Xu Donglai was not the only one who saw the opportunity and wanted to go to Nanyang to make a fortune, there were many others.
The Chu Empire's previous expansion in Southeast Asia and the subsequent establishment of the Nanyang Governor's Office, the establishment of administrative agencies in multiple overseas territories, and a bunch of policies to support and encourage immigration have allowed many people to see opportunities to make a fortune. Then he pounced on him like a hungry dog.
Make money, don’t be shabby!
As for the officials of the Dachu Empire, they are also happy to see a large number of businessmen or adventurers going there. They will bring more funds to develop overseas territories.
The development of overseas territories requires not only official capital but also the participation of a large amount of private capital, especially in a place as large as Beijia.
Moreover, there are a lot of messy indigenous people in these places. If the Chu Empire wants to carry out immigration development here, it will also encounter resistance from the local indigenous people.
Therefore, a large amount of private power is also needed to gradually squeeze out the living space of local indigenous people in order to free up enough land for immigration development.
When a large number of people poured into the Nanyang region for survival, wealth or various reasons, the country of the Chu Empire still maintained peace and stability.
Since the end of the Eastern Capture War, the Great Chu Empire has been in a stable state as a whole. Even if there are not many external conflicts, they are limited to the border areas and have no impact on the hinterland. They have not affected the empire's financial or military strength. What a challenge.
For example, the previous recovery of the Qingkang area, and the border conflict with Myanmar, actually have little relevance to ordinary people. Many people don't even know that the empire fought a war with Myanmar!
The things that people care about are more closely related to their own lives. Occasionally, they are often related to some major policy issues. As for border conflicts, at most, they can only read a few news articles in the Da Chu Di newspaper, and then just read it. It's done.
Many people don't even pay attention to where Myanmar is.
Even the top officials of the empire did not pay much attention to this. After all, for the empire, it was just a border conflict of medium scale, not even a war...
The imperial military did not even carry out partial mobilization, and only a few troops stationed on the Yunnan border participated in the war.
However, when news came from the Western Region that Zhungeer's army defeated the Yarkand Khanate's army and began to sweep across the Yarkand Khanate, it instantly attracted the attention of the empire's top brass.
The Yarkand Khanate is located in the area west of Jiayuguan. When the empire first took over Jiayuguan, they established a good relationship with the empire. Later, they took the initiative to claim vassal status and pay tribute. They were nominally a vassal state belonging to the Great Chu Empire.
Over the years, they have imported a large number of guns, swords and other weapons from the empire to resist the continued aggression of the Jungar army.
But on the other hand, the imperial forces continued to penetrate into the Yarkand Khanate and took control of the Qingkang area, which also made Zhungar feel a huge threat, which in turn led to Zhungar becoming more determined. United with Russia to fight against the Chu Empire.
The outbreak of the war was not a matter of preferences, but a huge conflict of interests between the two sides... All fools knew that the Chu Empire would definitely invade the Western Regions in the future. Even the Zhungeer tribe had received the news, and the Chu Empire had already The Qihe area controlled by the Zhungeer tribe was promised to the surrendered Heshuote tribe...
Zhungeer is not willing to wait until the Chu army and the Heshuote tribe actually attack before resisting. They are also actively looking for ways to fight against the Chu Empire, such as joining forces with Russia and attacking other surrounding tribes. It also continued to attack the Yerqiang Khanate, the dog-legger of the Chu Empire.
Two years ago, the Zhungar side was busy fighting against the Kingdom of Kazakhstan, and obtained great war dividends. Taking advantage of the fact that they had just won a battle and their troops were strong, the Zhungar side finally couldn't help it. In the spring of the 14th year of Shun Dynasty, a large-scale attack was launched against the Yarkand Khanate.
It was no longer the infiltrative small-scale troubles before, but tens of thousands of troops came up, directly slapping the weak Yarkand Khanate to death.
