The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 681 The Third Rome, Ulla

Petersburg, Summer Palace.

This is a palace building with political orientation built by Peter the Great for the Tsarist Russian Empire.

It faces the Gulf of Finland, pointing its sword at Sweden, the biggest enemy of Sara in the east. It is intended to remind the subsequent Sara kings that they must defeat Sweden, control the Baltic Sea, obtain an ice-free port for Sara, and continue to obtain warm land in Western Europe.

In the Summer Palace, the beautiful Sara maids were flying around like beautiful butterflies. Everyone had a smile on their face, or they had to pretend to smile.

The Summer Palace was decorated anew, with laughter and joy everywhere. High-end silver tableware and tea sets sparkled, and fine wines and pastries were continuously delivered.

Currently being prepared is the sixty-third birthday of Catherine II the Great.

This special day, coupled with the fact that the Tsarist Russian Empire had just signed the final peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire, was doubly joyful and must be celebrated properly.

In the Sixth Russo-Turkish War, Charles struck a heavy blow to the Ottoman Empire, leaving this once nightmare of Europe on the verge of death.

Not only did it bring huge profits, but it also made the Tsarist Russian Empire a true European power, and its reputation soared in the hearts of Western Europeans who had always looked down on them.

After all, the feat of overthrowing the Ottomans and driving the infidels out of the Balkans was something that Europeans had fantasized about for hundreds of years, but had never achieved.

Although the Tsarist Russian Empire has not yet been completely completed, everyone can see that the Ottoman Empire is on its deathbed. Without external aid, it is only a matter of time before Istanbul is lost.

Recovering Constantinople and returning to the old capital, what an exciting thing!
Such a glorious victory, coupled with the Queen's birthday, must be celebrated properly so that the whole world knows the strength of the Tsarist Russian Empire and the wisdom of Her Majesty the Queen.

However, unlike everyone in the Summer Palace who were laughing, Tsar Catherine II the Great was very depressed because she had not yet recovered from the blow of Potemkin's death.

Catherine II had many lovers throughout her life, at least more than twenty, but the only ones she truly devoted all her emotions to were Poniatowski and Potemkin, whom she helped to become the King of Poland.

Moreover, Poniatowski was the Empress's lover in her early years, while Potemkin accompanied her throughout the rest of her life.

In fact, when people get older, they pay more attention to their partner than when they were young.

When you are young, you are strong and healthy and have a bright future. Losing your partner is just a sorrow and a couple of cups of yellow wine. If you can meet the next wonderful person, it is common to forget it quickly.

Only when people reach old age, their health is not as good as before, and they are bound by many things in life, and it is impossible to be as carefree as when they were young.

More importantly, after decades of living together, partners will become more dependent on each other's existence, forming an inseparable comfort in their hearts and lives. This kind of companionship is obviously far stronger than love.

At this time, if one party leaves or passes away, the blow to the other party will be very terrifying, and may even directly destroy its will to survive.

This is also the main reason why emotional disputes among the elderly are often more rapid and exaggerated than those among young people.

This is the case with Catherine II now. Although Potemkin is old and one-eyed, he is extremely important to the empress's spiritual world.

Over the years, the Empress even called Potemkin "my husband" in front of foreign envoys.

Therefore, three months ago, when Potemkin's coffin was transported from the front line to St. Petersburg, the empress fell ill and could not get out of bed for several days.

She personally ordered on her sickbed that everyone in the Russian Empire should mourn Potemkin, and she also bought all of Potemkin's personal belongings at extremely high prices and kept them as treasures.

Historically, starting from Potemkin's death, Catherine II truly entered her twilight years and never showed the charm of a great emperor again, as if all her passion had disappeared.

"Your Majesty, the generals are here, waiting for your summons." Dashkova, who had been to Beijing and sent a group of beautiful Sha Luo girls to Mo Zibu, successfully broke into the harem of Dayu, and still receives private letters from the Empress Dowager Chen, whispered in the empress's ear.

Now, she has become the Queen's most trusted bestie and serves as her personal lady-in-waiting.

Upon hearing this, Catherine II sighed and said, "This world is too chaotic. Everyone is fighting for supremacy. Even the king cannot find peace."

Dashkova's heart skipped a beat. Potemkin's death was a huge blow to the empress. The empress who used to look down on the world would never say such a thing.

Sure enough, the Queen's next words were, "If Grigori were here, he would definitely help me handle these things, and I wouldn't have to show up.

