St. Petersburg, Hermitage.

"If His Majesty the Great Emperor can save my Qing Dynasty from the time of survival, my Great Qing Dynasty will never forget the kindness of the Great Emperor, and my Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty is willing to treat His Majesty the Great Emperor with the courtesy of his subordinates, and I will always be a vassal of Great Russia, and pay tribute to the dynasty, and the years will not end......"

It was Bai Siwen who spoke, and this remark really came from the bottom of his heart, not from the heart of Bai Siwen alone, but from the heart of millions of bannermen in the Qing Dynasty. If there is no strong reinforcement from Tsarist Russia, the Qing Dynasty will die! Rather than die to the enemy, it is better to serve a friend. This truth, up and down in the Qing Dynasty, who doesn't know?

Bai Sven did not speak Russian, and he had a Russian interpreter who accompanied him to the court to meet the Tsar. Nicholas I listened, but his face was expressionless and noncommittal. The matter of the Manchu Qing dynasty's claim to be a few years ago was a good thing that Tsarist Russia could not have imagined, and the Great Qing Kingdom was not known to be many times richer than India, and if it could be turned into a colony, Tsarist Russia would be able to become the richest and most powerful country in the world by exploiting the Chinese. And unlike now, it is big but not rich, and it is strong on the outside and dry in the middle.

But now, the Qing Dynasty has basically lost the land within the Great Wall and has been reduced to the Northern Qing Dynasty. Although it still has thousands of miles of fertile land, it is vast and sparsely populated, and there is not much wealth to exploit. Of course, Tsarist Russia's desire for land surpassed that of any other regime in the world, and it was also a good thing that it could get the millions of square kilometers that were still nominally under the rule of the Northern Qing Dynasty. However, it is not a wise thing to start a long-term war with Zhu Ming, who is growing in national strength.

"Mr. Minister," said Nicholas I unhurriedly, "the Russian Empire, of course, was willing to help the Qing Dynasty, but only as a friend. and not the overlord. ”

If you can help the Manchus. It was only a matter of time before it became a colony. If it doesn't help. What's the point of nominally being the suzerainty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty? It will only put Russia and Zhu Ming to the point of not dying.

"The grace of His Majesty the Great Emperor, I will never forget it in the Qing Dynasty."

Bai Siwen said so, but he couldn't help but be disappointed in his heart. Russia was clearly reluctant to get involved in a war with Zhu Ming and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom because of the Manchus.

"Mr. Minister, let's discuss the specifics." Nicholas I added, "I have decided to send Crown Prince Alexander. Nikolayevich led the fleet to the east, wondering if the Qing Dynasty could provide an ice-free port for the fleet to anchor? ”

"Yes, of course! Port Arthur can be given to the Russian fleet. ”

Ecstasy flashed across Bai Sven's face. The Russian crown prince personally led the troops to rescue the Qing Dynasty, and this time, the Great Liquidation was saved!

"In addition, there will be military advisers from the army going east...... Our Governor of Siberia, Major General Muravyov, will serve as the head of the military advisory group, leading at least 1,000 of the best Russian officers to help the Qing Dynasty build a new army. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Bai Siwen kowtowed again.

He also knew how difficult it was to walk through the rotten land of Siberia, which could be passed by 1,000 military advisers, and it would not be easy for tens of thousands of troops to pass through.

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor, I am now short of guns and bullets...... I also hope that Your Majesty will help you. ”

Nicholas I mused: "In the fleet that accompanied Crown Prince Alexander to the east, there will be transport ships loaded with guns and ammunition. Other than that. The Irkutsk fortress also had a lot of weapons that could be transported to the trading city. ”

"His Majesty the Emperor Xie."

Bai Siwen was overjoyed. With officers and guns and bullets, the New Army of the Eight Banners can be rebuilt! There are at least one million people in Manchuria and Mongolia outside the Guan, and it is not a problem to mobilize 200,000 strong men. With an army of 200,000 trained by Russian officers, it will probably be possible to recover the city of Beijing!

"Also...... The Kokand Khanate and Bukhara Khanates in Central Asia were allies of our Russian Empire and allowed them to send troops to the northwest of the Qing Dynasty. "Nicholas I proposed another scheme.

"Will the Kokand Khanate and the Bukhara Khanate send troops?" Bai Sven asked.

As the assistant minister of foreign affairs, he knew the affairs of Western countries, but he did not know much about the situation in Central Asia, and only knew that Zhang Ge, the general of the Kokand Khanate, had caused trouble to Xinjiang, and was later exterminated by Emperor Daoguang.

