Even the so-called Holy Roman Empire in real history, in the original history, can be introduced in one sentence.

That is: neither holy, nor Roman, nor empire.

From the 10th century AD, the East Frankish kingdom was born due to the change of imperial throne and the birth of the Roman Empire, the so-called Holy Roman Emperor, who only had absolute power for a short period of time.

The fierce struggle between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope for the succession of bishops was not only a struggle for control of the Church, but also a struggle between the central crown and the local feudal separatist forces.

Nevertheless, throughout the Middle Ages, the empire and the church worked closely together in maintaining the feudal system.

In order to dominate Europe, the rulers of the empire repeatedly invaded Italy, the most powerful region in Europe, and protracted wars consumed the power of the empire.

During the reign of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the central power declined, economic ties were lacking throughout the country, and the empire became an unconsolidated alliance of feudal principalities and free cities that recognized the supreme power of the emperor.

As the empire expanded, the power of the Grand Duchy and the city-states increased, and the Emperor became the honorary leader.

The period of the Hohenstaufen dynasty from the 12th century to the 13th century was the height of the Holy Roman Empire, but it was also the most significant period of the weakening of the Holy Roman Empire's imperial power.

After this, the emperor turned into an honorary position and lost actual control of the country.

So, the so-called sacred, the so-called Rome, the so-called empire, all of them are not worthy of the name.

More than 40 years ago, the fleet of the Ming Empire came to Europe, so that the European countries that were still in ignorance truly realized the strength of the world's powerful empire.

Europe as a whole is shocked and fully aware of its own gaps.

However, they did not have a united foundation, and the decentralized power structure plunged the whole of Europe into an atmosphere of political anxiety.

Portugal, Castile, England, the Franks, Genoa, the Papal States, Venice and other countries all have their own interests.

On the one hand, they kept promoting the threat of the Ming Dynasty, but on the other hand, they went to great lengths to establish a closer relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

However, these were only the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and most of the territory of the Holy Roman Empire was in the north of the Alps, and behind this backwardness in trade was the loss of the entire economy after backwardness and imbalance.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

It is also because of this imbalance that in order to develop, after they have secretly learned some steelmaking technology, some countries in the north will form a coalition to snatch more resources from the east.

The sea has been occupied by the Ming Empire, except for the ships of the Ming Dynasty, the ships of any country have entered the sea, and there is no news.

In the past few decades, European countries have also woken up and realized that none of the fleets sent out have returned, probably not because of the storm, but because of the Ming Empire.

They no longer dare to conjure the sea, but only share the little benefits of the Ming Empire in the bathtub of the Mediterranean.

However, this does not mean that they have lost their enterprising spirit, in fact, they have been sparing no effort to make public relations to several upper echelons of the Ming Empire, hoping to gain more share of trade.

And their efforts do not seem to be in vain, from the beginning of European cargo ships can trade in the Mediterranean, to now the Ming Empire has released control over European ships, allowing them to trade in the West and the south of Central Continent.

Although Xizhou was also controlled by the Ming people, and the Kurumus in the south of Central Continent was also dominated by Ming merchants, they were able to earn more money in this kind of trade, and fed a lot of people.

However, this seems to be the limit, and to this day, the Ming still do not allow European ships to go to Middle-earth, and Kurumus is the farthest distance they can go.

Even India is a no-go zone for them.

This is not to say that Europeans do not know what the East is like, every year, at least tens of thousands of people take the Ming cargo ship to Middle-earth.

Some only arrived in the star city of southern Xinjiang of the Ming Dynasty, but there are also many who have witnessed the most prosperous city in the world, Yingtianfu.

After they returned to Europe, they published many books about the Ming Dynasty, so that many Europeans, even if they had never been out, knew how powerful the empire in the East was.

They also know that this world is controlled by an emperor, and the only emperor in this world controls everyone's life and death.

The Holy Roman Empire, after learning these details, no longer dared to call itself an empire.

And before them, the Ottomans, who had been fearful in Europe, had long since changed their name to the kingdom.

Many Europeans know that in the Great Rock of Gibraltar, the Admiral married the daughter of the only emperor, the most powerful upper figure in the Ming Empire.

But the Admiral was a real military man, and he never got involved in commercial negotiations, let alone any contact with the Europeans outside of military operations.

And Her Royal Highness the princess almost never shows up.

It is said that in the distant Ming Dynasty, women in the upper class were only active in a small circle, and only people of the same status would come into contact.

