For Marin, the biggest threat is France. France was the first centralized state in western Europe, and has been one of the leading countries in Western Europe since the gradual completion of centralization in the late 15th century.

Only when the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Empire were united by the Habsburgs would France be beaten. Unfortunately, the Habsburg family broke up the strongest alliance in Europe because of the struggle for power. Since this alliance was broken up by the Habsburgs themselves, there has been no country in Europe capable of suppressing France.

By the time of Louis XIV, all of Europe was trembling under the iron hooves of France. So Louis XIV received the title of "Sun King".

Therefore, the more centralized a country is, the stronger the combat effectiveness it can exert will be. This is because national resources can be well mobilized and utilized by the central government.

Whether it was the Bourbon dynasty of Louis XIV, or the Napoleonic Empire that later swept across Europe, as well as the Tsarist Empire of Maozi, and the German Empire, which almost singled out the world, they all had a very important feature - that is, centralized power......

Only a country with centralized power can use its greatest resources and bring out its strongest strength. Some may say that Britain is strong, but in fact, the British Army has never been strong. Britain simply relied on the huge benefits of maritime trade to give birth to a large navy. But that's about it. The army was not profitable, plus Britain was not centralized enough. So, the British Army was never an opponent of France and Germany. Even if the war was to be held, Britain could only act as a-stirring stick, as well as provide military funds to Maozi, Prussia and Austria, so that they could act as the vanguard. Had it not been for the blockage of the English Channel and the powerful navy that Britain had built up for maritime trade, Britain would have been ravaged by Napoleon and Hitler at least twice.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth looks strong enough, right? With such a large area, there are millions of square kilometers and tens of millions of people. At the beginning, he had beaten Maozi. But why did it decline? Isn't it because of internal friction? The Polish king did not have much power at all, and he was not much better than the Emperor of the HRE. Therefore, such a powerful country, because resources could not be integrated, was finally suppressed by the dictatorial and backward and barbaric Maozi. The three states that divided Poland – Maozi, Prussia and Austria-Hungary – were all authoritarian states.

France has now preliminarily completed the centralization of power, and only one national tax system is needed to fly. It was precisely because of the inability to collect taxes throughout the country that even if the king could recruit an army of more than 100,000, he could not afford to raise it. Otherwise, France would have gone to heaven long ago......

It is precisely because of this that Marin did not vigorously promote a comprehensive taxation system at home, but desperately collected land and developed colonies in order to obtain sufficient financial revenue.

If Marin dares to promote comprehensive taxation, with strong military strength, it will not be a problem at home. The problem abroad is even greater, and if the French were to learn from Marin and levy a tax on the acres and the poll tax throughout the country, they would have gained an astonishing amount of revenue. With money, and with such a large French population, it is difficult for France not to fly. At that time, Germany may be subjected to full-scale French aggression. Or, Italy will fall into the hands of France.

It was on the basis of such fears that Marin did not promote a comprehensive tax. Otherwise, if you learn from France, it will be a disaster. Moreover, by selling grain and salt, as well as developing colonies, and in the future, Marin will open up trade with the Ming Dynasty, Marin's financial revenue is very sufficient, and there is no need for national taxation.

Europeans have a bad habit of being very good at imitation. And, shameless enough. Don't look at the pretense of the Europeans in later generations and accuse the Chinese copycat situation as serious, but in fact, when Germany engaged in the industrial revolution, it was a complete copycat of Britain.

In the 19th century, German goods represented garbage and low-end, and only British goods represented high-end. The Germans relied on copycat British goods, first started the industry, and then kept improving, so as to achieve the German manufacturing of later generations. But at the beginning, the Germans also shamelessly copied British goods. Even, industrial products made in Germany will deliberately label in English to fool customers. Otherwise, it can't be sold......

When it comes to shamelessness, the French are not ambiguous either. In that year, the Venetians invented the glass mirror, and a mirror was sold for 150,000 francs, shocking the world. Because it is an exclusive technology, the Venetian has made a lot of money.

In order to keep it secret, the Venetians moved all the craftsmen who knew how to make glass mirrors to the island of Murano, so that foreigners would not come into contact with those craftsmen and steal the secrets of glass mirrors.

But the French were superior – they indirectly bought the craftsmen by finding the families of the craftsmen who knew how to make glass, and they acquired the technology to make glass mirrors. Then, the secret of the Venetian glass mirror was stolen by the French, and the price of the glass mirror also plummeted.

