Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1921 Influence ([-])

On March 1685, 3, after nearly three months of long-distance travel (the Black Sea was frozen and boats were not allowed), Gao Wengang, the special envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, finally arrived at Bekchisalay, the capital of the Crimean Khanate.

To be honest, he couldn't remember how many times he had been in this country.But in any case, the Crimean Khanate is now the fulcrum for people on the east coast to leverage the situation in the Black Sea, and it must not be ignored, so it is worthwhile and necessary to come here many times.

Haji Gelai Khan is not in good health recently (this is the reason why he did not lead the army to Podolia), sick, but he still received Gao Wengang and his party in the luxurious palace designed by the people on the east coast.

Gelai Khan was born immediately, and he has fought countless battles in his life. Coupled with the institutional characteristics of the country of Crimea, he is very concerned about the construction of the army and is very concerned about it. He has always tried his best to support it: The Rimian Khanate has gone through a vicious circle of formation, dismantling, re-establishment, and dismantling many times. In the past ten years, it has basically stabilized at the scale of a standing army of 3 people.

Undoubtedly, for a backward small country with a population of just over 100 million, a standing army of 3 people is already very large, not to mention that this country is still a semi-feudal and semi-nomadic system, and the level of productivity is naturally not very high. Maintaining a total standing army of 3 people is already quite awesome, and in a sense it can even be called "militarism."

Of the 3 people, 2 are cavalry. In the traditional sense, the Crimean Tatar cavalry are tough, nimble, and cunning. They are mostly composed of poor farmers and herdsmen or slaves pardoned by the Great Khan, and their salaries are provided by the state. , Supplies and training equipment, East Bank military advisers participated in and helped to set up its logistics system, training system, intelligence system and command system.Although it is impossible to teach them everything—in fact, the people on the east coast are only advanced in technology and systems in the military, and many other aspects are average. There is still something to learn from their counterparts in the old continent—but this team has The strength of the army doubled.

It is worth mentioning that the original Crimean Khanate did not have any standing army except for the subordinates led by the Great Khan or the nobles.They still followed the old grassland system, that is, once something happened, the leaders of the tribes who surrendered to the Great Khan led troops to serve the king or went out to fight.The soldiers they brought were actually just Burakumin. They were just Burakumin with a few slaves and some property at home, and their lives were decent.When going out for an expedition, the tribesmen need to prepare their own horses, dry food, weapons and other military resources, gather at the designated place at the designated time, and then be led by the tribal elders or chiefs to the location of the Great Khan’s Golden Tent to respond to orders.

It can be seen that even though the tribesmen of the Crimean Khanate are relatively rich—meaning that they are freed from heavy life and work, and have more time to exercise their bodies and hone their combat skills—it is not the case after all. It is impossible for professional soldiers to conduct military training with high standards around the clock.Even if there are some people who are more self-disciplined and insist on training, it is only in a small area, and there is still a lack of large-scale coordinated operations, and this is often a common problem of grassland nomads, with a low degree of organization!It is a congenital root cause, and it is difficult to make up for it, unless a hero teaches them this with iron-blooded discipline, but there are often very few heroes.

And this is actually an important reason why the grassland nomads began to decline after passing through the heyday. Without him, the outdated ancient military system was holding back!Think about it, when the industry and commerce of European countries are becoming more and more prosperous, the level of social productivity is gradually improving, and they can afford to support a larger and larger standing army.These troops are large in number, well-equipped, and trained frequently, and their combat effectiveness is naturally much stronger than that of non-professional soldiers who run around for their lives every day.

It can be said that if the Turks did not quickly change their system and transition from a nomadic country to a feudal country, they would eventually disappear in the long river of history just like the "yellow peril" in European history.The Turks were more sober, carried out painful reforms in time, combined with the local feudal lords, and finally established the Ottoman Turkish Empire.In stark contrast to them, the Golden Horde Khanate and the Timurid Khanate fell apart, and the backward production relations could not control the advanced productivity. How short is the country!

