A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 274
Russia's current governor and commander of the army and navy in the Far East is called Alekseyev.The name of the Russian is quite difficult to remember, you only need to know that he is the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II.

But this emperor uncle is far worse than Liu Huangshu. He has no talent, but he has become the leader of Russia's current strategically important Far East region.

I remember that during the Battle of Huaihai, when the national army was fighting for power, Lao Jiang sent his confidant Liu Zhi to be Xuzhou's "General Suppression".

Someone ridiculed him at that time: "Xuzhou is the gate of Nanjing, and a tiger general should be sent to guard it; if you don't send a tiger, you should also send a dog to guard the gate; now only a pig is sent, and the gate cannot be guarded!"

This Russian emperor is a bit like a "General Pig". Russia has already spent so much money to run the Northeast, and Japan's desire for the Northeast is almost a clear sign, but it is always slow in action.

In the middle of the war, Russia himself also saw that the emperor's uncle was really bad, so he dismissed him and replaced him with Kuropatkin. This person is not a general, but he is better.

After the emperor's uncle was recalled to St. Petersburg, on the night of his defeat in the Tsushima Sea Battle, he was still sitting in the box of the Mikhailovsky Theater, and his mistress, the French ballet dancer Elsa, who embezzled naval funds for him, supported him.

——It can also be regarded as the bad taste of this kind of person. After all, Russians always think that France is more noble, and they all want to play with a French girl.

People at the level of Uncle Huang are actually not very patriotic, let alone have a sense of crisis, because life is too pampered, and they don't realize the sufferings of the world.

But the people in the theater couldn't stand it anymore, and shouted at his mistress: Get out of Russia!What you wear is not gems, but our warships!
On the one hand, there are little devils who don't hesitate to save the emperor's food and money to save military expenses, and women don't hesitate to sell their bodies to make money even if they can only buy a small screw of a warship.

On the one hand, the commander-in-chief embezzled military funds to keep his mistress.

High judgment.

It's just that I don't have the right to laugh at others. It is said that our Lafayette in the Qing Dynasty also embezzled a lot of naval military expenses during the Sino-Japanese War...

History is a coincidence.

Japan's two seemingly stronger opponents have both made fatal mistakes.

Makarov was considered a relatively sober-minded senior general of the Russian army, and urged the Russian embassy in the Qing Dynasty to sign a cargo contract with Li Yu quickly.

Anyone who has ever seen radio in use can easily see its powerful potential.

What's more, it is still a new technology, and there is a complete generation difference between having and not having it.

The kid bought the radio, and the Russians had to follow.

The Russian ambassador Resal hurried to find Li Yu and expressed his intention.

Li Yu was a supplier at this time, and his company was still in the United States, so he couldn't refuse them.

"Mr. Ambassador, I have already urged that a batch of cargo is coming by sea, and I think it will take some time to arrive at Tianjin Port." Li Yu said.

"Tianjin Port?" Russian Ambassador Resal said, "Why don't we ship it directly to Lushun Port for unloading!"

He was a little afraid that the little devil would cut his beard.

But the idea was too beautiful, Li Yu said: "Mr. Ambassador, I am just an ordinary citizen, not a soldier. Everything must be in accordance with the requirements of the customs."

Resal said eagerly: "Then we can order all the radio equipment!"

Li Yu stretched out his right hand and clapped his fingers and said, "It's a pity, Mr. Ambassador. Many countries have already ordered this batch of goods in advance, including British ambassadors, French ambassadors, Belgian envoys, and Japanese envoys."

"Oh my God, there are also Japanese!" Resal said, "I received a letter from General Makarov. For his sake, I hope you can speed up production!"

"I will try my best to find a way, but we have indeed been at full capacity in terms of production." Li Yu said.

Li Yu felt that if he could give them a little more, the balance of victory would not be too much for the little devils, so let them resist a little more.

However, Japan will inevitably go to war as soon as possible, and there is not much time left for Russia, and it is inevitable that it will fail.

All Li Yu can do now is to hope that Japan wins, and wins even worse, so that the power vacuum in Northeast China can last longer, away from the aggression of Japan and Russia, and gain more breathing time.

It's all a helpless game.

Although Li Yu was a little anxious about this, the Aixinjueluo people who led the Qing Dynasty did not realize that now the Qing court has adopted Zai Zhen's suggestion and established the Ministry of Commerce, and the Shangshu is Zai Zhen.

It is definitely not enough to talk about talent, and the Qing court probably understood it, so it assigned many capable Han officials, such as Wu Tingfang, the former ambassador to the United States, Xu Shichang, Yuan Shikai's big confidant, and Tang Wenzhi and others.

Shangshu is a high-ranking official, and now Zaizhen is only 27 years old, but he already holds a high position.

The Qing Dynasty still couldn't learn how the Japanese emperor distributed the power of the princes. Of course, there were indeed too many princes with the Qing Dynasty, and the tail was too big to lose. There was no way.

