My Daming New Empire

Page 853

The Hanseatic League is an economic alliance formed by commercial cities and guilds along the coast of Northern Europe to maintain their own trade monopoly.

It was gradually formed in the 160th century, and reached prosperity in the [-]th century, with a maximum of [-] franchised cities.

In the middle and late fourteenth century, they established a leadership organization headed by the city of Lübeck, attended by wealthy businessmen and nobles from big cities such as Hamburg, Cologne, and Bremen.

They have their own arms and coffers. After defeating Denmark 90 years ago, the Treaty of Stralsund was signed.

The alliance monopolized trade in the Baltic Sea region, and established commercial stations along the coast from London in the west to Novgorod in the east.

In recent years, this alliance has developed into a commercial alliance with Germans as the main body. Although they are not as economically comparable to the South, their military strength is still superior.

The reason for such a situation must be mentioned the special structure of the Holy Roman Kingdom.

The Holy Roman Kingdom was transformed from the East Frankish Kingdom in the tenth century. They regarded themselves as the true heirs of the ancient Roman Empire, and they worked hard to complete their ideal domain—a huge empire including all Christian countries.

In principle, they supported the Pope. In fact, since the day it was established, the Pope and the Emperor have been fighting openly and secretly for hundreds of years.

Because of this kind of struggle, except for the early imperial emperor who still had some power, later, the emperor's power almost disappeared.

Especially after the Great Empty Period in the [-]th century, the emperor only had the title of leadership in name, and the area he could actually manage was only his own fiefdom.

The emperor had no real power, and the imperial organization was loose and large. The princes, bishops, knight groups, and autonomous cities under the emperor acted independently. In theory, the guild that connected members to assist the emperor was actually reduced to a place for all parties to fight for privileges.

The current emperor, Frederick III, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Nicholas V in Rome in 1452.

But there is only one region where he can call the shots, Austria.

Today's Europe is equivalent to a big battlefield where princes separatist.All the local forces fight today and unite tomorrow. There has never been a royal family that can truly convince the public.

It was also for this reason that Da Ming never understood how they connected to form a coalition army, and how they could expand eastward to fight Tang Sai'er.

If you can't know the inside story, you can't effectively divide them and completely eliminate their threat.

Daming is not afraid of going to war directly, but it is too uneconomical to go to war.It costs a lot of manpower and force to supply thousands of kilometers of supply lines, and the cost is too high, but after winning the battle, the benefits that can be reaped are too little.

So Zhu Zhanji couldn't be interested in fighting them. It was all about touching jade with the opponent's tiles.

When Europe did not have the resource supply of the Americas, they were so poor that it was not interesting.

Moreover, what can happen after it is beaten?Send Daming people to manage and collect taxes?Wouldn't that make Daming fall into the people's war!

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji wants to divide them directly, and then let their people live in dire straits through economic exploitation.

A poor life will prevent their population from developing, and as the Ming Dynasty gets stronger and stronger, there will be more and more Han people, and eventually they will become a minority limited to Europe.

And they will also become cheap labor for Ming Dynasty, just like North Korea and Japan.

In the parliament building, Monte took his eldest son, and the General Secretary of Ming Dynasty who pretended to be a subordinate, and the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducted trade negotiations with the other party.

But in the city of Cologne, Meng Zheng, who was driving around in a car, became the focus of the whole city.

Cars are a new gadget, and there are not many of them in Ming Dynasty. In Europe, only a few governors and soldiers were equipped with this contraption two years ago.

The vast majority of Europeans, even if they have heard of cars, have never seen them.For the people in the north, if they can run without horses, even God can't make a car.

A large group of children followed behind his car, attracting countless eyes wherever he went.And Meng Zheng's handsome appearance can attract a lot of women to wink at him wherever he goes.

Meng Zheng is now playing the role of a playboy, a rich second-generation ancestor.Seeing those women who fit his aesthetics, he didn't hesitate to smile at all, showing a charming smile.

Seeing those women, the girls were very shy about it, so he showed a smug smile.

It's a pity that he only understands Latin, not the language here. If he can understand, he has no doubt that he has a lot of affairs today.

He likes this kind of life, not only can he have public funds for him to be chic, but also the thrills and thrills in it also make him intoxicated.

He has decided that starting tomorrow, he will make a few noble friends here, and then start learning various languages ​​​​except Latin.

There are too many people like him in Daming, it is difficult to get ahead, but in Europe, he can easily get ahead.

