For the vast majority of the Celestial Empire, Russia is a stranger, although this country is listed on the world map, even a few decades ago, during the Chongzhen period, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and other countries appeared in the letters of the Ming people, but in general, they must be understood more through books. Even in the Xingqian period, there was no essential change.

Russia at the end of the 17th century, this country located between the East and the West, was almost ignored by all countries, for European countries, Russia was a Byzantine Eastern country, for the Ming Dynasty, this was Europe.

What is certain is that Russia, which seems to be huge, is not even worth mentioning in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, even if it once claimed to be "a million armorers", but in fact, in the eyes of the successive Ming ministers to Moscow, Russia is an ignorant and backward country.

As a pawn at Koroji Temple, Meitaro knew almost nothing about Russia before he came to Moscow. Although he is a naturalized person, he grew up in the Ming Dynasty since he was a child, and in his heart, he is a Ming person. After arriving in Moscow, he desperately began to study this country that was not very taken seriously.

Although it is a neighbor of the Ming Dynasty, but because of the difference in strength, Honglu Temple does not attach importance to this country at all, and does not pay attention to this country that has many potential conflicts of interest with the Ming Dynasty, but Ming Taro does not think so, in his opinion, Russia is the object of the Ming Dynasty's expansion that cannot be bypassed, so it must be studied, and this country must be studied on the microscope, which is why he took the initiative to apply to go to this country.

"The Muscovites claimed 200,000 in slogans, but in fact there were less than 100,000, only a few houses in the city were Byzantine, all the others were wooden bungalows, and the roads were not close to the Ming Dynasty, only a few stone roads, and open-air shops were opened on both sides of the road, which were often very narrow. Most of the roads are still in pristine condition and never repaired, so it is difficult to walk with potholes...... People don't like to be tidy, and as rumored, they defecate everywhere on the road, so that the street stinks. But they're all used to it and don't take it very seriously. The urine can be poured into the river or poured into the pool. If you're not careful, you'll step on ...... Even its nobility is the same."

As a pawn, Keitaro is very relaxed most of the time, which also allows him to travel again and again, learning everything about the country during his travels.

The Russian government claims to have an army of 300,000, but in Moscow there is only a shooting army, which is further subdivided into the "Capital Army" and the "Citizen Army". The Capital Army was responsible for the defense of Moscow, while the Citizen Army generally defended the towns leading to the capital. The number of the shooting corps is about 55,000 people, and in Moscow there are 22,500 shooting corps. In addition to this, Russia has a relatively large field force of 164,600 men, of which 51% are cavalry and 49% are infantry. In addition to the more than 160,000 standing troops, the Russian army can also draw about 50,000 cavalry troops from the Cossack leaders in the southern steppes and Ukraine at any time.

Although it seems to have a large number of troops, in fact, the equipment of these troops is extremely backward, and the output of military factories in Russia is limited, which cannot provide enough weapons for the army, so it has to import a large number of flintlock guns from the Ming Dynasty...... There is no discipline in the army...... However, the Boys' Army, the direct army of Tsar Peter, still looked like an army, but it was also undisciplined......"

"The security in Russia is not worth mentioning. A little risk can lead directly to Russia, straight to Moscow. But the forts along the way are very strong......"

"If we use troops against Russia in the near future, it is recommended to adopt the original habitual bold moves, which may be more effective against the Russian army......

Almost every month, Meitaro would send a similar report back to Hongroji Temple through a diplomatic pouch, although he was not a soldier, but since he came to Moscow, he has been advocating the invasion of Russia, and for two years, almost everyone in the Hongro Temple in the central capital knows that there is a Meitaro who advocates invasion in Moscow.

This is a guy who is more belligerent than a military man!

If it weren't for the fact that there were too few people who took the initiative to go to a foreign country to take up a post, especially in Russia, a remote area with a bitter and cold winter, and even fewer people were willing to go, I am afraid that the Central Capital would have transferred him back a long time ago.

