The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 611 Emperor's Brother, Help Me

Holy Roman Empire, Grand Duchy of Transylvania, Sibiu.

Prince Lu of the Dayu Dynasty of the Seres Empire and Grand Duke of Transylvania of the Holy Roman Empire, Mo Zirong, stood on Chaoyun Castle in the north of Sibiu, overlooking the most prosperous and important city in Transylvania.

Grand Duke M I, who holds the top aristocratic titles of two empires and is envied by European nobles as God's favorite, is forty-five years old this year, but still looks as young as thirty.

There was no trace of time on his handsome face, not even crow's feet were visible. His hair was black and shiny, a typical oriental style. His figure was well maintained, without any signs of weight gain.

If we say that when Mo Zirong was young, he still had a bit of the pretty boy feeling of Jimmy Lin, but as he got older, his appearance and temperament became more and more similar to John Lone in his prime.

This is also one of the reasons why he is jealously called God's favorite, not only because of his title, but also because of his appearance. Many people believe that it is God's favor that makes Mo Zirong never grow old.

However, for a politician, an Eastern prince and a Western grand duke, appearance does not necessarily bring benefits to Mo Zirong.

For example, he ran back from France in a panic last year, and didn't even bother to coordinate the spice trade between China and France, because there were rumors in Paris that he had an affair with his sister-in-law, Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

This made Louis XVI extremely dissatisfied, and Mo Zirong had to leave early.

As for other romantic rumors, there are countless of them.

He was also rumored to have had an affair with Mariana Victoria, daughter of Queen Maria I of Portugal.

Well, that's true. The reason why Mo Zirong even fell in love with Mariana, a plain-looking Portuguese girl, was because he wanted to disgust the Spanish King Carlos III.

Because Mo Zirong and his wife snatched the title of Duke of Parma from the Bourbon dynasty of Spain, they have been hostile to the Spanish royal family for many years. Many rumors about Mo Zirong were spread by the Bourbon family of Spain.

The Portuguese princess Mariana Victoria is the daughter-in-law of King Carlos III of Spain. She married Gabriel, the fourth son of Carlos III, this year.

Uh, our Brother Mo San is sometimes really shameless.

Not only was Mariana, the Portuguese princess, not yet sixteen years old when he seduced her.

More importantly, Mariana's marriage to the Spanish prince was one of the most important security guarantees for the Kingdom of Portugal, which was now weak and extremely insecure.

Queen Maria I of Portugal hoped to offset some of the pressure from Spain and ease the tense situation by becoming a direct relative of King Carlos III of Spain.

Now that Mo Zirong had run away, King Carlos III of Spain could only swallow his anger and hate the Portuguese and Maria I.

This made Spain, which had directly annexed Portugal four years later, even more eager to act.

"Karl, two pieces of news have been sent from Vienna, one good news and one bad news." Maria Elizabeth, Duchess of Parma and Mo Zirong's wife, handed two secret letters to Mo Zirong.

Compared to her husband, this Duchess looked much older. Although Elizabeth was two years younger than Mo Zirong, she could not compare with this eternally youthful old monster.

"Perhaps, for me it is one good news and one bad news, but for you, both are good news." Duchess Elizabeth said with a little discomfort and emotion.

Mo Zibu took the letter without reading it, but instead took the Duchess's arm and walked into the castle.

"Maria, you haven't recovered yet. The wind outside is too cold. You should stay away from it." Mo Zirong was very gentle, which was also his characteristic.

Although he likes to cheat, he is still very caring towards his partner and has deep feelings for the Duchess.

And this is exactly what makes the Duchess love and hate it.

In Europe, it is considered very attractive for a man to have a lover, but Mo Zirong really does not need to use having a lover to show his charm, because his charm can be seen by anyone with eyes.

Of course, this is also the place that the Duchess loves to death.

So she originally wanted to keep this love to herself, and even sent her best friend and trusted maid to monitor Mo Zirong.

As a result, Mo Zirong dragged her best friend and trusted maid to the bed, forcing the Duchess to give up her plan, which had few supporters in the first place.

"Hiss!" Mo Zirong, holding the two secret letters, quickly drove everyone out, including his trusted maid, and then asked his wife, the Duchess of Parma, "Who else knows about this?"

An excited expression appeared on the Duchess's face and she shook her head slightly.

"No one knows. The seal and the bookmark with the secret code are intact and have never been opened. After it was delivered to Chaoyun Castle, I was the only one who saw it. I have been holding it in my hands the whole time."

Mo Zirong finally nodded in relief, "Who on earth is behind this? It's amazing, how did they come up with this idea?

If we really went to the Lower Netherlands, it would become a buffer between France and the United Provinces.

No, that's not right. The United Provinces Republic doesn't need to take such a risky step. Do the English really want to swallow up the Upper Netherlands?"

It is not difficult to guess that there are English people behind this plan, because it has become a viral trend in Europe.

