prosperous age

"How is Brother Zili? I haven't seen him for a few days. He was still coughing the last time I saw him."

After talking about Jiugang, Wei Guangde started chatting casually with Zeng Shengwu. After all, they were half-fellow villagers, although Zeng Shengwu was now from Huguang.

“It’s still the same, Master Tan’s health needs to be taken care of.

Fortunately, it is not early morning, otherwise I really can't continue. "

Now Tan Lun doesn't report for duty, and he goes to the Ministry of War a little later in the morning.

Especially after winter, he has to postpone going out.

"Then you can help keep an eye on the Ministry of War."

Wei Guangde is now very satisfied with Tan Lun's choice to let Zeng Shengwu enter the Ministry of War. This person has ties to both sides. If he wants to avoid offending them, it is best not to help either side and do things fairly and justly.

Given the relationship between Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, it would be difficult for them to decide who to take him down.

No matter what, when Zeng Shengwu faced Zhang Juzheng, he was performing the teacher-student ceremony.

Although Zhang Juzheng did not admit that he had accepted him as a student, Wei Guangde had heard that Zeng Shengwu passed the provincial examination in his early years with the guidance of Zhang Juzheng. Zeng Shengwu still remembered this kindness of teaching.

"By the way, I have a document from Liaodong."

As he spoke, Zeng Shengwu took out another document from his other sleeve and handed it to Wei Guangde, saying, "This is written by Qi Yuanjing. It describes the preparations for Liaodong to send a thousand households to Nurgan in the spring of next year."

"Oh, there is finally some news from over there."

Wei Guangde was delighted when he heard this and said with a smile.

“No one wants to send troops to that place.

Qi Yuanjing could only recruit soldiers by offering heavy rewards, but so far he has only been able to gather seven hundred households.

However, he has a suggestion, saying that if the court can approve it, perhaps the funds can be collected quickly, which will not delay the trip next year. "

Zeng Shengwu replied with a smile.

Wei Guangde took the document and started reading it. It turned out that the soldiers were unwilling to go north to Nurgandusi.

Liaodong is already very cold and bitter, and the environment in Nurgan is even worse than Liaodong, so naturally no one wants to go there.

"Three years."

Wei Guangde saw that Qi Jiguang overturned the two-year rotation system he had originally set, and suggested changing it to a three-year rotation system for defense.

However, the key point is that before the soldiers set out for Nurgan, they will be given two years' military pay at one time as a settling-in fee. After they return after three years of rotation, they will receive one year's military pay in one lump sum.

"This is like going to war. If we send troops, we will be given money to settle down."

When Wei Guangde saw this, he muttered something.

"Shandai, it's not easy to travel north. I asked people who have been to Liaodong, and they said it's freezing cold there, and if you're not careful you could lose your life."

Hearing Wei Guangde's muttering, Zeng Shengwu immediately said, "There are more to come. Qi Yuanjing has asked some people who went there to dig wild ginseng and learned about the situation there. The guards who are going to be sent there will also need to change their uniforms.

They should use this winter to practice their cold weapon combat skills. It is said that once they get there, firearms and arrows will not be very effective, especially during the long winter.

It would be fine if we were in a military fort, but if we were outside, firearms and crossbows would be just decorations and could not be used normally.

Now our army, especially the Liaodong Army, places the greatest emphasis on firearms. If firearms cannot be used over there, the combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly reduced.”

Zeng Shengwu continued.

"Oh?"

Wei Guangde hadn't thought so much about it before, but now that he knew the Ming army would encounter so many troubles after entering Nurgan, he had to take it seriously.

Although there are no obvious enemies in the Far North, there are many local tribes. They have become accustomed to life without the management of the imperial court. If the imperial court suddenly sends a large army to station there, it is unknown whether conflicts will arise.

The most troublesome thing is that everyone is living in peace now.

But if trouble arises after the government troops move in, should this be suppression or indulgence?

To suppress it, we need to use firearms to make a loud noise.

Wei Guangde also felt that it was unrealistic to expect the current government troops to engage in a bloody battle with the wild Jurchens with broadswords and knives.

After all, they are all men from Liaodong, and their adaptability to the climate and environment in Nurgan is definitely not as good as the native locals.

"How come a firearm doesn't go off?"

Wei Guangde asked hesitantly.

"It was freezing cold there, and the matchlock for the bird gun went out after just a few strikes.

I heard this from a doctor below me. He said that in the extremely cold weather in Liaodong, the tinderbox would not light properly.

Even if it's a brazier, someone has to watch over it, otherwise it's hard to fire the cannon."

Zeng Xingwu explained.

