In late spring, the capital is already warm, and the sun is shining high, which is already quite hot.

Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, was less than fifty years old, slightly fat, with gray hair, and in the hot weather, he was sweating all over, and soaked the big red official robe on his body.

He is a native of Changshou County, Chongqing Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and was raised in the 36th year of Wanli and awarded the state governor. In the first year of Chongzhen, he became a member of the Criminal Department, entered Langzhong, and prepared for military affairs before moving to Ning. For seven years, he was promoted to the right of the imperial history and the governor of the Xuanfu. In the eleventh year, recommended by Yang Sichang, he was appointed to the right of the military department and the right of the imperial history, the governor of Xuanda, and the Qing soldiers. In the thirteenth year, he entered the military department, thus becoming the first person to do the important post of the secretary of the Ministry of Industry after Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty.

In real history, this person was defeated in the battle of Songjin in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, due to command errors. Under the domestic and foreign difficulties, Emperor Chongzhen secretly made him negotiate peace with the Qing soldiers, but because the child inadvertently leaked the news, public opinion was in an uproar. Seeing that he was so secretive, Emperor Chongzhen was very angry, so he arrested him as a scapegoat and was finally killed.

Chen Xinjia entered the Qianqing Palace, and immediately knelt on the ground.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

"Aiqing is flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Seeing that Chen Xinjia was sweating and his official uniform was soaked, Chongzhen was full of distress. He sent a message at any time, asking the little eunuch to bring a small mound to Chen Xinjia and let him sit down and talk.

Chen Xinjia thanked him, leaned on his body, and sat on the small brocade pier, but he was still panting.

"Aiqing, now that the Qing Dynasty is approaching Liaoxi and is about to attack Jinzhou, what good plan does Aiqing have?" Emperor Chongzhen got straight to the point and said to Chen Xinjia with an eager face.

Chen Xinjia wiped a handful of sweat on his face, and immediately replied in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, now that the Qing army is pressing the border, the only feasible plan is to immediately mobilize troops and horses and urgently enter Jinzhou to help." ”

Emperor Chongzhen frowned: "What Aiqing said, I also know." It's just that now the soldiers and horses in Liaodong are all suppressing bandits in the mainland, and they are eager, how can they be adjusted? I am afraid that when the soldiers and horses are gathered, this Jinzhou has already been lost. ”

Chen Xinjia sighed lightly, and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, even if there is such a risk, if you can't send reinforcements as soon as possible, I'm afraid that the land of western Liaoxi will be difficult to defend for a long time." According to the minister's opinion, now the bandit soldiers and horses in various places still need to be dispatched as much as possible and rushed to Liaoxi, and if they can have more reinforcements, they will have more hope of holding Jinzhou and Liaoxi. ”

Chongzhen stared at him, but asked suspiciously: "Even so, wouldn't it become a tactic to add fuel to the transfer of soldiers from all over the country, so how many chances can there be to hold Liaoxi?" ”

Chen Xinjia arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, now that things are in a hurry, which one can be perfect?" The Qing army has a large number of troops and a large momentum, so how can we give our country too much time to adjust and cooperate? According to the minister's opinion, as long as he can immediately send troops to rush into Liaoxi to defend it, even if it is a tactic of adding oil, it is the only feasible way to be urgent. If success or failure is blunt, then you can only do your best to obey the destiny of heaven. ”

Chongzhen was silent, he groaned for a while, and then said to Chen Xinjia: "Then in your opinion, how should I arrange it, and what is appropriate?" ”

Chen Xinjia saw the emperor asking such a question, so he immediately put the plan he had been thinking about for a long time to Emperor Chongzhen.

