On August 1, 1690, Paul of the Dorian family was entertaining messengers from the East Coast in his villa. Novels.

The messenger came from Spain, set out from the port of Cadiz, followed an old-fashioned sailing warship that transported horses to Naia, and staggered all the way to the Ligurian coast. There were more than a hundred military horses, which were a bit crowded when loading, but there was no way. The front line was in urgent need, so they could only transport them over.

Of course, these military horses were not from the Asians. Although they paid for it, they would eventually be sent to the Duchy of Savoy in the west and handed over to the army there for use. There was no way, Vienna did not send reinforcements, and the Italians could only unite themselves to fight the brutal French army. The Duchy of Savoy, which was the first to be brutal, can be said to be their greatest hope.

This country currently has the largest standing army among the countries in Italy, with about 10,000 people in appearance, equipment and training, and not that they cannot fight at all, so they are regarded as a savior by the Italians. In the original history, the Principality of Savoy faced a French division and was defeated by the enemy in a field battle, killing more than 4,000 people, which directly led them to sign a peace treaty with the French and withdrawing from the war. At that time, the other countries did not provide them with sufficient assistance.

In this time and space of the East Coast people, for various reasons, some states in Northern Italy united and raised some money and personnel to provide assistance to the Principality of Savoy. The money was used to purchase military horses from Spain and order military weapons from the East Coast. The personnel formed a volunteer army and entered Savoy, intending to fight with the French team.

However, we should also see that the qualities of these volunteers are indeed quite good and bad. Among them are veterans who have been mercenaries for many years and newcomers who have no experience. Moreover, there are some problems with their integration. The generals and officers who commanded the troops also come from multiple families. In short, it is a mess. It is really unrealistic to expect them to defeat the French. The only reality is probably to hope that they can feel the atmosphere of the real battlefield, see blood, accumulate some experience, and then the most important thing is to maintain it, fix it, and not disband it, and eventually become an army jointly owned by the states of Northern Italy. This is actually what the East Coast envoys strongly requested. They hope to see the countries of Northern Italy such as Nazia, Tuscany, Luca, Venice, etc. establish a military alliance and form an integrated army as the cornerstone of the alliance.

Of course they knew that this was not easy. Italy had been divided for many years, and there were many princes. Various countries had many conflicts due to economic and political factors. There were also various frustrating grudges and hatreds among the families in charge of each country. It may not be a problem to be expected to unite, but if it takes a long time, it would be a big problem. However, no matter how difficult this matter is, it must be carried out, because it is a great thing that is in line with the interests of the Mediterranean Republic of China. The people of the East Coast have been dedicated to promoting it for many years, and have always hoped that these Italians could give up their past grudges and unite. At present, it seems that in the face of the huge threat of the Kingdom of France, they can achieve temporary unity, but they don’t know whether they can continue to maintain it after the future ceasefire. In short, let’s try it first. People always have to do some crazy things, and they must be a bit ideal, otherwise what is the difference between them and salted fish.

The envoys from the east coast came over to actually give the new plenipotentiary Cai Zhenguo a front-end station. Envoy Zeita was very enthusiastic about promoting the integration of North and Italy, even more enthusiastic than Gao Wengang who made this plan. Although he didn't know where he got his confidence, since things have come to this point, it is impossible to turn back, so he can only do his best.

Among the countries in Northern Italy, the strongest ones are undoubtedly the two old-fashioned powers, Naya and Venice. The former has strong financial strength and a certain scale of naval force, while the latter has a large population and a decent army. The united can be described as a strong alliance. Therefore, as long as these two countries are seized, the differences between them are eliminated, and their interests are coordinated, the problem will basically not be very big. Others such as Tuscany, Lucca, Parma, Modena are basically just a so-called strong momentum.

But if you study the history of Italy carefully, you will know that it is not easy to let Naya and Venice abandon past grudges and unite toward a goal. You should know that in history, they have started a hundred years of hegemony war, and their relationship is not harmonious, and they can even be said to be competitors in Northern Italy. Although the conflicts of the East Coast people have been greatly reduced after years of hard work, there are still many problems. For example, if the most realistic thing is that if a military and political alliance is formed in the future, then who will dominate the country or Venice? They will not accept each other. This is a very realistic problem.

Furthermore, if there are more countries joining the alliance, how do you plan to allocate rights in the future? If it is an equal distribution, then congratulations, you will be unable to do anything! The more countries there are, the more you will be unable to make a difference for trivial matters. If you want eggs and milk, how can you do it? After all, a small city-state is also a country, and it has dignity and interest demands. Some things seem to be beneficial to the overall situation, but they may sacrifice their interests. If you want to convince him and settle him, there is a lot of work to do, and the difficulty will often make people desperate.

Of course, we cannot forget the attitude of regional powers towards this possible alliance. Let’s not talk about anything else, is the Spanish Kingdom really happy to see the establishment of an organization like the Northern Italy Confederacy? You should know that Milan, Parma and other places in Northern Italy are nominally ruled, and contribute a lot of taxes every year, which is a major supplementary source of the weak finances of the Spanish Kingdom. If the Northern Italy Confederacy is established, these countries plan to use the influence of the Confederacy to break away from Spanish rule, what will you do? Will the Spanish sit idly?

In addition, Austria, a country that is rising strongly cannot be ignored. As we all know, the Habsburg family in Vienna has always been salivating for the wealthy Northern Italy region and has been trying to increase its influence here for many years. Especially when Venice and the Ottomans fought for twenty years and the country's strength declined sharply, they coveted more of Northern Italy, which is a large population, economically developed but politically and military. In history, they annexed many lands in Northern Italy, and were forced to vomit it out when Italy was unified in the 19th century. This era was the time when they had a good appetite, and they would definitely not want to see military and political alliances appear in Northern Italy. If they don't stumbling, there will be ghosts.