He has always been good at these things, so the army respects him very much, even calling him "father". He is a great man, a hero who has worked hard for the Slavic nation.

"Yes, the Duke is a hero of us Slavs. His departure at the call of God is our greatest loss." Dashkova first echoed the Queen's words, and then changed the subject.

"But Your Majesty, you are a great monarch in the Third Roman Empire, on par with Peter the Great. The 30 million people of the Third Roman Empire rely on the care and guidance of you, their mother.

If our mother is hurt because of the death of a hero, I think this is something that all the children of the Third Rome do not want to see, so you must cheer up and take care of yourself!

As expected, she is a woman who can be the bestie of Catherine II the Great and can also coax the mother of our Emperor Guangzhong to the point that she now regards her as a close friend. It is so comfortable to hear such words.

Even the queen, who was deeply saddened, couldn't help but put away her sadness and nodded in agreement.

Even a great emperor, after decades of constant compliments, would involuntarily take the compliments seriously. Catherine II now felt that she was the natural mother of the Russians.

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. Although the Duke has been summoned by God, I will always be by your side."

The person who spoke was a very fair and tall young man with a head of smooth light golden curly hair.

He walked with great vigor and energy, and his eyes, when he looked at the emperor, were filled with the admiration of a child for his mother.

This person is a heavyweight, Platon Alexandrovich Zhubov, the last lover of Catherine II the Great. A few years later, he was awarded the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and was also known as Prince Zhubov in history.

Well, the Third Rome is also the Holy Rome. As for the Holy Rome in Vienna, it should actually be called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

The handsome Zhu Baofu is 23 years old this year, a full 40 years younger than the emperor. He is a very scheming young handsome man. In addition to being fascinated by his young body, Catherine also appreciates Zhu Baofu's dependence on her.

The Great described Zhubaov to Potemkin in this way when he was still alive.

'This is a little guy who glows in the dark. He is like our child. If he is not allowed into my room, he will cry like a child.'

Uh... what kind of sexual fetish is this, the Emperor?
Could it be that her relationship with her son Paul I was so bad that her maternal instincts had no place to be expressed, so she enjoyed this kind of ethical sadomasochism-like relationship between men and women?

And Zhu Baofu's intelligence does not stop there. Among the thousands of young people who wanted to become the emperor's lover in his later years, he was the only one who could face the emperor and Potemkin squarely, and their relationship was like that of a teacher and a friend, like husband and wife, and like relatives.

As soon as the others came to power, they would be jealous, or think that Potemkin was old and could be kicked away from the empress, so they would constantly attack him, which eventually led to the empress abandoning these clowns.

Of course, these people would also suffer brutal attacks from Potemkin, who had an independent imperial palace and more than 50 civil and military ministers under his rule, and was equivalent to the regent Potemkin.

Only Zhu Baofu, although he had an unstable personality, was able to control his desires and really treated Potemkin like his father, thus avoiding the Queen's dislike and Potemkin's elimination.

"No, my child, you can never replace Grigory." The emperor was persuaded by Dashkova and his spirits recovered a lot.

She shook her head and stretched out her hand. Zhu Baofu immediately squatted down like a well-behaved baby and let the emperor stroke his soft and smooth light golden curly hair.

"Because you belong only to me, and Grigori, he belongs to the Third Rome!"

After saying this, the Queen strode out. Potemkin's death reminded the Emperor that her time was running out.

She decided that after working so hard for so many years, she would take advantage of the last moments of her life to enjoy herself, give herself more time, and appreciate the beauty of the world.

. . . .

The Peterhof Gardens, also known as the Summer Gardens, are where most of the high-ranking officials of the Tsarist Russian Empire lived.

Including Foreign Minister Count Ivan Osterman, Senate Senator Count Alexander Bezborodko, Chief Minister of the Privy Council Count Alexander Vorontsov and other civil servants.

In terms of military generals, there were Army General Count Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich, as well as the later famous Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov.

"Let's talk about the problem in the west first." Catherine II waved her hand to stop Count Bezborodko who was about to speak. After Potemkin's unexpected death, Count Bezborodko completed the peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire on behalf of Potemkin.

Count Bezborodko retreated upon hearing this. The Ottoman Turkish issue was indeed not an urgent issue, and the eight people currently in the Summer Garden were all independent figures of the Third Rome. There were many things to do and time was tight, so the most important things had to be discussed.

"Those in Warsaw passed a constitution that claimed to limit the power of the nobility, free the serfs, and give the slatans the power to make decisions for the country."

