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The third phase of the Thirty Years' War in Europe is now in its fifth year, and the battles that took place during this period are almost equal to the first two phases combined. The few parts of Germany that had barely distanced themselves from the war during the first two phases finally ceased to exist, and many were so barren and dilapidated that even the army did not intend to pass through.

In 1631, Count Tilly, the famous general of the Holy Roman Empire, in order to stop the Swedish army's offensive momentum, preemptively captured Magdeburg, which supported Sweden. In the Magdeburg massacre, which shocked Europe, more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians were killed by mercenaries under the command of Count Tilly. However, Count Tilly was soon reported by the world, and in the "Battle of Brydenfeld", this emperor was defeated by King Gustav of Sweden, and Count Tilly was seriously wounded and died, and the advantage accumulated by the Holy Roman Empire in the previous war was almost wiped out. It is said that on the night of Tilly's death, Gustav, who cherished the hero, also sent people to visit the emperor's camp.

To add insult to injury, under the lobbying of French Prime Minister Richelieu, Maximian, the Elector of Bavaria, who contributed the most to the Holy Roman Empire in the first two stages, actually began a "truce" and declared "neutrality", which made the emperor shocked and angry.

At this juncture, Richelieu jumped out again and declared an end to the war with the Kingdom of Spain in northern Italy in exchange for the Kingdom of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire recognizing the legitimacy of Frederick V's coastal territory in Lower Saxony in Germany. The Emperor, who had fallen into passivity, could only endure and re-granted Frederick V the title of Marquis of Emden. And Frederick V, who was ecstatic, also announced a rapprochement with the Holy Roman Empire and withdrew from the war. This "first offender" who provoked the fuse of the 30-year war actually escaped leisurely under the butterfly wings of China and the United States.

In order to fulfill the secret agreement with France, China and the United States readily paid for the "agreement to aid Sweden", which should have been historically undertaken by the French, and paid a total of $5 million to Sweden in the form of low-interest loans in three years. Spain was able to draw troops from Italy into the Holy Roman Empire to assist in the war. In this dirty deal of selling his enemies and teammates, the old fox Richelieu put his diplomatic skills to the fullest.

In 1632, the Holy Roman Emperor had to invoke Wallenstein again. After a series of wonderful mutual trials between Wallenstein and King Gustav of Sweden, the long-awaited "Battle of Lützen" finally broke out. The course of the war was dazzling, and the two god-level commanders made it impossible for the other to win easily. Unfortunately, in an encounter of troop transfer, King Gustav of Sweden was unexpectedly killed, and a generation of military gods left the battlefield that belonged to him in disbelief. Then the Swedish army, which lost its most beloved commander, went completely crazy, and launched a full-front onslaught against the emperor like a mad dog, causing Wallenstein to fail.

The Swedish army, which has always been invincible. Having lost the only king who could fully exploit their combat capabilities, the Holy Roman Empire, supported by Spanish troops, launched a strategic counteroffensive. But in 1633, when Wallenstein was once again in high spirits, his ambitions swelled and he began to negotiate peace privately with the Swedish army, trying to use his own strength to seek more power than the emperor could not tolerate.

Pity. Wallenstein was a good military commander, but not necessarily a political leader with a long brain. In the spring of 1634, Wallenstein's brain-dead plots were exposed, and he was assassinated by his subordinates after being stripped of his command by the Emperor again and attempting to escape.

The death of three military geniuses, Tilley, Gustav and Wallenstein, marked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in Europe into an era of rudeness without the art of war, and the third phase was coming to an end.

……

June 18, 1634. Sunday, Azores.

The American concession of Angra de Marsírío on the island of Terceira has become "unstoppable" as the most beautiful town on the European continent. More than one-fifth of the residents of the U.S. Concession, with a population of more than 5,000, have Chinese-American citizenship. In the past few years, hundreds of Chinese immigrants have even been resettled. At least one-third of the remaining residents have lived and worked in the American Concession for more than 10 years, and there is no big difference between them and the Chinese mainland in terms of urban environment, living habits, fashion clothing, etc.

