Since Xue Huan became the prime minister of the cabinet, his behavior has been much more cautious and conservative than before, because the position of prime minister is the number one in the civil service system, and its importance is self-evident, so many things Xue Huan cannot simply consider his own political tendencies and interests.

He needs to take into account the development of the entire empire, and as long as it is beneficial to the empire, then whether he likes it or not, he has to support it.

Xue Huan is personally cautious about the military conflict with Russia in the near future and even a possible war in the future, and he and many civilian officials believe that the focus of the empire's work now, especially in recent years, should still be on the development of industry and commerce.

No matter how chaotic the outside is and how dangerous the external situation of the empire is, as long as the empire itself is strong, then these so-called threats are floating clouds.

But as the chancellor of the empire, he also saw Russia's wolf ambitions in the Far East and Central Asia, and if this ambition was not contained, it would have a major impact on the security of the empire's north in the future.

After pondering for a moment, Xue Huan spoke: "At present, the contradiction between us and Russia has reached a critical point, even if we don't plan to start a war, but judging from the actions of the Russians, they are also ready to start a war!" ”

This is a fact, why should the Russians raise a large number of troops in the above regions if they are not preparing for war!

Of course, it is also possible that the Russians are also worried that the empire will take the initiative to attack, so they are raising troops to defend.

Whatever the reason, it is a fact that both sides have deployed more than 100,000 troops on their respective borders, and this cannot be ignored.

"Given the actions of the Russians, we must be ready for battle!" This sentence almost shows Xue Huan's true attitude.

That is to 'fight' and not to start a war on your own initiative!

"If the Russians have enough self-knowledge. And if we exercise restraint, then there is no need for us to go to war at the expense of the Empire's domestic development in the coming years, and if the Russians really think that they can seize the interests that belong to the Empire through military action, then we must deal a head-on blow! ”

Xue Huan continued: "In addition, on the side of Kokand Province in Central Asia. We should continue to maintain the current situation and take decisive measures to protect the territory of the Empire if necessary! ”

"In addition, I believe that the core of a complete solution to the security problems in the north is not to fight a large-scale war that is difficult for us to sustain now, but to solve the problem of transportation. Imagine if the Empire's railways could reach Heilongjiang, Wutai and Xinjiang, then all the problems that plague us now would not be a problem, and if we had a convenient transportation channel like the railway, we would be able to send a large number of reinforcements to these places at any time. And let the garrison troops be adequately supplied. In this way, regardless of whether there is a war with the Russians in the future, then the imperial army will be able to gain an invincible position! ”

Hearing that Xue Huan's topic shifted from the war against Russia to the construction of the railway, the people around him were puzzled.

Since the large-scale construction of railways in the first few years of the empire, thanks to Lin Zhe's vigorous promotion and publicity, the upper echelons of the empire have basically realized the convenience of railways.

Especially now that the Nanjing-Shanghai railway is about to be completed, it is expected to be officially opened to traffic in the autumn, which makes countless officials in the empire have great hopes for the railway.

Ordinary civil officials naturally hope to use the railway to drive the development of the domestic economy. And the military also thinks that if there is a railway, then the future deployment of troops will be faster and justified.

But everyone knows the benefits of the railway. Why did Xue Huan talk about the railway!

When everyone was puzzled, Xue Huan looked at Lin Zhe at this time, and said: "In the humble opinion of the minister, this is not the time for a large-scale decisive battle with Russia, and for the time being, it is necessary to maintain the necessary military threat in the northern region. It is enough to constantly curb the expansion ambitions of the Russians, and the real solution to the Russian threat should be when the Empire completes the construction of the railways in the above three places! ”

As soon as his words fell, Shi Qingxuan next to him said: "When will this go, it is extremely difficult to build a railway." It will take several years to build a Nanjing-Shanghai railway in the Jiangnan region, which is the most prosperous in China and has a gentle terrain, and if you want to build a railway to the north or even to Xinjiang, I am afraid it will take at least twenty or thirty years! ”

In this regard, Xue Huan said: "If you want to solve the border trouble in the north, it is a long-term work, is it possible that your military is sure to defeat the Russians through military operations in a short period of two or three years?" ”

Hearing Xue Huan say this, although Shi Qingxuan wanted to open his mouth to refute, he also knew that he couldn't talk nonsense, His Majesty above his head was not an idiot emperor, he was the emperor who single-handedly established the Chinese army, and he was very clear about military issues.

