In Jinling City, Luo Zhixue looked at the emergency report sent back by Sichuan Governor Cheng Yingzheng and couldn't help but smile.
"It seems that the Heshuo Special Department wants to find a way out for itself." After Luo Zhixue read the report, he handed it to Xu Zhixian beside him.
Xu Zhixian also looked at the report in his hand.
This report was an urgent report sent by Cheng Yingzheng, the governor of Sichuan, and was presented in a sealed form. Even though Xu Zhixian had already seen it before, he could not open it first.
After opening it, I found out that Sichuan Governor Cheng Yingzheng reported that the Heshuo Special Department sent a secret envoy across the mountains and arrived at Litang County, the actual control area of the Dachu Empire on the westernmost line of the Kangxue area, and presented it to the Heshuo Special Department. Secret letter from the leader.
This secret letter was written in Chinese and was attached to the secret folder of Sichuan Governor Cheng Yingzheng.
After Xu Zhixian read the contents of this secret letter, he also laughed: "They are in a hurry!"
He then handed the letter to the counselor next to him, Song Zhang, the Minister of Etiquette and Education.
After reading the letter, Song Zhang said: "They are fighting us in the south, and many of the chieftains in the plateau area have not surrendered to them. They still need to continue to quell the civil strife, and the Jungar tribe in the west puts too much pressure on them." Got it!"
"If they can survive these few years, they are considered to be able to survive. Looking at them now, I am afraid they are at the end of their rope."
Xu Zhixian said: "It's normal that they can't hold on. Our Dadu River iron bridge in the west of Sichuan has been completed, and several iron cable bridges across the river in the west have also been successfully erected. Now our troops and supplies are all the way from Chengdu to the west. I can’t say that the journey to Litang was smooth, but it was much better than before, and the distance was shortened by at least a thousand miles.”
"Several of our mountain troops have also been tempered. In the previous battles with local chieftains in Sichuan and even with the troops of the Heshuote Department, they have won more than they lost."
"Lie to Kangxi"
"Although it is difficult to enter Tibet and it is almost impossible to transport heavy artillery, guns and disassembled light artillery, such as two-and-a-half-pound mountain guns, nine-pound light howitzers, and even eighteen-pound ultra-light howitzers can still be barely sent up through pack transport. ."
"We won't be able to transport much for a while, but we can still take our time and transport ammunition and food supplies to the front bit by bit. When we have enough supplies, we can attack them in one wave. Be it the Heshuo Special Department, Even the local chieftains can't stop our army."
"Even if Heshuo Special Department didn't understand this situation at first, it should be clear now."
Luo Zhixue said at this time: "Heshuo Special Department can win over one or two. This is also a large tribe in Moxi. Since they have the idea of returning to the Western Region, then let's get in touch with them."
Then he turned his attention to Song Zhang: "When your Ministry of Ethics and Education talks to them later, as long as they are willing to give up the snow area and cooperate with us to control the local area, then the conditions can be relaxed appropriately."
"Since they want the Zhungeer tribe's pasture, then agree to it. Specifically, you can refer to the methods of those companies in Mobei."
After speaking, Luo Zhixue turned his attention to the large map on the wall. The northwest region of the empire was in flames, and the Yarkand Khanate was almost unable to stop the invasion of the Jungar tribe.
And behind the Jungar Department, there is Tsarist Russia!
It is about to pose a threat to the security of the empire's northwest and even the north.
In order to eliminate these threats, in fact, for the Chu Empire, the biggest enemy is not Jungar or Tsarist Russia itself, but distance...
As far as the Chu Empire was concerned, it was superior to these enemies in terms of military strength and weapons and equipment, and could even be said to defeat them.
However, distance is a flaw, and when the distance is far, weapons transportation will be too troublesome.
The cost of transporting food from the Central Plains and other places all the way west is too great. To transport food for one person to the front line, it often consumes food for ten people or more on the way.
One hundred kilograms of grain departing from the Central Plains, but only ten kilograms or even a few kilograms will eventually be delivered to the soldiers on the northwest front...
This kind of loss is too great, even the Chu Empire with its great business cannot sustain it.
