Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Mother, this icy and snowy place is really froze to death. After this change of defense, whoever will let me come to Beishan next time, I will beat him to the bastard first, no matter whether the official is big or small..."

On the second day of February, when farming has started in the north, there is still a vast expanse of whiteness to the north of Beishan, which is thousands of miles north of Hetao.

In this white forest, there was also a voice of cursing.

"Stop scolding, and don't attract the Rakshasa ghost across the river."

When a Ming soldier took off his trousers to urinate, another cavalry guard reminded him.

"What are you afraid of? If the Rakshasa ghost dares to come, I'll blow its sky spirit cover away with two shots!"

The peeing soldier was clamoring, but even so, he fastened his belt obediently, got on his horse, and continued to patrol with his comrades.

This is the Eastern Siberia area in the northern part of Beishan. Since the tenth year of the apocalypse, the Ming army has stationed hundreds of soldiers in this place.

In the 11th year of Tianqi, the number of soldiers in this place was increased to 31, a whole battalion of soldiers and horses.

They were stationed east of the Lena River, guarding against the Rakshasa ghosts west of the river.

In Eastern Siberia, which is below zero for seven months of the year, except for some valleys that can be cultivated, the rest of the land is as hard as iron and difficult to develop.

Therefore, every June, Beishan Province organizes thousands of ships to deliver supplies to the local Ming army.

This era has no borders, but some unspoken rules still exist.

For example, the territory of Tsarist Russia and Daming is divided by the Lena River, the east of the river belongs to Daming, and the west of the river belongs to Tsarist Russia. Since the contact between the two sides in the 12th year of Tianqi, there has not been a major war.

Tsarist Russia was unable to advance eastward, while the Ming army had no time to advance westward.

In the 12th year of the apocalypse, the Ming army was cleaning up the Houjin, and in the 13th year of the apocalypse, it was busy fighting drought again.

Since Mobei has not been captured, the Ming army's westward attack means that it will stretch thousands of miles of supply lines, which is difficult to supply with the strength of Beishan Province.

However, as the Ming army captured the Mobei region, the eastern side of Lake Baikal was included in the territory, and Modong Province could also rely on the Aldan River, one of the sources of the Lena River, to transport supplies to the Ming Army Stone Fort along the Lena River. .

The watershed of the Lena River is very strange, it is very suitable for migration from west to east, but the Ming army who has mastered its source can also transport some supplies to the north from the source in the northern mountains of the Fishing Sea, especially the Aldan River part.

Along the Aldan River section, the Ming army could easily enter the middle reaches of the tens of feet wide, and they could go west to enter another large tributary.

This tributary is called the Vilyuy River, and its source is close to the Tuguska River, a tributary of the Yenisei River.

This is a convenient passage from the Yenisei River Basin in the Central Siberian Plateau to the Lena River Basin in East Siberia. The Tsarist Russian expedition relied on it to move eastward from here.

Compared with the Ob River and the Yenisei River, the Lena River is also large in scale, with a length of about 230 miles and a drainage area of ​​[-] million square kilometers.

It empties into the sea on the North Siberian Plain, forming one of the largest deltas in the world.

However, these were not of much use to the Beihai Battalion stationed in the east of the Lena River. Being in the Lena River, they only felt cold, remote and lonely.

In such a huge territory, there are only tens of thousands of Lubu people living here, and since Daming brought this place into the territory, the people of Lubu began to migrate one after another. No one wants to stay in this icy and snowy land.

Many times, many Ming soldiers complained that this place was useless because of the ice and snow.

In this regard, the generals who lead troops to switch defenses here can only remain silent, because they feel the same way.

Apart from wood and furs, they couldn't think of anything good enough to merit a court garrison here.

Like these two Ming soldiers, they inspected their inspection area according to the rules, and then rode back to the Changshan Fort where their troops were stationed.

Changshan Fort is located in the middle of the Lena River. The Ming army stationed here reached a post, that is, a total of 540 five people, and this is also the stone fort where the Ming army has the most soldiers and horses north of Beishan.

The reason why so many soldiers and horses are stationed here is also because this area is not peaceful.

"The Raksha ghosts in Hexi have started cooking, and there is smoke from cooking."

When a young voice sounded from the top of Changshan Fort, the handsome Wu Sangui also put down the binoculars in his hand.