"The Kokand Khanate and the Bukhara Khanate have always wanted your Xinjiang, if the Great Qing Dynasty is willing to cede Xinjiang, why are they unwilling to send troops?" Nicholas I said.

Bai Siwen hesitated a little and said, "How many troops can these two khanates send?" Won't they break their promise after they get Xinjiang? ”

Now Bai Siwen has long wanted to keep the whole territory of the Qing Dynasty, and after the defeat of the New Army of the Eight Banners in Guannei, General Yili's troops will definitely be transferred to Gansu and Shaanxi, without this Eight Banners Army, Xinjiang will not be able to hold it at all.

"The two khanates can send at least 100,000 troops, and they will never break their promises, otherwise the Russian Empire will not spare them!" Nicholas I was convincing.

"That's good! Cut Xinjiang, cut Xinjiang! Bai Siwen gritted his teeth and said.

"Then it's a deal." Nicholas I nodded with satisfaction. This series of arrangements is extremely beneficial to Russia. The Khanate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Kokand have always been an obstacle to the Russian Empire's seizure of Central Asia. If they can channel their strength to the east and fight with Zhu Ming or the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Russian Empire will be a fisherman.

……

Tianjing Luoyang, Tianwang's Mansion.

Feng Yunshan had just returned from outside the city, and his face was a little solemn.

He went to see Li Hongzhang and Hong Xuanjiao back, and the negotiations with Zhu Ming had been successfully concluded, and the other party had almost met all the demands put forward by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

That's not a good thing. Feng Yunshan knew that on the Eastern Front, the war between Yang Xiuqing and Zhu Ming was about to break out. At this time, Zhu Jishi's help to Hong Xiuquan only explained one problem, he knew the inside story of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom very well, and wanted to divide Hong Yang by enhancing Hong Xiuquan's strength in all aspects!

And Hong Xiuquan will definitely harden his waist if he gets "Zhu Yuan". The controversy between Hong and Yang, I'm afraid it's about to surface, right?

"Brother Yunshan," the voice of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan sounded in Feng Yunshan's ears, high on the throne, the Heavenly King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was looking at him with blazing eyes, "When can the Western Expedition begin?" ”

Feng Yunshan hurriedly calmed down and said, "As long as Zhu Ming's guns arrive, the western expedition can begin." ”

Hong Xiuquan smiled. said: "Don't be in a hurry, it's good to be fully prepared." "Before, Hong Xiuquan was in a hurry to go west, but now Zhu Ming promised to sell the guns to him, but he was not in a hurry, Feng Yunshan felt a little like falling into the fog for a while.

"This time I broke Beijing and captured Daoguang, I have a lot of meritorious service in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and I should reward my meritorious deeds."

Award people according to their contributions? Feng Yunshan was stunned, the people who made meritorious contributions were all subordinates of the East Palace, how did the Heavenly King plan to reward them?

"You should be promoted to a knight." Hong Xiuquan stroked his beard, the corners of his mouth hooked, revealing a gloomy smile.

"The King of Heaven means ......"

Hong Xiuquan said: "Zeng Tianyang, Zhang Lexing, Li Kaifang, Li Xiucheng, Qin Rigang, Hu Yihuang, Lin Qirong, Yang Fuqing and other generals have all made great contributions to the Kingdom of Heaven, and now they are just a marquis, which is really not enough to show their merits." ”

"The King of Heaven is going to give them the title of duke?" Feng Yunshan Road.

"Duke? That's a title only for Zhu Ming and Qing Demon, and I don't have a duke in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong Xiuquan smiled, "Let's give them the title of king." ”

"Sealed ...... Crowned king! Feng Yunshan was stunned. There are five kings in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the king of heaven, the king of the east, the king of the south, the king of the north, and the king of the young west who holds it in his hand. These five people are all cheap sons of God! Now Hong Xiuquan has crowned eight kings in one go, what does this mean? Do you want a few more kings so that the kings can be devalued?

Hong Xiuquan glanced at Feng Yunshan and continued to say: "Zeng Tianyang was crowned King Lu, Zhang Lexing was crowned King Yu, Li Kaifang was crowned King Yong, Li Xiucheng was crowned King Zhong, Qin Rigang was crowned King Yan, Hu Yihuang was crowned King Liao, Lin Qirong was crowned King Wei, and Yang Fuqing was crowned King Fu. Brother Yunshan, you can go to the East Temple Army to spread my will. ”

"Heavenly King, don't you want to discuss it with the East King?" Feng Yunshan looked at Hong Xiuquan.

Hong Xiuquan smiled faintly: "No need to discuss, how could King Yang Dong not allow it?" This time, they were all the generals under his East Palace, and one was his brother, how could he not allow it? (To be continued......)