Kangxi, your Qing Dynasty is dead

Chapter 405 Kangxi, this is the last chance for the Qing Dynasty! (Please subscribe, please vote)

1679, October.

Spain, Mediterranean coast, Cartagena military port.

This important military port of the Spanish Navy was heavily guarded today. Soldiers carrying the latest flintlock guns were everywhere. Every one of them, with their chests and bellies raised, pushed through the cordon.It is said that Prime Minister Juan Jose accompanied the Dutch consul to visit.Now William of Orange is a friend of Spain. We must ensure his safety, but we must not let Louis XIV send assassins to kill him.

Within the military port, sail warships were lined up neatly.Including one first-class battleship, two second-class battleships, three third-class battleships, eleven fourth-class cruisers and more than twenty old Spanish galleons, as well as some gunboats with a displacement of less than 300 tons.

After the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Downs, the essence of the Spanish Navy's 40-year reconstruction is here.Due to the increasing decline of the empire, the reconstruction of the Spanish navy can be said to be full of bitterness and suffering.The only first-class ship in the Kingdom of Spain and the flagship of the newly formed Armada, the Virgin Concepcion launched in 1662, has a light load displacement of 1515 tons and can only install 90 cannons. The construction time actually reached an astonishing 15 years!
It was a record-breaking time to build a ship.The Royal Sun, the treasure of the French Sun King, was more than one-third larger than this ship, with more than 100 guns, and the construction time was only 12 months.

At the same time, the time required for the Netherlands and England to build such a first-class battleship was almost the same as the French man-made Royal Sun. To build a first-class battleship in the past 15 years, Spain, the first generation of the sun, never sets. Empire.

But now, the naval officers and soldiers of this dying empire on which the sun never sets have once again cheered up and hung out the flag of the "Invincible Fleet". Their uniforms are straight and they are standing on the deck, waiting for Prime Minister Juan Jose and Review of the Dutch consuls.

All Spanish naval officers and soldiers firmly believe at this moment that the Spanish Armada will be invincible again!
This is not unreasonable self-confidence, but very well-founded self-confidence, because this time the Armada has allies such as the Dutch Navy and the English Navy - the previous Armadas that ended miserably were all defeated by the Dutch Navy and the English Navy. Beaten badly.

If the Dutch Navy had been an ally of the Spanish Navy during the Battle of Downs, it would have been absolutely impossible for the Spanish Armada to be completely wiped out - the enemy of the Spanish Armada was the Dutch Navy!

If there are no enemies left, wouldn't the Spanish fleet be invincible?
On the Santa Maria de Concepcion, the Spanish Prime Minister and the Dutch Consul were gathered on the stern of the ship, surrounded by a group of accompanying officials.The military band was on the side, playing melodious military music, and a Burgundy cross flag symbolizing the Spanish royal family slowly rose.

Later, another flag of the commander of the Spanish Armada was also raised on the flagpole amidst the sound of military music.The new Spanish Armada is officially established!
The new commander of the Armada is Admiral Pedro de Zabala, who once defended the Battle of Cambrai with 4000 Spaniards who resisted ten times his own force, and also has a siege wizard like the Marquis of Vauban ( After guarding for a month, he surrendered to the French and had one of his legs broken) stood in the queue with a solemn expression, not as optimistic as others at all.It was not until Prince William of Orange, the ruling prince of the Netherlands, and Spanish Prime Minister Juan Jose walked up to him that he smiled and saluted them respectfully.

Juan Jose smiled and said to him: "Admiral, all matters in the Pacific are entrusted to you. Spain's most powerful battleships are also entrusted to you. There are also a total of [-] army troops going with them. , you can also recruit [-] mercenaries in Japan! If Philip II sent such a huge expeditionary force back then, he would definitely be able to conquer the Ming Dynasty!"

Admiral Zabala did not answer his question. He just looked at the sailing warships floating around and said softly: "It's a pity that it's not 1588."

"Don't you have confidence?" The Dutch ruler on the side asked with a smile on his face, "This time the Spanish Navy will not fight alone. The navy of the Dutch East India Company will also obey your orders! I have dispatched We have brought two third-level sailing battleships and ten fourth-level cruisers to Batavia. In addition, the East India Company has more than 100 ships of various types. Our strength at sea far exceeds that of the Chinese!"

When it comes to naval strength, Spain and the Netherlands are enough to overwhelm the Ming Dynasty. There is also England watching from the side but not playing!Even the Netherlands only used the strength of a little finger.

Admiral Zabala also smiled: "At sea, of course we can defeat the Ming Navy. But it is not 1588 anymore. The Ming Dynasty has the world's leading army! This is not an opponent that can be defeated by the [-] Spanish-Japanese coalition. ! Your Excellency the Consul, I think you should know that Ming Dynasty is not a maritime country, and we cannot force her to surrender through naval battles."