In February, the cold wind in East Siberia seemed to blow off people's ears. Wu Sangui felt nothing on his cheeks, but he didn't feel any pain in his heart.

He applied for the transfer to the north of Beishan, and the reason is very simple, that is, he was sure that there would be no war in the Eastern Army's governor's mansion for a long time.

As a military commander, Wu Sangui doesn't just want to be an ordinary soldier, he wants to be a noble, an earl, a marquis, a duke!
If you want to win a title, you have to show military merits, and the only place where the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion can still have military merits is the area north of Beishan.

Wu Sangui once saw this picture of "The General Map of Kunyu in the Great Ming Dynasty" in Sun Yingyuan's study in the Laizhou Eastern Army Governor's Mansion.

He remembered the contents of the map very clearly, so he also understood that His Royal Highness King Qi would not let the Raksha ghosts in the north become the new northern troubles of the Ming Dynasty.

That being the case, it is only natural to use troops against Rakshasa.

With the Apocalypse [-]-style rifle, Wu Sangui was confident that he could lead a battalion of soldiers and horses to defeat the Luocha Kingdom, so he applied to be transferred to this bitter cold place.

It is now the second year of his transfer, and his term is only three years.

If King Qi doesn't order another attack on Rakshasa within two years, his military achievements will be lost.

"If you don't fight, then I will fight myself!"

Looking at the smoke from the kitchen on the other side of the Lena River, Wu Sangui narrowed his eyes...

"Woooo-"

"Eastern Army Commander's Mansion eight hundred miles to hurry up!"

On February 11th, the No. [-] day after Wu Sangui whispered, when Zhu Youjian arrived in Xining Mansion, Hexi, and just got off the train.

At the same time, he also received an urgent request of [-] miles from the Governor's Mansion of the Eastern Army.

[On the second day of February in Jiashen, Luocha soldiers crossed the river to attack and harass. Fortunately, Tang Qi bravely defeated the invading enemy. 】

[Gui begged the governor to order the dispatch of troops and return the northern land to make the people of Lubu happy. 】

"The Raksha Kingdom took the initiative to harass our army?"

In the train station, Zhu Youjian walked towards the carriage outside the station, muttering to himself, frowning.

"What's the matter, Your Highness?"

Man Gui, who followed the team all the way from Ningxia to Xining, inquired curiously, and Zhu Youjian also showed Man Gui the military newspaper of the Eastern Army Governor's Mansion.

The two got into a carriage, and Zhou Sujie, escorted by Jin Yiwei, took the four cubs into the carriage behind.

Since it is already dusk, the visit to the lives of the people can only be carried out tomorrow.

After Zhu Youjian and the others got into the car and sat down, more than a hundred Jinyi Weiti rode to clear the way, and the convoy drove towards Xining City.

After getting in the car, Man Gui roughly read the urgent content. Facing such content, he couldn't help laughing and said:
"It takes eight hundred miles to rush for such a trivial matter?"

"That's for you..." Zhu Youjian teased him with a chuckle, and Man Gui also scratched his beard.

The Northern Army Governor's Mansion and the Western Army Governor's Mansion are the places where the most frequent fighting is at the moment. The Northern Army Governor's Mansion is mainly to clean up the thieves, local bandits and horse bandits entrenched between Hami and Jiayuguan, as well as some herdsmen who were surrendered and fled eastward.

Ever since the Heshuo Te tribe entered Daming and was accepted, and each household got [-] mu of grassland, many herdsmen in the Western Regions have gone crazy.

Under Jin Yiwei's deliberate dissemination, many herdsmen from the Yarkand and Turpan Khanates continued to flee eastward. To deal with them, Daming also resettled them in Duogan, and distributed grassland according to [-] mu per household.

Right now, the local grasslands in Daming are more than [-] billion mu. Although nearly [-]% of the grasslands are fragile and far inferior to the high-quality grasslands like Hulun Buir, there is still no problem in relocating hundreds of thousands of herdsmen.

Therefore, the more chaotic the situation in the Western Regions, the easier it is for Daming to fish in troubled waters.

As long as there are enough herdsmen fleeing east and the number of Mongols in the Western Regions is small enough, then Daming can use less capital to obtain the maximum benefit.

Right now, there are still 60 million people in the Western Regions, which is enough to feed [-] troops.

