Dominate the Country

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The 144th year of Chongzhen, the 37th year of Qianlong, 1772 in the Western calendar.

The situation in China was undergoing a crucial change, and at this time, a team of envoys sent by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, led by the priest of the Eastern Church Beijing Mission, finally arrived after more than a year of hard work. St. Petersburg.

When Hesheli Xiangheng saw the walls of St. Petersburg, tears flowed down his face. When he set out from Beijing, his team had more than 140 people, but now there are only about 80 left. The hardship of thousands of miles and the harsh weather took away the lives of more than thirty people, and the rest were left behind on the journey. It was very uncertain whether they could survive it.

Father Kapushkin also crossed himself on his chest. This journey was indeed very difficult, much more difficult than when he came to Beijing.

In 1653 AD, Russian Tsar Alexei I sent an envoy to ask Emperor Shunzhi to surrender to him; Shunzhi asked the Russian Tsar to come to Beijing to pay tribute. After continuous conflicts and exchanges between the two sides, the Russian Orthodox Beijing Mission began to be stationed in Beijing in 1714. In addition to preaching, it also took care of diplomacy.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty did not forget Tsarist Russia, a foreign country that they were extremely wary of in the past. If it was possible, Emperor Qianlong would never send envoys to Russia. And he also knows that Russia is now trapped in a large-scale national war. It has been three years since the war and it has not ended yet.

Qianlong had no choice but to ask Russia for help.

Although there were missionaries from Italy, France, Spain and other monotheistic countries who entered Beijing from Macau, Qianlong had no confidence in relying on them to contact the governments of their respective countries. He felt that it was too unreliable. So only Russia!

Hesheli Xiangheng's identity was not that of a secret envoy. The purpose of their coming to St. Petersburg was to seek help. After deducting the accompanying Russian personnel, there were eighty or ninety people. Xiangheng was seen by many St. Petersburg residents as he entered his residence. On the day he arrived in St. Petersburg, the news had already spread throughout the city.

"Our Father in heaven, thank you for your mercy, allowing victory to envelope Russia and keeping us away from the light of blood. In your true light, with an enlightened heart, I will carry out your will, today and forever, The world is endless."

Father Kapushkin prayed devoutly. He was really excited, "This is God's guidance. Let us arrive in St. Petersburg at the moment of victory. May I serve you, our Lord God Jesus Christ, for the rest of my life, from today to forever, forever. Amin !” Kapuskin praised God like crazy.

Xiangheng also had an exciting smile on his face.

"No wonder the Russians looked so happy and excited when we entered the city. They won the battle..." The deputy envoy Niigulu Nafu was happy and sad at the same time. The Russians won the battle, but Daqingguo was in danger.

Xiangheng's eyes glowed brightly. When they came to Russia, they knew that Russia was fighting a national war. Under such circumstances, Xiangheng had to worry about whether Russia still had the power to assist the Qing Dynasty. Even if the Qing Dynasty can make big concessions...

But now, his heart dropped and he felt relieved. The whole person felt as if he had eaten the fruit of life, and the pores all over his body felt refreshed and comfortable. "This is God's blessing, bless my Qing Dynasty." Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? Russia won the war on the front foot, and they rushed to St. Petersburg on the back foot. Xiangheng was as if he had drunk the purest fine wine, his face was smoky and his cheeks were red.

"Have you heard that the Chinese have sent people to ask for help from Her Majesty the Queen?"

"real?"

"Of course, the envoys have entered the city! I heard that they came together with the church priests. Now the queen's crown will become more dazzling, and the glory of God will shine into the ancient Eastern Empire."

"This is really the guidance of the Lord. Let them arrive in St. Petersburg at this time..." The Russian who spoke laughed heartily. Yes, the Russians were so happy that they won a real victory over the Ottoman Empire, unlike the last war, which even with Austria as an ally, they were ultimately undefeated.

The victory of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean last year promoted the outbreak of Arab anti-Turkish uprisings in Egypt in North Africa and Syria in the Middle East. Russia's victory in both land and naval battles forced the Ottoman Empire to sign an armistice agreement with Russia in Gyurgiu. The news had just been sent back to St. Petersburg.