The queens of those Grand Duchyes didn't think that their identities could be compared to each other, not to mention that they couldn't speak the Ming language, so after several requests to see each other to no avail, they were also ashamed of themselves.

But this time, Her Royal Highness the noble princess took the initiative to make an envoy, and her figure immediately attracted the attention of the entire European upper class.

Among them, the most excited were not the Grand Duchess of Sforza of the Duchy of Milan, but the de facto control of the Florentine Republic, Cosimo Medici, and his wife Contesina.

Cosimo was fortunate to meet the emperor of the Ming Empire more than 40 years ago when Zhu Zhanji visited Europe.

In the decades that followed, the Medici family also served as agents of the Ming Empire in Europe.

With the support of the Ming Empire, they successfully took control of the Florentine Republic. Moreover, Florence, with the support of the Ming Empire, rejected the Papal States in the south and occupied many port cities and lands in Genoa in the north.

It can be said that Florence is now the most important feudal power in the Italian peninsula, and all this comes from the support of the Ming Empire.

Cosimo met with the Admiral of Gibraltar twice, and he also knew that women in the Ming Empire generally did not take on political tasks.

So his wife Contesina had only met Her Royal Highness the princess once, and after receiving an ordinary reception, the two sides had no contact since.

But now, his heir, Giovanne, who was highly valued by him, fell ill and died, and his eldest son, Piero, was suffering from gout, and his two grandchildren, one of whom was only fifteen years old this year, and the other was only twelve years old.

And he himself was already terminally ill, and he felt that he would soon die. At this time, he needed the support of the Ming Empire even more.

Knowing that Her Royal Highness the princess was going to the Duchy of Milan, she was accompanied by her children.

He sent his wife Contesina to Milan with her two grandsons for reception, and for the sake of future generations, he was also going to send his two grandsons to distant Daming to receive education.

From past experience, it can be seen that His Majesty the Venerable Emperor has enough faith and support for the children who have studied in the Ming Dynasty.

As long as he had the support of His Majesty the Emperor, his grandson, even a pig, would be able to sit firmly on the throne.

It would be even better if they could win the favor of the Ming nobles and marry a woman with the blood of the Ming nobles.

In Pavia, Yongheng invited Contesina and Sforza's wife, Maria, into his car.

Contesina knew some simple Da Ming dialect, and although Maria did not understand Da Ming dialect, the female officials of Yongheng were proficient in Latin.

Maria's first encounter with an Oriental woman, a woman with a completely different temperament from the West, coupled with the momentum brought by her noble status, made her a little uncomfortable in this extremely luxurious princess car.

Contesina tactfully expressed to Yongheng that she hoped to send her two grandsons to study in the Ming Dynasty, and Yongheng readily agreed to her request after knowing that they had been learning the Ming dialect in Crete for six years.

This also made Maria quite impressed, and her youngest son, Ludovic, had the same black hair and eyes as the Oriental, and was nicknamed "The Moor".

This originally felt a shame for her, but now, she felt that her youngest son was more suitable to study in Daming.

Moreover, Rudovico has also been learning Ming dialect in Crete for three years, and general communication is not a problem.

Therefore, she also tried to make her own request, and Yongheng also agreed.

She also vividly remembers that before she came to Europa, her father summoned her and her husband, Yang Zhihe. In addition to explaining to Yang Zhihe how to curb the development of Europe, his father also mentioned that he wanted to attract more upper-class figures from Europe and let them accept the influence of Ming culture.

Therefore, Yongheng must of course support their behavior of studying at their own expense.

The car arrives at Sforza Castle, the construction of which began during the time of the Visconti family and is the grandest private castle in Milan.

However, this ancient castle, which is only more than 10,000 square meters, is not to mention compared with the palace of Yingtianfu, and even the regulations of her princess's mansion are not comparable.

Fifteen hundred guards took over the duties of the original Duchy of Milan, but even Sforza took this for granted.

All the nobles who were able to attend the banquet were very excited and felt extremely honored. When Yongheng dressed up and appeared in the banquet hall, countless ladies knelt down to her according to oriental etiquette.

In Europe, it was only popular to bow down when praying to God.

In the front yard, only Zhang Han was a little lost, and he was alone in deep thought, which was in stark contrast to the majority of the guests attending the banquet.

When he got off the boat in Pavia, he met his cousin Meng Zheng, who was two years younger than him, and several of them had arrived in Milan in a car.

