One afternoon in June of the fifth year of Taisheng. Seongkyo Imperial Palace.

Feng Yunshan sat in the "Wind Pavilion" in the Imperial Garden of the Imperial Palace, and the two little eunuchs and two palace maids were desperately fanning the wind with a pu fan on their side, but the pavilion was still hot and difficult to get rid of, and it was not much cooler at all.

Sitting next to Feng Yunshan was Cheng Lingbei, whose belly was obviously bulging, and there was a woman with a wonderful figure opposite, but it was Fu Shanxiang, who had been named Concubine Xiang, sitting on the wooden bench in the pavilion with a peaceful face.

Feng Yunshan gently touched Cheng Lingbei's belly with his hand, and sweat appeared in his hands. Seeing that Cheng Lingbei, who was originally spicy, is now so quiet, he is really a little uncomfortable. However, seeing that she still has a big belly on a hot day, she really works hard for her, fortunately, this is Cheng Lingbei's second child, and if she has experience in doing anything, she will be very sure, even if she has a child.

"It's too hot this day, this Shengjing deserves to be a famous furnace!" Feng Yunshan pinched the sweat in his hand, and saw that there was some sweat under Cheng Lingbei's nose, so he wiped it off for her lovingly: "It's hard to love the concubine!" ”

Hearing Feng Yunshan's words, the two eunuchs and palace maids who had been shaking the pu fan next to him were so frightened that they hurriedly knelt on the ground, one of the older eunuchs was An Dehai who was in Beijing at the time, and he was only fifteen years old at the moment, kneeling on the ground and said nervously: "The little one should be damned, the little one will fan the wind hard to make the concubine cool down." ”

Feng Yunshan smiled: "Get up." You, Xiao Anzi, are not as bold as Xiao Lizi. Feng Yunshan pointed to the other little eunuch who was also kneeling beside him, but his eyes were rolling, and he looked clever, and only Feng Yunshan knew that this person was Li Lianying, a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty in later generations.

When Feng Yunshan captured Beijing City and ascended the throne, many eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were dismissed, and the palace maids who did not want to return home rewarded the soldiers as wives and concubines, among which a small number of eunuchs were homeless and willing to stay, Feng Yunshan thought that it would be difficult for these people to survive even if they returned to the countryside, so he left some to do some cleaning and other things in the original Manchu palace, which was considered to be an errand for them. Among them, there were more than a dozen eunuchs and palace maids, but they were brought back to the Shengjing Palace to serve the harem and themselves. An Dehai and Li Lianying are two of them. Li Lianying had actually only entered the palace for a short time, until she became the little plum now, and she was only eleven years old. Feng Yunshan kept it by his side, and it was destined that there would be no future great eunuch Li Lianying in this world.

"When can electricity be invented, it would be nice to use an electric fan or even an air conditioner!" Feng Yunshan couldn't help but miss the comfort of the scorching summer in the future.

Just sighing, a guard outside the pavilion said something to Liu Shengbang, who was standing next to the pavilion, Liu Shengbang approached Feng Yunshan's side and whispered: "Your Majesty, there is finally news from the Western Xinjiang, and an urgent report has just arrived." And, it seems that there are some other things, Zuo Zongtang, chief of the general staff, and Wu Ruxiao, minister of foreign affairs, are waiting outside. ”

Feng Yunshan hurriedly said to Liu Shengbang: "Quickly bring them to see me!" Seeing Liu Shengbang leaving, he said to Cheng Lingbei beside him: "Concubine Ai, you go back to the palace first to find your sister to go to Lala's house, and I will come to accompany you after dealing with some things." ”

When everyone in the pavilion heard the emperor say this, they saluted one after another, preparing to accompany Cheng Lingbei back to the palace together. Feng Yunshan looked at Fu Shanxiang, and said, "Concubine Xiang, stay, help me remember things, and remind me of something." ”

Feng Yunshan felt that he was really a bit of a waste of Fu Shanxiang's talent. This was originally the first female champion of the Kingdom of Heaven in history, she was already talented, and later went to the Whampoa Military Academy, she wanted to just transfer her to her side as a secretary assistant or something, but she didn't expect that in the end, she couldn't resist the appreciation in her heart, which in the eyes of others, may be a kind of greed for beauty. Now she can make the best use of it, the concubine and the secretary are not contradictory, as long as she does not give her too much opportunity to interfere in the government affairs, and Fu Shanxiang has a gentle and quiet personality, and does not covet power at all, it seems that there will be no bad effect.

Zuo Zongtang and Wu Ruxiao soon came in in a hurry, and after a brief salute, Zuo Zongtang reported first: "Your Majesty, the war in Western Xinjiang is over. King Yi led 20,000 troops to Hindustan by sea, and then crossed the Indus River to meet with the Sikh king of Punjab, Samit Kumar, who was quite friendly, and thanked His Majesty for his friendliness, sent thousands of Sikh cavalry to help, and provided nearly 10,000 war horses. With his help, the army of King Yi arrived in Kashgar in time, completely annihilated the invading army of the Kokand Khanate besieging Kashgar City, killed the thieves Sayyid Zhanger and Aguba, and rescued the besieged Luo Qiongshu, but the Fifth Infantry Division still lost nearly 5,000 soldiers. Subsequently, our army marched westward and occupied the city of Kokand and the entire Kokand Khanate in one fell swoop. In the following two months, King Yi led his troops to join the 4th Infantry Division led by Liang Litai of Ili to defeat many Tsarist Russian troops that had invaded China's western frontier, and pulled out more than a dozen sentry posts and fortresses, especially the important Russian fortresses such as Alimatu Fort in the Ili River Valley, Kopal Fort in the east of Lake Balkhash, and Reimburg at the mouth of the Salt Sea, completely defeating the Cossack army sent by Tsarist Russia to expand. Today, not only the Ili River valley is completely in the embrace of our Chinese Empire, but also the entire vast area west of Lake Balkhash, as well as the areas around the Syr Darya and Amu Darya Valleys, including the Aral Sea region, have become the territory of our Chinese Empire. ”

