Zhou Lang is not surprised by the war situation in the Americas, the crown prince is responsible for the politics here, and the military is established by the new generation of backbone generals Huang Qiuhuan, and the military system is complete, which is no different from that in China.

Even if there are three countries of Britain, the United States and Spain competing here, there is nothing to worry about, at most retreat to the Rocky Mountains, no matter how strong the enemy is, it is impossible to fight the Rocky Mountains, as long as the homeland is mobilized and the forces are projected to the Americas, then it will be useless for Britain, the United States and Spain to press all the men.

The focus is still on the homeland, which has not been attacked so far, but it has not been able to feel at ease and cannot mobilize forces to support the Americas.

The reason for the lack of peace of mind is that it has not been possible to determine the intentions of the Russians.

Russia had previously made a request that Chinese railway companies and mining companies exchange railways in Russia and mines in Siberia for Russia. These are all because the loans of that year were mortgaged to China, of course, the debts still have to be repaid, and these minerals and railways are also paying taxes to the Russian government. It is okay to return it to Russia, and Zhou Lang can agree, but Russia wants Russia to buy the assets of these companies, and the mines and railways that these companies have invested heavily in building cannot be handed over for nothing.

Of course, it is okay to give it for free, and the Chinese government can bear this ransom and pay this money for the Russians. But a treaty needed to be signed, that is, it would only be possible to fulfill the agreement after the end of the state of war between China and Britain, the United States, and Spain. The subtext was to ask Russia to remain neutral in the war, but the Russians refused.

Russia wants to take these assets for nothing, but does not want to pay for them, and does not want to give China a security guarantee, this style of work is simply blackmail. Therefore, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement. If we can't get along with Russia, we won't dare to rashly transfer our local military forces to other regions, and we won't be able to fight in India or the Americas. Because of the large number of Russian troops, China has always maintained a combat force of about 300,000 soldiers, while the number of active troops in Russia is as high as 500,000. Of course, the equipment level of the Chinese combat units is far superior to that of the Russian army, the firepower is at least twice that of the Russian army, and the logistics and supply are also more perfect.

The news coming back from France shows that after China went to war with Britain, the United States, and Spain, French public opinion was very excited, and the people generally did not like the British, and the attitude of French officials was also quite friendly, and it was obvious that this was a good opportunity to join forces with China to seize control of the Mediterranean Sea. But the French top does not know what the reason is and is still hesitating. Or maybe they're on the sidelines, waiting for a better time to go to war. After all, the shadow left by the British Navy in the hearts of the navies of other countries is too strong, and the other side, regardless of its advantages or disadvantages, always seems to be able to win naval battles, and if the Chinese Navy has no strength on paper, but cannot defeat the British Navy, it will be meaningless for France to enter the war.

It may not mean much to France, but it means a lot to China, as long as France declares war on Britain, the United States and Spain, then it is enough to deter many countries from joining this world war, and the strength of France in the Belgian Revolution of Independence has shown that they have regained their strength, and it is not a problem to send a hundred thousand troops. Then Prussia and Austria had to weigh whether they would be attacked from behind by France once they entered the war. As far as Britain is concerned, as long as France enters the war, even if the French navy is not strong, it can only retreat in the harbor, and the main force of the British navy will not dare to leave the mainland, and they must guard against a small surprise attack by France across the English Channel.

Austria was very slick, singing and pacifying, and seemed to have little interest in the war, but if they had the chance, they could send troops, depending on what the British were willing to give. But Austria was less likely to join the army than Russia, because they could not benefit directly from China in any case, unless the British promised to give the Suez Canal to Austria after defeating China, which was again impossible.

Prussia also guaranteed neutrality for the time being, and it was true that they could not find a reason to enter the war, Britain's bribery was limited, the Prussians had always been pragmatic, and the illusory overseas interests might not be able to impress them, and the partition of Poland was more of Russia's will, although Prussia also wanted to participate in the partition of Poland, but preferred Poland to be independent and help them in front of Russia. And since Poland was mainly the former Russian Poland, ninety percent of the land in this partition belonged to Russia, and Austria and Prussia only drank a little soup.

What benefits Britain could give Prussia and what benefits Prussia would have appealed, it would be difficult for the most professional diplomats to guess.

In Asia, the British were also active, the most important of which was the Manchu Empire, which occupied Persia and the valley of the two rivers.

During this time, the British consul actively courted the Manchu high-level officials, and the attitude of this force, which had been expelled from the Central Plains but had revived, was now very unpredictable.

In the past two years, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has carried out tremendous political changes in the two river basins. In the past, the economy was dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, and most of the people living here were the Alaper tribes who moved from the Araper Peninsula. With the advent of the Manchus, the economy also changed, and the population changed.

