Wild North America 1846

Chapter 623 Suspicion

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 623 Suspicion

Chang'an, the imperial capital

"Nonsense..."

After learning the cause of the incident at the venue, Emperor Richard smiled affectionately and tolerantly, only said two words of affection, and stopped paying attention.

The ministers of the imperial government understood this and immediately downplayed the "meeting incident" as a minor matter, turning a deaf ear to the Canadian government's strong protests.

London also remained surprisingly silent. After all, the Royal Navy had been tossing outside Santos Port in Sao Paulo for so long without even a splash of water, showing its loneliness.

In this case, what other effective measures can be taken?

The good news is that after the summit, the British Royal Navy fleet received invitations from the Confederate States of America and the United States of America to visit ports. On its return trip, it can visit ports on the east coast and receive a warm reception.

The ports of the Tang Empire on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic side also welcomed the British Royal Fleet to visit, showing a sense of intimacy.

However, this sense of intimacy makes people feel mixed. After seeing the embarrassing situation of almost nowhere to stay in the entire America, the British will no longer be arrogant and think that they are globally invincible.

At least the arrogance of the British Royal Navy doesn't work in America. Without the permission of the Tang Empire, it couldn't even find a supply port, let alone anything else?

The confrontation between Tang Dynasty and Britain was very measured and tested the bottom line of policy by showing off their muscles to each other. It can be said that the gains were huge.

Emperor Richard has been in a good mood recently. The emperor's fifty-second son was born just a few days ago, and several concubines in the palace are pregnant. The imperial family of the Tang Dynasty is flourishing, and the heirs are prosperous. This is the first sign of the prosperity of the imperial family of the Tang Dynasty.

What a sign!

Taking advantage of the new gains in the empire's colonial expansion, Emperor Richard decreed that a group of concubines and 20 princes were conferred the title of untitled duke.

Untitled dukes are all second-class dukes, whose rank is inferior to that of the titled grand duke and the first-class imperial duke. They only enjoy the noble title of duke and are granted a palace, but do not have fiefs or fiefs.

After reaching adulthood, one can receive royal salary, but the noble title will be downgraded from generation to generation and is not hereditary.

For example, for a family of second-class dukes, their sons will be demoted to the rank of marquis, and their grandchildren will be the rank of earls. After this step by step, the family will be reduced to the last class of baron, and the next generation will be commoners.

However, if there are outstanding people among the descendants who have achieved meritorious service, it will be easier for such royal children to be promoted to titles, and even obtain hereditary noble honors.

Fengqi Palace in the East Palace

This is the residence of Queen Lin. The magnificent hall is spacious and bright, with priceless treasures placed on the tall ancient shelves. The ground is paved with top-quality Spanish beige granite slabs, making it appear graceful, wealthy and majestic.

Above the main hall

Emperor Richard and Empress Lin sat side by side on the dragon and phoenix couch. Both sides were filled with the concubines in fine costumes, as well as the princes and concubines who came to the palace to pay their respects, and a large number of underage princes, princesses, and emperors.

Sun Gui stood aside in a polite manner.

The eldest is about ten years old, and the youngest is only three or four years old, but they already know the etiquette and rules very well.

These princes and grandsons took turns preparing to present their talents to His Majesty the Emperor, reading a few poems, singing a song or dancing, etc., which was full of rich royal warmth.

Every month, His Majesty the Emperor will take one day to meet with the princes, princesses, and grandsons, and reward them with some palace cakes, secret beauty creams, various exquisite gadgets, etc. Each performance All children are rewarded.

This is a day that all the family members in the palace long for, and it is also a joyful festival for children. It is only on this day that many children can see the sky and enjoy the precious pleasure of their father's care.

Just now three princesses of different ages sang a song "Spring River with Flowers and Moonlight Night". After singing, Emperor Richard called the three princesses to his side and asked a few questions. He also rewarded the three little princesses with some exquisite gadgets. Faces glowing with excitement.

After thanking Your Majesty, he skipped back to the side.

"Over the years, the palace has such a large family business, all of which have been managed by Queen Lao. I am very relieved to see that the princes and grandsons are very well-behaved!" Emperor Richard sat at the top with a leisurely expression, and after seeing The prince who was performing next came up, nodded to indicate that it was time to start, and chatted with Queen Lin.

Queen Lin turned sideways for a moment and said;

"My concubine is just doing some of my duty. Your Majesty is busy day and night with major affairs inside and outside the empire, making decisions about the welfare of hundreds of millions of people, and doing all earth-shattering undertakings.

