Chapter 291 Fortunately, there are no great powers in Nanjing (Twenty-four)
Accepting Japan's dispatch of "envoys to the Ming Dynasty" is undoubtedly a major event from Japan's perspective and deserves the attention of the entire country's ruling class. However, for today's Ming Dynasty, this is nothing more than
It's a small matter that can be decided by the emperor and his chief minister in just one conversation.
Thanks to Zhou Gongdan and the First Emperor, China was politically precocious in the world at the same time - and too mature. China has an excellent foundation, with a vast territory, a huge family, a unified culture, centralized power, and everything
Let it be natural, and it will inevitably become a "celestial dynasty" that is both envied and feared by the surrounding foreign countries.
Looking at the major European countries at this time, who is in a better situation than Ming Dynasty?
First, let’s talk about Tsarist Russia, the most powerful enemy that the Ming Dynasty will most likely face on land in the future. It has been just over a hundred years since Tsarist Russia got rid of the “Tatar yoke”. Today, in the 30th year of Wanli, in 1602 AD, Tsarist Russia lost power.
The structure is not yet stable, the aristocracy plays an important role in the political arena, and the authority of the tsar has not yet been fully established, and the aristocrats often have considerable autonomy and influence.
At this time, Ivan IV, also known as the "Thunder Emperor", had passed away and his son Fyodor succeeded to the throne. However, because Fyodor was frail and uninterested in politics, national affairs were mainly handled by his confidant Boris Godon.
Nov's handling. During Godunov's regency, the power struggle among the nobles became increasingly fierce, paving the way for subsequent political turmoil.
Of course, Tsarist Russia had already begun its pace of external expansion around 1602. For example, Tsarist Russia sent troops to invade the Khiva Khanate in Central Asia. Although this invasion ended in failure, it already showed Tsarist Russia's ambition for external expansion.
Gao Pragmatic had a premonition or speculation that as the Ming Dynasty's power expanded westward to the limit of its ruling power before the advent of the railway, Burihatu, who was expelled westward to Central Asia by the Ming Dynasty, would inevitably clash with Tsarist Russia.
In the early stages of the conflict, relying on Burihatu's ability, the Chahar tribe should be able to occupy a certain advantage, but he will always pass away one day. After his death, unless the Chahar tribe can have one or even several generations of "holy kings"
" Otherwise, Tsarist Russia will definitely be able to rely on the advancement of Western firearms to gradually regain its disadvantage until it completely completes the conquest of Central Asia - unless this process drags on for too long, so that railways appear, and Ming Dynasty's power continues to expand westward along with the railways.
However, that has little to do with the Chahar tribe. Because by that time, the protagonists of the confrontation have been replaced by the Ming Dynasty and Tsarist Russia. Of course, the premise of all this is that the Chahar tribe still maintains its nomadic tradition and is not so ferocious.
Going all the way south through Persia and reaching the Indian Ocean, political wisdom exploded at the same time, and the maritime age actually started - Gao Pragmatic felt that this was really impossible.
Talking back to Tsarist Russia, its opponents were of course more than just Chahar, and its expansion direction was far beyond Central Asia. It had many conflicts with neighboring countries. For example, the conflict with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was particularly serious during this period.
Fierce, the two sides have fought and will continue to fight many wars in order to compete for territory and influence. These conflicts will not only consume Tsarist Russia's national power, but also aggravate its internal political turmoil.
In terms of economic and political systems, serfdom was gradually developing in Tsarist Russia around 1602. In order to increase their wealth and power, the nobles began to purchase and possess serfs in large quantities. This system not only aggravated social conflicts, but also restricted Tsarist Russia.
Economic development. It must be said that serfdom is still being practiced in the seventeenth century, and will continue to be practiced for three hundred years. The political and economic systems of Tsarist Russia are indeed very backward.
