Joanna was still a little worried about Guo Kang's state, but Guo Kang had come back to her senses and began to answer her questions.

"You don't have to worry either." "For a long time, we will definitely still be dominated by Mediterranean trade," he reassured. The idea of marching westward into the ocean did not need to be rushed. We can wait until we run Andalusia and Morocco first, and then start at the same time as going south to West Africa. For now, there is no need to think so far. ”

"I understand, too." Joanna nodded: "But you also know that Rome's power and energy are limited after all. With so many directions together, is it enough? I look at your plans, and they always take it into account in all directions. But if you force multiple fronts, it may lead to a bad job on either side. ”

"That's fine." Dehuan helped Guo Kang explain: "Actually, you are still not familiar with the environment on our side. In our position, we have to attack from multiple lines. ”

"To the north we are the Poles, to the northeast are the Rus, to the east are the Turkmens, and to the southeast are the city-states of the Celestial Religion." He enumerated: "To the northwest are the Alemannis, to the west are the Italians, to the southwest and south are a string of islands, and to the south there is Egypt. ”

"This position is surrounded by enemies on all sides, not to mention the border, even on the other side of the sea. Moreover, the Mediterranean is very convenient to cross the sea, and the enemies of Italy and Egypt can directly invade by sea, which may be more convenient than taking the land route. ”

"So this is actually the Three Jin Dynasty of the Warring States, and the location is in the middle of the world. Either be strong and enterprising, or simply perish, there is no other choice. ”

"Yes, and for a reason." Guo Kang added: "Generally speaking, although at the same time, we do theoretically only identify one main direction. But in the secondary direction, it is also necessary to maintain the offensive momentum and maintain the pressure. ”

"This is because, after decades of exploration, we have found that if we want to maintain stability in a certain direction, it is really useless to rely on covenants and oaths. Especially in the North, ordinary diplomatic means have not been able to achieve our goals. ”

"If you want to give in for a while, then the other party will ask for more; Persuade them that we have a common enemy, but the other side will still insist on fighting together on both sides, and often hit us first. In such cases, negotiation and lobbying are of little use. ”

"So, it's not just a matter of strategy, it's a diplomatic issue. We would rather negotiate with the Turkmen chieftains than engage in diplomacy with the Alemannis. Not only is this kind of thing meaningless, but it also makes them think that we are talking about it because of our weak hearts. ”

"Our experience now is to refuse to negotiate anything other than surrender." He spread his hands: "This little trick is especially effective against Poland and Alemanni. ”

"Is that so?" Joanna looked interested: "That sounds counterintuitive. ”

"There's no way, that's all they do." Guo Kang was also a little helpless: "These people think they are smart, and they will try to use their brains to think, and they always want to take advantage of this." When negotiating, there is little use other than threats. Rather than this, it is better to conduct a direct threatening military operation. ”

"If there is a threat in the negotiations, they will think that the threat is empty. And if we only exert military pressure and refuse to communicate, they will not be able to understand our purpose, and they will be confused and afraid. In this way, because they will think blindly, it will be more effective than direct negotiation. ”

"And, after being intimidated many times, there will always be a few military leaders who feel that they have been tricked. They will think that we do not have the strength to really attack, and will only try to scare them so that they do not dare to take the initiative. These people tend to attack easily and then lose out of anger and contempt. These consequences will further affect the subsequent people. ”

"Anyway, they're special over there. I suspect that this strange state of affairs is due to their political system and the organization of the army. Guo Kang thought for a while and said:

For the more culturally backward Turkmen and Rus' tribes, this trick is not appropriate. Their minds are much more 'rustic', they always intimidate them, and they will really push them into a hurry, and they will fight with you. For those people, the traditional method of giving a stick and then a bunch of grapes is best. It's not this kind of routine. ”

Joanna thought about it and seemed to understand.

"I thought you understood that." Tuhuan was a little surprised: "I think you should be more impressed with the Alemanni talent." ”

"Hey, understanding is understanding, but our military strength, it's useless to understand." Joanna looked a little helpless: "That's why we have to look for help everywhere, because we have to have a big country like you to intervene so that we can have room for turnaround." ”

"Even if we understand, we can only use our brains in this direction. I'm afraid that the deterrence method you just talked about doesn't mean much to us......"

