Just when Fei Yinghuan and his wife returned to their hometown, Yang Zhenqing, Li Dingguo, Cao Bianjiao, and Wang Tingchen all returned to Beijing.
All four of them were granted the title of county magistrate, handed over their command power, and were transferred to the central governor's office.
It's not that Zhao Han is afraid that they will act recklessly, but that they are older. After more than thirty years of fighting on the battlefield, it is time to return to Nanjing to enjoy the blessings, give them a duke to let them enjoy their old age, and at the same time replenish the senior talents of the Governor's Mansion - Zhang Tieniu, Gu Jian
Shan and others got sick, died, and retired, and there were vacancies in the central governor's office.
The most powerful rear army governor's office was taken over by Hunan general Wang Hui, who was also considered a direct descendant of the Datong army and was based in Beijing.
Qin Liangyu's grandson Ma Wannian took over the Anxi Protectorate and governed the entire Western Region.
The Zuojun Dudufu in the northeastern region was managed by Wang Fuchen, with Jiangxi general Xiong Lai as his deputy.
Just by looking at this series of arrangements, we can see that Zhao Han is weakening the local influence of the Jiangxi Military Group. The commander-in-chief of the rear army is from Hunan, the commander-in-chief of the left army is from Shanxi, and the governor of the Western Regions is from Sichuan.
Of course, we have to take care of the emotions of Jiangxi people. Rising stars from Jiangxi are often appointed as the second and third leaders of various military regions.
In particular, Zhang Tingxun, Zhang Tieniu's son, was transferred to the newly established "Jianhe Protectorate" as the Chief Protector in the ninth year of Yang Zhenqing and Li Dingguo's enthronement.
The Jian River is the Yenisei River.
The Jianhe Protectorate was the Yenisei Military District of Tsarist Russia.
The Jianhe Protectorate of Datong China is a secondary organization affiliated with the Beihai Protectorate, but it also has strong military autonomy because it may fight the Cossacks at any time.
The Yenisey Military District of Tsarist Russia was headquartered in Yeniseisk.
The Jianhe Protectorate under the leadership of Zhang Tingxun has its headquarters located further south, at the intersection of the Yenisei River and the Angara River. All travel is by boat along the river. To the southeast, you can directly access the North Sea, and to the southwest and northwest, you can control it.
The Tomsk Military District of Etsau.
The Tomsk Military District of Tsarist Russia was roughly the northern part of western Xinjiang and the vast area north of the East Kazakh grasslands.
Directly north of Xinjiang, the Datong Army and the Cossacks are at war all year round!
The scale of the war was small, and the total number of troops invested in each battle was basically less than a thousand.
Zhao Han's original plan was to capture the Yenisei River Basin. But things went counterproductive. The Cossacks next door were too poor and always came to rob the territory of the Datong Army. Occasionally, they also went south to Xinjiang to rob herdsmen.
Faced with such a situation, it is impossible to passively defend, we must take the initiative to fight!
…
In the second year of Hongye's reign, the world was stable and the sea was prosperous.
In distant Moscow, Tsar Peter succeeded in seizing power, and Princess Sophia was placed under house arrest in a monastery.
History has long since changed. Goritsyn, Princess Sophia's number one think tank and lover, has been studying advanced knowledge and culture diligently in Nanjing and has never returned to assist her in governing the country. And her right-hand man, Khovansky, the leader of the shooting army, did two jobs in Nanjing.
The young beggar finally "alarmed" the emperor Zhao Han, who was dumbfounded and gave him money to send him back to Moscow.
But the general direction remains unchanged, and the aristocratic power structure of Tsarist Russia remains the same.
By the way, Princess Sophia belongs to the reformists. On the contrary, the family of Peter the Great's maternal grandfather was a staunch conservative and was purged during the change of power.
Peter the Great regained power from Sophia, which was a victory for the conservative aristocrats over the reformist aristocrats!
"Your Majesty, Russia must reform!" Goritsyn returned to his country and was immediately hired as a palace adviser by Peter the Great.
Finance Minister Nashokin also said: "Your Majesty, there can be no further delay."
Peter the Great was still very young and had not yet traveled to Western Europe. He hesitated and said: "I do want to reform, but the nobles who support me are all staunch conservatives. If I reform, who will support it?"
