Chapter 223 [Ambitions of Both Sides]

Ao Bai and Richelieu met for the first time, but they knew each other very well, and they also had some feelings of sympathy for each other. Their approach is different, but they have all had a positive impact on the country, consolidating the regime and increasing the national strength. Richelieu unabashedly admired the Ming Dynasty, saying that some of his reforms in France were also methods derived from the analysis of the Ming Dynasty's system, and then implemented, and the best country in the world to centralize power was the Ming Dynasty.

Ao Bai also admired the old man Richelieu, his thinking was very different among Europeans, he believed in heroes regardless of their origins, believed that the times made heroes, and did not look at blood. Although he did not say it explicitly, it is not difficult to see from the expression on his face when he mentioned Louis XIII that he did not take the stammering king in his eyes at all.

Richelieu was a complicated man, he didn't think he was a good person, but the two talked very speculatively.

Ao Bai said his plan, defeat Spain, help Portugal become independent, counter-annex Spain, and then control the sea trade with the Dutch, Portugal and the Netherlands are good at navigation, and the advantage of the Ming Dynasty is that there are many people, and a large number of soldiers can be sent to occupy the colony, and then develop together.

After hearing this, Richelieu expressed his willingness to form an alliance with Daming and fully cooperate. As soon as Spain falls, the Catholic League is finished. The biggest competitor is the United Kingdom. Although Ao Bai did not say it, Richelieu was sure that the Ming would also compete with the British. At that time, the colonies around the world are likely to be divided between Ming, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Considering the number of Ming troops, he now puts the Ming in the first important place.

Ao Bai smiled and said, "Lord Bishop, I don't know what kind of method you said about full cooperation?" Wouldn't it still be behind the scenes, supporting the soldiers of other countries to bear the brunt of the war? As far as I understand, France did not directly join the war. So as soon as we make the first move, the Spaniards may well co-opt the French and in turn join forces against us. Now only Sweden is directly at war with the Catholic League, and we are not familiar with them. I think the biggest problem right now is the position of France. His Majesty the King married a Spanish princess as queen, would he approve of France sending troops? ”

Richelieu said: "It is indeed inconvenient for France to send troops, and nominally we are also a Catholic country......

Ao Bai said with a smile: "It's just inconvenient for France to send troops, and the Ming army must not be the first to send troops, after all, we are not Europeans, and we are nominally here to do business." If the Ming army moves, the Catholic League will only need to say that we are here to invade Europe, and we will not be able to gain a foothold in Europe. We don't have that many translators to prove our innocence, and it's not impossible for the European countries to join forces against us, so in the beginning, we can only do business and help when the battle between the two sides reaches a critical moment, and decide the victory. ”

The Ming army had to enter the war justifiably, and for several months at sea, they had been studying this issue to maximize their benefits.

Richelieu's face changed, and he asked, "If the Ming army does not send troops, what business are you going to do?" ”

Ao Bai smiled: "We are going to sell weapons, some weapons, can influence the situation of the war, you should have heard that I invented something that can fly into the sky, right?" As long as it is used with binoculars and carrier pigeons, it can be used as reconnaissance to make the enemy's deployment army have nothing to hide, and the airborne troops can enter the city at night. This time, we brought a lot of hot air balloons, as well as the advanced weapons used by the 20,000 infantry to defeat the 100,000 cavalry of the Jin Kingdom. As long as we sell these things, war will be very easy. If we were to use the nature of an auction, whoever bids the highest will sell it to whomever we want, and I think we will sell it for a good price. ”

After listening to the translation, Richelieu frowned and said, "If the Spaniards bid high, you will also sell weapons to them?" ”

Ao Bai did not deny it, and said with a slight smile: "Lord Bishop, I admire you, I feel that we have some similarities, and what I do is the supremacy of national interests." What to do is in the best interests of Daming, and I will do that. You're a smart person, you must understand. ”

If the Ming army became an arms dealer. There is a real possibility of changing the tide of the war. Having acquired materials locally, they can also produce chain crossbows in large quantities. What the Ming wanted was to gain a foothold in Europe, and now that they were here, and they had close ties with the Portuguese, it was feasible to join there as long as the Catholic League offered sufficient conditions.

Riser pondered. There is no doubt that the person who negotiates with him in front of him is not a lamb who has come to Europe to be slaughtered, but a wolf. And when this wolf comes, it will not be so easy to drive away.

Richelieu analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of cooperation, he is not an impulsive person, he thinks about all possibilities, compares them, and then makes a decision.

