Daming Crazy Emperor

The cold wind is blowing, the snow is drifting, and the winter in Xibo Province has come.

Shenwu City is not bad, because it is located in the south of Xibo Province, and it is only snowing at the moment, and the river has not been frozen yet, but Hubei City is already covered with ice and snow.

If you don't leave, it will be too late.

Looking at the snowflakes all over the sky, Taichang couldn't help sighing.

At this time, [-] Aegis ships and [-] armed merchant ships have already returned to Armed Forces City, including the Emperor and the [-]-year-old Dragon Warship, and the rest are fifty Dragon Warships and [-] A Spike warship.

He didn't want to keep so many ships here, but Yuan Keli, Cao Wenzhao, Song Yingxing and others tried their best to persuade them to keep these ships.

There is no way, he and the emperor's grandson Zhu Cihong are both here, if something unexpected happens, it will be a disaster.

He also has no plans to return to the capital.

Because there are too many things here, not only the border with Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire has not yet been demarcated, but also the canal leading to the Caspian Sea, the captives of the Golden Horde, and the entire defense system in the northwest, etc. settle down.

If he leaves, Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng and Cao Bianjiao will not be able to decide many things.

Of course, he couldn't stay in Shenwu City either. Once the river here was frozen, he wouldn't be able to keep in touch with the main forces of the North Camp, South Camp, and West Camp.

He had to take the fleet to the Irtysh River Basin before the river channel was frozen, otherwise the more than [-] ships would not be of any use if they stayed here, and they would not know how much they would be damaged by freezing.

Looks like it's time to go.

Taichang looked at the snowflakes flying in the sky, thought carefully, and then said decisively: "Cheng En, send someone to recruit everyone here."

Not long after, Yuan Keli, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Song Yingxing and others, together with several staff generals, gathered on the bow of the Flying Dragon battleship.

There are quite a few cabins in the middle of the Flying Dragon battleship, but at the moment they are all occupied by concubines, princes and princesses and the maids they brought.

Moreover, there is no large conference room here, and there is simply no room for so many people.

Taichang could only order people to put together a few tables at the bow of the boat so that everyone could sit down.

He glanced around slightly, and then solemnly said: "The weather here is getting colder and colder, I must lead the fleet to set off, otherwise, once the middle reaches of the Hubei River is frozen, the fleet will not be able to go to Irtysh." the river.

Although it is unlikely that the enemy will invade here in winter, we cannot take it lightly.

Leader, you stay and sit here. "

Zhao Lijiao hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "The general will understand."

Taichang said to Bi Dengke, the second place in the new ranking: "Dengke, the foundries and smelters here basically don't have to shut down in winter, so you stay and watch carefully.

Remember, we can build as many boilers and pipelines as we can. Next year we will have to relocate at least 1000 million people here, and we can’t do without boilers and pipelines. "

Bi Dengke hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I understand."

Taichang thought about it again, then waved his hands and said: "Okay, everyone else go get ready, and we'll set off in an hour's time."

Everyone quickly got up and left.

It's not that he's finished explaining everything, he just doesn't want to waste time.

Anyway, everyone else has to set off with him, and it's the same when explaining on the road.

Under the gloomy sky, the fleet finally set off one after another.

The weather here seems to be like this. In winter, the thick dark clouds block the sun. Even in broad daylight, it is as hazy as evening.

Coupled with the snowflakes flying all over the sky, the visibility is quite low.

In order to prevent the ships from colliding, the Feilong warship and the Spike warship kept a distance of more than ten feet at all times, and more than 200 ships lined up for more than [-] miles.

Looking at the gray sky, Taichang couldn't help frowning: "Bianjiao, how long will it be before the envoys from Tsarist Russia come to negotiate?"

Cao Bianjiao reckoned: "It will take about 20 days for them, and it's only been ten or so days now, and it is estimated that there will be another ten or so days."

Are these people not afraid of the cold?

Taichang was quite surprised and said: "In another ten or so days, it will probably be freezing and snowy in Tianwu Zhongcheng, can they still come?"

Cao Bianjiao nodded slowly and said: "Your Majesty, they are more familiar with the weather here than we are. They said they can come here, so there should be no problem."

