Under Dong Liang's narration, the process of the rise of a huge empire is vividly displayed in front of everyone.

"I have said that we Chinese are very lucky."

Dong Liang continued: "Originally, we were at odds with Britain and the United States and went to war with Spain. In the past few years, we have to stay in the south to welcome the revenge of the great powers at any time."

"But the sudden Crimean War has brought huge opportunities to us Chinese people. Individual development requires opportunities, and the development of a nation and country also requires opportunities. If you seize the opportunity, the country and nation may take off, but if you miss it,

If you don't have the opportunity, you can only be trampled under the feet of others. After all, this world is still a dark jungle where the weak and the strong eat."

Dong Liang decided to teach his men a lesson today.

National opportunities are really important. He still remembered that in another time and space, China had seized opportunities one after another and was able to buck the trend and rise despite a century of decline in modern times.

In World War I and World War II, China successfully stood on its side, the Korean War, the counterattack against India, Vietnam, reform and opening up...

Every time China seizes the opportunity, it can achieve success for future generations.

It turns out that Dong Liang thought that he could just use Crimea and the window period when the European powers had no time to visit eastward to complete the great task of expelling the Tartars.

Later he thought about it and realized it was still not enough.

Just like this, it still does not maximize the benefits of this opportunity.

Attacking the Far East is different from other places in that it does not require too many troops.

Because Tsarist Russia has only extended its power here in the past two years.

This controlled the cost of war.

Moreover, the summer here is short and the long winter makes even marching very difficult, let alone fighting.

Therefore, establishing a foothold in the local area is the most important thing.

If the Far East is captured now, Tsarist Russia will not be able to send enough reinforcements to counterattack because of the Crimean War.

In this way, the Chinese can develop here for two years with peace of mind, build fortresses, cities, start farms, and hoard supplies.

When the time comes for Tsarist Russia to come from afar, and the Chinese have a city and supplies here, will they still be afraid of Tsarist Russia? They won't be able to conquer this place, and they will still have to retreat in winter.

What will happen in a few years?

At that time, Tsarist Russia had just ended the Crimean War. The clouds of defeat pervaded the country.

If the Chinese try to provoke Tsarist Russia at this time, they will definitely retaliate even more.

To divert the attention of the people in the country through hatred towards the Chinese.

The domestic contradictions in Tsarist Russia were already quite serious. Tsarist Russia in the 19th century, like a group of famous thinkers and writers of its time, had a very peculiar and contradictory complex in character - on the one hand, as a person who put out the wildfire of the French Revolution,

"European Gendarmerie", Tsarist Russia was very reactionary and backward.

But on the other hand, it was in the process of serving as the "European gendarme" again and again that the Tsarist Russian nobles began to realize how outdated their country's own system was, how bad and inhumane the serfdom was, and how the Tsarist monarch was

What kind of strange existence is autocracy unique among European countries?

This awakening eventually led to the "December Party Uprising" during the transfer of imperial power in Tsarist Russia in 1825. The progressive aristocrats openly led an army to rebel, demanding that the Tsar carry out constitutional monarchy reforms, expand parliamentary rights, and even abolish serfdom.

Although this uprising was severely suppressed by Nicholas I, it left a great psychological shadow on the tsar.

In order to maintain his rule, Nicholas I changed Tsarist Russia's previous attitude of eager to learn from the West and strictly prohibited Tsarist Russian nobles from studying in Western countries, and even restricted travel and intermarriage.

He also established a supervisory agency in the country, requiring every Tsarist Russian public servant to work part-time as an ideological censor to strictly control the spread of Western enlightenment ideas among the Russian people.

If you have read Chekhov's famous novel "The Man in the Trap", you will be able to understand what the atmosphere was like in Tsarist Russia at that time.

The protagonist Belikov in the novel is withdrawn, fearful of change, and always talks about "in short, just don't make any trouble". In fact, he is a group of small civil servants working part-time as censors all over Tsarist Russia at that time - some even think that

What Belikov directly satirizes is Tsar Nicholas I himself. Because he was cautious and refused to change, everything was based on "not causing trouble", which was exactly Nicholas I's governing creed.

All in all, from the Decembrist uprising in 1825 to the mid-19th century, Tsarist Russia engaged in a Russian version of seclusion for more than 20 years, but the impact of this seclusion was very fatal.

On the one hand, it just caused Tsarist Russia to miss the ever-changing industrial revolution in Western Europe and fall behind in technology, industry and economy.

On the other hand, the unprecedented ideological repression led to the succession of Decembrists.

A group of Russian writers represented by Gogol came into being.

University students in Petersburg began to publicly recite his "Dead Souls" and "The Imperial Envoy", venting their growing dissatisfaction with the Tsar in laughter and curses.

Nicholas I was by no means a fool. He knew that behind the appearance of "European hegemon", the failure of the Tsarist Empire had been revealed.

The gradual backwardness of technology, industry, and economic hard power, as well as domestic ideological agitation, made the tsar realize that he must do something to save his country and his throne.

