After learning that Wu Xiha and Fan Tong were safe and sound, Lu Shoushan finally felt relieved. It was not until this time that he reported to Liu Sheng and Zhao Xin respectively via telegram.
After Liu Sheng learned what happened, he became furious and clamored to send troops to surround the trading city to teach Shanxi merchants a lesson. However, after Zhao Xin had a phone call with him without outsiders present, Liu Sheng stopped mentioning this matter.
Zhao Xin actually considered this matter from the perspective of the overall military deployment of the North Navy. His attitude is very clear: whoever made the mistake should be blamed, and do not involve irrelevant people. It's okay to capture Tian Tonghe. Let's be polite first and then fight. We'll send someone to the trading city to negotiate and ask them to hand him over. If the Manchus don't surrender, it won't be too late to take action.
You must know that although there are Shanxi merchants here in the Buying and Selling City, these people are not the bosses behind the scenes. They are all part-time workers. Compared with Beihai Town, the merchants in Mongolia have a better understanding of the situation in Outer Mongolia because they have been engaged in trade at the west entrance for a long time. Compared with the alliance leaders and Zasak of the various banners in Outer Mongolia, the Northern Navy must first find out the situation in Outer Mongolia through these people.
In terms of military strategy against the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Xin's plan was to send troops to Outer Mongolia first after Beihai Town resolved the conflict with Tsarist Russia. The first purpose was to prevent unrest in Outer Mongolia when the Manchu Qing military was weak and the border defenses were ineffective; the second was to block the route for the Manchu clan clan to escape north.
Beihai Town's strategy against Outer Mongolia is a big move, and its importance is far more important than inside the pass. It cannot be solved by pure military means. It must be considered from a political and economic perspective.
What Zhao Xin thinks about most these days is, in another time and space, why did Xinjiang and Outer Mongolia, which were equally important, take different paths in the late Qing Dynasty?
When it comes to rule, the Manchu Qing's ruling system over Mongolia was undoubtedly successful in some aspects.
In addition to the familiar marriage between Manchu and Mongolia and the promotion of Lamaism, the Qing government began to implement the alliance and flag system in Mongolia starting from the "Duolun League" in the 30th year of Kangxi (1691). It was from then on that Khalkha Mongolia (Mobei Mongolia) officially became part of the Qing Empire.
The Qing Dynasty's alliance flag system has certain similarities with the ethnic local autonomy system of another time and space. On the one hand, they are based on the recognition of the unity of national territorial sovereignty and central authority, and on the other hand, they respect and protect the collective politics of ethnic minorities. Rights are principles.
Future generations may look down on this Manchu and that other Qing Dynasty, but the implementation of the alliance flag system prevented the Mongolian tribes from reuniting and breaking them into pieces, which was far more effective than the Ming Empire building the Great Wall to defend against the Mongolian invaders.
To put it simply, the alliance-flag system enables the Mongolians, who were originally free-grazing tribes, to be strictly confined to small territories based on flags. This makes it impossible to form a unified local government for the whole nation, and it is impossible to create a unified local government for the whole nation. Shared leaders.
Complementing the alliance flag system is the "ticket system" implemented by the Qing court in Mongolia. Not only do Mongolians need tickets to enter the customs, but also the interactions between people under various banners need to be restricted by tickets, eliminating the possibility of private connections.
Enough with the good, let’s talk about the bad.
The biggest problem of the Qing court in Outer Mongolia was that there were too few troops stationed there, and most of the troops were left to the four Khalkha tribes. In stark contrast to the more generous policies towards the inner Mongolia, although the Qing court claimed to be "graceful" by exempting Khalkha from taxes, the military service system with numerous names and heavy burdens made the subjects of the four tribes gradually fall into economic difficulties. Dilemma.
Compulsory military service and long-term conscription of materials have gradually increased the dissatisfaction of the Khalkha tribesmen, increasing their centrifugal tendencies and drifting away from the Qing court. This has laid huge hidden dangers in consolidating border defenses. It provided an opportunity for the subsequent split of Tsarist Russia.
His eyes returned to Chaktu.
On the morning after the kidnapping incident, Lu Shoushan followed Zhao Xin's order and selected an officer from the regiment headquarters to come to the north gate of the trading city.
"Stop! If you take one step closer, the arrow will be released!"
On the small tower at the north gate, a Qing soldier raised his bow and took aim, while another Qing soldier shouted loudly.
"I came here under orders to deliver a letter to you, Mr. Wu."
When the soldiers on the city tower heard that they were delivering a message, they did not dare to neglect, and quickly asked the soldiers below the city tower to invite the leader. While waiting for others, the two Qing soldiers carefully looked at the officer who delivered the message.
