Xinshun 1730

Chapter 86 Diplomatic Blackmail
The cough finally stopped under the pressure of a cup of black tea.

The old Earl Tolstoy thanked Liu Yu very aristocratically, and then said a few words to Duke Qi who was opposite him.

The translator stuck it to Qi Guogong's ear, and relayed the muttered words.

"It's really cold here in winter, and I occasionally feel the wind and cold along the way, and I can't stop coughing. Thank you for the tea. Tea is a very good drink, which is very suitable for driving away the severe cold in Selenginsk."

What he said was quite elegant, Qi Guogong smiled secretly, thinking that this old man is a good man, but saying these words may mean that there is no silver 300 taels here.

Your cough is obviously because Liu Shouchang's conditions have touched your sore spot.

But this old man is an opponent, he can think of a way to deal with it while coughing, so as not to be seen as gaffe.

It's just that you are old and unable to recover.

Qi Guogong sees it through and doesn't say it through, thinking that since this is the case, it seems that the initiative of this negotiation is in our hands.

Need to add a fire is.

So Qi Guogong, who had never spoken much, also took the initiative to greet him.

"Since the earl is suffering from the cold, why don't we talk about it after a few days' rest. Come and send some tea to the Raksha Mission. If there are medicines such as Chuanbei Pipa Gao, take some together."

After the translation, the old Count Tolstoy expressed his thanks, and shook his head as he thought it was okay, and the conversation could continue.

Duke Qi nodded, thanked him in return, and continued to drink tea leisurely.

In just a short moment of confrontation, he has tested the attitude of Luocha: the Luocha people are in a hurry now, and they are in a hurry to talk;

Glancing quietly at Liu Yu, with the cover of the table, he watched Liu Yu's hand make a "no hurry" gesture underneath.

Knowing this, Duke Qi yawned and continued to be lazy, drinking tea with his eyes squinted.

The conditions on the table were there, and the old Count Tolstoy's hands trembled a little, and he quietly hid under the table.

The old hands were covered with blue and purple blood vessels, as if the mud flowing from the permafrost of Siberia in spring was flowing inside, devouring the last hope of life.

Looking at the sky-high asking price submitted by Liu Yu, he was full of despair.

It was not the vertical line drawn from the Lena to Lake Baikal that alarmed him; nor the line of latitude drawn westward from the mouth of the Selenga.

These are all things that demand a lot of money, and the first drafts are all for overturning, so it doesn't matter.

The first draft drew the line to the Lena River, which means that the bottom line of Dashun is at least thousands of miles away from the Lena River.

What really terrified him were the three inconspicuous conditions sandwiched inside.

One: The Russian state must not interfere in Poland's internal affairs, and must not support the hereditary kingship of Poland.After the death of the Polish king, the Polish monarchy system should be supported.If not, Dashun will send troops to support that the Polish throne should not be controlled by Russia.

Second: Russia should give up its claims on the mouth of the Don River and Crimea.If there is another war with the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tatars due to this, Dashun will send troops to support it.

Third: The tribes of Oirat Mongolia who moved westward to the Volga River should have the right to go back to the snow-capped mountains for pilgrimage, and the Russian state must not obstruct it.The Oirat Mongolian tribes on the Volga River should not submit to Russia, and Russia should allow it to send envoys back to the Mongolian plateau to participate in the formulation of new Mongolian law codes.Since then, the Mongolian Oala Department will no longer provide soldiers and tribute to Russia.

The first drafts are all nonsense, they are all conditions that can be discarded, and they are all bargaining chips in exchange for tangible benefits.

It is precisely because of this that these three are terrible.

The old Count Tolstoy saw from these three items that this ancient Eastern Empire was not as closed as he imagined.Nor is he ignorant of the outside world as he imagined.

They have learned how to take advantage of the international situation, maneuvering and cooperating.

Or, simply awaken the memory of its ancestors 2000 years ago from their blood.

And this, for Russia, which has made enemies on all sides, will be a geopolitical disaster.

Of course, Dashun couldn't reach Moscow.

Dashun certainly didn't care about Poland and Crimea.

Even the Earl doubted whether there was anyone in Dashun who could speak Turkic and Polish.

But Dashun has expressed his attitude: We are not ignorant of things in the West.