The Dutch ruler laughed loudly: "What we are about to form is an eleven-nation anti-Ming alliance. In this grand alliance, there are also two land powers, the Qing Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty. They are all enemies of the Ming Dynasty. We sent The envoys are now heading to Central Asia, and they will definitely meet Kangxi and General Wu. I think these two will not give up this opportunity to make a comeback!"

In the spring of the 19th year of Kangxi's reign, Central Asia.

With the sound of clattering horse hooves crossing the stream, the first Turkmen horse riding an extremely splendid horse has set foot on the north bank.Then dozens of knights in yellow jackets followed them across the river.The man on the horse, wearing a Manchu warm hat and traveling clothes, with a pockmarked face that made people feel dazzling, was Wu Xuanye, the most pockmarked man in the Qing Dynasty.

Both sides of this creek are both fertile and barren land that is rare in Central Asia.It is rich because the land here is fertile, the water is plentiful, and there are large flat and open lands, which are very suitable for farming.And desolation. Because of such water and soil, large areas are now abandoned there. No one is cultivating it, and the weeds have grown as tall as half a person.The scorched black ruins of broken arms in the distance seemed to indicate that this area had just suffered a shocking catastrophe.

A team was marching sparsely on a dilapidated road on the south bank of the creek.This was not a simple army composed only of officers and soldiers, but a team that included many women and children, as well as carts and carts of various luggage.The team didn't know how far they had walked. Everyone's clothes were gray and dusty, and the mules and horses pulling the cart were all thin and hairy. It looked like they had suffered a lot along the way.But everyone in the team had a happy smile on their face at this time, pointing and talking to each other at the lush green surrounding them.

“This is such a peaceful and happy place!”

"No wonder this place is called. What is Taiping Valley! It is indeed a peaceful and happy place!"

"That's right, I really didn't expect that this Mughal area in the Western Regions would have such a wonderful place like a paradise!"

"Isn't the soil and water here too fertile? The grass grows so well. If we plant wheat here, we will be able to feed millions of people!"

"What's even more beautiful is that this is a large valley. The valley entrance is ten or twenty miles above the sky. In addition to the relatively low mountains near the valley entrance, the access route can only be forty or fifty miles at most. If a Great Wall can be built to block it, Then our Qing Dynasty will be able to enjoy peace in this valley in the future. This will be a fairy-like day!"

It turns out that the place where Kangxi and this team of field soldiers from the Central Plains were located was the Fergana Basin, which can be called the paradise of the Mughals.

Before it was ravaged by the Mongols, the land in the river in the Mughal area was said to have a developed irrigation system. It might not be as good as the Central Plains, but it was certainly fertile and wild.But when Kangxi and Wu Shicong led the expeditionary forces of the two countries to fight thousands of miles into the river, they discovered that this was not the case at all.The entire river, except for a few oases, is desolate everywhere.Most of the oases also look half-dead. The ancient irrigation systems have long been dilapidated and no one has carried out large-scale repairs. There are only some minor repairs and they can barely survive.

Since agriculture in the arid areas of Central Asia relies on water brought by melting snow from the mountains, if you want to maintain agricultural production and maintain or even expand the size of the oasis, you must rely on large-scale construction of water conservancy facilities.It would be best to play a game of chess in Central Asia and scientifically and uniformly manage the limited but very stable water resources within the territory.

Historically, the Persian Empire developed the riverine regions of Central Asia by building and controlling water conservancy facilities, and achieved relatively effective rule.

But when the destruction level was full and the construction level was almost zero, the Mongols ruled Hezhong. The originally fertile land became barren and barren, and the Mongolian dynasty, which changed like a revolving lantern, could do nothing but continue to destroy. Something happened.

In the original history, Central Asia had to wait until the arrival of the red empire to re-inject vitality into Central Asia.

This time, most of the oases in the river, including Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khwarezm, were assigned to Wu Shicong.Kangxi, on the other hand, obtained the Fergana Basin, the only area around Tashkent and in Central Asia that could maintain high agricultural output without relying on artificial irrigation systems.

Of course, Wu Shicong did not leave the Fergana Basin, the best in Central Asia, to Kangxi because of his conscience.It's because Wu Shicong has taken a liking to Persia, which produces Persian horses, Persian cats and Persian beauties, and is preparing to use Bukhara as a base to launch an expedition against the Safavid dynasty of Persia. Even if it cannot be annexed, the Safavid dynasty must surrender. .

In addition, Wu Shicong, who controls Samarkand, Bukhara and Khwarezm, is closer to India, which will also be conducive to advancing into India in the future or collecting protection fees from the Timurid Empire in India now.

Kangxi did not compete with Wu Shicong for the passage into Persia and India. Instead, he readily accepted the Fergana Basin, and in more than a year, he led his army to take root in the densely populated Fergana Basin. into the basin, and then clean up one city after another.Until not long ago, he had just removed Andijan, the last stronghold of resistance in the Fergana Basin.

