After talking to Wang Yuanfang, Zhao Xin immediately ordered half of the staff to pack their bags immediately and set off northward the day after tomorrow at the latest, and must arrive in Irkutsk in early June.
As the Beihai Navy Staff issued orders one after another, waterway transportation throughout Beihai Town began to become busier. In addition to the second and third regiments, the Aoba Camp, Hagi Camp, and Ainu Camp composed of the Sendai Clan and Choshu Clan, and the Ainu Camp also headed north five days later.
All daily passenger and cargo shipping in Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers were temporarily suspended. More than 200 inland river boats and sailing boats loaded with soldiers and supplies headed for the upper reaches of Heilongjiang. Whether it was the residents of Beihai Town, the border residents of various ethnic groups along the river, or the spies sent by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, everyone realized that the Beihai Navy was going to make big moves in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang.
After receiving the news from the spies, Fukang'an, who was based in Wula, Jilin, issued a memorial to the capital. At the same time, he ordered people to go to Kulun with letters to remind Song Jun, the minister of affairs in Kulun, and Hengrui, the left deputy general of Dingbian, to pay attention. The recent movements of the Northern Navy and Tsarist Russia.
At the end of May 1790, Chen Qingsong, who returned to Beihai Town, proposed to Zhao Xin that considering the development and construction of Ningguta, Hunchun, Sanxing, and Boli, he planned to move the headquarters of the civil affairs to Fuldan City. After a brief consideration, Zhao Xin agreed to Chen Qingsong's request.
Moving the Civil Affairs Headquarters was a long-winded matter, and Zhao Xin did not interfere. He held a meeting with Chen Qingsong, Yu Deli, Wang Yuanfang, Hong Tao and others, and after making some arrangements for the affairs during his departure, he started to move. Set off for the north.
In early June 1790, Zhao Xin took his adjutant Xu Shounan and the guard battalion from Beihai Town and arrived in Khabarovsk in four days. He will make a short stop here to inspect the progress of foundation construction of the railway project.
After two consecutive years of immigration and large-scale investment, Khabarovsk has now become the largest commodity trading center in the outer northeast. A large amount of leather goods, fish and meat products arrived here from the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang and Ussuri Rivers, and were then turned into various daily necessities such as grain, cloth, and salt, which greatly strengthened the connection between Beihai Town and various tribal villages and towns in the outer Northeast.
At the same time, due to the arrival of a large number of new immigrants, more than a dozen villages have appeared around Khabarovsk. The more cold-resistant rye gradually replaced the corn grown by border residents in the past and became the staple food for residents in the outer northeast. The development of sugar beet cultivation and animal husbandry has also made hunting and fishing no longer the only way to obtain meat protein.
Beginning in June 1789, the surveying and mapping team led by Lin Ziping began surveying along the railway from Khabarovsk to Heilongjiang City. In August last year, with the arrival of Shima orchid scholars such as Takahashi Yoshitoki, Asada Goryu, Shima Jianghan, Mata Taketachi, etc., the railway survey work in Beihai Town gradually accelerated.
As of mid-May 1790, three-quarters of the 800 kilometers of railway line survey had been completed. During this period, a large number of island workers who were transported to Beihai Town through the "Beihai Enforcement" of the shogunate were also sent to Heilongjiang City and Khabarovsk.
In April this year, the foundation construction of the entire railway line was carried out simultaneously on both sections of the line. The reason for starting so early is mainly due to the climatic conditions in South Ussuri.
According to previous observation data from the civil affairs department, there will be 10 to 12 heavy rainfalls in July and August every summer, accounting for nearly 90% of the total annual rainfall. Faced with such concentrated rainfall, the first thing to do is water conservancy projects along the roads. Migrant workers from island countries, under the command of civil water conservancy technicians, cut down forests along the railway line and dug hundreds of kilometers of aqueducts and water storage points. When the rainy season comes, it can be discharged into farmland or Heilongjiang through aqueducts.