It is precisely because of wars, natural disasters and the exploitation of nobles that Tsarist Russia will face serious economic difficulties during this period. Problems such as fiscal depletion, heavy taxation and peasant uprisings emerge one after another, which seriously shakes the foundation of Tsarist Russia's rule.
As for religion, Tsarist Russia was still deeply influenced by the Orthodox Church during this period. Religion always played an important role in the political, economic and social life of Tsarist Russia. The nobles often used religion to consolidate their dominance, while the people sought help through religion.
Spiritual sustenance and comfort.
Other things, such as culture, did not have a significant impact on Tsarist Russia at this time, so I won’t talk about it for now.
In short, in the 30th year of Wanli, that is, around 1602, Tsarist Russia was in a period of political turmoil, military expansion, and economic difficulties. Its power had crossed the Ural Mountains eastward, and the farthest end of its tentacles could even reach the Oara
All parts are connected.
However, just as the Ming Dynasty could only rely on moving the Ordos tribe to Qihe to control the northwest region of the original Oara tribes, Tsarist Russia was also unable to invest much strength here.
For the time being - Gao Pragmatic means that within the possible period of his assistantship - there may be tentacle-level conflicts between the Ming Dynasty and Tsarist Russia, but since the power that both sides can invest is far from enough, it is unlikely.
A serious conflict broke out.
Let’s look at the early colonial countries. Let’s talk about the Spanish-Portuguese colonial empire first (the King of Spain continued to serve as the King of Portugal and formed a common confederacy). At this time, Philip II, who “the world is not enough for me”, had passed away and succeeded to the throne.
It was the mediocre and incompetent Philip III.
On the surface, the Spanish-Portuguese Empire at this time was still dazzling. Spain occupied most of the Americas from Mexico in the north to Peru in the south. The massive gold and silver provided it with a steady stream of financial resources for its conquests in all directions;
Portugal occupied Brazil in the Americas, established numerous coastal colonial cities or colonial strongholds in Africa and Asia, and basically controlled most of the silk, porcelain, and spices sold in the "Ming-Southern Xinjiang Economic System" from the Indian Ocean to West Asia and Europe.
(Spices mainly come from Nanyang controlled by Jinghua), tea and other high-end goods, the profits are huge.
However, in its prosperous times, it was already full of crises. The Spanish-Portuguese Empire (hereinafter referred to as Spain) faced many difficulties in Europe, especially war and economic difficulties, which can be summarized as follows:
This chapter is not over, please click the next page to continue reading! The first is the dilemma of war. In the Anglo-Spanish War, in 1588, the Spanish Armada was attacked by the British Navy in the English Channel and was ultimately defeated. Although this battle was not as spectacular as that of later generations.
Some accounts stated that Spain's sea power was immediately replaced by Britain, but it did shake Spain's maritime supremacy and marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire.
At almost the same time, Dutch nobles and officials launched an uprising because they were dissatisfied with the Spanish royal family's tax policies and the Inquisition. After a long war, the Dutch provinces established the League of Utrecht in 1581 and declared independence from Spain. Spain spent much time in this war
He spent a lot of manpower and material resources, but ultimately failed to maintain his rule over the Netherlands.
Especially at the present time, between 1601 and 1604, Spanish troops besieged the "rebellious" Dutch-controlled fortress of Ostend, and although they eventually captured the city, they paid a heavy price. The city was completely destroyed, and the Spanish
This has placed a huge financial burden.
At the same time, many wars broke out between Spain and France, and the two sides continued to compete for territory and hegemony. These wars further weakened Spain's strength.
The first problem facing Spain is the fiscal deficit caused by over-expansion. Spain's colonial expansion in the Americas brought a lot of wealth, but it also brought huge military and administrative expenses. As time went by, these expenses gradually exceeded
This has affected Spain's fiscal affordability, leading to a deepening fiscal deficit.
