I

Page 719

"But we have to do it, don't we?" Nashokin said.

At this time, the tsar had not completely completed the centralization of power.

During the period of Ivan IV, the great nobles were powerful.Ivan IV continued to weaken the influence of the great nobles by reusing service personnel (officials, soldiers, craftsmen, etc.).And through the meeting of nobles and gentry, the joint servants, monks, small nobles, and merchants fought against those big nobles.

Up to now, the Gentlemen's Conference has become more and more powerful, and has even become a national representative conference.

But, besides the Conference of the Gentlemen, there is also a Duma Conference.The Duma Conference is the highest authority in Russia and a tool for the great aristocracy to oppose centralization.This is similar to the House of Lords and House of Commons in the United Kingdom, where the Duma is the House of Lords and the Conference of the Gentlemen is the House of Commons.

It is also different from the United Kingdom in that the great nobles of the Duma meeting can participate in the gentry meeting.This is equivalent to the fact that the House of Commons is in session, and the first three rows are full of nobles from the House of Lords.

Alexey could not change the status quo throughout his life, and even went back to the situation more than 100 years ago.The key point is that the tsar had no money, agricultural production was reduced during the Little Ice Age, and the treasury was empty, so he could only acquiesce in the counterattack of the big nobles.

It wasn't until Peter the Great came to power that he blatantly canceled the Duma meeting, and the highest power was concentrated in the Privy Council, that the Tsar really began to say what he said!

Alexei said with emotion: "Khitan is so rich, but the land in Russia is too barren. As long as there are not so many natural disasters and the treasury is slightly richer, I don't need to look at the faces of the nobles of the Duma."

Alexei's proudest work was the promulgation of the "Congress Code".

But this "Code of Law" is also a product of compromise. It successfully canceled the tax-free privileges of nobles and monks, but at the price of changing the time limit for hunting fugitive slaves...indefinite!

The local aristocrats can randomly arrest civilians according to the "Code of Law", as long as they identify this person as a fugitive slave, and then legally occupy the property of the civilians.There are also a large number of serfs who escaped to reclaim wasteland, but were caught by the nobles and took the land for themselves.Even the grandfather escaped, arrested his grandson as a serf, and occupied all his land.

"Let's mint copper coins," Nashokin said. "Khitan can use copper coins, and we can try it too. Maybe this can solve the financial crisis."

Alexey said: "That's the only way."

This pair of monarchs and ministers is simply whimsical, because in the history of Russia, copper coins have never been issued.

Two years later, they will usher in bad results.Inflation has increased dozens of times. Not only Moscow citizens rioted, but other cities also engaged in riots. After the suppression, the issuance of copper coins was quickly cancelled.Reluctantly, they once again focused on the peasant class and continued to increase taxes, eventually brewing the Racine peasant uprising that lasted for several years.

At night, Alexei fell asleep holding "The King of Kings - The Biography of the Khitan Great Emperor".How much he wanted the great nobles in Russia to disappear, all serfs to become peasants, every peasant to have land, every peasant to be able to pay taxes, and all power concentrated in him.

The tsar asked the craftsmen to make exquisite boxes, kept the book properly, and took it out to read a few pages when he encountered troubles, as if he could become a great Khitan emperor himself.His sorrow lies in his hard work, and he doesn't have so many troubles when he just lies down.

This dude, a bit like Chongzhen, has been raising taxes all his life and suppressing uprisings all his life.The more taxes are collected, the more frequent the uprisings, and then continue to collect taxes.

Thanks to the excellent regional matching mechanism and the backward national government, some great nobles are dedicated to countering the rebellion, otherwise Tsarist Russia will be completely finished in the bad Little Ice Age just like Ming Dynasty!

This book became Alexei's exclusive reading material.

And far away in Italy, the book has gone crazy.More than a dozen countries jointly banned it, but the more it was banned, the more famous it became. Even the nobles secretly read it, just wanting to know why this thing was banned.