Thanks to his sister, Princess Sophia, Peter's grandfather's family was cleaned out. Otherwise, Peter the Great would have to open his own grandfather's house first when he wanted to reform!
Goritsyn, who returned from Nanjing, said: "Using the excuse of punishing the princess's remnant party, I punished a few nobles to establish their authority, and took the opportunity to get some money from the nobles. Then I used the money to reform the Moscow shooting army, completely control the Moscow army, and also
It can enhance the combat effectiveness of the capital's shooting army. With the army, we can reform the Duma meeting and the meeting of the gentry, suppress those who disobey by force, and gather sufficient administrative and financial power."
Nashokin said: "I have read Goritsyn's works on China many times. We should learn from China, but we cannot copy China. All reforms should be based on the reality of Russia."
The young and vigorous Peter the Great was determined to reform.
Nashokin was appointed as the general person in charge of reform, and Goritsyn, who had studied in China for twenty years, served as reform consultant and Nashokin's deputy.
The first step is to take action on a few arrogant nobles, and use the excuse of exterminating the remnants of the princess to exile and ransack their homes to obtain land and money.
Then, reorganize the capital's shooting army and take control of the entire Moscow army.
Then he ordered a National Duma meeting and called all the local nobles to the meeting. He sent troops to surround the meeting site and immediately announced the establishment of an additional Senate (similar to the cabinet) with 11 committees (similar to 11 ministries). Then he dismissed the Grand Priest and
Replaced by the religious house, the church became the national administrative agency, and the tsar controlled the entire church. The country was divided into 50 provinces, and middle- and low-level nobles and high-level bureaucrats were sent to serve.
Following China's eighteen-level hierarchy, Russian civil and military officials are divided into fourteen levels. Officials must be promoted according to merit regardless of family background.
The contents of these reforms are similar to those in history.
The difference is that Peter the Great in another time and space advocated the implementation of total Westernization (well...). He even stipulated that beards were not allowed, required palace personnel to wear suits, and encouraged smoking and drinking coffee.
But in this time and space, he blindly worshiped the East and encouraged Chinese people to grow beards. He also set an example and changed to wearing Chinese clothes. However, he felt that wide robes and long sleeves were too obstructive, so he adopted the uniforms worn by Chinese emperors and officials. The Chinese royal family advocates yellow.
, Peter the Great advocated purple and stipulated that only the royal family of Tsarist Russia could wear purple clothes.
In addition, smoking and drinking tea are encouraged.
But Russia does not produce tobacco and tea, especially tea, which is very expensive to transport to Russia. The tsar and nobles can only choose to smoke.
In terms of social reform, Peter the Great founded secular schools, introduced the Roman calendar, standardized Tsarist Russian writing, and learned from China to create newspapers. Then he encouraged the development of industry and commerce, reduced taxes for industrial and commercial owners, allowed business owners to go to the countryside to buy serfs for work, and encouraged young nobles to study in China.
The imperial examination system was introduced, but only a little bit.
Immediately, literate people were ordered to take a test in Moscow, and 50 people were admitted every year. All of them could be appointed as low-level officials regardless of their family background.
A series of reforms were dazzling, and the traditional nobles and monks complained. But they did not provoke rebellion. This was because Peter the Great's father and sister had continued to carry out reforms, and the staunch die-hards were purged several times.
Moreover, Europe's external environment is also conducive to Tsarist Russia's reform. Neighboring countries are either in civil strife or falling into weakness...Only in the east, China has swallowed up large tracts of Tsarist Russia's colonies.
However, Peter the Great's reforms did little good to the people at the bottom, and even made their livelihood even more difficult in the short term.
In order to ease the opposition of the nobles, Peter the Great imposed stricter restrictions on serfs in the early stages of reform to ensure the interests of local nobles. While reducing taxes on industrial and commercial owners, Peter the Great also increased taxes on citizens and farmers to obtain sufficient income.
reform funds.
Did the people rebel because of this?
Then just rebel. Anyway, there are local nobles who will counter the rebellion.
A large number of political prisoners who opposed reforms were continuously exiled to Siberia. Countless Russian people who could not survive turned into Cossacks and went to Siberia, regardless of government bans and arrests by nobles.
