In 1638, Russian envoys sent to the Mongol court of Altan Khan on the orders of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and the host entertained them with tea, to which Altan Khan returned 4 poods (about 64 kilograms) of brick tea.

Upon his return to Moscow, the Russian envoy presented tea to the Tsar. However, the tsar and ministers in the palace did not know how to use it, and the scene was very embarrassing for a while.

It just so happened that there was a maid from the Far East in the court who knew how to use it, and I saw her calmly set up a stove and a kettle, break the brick tea, and boil it in the water, and in a moment, the whole palace was filled with a fresh and intoxicating fragrance of tea.

As soon as the ministers tasted it, they were full of praise, and the tsar also liked the drink. In this way, the most common brick tea from the Mongols appeared on the Russian court and became a luxury tribute among the royal family and nobles, which was undrinkable, thus creating the habit of drinking tea among Russians.

However, at that time, most of the tea obtained by the Russians came from resale by Dutch merchants. Of course, as a rude and backward country, it is not a good commodity to sell them tea, and the price is still extremely expensive, which really makes the Russians a lot of money.

Later, some Russian merchants successively obtained tea, silk, jewelry, medicinal herbs and other oriental goods from Central Asia and Mongolia, and then took great pains to transport them to Moscow, and were surprised to find that they could obtain extremely high profits whether they were sold to other parts of the country or re-exported to Europe. Moreover, these goods can be taxed at home, and they can be re-exported to Europe at a high price, which is far more than the Russian second-hand dealers expected.

As a result, many Russian merchants who had lost their fur business turned to the Oriental trade, bringing with them precious furs, woollen wool, firearms, metal products, etc., while from Central Asia and Mongolia they took mainly cotton, silk, jewelry, tea, medicinal herbs, etc.

For the Russians, the goods of the Orient were simply too abundant, and in their legend it was described with such an exaggeration that "the Orient was full of silver, and the merchants smelted it and could make pure silver without impurities".

According to a document of the Moscow Tax Statistics Department in 1685, "the three private caravans from the East, according to Moscow prices, only the third caravan carried 49,300 roubles of Russian goods, but brought back 180,000 roubles worth of Chinese goods, excluding costs and transportation costs, the average profit was 200%-300%, and the merchants simply discovered gold mines." ”

You must know that the Dzungar Khanate and the Mongolian puppet Qing regime, which traded with Russian merchants at that time, were just two second-tier dealers who changed hands, and they were Oriental goods that were transshipped from Afghanistan and Monan Mongolia at a higher price. Even so, it was still possible for Russian merchants to make enough trade profits.

The total volume of Russia's trade with the East soon surpassed that of Russia with Central Asia, second only to that of Western Europe, and was highly valued by the Russian government.

Now, as the dominant state of the Eastern Continent, the Qin State has sent an embassy to discuss cooperation against the Dzungars, and if it takes the opportunity to establish direct trade ties with them, it will undoubtedly be tantamount to finding a road to the golden mountain for the Russian government, which is in extreme financial difficulties.

Therefore, no matter what the cost is, it is necessary to reach a trade agreement with the Qin State, even if it is to cooperate more in the matter of fighting Dzungaria, and lose some soldiers and serfs, it will not hurt. I still remember that more than 60 years ago, in order to obtain a trade permit with the puppet Qing government, the Russians even the head of the mission ignored the humiliation and bowed three times and nine times to the little emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In the face of money, you don't want to be honest, and you don't care about humiliation!

Seeing that the private caravans engaged in the trade of the East were so profitable, how could Tsar Peter I at that time stand by and let this earthly wealth slip from his hands?

Thus, in 1698, a decree was issued, "General Regulations on Trade in the East", declaring that sable, foxskin, rhubarb, tea, silk, and tobacco were monopolized by the government, and private trade was prohibited, and private caravans could only accompany official caravans to the East to participate in trade.

In 1707, it was decreed that private traders were forbidden to participate in the mutual market with government caravans, and anyone who brought goods to Central Asia and Mongolia without permission was sentenced to death by hanging.

According to statistics, from 1698, Russian official caravans entered the market, and as of last year, a total of 11 caravans had been sent to Central Asia and Mongolia, the largest number, reaching 570 people. In total, the trade volume was more than 3.8 million rubles, and the profit margin was 150%-220%.

At this time, the most important oriental goods in the eyes of Russians were cotton, wrought, silk, gold, silver, tea, rhubarb. Although tea was delicious, it was not widely used among the poor Russian people, and most of it was re-exported to European countries, except for a small part for the enjoyment of royal nobles and officials.

During the reign of Peter I, Russia's trade with the East accounted for about 10 to 20 percent of the revenue of the state treasury, which greatly supported the Great Northern War, which was going on at the time.

