"The Yangtze River is deep and wide, and it can be navigated from Shanghai County to Nanjing, and it is completely possible to send dozens of warships up the river to Nanjing, threatening the center of the Qin State." Qi Zexuan said with a smile: "And although the Qin State is also secretly developing its navy and concentrating on the development and construction of sailor ships, its strength is not mentioned at all. Our Great Qi Navy only sent three detachments of Ryukyu, Annam, and Luzon to win the battle. How could Yan Liang assert that our Qi navy could not attack the city of Nanjing? ”

"Your Highness, when we sailed from Shanghai County to the mouth of the Yangtze River in August, all the way to Nanjing, did you pay attention to the military towns and numerous forts laid along the way?" Li Yanliang said in a low voice: "From the mouth of the Yangtze River, Chongmingsha, Nantong, Jiangyin, Zhenjiang, Qixia, and Yanziji, there are dozens of large and small forts, and the garrison has nearly 20,000 troops. At the same time, the anchorage of the Great Qin Yangtze River Naval Division was stationed in Pukou, and nearly 100 large and small ships defended Nanjing. If our Daqi Navy Division really wants to attack all the way along the Yangtze River, and finally be able to enter the ships on the Nanjing River, I am afraid that there will not be a few ships left. ”

"Oh, it turns out that Yanliang is also thinking about invading the hinterland of Great Qin." Qi Zexuan looked at Li Yanliang playfully, leaned over and asked, "Then from the perspective of the army, can you gather a large army to land somewhere on the southeast coast, and then sweep the entire Jiangnan and attack Nanjing City?" ”

"Not really." Li Yanliang shook his head and said: "According to the assessment of our Qi State Military Staff Committee in Qin State, the number of Qin troops is about 600,000, of which there are as many as 120,000 elite new troops, all of which are well-trained all-firearms troops. Although nearly seventy percent of their troops were deployed in the northwest, Mobei and northeast regions, more than 100,000 troops were still stationed in the Lianghuai and Jiangnan regions, and there were more than 8,000 well-equipped imperial guards in Nanjing. Even if our Daqi army is good at fighting, it can successfully land on the coast of Daqin at the first time and defeat the Qin army attacking from all sides, but if it continues to advance inland, I am afraid it will be a little unsustainable. Unless, we carry out a full mobilization and expand the size of the army to more than 200,000. Otherwise, the battle of Qin and Qi would probably be limited to the coastal areas, and only attack the Qin State by raiding and blockading. ”

"In other words, through the means of war, our Qi State may need to spend an extremely high price to defeat the Qin State?"

"Not bad." Li Yanliang nodded and said: "The Qin State has hundreds of millions of people, plus the country has not been established for a long time, and its military strength is not as lax as the Mughal Empire and the Persian Safavid Empire, so it still has some combat power. At the beginning of the year, the Qin army's defeat of Dzungaria in the Western Regions, and the fact that only a few thousand troops were able to temporarily stabilize the chaotic situation in Uszang, fully proved that their army was still relatively warlike. Even if we do our best and finally defeat the Qin State completely, the price we will spend is very huge, and it will even affect the global strategic layout of our Qi State. Throughout the thousands of years of Chinese history, and referring to the successes and failures of countries around the world, we will find that many small countries have died from foreign enemies, and large countries have died from internal troubles. The country is large to a certain extent, such as the great unified dynasty of the Chinese dynasties, as long as there are no fundamental and fatal problems internally, no matter how great the external pressure is, it will only decline, not perish. ”

"Really?" Qi Zexuan smiled and said, "What about the former Song? It has been destroyed twice by a foreign race, which is a proper external threat. ”

"Your Royal Highness, when the former Song Dynasty was founded, there was the Liao Dynasty built by the Khitan, as well as the Dali Duan clan, and Hehuang, Ganlong, Hetao and other places were still occupied by the later Western Xia." Li Yanliang said quietly: "When the Song Dynasty was restored in Lin'an, it was even more peaceful. From this point of view, the former Song Dynasty could not be regarded as a unified dynasty. ”

"Is the Mughal Empire a big country?"

