It turns out that now it's time for Kang Yongqian to pacify Dzungaria...

After saying goodbye to Deputy Prime Minister Volyntsov and the Kazakh envoys, Peter thought as he walked back.

Due to Peter's brief regency a few years ago, it indirectly affected Emperor Qianlong's suppression of Geldan's rebellion in the Western Regions. Because the rulers of the Varat Khanate escaped to Dzungaria by luck after the Kazakh Khanate annexed Varat, the Kazakh Khan hoped that Russia would support them in attacking Dzungaria...

Ay? Didn't you say that the Dzungar rebellion was supported by Tsarist Russia behind the scenes? , this is a little different from history!!

Peter sighed helplessly, feeling that the effects of his time trip had begun to change the original appearance of history.

However, according to Peter's own plan for the Russian Empire, what he really wanted in this Seven Years' War was actually the Austrian-ruled Low Flanders region, which would later be Belgium. Although this area is not as developed as the shipbuilding industry in the Netherlands next door, it is also rich in talent, and for Peter, who wants to get a piece of the pie in the middle and late Age of Discovery, the ability to sail the ocean is essential, and the vast majority of Russian sailors have probably never even sailed the Baltic Sea, let alone sailed the Mediterranean Atlantic or even the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

In addition, Peter also had some more formidable ideas about the strategic direction after the Seven Years' War. Like the surrounding countries, just as Empress Catherine II successfully opened the Black Sea to the sea after her victory over the Ottoman Empire, Peter was also prepared to use troops against the Ottomans. However, the difference with Ye Er is that Peter is ready to pull a helper to do Osman together. Because although Ye Er successfully annexed the Crimean Khanate, he did not take the Bosbrus Strait and the Dardanelles Strait, the two strategic points connecting Eurasia, if the pattern between the great powers changes, Russia's Black Sea Fleet will still be locked in the Black Sea like a toy duck in a bathtub, which can be proved by the Crimean War and the First World War in the mid-nineteenth century. In order to ensure free access to the Mediterranean Sea for the Black Sea Fleet, Peter was certain and necessary to capture Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and a fortified coastal fortress. But in order to take Constantinople, it must first be supported by a strong naval fleet.

For the Balkans, which have religious and cultural ties to Russia, Peter will not be as greedy as the tsars in history. From the perspective of later generations, the Balkans, which are very complex in language, culture, religion, and ethnicity, are still the most troublesome powder keg in Europe, and Russia cannot easily fall into such endless pits. This great burden could stir up national sentiment and disgust the Ottomans, and it could also be used to exchange interests with Austria, France, and even England. Places like Yugoslavia are particularly suitable for fooling Austria, while places like Albania and Greece can be used to sow discord between Britain and France. In the Balkans, with the exception of the Black Sea coast, Peter valued Thrace, which connected Eurasia, Macedonia, the breadbasket of Greece, and Crete, which held the border between the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. As for the Duchy of Wallachia, which owns the Proiesti oil fields, it is still more than a hundred years later, and it is very difficult to take it in two or three wars, and it also involves relations with Austria and Poland, unless it is not possible to follow the rules of the real world. For example, why the Greek War of Independence was fought at the beginning of the 19th century, but it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the Ottoman Empire completely collapsed, there are objective reasons for the existence of objective reasons, and it is the result of the combined effect of internal and external forces such as the relationship between many major powers, the historical process, and accidents. For example, during the Greek War of Independence, it was clear that Britain, France, and Russia had signed an alliance, but after Russia officially declared war on the Ottomans, Britain and France united with Prussia to mediate and prevent Russia from attacking the Ottomans. Another example is the Crimean War that broke out in 1853, why did Britain and France also interfere with Russia's invasion of the Ottomans? Therefore, Peter has already thought very clearly, the Balkans will not be touched for the time being, and the Ottomans will not be able to split for the time being, and even if they are split, they will have to wait for Britain and France to fight each other again. Moreover, Russia must bring in a few strong allies to fight the Ottomans together, so as to ensure that there are no nosy guys to find fault.

If the first war against the Ottomans after the Seven Years' War was ideal, ideal enough to surpass the war under Catherine II and capture Constantinople, Peter was ready to take the whole of Crimea first, build the Black Sea Fleet as soon as possible, consolidate the defensive positions in the Black Sea, and at most establish 'leased territories' on some small islands in the Aegean Sea, so as not to touch the sensitive nerves of the other European powers, nor provoke the Ottomans to retaliate frantically afterwards. Then, Peter was ready to take advantage of the momentum of the victory in the Ottoman War to take the northern and southern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains in one fell swoop. In reality, however, the Caucasus really needs to deal with only the pagan state of Gazikumukh, and the three small Orthodox states of Circassia, Imeretia, and Georgia are only annexed by the trend. After that, Peter was able to begin his plans for expansion into the Indian Ocean, and from the Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, European countries would have little reason to interfere.

If anyone wonders why Russia is expanding from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean, even though it shares a land border with Central Asia? Oh, take a look at the topographic map of this area, the 300,000 square kilometers of the Kizilkum Desert is larger than the total area of the United Kingdom + Ireland. Even if the Hindu Kush Mountains are opened up and enter the Lahore region of North India, the complex and chaotic political, religious and cultural situation on the way is not something that can be mixed up casually. Therefore, South India still needs a sea connection, and Peter's plan is the route of the Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf-Two River Basin, and whether to take the northern route into Russia through the Caspian Sea, or to 'sign' a trade agreement with the Ottomans to enter the Mediterranean Sea from Aleppo on the western route, that is a matter for the future, and there is no need to worry about it now.

As for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the second largest territorial power in Europe under the Russian Empire, Peter only wanted to be vassals for the time being. In history, Poland was divided three times and the first time it fell during the reign of Catherine II, and then led to Napoleon leading hundreds of thousands of French troops to attack Russia, the Poles organized 200,000 troops to support Napoleon, if it were not for some famous generals promoted during the Ye II period, Russia would really have to retreat to landlocked countries. And with Poland remaining, there is no reason for other European powers to accuse Russia of threatening Western Europe, such as Britain, France and Austria. Of course, Prussia must have been greatly weakened by the end of the Seven Years' War, otherwise it would have been a great disaster 160 years later.

In addition, Peter also had ideas for the Americas. The British War of Independence in the North American colonies was expected to break out within 20 years, and once the United States was established, the pattern of the North American continent would be largely difficult to change. Moreover, with the independence of the United States, the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central America and South America will also become independent one after another, and it will be difficult to colonize the whole of America at that time. Therefore, it was necessary to intensify colonization in the Russian Alaska region of North America (called Cascadia by the Russians), and expand south along the coastline of the Northeast Pacific Ocean to Vancouver, San Francisco, and San Diego, to prevent the British from occupying the entire coastal area of Canada, and to prevent the Spanish from using Mexico to move north.

Peter was certainly aware of the difficulty of how to implement these plans. Therefore, if it does not take advantage of the Seven Years' War, a modern world war, to weaken the major powers, it will be difficult for Russia to profit from it.