"What war does a diplomat talk about and what war does he understand? What a troublesome character! ”

It's just a small role!

For Zhongdu, Meitaro is a small role, even the minister in Russia does not regard him as a partner, after all, no one wants to get too close to such a troublesome role.

In everyone's eyes, the small role of Shotaro is not only inconspicuous, but also causes trouble.

"Oops, it's shocking that everyone doesn't see the benefits of annexing Russia!"

At the beginning of his tenure, Mentaro exclaimed that an old legator immediately revised it.

"It's not that I didn't see it, but I didn't have to!"

"What does it mean that there is no need, if the Ming Dynasty stops expanding, then where will the fiefs of the princes be in the future? Where do the millions of second sons of the Ming Dynasty live? ”

"What a bunch of rat-eyed guys......"

"Funding is not ...... either"

He was referring to the fact that he had no social expenses. Therefore, he could not carry out some work according to his own ideas, and without funds, there was naturally no possibility of "work".

Facing Ming Taro's complaints, Sun Chenliang said with a smile.

"Hey, I really don't understand, why are you so concerned about Russia."

"If others don't understand, don't you understand?"

Looking at the embassy soldier in front of him, Meitaro said with some annoyance.

"Chance, do you think there is a better chance than now? Now there are two tsars in Russia, Peter I and Ivan V, plus the regent Princess Sophia, and those big families who control the government, is there a more chaotic country than them? ”

Meitaro said.

"The more chaos there is, the more opportunities we have, in the midst of this chaos, we can send an army, cut through the chaos quickly, and take Moscow directly, and treat those big nobles by retaining their titles to induce them to surrender, those nobles know very well the gap between Russia and the Celestial Empire, they will definitely make a wise choice, as long as they surrender, it is almost impossible for us to meet too much resistance in Russia, two tsars, one regent, the chaos of the court will make it impossible for them to react in the short term, By the time they were able to sort everything out, we would have occupied Moscow and the war was over......"

For the invasion of Russia, Meitaro has long been in the chest, and he even counted the big Russian nobles there, calculating the possibility of their surrender.

“…… They will definitely surrender, the Russian aristocracy is different from the Celestial Empire, the vast majority of their aristocratic groups were conquered in the process of the expansion and conquest of the Muscovy, their country was destroyed by Russia, they became the Russian nobility and integrated into the country, just like the Tatars, many Tatar nobles became part of the Russian ruling elite after surrendering. Their descendants make up almost a quarter of the ruling class in Russia. Strictly speaking, more than half of the Russian nobility is like this, and their ancestors could have made wise choices, and now they will ...... the same"

The reason why Meitaro is so confident is because of his knowledge of Russian history, in the past two years, he has traveled almost half of Russia, and he has met too many Russian nobles, and he knows very well the character of those nobles.

"You mean, as long as we encircle the nobles, we can occupy Russia without blood?"

Even as a military official, specializing in collecting all kinds of intelligence, Sun Chenliang still had some doubts about Ming Taro's judgment.

"Bloodless? Of course not, even though those Russian nobles have always been milk and mothers, but until we have hurt them, at least until we win a decisive battle, they will never surrender, these Russians are still subservient to the power in their bones, as long as we show our strength-"

Clenching his fists, Meitaro said fiercely.

"In a decisive battle, inflicting heavy losses on the Russian army, I dare to guarantee that all the Russian nobles will surrender willingly, even in a hurry, as for those serfs, believe me, serfs will always be serfs, without the leadership of the nobles, they simply do not care who the tsar is, maybe they expect a better ruler, but I think that in this world, there is no better ruler than the Celestial Empire, I dare to guarantee that when we make Russia inland, Your Majesty will become the "tsar" in their mouth ……”

"Mainlandization?"

Although Meitaro didn't say anything about it, Sun Chenliang said immediately.

