Chapter 24: History is long, and tragedies will naturally have a sequel.
The land of the four wars of the empire, Persians, Muslims, Normans, Bulgarians, Russians, and Mongols. The enemies of the empire came and went, and new ones arrived, like a fleeting glance, over thousands of years, we finally managed to suppress the Muslim world 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, united with the Russians and a series of small vassal states to withstand Gustav's surging offensive.
How despicable?
Christianity says that among fellow believers, one should be friendly and if someone slaps you on the cheek, you should turn your face to let them slap again. But there is only one Constantinople, where can we find another one for Western Europeans to slaughter? Haven't they been slaughtered enough once?! We are Romans, just take care of ourselves, don't bother what others do, nor have we seen them donate a single penny when we resisted the Mongols and the Green Religion...
It's pointless to say more, as the more you talk, the more tears will fall. Anyway, when a nation has a long history, it's like a tea table - all sorts of tragic things will naturally be placed on it over time.
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 cow hairs. We've always been waging diplomatic offensives. 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!!
As for fighting against France, which has the best commander and the best army in the world, let's not even mention it. The Green Teachings are all born with religious fanaticism, as long as they are on the line, they will become human bombs without blinking an eye. As for the Russians, Napoleon and Hitler both failed in Moscow... Who can give me a system that can change soldiers and heroes? I'll be their cow and horse, what's this, is it popular to sign contracts these days? Dammit, I'd rather sell my soul... Some people wander around and pick up some random stuff, then do whatever... The place I went to the most was that military school, that place... forget it, let's not talk about it, saying more will only bring tears.
"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 getting into trouble so quickly that it's almost catching 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's 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.
"Little brother," Alexander suddenly asked, "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! Build tariff barriers, squeeze out French goods, and make France's products unmarketable in Germany! But just one market of France and Germany is not enough, we need to take away the French market in Russia! Now that the Russians are entering Poland, this is a great opportunity. Through the Dnieper River, our empire will send goods to St. Petersburg! As long as Russia has not conquered the Baltic ports, our empire will have a huge advantage! At the same time, we can talk to the Portuguese, the English, and the Italians, with France being a giant next door, they won't be comfortable! We want to isolate the French! Aren't they using 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 the 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?"
"You're right, it seems like you can only follow in your younger brother's footsteps and continue this relatively promising family business..."
"Hey!" I turned around and called out to the coachman, "Let me off at Julian Street up ahead."
"Where are you going?" Alexander asked suspiciously.
"Of course I'm going to find my wife!" I said with a smug expression.
Alexander laughed and teased: "You've only met a few times, isn't this not even married yet, what if you really become your queen later, can't you even go out of the house?"
"There are some things I need to go discuss with her."
"What about discussing with the descendants of other noble families how to deal with the new legion?"
"Of course it's up to you to solve it, after all, they are your private bodyguards!"
"Alright, remember, you owe me one!"
"Big brother, from now on the entire empire is yours, who owes whom, you need to figure it out..."