Although the Qin mission was so eager for the Russians to start direct trade with them, although it had an indispensable attitude, it was still quite proud in its heart.

This Rakshasa country, oh, it should be the Russian country, is no different from the barbarians around my Great Qin, and they all show such a desire and yearning for all kinds of products of the Celestial Empire.

Or maybe give them some business benefits in order to promote military cooperation between the two countries.

Just half a month before the Kingdom of Sweden invaded Russia, officials from the Qin State Mission and the Russian Trade Council had preliminarily finalized a number of terms for the two sides to start a mutual market:

1. Russia is allowed to send a caravan to Beijing once a year. The size of the caravan is limited to 300 people, the length of stay in Zhangjiakou is limited to 90 days, and the Russian goods are exempt from customs duties, regardless of whether they are imported or exported.

2. Jinglubao (now Uriya Sutai City, Outer Mongolia), an important town in Moxi, is allowed to be a reciprocal trade port for trade between the two countries.

3. The Russian side is allowed to set up commercial offices in Suiyuan (now Hohhot), Zhangjiakou, Beijing and Songjiang, and can have permanent business personnel; The Qin state could set up the necessary merchant offices and residents in Tomsk, Kazan, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

4. The two countries shall provide necessary escort for caravans and personnel entering the territory.

5. Qin assisted in the construction of an Orthodox church in the Suiyuan Russian Pavilion.

6. Qin accepted the Russian students sent to study in the Taixue Museum in Beijing.

It can be said that in terms of mutual trade, the Qin state made certain concessions to the Russians, not only opening a long-term "zhenchang" - Jingyu Fort, but also allowing the Russians to set up merchant houses in the hinterland in order to purchase cheaper goods.

And my Daqin is rich all over the world, except for some high-end and complex Qi machinery and equipment and industrial manufactured products, it can produce almost all the goods in this world, in fact, there is no need to conduct the so-called mutual market with a wild and backward country like Russia.

The furs used by the Russians for trading could be obtained by the Qin State from Liaodong and Korea, and even from the Bohai, Dongdan, and Northern Ming secession forces in the Outer Northeast (the Qin State had never officially recognized the legal status of these three countries) through smuggling, and a large number of furs could be bought not only of better quality, but also cheaper.

As for woollen wool, metal products, and firearms, they may be very straining commodities in those steppe areas, but we can all produce them ourselves, iron smelting in Hebei and Guangdong, cotton spinning in Denglai and Songjiang, ordnance factories in Beijing, Nanjing, and Xi'an, all of which can be produced in these places to crush the goods provided by the Russians!

In Cui Zuyao's view, the future trade between the two countries will eventually evolve into an extremely unequal trade behavior, that is, our Great Qin is likely to become a simple superpower, and the gold and silver of Russia will continue to be absorbed into the country.

"The Rakshasa people are not only economically backward, industry and commerce are sluggish, and their products are not abundant, but also the military strength of this country may not be very strong. I pondered that even if they fully cooperated with my Great Qin in attacking the Dzungar Khanate, it would probably not play a decisive role. ”

Bai Chengbin, the left governor of Yongdinghou and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, held a pair of chopsticks in his right hand, looking at the dishes on the table, and didn't know which plate to pick for a while.

This Rakshasa man's cook is really bad, what kind of stuff he does!

Large pork chops, blood-soaked beef, black sauce, and half-cooked vegetables are not only unpleasant, but also hard to swallow.

"With the strong military strength of the Qi people, it is not unusual for the Rakshasa people to be defeated by the Qi people in that Caucasus region." Wei Ziyong, the right attendant of the Ministry of Works, disagreed, "I heard that two months ago, the people of Qi defeated the navy of the Kingdom of England in the waters south of Europe, which shocked Portugal, another small European country, to immediately surrender and sue for peace. The strength of this Qi country can be seen. Russia is located in a corner of Europe, its culture is not prosperous, its science and technology are backward, and its national strength is far inferior to that of those big European countries. ”

"Wei Shilang is right." Bai Chengbin nodded and said, "If this Russia is too strong, it will not be good." In case we destroy Dzungaria, we will definitely follow the above with them, and maybe there will be disputes and conflicts. In the direction of Liaodong and Lingbei, there are Beiming and Bohai, and my Great Qin has already felt the inexplicable military pressure and has hoarded a lot of military strength. If we can't kill the Mongols in the future, but jump out of a more powerful Russia, then the troubles on the northern border of our Great Qin will be endless. According to my opinion, it is better to drive the Dzungar Khanate to the west or north, to drive the wolf and devour the tiger, and consume the strength of the Russians. ”

