The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 860 A Decision to Put Seres-Napoleon I in the Repertory
Just as Prince Mozhou of Liao was heading to Nanjing with the Austrian princess for their wedding, the situation in Europe was rapidly shifting in Napoleon's favor.

After signing the Treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon set his sights on the Kingdom of Sweden, which includes present-day Germany and northern Poland.

Yes, Sweden once had a large territory north of the Elbe River and south of the Baltic Sea.

Moreover, it was not a short-term occupation, but rather a possession of this territory, which had been known as the Duchy of Pomerania, for more than a hundred years after the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).

In February 1807, French Emperor Napoleon sent a note to King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, demanding that he immediately join the French Empire's continental system to blockade England, in exchange for Sweden's hostile actions in participating in the Third Coalition against France.

At this time, the Kingdom of Sweden was in a very dangerous situation. Most of its allies had been defeated by France, leaving only the Kingdom of England, which was isolated overseas. Moreover, the Kingdom of Sweden could not withstand the French attack.

Under these circumstances, it would be certain that Sweden would agree to France's conditions.

However, the King of Sweden, who was in power at the time, was a typical fool. His most famous act was breaking off his engagement immediately after coming of age, refusing to marry Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, the sister of Tsar Alexander I.

Moreover, she called off the wedding just before it was scheduled, which angered Catherine the Great so much that she suffered a stroke on her sickbed and died less than two months later.

On her deathbed, Catherine II told her grandson, the current Tsar Alexander I, that Gustav IV must pay the price for insulting the Romanov family.

This kind of idiot who can turn a good deed into a bad one is simply impossible to fathom with a normal person's mind.

Moreover, Gustave IV deeply hated and feared the French Revolution. He had been too afraid to hold a coronation ceremony because of the terror and bloodshed of the French Jacobins, and he was also very resistant to reopening Parliament.

When Napoleon's note reached Sweden, Gustav IV believed that the French were trying to harm him.

He raved about Napoleon as a monster who would bring about the end of the world and rejected a series of peace agreements that Governor Hans von Essen had reached with France.

Negotiations broke down, and fighting immediately ensued.

Although the Swedish army was very brave, they were far inferior to the French army in terms of organization, training, and numbers.

Therefore, in less than a month, the Kingdom of Sweden lost all its territories on the Western European continent and its coastal islands, leaving only the Swedish mainland and Finland.

Then in April, Tsar Alexander I of the Rus' Empire, using the pretext of fulfilling the Treaty of Tilsit, declared war on England and sent the Baltic Fleet to symbolically expel English ships in the Baltic Sea.

The Rus' Empire's navy was not strong, and its actions against the English warships were more like a performance.

They were indeed just putting on a show, remaining very peaceful. Besides showing their allegiance to France, their main purpose was to avoid interference from the English navy when they attacked Sweden.

King Gustav IV of Sweden was completely unaware of this and had no idea that the troops and supplies being mobilized by the Tsarist Rus' Empire were intended for an invasion of Sweden.

In London, although England had won the Battle of Trafalgar, the situation remained far from optimistic. The biggest problems were political instability and divisions within the kingdom's upper echelons.

The political instability stems from three aspects.

First is the King, George III, who is exactly ten years older than Mozambique and is already sixty-nine years old this year.

Unlike Mo Zibu, who trained in martial arts from a young age and can still go north to hunt gazelles in southern Mongolia and south to go diving on Nan'ao Island.

George III was not only much weaker than Mozibu, but also suffered from severe rheumatism, which made him almost unable to walk when it flared up, as well as severe cataracts, and he had lost sight in one eye.

Even more frightening is that George III also suffered from mental illnesses resulting from inbreeding, including schizophrenia and paranoia.

As the last Hanoverian monarch to wield real power, George III's declining health caused considerable trouble and instability in English politics.

Secondly, as another important figure in stabilizing the kingdom's politics, the English Prime Minister has also been in constant turmoil in recent years.

Especially after William Pitt the Younger, whom George III had personally groomed, disagreed with him and was dismissed.

How serious was this? It was basically equivalent to the terrible fallout between Empress Dowager Li and Zhang Juzheng in the early Wanli period.

Finally, Napoleon's Continental System still caused significant losses to the English.

This has led factory owners, who normally don't particularly like going to the parliament, to now flock there, all in an effort to gain a voice and influence the kingdom's decisions in order to end this confrontational situation as soon as possible.

