The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 477 Bishop, Ji Du instructed us to stand on the side of the victor and do more harm than good! (Request subscription, request votes)
"Your Highness, are you sure that Nicholas I will die soon?" Archbishop Paul de Doria, who was about to board a ship to return to Europe at the Royal Wharf in Macau, suddenly stopped at the gangway of a steamship flying the French flag, then turned around with a suspicious look on his face and asked Luo Yaoguo this question.

"I'm absolutely sure," Luo Yaoguo paused before continuing, "He will definitely not survive this year!"

Nicholas I died on March 1855, 3, but the cause of his death remains a mystery. One theory is that the tsar saw that the war was lost and he could not bear the shame of defeat, so he gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and drank poison to commit suicide, leaving the mess to his son Alexander II. Another theory is that he had a sudden cardiovascular disease, or he may have drowned his sorrows in alcohol and drank too much cocaine and drank himself to death.

Luo Yaoguo was not sure which version was true, but he knew one thing: on March 1855, 3, the outcome of the Crimean War had not yet been decided. In fact, the biggest setback Russia encountered before March 2, 1855 was that it was stabbed in the back by Austria. It had no choice but to withdraw its troops from Moldavia and Wallachia. But the Russian army withdrew from these two principalities as early as July 3, 2. If Nicholas I wanted to die, he could have done so long ago. Why did he have to wait until March 1854, 7? Was he waiting for an "auspicious day"?
The reason why this war is called the "Crimean War" is because the key battlefield that really determines the outcome is on the Crimean Peninsula, in the Sevastopol Fortress. As long as the Sevastopol Fortress is not breached and the Russian Black Sea Fleet hiding inside is not destroyed, Russia still has the capital to continue to fight with its opponents. There is hope if you keep fighting! The French and British can't just bite the bullet and fight this endless battle with the Russians on the Crimean Peninsula, right? After all, the French people supported Napoleon III to be emperor, not to send their own young men to the Crimean Peninsula to "fill the line" as cannon fodder.

In February 1855, before the death of the Tsar, the British, French, and Turkish coalition forces sent reinforcements to the Crimean Peninsula with great fanfare, showing that they were determined to capture the Sevastopol fortress. For Russia, this was also a good opportunity for them to reverse the defeat through a beautiful fortress defense battle. Historically, Sevastopol did not fall until September 2. In other words, after the death of the Tsar, the fortress stubbornly persisted for a full 1855 months. This shows that the British, French, and Turkish coalition forces were not sure to win. In fact, they won very hard and at a huge cost.

If the Russian army had held out for another two months, once the cold winter arrived on the Crimean Peninsula, the battle for Sevastopol would have been delayed until 1856. Moreover, in December 1855, Russia had already won a decisive victory in the Caucasus battlefield and captured Kars, a major city in northeastern Turkey. In the 12th century, that place was a settlement of pro-Russian Armenians. With the support of the local Armenians, the Russian Empire had the confidence to bring the war to the Anatolian Plateau.

In other words, if the Sevastopol fortress was still firmly in Russian hands in early 1856, Russia would most likely use the territorial gains from Kars to make up for part of its lost prestige in Europe and the loss of diplomatic interests caused by Austria's stab in the back, and then sign a peace treaty that was more favorable to itself.

Of course, there is another possibility. The Crimean War might have dragged on until 1857. By then, the Indian national uprising would have begun vigorously. If the British were fighting with Russia in the Crimean Peninsula and the Anatolian Peninsula while being busy suppressing the uprising of the Indians, then in East Asia and Southeast Asia, Luo Yaoguo would have been left to "show his strength" and act freely. This is too wonderful to think about.

However, in order to drag the Crimean War to 1857, Luo Yaoguo had to use some more tricks. Oh, it can't be called a "bad trick", this is to help my brother Ji Du! Well, old man Muhammad is not Ji Du's man, and his religion is not Ji Du's religion.

Thinking of this, Luo Yaoguo raised his lips slightly, and asked the cardinal beside him with a smile: "Archbishop, do you think Ji Du is on the side of the Russian Tsar or the Turkish Sultan now?"

When Paul De Doria heard this, his brows twisted into a "川" shape. It was hard to say who Ji Du supported, but Napoleon III, Franz Joseph and Vittorio Emanuele II, the three most powerful secular monarchs in the Catholic camp, now all stood in line to support the Turkish Sultan and refused to let the Tsar of the Third Rome recapture Constantinople, the former capital of the Second Rome. They simply had no shame!
But what can the Catholic Church do now? Excommunicate or excommunicate? They wouldn't dare to do that, because the Pope wants to live.

