Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 579

Regarding the problems in Europe, Zhao Xin's idea is to muddy the water.Compared with the life and death of Louis XVI, he cared more about not allowing the British to dominate the South Asian subcontinent.Let the Manchu Qing annex Gurkha, force them to enter the South Asian subcontinent, and provide support to the French East India Company. The essence is to add obstacles to the British.

Beginning in 1785, the British East India Company has achieved actual domination in Bengal.It is no longer an ordinary commercial company, but has become a ruling institution with a vast territory and powerful influence in the Indian region.

We must know that from the [-]th century to the [-]th century was an era of adventure, radicalism and violence. The British were not willing to share India with the French. Their goal was to dominate the Indian economy, against the Kingdom of Mysore and the Marathas The previous wars are proof.In this situation, asking for help from local governance gave Beihai Town the best excuse to intervene.

Zhao Xin's intervention in India is to let Europeans understand that in the entire East Asia and South Asia, there can only be one co-lord, let your God go to hell!

Incidentally, the term "Southeast Asia" did not exist until the late nineteenth century.At this time, Europeans collectively referred to Southeast Asia and East Asia as "the East", and referred to the countries of Siam and Burma as Outer India.In order to colonize Southeast Asia for a long time, European colonists have written a large number of "research works" since the early nineteenth century.In these books, although they describe geography, climate, customs, products, language, etc., the most important thing is that they distort or write off the ancient history of Southeast Asia.The indigenous cultures in Southeast Asia and the cultures deeply influenced by Chinese civilization are described as imbecile, immature and incompetent, and the white people come to colonize here, boasting as a moral responsibility-the so-called "white people's burden".

When Zhao Xin met with Peter, he told him that the number of troops dispatched from Beihai Town would be 500, of which 1000 would stay in the local government and 500 would go to France with the ship. This news really shocked Peter. It's a mixed blessing.The good news is that with the help of the Sires, the defense of local governance must be solid; the worry is that the arrival of the Sires will bring about the future of French India and the East Indies.

What surprised Peter was that Zhao Xin knew the situation in India very well.

He told Peter that it was precisely because France did not support the Kingdom of Mysore as well as the British in terms of weapons and training, and played "volunteers" at every turn, which led to Tipu Sultan's defeat.And once Tipu Sultan is finished, the descendants of those Hindu princes will rise up, and no one will resolutely fight against the British East India Company.The current problem for the French is not only the lack of land power, the main reason is that the navy cannot compete with the British.

Peter took Zhao Xin's opinion deeply, but he was also helpless.As far as he personally knows, Louis XVI’s policy towards the French East India Company changed back and forth, resulting in ups and downs in trade income. In addition, the French only wanted to do trade in India, and the collection of land taxes and land taxes It is not keen, and its financial revenue cannot support large-scale military operations.

In a word, there must be enough military expenditures to hire natives to train, arm them, and wage wars, but the king has invested all his money in the North American continent, so he doesn't care about India.

Afterwards, the two talked about the situation in mainland France and the safety of the king. Zhao Xin no longer dared to be a magician on this issue. In fact, even if he said it, people would not believe it.Peter told Zhao Xin affectionately how noble and approachable His Majesty the King and Queen are, and said that if His Royal Highness Zhao and His Majesty were lucky enough to meet each other, they would definitely become confidants of each other.

Zhao Xinxin said that the ghost's confidant!Louis XVI did not know what evil he did in his previous life, and married the wife of Marie Antoinette.If you want to say that you have Cixi's skills, it's fine. You are obviously a rookie in politics, but you still like to meddle in state affairs.

Originally, the National Assembly only put their family under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace. Except that they could not go out, the other treatment remained the same, and they were not deposed.But Antoinette, who didn't know how to die, was eager to restore. Seeing that her nephew had become the king of Austria and declared war on France, she passed relevant information about France to Austria.In order to realize his "republican" ideal, Robespierre had long wanted to do something to the king's family, which happened to give him an excuse.

