Peace in the world -- this is the grand wish of every Chinese citizen from the heart, God knows what kind of vicissitudes and misery are contained in these four words? How many tears are in the subtle smile of this nation?

Taiping can't be begged for, and it can't be endured, so it can only be snatched from the sky and from people. In the world of great controversy, if you are complacent and indulge in the existing glory and achievements, you will soon fall behind others, and you can only endure humiliation with dirt and become a fish on a plate.

"I am willing to grab peace for China!" With such a whisper, the emperor poured himself another glass of wine.

This year, since the end of the Chinese New Year, the weather has been very good, often sunny days. In the western suburbs of Beijing, the cloudless blue sky is upside down on the vast land, and the air is fresh in addition to the cold.

Because it has just passed from the middle of winter, the mountain peaks are all yellow, and only the spring water falling from the mountain stream can find some new spring vitality in it. This is a continuous mountain peak, as far as the eye can see, the majestic mountain peaks stand proudly, as if there is a dragon entrenched in the atmosphere. The Taihang Mountains also started from here, eventually dividing the northern land into two sides.

Such a magnificent scenery has been valued by the literati and scholars in the north since ancient times, and is considered to be the best place to see the scenery around Yanjing. Since ancient times, the western suburbs of Yanjing have always been a tourist attraction, and there are also private estates of royal relatives in places with rich mountains and rivers.

However, in the main road leading to the capital and Shanxi between the mountain peaks, a huge artificial structure has been erected at this time.

The building occupies a large area, the outer walls are about two feet high, slightly sloping, and the entire exterior wall is in the shape of a strange six-pointed star, like a starfish entrenched on the earth. And on the high platform inside the outer wall, there is another inner wall, which is also two or three feet high.

There is a breastwork in the middle of the two walls, and the breastwork has a place for the cannons, although the scheduled gun emplacements have not yet been filled with cannons because of the initial construction, but there are many cannons that have been arranged, and the Hessesen artillery fire is aimed at every direction outside the bastion behind the breastwork, giving people a sense of being heavily guarded.

Both the inner and outer walls are linear, and the outer layer seems to be piled with thick soil, so it looks yellow and red, and it is indescribably weird.

The roughness of this artificially created thing has completely destroyed the original landscape shape, and if there are literati here, I am afraid that there will be a sigh of great scenery.

However, at this moment, there is no such sigh in the hearts of the people who are observing this fortress.

On a hill not far from the fortress was a small pavilion that looked to have been built a long time ago, the masonry was mottled and the timber had long since fallen. At this time, a group of people were standing in this small pavilion, looking down on the fortress in the distance, and many of them were holding binoculars in their hands so that they could observe more closely.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, this fortress has been built recently, it is very strong, and it has been built according to our latest design ideas and concepts." While the group was observing, a middle-aged Westerner with a high nose and deep eyes and gray hair standing in the middle spoke in very fluent Chinese, "Under the garrison of a highly trained and determined army, it can withstand the siege of the enemy for a year or two, or even longer, and it holds the only way for the capital to the west, and as long as it can withstand the siege of the enemy, then the enemy from the west can threaten the capital -- it and the other fortresses we have built can be within a century or two. Sit back and relax in your capital. ”

The man who spoke was François Missoul, a Western engineer who was hired by the Han court at an early age and participated in the construction of the fortifications of the capital.

Although what he said was an exaggeration, it was not unfounded rhetoric.

At this time, the Western Ocean was constantly in turmoil between countries, so military tactics and science developed by leaps and bounds. In previous times, Europe was a time of feudal lordship, and the castles of noble lords were everywhere. Since the introduction of cannons, the defensive function of these castles has become very weak, because if the cannons are bombarded, they will eventually be able to blast through these masonry castles.

In the course of the perennial battles, a new type of fortress came into being, which had been tested in actual combat and had a very sophisticated design, which could be used as a support for an army and could resist a long siege by a large army of the enemy.

In the engineer's opinion, the enemy in the northwest of the Han Dynasty did not have the means to conquer this fortress, and this fortress contained a granary, which was enough to meet the needs of the defenders for two years when it was filled with grain. And even the most elite armies of Western Europe today would have to pay a great deal to conquer a fortress -- and it would certainly not be possible for the countries of Western Europe to send a large army to China in the foreseeable century or two.

