Chapter 356 You steal the tea tree and I steal the sheep (5,000 words)
Irkutsk is called Erkou City by Mongolians and Chinese businessmen. It is located on the southwest side of Yuehu Lake, on the south bank of the mouth of Yuehu Lake where the Angala River flows into.
To the south is the Bria Ridge. From Erkou City to the south, there is a broad passage between Moon Lake and the Bria Territory to reach the area east of the Great Lake.
The Second Cavalry Brigade did not engage in combat with the Tsarist Russians in accordance with the orders of the Black Dragon Military District Headquarters.
Lin Wei was not afraid that Teng Ziquan and the others would suffer. It was because there was no need to start a war with the Russians so early.
The experience of several previous battles with Tsarist Russia has proven that it is better to fight the Tsarist Russians in the Black Dragon region of the Far East.
Everyone is facing supply pressure.
That means the closer you are to your own rear, the more advantageous it will be to your own side.
The current westernmost military stronghold of the Black Dragon Military Region of the Renaissance Army is Ulan-Ude on the east bank of Moon Lake.
Here Ulan-Ude, Chita, and Nerchinsk City form an east-west city chain.
Then to the Heilong City, Khabarovsk City, and Temple Street City in the east, a horizontal urban belt is basically formed.
The distribution of cities basically coincides with the flow direction of Heilongjiang.
This line is connected by water and land.
With Nerchinsk City as the rear logistics base.
Supplies were continuously transported to Nerchinsk City through Heilongjiang River, where they were stockpiled.
With Nerchinsk as the center, an important north-south agricultural and animal husbandry area is formed along the western foot of the Daxingan Mountains.
There are a large number of state-owned farms and pastures here.
Some of the herdsmen brought here by Teng Ziquan were recruited into the rangers and became professional soldiers. The rest were divided into small herds teams to take charge of the herds.
This year, the Chinese government has even made plans here and established state-owned ranches one after another.
They ended their nomadic life and began a settled life on pastures.
Because it is affected by Moon Lake, the annual rainfall is relatively abundant. It can promote the cultivation of high-quality pasture. Therefore, it is suitable for building permanent pasture.
In May, after the weather warmed up, herdsmen began to sow grass seeds in large areas with the knowledge of technicians.
Grazing in the pasture at the same time.
In the fall, they will harvest and package the planted grass so that they do not need to move to other fields.
Accordingly, they no longer need to live in tents. The Chinese government helped them build settlements, and huts with civil structures were built one after another.
We can also live in a house like Han people, cook in the kitchen, and sleep on a warm earthen bed in winter.
Herders no longer need to pick up cow dung and collect firewood for fuel.
Replaced by more convenient briquettes. Heilong Province is rich in coal resources.
There are workshops for making briquettes in every region. Coal mines are widely distributed in the Heilong area.
The manure of those livestock can be returned to the pasture and used to improve the soil structure of the pasture.
This integrated farming and animal husbandry management method allows herdsmen to improve their nutritional structure, and they also rely on grain and dairy products as their main food.
Herdsmen have a large amount of grain as a food source. Pastures can raise more cattle, horses, and sheep that produce wool.
Cattle and horses can be exported to the east or even the south to be used as draft horses and plowing cattle.
Wool can promote the development of the wool textile industry.
Milk can be sent to ranch workshops to be made into milk powder and sold to the south. China's infant survival rate will further increase.
At present, the wool textile industry in the world is still dominated by the British.
All high-quality sheep are in the hands of the British.
In comparison, China's native goat breeds have great deficiencies in both wool and meat production.
Just like the British have been trying to introduce silkworms and tea trees from China.
The Fuxing Army had previously uncovered a case of privately selling tea saplings in Xiamen.
Although the merchant who bought the tea trees was not caught, the Chinese merchants who resold the tea trees were severely punished. The person involved was sentenced to death, and even his family was exiled to the Far East.
Dong Shuheng knew that the decline of China's tea exports was due to the introduction of tea trees to India.