When the Chu army garrisoned in the Jiayuguan direction received the news, the Yarkand Khanate had already become history... This shocked the First Group Army of the Chu army, which was responsible for the defense in the Shaanxi-Gansu direction. Preparation, on the other hand, it is also an urgent notification to Jinling.
After all, facing Zhun Geer, it is up to Jinling to decide whether to fight or not.
The main reason is that once a war starts in the northwest, the consumption will be extremely terrifying.
It would be extremely expensive to transport all kinds of logistical materials all the way to the Jiayuguan front line, and once a war broke out, it would have to go deep into the Western Regions, and it would be possible for the front line to continue extending hundreds of kilometers or even thousands of kilometers forward.
This kind of logistical supply is too difficult and cannot be solved by the frontline troops on their own. It requires the support of the entire empire from behind.
In addition to these difficulties, more importantly, the frontline troops do not have the right to declare war...
If Zhungeer took the initiative to attack, then it goes without saying that the frontline troops must have taken action.
However, Zhungeer did not take the initiative to attack the Chu army in Jiayuguan. Although the Yarkand Khanate was nominally a vassal state of the Great Chu Empire, everyone knew that this was only in name, and the relationship between the two parties was more of a In a cooperative relationship, the Great Chu Empire provided various material support to the Yarkand Khanate, and the Yarkand Khanate blocked Jungar from the front.
In this situation now, the frontline is really not sure whether to fight or not, and Jinling needs to make a decision.
Don't worry about it being too late... Anyway, the Yarkand Khanate is finished, and there is no way to save it now.
Besides, Zhungeer is just ahead and can't fly... It doesn't make any difference if he fights him a few months earlier or later.
After Luo Zhixue received the news that Jungar had raided the Yarkand Khanate and wiped out the Yarkand Khanate in one fell swoop, he did not hesitate and directly convened an enlarged staff meeting, with all the staff ministers and co-organizing ministers in Beijing participating.
"First Evolution"
The main purpose is to report the situation in the Western Region and listen to preliminary opinions.
Naturally, the Chu Empire could not make a decision in just one enlarged meeting. Military and national affairs were not so easy.
What's more, many people in the enlarged meeting came to listen and understand some basic situations so that they can better cooperate with the work in the future.
But it is a small number of ministers who actually make the decisions.
To be more precise, Luo Zhixue!
In the imperial council meeting the next day, these few core high-level officials of the empire actually discussed matters in the direction of the Western Region, analyzing both aspects of whether to fight or not to fight.
Fighting is naturally simple, just give an order. The problem lies in the follow-up logistics and the financial pressure caused by maintaining the logistics, and whether these financial pressures will affect domestic construction.
Not fighting will naturally save money, but will it cause Zhungeer's ambitions to expand again and give birth to undesirable ambitions? At the same time, after Zhungeer has occupied the Yarkand Khanate's territory for a long time, they will definitely take advantage of it. The resources and population on these territories will further expand their advantages. When the time comes, will this expanded advantage bring greater pressure to the empire, thereby threatening the security of the empire's borders.
These are all key issues related to the general direction of the empire, and they cannot be solved by simply saying whether to fight or not.
These require detailed analysis and demonstration.
On the other hand, the Army has a clear attitude and is determined to fight... There are a lot of reasons... But you don't have to listen carefully to any of the Army's reasons. Just grasp one point: The Army wants to fight because it is in the interests of the Army to move westward. location.
To put it bluntly, if it does not advance westward, the value of the Imperial Army's existence will be reduced by more than half. In the past few years, the Imperial Army has been advocating the threat theory of the Western Regions. Junggar is a threat, Russia is a threat, and Nima Company Further to the west, Kazakhstan across Jungar is still a threat... Everyone in the Western Region is an enemy, and they are all eyeing the empire.
After talking about the threat, he also said that the Western Region covers thousands of miles and is rich in products. Taking it will definitely be of great benefit to the empire, etc.
In short, they all encourage the empire to invade the Western Regions.
However, Luo Zhixue also talked to the generals of the army again and again, asking the army to be patient and stop causing trouble. At least let the Chinese people plant a wave of fields to fill their bellies first!
