Liaobei.

On the shores of Xingkai Lake.

The four thousand Cossacks led by Mikhail, the governor of Eastern Siberia in Tsarist Russia, now have just over two thousand left.

The Cossacks killed by the Ming army alone were almost thousands

In the process of escaping, hundreds of people got lost.

So now on the shore of Xingkai Lake, there are only more than 2,000 defeated soldiers who have lost their armor.

Such a major failure is quite rare in the course of Russia's continuous eastward expansion.

When Kangxi personally conquered Nebuchu, Tsarist Russia did not lose so many people.

This is actually quite normal, because the indigenous tribes in Western Leah are too backward, and the place is too bitter and cold, and there are not many people who could carry it.

Moreover, Tsarist Russia's expansion from Eastern Europe to Western Lia also benefited from several large rivers, which could be used to allocate and replenish materials through the summer lockdown period.

Geographically, the core of China is closer to Siberia.

But if the Chinese regime is to take an interest in Siberia, it will have to rely on land for logistics.

No river can cross the desert north and south to reach the heart of Siberia.

On the contrary, it is not as convenient as Tsarist Russia in the projection of power.

And this is the temptation of the army to go south.

The results have also been separated.

The Cossacks were no match for the Ming army at all.

With only 2,000 men and almost no casualties, the 4,000 Cossacks fled with rifled guns with longer range and lighter and more powerful mortars.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party was cautious enough and didn't venture north to pursue.

It is not certain whether a thousand of these 4,000 Cossacks will escape in the end.

The Ming Dynasty occupied Liaodong and Vladivostok, and did not have time to completely occupy all the original Manchurian regions.

The Eight Banners outside the Qing Dynasty were basically defeated by the Ming army, and many of the people of the Eight Banners fled into the deep mountains and old forests, and many people were frozen to death and starved to death in this winter.

So a vacuum was formed in the Heilongjiang River basin, which gave the Eastern Siberian Governorate of Tsarist Russia a chance.

I fled for two days without stopping.

After confirming that the army of the Ming Empire would not be in pursuit.

Mikhail breathed a sigh of relief.

He leaned against a big tree in the arms of several people and rested, and Mikhail, who had already boiled the ice and took a few sips of hot water, felt the heat of his body return, and had time to think about the gains and losses of this battle.

"The Ming Empire is not an Ottoman after all, and the Chinese are not Turks after all."

Mikhail said with a sigh.

"Their commander was actually too cautious, and if it weren't for that, maybe all of us would have to stay in Vladivostok."

Hearing this, Radishev said: "Your Excellency, I really don't understand, what does Her Royal Highness the Empress in the Kremlin think? Does she really want to go to war with such a super empire? This is tantamount to self-destruction for the Slavic peoples! ”

Mikhail frowned slightly: "Although I don't agree with the queen's actions against the Ming Empire, but when it comes to self-destruction, it's a bit exaggerated, right?" ”

"Is it an exaggeration?" Radishev shook his head and said, "Has His Excellency the General forgotten the history of the Golden Horde?" ”

"Mongols? The Mongols are now in a difficult position to protect themselves. Mikhail said.

"No, it's Chinese!" "I've studied the history of China, and if the concept of Chinese is broadly speaking, it can actually cover the farming areas and nomadic areas of East Asia, haven't you noticed that whether it is the Mongols or the Manchurians, they will call themselves orthodox and call themselves Chinese when they enter the agricultural areas of China? ”

"The concept of China is sometimes not a national concept in the East, and you must not apply the European state system to Chinese civilization."

Radishev's research during his time in the East has apparently gone a little deeper.

"What do you mean?" Mikhail frowned.

"In fact, the Mongols can be Chinese, and the Manchurians can be Chinese. But they will not turn into Russians. Radischev spread his hands and said, "Although I don't know what the Chinese Emperor thinks, but. . . If he chooses to arm the Mongols and launch a nomadic attack on Eastern Europe, will Russia be able to withstand it? ”

When Mikhail heard this, a large number of Mongols on horseback, cattle and sheep, armed with rifled guns and mortars, flocked to Moscow, and his scalp suddenly became numb.

"yes. It is clearly unwise to provoke China. Mikhail muttered.

Tsarist Russia was strong, but their neighbor to the southeast was even stronger.

Mikhail in Beijing and the Russian ambassador to the Qing Empire, Vasily. Lavrov has communicated.

The Ming Empire is a burgeoning industrial empire with a thriving industry, and they are quite technologically advanced, especially in the world's leading position in machinery and medicine!

Moreover, the industrial output of the Ming Empire was extremely huge, and there were a large number of factories powered by steam engines in the Pearl River Estuary and the Yangtze River Estuary.

Although they also had a large number of tenant farmers, their tenant farmers were freedmen, and the enlightened Chinese emperor freed all slaves (abolished untouchables) and encouraged peasants to move from the countryside to the cities to earn a living, while also encouraging newcomers to more abundant land areas.

It's a thriving super empire.

Russia, on the other hand.

Industrially, there are only a few small handicrafts, and advanced machinery such as the steam engine cannot be produced.

It was essentially an agrarian country, even a country of serfdom!

