Dominate the Country

The 29th year of Chengtian's Qianqiu Festival was more lively than the previous Xiaonian Festival because of good news from Europe, Africa and the Northwest. Although the pretext was to celebrate the 55th birthday of the Queen, Li Xiaomei was half a year older than Chen Ming. But in fact, everyone in Nanjing knew that Emperor Chen was happy about the things in the court.

First of all, there was great news from Europe. Napoleon sold Louisiana to China for 150 million francs, which is 174 million Huayuan. This fertile land, which is comparable to most of the Central Plains, will belong to China from now on. The terrain is flat, the land is fertile, the rainfall is sufficient, and the sun is shining. The most important thing is that there are not too many foreign races on it.

This is simply a gift from God to mankind. Although 150 million francs is a huge sum of money, it is definitely worth it to be able to take Louisiana.

150 million francs, which is 174 million Huayuan, is a huge fortune. Synthetic gold, in metric tons, contains 0.25g of gold in one Huayuan, 174 million Huayuan is 43.5 million grams, 103,500 kilograms, or 43.5 metric tons.

Is this number big? Very big. The official gold reserve data released by the Rabbit in later generations as of 2007 was only 600 tons of gold.

Do you think this 43.5 tons is scary?

But compared with the vast land of Louisiana and its huge and immeasurable strategic significance, this number is so small.

Of course, when Emperor Chen received this number, he was excited and bleeding in his heart. Because he knew that in history, Napoleon only asked for 80 million francs [equivalent to 15 million US dollars] when he sold Louisiana to the Lighthouse Country, but he sold it to Chen Han for nearly double the price. And he asked China to immediately pay the hard currency of gold, silver and other valuables and the popular goods he designated, such as guns, raw silk, and medicines.

Chen Ming was so distressed that he almost bled, but he was also so happy that he couldn't help himself, because Louisiana was so important to Chen Han's American strategy.

At the same time, good news came from Denmark. After the conflict between Denmark and the British intensified, the Danish Virgin Islands was a hot potato for Denmark at the moment. The European Office sent someone to contact them, and the two sides hit it off. Denmark sold it for 5 million yuan, and the European Office didn't even bargain.

At this time, good news came from Africa. The Eastern Cape was completely taken over, and the Soto tribe was no longer a threat to Chen Han. This was also great news. Although Chen Ming was not sure when he would open the gold in South Africa, a mountain of gold had been tightly grasped in his hands.

Finally, there was the war in the northwest. The seven khanates pressed the three khanates such as Kokand.

With the massive military supplies provided by China as a backing, the three khanates of Kokand were becoming more and more difficult on the battlefield. Although the Russians were also constantly transporting materials to the three khanates, could Russia compare with China? The materials transported through the Caspian Sea were just a drop in the bucket for this war.

The three Kokand states, forced to do nothing, all wanted to ask for help from the Durrani Dynasty in Afghanistan.

But Ahmad Shah, who founded the Durrani Dynasty in Afghanistan, had been dead for thirty years. Afghanistan was no longer the powerful Khanate that had invaded Delhi, swallowed up most of Punjab, and defeated the Marathas.

After Ahmad Shah's death, his successor Timur Shah ascended the throne. At that time, the governor of Kandahar proclaimed himself king with the support of the nobles, so Timur Shah launched an army to fight against him and successfully quelled the chaos. Timur Shah moved the capital from Kandahar to Kabul. Then, as a mediocre ruler, he spent his ordinary life in the next twenty years. Timur died in 1793, and did not do much during his reign. But his death brought a fatal problem to Afghanistan - the issue of succession to the throne. He had a total of thirty-six children, twenty-three of whom were sons, and plunged the country into a bloody struggle. His fifth son, Zaman Shah, succeeded to the throne with the support of the aristocracy and became the new king. Timur Shah's eldest son Humayun first raised an army, but soon failed. Then Mahmud also rebelled, but was defeated by Zaman Shah. Zaman Shah's power had been deeply shaken, and he had to discuss state affairs with the chiefs [nobles] under his rule and use them as his prime ministers, so his rule was not stable. Then Mahmud Shah rebelled again with cavalry. Zaman Shah underestimated Mahmud Shah's power and he eventually fell into Mahmud Shah's hands.

Mahmud Shah became the king of Afghanistan in 1800, and Zaman Shah fled to India with the help of the British and spent the rest of his life. But Mahmud Shah's rule was not long, and the political and religious conflicts in the country eventually led to his resignation. In 1803, Shuja Shah was crowned king, but his rule was also unstable. In this case, how could Afghanistan participate in the struggle in the north?

The Sikhs and Marathas in the south alone were enough to make them extremely vigilant. The war in Central Asia would not turn the tables!

Therefore, Chen Ming was extremely happy and proud.

His grand plan had already been carried out for the most part, and the general trend of China was set. Who could stop him in the future?

Therefore, the current Emperor Chen was a little extravagant in the palace, and gave a banquet to all the ministers, even invited the Queen Mother out, and called in a troupe of actors to entertain.

In the middle of the banquet, Chen Ming, with a glass of wine in his hand, came straight to the table where Li Kun was sitting. When Li Kun saw him, he immediately stood up to salute, but was stopped by Chen Ming: "Hey - don't be polite, everyone is happy today."