Along the way, several young people unscrupulously evaluated the backwardness of Europe and the advancement of the Ming Dynasty, and everyone showed a sense of superiority that made people speechless.

Of course, this just left Zhang Han speechless.

For him, as a young person, he should be more tolerant in order to make progress.

Europe is indeed backward, they have developed here for thousands of years, and it is still the most prosperous and fertile region in Europe, but it seems that it is not much different from Dongzhou, which has only developed for decades.

However, he didn't think that this was something for them to be proud of, because they were still young people and had not contributed much to the Ming Dynasty, and they were now just lying in the shadow of their ancestors.

Only you can show a side that surpasses the Europeans, and at that time, it is not too late to look at the Europeans with a sense of superiority.

But as soon as he got out of the car in Milan, he saw a scene that shocked him.

An obese middle-aged man dressed as a priest bumped into an ordinary citizen because of the excitement. Just because the citizen stepped on his shoes, he asked the other party to kneel down and lick his shoes clean.

To his surprise, everyone seemed to take it for granted. The old citizen, like a dog, knelt down and licked the priest's shoes clean with his mouth.

He stepped forward, and the road was uneven and wanted to help the citizen, but he was still considered nosy.

Although Meng Zheng is almost three years younger than Zhang Han, he is an elder. He stepped forward and pulled Zhang Han away, and bowed slightly with the priest, who smiled honorably.

"This is a stupid area, you don't use the rules of the Ming Dynasty to evaluate many unreasonable truths here. In the Ming Dynasty, even the nobles had to respect the power of the common people, but in Europe, the messengers who served the gods had higher privileges than the nobles. ”

Zhang Han asked, "Do you think there really is a god in this world?" ”

"Of course not!" Meng Zheng said with certainty: "Your Majesty said that there are people first, and then there are gods, and all gods are created by human beings themselves, representing human beings' sustenance for beauty, perfection, happiness, security, and hope. We are to trust in the Spirit of God, not in God Himself. ”

"Then why are the people here still obsessed with the illusory worship of the gods?"

"Therefore, they are foolish."

Zhang Han looked at the little cousin and asked, "You also have the blood of this land, why do you ......?"

Meng Zheng corrected and said: "I am a person who has received the education of the Ming civilization, although I have European blood, but I am already a real Ming person. Lineage is not everything, only culture is! ”

Zhang Han was interrupted by the other party, and he was a little speechless for a while, and then hesitated for a moment before he said: "Uncle Cousin, don't you think we have the responsibility to lead the Europeans out of ignorance?" ”

Meng Zheng looked at Zhang Han and couldn't help laughing. "I don't have such noble sentiments as you, I am only willing to take my relatives and friends to live a good life. If you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of others and settle your life, I will admire you, but I will not follow you. ”

Zhang Han sighed, not knowing how to explain his thoughts to this little cousin.

But at this time, Meng Zheng said: "If you really have this idea, I suggest that you start with religious beliefs. We Ming people believe in our ancestors because the blood of our ancestors gives us life.

We believe in religion because religion shows us where our spirits end. Shinrikyo can now become the state religion of the Ming Dynasty because Shinrikyo can enrich ourselves in our studies and improve our lives and destiny.

But the faith in Europe is ignorant, they only believe blindly, or even are forced to believe, and this belief will only bring them exploitation and oppression, and they are completely unable to change their lives.

Know tithes? Religion also has to be taxed, what kind of faith do you think this is? This is even more powerful than our nobles of the Ming Dynasty.

If you want to change the situation of Europeans and lead them to live happily ever after, you must first make everyone understand that religious beliefs are vain and that the only one who can really rely on them is yourself. ”

Having said that, Meng Zheng didn't believe that Zhang Han could do it at all. When you come to Europe, you can know how cruel the exploitation and oppression of the people by religion is.

Who has the power to change all this? Except for His Majesty the Emperor, no one else could do it.

His Majesty the Emperor can kill everyone, but it will take generations of sustained efforts to bring the people to their senses.

It's a thankless act, so Daming won't do it.

Only if the Europeans have been ignorant can the Ming exploit them more conveniently.

But Zhang Han was a little serious when he heard this, he wanted to become an envoy to introduce the advanced culture of the Ming Dynasty to Europe, so that Europeans could become smarter.

Although this idea is a bit naïve, Zhang Han has been immersed in this fantasy. Even at the banquet, he kept thinking about how he should go about it and how to carry out his plan.

With the blood of the East and the West on his body, he believes that he has this responsibility and obligation.

