Coincidentally, the fleet of the Russian governor encountered the fleet led by Yinglong, the general of the Manchu Dynasty, which was also the most powerful armed force of the Manchus in this region.

Yinglong, the general of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, according to the official system of the Manchu Dynasty, was the highest official in the Manchu Dynasty to manage the affairs of the Longjiang River, and was also the most vigilant Manchu high-ranking official against the aggressive ambitions of Tsarist Russia.

Since Yinglong took office in November of the 27th year of Daoguang and served as the general of Weilongjiang, he has noticed the aggressive trend of Tsarist Russia.

So, he did his best to take some containment measures in the area under his jurisdiction.

At that time, the general palace of the Longjiang River was located in Qiqigare, which was moved here from Mergen in the 38th year of Kangxi.

Since then, Qiqigar has become the political, economic, military, and cultural center of the Longjiang River for nearly 300 years.

The first thing Yinglong did was to understand the hostile situation on the part of Tsarist Russia.

He has worked many fronts and knows a lot about his opponent.

The biggest and most dangerous enemy was the Tsar, Nicholas I.

When this guy ascended the throne in the fifth year of Daoguang, he took the invasion of China as a national policy and made careful preparations for more than 20 years.

Yinglong knows that if it is only fierce, it is easy to say, if it is only tenacious, it is easy to say, and if it is afraid, it is afraid to be both fierce and tenacious, and the contemporary tsar is such a guy.

Twenty years of sticking to one goal is chilling to think about.

At that time, within Tsarist Russia, two plans for the conquest of China emerged.

One was the direct military occupation plan of the feudal warlords, aristocrats, and military-industrial capitalists represented by the Minister of War Kurobatkin and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Muravyov.

The other is the plan of the new industrial monopoly capitalists and financial capitalists represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte to achieve the final conquest by means of economic plunder.

Which was adopted by Tsar Nicholas I?

He didn't use either, he just combined the two into one.

He decided to use both tactics and do both.

It can be seen from this that this guy's insatiable greed!

In August of the 27th year of Daoguang, Nicholas I appointed Muravyov as the governor of Eastern Siberia and ordered him to plan as soon as possible to realize the grand plan of annexing the Longjiang region during his tenure.

Muravyov was born into a noble bureaucratic family, and his father was a minister and privy councillor to Nicholas I.

He was actually the tsar's uncle and brother.

At the age of fourteen, Muravyov entered the military school of the royal nobility, and after graduation he served in the army, participating in the wars that suppressed rebellions in Turkey, Poland, and the Caucasus.

He was loyal to the Tsar and trusted him, so he was able to rise through the ranks.

In the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang, he was promoted to governor of Tula Province at the age of thirty-seven, which is rare in the history of Tsarist Russia.

On the twenty-sixth day of July of the 27th year of Daoguang, he was appointed general of Irkutsk and Eastern Siberia.

During this period, he violated the ban of the Russian Foreign Ministry and did not hesitate to break with China, and carried out a series of intelligence investigations and field mapping operations in the Weilong River basin.

Not only that, but he also actively promoted Russian language education among all ethnic groups in Siberia, and exiled domestic criminals to the regions north of the Weilong River, in an attempt to slowly infiltrate and then achieve the goal of occupation.

Muravyov has always called himself the "heir of Khabarov".

Khabarov was one of the first Russian adventurers to make two expeditions to the Lulong River Valley; during the expedition, he repeatedly interacted with local residents and killed many Chinese living there.

However, he also made clear the geography of the region and reported it to the Tsar, who rewarded him.

Muravyov wants to learn from Khabarov and act as his heir, that is, to take all the places where his predecessors have been!

When Muravyov became governor of Eastern Siberia, he sensitively observed the crisis in the Manchu center of China.

In his "notes" and "letters" to the Tsar, the intention and proposition of invading China were permeated everywhere.

"The Manchu center was in danger of collapsing," he argued, and although measures were being taken, they were nothing more than a piece of paper in the Chinese style."

In February of the 28th year of Daoguang, Muravyov, who had not long been in office, immediately regarded the solution of the "problem of the Lulong River" as the "central issue of his activities in Siberia" and began to carry out the invasion and occupation of the Lulong River valley, turning the plan into action.

After painstaking investigation and study, Muravyov devised a specific strategy for the invasion of the Longjiang region.

He attaches great importance to the role of public opinion. Therefore, every effort was made to propagate in Russia the strategic significance of the occupation of the route and the occupation of the Longjiang region to the Russian Far East.

He proposed that the occupation of the mouth of the Amur River is the key to the control of the Siberian region. Only by controlling the Siberian region can we further control northeast China.

The Amur River is the Russian river of Lulong.

It is worth noting that they have already called the Amur River.

When he wrote to the Tsar on April 18, the 29th year of Daoguang, he couldn't have made it clearer!

Whoever can occupy the mouth of the Amur River will be able to control Siberia, at least east of Baikal, and probably very strongly.

