Chapter 151 Mediterranean

For Britain, curbing the excessive expansion of the Ottoman Empire is not the only reason that Pitt said would break the balance.

In addition, there is actually another point, that is, the Ottoman Empire, which has regained the dominance of the old route, is a natural threat to countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands and England.

The opening of the new route was around the 15th century, and in 1453, the conqueror Mehmed II captured Constantinople, and the last embers of Rome were extinguished.

For a long time, European countries that have buried their heads in the sand like ostriches and hardly cared about the Ottoman Empire's attack on the Balkan countries have thoroughly understood.

Now, a hegemony has emerged on the land of Europe - the Ottoman Empire.

At this time, perhaps it is inevitable to find a substitute for the Mediterranean trade route.

This is also the reason why Kalmani Pasha appeared in Napoleon's camp today.

"General, your idea is good, but is your plan too risky?

You must know that His Majesty is already far away and cannot support you.

Even if His Majesty is still in Constantiniere, the Empire will not give you any military help at this time. His Majesty will not take such a risk."

Napoleon said with a smile.

"It's okay, Kalman Pasha, I don't need the Sultan to take this risk for me.

My cooperation with the Sultan is to rebuild the trade in the Mediterranean. The Sultan already has the Eastern Mediterranean, so I will take out the Western Mediterranean.

The connection between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean is the Venetians. The Governor of Venice, Ludovico Manin, has already planned to unite with us. Once the plan succeeds, the Sultan and I will ensure the safety of Venice on land, and they only need to provide good services at sea."

Kalman Pasha nodded.

"Since the general has his own plans, I won't bother you. If you need anything, please let me know."

Kalmani Pasha turned and left. He just came to inquire about the situation. His Majesty also told him not to interfere with Napoleon's behavior. Just reminding him is enough. Why bother so much?

Lucien Bonaparte, who had been standing aside and listening for a long time, asked at this time.

"Brother, why do you care so much about the so-called Mediterranean trade route? Like the British, we have good ports in the Atlantic Ocean. Compared with Marseille, Dunkirk and Calais, are they worse?

Besides, the core of France is Paris, which is close to the Atlantic Ocean. Why should we value Lyon too much?

This is simply giving up the near for the far!"

The young man's remarks made Napoleon laugh, and he explained.

"Lucien, I am very relieved that you can see this, and I am very happy because you have grown a lot, but this is not enough.

The first point you need to understand is that Paris has never been easy for me. In fact, it is the same for many French kings.

Henry IV also had to fight hard in the "Battle of the Three Henrys" and finally converted from Huguenots to Catholicism before entering Paris safely.

Louis XIV was also forced to flee in a hurry by the Fronde, and only gained a foothold with Mazarin.

Paris is the center of France, the center of power, and the capital of all capitals in Europe. Vienna's history is not and his antiquity. London's prosperity cannot compare to his past. Madrid and Berlin are simply a laughing stock in front of him.

There are only two cities in Europe that can compare with him, the Pope's Rome and the Ottoman Sultan's Constantinople.

Paris's honor is destined to be complicated. At this moment, she is more dangerous than at any time in history. The Jacobins and Girondins attacked each other in the parliament, the sans-culottes were unwilling to obey orders, and the invaders in the north threatened her.

I, a major general born in Corsica, have no reputation and cannot own her. "

Lucien nodded as if he understood.

"So this is why you chose Lyon instead of Paris, brother?

But since you considered the trade route in the Mediterranean, why not choose Marseille directly? "

Napoleon took out a map and spread it out and said.

"Look here, Lucien, look carefully, and you will find out why I chose Lyon.

The Rhone River Basin formed by the intersection of the Rhone River and the Saône River is a treasure land. This is why Lyon has the earliest origin among the major cities in France and has continued to prosper to this day.

Unlike the Rhone River that leads to the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Saône River is the stepping stone for Lyon to join the more complex trade system in the north later.

Going north along a tributary of the Saône River, you can directly enter the center of the famous Champagne Grand Fair.

The Champagne Grand Fair is not Champagne, but is mainly based on the four cities supported by the Count of Champagne. This Champagne Grand Fair has a great origin.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with the city merchants With the rise of trade, many fairs were born in Europe, among which the Champagne Fair is located at the intersection of the two trade routes of Germany-Spain and Flanders-Italy.

Merchants from all over the world come to the Champagne Fair to trade, which is a bustling super fair.

If an Italian merchant needs to sell his goods to all parts of Europe and does not want to go upstream on the Rhone River, then the first step he has to take is to cross the Alps to Lyon, and then go upstream through the Saône River to reach the Champagne Fair.