Don't underestimate the fact that so many people are flocking to parliament; this is a very serious political event.

This not only impacted the ruling class of the Kingdom of England, but also profoundly affected George III's control over Parliament. The fact that his and his descendants' power gradually diminished was largely due to the loss of control over Parliament.

. . . .

King George III is in good health today. He returned to London after a long absence and had a meal with his son, the Prince of Wales, and his daughters.

However, before the meal was finished, the royal steward came to report that Prime Minister Baron Greenwell requested an audience.

King George III sighed. As William Pitt the Younger's cousin, Baron Greenwell immediately succeeded William Pitt as Prime Minister after his death in office.

However, his abilities, prestige, and relationship with the king were no match for his cousin, William Pitt Jr. In order to stabilize the situation, he had no choice but to bring in all the influential people to share the spoils, thus creating a so-called meritocratic cabinet.

This thing is just like the Donglin Party's "Zhongzheng Yingchao" (a powerful and influential party), which sounds very exciting, but in reality, it can't accomplish anything except arguing, slandering, and fighting for power.

Well, it's not like he couldn't get anything done. At least Prime Minister Baron Greenwell accomplished one thing just as the cabinet was about to be dissolved.

"Your Majesty, the House of Lords has also passed a bill banning the slave trade, which will officially take effect at midnight tomorrow."

When Prime Minister Baron Greenwell spoke of this, his face lit up. With the bill passed, at least his resignation wouldn't be so humiliating; he had at least done something good.

Well, it was a good deed done with bad intentions. The nobles of the Kingdom of England didn't care how miserable the black slaves were; they were doing it to undermine America.

"After this bill was passed, the price of slaves in New England at least doubled."

Coupled with the naval blockade and technological restrictions, the cost of their textiles would increase by at least forty percent, making them unable to compete with us even if shipped to continental Europe.

Baron Greenwell couldn't help but reveal his true purpose: to cripple America's nascent textile industry.

Because during the Great Lockdown, France did not have sufficient production capacity to cover the shortfall caused by the loss of industrial goods such as textiles from England.

Therefore, importing textiles from distant North America is an acceptable option in order to stabilize the situation.

However, after England began to officially ban the sale of enslaved people to North America, the cost of American textiles skyrocketed, essentially eliminating the possibility of them being transported across the ocean to the European continent.

"Tell the navy not to intercept those Irish traitors' ships. Our forces are stretched thin right now, so it's best not to provoke them."

King George III said with a wry smile that the Kingdom of England now has to be careful even with traitors from New England, because the whole world is full of French allies.

Prime Minister Baron Greenwell nodded and then paid homage to George III with very formal ceremony.

“Your Majesty, I pledge my loyalty to you once again, but after this matter is settled, the Good Cabinet will be dissolved. May God bless England and Your Majesty the King.”

The capable cabinet finally couldn't hold on any longer. The last straw that broke the camel's back was the demand from Catholic members of the cabinet to expand the conscription scope so that Catholics could also enter the army like Protestants, including becoming high-ranking officers.

But this was the last line that George III could not agree to. Prime Minister Baron Greenwell was caught in a dilemma and could only announce the dissolution of the cabinet, thus giving up his political career.

“Thank you for your blessing, Prime Minister.” King George III also stood up solemnly and said in a desolate tone, “I know you have done your best, and you have worked hard. The Kingdom and I, King George himself, thank you for your efforts.”

Watching Prime Minister Baron Greenwell walk away, and noticing that Queen Mary of Belgium looked noticeably fuller than before her marriage, Princess Mary of England sighed, "It's a miracle that such a cabinet lasted fourteen months."

“Yes, although Baron Greenwell has different beliefs from mine, he is indeed a very loyal man to the country.” King George III agreed with his daughter.

Then, glancing at his eldest son, the Prince of Wales, who seemed indifferent and had an expression that said it was none of his business, he sadly closed his eyes.

“Mary, my daughter, I will soon lose control of this country, and soon I will be called away by God.”

Your brother is an incompetent man who cares about nothing but eating, drinking, gambling, and womanizing.

After I die, Mary, go to Hungary, otherwise you'll have no one to rely on.

