Looking at the telegram from Kyori, there is good news and bad news.

Outside the Guanwai, Zuo Zongtang's department has retreated to the north of Heilongjiang, more precisely, to the front line of Temple Street, where Ye Zhao fought with the Russians in a bloody battle.

Han Jinchun was not too pressed, but began to clear the remnants of the enemy in the territory, and at the same time an infantry regiment entered Vladivostok, according to the emperor's deployment, soon there will be an engineering team, a technical engineering team and a large number of migrant workers to enter, and began to build the empire's first outlet to the sea in Benhai.

In the imperial map, it is said that Benhai is called "Whale Sea" along the Yuan and Ming systems.

After the Russians agreed to negotiate the legal status of the Six Kings in exile, the Chinese infantry regiment under the city of Nebuchu withdrew, but chose a place between the Zhurkan and Erguna rivers, which belonged to Russia according to the Treaty of Nebuchu, and began to build the city and settle.

The new city will be marked as "Twin Rivers" in the latest version of the Imperial map.

The Russians protested fiercely, but they could not stop the pace of the Chinese building the city, in fact, not only did the Russians not want to sign a border treaty with China that was recognized by both sides, but Ye Zhao did not have the same mind?

Whether it is to build "Shuanghe City" or to allow Zuo Zongtang and the fugitive soldiers and civilians to gain a foothold in the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, this will be a dispute in the future, and the Chinese and Russians can be regarded as having a good heart at this point.

It's just that at the moment, neither side wants to really start a war against the other, and both have their own difficulties and are waiting for the best time. Russia's top decision-makers have already regarded China as a power in the Far East, an empire that can sit on an equal footing with it, and a bloody collision with this huge empire is like two huge giants meeting on a narrow road, and if they are not fully prepared, they will only end up losing both.

In Ye Zhao's view, Northern Xinjiang may be stable for a while.

But in the south, it was quite unstable, the French landed in the south of Cambodia, forced the Phnom Penh dynasty to sign a treaty of trade with it, and ordered it to cede Kampong Son (Sihanoukville City), at the same time, the French declared Kampong Son a free trade port, and solicited merchants to develop it, calling it "Phnom Penh's Hong Kong".

In fact, because of the rapid economic development of the Southern Dynasties, Hong Kong Island has also benefited a lot, and the British population of Hong Kong Island has exceeded 50,000, a surge of dozens of times compared with ten years ago, and the number of Chinese is difficult to count.

The intention of the French to establish a sphere of influence in Southeast Asia was clear, and the French in Vietnam were becoming more and more active.

In the southwest, the British invaded Sikkim with armed forces, occupied the southern part of Sikkim, and demanded that the province of Tibet recognize Sikkim under British protection, and redraw the borders of the province with India and Nepal.

As soon as this telegram arrived, the Tibetan regent Rezhen Living Buddha asked the emperor for reinforcements.

The actions of the British, of course, were the actions of adventurers on the Indian border leading a small number of soldiers, and in fact, the benefits obtained in South and Southeast Asia were almost all the masterpieces of such adventurers.

Don't say that the British political axe in London, even the Indian Governor Charter, can't fully control these adventurers, but there is no doubt that they will take a tough attitude to support this kind of adventure.

As soon as Ye Zhao received this telegram, he replied, appointing Cheng Yi, the secretary of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the minister stationed in Tibet, and ordering the Imperial Military Commission to send military horses to escort the national teacher Zhang Jia to Xichuan, and then Zhao Sanbao Yanping Group Army sent an army division to Lhasa to study the law, and at the same time Cheng Yi, the minister stationed in Tibet, accompanied him.

In the case of Sikkim, in addition to appointing Cheng Yi, the minister stationed in Tibet, to negotiate with the British and Indian political axes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urgently summoned the British consul general in Yanjing to express China's grave concern about this matter and demand that the British withdraw their troops unconditionally.

Britain and France are not fuel-efficient lamps, and sure enough, they all took advantage of the war between the north and the south to start making waves in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Before the opening of the Suez Canal, the domestic situation must be stabilized, and Qinghai-Tibet and the northwest must be reunified.

During his meeting with Wells in Tianjin, Ye Zhao also asked about the situation of the Suez Canal, starting from the failure of the British and French forces to achieve an overwhelming victory in China in five or five years, the Suez Canal Company was immediately established, and it has been nearly ten years now, and it is estimated that the Suez Canal will be navigable within two years.