Such a country is going to an all-out war with the Ming Empire.

Maybe be able to win a battle or two.

But can Russia win a long war with the Chinese?

See Mikhail league dignified.

"It's a miracle that Russia can expand to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and its expansion in the East should end here, and seek peace with the Chinese, the Chinese will not like Siberia, they prefer Southeast Asia, Australia, and North America," Radischev said.

"The Ming Empire has risen, and Russia's goal in Eurasia should not be to seek war with the Ming Empire, but to seek a balance between the East and the West as much as possible, and we must not overstimulate and provoke the Chinese." Because it may bring us a catastrophe that we cannot bear! ”

Mikhail nodded slightly.

He also knows this.

But

Do the Russian nobles in Moscow, and the empress, know this?

In their minds, China may be a closed empire that is behind the times, right?

And

The position of the empress was achieved through a coup d'état, and there was no small opposition to her within Russia.

However, the Slavic nation admired the strongman of war, so the empress had to constantly provoke wars and expand to consolidate her position.

Maybe a war with the Chinese is exactly what she is after.

The Slavs were not afraid of war, and Empress Catherine needed war too.

The skirmish in Vladivostok has, to a certain extent, made Zhu Daohua, the son of the Great Tomorrow, rethink his strategy against Manchuria.

"The expansion of the Russians has actually not invested much force."

Zhu Daohua rode on the horse and said to Tao Biquan beside him.

After capturing Qianlong, capturing tens of thousands of Eight Banners, and even Manchu generals such as Fukangan, Erle Dengbao, and Mingliang were captured.

Including Hejian Prefecture, Tianjin Prefecture, Yizhou, Xuanhua and other state capitals that were still under the rule of Qing court officials, there was almost no possibility of resistance.

When Zhu Daohua was traveling in a northeasterly direction.

Tianjin Mansion has been lowered.

Before this, Zhu Daohua had already ordered the Central Cabinet, the Generalissimo's Mansion and other central officials to go north by boat to Tianjin Mansion to make peace with Emperor Zhu.

With the decisive victory of the Battle of the North.

It was only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty took the entire Han land.

However, there are still a lot of remaining problems.

First of all, of course, it was necessary to drive out the remnants of the Qing court and try not to cause too much damage to the local area.

The second is the issue of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

It is necessary to urge Qi Lin, the king of Pingxi, to go west as soon as possible.

To take Guanzhong, Shanxi and other places, the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as reluctant and unified.

The other is how to deal with the problem of Manchuria.

What to do with the Eight Banners of Manchuria who captured so many people, and what to do with the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

There is also the problem of the two Qing Dynasty emperors in the capital.

In addition, it is necessary to sort out the area, restore production, provide relief to the victims, and so on.

These problems are not something that Emperor Zhu himself can make a decision with a pat on his head and solve them quickly.

Emperor Zhu is not an immortal, he still has to discuss with his cabinet officials, officials and subordinates of various ministries, and local representatives.

"The Russians actually used the Cossacks to complete their expansion to the east, and they didn't actually send too large an army." Zhu Daohua continued, "So I'm not worried about what large-scale engagement Tsarist Russia will seek, I'm worried about endless border conflicts. ”

Tao Biquan also frowned when he heard this.

If the Cossacks of Tsarist Russia harassed the border every day, it would be really annoying.

"Your Majesty, the core of Tsarist Russia is thousands of miles away from me, and its country is so huge, what benefits can they get by provoking the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Daohua shook his head, and a hint of mockery appeared on the corner of his mouth: "This nation is like this, they advocate power and force, and take war as fun, and it is really annoying to be neighbors with such a country." The point is that their core area is so far away from us, and it will be troublesome to fight. ”

Tao Biquan thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, Tsarist Russia relies on Cossacks for expansion, and I may not be able to use Cossacks in China." ”

"Oh? Who will be the Cossacks of China? ”

"How's Manmeng?"

Zhu Daohua looked at Tao Biquan thoughtfully.

Use the Manchurian to fight the Russians?

"Can you control it?"

"Isn't there two emperors in the Qing Dynasty now?" Tao Biquan said with a smile, "Your Majesty, if you are willing to give the Manchurians a way to live, this Manchu can still be used." ”

He looked at the north and said, "After all, there are one or two million Mongols in the south and north of the desert. ”

Zhu Daohua was noncommittal.

How to deal with the Eight Banners, he has not yet made up his mind. He knew that there were many scholars and doctors in Daming who opposed the slaughter of the entire Manchurian Eight Banners.

However, whether it will be slaughtered in the end depends on whether the Manchurians can use it.

If it helps. Of course, Emperor Zhu would not be presumptuous for what happened one or two hundred years ago.

Just to Manmon as a Cossack . Is it really possible?

"How is Qianlong?"

"Still without saying a word, it seems that this old man wants to die of hunger strike." Tao Biquan said.

"Hmph, you can't let him die so easily, at least he has to go through a public trial, and the punishment can be corrected."

Zhu Daohua said.

I sighed slightly in my heart.

Really.

There are really not many heavenly sons in this world who are willing to call the door.

(End of chapter)