Upon hearing this, a hint of anger flashed in the Prince of Wales' eyes. Even though he was indeed that kind of person, being verbally attacked by his father in front of his sister was still too much for him to bear. Princess Mary glared fiercely at her brother, the Prince of Wales, and then reprimanded him without any politeness, "Is Father wrong?"

As the eldest brother of the Hanoverian family, why can't you focus more on national affairs? If the elder brother could shoulder his responsibilities, we wouldn't be suffering so much.

After becoming Queen Mary, Princess Mary's political acumen continued to improve, and she keenly sensed the reality that the power of the English royal family would be severely weakened after her father, George III, passed away.

It's no wonder Princess Mary was so furious; this wasn't just a weakening of the English royal family's power, but a reduction in her own voice within her own family.

Princess Mary was well aware that Mo Gongze's family would definitely follow the traditions of the Seris Empire in the future, rather than the European tradition of having only illegitimate children and no concubines.

In this situation, without a powerful maternal family, what will she rely on to consolidate her position in the future? Her beauty?
None of the princesses in the English royal family can be described as beautiful.

The Prince of Wales was scolded by his sister again, but dared not say anything more, because his sister, Princess Mary, always had a Seres Guard of 1,500 men by her side.

He was the nobleman in the British Isles who, besides George III, controlled the most private armies.

If he angered her, Princess Mary might not dare to do anything to her brother, but she would certainly dare to cause him trouble.

For example, arresting his lowly mistresses and cronies, detaining them for a period of time, or even throwing them onto ships and sending them to colonies.

"Ferdinand has written; he wants a small fleet to control the Black Sea."

"That's good. At least until we see a solution to the danger posed by France, establishing a Greater Hungarian Kingdom is the right choice. The Netherlands is too vulnerable to attack."

George III was quite pleased to see his daughter shut his son up, which made him completely despair of his son.

Princess Mary hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell her father, George III, what she knew.

Before saying this, she first held her chubby son and took George III's hand, leading him to another corner.

"Ferdinand revealed a secret to me: the Seris Empire is already preparing to attack the Ross Empire."

I don't know if he wanted to tell you this through me, but I am your daughter, and I have no intention of holding back on this matter.

King George III did not show any particular shock on his face. He took his grandson from Princess Mary's arms and looked at the child with affection.

"Little George is so healthy! I dare say he's the healthiest little prince in all of Europe." It's a very special thing to do in Europe for King George III to name the child after himself.

"Yes, little George is the healthiest child in all of Europe. I heard that the medical school in the Seris Empire is about to produce research results."

They said that consanguineous marriage greatly increases the risk of having children with health problems, and that might be the reason for your illness.

Princess Mary certainly thought her child was the cutest, but she was even more shocked by George III's calm response to the news.

“I already knew that Charles Whitworth recently returned from the Seres Empire, bringing with him greetings from the Great Emperor of Seres.”

King George III revealed the truth: it was Lord Whitworth, the English envoy who had been bribed by Mozibu, who had returned to London.

"The Emperor told me that as long as England does not side with France, he guarantees that our family can continue to be monarchs, no matter what the future holds."

I have decided to change the Kingdom of England into the United Kingdom of Great Britain, with England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and India all being the empire's homeland.

Princess Mary was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "So, if England is eventually conquered by the French, our family can still become the King of India with the support of the Seres Empire?"

"Perhaps we should call him the Emperor of India. We have preserved the Emperor of the Mughal Dynasty in Delhi so that he would relinquish the throne at the last moment."

When Lord Whitworth returned, he told George III a story about a monarch surnamed Sun from the Three Kingdoms period of Seres.

Even though these English nobles and factory owners surrendered to Napoleon, they could still continue to live as the elite, because an empty shell of an English kingdom is useless. Only when these people who can extract and produce large amounts of resources for the kingdom exist and manage it well will it be useful.

However, the Hanoverian family was completely useless to Napoleon. If he was lucky, they could be kept as mascots in Paris; if he was unlucky, the whole family would simply be reunited.

This little story made it even clearer to George III that the Kingdom of England and the House of Hanover were two different things.

"I will draw a fleet from the Gibraltar navy, the same one that Ferdinand commanded during the reconquest of Egypt."

Three Tier III battleships, two Tier IV battleships, and three fast frigates were enough to give Ferdinand the ability to protect himself against the Ottoman and Russian navies.