Considering Tsarist Russia's tradition of expansion, he understood that the simplest and most effective way was to launch a war abroad and reaffirm that his country was still very strong through large-scale territorial expansion.

The Great Russian sentiment ignited by the war was more helpful in hedging against the sparks of liberalism.

So, who should we fight? Among the European powers at that time, Britain was too strong to defeat France. France was a country that had already been conquered once in the War of Victory. Prussia and Austria were allies of Tsarist Russia's "Holy Alliance" and it was difficult to openly break the treaty.

.

After much deliberation, only Ottoman Türkiye, the declining "sick man of West Asia", can fight to "show martial virtue".

According to this habit of the Tsarist Russians, Dong Liang can be sure that the Chinese who launched an attack on Tsarist Russia after the Crimean War would inevitably suffer the maximum counterattack from the other side.

Not only that, when the time comes, Tsarist Russia will also form an alliance with Britain and France to deal with the Chinese.

Don't doubt this. In Europe at this time, it is very common to be at war today and form alliances tomorrow.

Dong Liang sat there and talked for more than an hour.

Basically all the top officials of the cabinet are there.

As for the people at the headquarters, Dong Liang was not worried. It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders, so they would not raise any questions.

The cabinet is mainly responsible for the internal development of the Chinese nation, and the war sometimes conflicts with the internal development time.

Therefore, these talents are the ones Dong Liang needs to convince most.

After everyone left, Dong Liang quickly asked Wu Meiniang to bring him a glass of water. He drank it all in one gulp, and his throat felt like it was on fire. After one glass, he drank another glass.

"Old Zhou, next time something like this happens, don't go to the head of state at all. You see, we listened to the class there for more than an hour, and the final result is still the same. Nothing has changed." Liu Fengliang walked in front of Zhou Tenghu.

Beside him, he said with a smile.

He is more than ten years younger than Zhou Tenghu, but he still has great respect for this boss who came from behind.

Zhou Tenghu is steady and considerate, but he is upright. He has a saying in his work that he never plays tricks on others and is never polite. Some young officials are a little afraid of him.

If he thinks you are wrong, he will definitely say it directly. If he says you did a good job, then he will definitely not be contradicting you.

"As ministers, we cannot withhold what we should say. This is the way to be a minister." However, Zhou Tenghu felt that the trip was worthwhile.

At least he learned more about the inside story from Dong Liang, and he could be mentally prepared.

"Old Zhou, the head of state has said that he will not be the emperor, so your theory of monarch and minister may have no use."

Zhou Tenghu shook his head and said: "What is the difference between the head of state, the emperor, or other titles? The emperor is the helmsman of the country and is related to the development and destiny of the country. The person who can influence the direction of the country and the nation is the emperor."

"But do you believe that a person will never make mistakes?"

Liu Fengliang shook his head: "Even a saint makes mistakes sometimes."

Zhou Tenghu said: "Yes, a person will make mistakes after all, but if several people discuss it together, the probability of making mistakes will be much lower."

"I know that the head of state has a strong strategic vision, but I still hope that we Chinese people can form an atmosphere of collective decision-making. This is also what the head of state once said. The reason why he established the Renaissance Association and established a council within the revival association is that

If you want to form a collective decision-making mechanism, even if he just explains it to everyone, it will be better than making the decision alone."

Only then did Liu Fengliang understand that it was not because of the attack on the Far East that Zhou Tenghu led everyone to find Dong Liang today.

It was because Dong Liang agreed to form an alliance with the British without informing them in advance.

Headquarters, in Dong Liang's study.

Fu Shanxiang is still wearing a slim-fitting blue dress. Today she tied her hair in a slightly more complicated bun instead of simply pulling her hair on top of her head. This made a big change in her temperament.

"Head of State, the Prime Minister was very aggressive when he came here today. There is no problem with your decision on this matter. Is their reaction excessive?"

Fu Shanxiang is not sowing discord, but fighting injustice.

She follows Dong Liang every day and knows how hard Dong Liang is.

He attends various meetings every day, reviews a large number of documents, and makes his own trade-offs.

He often goes to various departments for field research and even goes to factories to participate in research and development.

He also writes in the evening, and he writes all kinds of things. He even helps to compile the textbooks for the school.

In his words, the most important books in a country are textbooks.

Because this is the starting point for a person's learning, most of the worldview of future graduates will be affected by the teaching materials.

The importance of a set of teaching materials can, to a large extent, affect the future destiny of the country.

He had to work late every day, and the pregnant head of state's wife would personally come over to tell him to go back and rest.

Speaking of the wife of the head of state, she is also a respectable woman.

Sometimes Fu Shanxiang wonders if it is true that birds of a feather flock together and people flock together.

Perhaps it is someone like the Führer who can find such a wife.

As a princess and the wife of the head of state, Shang Yun loves medicine.

After marrying into the State House, she seldom went out and devoted all her energy to medical research.

Shang Yun has high attainments in medical research and can be called a talent.
Chapter completed!