The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 758: The Pacific Ocean is still too small! (Seeking monthly votes)
As the morning light shone on the eaves of the True Covenant Sect's main altar in Tianjing City, the True Covenant Sect's leader Feng Yunshan was lifting up his dragon robe and stepping over the threshold of the Fengtian Hall. As soon as he entered the door, he heard the clicking sound of Maria's leather heels hitting the blue brick floor.

"Third brother, you are here," Maria came with a smile and bowed to Feng Yunshan, "My King Wu, King Xiaoxi, Sister Hong Qi, and King Weibei are all here." She pointed to the depths of the hall, where there was a long table in front of three huge tablets placed side by side. The three tablets were: "The Throne of Heavenly Father God", "The Throne of Heavenly Brother", and "The Throne of Heavenly King".

Feng Yunshan did not respond, but walked quickly to the three tablets, then took the three incense sticks handed to him by Hong Xuanjiao, bowed towards the three tablets, and inserted the incense sticks into an incense burner.

"Everyone is here, Yucheng, let's begin!" After seeing Feng Yunshan sitting in the main seat, Luo Yaoguo smiled and nodded slightly to Chen Yucheng, who was waiting on the side and had been awarded the rank of lieutenant general - in this hall, Lieutenant General Chen didn't even have a seat!

Chen Yucheng, holding a copper pointer in his hand, walked to a hanging map of North America, raised the pointer and pointed at a red line on the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains: "This is the future American paradise."

After listening to Chen Yucheng's description of the "Third America Plan," Xiao Chaogui, the Western King who served as the chief of staff of the Taiping Army, turned to Luo Yaoguo and said, "King Wu, I saw a briefing from the Intelligence Bureau saying that America's iron production last year was more than one million tons and steel production was 250,000 tons. The number of railways in Pennsylvania alone is more than that of China."

"Brother-in-law," Luo Yaoguo pointed at the Pacific Ocean on the map and said to Xiao Chaogui, "Look, isn't this Pacific Ocean too small?"

"Is the Pacific Ocean small?" Xiao Chaogui squinted his eyes and looked at the Pacific Ocean on the map - it seemed not very big, just a long strip on the left edge of the map.

"Of course it is small!" Luo Yaoguo nodded. "Compared to the two great powers, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the United States of America, the Pacific Ocean is small and cannot accommodate these two great powers! So we will have a war with America in the future! Since a war is inevitable, where should the battlefield be placed? Naturally, the farther away from our hinterland, the better. And fighting in the homes of Americans is the most ideal! Yucheng, can you tell me more about this American Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Yes!" Chen Yucheng pointed at California, Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho in turn. "Last year, California gold mines produced more than two million taels of gold, and Colorado gold mines produced..."

"But there's not even a steelmaking furnace there!" Wei Changhui interrupted. The Minister of the Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had to deal with military equipment on a daily basis, so he naturally knew something about industry. "It seems that there are no good coal mines or iron mines, so it's impossible to make guns and cannons!"

Luo Yaoguo smiled faintly: "Without coal mines and iron mines, we can't open steel mills and produce guns. Otherwise, it will be difficult to control a large-scale Korean paradise."

The hall suddenly fell silent.

In the past two years, Yang Xiuqing has almost accomplished the union of Korea and Japan!

This union of Korea and Japan was certainly not in the interests of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but Yang Xiuqing was, after all, the "Holy Spirit" in the True Covenant sect's system of gods and the fourth son of the Heavenly Father. Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui and others were unwilling to break off relations with him for the sake of a "tiny country" like Japan.

Luo Yaoguo felt that time was on his side - he was younger than Yang Xiuqing and in much better health, so he could always outlast this great god. As long as Yang Xiuqing left, Luo Yaoguo would always find a way to dismantle the Asahi Federation.
"Yucheng," Luo Yaoguo waved at Chen Yucheng again, "Tell me about the defense plan for the six passes in the Rocky Mountains that you and Zhao Si worked out together!"

"There are six major passes in the Rocky Mountains," Chen Yucheng's teaching stick slid across the folds of the mountains, "and the core of our Rocky Mountain defense line is six words - 'choke the neck and cut off the food supply.' The six major passes are like six locks, locking the railways and troops of the Americans heading west, forcing them to fight a war of attrition in the mountains. We have the three states on the west coast and the Tianwang City owned by the British. We have money, mines and food, so we can afford it! Now I will talk about the key points of the deployment of the six major passes. First, the South Pass. To the east of this pass is the vast grassland. We need to arrange cavalry guerrillas to rob the enemy's food and grass. We can settle some Mongolian Indian tribes, equip them with Spencer repeating rifles, train them to fight guerrilla warfare, and run away after they finish fighting. In addition, we need to build long trenches on the hillsides on both sides of the pass, dig five-meter-deep trenches, and then build earth walls, and hide a 12-pound mountain howitzer every hundred steps.

Second, the Royal Canyon is a strategic location that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. We can build fortresses on the cliffs on both sides of the canyon, deploy elite black soldiers and light artillery, and block the road from a high position. In addition, the Royal Canyon is also a river valley. We can build a dam upstream and release water to defeat the enemy when necessary.

3. Bozeman Pass. We need to build a bastion here to block the pass. We should also support the Indian tribes on the Montana grasslands. We will provide guns and cannons, and they will provide men and horses. Let them roam while helping us resist the white people's westward advance. In addition, we can also station troops and cultivate farmland in the Yellowstone Grand Canyon west of the Bozeman Pass to set up a second line of defense."