"Do you mean emancipating the serfs? Would the nobles be willing? ”

"Willing? Are they likely to be willing? But what we need is that they are unwilling, as long as the temporary period of stability has passed, there is no need for those Russian nobles to exist, hey, I said why don't you understand? The nobles of the Ming Dynasty are all fought with a knife and a gun, they are resting with the country, but what about those Russian nobles? But they betrayed their tsar, the country, of course there is no need for such people to exist, and when the time comes to liberate the agricultural rights, they oppose it, this is a good thing, the birds are all hidden, they can't talk about the bow, of course there is no need to keep it......"

Picking up the teacup on the table and looking at the stunned Sun Chenliang, Meitaro said slowly.

"What's more, if we don't kill them, and there will be a new medal for us, you say, if we can succeed, what kind of reward can we get?"

Staring at Sun Chenliang, who still hadn't come back to his senses, Meitaro sighed.

"I am a civil official, and the possibility of becoming a lord is almost zero, I want to do this because I feel that I should do it, for the future of the Ming Dynasty, and also for the future of the Ming family, many people say that the family is a naturalized person......"

Glancing at Sun Chenliang, Ming Taro knew that even his colleagues looked down on him, and naturalized people were always inferior to the people of the Heavenly Dynasty.

"But if this matter succeeds and is rewarded by His Majesty the Emperor, no one will say that the family is a naturalized person, and the Ming family will be a hero of the Celestial Empire!"

Everyone has their own pursuits, and for Meitaro, what he pursues is very simple, which is to completely integrate into the Celestial Empire and become a true Celestial Empire.

"You're from the Celestial Empire now!"

Sun Chenliang looked at Ming Taro and said.

"Naturalized people are also people of the Celestial Empire. Besides, there are many things that we can't control, and the Celestial Empire has no intention of using force against Russia in the next ten years, don't you think that what you are doing now is a waste of time? ”

Looking at Ming Taro, Sun Chenliang couldn't understand his insistence, ten or twenty years, could it be that if the Celestial Empire didn't use troops against Russia, would he stay here?

"Oh, that's because no one realizes the importance of Russia now!"

Meitaro said with a sigh.

"In the eyes of many people, Russia is a large country with a population of nearly 20 million, and it is natural to be cautious about such an adversary, but they do not see the benefits of Russia to the empire at all, you think, if we build the railway to Moscow, or even to the Baltic Sea, of course, this requires us to fight a war with Sweden and seize an outlet to the sea from them, I think this is no problem at all, it can be said to be a very simple thing, when the time comes, our railway can directly transport goods to the Baltic Sea, From there, it was then transported by cargo ship to the countries of Europe, completely unaffected by the wind and waves at sea......"

Without waiting for Ming Taro to finish speaking, Sun Chenliang said directly.

"This is obviously impossible, you must know that the shipping industry involves the livelihood of millions of people, and the construction of the railway to the Baltic Sea, although it can save time, can not be affected by the wind and waves at sea, but it will cause a blow to the maritime industry, and this alone, the imperial court cannot agree,"

Sun Chenliang, who is a native of Nanzhili, said further.

"Moreover, I dare to guarantee that even if you bring it up, when the time comes, there will definitely be opposition from hundreds of officials, especially the opposition of the nobles, you must know that the shipping industry is the industry in which the nobles are most involved, and at least seventy percent of the merchant ships in the Ming Dynasty are those nobles, how can they tolerate these."

Unlike previous dynasties, the Ming Dynasty has always encouraged the nobles to engage in industry and commerce, both the royal and the nobles have a close connection with industry and commerce, and they are also willing to return on investment much higher than the industry and commerce of the land, which is also the reason for the increasing development of the Ming industry and commerce. Of course, this also creates a stubborn interest group.

"Oh, this is just a matter of interest, there is really no way, in fact, you can build a telegraph line first, so that the imperial court can know about Europe more quickly, instead of waiting for a few months ......"

Just as he was speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a senior official of the embassy walked in, only listening to him.

"Something happened, the minister just brought news from the court, the king of England has been overthrown......"