"Your Highness," Paul de Doria pondered for a long time, frowned, and asked Luo Yaoguo carefully, "Did you receive any special instructions from above?"

Luo Yaoguo nodded mysteriously, as if he was hiding some big secret: "What the above means is that the Tsar and the Russian nobles must pay the price for their evil and arrogance for so many years. However, the Ottoman Empire will also go to extinction. Nicholas I's general direction is correct, but he is too impatient, and his ambition does not match his strength. In short, he is an arrogant bastard, but he is the bastard on Ji Du's side! Do you understand?"

Paul de Doria nodded quickly after hearing this, and it seemed that he really believed that Luo Yaoguo could get the highest instructions from Christ: "Your Highness, Angel, what should we do?"

Luo Yaoguo said seriously: "The Russian Empire cannot lose this war completely. After the Tsar and the Russian nobles have paid a heavy price and realized their arrogance and ignorance, they must be allowed to gain something. Only in this way can they strengthen their confidence in liberating the Balkan Peninsula, Constantinople and the holy city of Jerusalem!"

If Russia focuses on Southern Europe and Western Asia, it will not have much energy to expand in Central Asia and Northeast Asia. After all, with Russia's limited strength, it can't afford to expand on both the east and west fronts at the same time, and can only focus on one front. Paul de Doria hesitated for a moment, looked at Luo Yaoguo and asked: "Your Highness, you have already reached a preliminary agreement with Mr. Bao Ling to participate in the war against Russia."

"That's right," Luo Yaoguo nodded, "because Britain and France will definitely win this war in the end. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom must stand on the side of the victor, and the Roman Catholic Church must also stand on the side of the victor!" As he spoke, he took out a booklet from his arms like a magic trick and handed it to Paul de Doria, "But Ji Du instructed us to do more harm than good to the victor!"

"This is it." Paul de Doria took the booklet, opened it and looked at it, his expression changed instantly.

There were not many words on the pamphlet, but every word was like a heavy bomb, very crucial! It contained some predictions that would allow the Russian Empire to suffer a difficult, costly, but still respectable "small defeat". And such a "small defeat" could be disguised as a victory internally!
Luo Yaoguo then looked back at Maria who was standing behind him, Paul and Shi Dakai, and then said to Paul de Doria, "Bishop, Maria told me that you have always had secret channels of communication with the Russian Empire. You have to use these channels to reveal the information in the pamphlet and the news that Ji Du is about to summon Tsar Nicholas I to heaven to the Russian side. Don't release all the information at once, but reveal it gradually to whet their appetite."

"I understand, I understand!" Paul De Doria nodded repeatedly. You can only make money by keeping people in suspense!

Luo Yaoguo added: "In addition, you must make it clear to the Russian side that I revealed these key information to them under the instruction of Ji Du! The Russians must know that if they persist and stick to it to the end, they will usher in a decent peace! And Constantinople will definitely belong to the Russian Empire in the future as long as they work hard enough!"

Beijing, Prince Gong's Mansion.

Prince Gong was sitting in his study, staring blankly at a memorial from the Ningguta governor and another from the King of Korea.

Both memorials reported the same thing, that is, Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Zhejiang Province of the Qing Dynasty, led more than 10,000 officers and soldiers of the Second Regiment of the Nanyang Army and stationed in the Busan Port and Vladivostok Port!
Now the Taiping rebels are attacking Zhejiang, Zuo Zongtang's territory, and as the governor of Zhejiang, he abandons his old nest and takes a British ship to the territories of Korea and Ningguta. What is he trying to do?
Go north to attack Russia? Or take advantage of the opportunity to attack the retreat route of the Eight Bannermen?
Just when Prince Gong was feeling a headache, suddenly a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the study, and then the door was slammed open. Prince Gong looked up and saw his father-in-law Gui Liang standing in front of him, breathing heavily, with a memorial in his hand. His face was filled with fear and expectation, a very complicated expression.

"Old Taishan, what happened?" asked Prince Gong.

"Your Majesty." Gui Liang replied with a gasp, "Your Majesty may be gone!"

"Who's missing?" asked Prince Gong.

"Your Majesty!" Gui Liang said, "Your Majesty was defeated in Baoying. He may have been captured by the Taiping!"

(End of this chapter)