Great Qing Dynasty talker

Yili Prefecture.

Lin Huaisheng personally inspected the Ili Cotton Mill, Ili Iron and Steel Mill, as well as the timber mill, brick and tile factory, porcelain factory, paper mill, food factory, and ranch.

He wouldn't feel at ease unless he saw it with his own eyes.

War is about logistics.

This place is thousands of miles away from the mainland, and any shortage of supplies would be a fatal blow.

While touring the steel mill, he asked a key question:
“Where do coal and iron ore come from?”

The factory manager quickly introduced:

"Your Excellency, the coal and iron all come from Yili."

Lin Huaisheng was surprised:
"How can a small city like Yili have both coal mines and iron mines?"

"Your Excellency, this is God's blessing on our Wu Kingdom. The grade of Ili iron ore is quite high, much higher than that of Ma'anshan open-pit iron ore." The factory director was transferred from the director of the first forging workshop of Ma'anshan Heavy Industry.

"well."

After the inspection, Lin Huaisheng felt relieved.

Your Majesty is right, Yili is a treasure land.

The agricultural environment is excellent, industrial raw materials are sufficient, and there are no natural disasters. With Yili as the base, the logistics of the Western Expedition Army is not a problem.

……

However, it’s not all good news right now.

An official from the Department of Health asked to meet with Lin Huaisheng, who expressed great concern about the health conditions in the region.

"Marshal Lin, countless people are sick in various places, and doctors and medicines have long been in short supply. I have checked the local annals, and the plague comes here every three to five years, killing countless people and animals. It is shocking."

Lin Huaisheng looked up suddenly with cold eyes.

Staring at the person reporting:

"What needs to be done?"

"I suggest organizing a thorough and comprehensive sanitation sweep."

"How much time? How much money? How much manpower?"

"At least 80 taels, 4 months, 3000 men, and a few hundred soldiers to support the battle."

Lin Huaisheng nodded.

He instructed the staff officer beside him:

"Within 3 days, meet all his requirements."

Then he stared at the health department official:
"Give me an Ili base without hidden dangers within six months. If you do well, I will personally write a letter to commend you. If you do not do well, you will be subject to military law."

"Yes."

……

end of 1784.

The Yili Prefecture was in a state of chaos.

The government took charge of organizing the work - cleaning up the garbage, digging toilets, burning the carcasses of diseased and dead livestock, and building public baths.

Propaganda notices were posted throughout the city.

Everyone was talking about it.

I heard someone who could read read aloud:
The content of the message is straightforward and can be understood by illiterate people.

Most of the new immigrants in Yili are illiterate. They can get a decent job if they know a few hundred words, and a scholar is like a literary star.

This shows that the empire's education and health care have been lagging behind for a long time.

But Emperor Wu was helpless.

Funds are limited and can only be spent on areas that can produce immediate results.

There is no way, my life span is limited. If I don't make some brilliant and substantial achievements in my lifetime, how can I lay a good foundation for my son?
Everyone praises Emperor Wu of Han, but how many people praise Emperor Wen? Everyone remembers Qin Shi Huang, but how many people remember Duke Xiao?

Li Yu frankly admitted that he was private.
If there is no selfishness at all, what's the point of being an emperor?
……

After reading it, everyone looked at each other.

Are the authorities serious about this?

Content of the announcement:

The first paragraph is health science popularization, the second paragraph explains government measures, and the third paragraph is a threat and warning.

The Yili Prefecture was divided into 500 grids, and the sanitation teams worked in each grid. They went to households to check and urge the people to clean up the garbage and burn and bury it in a centralized manner.

Every household must dig a dry toilet that meets the requirements, and public dry toilets must be dug on roads and in towns.

Each town was to build a public bath. The first visit was free, but visits were mandatory once a month.

Fill in puddles near residential areas.

Those who urinate or defecate in public will be whipped 10 times and fined 50 coins.