India has a lot of arable land, hills and mountains, and the climate is warm and humid, which is very suitable for the cultivation of tea trees.
Once the British established tea plantations in India, Chinese tea farmers would inevitably be unable to compete with them.
The British plantations could exploit colonial Indians, and since they were closer to the West, the cost of tea was much lower than that of Chinese tea.
Dong Shuheng would never let such a thing happen no matter what.
From the time he first started controlling export channels, he paid attention to detecting the smuggling exports of tea trees.
In order to prevent foreigners from entering the mainland and stealing tea saplings.
The Chinese government also stipulates that foreigners can only operate in free trade zones with open ports.
If you want to enter the mainland for activities, you must go through strict approval procedures.
In the five open ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Fujian, Xiamen, and Guangzhou, regardless of whether they originally had concessions or not, the Chinese government designated special areas for foreigners to conduct trade exchange activities.
However, these areas are subject to strict customs surveillance.
After the establishment of the Chinese government, although these open ports were not touched, customs supervision became more stringent than before.
Moreover, several major customs now have their own armed patrol teams equipped with steam gunboats. Although they are not as good as foreign warships, their ability to conduct inspections of merchant ships is much stronger than before.
Strict control measures also make opium smuggling more difficult.
So recently the British Minister Bao Ling has been clamoring to see Dong Shuheng, but Dong Shuheng has delayed him in various ways.
Britain's policy towards China is also changing subtly.
They are re-examining how to develop their relationship with the Chinese government after the Qing Dynasty is gone.
Bao Ling is now making an assessment as to whether the establishment of the Chinese government will be beneficial or detrimental to the interests of the British Empire in the East.
Dong Shuheng also knew that hiding could not be avoided. If China wanted to rise, it would inevitably compete with the British Empire for the right to speak in the East.
Many of the benefits originally conceded will become a thing of the past.
Just like now, it is impossible for Dong Shuheng to acquiesce in the import of opium.
It turns out that Dong Shuheng's attempt to balance the trade balance between the two parties by importing machinery, ships and other items was not sustainable for a long time.
As China's own industrial system is established, such import activities will become less and less.
The eight frigates in Gaoyou have been basically completed.
Dong Shuheng has secretly built a larger shipyard in Ninghai, Liaoning, which will later be known as Dalian. Here, destroyers of more than 3,000 tons will be built, and even cruisers of 10,000 tons will be built in the future.
With the technological accumulation of the previous eight Jianghe-class frigates, plus the technological accumulation of the four ironclads built by China and Prussia.
Now China has the ability to build large ships of more than 3,000 tons.
Soon China will have the capital to challenge the British in the Far East.
Dong Shuheng did not want to go to war with Britain and France, but conflict was inevitable. Maybe it would be a good choice to have a fight and flex their muscles, and then the two sides could sit down and have a good talk.
Of course this is just a guess about the future.
At this time, a fleet of ships on the Danube River was leaving Vienna.
The mission sent by Joseph to China set off. Wang Tao and Austrian Foreign Minister Bauer watched the fleet leave together.
The main body of the fleet is two Austrian sailing frigates.
At such a critical historical moment, Austria will officially open diplomatic relations with China.
Austria does not have a navy, and their fleet must enter the Black Sea through the mouth of the Danube River to go to sea.
Following this fleet were two Chinese merchant ships.
At this time, in addition to some recruited European skilled immigrants, there were also some equipment purchased by China in Europe on the merchant ships.
Many of these things are electrical production equipment purchased by Xu Shou.
In the bottom compartment of the ship, if you get close at this time, you can hear some slight "beep" sounds.
Yes, there are some cute lambs hiding under the boat.
Why are these cute lambs hiding under the cabin?
Because they are breeding sheep obtained by people from the European station with great efforts. There are famous European sheep such as the British Lincoln sheep and the Finnish Landreth sheep.
This order was a task specially given to Ji Mingshan by Dong Shuheng when he went to Europe. To collect various animal and plant species resources in Europe.
