The imperial capital is Chang'an

"Fooling around ......"

After learning the cause of the incident at the venue, Emperor Richard smiled affectionately and tolerantly, but just said two words dotingly, and then stopped paying attention.

The courtiers of the Imperial Government understood this, and immediately dealt with the "meeting place incident" as a minor and trivial matter, and turned a deaf ear to the strong protest of the Canadian government.

London was also surprisingly silent, after all, the Royal Navy had been tossing outside the port of Santos in São Paulo for so long that it hadn't even splashed a little water, and its muscles showed a sense of loneliness.

What other effective measures can be taken in such a situation?

The good news is that after the summit, the Royal Navy fleet received invitations from the Confederate States of America and the United States of America to visit the ports, and on their return they could visit the ports on the East Coast, where they would receive a warm reception.

The Tang Empire's ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic side also welcomed the British Royal Fleet, showing intimacy.

But this intimacy is a mixed feeling, and after seeing the embarrassment of having almost no place in the whole of America, the British will no longer be arrogant about their global invincibility.

At least the arrogance of the British Royal Navy does not work in the Americas. Without the permission of the Tang Empire, you can't even find a supply port, let alone anything else?

The exchange between Tang and Britain was very measured, and they also tested the bottom line of the policy by showing each other's muscles, which can be said to have gained a lot of money.

Emperor Richard has been in a good mood recently, the fifty-second son of the emperor has just been born for a few days, and several concubines in the palace have bodies, the royal family of the Tang Empire has spread out, and the heirs are prosperous, which is a sign of the prosperity of the Tang royal family!

Taking advantage of the new harvest of the imperial colonization, Emperor Richard decreed that a group of concubines and 20 princes were canonized, all of whom were named untitled dukes.

Untitled dukes are all second-class dukes, and their rank is second to that of the grand duke and the first-class duke of the empire.

When they reach adulthood, they can receive royal entitlements, but their noble titles will be reduced from generation to generation in the future, and they will not be hereditary.

For example, in a second-class duke's family, his son is demoted to the rank of marquis, and his grandchildren are to be counts, and so on and so on, after the last baron, the next generation is a commoner.

However, if there are outstanding people in the future generations and meritorious service, such royal children are more likely to be promoted to knighthoods, and even obtain the honor of hereditary nobility.

Fengqi Palace of the East Palace

This is the residence of Queen Lin, the splendid hall is spacious and bright, the high Bogu shelf is placed with priceless treasures, and the ground is paved with the best Spanish beige granite slabs, which looks graceful and rich and atmospheric.

Above the main hall

Emperor Richard and Empress Lin sat side by side on the dragon and phoenix couch, and the two sides were full of concubines and concubines dressed up to attend, as well as the princes and concubines who entered the palace to ask for peace.

The eldest is in his teens, and the younger is only three or four years old, but he already knows the rules of etiquette very well.

These princes and grandchildren take turns to present their talents to His Majesty the Emperor, reciting a few poems, singing a song or dancing or something, full of strong royal warmth.

Every month, His Majesty the Emperor will take a day out to meet with the princes, princesses, and grandchildren, and reward some palace cakes, Ouchi secret beauty cream, all kinds of delicate gadgets, etc., and every child who performs will be rewarded.

This is a day that all the court involutions are eager for, and it is also a festival for children, and many children can only see the face of heaven and enjoy the precious pleasure of their father's care.

After singing, Emperor Richard called the three princesses to his side and asked a few words, rewarding some delicate gadgets, which made the excited faces of the three little princesses glow.

After thanking His Majesty, he hopped back to the side.

"Over the years, such a big family business in the palace has been managed by Queen Lao, and I am very relieved to see that the princes and grandchildren are very well-behaved!" Emperor Richard sat on the top with a leisurely expression, and when he saw the prince who was performing next, he nodded and signaled that it was time to start, chatting with Empress Lin in his mouth.

Empress Lin turned sideways and said in her mouth;

"The concubine has just done her duty, Your Majesty is responsible for the affairs of the Emperor at home and abroad, making decisions on the well-being of hundreds of millions of people, and doing earth-shattering causes.

The concubines are only a female stream, but they are anxious but can't help at all, so they can only help His Majesty to regulate the inner palace and do everything they can.

The sixth house is safe, and His Majesty can also concentrate on the big things outside.

