Ploughing a ditch is called sealing, planting trees on the mound dug out of the ditch is building, and together it is feudal, also called dividing the seal. But when it began, there are different accounts. According to historical records, in the era of the Yellow Emperor, "the princes Xianlai and the guests followed", "the princes Xianzun Xuanyuan was the son of heaven", and the Yellow Emperor "placed the left and right eunuchs and imprisoned all countries", which described the early feudal system. The period of the Five Emperors and the Three Dynasties continued to develop, and after the Zhou Dynasty was established, the perfection of the feudal system reached its peak. Liu Yimou said: "From the Tang Dynasty, Yu to the Zhou Dynasty, the emperor and the princes divided and ruled", that is, from Yao, Shun Jingxia, Shang to the Zhou Dynasty, all the feudal system was adopted.

Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, abolished the feudal system, and implemented a centralized county system. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, after the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was pacified, all the officials of the feudal state were appointed and dismissed by the central government, and the princes only collected taxes, and the feudal state existed in name only. After the Wei and Jin dynasties, the dynasties also had a feudal system, which was not all the same in nature, and became nominal and substantial. However, in the era of extremely slow transportation, it took several months for the orders issued by the central government to reach the border chief, so that the central court could not know the situation in the remote areas in time, and in order to deal with various affairs in the remote areas in an effective and timely manner, the central court had to delegate power to the administrative officials at all levels in the remote areas, so that they could be said to have the power of life and death over the local area in addition to the personnel power. Such an official with great power is also called a feudal official.

In the end, I still can't escape this seal. The establishment of China was based on the continuation of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and naturally it was impossible to completely change the practice of dividing the feud that had existed for thousands of years. Moreover, Qin Shi Huang was too motivated to completely remove the feudal system, which was also one of the reasons for the rebellion of the local wealthy clans. Since there is a history to learn from, it is natural not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Therefore, Li Ming's first meeting back to Beijing was to discuss the division of the world, which was also an opportunity to connect with the new upstarts of this dynasty.

The title of the feudal can be passed on to future generations, which also caters to the idea of blessing future generations in this era. Therefore, Li Ming was extremely popular among the upstarts, just when everyone was discussing the title. Only Li Hongzhang is opposed, and it is not the knighthood itself that is not opposed to him, but the time when he is opposed to the knighthood. Just like he said, he plans to take the title of the Duke of Shangguo.

The ceremony of sealing was postponed, but the matter of sealing continued. Many of the names of the sub-envelopes have already been determined. For example, Li Hongzhang's Qi Guogong, Sun Jianai's Wu Guogong, Weng Tongyi's Yue Guogong, etc., these old ministers will officially withdraw from the court after being knighted. Therefore, Li Ming specially approved a batch of dukes as a reward. And the highest title of Yan Fu and others in the right year is only a marquis, Yan Fu is the marquis of Minguan, Tang Shaoyi is the marquis of Xiangshan, etc., and the civil officials are basically named marquis in their hometown. The military attache is different, and he is named a marquis. Deng Shichang is the Marquis of Zhiyuan, Wu Deren is the Marquis of Jinghai, Wang Shizhen is the Marquis of Dingxiang and so on. Of course, there are also a large number of earl, son, baron, and other titles. These names were "accidentally" revealed, and these courtiers who started with Li Ming were all very excited, and they all knew that in fact, postponing the knighthood was to wait for the end of the Russian battle. In this battle, whether it is a battle in the front or a supply in the rear, as long as something goes wrong, this title may not necessarily be related to oneself. Therefore, for the sake of the title, ministers at all levels are very attentive to the war. This is also an important reason why the war on the front line is so smooth.

The new upstarts should be rewarded, and the old nobles should be appeased. On the "leaked" list of knights of the imperial court, it was written that Tan Zhonglin, the Marquis of Changsha, the governor of Liangguang, was knighted as a marquis, such an old guy who had just recovered from a serious illness and had no effect on the new dynasty was knighted, did anyone else have an official of the right age?

Don't look at Li Hongzhang's frail and sick body and rarely go to court, in fact, all this was arranged by Li Hongzhang. Just like he said to Li Ming: The emperor has the power of the army, and then takes out the title to lure him to his advantage, and rectifies the whole country so that he can fight with the great powers. Of course, Li Hongzhang will bring his own careful thinking when he does anything, he knows that his sons are not successful. I just hope that the emperor can see that he is dedicated to the country and give his few unsuccessful sons a rich life.