While attacking the Tianfang Sect cities in the Fergana Basin, Kangxi also sent an order to Beijing, ordering Queen Yang, Prince Gong and the Eighth Ministers who stayed behind to send another group of Tuntian bannermen to take root in Fergana.

In order to attract more people to Fergana, Kangxi also changed the name of the Fergana Basin to "Taiping Valley". It sounds like a good place!Moreover, in the edict written to Empress Yang, Prince Gong, the Eight Ministers and others, he praised the water and land topography of Taiping Valley, saying that it is surrounded by mountains, rich in water and soil, thousands of miles of fertile fields, a valley of peace, and a land of abundance!
In short, it is a heaven on earth where you can close the door to maintain peace!It’s not too much to call it the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
At this moment, across a stream, he heard the laughter of the farmers who had been brought to the fertile land in the northeast of Andiyan near the Tianshan Mountains. Kangxi also showed a rare smile of relief and turned around to greet the guards around him. Lan Xingde and Hanlin scholar Gao Shiqi said: "It would be a beautiful thing if I could live here with the queen forever!"

Gao Shiqi and Nalan Xingde looked at each other. They seemed to hear something, but they didn't understand anything.

Nalan Xingde asked: "Your Majesty, what is the happiness here?"

Kangxi shook his head: "The foundation of our ancestors cannot be defeated in my hands. No matter what, we must try again! Now that Ming has provoked a lot of Western powers, it may be attacked from both sides. This is my last chance! How did it happen? Then I will be the hero of the generation, no, the Holy Lord!"

Kangxi is not bragging this time. If he can win this time, he will indeed be able to reach the Holy Lord - we are almost reaching the Caspian Sea, and it will be "holy" just by looking at the map!And the current Qing Dynasty is no longer the original Qing Dynasty with the eight banners overwhelming all, but a United States!The conflict between the Manchus and the Han also greatly eased as the level of bannerman content decreased.

In addition, the Qing Dynasty has been completely founded, and the princes of the Qing Dynasty have slept with Princess Rakshasa!As for the Tongwen Hall, it has already been established, and preparations have even begun for the Capital University Hall.
Gao Shiqi said: "Your Majesty, the envoys from the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and England have been waiting in Tianjing City for several months. Would you like to go see them quickly?"

Nalan Xingde also reminded: "Your Majesty, this is a rare opportunity. Nan Huairen and Xu Risheng said in the letter that this time the Westerners have angered the Ming Dynasty and are going to take action. Not only will they send out 13 expeditionary troops, but also An army of [-] mercenaries from Japan will land in the southeast of Ming Dynasty!"

Kangxi nodded: "Okay, back to Tianjing!"

The so-called "Tianjing" was of course created by Emperor Kangxi to trick the Chinese people into emigrating - Taiping Valley is the land of abundance, and that is the Kingdom of Heaven. The capital of the Kingdom of Heaven, what is it if not Tianjing?
This Tianjing City is located near the mouth of the valley to the west of Taiping Valley. It is a new city that is still under construction.According to Kangxi's thoughts, if there is no chance of success in the future, he will take Empress Yang to hide in Taiping Valley to live a small life, and then the emperor will guard the entrance of the valley and block the entrance of Taiping Valley, at least there will be someone 300 years of foundation.

When Kangxi returned to his Tianjing City, two huge construction sites had appeared near the entrance of the Fergana Basin and on both sides of the Syr Darya River.

Two castles standing between the rivers are already under construction.The prisoners captured during the pacification of the basin were being led by the ferocious "Mongolian Western Expeditionary Army" to dig trenches in the wilderness with shovels. The dug soil was piled on the edge and compacted to form the rammed soil layer that became the city wall. .Next to the construction site was a brick-burning furnace, and the flames continued all day long. The bricks from each furnace were quickly laid layer by layer on the outside of the adobe, and the two castles were taking shape bit by bit.

These two castles are also quite interesting. They are connected with the long walls and trenches built by Kangxi at the entrance of the valley, forming a complete defense system.Moreover, facing the valley mouth in the west, as well as the south and north sides, there are bastions designed. Only the east side and the Syr Darya River are ordinary city walls.

Seeing these two castles under construction, several ambassadors from the joint missions of the Netherlands, Spain, England, and Portugal could not help but feel a little worried.

Does this Emperor Kangxi not plan to go back to the East?From now on, he will go into seclusion in this Taiping Valley to maintain peace?

In this way, Daming will be difficult to deal with!
However, the two Jesuit missionaries who accompanied them and were reused by Kangxi were quite confident. They all patted their chests and assured the envoys of the four Western missions that as long as the conditions offered by the Netherlands, Spain, England, and Portugal were good enough, , the Great Khan will definitely turn around and march eastward, and give the Ming Dynasty general named Li a powerful blow!
Is this for the benefit?

But what kind of benefits did the Qing emperor and Mongol Khan want?

(End of this chapter)