Chapter 9: History is long, and tragedies are inevitable.

  In the future I will be an enemy of Louis XIV, I am in fear, excitement and unease!

  Because in my past life, even if I was a Chinese, there were 108,000 miles between me and France. Even though there was a gap of French and Chinese languages between me and that civilization, I could still learn the great name of the king who lived more than 300 years ago in France. It can be said that Louis XIV had a huge impact on the course of history, so big that even in the Eastern Hemisphere, people can still feel the lingering influence of the dazzling light of the Sun King!

  Yes, the light of that French sun is very dazzling and scorching.

  Whenever Louis XIV is mentioned, everyone knows that it was absolutely the heyday of France!

  The most prosperous period in history, strong to the extreme, with the strongest army in Europe, the best commander, the strongest defensive fortifications, and the most perfect financial system. The "Emperor of the Romans", also known as the Holy Roman Emperor, who once dominated Western Europe, was now trembling under the glory of the Sun King. The Dutch masters of the sea were shaking at his feet, and the Spanish army, which had once been invincible, was repeatedly defeated before him. The land of neighboring countries was in his hands, to be taken or given away as he pleased...

  I am the State...

  In this world, France, which possesses the hardware to dominate the world, is also inevitably rising and taking over, just a few steps away from seizing the hegemony of Western Europe! History is so amazingly similar that the man who brought France to its peak was also named Louis XIV, and he called himself Apollo, the Sun King, enthroned in the Palace of Versailles in France, shining brightly like the sun hanging high in the sky, radiating dazzling light from France to all directions, scorching the Western European powers, and even in Constantinople, one can still feel the lingering aura of the French Sun King's dominance.

  Due to the butterfly effect of the previous term, who knows if France will not follow the old path of history! It should be noted that it is currently 1718, and if we put this point in memory, Louis XIV has long been hanged. The Western European war surrounding the Spanish throne has become a duel between France and Habsburg over the Castilian throne! We intervened in the struggle for the Castilian throne between France and Habsburg! It was our greatest effort to merge the Kingdom of Castile into France after Louis XV's accession, but the result was still disappointing. All this is because we were hindered by the Green Sect Mahdi.

  That man who made countless female livestock of the Green Religion prolific is really formidable. For more than half of last century, we were at war with the Green Religion. My great-grandfather and grandfather spent their lives in the bottomless pits of Adana and Aleppo in the south to turn the tide, which was still thanks to the early death of Mahdi, the leader of the Green Religion. It wasn't until the generation of Cheap Old Man that we gained the upper hand and suppressed the Green Religion!

  The empire's four wars, the Persians, the Green Teachings, the Normans, the Bulgarians, the Russians, and the Mongols. The empire's enemies came and went, and new ones arrived, like a fleeting glance, over thousands of years, we finally managed to suppress the Green Teachings with great effort, but before we could even catch our breath, the French from the west were ready to take their place, and also, the Russians are becoming increasingly powerful, already an unstoppable force... Moreover, our enemies do not stop at these.

  When Poland rose, we cooperated with the Russians in secret and gave blood to the Teutonic Knights, making the three sides fight fiercely in Eastern Europe. When the Habsburgs rose, we united with the Kingdom of Poland and various vassal states such as Saxony to confront the Habsburgs. Later, it was France and the Netherlands that restrained the Habsburgs. In the early 30s of last century, the war replayed, and we finally intervened in the war, but not to completely eliminate the Habsburgs, but to pull them up a bit. Soon, Sweden dominated Northern Europe, swallowing Denmark, Norway, and most of Poland's territory in one breath. The Habsburgs, which we had pulled up, joined forces with Russia and a series of small vassal states to resist Gustav's surging offensive.

  How despicable?

  Christianity says that among fellow believers, one should be friendly and when someone slaps you on the cheek, you should turn your face to let them slap again. But there is only one Constantinople, where do you want us to find another Constantinople for Western Europeans to slaughter? Haven't we been slaughtered once already?! We are Romans, just take care of ourselves, don't bother what others do, nor have they donated a single penny when we resisted the Mongols and the Green Religion...

  It's pointless to say more, the more you talk, the more tears you'll have. Anyway, when a nation has a long history, it will be like a tea table, slowly and naturally, all tragedies will be placed on it.