Meanwhile, the English navy will attack the Baltic fleets of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Rus' Empire at the end of this year in order to tie down most of the Rus' naval forces and prevent them from reinforcing the Black Sea fleet.

As for defeating the navies of these two countries with overwhelming superiority, that can only rely on the support of the Seres Empire. "George III is much more humane than Franz I; at least Mo Gongze didn't risk his life for him in vain."

At this time, the Black Sea Fleet of the Rus' Empire was not very powerful, because the enemy it had to deal with was the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore, as long as the Rus' Baltic fleet is blocked from leaving, Mogonze can rely on the fleet sent to him by George III to gain the capital to compete in the Black Sea.

"Ferdinand said that if his father agreed to give him a small fleet, he would require that the fleet to launch a surprise attack on the port as soon as possible, before the Russian Empire's fleet in the Gulf of Kotor in the Principality of Montenegro had withdrawn into the Black Sea, and destroy that fleet."

The Russian Empire's fleet in the Gulf of Kotor in the Principality of Montenegro is about a third the size of its Black Sea fleet, and Mogongze would never allow them to return to the Black Sea.

“Yes, it just so happens that the Rus' Empire has declared war on us.” King George III agreed after a moment’s thought, and then said to Princess Mary:
"Have someone tell Ferdinand that unless the French capture London, the Kingdom of England will absolutely not compromise with the French. Reassure him."

. . . .

In April 1807, the Tsarist Russian Empire suddenly mobilized a large army to attack the Kingdom of Sweden.

At the beginning, they swept through the country with unstoppable momentum, leaving the Kingdom of Sweden with almost no chance to fight back. They quickly occupied most of Finland and continued their advance towards Stockholm.

In the same month, the Kingdom of Denmark, which had already chosen to submit to France, also sent troops from the south to cross the sea and attack the Kingdom of Sweden, putting Sweden in a precarious situation.

In May, an English squadron, led by Vice Admiral Sydney Smith, launched a surprise attack on the Rus' Empire fleet in the Gulf of Kotor, Principality of Montenegro.

Caught completely off guard, the Rus' suffered heavy losses, with six warships of various types either destroyed or captured.

In June, the internal strife in the Ottoman Empire continued. Pasha Alemdar Mustafa, commander of the Lower Danube Legion, led 6 troops, under the banner of rescuing Sultan Selim III, who had been deposed in a coup, and marched on Istanbul.

In early July, the current Sultan Mustafa IV executed his predecessor, Sultan Selim III, who had been imprisoned, but failed to completely eliminate him.

In late July, Pasha Alemdar's army, with the help of an inside agent, stormed into Istanbul and immediately launched a large-scale reprisal, repeating the scene from a year earlier where all supporters of Sultan Selim III were killed.

The Pasha's army indiscriminately arrested and executed people they deemed suspicious in the city, many of whom were simply after property. Anyone with even a small amount of wealth in Istanbul was not spared this fate.

In early August, Pasha Alemdar and others supported the succession of Sultan Selim III's younger brother, who had managed to escape, as Sultan Mahmud II.

In the same month, a large-scale anti-Russian uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, opposing France's handover of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw to Tsar Alexander I.

The leader of the uprising was none other than Jan Henrik Dombrovski, a Polish national hero who raised 7,000 troops and helped the French army enter Poland.

Under his leadership, the Polish army fought bravely and once recaptured more than a dozen large and medium-sized cities, including Warsaw, forcing Tsar Alexander I to draw troops from Finland and the lower Danube to suppress the rebellion.

In early September, the extremely inflated Napoleon once again subjugated the Kingdom of Naples, essentially completing his control over Italy, and attempted to appoint his relatives and marshals as new kings in various regions.

At the same time, in order to complete the final link of the continental blockade, Napoleon launched a plan to conquer the Kingdom of Portugal, the last country on the continent to explicitly refuse the Berlin Decree.

Despite many people advising Napoleon that Portugal not only had a good relationship with England, but also a very special relationship with the Seres Empire.

Both countries' overseas colonies are entitled to national treatment from each other, so attacking Portugal could very likely provoke a strong reaction from the Seres Empire.

But that's precisely why Napoleon wanted to conquer the Kingdom of Portugal.

He needed to establish his prestige as the hegemon of Europe by giving the Seres Empire a resounding slap in the face, especially to solidify the Rus' Empire's resolve to align itself around France.

(End of this chapter)