In addition, the construction area of Heilongjiang City in the western section has crisscrossed swamps, which requires drainage, deep excavation, and filling before road construction.
The biggest difficulty faced during the construction process is the construction in the middle section. Because it is to be built in a mountainous area, the construction will be carried out in areas with high roadbeds and deep ravines, and even large-scale construction will be carried out on cliffs.
The transportation of stones after the mountain bombing and the transportation of construction materials are also big problems. To this end, workers from the island country must also build a nearly 1,000-kilometer-long road along the railway line in advance to transport the debris from the mountain explosion in the middle section of the railway line to various construction sites.
The Portuguese Pereira was responsible for the design of bridges along the railway line. Before the steel plant in Khabarovsk was completed and put into operation, all bridge components needed to be made in advance in Beihai Town, and then transported to the construction site by land, water, and then land. In addition, a sawmill was set up on the other side of Khabarovsk Town to process the felled logs into boards and then transport them to the construction site by land.
In short, everything is trivial and complicated; but everything is in order. During the construction period, all local administrative agencies are obliged to assist in the construction, but they cannot dictate it. Since a security police system is specially equipped for railway engineering projects, the construction discipline on site is also very strict. All food and accommodation are fully guaranteed, but construction delays will be punished no matter what the reason is.
"Príncipe, I have to say that it is really an honor for me to participate in such a great project." Pereira, who had been naturalized in Beihai Town at the end of last year, complimented South Ussuri respectfully after meeting Zhao Xin. Railway project.
The "Príncipe" he said actually means "Prince" in Latin, and the word prince in English evolved from here. It could refer to the queen's husband, the king's sons, or even local powerful men. Of course, when he called Zhao Xin this way, it must have the third meaning.
Zhao Xin nodded with satisfaction, patted the other party's shoulder and said, "Rodrigo, I will have your family brought to Beihai Town before Christmas this year."
Pereira's family are now in Macau, but since he has been naturalized, he must be taken over to prevent Macau and Portugal from making small moves. When he heard the good news, he immediately bowed excitedly to Zhao Xin and said he would work hard.
"Your Highness, the biggest problem in our project now is that the annual construction period is too short. There are only 130 days in summer in South Ussuri every year, and the spring and autumn are too short."
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "Yes, so you have to find ways to shorten the construction period, and also explore how to build bridges and roads in winter, so as not to stop the entire project in winter."
After meeting the project engineering personnel, Zhao Xin inspected the construction site again. When the laborers from an archipelago country and the subordinate samurai of the shogunate as supervisors heard that the famous King Zhao had arrived, they all knelt on the ground to welcome him. Especially the warriors, when they saw Zhao Xin, they didn't even dare to speak out loud.
In fact, Zhao Xin's reputation in the island country is at two extremes. The farmers believe that this person is caring about people's livelihood and would like to have him under the rule of Beihai Town; but for the daimyo and shogunate everywhere, he is absolutely infamous.
This man never played his cards according to ordinary people's ideas. He used a hammer here and there, and made the shogunate feel like he was in a state of ecstasy. The tax system of "three publics, three citizens, seven" implemented in the three counties of Minami Kyushu has now spread throughout the island country. There are calls from the people to reduce the tax ratio, which makes the lords of the feudal lords and the shogunate hate it. , but there is nothing to do.
The life of "Gongba Miner" is still very tight, and he has borrowed a lot of bad debts. If the tax collection is adjusted, then everyone will not live!
The problem is that after Zhao Xin finished conquering Southern Kyushu and signed the agreement with the shogunate, he no longer cared about the bad things of the island country. Except for the Sendai Clan and the Choshu Clan, the other vassals did not even give them a chance to defect to their subordinates, leaving many daimyo to jump in haste.
The reason why Zhao Xin accepted the surrender of the Choshu clan was because he wanted to strangle those "Changshu generals" from the Meiji era in another time and space. For example, there was a feudal lord named Inoue Goro Saburo Mitsuhiro. Heita had already sent a message, and the Mori family found an excuse to have him caesarean.