Suvorov, who was stationed on the western border, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Poles and Lithuanians are ready to fight, but the king is ambiguous."

The so-called slatachusets were the middle and lower class aristocrats and capitalists in Poland. They were deeply guided by the Enlightenment and inspired by the French Revolution. Therefore, they also issued a constitution through parliament.

This is the May 3rd Constitution of the historical Polish-Lithuanian Federation, which aims to restore human rights and resolve the danger of the Polish-Lithuanian Federation being divided.

Catherine II's face turned pale, because she had always regarded the Polish Federation as a puppet state controlled by Sharo. The only reason she didn't swallow it up was because she didn't have time to fight the Russo-Turkish War.

What made Catherine II even more angry was that the current King of Poland, Poniatowski, was her former favorite lover.

The Emperor placed Poniatowski on the throne of King of Poland simply to ask him to help the Third Rome keep an eye on the fat piece of meat that had not yet been eaten, and to prevent Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire from sharing the benefits.

As a result, now, you, a puppet king supported by the Third Rome, actually want to be the king of the Poles. This is outrageous. Don’t you want to see how capable you are?

Especially since Poniatowski was the Empress's former lover, this made her feel even more angry about being betrayed by her lover.
"What does Prussia say?" Although she was extremely angry, Catherine II did not lose her mind and did not forget to ask the attitude of Prussia, the biggest obstacle.

"Frederick William is also frightened. He has issued a warning to the Poles to reject this constitution," Suvorov replied.

"Hehe, this kid still knows what's good for him." The emperor laughed, with a hint of praise in his words.

"If he had not been vigilant about the Polish constitution, Prussia would have been caught between two mob states, France and Poland."

At this moment, the eunuch rushed in quickly and reported a shocking news, "Your Majesty, your cousin, King Gustav III of Sweden and Finland, was assassinated at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm three days ago.

According to reliable sources, the king is near death, his wounds are festering and beyond repair!

"Oh my God!" Catherine II stood up abruptly upon hearing this, but a few seconds later, an uncontrollable smile appeared on her face. "That's great! This disgusting invader is finally leaving this world. This is such a good thing!"

The emperor said this because Sweden was still quite powerful at that time.

Gustavus III took advantage of the Sixth Russo-Turkish War between the Tsarist Rus Empire and the Ottoman Empire to initiate a war against Tsarist Rus, which was the Seventh Russo-Swedish War.

In this war, because Sharo was unable to spare troops to fight on two fronts, he could only send a small number of troops to deal with it, which resulted in a major defeat in the Battle of Svensksund.

One third of Sharo's Baltic Fleet was directly destroyed, with a total of more than 10,000 people killed or captured, and more than 60 warships lost, including two third-level battleships that were very valuable to Sharo.

This was Sweden's greatest victory in its war against Russia. At one point, Catherine II was forced to agree to pay Sweden a total of 300,000 rubles in material aid each year, and the war was ended under the mediation of England and Prussia.

Suvorov stood up happily upon hearing this and said to the empress: "Without the threat of the Kingdom of Sweden and the interference of Prussia, the war will be much simpler if we only attack those in the Polish Constituent Assembly."

"Can you guys still keep fighting? We have just experienced a great war?" the queen continued to ask.

"Absolutely. The Poles are just a mob. The western legions have generally rested for more than five months. They are full of enthusiasm and are ready to fight for the Third Rome."

"In that case, let's send troops. The Poles have chosen war. Let the Targowica Confederation send troops as well and kill all those who dare to disobey the Third Rome!"

The queen stood up and pointed to the west. Finally, she had a place to vent her anger.

"Foreign Minister, can the government raise enough supplies for this operation?"

During the reign of Catherine II, Sharo had a strange tradition: the position of Imperial Minister, equivalent to the Prime Minister, became an honorary title and was generally not permanent.

In this case, the Foreign Minister is often the most trusted official in the government by the Queen, responsible for the operation of the court, and the title of Imperial Minister is generally only awarded to the Foreign Minister.

Foreign Minister Ivan Osterman immediately replied, "Last year's grain harvest was abundant, and a large amount of gunpowder, lead bullets, and clothing were shipped back from the south. If the war with the Ottomans can be completely ended, the supplies will be more than enough to support the punishment of the Poles."

Catherine II shook her head upon hearing this, "It's not about punishing the Poles, but this country shouldn't exist. The French practices they learned shouldn't exist in the Third Rome either.