Spitting anywhere will result in a fine of 10 cents.

If you don’t take a bath, you will be fined 10 cents.

Anyone who fails to bury dead livestock according to regulations will have his entire family exiled back to his hometown.

……

Some immigrants obstructed the medical team and were immediately suppressed by the soldiers.

Wu Ting has always been ruthless in his work.

With three armies stationed in Yili, even the Jade Emperor couldn’t cause any waves.

half year later,
The "sanitation sweep" was an unprecedented success, but at the cost of 132 people being shot dead, 3 people being fined, and 520 people being exiled.

The exiled people cried bitterly and would rather die than give up their new life and return to their strange hometown.

The soldiers shot some of them indifferently, and the rest set off in fear.

His Majesty once said:
The bad thing about our culture is that we are not strict when we should be strict, and we are not flexible when we should be flexible.

Be soft-hearted when it comes to principles.

Be hard-hearted when you should be tolerant.

The officials in charge of this health operation were obviously well aware of His Majesty's teachings and often warned the health team: Do not be soft-hearted.

……

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey has a significant effect.

In just a few months, the Yili Prefecture was completely transformed.

Lin Huaisheng visited many places with his guards in plain clothes and was very satisfied with what he saw. He then fulfilled his promise and wrote a letter to the officer to request credit.

Hygiene measures have been basically implemented.

Except for taking a bath, which is difficult to check, we can only turn a blind eye. When people have more money, they are willing to spend money to take a hot bath.

Who doesn’t like to enjoy? It’s just that the conditions don’t allow it.

Ancient Rome provided public baths as a benefit for a small number of citizens.

2000 years later, hot showers are still only available to a select few.

This year, the Ili Iron and Steel Plant and the Military Factory were merged and upgraded to one of the empire's four major heavy industries, and only then were they approved to build a bathhouse and a school.

……

In order to adapt to the situation~
Last year, Li Yu issued an edict to the world, announcing that except for the capital, border areas, hub cities and important logistics warehouses, no city would be repaired anymore.

Funds should be spent where they are needed most. Instead of building cities, it is better to build roads.

Build inter-provincial roads first, then build state and county roads.

You can never have too much cement.

You can never have too much steel.

Emperor Wu’s “big package” inspired all the businessmen.

Since the imperial court is backing us, what is there to be afraid of? Expand! Invest!
Many businessmen began to operate across industries, investing in private cement plants and private steel plants in various provinces.

The product is money as soon as it leaves the factory.

The imperial court will guarantee the purchase.

Cement is used to build roads and steel is used to build bridges.

……

Wu Ting assessed the situation and launched a new round of infrastructure construction frenzy.

Next year,

The Jiangbei Province Yellow River Control Project was allocated 600 million taels, 42 million taels were allocated for 450 water conservancy projects in various provinces, and 330 million taels were allocated for the inter-provincial cement road network.

What is special is that all these projects were outsourced to private businessmen.

The general contractor takes on the work and then looks for subcontractors.

The imperial court only set limits on the duration, time, quality, and minimum wages, and left everything else alone.

The important officials of the Wu court all expressed their feelings that they were increasingly unable to understand His Majesty.

Someone advised Your Majesty that businessmen are greedy and will definitely find ways to make more money.

Your Majesty is quick to follow the good advice:

"Your Excellency is right. Let's add another bidding item to build a prison with better conditions in Songjiang Prefecture."

When the news came out, the empire was in an uproar.

……

Finance Minister Hu Xueyu lamented:
"The empire has entered an unprecedented period of rapid development. Money is flowing in like a tsunami and out like a tsunami. Steel and coal production doubles every year, the number of middle-class people increases rapidly, and world prices fall year by year, except for the price of labor which gradually rises."

Labor prices in the Jiangnan region are rising fastest.

but,

Most businessmen still choose to open factories in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

The remaining regions only consider large-scale mining, large-scale metallurgical industries, or some small processing plants.

