"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing court will not be at ease in the west, and the British and Tsarist Russia are expanding their influence in Central Asia, and I'm afraid that they will collude with these two countries." Gu Song said.

"Collusion, collusion, it is better to collude tightly, and when the time comes, Tsarist Russia and the Britons will be beaten together."

Emperor Zhu waved his hand nonchalantly and said.

After these years of growth, Emperor Zhu's symptoms of oceanophobia have improved.

In his opinion.

The military power of the Ming Dynasty was already strong enough, especially on land.

Needless to say, the Britons were a joke if their lobster soldiers were to face a country with hundreds of thousands of new army forces alone.

The Britons had to form gangs when they intervened in Europe, and they only dared to act after having a large group of allies.

Otherwise, with the strength of a small island country on their own, it is impossible to confront a continent.

Tsarist Russia had a large number of land forces.

But now is the time of industrialization.

Tsarist Russia's industrial strength is not to mention that it is comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is placed in Europe, it is only second-rate.

In essence, Tsarist Russia is still a serfdom country.

It can have a large number of troops, but in terms of national strength, even if the territory of Tsarist Russia is so vast, the industrial strength of Tsarist Russia is still not enough to support them in a long-term confrontation with the Ming Dynasty.

Especially in the lands of the East.

So.

Emperor Zhu was not afraid of Britain and Tsarist Russia at all.

It would be better for them to collude with the Qing court and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In the future, if the Ming Dynasty moves, it can also push the northwest frontier in the direction of Europe by the way.

In fact, in the Western Regions, Central Asia,

There is no shortage of soil for farming.

For example, the oasis belt at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, the Fergana Basin, and the black soil of the Tangnu-Uliang Sea through which the Yenisei River flows.

These places were divided by deserts and next doors, so that it was very difficult for the Central Plains Dynasty to completely control them.

But now it's the age of industrialization.

The control of territory in the era of industrialization is not comparable to that of the agricultural era.

Tsarist Russia was able to control Siberia in modern times.

So why can't China firmly control the Western Regions and Central Asia in the era of industrialization?

Since the Manchus showed signs of fleeing to the west, Emperor Zhu of course wanted to add fuel to the fire, and finally took advantage of the reason to pursue the Manchus, and moved the agricultural land of Central Asia to the south, build cities, invest in minerals such as coal, iron and oil, and immigrate to the tuntian, turning Central Asia into a paradise for the Han people!

If Central Asia can be firmly controlled, to the north can be allowed to threaten Tsarist Russia, to the west the front of the Middle East oil fields, to the south is to firmly control the Indian vassals, it can be said that the strategic level of the entire Eurasian continent will be controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

Historically.

The Red Empire that controls Central Asia will be able to compete with the Mi Emperor, who has mastered the two oceans of the East and the West, by virtue of its geographical advantage on the Eurasian continent and the superiority of the army of the steel torrent.

"There are four main things in front of us right now." Zhu Daohua looked at the ministers under his command and said.

"One of them is the Battle of the Central Plains!"

Zhu Daohua stretched out a finger: "Now the Ming Dynasty has all Jiangnan, Huguang, and Lianghuai, and the Central Plains is left with Henan and Zhili that have not yet been recovered, but the two places belong to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Court." ”

"This Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has caused too much damage to the locality, so we must block them to the west of Kaifeng and Henan, and not let them flow to Lianghuai, Shandong and other places."

"In this winter, it is necessary to launch the northern and southern armies to attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, drive it back to Guanzhong, and completely sweep away the troubles, and then after the beginning of spring, the two armies will join forces to form the Northern Expeditionary Army, cooperate with the Liaodong Army to flank the Qing court, and before May next year, the forces of the Qing court will be completely expelled from the Central Plains!"

Zhu Daohua's voice echoed in the conference room.

The ministers' faces also became serious.

Since ancient times, the dynasty of the Central Plains can be called orthodox.

If the Qing court can be completely expelled from the Central Plains, then the Qing Dynasty will be reduced to the Northern Qing Dynasty.

And the Ming Dynasty is even the real orthodox dynasty in the world.

However, the goal of driving the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom out of Henan and expelling the Qing court from Zhili and occupying the Central Plains must be completed by May next year.

It seems to be a bit difficult from a time point of view.

However, this at least shows that Emperor Zhu is determined to completely recover the Central Plains.

"Now there are 40,000 soldiers in the army under Zhao Si, and next month I will transfer 10,000 dragoons and 10,000 foot soldiers, I will personally lead the army across the Yangtze River and join forces with Zhao Si, if Liu Zhixie doesn't want to be my king of Pingxi, then fight in Henan first!"

Gu Song looked at the map, and then frowned: "Your Majesty, there are only 60,000 soldiers in total, is this a little too few, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has 60,000 old battalion soldiers in Henan, 100,000 soldiers in the inner battalion, and countless cannon fodder in the outer battalion."

"Enough! And we don't have a lot of troops to go out. ”

Zhu Daohua shook his head and said.

Now the Ming Army has a total of thirty-five brigades.

The total number of troops is less than 180,000.

There were eight brigades of 40,000 men on the side of the Liaodong Army.

Zhao Si had eight brigades and 40,000 on his side.

This is the 80,000 mobile regiment fighting abroad.

Yingtianfu and Guangzhou each had 20,000 garrisons on rotation.

Then deduct the garrisons of each important place.

It is not easy to allocate another 20,000 troops.

"The Taiping army can only fight with tens of thousands of soldiers, but their equipment and training are very backward, although they have blood and bravery, my 60,000 soldiers are enough to drive them away."

Zhu Daohua was actually not worried about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the government soldiers were indeed very willing to fight, but their equipment was too poor.

