The world situation is both complex and simple. In Peter's view, there are only two ways for him to grow stronger now.
First, just like Britain and France, starting the colonial route usually snowballed bigger and bigger.
But now the north is the Arctic Ocean, with a long ice age. Not to mention now, even in the 21st century, even with icebreaker technology, there is not a single city along the coast. In the mid-18th century, Russia set out from the Arctic Ocean or entered the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean to expand.
Fighting for colonies is an unattainable dream.
But to the south of Russia is Crimea, the three Baltic countries, and the Ottoman territory that surrounded the Black Sea coast like a line.
If you want to go south to the Black Sea, you have to start a war with the Ottomans, although this war was fought during the Ye Er period.
Even after opening up the Black Sea and the Turkish Strait, although the Ottoman Empire was in decline, Greece next to the strait was still under Ottoman control, let alone the Balkan Peninsula.
If you go west, you will start from St. Petersburg and go west.
Poland and Lithuania lie across there, and to the west of Poland is the fragmented HRE, and East Prussia is rising.
To the north, there was a Great Northern War with Sweden, which made Sweden spit out the Baltic Sea. What else was it fighting for?
Denmark, Norway?
This is simply not comparable to the strategic significance of going south to the Black Sea and Watermelon Poland.
Russia is now the largest continental power in the world in terms of geographical area. It has population and social structure advantages that even Britain and France cannot match. It has a standing army of 300,000 people. If it is mobilized for war, with its current population of more than 15 million, 90% of the base are serfs.
, one country is enough to have an army combat capability that can dominate the entire Europe.
The entire Europe, including Britain and France, has an army combat strength of only 1.5 million.
Both Frederick I and II pursued **** and relied on the strength of the army. Counting future development, the 13th largest population in Europe supported the third largest army in Europe, with a peak strength of only 150,000.
In terms of population, two-legged animals turned into soldiers, Russia ranks first in the world!
To the east is Siberia. The West Siberian plain alone is nearly 2,000 kilometers long. If you include the East Siberian mountains, the entire Siberia is 7,000 kilometers from west to east.
Everything from east to west, north and south seems to be trapped.
So there is a second option.
Second, engage in economic development, practice internal strength, develop foreign trade, and replenish the national treasury.
Sweden exhausted its treasury during the long-term foreign wars. Peter I took the opportunity to launch the Great Northern War, which eventually caused Sweden to spit out the Baltic Sea. Peter I became the Great Emperor from then on.
Later, Peter built the Peter and Paul Fortress at the mouth of the Baltic Sea, established the city of St. Petersburg and set up the capital here. With his iron determination, he showed his attitude towards westward advancement, which made Sweden dare not act rashly.
East Prussia is going crazy for money.
The British population is limited, and labor costs are much higher than those in the European continent. It is not cost-effective to maintain a strong army to intervene in the European continent. However, the cost of Prussian human resources is lower than that of Western Europe, and it meets the needs of the British continental balance of power strategy, so the British have taken a fancy to Prussia.
During the Seven Years' War, Prussia received more than 6.5 million pounds in funding from Britain every year. This was only a small amount of money for Britain, but it was enough to fight until Prussia ran out of men.
In 1517, the Ottoman Empire destroyed the Mamluk dynasty and occupied Egypt.
In 1744, Egypt was a semi-independent feudal dynasty, still under Ottoman rule.
The Suez Canal was opened to navigation in November 1869. In 1875, the Egyptian government experienced financial constraints and was unable to repay its foreign debts. The British used 4 million pounds to acquire most of the canal company shares owned by the Egyptian government.
That's the Suez Canal!!!
In the 21st century, a cargo ship with a carrying capacity of 220,000 tons and a length of 400 meters ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking the entire canal for a week.
For every hour of congestion, the total losses in all aspects exceed US$2.6 billion.
Even in the 19th century, 4 million pounds was a shameless profit for Britain.
And what about Russia?
In 1749, the total import and export volume of Russia's foreign trade was 7 million rubles. By the 1990s, it had increased to 109.6 million rubles. It can be said that there is a lot of room for improvement.
Peter's heart was clear. Even if he couldn't direct the war, he could still do many things after becoming the Grand Duke.
Renovate the Moscow canal system, dig new canals, connect the Don and Volga rivers, etc.
He has just passed his 16th birthday, and his aunt will give him the title of Grand Duke when he gets engaged, so that he can initially participate in government affairs.
Even if he participates in government affairs, the war for the succession to the throne is coming to an end, and it is not something he can interfere with, nor is it necessary.
And the Seven Years' War will start in 12 years. In these 12 years, he will use his own advantages to turn Russia upside down!
When the Seven Years' War broke out, he was said to be a loner.
My money! My treasury! My—
Great Russian country!
And does money have anything to do with what he is doing before becoming the Grand Duke?
have!
Some people only see him using fashion and literature to show off, but fail to see the turbulent undercurrent behind the show-off...
There is no way, only handsome people can see it.
"Aunt, are you comfortable?"
Peter drew two more pictures for his aunt, and then asked her aunt to press her long and beautiful legs.
"Peter, you are making Auntie more and more happy."
Elizabeth smiled happily.
In the past, Peter would never have been as filial as he is now. Not only has his Russian and French improved rapidly, but he has also completely said goodbye to his past bad habits. The most important thing is that he can also draw and design fashionable clothes.
It really made her admire her nephew with admiration.
She also saw Peter's reaction just now, but she didn't care much about it. The more powerful his nephew was, the happier he would be because there would be a successor to the empire.
Soon, Troits Monastery arrived.
As the center of Orthodox Christianity in Moscow, Peter felt at a glance that his aunt had chosen the right place.
It's magnificent, no wonder my aunt chose this place to relax, she enjoys it so much.
However, after glancing at Bestudev behind him, Peter shook his head secretly, and his aunt might be disappointed.
Relaxation may turn into anger.
After helping his aunt down, Peter waved to Sophia, asked her to walk side by side with him, and followed his aunt inside.
Behind them were Sofia's mother Johanna, Deputy Minister of General Affairs Bestudev, and Palace Physician Lestock.
Behind them are Countess Vivian and Vorontsova.
Little Vorontsova was brought here at Peter's request so that she could amuse the human cubs in her spare time.
It's okay to make you cry. Who dares to say that the crown prince is not?
At most she could blame little Vorontsova for being ignorant.
Besides, Vivian was still there, making her daughter cry and her mother. He didn't know whether his aunt was relaxing or not, but he was relaxing.