"But the Chinese Tatars are really useless. In just three or four years, they lost half of their empire. I heard that it was a land larger than half of Europe."

"Haha, this is the time for Russia to spread the glory of God Jesus Christ. Isn't it a good thing that the Tatars are useless? Otherwise, why would they come to St. Petersburg with all their hard work? Prostrate themselves humbly at the feet of the Queen?" Abnormal self-confidence and pride arose in the hearts of Russians.

The victory over the Ottoman Empire has made many Russians forget about it. They would not have thought that there was still a tail end to this Russo-Turkish war, and the Ottomans did not really admit defeat.

Moreover, arriving in St. Petersburg with the Manchu envoys was Tsebek Dorji, a great nobleman of the Torgut tribe. He was the cousin of Obasi Khan, the leader of the Torgut tribe. An important leader of the tribe.

Tsebekdorzi separated from Xiangheng before arriving in St. Petersburg, and he did not have no place to stay in St. Petersburg.

Xiangheng had no idea that Cebekdorji, who had always been cold and arrogant towards him, really had an unspeakable hatred for the Qing Dynasty in his heart. Since Wubashi ascended the throne, the Russian government has repeatedly recruited Torghut soldiers to fight with neighboring countries, causing the entire tribe to "suffer from conscription" and everyone was worried. Wubashi was worried.

Before this Russo-Turkish War, the Torghut cavalry fought the Polish Succession War for Russia and suppressed the Polish uprising. In the year before the fifth Russo-Turkish War, Wubashi, who could no longer bear it, had already begun to plan a bold return to the east. Because the Torghut tribe had never been burdened with such heavy taxes as at this time, everyone felt poor and uneasy.

And Wubashi himself only returned from the Caucasus front in the autumn of last year.

But at this time, Wubashi's original plan to return to the east had been shelved by him long ago. They originally thought that the powerful Qing Empire was beaten by the Han people and had to travel thousands of miles to St. Petersburg to ask for help from the greedy Russians. How ridiculous and disappointing it was for the high-ranking nobles of the Torghut tribe.

As one of the high-ranking nobles of the Torghut tribe, Tsebokdorji brought a few Torghut cavalrymen to St. Petersburg with Xiangheng to plead with Catherine II to reduce the military service and taxation of the Torghut tribe. If this continued, the Torghut tribe would be a little unsustainable.

Of course, they also hoped that the Russian nobles would agree to Xiangheng's request and send their Torghut tribe to the East. If this really happened, they would not ignore the orders of St. Petersburg when they returned to Xinjiang. At that time, would Russia still have the ability to send tens of thousands of Cossack cavalrymen to Xinjiang? If St. Petersburg was really so powerful, they would have already killed their way to Istanbul.

But the more the entire Torghut tribe had such plans, the more they had to show their resistance to continuing the war and the more they had to show their lack of interest in the Qing Dynasty.

Catherine II, who was 43 years old and had just reached the peak of her life, received Xiangheng with a very solemn etiquette. She praised the national gift presented by the Qing Dynasty. However, Catherine II said that she would carefully consider the Qing Dynasty's request for help.

In fact, this is a performance of waiting for a price.

Catherine II and the Russian princes and nobles in St. Petersburg would never miss this great opportunity to expand eastward. "This is the best gift given to us by the Lord in heaven."

Of course, at this time, Russia had no connection with China in the northwest direction. They had not swallowed the three tents of Kazakhs, who successively paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty after the extinction of Junggar. Russia only connected with China in Outer Mongolia, which is the Mongolia + Tannu Uriankhai area in later generations.

Although polar bears are very greedy for land, they are not interested in "eating in name". Their power cannot allow them to actually rule Outer Mongolia. For the establishment of Yellow Russia, the current polar bears obviously do not have such a big appetite. So compared with Outer Mongolia, they are more interested in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty.

Those barren lands in Outer Northeast, which are extremely cold and bitter in the eyes of countless Chinese, are rare good places in the eyes of the Russians.

