Cutting 1719

Chapter 534 The Best Times
On a vast blue sea, an old-fashioned British cruise ship is slowly moving forward. Driven by the strong sea wind, the tall sails look very spectacular, and the British flag hanging on the mast is also waving up and down with the sea wind.

The name of this cruise ship is the Shire. It was originally a warship under the British Royal Navy. It was later sold to the British East India Company and transformed into a cruise ship.But even so, the densely packed gun emplacements under the side of the cruise ship are still warning every ship on the sea that it is not a sheep to be slaughtered.

The Shire departed not from England, but from France, carrying several mysterious guests, passed through the Atlantic Ocean, circumvented the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean, and then turned eastward after a short stay in Basra and replenished fresh water. And after a long voyage, it gradually entered the Strait of Malacca.

"I'm about to reach that magical empire"

"Maybe it's not amazing, maybe Marco Polo is just a sophisticated liar"

"But no matter what, we all have a mission, don't we?"

In the slightly luxurious cruise ship, three Westerners were warming up in front of the fireplace in the lounge. Most of them had warm smiles on their faces, but the confrontation in their words revealed a little disharmony.

In fact, the identities of these three people are very extraordinary. One of the white-haired white-haired old men is Pierre Gubert, the British ambassador to Ningchu, while the other middle-aged man with a slightly bloated figure is It was Alfred Koman, the French ambassador to Ningchu, and the last fair-skinned middle-aged man was Count Eriksson, an envoy sent by King Frederick I of Sweden.

The reason why the three of them took a cruise ship to the East was because of the contribution of the former Pan Ernst, coupled with the report of the envoys of many countries stationed in Asia, which prompted Britain, France and Sweden to decide to send envoys to visit China, prompting direct visits to China. Trade and many other projects, and for these three countries, they have a common interest in the trip to China.

Speaking of which, the current situation in Europe is not clear. Although the smoke of the Great Northern War has gradually dissipated, the hatred has not faded, especially the situation between Sweden and Russia. Frederick I worked hard to calm domestic conflicts, fearing that another war with Russia would start again.

For the rest of Europe, they were also inevitably affected by the Great Northern War.Among them, King George I of Great Britain and Hanover, Denmark, Norway, Brandon Prussia and most importantly Russia, the protagonist, reached an alliance against Sweden and successfully weakened Sweden's power in Europe.

In the "Stockholm Treaty" reached in 1720, Hannover-Great Britain and Brandenburg-Prussia made a separate peace with Sweden, successfully carve up Sweden's territory in North Germany, while France, which has a certain anti-Russian tendency, chose to mediate , to avoid the complete collapse of Sweden's influence on the south coast of the Baltic Sea, which made the relationship between Sweden and France closer at that time.

Therefore, when Ning Chu appeared as a new force but a major strategic enemy of the Russians, King Frederick I of Sweden, who had just succeeded for a few years, suddenly couldn't bear it anymore and chose to send an envoy to visit China. Together with the envoys of Britain and France, they took the Shire to Nanjing.

And this voyage, which was enough to shock European countries, was hailed as a "pioneering journey" to the Far East, but no one knew whether it was friendship or hostility.

However, in the eyes of the world, after hearing about this incident, Russian Empress Ekaterina I just said a word to the British ambassador to Russia contemptuously, "Great Britain does not need to pay so much attention to a barbaric and backward country."

For the rise of Ning Chu, the entire Russian Empire was quite annoyed, especially when the Qing Empire was completely wiped out by Ning Chu in just a few years like a garbage dump, which made St. Petersburg even more The nobles felt like they were sitting on pins and needles, as if they were only surrounded by a sick coyote, but now they have become a live tiger that can really eat people.

Maybe it was arrogance, maybe it was hostility, but St. Petersburg didn't think about sending a special envoy to Nanjing, and didn't even pay more attention to it—they are still thinking about finding more room for expansion in the direction of Sweden.

However, in fact, at this time in Europe, except for Russia, other countries have a relatively vague impression of the East, and they are somewhat unclear about empires like Ningchu, and China's vast land and large population , It also makes Europeans very cautious-this is a big oriental country that can sit on an equal footing with England and France.

"The Russians seem to have achieved good results in the Far East. Maybe we will be able to see a big war in the Far East in the future. However, compared to those gray cattle in Russia, I am really not optimistic about Ning Chu's efforts."

The British ambassador to China, Pierre Gubert, is a very typical British jazz. He looked at Alfred and Earl Erikson talking, but in fact he was also testing the information of the other party.

Earl Eriksson frowned. Unlike Britain and France, King Frederick I of Sweden sent him to the Far East this time, obviously with a special purpose - to assess Ningchu's military potential as soon as possible, and to do as much as possible. To carry out relevant military cooperation with it to contain or even attack the Russian forces in the Far East.

In the words of Frederick I, even if he pawned his last silver coin, he would still support Ning Chu to fight Russia. Although Ning Chu and Russia have not officially started a war, he believes that this day will come soon .

You must know that Sweden, after the tragic Great Northern War, was almost truly devastated. The previous ambitions naturally disappeared, but the hatred for Russia has also become more intense. Almost every Swede wants to Bad luck to see Russia.

Therefore, Earl Eriksson was somewhat disgusted when he heard the statement made by the British ambassador Pierre, and said: "Ambassador Pierre seems to have never been to China, how can it be concluded that they are not Russian opponents? "

The French ambassador on the side, Alfred Coleman, likes to see the British deflated the most, and he also smiled at the moment: "Perhaps Ambassador Pierre is a master who can make predictions. It's just that whether we can see this scene, we still need God's guidance Just do it."