In just a few years, the Tomsk Military District in Tsarist Russia rapidly increased its population by more than 30,000.
Peter the Great strictly prohibited the Cossacks from provoking China and tried to avoid war with China. However, the population of the desolate Tomsk Military District increased dramatically in a short period of time, and it was impossible to survive solely through land reclamation. He could only go to China's territory to rob indigenous people and herdsmen.
…
River City (Strelka).
"Protector, the imperial court has sent military orders."
"Give it to me quickly!"
Zhang Tingxun cut open the sealing paint, glanced at the contents, and immediately said excitedly: "We are finally going to fight a big war, it is so unpleasant to fight in a small way!"
Due to the increasingly frequent raids by the Cossacks, the Nanjing court was completely angered and asked Xinjiang and Jianhe to send troops at the same time next year.
The Great Protector of the Western Region mobilized the main force of the Northern Xinjiang and at the same time led the Mongolian cavalry in the Northern Xinjiang to attack Kuznetsk first, and then went straight to the Tomsk Governor's Mansion.
Zhang Tingxun's army of the Jianhe Protectorate rushed northwest into the hinterland of the Tomsk Military District, occupying or destroying Cossack strongholds on the river bank along the way.
At the same time, the imperial court also sent an envoy north from the Kazakh grassland to contact Galdan who had fled to the north. As long as Galdan was willing to surrender to the imperial court, he was given the position of Mongolia's Little Governor and allowed him to attack and harass Tomsk.
Southwest of the Warlord District.
Regardless of whether Galdan agreed or not, the Kazakh army would be dispatched. Touker Khan personally led the army to help the court fight - Kazakhstan was often plundered by Cossack bandits.
On the Nanjing court side, there will be no war until war begins. Once war begins, it will be an all-out attack!
Early summer of the next year.
The Xinjiang Datong Army uprooted two strongholds and successfully surrounded Kuznetsk. After a month and a half of siege, they broke the city and then went straight to the Tomsk Governor's Palace.
During the siege of Kuznetsk, the Governor of Tomsk had urgently mobilized, and whole villages of Cossacks were transferred to Tomsk to defend the city. Fortifications were also reinforced outside the castle, with three floors inside and three floors outside. If you want to attack by force, at least
It will take more than half a year. In fact, some local natives and slaves have been murdered and made into human meat jerky, making it clear that they will defend the castle to the death.
The Xinjiang Front Army, stuck outside the city of Tomsk, was destroying the outer fortifications bit by bit. The Cossacks already had methods to deal with hot air balloons, building forts at key locations, and the defenders hid in the forts to guard against air attacks.
Further west, the Kazakh and Galdan coalition forces were also stuck outside the castle and unable to continue after successfully removing several Cossack strongholds. They lacked artillery and did not know how to attack the bastion, so they could only rely on human lives. Due to casualties
Too heavy, and the morale of the army is declining day by day.
The South Route Army and the West Route Army all fought a siege and a war of attrition.
Zhang Tingxun's Eastern Route Army, however, was progressing smoothly. He attacked the enemy's north, which was cold and barren, with a relatively sparse population. The size of the castle and the number of defenders were far inferior to those in the south, and some Cossacks were also transferred to the south for reinforcements.
The composition of Zhang Tingxun's troops is also very special. There are only 2,000 standing troops, of which 25% are Han, 20% Buryat Mongolian, 25% Kirgiz (same origin with Kyrgyz), and Beishan Jurchen (Hezhe, Evenki)
, Oroqen, Feyaka, etc.) accounted for 30%.
No matter which ethnic group you come from, you all belong to the regular Datong Army.
The standard for joining the army is that you can speak Chinese and be able to communicate in Chinese. When you first recruit, you will lower the standard and can only say "hello" and "thank you". After joining the army, you will gradually be able to speak everyday language.
In addition to the regular army, there were also 2,000 tribal warriors accompanying the army. All of them came from the Kirgiz tribe in the Yenisei River Basin. They were not only auxiliary soldiers, but also civilians who transported grain and grass. The Datong Army provided regular grain transport ships.
All the above ethnic groups have a blood feud with the Cossacks!