As early as when he was in Yangzhou, Dong Shuheng established an agricultural research institute, but at that time he was still studying agricultural crops. It was mainly engaged in the breeding and promotion of corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and other crops.
Later, after the Huai Navy occupied Jiangxi, he established a rice research institute in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, and asked people to conduct hybrid experiments using wild rice in the south.
Now that he has occupied the grassland, he has turned his attention to animals. There is a lack of high-quality sheep and goat resources in the country.
Several tea tree smuggling incidents made him realize that China could also introduce European animal husbandry resources.
The germ of British capitalism began with the enclosure movement. Why enclosure? It was to raise sheep. The British raised sheep to develop the woolen textile industry for export.
From now on, China will have a large territory of grassland in its hands. Since the British want to steal China's tea industry, then I will steal your woolen textile industry.
This means you will be on the first day of junior high school and I will be on the fifteenth day.
Of course, the British are also very strict about protecting their breeding sheep, and smuggling live animals is much more difficult than smuggling plants.
This is why Wang Tao insisted on letting the fleet go back with the Austrian mission fleet this time.
Because there are British colonies along the way, if you are not careful, you will be discovered by someone who inspects you.
After all, Austria is the Habsburg royal family. It is also the big brother of the European royal family. The British royal family is also related to them.
Therefore, you can still enjoy many privileges along the way. Even if the Austrian navy is very weak, the British will not provoke the Austrian mission fleet casually.
In order to ensure the survival rate of these breeding sheep, Ji Mingshan also specially modified the bottom warehouses of these ships and installed ventilation devices.
There are also dedicated caregivers responsible for taking care of these sheep on the ship. Of course, this is only the first batch of sheep. To form a healthy population in the future, just such a small number of individuals is not enough.
On the 10th day of the sixth lunar month, Dong Shuheng received envoys from Britain, France, the United States and other countries in Tianjin City.
When Bao Ling saw Dong Shuheng this time, he was no longer in the same happy mood as before. He felt that he had been deceived by Dong Shuheng.
Dong Shuheng did tell them before that he would not touch the Qing court for the time being. But he turned around and destroyed the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Now the trade interests of Britain and France in China have not expanded, and the trade ports are still the original five. The vast inland areas are still not open to the public.
Even the control at the five open ports is much stricter than before. The customs management system of the Chinese government is very strict and meticulous, which is completely different from the customs of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties in the past.
Now there is no way to continue the human trade. Opium smuggling has also been suspended.
After Wu Jianzhang fled to Hong Kong, he defected to the British and leaked some secrets of the Renaissance Army.
So Bao Ling knew that the Renaissance Army was not as harmless as they seemed. Dong Shuheng had many secrets hidden there.
Bao Ling even regretted that he invited the Huai Navy to participate in the Crimean War.
The current relationship between them makes it difficult for Britain to fall out at this time.
In addition, the previous loans and concessions to the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi in Guangzhou have not yet been recognized by the Chinese government.
So not only Bao Ling, but also Bulbulon expressed dissatisfaction with Dong Shuheng.
The American Minister Mailian naturally hated Dong Shuheng, but Dong Shuheng did not take him seriously.
The current strength of the United States is just that, and it has no ability to start a war in the East.
During this meeting in Tianjin, Dong Shuheng did not intend to be tough with the other party. First of all, Dong Shuheng did not deny the "Jiangning Treaty", and the five open ports were still retained. Dong Shuheng also wanted to continue foreign trade, so naturally he would not close the country.
On the Xiang Island side, Dong Shuheng didn't think about taking it back now, because that would mean going to war with the British.
China is now in a period of stable development and does not have the ability to go to war with a world power like Britain.
Moreover, Xiang Island is now in the hands of the British. If there is a conflict between the two sides, it will become a weakness of the British.
In terms of opening up, Dong Shuheng even made concessions. He promised to open an embassy district in Tianjin. Each country that has diplomatic relations can build its own embassy here, but the other party must also provide a free piece of land in its capital for China to build an embassy.
This kind of reciprocal treatment can be accepted by the other side. European countries have always longed to enter the north of China.