"Okay." Dehuan now understands.

"That's why I said, if you develop in the direction of the Mediterranean, my family and friends will definitely give their full support. It's not just about profit, there's also a security element in it. Joanna explained.

"Even the capricious speculators would now want more forces to step in. Because the French and the Alemanni are too brutal. Especially now that the French are at war and cannot form sufficient restraints, the Alemanni are simply unscrupulous. If you could really intervene, even if it's just to scare the barbarians, we'll probably be in a better place. ”

Guo Kang thought about it and felt that this was indeed a very important reason.

In this era, the barbarism and cruelty of European history may exceed many people's expectations. The dark scenes of Seris's history are often impressive, and even considered contemporaneous Europe to be a paradise. Unfortunately, for the most part, it's just that these bloody histories are not well known.

The security concerns of the upper echelons of the Italian city-states are not unfounded.

In this era, they were indeed economically rich and culturally prosperous, and entered an era that was later called the "Renaissance". In Guo Kang's impression, this should be a common sense that everyone knows from Ireland to Khitan. He himself knew from books about the beginnings, the peaks, and the glory it brought to Italy.

However, how it ended up in Italy, is less famous.

In 1527, the HRE army invaded Rome and carried out an eight-day massacre. The rebels set fire to the city and destroyed the classics in droves.

Among the soldiers, there were a large number of Protestants from the north. They destroyed monasteries and churches, tortured painters and poets for amusement, and indiscriminately carved the name of Martin Luther on Raphael's frescoes. The University of Rome was sacked, and a large number of scholars were massacred by soldiers; Raphael's art school was forced to dissolve because of too many casualties.

Later generations do not know how many of the inhabitants were killed in this disaster, because the number of dead was far greater than the number of dead citizens - in the midst of the looting, there was serious civil strife between the various armies fighting for treasure.

After that, the army wandered around the neighborhood for eight months, plundering the area from Milan to Rome. The destruction was so complete that the army itself fell into famine. They also don't deal with the large number of corpses, they live around for a long time, and they cause the plague. In the end, the HRE army also left a large number of corpses and left in a hurry, making it impossible to tell the exact number of victims.

This may be beyond the scope of brutality - the slaughter of the city has slaughtered itself like this, and to be honest, it really is rare.

And after this incident, the high Renaissance in Italy came to an end.

The population of Rome was reduced from nearly 60,000 to 10,000. The Church, which had been a major patron of art, philosophy and even science, was also battered and never restored to its glory.

So, the Renaissance was not "finished". It's not that it fulfills its mission and then passes the baton to posterity.

The Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment did not appear one after the other. It's not that Europeans have a "degree of civilization": after the Renaissance is over, they will improve a little; After the Reformation, a little more uplifted; After the Enlightenment, it entered civilized society.

On the contrary, it can even be said that the fruits of the Reformation directly participated in the destruction of the most precious fruits of the Renaissance.

Cordoba is finished, Constantinople is finished, Rome is finished - this is the "order" of the development of Western Europe.

At the beginning, Guo Kang also seriously considered these issues. But now, he had thought it all out.

"It's impossible for us to give up our focus on Italy, and you can rest assured." He said to Joanna: "Rome is our old capital, and sooner or later it will have to be recovered, otherwise how would we call ourselves by this name?" It's just that as you can see, we have been unable to protect ourselves for a long time, so we can't manage this far. ”

"But now, if you want to run the Mediterranean, you can't do it. Especially in the current situation, I suspect that something could happen to Napoli as well. If it does cause a new round of competition for the throne, we will definitely have to participate in it to prevent the enemy from controlling this important fence area. ”

"That's true." Tuhuan also agreed: "Although it is not the main direction of action now, we will definitely keep an eye on it, and it is impossible to ignore it." Now that we have enough reserves, if something happens, our legions will definitely react faster than their motley army. ”

What he said was very confident, and it was indeed true.

