Even without the experience of later generations, people at this time knew that without the protection of trees, human living space would sooner or later be taken away by the desert.
In Dong Shuheng's eyes, the central and eastern parts of the Western Region were already the hinterland, and the so-called frontier land should be to the west of the Yibo Sea, in the Gobi zone in the middle of the Kazakh Plateau.
It is still thousands of kilometers west of the Tianshan Mountains, so there is no problem in saying that the east of the Tianshan Mountains is considered inland.
Ili City, the center of the Duhufu.
In the government office, a brand-new five-story building rose from the ground. The original old Duhu Mansion was not demolished, but was changed to Huiyuan Academy.
Culture and education are an important symbol of a place being included in the core control of the Central Plains.
The current Protectorate has no military functions, and all its original military functions have been returned to the military regions.
The military compound is located on the Ili River in the west of the city. There is a huge military camp here, and the Ili River Marine Division near the river also has a dock here.
There are only a few mechanically powered patrol boats on the pier. The navy spends most of its time at the Yibohai station, providing supplies and support to the military camps along the coast.
We are not at this pier at this time.
In the middle of the third floor of the white five-story office building is a conference room. At this time, there are more than twenty people sitting in the conference room, most of them are young. These are the current main officials of the Western Region Protectorate.
"Old Li, your vision should be broader and focus on the entire Central Asia region. I hope that the Western Region can become the center of Central Asia. You see, basically the best land in Central Asia is here. The north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, Fei
Ergana Basin, Chu River Basin."
"Soon, the railway between you and the mainland will be connected. By then, distance will no longer be a problem. You have unique development conditions here."
"But you must remember not to over-exploit. The surrounding deserts and frequent sandstorms remind us how fragile the surrounding natural environment is. It is important to develop production, but we cannot exhaust the water. In particular, we must use water reasonably. Here in the Western Regions
The most precious resource is water, and the snow and water on the Tianshan Mountains are accumulated over the years, not just falling from the sky."
Dong Shuheng said this because he wanted to give a shot in the arm to the development of the Western Region. Nowadays, farms and pastures are being built here. They all require water resources. Maybe someone will over-exploit the local area for political achievements and enthusiasm.
"President, when it comes to radiating the economy to Central Asia, we have an idea, which is to build the Fergana Basin into a sub-economic center." Li Cunwen said.
"Have you chosen a place?" Dong Shuheng asked.
"We think the ancient city of Samarkand is good. It is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia and an important hub city on the Silk Road. It has a history of 2,500 years and was the capital of the ancient Timur Empire. To the west is Bukhara.
and the Khiva Khanate, and it is still the only place to go to Persia and Turkey."
"To the south is Aiwuhan, and you can also reach India."
"And the land around the city is already very fertile and can support a large commercial population."
Samarkand originally means a land of plenty. Of course, it also has an even older Chinese name called "Kangju".
To the east of Samarkand is the Fergana Basin, which is an area controlled by the Baath Army and is rich in products.
Geographically relatively independent, it is an intermountain basin between the Tianshan Mountains and the Gisar-Alai Mountains, located at the junction of the three countries of later Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The basin is 300 kilometers long from east to west, 170 kilometers wide from north to south, and has an altitude of 330 to
1000 meters.
Although precipitation is scarce here, three rivers, the Syr Darya, the Sokh and the Isfara rivers flow through this basin.
In particular, the Syr Darya River is one of the two main rivers in the Transoxiana region.
In the entire territory of the Western Regions, it is located in the southwest of the Tianshan Mountains, separated from the southern part of the Western Regions by a mountain range.
But the connection between its west and Samarkand is relatively convenient.
The Fergana Basin is rich in products, not only producing food, but also cotton and silk, which are important industrial raw materials.
If Samarkand and the Fergana Basin are integrated, it can indeed become an area with development potential.
Moreover, the main population in the Fergana Basin is now Han Chinese, and many large farms have been established in the area.
The Governor's Palace also built irrigation canals on the Syr Darya River, and the irrigation conditions are very good. The precipitation here is scarce, which actually increases the sunshine time.
Everyone fell silent when they saw Dong Shuheng tapping his fingers on the table. This was Dong Shuheng's signature move when he was thinking.
"Okay, just integrate Samarkand and the Fergana Basin into Kangju Prefecture. Change Samarkand into Kangju City. Set up a free trade zone in Kangju City and build an open city here." Dong Shuheng said.
.
The Protectorate was originally set up because of the special local conditions, mainly because the ethnic composition was complex and it was impossible to implement the same management system as ordinary provinces.
The Fuxing Army now has a total of four Protectorate Prefectures, Mobei, Xiyu, Fusang and Luzon. At present, the Western Region Protectorate Prefecture is expected to be the first to take off the title of Protectorate Prefecture.