For the island country, Zhao Xin's approach is to greet them openly and covertly. The bombardment of Edo and the attack on Satsuma established the prestige of China's military force; by attracting orchid scholars, it influenced the Confucian culture of the island country that was undergoing changes; and the elimination of the Eternal Line was to cut off the roots of the "myth of the imperial way."
As for where the island country will go in the future, you can follow the stick and slowly fight, or you can follow the footsteps of Beihai Town and go to the other side of the ocean to fight with the Spaniards; if not, you can send them to Ceylon to help stir things up and add fuel to the British devils. Add to the blockage.
On June 12, Zhao Xin suddenly arrived in Heilongjiang City. After hearing the news, Guo Dalu, Li Bi, Sheng Haizhou and others came to the river bank to greet him. Zhao Xin did not go into the city, but met the three of them on the boat.
After Li Bi went to Beihai Town for scar repair surgery last year, Zhao Xin was already kind to him, so after returning to Heilongjiang City, he played for Beihai Town wholeheartedly.
Zhao Xin first talked with the three people about the situation in Heilongjiang City, and then learned in detail about the movements of the Qing army in the direction of Mergen. He learned that the Qing army had already reduced most of its forces to Butha and Hulunbuer. There are now only 500 garrisoned Eight Banners left in Ergen City, and they are obviously on the defensive.
He immediately warned Guo Dalu and Li Bi to fully develop the vast area on the right bank of Heilongjiang. For the left bank, the furthest point for the time being is the Miqili River. Border residents of all ethnic groups must be treated equally without discrimination. In particular, the Sauron tribe, which raises reindeer and lives on grass, needs to send people to teach them how to farm and how to raise reindeer intensively, so that they can gradually settle down and become villages.
After discussing internal affairs, Zhao Xin sent away Li Guo and left Sheng Haizhou alone.
After two years of living far away from the center of power in Beihai Town, young Sheng Haizhou has become more and more calm. The cold winter wind in Heilongjiang City has also blown his originally fair face into a dark and rosy face. The wrinkles on his forehead have faded slightly. The meditation was gathered in one place, and it seemed that many nights were spent thinking hard.
"Have you thought clearly?"
Facing Zhao Xin's meaningless question, Sheng Haizhou was stunned for a moment, then nodded and looked at Zhao Xin and said: "I will always be your servant, Lord. I will do whatever you ask me to do. Everything else is with me. It’s irrelevant.”
Zhao Xin listened and nodded slightly. The reason why he sent Sheng Haizhou to Heilongjiang City in the first place was to cut off the connection between him and Lin Ziping, and to prevent the literati from the island country from getting their hands into the Bei Navy. The so-called "support incident" was actually just an excuse.
Lin Ziping understood Zhao Xin's intentions from then on, so he found another way and tried to recruit a group of orchid scholars to work for Beihai Town, thereby expanding the influence of the island nation's scholars in Beihai Town. So when Wang Zhong proposed to invite Jiangnan scholars, Zhao Xin immediately agreed, and later showed his closeness to Jiang Fan.
When engaging in politics, you have to be balanced and achieve the right outcome. At present, it is a balance between the naturalized class of the island country and inland immigrants, a balance between Lan scholars and the "Eight Eccentrics of New Yangzhou"; in the future, it will be a balance between Jiangnan scholars and northern scholars, and a balance between the Confucian system of Beihai Town and the old official and gentry system. ,that is it.
Zhao Xin said to Sheng Haizhou: "Don't get involved with those who have and have not in the future. This time is a lesson for you. Next time, it's time to go to Bitter Leaf Island."
After hearing this, Sheng Haizhou immediately stood up from his chair, knelt on the ground and bowed deeply.
Looking at the young man in front of him who he had picked up from the dead, Zhao Xin said calmly: "I'll give you two hours to handle the handover with the deputy battalion commander and follow me."