Now the standing army established by the East Coast people with the help of the Great Khan, can be said to be the first step in the reform of the military system of the Khanate, which is very important.After taking this step, the Crimean Khanate will have a "quick response force" that maintains a certain combat effectiveness all year round, and it will be more calm when dealing with surrounding situations.

Moreover, from the perspective of the military command system, this 3-strong army is only responsible to the family of the Great Khan, which is equivalent to a sharp weapon in the hands of the Great Khan and a stabilizer for the entire country.If the Great Khan wants to make any reforms in the future, relying on this standing army as the backing, and with the help of righteous names, basically the resistance will be much smaller.To be honest, this standing army is a bit like the Ganisari Army directly under the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. It serves the will of the sultan and deters all kinds of disobedient princes. At the same time, retired soldiers can enter the political field to further consolidate the sultan himself. power.

In addition, this army actually gave the people at the bottom—Grei Khan often found reasons to pardon some slaves and gave them the treatment of the free people of the Khanate—a very good channel for advancement, so it was received by the Khanate. Most people welcome.This kind of thing that expands the ruling base and spreads prestige is something that any ruler is eager to do!

The mystery here, Grail Khan is not a fool, of course he knows it, so the standing army was built step by step under his strong promotion.As an important participant in the process, the people from the East Bank naturally gained great goodwill from the Great Khan himself, so the relationship between the two countries seems to be getting closer, and even the Italian capital attracted by the people from the East Bank has been affected. The Great Khan and his sons valued it because they could provide the crucial taxes for raising the army.After all, the maintenance cost of the 250 new army, even at the low level of the Crimean Khanate, still needs to consume money, food and materials worth 100 million East Bank silver dollars in a year.Even if the Crimean Tatars are good at robbing, the recent economic exchanges have greatly enriched the national treasury, coupled with the wealth produced by the country with a population of more than 300 million, it can only barely supply it, and it needs Ottoman support from time to time One time (of course it is broken now), so this country is now paying more and more attention to the investment of foreign capital, and it is also very polite to the gods of wealth, especially these gods of wealth themselves have no conflict with them, on the contrary they also buy a lot The livestock and agricultural products they produce (the annual trade volume has stabilized at more than [-] million yuan, and there is still room for further growth).

"The Russians have been taxing heavily in Eastern Ukraine recently, so many Cossacks have fled to our side, bringing a lot of information. I can't say what the Russians are taxing for, but there is no doubt that they may make Some military operations are either here or there. Anyway, they probably think that the opportunity has come." Khan's face was a little sallow, which should be due to his poor health, but his spirit was not bad, and he denounced Russia. People came mercilessly, just listen to him say: "But as long as they dare to come, our brave cavalry will cut off their dog's head and hang it on the flagpole, we will do this. Russians are cowards, When Moscow was surrounded by us, they trembled with fear."

"Once the Russians send a large army into Western Ukraine, please be careful. Their army strength has grown rapidly over the years, and there is a price to pay for underestimating their opponents, Your Majesty." Gao Wen just took a cup of milk tea from the waiter and held it in his hand. Warming the palms of our hands, he exhorted: "Warning the Russians is a long-term job. Before launching an all-out war with them, the first thing we need to do is undoubtedly to do a good job in our own internal production, so that we can survive the protracted war. It can last longer. Khan, this is very important, your country is lacking in stamina, you must pay attention."

"I have given good treatment to all the craftsmen I have acquired in the past. My capable son Sadat has established a large number of workshops outside the city of Bekchisalay, specializing in the manufacture of armor, sabers, spears, Bows and guns, the only thing that is lacking is that the ability to cast cannons is still very poor. I am afraid that I need your help. In addition, there are some problems in the mining and smelting of Kafa iron ore, which urgently need to be solved by knowledgeable people. The supreme commander of the local Ottoman garrison has communicated..." Upon hearing Gao Wengang's words, Grail Khan immediately mentioned the family fortune he had "accumulated" over the years.