Chapter 960 [Eastern Covenant Revolution]

It is difficult to say how many states there are in the Italian region, but the six main forces have always been very clear.

First, the Papal States.

Regarding this peculiar country, the most classic evaluation is: Although the Pope is unable to unify Italy, he has enough power to prevent others from unifying it.

Second, the Principality of Milan.

When other states in Italy were still in the city-state republic, Milan took the lead in realizing the autocracy of the lord.

Third, Florence.

The system of this state has been constantly changing, and finally, with the support of Spain, it also became a principality 100 years ago.

Fourth, the Republic of Genoa.

This product belongs to the vassal of Spain. 100 years ago, the Spanish royal family went bankrupt and the Deutsche bankers lost their money.Genoa took the opportunity to lend money to Spain and continuously obtained American silver, which opened a 70-year golden age.With the reduction of silver production in the Americas, the Spanish royal family went bankrupt many times, and Genoa also fell into decline.

Fifth, the Republic of Venice.

About 200 industrial and commercial families constituted the oligarchy of Venice.The chief administrative officer is elected, and nobles and powerful citizens form a parliament, which is then handed over to the affairs officer to handle government affairs.It has a large number of overseas territories and has fought the Ottomans for 90 years.Sometimes there is a truce, sometimes peace talks, sometimes cooperation, all the while losing territory.

In addition, the Pope issued an excommunication order against Venice due to the abolition of priestly privileges.Although the Republic of Venice regarded the excommunication order as bullshit, it also caused it to be politically isolated in Italy.Even though the excommunication order has been lifted through French intervention, political isolation persists.

While the states are isolating Venice, they also need Venice to resist Ottoman expansion.Probably there was a rascal in the village, and the villagers didn't want to play with him, but they applauded vigorously and cheered. They were happy to see him fighting with the rascal in the next village.

Sixth, Naples.

This thing belongs to the bargaining chip of the marriage between France and Spain. Both parties have suzerainty over Naples. Either it is controlled by France or Spain, and it is currently controlled by Spain.

It has a vast territory, a powerful navy, and a high degree of centralization.

Among all the Italian states, Naples has the heaviest taxation and miscellaneous taxes, and the exploitation of the middle and lower classes is the most serious.Therefore, in the subsequent revolutionary war for the unification of Italy, a revolutionary wave first appeared in Naples.

In the city of Naples, inside a leather shop.

The owner Antonio said to the gathering: "We have summed up several reasons for the failure of the uprising more than ten years ago. First, the leaders of the uprising cannot act arbitrarily, otherwise it will cause internal division; second, the French royal family is unreliable. They agreed to support the uprising. , but only want to usurp the fruits of our uprising; third, you cannot trust the Spanish king and the governor, you must kill the governor!"

Naples is a kingdom whose king is concurrently held by the King of Spain.

Thirteen years ago, the governor of Naples announced a tax increase. The fishmonger Masaniello led the riots, and the lawyer Jenoino secretly fanned the flames. The slogan of the riots was: "Long live the King of Spain, we don't want taxes, go away the unpopular government (Governor) .”

The governor was forced to participate in negotiations and accept various demands. The fishmonger Masaniello was appointed "the most loyal leader of the people" and formed a people's government.

All too well, the fish monger is quickly corrupting.He betrayed the original intention of the uprising, and after taking power, he acted arbitrarily and even killed opponents at will.Before the governor took action, the people's government began to depose and arrest him, fled to a monastery and was killed.

The lawyer who planned the uprising, as the new leader of the people, ended up wearing the same trousers as the governor.After the death of the tyrannical fishmonger, he was regarded as a hero by the people, and then went on to set off riots and killed the lawyer who usurped power.The new leader of the people continued to suppress the uprising, the common people continued to uprising, and the uprising wave spread to Sicily.

An arms dealer became the leader of the people and announced the establishment of the Republic of Naples, secretly gaining the support of the French royal family.

