Mazarin, the cardinal, prime minister of France and lover of Lady Anne, got out of bed and got dressed.
He stood in front of a world map in a daze.
He held a cigarette between his index and middle fingers in his right hand, taking a puff of the cigarette in his hand from time to time and blowing out bursts of smoke rings.
Mazarin suffered from persistent migraines because of the rapid changes in the situation in Europe and the world during this period.
This kind of cigarette passed down from England can greatly relieve headaches. It is stronger and tastes better than the flue-cured tobacco sold in the Dahua Empire.
Mazaran heard that the sap of a flower fruit was added to this smoke.
He started having a headache again, and it would keep happening every time he stared at this world map.
Using the power of the Great China Empire as red, there are patches of red everywhere on the world map.
France has ended its war with the Holy Roman Empire and is preparing to look around the world and seize a large number of colonies.
They discovered that the better territories in the world had to be carved up by forces such as England, Spain, and the Great China Empire.
When Lady Anne saw her lover Mazarin's head aching again, he comforted her: "Mr. Bishop, thanks to the efforts of your teacher Richelieu and you.
The political situation of the dynasty has always been very stable. After several years of recuperation, France's national strength has been further enhanced.
Through the war some time ago, European countries also saw the strength of France.
France has become the overlord of all European countries, and only the Holy Roman Empire can rival us.
Now the Holy Roman Empire is clearly in decline.
The Habsburg dynasty was no longer able to suppress the growing local power.
I can see with my eyesight that the Holy Roman Empire will not last long."
"Anne, our most difficult enemy in France is not the enemy in Europe, but the power of the Chinese Empire that is eroding Europe."
French Prime Minister Mazarin stared at the world map and said with great certainty.
As a very discerning person in France, he had already judged the threat of the Great China Empire when he first came into contact with this force.
Prime Minister Mazarin then asked France to unite with England, and the two countries cooperated to encourage Russia.
They paid certain benefits to let the Russians test the depth of the Great China Empire.
This plan was very successful, and the tsar, who was already poor, had some friction with the Chinese Empire.
Russia quickly agreed with the two countries' opinions and immediately chose to send troops after receiving assistance.
Mazaran originally thought this was a clever plan to drive away tigers and devoured wolves.
If the mainland of the Great China Empire is attacked, they will not be able to continue to colonize other countries.
The tentacles that have penetrated deep into Europe will inevitably be withdrawn immediately.
Mazaran did not expect that the Dahua Empire would be so powerful.
Russia sent more than 300,000 troops, but it only took half a year to be defeated by the Chinese Empire.
Russia was about to be beaten into the hinterland by the Great China Empire, so it had no choice but to surrender and sign a humiliating agreement, which allowed the Great China Empire to withdraw its troops.
It is precisely because of this war that European countries are paying great attention to.
Let all knowledgeable people in Europe realize the threat of the Great China Empire.
This is also the reason why the Yellow Peril theory spread all the way from Moscow can spread widely in Europe.
After Russia's defeat, Mazarin asked France to frequently show goodwill to the Habsburg dynasty to reduce friction between the two countries.
The Habsburgs now control the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Spain.
These two European powers were the backbone of the resistance against the Chinese Empire.
Europe is already in chaos. No country wants to see a huge force emerge again in Europe.
Mazarin is using the Chinese Empire as an excuse to intimidate European countries into uniting.
He believed that as long as European countries abandoned their prejudices and France united the interests of all European parties, it would be able to resist the invasion of the Chinese Empire.
In this process, France will draw strength to strengthen itself and become the only overlord in Europe.
Cardinal Mazarin, the French Prime Minister, pointed to the specifically marked area of Egypt on the map.
"Mrs. Anne, the Han forces entrenched in Egypt are the most dangerous.
This force has already taken control of the Mediterranean ports. Once it grows stronger, it will be able to directly raid our port areas from the sea.
Fortunately, this force is now involved in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
We tried our best to arm the Ottoman Turkish Empire and let the Ottoman Turkish Empire hold back this Han force for us.
There is no need to spend a single soldier, we can get a huge amount of gold and silver, and we can fend off our old enemy.
This deal is really a good deal.