I am just a concubine. I am worried but can't help at all. I can only help His Majesty to regulate the inner palace and perform all her duties.

The sixth house is at peace, and your majesty can concentrate on important matters outside.

The only thing I'm worried about is His Majesty's dragon body. Although Your Majesty has extraordinary talents, he is far beyond what ordinary people can look up to.

But after all, sex is like a steel knife for scraping bones. No matter how strong your body is, it can't withstand the grinding of those foxy girls. This is what I am most worried about.

I think that the Tang Empire has a territory of thousands of miles and is rich in billions of people from all over the world. They were all developed with the emperor's efforts. It is inevitable for a moment to have His Majesty sit at the center and stabilize the world.

I only hope that your majesty will take good care of yourself and take care of the great cause of the world and the empire, so that you can take good care of the dragon body!"

Hearing Queen Lin mention this matter again, Emperor Richard coughed slightly in embarrassment before replying;

"What the Queen said is absolutely true. I should be more restrained. I will reduce the number of patrols from the previous five days to three days per week, and put down my sign every three and five days. Is this good?"

"Your Majesty accepts your advice wisely, and I congratulate the people of the world and the empire. I am extremely frightened."

"The queen is too modest, um... haha... not bad, good, reward!"

When Emperor Richard saw that the young prince below had performed, he rewarded him with a warm smile, coaxing the child to jump up and down with excitement and leave.

What Empress Lin said is true. Even though His Majesty is over forty years old, he is still very energetic and his concubines are changing every day.

Sometimes, several young girls and concubines would join the battle and try their best to satisfy His Majesty.

Nowadays, the old batch of palace concubines no longer serve the emperor. Most of them have princes and princesses. They are cultivating their hearts and minds, and their bodies and bones cannot withstand the emperor's rude torture.

The thirty showgirls who were recently drafted into the palace are only fourteen or fifteen years old. They are all the type that the emperor likes, with fair skin, beauty, and long legs. Especially the ones with bulging front and back are favored, and they have all been blessed in the past few months. Read it again.

With so many little foxes obsessed with them, even if your Majesty is covered in iron, how many nails can you hit?

Fortunately, His Majesty has a deep relationship with Queen Lin, and every week he comes to the East Palace to rest for a day, chat with the Queen, and talk about the family affairs in the palace and the marriage of the prince and princess.

Generally speaking, His Majesty the Emperor will not interfere with these trivial matters and will always rely on Queen Lin's opinion.

This established Queen Lin's high prestige in the Sixth Palace. Even if she was the favorite concubine, she could not shake it, and there were fewer disputes involving sourness and jealousy.

The happy time was always short-lived. After more than two hours, Emperor Richard saw some young princes and grandsons starting to doze off, so he raised his hand and said;

"Come here, I will give you a banquet according to my decree. The queen, all the concubines and children can enjoy it together. There is no need to be restrained.

I am a little tired, so I will drive back to the palace."

"I, my concubines, would like to send you to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live your Majesty!" The queen and all the concubines saluted in unison.

Emperor Richard waved his hand, strode away, and then got on the liger and cloud chariot and returned to the palace.

If the Holy Emperor were here, all the concubines, princes and grandsons would inevitably be restrained, and the meal would be neither happy nor lively.

Sure enough, when His Majesty the Emperor disappeared outside the main hall, the children's laughter could be heard in Fengqi Palace. Even Queen Yilin's majesty could not suppress it, and joy filled the entire palace.

after dinner

The twilight reflects the rippling Taiye Pond, and the golden sunset adds a royal atmosphere to the magnificent scenery of the palace, making it appear solemn and peaceful.

Sitting on the cloud couch next to Linshui Pavilion, Richard was surrounded by only a few prone white tigers and exotic beasts, including a white liger, all lying lazily on the floor of the hall.

Since returning to the imperial capital Chang'an last year after going to Nicaragua to inspect the canal construction site, Emperor Richard has not left the palace for more than a year, and he is somewhat restless.

Originally, at the St. Paul Summit, Emperor Richard was planning to join in the fun himself, but he was hard-pressed by the courtiers to dissuade him, so he had no choice but to ask His Highness the Crown Prince Tang-Li Qian to make the trip on his behalf.

Emperor Richard is a restless master. In the past two years, the empire has faced a global economic recession crisis, and the economic situation at home and abroad is quite severe, so he has the patience to sit in Chang'an, the imperial capital.

In order to stimulate social demand and stimulate consumption, the empire launched the Second South American War and vigorously promoted large-scale infrastructure construction, pulling the entire economy out of the mire of recession.

