Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2444: Record of the Western Expedition (XI) Secret Agreement Reached
In late winter in Moscow, the breath turns to frost, so there are naturally few people around after nightfall. However, this does not hinder the entertainment of the nobles. For example, the cocktail parties learned from European nobles are held in turn among the nobles according to their respective circles.

Prince Shuisky's residence is located in the Nikolskaya neighborhood on Vladimirskaya Street, one of the oldest and most famous neighborhoods in Moscow, built in the 13th century.

At this time, the Orthodox icons on the stone walls on both sides of the street were covered with snow, and only the golden trident emblem on the gate, which symbolized the Rurik family, glowed coldly under the lanterns. The golden trident on the Ukrainian flag in later generations was copied from this. Twelve axe-wielding guards stood on both sides of the corridor. The sound of armor colliding and the bells of the Kremlin in the distance intertwined, making the crackling of the charcoal fire in the hall even more prominent.

"Look, everyone," Duke Shuisky knocked his silver scepter on the long oak table. Moscow on the sheepskin map was circled in cinnabar as a dead city. "Stroganov's special forces now control the four gates of the city. More than 12,000 Ming heavy cavalry are stationed on the east side of Red Square. In the warehouse of their camp, in addition to a large amount of food, there are artillery that can blow up the Kremlin at any time."

During the banquet, seven conservative nobles sat in a circle, their sable cloaks shining. Semyon Nikitich Godunov, the Duke of Novgorod, clenched his wine glass, and the emblem of the Rurik family engraved on the rim of the glass flickered in the firelight: "Last week, the three hundred carts of rye I transported to Kiev were detained by the special military on the grounds of 'military food control' - they even dared to intercept the food donated to the Pechersk Lavra."

The Pechersk Lavra, also known as the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, has a very long history and is one of the oldest monasteries in the history of Russian Orthodoxy. It is not only an important religious holy place, but also a famous academic center, which has a profound impact on the cultural and academic development of Russia.

However, the duke seemed to have forgotten one thing - at that time Kiev did not belong to Russia, but to the territory of the Polish Federation.

As for who this Novgorod Duke Semyon Nikitich Godunov is, just by looking at his surname "Godunov", we can tell that he is related to Boris Godunov, the first Tsar with a different surname after the end of the Rurik dynasty.

Yes, Semyon Nikitich Godunov is the cousin of Boris Godunov and the most important supporter of his son Ofedo Godunov's succession to the throne after Boris's death.

However, due to the smooth march of False Dmitry I with the support of the Poles, Ofeldo was soon deposed and then killed. Semyon Nikitich Godunov, who had lost his reputation as a righteous man, had to resist the offensive of False Dmitry I while contacting conservative nobles, so he became an ally of Shuisky.

Although the Godunov family was also considered traitors by Shuisky, a great noble from the Rurik branch (Note 1), after all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Now Semyon's strength among the conservatives is second only to Shuisky himself, so Shuisky had no choice but to let Semyon become the de facto second person among the conservatives.

(Note 1: Ivan the Terrible had a violent and erratic personality in his later years. He beat his pregnant daughter-in-law with a stick because she appeared in front of him in casual clothes, causing her to have a miscarriage. His eldest son and heir could not stand it any longer and went forward to argue with him, but was accidentally beaten to death by the furious Ivan. After waking up, Ivan was in great pain, not only because he had beaten his son to death, but also because his second son had a low IQ and was not suitable to be a tsar.

At this point, the Terrible married Maria, the daughter of an important official, in order to have another heir. Later, they gave birth to a son, Dmitri. However, not long after, the Terrible was diagnosed with an incurable disease and died at the age of 53. Dmitri's status was not recognized by the nobles, and the mother and son were exiled to the countryside. The Terrible's second son, Feodor, succeeded to the throne and was called Ofeldo I.

The daughter of the Godunov family became the queen of Feodor, and the Godunov family quickly gained real power in Russia. Boris Godunov plotted to kill Dmitry, the only hidden danger, and then succeeded to the throne of Tsar after the death of Ofedo I. The reason why the pseudo-Dmitry I was able to get the support of some Russian nobles with the support of Poland was because of the above incident. )
"What's worse," said Tver Marquis Yuri Bobryshev, who took a big gulp of vodka, "the instructors at the Boyar Academy actually asked our children to learn Mongolian tactics, saying something like 'cooperation with the heavenly soldiers' - what is this? They want us, Russia, to become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty!"