It’s not just us, the Habsburgs also can’t help but make this money.”
Mrs. Anne asked in confusion: "I can understand why we make money. After all, we are far away from the Ottoman Empire and there is no direct conflict.
As a force that resists the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Habsburg Dynasty has a blood feud with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and this time they will take the initiative to help the Ottoman Turkish Empire."
Mazaran pointedly pointed out: "There is no irresolvable hatred in the world. As long as the price is sufficient, old enemies will become friends."
Once the Ottoman Turkish Empire was conquered by Han forces.
The Habsburg dynasty will bear the brunt of the threat from Han forces.
The Habsburg family is one of the oldest families in Europe.
If they didn’t have this vision, they wouldn’t be able to survive.”
Mazaran had just finished smoking two cigarettes and his headache symptoms were relieved.
He felt that he could no longer live without the cigarettes produced in England.
Smoking this kind of cigarette can cure migraine. If you stop smoking, your headache will not only get worse.
There will also be tears streaming down the face, and the whole body will feel like ants are eating it.
Mazarin felt that his headache had disappeared and he stopped chatting with Lady Anne.
He began to stare at the world map, looking at the entanglement between the forces of the Chinese Empire and European countries.
France alone cannot stop the expansion of the Great China Empire.
The overall strength of all European countries must be united to prevent the invasion of the Great China Empire.
From the moment Mazaran thought of this method, he knew that it was extremely difficult.
European countries will not agree to France's proposal if their own interests are not harmed.
European countries will even keep a vigilant eye on France, doubting its true purpose.
Their suspicions were not wrong, and France's intentions were not pure.
If he could not take this opportunity to officially make France the European hegemon, he would be disgraced by the teachings of his teacher Richelieu.
To achieve this goal, France must find several loyal allies, and they must be strong enough allies.
While Mazaran was thinking about things, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Lady Anne immediately put on her cloak and sat down on the battlefield, pretending to be discussing the matter.
Everyone in the Palace of Versailles knew about Lady Anne's relationship with Bishop Mazarin.
When they have a tryst, no one will disturb them unless something urgent arises.
Once someone disturbs you, it must be a shocking event that involves the vital interests of France.
The last time he was disturbed, it was the last Russian czar. He was so angry at the defeat that Russia chose to surrender to the Great China Empire.
This incident will affect the future security of Europe, and France will not be immune to it.
Bishop Mazarin walked to the door, and the guards handed over several reports with a look of panic.
He closed the door again and opened the incident reported by his subordinates.
The impact of this incident on Europe was greater than the defeat of Russia.
The Han forces entrenched in Egypt dispatched their navy to attack Greece.
Now, according to the spies' observations, when he reported, the Han forces had already invaded Athens, and it would not take long for them to take over the Greek area.
Mazaran's expression changed drastically when he saw this report.
The area of Greece now belongs to the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
But the Greek region is indeed one of the core regions of Eastern Europe and the main birthplace of European culture.
Once this area is occupied by the Han people, these Han people can use Greece as a springboard to continuously attack the areas surrounding Greece.
The Han forces took over the Greek region, which also means that the Mediterranean will never have peace.
Mazaran looked at the detailed report and learned that the Han forces' attack on Greece was inseparable from the opening of the Suez Canal.
When he first heard the name Suez Canal a few years ago, he laughed at those Han people for being too naive.
It is very difficult to dig a canal.
But he has always been afraid that the Suez Canal will actually be opened.
In this way, the Han forces could invest their powerful navy into the Mediterranean Sea.
No European country's navy is sure of victory when faced with the Imperial Navy of Great China, which has outstanding military exploits.
Mazarin believes that it will take several years for the Suez Canal to be opened.
He did not expect that this extremely important canal would be opened in such a short period of time.
Lady Anne looked at Mazaran, whose expression changed greatly, and he asked anxiously: "What happened? Could it be that remnants of the previous dynasty are restoring their power?
Or maybe a prince from the Bourbon family dislikes me as regent and wants to overthrow us."
Mazaran waved his hands and said: "This is not the case, but it is more serious than this.
What we are facing this time is a foreign enemy. The Han forces have occupied Greece and they want to completely intervene in the European situation.
