The Dobroga region, located between the lower Danube and the Black Sea, is a corridor from Eastern Europe to the Balkans.

From the mouth of the Danube to the north, to the Balkans to the south, and to the west the lower Danube, which bends from west to north, once it becomes an independent region, Wallachia and Moldova are almost separated, with only a short Carpathian remnant and river in between, which is not vulnerable to the Russian threat.

Dobroga is also only strategically important, controlling the mouth of the Danube, and the whole is a hilly area between the Balkans and the Carpathians, at least in terms of agricultural economic value, compared to the Wallachian plain. The only problem is that the entire Dobroga region, now belonging to the Principality of Bulgaria.

Although he is the Grand Duke of Bulgaria, if he wants to divide the Bulgarian territory with strong national emotions, I am afraid that the crown on his head will not be long worn.

"I wonder what my uncle thinks?"

Zhou Chun's voice made Zhou Chenggong stop thinking.

Without thinking, he agreed: "Of course." The Principality of Wallachia is an Orthodox Christianity and its language is Greek. The Wallachians were more than happy to return to their Greek family. ”

Zhou Chun did not debunk his uncle's excuse to cover up his shame.

During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, the Wallachians were indeed brutally classified as Greeks, but the language they spoke was not Greek, but the product of the mixture of the ancient Romans and the local Dacian language, which did contain many Greek words, but also mixed with Slavic words, Latin words, and the main grammatical, more similar to Latin.

But it is true that the locals are Orthodox Christians, and similar to Bulgaria, the culture here has long been controlled by the Greek bureaucracy and religious forces, the upper echelons mostly speak Greek, and the official language has long been Greek, so the local elders are either illiterate or can only write Greek, and it is classical Greek as the official language of the Eastern Roman Empire.

But it has been ruled by Austrians for more than two decades, and Austria's emphasis on education has led to half the literacy rate of the younger generation, not even Bulgaria in the 1830s, where Bulgarian was not even taught in the 1830s. The new generation of Wallachians here is basically able to speak Wallachian and German, and they are also able to write in both systems.

Zhou Chenggong reached an agreement with his nephew, inviting him to spend a few more days in Greece, getting close to a few cousins, and asking his aunt to get to know him.

Zhou Chenggong, although it is very strange, why the nephew is interested in the territory of the Black Sea. If it is China's intentions, he thinks not, China's territory is big enough, so big that it has lost interest in expansion, and the land it deserves has been obtained. If it was just his nephew's own thoughts, it would be even more difficult to figure out, but he never asked why.

Zhou Chun no longer had the intention of playing, he quickly returned to Moscow, and then made his own request to his wife.

"Where are you going to do something?"

The Tsaress, without hesitation, asked for a reason, and he was puzzled by her husband's request for Dobroga.

Zhou Chun smiled: "This is the condition!" Conditions for the Urals to send troops. ”

The female tsar thought about it, she still didn't have confidence, the last war was too tragic, she just wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob and see if there was anything to take advantage of, and she couldn't afford to fight a full-scale war again. The country will not agree, those conservative aristocrats, even commoner parliamentarians, will not pass budget resolutions, she can also use the royal power, dissolve the parliament, and then forcibly announce mobilization, just like Bismarck, but after all, she does not have the courage of Bismarck, Bismarck is a gambler. He told others that when he pressed the whole of Prussia on the table, it was like throwing someone else's 10,000-pound chip onto the table.

This kind of reckless thing, her husband may be able to do, she believes that Zhou Chun will not hesitate to press Ural and Assam to the table, but she can't put Russia on the table.

So she didn't dare to risk losing the throne, forcefully mobilized the Russian army, and when the time came, what she could dispatch was nothing more than the standing army, the Russian standing army currently has only 200,000 people, and she still has 300,000 Ural guards in her hands, but these armies are the Ural army in legal theory, Zhou Chun disagrees, she can't move. In addition, in case of change, she needs the support of the military forces of the Urals.

So the female tsar can only agree, the Black Sea basin, the most valuable are Wallachia and Moldova, the Wallachian Greeks want, this is normal, she doesn't care, although the water conservancy conditions of the Principality of Moldova are slightly worse, but two-thirds of the land in the whole territory is chernozem, which is also quite fertile.

The question is not whether the land is fertile or not, Russia does not lack fertile land, what Russia lacks is strategic space, the seizure of the Principality of Moldova, the westward movement of the Russian border, and especially the complete elimination of the Austrian threat from Odessa, the window of the Black Sea. Strategically, Russia will also have access to the sea in a better geographical location, which is much stronger than the Baltic Sea. Moreover, this will become the only Russian outlet that controls the mouth of the Great River, through which Russia's political, economic, and military forces can directly affect Central Europe.