At present, the military simply does not have enough capacity, or rather insufficient logistical supply capacity, to sustain the Imperial Army in a complete defeat of Russia.

Even if they defeated the Russians once or twice in the Trans-Khingan Mountains, Wutai, Central Asia, and other regions, this would not affect the overall situation, because Russia, like the empire, is a vast country, and the loss of tens of thousands of troops in a short period of time, the loss of hundreds of thousands or even millions of square kilometers of land is nothing at all.

If the fight continues, it is very likely that the two sides will fall into a tug-of-war, and no one will be able to win at that time, and they will eventually be dragged to death.

Who is happiest in this situation?

Briton!

When the ministers discussed, Lin Zhe, like the previous imperial meetings, basically did not take the initiative to speak, but just listened to the discussions of his ministers.

And by the time he spoke, it was basically time to make a decision!

"The contradiction with the Russians is still to maintain restraint for the time being, but the military must also be fully prepared, and must be able to deal with all challenges and ensure that the interests of the empire are not lost!" Lin Zhe still agreed with Xue Huan's opinion, now for the empire, there is nothing more important than the development of industry, as long as the industrial revolution is completed, then the empire can rise.

The process of developing industry must not be influenced by the outside world.

The situation in the north, while it may seem dangerous, is not as dramatic as the military portrays.

Why?

Because even though it is difficult for the empire to gather a large number of troops in the north and Central Asia and other directions, and the supplies cannot keep up in the later period, the Russians themselves are no better than that, everyone is half a pound and eight taels, and it is basically impossible to really defeat the other side through war.

Without a full-scale large-scale war, then the present so-called dangerous situation is not dangerous, and as for some armed conflicts, then a small and medium-sized war between a few thousand people is nothing at all.

The empire has been fighting since the Yongying era in Yuyao County, even after the establishment of the empire and the unification of China, the Chinese army has not stopped the war, and it is still continuing small-scale wars.

All kinds of military operations happen every year!

War, the norm in the nineteenth century, was not unusual.

When Lin Zhe made the decision to be ready, but to exercise restraint, it also meant that the entire empire had made a corresponding decision.

The first to act was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which launched a strong protest against the Russian consulate in Shanghai, protesting that the Russians had arbitrarily provoked a conflict between China and Russia in the direction of Central Asia.

Naturally, the Russians protested accordingly.

As a result, the diplomats of the two sides began a new round of bickering.

In terms of military deployment, the military believes that the number of troops currently sent to the direction of Central Asia is not small, and the armed forces of 35,000 people are almost at the limit for the Empire's logistical maintenance capability.

At the same time, on the side of Kokand Province, the military still maintains a high-pressure posture.

In August, the Russian army launched a counteroffensive outside the city of Kokand, destroying about 300 enemies, and the Russian army saw that there was no hope of taking the city of Kokand, and it was not a way to stay outside the city of Kokand, so they simply retreated to Tashkent, and at the same time built a defensive line to prevent the attack of the Chinese army.

In order to threaten the Russians, the Chinese army stationed in the direction of Ili in Xinjiang launched a tentative attack on Kopal, one of the two major strongholds of the Russian army, in mid-August.

However, the Russians were very well guarded in Kopal, and the Chinese army did not have a chance to break through.

Then the Chinese army on the front line was not reconciled, and tried to send a force of more than 6,000 people to attack Vilne, but the results of this battle were not small, killing and wounding at least more than 500 Russian soldiers, but the Russian army soon sent a force of more than 5,000 people to reinforce Vilne, so it was not able to be defeated later.

Subsequently, the Russians also tried to send troops to attack the Chinese-controlled Pishbek, but for this prominent bridgehead, the Chinese army built a large number of fortifications and garrisoned a whole reinforced regiment, and the Russians were unable to defeat it.

In this way, it was basically announced that from July to August, a series of large-scale battles between the Chinese army and the Russian army in the direction of Central Asia failed to achieve the desired results.

And after this series of battles, the armies of both sides, both of which are limited by their limited supply capacity, have no ability to continue to launch large-scale attacks, and this war will consume a lot of materials, and a large-scale battle may consume the materials that have been hoarded for months.

As a result, the situation of the two sides arguing and even the possibility of all-out war has returned to calm this summer.

The two sides, as always, occasionally fight one or two small and medium-sized wars, and armed clashes on the border occur every day, if not every day, but every month.

But that's about it. (To be continued.) )