"Your Majesty, I am afraid that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty will be restless in the west. The British and Tsarist Russia are expanding their influence in Central Asia, and I am afraid that they will collude with these two countries." Gu Song said.
"If you want to collude, let's collude. It's better to make the collusion tighter. When the time comes, we can fight Tsarist Russia and the British together."
Emperor Zhu waved his hands nonchalantly and said.
After these years of growth, Emperor Zhu's symptoms of foreign fear have improved somewhat.
In his opinion.
The military power of the Ming Dynasty was strong enough, especially on land.
Needless to say, the British, if their lobster soldiers faced a country with hundreds of thousands of new army troops alone, it would be a joke.
The British had to form cliques to intervene in Europe, and they only dared to take action after they had a large group of allies.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to fight against a continent with the strength of a small local island nation.
Tsarist Russia's army had a large number of soldiers.
But now is the era of industrialization.
Not to mention the industrial strength of Tsarist Russia compared with Ming Dynasty, it is only second-rate even in Europe.
In essence, Tsarist Russia is still a country of serfdom.
It can have a huge army, but in terms of national strength, even though Tsarist Russia's territory is so vast, Tsarist Russia's industrial strength is still not enough to support them in a long-term confrontation with the Ming Dynasty.
Especially in the lands of the East.
so.
Emperor Zhu was not afraid of Britain and Tsarist Russia at all.
It would be best if they could collude more closely with the Qing court and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
In the future, when the Ming Dynasty takes action, it can also push the northwest border further towards Europe.
In fact, in the Western Regions, Central Asia,
There is no shortage of farming land.
For example, the oasis belt at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, the Fergana Basin, or the black land of the Tangnu Uliang Sea through which the Yenisei River flows.
These places were divided by deserts and walls, making it very difficult for the Central Plains dynasty to completely control them.
But now is the era of industrialization.
The control of land in the industrial era is not comparable to that in the agricultural era.
Tsarist Russia was able to firmly control Siberia in modern times.
So why couldn't China firmly control the Western Regions and Central Asia in the era of industrialization?
Since the Manchus showed signs of fleeing to the west, Emperor Zhu certainly wanted to add fuel to the fire. Finally, using the pretext of pursuing the Manchus, he moved the agricultural land of Central Asia southward to build cities, invest in coal, iron, oil and other minerals, Immigrate to farmland and turn Central Asia into a paradise for the Han people!
If it can firmly control Central Asia, it can threaten Tsarist Russia to the north, direct its troops to the oil fields of the Middle East to the west, and firmly control the Indian vassals to the south. It can be said that the strategic level of the entire Eurasian continent is controlled by the Ming Dynasty.
in history.
The Red Empire, which controlled Central Asia, relied on its geographical advantages on the Eurasian continent and its army advantage in the iron torrent to compete with the American Empire, which controlled the two oceans.
"There are mainly four things before us now." Zhu Daohua said, looking at the ministers under his command.
"One is the battle of the Central Plains!"
Zhu Daohua stretched out a finger: "Now the Ming Dynasty has Jiangnan, Huguang, and Lianghuai, leaving only Henan and Zhili in the Central Plains that have not yet been recovered, but they belong to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty."
"The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has caused too much damage to the local area. We must block them to the west of Kaifeng and block them in Henan. They must not be allowed to escape to Huaihe, Shandong and other places."
"In this winter, two armies from the north and the south need to be mobilized to attack the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, drive them back to Guanzhong, and completely eliminate future troubles. Then, after the spring begins, the two armies will join forces to form the Northern Expeditionary Army. They will cooperate with the Liaodong Army to attack the Qing Dynasty by May next year. Before that, we must completely drive out the Qing court’s influence from the Central Plains!”
Zhu Daohua's voice echoed in the conference room.
The faces of the ministers also became serious.
Since ancient times, only a dynasty in the Central Plains can be called orthodox.