Richelieu never behaved like a Catholic. In his early years, he could welcome flattery and curry favor with the powerful for the sake of the upper district. After gaining power, he was empty-eyed and arrogant. He was cunning to the point of despicable, harsh to the point of cruelty, and he regarded strategy as a legitimate means of power, and cruelty as a necessary quality for governing the country. He will always be more cruel to his enemies than he is to him. He was pretentious, he did not allow anyone to criticize him, he set up an intelligence service that was to arrest all opponents except to spy on the enemy, and during his reign Paris was full of spies, everyone at risk of going to the Bastille.

His power is huge, the king is overthrown by him, the queen mother is expelled by him, the prince is exiled by him, the whole royal family and even the whole of France are breathless under his oppression, he is no longer a minister but a tyrant, the first tyrant who has no one before and no one after him in the history of France. However, he was not allowed to eat now, he had never seen such a young man. When it comes to the other party's territory, he can still behave as tough as the master, and he pokes at their soft underbelly at once.

Richelieu thought for a while and sighed: "Taifu, I need time to think about it, if you don't mind, you can stay in my mansion tonight, I can't answer such a big matter immediately." ”

"Okay."

Ao Bai didn't urge, and chatted with him about literature again, diverting the topic.

Richelieu loved literature and considered himself a man of letters, he encouraged the development of cultural undertakings, wrote his own plays, and wrote good prose, but at the same time he established a cultural censorship and bribed the royal literati to sing the praises of his own merits. Ao Bairen gave him a set of four books and five classics, and discussed Confucianism with him. After chatting for a while, Richelieu was overjoyed. He found that Confucianism was indeed conducive to maintaining rule.

In the evening, Ao Bai and a dozen others entered Richelieu's mansion. He was a very extravagant man, and his mansion was no worse than the royal palace. If it was Ao Bai to be the emperor, there was such a powerful minister, but he was afraid that he would not be able to sleep and eat, so he would have found a way to kill him. Louis XIII was a very unseeded man.

There are a lot of cats in the house. It came as a surprise. Ao Bai asked, "Your Excellency, do you like cats very much?" ”

Richelieu laughed: "I like small animals on the one hand, and on the other hand, to prevent assassination. At night, if someone walks around the house, the cat will bark. I have a lot of political enemies, and they will do anything to attack me. ”

Richelieu had been assassinated countless times, but all of them were shrewdly evaded. Raise a group of cats, and after the lights go out at night, the whole mansion is full of shiny cat's eyes, like a devil's cave. This can indeed prevent assassination, but that night, Ao Bai kept hearing the cat barking and did not sleep well. I can't help but secretly scold this old man for being really perverted.

Richelieu smiled the next day and asked, "Master, everyone, how was your sleep last night?" ”

Li Yan sighed: "I really wanted to come out last night and kill all these cats." Your cat hobby sucks. ”

After listening to it, the translator looked embarrassed and didn't know how to translate well. Ao Bai smiled: "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously, don't translate the sentence just now." I wonder what the Bishop is thinking about? ”

Richelieu said: "I decided, France will send troops directly, before we have only pretended to other countries to weaken the strength of the Habsburg royal family, but the Habsburg royal family will not fall so easily, Denmark, the Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire have failed, and Sweden has also won." At this time, as long as the Ming army is willing to help, we will directly send troops to fight against the Habsburgs in alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands, and this battle will definitely be won. ”

Ao Bai smiled: "Make a decision immediately, the bishop makes a good decision." ”

Richelieu said: "I would have hesitated for a few days, but you forced me to make a decision, as long as the Ming army is involved, which side you support, that side will take the initiative." I can't give it to someone else, if we trust each other. Taifu, can I fully trust you? ”

Richelieu has always called Ao Bai Taifu, and he believes that this official position best reflects his status, which is higher than that of the Ming Emperor. Ao Bai said: "Of course, our cooperation has just begun, and the Confucianism we mentioned yesterday, if the bishop is interested, I can also send someone to tell about it." As long as you are on the same front as the Ming Dynasty, I guarantee that France will get more than you expect in the future. ”

Richelieu laughed, "Oh? Does Taifu know what I want? ”

Ao Bai said lightly: "I don't know, you may hope that France can become the hegemon of Europe." But I have a better suggestion. The European continent is very large and there are many countries, but there are often wars between each other, and wars will affect development. The Ming Dynasty formed alliances with European countries not for war, but for development. We can control the sea and the land by force. Now it's just the first step in cooperation, and in a hundred years, I think everything will be different in Europe. Have you ever thought about the possibility of unifying Europe and building a full-fledged alliance in Europe? ”

"Huh?" The person acting as the interpreter listened to Aobai's words and couldn't help but scream in surprise.

The concept proposed by Aobai is the European Union, and no one in Europe has ever thought of such a thing.

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