"Khan, please allow my followers to discuss these technical details with your courtiers later." Gao Wengang interrupted Haji Gray's words rudely, and then said in a dignified tone: " Your Majesty, how do you think about the matter of establishing districts and counties throughout your country and establishing settled villages and towns that we mentioned last time? You must know that in order to help your country carry out this kind of political reform, I I specially wrote a report to apply to the local people, and reserved [-] government officials for your country to study abroad. This is not a trivial matter, but an opportunity that I have spent a lot of resources to win. Your Majesty, for the future of your country, please You consider it carefully and reply as soon as possible."

In fact, in order to strengthen the Crimean Khanate, the fulcrum of Black Sea trade, the people on the east coast have been trying to carry out all-round reforms for this country for many years.Fortunately, the recent Khans have been relatively powerful and enlightened, and have carried out many fruitful reforms in cooperation with the people on the east coast, such as the reform of the military system (the establishment of a standing army), the reform of the economic system (the introduction of foreign capital to develop the economy), and the reform of the social system ( Dividing counties across the country, establishing settled towns), reforming the political system (strengthening the centralization of power, replacing the role of nobles and chiefs with government officials responsible to the Great Khan), etc., step by step, this country will be transformed into a modern civilized country. advance.

Of course, nothing can happen overnight.The Crimean Khanate has been reforming for decades. Although it has achieved good results, the obstacles are still quite huge. Sometimes even the Great Khan himself has doubts.Therefore, people on the east coast must communicate with them from time to time and urge them, so as not to stagnate or even regress the country's reforms.

People on the east coast believe that when the Crimean Khanate slowly transforms into a normal country, their productivity will be released in a concentrated manner, which will undoubtedly greatly increase its national strength.And only by continuously increasing the population, economic and military strength of the Crimean Khanate can it maintain a certain resistance in the face of an increasingly powerful Russia.Otherwise, I am afraid that it will not be flattened overnight by those greedy Russians.

After listening to Gao Wengang's urging to send officials to study abroad, Gelai Dahan thought for a while, and finally sighed and said: "Don't worry, sending people to study abroad is not a big problem. I'm not dead yet Well, some voices of clamor and opposition are nothing more than that, I will deal with these things."

Gao Wen just heard what Grail Khan said, and he felt certain in his heart that the last link of infiltrating and affecting this country has also been completed.As long as these officials who have completed their studies return to Crimea and serve in various districts, counties, and towns, the people on the east bank will have political influence, have many military acquaintances, and even dominate the economic field. From now on, the Mia Khanate will probably only be able to dance unconsciously under the baton of the people on the east coast.And this is undoubtedly what they have been pursuing for many years-in fact, their greater ambition is to concoct the Ottoman Empire in this way, but the difficulty can be imagined, not to mention the influence of the East Bank on this old empire. It is not enough to implement such a difficult operation, so it is good to practice with the Crimean Khanate in advance, at least you have more experience.

After the talks with Gelai Dahan, Gao Wengang was invited to visit the drill of the standing army stationed in the suburbs of the capital.In this large-scale parade with a scale of more than 5000 people, the new-style infantry who had just experienced the baptism of war on the Podolia battlefield performed eye-catchingly, which made Gao Wengang also impressed.

He learned that this infantry would march to the Tatar trenches in the north next month to be stationed in order to rush to help everywhere at any time.As for this Tatar trench, it was actually a group of fortifications designed with the help of people on the east coast at first, and later provided technology to help them expand and strengthen them many times. So far, it has formed an epic line of defense between the peninsula and the mainland. It can be easily attacked without paying a lot of casualties, and it is the last insurance line of the peninsula.

"I hope that under the protection of these troops and solid defense lines, this country can carry out reforms more undisturbed. In today's world of great controversy, if a backward country does not reform or innovate, then it will be a dead end and will eventually be destroyed by history. In this regard, whether it is the West or the East, it is actually the same." Gao Wengang finally thought.

(End of this chapter)