What really made Mo Zirong nervous was who the hell came up with this somewhat unethical plan of sending him to the Netherlands to plug the hole?
Duchess Elizabeth was not so sensitive politically. When she heard that the English were supporting her, she knew that she was just going to serve as a buffer zone. Although she was reluctant to give up the throne, she had already shown her intention to retreat.

"Karl, it's better to reject them. Being caught between the two great powers of England and France will not lead to any good results.

Even if Mother were still alive and supported us, it would be difficult for us to hold on to the throne, not to mention that the Emperor doesn't like us now."

Mo Zirong walked back and forth in the room several times, trying hard to suppress his restless heart. Only after he felt that he had calmed down did he begin to analyze.

The Grand Duke of Transylvania looked out the window at the beautiful scenery of Sibiu, but shook his head slightly, "Transylvania is finished. This is a hopeless place. No one can come here.

Well, perhaps only my brother, His Majesty the Great Emperor Guangzhong, and the late Peter I of the Russian Empire can personally come and solve this problem. I am not capable of that."

What Mo Zirong was talking about was Transylvania's unparalleled problem.

At present, in this last stronghold of the Hungarians, the majority of the population is not Hungarians, but Romanians.

For two hundred years, the Hungarians retained the traditions of the steppe peoples. They lived in a superior position as noble lords and treated the Romanians, who were the majority, as slaves.

But as time went on, the power of the Hungarian aristocracy, which once held an absolute advantage, continued to weaken.

Especially after Franz Rákócz fought for independence but was brutally suppressed by the Habsburg family, the Hungarian nobles in Transylvania were in even worse shape.

On the other hand, the Romanians who were treated as slaves were constantly instigated by their neighboring fellow Romanians, the Principality of Wallachia and the Principality of Moldavia, and their resistance became more and more fierce and powerful.

Although the Principality of Wallachia and the Principality of Moldavia were still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire could no longer control these two vassal states.

The country that has the greatest impact on them now is Tsarist Russia, which just defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Fifth Russo-Turkish War.

The Russians have two cards to play in the Balkans: the Slavs and the Orthodox Church.

As luck would have it, the upper-class Hungarians in Transylvania were Catholics, while the lower-class Romanians were Orthodox Christians.

This is not like being roasted on a fire, this is like sitting directly on the crater of a volcano!

Moreover, Grand Duke Mo Zirong also converted to Catholicism, which led to the fact that nearly 70% of the Romanians did not recognize him at all.

It can be said that Transylvania’s dilemma is the embodiment of the dilemma of the Habsburg family, the Holy Roman Empire.

In order to make a country strong, it must be enlightened, but in reality the basic foundation of the empire is aristocracy and serfdom.

It is called the Shield of God, but the conflicts among Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism within it are even greater than the conflicts with the Islamic faith.

"If we want to untie Transylvania's trap, I must either kill the nobles who support us, abolish serfdom, convert to Orthodoxy, and give the Romanians the Grand Dukeship. Or I must ruthlessly slaughter these Romanian peasants and leave everything intact, thereby maintaining the power of the nobles below and maximizing their support for us."

Duchess Maria Elizabeth couldn't help but shudder upon hearing this. "None of these options are feasible, because the former would cut us off from our family, and Joseph would send a large army to attack us.

The latter would completely offend the Russian Empire, and Zadunaysky, stationed in Crimea, would lead his army south and destroy us directly."

The Zadunaysky mentioned by the Duchess means the Victor of Transdanubia in Russian. This title belongs to a Russian war god - the famous Rumyantsev.

Well, actually, Rumyantsev was not in Crimea at this time, but don't be happy, because at this time the commander of the Russian army in Crimea and Kuban was Suvorov.

Damn, none of them are easy to mess with.

However, Mo Zirong shook his head and said, "No, if I stick to the second option and bloodily suppress the Romanians, it can actually succeed."

Mo Zirong spoke in a proud tone, and he became very energetic. After all, his younger brother was an emperor.

“Because my brother, His Majesty the Great Emperor Guangzhong of the great Seris Empire, will soon launch a Central Asian campaign.

The Royal Guards of the Seris Empire, and the Mongolian Qiexue cavalry, Japanese samurai dragoons and Korean musketeers who follow them, will sweep across the west from the steppes and will definitely reach the Black Sea coast.

This will be a nightmare for the Eastern Slavs and the Russian Empire, so as long as my husband and I are not captured by the Russians and lose our heads, no one can take Transylvania away."

But at this point, Mo Zirong shook his head. "But I'm not going to do that. I don't want to spend so much effort and end up with a Transylvania full of local tyrants and nobles."

This is probably where the two brothers have the biggest difference in character. If Mo Zibu were in Mo Zirong's role, and faced with the prospect of establishing a country on the west coast of the Black Sea that echoes China as long as he persists for a dozen years, Mo Zibu would definitely do it.

But Mo Zirong only felt that this road was too difficult. In his opinion, it was not worth it to spend so much manpower and resources just to get an enhanced version of Transylvania or Romania full of powerful people.

"Karl, so you mean that we should accept this proposal and go to the Lower Netherlands to become a prince?" asked Duchess Elizabeth.

