Qitad nodded.

"The best way is to take down all the places along the Caspian Sea coast. The best one is naturally Dorbasidan. However, Dorbasidan at this time was not Dorbasidan in the Middle Ages, and it was already the Islamic faith.

The main place..."

"What's more, the depth of the north and south of the land is too shallow, and it is only separated from the Persian hinterland by a Mount Elboles. It is not easy to defend it. Even the Russians cannot defend it. It is understandable that it has been ruled by the Persians for a long time."

He asked again: "Where is Turkestan?"

"Turkestan?"

Nolb was keenly aware of why Dahan suddenly asked about the city, and he couldn't help but feel trembling.

"Although our country is strong, its population is small after all, and the proportion of the population that needs to be supported by the Khanate is too large. The current trade alone can only barely satisfy the balance of income and expenditure. Often a war will consume all the accumulation of several years."

/p>

"Last time our country robbed Chimboy city of Shiva Khanate, so that the Khanate would not have to make money for at least three years. This time we are going to Junggar land. According to the Khan's usual practice, we will most likely take the Sir River route."

"If you take this route, you will have to pass through Turkestan, the capital of the Kazakhs. Except for burning down in their own civil strife, you will be safe and sound all the time"

"Even the fierce Junggars did not occupy him, they must have a lot of treasures. If they could take this city on the way back, it would be a little relieved of the Khanate's finances."

"But is this good? Our country is now adjacent to Da, Zhongyuzi. If they get angry, there will be no peaceful days."

"The Kazakh pasture is too vast, and it is easy to defeat them, but it is too difficult to occupy him"

Then he said: "Khan, Turkestan has not a large population. There are 20,000 to 30,000 people in the city, half of which are soldiers. There are some farmland outside the city, in the Kazakh Khanate, Turkestan, Tashkent, Chimkent, Talas

For the four major cities”

"Now Talas is controlled by the Junggar people, and the remaining three cities are controlled by the Dayuzi people"

"After Ablai Khan became the Great Khan of Zhongyuz, he built the city of Astana and lived there all the time, but the population is still small, and most of them are used as a garrison for commerce and military."

"Tashkent and Chimkent have been occupied by the Junggars, and I'm afraid there are not many property, that is, there may be some in Turkestan"

"Where have you thought about?" Qitad smiled, "Since the death of Khan, the Kazakhs have been in chaos and have been attacking each other. Where can they still have any money?"

"What's more, they don't pay attention to business. When it comes to wealth, they are probably far inferior to the Bukhara Khanate. By the way..."

Suddenly I thought of something.

"Since the Qing Dynasty has defeated Dawaqi and captured Yili, it is really regrettable that the wealth accumulated by the Junggars have been taken away by the Qing army"

"The Junggars successively destroyed the Yarkand Khanate, the Hoshuot Khanate, the Kazakh Khanate, and the Ili must have huge wealth, alas..."

Not long ago, he only thought about the population problem, but never thought about this section. Now that he thinks about it, he naturally sighs in his heart.

After a while, he calmed down.

"Su Wenyu, the preparations of our department should be almost done"

"Yes, the troops of the six brigades have all been transported to the vicinity of Culisaré, and the food and grass have been transported almost all. In addition to 300 people, the remaining 700 people are also led by Sekesena. It's past land"

"Okay, I'll set out to Lagan Port tomorrow morning"

He asked Chen Muhua to guard the Northern Caucasus and Su Wenyu to guard the Elista-Vitrylka-Manuto area. After explaining in detail the important matters about the inside and outside, he set off with three hundred guards early the next morning. p>

As soon as they arrived at Port Lagan, the two of them came to greet them.

One is Jaen's second son, Ashale, the stepson of Qitad. He was originally the brigade commander of the Kayasula Brigade. After all, he was born in the St. Petersburg Guards. He had seen Russian ships and steam engines. Qita De let him come over to serve as the mayor of Lagan City and the commander of the Lagan City brigade, and also the commander of the Caspian Fleet.

The other person turned out to be Yesmu.

Originally, Qitad asked him to work as an assistant to the Minister of Justice Batu for a few years, but as the Khanate's transportation volume in the Caspian Sea gradually expanded in recent years, a fleet of six warships was also formed. , considering that there are many forces near the Caspian Sea, he was allowed to continue to serve as an intelligence officer as a Caspian business representative.

Of course, a talent like him is also a member of the fleet and is also the second-ranked figure in Lagan Port, second only to Ashalai.

"Sweat"

"How?"

"Everything is ready"

Qitad nodded, did not continue speaking, but walked directly to the port.

In recent years, he originally wanted to wait until the steam engine was on board before expanding the fleet. Finally, after thinking about it, he would forget it and built six large ships. The ship still had artillery and reserved the location of the steam engine. .

Usually these ships hide artillery and spend most of their time transporting goods.

Of course, one of them has completed the installation of the steam engine.

For Qitad, he was well aware of the principle that hasteness would not be achieved. It would take only one day to transition from a small steam engine with a few horsepower to a large steam engine with a hundred or even hundreds of horsepower that can drive a large ship. /p>

Therefore, before this, he had someone built medium and large steam engines with fifty horsepower, one hundred horsepower and three hundred horsepower respectively, and used them on ships of different sizes in a gradual manner.

The maximum 300 horsepower is intended to be used on a large ship with a length of 30 meters and a displacement of about 300 tons (800 materials).

There are ice layers along the northern coast of the Caspian Sea nowadays, but there is only a thin layer near Lagan Port, which can be sailed after a little cleaning.

