Trains run through the Beihe Railway, which runs through the Ming Empire, and just looking at the long railway connecting Beijing and Xinjiang, one can already feel the achievements of the Ming Empire in terms of industrialization. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 In less than 20 years, this country has jumped from a backward country with no inch of railways and no industry to the world's first first-class power with the world's largest railway operating mileage and the second largest industrial strength in the world! If you look at the Beihe Railway, which the Chinese have not yet fully completed, we can see how bad the security situation in the eastern part of the Russian Empire was when the Eastern Roman - the railway started in Beijing, the northern capital of the Ming Empire, and ended in Hezhong Province, the westernmost province of the Xihua Kingdom. And in order to avoid the Tianshan Mountains, which are difficult to construct, the railway passes through the Gobi Desert, where northern Mongolia and southern Mongolia meet. There are almost no cities along the way, and there are endless deserts. Occasionally, you can only see a few Mongols, oh, it should be a small village settled by Chinese herders. Such a railway has almost zero economic impact on the way, and the only value is probably the transportation connecting Xihua, Xinjiang, Qihe and Beijing. So that it is convenient for Chinese immigrants and troops to go west, right? Maybe one day in the future, millions or even more of them will pass through this railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway further north to the eastern territories of the Russian Empire!

Olga, the Crown Princess of Württemberg, who accompanied her on a visit to China. Nikolaevna returned to Europe, in addition to the small delegation she brought with her, and now she added the Mongolian and Tibetan affairs of the Ming Empire. A number of Ming officials, as well as the Eastern Roman-Russian Empire's ambassador to the Ming Empire, Nikolai. Count Ignatiev. The China Railway Corporation also set up a special luxury train for these people and sent polite and courteous attendants. Accompany them all the way to Dihua, the capital of Xinjiang Province. At present, the Beihe railway is built here, and it will take at least 6 years to complete the railway. If you count the time for project establishment and survey, the construction of this main artery connecting the east and west of the empire took nearly 15 years!

Although the railway is not yet fully built, the Russian officials who accompanied it are already feeling the pressure. The war in Central Asia and Siberia was fought in terms of logistics -- the reason why the Ming army was able to achieve a great victory in Central Asia last time was because Zhu Jishi recruited a large number of Mongolian herdsmen to help the army drive cattle, sheep and horses to solve logistical difficulties. In this way, the number of troops of the Ming Dynasty in Central Asia was made. Always more than the number of Russian troops. And in terms of weapons and equipment and logistical supply, there are also great advantages. And if there is another war between China and Russia next time, logistics will undoubtedly be the decisive factor. But Russia is in the construction of railways. Apparently already at a significant disadvantage.

After several years of tossing, the reform of abolishing serfdom was settled. However, the start of industrialization in Russia was extremely difficult...... Unlike China, Russia has a huge amount of silver accumulated over hundreds of years of trade surpluses with the West, and it also has six major export products, such as silk, tea, raw rubber, palm oil, and coptis. Every year, hundreds of millions of pounds of trade are generated. There is no need to worry about the lack of gold and silver. In addition, due to the indiscriminate issuance of many paper money in the last war with Britain, France, Austria, Turkey and other countries, the credit of the paper ruble was almost bankrupt, making it difficult for the Central Bank of Russia to raise funds for construction by issuing paper rubles. Although the countryside was raided by the reform of the abolition of serfdom, there was a shortage of capital throughout Russia. Despite its abundant resources and large population, the start of industrialization was still difficult.

Historically, Russia industrialized by absorbing French capital, but in this time and space, there are too many places where French capital can invest. I don't care about Russia at all. Although British capital was once interested in Russia, the boom in the development of North America was about to rise. It is estimated that there will not be much capital flowing to Russia.

