After the Spanish expeditionary force was completely annihilated in the North African battlefield, King Philip II immediately declared the country bankrupt, and the German bankers also went bankrupt.
This incident brought about a series of consequences.
Many of those bankers lived in Germania. Because they surrendered so quickly, Wang Ji could not find any reason to ransack their homes when he captured them.
Now that Spain has caused collective bankruptcy, Wang Ji capitalized and took over the banking business.
Wang Ji didn't have a lot of gold and silver in his hands. After taking over the major German banks, he immediately established the National Bank of Germania and forced the country to use silver coins and copper coins as daily currency. Although the finance was in chaos for several years, the people gradually
By accepting copper coins, Swedish copper mines can finally be liquidated directly.
When Spain went bankrupt, the news that Mexico and other colonies were seized by the Ming Dynasty had not yet reached Europe.
Therefore, Genoese businessmen were willing to take over and lend a large amount of money to Spain to ease the financial crisis. The condition was that the gold and silver obtained from the New World must be sent directly to Genoa for storage, which was equivalent to Spain working for Genoa. Historically, Genoa relied on this to rise again.
, and even suppressed Venice in turn.
But now, the Genoese businessmen are crying because they cannot get back the loans they gave to Spain!
The news that the Ming Dynasty had captured the New World shocked the whole of Europe, and immediately brought about the problem of silver crunch. Countries followed Wang Ji's example and minted copper coins to alleviate the gap. Copper coins instantly became popular coins. However, the copper coins of various countries did not circulate with each other and could only be used in their own countries.
Domestic transactions and international trade still rely on gold and silver.
King Philip II of Spain once again declared the royal family bankrupt, and a bunch of Genoese businessmen also went bankrupt.
Henry II of France took action upon hearing the news and boldly sent troops to the Republic of Genoa, easily occupying the entire territory of Genoa and robbing the Genoese merchants.
This situation happened once a few decades ago, when Genoa was ruled by France for thirty years. It was the then King of Spain, Charles V, who drove the French away and guaranteed Genoa's independent status.
France now occupied Genoa, which immediately caused famine in Genoa.
Because Genoa itself does not produce much grain and relies entirely on imports from the Two Sicilies, Genoese merchants have monopolized the grain trade in the Two Sicilies.
The Two Sicilies were also ruled by the Habsburgs, and the HRE Emperor was not allowed to sell grain to the enemy France, including Genoa, which was under French rule.
Merchant and peasant uprisings broke out in Genoa and the Two Sicilies at the same time, the former against France and the latter against Habsburg.
The uprising in Genoa was brutally suppressed by France.
The uprising in the Two Sicilies was an unexpected success. Merchants and nobles declared the establishment of the "Sicilian Republic" and were willing to continue selling grain to Genoese merchants.
While France occupied Genoa, Wang Ji was not idle and sent troops to attack Habsburg territory.
Emperor Ferdinand I of the HRE was on the verge of tears. He was first deprived of a large area of German land, and then was beaten violently by the Ottomans. By recognizing the Ottoman rule over Hungary, he barely managed to gain a short-term peace. He still hasn't recovered yet. King
Ji actually jumped out to trouble him again.
Short of money, soldiers, and food, the Shinra Emperor had no other option but to defend Prague.
Wang Ji was also helpless against Prague. The city was too difficult to defeat and he did not have enough food and grass to besiege the city for a long time.
The two sides quickly negotiated a peace, and the Habsburgs ceded Austria's southwestern lands, namely Liechtenstein and Innsbruck, in exchange for Wang Ji not to invade again for twenty years.
Wang Ji's Kingdom of Germania was directly bordering Venice, and he could purchase Eastern goods from Venetian merchants who had changed hands countless times.
Tsar Ivan IV once again attacked "Poland-Lithuania".
Since the armistice agreement was torn up this time, the Tsar was embarrassed to bring his ally Wang Ji to fight together.
At the beginning, the Russian army won consecutive battles, and then suffered two major defeats. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Kurbuski, defected directly to Lithuania - there was no way, Russia had over-expanded, and at the same time it was still engaged in reforms, and its stability had always been very low.
, it is not unusual for a frontline commander to defect.
"Poland-Lithuania" is also amazing. After defeating Russia, it did not pursue the victory. Instead, it announced that the two countries would officially merge into the "Poland-Lithuania Federation" and also annexed the independent principalities of Courland and Semilia again.
This principality became independent in the last armistice agreement.
The annexation of this country by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was tantamount to tearing up the armistice agreement with Wang Ji, and Wang Ji immediately declared war on "Poland-Lithuania".
Of course, he could only declare but not fight, as Wang Ji was temporarily short of food and grass.
The war in Northern Europe has reached a stalemate. All countries are at war, but they have never really fought.
It was not until two years later that everyone had calmed down and started to get ready to start the fight.
