Zhu Cilang's thoughts turned, he was suddenly startled. When he looked at the inconspicuous Marquis again, he couldn't help but wonder if the British had something in mind with him.

I'm afraid so.

Now Cromwell was about to drive the Royalists out of Parliament. Even though he had great prestige, the contradictions within the revolutionary party were becoming increasingly serious.

In the original history, the Royalists would take advantage of the split of the Revolutionary Party to make a comeback in the remaining months of this year, and the Second English Civil War would break out next year.

Under such circumstances, even if the small country of Britain no longer wanted France to seize European hegemony, it could only endure it secretly, and it was reasonable for it to seek some help from external forces.

After thinking it over and over again, Zhu Cilang began to re-evaluate the three countries in his mind.

In the end, everyone has their own ulterior motives.

At this point, the general framework had been completely settled. Zhu Cilang then gave a few words of advice to the Minister of the Honglu Temple and left the Fengtian Hall. It was not until he returned to the Qianqing Palace that he began to think about what he should take from the Three Kingdoms.

Honestly, this is a very tricky question.

Although Spain's colonies were already spread all over the world at this time, these three countries were still in their infancy.

There is no need to say much about the Netherlands. Apart from setting up some trading stations at various nodes, they only have large colonies in Java.

As for Britain and France, one had just established some outposts in the coastal areas of India, while the other was still in a stalemate with the indigenous countries in Central and South China.

Of course, their footsteps have also reached Africa and North America, but Africa is too close to the European continent, and the Indians in America have not yet deeply experienced the barbarity of the white people.

Under these circumstances, it seemed that the Three Kingdoms could not offer any bargaining chips that would impress the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Cilang was extremely depressed.

Let's just drag it out for now and see how far Europe can go.

(End of this chapter)