The only thing that the concubines are worried about is His Majesty's dragon body, although His Majesty is gifted, far from being something that ordinary people can look up to.

But after all, the color is a steel knife that scrapes bones, and no matter how strong the body is, it can't withstand the grinding of those foxes, which is what the concubines are most worried about.

I think that the territory of the Tang Empire is thousands of miles, rich and billions of people from all over the world, all of which were pioneered by the emperor's strength, and His Majesty is indispensable for a moment to sit in the center and stabilize the world.

The concubines only wish that Your Majesty will cherish herself, take this world and the great cause of the empire as your mind, and take good care of the dragon's body! ”

Hearing Empress Lin mention this matter again, Emperor Richard coughed slightly in embarrassment, and then replied;

"What the queen said is very much, I should be more restrained, and the weekly patrol has been reduced from the previous 5 days to 3 days, and every 35 is separated by a sign, is this good?"

"Your Majesty is wise and wise, and the concubines congratulate the subjects of the world and the empire, and they are terrified."

"The queen is too modest, huh...... Hehe...... Not bad, good, reward! ”

Emperor Richard saw that the young prince below had performed, so he rewarded him with a warm smile, and coaxed the child to jump away excitedly.

What Empress Lin said is true, although His Majesty the Emperor is over forty years old, he is still a dragon and a tiger, and the concubines are changing every day.

Sometimes, several young concubines go into battle together, and they can make His Majesty happy.

Nowadays, a group of old court concubines no longer serve the emperor, most of them have princes and princesses, and the green lantern ancient Buddha cultivates their minds, and their bodies and bones can't withstand such a rude toss from the emperor.

The thirty show girls who have recently entered the palace are only fourteen or fifteen years old, and they are all white-skinned, beautiful and long-legged types that the emperor likes. Especially the developmental lordosis and posterior warp are more pampered, and they have been fortunate to have passed it over for a few months.

With so many little foxes obsessed, even if Your Majesty is covered in iron, how many nails can he hit?

Fortunately, His Majesty has a deep relationship with Queen Lin, and he will come to the East Palace every week to rest for a day, talk to the queen, talk about the parents in the palace, and the marriage of the prince and princess.

Generally speaking, His Majesty the Emperor will not ask about these trivial matters, and they are mainly based on Empress Lin's opinions.

This established Queen Lin's high prestige in the Six Palaces, even if she was a favorite concubine, she was unshakable, and there were many less sour and jealous disputes.

The time of joy and joy is always short-lived, and after more than two hours, Emperor Richard saw that some of the young princes and grandchildren were beginning to doze off, so he raised his hand and said;

"That's it, pass on my will to give a feast, and the queen will enjoy it with all the concubines and children, and there is no need to be restrained.

I was a little tired, and I drove back to the palace. ”

"Concubines and others send your majesty, long live your majesty, long live, long live!" The queen and all the concubines saluted together.

Emperor Richard waved his hand, strode away, and then sat back to the palace in the lion and tiger cloud.

If the saint drove here, the concubines and the princes and grandchildren would inevitably be restrained, and the food would be neither happy nor lively.

Sure enough, when the figure of His Majesty the Emperor disappeared outside the main hall. There was a complete laughter from the children in the Fengqi Palace, even the majesty of Queen Lin could not be suppressed, and the joy filled the entire court.

After dinner

The twilight reflects the rippling Taiye Pool, and the golden sunset renders a royal atmosphere to the beautiful scenery of the palace, which looks solemn and quiet.

Sitting on the cloud couch by the water pavilion, there were only a few white tiger beasts lying prone next to Richard, among which there was a white lion tiger beast, all of which were lying lazily on the floor of the hall.

Since returning to Chang'an, the imperial capital, after inspecting the construction site of the Nicaragua Canal last year, Emperor Richard has not left the palace for more than a year.

Originally, at the St. Paul Summit, Emperor Richard was ready to join in the excitement by himself, but he was persuaded hard by a group of courtiers, so he had no choice but to let His Royal Highness the crown prince Don Li Gan do it for him and go on this trip.

Emperor Richard is an idle master, the empire has faced a worldwide economic recession crisis in the past two years, and the economic situation at home and abroad is quite grim, so he has the patience to sit in the imperial capital Chang'an.

In order to stimulate social demand and stimulate consumption, the empire did not hesitate to launch the Second South American War and vigorously promoted large-scale infrastructure construction, pulling the entire economy out of the quagmire of recession.