Russia took the lead in sending troops, and Wang Ji also followed in the Eastern Expedition. "Poland-Lithuania" fell into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.
After fighting for half a year, "Poland-Lithuania" chose to seek peace.
Wang Ji annexed the Principality of Prussia, which later became the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia.
Russia annexed the principalities of Courland and Semilia, which later became Latvia and Estonia, and the Tsar finally gained access to the Baltic Sea.
Just one year later, the Crimean Khanate, with the support of the Ottomans, attacked Russia without warning.
As the main force of Russia was conquering the Caucasus region, and the rest of the troops were preparing for "Poland-Lithuania", the Crimean army conquered cities and territories all the way, and even reached Moscow, the capital of Russia!
When the Russian border troops returned to support the capital, "Poland-Lithuania" immediately took advantage of the situation and once again tore up the armistice agreement and chose to fight.
Wang Ji declared war, but declared no war again, waiting for Russia to hold on for a while before talking.
During this period, Wang Ji sent an envoy to blackmail Poland and Lithuania and asked them to pay 100,000 gold coins in exchange for Wang Ji only declaring war but not sending troops this time. Poland was overjoyed and paid happily, and finally no longer had to fight on two fronts.
The Crimean army suffered first and was defeated by Russia's returning troops.
However, the problem of Russia's overexpansion was once again exposed, and uprisings began in a large number of newly occupied territories.
Amid internal and external troubles, "Poland-Lithuania" fought consecutive battles and regained the Baltic Sea coastal areas, and Russia's outlet to the sea was completely destroyed again.
Tsar Ivan IV was very stubborn and refused to admit defeat even to the death. This war lasted for eight years and the Polish king was beaten to death. It was called the "Third Northern War" in history.
During this period, Wang Ji had been declaring no war, and was conscientiously farming for development and digesting his newly occupied territory. Ivan IV was so temperamental that he did not dare to withdraw from the alliance unilaterally, fearing that Wang Ji would turn his gun.
Hit him.
In the end, both Russia and Poland were defeated, leaving their people's livelihoods in ruins and their debts high.
Until the death of the King of Poland, both sides took a step further and signed a contract to maintain each other's actual control of the territory. Russia was tantamount to admitting that it had lost its access to the sea.
Wang Ji was furious and accused Russia of unilaterally seeking peace, which was an act of betrayal of its allies!
Ivan IV:??????
Russia and Poland still negotiated peace because their respective countries could no longer sustain it.
Wang Ji took the opportunity to launch a war, blockade the coastal ports of "Poland-Lithuania", and quickly surrounded its capital, Warsaw, waiting for the enemy to return and besiege the city for reinforcements.
At this time, Germania had implemented three-year compulsory education in major cities, and the quality of its soldiers had been greatly improved.
Moreover, after the centralization of power, all privileges of the nobility and the church were abolished, China's advanced agricultural technology was introduced, and industry and commerce were vigorously developed in coastal cities.
All kinds of soft and hard power can be said to be crushed in all aspects, and the "Polish-Lithuanian" army of King Qin was completely wiped out.
The two sides immediately negotiated a peace, and all the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea were ceded to Wang Ji, and "Poland-Lithuania" became an inland country. The Polish princess married Wang Ji as his concubine, and officially declared an alliance.
Tsar Ivan IV was almost furious to death. It was Wang Ji who was such an unreasonable ally!
After twelve consecutive years of fighting, Wang Ji declared that he would not fight. When the Tsar negotiated peace, he suddenly came out to seize the fruits of the war. This was nothing, Wang Ji actually formed an alliance with the enemy!
If Russia wants to gain access to the sea in the future, it will have to go to war with Wang Ji!
Really beaten.
Wang Ji formed an alliance with Poland, and Russia sent troops as a back foot. Ivan IV couldn't swallow this bad breath, and even if he drained the country's power, he still wanted to show Wang Ji his power.
"Poland-Lithuania" also joined the war and fought with Wang Ji against Russia. It was called the "Fourth Northern War" in history.
The war ended in an anticlimactic manner. Due to the Tsar's aggressive military campaign, a large number of nobles and serfs rebelled.
After holding on for half a year, Ivan IV could only sue for peace.
Wang Ji didn't ask for an inch of land this time because he didn't want to expand in the short term, so he only wanted 300,000 gold coins in war compensation. Russia didn't have that much money, so it could only use various minerals to offset the debt, promising that it would definitely repay its capital within ten years.
Pay off with interest.
As for "Poland-Lithuania", it took 60,000 square kilometers of land from Russia in one go!
In his later years, Ivan IV did not dare to advance westward, and instead attacked the Crimean Khanate with all his strength, trying to gain access to the Black Sea from there.
After conquering Russia, Wang Ji began to attack the Habsburgs.
The Habsburg royal family has been divided into two, one is the Spanish line and the other is the Austrian line.