In short, the meaning is that people's livelihood is the most important thing now. As for attacking the Western Region, it will definitely be done in the future, but not now...
As for the Navy, their attitude is more clear... They are firmly opposed to the current westward expansion, and they have also come up with a lot of confusing reasons, saying what else is there besides sand in the Western Regions? Waste a lot of money and food, let the country starve to fight, and finally come back with a bunch of sand?
On the other hand, he said that the most important thing now is to go south. Southeast Asia and the Indian Peninsula are great. If you grab them, you will get a lot of wealth and food. How many people will have to feed them.
In short, the navy and others are bent on carrying out the southward plan. If the empire goes to the northwest to start a war, it will definitely reduce its support for the southward plan.
There are only so many resources, and if the army takes them, the navy will be less. This is not just a dispute over the direction of expansion, but a battle over the fundamental interests of the two services.
Therefore, at the staff meeting, the army and navy were in clear opposition...
As for Luo Zhixue, in fact, he doesn't want to start now... It's not that he doesn't want to expand, in fact he does, but he is not willing to spend a lot of money to expand, and he hopes to expand in a low-cost way.
For example, after the high-pressure steam engine is developed, a railway can be built directly to the northwest, and trains can be used as a means of transporting logistics materials... By then, let alone Junger, he will be ready to send an army all the way to Eastern Europe!
If he went to fight now, the cost of war would be too high and inconsistent with his expectations.
But it is not good not to fight, and Zhungeer is not good at fighting. In recent years, it has won consecutive battles in the surrounding areas, and has also received support from Russia. Its strength has expanded very quickly, and its weapons, equipment, and tactics are quite good.
The core territory of the Jungar tribe is the Qihe area. It is located at a strategic location and has extensive access to Kazakhstan, Russia and the Central Plains. This has also led to the integration of many weapons, equipment and tactics used by the Jungar army. The advantages in this regard are completely different from those of traditional nomads.
How did the traditional nomadic people fight? Relying mainly on traditional riding and shooting.
As for Zhungeer, they use a lot of guns, but they are also different from the Donglu people in using a lot of guns.
And how did the Dongjiu people fight? When they started, they relied on heavy infantry, which was no different from the traditional cold weapon army. Later, after conquering Monan Mongolia, they also received the help of traditional cavalry. Later, they recruited a large number of Han troops and craftsmen, and began to Artillery and matchlocks were used extensively.
By the time they fought with the Chu army, the Eastern captives had evolved into a hot and cold mode, using matchlocks and artillery as the main weapons. The main battles actually relied on infantry and artillery, while the cavalry was mostly recruited traditional Mongolian cavalry. , mainly playing riding and shooting.
At the same time, riding bows is still an important weapon for the Dongji people. They are very good at riding horses and quickly maneuvering to the enemy infantry array, and then dismounting and shooting arrows with walking bows... It may seem silly, but it is actually very effective. At least it used to defeat the Ming army. He was unable to fight back.
The Jungar people fight a little differently. They use guns extensively, and even the cavalry also uses guns extensively.
Especially after gaining support from Russia in recent years, they have obtained a large number of guns and related technologies from the Russians. In addition, they have continued to attack Kazakhstan in recent years and obtained a large number of craftsmen and wealth from Kazakhstan, allowing them to Produce guns.
By the way, they also seized a large number of guns and artillery from the Great Chu Empire from the Yarkand Khanate... In order to support the Yarkand Khanate in these years, the Great Chu Empire half sold and half gave them a large number of matchlock guns and artillery. As well as various cold weapons such as plate armor.
These guns and plate armor are now basically in the hands of the Jungar people.
The Jungar tribe has actually entered the age of guns, and they have also absorbed many tactical ideas from the Chu Empire. Their tactical applications are completely different from those of traditional nomads.
It's a bit like an enhanced mobile version of the early Chu army that was still in the age of matchlock guns.
