my days with tyrants

"This is the hero!"

Ambassador Yang couldn't help but sigh with emotion at the result of this conflict.

Of course, this is already two months later.

The distance is too far, even if the post road relay, the transmission of news can only be maintained at a speed of four to five hundred miles per day, and the post roads in the Western Regions can only form a relay in theory, but in fact there are still many places that are too harsh due to natural conditions. It is impossible to maintain the normal station distance.

For example, the [-]-kilometer no-man's land between Xingxing Gorge and Hami.

Such a place can only stretch the distance.

Build wells where they can be dug.

From Talas all the way to the east, there are many similar situations along the entire post road.

In places like these, there is no way to do express delivery within five hundred miles. You can only let the courier ride as long as possible.

And in case of sandstorms and the like, it might take longer.

And there is no good solution, only to accept this helpless reality.

Although the experiment of signal towers has been started now, and the banking system has also developed several lines, don’t expect to go to the Western Regions. There is a distance limit between this kind of signal towers, which is shorter than the distance between post stations. In an environment where even the station cannot maintain a normal distance, the signal tower is even more impossible.In fact, even the signal towers in the mainland of Ming Dynasty can only be maintained in some densely populated provinces. This thing needs to be watched by people on duty. For example, in mountainous areas, it even needs to be stationed on the top of the mountain alone for a long time.

In addition, it is also subject to great restrictions in foggy and rainy provinces.

After all, it is something to see with the eyes, no matter how good the telescope is, it can't pass through the rain and fog!

Moreover, the messages that can be transmitted are limited and must be as short as possible, so it is the post station that can really transmit a large amount of information.

It just needs to be reformed into a real postal delivery system.

In short, it is very difficult to truly solve the problem of information transmission in this era. The only feasible way is to work hard to create a telegraph. However, it is also difficult for wired telegraphs to be popularized in the Western Regions. Even in the Mainland, we have to guard against it. Stolen and cut wires!

Well, it has real copper.

At present, the most is to create a central city in a large area, and then place as many women as possible.

Give them wrist watches.

But considering this thing can't be charged, it should only be used in extreme emergencies.

The real solution is to make your own radio.

"If he didn't even have this kind of forbearance, he wouldn't become the overlord of the entire Western Regions. Before he defeated Bayezid, he wouldn't turn his back on Da Ming. He still had to rely on trading with Da Ming to get what he wanted. What about the ammunition, and even if he defeated Bayezid, he might not dare to turn against Daming. Originally, he might not really want to attack Daming in history.

Maybe it's just a false way to destroy Guo, just wanting to destroy Dongchahetai. "

Sister Liu said.

This is quite possible.

No matter how you count Timur's plan to conquer Ming Dynasty, it seems like a brain twitch.

Because the supply capacity of this era can't sustain an expedition of his level at all, even if his 80 is a bragging, he can still gather a 20-level expeditionary army, and he mobilized 12 for the decisive battle with Bayezid , From the last time to the end, he mobilized close to 15 troops.However, he had stable supplies along the way to Ankara, and there were cities on the Persian plateau, which could ensure that his 12 army would not be lacking.

But who will supply him during the Eastern Expedition?

The whole of southern Xinjiang is nothing more than a series of small cities that are far away, and the large cities have a population of only tens of thousands, and they can provide very little surplus food.

Why did he bloodbath Kashgar last time?

Isn't it because there is not enough supplies to allow his tens of thousands of troops to return?

But it is also impossible to force Kashgar to donate, because his demand is too great, and the latter cannot satisfy his demand unless he starves to death and gives him everything he can eat.

Can only grab.

Killing all the people and taking away all the food and livestock is enough to maintain him walking back to the river.

But he has a place to rob in southern Xinjiang, how can he rob from Turpan to the east?

Even if he slaughtered all the living things in Hami, including the living people, for military rations, there was still not enough for the 20 army to walk out of the [-]-kilometer no-man's land, where there was no food to drink, not even water.

The same goes for going south.

Because the South Road passes through Lop Nur.

Even if he brought livestock, his livestock would all starve to death in the process of passing through these uninhabited lands for hundreds of kilometers, and then he walked out of Xingxing Gorge with such an army that was probably almost starved to death. He bumped into Jiayuguan, but if the Ming army held on for a day or two, he would have to eat people.The key to the expedition is not the combat effectiveness of the army, but the supplies. The success of Yang Feng and Zhu Di lies in the fact that they only have a small number of people, and the number of camels and horses they bring is almost three times the number.