  Bitterly exhaling a mouthful of air, the pressure is so great that it's almost suffocating. Maintaining an advantage over the Green Teachings, suppressing the French, and weakening the Russians - for several hundred years, Western Europe has been plagued by feudal forces as numerous as hairs on an ox. The principle is similar to Britain's Glorious Independence: never allowing a powerful regime to emerge in Western Europe. But now, this strategy is very difficult to implement, very difficult!!

  Fighting against France, which has the best commanders and army in the world, is not even worth mentioning. The Green Gang are all born religious fanatics, as soon as they get on a roll, they'll become human bombs without batting an eyelid. As for the Russians, Napoleon and Hitler both got defeated in Moscow... I wish someone would give me a system that can swap soldiers and heroes, I'd be their servant, what's this about signing contracts? Ugh, I won't sell my soul... Some people wander around and pick up random stuff, then do whatever... The place I went to the most was that military school, that place is... never mind, it's still painful to talk about.

  "What's on your mind?" Alexander asked with a sly smile, "Thinking about France?"

  "Almost." I nodded to cover it up, "Too unexpected! The French are quick to attack and it's almost caught us off guard! Who do you think came up with this idea? The War of the Polish Succession has just ended not long ago, and they're already picking a fight with us. Don't they know that after years of war, what they need most is rest?"

  Alexander said, "Perhaps they think that dragging it out will only make us Romans stronger. Cutting off our Roman market in France protects them and cuts off one of our arms, which is a good deal for them, even if it means more work, but they think their finance minister can handle the job."

  "That Colbert is really capable!" If Western Europe had a ranking of able ministers, this guy would definitely be among the top, unfortunately they don't have such a thing here, Western Europeans only worship generals who are good at fighting.

  Alexander's assessment of the French Minister of Finance was also high: "One man is worth 30,000 French soldiers!"

  "Only 30,000? I thought you'd rate him higher than that." I was taken aback.

  "Thirty thousand troops have arrived at the walls of Constantinople!" Alexander added, "If he were younger, I would rate him even higher."

  I also agree with Alexander's words. If Kollberg were a bit younger, his killing power would not be inferior to that of 50,000 French troops. Without him, it is likely that Louis XIV could not have brought out even 100,000 French troops, let alone the current scale of over 200,000: "That's right, Kollberg is also getting old, he has been sitting in the position of Minister of Finance for 21 years, and now he must be over 60 years old."

  "In comparison, our Minister of Finance... Hmph!" Alexander let out a low hum to express his slight dissatisfaction with the minister's incompetence.

  "The father let him sit in that position, more importantly, his auditing ability, he took charge of the financial audit, and the corruption within the empire would be discovered in time." Our finance minister is also a rare talent among the dwarfs, but after all, he is a personal talent.

  "Alexander suddenly changed his tone and asked: "Younger brother, I say, are you interested in becoming the Minister of Finance in the future?"

  Don't have to go out and fight?

  That's great!

  I smiled slyly: "My salary for hiring me is quite high."

  "That depends on whether your abilities are worth me spending so much money to keep you in that critical position." Alexander asked, his hands clasped together, "If it were you, how would you resolve this Frenchman's provocation?"

  I rolled my eyes, this guy is too difficult: "France's attack was too fast, so fast that it caught us off guard. Now all we can do is try to minimize the losses and open up new markets before we lose the French market! Let's build tariff barriers, squeeze out French goods, and make France's products uncompetitive in Germany! But just one market, Germany, is not enough. We need to take away the French market share in Russia! Now that the Russians are entering Poland, this is a great opportunity for us to send our goods into St. Petersburg through the Dnieper River! As long as Russia has not conquered the Baltic ports, we will have a huge advantage! At the same time, we can talk to the Portuguese, the English, and the Italians, with France looming large on one side, they won't be comfortable! We need to isolate the French! They use tariffs to protect themselves? Then let's make their goods unsellable! Not only will we not let the French sell their goods, but through trade negotiations, we can further unite other countries and isolate France!"

  "Not bad, I think you're more suitable as a Foreign Minister than as a Finance Minister."

  "Have you ever seen a diplomat who is detested by half of the noble ladies in high society?"

  "It seems you can only follow in your brother's footsteps after all, this old trade of his is more promising..."