This is also the reason why the Chu Empire vigorously stationed troops and cultivated land in the northwest frontline area, in order to solve the food consumption on the spot as much as possible and reduce the amount of food transported from the Central Plains behind.
It is also difficult to transport weapons and ammunition. Even if an arsenal has been set up in Xi'an, transporting it from Xi'an to the west is still a very long distance.
If the Chu army were to launch a large-scale battle in the northwest region, the cost would definitely be greater than the cost of annihilating the Eastern captives...
Under such circumstances, since the Heshuo Special Department has the intention to surrender and even offer to cooperate in the attack on Zhun Geer, it is exactly what Luo Zhixue wants.
No matter what the intentions of these Heshuote people are, it doesn’t really matter!
As long as they actually give up the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and then cooperate with the Chu army to target Geer, reduce the logistic pressure on the Chu army, and allow the Chu Empire to regain the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even the territory at a relatively small cost, then giving them a piece of pasture in the Western Regions will how.
Not to mention, what they want is the pasture of the Zhungeer tribe.
Luo Zhixue didn't feel any pressure at all when doing things like caring for other people.
As for whether the Heshuote Department will become the second largest army in Zhungeer in the future, and become a new border threat to the Chu Empire as their ambitions increase... there is no need to worry too much about this.
Just like the current Luo Zhixue, he actually didn't worry much about the actual threat that the expansion of the Zhungeer tribe would bring to the Chu Empire.
If the two cooperate and really kill Zhungeer, then the Chu Empire's troops will reach the Yinli area. Not to mention continuing the attack, there will definitely be no problem with the defense.
Furthermore, the Da Chu Empire also controlled Monan...
The road to the Moxi Zhungeer territory does not mean that you can only go through Gansu. You can also go directly from Monan...
If the Chu Empire is really willing to pay a large amount of military expenditure, no matter whether it is Zhungeer or Heshuo Special Department, they will do it one by one...
The problem is that in the next few years, the Chu Empire will not be able to spend huge military expenditures to fight a war that will not bring any economic benefits other than grabbing some territory...
Since the founding of the Great Chu Empire, until this year, the continuous high military expenditure has made the Great Chu Empire, which has a large family and business, somewhat unable to sustain itself.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have just started to draw down troops and military expenditures as soon as they got down and kidnapped people.
It’s just because the finances are a bit unsustainable...
In the early years, there was also a large amount of confiscated income obtained during the Unification War. The confiscated income exceeded 100 million taels of silver, which supported the large-scale conquests of the Dachu Empire in the past few years.
But now, all the confiscated income has been spent. If we continue to maintain such huge military expenditures, there will be no need to develop the domestic economy, and even the salaries of officials will not be paid...
Therefore, cutting military spending is a must!
And in the context of cutting military spending, it would be impossible for the military to engage in a major northwest war...no money!
Even if they want to fight, they will have to recruit a group of juniors to fight, and the fighting method cannot be the same as in the unification war, where hundreds of artillery are casually brought in to play with firepower advantage.
By then, the mode of war may be more traditional, with cavalry mobile warfare as the main focus.
Under such circumstances, it would be great if we could pull the Heshuo Special Forces onto our own tank and turn them from enemies into cannon fodder.
As for the future risk issues, we will talk about it later...
To put it bluntly, in a few decades, whether it is Mobei or Moxi, even if there is a collective rebellion, it will not be a small matter for the Chu Empire.
Because in a few decades, Luo Zhixue estimated that even if tanks could not be built, trains could definitely be built, and machine guns and other things could also be built.
Even if there is nothing else, as long as there is a train, the Chu Empire will be invincible!
Through trains, the Chu Empire could mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to the Western Regions and even Central Asia in minutes, as well as all kinds of ammunition, food, grass and other materials needed to sustain their operations.
Luo Zhixue can already predict the future scene: wherever the Da Chu Empire's railway is built, that will be the territory of the Da Chu Empire!
As for resistance, no matter what kind of nomadic tribes or Tsarist Russia, or any other messy country or force, under the advanced guns and sufficient logistics, it is destined to become the dust of history.