In the past, the Northern Navy was in the city of Kyaktu, more than a hundred meters away, and they could only watch from a distance; this was the first time they were so close and saw it so clearly.
I saw that this person was wearing a fluffy thick cotton hat with ear protection hanging down on both sides; he was not wearing a robe, but was divided into two pieces; he was wearing a pair of black gloves on his hands, and a pair of black gloves on his feet. Black leather boots, but the waistband of the boots is covered in the trouser legs.
In the eyes of the Qing soldiers on the tower, this outfit was really indescribably weird. The two of them said to themselves that the clothes and hat looked quite thick, but why did they have to be dyed green, with khaki spots on them?
It must be because the dyer did it too often and the color faded after just a few washes!
The Qing soldier holding the bow loosened the bow string, paused for a few moments, and then pulled it open again, thinking to himself: "Hey, where do you think they got this fabric from? I don't think the old cotton we are wearing has been worn. Woolen cloth!"
The Qing Bing holding a knife next to him said: "No. My clothes have been in the water ten or eight times, but you see, the color has not faded at all. The Chang family's fabrics are strong."
After that, he looked at the officers of the Northern Navy not far away and said with disdain: "Look at them, their nice hats have to be dyed green. This is too shabby!"
"No, look at the fluff on his hat. It's actually green too. If it were my life, I'd never wear these clothes again."
The two of them chatted on the tower and chuckled from time to time. Yu Jinshui, who was walking back and forth not far away with his hands behind his back, couldn't understand Mongolian, but he knew that the two of them must have failed to hold it in well. He was talking about his military uniform.
If you don't look at the military ranks on the shoulders of the standard military uniforms of the North Navy, it is actually difficult to distinguish officers from soldiers. After all, they are all the same style of camouflage uniforms. This thing is actually a P cotton cold-proof suit that Zhao Xin ordered from a factory in another time and space (please refer to the VKBO lv8 cotton suit for details). The biggest advantage is that it can withstand the extreme cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Let alone the Qing army, even when he saw the military uniform he was issued when he first joined the army, he had a look of reluctance. Like other Henan fellows, he had expressed strong dissatisfaction.
It's okay if you say the clothes are green, but why is the hat also green? If my family and neighbors knew about this, they would laugh to death.
Faced with the overwhelming outcry from recruits, the instructors at the training base had their own methods. They only used one method to resolve the recruits' misunderstanding, and that was hide-and-seek.
Don't you like green military caps? Come on, we have the black hats of the security police here, put them on, and you will understand everything after taking a walk around the mountain.
When Yu Jinshui was held down several times by veterans wearing the black hat of the security police, he learned from the instructor that the green military hat he was issued was called a "camouflage hat" and was intended to help him fight better in the mountains and forests. Hide yourself.
In addition, from top to bottom in the Bei Navy, whether Wang Yuanfang, Liu Sheng, Wu Siyu, or even Zhao Xin sometimes wore a green camouflage cotton hat to wander around, the discussion among the soldiers slowly subsided.
Yu Jinshui waited outside the door for about twenty minutes before Dai Peng (Dapeng, Manchu), the garrison leader of the Merchant City, hurriedly came to the tower. He cupped his fists at Yu Jinshui below, and asked a little out of breath: "May I ask your surname?"
Yu Jinshui looked up and felt that this Qing general looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before. Then he raised his hand to salute the military salute of the Northern Navy and said loudly: "My surname is Yu, and my name is Yu Jinshui! I have been ordered by Commander Lu of our department to negotiate with you. Here is a letter from Commander Lu, which needs to be negotiated in person. To Wu Yi, an official of your vassal council."
"Presumptuous! Mr. Wu's name is also given casually! In fact..."
"Snapped!"
Before Qing Jun finished speaking angrily at Yu Jin Shui, he felt a hot slap on his face, blocking his next words. He covered his face and looked again, and saw the angry eyes of Master Xie Ling.
"Asshole! Do you have any right to speak here? Are you treating me as a mere decoration? Get out of here!"
After teaching his subordinates a lesson, Dai Peng showed some apology and said to Jin Shui: "Master Wu is an official of the imperial court. This, I may not be appropriate in this interview. If you can trust me, how about I transfer it to you?"
Yu Jinshui thought for a while and felt that this was the only way. So he said to Dai Peng: "Okay, but you have to give me a receipt."