Compared to other European countries, the military system of the Purple Horde allowed them to draw an army at any time to quickly intervene in a contingency situation. For other countries, recruiting vassals and mercenaries is a time-consuming process, and it is difficult for the monarch to keep them on standby at all times, so the speed of action will definitely suffer.

Over the years, other countries have indeed recognized this, but a country's military system is, in the final analysis, derived from the political system. Without changing the way the entire country is organized, the new military system will be a castle in the air.

Therefore, everyone can only tinker and try to use various remedies to prevent the gap in this regard from widening. As for completely changing the country, this is really not possible.

Joanna clearly understands this, too. She nodded in agreement, but reminded again: "In this case, should we also prepare in advance in terms of publicity?" Do you have a ready-made reason to intervene? ”

"Yes." Guo Kang said without hesitation: "I know the lineage of Naples. The current king of Naples is called Ladislaus, and his ancestors seem to be descendants of Elizabeth the Cumans. Elizabeth is the daughter of Khao Tai Khan, so we can use the old routine to pursue Kate Khan and then destroy Naples. ”

"Guo Kanganda is right." Tuhuan didn't think about it, and directly agreed: "Let's just say it when we need it." ”

"That's not right." Joanna reminded: "Elizabeth and her husband, the last offspring, were Queen Giovanna I a few decades ago. After she was killed, the line was cut off. It was her cousin Carlo III who killed her and seized the throne, and he was not related to Ktayan Khan. ”

"But there's something to be aware of here. You see, the inheritance laws of Sicily and Naples allow women to inherit......"

However, Guo Kang didn't care about the second half of her sentence, but immediately came up with a way to answer the pursuit question.

"That's not what I said." He argued: "If a cousin inherits his cousin's family business, he must also inherit his family's family." It's called 'Chengyi'. After inheriting the throne, the original relationship was inherited. So although the blood relationship is a little farther away, but in terms of law, he is still a descendant of Ketaian Khan. We still have reason to go after him. ”

"Huh? Can Europeans inherit it? Tuohuan was a little surprised: "Do the other lords and the Pope recognize it?" ”

"It may not have that name, but it's the same nature anyway." Guo Kang continued to forcibly explain: "If he doesn't admit it, it is not in line with etiquette." Don't talk about the Pope, even if you sue the Ming Dynasty, you won't favor him. ”

"I think Guo Kanganda is right." Tuhuan suddenly realized: "Actually, in the future, we can also use etiquette as an excuse to start a war. ”

Joanna was helpless to find that they didn't seem to be interested in the topic they were suggesting at all.

In fact, the relationship here is relatively simple in Europe's complex network of aristocratic marriages: Joanna's mother was the deposed Queen Maria of Hungary, and her maternal grandfather was Lajos I of the Anjou dynasty, that is, the Anjou dynasty of Naples.

Her maternal grandfather was the cousin of Carlo, the former king of Naples.

During the reign of Lajos I, he sent troops to Naples several times. At first, he was supporting his younger brother, but later he simply wanted to annex it directly. It was only because of the intervention of other countries that it did not succeed.

After the death of Lajos, King Carlo of Naples also reversed the operation and tried to expel Queen Maria from Hungary. It was only in the scuffle between the parties that Carlo was assassinated, and his son Ladislau was subsequently defeated and retreated to Naples. It can be seen that these two families are very close and can compete for the throne with each other.

Joanna hopes that when mentioning this incident, Guo Kang can at least think of her and her mother. However, Guo Kang even came up with the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, but he didn't expect this relationship to ......

She didn't know if it was good to say it directly, so she could only look at the two of them pitifully: "Is it really okay to find a reason like this?" Don't you need to consider the support of the locals? ”

"It's okay, of course we know." Guo Kang smiled heroically: "Don't worry, we will protect the locals from the barbarians." Then they will know who to support. ”

"Guo Kanganda is right." Tuhuan also agreed: "This should not be difficult to understand. Miss, you don't want your artwork to be smashed by brutes, do you? ”

(End of chapter)