Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2428 Platkov

May 1701, 5, Beijing Hujiaquan Hutong, Luocha Temple.

Platkov had just presided over a religious service.In addition to the clergy in the church and Russian officials and citizens in Beijing, dozens of local residents of Beijing participated in the ceremony, all believers who had just converted to the Orthodox Church.

The development of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Qing Dynasty in recent years was a complete failure.In addition to being in a mess in terms of developing believers, their own financial situation is also very worrying.In fact, the Russian government entrusts businessmen or missions to bring goods worth thousands of rubles to the Beijing Orthodox Church every year. After these goods are sold, the church can dispose of them at its own discretion and use them as maintenance expenses.In addition, the Qing government will also allocate 8000 taels of silver for the establishment of the church and personnel allowances.It can be said that the Beijing Orthodox Church can use more than 5000 taels of silver each year, which is more than enough to maintain the church.

But what about the result?After Priest Platkov came to support the church, he soon discovered that the Beijing Orthodox Church not only did not have a penny balance in its books, but also owed a total of more than 6000 taels of silver to Russian businessmen in Beijing and even Qing usurers.

This is simply absurd!Priest Platkov was angry. He served as the priest of the Ascension Monastery in Irkutsk, and the available funds were only [-] rubles a year. As a result, he not only maintained the daily operation of the church, but also had more than enough to give to the poor and strengthen God’s cause. Belief.However, the number of churches in Beijing is not as large as that in Irkutsk, and the funds are several times higher. As a result, the operation is like this. This cannot be explained by the difference in prices between the two countries. There must be deep-seated problems!Priest Platkov wanted to investigate further, but the church subordinates treated him to a drink, and gave him some silver notes from the Qing Dynasty Bank, and a secret deposit certificate from the Bank of Taiwan (the deposit in the account was as high as [-] yuan in legal currency. ), the officiant quickly calmed down and stopped the investigation.

But despite the money, Platkov was ready to clean up the church.The past can be ignored, but the future must not be as nonsense as it is now.The church's debts must be repaid as soon as possible, and more efforts must be made to develop new believers.In addition, as a half-official, half-civilian organization, Priest Platkov is also responsible for liaising with the Qing government. After all, it is impossible for the Tsar to send envoys to visit every year. In many cases, it is still necessary to rely on them to spread information to the country. go.

In fact, Platkov will enter the palace to meet Bogd Khan three days later, and hand over a handwritten letter from Tsar Peter to Emperor Kangxi.Priest Platkov did not read the secret letter, but he was notified of the situation of the Moscow Foreign Affairs Office. At the same time, the envoy who sent the letter was also very qualified and knew a lot of key information. When Kangxi asked the right question, he was able to know what to do, so that he would not be in a hurry.

"Officer, the Chinese have sent a notice for the audience, which involves the Junggar Khanate and needs to be answered. I have translated and extracted the main points. Please review it as soon as possible." After returning to his bedroom, a clergyman sent He took the document and put it on Platkov's desk.

Platkov nodded, waved for people to go out, then picked up the document and read it carefully.

"...About the activities of the Junggar people and their previous lords: Galdan, who first became a Christian, then returned to secular life, got married. Galdan once attacked his grandfather-in-law Oqiertu Chechen Khan and controlled him Later, Galdan invaded the border of China, and Bogd Khan sent an army to conquer it. He, Galdan, died of taking medicine in view of his own weakness. His nephew Cewang Alabatan claimed to be Junggar Although Bogd Khan recognized his succession, he still imitated his uncle and behaved rebelliously. He destroyed places for chanting Buddhist scriptures and did bad things that violated his beliefs; he also took in Bogd Khan's fugitives - some Mongols - had not been handed over despite repeated demands, and Bogd Khan had taken the drastic step of sending part of his army against the Dzungars. And if the above-mentioned army moves near the Russian border, please don't have any doubts in the Russian court."

Platkov is apparently a priest, but neither Beijing nor Moscow regards him as a pure officiant.He was an important intermediary in the liaison between the two countries, but without the presence of the tsarist mission, he had a considerable degree of decision-making power, so he still had to review these documents, and he was also the one to answer when a reply was needed.

"His Majesty the Tsar took the notice from the Chinese court about Junggar as a sign that the benevolent Bogd Khan was willing to maintain lasting friendship and peace. He reminded him of the march to Huitaiji, so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion from the neighboring countries. It is very much in keeping with the principles of friendship and the maintenance of peace. The Great Sovereigns of both countries desire and have the will of friendship and peace, and have always been and have been accustomed to treat each other in this way. Therefore, in such cases, His Majesty the Tsar will do the same."

In fact, the Tsar already knew about the Qing Dynasty's attack on the Junggar Khanate, because this was a very important part of the military agreement between the two countries, and it was an important result of Suo'etu's mission to Russia.At present, Russia has assembled more than [-] pacers in Central Asia, and joined forces with the Kazakhs, the rebels of the Junggar Khanate, to fight against the Junggar Khanate many times and achieved certain results.

It's just that Russia's center of gravity is still in the west. The Great Northern War is in full swing. Although the Russian Empire has been defeated for a while, its strength is still there. Tsar Peter is mobilizing follow-up troops and supplies, intending to fight the Swedes to the end.Therefore, they really have no extra energy to toss on the Eastern Front. They can only rely on those thousands of people to deal with the Junggar Khanate. The Qing Dynasty loves whatever it wants. The two sides are still allies anyway. They defeated the Junggar Khanate. The expansion of the Russian Empire in Central Asia also had benefits.

