Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

"Tomorrow we will proceed according to this urban plan. As I said before, the government needs to improve the policy operations of each city and work around it. A snake can't do without a head. Only with them can we drive real urban development. "

Alfonso thought of the subsequent city rankings. Every year, the city rankings would cause huge heated discussions, such as the ranking of the best cities in the world, the ranking of the most competitive cities in the world, and the ranking of the world's most liberated economies. As well as the world's top ten economic rankings, etc., the appearance of these lists will attract people's different attention, but what is certain is that it is absolutely very convincing as an indicator of world cities. At the same time, from a political point of view , he definitely has soft power, because if they convert this into political power, he can say that the economy that he doesn't like very much, such as the other city, is free of you, because the free city will not stand in the way. They made comments such as subverting the political power for free, so they were not perfect in freedom and received a low score. In addition, in order to put pressure on the other party to open up more industries that have advantages for itself, the source of these lists will urge the release of the list and point out those countries that have lost their own due to insufficient openness of the industry and slow processing of certificates. The competitiveness is also a challenge.

In short, the emergence of city competitiveness and other rankings is actually a model for powerful countries to manage the world, in order to open up other countries' economies to their economies so that they can profit, or to put it more nicely, it is a mutually beneficial and win-win approach for everyone. Of course, as more and more of their peers appear or people criticize more and more, it makes sense that they will be a little more impartial. And self-interest also determines everything. For example, Alfonso knew that the three major rating companies in the United States were not effective in predicting the financial crisis, and even gave Lehman Investment Bank a high evaluation before its collapse. It has received condemnation and dissatisfaction from most countries in the world. Even the United States has a lot of criticism from the government and the public. However, when other countries announced their dissatisfaction with the monopoly practices of the three companies, the United States provided silent support. It can be seen that their existence is still in line with maximizing the interests of the country.

Therefore, Alfonso thought that he had already started to build his own rating company, and also sent out heavyweights. Former Prime Ministers Antonio and Palacides, this time, he decided to build a new list again. But this time it started with Time magazine. After all, it was already within people's acceptance range. And in order to maintain comparability in people's minds, "National Online" will also launch its own list next year. In this way, hey, only then can we control the direction of public opinion.

On December 2nd, Alfonso began a state visit to the Nordic countries Norway, Denmark and Sweden, and before that. .He spent a happy and exciting time in Spain first, because on November 25, his favorite, the Queen of Spain and the British Princess finally gave birth to a baby after nine months of pregnancy-the current King of Spain. The first prince, Prince of Medi, Duke of Madrid, Duke of Anjou. This is very clear to everyone. Alfonso XIII has attached himself to the position of Crown Prince, because in the history of the Spanish Bourbon Dynasty, obtaining the Duke of Anjou is definitely a symbol of the heir to the throne.

From south to north, Alfonso felt the huge difference in temperature between Spain, the location of southern Europe, and northern Europe. In Madrid in the south, the temperature was around 15 degrees, but in Norway, which was getting closer and closer, it had dropped sharply to below 5 degrees.

“The scenery in Northern Europe is also pretty good.”

"Although compared with southern Europe, there is a slight gap, but it is already pretty good."

"Trini. I noticed that you are now using diplomatic language towards me." He turned around and looked at Trini with a half-smile.

Trini despised the other party in his heart. He then said: "Wrong, Your Majesty has misunderstood me. What I meant was respect, respect and admiration for Your Majesty from the bottom of my heart."

"Forget it, whether it's respect or admiration, what I care about most is the diplomatic results of Spain. How to arrange the itinerary for the state visit to Norway this time?" The arrangements this time were all made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To be honest, , Alfonso had some not-so-real knowledge of the capitals of several countries, but he was very unfamiliar with other places, so he left the planning of this visit to Northern Europe to Trini. arranged.

"His Majesty will land in Bergen, Norway's second largest city, and then officially start the first stop of his visit to Norway, visiting old buildings from the medieval Hanseatic League era."

"Wait, Hanseatic League?" Alfonso felt strange about it? So he looked at Trini with confusion, and the ministers accompanying him on this trip were Foreign Minister Trini, Finance Minister Chávez, Industry Minister Miguel, and former Prime Minister Antonio, Governor of the Imperial Bank and Central Bank. This is almost half of Spain's government. Fortunately, each has a deputy there, and Spain has perfected a political operation system because of this. Therefore, daily operations are still running as usual.