Li Yu was not surprised at all.

The booming industry is based on many factors.

Developed agriculture, developed water transportation, population quality, and development environment.

The Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have unique conditions that other regions cannot catch up with.

Industrial concentration has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the tax collection cost is very low, the industrial chain is formed, the factory cost is reduced, the technology upgrade is convenient, and the center is strong.

The downside is that it is extremely unbalanced.

……

After thinking it over again and again, Li Yu decided to extend a pair of tangible big hands.

Open leading factories in other regions according to local conditions to drive upstream and downstream.

The Ministry of Industry successively invested in and established the Tangshan Iron and Steel Plant, Kailuan Coal Mine, Xuzhou Coal Mine, Zaozhuang Coal Mine and Turpan Cotton Mill.

In addition,

The Ministry of Finance opened gold mines directly under its jurisdiction in Zhaoyuan, Shandong and Yarkand in the Western Regions.

Royal Asset Management Company opens a Hetian jade mine.

The huge amounts in the account books frightened the Finance Minister Hu Xueyu. He was very afraid of this pattern of continuous overspending, but his persuasion was ineffective.

Your Majesty continues to borrow money from merchants and then spends it quickly.

Finally~
Hu Xueyu sighed and began to seriously think about developing a new source of income - paper money.

He has already understood the significance of promoting paper money.

Wonderful~
Great~
However, the pace of promoting paper money in the country must be steady, and no crisis of trust should be allowed.

……

Overseas promotion?

Hu Xueyu's idea was strongly supported by Li Yu. Foreign businessmen doing business with the Wu State currently had a real need to hold "Wu Yuan" banknotes.

The weight and volume of silver ingots and paper money are incomparable, and the freed-up space can be used to load other goods for profit.

Moreover, banknotes are hidden and safe.

Silver ingots are easy to be robbed.

The prerequisite for promoting paper money overseas is to let foreigners own Wu Yuan first. The method is to spend a large number of paper money through Jia Xiaozhen stationed in Europe, with official status as the promise.

Before:

The Atlantic Trading Company's merchant ships arrived in Guangzhou carrying large quantities of silver ingots or goods, which were exchanged for tea, silk and porcelain and then shipped back to Europe for sale.

after:

The Atlantic Trading Company's merchant ships could arrive in Guangzhou carrying more cargo and a bag of Wu Yuan.

With the same round trip, foreign investors’ profits increased significantly.

Paper money = letter of credit.

Once promoted, it will be difficult for foreign businessmen to refuse such a good thing.

……

Central Asia.

The two empires have assembled heavy troops and are preparing for war, but have not yet started the battle and are taking a rather cautious approach.

Thousands of kilometers away, war between the two countries has broken out.

A small squadron of the Wu State's Northern Fleet set out from its home port of Lushun, headed north and passed through Sakhalin Island.

After the fleet fired artillery to destroy several indigenous villages along the coast, it sent 150 infantrymen carrying three cannons to land and built a solid small bastion.

From then on, all the natives of Sakhalin Island had to pay two mink skins every year, otherwise they would be attacked by force.

The fleet continued northward.

Miaotun is the estuary of Heilongjiang River.

Sailing boats sailed upstream from here. Theoretically, they could reach Aihui and even Yaksa and Nerchinsk by paddling, but it was time-consuming and laborious. Steamships came to prominence.
……

Aihui City.

Amid the sound of firecrackers, six brand-new steam warships returned from their sea trials, including four gunboats and two transport ships.

The next day,

The 6th Corps, consisting of 2000 men, and the Eight Banners vassal army, consisting of 2000 men, set out from Aihui City and went upstream along the Heilongjiang River.

Water and land go hand in hand.

There were no infantry, only dragoons and light cavalry.

150 miles from Yaksa, they encountered Cossack cavalry. Wu Jun opened fire first, and one Cossack cavalryman was shot and fell off his horse, while the rest fled.