The massive amounts of gold and silver shipped back from the American colonies not only made the Spanish royal family feel that they had unlimited money, but also led to a continuous increase in Spain's domestic currency supply, which together with the royal family's currency devaluation policy accelerated inflation. This not only harmed Spain's economic stability
, and also weakened the competitiveness of Spanish goods in the international market, causing various domestic industries in Spain to not only fail to benefit, but also become increasingly declining.
According to the history of Gao Pragmatic's previous life, by the middle of the 17th century, Spain would experience a severe economic recession and population decline. This was mainly due to losses caused by food failure, plague, smallpox, wars, and foreign immigration. These problems further
exacerbating Spain's economic woes.
At the same time, Spain spent a lot of money on the management and defense of the colonies, but these investments did not bring corresponding returns. At this time, the colonies had just begun to be built, but their markets were very limited and they were under competitive pressure from other European countries.
In addition, prohibiting non-Spanish immigrants from immigrating to Spanish Latin America also limited the colony's economic development.
To sum up briefly, the wars and economic difficulties faced by Spain in Europe were one of the important reasons for the decline of its empire. As a devout and exemplary Catholic country and a big country ruled by the Habsburg family, it is almost impossible for it to survive.
Withdrawing from the war for European hegemony, it can be said that it is inevitable that it will continue to bleed itself until it is finally unable to recover.
Of course, this may still be a good thing for Gao Jingshi or the Ming Dynasty. Especially when its own industry becomes increasingly weak, Spain has begun to import firearms to southern Xinjiang, which is something Gao Jingshi is quite happy about.
——Not because of how much money can be earned, but when this trade route is established, Gao Pragmatism will always be able to maintain the level of firearms development in Southern Xinjiang. Even if he passes away in the future, the development of firearms in Southern Xinjiang and even the Ming Dynasty will not lag behind.
The west.
Gao Pragmatism never thinks that Europe's strength in the next few hundred years comes from any political system. Their strength comes from demand!
Because the strength of the major countries is not much different, they compete with each other in industry, and even wars break out with each other almost constantly. So you chase each other, resulting in industrial progress and firearms updates. Internal fights are fought.
, while going out to fight, I suddenly found out during the fight-Hey, why are you so careless? So the colonial era began.
In the final analysis, it is not that China's system is backward, but that China is too powerful in the known world and has almost no real, comprehensive competitors, so it has lost the need for rapid progress!
Some people may say, wasn't Mongolia always regarded as a strong enemy by the Ming Dynasty? Wasn't the Ming Dynasty eventually replaced by the Qing Dynasty? How can it be said that there are no competitors?
Mongolia can indeed rely on fast horses and strong bows to threaten the frontier, but can it really be compared with the Ming Dynasty? The Tatar Qing Dynasty did replace the Ming Dynasty, but what destroyed the Ming Dynasty was an internal uprising, and the main force that destroyed the Southern Ming was the Ming army that defected to the Tatar Qing Dynasty.
.In the final analysis, the demise of Ming Dynasty was actually suicide, not homicide!
Let me ask the simplest question: Which of the major unified dynasties in China was defeated by foreign enemies during the period of rising national power and when the internal contradictions in the country were not obvious? None.
The country is not in danger because of virtue. This sentence makes sense in Chinese history, as long as you understand the "virtue" here correctly. This "virtue" is not morality, but its meaning is internal harmony. Internal harmony
China has never been afraid of any foreign enemies, because its foundation is so good - a vast territory, a huge tribe, a unified culture, and centralized power.
It is born, naturally, and should be a leading country!
Since we are talking about leading countries, let’s take a look at the British leader who “led” the world’s overall situation for more than two hundred years in original history. At this time, England had not yet dramatically “shared the monarch” with Scotland, let alone “unified”.
The conquest of Ireland was only half completed.
At this time, England continued to be ruled by the last queen of the Tudor dynasty, the "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I. Due to competition with Spain and the Netherlands in religion, industry and other aspects, as well as losses caused by wars, England
The country is in the same place.