The so-called removal of the hat means that the Protectorate has completed its internal integration, and the people have sufficient recognition of the country. It can be managed by the ordinary provincial system.
It can be changed to a provincial system.
The conditions here in the Western Regions are better, and there were originally more Han immigrants. Although there are many mountains and deserts here, there is actually a lot of land suitable for farming.
Therefore, the immigration work has been done well.
One of the reasons why Dong Shuheng established the Kangju Mansion was to gradually normalize the Western Region Protectorate.
This normalization is from the bottom up, integrating county-level units first, then prefectures, and finally converting them into provinces depending on the situation.
The Western Region Protectorate is so big that it may eventually be divided into several provinces.
"Great, President, with Kangju City, our trade with Central Asia will be closer."
"The railway will still be built there in the future, but it is too early to talk about it now. The railway will be built to Alashankou first, and then it will be extended along the northern part of the Tianshan Mountains to Kangju City. At that time, the integration of our Western Region will be completed
.”
…
Dong Shuheng had some ideas of his own regarding the construction of the Western Regions.
Many people think of this place as a remote place.
This idea has existed since the Han Dynasty.
When the Han first took control of the Western Region, they did not treat it like Kyushu.
Therefore, historically this place has been divided and combined with the Central Plains Dynasty, and has not become a solidified territory.
Although Dong Shuheng designated it as the Protectorate from the beginning, he only designated it this way because of its social environment.
But he is planning to build this place into the hinterland of the Central Plains and into the core living area of the Chinese people.
Because Dong Shuheng’s eyes are on the entire Eurasian continent.
To establish a maritime hegemony integrating land and sea, no one has ever done it.
So on land, Dong Shuheng felt that the Renaissance Army must control Central Asia, and at the same time, it must be able to at least influence the West Asia region. Only in this way can it establish a stable hegemony on the road.
At sea, it is necessary to completely control the entire Pacific Ocean and at the same time have the ability to project a superior fleet anywhere.
He felt that he was getting closer and closer to this goal.
On land, Central Asia is still facing threats from the north and south. To the south is the British-Indian army entrenched in Peshawar. The threat to the north is naturally Tsarist Russia.
The Great Empire has always had a strong influence on Aiurhan and Persia. Its control over Turkey is unmatched by the Renaissance Army.
Tsarist Russia still absolutely controls most of Kazakhstan, threatening the Western Regions, Bukhara and Khiva, and has always been a direct threat to Persia and Turkey.
Until the threats in these two directions are eliminated, Central Asia cannot be controlled.
If the Baath Army wants to dominate Eurasia, it must absolutely control Central Asia, eliminate threats from the north and south, and bring Persia and Ottoman Turkey under its protection and influence.
In turn, it can have an impact on Eastern Europe on land.
Relatively speaking, Tsarist Russia now has stronger control over the Eurasian continent than the Renaissance Army, and they can at least influence both sides of the Eurasian continent.
The Renaissance Army is still in a corner. It can only control East Asia absolutely. It only has influence on Central Asia, not control.
The first step to maritime hegemony is to control the Pacific Ocean, which is still only one step away from success.
This step is to drive the Great Empire away from Singapore.
That is the western gate of the Pacific Ocean. Only by controlling there can we control the Pacific Ocean.
Only then will the Renaissance Army be able to have the strength to penetrate into the Indian Ocean region.
Of course, merely controlling a Pacific Ocean does not constitute establishing maritime hegemony.
This is just the first step.
The three main oceans are the Pacific Ocean in the middle, the Atlantic Ocean across the Strait of Magellan, and the Indian Ocean across the Strait of Malacca.
After taking control of the Pacific Ocean, the Renaissance Army locked the door before being able to free up its hands to march towards the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
The so-called maritime hegemony must at least deliver the navy to any sea area on the sea.
And they can form an absolute advantage over the enemy.
Such a navy must be supported by a large number of bases. Otherwise, how can it be delivered?
As warships enter the steam age, it should be said that sail warships, including sail warships, are very dependent on supply ports.
Of course, mechanically powered battleships have greater demand for supply ports.
Without supplies, a mechanically powered battleship would have to lie down.
In Dong Shuheng's plan, after taking down the two gateways to the Pacific Ocean, the Strait of Magellan and the Strait of Malacca, he could then gradually squeeze the Empire of Great Britain out of the Pacific Ocean.
Without these two gateways, their current Australian colony of New South Wales cannot be maintained.
It can't bring any benefits to the Great Empire yet.
Dong Shuheng believed that by that time, the Great Empire would retreat to the Indian Ocean with all its strength.