As for Ye Zhao's efforts to participate in the Suez Canal Company in the name of Shenghexing, but it was in vain, Wells said that the owner of the canal company, the Egyptian governor Pasha Said, and the Frenchman, Viscount Reseb, did not want outsiders to intervene at all, and there was no room for negotiation.

Less than two years? Ye Zhaoke knew what the opening of the Suez Canal meant, the distance between Eurasia and Eurasia would be almost halved, and the British and French navies would travel to and from the Far East more easily and quickly, and the intrusion on Asia would become more severe.

The Russians in the north are building railways, the French in the west are digging canals, and the distance between the East and the West is getting closer and closer, and they are always in a race against time.

Ye Zhao sighed deeply.

Of course, the British invasion of Sikkim also had good news, that is, it forced Tibet to have no choice but to recognize the central government's jurisdiction over it. Ye Zhao also sent a telegram to Zhao Sanbao, asking him to help him prepare a letter and send it to Tibetan Province, asking [***] to go to Beijing for an audience, and then [***] and the Panchen Lama will be canonized again. Of course, the so-called Zhao Sanbao's proposed letter must be bothering the master in the army.

I touched the teacup, but it was a little cold.

Looking at the map of the empire's territory in his hand, it can also be said to be the first version of the empire's territory map, the new dynasty was established, and soon the map was printed and sold to the whole country, in fact, many people saw the national map for the first time.

This map, which marked the whole of Siberia as a yellow disputed place, drew strong protest from the Russian consul, but it was helpless, and if the Chinese refused to recognize the Treaty of Nebuchu, Siberia was indeed terra nullius.

In the northwest, Lake Baleksh is also within the territory of the empire, that is, the area of the province is hundreds of thousands of square kilometers larger than that of later generations.

However, the current situation in the northwest is worrying, the emperor [***] team is only sent to Lanzhou, and is still quelling the rebellion, and most of the northwest of Gansu is undecided, let alone Xinjiang Province.

Recently, it was reported that the Khorezm Khanate in Central Asia had become a Russian protectorate, and the Bukhara Khanate was also a vassal to Russia, and further east, the Kokand Khanate, which bordered the province of Xinjiang, was said to have entered with Russian power to support the pro-Russian faction against the traditional Uzbek clan leaders.

During the Qianlong period, the Kokand Khanate briefly became a vassal to China, but soon became powerful, repeatedly invading the province and expanding northeast to the south of Lake Balkhash, which is now the territory of the empire's map.

The Russians seem to have changed their tactics and quickened the pace of their conquest of Central Asia, which inevitably led to infiltration into Xinjiang and Outer Mongolia from the northwest.

If war breaks out with the Russians in the northwest, it will be far less comfortable than outside the Guanguan, and the Russians' military capital in Kazakhstan, Orenburg, is as far away from the Kokand Khanate as Ili is from the Kokand Khanate. Of course, the Kazakh steppes have not been conquered by the Russians for a long time, and the Russians are still digesting how to really rule the Kazakhs effectively.

On the whole, if a war breaks out between China and Russia in the northwest, it will be more or less difficult for both sides to project troops.

Therefore, it is all the more necessary to speed up the pace of unifying the northwest, if the Russians preemptively annex the three Central Asian countries, the empire will unify the northwest, and it will become extremely difficult to rectify the Xinjiang province, and it is impossible for the Russians not to interfere in trouble.

The northwest and southwest are all places that need to be heavily guarded, but? Ye Zhao looked at the map, and stared at the territory of Qinghai, if Qinghai is not leveled, it is like a fish bone has been inserted between the two places, and when the war between the two places changes, a little cold and cough, this fish bone will come out, and the disaster is not small.

This Lu Yueting will give people problems!

Ye Zhao paced out of the hall and slowly lit a cigarette.

Here is the smoke wave of the palace to cool the palace, "surrounded by Xiuling, ten miles of Cheng Lake, to have a refreshing air", the palace is surrounded by the lake on three sides, the blue waves are overflowing, the beauty is magnificent.

The sound of clogs, you don't have to look back to know that it's Reedyue Iori coming.

"Your new friend is gone?" Ye Zhao asked with a smile.

Wei Yue Iori snorted and said, "She said that she wanted to kowtow to the emperor, but she didn't dare to see you, and she would pray for you when she went back." ”

The two of them said that it was naturally the Zheng family, and in the end the Zheng family knew that it was Gao Qianhu who killed her family, and it was even more involved in the political envoy, if it wasn't for the emperor's personal visit, even if she sued Zheng Sanzi, I am afraid that she will be wronged for the rest of her life, and I don't know who the big enemy is.