Although compared with the 10,000+10,000+ troops sent by the Ming Dynasty, this number of troops is not enough, but to deal with them, no less than [-] cavalry troops must be mobilized.

Zhu Youjian never found it difficult to regain the Western Regions, and it can even be said to be very simple.

The reason why the Qing Dynasty fought so hard was mainly because of geography, climate and the strength of Junggar.

Zhu Youjian was fully prepared for these three points.

First of all, the Western Regions had their own advantages. The reason why it was difficult for the Qing army to conquer Junggar was that they were relatively unfamiliar with the Western Regions, and their military capabilities were limited to a certain extent.

Restricted by geographical location, the Qing army could easily fall into an ambush, or could not find the enemy for a long time.

The longer the military operation is delayed, the morale of the army will be exhausted and the combat effectiveness will decline.

But there is no need for Zhu Youjian to worry about this at all, because he has subdued the Heshuote Mongols, and as long as each team of soldiers and horses is sent a Heshuote Mongol as a guide, the Ming army is no more familiar with the Western Regions than the native Mongols in the Western Regions Difference.

As for the climate in the Western Regions, it was also a major test for the Qing army.

Located in the inland Western Regions, there is a large temperature difference between day and night. The Qing army from the Central Plains did not fully adapt to this problem like the army of the Junggar Khanate.

In addition, there are many Gobi and deserts in the Western Regions, and the distribution of oases must be understood and mastered.

Once the water is scarce, the war will be threatened with extinction.

In addition to these, what is even more frightening is the threat of sandstorms.

The sandstorm in the Taklimakan Desert is enough to wipe out an entire army.

Even if the sandstorm did not disturb the army, as the battle line lengthened, once the sandstorm affected the supply troops, the front would also face the threat of food shortage.

However, this is not a problem for Zhu Youjian, because the army supplies he needs to guarantee are not too much, and the Ming army is not troubled by the small Ling clan, and can use the resources of the whole country by means of trains.

As for the last point, the situation faced by the Ming and Qing countries is also very different.

Even if the Ming army did not have rifles, it would be difficult to resist the Ming army with the still divided Western Regions.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian has already learned about the situation in the Western Regions through the Heshuote Mongols.

Right now, the Yarkand Khanate has less than [-] cavalry, the Turpan Khanate has less than [-] cavalry, and Junggar in the north has only a little over [-] cavalry.

The only big force is Lin Danhan who brought the population into the Western Regions. Counting his population, the population of the Western Regions is estimated to be around 70 million.

That is to say, as long as Lin Danhan is defeated, the remaining three forces are the meat on the sticky board, whichever piece you want to cut.

Take the Western Regions first, and then use the river to go north to deal with Tsarist Russia. This is the lowest cost method that Zhu Youjian can think of to implement.

However, if you want to regain the Western Regions, the train must first be repaired to Jiayuguan, so Zhu Youjian still has two years to wait.

But the problem has arisen now, that is, Tsarist Russia in the north took the initiative to "provoke", so will Zhu Youjian clean up or not?

"Guochao is powerful, and the second voyage to the Western Seas has made Western European countries understand the power of Guochao."

"Although the Raksha Kingdom is located in the north, it is unlikely that they have not heard of the strength of the Kingdom Dynasty. It is very strange that they will take the initiative to attack..."

Zhu Youjian in the carriage analyzed calmly, but Man Gui didn't think so much, but smiled directly:

"Your Highness, anyway, the strength of the Raksha Kingdom in the north is not enough, so let that kid Wu Sangui lead troops across the Lena River to deal with these Raksha ghosts. It is best to fight the territory to the glacier (Yenisei River)."

Man Gui's words are not unreasonable. In fact, Zhu Youjian didn't pay attention to Tsarist Russia. All he considered was the cost issue.

Therefore, he raised his hand and took a world map from the bookshelf, spread it out, pointed to the north and said:

"Currently, the Beihai Battalion under Wu Sangui has a battalion of soldiers and horses stationed east of the Lena River. The whole battalion is equipped with rifles and horses. The whole battalion is horse infantry."

"Although the Europeans are not good at guns, their castle construction skills are not bad. If you want to attack them, you can only pass the siege."

"Can't you adjust the artillery?" Man Gui asked puzzledly, but Zhu Youjian explained to him the climate and conditions in Siberia.

When Man Gui heard that this place was covered with heavy snow for nearly seven months all year round, he also knew that it was probably impossible to use artillery.