Russia can never face a third-front war. If we can't get back what we want this time, then when the Polish throne and Crimea go to war, we will get it back.

Whether Dashun really formed an alliance with France and Ottomans is not important.

As a diplomat and head of the secret police in Peter's era, the old Tolstoy knew that geopolitics determined that these three countries could become natural allies without any covenant and common enemies.

This attitude was used by Dashun as a bargaining chip in front of Russia, and Russia had to make a choice.

The incident on the banks of the Heilongjiang River has proved that at least in the direction of Lake Baikal, if Dashun is willing, it is possible to organize a field force of [-] people.

Field troops with a scale of [-] people are not worth mentioning in Moscow, in Ukraine, in the Baltic Sea or even in the Black Sea.

But in Siberia, where the projection of troops is almost at its limit, it would be a disaster for Russia.

Russia now does not have the financial resources to organize a regular field force of 5000 men in the East.

Without the support of regular legions and artillery, the Cossacks were simply unable to fight a field battle with the army of a normal country.Cossacks are good at expanding and nibbling, and they are also natural hussars, but because of discipline issues, they are not qualified field troops.

Dashun has already proved that those bastions with 500 men stationed can suppress more than [-] tribesmen, but they are not reliable in front of Dashun's field troops.

Regular bastions of the Dutch style are effective, but Russia cannot afford to build them on the frontier.

Peter's reforms reduced the average height of Russian students by four centimeters in a few decades. Under the military system, even growing a beard and taking a hot bath were taxed.A high-end bastion requires enough silver for Russia to build another battleship.Throw a battleship that can gain sea dominance in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea to the Siberian border as a fortress?
High-end bastions cannot be repaired, low-end ones can stop nomads, but cannot stop Dashun with cannons and civil engineering skills.

Dashun's infantry tactics are not high, and the overall level of the 30-year war is still a mixture of hot and cold.But artillery, not bad.There are a lot of them, and there is enough money and manpower to transport them to the Mongolian plateau.

Those officials involved in demarcation knew at least trigonometry and latitude and longitude.An artilleryman who knows trigonometry will not be far behind.

Judging from the news feedback from the front line, Dashun's heavy infantry is not bad, although in this era of removing armor and pursuing the mobility of formations, this is backward, wrong, and moving against the times.

But it is very effective for small-scale offensive and defensive battles of inferior bastions.

The analysis of the battle situation on the front line by the old earl and the important ministers in the court is basically the same: a 30-year war-level cold and hot mixed regiment infantry, powerful hand-to-hand elite heavy infantry, a large number of artillery with slightly lower quality, and excellent fort siege capabilities And strange aerial reconnaissance techniques, logistical and financial capabilities that make Russia envious.

Long-term delay is not good for Russia.Need to negotiate quickly.

Before the old earl came, Russia's bottom line was Heilongjiang, and it was appropriate to make concessions on the issue of the Shilka River.

But now, these seemingly pure blackmail conditions made the bottom line he set before coming here completely meaningless.

White sails sail across the sea, broken worlds are linked together, and diplomacy is no longer a matter between two countries.

Dashun understands when Russia will be vulnerable.Things that cannot be taken back now will naturally be taken back when vulnerable.

Big deal, let's not talk about it, Darth Vidania.When you go to war with Turkey, stab Lake Baikal in the back, what can you do to me?
If you are brave, you can take a gamble.

Betting on Dashun actually has no intention of continuing the fight, it's just diplomatic blackmail.

The old earl was also a gambler. He won the bet when he was young, but he lost the bet this time to help Elizabeth ascend the throne when he was old. After all, he lost his courage.

He put on his glasses, and he could see ten lines at a glance, but he read the conditions carefully with an old feeling, and quickly thought about the countermeasures in his mind.

After half an hour, the old earl finally spoke.

"Your country's conditions are unreasonable. Isn't it possible to distinguish who belongs to the land of the two countries by reasoning? Your country's conditions are completely unreasonable."

Hearing this, Liu Yu thought to himself that when you were young, you were also a diplomat in western European countries who talked and laughed. I can't speak for you when you talk about reasoning and Grotius's set of international laws.I have never learned many proper nouns.

"No reasoning today."

