As they said this, the Khan was silent the whole time, as before, only nodding occasionally. Tuhuan once wondered if he hadn't fully sobered up.

"Then, will the two Majesties continue to consider the marriage plan proposed by several noble nobles of our previous generation?" The envoy cautiously asked, "His Royal Highness the Elector has been waiting for your reply. ”

The queen looked over to the side of the Khan again.

"Did I forget to reply to him earlier?" Swing Khan was a little surprised.

"Nope. We really haven't officially answered yet. The queen said, "You have just come back and this kind of thing has happened." ”

"His Royal Highness Ludwig is indeed in a hurry, but they do not have formal diplomatic relations with this side, so they have already entrusted us to inquire about the situation again." The messenger reported: "Although it seems to be a partnership, you also know that the Westbach family can't like Sigismund in their hearts. He promised that as long as the marriage contract was established, the two parties could unite against the other princes. The territories that his father had given to his brothers could also be given to His Majesty. ”

"The place in Rhine-Palatinate was in a bad location. The eastern part of the territory was often attacked by powerful princes, and it was never peaceful; The French to the west have been eyeing Alsace, and it is clear that they will be next. Fortunately, now the French have no time to look east, and Sigismund is also too busy with things in the East, so it is indeed the best opportunity at present. He also knows this and is willing to pay the corresponding price for it. ”

"His Royal Highness does not have a wife at present, and there is no problem with his faith, and the church can vouch for this. He was a man of culture and culture, having founded a university in Heidelberg and serving as a priest of the Holy Roman Emperor. In his place, Her Royal Highness the princess should not be distressed by the fact that the cultural level gap is too large. Moreover, he is only 15 years older than the princess, which is the right age to not cause criticism. He introduced.

"We've got that." The queen replied, "But Theodora has little interest in him. You help me pass a message to him, just say that we look forward to more cooperation with him, but we can only refuse the marriage. Thanks to Heavenly Father's care, my daughter has found a husband. ”

"What?" The messenger was surprised: "Is it a misunderstanding...... Is this what she meant, or is it the decision of the two of them? ”

"We approve of her choice." The Empress confirmed.

"But...... Marriage is usually arranged by parents according to political needs. The messenger wondered, "The princess of your country is very noble, and she should be the only one." Many nobles lined up to marry her. If you don't think His Royal Highness Ludwig is suitable, you can also consider someone else. ”

At this time, the pendulum Khan, who had been unresponsive next to him, finally spoke and finally made a decision.

"We let you do the transit, and deal with other forces that are inconvenient to establish direct diplomatic relations, and you are better to be matchmakers." He smiled and said, "Don't worry, tell them, we've already decided it, don't think about it." ”

"We in Venice are the little Rome of the West, and we have always been very respectful to your country, and we have never shirked our audience and tribute. The commercial and diplomatic tasks entrusted to us have also been faithfully carried out. The messenger hurriedly defended: "As for this matter, it is not our proposal. On the Alemanni side, marriage itself is an important part of diplomacy, perhaps even the most important. We didn't dare to detain the request they reported, so we hurriedly sent it over. ”

Pensai Khan nodded, not asking.

The diplomatic environment of the Purple Horde was peculiar. When Guo Gai persuaded everyone, he once pointed out that if he wanted to establish a hegemony, he might only be able to build a small country; If you want to build a small country, you may actually just keep these Zhuangzi; And if you just want to defend the country, then you will definitely be wiped out by all kinds of barbarians in the end. Therefore, no matter what, you can't be willing to be a self-defense thief, you must open your horizons and aim at the entire world of Tessie. At that time, before Prime Minister Zhuge came out of the mountain, he understood the situation in the world and put forward countermeasures. It is necessary to have this vision in order to build the country.

And when doing specific things, we should try to be as stable as possible. Don't take the barbarian chiefs at their word, and don't expect them to be safe under our rule. No matter where you go, you must also learn the story of Prime Minister Zhuge to persuade farmers, so that you can really increase the strength of the country.