If the Qing Dynasty could be completely expelled from the Central Plains, the Qing Dynasty would become the Northern Qing Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty is the truly orthodox dynasty in the world.
But the goal of driving the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom away from Henan, expelling the Qing government from Zhili, and occupying the entire Central Plains must be completed before May next year.
It seems to be somewhat difficult in terms of time.
But this at least shows that Emperor Zhu is determined to completely regain the Central Plains.
"Now there are 40,000 soldiers in Zhao Si's army. Next month, we will deploy 10,000 dragon cavalry and 10,000 infantry. I will personally lead the army across the Yangtze River and join forces with Zhao Si. If Liu Zhixie doesn't want to be my King of Pingxi, then he can do it first Let’s talk about the fight in Henan!”
Gu Song looked at the map, then frowned and said: "Your Majesty, there are only 60,000 soldiers in total. Isn't this a little too few? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has 60,000 old soldiers in Henan, 100,000 soldiers in the inner camp, and the cannon fodder in the outer camp is not included. Its number."
"That's enough! And we don't have many troops left."
Zhu Daohua shook his head and said.
The Ming Army now has a total of thirty-five brigades.
The total strength is less than 180,000.
The Liaodong Army Corps has eight brigades with 40,000 troops.
Zhao Si has eight brigades with 40,000 troops.
This is the 80,000 mobile corps fighting outside.
Yingtianfu and Guangzhou each have 20,000 rotating garrison troops.
Then deduct the troops stationed in key places.
It is no longer easy to allocate another 20,000 troops.
"The Taiping Army can only fight with tens of thousands of soldiers, but their equipment and training are very backward. Although they are bloody and brave, my 60,000 soldiers are enough to drive them away."
Zhu Daohua was not actually worried about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The soldiers were indeed very willing to fight, but their equipment was too poor.
Now the Ming army is equipped with a large number of rifled guns, mine bombs, as well as a large number of rifled cannons, as well as mortars and grenades.
As for the Taiping Army, matchlocks were common, and only Liu Zhixie's direct troops of about 20,000 were equipped with flintlock muskets.
It's okay to be so far behind in terms of equipment. In terms of organizational form, the Ming army is basically unified in military orders. With the coordination of the staff at all levels, it has become a completely modern military organization.
On the Taiping Army side, it was mainly a large gathering of feudal lords with private armies organized by kings and lords.
Not to mention the huge gap between the two sides in terms of national strength and reserve combat power.
If Liu Zhixie does not accept the position of King Pingxi of the Ming Dynasty, he will have to fight.
Then Zhu Daohua thought that a fight would not be a bad thing to let Liu Zhixie see the huge gap between the two sides.
"Only 20,000 more troops can be added to the battlefield in the Central Plains." Zhu Daohua said, "Sichuan Province cannot be delayed any longer. Your Majesty, why don't you just take over Sichuan?"
Zhu Daohua looked at Gu Song and smiled.
Now Zhao Si is making great achievements in the Central Plains.
Old brother Gu Song also needs a little credit. In the future, the first civil and military generals beside him, Heng Ha, will also be able to take further steps due to his merits.
I have to say that Emperor Zhu is really nostalgic.
But Emperor Zhu also had his own considerations. He wanted to create a group of meritorious nobles of the Ming Dynasty around the royal family to balance the power of the landowners and scholar-bureaucrats who still have great influence.
By then, the Ming Dynasty will be a troika, one is the aristocratic group who have contributed to the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the other is the Confucian scholars of the landowners and scholar-bureaucrats, and the other is the emerging industrial capitalists.
And Emperor Zhu believed that with the development of the times.
The class of landlords and scholar-bureaucrats will decline sooner or later. Some of them may become the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, and some of them may transform into capitalists.
and.
The Ming royal family itself is the largest capital group.
In the future, the two upper-level forces in the Ming Dynasty will be aristocratic chaebols or private capitalists representing advanced productivity.