In the current European wars, even if one side loses in the field, as long as there are sufficient bastions to defend the base area, then there is still enough time and capital to make a comeback, so there are often protracted siege battles in the war. While building a fortress requires considerable energy and wealth, besieging it takes more effort and casualties, sometimes lasting months or even years. In the limited war-time seasons of the year, a commander would be lucky if he could conquer one or two.

For example, before that, the Spanish Empire and the Dutch fought an eighty-year counterinsurgency war. Because the Spanish army was very elite and could not resist the field, the Dutch people made extensive use of fortresses as a means of defense, and as a result, the Spanish were struggling in the Netherlands. The Spanish counterinsurgency consumed a lot of manpower and financial resources, and their state declined, and finally had to recognize the independence of the Netherlands.

Encouraged by the results of the actual battle, the countries of the continent competed to build large fortresses. For example, the king of France spent a lot of effort to build a series of fortresses around the capital Paris, turning the entire capital region into a large fortress.

As a French engineer, François-Missoule has been involved in these fortification projects for many years and has gained a wealth of experience. Because of his early correspondence with the Han Dynasty's Admiral Louie, he was invited when the Han Dynasty was first established, and was hired by the Han court to China with a high salary to work on fortifications and fortresses.

And his mind is quite good, and he is good at drilling, so he was appreciated by Xu Housheng, the minister of the Han Dynasty, very early, and was particularly important, and now he has become the director of the fortress project.

At present, there are many Westerners who came to the Han Dynasty and were appointed by the imperial court, active in the fields of architecture, navigation, machinery, astronomy, etc., and they can be roughly divided into three types of people:

The first type is the missionaries, who come to China with religious zeal, hoping to spread the glory of the Lord in China, although they are happy to share their knowledge and experience, but they only regard this as an auxiliary to the mission, so this kind of people are restricted by the Han people, although they do not exclude their help, but they cannot hold extremely important positions, and the scope of their activities is also limited.

The second group of people does not have such great religious fervor, they come to China only to earn a good income, and since European countries are generally not as rich as China at present, they can only get several times the previous income here. However, although they earn money here, they still have their hometown in their hearts, and they plan to go back to reunite with their families after earning a sum of money. Such people are much less restricted and can hold certain managerial positions.

The third group of people is even less religious, they do not mind that China is a pagan country, but are happy that they have been given the opportunity to make a big difference. They are generally happy to integrate into Chinese society and want to stay in China.

Marshal Louis and François-Missoule were such men, and after a few years in China, the attentive Missoule practiced Chinese in his spare time, and soon became proficient in the language, winning the admiration of his immediate superior, Duke and Minister of Industry, Xu Housheng, with his attentive and cooperative attitude.

After winning appreciation for his expertise and loyalty, he, like his friend Louis, chose to become a subject of the Han Emperor and secured an official position in China. What's more, in order to better reflect his heart of integration, he also gave himself the Chinese name Misu - those who don't know think that he chose this name because of his admiration for Chinese calligraphy.

Misu does not regard the position in front of him as his end, he is bent on relying on the protection of his boss to climb to a higher position. Although he knew that the culture and system of China and France were very different, he felt that the duke must have great influence in the government and court, and he wanted to use this influence to win greater benefits for himself, and it was best to become a noble lord of the Great Han Kingdom, so that the small local nobles in his hometown were coveted.

Therefore, when Xu Housheng really brought the prince to him and told him to carefully guide the prince to inspect the fortress project, he felt sincerely happy in his heart, and he wanted to take the opportunity to please the prince, so he spoke very exaggeratedly-after all, young people like to exaggerate.

Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not as happy as he imagined, and he didn't say anything about him so warmly, but continued to calmly hold the telescope and look at the fortress in the distance.

He was not a professional, and he didn't know anything about architecture, so he didn't really feel anything about this Westerner's words—anyway, he knew that officials in the world liked to boast about their exploits and cover up their mistakes, so he naturally had some reservations.