For as long as the mouth of the Amur River and the right of navigation in it were controlled, Siberia, which was becoming more and more densely populated and prosperous in industry and agriculture, would forever become a vassal and a tributary of the state that controlled it.

It can be seen from this that the strategic intention of the Russian government and opposition to invade and occupy the valley of the Lulong River is clearly exposed.

Muravyov also stated his plans to the tsar in great detail several times.

First of all, it would be advisable to secure Russian possession of the peninsula as soon as possible by taking control of the left bank of the Amur and obtaining the right of navigation to do so, and then establishing a link between it and Kamchatka.

Secondly, the opening of shipping on the Amur River made it possible to significantly shorten the duration of the voyage from Archensk to Kamchatka.

Muravyov believed that it was necessary to continue trade with China and to expand it, so that the textiles produced in Russia could be continuously transported along the Amur to the northeastern provinces of China.

The means of operation must also be adjusted, that is, the current fixed-point mutual market must be changed to trafficking trade.

Considering his relations with other powers, he believed that the Northeast was far from the center of British interests, which also avoided conflicts of interest in a certain way, and there was no harm in all aspects.

He proposed that the Amurs should be occupied before the British completely ruled China, and that the navigation rights of the Amur River should be seized.

And then increase the number of troops to defend, take it as its own, and no country can station troops, including China.

For this reason, he did not hesitate to exclaim: "At least we should take advantage of the fact that the British have not yet fully ruled China, and according to the urgent needs of our country, increase our troops to defend the border with China, and then occupy the Amur." ”

Nicholas I praised Muravyov's construction. With the support of the Tsar, these policies were carried out smoothly and became the guiding light of the Russian Far East project.

After receiving the approval and support of the Tsarist government, Muravyov began to collect a large amount of information on the Lulongjiang area through on-the-spot reconnaissance and other means, so as to prepare for the occupation of this area.

Especially at the end of the 28th year of Daoguang, he personally led a team to inspect the Transbaikal region. Subsequently, they sent people to the upper and lower reaches of the Weilong River to spy on intelligence in the name of investigation, the purpose of which was to find out the navigation conditions of the mouth of the Weilong River and the river.

In addition, in order to provide more information for the plan to occupy the Lulongjiang region, Muravyov established an "archive" and a "showroom" of Sino-Russian relations in Irkutsk. To this end, the Tsarist government also set up a Siberian branch of the Russian Royal Geographical Society to search for information in every possible way.

The Russians, represented by Muravyov, had a very thorough plan to invade China, and their understanding of the situation in the valley of the Lulong River and their grasp of relevant materials were even more detailed than those of the Qing government itself.

Frequent investigative activities also attracted the attention of the Qing government.

According to the Minister of Affairs in charge of Sino-Russian negotiations, Decor Dolji, Russian soldiers were seen walking to the east outside the banks of the Lulong River.

Emperor Xianfeng issued an edict: "The edict ordered Yinglong to pay attention to the visit." Covertly guarded. Don't do anything about it."

However, Emperor Xianfeng still lacked vigilance against Tsarist Russia's aggression, and reprimanded Yinglong, the general of Longjiang, who sent troops to strengthen the defense.

It is said that Yinglong has sent members of the committee to lead troops to defend the key passes, but he does not know what is going on.

He sent an edict before saying that, but the general and others were to listen attentively and secretly fortify the pass, he sent men to defend the pass.

His biggest concern was: "If Russia hears about it, won't it be suspicious?"

It can be seen that the emperor is really confused, everyone else is knocking on the door, and there are still pretending to be confused and can't see.

At the same time, Muravyov actively raised military spending and grain, and arbitrarily extracted and forcibly requisitioned the grain of the people in Eastern Siberia by means of lowering the purchase price of grain.

All of this makes Yinglong know that between China and Russia, a big battle for the Weilong River is inevitable!

His heart was full of tragedy, the central emperor was not powerful, and now he was surrounded by the heavenly army, in order to save his life, he even gave orders to collect soldiers and money and food from all over the country, making the defense here even weaker!

Although this is much better than other places, after all, this is the border, and in the face of the enemy's large army pressure, at least the border garrison has to keep it!

However, the enemy is so strong that it is by no means something that such a small number of troops can stop.

Yinglong brought all the sixty warships of the Navy Division today, in order to protect the 20,000 green battalion soldiers who came here to build a checkpoint and defend the important place where the three rivers meet.

He had a hunch that this place would definitely become an important place for the soldiers to fight!

It's a pity that he acted a little late!

He is still arranging there, and the Russian fleet is already coming at high speed!

He shouted, "Queue up to meet the enemy!"

Before the words fell, the 100 warships of the Russian army "Kerala" rushed into the Manchu fleet, like an iron ship meeting a paper ship, and in the blink of an eye, there was not one in ten Manchu fleets!

Yinglong's command ship was still there, the enemy had surrounded it, and they knew this stubborn Manchu commander and shouted: "Surrender and die!"

Yinglong knew that he couldn't do anything, and sneered: "I am a first-class member of the country, how can I reduce you to a barbarian!"

With that, he pulled out his matching sword and wiped it down on his neck!.

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