Sheng Haizhou was overjoyed when he heard this, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions, stood up, saluted and left.
On June 14, Zhao Xin arrived at the Humar Military Station. He only checked the material reserves and transfer situation, and then immediately set off northward. Three days later he arrived in Yaksa.
At this time, Yaksa had completely changed after two years of hard work by Russian prisoners of war. Starting from Emulkalun on the other side, a gravel road with a roadbed width of 25 meters winds through layers of dense forests and mountain roads, extending to the southeast, passing through Duojin City, Wukul, Isikken, and Exi. We and many other former Qing army Karens arrived at Chahanyan. It is estimated that by this winter, it will be able to merge with the main road built from Heilongjiang City.
As the number one person in the Yaksa Prisoner of War Management Department, Wu Siyu has obviously gained weight since he took his wife over, and his wife is already pregnant.
Zhao Xin stayed in Yaksa City for three days and had an all-night conversation with Wu Siyu. When he learned that he would return to Beihai Town when autumn arrived, Wu Siyu was quite happy. In the past two years, he has been dealing with prisoners of war every day, and now he often speaks in Russian unconsciously.
Afterwards, Zhao Xin spent half a day talking with Krutogorov. Compared with the state of nervousness and lack of confidence at the beginning, Krutogorov has now calmly accepted the identity of "Pugachev's son" and is full of confidence.
His men who grew up from prisoners of war have reached more than 3,000 people. According to Wu Siyu's suggestion, they have been organized into six battalions and are being trained by the Cossacks who returned from Aihun City.
This time, Zhao Xin brought two thousand "Type 90 front-loading rifled guns" and thirty "Type 88 front-loading smoothbore guns" produced by the Beihai Town Arsenal, and handed them over to Wu Siyu for safekeeping. And once the soldiers of the "Cossack Kingdom" mastered the use of these weapons, it was time for them to set out.
On the morning of June 18, 1790, an ultimatum signed by Catherine II and issued from St. Petersburg was delivered by Russian courier to the military commander of the "Beihai Special Zone" Liu Sheng.
"Your Excellency, General, on behalf of Her Majesty Empress Catherine II Alexeyevna of the Russian Empire, I would like to submit an ultimatum to you..."
The envoy sent by Tsarist Russia was a major officer in his thirties. He wore a gorgeous Tsarist Russian army uniform, stood upright, and read out the ultimatum with an arrogant look. The reason why he called Liu Sheng "general" was because at the beginning of this year, Liu Sheng was awarded the rank of major general by the Northern Navy Command because he was responsible for the military deployment of the entire Eastern Siberia and the later war against Mongolia.
In fact, there is currently only one person in this so-called "headquarters", and that is Zhao Xin.
"...To sum up, given that you did not meet our peace request within the deadline, you will bear full responsibility for all subsequent consequences! In order to protect the territorial integrity of the empire and prove its impossibility We will do our best to achieve this goal, including but not limited to military actions. We are hereby notified!"
Liu Sheng watched expressionlessly as Bulla Bulla read out the ultimatum, and then Markovich, the secretary of the Irkutsk Municipal Government, translated for him.
"Peace?" Liu Sheng threw the proclamation with the Queen's seal in his hand on the table in front of him and sneered: "Are you worthy of talking about peace?! Why didn't you talk about peace when we were burning, killing and looting in Heilongjiang? With Turkey? Why don't you talk about peace when we are fighting to the death? Go back and tell your queen and the old marshal that the Northern Navy will destroy all invading enemies! If we are willing, we can fight as far as Kazan!"
"You!" After listening to Markovich's translation, the Russian major's face suddenly turned red with anger, thinking that it was so rude to be so naked and unconcealed about his ambition. After Liu Sheng said the word "see off", he turned around and left without even saluting.
An hour later, Zhao Xin, who was heading toward Chita along the Shilka River, received a telegram from Liu Sheng. There were only four words on it: Tsarist Russia declared war.
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