In addition to Tsarist Russia, the Spanish-Portuguese Empire and England, there are certainly forces in Europe that deserve high pragmatic attention.
For example, France. In 1602, France was under the rule of the Bourbon dynasty, and Henry IV was on the throne. Henry IV was a famous monarch in French history, and his reign was called the "Henry IV"
.
During his reign, France experienced the turmoil of the religious wars, but he ended the war by promulgating the Edict of Nantes and achieved the peaceful coexistence of domestic religions. In terms of economy, Henry IV implemented a series of reform measures,
It promoted the development of agriculture and handicrafts and enhanced the country's financial strength.
However, at this time, the degree of centralization in France was relatively low, and the power of the aristocracy was still strong, which to a certain extent limited the country's unity and development. However, France was also greedy for Spain's huge overseas gains, and France also began to
Part of the force was invested in colonial expansion.
Of course, France's colonial expansion has only just begun, and there is no conflict with the Ming Dynasty yet - or to put it more bluntly, with southern Xinjiang, so Gao Pragmatic believes that just keep paying attention.
After all, according to the common view of later generations, France's colonial expansion began in 1604, and its arrival in India was already in 1676... Well, I should be no longer alive by then, he thought.
Next is the Netherlands. In 1602, the Netherlands was in the later stages of the Dutch War of Independence (Eighty Years' War). The Dutch United Provinces had actually broken away from Spanish rule, but the war was not yet over.
The Netherlands became an important commercial and financial center in Europe during this period, and its maritime trade and colonial expansion brought it huge wealth. The Dutch financial system was relatively developed, and Amsterdam became one of the financial centers in Europe. The Dutch Navy
The force was also quite strong, and they fought many fierce battles with Spain at sea.
The rise of the Netherlands marked the birth of a commercial and maritime power, and its foreign colonial expansion was much earlier than France. However, Gao Pragmatic has no fear of the Netherlands. This country does have some pretty good systems at present, such as the Ming Dynasty or Southern Xinjiang.
There are lessons to be learned from these systems, but the Netherlands itself is too small to pose a direct threat to either the Ming Dynasty or southern Xinjiang.
On the contrary, under the premise that both the Ming Dynasty and Southern Xinjiang have enough force to deter the Netherlands, the Netherlands may even become a new trading partner, and Gao Pragmatic is quite looking forward to this.
Then there is the Holy Roman Empire. In 1602, the Holy Roman Empire was still under the relatively strong rule of the Habsburg Dynasty, with Rudolf II on the throne.
However, as we all know, the degree of centralization of the Holy Roman Empire was extremely low, each state had a very high degree of autonomy, and the emperor's power was relatively weak - the so-called "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire", although this is France
It was a ridicule made by Enlightenment thinkers in order to stimulate nationalism in their own country, but even if this ridicule is not completely true, it still makes some sense.
This reality has led to division and turmoil within the empire, and constant contradictions and conflicts between states. For example, in terms of religion, the contradiction between Catholicism and Protestantism in the Holy Roman Empire is still acute, which further aggravates the instability of the empire——
Therefore, in more than ten years, the European religious war with the Holy Roman Empire as the main battlefield, the "Thirty Years' War", will soon begin.
[Note: The religious wars in Europe did not break out just because of religious conflicts. They were more wars under the guise of religious conflicts, in which various states and even other European powers competed for their interests. This matter is too complicated to explain in a few words. Here is the summary
Not expanded.]
Despite this, the Holy Roman Empire still made significant achievements in culture and science, and many artists and scientists were active within the empire during this period. In short, precisely because their internal struggles were too fierce, they were temporarily unable to involve overseas colonization, and with the Ming Dynasty,
There won't be many conflicts in southern Xinjiang, so Gao Pragmatic doesn't think he needs to pay too much attention to it for the time being.
In addition to the countries mentioned above, Sweden will also usher in the rule of the most famous king in its history, Gustavus II, nine years later, in 1611.
Under his leadership, Sweden, a small and transparent country in Northern Europe in the past, would quickly come to prominence. His military reforms made the Swedish army one of the most modern forces in Europe at the time, thus playing an important role in the Thirty Years' War.
Although the Polish-Lithuanian Federation was riddled with internal contradictions, it still maintained a huge scale and strength that cannot be underestimated. It had significant influence in Eastern Europe. At the same time, it continued to maintain an ongoing conflict with Tsarist Russia until its outrageous king selection system led to
At the national level, it "evolved" from incompetent to incompetent, was completely crushed by Tsarist Russia, and was finally carved up several times by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and finally "no Poland".