Now the Ming army is heavily equipped with rifled guns, Miner, and a large number of rifled guns, as well as mortars, and grenades.

On the Taiping side, arquebuses were still common, and only about 20,000 of Liu Zhixie's direct troops were equipped with flintlock pistols.

In terms of organizational form, the Ming army basically had unified military orders, and under the kneading of the staff departments at all levels, it was already a completely modernized form of army organization.

On the side of the Taiping Army, it was mainly a large collection of feudal lords with each king and marquis commanding private soldiers.

Not to mention the huge gap between the two sides in terms of national strength and reserve combat strength.

If Liu Zhixie does not accept the position of King of Daming Pingxi, he has to fight.

Then Zhu Daohua thinks that it is not a bad thing to let Liu Zhixie see the huge gap between the two sides.

"The Central Plains battlefield can only increase the number of troops by 20,000." Zhu Daohua said, "Sichuan Province can't drag it out, Youcheng, it's better for Sichuan to take it." ”

Zhu Daohua looked at Gu Song and smiled.

Now Zhao Si is making contributions in the Central Plains.

The old brother Gu Song also needs a little credit, and in the future, the earliest civil and military generals around him will also be able to go further because of his merits.

I have to say that Emperor Zhu is really nostalgic.

But Emperor Zhu also has his own considerations, he wants to create a Ming meritorious aristocratic group around the Ming royal family to surround the imperial family, to balance the power of the landlords and scholars who still have a lot of influence.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty was a troika of horses, one was the meritorious aristocratic group of the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the other was the Confucian scholars of the landlords and scholars, and the other was the emerging industrial capitalists.

And Emperor Zhu believes that with the development of the times.

Sooner or later, the class of landlords and scholars will decline, some of them may become the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, and some of them will transform into capitalists.

And.

The Ming royal family itself is the largest capital group.

In the future, the two forces in the upper echelons of the Ming Dynasty were both aristocratic chaebols or private capitalists representing advanced productive forces

But it's really too advanced. Ah, it's really reactionary.

"Sichuan?" Gu Song was stunned for a moment, and then immediately reacted.

This is the opportunity for the emperor to give him meritorious service.

"The minister is willing to share the emperor's worries." Gu Song hurriedly agreed.

"Right Prime Minister, now that you want to collect Sichuan, the imperial court can only divide 10,000 soldiers, how do you plan to use 10,000 soldiers to collect all Sichuan provinces?" Zhu Daohua asked.

Gu Song smiled slightly, 10,000 soldiers are enough.

"Your Majesty, the trouble in Sichuan Province is not in the military, although there are many regimental exercises in Sichuan, but the Qing court can no longer control the territory of Sichuan, and the large and small regimental training groups are leaderless, why be afraid?"

"You only need to do it step by step, three points of suppression, seven points of care, Sichuan can be determined!"

"How do you caress it?"

"Your Majesty, the minister's method is also simple, surrender and lose half, and stubbornly resist the whole family." Gu Song said with a smile.

Emperor Zhu couldn't help laughing.

"Good! A good one surrenders and loses half, and the whole family stubbornly resists to death! Sichuan Province can also be determined. ”

Arranged the affairs of the Central Plains and Sichuan.

Emperor Zhu looked at the officials in Guangdong and Nanyang again.

"Luo Jiangong, since we won the naval battle in the Indian Ocean, then you don't need to take care of the war on the Indian continent, Sun Shiyi will handle it himself, but you have to send someone to speed Sun Shiyi, don't rush forward, don't be greedy, step by step, and be safe."

"I understand."

Luo Jiangong hurriedly said.

After winning the naval battle.

There is no obstacle for Daming's goods to enter the Indian market.

Therefore, expansion on land is not urgent.

Now it was the Britons who were in a hurry to fight.

Zhu Daohua didn't want Sun Shiyi's side to rush to war with the Britons before he could gain a firm foothold.

In case of defeat.

Wouldn't the invincible image of the Ming Dynasty among the Indian princely states be greatly reduced?

This is not conducive to the Ming diplomatic offensive in the Indian subcontinent - after the Maratha has been settled.

The fleet of the Ming Dynasty has appeared in the Arabian Gulf.

The diplomatic missions of the Ming Dynasty also began to cooperate with the Mughal Empire, the Talpur Dynasty, and the Kalat Khanate in North India.

At the same time, a series of chain reactions after the defeat of the British Eastern Intervention Fleet also appeared.

Several countries in the ancient Persian region, such as the Durrani dynasty, the Qajar dynasty, and the Sander dynasty, also began to come into contact with the Ming dynasty.

The countries of the Arabian Peninsula and the east coast of Africa also felt the impact of the rise of the Ming Empire.

Whatever the purpose.

Whether facing Daming's mentality, it is welcome or fearful.

For the countries of this region.

The fact that the Ming Empire is the new hegemon of the east and west coasts of the South Asian subcontinent, off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and west of the east coast of Africa is already a certainty.

How to deal with this new overlord.

It's something that countries in this region have to think about and adapt to.

And with the support of the fleet of the Great Ming.

This piece of trade order will eventually belong to the Ming Empire, which has this piece of sea power.

Of course.

This effect deepens over time.

At least

Now the new overlord, the Ming Empire, has not yet made too many waves in the Indian Ocean

Because.

For the Ming Empire.

The fundamental purpose of mobilizing troops in the Indian Ocean, thousands of miles away, was to ensure the smooth flow of trade routes and the financial security of the Ming Dynasty, and now this purpose has been achieved.

Then the main attention shifted to the country, which is not yet fully unified.

That's a natural thing to do.

After dealing with and arranging the affairs against India, Java, and Luzon in Guangzhou.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Daohua left Guangzhou in late December, sailed north, and returned to the central capital of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of chapter)