Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 478 Ultimatum from the Queen
After talking with Wang Yuanfang, Zhao Xin immediately ordered half of the staff 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.

With the issuance of orders by the Beihai Naval Staff Headquarters, the waterway transportation throughout Beihai Town began to become more and more busy.In addition to the second and third regiments, the Aoba Camp, the Hagi Camp, and the Ainu Camp, which are composed of the Sendai Fan and Changzhou Fan, also went north after five days.

The daily passenger and cargo shipping on the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers were all temporarily suspended, and more than 200 inland river motor sailboats were fully loaded with soldiers and supplies and 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, everyone realized that the Beihai Navy was going to make a big move in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang.

After receiving the news from the spies, Fukang'an, who was sitting in Wula, Jilin, sent a memorial to the capital; at the same time, he ordered people to go to Kulun with a letter to remind Kulun Minister Song Yun and Dingbian Zuo Deputy General Hengrui to pay attention. 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 he planned to move the headquarters of Civil Affairs to Fuerdan City in consideration of the development and construction of Ningguta, Hunchun, Sanxing, and Boli.After a brief consideration, Zhao Xin agreed to Chen Qingsong's request.

The relocation of the Civil Affairs Headquarters was a long-winded matter, and Zhao Xin did not intervene. He had 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 proceeded Set off north.

In early June 1790, Zhao Xin set off from Beihai Town with his adjutant Xu Shounan and the guard battalion, and arrived in Khabarovsk in four days.He will make a short stop here to inspect the progress of the foundation construction of the railway project.

After two consecutive years of immigration and large-scale investment, Khabarovsk has become the largest commodity trading center in the outer northeast.A large amount of fur and fish products arrived here from the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers, and then turned into various living materials such as grain, cloth, and salt, which greatly strengthened the connection between Beihai Town and the tribes 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 Boli Town.The more cold-resistant rye gradually replaced the corn planted by the frontier residents in the past and became the staple food of the residents in the outer northeast.The development of beet planting and animal husbandry 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 started the survey work along the railway from Khabarovsk to Heilongjiang City.In August of last year, with the successive arrival of Takahashi Yoshitoki, Asada Goryu, Sima Jianghan, Asada Goritsu and other scholars from the island country, the railway survey work in Beihai Town was gradually accelerated.

As of mid-May 1790, three quarters of the survey of the 5-kilometer railway line had been completed.During this period, a large number of island country laborers transported to Beihai Town through the shogunate's "Beihai Pursuit" were also successively sent to Heilongjiang City and Khabarovsk.

In April this year, the foundation construction of the entire railway line was carried out simultaneously from two sections of the line.The reason why it started so early is mainly because of the climatic conditions in South Ussuri.

According to the previous observation data of the civil affairs department, there will be 10 to 12 heavy rainfalls in the July and August months of each summer, and the rainfall accounts for nearly 90% of the total annual amount.In the face of such concentrated rainfall, the first thing to do is water conservancy projects along the road.Migrant workers from the island country, 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 the diversion channel.

In addition, the construction zone of Heilongjiang City located in the west section needs drainage, deep excavation, and filling before road construction due to the vertical and horizontal swamps.

The biggest difficulty in the construction process is the construction of the middle section, because it will be built in the mountains, so the construction will be carried out in areas with high roadbeds and deep gullies, and even large-scale construction will be carried out on cliffs.

It is also a big problem to transport the stones out after the blasting of the mountain and the transport of construction materials.To this end, the workers in the island country must also build a nearly [-]-kilometer-long road along the railway line in advance, and transport the gravel after the mountain explosion in the middle section of the railway line to various construction sites.

The bridge design along the railway line was in charge of the Portuguese Pereira. Before the steel plant in Khabarovsk was completed and put into operation, all bridge components had to be manufactured in Beihai Town in advance, and then transported to the construction site by land, water, and land.In addition, a sawmill has been set up on the opposite bank of Khabarovsk to process the felled logs into boards and transport them to the construction site by land.

In short, everything is trivial and complex; but everything is orderly. During the construction period, all local administrative agencies are obliged to assist in the construction, but they cannot dictate it.Since the railway project is specially equipped with a security police system, the construction discipline on the site is also very strict, and food and accommodation are fully guaranteed, but construction delays will be punished no matter what the reason is.

"Príncipe, I have to say, it is my honor to participate in such a great project." Pereira, who was 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 can refer to the queen's husband, the king's sons, or even the local powers.Of course, it must be the third meaning that he called Zhao Xin in this way.

Zhao Xin nodded in satisfaction, patted the other person on the shoulder and said, "Rodrigo, I will send your family to Beihai Town before Christmas this year."