Of course, you have to agree with this. Lao Li is so desperate for the country, he must leave some blessings, but he will begin to liquidate the other old ministers. Under Li Hongzhang's arrangement, the situation is changing subtly.

The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is the first day of the official court, and the first grand court meeting of the new year, officials at all levels in Beijing need to meet with the court. According to the usual practice, this Celestial Dynasty will only meet the monarch and the ministers. Say a few words of blessing and look to the future. The real court meeting is the court meeting on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year the next day.

At this meeting, Gu Hongming, vice minister of the Ministry of Education and the Chinese Royal Academy, said to the emperor: "The national education popularization has gone through a ten-year preparatory period, during which it has been smoothly implemented in the vicinity of Beijing, and then expanded to large cities across the country, and has been generally smooth in extending to the rich areas of the country. After ten years of preparation. Colleges and universities across the country have trained enough teachers, and so far they have reached the basic conditions for the expected comprehensive popularization of education. I hereby invite my emperor to start the popularization of education throughout the country in an all-round way. ”

The emperor nodded and replied, "Yes." ”

The Ministry of Rites was ordered to take the lead, and the Ministry of Household Affairs cooperated with the start of China's first population census, so as to prepare data for the popularization of education throughout the country. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to allocate funds, and the Ministry of Education began to establish primary and secondary schools in various locations. The Ministry of Engineering began to build new school buildings, and the Ministry of Transportation participated in the road planning of each school. In the same place, the police and other public security departments began to arrange the security of the school. All ministries should cooperate and there should be no mistakes. Chin this.

With the promulgation of the holy decree, the whole country shouted that the emperor was sacred. Educating the world is the wish of the people of humanity since ancient times, but it has not been realized due to various reasons, and now with the support of the emperor in the new dynasty, it is now considered to be hopeful. The Imperial Historians in various places acted the most actively, they were already touring all over the country to inspect officials, and the schools in various places were the top priority of their inspections. Now they all rushed to remote places for field investigations, and at the same time, they also brought the emperor's will to educate the world.

Since ancient times, reading has been the only way for the people to rise, and only by reading good books and passing the imperial examination can they get ahead and glorify their ancestors. Reading is a huge expense, and reading also reduces the labor of the family, so most people cannot afford the huge cost of reading, which also leads to the fact that reading has always been the preserve of the wealthy. Now the emperor's grace is immense, and the Son of Heaven pays the tuition fees and funds to provide students with three meals a day. When the news came, people from all over the country knelt down in the direction of the capital to thank the emperor.

With the support of the people, there is the will of the emperor. The imperial historians began to drive officials from all over the country to go to the countryside, and the officials from all over the country went back and forth to collect statistics, and the master bookkeepers needed to compile various data until late at night without resting. As a result, many uncooperative county orders were participated. or to be convicted of meritorious service, or to be cut off, and even implicated many prefecture and even governor officials. Killing the head is still the most deterrent method in this era, but in the face of the central court with great righteousness and the education and popularization of great merits, in the eyes of the people, these corrupt officials who dare to embezzle the queen's fat and powder money are indeed innocent. Of course, people can't kill too much, after everything is too much. It doesn't make much sense. Most of the officials either honestly went home to farm and do business, or were transferred to places where they had no connections as officials, of course, the premise of all this was to express great loyalty to the emperor, and then passionately devote themselves to the new work of building a new dynasty.

There is also a chorus of joy in the court, ten years of accumulation have already made the upstarts have already enveloped their own contacts, a few years ago they also took into account the stability of the court, a large number of personnel from their own factions are useless, and now the government and the opposition are empty, it is a good time to install their own people. So the factions of the DPRK and China. The dark current between the civil and military is moving.

Of course, Li Ming knew all this very clearly, but he couldn't ask about it. This is one of the unspoken rules of the court, everyone wants to stabilize their position, they need to get the support of some people, so they must give these some benefits. The emperor is actually no exception, Li Ming wants to sit on the throne, but also has the support of these upstarts. Dividing titles is also a way to give benefits. Of course, as the country's largest aristocracy - the royal family. Of course, there are also their own manpower to arrange. Politics has always been about compromise.

The New Year has just passed. A vigorous census has begun across the country. And the local officials who were dismissed in the meantime certainly understood that this was nothing more than a political purge carried out by the imperial court under the pretext of the census. Although most of the people who showed loyalty to the emperor at the first time were not promoted, they still firmly guarded their official positions. Those who were loyal to the officials who were later in the service, but who had some ability, also remained in their positions. Only those officials who once wanted to be left and right failed to show their loyalty were dismissed, and those who once fiercely resisted were even killed, but at this time, they could only swallow the bitter fruit of their own making.