We don’t have much time to prepare anymore, and we must unite all forces in Europe as soon as possible.
The Han forces are extremely good at defeating each other and cannot let the enemy seize the opportunity."
When Lady Anne heard this, he was so frightened that his face turned pale.
The theory of the Yellow Peril is very popular in Europe. After propaganda, both nobles and common people in European countries.
They all understand that once the power of the Chinese Empire is allowed to occupy Europe, there will be no room for all of them to survive.
Lady Anne looked at Mazarin and asked in a trembling tone: "Mr. Bishop, do you have any good ideas to help France survive this crisis?"
Mazaran lit a cigarette again and puffed away at the smoke to relieve the headache that had recurred because of the news.
After he thought carefully, he turned to look at Lady Anne and said: "Europe's way of dealing with the crisis is still the old way.
Only by uniting together will we not be defeated one by one and completely reduced to a lost dog.
But these are extraordinary times, and we can only do extraordinary things."
Lady Anne saw that Mazarin needed to make great determination to do things.
She asked worriedly: "Mr. Bishop, what are your ideas?
If it is too difficult to implement, then we still have to consider it carefully."
Mazaran expressed his solemn expression and said his method.
"This time when the Han forces entered the Mediterranean, they used their navy to open the way.
The Mediterranean is our local homeland, as long as the routes of Han forces are cut off.
They will definitely drive the Han people in Greece back into the desert.
The biggest weakness of the Han people is the navy.
The most powerful naval countries in Europe are Spain and England.
But France wants these two countries to cooperate, and the difficulty is completely different.
Behind Spain was the Habsburg dynasty.
If they want Spain to cooperate, they must reach an agreement with the Habsburg dynasty.
The navy that is most likely to cooperate with France now is the English navy.
But now the situation in England is not good, they are still locked in a civil war.
The royal party and the parliamentary party fought against each other, and there were also royal parties and parliamentary parties in the British navy.
Now the two factions are holding each other back, and the British navy's combat effectiveness cannot be fully exerted.
If the civil strife in England continues to quarrel with each other, the countries in Europe will suffer losses.
I am prepared to let France mediate the English Civil War.
Europe has a common enemy and cannot allow England to waste all its resources in civil war."
When Lady Anne heard Mazarin talk about mediating the English Civil War, her expression changed drastically.
To mediate between civil war countries that are at war is to intervene in the other party's internal affairs with the idea of annexing or controlling the country.
France's gesture will alienate other European countries from France.
If France does this, the Habsburg dynasty will not agree, and all forces in England will hate France.
Lady Anne said worriedly: "Mr. Bishop, this is not a easy thing to do. One mistake will cause turmoil in all parties in Europe.
Can we use another method to inform the British and British parties of their interests and allow them to take the initiative to cease the war?"
Bishop Mazarin shook his head and said: "It takes too long. By the time we solve this problem, the Han people have already reached the city.
Now we must use the power of thunder to resolve the civil strife in England.
I have thought about this before, and now I have an idea for how to deal with it."
After Bishop Mazarin finished speaking, he said goodbye to Lady Anne and left the Palace of Versailles.
He was still thinking about how to quickly resolve the civil strife in England.
The only way Bishop Mazarin can think of now is to support the side that has the upper hand on the battlefield.
France provides assistance to the stronger side.
In this way, the strong will always be strong, and the strong side can defeat the weak side at an extremely fast speed.
Only in this way can the vitality of England be preserved to the greatest extent.
Bishop Mazarin thought about this, and he immediately called his confidants to discuss the pros and cons of this method.
Confidants agreed that this method was feasible.
Only by doing this can France solve the civil strife in England.
Another advantage of doing this is that they can choose the partners they work with.
The partner selected for cooperation must be someone who has a good impression of France.
This man will rise quickly with the help of France.
The relationship between England and France will also be taken to the next level.
Mazarin and his confidants, based on the news coming from England.
Discussing which noble they should choose as a partner.
Mazaran rejected several candidates in succession. He believed that these people were very mediocre. The most important point was that these people were difficult to control.
It wasn't until he saw a candidate that he made the decision. (End of chapter)