Therefore, if the Northern Italian Confederacy wants to succeed, it needs to start both internal and external aspects. The internal is to strengthen integration, eliminate differences, increase everyone's common interests, make the cake bigger, and eventually form a relatively unified understanding and concept. There is no doubt that this is very difficult and takes decades or even hundreds of years. But as an old saying goes, you can't go a thousand miles without taking a single step. You should do it step by step. No matter how difficult it is, you have to do it.

The outside is the East Coast Republic to find ways to exert influence, such as providing it with a certain degree of political and military asylum. Now the East Coast Republic's participation in international affairs is getting higher and higher, and its influence in Europe is growing. Now there is a military base in Viana Fort in Portugal. In the future, Ceuta may also send some garrison troops, and there are also paramilitary troops in Haji County in the Black Sea area, and its military projection capability will be enhanced. I believe that with the increase in strength of the East Coast in the future, its interference ability will become stronger and will eventually provide a certain degree of protection for the Northern Italy region.

For example, East Coast people can also integrate the states of Northern Italy through economic means. Currently, forest development companies that are stable and profitable in the East Coast control area, so the Asia-African company and Delta company are doing a good job. On the one hand, they have developed wastelands on the East Coast and developed local economy. At the same time, they have brought considerable profits to investors from Northern Italy. This is influence. With money and enough money, many differences cannot be bridged, many hatreds cannot be put down, and many prejudices can also be changed. This is the direction the East Coast government needs to start.

Of course, in the process of promoting the establishment of the Northern Italy Confederacy, East Coast people can also take the opportunity to take action and lay a solid foundation for themselves to seize the greatest benefits in the future. Now Northern Italy is an important market for East Coast goods. If a unified market is promoted in the future, the original tax cards and local protectionist barriers will be cancelled, and the sales volume of East Coast goods can be taken to a new level.

At present, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is formulating a plan to cultivate talents for Northern Italy, including the training and learning of military officers, the cultivation of economic talents, the cultivation of language translation talents, etc. These are the guarantees for the East Coast to be able to deeply control Northern Italy in the future. Northern Italy now has many pro-French, pro-Olyu, and pro-Western factions, and of course there are many pro-Eastern factions, but it is not enough. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs the number of pro-Eastern factions to continue to increase, and ultimately achieve an absolute advantage proportion, laying a solid foundation for further control of the Northern Italy Confederacy in the future.

"Qin Special Envoy, we actually don't mind cooperating with the Venetians, but we need to protect our interests first." Paul Doria said to the East Coast envoy sitting in front of him: "The Ligurian coast is narrow and narrow and cannot provide us with enough living supplies, so we need to control the food production areas of Sicily. If a Confederate is formed in the future, I hope to have a strong navy that can ensure the security of Sicily. Of course, the trade routes of North Africa can also be considered. Oh, by the way, Tuscany must ensure the special status of our merchants in Livorna and Pisa, which is also very important."

"After the establishment of a unified market, Pisa and Livor will naturally have no obstacles to your country's peers. Is there any problem?" the envoy asked in confusion.

"Oh, Qin envoy, you don't know. The Tuscan bastards have always wanted to expel Chinese merchants there, but this is a violation of the ancient sacred agreement and we will never agree. In addition, Luca's merchants often exclude our business interests in Switzerland and France. We must give these bastards a little warning, otherwise we will not agree to join the Confederacy." Paul Doria suddenly said with some gritted teeth. It seemed that these two things caused great trouble to the merchants of the *A and the losses were quite considerable.

"But as far as I know, the Tuscans are also very angry at the monopoly behavior of your country's merchants in Livor and other places. They may just want to guarantee their own interests." Qin's envoy said.

"They can't imagine!" Paul Doria raised his voice and said, "This is testified by the ancient agreement, and our merchants must enjoy a special status!"

"But people from Tuscany and even Modena accused me of the fact that your country has sold basic commodities such as grain, cloth, salt and spices locally, causing them a lot of unnecessary expenses. This is their original intention of controlling Livorna and pizza. Didn't your country pay attention to this?"

"We are the most noble Republic of Asia!" Paul Doria emphasized: "If the Confederacy is successfully formed in the future, our country will definitely provide the largest share of expenditure. Just like the Netherlands province in the seven provinces, one of which provides 65% of the national defense of the entire Union Province, how can it be if we do not give us enough benefits? That is the pearl of the Confederacy, and its special status must be guaranteed."

The Qin envoy was silent when he heard this. Paul Doria's attitude was similar to that of another envoy who visited Venice before, and it was a lot of things. The lion spoke out loudly, that is, he wanted to occupy an advantage in the Confederacy. But the problem was that this would definitely cause dissatisfaction among others and add to the confederacy.

However, this was something he could have expected before he came. Italy had been divided for many years, and the princes had many conflicts before, and it would definitely require a long and painful period of running-in. The seven provinces established to oppose Spanish rule were not harmonious at the beginning. Even with strong pressure from Spain, the seven provinces were still struggling and intrigue. If the pressure given by the Spanish was too great, and there were religious and powerful figures (Prince Orange) to bridge the differences and stabilize the hearts of the people, the alliance would have probably broken up long ago.

Therefore, there is still a long way to go to form the Italian Confederacy! However, people on the East Coast are not in a hurry. The threat from France and Austria is real, and the influence of the East Coast is also real. Take your time and there will always be a success day!
Chapter completed!