Urban Sims

When I brought Elena and Otto back to Glenland, the one who suffered the biggest blow was, of course, my wife Fanny. Fortunately, when she was about 30 years old, she finally got pregnant and gave birth to an eight-pound baby soon after. Boy, mother is more valuable than son, and the countess's position is finally settled. Moreover, people will always mature, especially women. After having a son and making him the focus of her life, what Fanny has to do at this time is not to compete with the concubines who are destined to be indispensable around her husband, but to compete with them. It is to train his children to become the best and most legitimate successors of the Burns family.

Over the next ten years.

Zhou Ming, who controlled an earldom and most of the Iron Castle Kingdom, used these lands and the resources under them as a basis to embark on a path of farming and violent troops, constantly launching foreign wars, and crazy expansion.

First, Duke Milton in the western border of the Iron Castle Kingdom was wiped out without much effort, and the entire territory of the original Iron Castle Kingdom was controlled. After another two years of digestion, a large amount of shallow oil was mined in the black swamp in the western border. After fractionation, Some of the secondary raw materials fractionated can be used as fuel for high-power steam engines, some can be used as lamp oil for kerosene lamps and horse lanterns, asphalt can be used to pave "highways", and paraffin-petroleum can be made into bright candles. The value extended by the chemical industry is no less than the huge profits brought by the three industries of coal, steel, and rail.

Three years later.

The thief Jero led three groups of mercenaries and a large number of slave workers, and after using up all the black gunpowder in Zhou Ming's inventory, he finally built an easy-to-pass passage in the Dafeng Pass, a short ten kilometers long in the Ural Snow Mountains. The "S"-shaped trench channel, the number of deaths paid to build this channel was actually twice as many as the number of slave workers who died while building the 100 kilometers of wooden transport rails in the plateau corridor. It can be said that every meter long Under the trench passage, there was a worker's body lying.

After the trench channel was opened, Zhou Ming, who had a continuous flow of sulfur and saltpeter, naturally did not want this channel to the New World to be under the eyes of the Tongshan Kingdom every day, causing it to spy and covet.

In addition, mass production of muskets and artillery requires the use of a large amount of copper. If the Tongshan Kingdom is not destroyed at this time, when will it be destroyed again?

Zhou Ming commanded 100,000 troops and used lightning tactics to control all the Tongshan Kingdom, which had 47 counts, in his hands in less than two years.

With a large amount of copper and less than a year, Zhou Ming trained a purely firearms-based army with a strength of 10,000, using the Guards as his base, and practiced with several surrounding kingdoms. Each battle was won with single-digit casualties, and the city walls were bombarded with artillery. Several surrounding kingdoms fell one after another.

At this time, Zhou Ming saw on the [World Map] that excluding the New World, he had controlled a huge territory of more than 5 million square kilometers and a population of more than 30 million. His achievements were no less than those of Alexander the Great. How many.

but……

Zhou Ming was not satisfied with this, because after the death of Alexander the Great, the empire he established quickly fell apart, and there were also some hidden dangers in the huge territory he controlled.

For example, the seven Earls who started a business with him, the dozen or so small countries in the surrounding area that swayed to surrender, and the backward lord enfeoffment system, there are dozens of neurotic lords jumping out every year to hinder the progress of the territorial citizens. Free movement, destruction of local trade routes, interception and killing of passing mercenaries and traveling merchants, and the imitation of seclusion and complacency.

After killing batch after batch of clowns, Zhou Ming discovered that as the scope of interests continued to expand, various internal conflicts caused by uneven distribution of interests, different personal pursuits, and different ways of thinking were no longer Enlarging the profit pie, designing a new upward channel, conducting influence induction and other methods can solve the problem.

For example, the seven earls who had been working closely with Zhou Ming over the years, after he fulfilled his promise, did grant each earl a medium-sized kingdom with more than 20 earldoms, and gave each earl 200 per year. Business alliances with 10,000 gold coins will receive dividends.

It stands to reason that the seven earls should be very satisfied and willing to accept it. However, they are not popular enough. Seeing that Zhou Ming is firmly holding on to the 36 earldoms of the United Iron Castle, the 47 earldoms of the United States of Copper Mountain, and dozens of surrounding counties. After adding up the territories, there are more than 120 earldoms in total. On the land, there are inexhaustible coal and iron mines, inexhaustible copper mines, inexhaustible oil and other resources, and they are provided every year. When Zhou Ming brought in more than 50 million gold coins, how could the seven earls, whose respective kingdoms' profits could not even catch up to this fraction, balance themselves?

As for Zhou Ming's annual dividend of 2 million gold coins... although it was a lot, it was only a small part of what they deserved. Compared to their potential losses, it was really not worth a dime.

Under the grievances accumulated over the years, after one of the seven earls passed away and his son came to power, this new-born boy, in the name of the elder of the Council of Elders of the United States, which had long existed in name only, actively connected with each other in the Council of Elders. Initiated a proposal to impeach the chairman, wanting to oust Zhou Ming, and then divide the interests of the two United States and the Free Business Alliance - this idea is very good, but for this proposal, except for his own vote in favor, the other six earls (In fact, it should be said that he is the king, but it is more convenient to call him this way), they all expressed their support verbally, and then abstained from voting.

