Amsterdam, night of September 5, 1680.

Members of the diplomatic and trade corps from the Russian Empire were having dinner with the East Coast's Plenipotentiary Envoy to Europe, Gao Wengang, in a lively atmosphere. Before dinner, the two sides had just talked about Ignady Mirovanov, who had twice led diplomatic talks with the East Bankers.

Speaking of which, this gentleman is also relatively unlucky. Originally, he was sent to the Netherlands on the order of Tsar Fyodor the year before last, but the Dutch merchant ship he was traveling on was attacked by a privateer authorized by the Swedish king in the Baltic Sea, and unfortunately died at sea. After the news reached Moscow, the nobles were in an uproar, and some even clamored for a declaration of war on the Kingdom of Sweden, but at that time, Russia was already deeply involved in the conflict in the Ukrainian steppes and could not afford to look west, so the matter was stopped.

After Mirovanov and his deputy Shilev died in the Baltic, Tsar Fyodor was not discouraged and sent a second Kobyakov mission this year. From Arkhangelsk, near the White Sea, they boarded a large Dutch grain ship and eventually reached the northern port of Horen and then overland to Amsterdam.

After arriving here, to Gao Wengang's slight relief, Kobyakov asked his deputy to take people to visit the Dutch client and Lala relationship, while he himself went to the merchant house and embassy of the East Coast to visit the East Coast's special envoy to Europe, Gao Wengang, and presented a large gift.

Gao Wengang was very happy with the well-informed Russians, so he hosted a banquet in the embassy for more than ten people, which was at the end of the banquet, and the two sides also put down their ivory chopsticks and talked about some things that everyone was very interested in, such as business.

"Over the past two years, the Russian Empire has been truly extraordinary in business. I have heard from friends that Arkhangelsk and St. Nicholas are full of ships loaded with all kinds of Russian goods, bound for the main ports of England and the United Provinces. In Amsterdam, I've often heard people talk about how Russian rye is, and for a long time there was a pattern of equal distribution of rye from your country and Poland. Gao Wengang gently shook the Italian imported wine in the glass, and said with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "There is no doubt that the means of His Majesty Tsar Fyodor to be able to export a large amount of grain without causing major turmoil in the country are indeed impressive. ”

It is said that the frail and sickly Tsar Fyodor faced violent turmoil in the domestic situation as soon as he ascended the throne, and many people thought that this tsar, who could be hung up at any time, was an insignificant figure, but a plaything in the hands of the old nobles led by the Miroslavsky family. But the fact is that many people have lost their sights, and after the critical period of securing the throne for the first two years, he began to slowly distance himself from the Miroslavsky family, and became close to Duke Vasily Vasilyevich Golykin, a scholar and nobleman who knew several languages, recommended to him by his sister Princess Sophia, and under his guidance, carried out drastic reforms of the backward system of the Russian Empire.

It is fair to say that the rulers of the Tsarist Empire in the last half century, whether they are physically strong or thin, whether intelligent or mediocre, have never changed their determination to reform the backward political, military and economic system at home and make Russia gradually stronger, and they have basically put it into action.

At this point, the successive tsars of Tsarist Russia really did not get black, and they were indeed much stronger than those feudal emperors who closed off the country and did not want to make progress. Just like Fyodor III, who was so weak and sick that he could die at any time, was also determined to reform, for example, under his influence, many ministers took off their robes with a strong steppe heritage and should wear European-style clothing, and his empress was the first empress to be allowed to wear European-style clothing in the court, and many Russian nobles also cut off their iconic beards under his persuasion - the signature beard-cutting movement that was the signature of Peter the Great's reform was not actually initiated by him, to be exact, Peter's reforms had been preceded by successive tsars, but Peter continued to intensify them, and his attitude became more radical, never compromising with the old aristocracy, thus accelerating the process of Westernization of Russia.

And these reforms of the Russian Empire, accumulated over decades, cannot be underestimated, and have had a huge impact on all aspects of society, such as politics, economy, and military, and most of them have been positive. For example, the reforms of Fyodor III in the past few years have greatly increased Russia's agricultural production, and rye exports have increased day by day, and have occupied a relatively important position in the grain wholesale market of Western Europe.

Similarly, the export of ship equipment, taking advantage of the temporary fall out between Sweden and the United Provinces, Russian goods grabbed the market and obtained huge trade revenues. And these revenues are basically used by Russians to import advanced Western technology, hire more Western officers and craftsmen, and buy more advanced weapons or equipment, which in turn strengthens the strength of the Russian Empire and puts the country into a virtuous circle.

As one of the few countries that trade with Russia, the East Coast Republic of China has naturally reaped certain benefits during Russia's trade boom, especially all kinds of hardware products, labor tools, knives, gears and other mechanical products, which are in great demand in Russia, and the export volume is increasing year by year, reflecting Russia's strong domestic productivity.

As the special envoy plenipotentiary to Europe, Gao Wengang is naturally very familiar with these trade data. Coupled with his long tenure as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire before he came to power, he naturally knew a lot about Russia, an Ottoman neighbor, so he had a deeper understanding of what was behind these reforms and trade data than the average person, and he also felt a little worried about the future of the Crimean Khanate, which he had been so much watching.

The Crimean Khanate has actually done a very good job, not to mention that it is a steppe regime, but it has a unique understanding of its own position and national defense and security in history. Unite with the Grand Duke of Lithuania to fight the Golden Horde, unite with Moscow to fight Poland, unite with weakened Poland to fight against Russia, and so on. But the only thing they messed up was their failure to contain Russia's rise, which has led to a series of passivity that has gradually reached the point where they cannot fight without relying on the Ottomans, and their independence is increasingly lost.