Due to the long-term infection of the American Concession. The neighbouring Portuguese quarter of Angra Sansírísmo has also changed a lot over the years, although European-style classic clumsy brick and stone architecture is still the mainstream. However, many of the newly renovated neighborhoods have seen gorgeous and fashionable houses with bright windows.

The once breathtaking electric light is no longer the preserve of the Consulate General of the American Concession, and it is said that the Portuguese Governor of Angra de Marsísmo Grasmo has been cheeky to sell to the Consulate General of China and the United States to introduce power lines to his Governor's residence. Although the Portuguese have little maintenance ability in this area, relying entirely on the Chinese American consulate to operate, and the price of electricity is high, the Portuguese governor has not been able to find some things from the American concession over the years that cannot be seen on the European continent.

After more than ten years of ups and downs, the Azores Porto Heroísmo has become one of the busiest trade transit hubs on the European-Atlantic route, and it is also the European town with the highest standard of living for its residents. Whether it is Port Sangra or the American Concession, the number of merchant ships entering and leaving Terceira Island has expanded rapidly from less than 50 ships per year in the early 20s of the 17th century to more than 400 ships per year today, with an annual cargo throughput of more than 150,000 tons. Because of the transit trade of high-value Chinese goods, the import and export trade volume is more than 2 million pounds, which is almost comparable to the traditional major trading ports of Western Europe, and has become a golden hen for Portugal.

On the wharf of the port of the US Concession, led by heavy steam cranes, several thousand-ton steam merchant ships flying the gorgeous flag proudly occupy the best berths and unload large cargo boxes one after another in a hurry. If the unloading can be completed today, it will be a day at most before a large quantity of industrial and agricultural raw materials imported from Europe will begin again. Sweaty dock porters are still driving strings of horse-drawn carts between the dock and the port storage area, eager to get these "greedy" gorgeous merchant ships away in one day, and live a quiet life.

Terceira is still just an island, after all, and for Huamei, all import and export transportation is too dependent on the slow sails of Galen merchant ships that sail to and from the European continent. In order to ensure the efficiency of import and export trade, Huamei officially began to trade directly with the European continent in 1631.

Lisbon in Portugal, Seville in Spain and Nantes in France. They are all concession trading ports open to Huamei, from which Huamei can obtain more industrial and agricultural raw materials at cheaper prices, and can also transport export goods to Europe more smoothly.

The Aoguang-class large flying scissor merchant ships and the Chaoyang-class large sail merchant ships became the main means of sea transportation for these three trade importers, which surpassed the cargo capacity of most European merchant ships of this era, and became a kind of happy "nightmare" for local ports for several years.

Chaoyang-class large-scale sail merchant ships can always unload nearly 1,500 tons of gorgeous export commodities at one time, high-grade fur, leather products, textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, hardware tools, carriages, paper products, food, fertilizers, soap, lamp oil, paints, coffee, cosmetics, sugar, refined salt, cigarettes, medicines, glass, ceramics and ...... Almost everything was flocking to the local European merchants.

It is really difficult for them to gather the raw materials that can be directly exchanged for the export of these beautiful goods, and those who have good relations can keep the accounts for the next trade delivery, and the relationship is generally so that they have to prepare a large amount of gold and silver hard currency to settle the accounts. Even a 1% "exchange rate" loss was endured - for the Chinese dollar, although a few grams lighter than the Spanish dollar or guilder that passed through Europe, was of great fineness, fine workmanship, and had a very small error, and was even slightly higher than that of other European currencies. It is said that in the Azores, the Chinese dollar has become the main currency in circulation, but any other European silver coins are used at a small discount by the local population.

Even more "annoying" is. These large merchant ships, capable of carrying 1,000 tons of cargo at once, visit almost once or twice a month! In order not to miss these trade profits, the European Chamber of Commerce based in Lisbon, Seville or Nantes spends almost the whole year on the procurement and delivery of raw materials for various commodities. The local tax officials, on the other hand, collect taxes until their hands cramp and smile from ear to ear all year round.

In addition to a small part of luxury goods, wool, flax, natural asphalt, coal, saltpeter, olive oil, copper ingots, tin ingots, phosphate ore, potash ore, and horses are the largest industrial and agricultural raw materials that the European continent can export to China and the United States. But when they turn back, they become textiles, soaps, paints, hardware, matches, fertilizers...... Then, one day, it flowed from the Atlantic into the European market.