If they take risks to save Australia, they are crazy.
Of course, these are all things for later.
After all, he came to the Western Regions this time to solve problems on land.
Develop industry and commerce in the Western Region, making it the industrial and commercial center of Central Asia, and economically influencing Central Asia and West Asia.
Just one aspect of it.
In this era, force is the most important.
In the next few days, Dong Shuheng and Wang Congzhi visited the locations of various divisions in the military region.
Hantao City is on the south side of Yibohai, only fifty kilometers away from Yibohai.
To the north is the desert on the east side of the Yibo Sea, and to the south is the Chu River. To the southeast, there is a new city, Suiye City, on the upper reaches of the Chu River.
There is Lake Issyk-Kul and the Chu River in the south, and the Ili River in the north. It is surrounded by deserts and mountains. In later generations, there were big cities in Central Asia such as Bishkek and Almaty. From this we can see that this place
The geographical location is excellent.
The northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, or the area outside the mountains, focus on the Fergana Basin in the south, and the Ili Valley and Suiye Valley areas in the north.
Dong Shuheng, led by Wang Congzhi, took a boat down the Ili River and disembarked in the north of Suiye City, where a dam was being built.
In later generations, there was a Kapuchagai Reservoir here.
After the completion of this dam, the water utilization efficiency of the Ili River can be improved.
Because the main water source of the Ili River is snow water from the sky, the seasonality is very strong.
Abundant water in summer often leads to flooding in the downstream desert areas, but this water is wasted.
In winter, the river water will dry up again.
With the dam, it can not only provide power to cities such as Yili City, Suiye City, Hantao City, etc., but also improve the irrigation conditions here.
Dong Shuheng went to Hantao City after seeing it in Suiye City.
Suiye City is an industrial and agricultural city. There are smelters, textile mills, and food factories in the city. The surrounding agriculture is developed. A large part of the logistics supplies of the Western Region Army are obtained from here.
Hantao City is a military city.
There are two types of people here, one is the standing army. The famous First Division is stationed here. As the first-class division of the Renaissance Army, the First Division has nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers, and its various reserves are also the best in the army.
of.
Another type of people is the military camp. This is the military camp soldiers directly under the military headquarters.
They usually farm and live with their families, but in wartime they can carry their guns and fight.
Whether it is production or fighting, they are carried out in the form of an army.
The military headquarters has set up military camps in the Shannan area of the Western Region, the western border, and many places in Mobei, totaling a total of more than twenty divisions.
Not only do these military camps not have to spend a penny on medical treatment, they can also create value.
All the Renaissance Army provided was land.
Hantao City was originally a Sogdian town.
There are now two military garrison divisions stationed here, and the total number of soldiers and their families is more than 50,000. Including the First Division stationed here, the total population has exceeded 70,000.
This place can be considered a medium-sized city.
The city is surrounded by farmland, and military garrison divisions are scattered around in company units to cultivate land.
The station of the 1st Battalion and 3rd Company of the 2nd Regiment of the 4th Military Reclamation Division.
Dong Shuheng walked into the home of a farmer in Juntun.
"Hello President, Han Zuliang, squad leader of the second squad of the first battalion and third company of the second regiment of the fourth military division, is here to report to you."
This is a warrior who is less than thirty years old, but looks more like a farmer.
"Han Zuliang, come and sit at your home."
Han Zuliang's home is a three-room mud house. The houses in the entire company headquarters are basically such adobe houses.
The general principle of the military camp is to reclaim the land first and then build houses. It takes a lot of manpower to burn kilns and make bricks. Naturally, it is more efficient to put manpower on reclaiming the land first.
"President, but the home is a bit cramped, don't mind it."
"You guys live here every day, and I just go in and sit there. How can you be so delicate?" Dong Shuheng said with a smile.
"Please." Han Zuliang's nervousness immediately eased a lot.
In the middle of the house is the main room. On the back wall is a long chest-high cabinet with ancestral tablets placed on it. In front of the cabinet is a dining table.
The house is quite clean, it must have been specially cleaned.
Dong Shuheng took out a small square stool and sat down, looking around the central hall. The doors of the rooms on both sides and the main room were all covered with curtains. The curtains were made of plain linen, and the situation in the inner room could not be seen.
"Han Zuliang, are you from Henan?"
"Well, yes, my family is from Kaifeng Mansion."
"oh oh."
Dong Shuheng knew that many people migrated from Kaifeng to regulate the Yellow River.
"Then you should have entered the military camp during the first year of Fuxing."
"Yes, yes, President."
"Who else is at home?"
"There are still mother-in-law and two children at home. Both parents are gone." Han Zuliang pointed to some back rooms on the east side, then looked at the tablet on the cabinet and said.