It is precisely because of Russia's rising rise and the opening of a huge trade market that the East Coasters have been cooperating with the country to a certain extent since many years to maintain their influence and influence Russia's policy at critical moments. Nowadays, with the stable operation of the Arkhangelsk Gun Repair Plant and the Little Star Shipyard, and the increasing trade volume of the Moscow, St. Nicholas and Arkhangelsk trading posts, the East Coasters are becoming more and more important to the Tsar, so much so that the Tsar has given instructions to the officials in the Far East not to start a war lightly, which proves the influence of the East Coast people. After all, it was one thing for Tsarist Russia to suffer a possible military setback in the Far East, but it was equally painful for them to have a negative impact on economic and technological imports – for example, at a time when Russian timber was being exported to the Netherlands in a big way, and if the government on the East coast directly ordered a ban on the export of high-quality circular saws, blades, and other tools to the Russian Empire, their production efficiency could be reduced considerably, which would affect the Tsar's purse, which would undoubtedly make them sad.

Maintaining a certain minimum level of technical exchange with Russia, obtaining an "entry ticket" to trade in Russia, and maintaining a certain degree of influence over the government of this country through the export of labor tools or weapons and ammunition to Russia that they cannot refuse, has always been a relatively successful strategy of the East Coast government towards Russia. So far, at least, it seems that as long as the people on the east coast do not conflict with the basic national policy of the Russian Empire, it is more certain that the Russian policy should be guided at the right time, such as influencing them to expand westward rather than south or east (it now seems that if the Dutch had done a little more, the great empire would have gone all out westward).

"Grain, ship's gear, timber, leather, animal fat, honey, paraffin, whale oil, and other traditional commodities of your country appeared in major markets such as Amsterdam, London, and Paris, and were talked about and traded by everyone. These trade practices have undoubtedly greatly improved your country's financial situation. As old friends of the Russian Empire, we are also very pleased with this and sincerely hope that this state of affairs will continue. Gao Wengang said some words of blessing to Kobyakov, which undoubtedly made the Russian guests very happy, and it was a great honor to be valued by the advanced, powerful, and civilized people of the East Coast.

You know, now Russia is very keen on all kinds of goods from the East Coast, from all kinds of brightly colored fabrics to dyed leather goods, from durable hardware products to industrial knives, from perfumes and medicines to watches and musical instruments, the Russian aristocracy, citizens and workers are very popular for East Coast goods, and this is the basis for the three major trading posts opened on the East Coast to obtain a lot of profits.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the East Coast Republic was so far away, many Russian Enlightened would have preferred to travel or study on the East Coast rather than to Amsterdam. Tsar Fyodor did not send people to France to ask for the mercenary of officers and soldiers (to teach the Russian shooting corps), but cooperated with the East Bank Military Department.

As a veteran diplomatic veteran who has traveled to Beijing, Tabriz, Istanbul, Stockholm, Krakow and other cities, Kobyakov is well-informed and has a better understanding of the strength of the people on the east coast. For many years, he felt that the peaceful demarcation of the border with the East Coast Republic of China in the Far East was really a very fortunate thing, and it was also of great benefit to Russia. After all, Russia no longer relies on the export of furs for profit, the importance of the Far East is declining, and commercial trade with the East Coast is becoming more and more important, so it is very necessary to maintain friendship with the East Coast, otherwise the great nobles who are engaged in foreign trade will not be happy.

"Thanks to the development of the international situation, our country's goods have gained huge overseas demand, which is undoubtedly a good thing. But our country also has a huge import demand, especially for the military, which costs a lot every year. As a plenipotentiary envoy, the High Envoy should be aware that His Majesty the Tsar has to approve the import of large quantities of weapons and military materials from your country every year (because the trade with Russia on the east coast is a one-way outlet, which means that Russia has a large outflow of precious metals, so the Tsar's special approval is required), and the cost is very high. Moreover, the enemies of our country are equally large, Poland, the Crimea, the Ottomans, Persia and even Sweden have very bad relations with us, so we have to maintain a large army, which is naturally not a small expense. Kobyyakov explained.

"But the end of the war in Europe, Austria's renewed focus on Hungary and competition with the Ottoman Empire will undoubtedly help to ease the military pressure on your country. Are the 70,000 soldiers stationed on the left bank of the Dnieper really necessary? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to cut it? Is the Ukrainian steppe, which has been turned into a blank field, really more attractive than Poland, which is densely populated and has a feud with your country? Gawain just followed Kobyakov's words and continued: "It is not beneficial for your country to fight the Ottomans and the Crimeans in any way, and from the standpoint of our government, we do not understand such a move of your country very well......"

Gao Wengang's words are also a bit heavy. The East Bank "does not understand" that Russia has a heavy presence in Ukraine and is entangled with the Ottomans and Tatars, in other words, they "do not support" and "oppose" the Russians in doing so. And if the Russians still don't say anything after the Easterners have given them a reminder or advice, what are the Easterners likely to do? Kobyakov had to think about these things, as did the big names of Duke Miroslavsky and Duke Golygin in Moscow, and even His Majesty the Honorable Fyodor III had to think about it carefully. Can they once again bear the risk of a complete freeze in trade between East and Russia, after all, foreign trade was limited in the past, there was not much surplus, and it was nothing to live behind closed doors. But now that they have tasted the benefits of the export trade, will the Russians still have the courage to go back to the past?

That's a problem! A chronic poison wrapped in honey is never so easy to swallow!

After the dinner and farewell to Gawain, Kobyyakov, who returned to the hotel, was still thinking about this question, and felt that Russia was too dependent on machinery, equipment, weapons and military funds on the east coast, which might cause Russia to lose some independence. Maybe we should get in touch with the Dutch and the English to see if we can find a replacement?