Dai Peng bowed his hands after hearing this, asked Yu Jinshui to wait a moment, and then walked down the tower to the nearest shop. He called the shopkeeper and asked him to write down the words "On a certain day and a certain time in the fifty-third year of Qianlong's reign, the officers and soldiers garrisoned in the Merchant City received a letter from Jia Ketu and delivered it to Mr. Wu Zhenyu of the Lifan Academy." He ordered someone to open the north door to reveal a gap for only one person to enter and exit, and then walked out with the receipt.
Yu Jinshui read the receipt, took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to the other party, when he saw a flattering smile suddenly appeared on the face of the person opposite him, and he whispered to himself: "Monitor Yu, long time no see."
"Huh?" Yu Jinshui was stunned, thinking, this person actually knows me?
When Dai Peng saw Yu Jinshui looking at him in surprise, he reminded him in a low voice: "Squad leader Yu, the prisoner camp outside Fuldan City two years ago..."
Gu "Oh!" Yu Jinshui patted his head and finally remembered who this person was, and said with some surprise: "Zhenglan Banner Mongolian Alliance Leader Dapeng! Why are you here?"
"Uh, it's Dai Peng." Dai Peng turned his back to the city gate when he spoke, so the Qing troops on the city tower couldn't see him speaking at all. He nodded slightly and said softly: "Didn't I ask someone to move me here? I thought there would be a lot of money here, but who knew... Oh, it's hard to explain in words!"
Yu Jinshui smiled and said: "What? Are you afraid that we will come over?"
Dai Peng said: "Squad leader Yu, you also know that I am just a small co-leader, and it is not my turn to intervene in military and national affairs. But please remember our previous friendship. If you really want to take action, I hope you will inform me in advance. I will never dare to be an enemy of your department!"
"Okay." Yu Jinshui rolled his eyes, picked up the receipt, opened it, pretended to look at it, and said, "You saw what happened yesterday, right?"
Dai Peng said: "I only saw that your army went westward at Shenchu time, and then retreated to the north of the boundary river at night. I don't know what happened."
Yu Jinshui sneered and said: "Some people don't know whether to live or die, thinking that they can kidnap one or two people in order to seek revenge and take credit."
Dai Peng was startled and said quickly: "Here, where do you start talking about this?"
Yu Jinshui said: "We are old acquaintances, and I won't hide it from you. Tian Tonghe, the shopkeeper of Heyu'anji, colluded with Rakshasa officers and profiteers to kidnap my family members of the Beihai Navy..."
"What?! Tian Tonghe?" Dai Peng's mouth opened wide, thinking that there really are people who don't want to die. He quickly clasped his fists and bowed slightly: "Don't worry, Mr. Yu, I will find out the situation, report it to Mr. Wu, and punish him severely."
"No, I'm here today just to ask you to call Tian Tonghe out."
"This, how to do this?"
"Yes, of course." Yu Jinshui raised his hand to Dai Peng, then turned around and walked back, saying: "Go back and discuss it with that Wu Yi. If you don't hand it over after noon, we will go to the city directly. Arrested."
"ah!"
Half an hour later, they were in the yamen office of the Lifanyuan of Huasheng City.
With a "pop!", Wu Yi slapped the letter on the table. He was so angry that he trembled all over and said angrily: "What a good thief! How dare you be so arrogant and unreasonable!"
Dai Peng cupped his hands and said, "Master Wu, it's nothing to just be angry. The other side said that if you don't hand over the person after noon, the troops will be sent in to arrest them!"
"Fart!" Wu Yi pointed at Dai Peng and said angrily: "They have guns. Isn't the musket in your hand a fire stick?"
Dai Pengxin said you are really right, then it is really a fire stick. In the past, it was okay to scare Rakshasa, but against the Northern Navy, even ten times more men and horses would be of no avail.
He organized his speech and then said to Wu Yi: "Master Wu, I followed Marshal Fu and fought fiercely with Zhao Ni's rebels in Fuldan City for several days. Their firearms were so powerful that they could fire seven times in a row in an instant. Eight blunderbuss, and they can hit extremely far, we are really no match for our small number of people and firearms!"
Wu Yi had no choice at this time. He sat dejectedly behind the desk and began to complain to Dai Peng.
If he just handed the person over obediently, he would never get any good results once Song Yun, the minister of affairs in Culun, found out. He bribed He Shen with a total of 150,000 taels of silver for the position of Judge of Kyaktu. If you really lose your hat over this matter, you will really have to pay it to your grandma’s house!
But the problem is that if we want to handle border affairs according to the previous negotiation methods, let alone wait for the Lifan Yuan to issue the document, the day lily will be cold.