The two river basins were originally the earliest agricultural areas of human beings, and the earliest state forms based on agriculture appeared here, and the earliest cities of human beings appeared, which are recognized by most historians as the source of human civilization. Baghdad, a historic city, was thought to have a population of 500,000 during the ancient Babylonian civilization three to four thousand years ago; By the time of the Great Eclipse (Alaper Empire), the population of Baghdad was as high as 1 million, which was on a par with the city of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty at that time. In ancient times, it was impossible for cities to exist without the surrounding agricultural base, so the corresponding population of the two river basins at that time was probably very dense, and it is estimated that 10 million is definitely not much.

But when the Manchus ruled here, the population of the two river basins was less than five million, less than half of the peak of antiquity.

The reason for the decline in population is mainly the result of the reduction of arable land. The main reason for the loss of arable land is the destruction of water conservancy facilities due to large-scale wars. Later archaeologists excavated and found that the extent of the abandonment of water conservancy facilities in the two river basins was closely related to two wars, one was the Alabic conquest and the other was the Mongol expedition to the west. As a result, some books simply describe the Mongol expedition to the west, "The Mongols completely destroyed the water conservancy facilities in the two river valleys, and the irrigation system that had been in function until the Babylonian period was destroyed; They also brought the waters of the Euphrates into the city, and the whole city was flooded, and even a few who stamped up were drowned; Baghdad, one of the cradles of the four great civilizations, has been completely destroyed! ”

The conclusions of these books are broadly correct, but overly emotional. In fact, neither the Arabs nor the Mongols deliberately destroyed these water facilities, because there was no motive at all. Both the Arabs and the Mongols later established stable regimes here, but they just didn't have the motivation or the technical ability to repair them.

Since the two river basins were occupied by nomads for a long time after the establishment of the Hulagu Khanate in Mongolia, the water conservancy facilities were basically abandoned. Many fertile fields that could have been irrigated have become deserts, and fertile land has become green pastures. The industrious ancient Babylonians became Bedouin herders.

The Ottoman rule did not change the status quo of the Arabo herdsmen's life and rule here, and as a result, agriculture here never recovered to the grandeur of the Persian Empire or even the ancient Babylonian era.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty was different, he was a very sinicized regime, and the emperors of all dynasties, including the current Daoguang, received Confucian education from an early age, and attached much more importance to agriculture than nomadism. For them, arable land is the source of wealth, and the herders are merely vassals to be appeased.

Therefore, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty occupied the area east of the Tigris River more than ten years ago, they began to restore and build new water conservancy facilities. Large areas of desert and pasture were redeveloped into fertile fields, and a large number of two farming groups of the Han and Persian Eight Banners were relocated here.

What about the original Arabs?

Most of these tribeamen moved to the steppes of Central Asia and the Persian plateau, not initially to seize their land. Unable to control these tribes with too strong religious atmosphere, Daoguang chose the costly policy of migration after trying various methods. After the occupation of the entire valley of the two rivers, this relocation policy continued, because Daoguang was convinced that only by dispersing and relocating these Bedouins to the heart of Central Asia would they be able to live honestly without being seduced by religious forces from places like the Ottoman Empire or Damascus.

Migration is met with resistance, and the result of resistance is repression. There were originally less than 5 million residents of the two rivers, but after the completion of the migration, there were only 4 million, and the cost of this migration was greater than the cost of the Indians moving westward. But after the migration, the Bedouins, who had broken up their original organization and were run by reliable officials rather than religious leaders and tribal leaders, began to settle down and even become a stubborn force.

After occupying the two river valleys, the Manchus gained a stable agricultural area, and they were able to accumulate grain that was not only self-sufficient, but even exported in large quantities. The Manchus were politically stable, and they stockpiled large quantities of food, enough for their army to feed for several years.

By turning all the ruling ethnic groups into eight banners and setting up the management of flag officials selected by the imperial examination, a unified bureaucracy has been created, which may not be as perfect as the Chinese bureaucracy and the administrative agency of Europe, but compared with the nomadic tribes in this area in the past, the efficiency is completely different, and the greatly improved administrative efficiency means the strengthening of mobilization capacity.

After the occupation of the two river valleys, the population under the rule of the Manchus reached 20 million, of which the number of Dingkou suitable for serving as soldiers was as high as 2 million to 3 million.

In terms of military technology, after contact with the Ottoman Empire and Western armies, the Manchu military system became more Westernized. It has completed another round of military reform, opened its own military academy, and created a perfect military industrial system. It is basically similar to the Russia of Peter the Great, although it is politically, economically and culturally backward, but not militarily.

Such a country, bordering western China, is really worth wooing.

British diplomats are active, Chinese diplomats are also active, because this is a relationship between a million army and the enemy, if you can win over the Manchu Empire, you will have an extra million troops out of thin air, if you let the enemy pull over, you will have an extra million enemies out of thin air, one plus one is equivalent to two million people.