Zhao Xin told Peter that the Beihai fleet planned to set off in late March, 1792, stay in local governance for a maximum of one month, and arrive in France by the end of July at the latest.Peter was overjoyed when he heard that, and expressed his thanks in tears.

Before sending away the time-travelers who went home for the New Year, Zhao Xin had to meet with Mrs. Liu Zheng and Heping who came back from the island country to report on his duties as usual, and learned about the situation of the island country in detail this year.So when a fat white man who weighed more than 180 catties walked into the room wheezing and wheezing, Zhao Xin was stunned for several seconds before he could react.

"Damn it! Why are you so fat?"

"Ouch! Boss Zhao's demeanor has not diminished, but I think you've turned dark?"

"Bah! I just came back after staying with the army in Outer Mongolia for several months." Zhao Xin pointed to his blackened face and said, "You think everyone is like you. You are arrogant and lustful all day long, and you can see that you lack exercise."

"The conscience of heaven and earth! I have been running back and forth between Edo and Sendai this year, and I have gone to Hishikari twice. How easy is it for me!"

"Just running like this and you gained weight for two laps. If you hadn't sent a telegram to report the itinerary every time, no one would believe it. It seems that you are eating eels."

"Hey, I really let you talk! Guess what, Katsuyama Denzo sent me a cook, the eel was baked, and it didn't work!"

Zhao Xin shook his head and said, "That thing has a lot of calories, so be careful if you eat too much."

The two chattered for a while, and then began to talk about serious business. Liu Zheng first talked about the situation of the island country this year.Basically, Kansei's three years have been relatively stable, and the impact of the "Tianming Famine" has finally come to an end. Whether it is the Tokugawa Shogunate or the Sendai Feudal Alliance, both sides are busy restoring agricultural production.Last year, the annual tribute income of the shogunate increased from 130 million shi in the early years of Kansei to 180 million shi, a large part of which was due to the use of various new farm tools in Beihai Town.

Since the shogunate and the Sendai clan have exported a large number of laborers to Beihai Town in recent years, the domestic labor force has decreased, and a large number of women at home have gone to work in the fields. However, manual seeders, manual double-row rice transplanters, and foot-operated threshing machines used in some areas of Beihai Town Machines were also introduced to the island country with the return of laborers.After studying the internal structure of these new agricultural tools, the shrewd island craftsmen imitated them quickly, and some wealthy landowners and daimyos began to use them one after another, and the effect was surprisingly good.

For example, the threshing machine before the island country was a wooden board with densely packed iron teeth on it, and a bucket for collecting rice grains below. When threshing millet, the peasant women took a handful of rice and beat it on it.In fact, not only in island countries, but also in the south of the Yangtze River. The folks call this kind of threshing machine that relies on manpower to beat the threshing machine.

The "pedal threshing machine" in Beihai Town is a domestic invention in the 70s from another time and space. It adopts a gear transmission structure; except for a few iron gears, the others are all made of wood.Regardless of whether it is rice or wheat, two regular laborers and three or four weak laborers can harvest more than three acres a day, greatly reducing labor intensity; if electric motors or diesel engines are installed, more than ten acres can be harvested a day.

Since almost two years ago, the trade department of Beihai Town has been selling threshing machines along the canal through people from the Cao Gang in Songjiang;

Liu Zheng told Zhao Xin that despite the fact that Matsudaira Josanobu had come up with a "Forbidden Policy and Different Studies" and vigorously praised Zhu Zi's theory, in fact, this person had a strong interest in foreign culture—especially the study of Beihai Town's culture, and paid great attention to military affairs. relevant knowledge.He even asked people to collect the previous combat data of Beihai Town, and compiled a "Book of the Beihai Navy".

After that, he took out a thread-bound book from the bag he was carrying, handed it to Zhao Xin, and said, "I'm really not used to reading the books of the ancients. Basically, I feel sleepy after reading two pages. I usually use it as a hypnotic book when I have nothing to do." .”