Luo Zhixue ordered Song Zhang: "You will go ahead with the negotiations with them as soon as possible. Try our best to get them to send troops to Zhungeer. We can give them guns and ammunition to support them. Of course, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will be taken back." It’s the bottom line!”
Immediately, Luo Zhixue ordered Xu Zhixian on the side: "No matter whether the Heshuo Special Department can be accomplished or not, the military's preparations should not stop. Not only should they not stop, but they should intensify their efforts."
"Even if the Heshuote tribe surrenders later, the local chieftains will still have to be cleared one by one. There is no need for serfs under the empire."
Xu Zhixian nodded slightly: "I understand that the army has been preparing for the entry into Tibet, and the operations in Sichuan have been continuing. Now our army has advanced the front through continuous recruitment, acceptance of surrendered land, and many other means. Once we reach Litang, west of the Yalong River, the next step is to continue westward to the middle and upper reaches of the Jinsha River."
"The engineering troops are also continuing to build the road from Chengdu to the front line in the rear. The Dadu River Chain Bridge across the Dadu River and many other chain bridges have been completed."
"Through this supply channel, coupled with the gathering and settlement of troops in the local area, it has been able to initially supply the troops needed for operations in the Xikang area."
"In the Qinghai area in the north, our army has gone deep into the Qinghai area to fight with the local chieftains and the Heshuo Special Department. It currently has a great combat advantage in this area, and its steady retreat in the Qinghai area is also a pressure drama for the Heshuo Special Department. An important reason to increase and even force people to surrender to us!”
Luo Zhixue said: "Qinghai is doing well. If we continue like this, I look forward to the imperial dragon flag being planted on the Potala Palace in the near future!"
Xu Zhixian said: "The empire's millions of soldiers will surely live up to His Majesty's expectations!"
Luo Zhixue waved his hand: "Go!"
After Xu Zhixian and Song Zhang retreated, Luo Zhixue looked at the large map on the wall, and then picked up the report from Sichuan Governor Cheng Yingzheng again.
At the back of this report, there is Cheng Yingzheng's suggestions for the management of the Kham area. He said that if you want to be safe, it is better to be safe first.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Kham region had been outside the rule of the Ming Dynasty for a long time, and the only way to survive was to accept so-called chieftain canonization and the like. This caused the Ming Dynasty to lose actual control over the Kham region.
After losing actual control over the Kham region, they naturally also lost control over the snow areas.
For this reason, Cheng Yingzheng, the governor of Sichuan, suggested that under the general policy of establishing counties in the wasteland of the Kangba region, further directly establish provinces in the region.
The purpose of establishing a province in the Kham region is very clear and pure, which is to continue to promote local reforms and cooperate with military operations.
The core task is to thoroughly and comprehensively cooperate with the military to eradicate the local chieftain forces, uprooting the chieftain forces without leaving any hidden dangers.
This kind of coordination work was previously the responsibility of the Sichuan Governor, but the Sichuan Governor's residence is in Chengdu, which is too far away, and the terrain is very complex. The correspondence between personnel is very troublesome and can take several months at a time.
And when there is an emergency, the cucumber vegetables will be cold for several months.
Logically speaking, these places should actually be set up as military jurisdictions, and it would be more convenient for the military to directly manage them. For example, the Xingdusi of the Ming Dynasty and the general jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty all have similar models.
However, the separation of military and political affairs is a major principle in the Chu Empire, so it is impossible to establish a purely military jurisdiction where the military can directly handle local affairs. Many matters require the cooperation of civilian officials.
And if the civil governor's residence is too far away, he will naturally not be able to cooperate.
In the past, the reason why the Chu Empire directly established provinces in the vast and sparsely populated areas in the north, instead of letting neighboring provinces take charge of them, or directly establishing military-controlled areas, was all because of these reasons.
Liaobei Province, Heishui Province, and Monan Province are all products of contemporary special policies.
The establishment of a province in the Kham region was also a product of the same policy. Its purpose was to cooperate with the military in cleaning up the remaining local chieftain forces, and by the way, provide logistical support for the military's further entry into Tibet.