France directly dispatched the navy, and the French Duke of Guise was elected Duke of the Republic of Naples.This old man has intensified his exploitation of the people, and the uprising has spread in all directions.In the end, Spain dispatched a large army, the French duke ran away, and the leader of the people (arms dealer) was executed.

The owner Antonio said: "What we will carry out is not an urban riot, but a revolution. Neither the kings of Spain nor France can protect our rights. They only know how to tax continuously. We must establish a republic and form a republic assembly. , to formulate the laws of the Republic. The parliament can retain the nobility, but all people, such as lawyers, businessmen, and craftsmen, can be elected to the parliament, and they must occupy two-thirds of the seats! Now, let Carlos, the lawyer, explain to us the "Oriental St. "Yue" (the Italian version of "Datong Ji")."

"Da Tong Ji" began to be secretly spread in the UK a few years ago.After being banned by Cromwell, it spread to France and then to Italy.

With the popularity of "The King of Kings--The Biography of the Great Chinese Emperor", "The Collection of Datong" was reprinted many times by the Venetian bookseller who didn't think it was a big deal.Scholars in Naples, as if they had found a treasure, continued to revise "Datong Collection" according to the actual conditions of their country.

Lawyer Carlos stood up and said: "The Eastern Covenant is a revolutionary book written by His Majesty the great Chinese Emperor. 20 years ago, China was under the rule of the brutal Ming Dynasty. The Chinese people there, like our people in Naples, They need to face endless heavy taxes, and years of natural disasters have made them unable to survive. The great Chinese Emperor, led the people's uprising, overthrew the brutal Ming Dynasty, and established the Datong Dynasty of equality, justice, and prosperity..."

"In faraway China, the emperor is wise, and the officials are selfless. Officials are held by highly respected scholars. Any corruption will be severely cracked down. Every child in the family can have the opportunity to learn. Every literate All the people have the opportunity to be an official. The emperor protects the interests of scholars, businessmen, craftsmen, and farmers. Even beggars have disappeared, and everyone is living a happy life like heaven..."

"According to the description in "The King of Kings - The Biography of the Great Chinese Emperor", shoemakers in Nanjing can even afford to wear silk. Even apprentice shoemakers are educated in reading and writing, have considerable salaries, and don't have to bear high costs. tax……"

Most of the revolutionaries who participated in the gathering had never read these two books. At this time, their eyes lit up and their faces were full of longing and longing.How wonderful it would be to be in a distant eastern country, and how happy it would be to live there.

Lawyer Carlos continued: "The "Eastern Covenant" records all the revolutionary thoughts of the Chinese emperor. The Chinese emperor believes that the people are the foundation of the country, and the emperor and officials are only in charge of the country for the people..."

"Although we established the Republic of Naples in the last uprising, the four leaders of the people and one Duke of the Republic all abandoned the revolution. Therefore, Naples cannot have a king, duke, and leader of the people, because none of us Neapolitans can be like China. The emperor is so wise and selfless..."

"The emperor of China is a philosopher king, he is omniscient, he is noble in morality, and he is noble in soul. If Naples is next to China, after our uprising, the emperor of China should rule. But we are too far away from China, we You can only choose the consul yourself. Each consul cannot be hereditary, and must have a term of office, and the power is restricted by the people's assembly..."

"Let's talk about another idea of ​​the Chinese emperor. He believes that all people are born equal. Nobles and merchants are equal, merchants and craftsmen are equal, peddlers, fishermen, and farmers are all equal. You must ask, farmers are ignorant even if they can't read, why? Can you be equal to nobles? His Majesty the Chinese Emperor said that people have status and personality. Status is not equal. Some people are born nobles, and some people are born peasants. But personalities are indeed equal, no one is more noble..."

"Equality of personality is absolute. The difference between a bad person and a good person is that the bad person is polluted and his morality becomes despicable. Therefore, when we establish a republic, we must protect the interests of the good person and make more people good. If a government is Bad ones, good people can't guarantee their interests, and more people will become bad people..."