Many Europeans are actually very interested in the concubine of this ducal palace, but his gloomy expression discourages everyone, for fear of touching the nail.

However, Meng Zheng was very popular at the banquet, the football he brought, the football field he built, and the various high-level entertainment projects he brought from Daming, all of which were hot topics.

The Medici brothers, Lorenzo and his younger brother Giuliano, were very excited when they learned that they were going to school in Daming. The two of them and the second son of the Sforza family, Rudoviko, were originally classmates in the Daming School on Crete, and now they can go to Daming together, so the three of them are now automatically together.

They kept talking to a few young people in Daming, wanting to know more about Daming.

And Meng Zheng, who has an amiable personality, is the object that the three of them like very much, and as long as his side is free, a few of their little guys will surround him.

Their status is noble, and they will be the heirs of the Duchy of Milan and Florence in the future, and Meng Zheng also has a heart, chatting and bragging with a few of them, and boasting about Da Ming so that several of them can't wait to go over immediately.

At this time, a waitress came to the front yard and found several children. "His Royal Highness Rudovico, His Royal Highness Lorenzo, His Royal Highness Giuliano, and His Royal Highness Princess Daming want to see the three of you, please come with me."

At this time, Ludovico pulled up a handsome young man beside him and said, "Leonardo, you can go with us to meet Her Royal Highness the Princess." You can also play the lyre and sing songs to Her Royal Highness as a gift from us to Her Royal Highness. ”

The handsome young man looked at the waitress with excitement. "Can I go too?"

The waitress hesitated, this was beyond her ability to handle. Meng Zheng saw that the child was about the same size as Giuliano and Rudovico, only eleven or twelve years old, and not yet an adult.

Such children are sensible, and they don't have to be as vigilant as adults. Hearing that he could play the lyre and sing, Meng Zheng smiled and said, "Her Royal Highness Princess Yongheng already likes music, and she will like this gift." ”

Hearing Meng Zheng say this, the waitress said, "Then I'll have someone go and get a lyre at once." ”

Sforza's right courtyard, now here is a large group of women from all over the world, for this kind of entertainment, Yongheng is fresh for a while, and he is a little tired of it.

When the four bright-eyed children were brought in, she was a little more interested and sat up straight.

The four children can speak in Da Ming, and they greet Yongheng in Da Ming dialect, and they also do Da Ming's long salute. "Lorenzo de' Medici, Giuliano de' Medici, Rudovicos Forza, see Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Leonardo, who came with them, was a little unaccustomed to the crowd's surrounding, and did not keep up with the rhythm of the other three, and only reacted after they saluted, and hurriedly bowed to him with a long bow: "Leonardo Di Piero da Vinci meets Her Royal Highness Princess Daming." ”

His restrained appearance caused a group of women to cover their mouths with fans and laugh, if it was an adult, they would not be so presumptuous, but in the face of the four children, their motherly love was stimulated.

Only Yongheng didn't smile, she asked in surprise, "What did you say your name was?" ”

Leonardo faced Yongheng's question, and said in a trembling voice, "Leonardo Di Pierrot da Vinci." ”

Yongheng nodded calmly, but his heart was full of excitement. Finally let her meet a name that her father once mentioned, although there are many European names, but every person of the same name she meets is worth paying attention to. ”

Seeing Yongheng's question, Contesina smiled and said, "This Leonardo's father is our family's lawyer, and now he is the legal representative of Florence and Daming trade in Crete. Little Leonardo was smart and clever since he was a child, taught himself the lyre, and sang very well. So my husband liked him so much that he made him Lorenzo's playmate. Her Royal Highness the Princess, they brought the lyre, obviously wanting to perform for Her Royal Highness. ”

Yongheng smiled and nodded, "I also like Leonardo, if you can, let him follow Lorenzo and them to Daming to go to school." ”

Contesina hesitated for a moment and said, "He's just an illegitimate child, and I don't know if his father and stepmother are willing to pay for his tuition......"

Yongheng waved his hand and smiled: "It's not a problem...... Leonardo, you sing a song for me, and I will bear your tuition and living expenses to go to school in Daming, are you willing? ”

Of the four children, the happiest was Rudovic, who couldn't help but laugh happily and tugged at the corner of Leonardo's clothes.

Leonardo reacted from the surprise and hurriedly bowed down and said, "I do!" ”

(Leonardo da Vinci, one of the three masters of the Renaissance, Mona Lisa's father, is about to become a middle school student in the Ming Dynasty, hahaha...... ）