The strategy should be big and the implementation should be detailed, this is the idea that Prime Minister Zhuge can recover the decline and achieve three points. Although there are no such powerful figures here, the political level of Europeans is also a mess, and their vision is not as good as Sun Wu. As long as you do it well, it will definitely be very promising. After that, this idea almost became their national policy, and it was gradually implemented with the efforts of Guo Gai and others.

And these two points make them incompatible with other countries. Because Guo Gai and others believed in the thinking of the Great Han - or the Great Qin, they encouraged everyone all day long on the grounds that "the royal industry should not be biased", so they offended all European countries.

Like Alemanni, even if the Purple Horde later conceded, it only recognized Charlemagne's lineage, completely deniing all the legitimacy of the current Holy Roman Empire, including their princes. And the Alemanni people are naturally not willing to give them vassals for some reason. As a result, the two sides will not be able to establish diplomatic relations even on the right track.

In other places, it is even worse. On the Polish and Hungarian sides, there was no way to send temporary envoys, and as long as there were envoys anyway, they would definitely be killed. The Purple Horde could only continue to follow its previous custom, entrusting familiar merchants to gather intelligence or go to dangerous areas to conduct diplomatic activities on their behalf. So, what these Venetians are telling is actually telling the truth - even for their own business interests, they do their best.

It's hard to say anything about this. And the messenger was still trying to explain.

"Since the last war, eastern Alemanni has become more unstable. Heretical ideas spread rapidly, and peasants in many places were encouraged to rebel frequently. Many princes were also shocked and shaken badly. The messenger reminded: "If you let out a few words, if you make some statements, that you can consider cooperating with them and keeping their position, these people will be happy to offer very generous terms, and these will certainly bring great benefits to Rome." ”

"As for marriage, that's really a diplomatic tradition. The statement it brings is certainly the most powerful. Why don't you think about that? ”

"European traditions, it doesn't matter to me." Swing Khan said bluntly: "As for the interests...... Nor do we expect to dismember or annex the kingdom of Alemanni anytime soon. ”

"You should know what our strategy is. We have little interest in places that cannot be consolidated, as in the case of my father in southern Italy. He said:

"You should know better how difficult it is to cross long distances, to leap over the territories of several great nobles, and to make the Rhine valley a frontier. Such a mistake was made by the Qin people back then, and now we in Great Qin will not repeat the mistakes of the past. How these people will fight among themselves, who will win, and what will become of their country in the end, to be honest, we don't care. Ask them to manage themselves. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your advice." Again, the Venetian envoy respectfully said, "We didn't understand the reason before, so we didn't understand the meaning. When we get back, we'll make it clear to them that they won't be harassed in the future. ”

"It's okay, it's okay." He didn't blame, and said, "If they don't understand, just tell them the truth." If you have to say why......"

He thought for a moment, and finally added: "Maybe our Rome is too strong, so she is qualified to pick anyone at will." ”

The messenger said yes again and again, saying that he understood, and then took their leave to them.

After several messengers left, Tuhuan asked curiously, "What?" Guo Kang's plan, you also agree? ”

"How do you tell?" The queen laughed.

"To reject the Alemanni so simply is to shift the focus of the business elsewhere. It's not hard to think about this. Tuhuan said: "The place where we can still focus on business now is the Ross area." ”

"yes." Swing Saihan nodded: "I think his report has a sentence that makes special sense." Looking at the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, those who have development prospects and can establish hegemony are all countries in the marginal areas. Because the wars of various countries are all about competing for national strength in the end. There is plenty of room for development in the marginal areas, so there is indeed more potential. Instead of continuing to fight with Alemani, it is better to find a way to continue to strengthen your national strength. ”

"Your grandfather told me back then that the key to the way of kings is not to war, but to improve one's own virtue. I think he has understood this truth thoroughly. If you want to marry him, then marry him. The Guo family is as long as they are happy. ”

"If you don't have any opinions, I'll talk to Guo Kanganda." Dehuan continued.