An expedition to the East that took a huge amount of money from 1628 to 1629. It opened a smoother channel for immigrants to the East, and the huge side effect of the subsequent influx of immigrants was that they had to "squander" millions of budgets and nearly 40% of their ocean shipping capacity every year, and Huamei fell into a big hole dug for itself.

Although the population surge has greatly boosted Huamei's domestic domestic economy. However, import and export trade, which still accounts for the majority of the country's GDP, has continued to decline sharply since 1628, which has led to the overall economic growth being dragged down strictly. At its worst, in 1630, the country's economic growth rate fell to a terrible level of 1.7%, and it was not until the second half of 1633 that the country's economic growth rate began to return to double percentages.

Trade into more than severe. Naturally, it's not something that the U.S. Commerce Department likes to see. In order to balance trade, but also to ensure the needs of all walks of life in the country since the great economic recovery in 1632. The import of European commodity raw materials is a lion's big mouth, and the types and quantities are flying together, and even because the domestic steel consumption is rising, even the smelting cost of European pig iron and wrought iron, which is much higher than that of the domestic one, have been included in the list of imported raw materials. As a result, the annual trade surplus can be weighed into millions of dollars.

……

At the Spanish diplomat's residence in Angra de Marísmo in the Azores, Swainbo and his wife, Anna, were attending a banquet temporarily hosted by Spanish diplomats. The public theme of the banquet was, of course, the Spanish side's heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States for presenting a batch of precious luxury goods to Princess Maria, who was about to marry the Spanish royal family.

It was said to be a thanksgiving banquet, but in fact there were only a few attendees, and even the local Portuguese governor was not able to attend the banquet, which looked more like a one-on-one meeting between Spain and the Chinese and American diplomatic representative Swainberg for some purpose.

“…… So, let's toast to the health of His Majesty King Philip and to the happiness of Princess Maria! Cheers to the eternal beauty of the esteemed Mademoiselle Marquis Anna! Baron Diego, who served as a Spanish diplomat, raised his glass and blushed. The smile was very exaggerated.

"My dear, Lord Baron Diego is giving a speech......" Anna raised her glass rather gracefully, and secretly pinched her distracted husband with her fingers under the table.

"Ah, your mention is great!" Shi Wenbo, who had recovered from a sad memory, quickly raised his wine glass, and his wife Anna frowned secretly with that hasty appearance.

Svenbeau's gaffe was "unforgivable" in Anna's eyes, but Baron Diego on the other side had a twinkle in his eyes, as if the difficult Chinese diplomat had finally agreed to a remarkable request from the Spanish side.

"What do you mean, the battleship can start work right away?!" Diego excitedly dropped the napkin in his hand. Quickly stood up, "I believe His Excellency the Marquis of Santa Cruz will be glad to hear this news!" ”

"Huh? Did we talk about it today? Swenbo opened his mouth slightly, looking at the Spanish diplomat opposite him stupidly, a little puzzled why the other party was involved in the construction of naval warships for the Kingdom of Spain by China and the United States.

In fact, from the beginning of the banquet, Swenbo was immersed in the "heartbreak" of Princess Maria, who had been with him for nearly 10 years, finally married the Holy Roman Crown Prince and Archduke Ferdinand III of Austria.

"Baron Diego has been discussing this with you. Are you too tired......" Anna twisted her husband's thigh again, muttering with hatred.

Led by Anna, the Marquis de Santa Cruz commissioned the Huamei Beiyang Shipbuilding Group in 1633 to design a new schooner suitable for the Spanish Navy, in order to revive the Spanish Navy, which had suffered a significant decline in combat power due to the royal family's extravagance.

It is said that You Qi, an expert in battleship design, has little interest in dealing with the "old" European sail warships, and is very proud to find reasons to avoid the design work, but the other boss of the group, Shi Yige, is an avid fan of the history of sail warships. Shi Yige excitedly took over the design work, using the number of sail battleship surveys and maps that he had accumulated over the years. Combined with the domestic shipbuilding experience, it took a week to reply to Shi Wenbo's wife Anna with a set of plans.