Therefore, although the Bolivian Federation still has certain strength at this time, Gao Pragmatic does not care. In Gao Pragmatic's eyes, there is only one historical mission left for it: how much power it can hold back Tsarist Russia. After all, this is related to the stability of the western part of the Ming Dynasty.
when.
As for Italian city-states such as Venice and Genoa, although they no longer enjoy the hegemonic status of the Middle Ages, they still maintain prosperous commercial activities and naval power in the Mediterranean. Venice is especially known for its shrewd diplomacy and solid maritime defenses, successfully resisting
Multiple invasions by the Ottomans...
Oh, by the way, Ottoman, this country has been the protagonist in the "European Universal" series for two to three hundred years, so we can't forget it.
The rise of the Ottoman Empire began at the end of the 13th century, originally as one of the many beyliks (feudal territories) in Anatolia (now Turkey). Under the rule of Sultan Orhan and his son Murad I, the Ottomans
It began to advance towards the heart of the Byzantine Empire, and finally crossed the Dardanelles into Europe in 1354. This event marked the beginning of the expansion era of the Ottoman Empire, and was also a key turning point in its gradual development into a superpower spanning three continents.
[Note: "Byzantine Empire" is not the country's official self-proclaimed name, but a name coined by some later European historians. One is to better distinguish it from the Western Roman Empire, and the other is to deliberately refer to it contemptuously.
This book will not make a judgment on this issue. In short, for the citizens of this country, they always call themselves the "Roman Empire" or "Eastern Roman Empire", and they call themselves "Romans".]
In 1453, Muhammad II led an army to capture Constantinople, completely ending the thousand-year-old Byzantine Empire (or the Eastern Roman Empire). This move not only symbolized the XXX world's major victory over the Christian world, but also allowed the Ottoman Empire to
It gained important strategic strongholds and controlled the Bosporus, the chokepoint for East-West trade.
In the following centuries, the Ottoman Empire continued to expand its territory in three directions: east, south, and west, and successively annexed most of the Balkan Peninsula, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, parts of western Saudi Arabia and northern Africa. It was extremely powerful.
powerful.
For Europe, the rapid expansion of the Ottoman Empire brought huge impacts and threats:
Militaryly, the Ottoman military power, especially its cavalry and naval fleet, once made the whole of Europe tremble. Between 1480 and 1481, the Ottoman army even invaded southern Italy, forcing the Holy See to urgently mobilize Christian countries to form a coalition for defense. 1529
In 1683 and 1683 in the original history, the two sieges of Vienna almost rewritten the historical process of Europe. The latter brought the Polish Hussars to their peak...but it may also be the last song.
Economically, the Ottoman Empire's control of the Eastern Mediterranean sea route seriously hindered the traditional east-west trade route, causing commodity prices in Europe to soar and damaging the interests of merchants. One of the most critical reasons why Europeans wanted to engage in the "Great Navigation" was
The reason was that the original trade routes were cut off by the Ottomans, and it was impossible to buy Eastern silk, porcelain, spices and other commodities that were very popular in Europe and of huge profit. In addition, the Ottomans imposed heavy taxes on neighboring countries, which also increased the burden on the local economy.
Cultural and religious conflicts... skip this article.
Finally, there is the political influence. The existence of the Ottomans prompted European countries to adjust their foreign policies and form a changeable alliance system. Sometimes there were even situations where Christian countries formed alliances with pagan countries to resist common enemies - you know who I am talking about.
God is a filial son, right? Hey, French classmate, please sit down first and don’t get excited...
This situation of being unilaterally defeated by the Ottomans did not gradually begin to be reversed until the Naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571. In this year, the Holy Alliance composed of Spain, Venice and the Papal States defeated the Ottoman navy. For the time being - note
Only temporarily - curbing the latter's expansion in the Mediterranean.
Until now around 1602, the Ottoman Empire is still Europe's biggest foreign threat. Every military action it takes can trigger widespread panic and turmoil, forcing European countries to always be vigilant and prepared to deal with the challenge of this powerful opponent.
Originally, Gao Pragmatic's attitude towards the Ottoman Empire was "well done, keep working hard", because the stronger the Ottomans were, the harder it would be for Europe to have spare power to expand outward. However, this attitude was reflected in a piece of intelligence sent back by Liu Wei after his Western Expedition.