"It was also through decades of continuous encroachment and attacks that our Qi State weakened the Mughal Empire to this point. Moreover, so far, we have not abolished its emperor, destroyed its rituals, and destroyed its country. ”

"Uh......" Qi Zexuan's eyes rolled around the bones, and he vigorously examined the examples of the Chinese dynasties and the world's major powers being destroyed by foreign enemies in his mind, "What about the Arab Empire that once stood side by side with the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"Your Highness, the Arab Empire was also destroyed by foreign enemies after its decline and splitting!"

"Yes, the same is true of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean and the Mongol Yuan Empire hundreds of years ago." Qi Zexuan didn't plan to argue with Li Yanliang about this topic anymore, but looked at both sides of the street, ready to find a restaurant and taste the folk food of the Qin Kingdom.

"Your Highness, shouldn't you have been thinking about invading the Qin State all along?"

A restaurant named "Duoweixuan" was quickly emptied after Qi Zexuan entered, and the hall on the second floor was quickly emptied.

After hearing that their expenses were all paid by the arriving Qi people, the diners immediately showed a smile, arched their hands towards the young Qi noble, made a gesture, and happily went down to the hall on the first floor to continue eating.

Although Li Yanliang was only a captain of the Praetorian Guard, he had a deep royal background and was friendly with the emperor's grandson Qi Zexuan, so he always served as his personal companion and was responsible for protecting his safety during his visit to Daqin.

Two years ago, a fire nearly burned to the ground in Wangjiang Lane, where Li Yanliang's family is located, and his mother was also killed in the fire. After receiving the news, he immediately took leave to the chief of the army staff and hurried back to Daxing from Chang'an.

The fire burned his mother and neighbors to death a total of nine people, more than 40 people were burned to varying degrees, more than 60 houses were burned down, more than 130 houses were affected, and more than 100,000 yuan of property were damaged.

In the following days, under the attention of His Majesty the Emperor, the Public Opinion Research Office, the Daxing Police Department, the Military Police Intelligence Department, and even the Black Guards began to conduct a detailed and comprehensive investigation into the fire accident.

Soon, the cause of the fire accident was found out, and it was man-made arson.

The murderers turned out to be a group of Jewish businessmen who had only been in the country for less than two years!

Although the members of the Gendarmerie Intelligence Department acted quickly and followed the direction of the murderer's escape to Guizhou (now Perth, Australia) in the southwestern province of Kunzhou, they finally fell short, allowing the main culprit to escape and flee overseas, only to capture a few small minions, which made people feel embarrassed.

Out of gratitude for the late eldest princess Le'an, Emperor Taiping was also deeply related to Li Yanliang's mother's unexpected misfortune, so he gave Li Yanliang a favor and enshrined him as the title of Qingchuan man.

Within a few months, the General Staff of the Imperial Praetorian Guard transferred Li Yanliang to the Praetorian Guard by imperial decree, promoted to the rank of Imperial Military Captain, and guarded the Taichu Palace.

In August of the following year, after the end of Li Yanliang's filial piety period, Emperor Taiping enshrined Cao Xi, the daughter of Cao Chengyu, the prince of Lu, as the county lord, and then gave him a marriage for a hundred years.

For a time, Li Yanliang was favored by the royal family.

In a few months, Li Yanliang entered the Chang'an Royal Military Academy to study tactical command.

In June 1727, after ten months of study, Li Yanliang graduated with honors and served as a tactical staff officer of the Praetorian Guard, and concurrently served as the second military instructor of the emperor's grandson Qi Zexuan.

In July, he was transferred to the imperial chamberlain and served as a fourth-class chamberlain, following the Dan king Qi Weining and the imperial grandson Qi Zexuan to visit the Qin State.

