The world in 1672 was not peaceful. Maybe

To be precise, under the threat of the Xia Dynasty, European countries have all pressed the impulse to go to war for the time being, and have sent missions to Persia, hoping to find out the attitude of the Xia Dynasty.

For the missions sent by these countries, Mu Tianbo, the actual ruler of the Persian Protectorate, entertained them, the so-called stretch out his hand and don't hit the smiling people, since the Xiyi countries took the initiative to show goodwill, then why slap them in the face?

However, although Mu Tianbo accepted the kindness of the envoys of various countries, he did not reveal any of his next plans.

Under Mu Tianbo's rule, the local order in the Persian region began to gradually restore, and Mu Tianbo also asked the imperial court to form a new naval division in the Persian Gulf to fight piracy and maintain the western sea power of Bactria .

Mu Tianbo's will was approved by the imperial court, which ordered the shipyards along the Persian Gulf to begin building Western-style boats and recruit sailors for training among coastal fishermen.

In addition to training sailors, considering that the two western protectorates were far away from the Han land, and it was quite inconvenient to replenish soldiers, the imperial court also issued an order to allow each capital to recruit and train foreign soldiers in their jurisdictions and form servant brigades, with the same weapons and equipment as the regular army of the Xia Dynasty.

For a time, both the Persian Protectorate and the Xihai Protectorate began to recruit soldiers, and the military treatment of the Xia Army was able to throw off a few streets from other countries, so the local residents signed up to join the army. Maybe

In just half a month after the government announced the conscription, the Xia army recruited 20,000 and 10,000 servant troops respectively in the Persian Protectorate and the Xihai Protectorate.

Although the Xia army did not officially reveal who they would fight again, their conscription on the border still made countries worried.

In order to prevent the Xia army from going to war, the Ottoman Empire announced an additional 100,000 troops to the eastern border, from Armenia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south, and the local Pasha also entered a state of combat readiness.

Like a butterfly flapping its wings, the Xia army's conscription touched the sensitive nerves of the Ottoman Empire, forcing the Ottomans to send troops to the east.

This move of the Ottomans soon attracted the attention of their old enemy, the Austrian Habsburgs, who were more concerned about the pagans in front of them, although they were vaguely wary of the power of the Chinese rising in the east.

Moreover, the Austrians also wanted to retake the Hungarian region that had been conquered by the Ottoman pagans, knowing that the border between the two countries was close to the Austrian capital Vienna under the Ottoman invasion.

Should war break out again, the Ottomans could threaten Vienna directly at any time. Maybe

After the Ottomans moved a large number of troops to the East, the Austrian court was agitated by the news, and they also began to gather troops, send envoys to their allies Bavaria and Spain, and contact other countries that were enemies of the Ottomans, preparing to take advantage of this opportunity to start another war with the Ottoman Empire.

Time passed quickly under the clouds of war, and in May 1672, Isfahan, the capital of the Persian Protectorate, welcomed several special guests.

The guests went straight to the Metropolitan Residence in the center of the city, which was originally the court of the Persian royal family, but was transformed into a Imperial Residence after the Xia army occupied the area.

Soon, they were allowed to be taken into the yamen and met Mu Tianbo, who was reviewing documents in the study.

Mu Tianbo, who was born in 1627, is only two years older than today's Son of Heaven, but his temples have turned pale and his face has become more vicissitudes than his peers.

After several people were taken to the study, the leader of the group had a European face, he had a towering hooked nose, the whole person looked straightforward, he took off the hat on his head, saluted Mu Tianbo, and then said:

"The Venerable Grand Protector of the Xia Kingdom, whose contemptible name is Ulrich Schlüdel, is ordered by the Holy Roman Emperor to reach a cooperation with you that is satisfactory to both you and me." Maybe

The translator beside him translated Ulrich's words into Chinese word by word, Mu Tianbo nodded, although he didn't know much about the relations between European countries, but Austria and Oss

The hostile relationship of the Mans, he was clear.

Therefore, he had some guesses about the purpose of the envoys sent by the Holy Roman Emperors in front of him.

"The Pontic Protector guards the land of Persia under the order of the Great Summer Son, and has the right to act cheaply, so you can elaborate on your intentions, and the Pontic Protector will make a decision." Mu Tianbo said in a solemn tone, and when he talked about the Son of Heaven, he respectfully bowed his hand to the sky.