"I don't have any opinions, as long as your father doesn't object." The queen shrugged her shoulders and asked him rhetorically, "What do you think?" How is your sister best to marry? ”

"I don't think I need to get married. Although it is common, this part of Europe is no better than the Central Plains. The Central Plains is a circle, and it is impossible to stay, and the cost of control is too high, so it can only be restrained. The so-called harmony is actually a kind of bondage. Tuhuan analyzed: "But what about our side? The surrounding enemy countries are not barren places, and some of them may be better than the natural conditions on our side, but they don't know how to run them themselves. ”

"Besides, my father reminded them just now. In this environment, it is no longer possible to really expand the territory of Rome by engaging in diplomacy with those nobles. The way we expand our power is fundamentally in conflict with the local nobility, and it will definitely harm their interests. These people even dare to kill their parents for some benefits, what can marriage restrict? ”

"So, there's really no need to give them a good look in this place. Anyway, we've tried it before, so it's useless. He concluded: "Mr. Huang also told me at that time, 'There is no other king', and the conflict between us and them is fundamental." In this case, there is nothing to worry about. And to put it mildly, if one woman can solve the border trouble of Alemanni, what do we need six more legions on the northern front? ”

Hearing this, he also nodded.

This matter is well known in the Purple Horde. In the early years, they had little diplomacy with the European countries.

Because of the way it started and the special religion, the purple tent has long been at the point where people hate dogs. At that time, the crusading enthusiasm in Europe had long since passed, but after the Purple Horde became a little famous, there were still people in many places who organized expeditions to destroy the Purple Horde.

Fortunately, before entering Constantinople for the first time, the power of the Purple Horde was relatively small, and Eastern Europe had always been considered a poor and remote country, and the major powers were not interested in this side, and their main energy was to compete with each other for hegemony.

Britain and France were fighting each other, and the HRE Emperor was busy with the issue of establishing the electoral system. The local princes were not successful, and even the Ottomans, who were true infidels, could not defeat them. Poland and Hungary can pose a threat, but they both have some strength at this time, and they both want to go west - these nobles seem to have always lacked the ability to actively organize large-scale reclamation, so they know to rob each other. The Hungarians fought Vienna several times, and even went south into Naples. There are those goals, who are happy to stumble in Eastern Europe.

Therefore, although there were also high-ranking nobles and clergy who would come to fight, they were very small. However, on the other hand, the Purple Horde and them could not establish normal diplomatic relations.

At that time, the real traditional partners who began to communicate were actually only two groups of people. One was a group of Venetian pirates entrenched on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and the other was a group of Turkic bandits entrenched in Asia Minor.

The Purple Horde was established on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea, and most of the trade around the Black Sea was monopolized by the Genoese. Even the estuary in Constantinople was controlled by the Genoese. The Venetians have long been unhappy with this, and in the spirit of "whoever fights Genoa, I will do a favor with money", and began to cooperate from then on.

It's a similar story on the other side. After the rise of the Ottomans, it posed a great threat to the various Turkic states of Asia Minor. Moreover, the Ottomans treated the Turks with extreme cruelty, and after the collapse of the Ilkhanate, Little Asia, which had recovered a little, soon fell into crisis again. The handicrafts and commercial cities were plundered and slaughtered by the Ottomans, and the countryside was swept away. The local Turks were in great distress and contacted other forces in the hope of fighting them together.

That's why the Venetians just now seemed so proactive - in the history of the Purple Horde, they were indeed "traditional allies".

On the one hand, they wanted to assess the current situation as soon as possible, and on the other hand, they were also to find out the news of other merchants - don't look at what they said very benevolently, in fact, if the merchants of other city-states really suffered heavy losses, these Venetians would probably wake up laughing from their dreams.

(End of chapter)