Moreover, the Emperor of the Shinra was changed again, and was succeeded by the son of Ferdinand I. This man was ambitious and talented, and wanted to centralize power, but was fiercely opposed by the Czech nobles. He also wanted to get involved with the King of Poland, and when the old King of Poland died,
, jumped out and claimed that he had the right to inherit.
It was this declaration that gave Wang Ji an excuse to send troops, and the new king of Poland was also willing to fight together.
When Wang Ji and Poland jointly sent troops, Emperor Shenluo, who was dancing happily, actually chose to surrender and negotiate for peace, ceding the entire Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech Republic).
At this point, the Holy Roman Emperor only had three-quarters of the Austrian territory left, but he did not intend to give up. He once again declared himself the King of Hungary. In fact, Hungary had been occupied by the Ottomans for many years. The Ottomans therefore sent troops, and the Holy Roman Emperor immediately surrendered and not only canceled his
The Hungarian throne, and also accompanied a large sum of money to the Ottoman Empire.
Wang Ji was very depressed. Emperor Shenluo promised to cede the Czech Republic, but the Czech nobles were unwilling to surrender because he had long been regarded as a public enemy by the nobles for his centralization of power.
It took Wang Ji two years to completely conquer the Czech Republic and swallow up the Kingdom of Bohemia.
At this point, the territory of the Kingdom of Germania, divided according to the administrative territory of later generations, included the coastal areas of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania, the Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg areas of Russia, and the entire territory of Germany.
The entire Czech Republic, southwestern Austria, and a small area of Lorraine, France.
Henry II of France, because he did not die accidentally, lived longer than in history.
France completely annexed the Republic of Genoa, then Milan (before it was also the king of Milan), and then ate the Principality of Modena. The Principality of Tuscany and the Republic of Sicily were all sworn to become vassals of France.
Except for the Papal States and Venice, the entire Italian region became a French force.
This is also the reason why Henry II and Wang Ji never fell out.
Even though Wang Ji occupied such a large territory, it was actually not as valuable as Italy, and its population was not as large. France expanded to the south, and Wang Ji expanded to the east, and the two sides did not interfere with each other.
However, although Wang Ji has many women, he has always worked hard to succeed.
Henry II gradually drifted away, began to build a large scale, indulged in various luxury goods, and introduced Ming opera and football to France. He even spent huge sums of money to hire Ming musicians and players, and traveled across the ocean to France to develop music and sports.
Some scholars of the Ming Dynasty were also invited to formulate court etiquette based on French traditions.
Paris thus became the center of European art.
With Italy as the hen that lays golden eggs, France began to rack up huge debts, and the lives of French farmers were miserable.
By the way, the French queen had already fallen out with the king and took her son to live in Germania. During this period, she secretly gave birth to a son and a daughter.
As for Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, she was still working on unifying the British Isles and sent several ships to colonize Northern Yinzhou.
Because of the excessive blood and cruelty, Queen Mary was assassinated and her son succeeded to the throne as Henry IX.
Henry IX was obviously of Eastern descent. He claimed to be the illegitimate son of the Ming Emperor. He highly admired Chinese culture and paid a lot of money to hire a Ming scholar (actually a Tongsheng) as a court consultant.
This old boy actually had two skills and suggested that the king vigorously develop industry and commerce. Britain's financial situation was far better than that of France at its peak.
Henry IX looked down on European barbarians from the bottom of his heart, so he asked to marry a Germanian princess, and happily became Wang Ji's son-in-law, which was also Wang Yuan's grandson-in-law.
From then on, Henry IX spoke of his father, the Ming emperor, and his grandfather, the Indian emperor. He ordered the British nobles to wear Ming Dynasty clothes, and ordered all his ministers to have Chinese names.
Henry IX also built a China Street in London. Although it was nondescript, it could be regarded as a British Little China.
Spain is in dire straits.
Sebastian, the grandson of the old king of Portugal, began to invade Spain's North African possessions after he succeeded to the throne. Then, he directly invaded the Spanish mainland, and the two countries continued to fight for more than ten years.
When the contract was finally signed, Spain was forced to cede Andalusia. Portugal gained the northern coast of the Strait of Gibraltar, expanding its territory by one-third.
However, Portugal’s Brazilian colony was lost and was all snatched away by Wang Ji, just because natural rubber was produced there!
Throughout Europe, France, Germania, and Russia are the first-order powers, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland-Lithuania are the second-order powers, and Spain has been reduced to a third world country.
What is really terrifying is the Ottoman Empire, which not only occupies half of the Mediterranean coast, controls two river basins and part of the Persian Gulf, but also almost turns the Black Sea into its own inland sea.
However, after the death of Sultan Suleiman I, rebellions within the Ottoman Empire arose one after another, and even local officials gradually began to disobey the central government's orders. The territory was too large to be effectively ruled, and the emperor who could maintain it without collapse was considered a good emperor.