Chapter 821 European Landscape
Rittman's work has won the approval of many elites, and some politicians have begun to race to try to unite Europe, but the reality is somewhat cruel.
King Louis XIV of France had just completed the centralization of power at this time and was very ambitious.
In history, he was the longest reigning emperor of France for 72 years. During his reign, he not only defeated the Holy Roman Empire, but also defeated Spain and the Netherlands, and became the hegemon of the European land.
Therefore, although Louis XIV agreed with Rittman's point of view after reading Rittman's work, he wanted to unify the European continent first.
Then, rely on the strength of France to fight against Dahua.
This kind of thinking, in fact, can not be wrong.
If he can quickly defeat the surrounding countries and complete the unification, then the power of the unified Europe will be more concentrated.
Centralization is easy to handle, and there are bound to be many conflicts of interest in a loose alliance. When things are done, there will definitely be many disputes and countless wrangling.
Of course, the premise is that he can quickly defeat the surrounding countries. If it can't be done, it will plunge the European continent into the quagmire of war, so that all countries have no energy to develop, and are forced to invest their wealth in the war, and it is even more impossible to compete with Dahua.
By then, he will be a sinner in Europe.
Louis XIV was young and vigorous, with more ability and more pride, so he wanted to give it a try.
Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, on the other hand, agree with Rittman very much, and the two countries have reached an alliance, and they still want to persuade the Netherlands to join.
On the surface, it is to fight against the threat of Dahua, but in fact it is also to guard against Louis XIV and the Ottoman Empire.
At this time, France was on the rise, while the Ottoman Empire had reached its peak and was about to decline.
But the thin dead camel is bigger than the horse, and the army of the Ottoman Empire can still crush European countries.
Therefore, the Ottoman Empire has never given up its expansion to the west.
There are two main reasons why Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were able to quickly reach an agreement on an offensive and defensive alliance.
One is that the rulers of both countries are family members, all Habsburgs.
The second is that they all have a common enemy, France and the Ottoman Empire.
On the European continent at present, it is their four countries that are singing. The Netherlands' sea power is not bad, but the size of the army is too small. If Louis XIV was not concerned about Spain, I am afraid that the annexation of the Netherlands would have already begun at this time.
Of course, according to the current trend, it is fast.
Germany, on the other hand, was still a loose federation, part of the Holy Roman Empire.
Another polar bear, the Grand Duchy of Moscow has not yet risen, and will have to wait until Peter the Great appears before they can play on the European continent.
As long as France and the Habsburgs can agree, the European Union will be fine.
However, it is not necessarily in Britain's interest for continental Europe to form an alliance.
The UK prefers a divided European continent because of its geographical location.
Therefore, they have always played the role of shit sticks. Whoever has a tendency to become stronger on the mainland will beat whomever.
However, because of the appearance of Dahua, some British nobles have to think about whether it is right or wrong to continue to divide the European continent.
This is a very deep question that requires in-depth research.
On the political front, countries are studying how to deal with the threat posed by Dahua.
Economically and technologically, European countries are also trying to catch up.
In the four years of Yongxing, the United Kingdom produced the first practical steam engine.
The steam engine, named 'Hope', worked continuously for four hours.
Today, the research on steam engines in the UK has reached a new level, and steam engines have been applied to various aspects and have been successfully installed on ships.
However, they have not yet mastered the high temperature boiler technology, so the power of the steam engine is very small.
It may take a year or two before a full-fledged steamship is built.
This speed is actually a leap forward.
Among them, there is the credit of Dahua bad businessmen.
In order to obtain the secret of the steam engine, the Europeans used any means.
It is actually very easy to find some loopholes in the huge Dahua Empire.
Some businessmen who are not afraid of death use various loopholes to smuggle steam engines and earn massive wealth.
A thousand yuan steam engine, shipped to Europe, can be sold for one hundred thousand taels of silver, or even more.
There are too many businessmen willing to risk beheading for such huge profits.
In this way, Western Europe has obtained many Dahua steam engines.
Then through dismantling research, and then imitating, the speed is naturally much faster.
However, in terms of materials research, they encountered some trouble, so they have not been able to make a boiler that can withstand high temperature and pressure.
In addition to steam engines, Dahua's rear-mounted rifled gun technology has also been stolen by several Western European countries, and artillery has also mastered howitzer technology.
However, although the technology is mastered, it will take some time to achieve low-cost manufacturing.
Wu Changqing is actually clear about these countries stealing technology.
However, he had no choice.
He never really believed that people in the world would be loyal just because someone called him long live.
People are not for themselves, the world will be punished, and the human nature is selfish.
In the face of huge profits, it is impossible for everyone to maintain a noble character.
If you want to completely ban it, unless Dahua bans it, it is obviously impossible. The development of Dahua is inseparable from those machines.
Therefore, Wu Changqing just strengthens the core technology of lower control from time to time.
For example, internal combustion engines and generators must be strictly controlled for the time being and must not be stolen.
With these state-of-the-art technologies in control, there is no need to worry about foreign theft.
No matter how much foreign countries steal, it is impossible to match the speed of Dahua's development.
By the time Europeans made high-temperature steam engines, Dahua may have already popularized the internal combustion engine.
By the time the Europeans made steam warships, Dahua's all-iron armored ships had already arrived at their doorstep.
When the Europeans have made ironclad ships, Dahua's aircraft carrier formation may also be completed.
As long as we always maintain the technical suppression of foreign countries, Dahua can keep hanging and beating them, don't worry.
After all, Dahua is large enough and has a large enough population to have the ability to unify the world.
Unlike the United Kingdom, even if the world is technologically advanced, it is impossible to unify the world. The population size is their flaw, and the upper limit is relatively low.
Therefore, for Wu Changqing, the most important thing is to let the Chinese have more children.
There are large tracts of land overseas waiting for them to occupy, there is no shortage of land, only people.