He said loudly: "Your Majesty, according to Weichen's opinion, the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou, who has fought against the Liukou, has always been meritorious, and this person can be reappointed as the governor of Jiliao, and the president of Liaoxi and various places have sent reinforcements and horses." Then he ordered Wang Pu, Yang Guozhu, Tang Tong, Bai Guangen, Cao Bianjiao, Ma Ke, Wang Tingchen, and Wu Sangui to suspend the suppression of bandits in the country, and immediately went out of the customs to help, rushed to Ningyuan in advance, and then rushed to Jinzhou. Weichen has already estimated that these eight total soldiers, with about 130,000 soldiers and horses, if they can rush in time and fight wholeheartedly, this Liaoxi should still be able to be saved. “

Chongzhen was silent for a long time, in his heart, he actually approved of Chen Xinjia's arrangement, after all, now that things are in a hurry, it is impossible to calmly prepare for battle, and there is really no way to add fuel to the tactics.

At this time, Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked Chen Xinjia again: "By the way, then Tang Guogong Li Xiao, Aiqing is planning, how should he be arranged?" ”

Chen Xinjia's face trembled, but he said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you think that Li Xiao can still be dispatched according to the will of the imperial court now?" This person is strong and strong, and he has expanded overseas, and the money and food are widely available, and he has long been a big tail, and he has rebelled before, and he is even more outrageous than the Hebei Domain in the Tang Dynasty, and Weichen really dare not use this person. ”

Chen Xinjia's words touched Chongzhen's sore spot, and his face instantly became gloomy and painful.

Chongzhen lowered his head, raised his head for a long time, and said in a low voice: "Aiqing, although there are many festivals between Li Xiao and me, but now he and I are both monarchs and ministers, and Weng son-in-law, so there is no reason to ignore the orders of the imperial court." Aiqing can explain to him that I only ask him to send troops to attack the Qing captives, and I will not interfere with the specific military arrangements and plans. As for the other troop and horse scheduling and personnel arrangements, as Qing Fangcai said, let's arrange it like this. ”

Listening to the emperor's words, Chen Xinjia's heart was sour, and he couldn't help but want to cry, but he couldn't help it, and finally bowed his hand and said: "Yes, Weichen obeys the order." ”

When Chen Xinjia was intensively dispatching personnel to let these most elite soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty all go north to rescue Liaoxi, Li Xiao also received an edict from the imperial court asking him to send troops to attack the Qing Dynasty.

When he saw this edict, Li Xiao's face was very calm.

In fact, as early as when the Russian soldiers and horses entered Shenyang City, Li Xiao's secret agent of the local security department in Shenyang had quickly transmitted the pigeon to him.

When Li Xiao received the letter from the Security Division, he frowned deeply.

Unexpectedly, after Russia was sent by itself to seize the city of Yakutsk, in order to regain its interests in the Far East, it would collude with the Manchus and work together to deal with itself.

Consider that in real history, the Qing Dynasty was at war with Russia many times in the early days, and the two sides fought inextricably in the Far East, and after decades of fighting, the Treaty of Nebuchu was signed, and the two countries ceased fighting. But I didn't expect that in this time and space that I had traveled through, this Russia and the Qing Dynasty formed an alliance in order to fight against themselves.

In this world, there are really no eternal friends and no eternal enemies.

In the face of common interests, the two countries, which would have quickly turned against each other in the future, have now become allies working together.

At that time, after reading the secret letter, Li Xiao almost instinctively thought that next, it was likely that the Qing and Russian coalition forces would join forces to go north to attack Miaojiebao or Yakutsk City. In this way, it not only helped Russia regain the lost territory in the Far East, but also cleared the huge hidden danger that had been pressing on the head of the Qing court in the north.

It's just that Li Xiao really didn't expect that this Qing captive didn't have the courage to attack himself first, but instead attacked Liaoxi, where the Ming army was lax, which greatly surprised Li Xiao.

Seeing the cautious wording of the imperial court's letter, which only said that he wanted to send troops to attack the Qing Dynasty, but he could let himself dispatch his troops and horses at will and attack the Qing Dynasty towns at will, Li Xiao couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

This court's attitude towards itself is really subtle.