He has already figured it out, in addition to eating, drinking and having fun, he also wants to promote football in Europe.There is no game that can show the sports that belong to Ming Dynasty like football.

And this kind of movement that does not require language will allow him to quickly spread his fame in Europe.

Today's meeting went very smoothly. Although most of the profits Monte earned during this trip had to be handed over, they were still much higher than the profits he predicted when he came.

It only takes a few days for these goods to be sold, and it will bring him a large profit.

What made him even more gratified was that this time he had a close relationship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of General Administration, and established business contacts with the Hanseatic League. In the future, he will definitely become one of the most dazzling businessmen in Ming Dynasty.

"In the next few days, you will mainly focus on communication in Cologne. We need you to attract the favor of nobles throughout Northern Europe with your luxurious style, so that everyone wants to establish a close relationship with you. In the process of communicating with them Pay attention to the composition of the current white coalition, and find out which forces are behind this coalition."

After listening to Fan Xue's explanation from the Secretary of General Administration, Monte asked: "Haven't we already checked almost everything, have the Hanseatic League, the Principality of Lithuania, the Principality of Kiev, and Hungary all participated?"

Fan Xue shook his head and said: "These are just public news. If we only want to know this, we can find out in Crete. What we need to know is who is connecting in the middle, who is leading, and who they are united with. What is the relationship of interest, how to raise funds, how to pay for weapons, and how to distribute the profits of war.

Only by knowing this can we purposely divide and target and break the opponent's alliance.So, the next task for you is still very heavy. If possible, we also hope that you can go to Hamburg, Berlin, or even Lithuania. "

Monte pondered for a while and said: "I can know the purpose of the empire, but, as a businessman, if I stay in Europe and won't raise goods, won't it arouse suspicion?"

Fan Xue said with a smile: "With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, do you have to go back to Daming to ship the goods? In my opinion, as long as the Mongolian side goes back. You stay in Europe and mix into the upper class of Europe. , your caravan will grow bigger and bigger."

Both the Mongolian side and the Mongolian side were overjoyed. The Mongolian side was happy that he could finally take charge of his own affairs. With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he believed that going back to Daming to purchase goods would be very smooth. The business is very beneficial.

Mengzheng, however, was thinking about his own mission, and said, "Father, if you stay in Europe, it will be more natural for me to stay in Europe. You are negotiating trade among European countries, and I am staying in Europe to take advantage of dudes." They are not as smart as those old foxes, and a lot of information can be obtained from their mouths."

He looked at Fan Xue again and said, "Director Fan, besides eating, drinking and having fun, I want to promote football in Europe. Football in Ming Dynasty has now become a national sport, but Europe does not have the technology to manufacture football, so there is no Popular. If I promote football, I will definitely be able to establish my unique image in Europe, which will be positive for my development in Europe."

Fan Xue looked at several subordinates, they discussed in a low voice, nodded and said: "This will indeed promote Mengzheng's reputation in Europe, and increase his charm from the image of a dandy."

Fan Xuedao: "Well, include this plan in your tasks. Have you figured out where to start?"

Mengzheng nodded and said: "Follow my father around Europe first. As for me to take root in Europe, I think the most suitable place is Milan. It is located in the center of Europe, and the economy is relatively developed, so it is suitable as a base. "

Fan Xue nodded, and also approved the place Mengzheng chose, but Mengzheng's identity is a problem.

The classes in Europe are also very distinct. It is difficult for a commoner, no matter how rich he is, to enter the world of the nobility.

If you want Mengzheng to play a greater role, you must give him a noble status.Only in this way can he enter the noble rank more easily.

It is a pity that, as Mount's reputation as a Lord of Honor has spread, it would be inappropriate to assign him another status now.

Otherwise, as long as Monte is an earl, he will naturally be more favored by European nobles than he is now.

Fan Xue pondered for a while and said: "It's too late to arrange a noble status for your father, but you can. After a few days, you will leave with the fleet. The publicity is that you need to go back to Daming to inherit your aunt's legacy. Your Majesty's title. The General Secretary will try his best to persuade His Majesty to confer you a title, so you need to go back to Daming in person."

Monte stood up as if in a dream, grabbed Fan Xue's arm and said, "Is this true?"

Fan Xue shook his head and said: "I can't guarantee it! But from what I've seen, His Majesty attaches great importance to intelligence work. In order to cooperate with the actions of the Secretary of General Administration, even if an official title is rare, it should be no problem for Meng Zheng to be awarded a honorary title."