In 1872, the overall economy of the Tang Empire showed a rapid growth rate of 11.2%, and the situation was very good.

However, at the beginning of 1873, it was suddenly hit by a cold snap of the world economic crisis, and in the first quarter the national economic growth fell off a cliff to about 3%, facing the danger of continuing to decline to negative growth.

Through various favorable measures, the economic growth of 4.33% in 1873 was barely maintained, which was a very impressive achievement compared to the negative growth of a large number of European countries, including Britain and France.

The only rival is Germany, which, after receiving a large war reparations of 5 billion francs, has built a large number of civil projects to develop infrastructure and industry and agriculture, and has achieved an economic growth rate of 7.3% in the face of a severe economic crisis, which is unique in the world.

In 1874, the imperial economy was still very stable in the midst of the intensifying world economic crisis, with an average growth rate of 4.75% in the first, second and third quarters, showing signs of steady improvement.

Another outstanding performer was Germany, which grew by 11.7 percent in the first three quarters of 1874.

This is because the German economy is relatively small, the degree of industrialization is still in the initial stage, and after receiving a large amount of capital injection, the development of the entire industry and agriculture has begun to take off, and the economy is simply hot.

It is estimated that in two or three years, it will soon exceed the overall level of the French national economy.

Comparatively

The British Empire was in a real recession, with the overall economic recession ranging from -3.1% ...... -3.42% in the first three quarters of 1873 to 1874, especially in foreign exports.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Finance of the Tang Empire, sometime in the second quarter of 1875, the overall economic level of the Tang Empire will surpass that of the United Kingdom, so as to sit on the throne of the world's largest economic power and achieve the first historic breakthrough.

By the end of 1875, the total population of the entire empire would exceed the 100 million mark, achieving the second historic breakthrough.

After nearly 30 years of struggle, the Tang Empire has finally made brilliant achievements in the fields of population and economic aggregate that have attracted the attention of the world.

This made Richard feel heartfelt pride, the development of the past 30 years has led the rise of the Tang Empire in North America, and has changed the situation in the entire Americas.

The next thing he wants to change is the situation in the world.

It was early October 1874

Now Emperor Richard is most concerned about the turmoil in Xinjiang that has lasted for 10 years, and as in the original history, the cancer of Xinjiang has reached the point where it cannot be eradicated.

The Manchu court also recognized this, and planned to take the elite men and horses of Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, as the core, and enter Xinjiang to suppress the bandits and quell the rebellion, drive out the Russians who were in rebellion in Xinjiang, and regain full control of this land.

The Xinjiang Rebellion began in 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi) when the Uyghur and Hui rebellions shattered Manchu rule. Five separatist regimes emerged, including Yinli, Kucha, Urumqi, Kashgar, and Hotan.

In addition, the invasion of Aguba in 1865 and the involvement of British and Russian forces in the Xinjiang Rebellion further complicated the original situation.

The weakness of the Qing court further fueled the rampant rebellion, and in 1865 (the fourth year of the reign of Tongzhi), Aguba, who was the most powerful, first expelled Sidik and forcibly occupied the new city of Kashgar, and then captured Ingishal.

In the same year, a defeated army of 7,000 men from Kokand defected to Aguba, further strengthening its strength.

At the end of 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi), Agubo booby-trapped Habibullah and annexed the secession regime centered on Hotan.

In 1867 (the sixth year of Tongzhi), Aguba eliminated the Kucha-centered regime, reached Karasar (now Yanqi) and Korla, established the "Zhedeshar Khanate", and established himself as Khan.

In 1870 (the ninth year of Tongzhi), Agubo invaded northern Xinjiang again, occupying Urumqi and Turpan. So far, all of southern Xinjiang and part of northern Xinjiang have been invaded by Aguba.

meanwhile

In 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi), Tsarist Russia took advantage of the uprising of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang to force the Qing court to sign the "Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary", which ceded more than 440,000 square kilometers of territory in northwest China.

Tsarist Russia launched a major campaign against the Kokand Khanate, the Bukhara Khanate, and the Khiva Khanate, destroying the three Central Asian states one after another. This was followed by a large-scale invasion of the Yinli area and an attempt to occupy Urumqi.

After conquering the Indian subcontinent, the British then turned their attention to Tibet and southern Xinjiang north of the Karakoram Mountains.