Although it is a pity that the principality of Wallachia will have a huge influence on the Balkans if it gets here, this is by no means what the Western European powers want to see, Britain does not want to see, France does not want to see, and even the newly formed Italy does not want to see it.

Not to be an enemy of a number of European powers, this is the lesson of Russian blood.

The loss of Wallachia is also only an emotional pity, because according to the current situation, it is impossible for Russia to break through to the Black Sea. In the absence of access to the Mediterranean, expansion into the Balkans is of no particular strategic significance. In order to expand its influence in the Yugoslav region, it was enough to get the Principality of Moldova, which could be traced up to Serbia through the Danube.

Compared to Wallachia, the Tsaress felt that it was a pity to give Dobroga to the Ural principalities. Although Dobroga is now in Bulgarian hands, it was through the exchange that this area was obtained. But if it had been under the control of the Bulgarian and Greek kings, it would have been easy for Russia to take it from Bulgaria after annexing Moldova. Once this is given to the Kingdom of the Urals, it will be difficult. First, this is her husband's domain, which will be ruled by the descendants of the two of them in the future, and second, the special relationship between the Urals and China will involve Chinese power here.

Dobroga handed over to the Urals, which is equivalent to allowing the Chinese to share the Danube estuary with Russia, and the largest ports in this area, such as Tulcha and Constanta, have become China's sphere of influence, and Russia's entry and exit from the Danube will inevitably be affected.

It's unrealistic not to give it, but the female tsar always has to know a reason.

"The place can be given to you. You have to tell me a reason, if the Chinese need it, they can take it themselves. I can't pretend to be your hand! ”

This was the confusion of the tsaress, shared by the Greek king.

Zhou Chun sighed: "Do you really think that I am a promiscuous king? ”

The tsaress wondered: "Are you for the Urals?" ”

Zhou Chun snorted: "I have two countries. ”

"Assam?!"

The female tsar was surprised, she almost forgot about that place, but the conditions for the development of Assam were indeed much better than those of the Urals. A large river, the Brahmaputra River, runs through the country, flowing down from the Tibetan Plateau in China called the Brahmaputra River in the upper reaches and flowing into the Ganges River in the lower reaches, which is not even lost to the Ganges according to the amount of water. In Assam, it is navigable all the way upstream, and even in the dry season, the volume of water is enormous.

Due to its convenient transportation and development advantages, Assam has become attractive to immigrants in recent years, with more than 100,000 people pouring into the city every year, and the fertility rate is also extremely high, and the population has now exceeded 10 million. Chinese grow tea, cotton, sugar cane and other cash crops here, under the condition of free development, although the heavy industry here is not good, only relying on shipping and some construction industries of the railway, but the light industry is quite good, relying on local bamboo and wood resources to develop a considerable scale of paper industry, tea processing industry, cotton yarn, sugar extraction, are all developing.

It is only limited to the shortage of manpower that the cotton textile industry and other industries have not been able to develop, but the conditions for development are there.

And because as a subject country of China, although the Chinese do not interfere much in the politics here, they have the protection of China, basically there is no foreign land, there is not even a regular army here, and only some rural soldiers can be used to maintain law and order in peacetime.

The economic conditions are good, and the military expenditure is low, which leads to the fact that the finances here are quite good, and the militarization of the Urals in recent years has been supported by the embezzlement of Assam's tax revenues. However, the economic ties between the two places are still not close, and it is impossible for the entire Asian continent to become close.

"Do you want to go by land and sea?"

The female tsar immediately understood what her husband meant.

Zhou Chun nodded: "What do you think is the best means of transportation from Assam to Urals?" ”

The female tsar said: "If you want speed, you should transfer from China to a train, and you can get there in two months at the earliest." If you want to pursue economic benefits, you still go by sea and land. Walk the Red Sea, pass through the Mediterranean, and communicate from the Black Sea. ”

Zhou Chun shook his head and said, "You're half right. It is indeed the most economical to go by sea and land, so it is necessary to have a transit point between the Urals and Assam on the Black Sea. But the fastest, not by train from China, but from Central Asia! ”

The female tsar hesitated: "But there is no railway to the Urals?" ”

Zhou Chun sighed: "It's almost there." Why do you think I promised the Greek king to give Wallachia to him? Do you love Greece when I do? ”

The Tsaress snorted: "You don't love anyone! ”

Zhou Chun laughed: "I love you!" ”

After saying that, the two hugged each other, and after a thrilling contest, the female tsar still did not forget the topic just now.

"What do you mean when you say there will be a railroad soon?"