"How is it? I heard that you took another 3 million yuan from Lushan? And you built 50 primary schools in western Henan? Business is doing well." Every year Li Kun spends a lot of money on others. At least 30% of the good reputation of the Queen and Chen Ding is due to this.

"Ah, haha, Your Majesty is too kind, this is what I should do. Give back to society and benefit the people." Li Kun opened his mouth and said clichés.

"Haha, as long as your Li family can afford it, I will be relieved." Chen Ming was very tolerant to Li Kun, and turned to Chen Ding who was following him and said: "Toast your uncle. Your uncle has been worried about you all these years."

Since Chen Ding won the "gamble", Chen Ming's attitude towards him has obviously changed. Today, the only person following Chen Ming was Chen Ding, although his other brothers went down to toast the civil and military officials on behalf of Chen Ming, which seemed to be more glorious than him. But he could stand behind Chen Ming, which was not comparable to toasting the ministers on behalf of Chen Ming?

Although this face was probably given to him because it was his mother's birthday today, Chen Ding also saw the unconcealed jealousy in the eyes of his brothers.

Chen Ming's courtesy to Li Kun made Li Kun very excited, and tears flowed down when he drank. Among the many important ministers and nobles present today, he is not ranked in the number in terms of title, and he is even the last in terms of official position, but he is sitting in the first echelon. Only the King of Song, Liu Dezhao, Pang Zhenkun and other meritorious veterans can be with him. This is a great honor!

Li Kun was so excited that he burst into tears and wanted to kneel down and kowtow.

The ministers present were also very moved when they saw these scenes. Although Li Kun was a disabled person and could not enter the officialdom, the Li Consortium he had built up with his own hands really earned too much face for the King of Yu and the Queen over the years.

Nanjing City was full of leisure and wealth, and the lively celebrations made people forget the wars and disputes outside.

It is no wonder that more and more Westerners are willing to come to China to settle down in recent years. Although they cannot get China's red books, and even yellow books are difficult to get, and their actions are subject to considerable restrictions, there are still more and more Westerners coming to China, and many of them are wealthy families or have special skills.

To put it bluntly, it's not a big secret. There is only one reason - China is peaceful.

Although China has been fighting wars constantly in recent years, has any of those wars involved China's hinterland? Has any involved the eastern coast?

No, none of them.

The wars outside have not affected the stability of China's hinterland at all. The latter is more like they don't know that their own country is fighting. It is so peaceful that people think it is a country without war.

And what about Europe?

War, war, nothing but war. For more than ten years, there have been constant wars.

Britain and France, France and Spain, France and Italy, France and Prussia, France and Austria, France and Russia, Britain and Denmark, Russia and Sweden...

From south to north, there is no place where there is no war. The sound of gunfire and artillery has always been over Europe.

Not to mention the rich, even the poor, how many people have immigrated to the Lighthouse Country over the years?

You should know that when the Lighthouse Country was just founded, there were only two million people, but now? Twenty years after the founding of the country, the Lighthouse Country has five million people.

Although there are many black slaves among them, according to statistics from the Americans themselves, there are less than 40,000 black slaves in the northern states, which is very small; while the number of black slaves in the southern states exceeds 850,000.

However, the number of white people in the United States has doubled in the past 20 years. This number is very scary.

If the United States is allowed to develop like this, it will be a big deal in a few years.

Chen Ming knows that if Napoleon can develop along the historical trajectory, he can at least be awesome for ten years. Today, France controls Italy and Spain, and there are many German city-states. There is no need to talk about the population size. In terms of important military equipment supply, it is not inferior to the anti-French alliance led by Britain.

Such a Napoleon is unlikely to be defeated in the short term. Moreover, dozens of tons of gold can be delivered to France next year. Napoleon has made up for his biggest shortcoming in the short term.

When the third anti-French alliance is formed, I don’t know how many European whites will flee to America like crazy in a war.

Chen Ming feels that the Americans can no longer let them accumulate strength in peace.

The current Lighthouse Country may have received a warning from Louisiana, and the military strength of the entire country is much higher than in the original time and space history.

After Chen Ming received the basic intelligence of the Lighthouse Country, he was shocked.

40,000 regular army, 3,000 cavalry, nearly 100,000 militias from various states, and 37 warships, although most of the latter are frigates.

Chen Ming couldn't believe his eyes at first. Is the Lighthouse Country, which was just established 20 years ago, so strong?

Or was it a subsequent piece of information that made him feel relieved.

Most of the soldiers in the Lighthouse Country are volunteers, and the people are not keen on military service. There is an extreme lack of formally trained officers. Therefore, their army units are seriously insufficient in combat effectiveness. As for the militia, it is hard to say whether the militia of the Lighthouse Country still has the morale and courage of the War of Independence.

The United States was established 20 years ago, but it has been in a state of rest for 20 years. Many of the veterans have entered their twilight years, and there is a serious shortage of experienced soldiers and officers. The output of the West Point Military Academy established by the United States itself is not very good.

Such an army has no combat effectiveness. No wonder they were beaten by the British, who had far fewer troops than them, in the Second Anglo-American War.

"Your Majesty is going to attack the Lighthouse Country?"

"It's just to let you fight as a vanguard. Find out their situation first..."

Pang Zhenkun said to Chen Liang.