The nobles in the hall were venting their anger when suddenly there was the sound of boots approaching outside. Shuisky's captain of the guards opened the door curtain, and the cold wind blew snowflakes in, followed by a tall and thin man wrapped in a sable cloak.

"Your Excellency the Duke," the man took off his hood, revealing a thin scar on his left cheek, "someone from the Krakow Chamber of Commerce asked me to bring you a message: 'The white eagle is in the nest, waiting for the snow goose to return.'"

Shuisky's pupils suddenly contracted. This was the code word he used to secretly communicate with Poland when Jan Zamoyski tried to win him over. At that time, although he had a certain amount of power, his political status was not high. Although he had the title of Duke, he was a marginal noble who was frustrated in the Duma.

Shuisky waved his hand to dismiss his personal guards, leaving only the two closest axe-wielding warriors at his side. "Tell me, what is your plan this time, Lord Yanzamoysky?"

The man didn't seem to care that there were other nobles in the hall. He took out a wax-sealed parchment scroll from the inner pocket of his cloak. The eagle and cross emblems were clearly visible on the wax seal. "You are joking, Duke. I am not here for this purpose. His Majesty Sigismund III, King of Poland, is willing to support you with 30,000 Winged Cavalry to help you ascend the throne of Tsar. The conditions are not harsh. As long as your country cedes the land west of Pskov to Smolensk after the war and allows the Polish army to garrison Moscow for three years, it will be fine."

There were gasps at the table. Count Alexei Morozov of Tula stood up suddenly and said coldly, "The Poles have just supported the false emperor Dmitry. Now that Dmitry has lost control, the Poles are going to replace him immediately and do it again? I think the Poles' promises are more hollow than vodka bubbles!"

Marquis Tver cooperated at the right time and sneered: "Also, where are the so-called '30,000 Winged Hussars'? If the Poles have 30,000 Winged Hussars, I'm afraid they don't need us to cooperate with them, right?"

"You gentlemen are really perceptive, but this time is different," the man sneered, "To be honest, the Polish army has assembled in Bialystok, 15,000 winged cavalry and musketeers, 8,000 Lithuanian light cavalry, and 7,000 troops transferred from Prussia, Courland, and Zaporizhia -" He pointed to Smolensk on the map, "As long as you can cut off the Ming army's food supply from the rear when it marches west, the Polish army will be able to seize the opportunity to defeat it, and then drive straight in, reach Moscow within ten days, and reach an agreement with you!" (Note: At this time, Prussia had not yet merged with Brandenburg and was a vassal state of Poland. Its jurisdiction did not include West Prussia; Courland and Zaporizhia were two vassal states of Poland in the north and south.)
Shuisky's finger traced the wax seal and suddenly sneered: "Three years of garrison? Sigismund thinks we are Tatars of Kazan?"

"This is the compromise plan proposed by Lord Jan Zamoyski. After all, His Majesty the King also needs to convince the Sejm," the man lowered his voice. "In fact, the Polish army will only garrison the Kremlin and the granary, and the rest of Moscow will be governed by your private armies. Of course, in exchange, you need to allow Polish merchants in the Volga River Basin to enjoy the same economic privileges as the Ming Dynasty today."

The Marquis of Tver slammed the table: "You also want economic privileges? The Stroganov family has sucked our Russian blood dry. Do we want to let the Poles gnaw on our bones again after we overthrow them?"

"But the threat from the Ming army is even greater!" Shuisky suddenly stood up and pulled out a half-worn Longqing Type 2 rifle from the corner of the wall. "Look at this - the muskets sent by the Ming Dynasty to 'aid' us. Each one is engraved with Chinese characters that I can't understand, but it is much faster to load than the Polish matchlock gun! If Stroganov's special forces are equipped with more of these firearms, our private army will be inferior to the Cossacks on the grassland!"

He turned to the Polish envoy, his eyes sharp as a knife: "Tell Zamoyski that I want to see the main force of the Polish army take Smolensk first, and not be at a clear disadvantage in the subsequent confrontation or battle with the Ming army. In addition..."

He pointed to Nizhny Novgorod on the map. "The Shuisky family's fiefdom can gather 8,000 axe-wielding infantry. As long as the Polish army can deliver 5,000 muskets before the spring, I can not only block the grain ships in the middle reaches of the Volga River, but also raid Moscow and cut off the supply of the Ming army and the special forces on the front line."