After Chen Yucheng introduced the defense plan for the six major passes that he and Zhao Si had discussed, he changed the subject and talked about the logistics problem: "To solve the logistics supply of the six major passes, the first thing is to cultivate land: learn from Mormonism to build water conservancy projects in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, grow wheat, and raise cattle and sheep. A granary should be set up behind each pass to store enough food for a year. Secondly, open mines, collect taxes, and develop commerce: According to the ideas of this humble official and Prince Consort Nanyi, the gold and silver mines in the Rocky Mountains can be left to white people to dig, but the trade routes must be controlled by our own people. Because only by mastering the trade routes can we control the flow of materials, know how many small roads can cross the Rocky Mountains, and control the blacks, reds, and whites economically. In addition, build mountain railways: build narrow-gauge light railways, and never build railways that cross the Rocky Mountains, but we must build railways to the six major passes, connecting the six major passes with the three states on the west coast to facilitate the mobilization of personnel and materials."

Chen Yucheng paused here and said in a deep voice: "In addition, we should also prepare for the worst. If we can't hold it, we can blow up the railway leading to the six major passes, destroy the settlements and farming areas in the Rocky Mountains, and turn the entire Rocky Mountains into an uninhabited area. We can retreat to the west coast and fight with our backs to the sea!"

After Chen Yucheng finished speaking, Luo Yaoguo smiled and asked several "great gods" of the True Promise Sect who were present: "Everyone, what do you think of Yucheng's plan?" Hong Xuanjiao frowned: "There are less than 500,000 Chinese in the three states on the west coast. How many black slaves does Zhao Si have? Is there 100,000?"

"They are not black slaves, but black bannermen and black baoyi." Luo Yaoguo corrected, "Zhao Si said in the letter that he wanted to imitate the way the Qing Dynasty started businesses outside the Great Wall and establish the system of eight banners and baoyi. The two black banners are two of the eight banners of the United States."

Maria interrupted, "Your Highness, Seventh Sister is right to worry. We still have too few people in America. There are more than 3000 million people in North and South America combined!"

"That's why we need to speed up the process of sending immigrants to the other side of the Pacific Ocean," Chen Yucheng said. "A hundred thousand a year is really too few. Zhao Si said that the American Civil War will last for three or four more years at most. Even if we send another half a million people over in four years, there will only be one million Chinese on the West Coast."

Wei Changhui calculated: "In the past two years, there are more steamships that can cross the ocean. We can ask the Navy Department and the Navy General Staff to have a good discussion and see if we can double the number of people sent to the other side of the ocean each year and strive to send 100 million people over in four years."

"Not only for people." Luo Yaoguo added, "We can also build narrow-gauge railways using 35-pound rails, so that the Xuzhou Steel Plant can produce 10,000 to 20,000 tons per year and transport them to the Rocky Mountains."

Feng Yunshan said: "We also need to send an arsenal to California that can produce ammunition and rifles. We also need to be able to cast copper cannons. As for gunpowder..."

"The raw materials for producing gunpowder are not far from the west coast," Luo Yaoguo said, "There will be a chance next year. This year we have to upgrade the shipyard in San Francisco to be able to repair the 5000-ton Tianjing class."

"Yucheng." Luo Yaoguo suddenly called out Chen Yucheng's name, "Tomorrow you go to the Jiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai and pick two hundred craftsmen - those who can make gunpowder, repair warships, cast bronze cannons, and rub foreign guns by hand. There will be a ship to San Francisco on the fifth day of next month."

The setting sun dyed the Missouri plains red, and a black, red and yellow tricolor flag was erected in front of the mansion on the Sullivan farm. Xianfeng, wrapped in a gray woolen military coat, stood on the porch and looked at the dusty road in the distance - two carriages with the fourteen-star flag of the Southern Confederacy were slowly approaching.

"Master," Zeng Jia Linshu trotted over and handed over the monocular, "the cavalry escorting the carriage are all wearing Russian uniforms. They are most likely Prince Vasily."

Xianfeng narrowed his eyes, and in the lens was reflected the Russian "King of Conscience" Vasily, who was as strong as a big bear. "Oh," he sneered, "Davis sent him here, it seems he doesn't want to go to war with us yet!"

The carriage stopped in front of the courtyard gate. Prince Vasily jumped out of the carriage in his riding boots, followed by an Orthodox priest in a black robe, who was Xianfeng's old acquaintance Tupolev. "General Zhao," the prince greeted in vodka-flavored English, "I brought a handwritten letter from President Davis."

"Let's talk inside." Xianfeng turned and pushed open the door. The charcoal fire was burning brightly in the hall, and a map of the Rocky Mountain defense hung on the wall. When the black slave servant brought the whiskey, Vasily suddenly stared at the tattoo on his neck - it was the Chinese word "black wall".

"I heard that you freed 100,000 black slaves in Missouri?" Prince Vasili frowned, "but you made them slave soldiers."

"This is called everyone gets what they deserve." Xianfeng raised his glass and sipped, "Just like in Russia, Cossacks serve as soldiers and serfs farm the land - my black people farm the land and serve as Black Flag Army, red people herd livestock and serve as Red Mongolian Cavalry, yellow people do business and serve as artillery and engineers, and white people..." He paused deliberately, "dig for gold and silver. This is completely in line with the Eight Banners Law of the United States and the Three Feudatories Ordinance!"

"But Lincoln and the New York newspapers say that you have surrendered to the North!" Prince Vasili suddenly asked, "How do you explain it?"

"Explain?" Xianfeng said with a smile, "Go tell President Davis that I, Zhao Si, will always be a loyal and capable general of the Southern Confederacy!"

(End of this chapter)