In 1872, the overall economy of the Tang Empire showed a rapid growth of 11.2%, and the situation was excellent.

However, at the beginning of 1873, the world economic crisis suddenly hit the cold wave. In the first quarter, the national economic growth plummeted to about 3%, and faced the danger of continuing to decline to negative growth.

Through various favorable measures, the economic growth in 1873 was barely maintained at 4.33%. Compared with a large number of European countries, including Britain and France, which all had negative growth, this was already a very impressive result.

The only country that can compete with it is Germany. After receiving a large sum of 5 billion francs in war reparations, Germany vigorously developed infrastructure, industry and agriculture, and its economy grew by 7.3% despite a severe economic crisis. It is unique in the world.

Entering 1874, the imperial economy was still going very steadily amidst the intensifying world economic crisis. The average growth rate in the first, second and third quarters reached 4.75%, showing signs of steady improvement.

Another outstanding performer is Germany. In the first three quarters of 1874, the economy grew as high as 11.7%. This was not running but flying.

This is because the German economy is relatively small and its industrialization is still in its infancy. After massive capital injections, the entire industrial and agricultural development began to take off, and the economy became extremely hot.

It is expected that within two to three years, it will surpass the overall level of the French national economy.

In comparison

The British Empire was truly in recession. In the first three quarters from 1873 to 1874, the overall economic recession ranged from -3.1% to -3.42%. In particular, foreign trade exports suffered a heavy blow.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Finance of the Tang Empire, sometime in the second quarter of 1875, the overall economic level of the Tang Empire would surpass that of Britain, thereby becoming the world's largest economic power and achieving its first historic breakthrough.

By the end of 1875, the total population of the entire empire would exceed 100 million, achieving the second historic breakthrough.

After nearly 30 years of struggle, the Tang Empire finally achieved brilliant achievements that attracted the attention of the world in the two fields of population and economic aggregate.

This made Richard feel sincerely proud. In the past 30 years, he had overcome all obstacles and led the Tang Empire to rise in North America, which had changed the situation in the entire America.

Next, what he wants to change is the world situation.

It was early October 1874

Today, Emperor Richard is most concerned about the 10-year turmoil in Xinjiang. Just like in history, the cancer in Xinjiang has reached a point where it cannot be eradicated.

The Manchu and Qing court also realized this, and planned to use the elite troops of Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, as the core, to enter Xinjiang to suppress the bandits and quell the rebellion, drive away the Russians who were causing trouble in Xinjiang, and regain full control of this land.

The Xinjiang Rebellion originally originated from the Uighur and Hui unrest in 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi), which fragmented the Manchu rule. Five separatist regimes emerged, including Ili, Kuqa, Urumqi, Kashgar and Hotan.

Coupled with the Aguba invasion in 1865, the British and Russian forces were successively involved in the Xinjiang Rebellion, making the original situation even more complicated.

The weakness of the Qing court further encouraged the rampage of the rebels. In 1865 (the fourth year of Tongzhi), the most powerful Agubai first expelled Sidik, occupied the new city of Kashgar, and then captured Yingishar.

In the same year, a defeated Haokand army of 7,000 people defected to Aguba, further strengthening its strength.

At the end of 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi), Agubah trapped and killed Habibullah and annexed the separatist regime centered on Hotan.

In 1867 (the sixth year of Tongzhi), Agubah eliminated the regime centered on Kuqa, and his forces reached Kalasal (now Yanqi) and Korla, established the "Zhedeshar Khanate", and proclaimed himself Khan.

In 1870 (the ninth year of Tongzhi), Agube invaded northern Xinjiang again and occupied Urumqi, Turpan and other places. So far, all of southern Xinjiang and parts of northern Xinjiang had been occupied by Agube.

at the same time

In 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi), Tsarist Russia took advantage of the uprising of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang to force the Qing government to sign the "Sino-Russian Treaty on the Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary" and ceded more than 440,000 square kilometers of territory in northwest China.

Tsarist Russia launched a massive campaign against the Kokand Khanate, the Bukhara Khanate and the Khiva Khanate, destroying the above three Central Asian countries one after another. Then it invaded the Ili region on a large scale and tried to occupy Urumqi.

Tsarist Russia was conquering cities and territories in Central Asia, and the British were not idle either. After completely conquering the Indian subcontinent, the British then turned their attention to Tibet and southern Xinjiang to the north of the Karakoram Mountains.

The British and Indian authorities repeatedly sent people into southern Xinjiang for activities. Agubai was suspicious of Tsarist Russia and hoped to obtain British asylum.