I will send an invitation to Frederick William of Prussia and Francis of Austria. It is time to discuss the Polish territory again."

In her early years, especially before she went to Russia, the Empress was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment. Even after she became the Empress, she was still inclined towards the human rights, freedom, and fraternity advocated by the Enlightenment.

But when she came to power and became the spokesperson and the largest noble of the Sharo nobility, she quickly forgot all the Enlightenment ideas.

She may now be the monarch who hates the French Revolution the most, except for Frederick William II of Prussia.

"But, Your Majesty," Foreign Minister Count Ivan Ostermann said hesitantly, "If we put all the forces we can temporarily mobilize into Poland, what will happen to the East?
The Seris Empire may approach Orenburg or even Ekaterinburg."

Yekaterinburg is located in the Ural Mountains, east of the upper reaches of the Ural River, and is a tributary of the Ob River. It is a key fortress for Russia to radiate to Siberia.

Orenburg is located south of Catherine Castle, in the lower reaches of the Ural River, about 600 kilometers away from the Caspian Sea in a straight line and about 1,000 kilometers away from the river. It is the base camp of the Russian Empire's attack on the river.

However, upon hearing the Foreign Minister's question, the Empress smiled nonchalantly, "There's no danger in the East. Don't underestimate the great Emperor Seris. He's very sober and won't send troops to Orenburg or the fortress named after me.

Because if that were the case, the army of the Seris Empire would have to cross the Kazakh steppe, which was sparsely populated, easy to get lost, and difficult to supply water, to attack Orenburg.

If they attacked Yekaterinburg, they would have to cross the even more terrifying Siberian ice swamps.

If they really come, that would be a great thing. I don't mind giving the Seris a crushing defeat. At the same time, it would also prove that the Seris Emperor lacks foresight. Our enemy is not a terrifying emperor. "

As expected of a great emperor, others may think that the threat from the East to the Russian Empire is imminent, but in fact, it is just as she analyzed.

Considering the barrenness of the land and the difficulty of supply, it is impossible for a large-scale conflict to break out between Seris and Ross immediately.

"Dashkova, please introduce the situation of the Seris Empire's military expedition to my ministers and generals." The Queen signaled her best friend Dashkova, who had been to Dayu, to come forward.

"Gentlemen, we have received reliable information that although the size of the Seris Empire's troop deployment this time is close to 200,000, at least 50,000 of them are Mongolian light cavalry with little combat effectiveness, and more than 100,000 are mobilized soldiers of the Seris Empire.

These mobilized soldiers with the nature of small landowners were going to occupy the rich land in Central Asia and solve the suffering of the Seris Empire caused by the invasion of Muslims. There is no way for these people to be projected to our side.

As for the most elite Seris Empire Guards and the capital garrison, it is estimated that there will be no more than 30,000 of them. This configuration is obviously intended to deal with the three Khanates in the Yellow River, and is not aimed at us. "

Dashkova said this very confidently. She was also very sure that her data was correct, because this information was actually given to her specifically by Emperor Seris.

As for the intention, it is naturally very clear. Mozibu does not want to and cannot have a decisive battle with Shalo now. The biggest task at this stage is to swallow up the three Khanates of Central Asia and destroy the soil for the infiltration of Muslim Sufism into the interior.

Ministers and generals gathered around and looked at the map carefully. The Chief Minister of the Privy Council uttered an "ah" and suddenly said:

“Your Majesty, Emperor Seris is indeed heading for the Three Khanates, but this is even more dangerous.

Because if Seris were to control the Three Khanates, he would have a foothold in Central Asia and would pose a huge threat to us."

Suvorov nodded and continued, “But it won’t take us long to deal with the Poles, at most two years.

In other words, if the Serbs deal with the three khanates in Central Asia before we deal with the Poles, then no matter what we do, it will be in vain.

This means Seres's power is at least five times greater than ours, putting the Third Rome in a very passive position. It's like the Mongol Khan in history coming to attack us."

For the first time, the Empress showed a nervous expression on her face and asked Suvorov, "Will this happen?"

Suvorov looked at Kutuzov. This 47-year-old "young" general was more familiar with the situation in the East, and the Ryazan Infantry Regiment (Kutuzov Musketeers Regiment), of which he was the honorary commander, was destroyed by the Serbs.

"Two years is impossible, it will take at least five years!" Kutuzov said affirmatively: "Of course, this is based on the premise that we are not conquering, but actually ruling, and we must also eradicate the threat of the Muslims to Seres.