The whole nation is jubilantly preparing to welcome the coming universal access to education throughout the country. In some places, wealthy families and gentry also donated land or houses in order to compete for the name of a good family. However, at this time, the wind direction of Xuanwei in China was quietly changing, and some local newspapers, intentionally or unintentionally, began to mention that the Russian Far East Fleet was still far away in Africa. After all, both the number of artillery and the displacement are above the Chinese Navy, and at the same time, the Chinese Navy, which is assembling and training in the open sea, has not heard for a long time. If these were mere concerns, the news of the departure of the second Russian fleet from the Baltic Sea was the stone that broke the silence.

On February 19, 1905, the Yellow Emperor of China was the sixteenth day of the first month of the year of the Yellow Emperor of China in 4602. With the roar of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Rear Admiral Nobergatov led the Russian Third Pacific Fleet from the Baltic Sea, entered the Mediterranean Sea through the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar, and joined the Black Sea Detachment on Crete. This fleet brought together the last of Russia's naval forces, all three first-class battleships and three second-class battleships, as well as up to thirteen old ships and supply ships of various types. It can be said that in order to attack the Far East, Nicholas II sent everything with a cannon barrel on all the ships of the country. Not to mention that destroyers don't have enough range, not to mention smaller gunboats. So the Russian Third Pacific Fleet passed through the Suez Canal, and the people on both sides of the Red River were fortunate enough to watch such a fleet. Battleships and heavy cruisers, the main force of naval warfare, pulled destroyers, and destroyers pulled smaller gunboats, navigating the Red Sea with great difficulty like an old ox pulling a broken cart.

The rest of Europe was happy to see Russia's expedition to the Pacific Ocean with the strength of its entire navy. Such a large fleet was enough to influence the situation in Europe, and Nicholas II was a monarch who was not willing to be lonely, and he always wanted to show the dignity of the Slavs by challenging the world, as he once said: the Russian Empire needed to have an outlet to every sea. Now that this madman has sent the entire naval force to the East to die, what reason is there not to agree?

And the Chinese are not a good thing. With the victory of one war after another, the Chinese today have become more and more aggressive, trying to restore the former sphere of influence of ancient China. They're starting to dominate the order of the entire South Seas, they're sticking their foot in Indochina, they're trying to reach Australia, and even their navy is reaching the middle of the Pacific as a de facto ally with damned Hawaii. However, they were not satisfied with the status quo and in the name of fighting piracy. Their navy had frequent access to the Indian Ocean, and if it had not been for the British strong refusal, the Chinese would have planned to build a Chinese naval base in Bandazia, the northernmost point of Sumatra. This must not be tolerated.

Well, now the Chinese's attempt to challenge the Russians has been met with the strongest retaliation from the Russians. The Chinese are experienced in sea and land wars, but the Russians are strong and have a large fleet, and this will be a close battle. Let the Russians fight the Chinese to the death. Whoever wins in the end will pay a heavy price. That's how they can profit.

For Nicholas II, however, he had to fight this battle. The accession to the throne of Nicholas II was a turbulent period of change, and class contradictions were acute. From the end of the 19th century, the Russian industrial system centered on heavy industry was perfected, but the capitalist reforms of Nicholas II caused a lot of social contradictions in Russia. As the gap between the rich and the poor widened in Russia, a large number of peasants went bankrupt. Social contradictions are becoming more and more intensified. However, the liberal wing of the county and state administrations of the Zemstvo had hoped that the new ruler would give an opportunity to ease the contradictions between the tsarism and the people during the reign of Alexander III. However, Nicholas II completely ignored such moderate pleas from the liberals. In December 1904, a strike broke out at the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg, and the number of people in St. Petersburg who agreed with the strike grew, and the number of strikers climbed to 80,000. In the early morning of January 22, 1905, an Orthodox clergyman, Fr. Gepon, led a group of about 30,000 workers to a peaceful demonstration in the square outside the Winter Palace, with the aim of presenting a petition to the Tsar to express the plight of the working class and the people at the bottom of society. and oppression, he asked the Tsar to carry out social reforms and end the Russo-Japanese War. And expect no overtime work and reasonable pay. However, Nicholas II has been in the Tsarskoye since January 8 and was not in the Hermitage on the day of the peaceful demonstration. The samurai who were in charge of guarding the court fired warning shots into the air in the face of the crowd, which had grown to 200,000 people, and soon after opened fire on the crowd, the people fled in panic and rushed to shove, and Father Gaipon was killed in the chaos. Although it was not the tsar himself who ordered the shooting of the population. But the populace has already been put on Nicholas II.

