Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1791 The Lonely Great Wall

"This is the largest defense project in our ancient times, standing on the Great Wall in the north."

A convoy of T-cars came to the north of the capital, where the mountains overlapped, and the city walls spread out to both sides according to the mountains, circling and extending among the mountains and mountains, with no end in sight.

The pass of the Great Wall that used to be guarded by heavy soldiers is now guarded by only a dozen retired veterans.

Ambassadors from various countries got out of the Model T cars one after another, and some princes and nobles had already used the cars they bought.

They experienced the convenience of a car with an internal combustion engine, air-filled rubber tires to dampen shocks, and a much faster road trip than a horse-drawn cart.

"The internal combustion engine car is really convenient." The Duke of Brandenburg got out of his car.

In this era, there are no complicated traffic rules and no traffic lights. It is really not difficult to get started driving.

"Your Majesty, please be careful." For the women in long skirts, the nobles reached out to help them get off the car.

Chu Yun did not personally follow these envoys, but asked the Ministry of Rites to send a few people as guides to lead this group of people to travel around the mountains and rivers, expand their cultural influence, and develop them into tourism resources in the future.Sophia didn't come either, because she had already run on the Great Wall several times.

In addition to the attractiveness of the industry, of course, it must also highlight the historical and cultural heritage.

"It looks very majestic. How long is this long wall?" asked the Duke of Brandenburg.

"Thousands of kilometers. About 2000 years ago in the Western Zhou Dynasty, we began to build the Great Wall to defend against the attacks of nomads outside the pass. Every dynasty repaired the Great Wall, extended the city wall, and built more piers. These are all documented. "Chu Lingyun was sent by his father to receive these envoys from various major civilizations. He introduced the history of the Great Wall to these people, and by the way, he got to know the princes and nobles from each major civilization.

The wall between this section of the valley is the very dangerous Juyongguan Great Wall.

Chu Lingyun didn't know why his father had a soft spot for the Great Wall as a fortification. He thought it would be one of the most distinctive symbols of China. After all, it only took 20 years for Juyongguan to lose its role. Still think of it as a gateway rather than a tourist attraction...

Under the leadership of the veterans guarding the Juyongguan Great Wall, the ambassadors of all countries stepped up the stone steps. Only when they came to the city wall did they discover the majesty of the Great Wall, like a giant dragon hovering over the rolling mountains!

There are also old-style artillery deployed on the walls of Juyongguan.Because it has not been used for quite a while, the copper cannons that were placed here before Chongzhen have been rusted.

"Juyongguan's Guancheng defense system consists of five lines of defense from north to south: Chadao City, Juyongwai Town, Shangguan City, Zhongguan City, and Nankou. There are government offices, warehouses, libraries, god hangars, temples, beacon Tunnels, turrets, forts, etc." The veteran introduced this important pass to them.

"Are there still soldiers deployed here?" Prince Condé asked.

"No more, only us veterans who were stationed in Juyongguan, those who don't want to go back to farming, are still guarding the Great Wall of Juyongguan. Our mission is not to resist foreign enemies, but to prevent nearby villagers from digging away the bricks of the city wall .” There was a bit of embarrassment in the words of the veterans who served in Juyongguan during the Wanli and Chongzhen years.

In the past, they had to be careful that the nomadic tribes on the prairie might break through at any time, and there were thousands of soldiers stationed here.

But now that Xiongguan has fallen, moss has appeared on the stone steps, and they are the only ones left.

"It would be a pity if such a pass is not used." The dignitaries of the Kingdom of Bengal and the Persian Empire were amazed at the loss of military use of the Great Wall.

In their view, if Juyongguan also deploys a large number of artillery, the current level of firearms is not yet able to break through Juyongguan easily, and it can still play a certain defensive role. If they just give up, wouldn’t the gold and silver spent before be wasted? ?

Chu Lingyun said from the side: "We no longer use the Great Wall because of four points. First, our territory has gone far beyond the scope of Juyongguan. Our territory extends to Siberia in the north and the Arctic Ocean. The Great Wall is no longer a border. Second , the nomadic tribes on the prairie have set up large and small pastures, and no longer live by water and grass. They usually provide meat, wool, and animal power for the pass, and the pass sends people to guide the crossbreeding of new breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses. It will go south because of the food problem, and the conflict between nomadic civilization and farming civilization has been eliminated since ancient times. Third, of course, our strength has become stronger, and we don’t need to use a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain a long city wall. Our army It can keep the enemy out of the country. Fourth, the strength of the Great Wall has actually become weak compared to the artillery we use now. Instead of continuing to spend a lot of money to repair thousands of kilometers, it is better to invest money in research and development New firearms, training troops."

Chu Lingyun's words are full of strong self-confidence, which is the kind of self-confidence that only people from the most powerful country possess.

The Great Wall has become obsolete as a city defense building, and offense is the best defense!

The ambassadors of various countries were shocked by the courage of China, and the thousands of kilometers of the Great Wall were not used.At the same time, this is an expression of extreme confidence!

The princes and nobles walked along the Juyongguan Great Wall. Some of them had been pampered for a long time, and their physical strength was not very good, and they seemed to be out of breath.

Aristocrats such as Prince Condé and the Duke of Brandenburg who often lead troops to fight outside did not feel strenuous.

Some female family members have already used oil-paper umbrellas from the capital to shade the sun, and some of them are wearing local clothes bought in the capital.This special sightseeing team is a little different.

After walking for a while, everyone went down the city wall to rest and eat.Juyongguan used to have a special place to provide meals for the defenders.

Irina, the princess of Tsarist Russia from Moscow, pestered Chu Lingyun and asked, "If you want to study in your capital university, what conditions do you need?"

Chu Lingyun replied: "Except for a group of people sent by England's Queen's College to study abroad in the Imperial University, no other Westerners have applied to the Imperial University. I think you Tsarist Russia can make a special diplomatic request, and then form a A group will come so that the Jingshi University Hall can make better arrangements."

"This way..." Irina suddenly realized.

While many princes and nobles were resting, Chu Lingyun said to them: "My father invites you to go to Tianjinwei to take the passenger ship Dongfang in a few days, and to Weihaiwei to watch the exercise of our Huaxia steamship fleet."

Sea exercises of the steam fleet? !

After hearing this, the ambassadors of various countries looked at each other, and finally they could see the real naval strength of China!

(End of this chapter)