"Yongdinghou's words are a bit wishful thinking." Cui Zuyao said with a smile: "For the desert and the Western Regions, it is just a place where our Great Qin is bound, and the continuous military attacks on the Dzungar Khanate are also to prevent it from evolving into a unified and powerful steppe empire to threaten the northwest frontier of our Great Qin. The Tomsk Governor and Omsk Governor's Military Region of the Russians are estimated to be also their confined frontier areas, sparsely populated, and the people's livelihood is withering, where are there any targets worthy of looting by the Mongols. According to the habits of the grassland peoples, once they grow stronger, they will inevitably go south to raid our rich Shenzhou Continent and conquer our border areas. If you want to drive the wolf and devour the tiger, maybe you will end up raising the tiger and letting it sit on for a long time. ”

"But if that Dzungar is wiped out, is it possible that our Great Qin will still accept its land, collect its people, and incorporate their territory into the territory?" Bai Chengbin was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Our control of the Western Regions and Mobei is already a lot of effort and consumption. If the territory is extended to Dzungaria, it will be beyond the reach of the whip, which is beyond the scope of my Great Qin's national strength. There is a saying in "Sima Fa" that although the country is big, the belligerent will die! ”

"Marquis Yongding doesn't want to see my Great Qin open up the territory of the prosperous empire?" Wei Ziyong looked at this descendant of Bai Wenxuan, the Duke of Shu, and felt a little disdainful.

As the son of the founding general, he didn't even think about expanding the territory and seeking unsuccessful achievements, but was like a rotten Confucian, afraid of war, avoiding war, and saying something "Although the country is big, the warlike will perish".

You look at the people of the Qi country, since the founding of the country, this war has not stopped, their army is either fighting, or on the way to the battlefield, from the east, to the west, from the land, to the sea, the small countries that perished do not know how many, the conquered regional powers and maritime powers, one after another, as if seeking hegemony in the whole world.

You only need to take a look at the world map drawn by the Qi people, and you will find that the whole world, from the vast land to the islands dotted in the ocean, is full of territory occupied by the Qi people, although there are many territories that they just planted a flag casually and did not actually rule, but after all, it is also their sphere of influence, who dares to put their beaks, and who dares to seize them?!

Due to the lack of naval strength, coupled with the fact that I am one step behind, I can't stake all over the world like the people of Qi, but my Great Qin can rely on the huge population size, far exceeding the strength of the surrounding barbarian countries, to extend his borders to the north and west, if he can restore the territory of the former Tang Dynasty, it can also achieve a huge world empire.

A country as wild and backward as the Russians can cross the vast mountains and swamps and expand their territory to 20,000 miles.

"Meals should be eaten one bite at a time, and things should be done step by step." Bai Chengbin put down his chopsticks, picked up the cup, and took a sip of wine, which was raw and astringent, but he endured it and swallowed it into his throat, "If I want to expand the territory of Daqin, I naturally must also do what I can, steadily and steadily, and advance slowly." Otherwise, the disaster of Han Wu and the rebellion of Tianbao are afraid that they will not be staged in my Great Qin. ”

"Today's world is a change that has not been seen for thousands of years, and it is a world of great contention.

"Hehe...... Wei Shilang should be too influenced by the Qi State, and he has to follow them to learn everything." Bai Chengbin shook his head and said: "You must know that the Qi country is very arrogant, and in recent decades, it has become more and more aggressive, and aggressive to the outside world. In the long run, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance of all countries, and they will all hold on to it, and maybe they will eventually backfire and fall apart. ”

"If I, Great Qin, don't take advantage of the strength of the military to have the courage to open up, then when the country is declining, how can I keep the core land of the Han land?" Wei Ziyong retorted: "I remember that Emperor Taizu of Qi State once joked a few decades ago that if the founding ancestors could seek to occupy some more territory, the descendants of later generations would have some confidence to squander it. I am very impressed by this statement. Looking at the thousands of years of history of China, all dynasties and generations have not yet had the trend of being strong for hundreds of years, and our generation should be a plan for future generations and a plan for the future. ”

"Wei Shilang is really ...... It's really for the future of my Daqin, planning in advance, and now being a waiter in the Ministry of Labor of the First District, it should be a grievance. Bai Chengbin said sarcastically: "After the return of Russia to the DPRK this time, I should give a message to Your Majesty and strongly recommend you to the cabinet as the prime minister." In this way, you can achieve your ambitions......"

"Scholars, Russian officials visited." An attaché of the mission hurried into the room, bowed slightly to the heads of the mission, and immediately reported: "Tomorrow morning, their Tsar and the Privy Council will receive the scholars at the palace. ”

"It seems that our trip to Russia is coming to an end." Cui Zuyao picked up the tablecloth on the table and wiped his mouth, with a relieved look on his face, "This Russian must give us an official reply tomorrow." In this way, we can finally return to Daqin. ”

(End of chapter)