Faced with these circumstances, Nicholas II had to continue his internal reforms from the point of view of maintaining his rule. However, reforms took time, and the point was that the stubborn Nicholas II saw this moderate plea of the populace as a threat to his rule, and he considered his monarchy to be a "godsend". And he is personally accountable to God. However, the increasingly acute social contradictions in the country forced Nicholas II to face this fact. Therefore, Nicholas II chose to expand externally, hoping to ease the domestic contradictions and buy himself time through expansion and war. This is the fundamental reason why Nicholas II chose the expedition at all costs.

And for China, this war is also an inevitable choice. For cultural and geographical reasons, China's greatest external threat comes from the north. The Xiongnu were driven away by the Han Dynasty and came to the Turks, the Turks were killed by the Tang Dynasty and came to Mongolia, the Mongols were subdued by the Ming Dynasty and the Tungusic Manchus came, and the Mongols who were finally pacified by the Qing Dynasty came to Russia. The north, a region that has always posed a head-on threat to China's security, has never been truly pacified. Not to mention the fact that Russia and China are both great powers, and the direct border between the two powers does not meet the requirements of geopolitics. No one wants their neighbor to be a powerful country as well, two behemoths leaning against each other on a piece of land, and war is the only option. This is also the reason why there will be a war between Mongolia and Zhenbao Island in later generations. There should be some small countries separated by big countries, and it is the last word to serve as a buffer and chess piece in the game between the two big countries.

Li Ming, who had a prescient vision, began to plan a strategy for the north after the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, but it was really delayed for some time because of the repeated situation in Japan. However, instigating the Chinese in Nanyang to engage in autonomy, stirring up the situation in Nanyang, and even reaching into the Indian Ocean to reach out to Australia are actually all covering for the invasion of troops in the north. At this time, China advanced its troops to the northwest through the Dong Fuxiang rebellion, and marched into Mongolia through the Wutai rebellion, which was to prepare for the complete occupation of Siberia.

Since war is inevitable, of course, it is necessary to strike first. The well-prepared Chinese army, which was unintentional and well-prepared, launched an attack in the early winter, which no one expected, which caught the Russians by surprise for a time and stunned the countries of the world. Plus the repeated mistakes of the Russian command. To make the whole situation seem to be completely tilted in China's favor, in just one month, all but a few towns in Siberia were occupied by China.

Annoyed by the disillusionment of the Russian army on the battlefield, Nicholas II used all his sea power to force an expedition to China, and clamored to gather a million troops to attack China from land. In fact, Nicholas II did indeed recruit more than 600,000 troops. It's just that the bleak Russian economy cannot support such huge military spending. When France, the main lender, lent the money to Russia, it asked Russia to add 200,000 troops to its western border to help France share the pressure from Germany, and Nicholas II, who had no choice but to get the loan, could only agree. By the beginning of March 1905, the number of Russian troops assembled on the front line of Omsk had reached 300,000, and more than 100,000 troops were passing through Tyumen one after another, while nearly 100,000 people were still being reorganized in China and waiting to go to the battlefield. In addition, the army commanded by Zarubaev on the southern front has also been expanded to 50,000 people, and there are still nearly 50,000 troops stationed in various parts of Siberia, and the total strength of the entire Russian army has reached nearly 600,000.

On the other hand, the entire Chinese army entering Siberia was only 200,000 men, of which 8 divisions of about 100,000 were deployed in the vicinity of Novosibirsk. The rest of the armies are encircling the Russian army. There are also the 30,000 people of Nie Shicheng, who confronted Russia through Xinjiang.

Although the Chinese army is small in number. However, China has been fighting in recent years, and it has also cultivated a large number of troops and soldiers who have survived the war. Although they are not comparable to the Russians in size and endurance, war is not a group fight. The understanding and adaptability to war is not comparable to that of the Russian people who have just been conscripted from the fields. Moreover, the Chinese military has more sophisticated weapons and support systems, and its strategy and tactics are even better. As for the numerical inferiority, is this a problem for China? Not to mention that China is the most populous country, and China still has vassal states to transfer. As a result, the second group of troops being reinforced to Siberia included two Ryukyu divisions, six Korean divisions, and the eighth brigade. In order to show its loyalty to the central court, the newly founded Republic of Anui also sent only one army regiment to Siberia to participate in the war.