Zhao Xin opened the book and flipped through it, and found that it recorded the previous major and minor wars in Beihai Town from 1784 to 1790 according to the year, and analyzed in detail the number of troops sent by both sides, tactics, and results.However, some of the figures are wrong at first glance. Zhao Xin guessed that they either came from folk rumors, or they were inquired by orchid scholars from those island countries.

As for Liu Zheng himself, he was living a pretty good life. The two women given to him by Ishikawa Murakami had already given birth to a son and a daughter.Considering the poor medical conditions in the island country, he brought them all back this time.

After hearing this, Zhao Xin nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good job! Liu, the organization has decided to entrust you with a difficult task."

As soon as Liu Zheng heard Zhao Xin's tone, he immediately shuddered, thinking that he planned to let me change the site?He turned his mind quickly a few times, and then said with a nonchalant expression: "Brother Zhao, are you going to let me go to Nanyang or Annan? We must obey the organization's arrangement."

"You're very enlightened!" Zhao Xin showed his habitual treacherous smile, and said, "Congratulations, you guessed wrong, go to Kulun!"

"What?! Mongolia!"

"Yes! No matter how noisy the island country is, that's it. We still have to take back our focus. How about going to Khalkha to be the governor for a few years? Don't eat eels all day long, change your taste."

"No, Brother Zhao, Boss Zhao!" Liu Zheng said with a wry smile: "I admit that we have been a bit extravagant and dissipated in the past two years, but this is not the reason to assign me, right? Let Zhang Jingxuan go, he is staying in East Siberia Two years, a lot of experience."

"Thinking too much?" Zhao Xinhe looked up and looked outside the house, and then explained softly: "Zhang Jingxuan is fine as a deputy, but I am afraid that he will have to practice for a few more years to be the chief officer. Let him go to Irku before. Cike is purely pulling out generals, and if I want to let him go to Khalkha, there will probably be no bones left that can be eaten by those lamas and princes."

"Then where are you going to transfer him?"

"Let him come back and be Lao Chen's deputy."

Letting Liu Zheng go to Khalkha was the result of Zhao Xin's deliberation over the past two months.Khalkha Mongolia is too big and the traffic conditions are poor. Liu Sheng and Fan Tong can manage Sanyin Nuoyan, Zasaktu Khan and Tangnu Wulianghai well.And Cullen's side, because of its importance, is not far from Chakta, so a heavyweight must be put there.

In other words, Liu Sheng's status is like the "Deputy General of Dingbian Zuo" in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, commanding the entire Mobei; "Minister of Kulun Affairs" manages the entire eastern part of Khalkha Mongolia.

From Zhao Xin's selfish point of view, the reason why he did this also played the role of "separation of powers", and no one should want to dominate the family.

Compared with Liu Sheng's iron fist and Fan Tong's soft knife, the people in Kulun must first be good at communication, and be able to deal with the intricate political relationships among the Khans, Zhasaks, and Lama Banners. The Mongolian ministries of the Manchu Qing regime once again assimilated into the regime of Beihai Town, and turned their allegiance to Beihai Town.

In the past two years in the island country, Liu Zheng has been able to handle the two major samurai groups, the Tokugawa shogunate and the Sendai feudal alliance, and even has contacts with officials in Kyoto. Such experience is almost rare in Beihai Town.

In addition, Beihai Town is different from the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Qing Dynasty needs to let Outer Mongolia and its borders stick to it, as a screen for the Qing Empire and Tsarist Russia.But now the entire East Siberia has fallen into the hands of Beihai Town. Except for the Tangnu Ulianghai and Khobdo areas in the west, other areas have lost their barrier function.In this way, the military government system of "military and civilian integration" can be declared to end.