Those who carry the characters are a group of young people, and Cixi can only rely on them, but she can't compete with old fritters like Yuan Shikai.

Zai Zhen can be said to be proud of his spring breeze now. He entertained the officials of the DPRK and China graciously at the mansion, and also invited Li Yu along the way.

After all, the relationship between Li Yu and Zai Zhen is not bad, and Li Yu is now returning home with honors. He is also an academician of many countries. Even if the royal family doesn't understand, they know that foreigners know Li Yu's level in their hearts.

Now the status of Prince Qing's Mansion is getting higher and higher. Prince Qing himself is the Chief Minister of Military Aircraft, and he is also in charge of the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs, which is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The three major power organs of the Qing Dynasty controlled two of them, almost covering the sky with one hand.

In addition, his son Zai Zhen has also become a high-ranking minister, resulting in the status of Prince Qing's Mansion being several levels higher than that of Ronglu Mansion back then.

And just by hearing the name, you can tell that the Ministry of Commerce must be rich and lucrative, which is more in line with the tone of Prince Qing's family.

But no matter from which angle you look at it, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Aixinjueluo family really had nothing to offer.

"Congratulations!" Li Yu entered the door and congratulated Zai Zhen first.

Seeing Li Yu, Zai Zhen smiled and said, "The Emperor Master is back, it's really not easy to see you now!"

If you want to set up a company on the land of the Qing Dynasty in the future, you will have to deal with the Ministry of Commerce. Li Yu replied: "In the future, we will have to rely on the support of Master Bei."

Zai Zhen was in a good mood: "Which of us is with whom, let's talk about it!"

There are quite a few ministers here today, and Zai Zhen is busy continuing to communicate with other officials.

When Li Yu saw Prince Qing's mansion, he really called Yang Xiaolou's troupe to sing for fun.

Yang Xiaolou hadn't seen Li Yu for a while, "Brother Li Yu, please stay safe!"

Li Yu said, "Brother Yang, hello."

Yang Xiaolou said: "My adoptive father always wanted me to thank you again. The previous movie was very successful! I heard from my adoptive father that Lafayette had to watch the movie in person."

"I didn't help much, it's all thanks to Fengtai Photo Studio," Li Yu said, "It seems that Mr. Tan will continue to make movies?"

"Yeah," Yang Xiaolou said excitedly, "I was called this time!"

Li Yu said with a smile: "From now on, you will not only be famous actors in Liyuan, but also movie stars."

After a few words, the backstage of the theater told Yang Xiaolou to put on make-up and get ready to perform on stage.

This kind of performance lasts for a whole day, and seeing the momentum of Prince Qing Yikuang and Zai Zhen, he can't wait to perform it for three days in a row.

The Tongqing class is also happy to take over the work of the palace, and can earn a lot of money.

Li Yu returned to the hall and was stopped by Tang Wenzhi and Xu Shichang.

"Academician Li Yu, I have admired him for a long time." Xu Shichang said.

Li Yu met Xu Shichang when he was in Beiyang before, but he didn't speak to him.

Now Xu Shichang is almost the No. [-] figure under Yuan Shikai in Beiyang. Yuan Shikai thinks highly of him and treats him as Zhuge Liang of Beiyang.

Li Yu clasped his fists and said, "I met Teacher Juren!"

This is what many generals in the Beiyang Army called him.

Xu Shichang said: "Mr. Academician is an emperor's teacher. I can't afford to call me teacher."

What he meant was that he couldn't be the master of the emperor.

Xu Shichang is now the Zuo Cheng of the Ministry of Commerce, and Tang Wenzhi is the You Cheng of the Ministry of Commerce, that is, No. [-] and No. [-], ranking under Zai Zhen, Wu Tingfang and Chen Bi.

However, Xu Shichang has been riding a roller coaster in the officialdom since then, racing all the way.

Tang Wenzhi said: "Mr. Juren heard that you have taken trains in the Northeast region several times. I must have seen and heard about the Northeast. I want to know a thing or two."

Xu Shichang said: "I am deeply aware of the danger in the Northeast, and I have to guard against it. I understand the purpose of Tsarist Russia's construction of the railway. If such a vast land is occupied by outsiders, it will be a great shame to the country!"

Xu Shichang's most important contribution when he served in the Qing court should be the importance and management of the Northeast when he served as the governor of the three northeastern provinces.

Li Yu said: "What Zuo Cheng said is very true. But in my view, the situation in the Northeast is not impossible, and the population is constantly increasing."

Xu Shichang sighed: "Fortune is where misfortune lies, and misfortune is where blessing rests."

It was inconvenient for Xu Shichang to speak clearly, but Li Yu knew very well that what he was referring to was the customs ban and the current turbulent situation in the customs.

It can be said bluntly that the reason why the Qing court lost such a vast land has a lot to do with the customs ban.

Because what the Qing court lost the most was the land in the Northeast cut off by Tsarist Russia.And if there is no customs ban, Tsarist Russia will not take it so lightly.