It was also a mistake on the part of the Venetians – they moved the artisans to the island of Murano, but not their families. Artisans are not prisoners, they always have to go home for important holidays such as Christmas and New Year, right? As long as you buy the families of the craftsmen, and then go through their families, won't you get those craftsmen?

Therefore, after receiving this lesson, the secret military industrial units of later generations in China, although they built factories in the mountains, built a complete infrastructure and brought their families over...... Those military industrial bases are basically independent small towns...... In such a situation, how do you go about bribing the employees of those military industrial units? Before he could enter the town, he was shot dead by the guards......

Later, although many units moved out. However, those who were brought out were all factories with a very low level of secrecy, such as those that produced guns and ammunition. However, the factories that produce nuclear weapons and the like are still rooted in the mountains and deserts, and will never move to the big cities......

……

The French are good learners, or rather, the whole of Europe is good at learning. As long as you have a new technology, others will find a way to learn it.

For example, the Spanish phalanx in Marin, after several major battles, proved to work very well. As a result, many countries in Europe now follow Marin's example and form large-scale musket teams. However, due to the shortage of saltpeter, the size of musket teams in various countries is limited.

France, for example, only formed a team of 4,000 musketeers because of the shortage of saltpeter. After all, the French did not have access to saltpeter from India, like Marin. They don't even have a collector now, and there aren't many sources of saltpeter. Moreover, France has a large artillery force, and the number of bronze cannons in the French army is as high as one hundred or dozen. Therefore, although France is large, saltpeter is not enough.

However, Marin heard that Louis XII seemed to have realized the shortage of saltpeter after forming a musket team, and planned to set up the position of nitrate collector to collect a large amount of nitrate throughout France.

Of course, even then, it is useless. So, in later generations, the French also went to India and established the French Indian colony in Puducherry in India. From 1674 until 1954. One of the reasons for its existence is to buy saltpeter from India. Otherwise, France would not have been able to have so many musketeers lined up to be shot in the battle. Just by finding it from the dung pit, it was definitely not enough for Napoleon's artillery to consume......

Marin was worried that the French would send ships to India in advance, so while helping Edward capture England this time, he also tricked the French by the way. As long as the French merchant ships are pitted, then the French will not be able to recover for a long time. At least, at sea, it will be difficult to make a difference.

As long as the French did not have enough sources of saltpeter, then it would be difficult for the French to assemble a large contingent of musketeers. There was not enough firepower, and the French were not so terrible.

In the future, after Marin annexed England, the French would inevitably be annoyed. Because, their efforts made Marin a wedding dress. How can France, as the first brother in Europe, tolerate this kind of thing? So, after the annexation of England, there will be a war between Marin and France, not at sea, certainly on land. Because, the French army is their strong point.

As long as they crossed the Netherlands, the French could reach East Friesland proper. Therefore, Marin needed to prepare in advance to suppress France's seafaring ability and access to saltpeter from overseas. By the time a land war broke out between the two countries, it was difficult for France to defeat Marin's army because of its lack of sufficient firepower. Marin, on the other hand, can rely on the advantage of saltpeter and have unlimited fire rights, and rely on this to defeat the French army.

Not only that, Marin even planned to unite Spain and the Habsburgs to weaken and even dismember France. For example, after defeating the French army, he united Spain and Austria and marched into France together, forcing France to cede land and sue for peace.

Eventually, Marin's plan was to occupy the lands on the southern shore of the English Channel in northern France. Spain and Austria, on the other hand, occupy land along the Mediterranean coast in southern France, including the important port of Marseille. In this way, France's seafaring potential could be further weakened, forcing it to become a land state. Marin, on the other hand, has achieved the goal of completely controlling the north and south sides of the English Channel, and the safety of his merchant ships going out of the Atlantic Ocean is even higher.

Moreover, if France can be defeated, it is better to let the dukes and counts of France revert to being a separatist power with armed forces, as the German vassal states did.

In that case, France would become the second Holy Roman Empire, and the French king would lose control of the country. Just as before the centralization of power in France, the French king could only control the area around Paris, and the decrees could not leave the area around Paris...... At that point, the French threat will be further reduced......

As soon as the French king wanted to regain power, Marin and his descendants immediately united with Spain and Austria and sent troops to support the French princes...... In this way, with a strong external intervention, it will be difficult for the French to become strong again......