However, she naturally didn't dare to thank the emperor and the princess, so she still mustered up the courage and brought some souvenirs to visit the princess.

It has been three days since the incident, and the newspapers and periodicals that want to come to various places have already been overwhelming, Ye Zhao wants this effect, and sends a telegram to the Information Bureau of the Imperial Clan's Sect Mansion, so that the officials of the Information Bureau will notify and coordinate the newsprints, and the report will focus on publicizing the imperial rule of law embodied in this case, and do not need to be too prominent in his own private visits to eliminate evil and punish annihilation, "Sir, will you go back to Yanjing tomorrow?" Standing quietly in front of the mahogany railing, looking at the blue waves, Iori asked.

Ye Zhao snorted, snuffed out the cigarette butt, and said, "Let's go, let's go to dinner." ”

Wei Yue Yiori gently took the cigarette butt in Ye Zhao's hand, bit it curiously, and then wrapped it in a small cloth bag and prepared to throw it away, seeing Ye Zhao smile.

…… After dinner and washing, Ye Zhao came to the West Warm Pavilion of Yanbo Zhishuang Palace, which is his bedroom, with magnificent furnishings, gold, silver, jade, magnetism, clocks, antiques, hanging screens, etc. of all generations.

Seeing that Wei Yue Iori had just helped him make his bed and was about to go out, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Let's stay here tonight." ”

Wei Yue Iori snorted, and went to open the sandalwood cabinet to prepare to hold the futon and lay on the floor, in fact, a few days after coming to the palace, Wei Yue Iori was ready to sleep on the floor at night in the Xinuan Pavilion, but every time he was driven out by Ye Zhao, of course, it was said that it was a rush, but it was just Ye Zhao who said that he went to sleep in the east chamber, and Wei Yue Iori would naturally listen to his orders.

Seeing Wei Yue Yiweaving hugging the futon, Ye Zhao just smiled, pointed to the gorgeous red tent, and said, "Just sleep on the kang." "Tonight, I want to talk to someone.

Ye Zhao had already changed into pajamas and pajamas with bright yellow satin, kicked off his slippers and went to the kang, which was soft and soft, like in the clouds, and the big red brocade tent was quite comfortable.

When I turned around, I saw that Iori Rei Yue elegantly untied a circle of brocade ribbons, colorful blue and pink flower kimonos, beautiful and dignified, watching the kimono beauty fade, it was really a great enjoyment.

Ye Zhao coughed dryly, turned his gaze away, and after a while, there was a sound of clogs, and Iori Reed, who was wearing a snow-white long undergarment, walked to the bed, and put a neatly folded set of light yellow fresh kimonos, belt plates, waist buttons, undergarments, foot bags and other things on the counter next to the bed, which was naturally changed tomorrow morning, and even, there was a small black trousers. Ye Zhao was stunned, and hurriedly turned his gaze away.

Iori Rei had gently removed the white cotton socks she had changed into after taking a bath, knelt on the bed, and said, "Sir, do you want me to dance?" ”

Ye Zhao almost said "yes", I really wanted to see what kind of amazing and extraordinary thing she could dance on the third floor of this bedside, but then he waved his hand and said, "Lie down and talk." ”

Wei Yue Iori sighed, and lay down gently on Ye Zhao's side.

Ye Zhao stretched out his hand, gently held her delicate and slender jade hand, and put it on his chest, and knew that Wei Yue Yiori was looking at him quietly, and somehow, his heart was extremely full, and the loneliness gradually dissipated.

Wouldn't it be a great blessing to have such a beautiful and quiet woman by your side?

"Iori, what kind of person do you think I am?" Ye Zhao closed his eyes and asked lightly.

"Sir is a lonely man." Reedsung Iori said quietly.

Ye Zhao smiled: "Really? But he opened his eyes, turned his head to look at the delicate face of Wei Yue Iori, who was really beautiful, but I was afraid that few men could be so close and look at her unscrupulously, and if she was a second person, she would have lowered her head in shame for a long time, and her beauty was compelling, but it was really not just talking.

Wei Yue Iori's clear and beautiful eyes stared at Ye Zhao without blinking, and said, "Yes." But Mr. is also the most powerful man, a man who can destroy heaven and earth. ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "I still like your first evaluation, lonely, so ah, I need you, a big beauty, to accompany me." As she spoke, she couldn't help but reach out and pinch Wei Yueyi's creamy pink cheeks, and stroked her delicate lips with her thumb. Hands, immediately crispy.