Feng Yunshan shot the case: "Strong! The righteous king's move is a meritorious work in the future, and the name will go down in history! This expedition to the western frontier was victorious in one fell swoop, not only preserving my western frontier, but also securing nearly 2 million square meters of land for the people and future generations of the Chinese Empire. In addition to being excited, Feng Yunshan asked with concern: "Zuo Aiqing, in addition to the 5,000 soldiers who died in Kashgar City, how many soldiers have died and been injured in Western Xinjiang this time, your General Staff has made a good count, and I ask that their families and the rest of their lives must be treated well." ”

Zuo Zongtang bowed: "Weichen thank Your Majesty Long En for the soldiers!" The General Staff Headquarters will make clear statistics and will not treat every meritorious soldier badly. ”

Feng Yunshan nodded, and then remembered the Sikh king named Samit Kumar, and said, "Continue to maintain a close relationship with the Sikh Kingdom." With proper support for them, let them hold the British to the death in India. Hey, Wu Aiqing, what's the matter with your impatient face? ”

After speaking, Feng Yunshan looked at Wu Ruxiao and Zuo Zongtang suspiciously, and suddenly understood that the two of them must have deliberately done this: Zuo Zongtang reported the good news first, and Wu Ruxiao must have some bad news, leaving behind and not daring to say it.

Sure enough, Wu Ruxiao lowered his voice and said: "Your Majesty, according to the information learned by the Secret Service Department, it is said that Alexander Dugameli, the governor of Western Siberia in Tsarist Russia, sent an envoy to meet with the British governor in India, Canning, and it seems that they will also send an envoy to London from St. Petersburg to discuss something secretly." So far, there have been only sporadic investigations of Tsarist Russia's intention to ease relations with Britain in exchange for British support. It seems that Canning, the British governor in India, was dissatisfied with the expansion of the Chinese Empire in the western frontier, and the cooperation with the Sikh Kingdom also made him very vigilant, and proposed to London to cancel the hostile relations with Tsarist Russia and cooperate in Central Asia instead to contain the westward expansion of the Chinese Empire. ”

Feng Yunshan frowned, this is indeed very bad news. Although it is only sporadic news, it is likely to be true.

Or did the Chinese Empire expand too fast, and it had a close relationship with the Sikh Kingdom of Punjab, which was the main force of the Indian rebellion, which caused the British to be alert and dissatisfied, and preferred to cooperate with the newly war-torn Tsarist Russia, and sure enough, everything was for the sake of profit!

However, he is not so easy to bully. In addition to India, they have other killer weapons buried in their British soil, and once they are launched, they must be difficult to parry. It's just that the timing is not right, and I don't want to waste it.

But overall, you have to think about it. Tsarist Russia lost a large part of its power, and it was about to immediately launch reforms to abolish serfdom and push Tsarist Russia into the era of industrialization, and the Tsar seemed to want to ease relations with Britain. Once his Chinese empire occupied the whole of Central Asia, and Tsarist Russia could not intervene, he would seek to cooperate with Britain to deal with him and then divide Central Asia. Therefore, for the Central Asian region, you can't eat it in one bite, you can't send a captive army to rush to the front, you must slowly infiltrate, and use the locals to fight with Tsarist Russia and Britain, as long as you can ease up for a few years, and when the army rises up and the national strength is stronger, even if they join forces, there is no need to be afraid.

Also, if he could give up his face to cooperate with Britain, why couldn't he cooperate with France?

This Ai Ukhan Khanate is close to its western frontier and the Sikh kingdom of Punjab, and it is brave and good at fighting, but it can make a fuss. In history, Britain invaded the Aeukhan Khanate three times before and after, and suffered a lot, but its invasion of the Aeukhan Khanate was also to resist the strategic needs of Tsarist Russia and fight for control of Central Asia, and now it is just replaced by the containment of its own Chinese Empire.

You can work with France yourself. Yes, it's decided, now that the war in the western Xinjiang is over, although the north has to be entangled with Tsarist Russia, but the vast and sparsely populated land of Siberia does not need too many troops, but the important thing is supplies. Now that he has basically controlled the Mongol tribes in his hands, he hires them as a source of soldiers, and the Koreans can be sent to Siberia to fight for land with Tsarist Russia. There are surplus troops to send troops overseas, and it is time to cooperate with France to send troops to Mexico.

Thinking of this, Feng Yunshan said to Wu Ruxiao: "Pay close attention to all the movements of Britain and Tsarist Russia!" In addition, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Fan Ruzeng's secret service department should strengthen cooperation, especially those Irish who have returned to the country, and make good use of it! It's time for them to return to their hometowns. By the way, there is also, Wu Aiqing, urgently contact the French emperor on behalf of me to discuss important matters. ”

.......... PS: I recommend a very good and wonderful book of the same kind: "Crossing the Days in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". Thank you!