Because they not only use guns and cannons, but they are nomadic people, and they are located in Central Asia and have a large number of mules and horses.
This not only allows them to have a large number of excellent cavalry, but also a large number of mules and horses to enhance the mobility of the infantry and artillery.
When guns and cannons are combined with a large number of mules and horses, they have very high strategic and tactical mobility, and at the same time have powerful firepower.
These are all important factors for Zhungeer's continuous victory in the wars in the north and south in recent years.
Of course, these are still nothing in the eyes of the Chu Empire Army. At most, they only pay attention to them, but it is impossible for you to make the Chu Army afraid.
Because the Great Chu Empire during this period had fully controlled Monan Mongolia, and Mobei Mongolia also paid tribute to the empire, and all the He tribesmen among the Mongolian Mongols also submitted to the empire.
In other words, the Chu Empire has no shortage of horses!
The number of cavalry and the mobility of the army are not bad, even more powerful than Jungar.
In addition, the Chu army's weapons and equipment are not comparable to Zhungeer's.
At present, the Chu army, including the second-class division, has completely changed to flintlock muskets.
And some front-line combat readiness divisions have begun to upgrade to the latest type of 13-year-old flintlock rifles, led by the Ordnance Department and participated by many parties including Jinling Arsenal and Hantian Arsenal.
This 13-year-old rifle is fully capable of defeating the matchlocks of the Jungar people and some of the early flintlock muskets equipped by some of them.
Thirteen-year-old flintlock gun. Compared with the Chu Army's previous two-year-old flintlock gun, the biggest appearance feature of this flintlock gun is that the bullet on the bolt has become shorter. In addition, details such as the windproof cover have been improved. , and these changes bring about a higher firing rate.
Especially in bad weather, the advantages are more obvious, such as strong wind, rain, snow, humidity, etc.
When the Army conducted all-weather testing, the firing rate of the 13-year-old flintlock gun could basically reach 80%.
The previous two-year-old flintlock gun, the latest model and the largest production volume of the A-3 series, has a firing rate of only 75%. As for the earlier ones, the number of equipment is not very large, and it has now been relegated to the second line of the second-class division. The army's two-year Type A-1 and A-2 series are only about 70%.
(In 1834, the British army conducted an all-weather firing rate test, the matchlock gun was 70%, the flintlock gun was 85%, and the percussion gun was 99.4%)
The high firing rate of the 13-year-old flintlock musket was the decisive reason why the Army initially stopped production of the 2-year-old flintlock musket and switched to large-scale equipment of the 13-year-old flintlock.
And don’t think this data is low... This firing rate refers not only to the test results in ordinary weather, but to the comprehensive results of all-weather tests, including good weather and various windy, rainy and bad weather, aiming to be as possible as possible The actual firing rate during the simulated war, that is, the wartime firing rate.
After all, it is impossible to have good weather every day in a war, nor can it be bad weather every day, so the firing rate test under all-weather conditions is very important.
If it is the test result of Good World, then this data will be much higher. How can I put it, if the weather is slightly better, you can get a 90% firing rate, and even a matchlock gun can give you a 100% firing rate. Firing rate.
But these are moot.
Could it be that you still expect the sun to shine brightly on the battlefield during the war, with no wind and moderate air humidity... It's not like you're going on vacation.
Therefore, the Chu Army's firing rate test used all-weather testing.
As for the early flintlock guns in Europe... The Chu Army also obtained some through channels and conducted tests. The all-weather firing rate was less than 60%. Some even had no windproof cover, even 10%. Fifty is too much, and you can't even fight on rainy days.
In short, the data is very touching. If it were the Chu army, it would be defective products and it would be impossible to equip the army.
The muskets used by the Jungar people are still mainly matchlocks, plus some Suifa pistols used by some cavalry and some early Suifa rifles passed over from Europe that are not mature.
In terms of weapons, equipment and even tactical applications, Zhungeer is still far behind the Chu army.
Therefore, the Army has absolute confidence in Zhungeer.