"I will know something about the Hanseatic League." Antonio, who spoke this time, said: "The Hanseatic League is a commercial and political alliance formed between cities in northern Germany. The word Hanseatic, in German It means an office or a guild hall. This alliance was gradually formed in the 13th century and reached prosperity in the 14th century, with up to 160 cities joining. In 1367, a leading organization headed by the city of Lübeck was established, including Hamburg, Cologne, The participation of wealthy businessmen and nobles from big cities such as Bremen can be compared to any country today, then it is similar to the United States, which only emerged in the form of a federation. Each city is the main body of this alliance, and they join together to form a coalition. Huge forces, each with their own arms and treasury. Most of them are alliances established by spontaneous organizations such as pirates and robbers. But don't underestimate them, because their fighting power is very strong. They even defeated Denmark in 1370 and established the " Treaty of Stralsund. The alliance monopolized trade in the Baltic Sea region and established trading stations in the coastal areas from London in the west to Novgorod in the east. It was strong. It declined in the 15th century and disintegrated in 1669."

"Then what was the reason for their disintegration?" Alfonso was very interested in this. Since the other party compared it to the United States, he also wanted to hear how the alliance would be disbanded.

"It is said that after the mid-15th century, due to the rapid development of industry and commerce in Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, Lithuania and Poland gradually became stronger after uniting and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Principality of Moscow is now Russia's conquest of Novgorod. The closure of the Hanseatic trading station in the city, especially the opening of new shipping routes, led to the transfer of commercial centers and the Hanseatic League gradually lost its advantage. What's more, the rising status of Brandenburg and Prussia within Germany made the Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League further weakened. The Hanseatic League held its last meeting in Lübeck in 1669, with only 6 cities participating. After that, the alliance confessed, but in my opinion, the most basic reason is that the alliance was too loose in organization. And there is no organization, no constitution, no cultural commonality, and no written civilization and institutional institutions, so there is disintegration." Speaking of this, Antonio was also sighing, after all, such a giant at the time The existence disappeared like this, but it made people who care about politics feel oppressed.

The same is true for Alfonso. As a king, he certainly understands that sooner or later a country will perish one day. Whether it is admitted or not, whether it is ten thousand years old or a thousand years old, it is all a trick to fool people. Looking at history and not talking about people, which dynasty can last for more than a thousand years? There may be, but Alfonso has certainly never heard of it.

"It's a very good arrangement, and it also allows us to appreciate the style of this huge alliance in Northern Europe. What about the next trip?" The appearance of the first stop has already aroused his interest, and he is somewhat looking forward to the next formation.

"The second stop will be St. Mary's Church, which is the largest Catholic church there. As the state church of Spain, His Majesty's visit to this church will make it easier for Catholics to favor him."

Alfonso’s imagination is not bad. In fact, many people think that because the Holy See is surrounded by the Kingdom of Italy, it affects the Holy See because it belongs to Italy. This is wrong. In terms of influence, Spain’s influence has always been Neither is less than Italy. It should be said that among the three countries of Italy, France and Spain, Spain is the most influential, followed by Italy and France. Of course, there is a fact of competition, and at the same time, the three countries also have common interests in promoting Catholicism. Therefore, many times, when the heads of state or senior officials of the three countries visit, many of them will pay a friendly visit to the local church. This is not only a gesture, but also a sincerity as a believer.

"After that, His Majesty will officially leave Bergen for Oslo, the capital of Norway," Trini said.

"Railway or boat?" This is very important, because in many cases, the safety of railways is questionable. In the past, dignitaries have died in other countries due to malfunctions while traveling by train. Regarding this, Alfonso After seeing the high-speed rail with superior technology, I pay special attention to this. Fortunately, Trini's answer made him feel relieved, because the fleet led by Spain's Alfonso XIII continued to advance. At the same time, this also shows that the Norwegian government attaches great importance to his visit to Norway. After all, not every country allows warships from other countries to sail to their own capital. Of course, the exception is the United Kingdom, which is a naval power. Well, if warships from other countries compete with others, they are just looking for embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, look, that's a Norwegian warship!"

At this time, Chavez suddenly said that he was pointing in the direction, and sure enough, he saw the Norwegian flag consisting of an indigo cross with a white border and surrounding red.

First update, there is still one and a half minutes to push. Today is also the end of the month. If you still have votes, please vote in this book. Next is a trip to Northern Europe and a trip to the Three Kingdoms. . . )

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