He was obviously exaggerating. The Shuisky family's private soldiers could not reach 8,000, and they might not even be half of that. Of course, if he included the serf conscripts, then it would still be enough, but these "soldiers" were just gray animals and usually did not have much combat power.

The Poles certainly knew the ins and outs of this, but they didn't point it out. Instead, Duke Godunov frowned and interjected, "But in the coronation edict of False Dmitry I, there is a promise by the Ming Dynasty to 'respect Russian traditions' - if we cooperate with Poland, will it be regarded as betraying the Orthodox Church?"

Semyon Godunov's fiefdom "Novgorod" is actually richer and more populous than Shuisky's fiefdom "Nizhny Novgorod", but because of the continuous dispatch of troops to support Tsar Boris Godunov in suppressing rebellions in various places during the Godunov dynasty, as well as the subsequent war with the Poles, the current Duke Godunov has not regained his strength and is more worried about losing the recognition of the Orthodox Church.

"Ming Dynasty's 'respect'?" Shuisky walked to the wall, took down Zhu Yijun's portrait on the wall, and revealed the Rurik family genealogy behind it. He said coldly, "They made the Tsar bow in front of the portrait and let our children learn the kneeling ceremony. Is this respect?"

He suddenly pulled out a secret letter from his bosom. "Look at this - Stroganov Trading Company is supporting the Ming people in mining iron ore east of the Ural Mountains. The Ming Dynasty does not have enough population in the area, so the Stroganov family sent our Russian serfs there as coolies. 70% of the iron ore produced is supplied to the Ming Dynasty, and 30% is used to build muskets, long-handled axes and chain mail for the special forces!"

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and Count Tula suddenly spoke: "Since the Poles want to compete with the Ming Dynasty, we cannot tolerate Russia becoming a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, so it is not impossible to form an alliance, but there must be three rules: First, the Polish garrison shall not exceed 2,000 after the war, and can only be stationed outside Moscow, not inside the city; second, the land east of Smolensk must be governed by us independently, Russia and Poland are only allies, not vassals; third -" he patted the ancestral sword at his waist, "the crown of Russia can only be worn on the head of Rurik's bloodline."

Although this was different from what the Poles had just asked, the Polish envoy actually nodded: "Sir Zamoyski has already considered these conditions." He took out another parchment scroll from his sleeve, on which was written in Russian and Polish the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Tsarist State. "As long as Sir Duke Shuiski signs this document, the first Polish advance team will soon appear in Smolensk."

Shuisky stared at the wax seal at the end of the covenant and suddenly smiled. "It seems that Zamoyski has made many preparations." He took out his quill pen, but paused before writing. "Tell your king that I want to see the firearms sent by the Polish army first - I want 5,000, and the first batch of at least 2,000 must be delivered before the winter solstice. You can figure out how to deliver them."

The messenger received the signed secret agreement and bowed politely to leave. The hall fell into silence again. Shuisky looked out the window. The spire of the Kremlin was like an upside-down sword in the night. The covenant in his hand was colder than ice and snow.

"My Lords," he unfolded the map and stared at the location of Moscow, "As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty's military farms have already measured the land east of the Ural Mountains, and Stroganov's caravan is buying up furs and grains from all over Russia - the furs are used for trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the grains are kept in Moscow and Kazan as strategic reserves.

Gentlemen, what they want is not the friendship of the Tsar or us, but the submission of the entire Orthodox world." His finger stopped on the trident emblem of the Rurik family, "and we are the roots of Russia."

Marquis Tver suddenly stood up, put his hand on the hilt of his sword and gave the ancient Rurik military salute: "I am willing to serve your Excellency the Duke." The other nobles followed suit, including Duke Godunov, who had a gloomy expression.

The snow was falling heavier and heavier. The Polish envoy's carriage rolled through the icy streets. Deep inside the mansion, Shuisky was writing a reply to his nephew. The tip of his pen scratched the parchment, leaving a line of cold handwriting: "My most heroic nephew, I implore you to try to get leave from the Boyar Academy and return to Nizhny Novgorod immediately. Make the following preparations in secret in my name..."

Outside the window, the bells of the Kremlin rang again, as if blowing the horn for the quietly opening curtain of war.
-
PS: The story on the Russian side will probably end in 2-3 chapters. Then, because Gao Yousi's national defense strategy has been basically completed and domestic reforms have basically been launched, the "speed of time" will accelerate. After several chapters describing the national conditions after the reform, it is time to enter the end of the novel - that is, turn to the subsequent explanation of southern Xinjiang and other places.