Chapter 1746： It is recommended to repair the Great Wall

"How is it possible? The Britons conquered the Calais fortress in five days?" Looking at the national book, Francois I, who had just begun to take power, was a little lost.

He began to gradually control the rights of the Kingdom of France, and is currently recovering the control of the city defense army of Paris from the earl of Cesc. As for fame within the kingdom, it is still being established. Unexpectedly, only a few days later, the fortress of Calais, which King Louis XII had finally taken back, was taken by the English. It was a slap in his face!

This slap was too fierce, and directly made François I lose his reputation. It didn't take long for the throne to begin. When I first started to regain power, I lost the strategic place like the Calais fortress, and it was almost humiliating to my grandma's house.

You know, in this idea, the European monarch is supported by fame. Prestigious, the nobles serve you. Without fame, the congregation may betray their relatives. For example, Emperor Shenluo Henry IV, who had been punished by the Pope, had to kneel down and ask the Pope for forgiveness. Because, at that time, he had already betrayed his relatives ...

Of course, the loss of Calais by Francois I was not as severe as Henry IV ’s exclusion. However, this is definitely a major blow to his prestige.

Therefore, Francois I was furious. He withdrew his sword fiercely and hacked it around in the magnificent palace. Many precious crafts were destroyed under his sword.

But at this time, no minister dared to step forward and stop. Because, they are also ignorant, except for the spy John Rafi ...

Of course, John Laffy still has to look very surprised and sad. He remembered the secret instructions Marlin gave him a few days ago, so he stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, please be angry. I think the most important thing now is to figure out how Calais Fortress lost so fast. It stands to reason that the English have no ability to conquer a fortress in five days. So, sure There are situations that we do not know. Only by inquiring about this secret can we respond well! "

Francois I's anger subsided a lot, he stopped to destroy, his eyes flushed:

"What's the use of this? The Calais Fortress has lost ground and I want to be a joke in the eyes of the people!"

John Rafi shook his head and said:

"Your Majesty, what happened to the Calais Fortress is of course 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 Calais Fortress! Only to figure out their tricks. Cities will be safer! "

In fact, John Rafi had long known that the North Sea spy had the means to destroy the iron gate of the sewer. But he could not say that he could only pretend that he didn't know, and he had to guide Francois I to think and investigate ...

Francois I heard this and finally calmed down. Indeed, it is safer to figure out the strange means of the enemy.

So, he ordered John Rafi to take charge of this matter, to explore the mystery of the fortification of the Calais fortress. And John Lafie, by virtue of this, gained more trust from Francois I.

...

Subsequently, the French princes began to discuss how to deal with the harm caused by the fall of the fortress of Calais. And, the possibility of retaking Calais fortress.

But everyone is not optimistic about the possibility of regaining the Calais fortress, because before the French could capture the Calais fortress, it was because the Calais fortress did not have an iron gate installed. Nowadays, the French themselves put a heavy iron gate on the Calais fortress, and it is harder than going to the sky to break through the city gate. They are not Marin, and they do n’t know the recipe of Wang Shui.

And if you use the method of ant attachment to attack the city and the fortification of the fortress of Calais, you have to fill the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers before you can win it. But the worst thing is that because the Calais Fortress is separated from the mainland of England by a small strait less than 30 kilometers wide, the native of England can calmly support the Calais fortress. This made it possible that even if the French were willing to lose the lives of the soldiers, they might not be able to win the Calais fortress. Otherwise, the English cannot occupy Calais for more than 150 years.

Francois I took a bit of wax:

"Presidents, if you let the Britons occupy the Calais fortress, then the northeast of France will be unstable. At that time, the Britons may send troops to attack me in the northeast of France at any time! Even, maybe Paris!

From Paris to Calais, it is about 235 kilometers. If the British army landed on the shore, they could hit Paris near a few days. If it was usual, the British army would not dare to attack Paris. But now France is fighting for Naples with Spain, and the main force needs to go south for hegemony. In this way, the British army has the opportunity to attack Paris. There is no need to siege Paris, as long as you sweep the area around Paris, you can hurt France.

Basically, the fortress of Calais is like a sword of Damocles hanging above his head, which may fall at any time to give France a bit of cruelty. If it was n’t for the English Army ’s combat effectiveness, God knew what serious consequences it would have.

Just as the French princes all frowned, John Lafite stood up again:

"Your Majesty, the minister has a solution to the threat of the Calais Fort!"

François I was shocked, and he remembered that this John Raffy was also a resourceful courtier when the first king was alive. So he looked at John Rafi with expectation:

"Ai Qing quickly!"

John Lafite paid a courtesy, and did not immediately speak out the strategy, but asked rhetorically:

"Does His Majesty know the Hadrian's Wall?"

Francois I was taken aback, and then replied:

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

Hadrian ’s Wall is not really tall. It is only 4.6 meters high, which is similar to the height of a general room, which is equivalent to the height of the courtyard wall of ordinary people. It is easy to cross. Its width and top width are only 2.1 meters, and the soldiers standing on it are very crowded and cannot spread.

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

But the Great Wall that John Rafi said is not such a fence wall as Hadrian's Great Wall ...

He introduced Francois I and a French minister to the Great Wall of China in detail, and told Francois I that Huaxia was relying on the Great Wall to block the hundreds of thousands of nomad cavalry from the northern grasslands ...

After John Rafi introduced the Great Wall, he generously said:

"Your Majesty, as long as we build a tall, sturdy wall near the fortress of Calais ~ www.novelhall.com ~, we can confine the Britons to the wall! Even if they occupy the Calais fortress? What do we use? The wall encircled Calais, and even if they had landed, they would not be able to get out! "

...

Francois I and the French ministers listened fascinated, but they didn't know that this was the pit Marin deliberately dug to France-right? Do you know how much it will cost and how much manpower will be used?

Because of repairing the Great Wall, the Qin Dynasty consumed the national power, which led to the uprising of the peasants at the end of the Qin Dynasty. The Sui dynasty also dug a grand canal, clearly benefiting from all ages, but also exhausted its national power, and to some extent led to the demise of the Sui dynasty (the other reason was the failure of the expedition to Korea).

Although the cost of building a great wall surrounding the Calais fortress is far behind the construction of the Great Wall and the excavation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the French finances are far from comparable to those of the Qin and Sui dynasties. Nowadays, France does not have a unified national tax, how can it consume so much money?

Therefore, Marin's strategy of instructing John Lafite to offer the Great Wall seems reliable, but in fact it squeezed France's national power and made France unable to do anything else for several years. Coupled with the need to fight for Italy in the south, it is foreseeable that France will be uncomfortable in the next few years ...