As a result, the two sides hit it off immediately. On February 2, 1874, the British Mission of Francis signed a formal treaty with Agub. The British did business in Agub's ruling area, stationed an envoy and obtained many privileges.

The above circumstances indicate that

The ulcer in Xinjiang is getting bigger and bigger, posing a serious threat to the rule of the Qing court. If the ulcer cannot be removed, it will spread from Xinjiang to Tibet, Qinghai and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, which may lead to the complete destruction of the Qing rule.

.

In particular, the Russians' unsatisfactory desires aroused the Qing court's high vigilance. The Qing court ordered Jing Lian, Cheng Lu and others to lead the army to recover Urumqi and other places as soon as possible. Liu Mingchuan was ordered to lead the Huai army out of the customs, and Zuo Zongtang was ordered to "make appropriate arrangements".

Taking into account both.”

Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, was the main militant in the Qing court and had already been preparing for a possible war to regain Xinjiang. The emergency situation in Yili and Urumqi made him determined to open the road to Xinjiang in advance.

As early as January 1872, Xu Zhanbiao marched into Suzhou on the orders of Zuo Zongtang, opening the way to Xinjiang.

On November 13, 1873, the Qing army captured Suzhou, finally opening the way for the Qing government to send troops to Xinjiang.

In early 1874, Zuo Zongtang further dispatched Zhang Yao's "Songwu Army" to Yumen Pass, and sent Zhang Yao's troops to Hami to prepare for the invasion of Xinjiang.

many years ago

The Tang Empire had already granted the kerosene franchise to Shaanxi-Gansu, Huguang and other provinces, and through Hu Xueyan delivered benefits to the Hunan Army, amounting to 4.4 million taels of silver a year.

After six years of accumulation, the strength of Zuo Zongtang's troops has greatly increased. All the elite battalion leaders use smoothbore muskets, including many core elites equipped with Mini rifles, and their combat effectiveness is considerable.

But what troubled Zuo Zongtang's efforts to regain Xinjiang was the imperial court. The Manchu and Qing imperial courts had fierce political parties and serious internal strife.

The Qing court traditionally favored the "Fenghao old family" (mainly referring to Manchu dignitaries) in the appointment of frontier officials. It still could not fully trust Han Dynasty ministers like Zuo Zongtang, and was afraid that they would not be able to lose their positions.

so far

Those who supervised the military affairs of Xinjiang were still Jing Lian, Assistant Jin Shun, and Governor Zuo Zongtang of Shaanxi and Gansu were only responsible for transferring food and wages, and were not able to fully handle border affairs. Their power was also severely checked by Yuan Baoheng, and they were unable to exert their influence.

In addition, the imperial court had no food and money, and it was extremely difficult to pay the various provinces. It was impossible for Zuo Zongtang to make wedding clothes for others, so the matter was delayed.

This is the character of an agricultural country. Fighting a battle is like vomiting two liters of blood, which greatly damages one's vitality.

We have neither money nor food, and there is serious corruption and internal strife. It can be said that we are struggling every step of the way, which makes people anxious and angry.

The Manchu and Qing Dynasties could not learn from examples like the Tang Empire.

The Tang Empire produced too much grain, too many industrial products, and too many agricultural and animal husbandry products. However, it encountered an international economic crisis, which caused a sharp decline in exports.

This requires large-scale consumption of production capacity through war to ensure that factories are open, agricultural and animal husbandry products can be sold, and the overall economy maintains stable operation and does not fall into a quagmire of ups and downs.

Some people may question why the excess agricultural and animal husbandry products of the Tang Empire were not provided to the Qing Dynasty?

Starting from the end of 1874 in Shenzhou, a great famine spread throughout the country. Insect plagues, coupled with spring droughts and autumn floods, made the situation more and more serious.

This severe famine, which has almost swept most provinces across the country, will last for several years, causing tens of millions of people to be displaced and countless people dying in transit.

In fact it's not that simple

To say which power in the world the Manchus feared the most, it was undoubtedly the Tang Dynasty, headed by the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty guarded the Han Dynasty in everything and regarded it as a serious threat to their lives.

In the view of the Manchu and Qing court, Tsarist Russia wanted the northwest land, the British wanted profits, and the Tang Dynasty wanted the life of the Qing court!

If the Tang Dynasty supported tens of thousands of tons of grain, I am afraid that the rulers of the Qing court would not be able to sleep. They would rather the slaves under their rule starve to death than accept this kind offer.

(End of chapter)