It doesn't mean that the army's Yanshan ten-jin cannon weighs five hundred catties alone, and the muddy roads in the local area must not be able to walk.

Therefore, if you want to fight Tsarist Russia, you can only use siege tactics, but it is easy for the Ming army to siege the city.

In terms of the equipment and military quality of the Ming army, a hundred Ming troops can completely defeat a thousand Tsarist Russian troops.

At present, the number of Tsarist Russia's troops east of the Ural Mountains is only 4000. It is easy for the Ming army to deal with them. The only thing to pay attention to is the issue of supplies.

Since Siberia is only in the thawing period from May to September every year, the Ming army needs to attack and besiege the city in the first month, besiege all the castles of Tsarist Russia east of the Yenisei River, and then garrison Yenisei. Block the river and cut off the connection between the two sides.

Of course, with the strength of the Ming army, it can continue to advance westward, even to the Ural Mountains.

But the problem is that it is easy to fight in the past, but the supply becomes a problem.

The four provinces outside the customs are not self-sufficient now, so Zhu Youjian can only put short-term strategic goals on the Yenisei River.

Take the Yenisei River, and at the same time destroy or annex the Briyaxi on the west side of Lake Baikal and the Zasaktu tribe in the west of Mobei, let the Ming army use the Yenisei River and Jinshan as the boundary, and wait for the Jiayuguan Railway to repair Pass.

According to the information from Beizhen Fusi, Tsarist Russia has seven bastions east of the Yenisei River, with about 500 troops stationed there.

Judging from the situation of Wu Sangui's Beihai camp, only 700 soldiers need to be left as heavy troops to cooperate with the Jurchens of the local envoy's deer department to transport supplies, and then 2000 people will surround the seven bastions, and the remaining [-] people will drink horses from the Yenisei River According to the enemy is enough.

Zhu Youjian couldn't remember the distance from Changshan Fort to the Yenisei River, but it should not exceed three thousand miles.

In the case of carrying a full month's luggage, the rear will probably need to exclude [-] civilians to deliver supplies, and equip three poor horses.

One horse rides and two horses transport supplies, that is, at least 3000 poor horses need to be mobilized to transport at least [-] people with food for six months.

Counting the loss on the road, it will cost about [-] shi.

"The price is not too high. If you transport food from Yingzhou to Nu'ergan..."

Zhu Youjian murmured, and then said to Lu Yuangao who had not spoken since they got into the car:
"Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch in the palm of the imperial horse supervisor, dispatched [-] poor horses to Nu'er Gancheng, and then ordered Beishan General Soldier Guo Sangdai to recruit [-] civilian husbands."

"Wu Sangui is the commander-in-chief of Lingbei, leading the Beihai camp, and the [-] civilians in Beishan. They will go to the east of Yinma Binghe in June this year."

"I then ordered Yang Wenyue, the chief envoy of Yingzhou, to raise [-] shi of military rations and transport them to Nuergan City, and [-] civilians and [-] horses will go out with the Beihai camp."

"The lowly post takes orders!" Hearing that Zhu Youjian was going to mobilize troops, Lu Yuangao became a little more energetic, and Man Gui also said after hearing the words:

"Your Highness, troops are mobilizing in the north, so our northern army..."

Man Gui's eyes were full of fighting spirit, and Zhu Youjian also laughed when he heard the words:
"Since the northern part of the Lingbei is drinking the horse ice river, then the southern part should be carved with stone and gold mountains."

"However, don't just focus on fighting, first order people to try to surrender, if the surrender fails, then fight again."

"The last general takes orders!" Man Gui hurriedly bowed, and at this time the carriage also arrived at the gate of the government office in Xining City.

Zhu Youjian and Man Gui got out of the car one after another. As soon as they got out of the car, they heard the sound of drums from the Bell and Drum Tower of Xining City.

Morning bells and evening drums, when the evening drums are finished, Xining City will enter a curfew.

Regarding the curfew, Zhu Youjian was also very helpless.

Why doesn't he yearn for the night market?But living in this era, if you want to lift the curfew, you need to face the increase in governance costs.

Since Zhu Youjian had learned that many watchmen themselves were thieves in ancient times, the profession of watchman was abolished after the regularization of the Ministry of Punishment and the Military Division.