Soon after, under the attack of Zhou Ming's 50,000-strong army, after cutting off the head of the newborn calf, the seven earls became six earls.

With overwhelming force, Zhou Ming established absolute authority in this huge territory, but what he wore on his head was still just a hat obtained by bribing Cardinal Thomas of the Northeast Archdiocese of the Church with a huge amount of money. A crown (small in size, with a three-legged golden rim, worn by kings of small countries), and the land he controls and the number of small countries around him that submit to him are enough for him to be crowned emperor (the emperor is a higher level than the king and can be said to be the king) King), but the church only gave him a small crown?

Not only that, as the territory continues to expand and quickly enters the era of semi-industrial capital, the territory controlled by Zhou Ming is not only extremely powerful in terms of military strength, but also economically, because of the Free Trade Alliance, the mercenary union, and the well-connected The existence and degree of development of the rail transit network are at least 50 years ahead of the hundreds of kingdoms in the west. Not to mention, after the mass-produced [steam engine] came out, Zhou Ming's territory was the economic center of a small county. In terms of strength, it is stronger than a kingdom in the west.

Therefore, in terms of economic and trade exchanges with hundreds of kingdoms and churches in the west, Zhou Ming's territory has always been in a state of "excessive investment" with huge amounts of money.

For example, the furniture, ceramics, white paper, ironware, weapons, perfume, cotton cloth, tea, cigarettes and other products produced in Zhou Ming's territory are far superior to those of hundreds of kingdoms to the west in terms of quality, quantity, variety, category, and price. Products produced in the church territory are more cost-effective.

Faced with the impact of these tidal waves of industrial products, and when a tobacco product called "Fushou Yao" began to become popular among the nobles and church leaders in various kingdoms, some insightful people in the church, through ten years, The economic and trade data statistics have led to an extremely shocking conclusion:

If the church continues to produce 5 million, 10 million, 20 million, 50 million,..., 100 million, 120 million gold coins per year at a super speed, in another 30 years at most, the church's gold and silver reserves will be completely exhausted. No money available.

The tithe collected by the church from the Free Merchant Alliance is only a little bit of the produce on the land. Commercial tax and mineral tax are not involved. The little agricultural products collected from the land alone are not enough to buy a few top-notch Pattons. porcelain.

Therefore, after this conclusion report was submitted to the Supreme Pope, Pope Santaro I attached great importance to it. After some consultations, he decided to limit the inflow of goods from the Free Trade Alliance and levy commercial taxes and mining on that Free Trade Union. Tax, commercial tax is set at 30%, mining tax is set at 20%, slightly higher, and the gold coins that have flowed into that area over the years are recovered.

This was naturally rejected by Zhou Ming! He originally wanted to ask Pope Santaro for a crown, but he refused and was asked to stop invading neighboring countries and spit out the occupied land. Now, he is still levied 30% of the commercial tax and 20% of the land. Mining tax?

Do you really think that he is a fat sheep that will be slaughtered at will?

If you don't pay, you won't pay a penny of commercial tax or mining tax. If you don't like it, let's fight!

A real war did not begin immediately, but the trade war initiated by the church did cause heavy losses to the Free Trade Alliance.

After many countries in the west implemented border blockades, a large amount of the Free Trade Alliance's goods could not be sold. The trade war only lasted a year, and the Free Trade Union lost hundreds of millions of gold coins.

Another one learned that the inland area where the Free Trade Alliance was located was short of salt. The insidious church actually issued a salt ban and severely restricted the inflow of salt. In less than half a year, the price of salt on Zhou Ming's territory soared a thousand times. , extremely lacking.

At this time, Zhou Ming had no choice but to send a large number of manpower to the plateau of the New World to find several plateau salt lakes as emergency sources of salt.

On the other hand, he had no choice but to break out and expel all the priests in the territory who were still supporting the Pope, and then win over the ambitious priests of another faction. Zhou Ming had an in-depth discussion with them and modified some of the teachings of the Holy Father Church. , founded a new religion, and according to Zhou Ming's request, the tithe was reduced to one-fifteenth tax, and the church's love work was changed to paid labor, which greatly reduced the burden on believers, and added some modified Protestant teachings The teachings were indeed more down-to-earth. For a time, believers converted to Protestantism and were very happy.

"Heresies! These heretics who deserve hell, attack them, kill them! All kingdoms, all believers, and all armies go to attack them. The holy word of the Holy Father cannot be tampered with, and the dignity of the gods cannot be blasphemed. The believers of the Holy Father You, the lambs of the world, don’t hesitate, pick up the sword, pick up the sword now, and kill all the heretics who are the incarnations of the devil!”

Order to suppress heretics!

In the thousands of years since the church was founded, this kind of heresy crusade order has only been issued three times, resulting in three major population declines, the disappearance of two major religions, and the collapse of multiple giant empires, just because of a few doctrinal articles. If you modify it, it becomes a heresy that is incompatible with water and fire, and must be put to death!

The extremely bloody and tragic Thirty Years' War has officially begun.

This chapter follows the outline flow. Let’s add some details in the next chapter. Please vote for recommendations!