"The land of our ancestors was lost in our hands, and the glorious Qing Dynasty has reached the point of learning from Shi Jingtang's father to serve the barbarians and take them as aid. It's sad and lamentable!" Just like the "Aihui Treaty" in the original time and space history, the appetite of the Russians is not small. And relying on the "Sino-Russian St. Petersburg Treaty", the Qing Dynasty, which ceded the barren lands in Outer Northeast, received a promise of 100,000 flintlocks, 300 cannons, and 30,000 reinforcements. Originally, Xiangheng wanted a batch of silver, but the journey was too long. The Russians used the excuse that it was unsafe to transport gold and silver, so they doubled the 50,000 flintlocks agreed at the beginning, and 200 cannons became 300. The first batch of 10,000 flintlocks that followed them back were also changed to 20,000, and there were 50 cannons and 10,000 cavalry.

After the 10,000 cavalrymen arrived in China, the Qing Dynasty was responsible for the supply of military supplies and military pay. If Russia was responsible for the supply of military supplies, they would not have the ability to do so.

The 10,000 cavalrymen included 3,000 Torghut cavalrymen, 2,000 Tatar cavalrymen in Siberia [Buryats], and 1,000 Baikal Lake Cossacks. The latter were different from the Tatar cavalrymen in Siberia, but were the most elite among the entire Cossacks and the most loyal to the Russian Empire. The vast and rich Baikal grasslands allowed the Cossacks there to live a rich and free life. Another 4,000 were composed of regular Russian cavalrymen, Poles, serfs, and Cossacks gathered from the Ural River and the Don River.

Polar bears are very smart. They know that if they want to bite off more meat from a declining empire, and that declining empire is still quite far away from them, they must establish a good "friendship" with them. At the same time, they try their best to maintain the existence of that declining empire, because sooner or later their footsteps will reach the side of that declining empire. If the fat meat at that time becomes a new powerful country, it will be a tragedy.

And according to the information they have now, the Han Kingdom that has risen in southern China is obviously a country with strong military force. "The rebels have mastered a new method of casting cannons, which can cast hundreds of cannons in a very short time."

"Those cannons cannot shoot farther or have greater power than those produced in Europe, but they are not worse than those produced in Europe." Father Kapushkin reported to his respected Catherine II.

"Does this magical cannon casting method really exist?"

"Your Majesty, I can swear to the God in heaven that I am absolutely not lying. God Jesus Christ testifies to my honesty."

"In a key battle in China, the rebels used 500 cannons at one time. Then the rebels wiped out the 100,000 main forces of the Qing Empire in one fell swoop. It laid an absolutely strong foundation for them to seize southern China."

"The Han Kingdom that rose in southern China is not a docile sheep that eats grass, but a tiger that eats people."

"I don't know if the noble ministers and nobles present have carefully watched the guards accompanying the Qing Empire's envoys. They are no less than the St. Petersburg Guards. And the Han Kingdom has at least 200,000 troops like them."

Xiangheng and his friends didn't know about this short meeting. At this moment, Xiangheng and Nafu were completely immersed in the sorrow that they couldn't extricate themselves from. In their opinion, this was selling the land of their ancestors and asking for help from the despised foreigners, which was exactly the same as Shi Jingtang.

"To save the burning whale from the sea, why escape drowning; to quench thirst with poison, ultimately leads to death." The words describing Shi Jingtang in the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" came to the minds of the two Manchus at the same time, and what was even more tragic was that they had to do so. The two squatting in their residence hugged the wine bottle and cried bitterly.

"Those two useless things, they can only cry." Cebek Dorji couldn't understand it at all. How could the two people who acted so painful after signing the agreement be so happy when signing?

Isn't negotiation a matter of negotiation? Isn't it necessary to carefully test the opponent's bottom card and show off one's muscles at the same time? These two useless people would only agree to the Russians' conditions, and then insist on arms and reinforcements, and let the Russians decide everything else. They are really the best negotiators. The Russians would be so happy. "Cowards, cowards." If these two people were his men, Cebek Dorji would kill them with one knife.

The entire negotiation took less than ten days.

Cebekdorji sighed to the moon. There was no way. The Russians did not agree to his open request. Instead, they asked the Torghut tribe to send 3,000 people to advance to the east.

