"How is that possible? The British conquered the fortress of Calais in 5 days? "Looking at the credentials, King François I, who had just come to power, was a little lost.

He had just begun to take control of the Kingdom of France, and was currently reclaiming control of the city defense army from the Count of Sesque. As for fame within the kingdom, it is still being established. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the fortress of Calais, which the former king Louis XII had finally recaptured, was taken away by the English, and it was like a heavy slap in the face!

This slap was so hard that it directly discredited François I. He didn't take long to ascend the throne, and as soon as he took power, he lost a strategic place like the Calais fortress, and it was a shame to throw it to his grandmother's house.

You know, in this idea, European monarchs are supported by fame. Famous, nobles obey you. Without fame, people may rebel and leave. For example, the HRE Emperor Henry IV had to kneel and beg the Pope for forgiveness because he was excommunicated by the Pope. Because he had already rebelled against his relatives at that time......

Of course, François I's loss of Calais was not as serious as Henry IV's expulsion. However, this was definitely a major blow to his prestige.

So, François I was furious, and he drew his sword in a rage, and slashed around the splendid palace, and many precious artifacts were destroyed by his sword.

At this time, none of the ministers dared to step forward to stop them. Because, they are also confused, except for the spy John. Rafi......

Of course, John. On the surface, Rafite still has to pretend to be very surprised and sad. He remembered the secret letter instructions that Marlin had given him a few days ago, so he stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The most important thing at the moment, the minister, is to find out how the fortress of Calais fell so quickly. It stands to reason that the English would not have been able to conquer a fortress in five days. Therefore, there must be situations that we are not aware of. Only by inquiring into this secret can we deal with it well! ”

François I's anger calmed down considerably, he stopped the destruction, his eyes were red, and he said:

"What's the use of that? The fortress of Calais has fallen, and I am going to be a joke in the eyes of the people! ”

John. Raffi shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty, the matter of the fortress of Calais is certainly a bad thing. However, what is more important now is how to prevent the enemy from using the same trick to conquer other cities near the Calais fortress! Only by figuring out their means of tricks will the cities of France be safer in the future! ”

In fact, John. Raffi had long known that the North Sea spies had the means to destroy the iron gates of the sewers. But he could not speak, he could only pretend not to know, and he had to guide François I to think for himself and investigate......

François I heard this and finally calmed down. Indeed, it is safer to figure out the strange methods of the enemy.

So, he commanded John. Raffi is in charge of this and goes to find out the mystery of the fall of the fortress of Calais. And John. Lafite, too, gained more trust from François I.

……

Subsequently, the French monarch began to discuss how to deal with the harm caused by the loss of the fortress of Calais. and, the possibility of recapturing the fortress of Calais.

But everyone was not optimistic about the possibility of recapturing the fortress of Calais, because the French were able to conquer the fortress of Calais before, because the fortress of Calais did not have an iron gate. Now, the French themselves have replaced the fortress of Calais with thick iron gates, and it is even more difficult to break through the gates than to climb to the sky. They are not Marin, and they don't know the recipe of aqua regia, so naturally there is no way to latte the door.

And if the city is attacked by the method of ant possession, with the strength of the Calais fortress, it will have to fill the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers before it can be taken. But the worst thing is that the Calais fortress is only separated from the English mainland by a small strait less than 30 kilometers wide, and the English mainland can calmly support the Calais fortress. As a result, even if the French were willing to pay for the lives of their soldiers, they might not be able to take the fortress of Calais. Otherwise, the English would not have been able to occupy Calais for more than 150 years.

François I had some sitting wax:

"Ladies and gentlemen, if the British are allowed to occupy the fortress of Calais, in the future, the northeast of France will be unstable. At that time, the British may send troops to attack the northeast of our France at any time! Even, it could hit Paris! ”

Paris to Calais is about 235 kilometers, and if the British army lands, it will be able to reach the vicinity of Paris in a few days. In peacetime, the British would certainly not dare to attack Paris. But now France is competing with Spain for Napoli, and the main force needs to go south to compete for hegemony. In this way, the British army had the possibility of taking the opportunity to attack Paris. You don't have to besiege Paris, just sweep the area around Paris and you can demobilize France.

Basically, the fortress of Calais was like a sword of Damocles hanging over the head, which could fall at any moment and give France a blow. If it weren't for the scumbag of the English Army's combat effectiveness, God knows what the serious consequences would be.

Just when the French monarchs and courtiers were sad, John. Raffi stepped up again:

"Your Majesty, the minister has a way to deal with the threat of the Calais fortress!"

François I was suddenly shaken, and he remembered that this John . Rafite was also a resourceful courtier during the lifetime of his previous king. So, he looked at John expectantly. Rafi Dao:

"Aiqing, talk quickly!"

John. Raffi bowed, and instead of immediately uttering a plan, he asked rhetorically:

"Does Your Majesty know about Hadrian's Wall?"

François I was stunned for a moment, then replied:

"Of course I know the Great Wall, but the so-called Great Wall is a little better than a fence wall, and it can't stop the enemy at all!"

Hadrian's Wall is indeed not very tall, it is only 4.6 meters high, which is about the height of an ordinary room, equivalent to the height of an ordinary courtyard wall, and is easy to climb. Its width, with a top width of only 2.1 meters, was crowded with soldiers standing on it, and it was impossible to spread it.

Therefore, Hadrian's Wall was more like a border fence of the Roman Empire at that time than a fortification.

But John. The Great Wall that Raffi is talking about is not a fence like Hadrian's Wall......

He gave François I and a group of French ministers a detailed introduction to the Great Wall of China, and told François I that China relied on the Great Wall to block the southward movement of hundreds of thousands of nomadic cavalry in the northern grasslands......

John. After introducing the Great Wall, Raffi generously stated:

"Your Majesty, we only need to build a wall as tall and strong as a wall on the edge of the fortress of Calais, and we can confine the British to death! What if they take the fortress of Calais? We surrounded Calais with a wall, and even if they had troops and horses to land, they would not be able to get out! ”

……

François I and the French ministers listened with fascination, but they didn't know that this was a hole that Marin had deliberately dug for France - to build the Great Wall, right? Do you know how much it costs and how much manpower it takes?

The construction of the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty depleted the national strength, which led to the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, resulting in its demise. The Sui Dynasty was the same, digging a Grand Canal, which was obviously beneficial for a thousand years, but it also exhausted the national strength, and to a certain extent led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty (another reason was the failure of the expedition to Goryeo).

Although the cost of building a Great Wall to encircle the fortress of Calais is far from catching up with the construction of the Great Wall and the digging of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, France's finances are far from being comparable to those of the Qin and Sui dynasties. At present, there is no unified national tax in France, how can there be so much money to consume?

So, Marlin instructed John. Lafite's plan to build the Great Wall seems to be reliable, but in fact, it has squeezed France's national strength and made France unable to do anything else for several years. Coupled with the fact that the south is going to compete for hegemony in Italy, it is foreseeable that France will definitely be uncomfortable in the next few years......