"The emperor of China said that the interests of all people should be guaranteed. After the establishment of the republic, we should make a law, a law for all the people."

"In the decadent Ming Dynasty, the worst were nobles and landlords. We must learn from the Chinese emperor. All bad nobles and landlords must be killed. Their money is used for the financial expenditure of the Republic. Their land, To distribute to poor peasants..."

"His Majesty the Emperor of China, at the beginning of the uprising, he formulated fair and strict laws. We should also formulate laws. I am a lawyer. Today, everyone comes from various professions. You can make suggestions. I will draft the laws of the Republic, and then we will Constantly adjusting and modifying..."

The common people here really can't live on.

Their king is also the king of Spain, and a governor is sent to govern. The oppression of the people is only a little better than that of the colonies.Moreover, there are nobles here, and the common people face double oppression.

As for the nobles, they also faced suppression from Spain, and many nobles wanted to make a revolution.

With the spread of this "Oriental Covenant", with Naples as the center, the revolutionary trend of thought quickly spread to the whole country, and there were even revolutionary organizations in Sicily.

More and more petty nobles and businessmen connive or support the revolution, and some even join in personally.With the addition of nobles, the drafted laws of the republic were also revised, and the republic protected the interests of progressive nobles.

The nature changed obviously, from a revolution of the whole people to a revolution of the bourgeoisie and citizens, and the peasants in Naples were once again abandoned.

When Britain and France were married, the Naples Revolution broke out, known as the "Oriental Covenant" revolution in history.

This revolution was forced to be launched in advance, because the governor of Naples became alert, declared the revolutionaries to be treasonous parties, and dispatched troops to hunt them down.

The rebels broke into the governor's palace, hanged the governor, and then opened the prison to release the prisoners.

On the second day of the revolution, the Republic of Naples was proclaimed and the People's Assembly of Naples was formed.

Antonio, the owner of the leather shop, was elected as the first consul of the Republic.Carlos, a lawyer, was elected the first speaker.A large number of nobles and businessmen, serving as members of parliament, essentially stole the fruits of the revolution.

Immediately, revolutionary riots broke out in the major cities of Naples one after another.

The nobles from all over the country formed the army of the republic, and the merchants provided financial support, and gathered in the city of Naples urgently, because the Spanish army came from Sicily.

Spain had a small garrison in Sicily and was completely defeated by the People's Army of Naples.Affected by this, part of the Naples navy rebelled and declared to join the Republic of Naples.

The Republic of Naples initially gained a foothold, but the revolutionaries were divided.

The bourgeoisie, represented by craftsmen and merchants, contributed a lot in the early days of the revolution, but now they are rejected by the parliament.The middle and low-level representatives should account for two-thirds of the original parliamentary seats, but now only one-third is left.

The Spanish king, who was in dire financial straits, could not send out a large army for an expedition.

The king urgently borrowed from Genoese merchants for war, but those Genoese merchants had long distrusted the Spanish royal family, which had repeatedly gone bankrupt.After finally raising part of it, the military expenditure was still not enough, so the King of Spain asked the Dutch businessman for a loan.

The Dutch businessmen did not borrow this time either, they had been cheated several times by the bankruptcy of the Spanish royal family.

Who can afford to renege on debts as soon as they go bankrupt?

As a result, the Spanish king could only increase taxes in the colonies, and Mexico and the Philippines were messed up.The local colonial officials ignored the royal family even more, and intensified smuggling to make money to make up for the losses caused by the king's tax increase.

Spain's suppression of the Naples revolution may take another year or two to form a good army.

At the same time, King Louis XIV of France also set his sights on this place because he also has the right to inherit the King of Naples.The Republic of Naples announced the abolition of the throne, which also affected the king of France. Louis XIV even wanted to destroy it, and then declared himself the king of Naples.

But once this is done, war will inevitably start with Spain in the future, and Louis XIV dare not act rashly.