But it is not possible for the Port of Atlau on the north shore of the Caspian Sea, and the Port of Astrakhan is not possible. Therefore, at this time, or throughout the winter, they will not encounter Russian ships.

Speaking of these Russian ships, because they reached a reconciliation with the Persians and the Ottomans, they could use ships to trade with them by ports along the Caspian Sea.

Although the Russians' industry is still behind in Europe, it is obviously much more developed than those of the Caspian coastal countries. Therefore, they can exchange handicraft products with their own industrial products with countries along the coastal regions.

At this time, Persian carpets, candles, gems, and Azerbaijani wool were still quite famous, and there was also a lot of demand in Russia.

But it won't work in winter.

Of course, according to Russia's current industrial scale, it is enough to do trade once or twice a year, and there is no need to go there anytime.

Like Truchen, their merchant ships were actually used as warships, and unlike Truchen, they could openly expose the cannons on the ship.

Since the steam engine was left, six large ships could take away all the horses of Qitad's three hundred guards at one time, and Qitad himself boarded the steamship that had just been commissioned for a month.

/p>

It is now the mid-to-late 18th century, and Qitad did not want to use the power of the steam engine to drive the too conspicuous paddle wheels to be dispatched, but instead got on the propeller from the beginning.

For steamboats, in addition to the location where the machine is placed, there must be reserved for storage of coal and fresh water. They also need to be equipped with technicians who repair the steam engine and replace parts at any time, plus workers who load coal and fresh water, the ship is obviously

Larger than before.

Under the current conditions, steam engines can only be used at critical moments, such as when there are strong winds and waves, wartime, etc.

Generally, sails are used as power.

After going down to the cabin below to carefully check the roaring machine, Qitad asked, "How long did you last for the longest time?"

"Forty hours, this time I learned that Dahan was coming, so I simply replaced the key parts again"

Qitade felt a little painful when he heard this. He knew that it would be impossible to make the steam engine under his command work without ten years of hard work.

The reason why it is only used in small batches is not because the surrounding strong enemies are surrounded by them, and the time is too late.

One stage of waste and experimental period must be tolerated, and then you dare to take it out and use it with confidence.

"Sweat"

Asarai has seen steam engines in St. Petersburg before, but even in St. Petersburg it is a rare object.

Now that he saw the Truqin, who was called the barbaric barbarian by the Russians, also produced a steam engine by himself, you can imagine his excitement.

What's more, he is the son of his former Khan Dunrobuwangbu and the cousin of Qitad. Since joining Truchen with his mother, he has been transferred from Kayasula here to get what he wants.

"Departing from Port Lagan and arriving at Port Crasso, about 500 miles, the steam engine is driven to the maximum, and the sails are fully opened, the speed is as high as 100 miles per hour, which means it will be within six or seven hours."

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon and you can arrive at Port Crasso at 9 o'clock in the evening!"

"Oh?", Qitade is interested now. He once took his personal guards to and from the east and west sides of the Caspian Sea many times. In the case of a good wind, it takes at least ten hours to arrive.

And when you need to be a wind, it sometimes even takes fifteen hours.

But he immediately returned to his calm.

"Without the blessing of the sail?"

"It is about the same speed as the sail, but it is still lower than the tailwind, roughly between the tailwind and the wind"

....

"Rumbling..."

The steamboat is started, and another advantage of the steamboat is that as long as the steam engine is started in advance, it can set off at any time. The ships that rely entirely on sails need to wait for the wind. Although they can also use the swing of the tail rudder to slowly drive out of the port,

Too low efficiency.

What's more, even if you leave the port without wind, you will not be able to sail normally.

The most important thing is to park. When docking, the wind should not be too strong or too small. The captain often calculates the wind direction. The wind stops into the port at the right time. The efficiency is so low.

Therefore, a waiting area is often set up not far from the port at this time, which is roughly located in a harbor that can shelter. Only when the wind direction and wind are appropriate will the port water diverters drive the ship into the port on a small boat.

It is different with a steam engine. Although the efficiency of the steam engine is too low and the effective work is not large, it can finally set off, sail, and stop freely during use.

In the northern part of the Caspian Sea in winter, the influence of the westerly wind from the Atlantic Ocean decreases, but the north wind from Siberia becomes stronger. At this time, it is necessary to set the angle between the sails and the ships in a suitable position.

Using crosswinds to push ships, ancient Chinese schooners sailing on the Yangtze River have long been known. Unless you need to use flasks and pull fibers in a few rapids and dangerous shoals, you can use tailwinds and sidewinds on both sides of the road.

Of course, it is definitely not possible to sail through zigzags on the Yangtze River, after all, the width of the water surface is limited.

Standing on the deck, holding the boat's side, watching the sailors nervously and orderly control the sails according to the wind direction, while looking at the sea with a telescope, Qitad still couldn't hide his excitement.

After three years of running-in, the 1,000 people he drew from the army had completely replaced the Persian sailors recruited from the Dobastan area. At present, only a very small number of sailors who are considered to have great talent in navigation have been retained and joined.

Luqin navy, the rest were dispatched to the real merchant ship.

Dai Qing, the nobleman from the Sarekamesh tribe, has been transferred from the tribe from the tribe to serve as the captain of the ship due to his previous experience of rowing on the Sarekamesh Lake.

Dai Qing was also a little uncomfortable with the fact that he went from a herdsman's son to a commander at the sea.

But after three years, he finally got used to it and was now accompanying Qitad on the deck with Asalai.

A stream of black smoke emerged from the Caspian Sea. In the past month, Ashalai and Dai Qing had secretly tried it at night, but it was daytime. It was visible to the naked eye. The Caspian Sea had a series of events.
Chapter completed!