This makes sense, maybe people are really not afraid of the cold.

Taichang nodded slightly, and then asked again: "Zhiji, do you think they will agree to our terms?"

Zhang Zhiji pondered: "Looking at the expression of Morozov, the representative of Tsarist Russia, they should be quite frightened, I believe it should be no problem to let them come out of the land.

However, the Ottoman Empire is not clear, and Weichen has not seen their negotiators yet. "

Taichang said quite confidently: "You don't need to be too anxious, if they are not willing to give in, we will fire more artillery and continue to scare them.

At that time, you can tell them again, and if you disagree, we will do it.

This is not to scare them, we will really beat them up if we want them to be ignorant.

I believe that as long as you don't beat them too hard, the European Union will definitely not give up Africa's interests to help them. "

Zhang Zhiji nodded quickly and said, "I understand."

Taichang was heading north all the way, discussing with everyone along the way, the weather was getting colder and colder, and the cold wind was getting stronger.

The Flying Dragon Battleship is better, at least it is covered by armor, as long as the hatch leading to the bottom is opened to let the heat from below come up, it will not be too cold.

The Spike Warship is not good, the thin cabin has no cold protection effect at all, and the sailors on it are shivering from the cold.

Fortunately, they can also take turns to go to the lower cabin to keep warm, or else they will be frostbitten.

After traveling for nearly three days, the fleet finally arrived at the confluence of the Hubei River and the Irtysh River.

The river here is covered with ice, and it looks like it will freeze.

If they had to come over for a few more nights, they might not be able to make it through.

Fortunately, after turning into the Irtysh River, we were heading south. The temperature was obviously rising, and the sky was getting brighter and brighter.

After the fleet sailed south for a day, they encountered a large fork. At this time, Sun Chengzong had already led more than [-] people to wait at the south of the fork.

Moreover, they even built the pier.

Taichang saw Sun Chengzong's face that was a little blue from the cold wind, and quickly waved: "Quick, the flagship is coming over."

Soon, the flagship docked at the pier.

As soon as the hanging ladder was lowered, Taichang walked down quickly with a group of civil servants and generals, grabbed Sun Chengzong's arm, waved to the Nan Daying general behind him, and then said with concern: "Children, why did you come here? It’s so cold here, what if you get sick from the cold?”

Sun Chengzong couldn't help being touched and said: "Don't worry, your majesty, this minister's body is still strong, a little cold wind is nothing.

The humble minister was afraid that the emperor was not familiar with the terrain here, so he specially came to lead the way for the emperor. "

Well, he is indeed not familiar with the terrain here.

Taichang thought for a while, then waved to the generals of the Peking University Camp behind him and said, "Go back to the camp first, don't stand here and blow the wind."

After finishing speaking, he held Sun Chengzong's arm and said, "Young rope, let's go, let's go to the boat to talk, the boat is warm."

Soon, everyone returned to the boat.

Taichang ordered someone to make a cup of hot tea again, and then pointed to the map on the table and asked, "Zhensheng, do you think there is any problem in building a canal between the southern part of the Irtysh River and the Aral Sea?"

Sun Chengzong nodded slowly and said: "This is not a big problem, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. After all, canals with a length of seven to eight hundred miles are rare in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which is thousands of miles long, was not built in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that we have never built a canal longer than [-] miles. "

This is not a big problem. Digging a canal will definitely take time and effort. Don't think about it. The key is that the terrain along the way is suitable for digging a canal.

Taichang then asked again: "Zhensheng, what do you think of the terrain along the way? Is it easy to dig?"

Sun Chengzong pondered and said: "I have carefully looked at the terrain along the way. The section ahead is a canyon-like crack, about tens of miles wide, with sandy soil in the middle. There are large excavating machines. It should not be difficult to dig. .

The middle part is a bit troublesome, because there is a small desert here. Although it is not very difficult to dig, we have to consider the problem of water leakage. If all the water leaks into the desert, the boat will not be able to sail.

There is nothing in the latter section, it is basically muddy land, which is easy to dig. "

There is also a small desert in the middle!