Now I finally got my wish.
Regarding trade, Dong Shuheng has a welcoming attitude. Of course, it must be carried out at China's foreign trade ports and must abide by Chinese laws.
Dong Shuheng also threw a big stick to other countries, that is, preparing to hold a commodity expo in Shanghai.
By then, all countries that have established relations with China will be able to send people to participate in this expo.
Here they can display their products.
This is also in line with Bao Ling and Bulbulon's wishes.
They believe that the reason why their country's products cannot enter China's interior is because the people in China do not understand their products.
Such an exhibition will definitely deepen this understanding.
Even Mai Lian wanted to spread the news back to China as soon as possible.
At the end of the meeting, the issue of borrowing and concessions in Guangdong and Guangxi was discussed.
China believed that this loan was just Wu Jianzhang's personal behavior and had nothing to do with the Qing government at that time.
Moreover, the Chinese government has never promised to recognize all the debts of the Qing court.
Liu Qingbei believes that the Three Kingdoms should seek compensation from Wu Jianzhang. Wu Jianzhang is now in Hong Kong.
If you want money, you can sue Wu Jianzhang. Or the United Kingdom can extradite him to China and let the Chinese government try him.
Of course it is impossible for the British to hand over Wu Jianzhang. This Wu Jianzhang still has important value in their hands.
Moreover, Wu Jianzhang did not run there alone, he had thousands of soldiers under his command! Now they have been organized into the Huayong Battalion by the British.
For nothing, there were thousands more colonial infantry in hand, which was of great value to Britain.
Liu Qingbei is equivalent to grasping the opponent's weakness. This multiple-choice question is difficult for British people to answer.
The French don't care, they have already made a lot of money from Wu Jianzhang before.
This loan was all exchanged for weapons. So what the French lost was only some equipment.
In comparison, the relationship with China is obviously more important.
He had heard Dong Shuheng say that he wanted to build a large-scale railway, but China's steel industry had just started and could not meet the needs. Therefore, it needed to import a large amount of high-quality steel.
This contains a lot of business opportunities.
During the negotiations, Bao Ling also raised concerns about China's development momentum in the Pacific.
Bao Ling refers to a series of actions taken by China in Alaska.
The British were worried that they would crowd out the Tsarist Russians in North America and create another Chinese nation.
In response, Dong Shuheng naturally said that China would not infringe on British interests in Canada.
Occupying Alaska is only necessary to fight Russia. Besides, the southeastern part of Alaska is still in the hands of the Tsarist Russians!
Dong Shuheng even revealed the news to Britain and France that Russia was once again gathering troops to march eastward.
Dong Shuheng knew their little thoughts.
Britain and France just hoped that China could fight to the death with Tsarist Russia in the east.
It would be best to draw Russia's attention to the east.
Russia is so big that it almost exceeds the total size of Europe. If there is no one to contain Tsarist Russia in the east, the British will have trouble sleeping and eating.
Dong Shuheng told them this to help the British and French ministers find a balance in their minds.
In order to have a stable development time, Dong Shuheng has tried his best to coax these foreign devils.
If they push further, Dong Shuheng won't mind fighting to the death.
Britain and France are also very dependent on Eastern trade. Unless they are forced to do so, they will not fall out with China.
The matter of Wu Jianzhang's loan has been put on hold for the time being.
On the American side, Liu Qingbei went to negotiate alone. There was still a blood debt that had not been settled.
Because it also involved the tragedy outside Guangzhou, the Americans were still unwilling to hand over the murderer. The negotiations also entered a stalemate stage.
For the time being, Dong Shuheng does not have the ability to use force to make the Americans submit.
The compromise now is for the sake of explosion in the future.
Dong Shuheng believed that no matter how much he endured the injustice now, his revenge would be even more violent in the future.
ps: I’ve had a big pimple on my butt these past two days. Maybe it’s related to the fact that I’ve been sitting and typing in the past few months. I can’t sit down these past two days, so I can only lie down and type on my phone. Dear readers, please