"Honorable Metropolitan Protector of the Xia Kingdom, before that, please allow the contemptible to explain to you the barbarism of the Ottoman pagans from Anatolia." Ulrich said, and was about to start his tirade, but was interrupted by Mu Zhongxian, who was listening next to Mu Tianbo, who said, "Your Excellency, we have no intention of listening to your exaggeration of Ottoman ***, we have our own conclusions on the merits."

The conversation was interrupted by Mu Zhongxian, and a trace of dissatisfaction flashed in Ulrich's eyes, but he quickly covered it up, he chuckled and said:

"Dear Metropolitan Protector of the Xia Kingdom, the barbarism and warlike nature of the Ottomans, you must have heard about it last year, they crossed the border and slaughtered a large number of civilians who should have belonged to your rule for no reason, and also looted a lot of property, if it wasn't for your army to send down the fire of judgment to defeat them, how could those looted treasures be returned to you?"

Mu Tianbo smiled slightly, and he said: "I already know your purpose, it is nothing more than that you and I will jointly attack the Ottoman Empire, this matter is very important, and we must consider it in the long run, Your Excellency, our dynasty has no direct conflict of interest with the Ottoman Empire, and it is not good for our dynasty to rush into war with this powerful country." Maybe

Hearing him say this, Ulrich instantly understood Mu Tianbo's voice, and he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, as far as I know, you have recruited a large number of soldiers in the Persian region, not just to maintain local order, the Ottoman-ruled Syrian region has always been rich and has a reputation of gold everywhere, if Great Xia is willing to join forces with our country to attack the Ottomans, the vast land east of the Bosphorus, we will not take anything."

Mu Tianbo listened, just smiled, but did not answer him, his smile made Ulrich feel a little weak in his heart, but he still pretended to be calm on his face, and said: "In addition, in order to show our sincerity, the contemptible people are also willing to send a piece of information to Your Excellency Dadu Protector first, a piece of information about Great Xia."

"Oh?" Mu Tianbo interjected and asked.

Seeing that Mu Tianbo aroused interest, Ulrich continued: "Your Excellency, the expansion of Bactria in Eastern Europe and the crushing defeat of the Russians caused panic in the countries of Western Europe, under the leadership of the Dutch and the British, the French, Spaniards, and Venetians all joined the siege network against Bactria and as long as Bactria continues to expand into Europe, they will send volunteers to the belligerents of Bactria to intervene."

As he spoke, he paused, and then said, "If Your Excellency the Protector of Dadu is willing to join forces with our country, the Holy Roman Empire will not join this ridiculous siege and stand firmly with Great Xia and become the most loyal ally."

Mu Tianbo didn't answer, he fell into thought.

There is no doubt that Mu Tianbo is completely sneering at the so-called encirclement network of Ulrich and does not care, but what he cares about is the meaning behind it, now they are just holding the Eastern European Plain, and those distant Western European countries have begun to prepare to unite against them, if they go one step further west, it will definitely cause a more fierce response. Maybe

It seems that they must prepare in advance, and should report this matter to the imperial court, even if the imperial court is not prepared to increase troops to the west, and open up greater conscription authority to the two prefectures, they will be able to deal with it on their own.

Seeing that Mu Tianbo didn't respond for a long time, Ulrich was a little anxious, and he tentatively asked Mu Tianbo's answer, and then the latter came back to his senses, he looked at Ulrich, his brain was spinning rapidly, and he thought about the pros and cons again.

There is no doubt that the war with the Ottoman Empire is inevitable, the only difference is the time of the war, now the defense center of the Ottoman Empire is in the east, if the war starts now, the strength of the Persian Protectorate is only about 80,000 people, and they are not familiar with the terrain here, once the war starts, the Xia army will lose the upper hand.

Unless the army of the Xihai Protectorate can participate in the battle together, but in Mutian

In Bo's opinion, Fu Xinghua's kid should not let go of this opportunity to expand westward, and he can already guess the battle on the northern front after the war - the troops are divided into two routes, all the way south to the Caucasus to attack the northeastern border of the Ottoman Empire, all the way to attack the Ottoman vassal Crimean Khanate with the cooperation of the Russian army and Cossack cavalry, and then along the Black Sea to the south, into the Bulgarian region of the Ottoman Empire.