There have been some changes below.
To put it simply, the Ottoman Empire's provision of military assistance to Burihatu was discovered by Liu Wei and notified to Gao Pragmatic. This not only aroused Gao Pragmatic's dissatisfaction, but more importantly, it attracted his attention - your Ottoman hand stretched out.
Does it have to be so long?
However, Liu Wei recently discovered some new information during the counter-rebellion process. The intelligence showed that the Ottoman Empire provided arms and even technology to the Chahar tribe that occupied Yarkand at the time. The primary imaginary enemy may not be the Ming Dynasty, but Persia.
This matter is actually a bit complicated. To make a long story short, when the Ottomans rose, a young hero also emerged in Persia. This man started his conquest in the small Ardabil area, but in the short period of 1502-1509
In seven years, he successively occupied most of Persia, Armenia, Kurdistan and Iraq, and established the famous Safavid Empire of Persia in later generations - this man was Ismail I, and in 1502, when he launched his conquest
Year, he was only 15 years old.
But it is a pity that in 1514, in the Battle of Chaldiran with Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, he was defeated by the Ottoman army because he underestimated the artillery of the Ottoman Empire. A large number of people had been following him, and it can even be said that
Ismail, who grew up with him and was like a brother and a father, also died in this war.
After that, Ismail became increasingly depressed and drank all day long. In May 1524, he died on the way to visit his hometown of Ardabil at the age of only 38.
In the following decades, the war between the two countries mainly focused on the struggle for control of Mesopotamia, the Armenian Highlands and the Azerbaijan region. Both sides achieved staged victories, such as the Safavid Empire in Takh
The counteroffensive during the period of Maspu I, as well as the military reorganization and counterattack of the Safavid Empire under the leadership of Abbasid the Great from the late 16th century to the early 17th century - that is, the period of the Ming Dynasty's "Wanli Resurrection" - successfully recaptured large areas of the country.
Lost soil.
Although there were short-lived peace agreements during the period, such as the Treaty of Amasya in 1555 and the Treaty of Zaheran in 1639, these agreements often only brought temporary calm because the fundamental conflict of interests between the two countries was not fundamentally resolved.
Once the time is right, the war will start again.
So what does this have to do with the Chahar tribe? It has a lot to do with it. After Gao Pragmatic expelled Chahar to the west, the Chahar tribe occupied the Yarkand region. The original official religious sect in the region was the same as that of the Ottoman Empire.
However, there are still many believers of the same sect as the Safavid Empire, which has led to both the Ottomans and Persia hoping to win Yarkand to be "of the same sect" as them.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! In this case, the Chahar tribe suddenly came over and conquered Yarkand, and it neither believed in the X faction nor the S faction, so Osman and
The Persians were even more eager to win over the Chahar tribe to convert.
After Burihatu figured out the inside story, he also knew that if he wanted to stabilize his rule in the local area, he would have to convert to other religions sooner or later, so he took advantage of both sides and weighed the better "who to hang out with" - of course, his "who to hang out with"
"Only at the religious level, not at the political level.
The result is that, based on the principle of "diplomacy far away and attack close", Burihatu carefully weighed the comprehensive national strength of both sides and finally chose to get close to the Ottomans. This is why Burihatu was able to get what the Ming Dynasty called "Rumi" from the Ottoman Empire.
"gun" musket. [Note: Of course, Burihatu also conducted other trade exchanges, etc. This has been written before in this book, so I will not repeat it.]
It is worth mentioning that with the Ming Dynasty's Western Expedition, the Chahar tribe was once again driven away. Now the Chahar tribe has occupied the original Bukhara Khanate. It is said that it is continuing its western expedition to the Khiva Khanate. In this way, it
Really bordering Persia.
Not only is it bordering on the border, in fact, if Buri Khatu is willing to become an ally of the Ottoman Empire, then Persia's situation will be even more difficult, because it is actually surrounded by the Ottoman Empire and Chahar's "Great Yuan" on three sides.
Faced with this situation, Gao Pragmatic had to consider one thing: if the Ming Dynasty wanted to continue to attack the Chahar Ministry, theoretically it seemed that it could consider contacting Persia.
Coincidentally, just when he had recently settled the internal factional issues in the Ming Dynasty and began to consider the international structure, a missionary suddenly arrived in Nanjing and brought him a "pillow".
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PS: Do you want to guess what the missionary is looking for?