As a soldier, from a military point of view, the outbreak of a large-scale war between Qi and Qin is not of great strategic significance to Qi Guo, but it still has some gains that outweigh the losses.

Over the past few years, the two countries have had close political, economic, trade, and cultural exchanges, and although there have been some frictions and differences, the overall relationship has been positive and good, and it is far from the point of fighting each other.

Not to mention the large number of Qin immigrants in the territory of Qi State, the deep ties of people-to-people feelings, and the huge entanglement of trade interests between the two countries, will make His Majesty the Emperor and the cabinet cautious when making the choice of war.

Furthermore, even if the Qin State is defeated, what can it do?

In case the mainland is once again plunged into civil strife, causing its people to be displaced and their lives ruined, will the Qi State still have to send a large number of troops into it to maintain the necessary order of production and life?

That can't bring me down!

What we Qi need is Qin's abundant human resources and vast market, but we are not here to help them maintain normal ruling order, let alone to "alleviate poverty".

A stable and not very powerful Qin state is in line with the eastern strategy of the Qi state.

Of course, the containment of the Qin State is also very necessary.

You don't see, while maintaining a strong army force, the Qin State has begun to quietly develop their navy after a little more financial resources in the past ten years.

Longjiang Shipyard (Nanjing), Jiangnan Shipyard (Shanghai), Huangpu Shipyard (Guangzhou), the three large government-run shipyards, set the most outstanding craftsmen in Daqin, receive a large number of shipbuilding orders from the government (military) and the people every year, can independently build many five or six hundred tons of ships, in addition to the improved traditional Fu ship, there are imitation Qi three-masted sailing ships, there are also imitation European style Galen ships, there are full sail loading, there are non-full sail loading, and there are more galleys suitable for coastal and inland shipping.

It is also ridiculous to say that most of the timber needed by the Qin people for shipbuilding actually came from the territory of the governor of Annan of the Qi State, or was smuggled from the Zhenzhou region of Beiming.

As of last year, the Qin navy was estimated to have more than 150 large and small ships, and although most of them were small and medium-sized pure wooden sailing ships with small tonnage, a small number of artillery, and low combat performance, if the other side relied on coastal and port batteries to carry out a coastal defense operation, it would still be able to cause certain trouble to the incoming "enemy" fleet.

In this regard, the people of Qi were not only vigilant, but also deeply surprised.

Where did the Qin State get so much money, while raising a large army, it also thought about developing a navy!

As a typical land power country, shouldn't you devote all your limited energy to the frontier areas?

You are so active in developing maritime power, what are you trying to do?

Speaking of which, as a great power in the eastern world, Qin has a long coastline and major overseas interests, and it is also a natural move to develop a navy and protect the sea frontier, and the people of Qi have inevitably overreacted to this.

I don't want to think about how many containment and containment forces you Qi people have arranged around the mainland, from the Bohai Sea in the northernmost region, to Dongdan and Beiming in the northeast, to the Ryukyus and Luzon in the southeast coastal region, and finally in Annam in the south, either the younger brother of your Qi country, or the vassal state of your Qi country, and there are many direct overseas territories of your Qi country.

Let me ask, in the face of such a situation, shouldn't my Daqin have a sense of coastal defense crisis?

The merchant ships of my Great Qin going to sea, less than a few hundred miles away from the port, can encounter your Qi country's warships patrolling the sea from time to time.

The coastal waters of the mainland are like your back garden, free to sail and come and go at will.

Once I turn around, do I have to have a certain amount of self-protection and defense ability?

However, this kind of relationship between the two sides, which is both cooperative and implicitly confrontational, is, at best, a "cold war" model.

One side believes that fighting a war not only hurts the feelings of "compatriots" between each other, but is also extremely uneconomically uneconomical. The other side is also afraid of the huge gap in strength between the two sides, and is even more powerless to deal with threats from both land and sea directions.