The founding of the Republic of Naples caused violent repercussions in Italy, and the spread of the "Eastern Covenant" became even faster.In Sicily, revolutions also broke out, and Spain had to quell the chaos in Sicily first.

Chapter 961 [SSS-level Great Emperor]

Spain, which was in financial distress, tried its best to suppress the Sicilian revolution.

Then there was no money at all, and the army could not be dispatched.Naples can only be allowed to blockade the main port of Naples for a long time, trying to force Naples to dissolve the Republic.

Even Spain sent diplomats to negotiate, allowing Naples to retain its parliament as long as the revolutionaries dissolved the republic.However, the council had to govern jointly with the doge, and the king of Spain was still the king of Naples.

Some big nobles began to waver, but the big merchants resolutely resisted, and serious cracks appeared in the new republic.

Spain has not yet raised enough military funds to dispatch its army, and two farces are staged at the same time.

One is that the Spanish navy, which was in charge of blocking the port, went straight to smuggling, colluded with Genoese businessmen, and secretly traded with Naples, ignoring the king's blockade policy at all.

No way, Naples belongs to the granary of Italy.If the port is blocked for a long time, there will be famine in Genoa, Venice and other countries, and then many states will join forces to resist Spain.

The second is to find that Spain is unable to suppress, and the new republic begins a civil war.

The first consul and the first speaker were all murdered by the great nobles.The big aristocrats began to cleanse the parliament, which aroused fierce resistance from merchants, craftsmen, scholars, and minor aristocrats. The civil war lasted for a year, and agricultural production was severely damaged.

The reduction in grain production in Naples directly triggered riots in Genoa and Venice.

The third act of burlesque began.

Merchants from Genoa and Venice contributed money and joined hands with Naples merchants to recruit mercenaries to fight against the nobles.The army of the big nobles was defeated, the big merchants seized their property, and the small nobles divided their lands.Since then, the Congress of the Republic of Naples has been controlled by big businessmen and small and medium nobles.

The revolution seems to have succeeded and the republic stands.

The revolution seemed to have failed, and the citizens and peasants were still under heavy oppression.

When revolution was brewing again in Naples, the parliament finally made a compromise to ease the burden on the bourgeoisie.However, the farmers were ignored, and they couldn't make trouble anyway.

Whether successful or not, the existence of the Republic of Naples inspired revolutionaries in other countries.

There were even uprisings in Paris.

The incentive was that Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles, which increased the burden on the French people.The revolutionaries once surrounded the Louvre, but were easily defeated by the palace guards. Louis XIV was so angry that he arrested the revolutionaries all over the country.Once caught, they were exiled to overseas colonies without trial, which rapidly increased the population of Quebec.

The revolutionary wave spread from Italy to France, and from France to Spain.There was a lot of trouble, and it spread widely, but without exception, they were all suppressed.

Only the Republic of Naples still exists for special reasons, but the fruits of the revolution are also stolen by big merchants and small and medium nobles.

After making a fuss, it seems that fart is useless.

The most obvious result was that those two books were banned throughout Europe, even Naples.And incite the Pope to take action, saying that these two books blaspheme God, and anyone who prints, spreads, or keeps them privately will be burned to death.

No one dared to discuss the ideas publicly anymore, but privately they continued to circulate.

In particular, nobles held salons without any scruples.While aristocrats praised the Chinese emperor, they used "Da Tong Ji" as a topic of conversation, which seemed to show their knowledge and fashion.

Then, France and Spain were married, and Louis XIV married a Spanish princess.

After the marriage between the two countries, they each withdrew their border troops to reduce military expenditures on both sides.At the same time, the two countries joined forces to suppress the revolution and extradite revolutionaries who fled to each other's borders.

Charles II expressed anger and agreed that Britain and France would cooperate against Spain. Louis XIV had seriously betrayed the Anglo-French alliance.

Facing the accusation, Louis XIV did not give any response, and only asked the British diplomats who came to negotiate to bring back a newly edited "Biography of the Great Emperor of China".