Pierre didn't care about Alfre's teasing, and just sighed: "Actually, I didn't discriminate against Ning Chu in the slightest, and it's not that it's a very great empire based on the collected information. , and has all the conditions to rise, and is now in the most critical period of change!"

"They have a very great emperor, without the slightest arrogance. He invited Ernst to come to Europe to search for talents a few years ago, and successfully took away many key scientific and technological materials and basic educational materials, and he was humble. Learning together, the country has changed day by day in the past few years!"

"The emperor of this country opened a newspaper, implemented land reform, carried out education reform, and vigorously strengthened education, encouraged scientific research, and carried out all-round reform of the army, winning every key war, just like Peter the Great in the East Ordinary, making Ning Chu grow to the point where he is almost awe-inspiring!"

"However, this seems to be completely inconsistent with your previous judgment!" These materials are not a secret, and this is also the reason why the king sent him on an envoy, so Earl Eriksson is not very surprised, but he is even more strange Pierre Ambassador Seoul's inconsistent attitude.

"time."

It was not Ambassador Pierre who answered the question, but the French ambassador Alfred who was sitting upright just now. He dropped two words lightly, then stared at Pierre with interest and said: "Peter the Great has passed away, but However, he left behind a very powerful empire, and the Ning Chu in front of him, no matter how deep his foundation is, will find it difficult to truly compete with such an empire."

Ambassador Pierre nodded, and said: "That's right, maybe give that Eastern Peter the Great another ten years, and he can really compete against Russia in an all-round way, but right now he has no way to change the general situation."

Ning Yu naturally didn't know about this conversation at sea, and he didn't want to wait another so-called ten years.

How to attack Russia is actually a difficult question to answer in this era. Due to Russia's extremely terrifying strategic depth, anyone who tries to answer it will eventually fail along with the exam questions.

From the legendary commander to the crazy painter, they all wanted to answer this question with full marks, but they almost fell to the ground because of the same question.

Considering that the legendary commander and the crazy painter have not yet been born, Ning Yu is the first person in the world to answer the question right now, and for him, there is only one answer, encroachment-differentiation.

Wanting to completely occupy Russia, or completely defeat Russia, is an unrealistic problem. Ning Yu will never consider it at all, but it is still very possible to dismember it into several pieces, and then swallow the largest piece in the north. , especially without the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Of course, all of this must be based on defeating the Russians head-on. If they can't win, then no amount of other ideas are superfluous.

As for whether to fight?Ning Yu didn't have this choice from the very beginning, because if he wanted to compete for the territory in the north, he would inevitably conflict with the Russian Empire that was advancing eastward. In addition, there was still a factor of remnants, and the last possibility of peace between the two sides disappeared. , only the countdown to the war remains.

Fortunately, in this era, distance can become the enemy of all empires. Even though Russia is currently strong, it is difficult for him to put more power in the Far East across the vast sea. Thousands of 500 people have already done their best, and there are also 1 people scattered in the direction of Qiaktu.

On the contrary, Ning Chu already has a certain foundation in the north, and after solving the Mongolian problem, he can rely on the Mongolian tribes to provide logistical support. At that time, there will be too many troops concentrated on the Far East front. The demand is still ok.
In order to better deal with the war against Russia, not only the cabinet began to prepare for the storage of strategic materials, but the Privy Council also launched a strategic deduction for the war against Russia, and formulated a number of related combat plans. The purpose is to use more The preparation, in the war that breaks out in the future, has more winning percentages.

Ning Yu stood under the palace with his hands behind his back, looking at the heavy snow falling outside, and said softly: "China is in a critical period. If the expulsion of the Tartars and the completion of unification is the beginning of a great cause, then the next 20 years will be a storm in the world." , Da Chu must not deceive his eyes and ears again."

"I have hundreds of millions of reputations and reputations, so naturally I don't care what future generations think. But now, I will be the ruler of a generation and lead China to the top of the world. Are you willing to help me?"

Cui Wancai nodded and said: "All the strategies your majesty has implemented are confusing at first glance, but now people don't feel a sense of sudden enlightenment. I really feel the lofty meaning of the holy will. Under the leadership of your majesty, I will let you Chu has been passed on forever.”

The rest of the ministers are also average, shouting long live, it's not that they insist on being a licking dog, it is that Ning Yu's current achievements are really too great, it can even be said that among the founding kings in the history of China, such as Ning Yu There are not many emperors who have achieved the integrity of the country, made great achievements in governing the country, and lived up to the virtues of the people.

On the one hand, thanks to Ning Yu's efforts over the past few years, the Fuhan Army has recovered most of China's current territory in almost the fastest time, and it is not far from the Great Unification. In this process, there is no There are too many casualties, and the impact and damage caused by the war on the people is also very limited.

On the other hand, under the current administration of Ningchu, the standard of living of the people has also improved to a certain extent. In addition to increasing the area of ​​newly reclaimed cultivated land, the development of the industrial and commercial industries has also absorbed a lot of people. It hasn't been long, but the factory district in Nanzhili has already shown the potential of the industrial age.

In the last aspect, the determination of the "Imperial Great Chu Constitution" and the suppression of the domestic gentry class made the people's morals suddenly change from the decadence and corruption of the Qing court, and gradually became more positive, while the elevation of the status of the military class and the The reform of education also reinjected the stagnant folk customs into the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and more people began to devote themselves to the development of the outside world.

To use the words of Wang Jingqi, editor-in-chief of "Qingliu Bao" in the newspaper, "This is destined to be the best of times, but also the worst of times. The best is because each of us can find our own In my own position, I no longer need to be a slave; the worst is because of His Majesty the Emperor, there will be no other worthy figures in this era—"

"Long live Your Majesty, your glory shines throughout China!"

(End of this chapter)