But it's really too advanced. Ah, it's really too reactionary.
"Accept Sichuan?" Gu Song was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized,
This is the emperor's opportunity for him to make meritorious deeds.
"I am willing to share the emperor's worries." Gu Song agreed hastily.
"Right Prime Minister, if we want to conquer Sichuan now, the imperial court can only allocate 10,000 troops. How do you plan to use 10,000 troops to conquer Sichuan province?" Zhu Daohua asked.
Gu Song smiled slightly, 10,000 soldiers were enough.
"Your Majesty, the trouble in Sichuan is not military. Although there are many regiments in Sichuan, the Qing government can no longer control Sichuan. The regiments of all sizes are leaderless, so why should we be afraid?"
"We only need to work step by step, suppress with three points, and appease with seven points, and Sichuan can be conquered!"
"How to caress it?"
"Your Majesty, my method is simple. If you surrender, you will lose half of the battle. If you resist, your whole family will die." Gu Song said with a smile.
Emperor Zhu couldn't help laughing.
"Okay! Well, if you surrender, you will lose half of it. If you resist, the whole family will die! Sichuan Province can be determined."
Arrangements were made for Central Plains and Sichuan.
Emperor Zhu looked at the officials from Guangdong and Nanyang again.
"Luo Jiangong, since we won the naval battle in the Indian Ocean, you don't need to take care of the war on the Indian mainland. Sun Shiyi will handle it by himself, but you have to send people at high speed. Sun Shiyi, don't make rash advances, don't be greedy for success, work step by step, and be safe. superior."
"I understand."
Luo Jiangong said hurriedly.
After winning the naval battle.
There are no obstacles for Ming Dynasty products to enter the Indian market.
Therefore, expansion on land is not urgent.
Now it was the British who were eager to fight.
Zhu Daohua didn't want Sun Shiyi to rush into war with the British before they had a firm foothold.
In case of defeat.
Then wouldn’t the Ming Dynasty’s invincible image among the Indian states be greatly compromised?
This is not conducive to Ming's diplomatic offensive in the Indian subcontinent - after taking care of the Maratha.
The Ming Dynasty's fleet has appeared in the Arabian Gulf.
The Ming Dynasty's diplomatic missions also began to communicate with the Mughal Empire, Talpur Dynasty, and Kalat Khanate in North India.
At the same time, a series of chain reactions also occurred after the defeat of the British Eastern Intervention Fleet.
Several countries in the ancient Persian region, such as the Durrani Dynasty, Qajar Dynasty, Sand Dynasty, etc., also began to contact the Ming Dynasty.
Countries on the Arabian Peninsula and the east coast of Africa also felt the impact of the rise of the Ming Empire.
For whatever purpose.
Regardless of whether the mentality is welcoming or fearful when facing Daming.
for countries in this area.
The fact that the Ming Empire is the new overlord of the east and west coasts of the South Asian subcontinent, the waters off the Arabian Peninsula, and the waters west of the east coast of Africa is already a certainty.
How to deal with this new overlord.
This is something that countries in this region must think about and adapt to.
And with the support of Ming Dynasty's fleet.
The trade order of this area will eventually belong to the Ming Empire, which owns this maritime power.
Of course.
This impact will deepen over time.
At least
Now the new overlord, the Ming Empire, has not caused much waves in the Indian Ocean.
because.
For the Ming Empire.
The fundamental purpose of mobilizing troops in the Indian Ocean, thousands of miles away, was to ensure the smooth flow of business routes and the financial security of the Ming Dynasty. Now this purpose was achieved.
The main attention then shifts to the country, which is not yet fully unified.
It's just a matter of course.
After handling and arranging matters for India, Java Island, and Luzon Island in Guangzhou.
Emperor Zhu Daohua of the Ming Dynasty left Guangzhou in late December, sailed north, and returned to the central capital of the Ming Dynasty.
(End of chapter)