Iori didn't seem to know the meaning of this kind of man's conquest and teasing, and said gently: "Iori is not a beauty, Iori is lucky to meet Mr. ”

Ye Zhao smiled, retracted his hand, and said, "What's lucky, I'm a super pervert." ”

Obviously, Wei Yue Iori didn't quite understand what Ye Zhao meant, blinked her beautiful eyes, and said, "That's also good." ”

Ye Zhao smiled, and after a while, asked, "Iori, are you usually lonely?" ”

Iori shook her head.

Ye Zhao said: "How come, you are alone in a foreign land, and you have no friends, even if I am your friend, but I may not be able to see you for ten days and a half months, don't you miss home?" ”

Wei Yue Iori's beautiful eyes quietly looked at Ye Zhao's side face, and said: "Iori used to be alone, and when I was free, I watched the clouds in the sky, and I could often watch it all day. After coming to China with my husband, Iori was empty and idle, so I thought about my husband, how could I be lonely? ”

Ye Zhao was stunned, then grabbed her pink little hand and kissed it on the side of her mouth, saying, "I really wish I could have a state of mind like you." ”

Wei Yue Iori shook her head and said: "In Mr.'s mind, there are thousands of people, poor people like Sister Zheng, with Mr., they can live a peaceful life, and Iori is really happy and lucky to be by Mr. As long as Mr. doesn't think Iori is stupid, Iori will always accompany Mr. ”

Ye Zhao clenched her hand and nodded.

Wei Yue Iori said again: "That day in the public court, I sat next to my husband, I was really happy, but I was a little worried, worried that the Chinese officials would think that the woman in strange clothes sitting next to my husband was not in line with Chinese etiquette. ”

Ye Zhao smiled: "What strange clothes, how beautiful the kimono is, I like to look at it." ”

Iori was a little happy and said, "Yes, I think it's beautiful too, and it's best if Mr. likes to watch it." ”

Ye Zhao remembered the events of that day, and said, "Iori, tell me, did I deal with it that day?" ”

If you change to a second woman, she will not judge the emperor's rights and wrongs, let alone discuss political affairs casually, but Wei Yue Iori said: "What Mr. did is naturally right, the strangest thing about Iori is that Mr. allowed the prefect of the Court of Justice to summon and interrogate the governor of a province, but later Iori thought about it carefully, if the whole world can be like this, the people will not be afraid of being bullied, and the person in charge of the case can't manage the people, and the people can't manage the case, so he can't deal with the people casually, it's really a good way." ”

Ye Zhao smiled and patted her hand: "You understand a little more immaturely, but your vision is not bad, what is it to summon the governor according to the inspector?" If the Dali Yuan can summon me to testify, then I will be really happy to die, but unfortunately, the royal family has judicial immunity, and members of the royal family are exempt from going to court......"

Speaking of this, Ye Zhao shook his head, in fact, even in later generations, members of the British royal family also enjoy judicial immunity, immunity from court, cannot be prosecuted, etc., the king has the right to pardon criminals, stop punishment, stop litigation, etc., and this is still the case in later generations, let alone now.

Nowadays, according to the imperial code, the imperial family is sacrosanct, the emperor commands the armed forces of the whole country, holds the right to declare war and all other military powers, can appoint and dismiss the prime minister of the political council, divide the title, have the right to convene the parliamentary council and dissolve the parliamentary council, the land of the whole country is nominally vested in the imperial family, the emperor is the supreme leader of all religions in the country, the incarnation of the main gods of each religion in the mortal world, and so on.

In fact, these powers were enjoyed by the English king in later generations, but as civilization progressed, they became more symbolic.

The most domineering power of the emperor today is that he can appoint and dismiss any civil and military officials in the empire, and can impose any punishment on any citizen of the empire.

Although the social system is progressing by leaps and bounds, the only thing that has not changed is the royal power, and there is no difference between Ye Zhao and the emperors of the previous dynasty.

But now not only to deify the royal family in the four borders, but also to be eventful, in the event of an emergency, if many constraints are not good, Ye Zhao can only be an emperor with incomparable talent.

Sometimes when I think about it, I really worry that I will be blinded by power and forget my original ambitions.

It's because I can't help but sigh when I talk about royal privileges.

Wei Yue Iori didn't speak, just gently stretched out her other delicate little hand and held Ye Zhao's hand.

After a while, Ye Zhao said again: "Northwest, if you fight with the Rakshasas in the future, tell me, can I fight the Rakshasas?" ”

Iori nodded lightly and said, "Even if you can't beat it at first, Mr. will always win in the end." ”

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "I'll borrow your auspicious words." Slowly closed his eyes.

(To be continued)