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At this time, it is already the time of the three poles of the sun, and the great son Zhu Jishi is about to start another day's official business. When he walked briskly to his imperial study, Zuo Zongtang and Liu Peng had been waiting at the door for a long time. The two of them were chatting in a low voice, but in fact there were some contradictions between them in the past -- after the restoration, of course, there were party disputes within the Ming court, and the earliest party disputes were between Zuo Zongtang's Xianghu Party and Liu Peng's and Zheng Hong's Fujian-Guangdong Party. But now, there is not much fight between Zuo Zongtang and Liu Peng. After nearly 20 years of evolution, modern political parties such as the Jishi Youth Party and the Donglin Party, which are more tightly organized and have more distinct doctrines, have completely replaced the traditional pun party and become the protagonist of the political struggle in the Ming Dynasty. And Liu Peng, the early political leader of the Ming Dynasty, has completely returned to his most suitable businessman role, replacing Engels as the general manager of the royal consortium, and the conflict with Zuo Zongtang has long disappeared.

Seeing Zhu Jishi walking briskly, the two of them hurriedly stood up and bowed. Zhu Jishi smiled and said: "It's all your own people, don't salute, come in." ”

I don't know if it's because I've been in power for a long time and I'm tired of government affairs, or because I have shifted more responsibility to the cabinet in order to cultivate a responsible cabinet system. Anyway, Zhu Jishi has not directly managed daily government affairs in the past two years, and he no longer approves the beatings of local or various ministries, but only grasps the general direction through the imperial meeting or today's mode of summoning important ministers. Of course, the power of the Ming 6 Navy is still firmly in the hands of Emperor Zhu.

Zhu Jishi sat down behind his desk. recalled Zuo Zongtang and Liu Peng to sit opposite him. His face still looked moody: "Is there anything important to say?" By the way, where have Zeng Guofan been? ”

Zuo Zongtang took out a copy of the telegram from a briefcase he carried with him and put it in front of Emperor Zhu: "Your Majesty, this is Zeng Shangshu's telegram. He had already talked to the Russians about building a Eurasian railway and trading with the Caspian Sea. Count Ignatiev said that he could consider it, and seemed to be very interested. It seems that there is a good chance that these two things will succeed. ”

Count Ignatiev was no ordinary Russian diplomat, his father was a confidant of Nicholas I, and the baptism of his birth was personally presided over by Alexander II, who was still the crown prince at the time, and in Russian custom, Alexander II can be said to be his godfather. The fact that such a figure was sent to the Ming Dynasty as an ambassador has fully demonstrated the importance that Alexander II attached to Sino-Russian relations.

Liu Peng took over the topic. said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter can be successful." Now the Russian economy is in great difficulty. The Russian emperor wanted to develop industry and build railways, but he suffered from lack of funds. Originally, the source of their Russian hard currency was fur and gold. The most important gold, silver and fur producing regions are Siberia and Alaska. For example, Nebuchu, which we have now taken, is the most important silver producing area in Russia, and Alaskan furs can also bring millions of pounds to the Russians every year. And after all these gold and silver producing areas and fur producing areas have fallen into our hands. Russia can only rely on the export of agricultural products and forestry in exchange for hard currency, and then buy machinery and steel for industrialization.

But the French now want to create a pan-Roman tariff zone, to squeeze out Russian agricultural products. Therefore, the Russians will inevitably look for other markets for agricultural products and forest products, and this market can only be in Central and West Asia. In fact, they have been trying to open up the Caspian trade and sell Russian goods to West Asia for several years, but they have never been able to implement it because of our opposition. Now that we are taking out this benefit, plus a Eurasian railway that will be of great benefit to the Russian economy, Alexander II if he really wants to ease up with us. What reason is there to refuse such a good thing? ”

The Caspian Sea is now shared by Turkey, Persia, the Western Qing, the Kazakh Khanate, and Russia. Both Russia and Turkey have a small fleet in the Caspian Sea. Although the Ming Dynasty has no armed forces in the Caspian Sea, it has a position that cannot be said to be the same. The Turkish Empire relied on the support of the Ming Dynasty, and Persia feared the invasion of the Ming Dynasty. The Western Qing Dynasty and Xihua were vassals of the Ming Dynasty, and none of these four aspects would disobey Nanjing's instructions. Therefore, the trade in the Caspian Sea that Russia wants is simply impossible to achieve without the nod of the Ming Dynasty. This time, however, Zhu Jishi asked Zeng Guofan to take the initiative to implement free trade in the Caspian Sea region -- not really free, of course, but only trade that would not be bombarded by gunboats -- and further proposed to build a Eurasian railway with Russia, and wanted to extend the Beihe Railway to the west, from the northern shore of the Caspian Sea and the foothills of the Ural Mountains to Europe, and connect with the slowly building railway network of western Russia. If possible, further connections are made to Polish and German railways.

Once this huge railway project is completed, trade between the Ming Dynasty and Western Europe will be carried out without relying on sea transportation. Other words. While the Ming Dynasty and Britain were in full confrontation, it was also possible for the Ming Dynasty to maintain trade with France and Germany. Of course, for Russia, which is currently in economic difficulties, the economic value that the Eurasian railway can bring cannot be overemphasized, and it can definitely be called the source of power for the development of Russian capitalism......

However, Zhu Jishi did not really want to help Russia when he proposed this project, but he expected that a stronger Russia would likely become the source of a world war in the future. And a world war will most likely bring Russia an earth-shaking revolution! At that time, a direct railway to Moscow and Petersburg will undoubtedly be a fast passage for the Ming army to advance westward to interfere with the revolution and support the pro-China regime! Of course, the premise is that the national defense of the western Ming Dynasty is impregnable.

……

Eastern Rome - the second capital of the Russian Empire, Constantinople, Caesar's Palace (formerly Domabahce).

What was once the political center of the true God world is now not a single true god or mosque! Alexander II did what he said, and the day after he regained Constantinople, he ordered the expulsion of more than 20,000 unconverted Constantinople residents! All of them were transported across the Bosphorus by ferry, and only a small bag could be carried for the salute. The defeated Turkish army, which simply did not have the strength to save them, left them to go to Ankara on foot on their own. However, in the end, less than 50,000 people made it to the end of the nearly 1ooo mile journey.

And the Turks who remained in Constantinople to convert to Orthodoxy did not do well. The agents of the Eastern Roman Religious Inspectorate, established by order of the Tsar, were active in Constantinople and the surrounding countryside, and anyone who was suspected of believing in the true religion of God, such as not drinking alcohol, not eating pork, not going to church, secretly possessing ancient nerves, women wearing headscarves, men wearing little white hats, and so on, were arrested and expelled. And any form of resistance will be treated with the most barbaric and murderous treatment by the Russian army.

As a result of this perverse practice, the market of Constantinople fell into depression in the shortest possible time, the streets were sparsely populated, the markets were empty, and the hastily converted mosques into Orthodox churches were crowded. A metropolis of a million people has become an "empty city" with less than 100,000 inhabitants (mostly Orthodox Christians living in Constantinople, all from the Balkans) in a matter of months.

Alexander II, however, was not in the least worried about the city's depression, and he had no intention of "sharing" Constantinople with the Turks or any other true god - most of the territory of the Russian Empire was now occupied by the True God Cult of the Golden Horde or any other khanate. And the people who believed in the true God in the land of the Khan were either slaughtered and dying, or banished to an unknown place.

The Tsar threw aside a report from the Censorship and took a copy from Foreign Minister Gorchakov and read it carefully. This report is about a large railway connecting Europe and Asia,...... It seems that the goodwill shown by the Russian side has been responded to positively. (To be continued)