According to the provisions of the "Buliansqi Boundary Treaty" and the "Kyaktu Boundary Treaty" signed by the Qing and Russia in the early Yongzheng Dynasty, when encountering such a thing, Wu Yi must first report to Songyun, the Minister of Affairs of Kulun, and Songyun would then report it to Songyun. The Lifan Yuan in the capital reported the matter; after the Lifan Yuan reported to Qianlong for approval, he sent a letter to the Minister of Affairs of Kulun, who sent a letter to the Russian Governor of Siberia.
Moreover, even if the Chinese committed a crime, there was absolutely no reason to hand it over to the Russian side. They would execute the law directly at the place where they were captured.
After listening to Wu Yi's complaint, Dai Peng said: "Mr. Wu, if this were still the past, let alone Tian Tonghe, Pavlov, Ragutin and others mentioned in the letter were also beyond comparison. Anyone who crosses the border armed with weapons will not be unjust even if he is directly hanged!"
He changed the topic, sighed, and continued rather helplessly: "But that's not the case now! The people on the other side are not Rakshasa soldiers, and I think Zhao Ni's people are more fierce than Rakshasa soldiers. If we really want to let him They rush into the city to arrest people, and when the news reaches Cullen, you and I will be dead!"
Wu Yi heard something in Dai Peng's words, so he leaned forward and asked, "What do you mean?"
Dai Peng looked around. Wu Yi understood and signaled his officers to stand down. After everyone had left, Dai Peng came over and whispered: "In my humble opinion, it's better to handle it like this..."
After Wu Yi listened, he twirled his beard and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Just after noon, a man wearing government uniforms walked into the "He Yu An Ji" in the third courtyard on the west side of Beimen Street. When the shop clerk saw it, he was personally accompanied by Mr. Wu, the official of the Lifan Academy. The man walked into the yard and asked a store clerk who came up to him with a kind face, "Xiao Shui, where is your shopkeeper?"
"Back to Mr. Wu, our shopkeeper Tian is settling accounts in the main room at the back. Please ask the shopkeeper to come out."
The trading city is not big, and the soldiers and civilians in the city look up but not down, so they are all very familiar with it.
"Well, the master sent me to ask Shopkeeper Tian to come to the government office to discuss something important."
"Master Wu, please sit down for a moment. I'll go ask the shopkeeper."
"Go quickly, go quickly."
All the shops in the trading city have a courtyard layout with a front store and a back hall, and they are generally similar. No matter which door you walk in, you will see the furnishings of Eurasia and Bi. The furnishings in the front courtyard are simple but very neat, as if it were a holiday. The rooms behind the vestibule are quite particular, and some are equipped with European-style fireplaces.
The waiter Xiao Shui walked outside the main room in the back hall and coughed. The sound of the abacus crackling in the room suddenly stopped, and then someone asked: "What's the matter?"
"Shopkeeper, Mr. Wu from the Lifan Academy has sent someone to invite you to come over. He said he has something important to discuss."
"Let him sit down for a moment and I'll be right over." As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of abacus sounded again.
In the main room, the walls are surrounded by large plank beds, covered with thick felts and blankets. A mirror from Russia is hung on the wall, and there are several watercolor paintings from Europe as decorations. On a plank bed against the east wall, a middle-aged man in his early thirties was sitting cross-legged in front of the kang table, with a thick stack of accounts in front of him.
I saw this man fiddled with the beads on the abacus with his left hand, and kept writing on the account book with a pen in his right hand. He was actually doing two things at once, without pausing for a moment. After about an hour of burning incense, when he had almost finished writing the entire page, the calculation on his left hand also came to fruition. When he compared the two sides, he found that they were exactly the same.
This person is Tian Tonghe, the shopkeeper of "Heyu'anji" who was ordered by the Beihai Navy to arrest the traitor.
Tian Tonghe put away the account books and pen and ink in an orderly manner, then put on his shoes, hat, and sea otter skin mandarin, and walked slowly to the vestibule.
The personal attendant sent by Wu Yi was already waiting impatiently, but when he saw Tian Tonghe, he still said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Tian is really busy, please come with me."
Tian Tonghe smiled, clasped his fists and saluted, saying he was sorry. Then he walked to an old clerk, took a bunch of keys from his waist, and said, "Old Huang, this is from the account book cabinet in the back room." Keep the key. If you don't come back, give it to brother."
"Shopkeeper, what are you doing?" Lao Huang was slightly startled, thinking to himself, how can you keep this thing for me?
He was about to ask again when he heard the official say impatiently: "Shopkeeper Tian, it's not too late to come back if you have anything to do. Mr. Wu is waiting impatiently!"
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