As I said before, there were many types of military service served by the Manchus in the four Khalkha Mongol tribes, and they were allocated forcibly according to the number of arrows.However, if there were no pressure from various Zhasak lords and Lama Banners, the life of the nomads would not be so miserable.

We must know that after the Qing court pacified Junggar, the biggest beneficiaries were the princes and nobles of Khalkha and the upper lamas; most directly, all the pastures of the Junggar tribe were divided up by the Khalkha nobles and various Hutuktu families.

This is also the main reason why Qianlong wanted to kill Erinqindorji during the "change of withdrawing the station".After giving you such great benefits, you still have to collude with Amursana!

Therefore, Liu Zheng's task is not only to deal with nobles and lamas, but also mobilize the masses through a large number of work teams, fight local tyrants, and change the way of life for the majority of lower-level herdsmen. We must know that these talents are the powerful pillars of the Beihai Town regime.As for those work teams, they will be the cadre team accumulated by Beihai Town for going south in the future.

After listening to Zhao Xin's explanation, Liu Zheng suddenly realized, and finally he was relieved.I said in my heart that Boss Zhao still regards himself as a brother. After all, we are also the founding elders of Beihai Town!

Zhao Xin's final suggestion to Liu Zheng was to unite the middle and lower classes, weaken the upper class, and attack the diehards among the princes and nobles and the Six Lama Banners.In short, in one sentence, Khalkha is the Khalkha of Beihai Town, not some lord or great lama!

"Then who do you think should be suppressed and who should be united among the four Khalkha ministries?"

"You need to analyze this by yourself." Zhao Xin didn't want to tell Liu Zheng the answer directly, but he still added: "Whoever has the largest pasture and who has the most disputes with various ministries, you will take the knife!"

Before Liu Zheng left, he hesitated at the door, then turned to Zhao Xin and said, "Forget about something, maybe I'm overthinking."

"Say something."

"Before I boarded the ship from Ishinomaki Port, I met the owner of Murataya on the pier. He told me that one of his subordinates accidentally saw Heita and Katsuyama Denzo in Gion Kobe, Kyoto more than two months ago. There was also a relative of the Konoe family who drank at the Iwasaki Geisha House and called him the oiran."

Zhao Xin frowned, then opened it again, nodded and said: "Okay, I understand."

Half an hour later, Pingtai respectfully sat across from Zhao Xin, and began to report on the progress of last year.

Since the fire in Kyoto, the Wanshi family suffered heavy casualties, but those who survived seemed to sense something. Basically, their doors were closed and they seldom went out.Gong Dianren of Xianyuan took in several concubine rooms in one breath, and his main job every day was to make villains.

As for Emperor Guangge, he continued to compete with Edo with the support of the Sendai Fan, and it was still about giving his father a title.Since this guy didn't show his face at all, and was focused on holding festivals in the palace, it was difficult to have any chance to make a move.

Zhao Xin was noncommittal after hearing this. He knew there was no rush for this kind of thing. It would be great if it could be completed in [-]. Sometimes the opportunity comes in a flash. Once you miss it, you will have to wait until the next time.

After finishing his business, he chatted peacefully for a while.He pretended not to say casually: "After the Tianming fire, Gion will not be affected, right?"

"Fortunately, it will recover after a year."

"Hey, if I have a chance, I really want to go there to drink flower wine and find some courtesans."

Pingtai showed a fascinated look on his face, and sighed: "Although I have been to a lowly position, I never dare to look for an oiran. The oirans in Gion are all stunners in the world, and the appearance fee is as expensive as hell."

Zhao Xin laughed and said: "Okay! When the New Year is over and I am not busy, I will find a chance to go to Kyoto to see and see."

But when Zhao Xin watched Pingtai walk out of the yard with a heck of a smile, he returned to his seat with a cloudy expression on his face. After thinking about it, he called Xu Funan, who was the confidential secretary, in.

"Activate the dark line of Ishinomaki Port, let them thoroughly understand the situation of Heita and Katsuyama Denzo in the past two years!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)