When the Ming Dynasty was deeply troubled by the Little Ice Age, Europe also entered the Little Ice Age. The cooling climate had a negative impact on agricultural production, with grain output declining and prices rising.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The food problem in England is particularly serious because the population is growing rapidly and the demand for food has increased significantly. This has led to food shortages and a general decline in people's living standards.
Due to the need to develop colonies, European factory handicrafts had begun to develop rapidly in the late 16th century, but craftsmen in England were facing competitive pressure from countries such as the Netherlands. Due to the massive unemployment of individual craftsmen who were unable to compete with large-scale production, the situation intensified.
of urban poverty in England.
Facing the problem of poverty, the English government revised and promulgated a series of poor relief laws in an attempt to alleviate poverty through taxation and relief measures. However, the effect of these measures was limited, and many extremely poor people still did not receive effective assistance.
The religious situation in England was still complex and changeable in 1602. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the status of the Church of England (Anglican Church) was consolidated, but religious differences and conflicts still existed.
As for external expansion, England at this time also coveted the gains made by the Spanish-Portuguese Empire, but it would have to wait another 5-6 years to achieve obvious results. For example, in 1607, England established its first permanent overseas territory in Jamestown, Virginia.
Colonies, which marked the initial expansion of England's colonies in North America.
In Asia, the East India Company arrived in Surat on the west coast of the Indian peninsula in 1608, established its first trading point, and established a factory at Mesulipadham on the ebony coast of the Bay of Bengal to conduct profit-making activities.
The high pragmatism in the Americas is currently out of reach, especially the east coast of North America, which is completely out of reach. However, if the British want to land in the Bay of Bengal and start the colonization of India as they did in history, the high pragmatism is completely acceptable.
At this time, the delivery capabilities of the European colonial countries were actually the same. As long as there was no significant military generation difference, they would still give in when they should. Some people may say that leading the British to fight against the Qing Dynasty is not a joke.
Is it the same? Did the British army at that time have a generational advantage?
That is to say, is there a possibility that the tens of thousands of "old brothers from Guangxi" in the early days of the Taiping Rebellion were not as good as the Tatars in weapons and equipment, but the Qing army also achieved a record of military generation - until the Tianjing Incident.
The country is not in danger, but virtue. When a regime devotes all its energy to internal consumption, regardless of whether it is the Qing Dynasty or the Taiping Rebellion, the military will immediately show that kind of staggering crotch pulling.
Unfortunately, it was already 1949 when this kind of "virtue" was restored. Coincidentally, after restoring this kind of "virtue", China immediately faced a life-and-death test. At first, it seemed almost like a heavenly soldier.
The top Western military force, which is like a general, encountered the Chinese army that had restored its "Germany" in North Korea. In the end, it sadly stopped at the 38th Parallel, unable to move even half a step toward North Vietnam.
Why does Gao Pragmatic always regard dealing with the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty as the most important thing, and does not hesitate to use huge forces in external wars? Because China handles the internal problems well, it has huge power to use, and in the crushing situation, as long as the commander follows the steps and does not make mistakes, it will be
There is no way TM will lose!
Since China's most obvious advantage lies in size, then I will adjust my body well and then use my size to crush you to death!
Not convinced? If not convinced, hold it in!
At this time, the Ming Dynasty had this mentality when it came to Japan. It was the same mentality when it came to the so-called "great powers" in the West in the future!
As long as I open my eyes and know where the Western countries have come, and keep their military from falling behind... there are no great powers in the world!
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PS: This chapter is the end of Chapter 291: Nanjing, and it is also the end of the entire super-long volume "Three Major Marches". The next volume will really be the last one. If some readers hadn't insisted that I finish it in detail,
I only need three chapters to finish.
In fact, this book does not have much financial benefit. I dare say that for most authors, it should have been "cut off" long ago, and it should not even be on the shelves. But as I said, if someone reads it, I
Just write. Of course making money is important, but fulfilling your promise is even more important.