Pereira's family is now in Macau, but since he has been naturalized, he must be taken over to prevent tricks in Macau and Portugal.When he heard the good news, he bowed excitedly to Zhao Xin and expressed that he would work hard.

"Your Highness, the biggest problem with our projects now is that the annual construction period is too short. There are only 130 days of summer in the South Ussuri area every year, and the spring and autumn are too short."

Zhao Xin nodded and said: "Yes, so you have to find a way to shorten the construction period. In addition, you need to explore how to build bridges and roads in winter, so as not to stop the whole project in winter."

After meeting with the project engineers, Zhao Xin inspected the construction site again.When the laborers from an archipelago country and the junior samurai as supervisors heard that the famous King Zhao arrived, they all knelt on the ground to greet them.Especially those warriors, when they saw Zhao Xin, they didn't even dare to show their breath.

In fact, Zhao Xin's reputation in the island country is two extremes. The peasants think that he is caring about people's livelihood, and they would like to let themselves be under the rule of Beihai Town.

This man never played cards according to the way of ordinary people, and he used a hammer and a stick to make the shogunate "want to die".The tax system of "public three citizens and seven" in the three counties of southern Kyushu alone has now spread all over the island country, and the voices of the people demanding lower taxes keep coming and going, making the vassals and the shogunate hate their teeth, But helpless.

"Gong Qimin San" is living a tight life, and owes a lot of debts. If the annual tribute is lowered again, everyone will die!
The problem is that after Zhao Xin finished fighting Southern Kyushu and signed an agreement with the shogunate, he no longer took care of the bad things of the island country.Except for Sendai Fan and Changzhou Fan, the other feudal clans didn't even give a chance to hug their thighs, making all the big names jump their feet anxiously.

The reason why Zhao Xin accepted the Changzhou feudal service was to strangle those "Changzhou generals" from another time and space Meiji era to death.For example, there was a vassal named Mitsushige Inoue, who had already been passed on by Heita, and the Mori family found an excuse to have him cut open.

For island countries, Zhao Xin's approach is to greet them both openly and secretly.Bombard Edo and Satsuma to establish the prestige of Chinese military force; attract orchid scholars to influence the changing Confucian culture of the island country; destroy the Wanshi family to cut off the root of the "myth of the emperor".

As for where the island country will go in the future, you can follow the stick to pinch it slowly, or you can follow the footsteps of Beihai Town and go to the other side of the ocean to pinch the Spaniards; if it is not good, you can send them to Ceylon to help mix it up and add to the British ghosts. Add blockage.

On June 6, Zhao Xin arrived in Heilongjiang City suddenly.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.

Li Bi went to Beihai Town last year for scar repair surgery. After removing the tattoos on his cheeks, Zhao Xin has treated him with kindness, and after returning to Heilongjiang City, he has devoted himself to serving Beihai Town wholeheartedly.

Zhao Xin first talked with the three of them about the situation in Heilongjiang City, and then learned about the Qing army's movements in the direction of Mergen in detail. He learned that the Qing army had already shrunk most of its troops to Butha and Hulunbuyur. There are only [-] garrisoned Eight Banners left in Ergen City, which is 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 to the Michili River for the time being.Border residents of all ethnic groups must be treated equally without discrimination.Especially the Sauron tribe, which raises reindeer and lives by chasing grass, should send people to teach them how to farm and how to raise reindeer intensively, so that they can gradually settle down and form a village.

After talking about internal affairs, Zhao Xin sent Li and Guo away, leaving Sheng Haizhou alone.

After two years of living away from the center of power in Beihai Town, the young Sheng Haizhou has become more and more calm. The cold winter wind in Heilongjiang City has blown his originally fair cheeks to black and red, and the wrinkles on his forehead and brows have been contemplated for a while. They got together in one place, and it seemed that they stayed up all night thinking hard.

"Have you figured it out?"

Faced with Zhao Xin's pointless question, Sheng Haizhou was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Zhao Xin, and said word by word: "I will always be your servant, my lord, and I will do whatever you want me to do. Everything else has nothing to do with me."

Zhao Xin nodded slightly after listening.The reason why he dispatched Sheng Haizhou to Heilongjiang City at the beginning was to cut off his connection with Lin Ziping. He must not let the literati of the island country reach into the interior of the Beihai Navy, and the so-called "support incident" is actually just an excuse.

From then on, Lin Ziping understood Zhao Xin's intentions, and found another way to expand the influence of island scholars in Beihai Town by recruiting Lan scholars to work for Beihai Town.So when Wang Zhong proposed to invite Jiangnan scholars, Zhao Xin immediately agreed, and later showed even more closeness to Jiang Fan.