And also robbed herdsmen all the way.

As for the march that swept across southern Xinjiang, Yang Feng's real subordinates were only a few thousand people, and the rest were servants who brought their own dry food.

And more importantly, Yang Feng can guarantee that every time he arrives in a city, he will basically go all out, so he will not be stuck outside the city without food.

Of course, the main reason is that he did the same thing as Timur, and he continued to reduce the number of cities along the way. When people die, they will naturally have surplus food.

I greatly appreciate it.

Timur would not be ignorant of this.

His tribute envoys or caravans have been traveling back and forth along this line.

What doesn't he know?

He should be playing tricks to annihilate Guo.

Coaxing Kugeda, Dongchahetai Khan and others into thinking that his purpose is really Daming, and at the same time coaxing his subordinates who have their own ghosts, drawing a big cake for them, and then leading them into the southern border, taking the opportunity to destroy Hudaida and Dongchahetai Khan.In this way, he will complete the unification of the Western Regions, and he can even use this as a springboard to go north to conquer the Mongolian Plateau. At least the Oirat tribes are within his ability. Hami has stored enough supplies to support a powerful army going eastward.

This is justified.

But he still lost to God's will in the end.

And as soon as he died, the Timur Empire fell apart immediately, and declined rapidly in the cannibalism, and even his son ran to hold Zhu Di's feet instead.

This hero will never rest in peace!
As for now...

"Let the princess give him a map of West Asia and Europe.

But he has to trade cattle and horses.

He bloodbathed Delhi, killed tens of 10 people, and robbed so many horses, cattle and sheep, at least he had to show some respect to Ming Dynasty, and said that the Queen Mother heard that there were some rare birds and animals, such as rhinos, white tigers, and small-headed animals. For turtles and others, it is said that the queen mother believes in Buddhism, and these are all strange beasts in Buddhist legends.

Gotta find him something to do! "

Yang Feng said.

Imagine that Timur traveled thousands of miles to transport a few giant small-headed soft-shelled turtles to the Empress Dowager of Ming Dynasty...

It's really brain-twitching.

Although it's not a fish, it can't stay out of the water for too long, so he needs to find a way to transport this [-]-kilogram giant soft-shelled turtle through countless deserts along the way, constantly watering them with precious fresh water, and finally transporting them to Daming Empress Dowager Bo smiled.It's okay to spread the word that he has admiration for the Queen Mother!It is said that his subordinates must be furious to death, they were already so enraged by now, if they do this again, they must treat him as Emperor Sui Yang.

As for giving Timur a map, this is of course no big deal.

Just give him Western ones.

Ottoman, Egypt, the Balkans, and even Western Europe and North Africa can be given to him.

Anyway, the plague is still rampant in Western Europe.

He can go if he likes!

"However, if Zhu Di goes westward, he may also encounter the plague in Europe. Although the peak of the plague has passed, Europe will continue to break out in the next few hundred years. Although Eastern Europe is not a hard-hit area, it is not without it, and the Middle East is also affected. , Marching westward will inevitably encounter this, and it will inevitably enter Daming."

Sister Liu reminded him.

"It's not like the plague has never happened in the East. It's a very common infectious disease, but why didn't it have such a devastating effect in Europe?

Unless this thing is in troubled times, it is impossible to cause too much damage.

The root cause of the plague at the end of the Ming Dynasty was not the plague, but the entire country had entered into troubled times. The national medical system had collapsed, and local management had also collapsed. The ability to fight infectious diseases was gone. Not to mention the outbreak of plague, even the flu.But in a stable era, even if an outbreak occurs, it will only cause damage in a very small area. It is impossible for the whole country, at most it will be at the village level, and it will reach the sky at the county level. Zhu Du has created free medical care for all.There is also a well-established government system, and it is still a country of severe cat slavery. Even the sanitation system has begun to be established everywhere. Even if the plague is really introduced, it is only a small problem.

Nothing worse than the flu.

In addition, quarantine can be established at various passes such as Jiayuguan.

This has existed since the Tang Dynasty. "

Yang Feng said.

It is inevitable that this thing will be passed on.