Mo Zirong didn't answer her directly, but continued to analyze, "The reason why the Lower Netherlands is constantly rebelling is actually because the family rules them but doesn't bring them any benefits.

The people of the Lower Netherlands hoped to own large overseas colonies like the Upper Netherlands, also known as the United Provinces, and become a quasi-powerful maritime nation.

However, the continental nature of the Holy Roman Empire and its geographical separation from many countries such as France determined that Vienna would never do so.

Maritime trade will greatly strengthen the power of the Netherlands and will even become a booster for their separation.

This fundamental contradiction makes it impossible for the two sides to reconcile, and dissatisfaction and even resistance are inevitable.

But this is not a problem for us at all. As long as we can rule the Netherlands, we will certainly support them in going to sea.

At the same time, as the prince of the Seris Empire, it is easy for me to help the Netherlands get a small piece of the pie in the maritime trade with Seris.

This is a match made in heaven!"

Mo Zirong gave the definition with a smile, but he had something else to say.

In addition to allowing the people of the Lower Netherlands to go out to sea for colonization, the Chinese Empire could also use the Lower Netherlands as a white glove to extend its influence into the European-controlled colonies in South America and Africa.

Duchess Elizabeth didn't think too much about it, her eyes lit up, "Yes, yes, Karl, you are right!

If we change our backer from my stubborn brother to your brother, His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Seres Empire, then we will have the capital to rule the Netherlands.

If England becomes hostile to us, the Seres can attack their precious India.

France will not have any complaints, because they also have to consider the opinions of the Seres Empire."

"Hahahaha, yes!" Mo Zirong also laughed. "And the Lower Netherlands has many claims, such as the Grand Duke of Lorraine, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Duke of Brabant, etc. These can also be granted to our children in the future."

The Austrian Netherlands at this time, also known as the Lower Netherlands, was larger than the historical Belgium.

It not only included the Duchy of Luxembourg, which had not yet been reduced to its later size, but even the claim to the Duchy of Lorraine.

Although the territory of Lorraine was occupied by the French at this time, the claim of the Duke of Lorraine had always been in the Holy Roman Empire.

To be precise, the legitimate Duke of Lorraine is Mo Zirong's father-in-law, the father of Duchess Elizabeth, Francis I.

"The biggest problem now is that the Lower Netherlands does not have a king title. If we were to call him the King of the Netherlands, it would definitely be inappropriate because we only have half of the Netherlands.

Do we really have to call him the King of Belgium? That's totally inappropriate. The Belgians are just part of the Lower Netherlands."

When it comes to this, Archduchess Elizabeth has more say than Mo Zirong, because she was born in this environment.

"Since we've already completely offended the Spanish royal family, why not offend France as well? We're all from the Bourbon family anyway, so let's just call him the Prince of Burgundy."

Mist grass!

When Mo Zirong heard the word Burgundy, his scalp started to tingle.

Because the Dukedom of Burgundy has always been the most important claim of the King of France, and now most of Burgundy is under French control.

Historically, the Duchy of Burgundy has always been a powerful country competing with France, or more precisely, with the Bourbon dynasty.

In 1477, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was killed in battle in Nancy. Most of his territory of the Duchy of Burgundy was annexed by the Bourbon family and became part of the Kingdom of France.

But a small part of it was obtained by Mary, the daughter of Charles the Bold, who brought it as a dowry to her husband's family, the Habsburg family.

This small part of Burgundy's territory at that time included the present-day Austrian Netherlands (Lower Netherlands) and part of the Upper Netherlands.

Therefore, the Duke of Burgundy is also the most important claim of the Habsburg family.

Mo Zirong quickly took the second secret letter. What happened in the world that made his wife, Duchess Elizabeth, use the title of Burgundy so radically?

Then he became numb.

This secret letter was sent from Lisbon and was even believed to have been written by Queen Maria I of Portugal herself.

One of the contents was that her daughter, Mariana Victoria, who married the fourth son of Charles III, the one Mo Zirong ran away with, was already five months pregnant.

Mariana Victoria had been the daughter-in-law of King Carlos III of Spain for less than three months.

Damn, not only did Mo Zirong cheat on Carlos III's son, he also blocked the order of his first child.

To exaggerate a little, if the Spanish royal family did not return the child, the seed conceived by Mo Zirong would become a legal legitimate child, and this child would even have the right to inherit the Spanish throne.

"My God, my Jesus Christ, my Taishang Laojun, my Tathagata Buddha!"

Mo Zirong was also panicking now. No matter how casual Europeans were in bed, this was a great revenge that would make their brains turn into dog brains!
No matter how weak Spain is, it is still one of the great powers in Europe.

"I'm going to write to the emperor right now. He's the only one who can save me!"

Mo Zirong finally understood why he just called him Prince of Burgundy. Since he had already offended him to this extent, it didn't matter if he did it again. On the contrary, he could get the support of England and the United Provinces because of his decisiveness.

(End of this chapter)