The so-called lord is weak and the minister is strong, but that's it.

Subsequently, after careful consideration, Li Xiao immediately arranged the following actions.

First of all, he ordered that the Anton Town A Battalion stationed in Yakutsk and the Anton Town B Battalion stationed at the Temple Street Fort should be strictly guarded against the enemy's sneak attack, and at the same time be prepared to hold out for a long time until the enemy retreats or reinforcements arrive.

Then, Li Xiao ordered the soldiers and horses of the A Battalion of Pingnan Town, who had been transferred to Jeju Island, under the leadership of Li Dingguo, the mayor of Pingnan Town, to bring enough materials and craftsmen to the mouth of the Nasipin River to build a new castle.

It turned out that only three months after the conquest of Australia, seeing that all parts of Australia were calm and the entire south had been pacified, Li Xiao planned to transfer part of the soldiers and horses in Pingnan Town to the north to deal with the large-scale battles that might occur in the north.

So, he ordered Li Dingguo, the mayor of Pingnan Town, to lead the soldiers and horses of the A Battalion of Pingnan Town to Jeju Island and station here on standby.

In the entire South Seas, Luo Zheng's B Battalion is responsible for defending Taiwan and the Philippines, and Cao Bianjiao's C Battalion is responsible for defending the island of New Guinea and the whole of Australia.

Li Xiao demanded that after receiving his own order, the general Li Dingguo should immediately take the soldiers and horses of the first battalion of Pingnan Town and a large number of craftsmen, and urgently take a boat from Jeju to the north to this place called Vladivostok.

This castle is located in the former Ming Dynasty Nuergandu Simuyang Wei boundary, located at the mouth of the Yipin River, Li Xiao gave him a name that later generations have heard of, Vladivostok Fort.

Because the castle that Li Xiao wanted to build happened to be located in the Vladivostok region of later generations, which is the location of the present-day city of Vladivostok in Russia.

The word Vladivostok comes from the ancient Sushen aboriginal language, which translates to "fishing village by the sea" or "net drying ground by the sea". During the Qing Dynasty, the people of Zhilu and Lu, who broke into the eastern part of the country, called this place "Weizi", and the Shandong people's "running Weizi" refers to this place. Because of the mistaken belief that the local sea cucumber is abundant, the Chinese translation was finally named "Vladivostok" or "Vladivostok".

This region, located at the southern tip of the present-day Russian Far East, borders the Sea of Japan, the Vladivostok region, which is a highland to the north, and the Gulf of Ussuri to the east, the Great Peter Bay, and the Amur Bay to the west. The city and port area are located on the shores of the Golden Horn at the tip of the Amur Peninsula. The Golden Horn Bay stretches from southwest to northeast into the interior and is about 7 km long. The width of the bay at the entrance is about 2 kilometers and the water depth is 20~30 meters, and the width of the bay is less than 1 kilometer, and the water depth is 10~20 meters. The southern side of the Golden Horn is separated by the East Bosphorus Strait, and there is Russian Island as a natural barrier. The bay is surrounded by low mountains and hills, and the situation is dangerous.

Since Vladivostok has a winter freeze period of 100~110 days (from early December to mid-to-late March of the following year), it can only be navigated by icebreakers. Moreover, the local area is foggy in summer and autumn, of which there are foggy days for an average of one and a half months in June ~ August. Sometimes heavy fog affects the entry of ships into the harbour.

Historically, Vladivostok has been since the Tang Dynasty, Liao, Jin, here has gradually seen the activities of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, during the Tang Dynasty, Vladivostok is the Bohai State to lead the guest house, the Jin Dynasty belongs to the shirt road, the Yuan Dynasty is called Yongming City, the coastal area is relatively rich, "rate the guest horse" is precious for a while. The Poshet Bay near Vladivostok was a foreign trade port in the northeastern border area of the Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to the Muyangwei area of the Nuergan Dusi, and in the early Qing Dynasty, it belonged to the deputy capital of Ningguta of Dajilin, and was later under the jurisdiction of the deputy capital of Hunchun, Jilin.