Thinking of this, Mu Tianbo had some numbers in his heart, but for the sake of insurance, he was still ready to communicate with Fu Xinghua first, otherwise Fu Xinghua would not move at that time, and only let him protect the Persian capital against the Ottoman Empire, which would be a little embarrassing.

Therefore, he asked the Austrian envoy to stay first, and then he wrote a letter and sent it to Astrakhan, the garrison of the Xihai Protectorate, so that Fu Xinghua could see it, and at the same time, he also played the imperial court, and reported to the imperial court together with the matter of the encirclement network.

On the other side, Fu Xinghua quickly received the letter sent by Mu Tianbo's fast horse, and after reading the above content, he did not dare to slacken, and quickly ordered someone to invite Daniel Zhang to show him the content of the letter. Maybe

Subsequently, Fu Xinghua asked Daniel Zhang's opinion, and he said: "The Son of Heaven ordered me to wait for the westward expedition, the journey does not stop here, this is really a God-given opportunity, if there is the cooperation of the Austrians, our army will be able to open the banner and be invincible, what does Su Guogong think?"

"I agree to war with the Ottomans." Daniel Zhang nodded and said, "My 100,000 troops in the Xihai Capital Protectorate are stationed here, and it is an astronomical amount just for people to eat and chew horses every day, but we can't let the soldiers be wasted, continue the westward expedition, and feed the war with war."

After he finished speaking, the two looked at each other and reached a consensus, and Fu Xinghua immediately wrote back to Mu Tianbo, agreeing to go to war with the Ottoman Empire, while Daniel Zhang secretly began to gather the Xia army and transport grain and grass to the front.

After Fu Xinghua's reply arrived in Isfahan, Mu Tianbo summoned the Austrian envoy and solemnly announced to him that he agreed to join forces to attack the Ottoman Empire, but he also put forward a condition, Austria must provoke trouble before the war starts, attract the attention of the Ottoman army, so that their attention will not be all in the east.

Ulrich agreed to Mu Tianbo's conditions, and the two sides immediately signed an alliance agreement, but this alliance agreement will not be made public immediately at Mu Tianbo's request, in order to avoid startling the snake, it is not too late to make it public after the war.

……

Two months later, when the Ulrich mission secretly returned to Vienna with an agreement of alliance that satisfies them, the Holy Roman Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King Leopold von Habsburg of Austria, was thrilled that they were finally able to regain the lost territory occupied by the infidels. Maybe

Subsequently, the emperor quickly convened a court council, announced the matter, and ordered the army to be sent to the eastern border, requiring the generals to be put in a state of combat readiness, and the whole country to send baggage supplies to the border.

The actions of the Austrians instantly touched the sensitive nerves of the Ottoman Empire, and when the military report arrived at Konstantiniye, Sultan *** IV was furious, and he shouted discontentedly in the court: "Damn the Austrians, they are simply a bunch of treacherous fellows, are they going to tear up the armistice between us and go to war with us?!"

"I'm afraid so, Your Majesty." The Grand Vizier Koprulu appeared indifferent, which he expected, and said: "Now our main forces are deployed on the eastern border to guard against the Chinese army, and the Austrians may see this and dare to mobilize troops to fight against us."

"Let's transfer some troops from the east, compared to the Chinese, or the Austrians are more threatening." The fourth said helplessly.

"Not for now." Koprulu said calmly: "Your Majesty, the war in the West still requires you to personally lead the army, not to be able to repel the Austrians, to contain them, I will transfer troops from other regions to reinforce the front line, I am worried that this is a trap for the Austrians and the Chinese."

"What do you mean?" The Sultan heard his voice, and there was a hint of disbelief in his words.

"I suspect that the Austrians are very

It is possible to secretly join forces with the Chinese and prepare to attack us from east to west, and if this is the case, wouldn't it be exactly what they want to mobilize the border troops in the east?" Koplulu said in a deep voice. Maybe

Thinking of this possibility, the Sultan's face suddenly became a little ugly, if they were really caught between things, they would be in great trouble.

You know, the Chinese's power is not only in Persia, in the north of the Black Sea, the Russians have also become their servants, once the war starts, the Xia army in the north will also go south and invade their territory.