The large four-masted triangular warship with a full load displacement of 2,000 tons, although it always looks a little nondescript, is not bad in performance. The man-manpower sail was less difficult than the full-sail Spanish sail Galen, and could adapt to a wide range of Atlantic winds, with a maximum speed of 10 knots downwind.

The battleship adopted the traditional two-deck broadside gun layout, and was equipped with a total of 48 naval guns. Among them, 8 24-pounder guns, 16 18-pounder guns, and 24 12-pounder guns were all new breech cannons that could fire "ball blossom shells". The standard members carry 420 people, and its overall combat effectiveness is definitely a super-first-class grade in the current Europe.

Huamei's military spending has been sluggish for several years because of the all-round shift to economic development, and the Beiyang Shipbuilding Group, which has also been starving for several years, is also full of expectations to eat this naval equipment arms sale, so the affairs of lobbying the Congress and the Ministry of National Defense, which are in charge of the examination and approval of arms exports, do not have to worry about the Spaniards at all, and the Beiyang Shipbuilding Group is naturally going all out.

This is not a cheap 21B flintlock rifle or a 12-pounder cannon, but a Navy warship that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a piece! Spare parts suppliers and the Treasury Department, eager to extract huge tax revenues from arms exports, are also anxious to keep an eye on Congress and the Department of Defense. Eventually, with the approval of Congress, the first ever European naval purchase was approved.

After careful calculation, the internal cost price of the "Iberia 2000 four-masted schooner battleship" in the Beiyang Shipbuilding Group is only more than 170,000 US dollars, and if the buyer is the Chinese and US Navy, even if there is a large order, the unit price will be at least 350,000 US dollars. Now the procurement object is the Kingdom of Spain, Shi Yige and others did not give Shi Wenbo's wife Anna any face, and directly doubled this number, quoting 700,000 US dollars, and even in order to show that "the product is high-end and valuable", they also slowly and methodically said that the original 12-month construction period was 24 months.

Compared with the cost of tens of thousands of pounds in Europe during this period, the performance of this magnificently designed large sail warship is significantly higher, but in terms of price, the Spanish side is still stubbornly bargaining. In the end, under Anna's social lobbying, the unit price was reduced to $650,000, and the Marquis de Santa Cruz, the commander of the Spanish naval command, immediately decided on seven ships after receiving a reply. The total contract value is $4.55 million.

Although it is now a time of war in Europe, and every one of them has to make concessions for the war, it seems to be a fantasy to let the Spanish royal family, which has long been immersed in court banquets and luxurious life, spend so much money on shipbuilding for the navy in one go. In order to scrape together the funds, the Marquis de Santa Cruz and other admirals who were worried about the country and the people even found intermediaries to borrow money from Dutch bankers, but the total was still $2 million.

"Yes, His Majesty the King and His Excellency the Marquis de Santa Cruz, I hope that within three years all the ships will be obtained, because we are sure that our American friends will be able to do it. As for funding. It is hoped that $2 million will be obtained from your country in the form of a loan. Diego nodded gratefully at Anna, rubbing his hands together in excitement, "We can repay this loan in installments with war horses, cotton, cane sugar, wool, and high-quality iron ore from Bilbao!" ”

"Uh...... Personally, I am more than willing in principle to provide any assistance to the Kingdom of Spain in any way I can. But that's probably ...... Maybe...... Possible...... It will take a while...... But, as I have said before, my Government would also like your country to accept the Irish aristocracy in exile who were persecuted by England. ”

Swenbo was secretly sweating, embarrassed that he had "brokered" a deal absent-mindedly. However, this does not seem to be a bad thing, at least some of the important work assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been completed.

"No problem, any devout Irish Catholic can be protected by the Kingdom of Spain, which is also the wish of His Majesty the King. Well, a toast to our friendship! Dear Mademoiselle Marquis Anna, I wonder when Oscar (Swenbeau's eldest son) will be able to go to Seville to study? His Excellency Bishop Sebastian is the heir to the Marquis of Santa Cruz. ”

"Soon, Lord Baron. I will personally accompany my children to Seville next year and, if time permits, attend the wedding of Her Royal Highness Princess Maria. Anna smiled. I'm glad that my mother's family can continue to be strong because of this.