"Arguing, that's what historians will do in the future. What we have to do is just sign a treaty. The merits and demerits will be left to future generations."

Now that he was not going to reason, Liu Yu's tone became sharper.

"If reasoning is useful, Constantiniya should still be called Constantinople at this time. If you reason with me now, then Perm, Ryazan, Siberia, and Kazan, which were annexed by you, will go to the same Who is reasonable?"

"Besides, I've already explained the truth to your Earl Savoy. If you can gather an army of 1 people to go to Heilongjiang, then naturally I won't sit here and talk to you today. Since you can't, then What's the use of saying this?"

"This is our request. I hope to see your response as soon as possible to prove your sincerity. Winter is coming soon, the bastion lacks vegetables, and the city has been besieged for a long time. Scurvy will also kill those Cossacks." It is not realistic to send troops here from Europa, I hope you will consider it carefully."

"If Peter can fight a protracted war with Sweden for the estuary, Hua Xiazi is also willing to fight a protracted war for Sushen's hometown. I have a vast land and abundant resources, at least I don't need to melt all the temple bells to make cannons."

"Flintlocks, field guns, these can be solved with silver and gold. It just so happens that we don't lack money, and the French, British, and Dutch don't lack ships that can reach Southeast Asia."

"Within three days, I need to see your response."

Abandoning the negotiating request that the other party could not accept, Liu Yu acted as if he would not talk about it, holding the initiative. Even though he is the one who most hopes to end the negotiation quickly, he has to act aggressively .

The old earl was helpless by the "richness" tricked by Liu Yu.

This is not the time to covet riches, but the time to fear them.

With money, you can really do whatever you want.

three days later.

The old Count Tolstoy came up with Russia's conditions: Heilongjiang as the boundary.

Liu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and directly offered such a condition when he came up, which meant that the other party could make more concessions.As for himself, he had already reached the emperor's bottom line.

Therefore, instead of accepting it, he continued to deny the condition with a persuasive tone.

six days later.

Russia let go again.

Fifty versts to the north of Heilongjiang.As the source of Heilongjiang, the Ergun River also falls under the above conditions.

Liu Yu still did not let go, but in order to show sincerity, the vertical line originally drawn along the Lena River was drawn horizontally along the latitude line to the east.

Twenty days later, news came again from the Eastern Front.

Russia's last bastion in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang failed to break through.

The [-] reinforcements who arrived from Yakutsk, and the [-] North Korean musketeers, [-] government soldiers, some elite naval forces, and some elite Beijing camps and local tributary tribes who besieged the city there had the largest battle since the beginning of the war. field battle.

The Russian army lost [-], the defenders failed to break through, and surrendered.The casualties on Dashun's side were roughly equal.

This proves the judgment of the old earl and others: Without the advantage of field artillery, Dashun's thick phalanx with mixed cold and hot can at least remain undefeated against the Cossacks.

On the Eastern European plains, in a battle of 5 people, the Dashun Army's low mobility, heavy, thick, easy to be shelled, and easy to appear out of touch and reveal weaknesses will lead to a major defeat.

However, this kind of small battle with a scale of more than a thousand people does not have a big disadvantage, which can be compensated by the number of people and the number of artillery.

A fortress on the Shilika River was still besieged by the Dashun army, and there was no siege. A large number of local tribes chose to side with Dashun, which seemed to be able to win this time.The harsh winter is coming soon, and within three months of such weather, the besieged fortress will lose most of its combat effectiveness due to scurvy.

When the news came, the Russians took another step back.

Perhaps inspired by Liu Yu's direct delineation of latitude lines, the Russians retreated to Liu Yu's original idea.It is bounded fifty miles north of the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, and connects to the upper reaches of Heilongjiang to the west along this latitude line.

In return and sincerity, Liu Yu crossed out the Crimea issue with a pen, saying that he had just heard about the crime of the Crimean Tatars plundering Russians as white slaves.

Given that Dashun legally banned slaves and lowly people, he was extremely shocked by the news, so he decided not to support the Crimean Tatars.He also said that he would send envoys to Crimea to educate the Tatars and reason with them. It is a bad behavior to arrest people as slaves.

By the way, I sent some Lama from the capital to "drop in" to the Turghut Ministry to offer condolences.

(End of this chapter)