In politics, you have to talk about balance, and Yun Zhi is right.At present, it is the balance between the naturalized class of the island country and the inland immigrants, the balance between the Lan scholars and the "New Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics"; in the future, the balance between the Jiangnan scholars and the northern scholars, and the balance between the Confucianism system in Beihai Town and the old official and gentry system ,that is it.

Zhao Xin said to Sheng Haizhou: "In the future, don't get involved with those who are not. This time is to teach you a lesson. Next time, it's time to go to Bitter Leaf Island."

Sheng Haizhou got up from his chair immediately after listening, knelt down on the ground and gave a deep salute.

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 hand over to the deputy battalion commander, and follow me."

Sheng Haizhou was overjoyed when he heard the words, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he stood up, saluted and left.

On June 6, Zhao Xin arrived at the Humar Military Station. He only checked the material storage and transshipment situation, and then immediately set off for the north.Three days later, he arrived in Yaxa.

At this time, Yaksa has completely changed his appearance after two years of hard work by the Russian prisoners of war.Starting from Emul Karen on the opposite bank, a gravel road with a roadbed width of 25 meters meanders through layers of dense forests and mountain roads, extending to the southeast, passing through Duojincheng, Ukur, Yixiken, Exi We waited for many former Qing army Karen to reach Chahanyan.It is estimated that by this winter, it will be able to merge with the main road built from Heilongjiang City.

As the No. [-] person in the Yaksa POW Management Department, since taking over his wife, Wu Siyu has obviously become fatter than before, and his wife is also pregnant.

Zhao Xin stayed in Yaksa City for three days and had an all-night conversation with Wu Siyu.Wu Siyu was very happy when he learned that he would return to Beihai Town as soon as autumn came.In the past two years, he has dealt with prisoners of war every day. When he speaks now, he often throws out a sentence of Russian unconsciously.

Afterwards, Zhao Xin spent half a day talking with that Krutogorov.Compared with the state of nervousness and lack of confidence at the beginning, Krutogorov has accepted the identity of "Pugachev's son" frankly and is full of confidence.

The number of men he developed from prisoners of war has reached more than 3000. According to Wu Siyu's suggestion, they were organized into six battalions, and they are being trained by the Cossacks who returned from Aigun City.

This time, Zhao Xin brought 90 "Type 88 front-loading rifles" and thirty "Type [-] front-loading smoothbore guns" produced by the Beihai Town Arsenal, and handed them over to Wu Siyu for distribution.When the soldiers of the "Kingdom of Cossacks" have mastered the use of these weapons, it is time for them to leave.

On the morning of June 1790, 6, an ultimatum signed by Catherine II and sent from St. Petersburg was delivered by a Russian military courier to Liu Sheng, the military chief of the "Beihai Special Zone".

"Your Excellency, 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 was wearing a gorgeous Tsarist Russian army uniform, with a straight figure, and he read the ultimatum arrogantly.The reason why he called Liu Sheng "General" is because at the beginning of this year, Liu Sheng was awarded the rank of major general by the Northern Navy Command for his responsibility for the military deployment of the entire Eastern Siberia and the later battle against Mongolia.

In fact, there is currently only one person in this so-called "headquarters", and that is Zhao Xin.

".In summary, since you did not meet our peace request within the deadline, you will bear full responsibility for all consequences that occur afterwards! In order to defend the integrity of the empire's territory and prove its sacred inviolability, and To establish peace in the Far East on a solid foundation, we will do our utmost to achieve this goal, including but not limited to military actions. This announcement!"

Liu Sheng watched blankly as Brabla read out the ultimatum. The two ultimatums were only more than a month apart. Tsarist Russia had premeditated and everything was prepared in advance.

"Peace?" Liu Sheng listened to the translation by the secretary of the city government, Markovich, and then threw the proclamation with the Queen's seal on the table in front of him, and said with a sneer, "Are you worthy of talking about peace?! Back then in Heilongjiang Why don't you talk about peace when you are burning, killing and looting? Why don't you talk about peace when you are fighting the Turks? Go back and tell your queen and the old marshal that the Northern Navy will destroy all incoming enemies! As long as we are willing, You can also go to Kazan!"

"You!" After listening to Markovich's translation, the major of the Russian army blushed with anger, and said in his heart that it was too impolite to be so blatantly ambitious.After Liu Sheng said the word "seeing off the guests", he turned around and left without even paying any respect.

An hour later, Zhao Xin, who was heading towards Chita along the Shilka River, received a telegram from Liu Sheng, which contained only four words: Tsarist Russia declared war.

(End of this chapter)