But looking at her husband Swenbo's dull and dry expression, Anna also gritted her teeth with secret hatred in her heart, because she had long known some ugly things about her flowery husband and Princess Maria over the years.

……

The winds in the Azores are as lively and warm as ever, but in the Mediterranean, deeper into Europe. Another wind from the Atlantic Ocean also quietly made landfall on the Apennine Peninsula.

In the western foothills of the peninsula, the Arno River flows quietly past the ancient city of Florence. Florence as the birthplace of the European Renaissance. Under the rule of the Medici family, who were powerful in Europe and loved art, it became the center of modern European art culture and thought.

Since the 15th century, this city has been full of supreme vitality and has been home to countless great masters of art and science, but it also has the other side of the fierce conflict of ideas of this era - Florence is heavily controlled by the Holy See, and many people with whimsical ideas in the city have been blacklisted by the Holy See, or have a tragic end.

More than ten kilometers west of Florence, on the south bank of the Arno River, in the wilderness of the small city of Siena, several horse-drawn carriages wrapped tightly in black cloth slowly stopped outside a simple manor, and several men in black robes and hoods walked in silently.

The white-haired old man sat in the study, seemingly tired, his eyes swept aimlessly over the bookshelves, and it took a long time to reach out and shake it slightly in a certain direction, but unfortunately, his eldest daughter Vickynia was outside the manor at this time, and could not take down the selected books for him, and the few students who accompanied him did not know when they were gone.

There was a sound of footsteps in the corridor, and Vichynia, who was as simple as a peasant woman, led several black-robed men to the door of the study, and the old man, at the same time, several young students were also inexplicably blocking the exit of the corridor.

"My Virginia, where is this guest from? Didn't this arrangement embarrass Bishop Picoromini? The old man sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere, propped himself up, and cast an inquiring glance at his eldest daughter.

"Dear Mr. Galileo, I am the diplomat of the Chinese American Republic in Amsterdam, Elson. I came to visit you today, and I have some academic questions that I need to ask you. Rest assured, my friend has obtained the consent of Bishop Picoromini. ”

A black-robed man withdrew his hood with a smile on his face as everyone else stepped out and the door to the study closed quietly.

The old man was stunned for a moment, and slowly all kinds of rumors that he had heard over the years appeared in his mind. An emerging country on the other side of the Atlantic, a country that is envied and envied by European countries.

"Mr. Elson, perhaps you should know that I am forbidden to engage in scholarly exchanges with others."

At this time, Galileo showed his unique personal ethics, a contradictory duality that could not escape from the fundamentals of this era. He was the greatest scientist of his time, and he was convinced that the duty of a scientist was to explore the laws of nature. But he was also a devout Catholic, recognizing the power of the Holy See to govern the souls of men.

Galileo's house arrest and various summons were almost unconditional obedience to the Holy See, and even after many brutal persecutions and interrogations, he always obeyed any disposition of the Holy See. For example, now he is the object of house arrest by the Holy See.

It seems that he has long figured out the old man's principles of doing things, Elson sighed, and did not explain too much, but just found a book from the black robe. Gently put it on the desk: "This is the book entrusted by the Academy of Sciences of our country to Mr. Galileo, I want to discuss it with you, maybe you will be interested." ”

The mania for scientific knowledge in his bones made Galileo instantly see the way from the cover of this exquisitely made black book. A string of flowers in Latin glows under a few square words - "Principles of Elastic Mechanics and Dynamics".

"Great God...... "Great God" After slowly turning the pages with trembling hands, Galileo's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, the book was in Latin, as if it had been specially prepared for himself. Galileo was like a doping. Rushed to the bookshelf to the side, grabbed a stack of manuscripts, and read them in front of the guests.

In the course of history, there have been many theoretical studies on these two disciplines. It would be written by Galileo himself in two years' time, but now Galileo sees a myriad of things that coincide with him or even become clearer.

"I'm honored to ...... Mr. Elson, if you allow it. Can I borrow books for a long time? Galileo stopped what he was reading, and slowly closed the book. Finally smiled.