The night patrol in the city is basically maintained by soldiers, horses and yamen servants, but the number of people is often between 100 and thousands.

For cities like Ningxia and Xining with a population of about 10,000+, the number of soldiers and servants who watch the night is about 200, but a big city like the capital needs more than 3000 people.

Since such planning, the incidents of people being stolen at night have been greatly reduced, but Daming also has to maintain a night patrol team of 10,000+ for this purpose, investing more than 300 million taels every year.

The curfew still needs so many people, once the curfew is lifted, how many people are needed for night patrol?
In this era without street lights and surveillance, curfews can guarantee the safety of most people.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

It was completely dark that day, and the last drum was beaten, and Zhu Youjian also washed everything, and lay quietly in the Babu bed.

Without being entangled in government affairs, his mind and body relaxed a lot, and Zhou Sujie took care of the children. For a while, Zhu Youjian seemed to feel that he had returned to the time when he first came to this world 17 years ago.

When he was immersed in the past, gradually, the sound of even breathing also indicated that he had fallen into a deep sleep.

While he was sleeping soundly, the window of an inn in Hangzhou was also pushed open.

"This Hangzhou city, even under the curfew, is still so lively..."

With his hands propped against the window and his hair loose, Zhu Ciran, who was waiting for his hair to dry, looked into the distance.

In the dark night, Hangzhou appeared in front of Zhu Ciran in a "nightless" way.

Although the curfew kept many people out of the streets, people and officials in Hangzhou had long since found loopholes.

Not being able to go to the streets doesn't mean you can't play.

As long as they don't exceed the number stipulated by the court, it doesn't matter how they play.

People lit candles and opened windows, sitting in their houses and yards and playing various games, while some dignitaries lived in some high towers and attics in Hangzhou City.

The street is dark and blind, but the houses are brightly lit and noisy...

Such a scene is rarely seen in Daming.

After a while of evening wind, Zhu Ciran's hair was also dried, and at this time Liu Shun also came to the window with wet hair.

In order not to attract attention, Zhu Ciran changed transportation in front of the capital, replacing a four-wheeled vehicle with a two-wheeled bicycle.

He and Liu Shun lived in a room to avoid any accidents.

"Your Highness, the scale of Hangzhou City seems to be more than 60 people..."

Liu Shun looked at the "brightly lit" houses and small courtyards everywhere, meaning something.

Zhu Ciran naturally knew what he wanted to say, but since entering Zhejiang, his whole body has been numb.

After my uncle's New Deal, the imperial court still had difficulty controlling Jiangnan, so one can imagine what Jiangnan would look like in the years of Longqing and Wanli.

"Hangzhou Fuzhi" said that "Hangzhou City is surrounded by forty miles, and there are millions of people living there."

In terms of population, this is certainly an exaggeration, but it also indirectly shows how big Hangzhou's population is.

As far as the market towns stretching out for more than ten miles before Zhu Ciran and the others entered Hangzhou today, the population of the peripheral towns of Hangzhou alone may be as high as 20 to [-].

"It's too late today, how about Hangzhou City, we can only know after you and I have visited."

"However, judging along the way, the population of Hangzhou, a prefecture, is probably no less than 200 million."

Zhu Ciran murmured and said his answer, and Liu Shun nodded in approval.

After they came out of Jinhua Mansion, they saw more people on the country road along the way.

At the border of Shaoxing Prefecture, they could even meet people who rode bicycles from one county to another, as well as a convoy of more than a dozen people.

There are people everywhere on this road. Compared with the southwest, the population density is like a sky and an underground.

If Shaoxing Prefecture can only be said to be crowded, then when they arrived at the boundary of Hangzhou Prefecture, the township roads were rarely blocked.

They could only follow the congested team and wasted more than two hours on the country road, which is why they arrived in Hangzhou late.

Judging from these circumstances, Zhejiang's population problem is already a matter on paper, and there is only one full stop to give a complete answer.

For this full stop, Zhu Ciran placed it in Hangzhou, Huzhou, and Jiaxing, the three most affluent counties in Zhejiang, and believed that they would give Zhu Ciran a perfect full stop.

"Sleep, get up early tomorrow and take a stroll around Hangzhou City..."

Zhu Ciran turned to leave, Liu Shun also left behind the "brightly lit" Hangzhou when he heard the words, and raised his hand to close the window with a few clicks of his tongue.

Afternoon update around six o'clock