Taichang couldn't help frowning: "Chang Geng, is there a solution to the problem of water leakage in the desert?"

Song Yingxing reckoned: "Your Majesty, this is a bit troublesome, but it's not difficult.

We can dig out the middle channel first, dig deeper and wider, and then pull back the soil dug from the previous section of the river, and spread it on the bottom and sides of the middle section.

In this way, as long as it can be covered with a thickness of one or two feet and then sealed with cement on the outside, basically there will be no water leakage. "

It is really troublesome to do so.

Taichang thought for a while and then asked: "Have you brought all the machinery and equipment for digging the canal from Xibo Province?"

Song Yingxing nodded quickly and said: "They've all been pulled over, and I think they've all passed by now, but the place where they landed at the beginning is not here, because there is a tributary blocking the way in front, so the machinery and equipment are pulled to the south of that tributary and then built. It was sent ashore at the pier."

Taichang nodded slightly, and then asked again: "Zhisheng, how many people from the Golden Horde have you captured this time?"

Sun Chengzong carefully explained: "Your Majesty, there are actually not many Mongolian and Yuan remnants in the Golden Horde Khanate, a total of about 50 million, and the rest are basically descendants of the original Western Region countries.

Therefore, after discussing with Jiandou, Wei Chen arrested all the remnants of forty or fifty Mongolian yuan, and we did not arrest millions of ordinary people. "

Hearing this, Taichang nodded slightly and said, "Okay, as long as the nomadic tribes are cleaned up, it turns out that the people in the countries of the Western Regions don't need to worry about it, as long as they can be honest and obedient, those who are disobedient will come out one by one and clean up one by one." .

You send someone to talk to Jiandou and bring all these captives over to help build the canal.

Even if they don't know anything, they will always play with mud, right? "

When Sun Chengzong heard the words, he quickly cupped his hands and said, "I understand."

Taichang thought about it carefully, and then asked: "Chang Geng, is there any problem in digging out the channel of this canal in half a year.

As for the cement, it shouldn't take too long to pull it over and apply it after unsealing, right? "

More than [-] people plus special excavation machines, although the canal is long, half a year should be enough.

Song Yingxing pondered for a while, then nodded solemnly and said: "No problem, Your Majesty."

Hearing this, Taichang waved his hand decisively and said: "Okay then, you can go to the west river with Bianjiao and the others, I have to go to the east to see where is suitable for building a wharf and city for the winter.

Yuan Fang, take ten Flying Dragons and a hundred Spikes and send them there. "

Cao Bianjiao, Song Yingxing, Zhang Yuanfang and the others heard the words, and hurriedly bowed and said: "I will leave."

After that, they filed out.

Taichang asked again: "Zhisheng, what about you, are you going back to help Chang Geng build the canal or go east with me?"

Sun Chengzong said without hesitation: "I will accompany the emperor to the east to have a look. It just so happens that I came here along this tributary of the Irtysh River, and I am familiar with the terrain along the way. I know a good place to build a port and a city."

Hearing this, Taichang couldn't help being pleasantly surprised: "Oh, where is it?"

Sun Chengzong reckoned: "It's about two thousand miles along the main trunk of the Irtysh River."

Hearing this, Taichang was about to order the fleet to set off, but suddenly remembered that there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Southern Army on the shore.

He couldn't help wondering: "What about the soldiers of the Southern Day Camp you brought, the dragon warship and the Spike warship can barely accommodate people, but their horses can't squeeze them down no matter what."

Sun Chengzong said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, don't worry about them, just let them ride horses and follow them on the shore. Anyway, it's only more than two thousand miles away, and the road along the way has been leveled when we come here. They can catch up in six or seven days." past."

Taichang was still a little worried and said: "Can the soldiers bear the horses and gallop in such a cold day?
Also, when camping at night, can they carry it? "

Sun Chengzong still said without hesitation: "Don't worry, the emperor, the soldiers of the Southern Daying Camp are basically from Liaodong, and this weather is nothing to them.

Also, the temperatures will get hotter the further south we go, and they'll be fine. "

Come on, Liaodong is indeed very cold.

The weather at the moment seems not as cold as the winter in Liaodong.