"Mr. Galileo, if it were just this book, I would like to present it to you on behalf of my own Academy of Sciences. But in reality, we have many more problems that are countless times more complex than this that we need to discuss with you. Elson paused, then took out another letter from his black robe, and unfolded it on his desk, making a silent gesture.

After quickly reading the contents of the letter, Galileo opened his mouth slightly, but for a long time, he did not say a word.

"Father, Mr. Elson, Bishop Pico Romini is here this evening." The eldest daughter, Vichynia, stepped back from a crack in the door at this time, carefully alerting the people in the study.

"You just lied...... I cannot accept your kindness, either to me or to my friend Bishop Picoromini, Mr. Elson. I cannot leave Florence against the orders of the Holy See. A few minutes later, Galileo handed back the book with a regretful look and slowly sat back in his chair, but the pain in his eyes was clear.

"I understand where you are now, but science is about upholding the truth. God's to God's and science's to science, are you willing to give up the opportunity to study the scientific truth of the world with the professors of our Academy of Sciences? Elson probably knew that the other side would make such a choice, so he lobbied according to the established plan, "Your students are also looking forward to your choice, which will give you answers to many things that you have pursued all your life, rather than being drowned out in endless papal accusations." ”

"Oh no, I'm not greedy enough to try to know the whole world in the palm of my hand, but you're right that the students outside the door should have more scientific questions to be explained and learned." Galileo seemed to have made up his mind, and finally took many of his manuscripts from the shelves and put them in front of Elson, "Take the students here away, I will write you a few more letters, some bright young people will take advantage of these opportunities." ”

Galileo took the quill and seemed to be doing something that surpassed all the scientific research in the first half of his life, almost an entire page of letterhead.

Elson and the others left, and at dusk, another carriage from Florence stopped outside the manor, and Bishop Picoromini suddenly found that several of the students who were accompanying his old friend Galileo in the manor today were gone, and only Galileo's daughter was still sweeping the floor at the gate of the manor.

……

Launched in 1630 and codenamed "Street Lamp", the European Talent Search Program is currently under the sole responsibility of Elson, a diplomat in the Netherlands.

Perhaps the higher-ups had long known about the shackles of the times that bound giants like Galileo, but Elson still got a long list of them. Elson, who was at a loss for science, spent almost years searching for the people on the list.

The first person to be persuaded by Elson was Descartes, a scholar who had left France to live in Amsterdam, a well-known figure in the Netherlands. After a few paragraphs of a domestic university mathematics textbook translated into Dutch, Descartes' eyes lit up, and he boarded the ship to the Azores without hesitation.

The second place is Konstantin. Huygens, a Dutch diplomat who had dealt with Amsterdam. Elson couldn't understand why the ordinary-looking Dutch diplomat was so on the top-secret list of "streetlights" that he had to bring in the entire family.

Elson still followed the instructions of the European Intelligence Department and worked on and off for a year to help Konstantin . Huygens's son was treated for illness and successfully poached the other party's family into China. What he didn't know was that it was this Huygens family named Christian. Huygens's child is the real object of concern of the domestic magnates, a genius who has been frail since childhood and will be a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and mechanical inventor in the future.

The third is William, who has witnessed the treatment of anthrax many years ago during the "Plague of London". Harvey, a royal physician of England who laid the foundation for modern physiology. Under Elson's arrangement, Harvey has gone to the American Concession in the Azores many times to observe the local Consulate Hospital, although he has not yet made up his mind to immigrate to Huamei, but judging from the current progress, Harvey seems to be a little impatient.

The operation to persuade Galileo was pessimistic from the start, because the attitude of the Holy See had to make Elson and the European Intelligence Division behind him cautious. Galileo's own expression that "poor people must have something to hate" made Elson turn to the next best thing, preparing to "pack up" the other Galileo students or recommended juniors on the list, including Torricelli.

As for the rest of the list, it was no less difficult than Galileo, and the effort and time spent almost kept Elson in a state of "not doing his job" for several years. But Elson's current achievements have been highly appreciated by the locals, so that Elson later won the annual "Best Government Civil Servant Award", which is several times more than his already generous annual salary.

(To be continued)