There are millions of Central Asian disciples whose faith is very stubborn. The Third Rome's advance in Central Asia is often hindered by this sentiment. They are not so easy to conquer. Even if we kill them all, it will take at least five years.

There is nothing wrong with the prediction, and this is also Mo Zibu's estimate.

He planned to take about eight years to clean up the area, and at least ten years to relocate about one million people. If he really wanted to rely on the rich land and population in the river to compete with the Russian Empire, it would take at least fifteen years.

"Then we still have a chance." The Queen took a deep breath and her emotions stabilized a lot. She really lacked knowledge about the East.

This is also the biggest problem of the heroines. They can execute the current strategy and do the current tasks better than the average male protagonist, but when it comes to things that exceed their vision, they are much inferior to the male protagonists.

"But Your Majesty, although there is still time, we must respond to the events in the East in the most high-profile manner possible. We also need a victory, not too small, to boost everyone's morale."

Army General Ivan Gudovich, who had been silent the whole time, reminded her. He looked at the Queen seriously and issued a warning.

"Your Majesty, the reason why we Russians are united around you like this is because we believe that you can lead us to become strong and completely conquer the East, so that we don't have to be enslaved by the terrible Mongol Khan like our ancestors.

And now the Seris Empire, which has destroyed all our Siberian strategies from east to west, is actually no different from the Mongol Empire.

In other words, they were a more civilized, more warlike, and more powerful Mongol Empire.

Facing such a formidable enemy, we must exert all our might and must not show any sign of compromise or concession, otherwise it will cause panic across the country."

Catherine II looked at this general who was of Cossack origin, had been a close confidant of her husband Peter III, and had now made great contributions to her, and saluted him solemnly.

"Yes, Ivan, yes, you are absolutely right. Thank you for reminding me. I had indeed somewhat forgotten the oriental nature of the Seres."

The empress realized that the establishment of the Russian Empire was originally intended to resist the rule of the Mongol Golden Horde.

In other words, the two magic weapons that the Romanov dynasty of the Russian Empire used to unite the people were: one was the inheritance right of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the other was that the Tsar was the protector of the Russians and would lead everyone to overthrow the terrifying Mongol Khan.

This is also the reason why the Russian Empire has been very keen on expanding eastward since its establishment. Only by defeating the so-called evil Mongol Khan who once ruled them, the establishment of the Third Rome will be meaningful.

If the Third Rome does not react strongly to events in the East now, many people will think that the second Mongol invasion is coming, or that the empress is too old to protect the Russians.
If this kind of thought really arises, how will Great Russia, Little Russia, White Russia, Black Russia, Medium Russia, and White and Black Russia within the Third Rome view the empress?
The question of whether the empress is still capable of doing so will definitely arise. If something unexpected happens at that time, it will deal a huge blow to the morale of the people in the empire.

Catherine II felt a burst of pain on her forehead. Damn it, she had finally defeated the Ottomans and Sweden was finally quiet, but in her old age, a more ruthless Seres came.

"General, can I trust you?" The Queen looked at General Ivan Gudovich.

"I need a general to personally go to the front lines to select soldiers, to select those loyal and brave soldiers who can still serve the empire after going through the arduous war against the Ottomans.

Then let them go to the East, go to the East with great momentum. They don't need to defeat Seris to regain lost territory, but they must let all the people of the Third Rome know that the Empire is capable of protecting them! "

"I am willing to fight for Your Majesty, for the Third Rome!" Admiral Ivan Gudovich stood up and shouted:
"Your Majesty, I need 20,000 men, all cavalry, with at least 80,000 horses. This way I can hold Pavlodar, approach the Semipalatinsk fortress, and at least fight a good battle."

"The government can use 5,000 flintlock rifles and no less than 10,000 rifles of various types captured from the Ottoman Empire to support Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand, and try to delay the progress of the Seris Empire." The Foreign Minister also came out and said.

"Good!" The queen was overjoyed and couldn't help but applaud the ministers and generals.

"Then let us work together to deal with the Poles first, then retake the land in the east, and make Emperor Seris sit down at the negotiation table we set up!"

"Hurrah, Third Rome!"

"Hurrah, Your Majesty!"

Everyone cheered, but no one noticed that the Queen's best friend Dashkova had a strange look on her face.

It is not so easy to get information about Emperor Mo. It is impolite not to reciprocate. Dashkova should at least reveal some of the Russian Empire's response to the East to the Seris Empire.

In this way, she can become an indispensable figure on both sides.

(End of this chapter)