Wei Guangde thought for a moment before saying, "That was probably caused by the strong wind. This should only happen in extreme weather conditions. Normal weather may be very cold, which may affect the soldiers' use of firearms, but it won't be so severe that they won't fire."

“It’s windy and cold, it’s better if we stay in the military bunker, but it’s very difficult in the wild.

The same is true for crossbows over there, the life of the bowstring will be shortened and the elasticity will also decrease."

Zeng Shengwu continued to explain.

However, the Ming Dynasty had not stationed troops in Nurgan for a long time, so it did not know much about the local climate conditions. Most of the time, it referred to the temperature in Liaodong and thought it was much colder than Liaodong.

In fact, due to the influence of the Pacific warm current, the winter temperature in Nurgan is at least much higher than that in areas of the same latitude.

In those places, the winter temperature is generally below minus 40 degrees Celsius, but in Nurgan it is generally around minus 20 degrees Celsius.

But even so, the cold is still unbearable for the Han people who are accustomed to living in the south.

Wei Guangde just thought that Nurgan was the same as those Russian cities, with temperatures in winter probably below minus 40 degrees Celsius or even lower.

Thinking about the future, ordinary firearms cannot be used in extremely cold environments, so I believed that Nurgan firearms might not be effective.

"Qi Jiguang plans to train those soldiers in battle formations in the winter?"

Wei Guangde asked with a frown.

"Yes, based on the Mandarin Duck Formation, they are trained to form teams and fight mainly.

But we will also take firearms with us, at least they can be used in the fort."

Zeng Shengwu continued speaking, and Wei Guangde kept nodding.

He vaguely remembered that the Qing Dynasty encountered Russian invasion in the north and fought with them. Firearms seemed to be still usable at that time.

Both sides deployed a large number of artillery pieces, and bird guns were probably also used. Perhaps they were looking for a time with better weather to engage in battle.

If the wind was really biting cold, the Qing army would not have been able to attack the city.

I just don't know whether the Russians at that time used matchlock rifles or flintlock rifles. The Qing army should have used matchlock rifles.

In Wei Guangde's memory, it seemed that only hundreds of cannons were used by the Qing army, but there was no mention of how many bird guns were used in combat.

However, Wei Guangde would not refuse Qi Jiguang's request. After all, he was in Liaodong and must have known the north better. Didn't Zeng Xingwu say that Qi Jiguang had also asked people who went to the mountains in the north to dig wild ginseng?

“There is no problem changing the rotation to three years, and there is no problem with advancing the military pay for two years. I think the Ministry of War can agree to it and pay the military pay on time and in full.

However, the troops going to Nurgan still need to be expanded to a thousand households. Otherwise, if there are only 700 people, Kuyi Island may not be able to be stationed."

Nurgan is not close to Liaodong controlled by the Ming army, so several military forts must be built along the Heilongjiang River along the way.

There will still be troops stationed in Nurgan City. If the force is too small, we will have to reduce the number of troops stationed on Kuyi Island.

In addition to ensuring the local garrison, Wei Guangde also intended to guard against Russia, which might appear from the West at any time.

Well, for most Chinese people, they only know that Russia moved eastward and expanded its territory several times, but they don’t know exactly when it started.

Wei Guangde didn't know either, but he could still make a rough estimate.

China started fighting with Russia during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, about a hundred years later.

At that time, the Russian army had already infiltrated and was fighting within the Qing Dynasty's territory.

Russia's eastward expansion cannot be accomplished overnight. It will definitely take a long time, perhaps several decades.

Wei Guangde could only guess this. After all, when fighting from west to east, it was impossible for the countries encountered along the way not to resist, and it was also impossible for them to just leave after fighting. They had to digest the fruits of victory.

It is estimated that in the next 10 to 20 years, the Tsar will consider expanding his territory eastward.

In fact, at this time, Tsarist Russia seemed to be just a little brother in Europe, a very small country, and was often bullied by neighboring powerful countries.

Don’t think that Tsarist Russia was very powerful in history. In fact, in the early days, Tsarist Russia was just a small character that was bullied by everyone.

To the west, bordering Tsarist Russia are Lithuania and Poland. Both countries were once extremely powerful, and even merged to become the hegemon of Europe.

As for Ukraine, which is now fighting a fierce battle with Russia, the concept of a nation has never appeared in its history. It has always been ruled by either Poland, Lithuania, or Tsarist Russia.

Ukraine became an independent country thanks to the Soviet Union, which established a republic in this place.

Of course, the purpose is also to establish a federation.

To the south of Tsarist Russia, the Ottoman Empire of Türkiye was even more formidable.

That is, only after Tsarist Russia completed its expansion did it gradually gain the strength to compete with Türkiye.