The British and Indian authorities sent people into southern Xinjiang many times, and Aguba was suspicious of Tsarist Russia and hoped to get asylum from the British.

As a result, the two sides hit it off, and on February 2, 1874, the British Mission signed a formal treaty with Aquba, and the British traded, stationed and granted many privileges in the area ruled by Aguba.

All of the above indicates

The ulcer in Xinjiang was growing bigger and bigger, and it was already a serious threat to the rule of the Qing court, and if the poisonous sores were not removed, it could spread from Xinjiang to Tibet, Qinghai, and Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, which could lead to the complete destruction of Qing rule.

In particular, the insatiable desire of the Russians aroused a high degree of vigilance in the Qing court, and the Qing court ordered Jing Lian, Cheng Lu and others to lead the army to try to recover Urumqi and other places as soon as possible, so that Liu Mingchuan led the Huai army out of the customs, and also ordered Zuo Zongtang to "take care of everything".

Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, was the main fighting faction in the Qing court, and he had already prepared for a possible war to recover Xinjiang, and the emergency situation in Yin Li and Urumqi made him determined to open the road into Xinjiang in advance.

As early as January 1872, Xu Zhanbiao was ordered by Zuo Zongtang to march into Suzhou, opening a passage for the march into Xinjiang.

On November 13, 1873, the Qing army captured Suzhou, which finally opened the way for the Qing court to send troops to Xinjiang.

At the beginning of 1874, Zuo Zongtang further dispatched Zhang Yao's "Songwu Army" to arrive at Yumen Pass, and sent Zhang Yao's troops to Hami to prepare for the invasion of Xinjiang.

Many years ago

The Tang Empire had already granted kerosene franchises to Shaanxi, Gansu, Huguang and other provinces, and through Hu Xueyan to convey benefits to the Hunan army, reaching a huge amount of 4.4 million taels of silver a year.

After 6 years of accumulation, the strength of Zuo Zongtang's department has increased greatly, and the elite battalion leaders have used smoothbore muskets, many of which are equipped with Mini rifles, and their combat effectiveness is considerable.

But what troubled Zuo Zongtang to regain the heart of Xinjiang was the imperial court, the Manchu court party and government were fierce, and the internal turmoil was serious.

The Qing court traditionally favored the "old family of Feng Hao" (mainly referring to the Manchu magnates) in the appointment of frontier officials, and still could not fully trust Han ministers like Zuo Zongtang, fearing that the tail would not be lost.

up to now

Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, was only responsible for transporting grain and wages, and could not fully act for border affairs, and his power was also seriously checked and balanced by Yuan Baoheng, so he could not exert his strength.

In addition, the imperial court had no food and money, and it was extremely difficult for the provinces to pay salaries, and it was impossible for Zuo Zongtang to make wedding clothes for others, so this matter was delayed.

This is the kind of virtue of an agricultural country, and fighting a battle is like vomiting two liters of blood, which is extremely destructive.

There is neither money nor food, and corruption and internal friction are still serious, which can be said to be difficult step by step, which makes people anxious and angry.

Such an example of the Tang Empire, the Manchus could not learn at all.

The Tang Empire produced too much grain, too much industrial products, and too many agricultural and animal husbandry products. However, it encountered an international economic crisis, resulting in a sharp decline in exports.

This requires large-scale consumption of production capacity through war, ensuring that factories are open, agricultural and animal husbandry products can be sold, and the overall economy can maintain stable operation, so that it will not fall into the quagmire of big ups and downs.

Some people may question why the extra agricultural and animal husbandry products of the Tang Empire were not supported to the Qing Dynasty?

From the end of 1874, there was a great famine throughout the country, and the situation became more and more serious due to insect plague and spring drought and autumn floods.

The severe famine that will engulf almost most of the country's provinces will last for several years, displacing tens of millions of people and killing countless others.

In fact, it's not that simple

If you want to say which power in the world is most feared by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it should be the Tang Dynasty, headed by the Tang Empire, which guards the Han dynasty in everything and regards it as a serious threat to life.

In the eyes of the Manchu court, Tsarist Russia wanted the northwest land, the British wanted interests, and the Tang Dynasty wanted the life of the Qing court!

If the Tang Dynasty supports tens of thousands of tons of grain, I am afraid that the rulers of the Qing court will not be able to sleep, and would rather starve to death than accept this kindness.