The war officially began.

Heilongjiang General Dai Liang was both excited and worried about this battle.

Only by fighting loyally for your master can you gain more trust.

But the Russians were really difficult to fight. The two sides had been engaged in a tug-of-war for a hundred years, and the Eight Banners stationed there had a deep understanding of this.

……

Today, the city of Yaksa is a double-layer bastion of earth and wood structure, with 2000 defenders, 6 small warships, and 9 other ships.

There are 23 artillery pieces of various types and 10 city defense guns.

Such a force is considered luxurious in the Far East.

The Cossacks who conquered Siberia rarely numbered more than 500 men. They were cruel and bloodthirsty, and had flexible tactics, so they were known as the Tsar's hounds.

The city defense commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alyosha, who is in his 40s, is very confident.

He believed that the Far Easterners were not good at fighting, especially at attacking strongholds. Otherwise, there would not have been the negotiation during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.

Look out for the enemy.

He suddenly frowned, and cursed with a gloomy face:

"Damn Saxon."

That's right, he believed that it was the Saxons who trained the Western-style Wu army in front of them.

on the city wall,
The Cossacks, wearing leather robes, carrying flintlock rifles on their shoulders, with short knives on their waists and sharp axes at their feet, were also talking outside the city.

"Lieutenant Colonel, we should block the city gate."

"Go."

A group of Cossacks brought stones to block the wooden door. There were many cannons of the Wu army outside the city, so they had to be on guard.

……

outside the city,

Commander Zhao Erhu was also looking at this famous border town through a telescope.

Heilongjiang General Dai Liang on the side whispered:

"The last general invites you to fight."

"Don't worry, you will have your chance to play soon, go back and prepare."

"Yes."

In the afternoon,

Several columns of black smoke rose from the surface of the Heilongjiang River.

Alyosha's hair stood on end:
"Damn, what is that?"

The steam gunboats going upstream were very aggressive, and four of them lined up in a row and rushed over.

Due to the lack of information and long supply lines, St. Petersburg had no time to inform the Far East garrison of the intelligence on Wu’s army.

……

A column of water rises from Heilongjiang River.

The warships of both sides opened fire and the battle became fierce in an instant.

On land, everyone watched the water battle with bated breath.

A Rakshasa warship was hit, broke into two pieces, and quickly sank into the river.

Dai Liang’s mind went blank for a moment. How large a caliber of artillery shell would be needed to have such a detonating effect?

Alyosha was also confused. Although their warships were not very professional, they shouldn't be so fragile, right?
Just a quarter of an hour later~
Two Rakshasa warships sank and one was stranded.

The carronade performed a great service.

Hit the enemy ship at close range and sink it with one shot.

The remaining three Rakshasa warships saw that they could not win, so they simply turned around and fled. However, how easy is it to sail against the current? The fragile rudder was the Achilles' heel.

They were soon overtaken and sunk.

……

Four steam gunboats turned around and crushed the enemy sailors struggling in the river.

Red ripples appeared on the surface of the river.

On land,

The Wu army shouted "Victory" in unison, and the vassal army also cheered along, with great momentum.

Zhao Erhu, swish, drew out his sword.

"attack!"

Half a quarter of an hour later, the sound of artillery fire rang out, and various land artillery and ship-borne artillery bombarded the city of Yaxica together.

Smoke filled the air.

Nearly a hundred years later, war broke out again in Yalu River.

Compared with the siege during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, both sides had more troops, used more cannons, and had stronger bastions.

……

Artillery battle!

Wu Jun had a huge advantage.

Even without counting shipborne guns, the numerical advantage of land artillery is huge.

40 doors versus 23 doors.

The caliber is also clearly superior.

In particular, the two 12-pound cannons have a very good long-range suppression effect.

However, after 2 quarters of an hour of shelling.

The artillery commander's eyes were gloomy. The hit rate was too low and the artillery effect was too poor. (End of this chapter)