Even now, it is hard to say whether it has been introduced.

Not to mention the last Western Expedition, it can be said that the tribute envoys of Western Region merchants who came to Daming in an endless stream every year could not guarantee that they did not carry them. This kind of thing is really inevitable. The most closed thing during the entire Ming Dynasty was precisely the plague in the late Ming Dynasty. When there is a big outbreak.

Because the commercial road from the Western Regions to Daming was completely cut off by the war.

Instead, it exploded at that time.

The point is not the plague.

Rather, the regime has collapsed and is incapable of dealing with it.

Suspected records of plague outbreaks in ancient history, such as the Bianjing epidemic at the end of the Jin Dynasty, and the northern plague in Chongzhen, were all caused by the collapse of the last days of rule. The plague also broke out in the late Qing Dynasty, but it was still easily extinguished.The plague itself can be said to be the oldest infectious disease, but why did it only cause a devastating blow in medieval Europe?The root cause is not the plague itself, but the conditions that Europe at that time provided for the epidemic to spread. Without the cooperation of Europe at that time, the plague could not have been so lethal.As long as a Poland that does a good job of isolation and quarantine, it becomes a thriving existence, so this kind of thing can't make any waves in Ming Dynasty, it's just an ordinary infectious disease.

There is no need to give up this good opportunity to go west because of worrying about this.

Besides, this thing has been raging in Europe for 300 years. Until [-], a large-scale plague still broke out in London, England. The final solution was a fire that burned almost the entire London.

For such a long time, it is impossible to stop moving forward because of worrying about this.

"We need to plan strategically for the future of this country now, and we can't be influenced by such details."

Yang Feng said.

Then he looked at the vast land in front of him.

At this time, he was standing on the embankment of the Yellow River, and the small village in front of him was called Tongwaxiang.

Originally, more than 400 years later in history, the Yellow River burst here, and then changed from the south flow to the north flow, but now he is going to artificially change it in advance.

Two miles in front of him, there are tens of thousands of busy peasants. They use shovels, carts, poles and baskets, and they are working with later generations of excavators and dump trucks. The excavated soil is piled up on both sides, and the two dikes are being piled up, and there are still a large number of peasants on the dikes compacting and even building stone slope protection for the dikes. The two dikes are very wide, after all, there is enough soil, according to Yang Feng Design standards, the above will serve as the main road in the future.

"20 years, can you complete such a huge project in 20 years?"

Sister Liu said in disbelief.

"20 years is not enough for 30 years, 30 years is not enough for 40 years, let's take it easy, even if it takes 50 years to repair it, and it doesn't really go all the way to the sea, just go to Cangzhou, just go east from Cangzhou Flood by yourself, anyway, there is no one there now.

Ten kilometers were dug a year, and it was dug in 50 years.

Besides, it’s not really all about digging. In fact, there are old river channels that can be used along the way. Now this is just an interface, so real digging is needed.

In fact, this project is just an addition. The real purpose is financial transfer. If you ask the southern provinces to pay for the construction of the north, they will definitely not do it, and even provoke resistance accidentally, but you want to say that it is to protect the ancestral mausoleum. They are still reluctant to accept the banner of asking them to pay for this project, and Jiangbei, especially Yanhuai, is more happy.And this project is to spend money to recruit peasants, so young and middle-aged people in Shandong, Henan, and Hebei can come to make money during the slack season. This is to hand over the taxes paid by the south to the poor in the north.

As for Xinhe, it was a payment code. "

Yang Feng said.

This new Yellow River is essentially the replacement of Zhu Dixiu's capital.

Now that Ming Dynasty will not move its capital, but still stay in Nanjing, then another way must be found to solve the economic imbalance between North and South.

How to develop the economy?

Engage in a big project!
With such a grand project as diverting the Yellow River, it is no problem to develop the three northern provinces for 50 years.

The taxes collected in the south, or the benefits obtained from controlling the southern economy, are all filled in this project, so that the northerners can get from it, the wages of the peasants, the purchase of various materials, not to mention the supporting construction, must be in Hebei and Hebei. A large number of cement plants and steel plants have been built in the mountainous area of ​​Shandong, and all materials are transported in the north. These have brought about the vigorous development of the northern economy.

After 50 years, the three provinces in North China should become industrial bases.