In the mid-17th century, the Russian Empire sought to open ice-free ports in the Far East. Prior to this, Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty had many territorial disputes. Although the Treaty of Nebuchu signed between the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia during the reign of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty clearly stipulated that Vladivostok belonged to the Qing Dynasty, after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese state was declining, and after the Opium War, in 1858, the Qing government and Tsarist Russia signed the unequal "Aihun Treaty", which stipulated that the area east of the Ussuri River, including Vladivostok, was jointly administered by China and Russia.

Two years later (1860), during the Second Opium War, Russia signed the unequal Sino-Russian Treaty of Beijing with the Qing government, in which the Qing government ceded about 400,000 square kilometers of territory east of the Ussuri River, including Sakhalin Island, including Vladivostok.

Later, it was renamed Vladivostok and became an important military base and foreign trade port for Tsarist Russia in the Far East.

In modern Russia, Vladivostok is the base of the marine fishing industry of the Russian Far East, with a trawler, refrigerated transport and processing of fish products, as well as a whaling fleet, and the catch is the largest among the fishing ports of the Russian Far East.

In addition, Vladivostok is an important industrial center of Primorsky Krai and the Far East of Russia. The industry here is closely related to maritime and marine fisheries, mainly ship repair, shipbuilding, fishery product processing machinery manufacturing, fish processing and timber processing.

At the same time, Vladivostok is also a hub for transportation in the Russian Far East, a transport and transit station connecting the Primorsky region, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic seas. Air transport provides access to major Russian cities. It is the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the center of coastal transport in the Far East and the terminus of the Arctic Ocean route.

In addition, Vladivostok is also the largest military port on the Pacific coast of Russia, where the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Border Guard Command are located.

Such an excellent location, which can be called a rare feng shui treasure in Northeast Asia, fell into the hands of the Russians forever, and Li Xiao in later generations will feel the pain of weeping blood in his heart and the resentment in his heart every time he reads modern history.

If modern China has such an excellent outlet to the sea as Vladivostok, so that the entire Northeast can have such a trading port bordering the Sea of Japan, then how can the economy of the entire Northeast region be so dead and sluggish. The predecessors have cut off the road of the future, how not to make people sigh!

Therefore, Li Xiao's order to Li Dingguo was that at any cost, he must take advantage of the great opportunity of the Qing army to attack the Ming Dynasty and the emptiness of the country to build this Vladivostok Fort, so that the Tang army could stab a sharp knife in the north of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

Li Xiao told Li Dingguo that he only had to build the fort with confidence, and strive for the Vladivostok fort to be completed before the land froze at the end of September this year, and he didn't have to worry about anything else.

As for all kinds of logistical supplies, on the one hand, he will let the sailors vigorously transport them, and on the other hand, he will also let the neighboring North Korea provide support.

After all, Li Xiao had vigorously rescued North Korea and saved it from the catastrophe of national destruction, and now it is time for this Ming Dynasty vassal country to express its loyalty and filial piety to the heavenly soldiers of the country.

In the end, Li Xiao decided to leave only the soldiers and horses of Battalion A and B of Xingzhong Town to garrison Shandong, while he personally led the soldiers and horses of Battalion A of Xingzhong Town, as well as the soldiers and horses of Battalion C of the entire B Battalion, that is, all the Lumi soldiers of Battalion B and the artillery troops of the entire Xingzhong Town, to cross the sea to the north and attack Jinzhou City again.

Li Xiao believed that in this way, he could effectively echo the Ming troops guarding Liaoxi, and he could also let the Qing army take care of one thing and lose the other, contain the front and back, and finally gain nothing.

On April 28, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, when the Qing army had besieged the city of Jinzhou like an iron barrel, Li Xiao swore to the northern expedition, led the troops to cross the sea, and attacked Lushun in Jinzhou in the north.