"Taiji, this is good. At least we can take the opportunity to better understand the situation in the east."

"That's all we can do." Cebekdorji sighed.

The Russians, who had just ended the Russo-Turkish War, stretched out their claws to Poland again. They are working with Prussia and Austria to completely divide Poland. Stanislaw August Poniatowski, the Polish king who was previously supported by Russia, was seen as a very weak but very opinionated person. His performance in the Bar Union War greatly dissatisfied Russia [the Bar Union can be seen as an uprising of the Polish nobles]. Russia believes that Poland's role as its protectorate no longer exists.

At the same time, the interests of Austria, which is an ally of Russia, were threatened to a certain extent after Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire. If Chen Ming looked at the map of Europe at that time, he could point his finger at the location of Romania in the future, the current Principality of Moldavia and Wallachia, and the analysis of Russia and Austria was here. It can even be said that this is the looming of the Balkan conflict in the future.

In Prussia, which was greatly weakened by the Seven Years' War, Frederick II also wanted to preserve the declining Ottoman Empire and turn Russia's attention back from the Caucasus to Eastern Europe, so that he could pull the Ottoman Empire to his side in the war between Prussia and Russia (or with Austria).

Time entered the late 18th century of the Western calendar, and the religious conflicts of hundreds of years ago had already given way to national interests.

The three countries had conflicts with each other, but the three countries did not dare to fight each other, and they did not even dare to make the relationship between them stiff. A completely defeated Poland, a big piece of fat, was enough to generate enough benefits for the three European powers to find the balance point of each other's interests in mutual exchanges and compromises.

Tsebekdorji was not a reckless man who only knew how to fight and herd. He could still see the intention of the three countries to divide Poland and the deals behind it, although he knew nothing about the series of secret treaties behind the scenes between Russia, Prussia and Austria. But he could analyze many things since the surface.

On the way to St. Petersburg, Tsebokdorji did not fail to reveal relevant information to Xiangheng and Nafu, even though he was cold and cold. But now it seems that the two losers obviously did not take the information he put in to heart, or connect it with the Russia in front of them.

"Stupid idiot. The Emperor Qianlong who sent such a person as an envoy must be a stupid emperor. No wonder the Han people revolted and seized half of China in just a few years..." Fortunately, Dunluobulash Khan in the 21st year of Qianlong sent an envoy, Chuizabu, to pass through Russia and arrived in Beijing after three years to present tribute, local products, bows and quivers, etc. to Emperor Qianlong.

...

However, everyone has their own interests and considerations. Cebekdorji cursed Xiangheng and Nafu in his heart. Europeans regarded the Qing Dynasty as a piece of fat meat without bones, but if anyone asked Xiangheng and Nafu such a question directly, the two Manchu uncles would definitely look at each other with contempt, and the word "idiot" would slowly appear in their eyes.

No matter how ancestral the Outer Northeast is, it is just a cold and miserable land with no people. For the current Qing Dynasty, ten Outer Northeasts are not as important as one Central Plains.

Only by holding on to Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu can there be a future.

Otherwise, with Chen Han's current offensive, they are sometimes in Shandong, sometimes in southern Liaoning, and there are also northeastern and southwest areas. Moreover, the northwest of the Qing Dynasty is gradually becoming chaotic. How can they resist?

"In this troubled time, at the moment of survival, how can we delay?" In the Tsar's palace, Nafu threw his sleeves and left, leaving behind Tsebekdorji, who was so angry that his face turned blue. "It's better to get the aid of a gun earlier than to wear out ten lips in St. Petersburg." Brainless people are unbearable to be with. Nafu thought to himself.

On the third floor of a building in the distance, in front of the window sill, Ivan Chernyshev, the court adviser of Catherine II, put away the binoculars in his hand. He looked at Kapushkin with approval, "Now I believe that the Torghut people are loyal to the empire." It is still uncertain whether the Torghut people are loyal to Russia, but at least they have nothing to do with the Qing Empire. The obviously bad relationship between Tsebekdorji and the Qing Empire envoys is a proof of this.

And that is enough!

…

When the Qing Empire's envoys left St. Petersburg with a full load, it was already May.