Now, having witnessed the tremendous progress of China's industry and railway construction, an atmosphere of unease has hung over the Russian diplomats. The train rumbled on the steel rails, and there was silence inside the double-glazed luxury carriages. There was only a slight shaking sensation, and compared to the feeling of driving on the slab rails in Russia, it was already like being in a comfortable apartment.

It was getting late, and the Russian ambassador Nikolai . Count Ignatiev lit the oil lamp on his seat. Buried in writing a report on the construction of China's heavy industry. In the past few years, although China and Russia have resumed diplomatic relations, the Chinese are very defensive against the Russians, and he, the Russian ambassador, has no opportunity to visit the heavy industry factories belonging to the four major Daming conglomerates. But this time, the Chinese entertained Olga, who was visiting China. Grand Duke Nikolaevna, the Ming court arranged for the Russian delegation to visit the large-scale Nanfen Iron and Steel Plant, Jiangnan Shipyard and the arsenal in Foshan, Guangdong, which allowed him to appreciate the charm of a large industry. Now that we have seen China's long and almost endless railway lines, we are naturally aware of the huge gap between China and Russia in industrialization...... If Russia does not catch up, I am afraid that it will really become a backward country in Europe and Asia.

Count Ignatiev, who would later become a major minister of the Tsar, was fully engaged in his report. Nikolaevna walked up to him and sat down without noticing. I don't know how long later, when the Russian nobleman in his early thirties raised his head, he saw the great lady looking at him with a smile: "Count, what a hard worker, it's dark and still working for the empire." ”

Count Ignatiev was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly got up to salute, but was stopped by the Grand Duchess waving her hand. "Earl, don't be so polite, I'll sit down and leave." The Grand Duchess said with a smile, "Just now, the Chinese envoy Marquis Zeng Guofan and I talked about the possibility of shelving the dispute between the two countries and jointly building Central Asia and Siberia. ”

"Shelving disputes and building together?" Count Ignatiev sat down slowly, he certainly knew that this was a test of the attitude of the Russian side by the Ming side - although the war between China and Russia had been nine years old. However, the two sides did not demarcate the border. The Russian side also did not recognize the legitimacy of the Kingdom of Xihua (Kazakh Khanate) and the territories of the Eastern Siberian Company. Both sides are stationed on the actual military demarcation line, ready to fight again.

However, the top brass on both sides are well aware that war is inevitable. But until the balance of power between the two sides changes significantly, a new war will not break out. On the one hand, Russia was simply powerless to challenge the Ming Empire, which had crossed the threshold of industrialization; On the one hand, the growth of the Ming Empire has seriously threatened the maritime hegemony of the British Empire, and the confrontation between the two sides has begun, and in order to maintain the overseas territories of the Empire, the Ming court has significantly accelerated the pace of naval construction in recent years, which means that the investment of the Ming Army will be reduced, and it will not be able to launch a new round of major offensive in the northwest far from the interior - moreover, the Chinese have actually expanded to the European edge, and the western border line of the two Ming vassal states of the Western Qing Dynasty and Xihua is the Caspian Sea, and beyond the Caspian Sea is Europe. Before he attains world hegemony, Zhu Jishi will certainly not turn China into a European country.

Olga. Nikolaevna smiled and nodded, "It seems that China's Liberation Emperor has temporarily lost interest in westward expansion, just look at the scenery along the way, China's northwest and Central Asia and Siberia are too desolate and vast." It would take more than a dozen years and hundreds of millions of silver dollars for a single railroad to develop, and the cost and time required to develop the entire area would be too prohibitive. Before he completes these works, God will surely call him back from the world. If he wants to become the leader of the world in his lifetime, the only possibility is to go south and seize the islands of the South Seas, India and Australia. The female archduke paused for a moment, showing a little helpless and bitter smile, "Fighting Russia, no matter how much you fight, you can't beat a world hegemon, unless you hit Moscow and Petersburg, but that's impossible." Russia is also a large country with a population of more than 60 million, and behind it is the whole of Europe. (To be continued.) )