Zhang Tingxun set off from Jianhe City by boat and rushed northwest for hundreds of miles until he arrived at the Cossack outpost castle Nizhny Shadrino. Because the troops were dispatched early and the dimensions here were high, the snow outside the castle had not yet melted.
When the Cossack defenders made an emergency defense, Zhang Tingxun said directly: "One battalion will stay and lead 500 tribal warriors to besiege the city, and the rest of the troops will continue marching!"
Including the auxiliary warriors, the total army of 4,000 people actually split up at the first enemy fort.
The defenders did not react at all, thinking that Zhang Tingxun was going to encircle them, and quickly dispatched troops to strengthen the troops in the northwest. However, they saw three-quarters of the Chinese fleet heading north without stopping, and then they understood what Zhang Tingxun wanted.
What to do.
But it was too late to report the news. The remaining fleet blocked the river!
Zhang Tingxun even took the time to march, and even stopped the entire army for two hours in the middle. He suddenly appeared outside the city of Nikulino the next night. This is the largest Cossack city in the north. Counting the surrounding Cossack villages, it is nearby.
After a few years of population growth, thousands of Cossacks settled here.
The generals who defended the city were unaware of it, because even if the Chinese army came to kill them, they would have to pass through Xia Shadrino first. This was not a frontline castle, and it was a thousand miles away from Zhang Tingxun's home base.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
In the dark, the sound of artillery fire suddenly sounded, and cannons were fired wildly from the east and south of the castle.
The Datong Army and tribal warriors had already circled to the north and west in advance. The moment the cannon sounded, they carried ladders and began to climb the outer fortifications of the bastion. Immediately afterwards, several hot air balloons rose up and dropped bombs frantically towards the buildings in the city.
, quickly ignited several wooden houses.
There were shelling and soldiers siege outside the city, and there was a fire inside the city. The Cossacks in the city were completely stunned. After waking up from their sleep, they were at a loss and didn't even know where to defend first.
It is true that there are thousands of Cossacks living in this area, but most of them are scattered in various villages. There are only a few hundred defenders and residents in the city.
The whole battle was devastating.
The next morning we went to the city to rest, and in the afternoon we divided our troops again and took boats to attack the surrounding Cossack villages. Those villages, which originally belonged to the indigenous people, were robbed by the Cossacks and used as settlements. The indigenous people either fled, were killed, or became
slave.
The Datong army was relatively well-disciplined, but the tribal warriors who accompanied the army had a blood feud with the Cossacks. They rushed into the Cossack villages and killed them. At the same time, they rescued the indigenous slaves and took the slaves with them to kill them.
The Cossacks in the village were mainly serfs who had escaped from Tsarist Russia. Very few of them owned muskets, and many did not even have serious weapons. Facing the butcher knives of the tribal warriors, the Cossack villagers had no ability to resist, and all those who ran slowly were shot.
Hack to death.
But the number of tribal warriors is increasing with each fight.
Some came from rescued slaves, and some came from local indigenous people. The local indigenous people were expelled from the river areas and hid in the dense forests. When they heard that someone was fighting Cossacks, they all came to join the group to help.
A month later, the number of tribal warriors under Zhang Tingxun reached an astonishing number of more than 8,000.
Immediately, he sent his troops westward, recruiting indigenous warriors along the way and raiding Cossack villages everywhere. The entire hinterland of the Tomsk Warlord District was turned into a pot of paste by Zhang Tingxun.
Until Zhang Tingxun led his army south to encircle Vartovsk, the retreat route of the main Cossack force was cut off, and the Tomsk Governor's Mansion became an isolated city.
In this battle, Zhang Tingxun only led 2,000 regular troops and 2,000 tribal auxiliary troops, but they fought thousands of miles within four months. They captured five Cossack castles, uprooted more than ten Cossack strongholds, and destroyed more than 80 Cossack villages. However, the Datong Army
The number of casualties was only single digits, and the tribal warriors only suffered casualties of more than 300.
Become famous in one battle!
Two years later, the "Sino-Russian Treaty of Tomsk" was signed, and Tsarist Russia's Tomsk Military District was divided into two, with China occupying the east and Tsarist Russia occupying the west.
The entire Siberian region north of Xinjiang is Chinese territory.
As a result, Peter the Great lost his prestige. Conservatives took the opportunity to make trouble, and the results of the reform were very likely to be in vain.