"...when the Chinese army attacked the Junggars and occupied their lands, if the Tsar had any objection to the ownership of the adjacent lands, please inform them (Chinese envoys) that they would be willing to cede it to Russia."

"His Majesty the Tsar wishes the Chinese army all the best. If Bogd Khan's soldiers occupy the enemy's land adjacent to the Russian Empire, then although Russia is vast and unwilling to annex any land of others, in order to maintain peace and eliminate the two empires Doubts between them will not lead to friendly consultations with them (Chinese envoys) on the lands occupied by the Chinese army."

This was a surprise to the Qing people, so Platkov happily wrote his reply.At the same time, he also wondered why the Qing people were so cautious, even a little too humble.Even though it was the territory of the Junggar Khanate, not your own, such a generous gift always struck Platkov as inauthentic.Especially when I heard that the Qing army was progressing smoothly, and won several victories in the former East Chagatai Khanate, and gained a large area of ​​land.It's all like this, you are still so generous, is there a conspiracy?Or too much pressure in another direction, out of breath?

"...the Chinese army's attack on the Junggars has caused many Ulus to move to Russia, and Russia can accept them. However, Russia will hand over their lords and Zaisang to the Chinese. For those who are accepted into Russia , subject them to absolute obedience and place them in secure places so that they will not engage in any hostile activity on the frontier."

Regarding the Mongolian escapees, in fact, the Russians also distrusted them very much, and did not place them at the border at all, for fear that they would run away without paying attention.These people currently have a total of more than [-] tents, and they are basically arranged in the hinterland of Central Asia, allowing them to defend against local unfriendly nomads, such as Turkmens and Uzbeks.

So Platkov easily wrote: "If some of Bogd Khan's enemies are to flee to the Russian Empire and find hiding places in Russia, His Majesty the Tsar will order the high officials of Siberia to make these aliens People cannot conduct any hostile activities against China and the Chinese subjects while living in Russia. In fact, we have already done so. If Bogd Khan needs to investigate, he can send envoys to discuss."

After writing this, Platkov took a short break, drank some tea, and then looked at other important content that did not require a reply, including the reprimand of the Beijing Orthodox Church by the Qing Guolifan Academy.Platkov was a little embarrassed, because many degrading things happened in this church, such as the priest Antony chasing other clergymen after drunkenness and slashing one person.Because this brother is not an official diplomat, he has been shackled by the government of the Qing Dynasty and taken into custody. He will be handed over to the Russian government in the future.

Platkov participated in the handling of the case from beginning to end, and used public funds to compensate the injured clergy, calming down the incident.But no matter what, this matter will always be reported to Moscow, and Platkov is still a little worried.

The church in Beijing, the problem is really too big!

However, there is still a chance to remedy it. What Czar Peter values ​​is their role in diplomacy.If this matter is handled well, that is, more use of the power of the Qing people to attack the Junggar Khanate and reduce the pressure of the Russian Empire in Central Asia, then Platkov will be innocent and will be greatly rewarded when he returns.

Fortunately, the actions of the Qing people are exactly in line with Platkov's intentions.They dispatched tens of thousands of troops, marched all the way west, and captured a large area of ​​​​the old territory of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, forcing Tseng Allah Butan to continuously withdraw troops from Central Asia, increase the number of troops on the Eastern Front, and even occupy the Kazakh rebels. I can't even take care of it.

The only thing that makes people a little worried is how long the Qing army can last there.Expeditions by land laborers consume a lot of national power. Even if there are only tens of thousands of people, the cost is not a small amount.In particular, I heard that they also sent 1.5 to 2 soldiers to go north to the Mongolian grasslands, urging tens of thousands of Mobei Mongolian cavalry to fight against the people on the east coast. Well, it will affect the battlefield in the west, which is not a good thing for the Russian Empire, and Platkov is still very worried about it.

But what can be done?The Qing Dynasty was able to fulfill its ally obligations, and attacking the Junggar Khanate is already very interesting, and there is really not much to criticize.Isn't Russia also fighting the Swedes in the Baltic Sea now?Eldest brother don't talk about second brother, so be it.

Later, Platkov picked up other documents. It seems that some of them also need to be answered, such as "How big is the Kingdom of Turkey? Where is the capital? Is it possible to send a mission to arrive via Russia?" and so on. As soon as the reply was made, all the documents were then put aside and waited for someone else to pick them up.

The Qing Dynasty is still relatively important to the Russian Empire.The two sides have a common enemy militarily and can take care of each other, but economic mutual trade is also very important.Damn the Swedes, the current ongoing war consumes too much and has to be supplemented by trade with the Qing.Bogd Khan can not offend or not to offend, otherwise it will definitely affect the overall situation of Moscow, and Platkov cannot bear this responsibility.Now that he has an audience with Bogd Khan, he kneels down quickly every time—even though he is a priest—and never entangles with the Qing people on such trivial matters, so as not to cause unnecessary disputes.

If you want to stand upright, you probably have to wait until the war with Sweden comes to an end, and you don't know when you have to wait.

(End of this chapter)