The Rise of the European Emperor

"How is it possible? The British conquered the fortress of Calais in 5 days?" Looking at the credentials, King François I of France, who had just taken power, was a little lost.

He has just begun to gradually control the rights of the Kingdom of France, and is currently recovering the control of the city defense army in Paris from Count Cesc. As for the reputation within the kingdom, it is still being established. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, the Calais fortress that the former king Louis XII managed to take back was taken away by the English. It was a slap in the face of him!

This slap was so harsh that it directly discredited Francois I. It hasn't been long since he ascended the throne. When he first took power, he lost such a strategic place as the Fortress of Calais. It was a shame to lose it to his grandma's house.

You know, in this idea, European monarchs are supported by fame. Fame, the nobles obey you. Without fame, the congregation may be deserted. For example, Emperor Shenluo Henry IV had to kneel down and beg the Pope for forgiveness because he was excommunicated by the Pope. Because, at that time, he had already betrayed his relatives...

Of course, the loss of Calais by Francis I was not as serious as the excommunication of Henry IV. However, this is definitely a major blow to his prestige.

Therefore, François I was angry. He pulled out his sword violently and hacked around in the gorgeous palace. Many precious handicrafts were destroyed by his sword.

But at this time, none of the ministers dared to step forward to stop him. Because, they are also confused, except for the spy John Lafite...

Of course, John Lafite still had to pretend to be very surprised and very sad on the surface. He remembered the secret letter instructions Marin gave him a few days ago, so he stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I think the most important thing right now is to figure out how the Calais Fortress fell so quickly. It stands to reason that the English do not have the ability to conquer a fortress in five days. Therefore, we must There are situations that we don’t know about. Only by inquiring about this secret can we prepare for it!”

Francois I's anger subsided a lot, he stopped destroying, his eyes were red and said:

"What's the use of this? Fort Calais has fallen, and I'm about to become a joke in the eyes of the people!"

John Lafite shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty, what happened to the Fortress of Calais is certainly a bad thing. However, what is more important right now is how to prevent the enemy from using the same tricks to conquer other cities near the Fortress of Calais! Only by figuring out their tricks, the future of France The city will be safer!"

In fact, John Lafite had known for a long time that the spies of the North Sea State had the means to destroy the iron gate of the sewer. But he can't say,

I can only pretend that I don't know, and guide Francois I to think and investigate by himself...

Francois I finally calmed down after hearing this. Indeed, it would be safer to figure out the strange methods of the enemy.

Therefore, he ordered John Lafite to be in charge of this matter, to investigate the mystery of the fall of Calais Fortress. And John Lafite, by virtue of this, gained more trust from Francois I.

...

Subsequently, the French monarchs and ministers began to discuss how to deal with the harm caused by the fall of the Calais fortress. And, the possibility of taking back the fortress of Calais.

But everyone is not optimistic about the possibility of recapturing the Calais Fortress, because the French were able to capture the Calais Fortress before because the Calais Fortress did not install iron gates. Now, the French themselves have replaced the Calais Fortress with thick iron gates, and it is even more difficult to break through the gates. They are not Marin, and they don't know the formula of aqua regia, so there is nothing they can do about it.

And if the city is attacked with the method of ant-possession, with the strength of the Calais fortress, it will take the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers before it is possible to win. But the worst thing is that the Calais Fortress is only separated from the mainland of England by a small strait less than 30 kilometers wide, and the mainland of England can calmly support the Calais Fortress. This makes it impossible for the French to take the Calais Fort even if they are willing to pay for their soldiers' lives. Otherwise, the English could not have occupied Calais for more than 150 years.

François I some sitting wax:

"My lords, if the British are allowed to occupy the fortress of Calais, the northeast of France will be unstable in the future. At that time, the British may send troops to harass our northeastern region of France at any time! They may even harass Paris!"

It is only about 235 kilometers from Paris to Calais. If the British army landed, they could reach the vicinity of Paris in a few days. In normal times, the British army would definitely not dare to attack Paris. But now that France is competing with Spain for Naples, the main force needs to go south to fight for hegemony. In this way, the British army may take the opportunity to harass Paris. There is no need to besiege Paris, just sweep the surrounding area of ​​​​Paris, and France will be severely damaged.

Basically, the fortress of Calais is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the head, which may fall down at any time and give France a hard time. If it weren't for the scumbag combat effectiveness of the English Army, God knows what serious consequences there would be.

Just when the French monarchs and ministers were all frowning, John Lafite stood up again:

"Your Majesty, I have a solution to the threat of Calais Fortress!"

Francois I was shocked immediately. He remembered that this John Lafite was also a resourceful courtier when the late king was alive. So, he looked at John Lafite expectantly and said:

"Ai Qing, tell me!"

John Lafite saluted, and did not immediately say a plan, but asked instead:

"Does Your Majesty know about Hadrian's Wall?"

Francois I was taken aback for a moment, then replied:

"Of course I know about the Great Wall, but the so-called Great Wall is better than a fence, it can't stop the enemy at all!"

Hadrian's Great Wall is indeed not very tall. It is only 4.6 meters high, which is about the same height as an ordinary room, equivalent to the height of an ordinary courtyard wall, and it is easy to climb over. Its width, the top width, is only 2.1 meters, and the soldiers standing on it are crowded and unable to unfold.

So, Hadrian's Wall is more like a border fence of the Roman Empire at that time than a fortification.

But the Great Wall that John Lafite is talking about is not a fence like Hadrian's Wall...

He introduced the Great Wall of China to Francois I and a group of French ministers in detail, and told Francois I that China relied on the Great Wall to block the southward movement of hundreds of thousands of nomadic cavalry on the northern grassland...

After John Lafite introduced the Great Wall, he made an impassioned statement:

"Your Majesty, as long as we build a tall and strong wall like a city wall next to the Calais Fortress, we can keep the British within the wall! Even if they occupy the Calais Fortress, so what? We surround Calais with a wall, Even if they land with soldiers and horses, they won't be able to get out!"

...

Francois I and the French ministers were fascinated when they heard it, but they didn't know that this was a hole that Marin dug for France on purpose - building the Great Wall, right? Do you know how much it will cost and how much manpower will be used?

The Qin Dynasty exhausted its national power because of building the Great Wall, which led to the peasant uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty, which led to its demise. The Sui Dynasty also dug a Grand Canal, which was clearly beneficial for thousands of years, but it also exhausted the national power and led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty to a certain extent (another reason was the failure of the expedition to Goryeo).

Although the cost of building a Great Wall surrounding the fortress of Calais is far less than that of building the Great Wall and digging the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, France's finances are far from comparable to those of the Qin and Sui dynasties. Right now, France doesn't have a unified tax across the country, so how can there be so much money to spend?

Therefore, the strategy of building the Great Wall that Marin ordered John Lafite to offer seemed reliable, but in fact it squeezed France's national power and made France unable to do anything else for a few years. In addition, the south is going to fight for hegemony in Italy. It is foreseeable that France will definitely have a hard time in the next few years...