"Your Majesty, that's why we have to send troops as soon as possible to take the Spanish Netherlands before the Three Kingdoms complete their preparations for war!" Prince Condé said, "If Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden continue to intervene after we have occupied the Spanish Netherlands, then I propose to strike first and attack the Netherlands by land."

Because the Netherlands is the core of the intervention of the three countries, as long as the Netherlands is subdued, Britain and Sweden will definitely not continue to interfere. ”

"Just beat the Netherlands?" Louis XIV was still a little uneasy, "Britain and Sweden are both military powers!" ”

Prince Condé said, "But we just need to defeat the Netherlands quickly!"

Now that Cromwell's attention was in Britain, he would not be easily involved in a continental war. If he had seen the Dutch quickly defeated by us and surrendered to peace, he would not have sent any more troops to the continent.

As for Sweden, it's too far away from us. Moreover, the king is still a teenager, and it is impossible for him to fight a long and hard war with us. As long as the Netherlands and Britain did not interfere, it was impossible for them to send troops alone. Even if we barely send troops, we can defeat them! ”

"Can we defeat the Dutch quickly, then?" Louis XIV asked, "Although the Dutch army was small in number, they built a large number of forts on the border with the Spanish Netherlands, relying on the river channels." ”

"Your Majesty......" Prince Condé looked left and right, and did not continue.

Louis XIV waved his hand, letting his attendants retreat far away before looking at the Prince of Condé.

Prince Condé said, "Your Majesty, in fact, we don't have to attack the Netherlands directly from the Spanish Netherlands...... We can borrow from the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, bypass the fortress complex of the Dutch, pass through the territory of the Archbishop of Münster and the Archbishop of Cologne, and take the Dutch by surprise! ”

Louis XIV took a breath, and finally showed a look of surprise on his face, and then frowned again: "Do the two archbishops agree to borrow the Tao?" ”

"Definitely!" Prince Condé was very sure, "As long as we are willing to spend money, they will definitely agree to borrow it." His tone sank slightly, "If you don't agree, it's just two more battles, and these two bishoprics don't have much strength." ”

Louis XIV asked: "If you choose a detour, how long will you be able to beat the Netherlands?" ”

"Your Majesty," said the Prince of Condé, "it depends on what kind of victory you want? If you only want the Netherlands to recognize our annexation of the whole of the Spanish Netherlands, and to conclude a treaty of alliance with us on an equal footing...... Then, a few weeks, at most a few months, will make the Dutch Republic abandon the idea of fighting France forever!

And you, Your Majesty, will become the overlord of the whole of Europe! ”

O European hegemon!

But Louis XIV frowned: "Prince, you say that France should give the Netherlands a treaty of equality and reciprocity after defeating the Netherlands?" ”

"No, it's not a gift!" Prince Condé frowned and explained, "This is needed for the common interests of France and the Netherlands!" ”

"The common good? Where is it? Louis XIV was a little dismissive.

"In many ways!" Prince Condé said, "First of all, neither we nor the Netherlands are capable of becoming a land and sea power!" ”

"We don't have that ability?" Louis XIV was a little unconvinced, how could Grand France not be capable of being a double overlord at sea and land?

Prince Condé said: "Your Majesty, although our French national strength is very strong, there is still a big gap compared with the Celestial Empire in the East!"

The Celestial Empire has ten times more population, dozens of times more land, and ten times more revenues than ours...... So the Celestial Empire has several times more land forces than us, and at the same time it is able to build a navy that can defeat the Dutch expeditionary fleet in the Strait of Malacca.

And it is impossible for us in France to build an army that can dominate the European continent and a navy that can dominate the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans at the same time! ”

The Prince of Condé had been in China for so many years, so he knew very well the difference between the French and Celestial empires.

France is a European power, while the Celestial Empire is an intercontinental country, and it has the strength to confront even the whole of Europe.

Therefore, France cannot pursue both domination of Europe on land and confrontation with the Celestial Empire at sea.

The Prince of Condé said to Louis XIV: "Your Majesty, the best thing for France is to seize hegemony on the European continent and at the same time expand as much territory as possible. Efforts were made to make the Spanish Netherlands and the scattered states of Italy part of France.

As for at sea, we should build a medium-sized navy that can dominate the western part of the Mediterranean, with the Mediterranean as its center of gravity. At the same time, it established a strong, reciprocal and long-term alliance with the Netherlands. The land borders of the Netherlands are defended by the French army, and the French interests in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans are defended by the Dutch navy! ”

Obviously, after staying in China for many years, the level of this Prince Condé is also bullish, and he really proposed a way for France to dominate - France has this strength, and it is not possible to dominate both sea and land!

If France's opponent at sea was Britain, it might be able to smash the pot and sell iron, but if it were to compete with the Celestial Empire in a naval competition, it would be impossible to win.

So the only way is to pull a maritime power that France can control as an ally, France is responsible for land, this country is responsible for the sea, and form a team to fight for hegemony.

And the maritime power that France can control can only be the Netherlands!

Louis XIV pondered for a moment, then finally nodded, seemingly agreeing with the Prince of Condé's suggestion.

He paused and said, "When Charles II and his royal army have left the Spanish Netherlands, we will attack!" Let those guys go to America alive...... It is estimated that it will be another month or two longer.

In the meantime, I will send Foreign Secretary Leona to Münster and Cologne to try to persuade the two archbishops to support the cause of the Kingdom of France! ”

He smiled: "I think those two bishops will be happy to see the Protestants in the Netherlands unlucky!" ”

......

At a time when several major powers in Western Europe were busy preparing for a large-scale war, several important diplomatic personnel sent by Zhu Cihong to Western Europe, such as Li Shaoyou, ambassador to France, Ren Zhen, ambassador to Britain, Wei Qingmu, master to the Netherlands, Huang Shan, ambassador to Spain, and Huang Jiang and Jabus, two Chinese business leaders in Europe, all met in a villa belonging to Huang Jiang, the chief treasurer of Shenou Bank, not far from the construction site of the Palace of Versailles.

The meeting between these two of them is not simple, and it can influence the European foreign policy of the Ming Dynasty to a certain extent!

Because the traffic between Europe and the Ming Dynasty in these years was on an annual basis, the authority of this group of personnel stationed abroad was very large.

And in order to unify their positions, they have to meet from time to time to exchange views and discuss the current situation.

Although these people were well-informed, especially Huang Jiang and Gibbs had many friends in the French court, they could not inquire about the Prince of Condé's plan to attack the Spanish Netherlands and the Netherlands, and the follow-up arrangements.

However, these people still heard the news that Charles II will soon become the king of the United States!

That's a big deal!

At present, in North America, it is mainly New Spain and the United States of New Europe that are fighting each other, and France and England have also encircled a lot of territory, of which France's territory has developed slowly, and the territory of Britain has developed rapidly...... There are vague signs of rivalry with the United States of New Zealand and the Kingdom of New Spain - not in terms of land occupation, but in terms of the core population!

Now the core population of New Spain (white) is almost 600,000, and it is still the leader of the Americas! The core population of the United States of New Cyprus (East Asians) is nearly 350,000, which is smaller than that of New Spain, but it is growing rapidly. The British colonies in North America have 250,000 people, and the growth rate is relatively fast, if another king runs over, I am afraid that it will set off a wave of immigration.

If the king of America and the Kingdom of New Spain form another alliance, the United States of New Europe will be in trouble!