This route is: Italy-Alps-Lyon-French hinterland.

As an important transit point for southern Europe to join European trade, Lyon has gained a lot from this trade route.

With the arrival of Italian merchants and the introduction of printing, in the second half of the 15th century, Lyon, as an important trade node, quickly grew into one of the printing centers of the entire Europe.

Printing commercial bills greatly facilitated the business of bankers, and soon made Lyon grow into the financial center of the entire French region.

The Saône River also turned eastward and headed towards the Rhine River, connecting with the productivity of the German region. The Rhine River has many branches, many of which pass through the most industrially developed areas in southern Germany.

The climate in southern Germany is not as good as that in the Mediterranean, and planting the same crops requires more laborious deep plowing. Deep plowing requires high-quality steel farm tools. As early as the 11th and 12th centuries, a large number of Germans began to study metal smelting.

This iron smelting technology was soon introduced to Northern Europe along the seaports in the north of the German region, bringing a large number of German metallurgical talents and technologies to Sweden, Norway and other countries.

In the southward direction, the spread of Alpine iron products encountered a bottleneck.

Now the Black Forest in the Baden-Württemberg region and the Swiss Alps further south block the transportation of iron products on the road.

The metal trade in southern France and even in the Mediterranean and German regions must be undertaken by the Saône River, and Lyon happens to be its trade node and distribution center.

This is one of the reasons why I chose Lyon.

Second, if you have studied history, you should make your own summary and learn to analyze it yourself.

In my opinion, France has never been a country with mature sea power thinking, because successive French kings have never deliberately operated ports on the Atlantic Ocean for maritime hegemony.

Therefore, the political and economic activities of the entire northern France are actually centered around the Ile de France (i.e. Greater Paris).

Since the establishment of the national theme framework of France, the goals of successive French kings have remained consistent.

To the north are the Rhineland and the Lowlands, and to the south is northern Italy. These two most prosperous regions in Europe have actually always been coveted by successive French rulers. This is undoubtedly a very typical land power thinking. France, which is based on this thinking, and the Atlantic ports of Lorient, Nantes, La Rochelle, and Bordeaux do not actually have decisive strategic significance.

This is also the tradition that makes France obviously different from northern Italy and the Lowlands, which is also closely related to the history of the founding of France.

The history of France is actually a history of continuous expansion with Paris as the center and the French Island and its surrounding areas as the basic base. Therefore, France does not rely on the sea, so that they have never fully explored their value in sea power. Although the French coastline has a larger coverage than Germany, throughout history, France has not attached as much importance to sea power as the Dutch.

Therefore, in my opinion, the south of France, located on the eastern Mediterranean coast, is a relatively independent economic system compared to the north of France. The Rhone River Basin is also a very unique area in the entire French territory. Even in terms of the interactivity of economic activities, the south of France has a more inseparable connection with northern Italy and the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Therefore, no matter how long the European economic center of gravity has moved northward, the Mediterranean coast has always been a hot spot for economic trade. Therefore, the status of Marseille can even be said to be destined, and the many ports on the coast of southern France are destined to have irreplaceable value because of trade and shipping.

In fact, when human civilization was still in a relatively underdeveloped stage, one of the most important industries carried by ports was often fishing. The reason why the North Sea coast began to compete with the Mediterranean coast in the Middle Ages was largely because the North Sea trade route developed from fishing gradually prospered, so that important cities such as Bruges gradually rose (for the North Sea, Bruges was the Venice of the North in the Middle Ages).

Therefore, the two major centers of maritime trade in Western Europe have always been the Mediterranean and the North Sea.

And Lyon is the best place to connect southern France close to the Mediterranean and northern France close to the Atlantic. "

Napoleon finished speaking, patted Lucien on the shoulder, and signaled him to think for himself.

His gray-blue eyes looked out the window, and he thought of the reason he had not mentioned to his brother.

The British have already gained an advantage on the ocean, and it is almost impossible for France to compete with them in this regard.

In this case, let's compete with the British by relying on the Mediterranean. Napoleon believes that with the cooperation between the Ottoman Empire and France, they are fully capable of competing with the British.

What's more, once the plan that the Sultan showed him, the project connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, can succeed, what will the British count for?

France will once again usher in glory in his hands, the future emperor is so convinced.

Corsican independence no longer exists in him. After seeing the authority of a sultan, he is no longer willing to succumb to the island.

Today's explosive update, hehe