However, the battle is at stake for China's future strategy. For China, it is also a situation where only winners are allowed to lose. In order to increase the probability of victory, 30,000 men of Liu Shengxiu's Sixth Corps stationed in Japan were transferred to Xinjiang. Strengthening the forces on the southern front. At the same time, it was proposed to the Japanese government that the Chinese government should provide the same treatment as the Korean troops, and that three divisions of troops should be recruited from Japan to fight together.

When the news broke, Britain, the United States, and other countries raised objections one after another. In their view, China's behavior was tantamount to a demand for Japanese vassals, and this could not be agreed. Since you can't pull the troops directly. Thanks to the efforts of the Chinese envoy to Japan, the Chinese consulates in Japan have hung up the banner of recruiting volunteers at the gates. The Japanese people, who were brutally exploited by China and Britain and other countries, rushed to the consulates in China to sign up.

Britain and the United States and other countries have no way to do it now, and they have made a fuss. This is because the treatment of Chinese volunteers is less than that of Korean soldiers, and the treatment of Korean soldiers is 10 yuan a month, while the Japanese volunteers recruited are only 7 yuan. The reason is that they are volunteers. It cannot be equated with the regular army. However, the Japanese, who could only earn 4 dragon yuan a month after working to death, could not resist the treatment of volunteers who were provided with room and board and a monthly salary of 7 yuan. Not to mention that those with excellent performance can be transferred to the Chinese regular army and other benefits, you must know that the minimum monthly salary of ordinary soldiers in the Chinese regular army is 12 dragon yuan. On the border, the commander of the Japanese Defense Self-Defense Force, Kurokawa, opened the rails, and directly organized all the members of the former Japanese Fourth Division, which was reorganized into a defensive system, and the current Fourth Town of Osaka, Japan, as volunteers. In this way, there were only 50,000 places left, and only 30,000 points remained, and the Japanese did not hesitate to fight for this pitiful place. So much so that more than 100,000 people signed up in just one week, not counting the farmers who are rushing from the countryside to the cities. In the end, thanks to the efforts of the Kurokawa railway, the Chinese government agreed to add another 10,000 places. After careful selection, just after the New Year, the first batch of Japanese volunteers boarded a transport ship and entered China.

"It is important to distinguish between the ways in which the armies of the vassal states are used." Li Ming repeatedly emphasized this issue: "The North Koreans have poor combat effectiveness and can never be used in the decisive battle of the main forces on the front line, but the loyalty of the North Koreans to China is certain, and it is still good to have them stationed in the rear to maintain the order of the occupied areas." The North Koreans are a mallet, and they will definitely carry out robberies and other incidents in the new territory, so leave them alone and let them make trouble. When the war is over and the local order needs to be rectified, pull a few North Koreans to cut them down, and you can also buy the hearts of the local people. As for the Japanese, they are equipped with the spirit of bushido, their combat effectiveness is strong and they absolutely obey orders, and the Japanese can be used as the main battle department, and they can send the Japanese to the place where they need to fight to the death. But this does not include the fourth town of Japan, these people see their lives as heavier, and they will not go to war with Ben, but let them engage in logistics is first-class. At the same time, it should be noted that the distribution of military salaries to Japan is to be completed by the Japanese government. There will certainly be corruption in the Japanese government, and after the war, we will be able to use this to interfere in Japan's internal affairs. Speaking of the Ryukyu Division, this time we must let them see the blood and really fight a few battles, which will be beneficial for the Ryukyuan people to help us manage the surrendered and other local troops in the future. ”

For the Anui army, when he met with Su Iyingshu, the head of the Anui regiment, Li Ming glanced at it but said to Li Hongzhang beside him: "There are more than 40,000 people in the entire Anui tribe, and this time they dispatched more than 3,000 people in a regiment, which can be said to be the prime of life men of the whole clan. Let the troops ensure their safety, ensure that this force is not in danger, and follow our army to fight a tailwind battle. There are not many Anui left, so leave them with the seeds of ethnic development. This sentence quickly spread back to the Anui country, causing the entire Anui to burst into tears.

China has successively increased its troops to the Sino-Russian front line to 170,000, and the number of troops outside the Russian strongholds has gradually increased. By the end of March, China's total army strength in the Russo-Chinese war had reached 410,000.

April is the day of spring, and for Siberia it is also the beginning of the melting of snow and ice. The countries of the world also closed their mouths and waited for the outcome of this great war. China and Russia are sharpening their knives, and a big war is about to break out. (To be continued.) )