It is true that most of the trade between Qi and Qin existed in the form of Qi entering the surplus (trade deficit), and a large amount of gold and silver was imported into Qin every year, which seemed to be somewhat unequal.

However, Qi sold a large number of imported goods from Qin to India, Persia, Ottomans, and Europe and other countries and regions in the form of entrepot trade, often increasing the price several times, and the trade benefits earned could not only make up for the trade deficit between Qi and Qin, but also make a lot of profits.

Not to mention, the trade between the two countries has greatly promoted the development of Qi's shipbuilding industry, maritime transportation industry, and financial and insurance industries, and the domestic people have benefited a lot from it.

In this context, Li Yanliang was worried that Qi Zexuan's young and vigorous thoughts full of achievements would promote the outbreak of war between Qi and Qin.

Although Qi Zexuan is not the grandson, anyone with a discerning eye knows that once Emperor Taiping dies and the crown prince succeeds to the throne, the eldest grandson of the emperor will inevitably be listed as the first successor of the empire.

If the idea of the Qi-Qin War was planted in his mind, it was difficult to guarantee that he would not rashly launch a war to invade Qin when he took charge of the empire in the future.

"I just think about it." Qi Zexuan said with a smile: "However, whether Qi and Qin can avoid war or not, I'm afraid that you and I, even the court, can't control it." Time is changing, people's hearts are unpredictable, and it is not known that at some point in the future, because of a small friction or a small conflict, our two countries will be involved in a war. ”

As he was talking, several of the shopkeepers came up down the stairs with large plates and small bowls, and filled the table with their faces full of enthusiasm.

The country of Qi is rich, it is well known, and this noble man who came here looks more graceful, accompanied by four or five officers of the State of Qi, and supported by a team of Great Qin soldiers, his status should not be low.

Just now, in order to apologize, I also paid the account for the diners who were driven downstairs, and I was so generous in hand.

If he waits for him, he will inevitably reward them with a few big bucks.

Jiangnan is the center of gravity of Daqin's economy, and Nanjing is the capital of the empire.

With the decades of peace in China, in the Jiangnan region, where the economy is prosperous and the food is abundant, whether it is a high-ranking official or a common person, they have begun to covet their appetites, enjoy the jump of food on the tip of the tongue, and feel the pleasure of various tastes tumbling in the mouth.

This is human nature, and it is difficult to change no matter how time passes.

Jade plate delicacies are a great pastime in the life of the Daqin people, not only to have a specific sensory experience, but also to taste its deliciousness and tasted its connotation.

The beauty of food is in its shape, the selection of plates, dishes and chopsticks, knife carving, color matching is the first level of food.

The beauty of food lies in its taste, seasoning matching, heat size, frying, steaming, stewing, this procedure is strictly standardized, forming the second level of food.

The beauty of food is in health, some rich Qin people have higher requirements for food, eat food to eat comfortably, the body is harmonious, and it is the right thing to eat people with a refreshing look, which is the third level of food.

Qi Zexuan smiled and groaned while holding chopsticks to taste the delicacies on the table one by one, while listening to the neat introduction of the work, and the mood was extremely happy.

The mainland of China, with a thousand years of ancient rhyme, even if you have a meal or a drink, you can taste the Chinese civilization and appreciate the humanistic world.

It's like our territory in Daqi, although we control the vast overseas colonial territory, so that there are more ingredients and more materials on the table, but it seems to be less delicate and exquisite.

"That's right, Yanliang." After the five flavors of the meal, drink a refreshing Longjing, not only to consume, but also to refresh the tongue, Qi Zexuan held the teacup, and saw that Li Yanliang was about to go downstairs to greet the guys, so he kindly reminded, "Most of your wife in Xinghetang only cares about diagnosing and saving people, maybe she forgot to eat again." In a moment, you might as well ask the store to pack you and bring some hot food. ”

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern." When Li Yanliang heard this, he immediately showed a grateful look.

(End of chapter)