With the west and south blocked, if Tsarist Russia wanted to expand it could only look eastward for opportunities for territorial expansion.

Of course, it is said that there was another reason for Tsarist Russia's eastward expansion. That was because they were influenced by the great navigation craze that was sweeping European countries. They also wanted to find a way to China by heading east. It didn't matter if they didn't have ships, they could still transport Chinese goods to the West by land.

In that era, as long as you could establish business ties with China, it would definitely be a profitable business.

Well, the powerful Ming Dynasty has unknowingly become a fat sheep in the eyes of Western countries, and they are thinking about cooperation and common prosperity.

"Shandai, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing Wei Guangde in a daze, Zeng Shengwu reminded him.

"It's nothing, let's just settle it and follow Qi Jiguang's method.

Next year, in addition to the thousand-household unit, additional soldiers will be sent to help repair the military forts, which have been abandoned for who knows how many years.

If more people go, it will make the situation more prominent and make the locals afraid to touch it easily."

Wei Guangde just said.

"Let him take an infantry battalion and a cavalry battalion. Since we are going by water, he should not take the chariot battalion."

Zeng Xingwu suggested.

"I think it's feasible. If there is a shortage of ships, ask them to report it as soon as possible so that the court can allocate ships from the Denglai Navy as soon as possible. If there are not enough, we can transfer ships from Jiangnan."

Wei Guangde ordered.

One infantry battalion and one cavalry battalion make more than 5,000 people, and if there is a permanent thousand-household unit, there are more than 6,000 people in total, which is terrifying enough in that place.

Even if it is a large tribe, I am afraid that they can only gather a few thousand people to wipe out all the disobedients.

After seeing Zeng Xingwu off, Wei Guangde sat down and started thinking about Russia again.

The current Ming Dynasty can do nothing about Russia's eastward expansion, for the simple reason is that the area is not under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

Well, it is a bit wishful thinking to think about dominating the vast Siberia in the north before dealing with Mongolia in the north.

However, Wei Guangde also knew that if the Ming Dynasty wanted to stop Russia from advancing eastward, it had to control northern Mongolia as soon as possible and expand its territory there.

Otherwise, if we wait for more than ten years, the Russians might appear in the northwest.

Patting his forehead, Wei Guangde felt very troubled.

Yes, now the spies of the Jinyiwei and the people sent by the Ministry of War have not even dealt with Mongolia, let alone the vast area north of the grassland. He has no control over it at all.

However, although we cannot take care of it for the time being, we still need to try our best to find out the situation in the northern area, including understanding the basic terrain, and it would be best if we could draw a map.

We still have to ask the Jinyiwei to take action on this matter.

Use the people in Mongolia to collect intelligence from the north and then send it back in a unified manner.

It seems imperative to let Qi Jiguang specially select a group of soldiers who are adapted to the extremely cold environment in the north and form a special exploration team.

Russia should use the Cossacks as the main force to expand eastward, so it seems feasible to let Qi Jiguang recruit a suicide squad in Liaodong to explore from east to west.

Wei Guangde believed that there would always be brave men who would take on big rewards, and as long as he was willing to spend money, he could get things done.

The money has to be paid by the court, and we have to think of a good reason to do it.

Wei Guangde knew the nature of the Ming Dynasty's civil servants very well. For them, there was no need to do anything if they didn't see any benefits.

The more you do, the more mistakes you will make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you will make.

What's more, it's just spending money on something that doesn't bring any benefits.

Although the area there is large, it is not suitable for cultivation. If we want the civil servants who only know the intricacies to see the value of the place, do we have to lure them with fur?

Turn Siberia into a hunting ground to provide high-quality furs for the dignitaries in the capital?

Wei Guangde was thinking about how to persuade the imperial court to participate in the exploration of the north, and it was at this time that Tsarist Russia began to consider the eastward strategy.

Tsarist Russia had absolutely no chance facing Poland and Lithuania to the east.

The Tsar did not have the courage to confront Asmara Türkiye in the south, so he could only look to the east. He also wanted to trade with China to replenish his depleted treasury.

The Tsar in power at that time was Ivan IV Vasilyevich. After being crowned as Tsar in 1547, he began to reform the central and local administration, law, finance, military, religion and other aspects.

He is in his forties, still in the prime of his life, and is also looking for manpower for the eastward expansion.

"Stroganov, is your family really willing to recruit warriors to fight the Siberian Khanate?"

In the Moscow Palace, Ivan IV is meeting with the nobleman Stroganov because he expressed his willingness to recruit Cossacks to conquer the Siberian Khanate.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Stroganov family is willing to serve as Your Majesty's whip and conquer these Tatars to the east."

Stroganov replied hastily. (End of this chapter)