"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we have passed through the Strait of Malacca, and the rich and beautiful Borneo is to the east of us, where the first territory of Emperor Zhu Jishi of the Ming Dynasty was located."

Flying the "Pan-Slavic colors" (red, white and blue) flag and the black and yellow flag, the battleship "Alexander I" of the first class, escorted by two third-class battleships, four fourth-class battleships, six cruisers and ten escort ships, slowly moved away from the fortress of Singapore under the British Empire and into the azure South China Sea.

Crown Prince of the Russian Empire Alexander. Nikolayevich stood straight on the aft deck of the warship, looking at the sea in the distance, thoughtful. While passing through Singapore, the fleet made a short stop to replenish fresh water supplies and collect the latest news by the way. The news is bad, at least not for Russia. The situation in the East has become even more severe, and the Chinese civil war, which has lasted for nearly three years, seems to have come to an end. The restored Ming Empire defeated an army led by Yang Xiuqing, the eastern king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in a battle in early February, capturing the four provinces of Shandong, Beizhili, Henan, and Shanxi, as well as the original capital of China, Beijing. In the second half of last year, the Ming army also defeated the army of the Qing Emperor Tiande in Manchuria, forcing the latter to submit to the Ming and seize South Manchuria. That is, the object that the Russian Empire wanted to support may have perished......

"We're late, General Putiyatin." The Russian crown prince sighed and said to the Russian Vice Admiral next to him, Putiyatin, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, we have come at the right time." Lieutenant General Putiyatin smiled and said, "It's not too late at all. It would have been too early if we had gone to the East in the third quarter of last year. ”

The Russian crown prince looked back at Putiyatin: "Early? For what? ”

Putiyatin said, "Your Highness." You don't really think that the fleet under my command can force Emperor Zhu Jishi to abandon the attack on Manchuria, do you? If I had 100,000 troops, I could do that. But with only 24 warships, even if there was a first-class battleship 'Alexander I', it was impossible to achieve such a goal, because the Qing Empire was too weak to support it. ”

Judging from the information gathered in Singapore, the Qing Empire was indeed too weak, and was defeated by an enemy with only one-tenth of its own number in the Battle of Ningjin, and was raided by the Ming Guards of more than 20,000 people, their old nest Liaoyang and Shenyang. Then he bowed his knees and surrendered. What is there to support such a country? Moreover, it was not only the Russian fleet that came to the east during this time, but the French Republic also planned to send a large fleet to East Asia, and it should have already set off on its way. It is said that he was going to attack the Kingdom of Vietnam, a vassal of the Qing Empire, together with the Ming Empire. If the Russian fleet really attacked the Ming navy at sea, would it clash with the French fleet?

Moreover, once Russia shows its intention to attack the Ming Dynasty, Western countries that have colonies in the South Seas, including Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain, will definitely take a neutral position and refuse the Russian fleet to supply the ports under their control, so how can the Russian fleet gain a foothold in the East? Nikolaevsk-on-Amur is not an ice-free port, is it possible to set up a home port in Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka? Will you be able to go to the coast of China to fight a war?

The Russian crown prince smiled bitterly: "Well, it came just in time. Traveled half the world to have a meal with the Emperor of China and make friends. Then go back to Europe with your tail between your legs...... I think I'm going to be the laughing stock of all of Europe, won't I? ”

"Your Highness, actually...... We will not come in vain, we will reap the rewards. "We can get a colony in the East, an ice-free port close to China." ”

"Well, that's a tempting idea, but where is this colony? Vietnam? ”

"No, not Vietnam, the French and Chinese have already booked there...... And Vietnam is also too big, and once the war is protracted, our logistics will be a problem. ”

"That's Siam?" As soon as the Russian crown prince spoke, he shook his head and said: "No, this country seems to be bigger, and it has a treaty with Britain...... General Putiyatin, you shouldn't be talking about Japan, are you? ”

"It's not Japan either." "Japan is not too small a country, and in the past few years, the Tokugawa shogun, who ruled Japan, has imported a lot of weapons from China and is said to have formed a Western-style army. ”

"Who's that? Tell me, my general. The Russian crown prince said with some impatience.

"It's the Ryukyu Kingdom."

Ryu...... Ball Kingdom? What a strange name, where is this country? ”

"It's right near the island of Taiwan, not far from the Japanese island of Kyushu, and it's an island country with a very good port. This country used to be a vassal state of the Ming Empire, but before the fall of the former Ming Dynasty, it was seized by a feudal lord on the Japanese island of Kyushu, and is currently a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain of Kyushu, Japan. In addition, the Satsuma clan did not have many troops stationed in the Ryukyus Kingdom, and there was a force in the Ryukyus that wanted to get rid of Japanese colonial rule, which would be beneficial for us to seize the Ryukyus......"

The Russian crown prince had an interested expression on his face, if he could conquer a country during this trip to the East, he would be waiting for him in Europe with flowers and applause.

"General Putiyatin, are you really the situation in the Ryukyu Kingdom? There won't be any deviations, right? ”

Putiyatin smiled: "The proposal to seize the Ryukyu Kingdom was actually put forward by my friend Bai Siwen...... He is now willing to be His Majesty the Tsar and your servant. ”

"Bai Siwen...... Bring him to me. ”

……

At this time, Zhu Jishi is feeling good about dealing with various matters in the development of the Northeast, which is really good. He also knew that he had recovered his luck before the country and the nation were completely destroyed, and although such a change was made with countless sacrifices and the loss of the country's vitality, such a price was less than one percent of what was paid in history.

What's more, it's only 1850! The bourgeois revolution of the Ming Empire can be said to have won a great victory, establishing a whole system and laws that could guarantee the development of capitalism. The industrial revolution has also begun, and considering that the industrialization of Europe is still in its infancy, it should not be too difficult to catch up. Of course, the premise is to maintain the general stability of the country.

And in all the "stability maintenance" affairs, the focus of his current firm grasp is the "collective farm" and the development of the Northeast. In fact, the funds for the establishment of collective farms are not a problem, and China in this era is really not short of silver, and the foundation of the trade surplus for hundreds of years has not been lost, but it is not the Republic of China a few decades later. Historically, when the Westernization Movement was carried out, what was most lacking was a financial and monetary system that could have the final say - at that time, China's financial lifeline and currency issuance power were all controlled by imperialism, so it was impossible to make full use of the capital accumulated by the people.

At present, the financial system has been established, Western-style banks and Chinese-style money banks have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, playing finance is always more time-saving and labor-saving than running industry, and of course it has become the favorite investment project of Chinese businessmen. Therefore, the capital precipitated in the private sector has also been excavated because of the great development of the financial industry, and has changed from dead money buried in the backyard to living money full of vitality to find profits.

Therefore, Zhu Jishi easily borrowed more than 10 million silver dollars (in fact, it is just a string of numbers) as the start-up capital for the development of Northeast China. As for the offering of the Northeast Development Joint Stock Company, he is not in a hurry, and it is not too late to wait until the benefits come out. What really needs to be accelerated now is the recruitment of immigrants, the formation of collective farms, and the organization of the Northeast Development Company. This is really a big mess of things, involving the cabinet, the localities, the army and the business community, and only Zhu Jishi, the emperor, can screw all aspects of the power together and accomplish this big thing. (To be continued......)