Therefore, the customs ban can definitely be regarded as one of the biggest maladministration of the Qing court.

The so-called customs ban order is to prohibit the Han people in the customs from entering the Northeast, because the Qing court regards this as its own place of dragon prosperity.

When the Qing army entered the customs, it was not only as simple as the army entering the customs, but also brought a large number of people into the customs.

At that time, the Qing court was still under the Eight Banners system, and the army and the people were united. In times of war, they were soldiers, and in times of peace, they were ordinary people.

They have a strong personal attachment relationship with the Eight Banners masters, and they feel like masters and slaves. This relationship is very fixed.Therefore, after the Qing army entered the customs, these family members also entered the customs.

In this way, a large number of Manchus entered the pass.

The population of the Northeast has dropped sharply, and most of the remaining people are Han Chinese.

Sanqiu osmanthus, ten miles of lotus.The Manchus were nostalgic for the comfortable living environment inside the pass, but later the Qing court discovered that it was necessary to prevent Han people from entering and immigrating into the pass, because there were not many Manchus left outside the pass, and all the people who immigrated were Han. .

The Qing court still held a very deformed idea that if the rule in the Central Plains was overthrown, they could still escape to their hometown. ——Leave a way out, how could you really want to rule well.

It was this kind of thinking that drove the Qing government to implement the customs ban.

For quite a long time, the customs ban was very strict, and even exiled prisoners were once prohibited from coming here.

In general, the customs ban completely separates the Northeast from the mainland. Not only is it as simple as banning immigration, but there is basically no communication between the Northeast and the mainland.

The Qing Dynasty implemented a customs ban in the Northeast for more than 200 years, which made the Northeast seriously lag behind the customs.Whether it is politics, economy, culture or other aspects, the Northeast region cannot be compared with Guannei.

More importantly, the population here is very small, which is very harmful to the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, in order to maintain the particularity of the Northeast region, the Qing government did not set up provinces in this region, and adopted the political system of "governing the banner and the people together".There is no governor or governor, and the three generals, General Shengjing, General Jilin, and General Heilongjiang, are under the jurisdiction of the highest officials.

At the same time, with Shengjing as the accompanying capital, there are five ministries under it, forming a "small court" headed by General Shengjing.

In the Daoguang period, the total population of the Northeast was only about one million, and most of them were concentrated in the area under the jurisdiction of General Shengjing, that is, Liaoning.

As for Jilin and Heilongjiang, the population is even smaller.

With a small population, there are fewer troops to support; the degree of development is even lower, and it is a pity that the fertile soil in the Northeast is thousands of miles away.

It is because of this that Tsarist Russia took advantage of it.

But now, with the repeated wars and disasters in the pass, the Qing government's control over the local area has become increasingly incapable, and the ban on customs has gradually relaxed.

A large number of people began to "break through the Guandong".

Among them, there are many people from Shandong.

Because Shandong is close to Liaoning, it is still not easy to go there by land at this time. Many people who crossed the Guandong first arrived in Dalian and other places in Liaoning by boat from Shandong, and then slowly migrated north.

Shandong has been a large agricultural province since ancient times. These people all know the skills of cultivating and farming. Coupled with the huge fertility of the black soil in the Northeast, although the process of entering the Guandong was full of blood and tears, it is better than staying in the Guandong. At least they can survive.

Li Yu said: "Zuo Cheng can go to the northeast as soon as possible to take a look, while the situation is still clear."

"Still?" Xu Shichang said.

"Yes! Once Japan and Russia go to war in the future, the location can only be in the Northeast region. The people we migrated are very likely to be persecuted." Li Yu said.

Xu Shichang was surprised and said: "Master Emperor, you can't say such things casually! Once Japan and Russia go to war, wouldn't it be two tigers fighting each other, and both sides will suffer? What good will there be?"

Xu Shichang still understood the situation, and did not blindly belittle Japan. After all, he had stayed in Beiyang and had a more accurate judgment of the current situation.

Li Yu said: "The advantage is of course the northeast. In short, if the city gate is on fire, it will inevitably bring disaster to the fish in the pond. Under the flames of war, the nearby residents will be greatly impacted. I don't think the Japanese and Russian armies will care about the safety of our people at all."

Xu Shichang gritted his teeth in the back: "The emperor's teacher is right. I will write a book as soon as possible to train the commander of the Liaoxi army, and organize the people to evacuate the surrounding areas as soon as possible."

At this time, Jiang Guiti, the governor of Liaoxi Army Training, was also from Beiyang, and Xu Shichang was able to command him.

Li Yu cupped his hands and said, "Zuo Cheng Gao Yi!"

Xu Shichang sighed: "Who would want to see it over and over again?"

As soon as Xu Shichang finished speaking, the luncheon began, and the sound of opera came from the stage.

Zai Zhen hummed the opera, imitating the appearance on the stage, walked a few martial arts steps, stood on the spot, and yelled: "Catch!"

The congratulatory officials immediately cheered in unison: "Good!"

(End of this chapter)