Regarding the issue of Anzang, Luo Zhixue would not make a casual decision. Instead, he brought the issue to the Council of Ministers for discussion among the ministers.
Naturally, during the discussion, some people agreed, some objected, and some people put forward more opinions, such as adding parts of northwest Yunnan and Qinghai to form a larger province.
In short, there are all kinds of opinions, and Luo Zhixue has listened to them one by one, but he has not personally expressed his position.
Luo Zhixue has always been willing to delegate power to such highly controversial matters, and they are not matters of principle. He lets the ministers debate on their own, and he just approves the results once they are concluded.
After some debate among the ministers, it was finally decided to establish the Kham region as a province, which included Sichuan in western Sichuan and parts of northwest Yunnan under the actual control of the Chu Empire, plus a large area that was not yet under actual control and was still under control. The Kham area controlled by the local chieftains and Heshuote people was designated as Kham Province, and the governor's residence was Muya.
The newly established Kangba Province temporarily administered five prefectures and thirty-three counties...but a considerable part of it, especially the Kangxi area, was still in the hands of Gushi Khan of the Heshuote Department and many local chieftains.
But this is not important. Not to mention that Kangba Province still has some actual control areas. Even in the snow area where half of the actual control areas are not available, the Dachu Empire has already set up Kangxi Province in advance. Well, it means Kangxi Province. The province in the area west of the Ba area...
It's just that Kangxi Province did not appoint a full-time governor, but first let the Kangba governor serve part-time...
It can also be seen from this that the Chu Empire is bound to win the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region. Not only the Kham region, but also the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region must be taken back by the Chu Empire and implemented actual control and rule.
Luo Zhixue had never thought that, just like the traditional central dynasty, it would only control this plateau area through the vassal system. All kinds of troubles would sooner or later arise.
It would be better to just sweep through, sweep all the local toasts and other messy things into the garbage dump of history, and then set up administrative agencies at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels according to tradition to educate the herdsmen.
Through continuous changes in their culture, language, clothing, living habits and even thoughts, and through continued intermarriage.
Let them completely become undisputed Han people from culture to blood.
This is also the consistent policy of the Chu Empire in its external border areas!
One empire and one nation!
Multi-ethnic countries are destined to have no good results and a lot of bad things.
Especially countries where the proportion of the population of the dominant ethnic group is too low, the ending is often very tragic, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
Even in countries where the dominant ethnic group is dominant, there are often all kinds of troubles inside. After the awakening of nationalism, some non-dominated ethnic groups will cause all kinds of troubles, even seek independence, engage in massacres, etc., the infamous Rwanda Massacre Massacre is a typical ethnic conflict.
What’s even more interesting is that the two major ethnic groups in Rwanda are the two ethnic groups that were forcibly created by the former colonists with simple appearances and body shapes for the convenience of management...
Even developed countries are indispensable for these bad things. Catalonia in Spain, the Irish region in the United Kingdom, and even Scotland are now thinking about independence.
Luo Zhixue did not want a so-called nation to suddenly appear in his empire decades later and then seek so-called independence. That would be too nonsense.
So Luo Zhixue played with fusion like his ancestors for thousands of years... After fusion, only one nation remained.
Since we all belong to the same nation, there will naturally be less trouble and we can all work together.
In this process, most of the local people have no objections. They only need one mouthful of food to live a good life, and they don't care whether the person above them is the emperor, the chieftain, or what kind of khan they are.
In addition, they were quite happy to live under the rule of Da Chu, a civilized country.
Under the rule of Dachu, I won’t say whether it is good or not, but no matter what, it is much better than the chieftains being serfs!
Those who really have opinions on the integration policy, and even take action to actually oppose it, are the local upper-class dignitaries who actually control the local power and are unwilling to give up their power, such as chieftains.
And these people are also the target groups that the Chu army focuses on eradicating.
While pulling a net to clear them out, even if they fail to wipe out all the opponents directly, it can still destroy the foundation for their survival. Even if they hide well, they can only live in hiding like mice for the rest of their lives. I can't bear the storm coming.
