Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 812 Missionary

With Burigude there, and Wang Hai leading the naturalized new army to reinforce, Zhu Shenzui was not worried about the war in Moxi.

This battle was destined to defeat the Mobei army, and the outcome would depend on the subsequent deployment of troops. However, the appearance of the Rakshasa people made Zhu Shenzhui alert. He knew very well that even if they won this battle, the Mobei army would retreat, and the Rakshasa people would not give up. They would still find a way to continue to move eastward. Aggression and the desire for land were deeply rooted in their bones, just like the never-satisfied Pixiu, and they would continue to move eastward.

Once the Russians take over Mobei, their tentacles will extend directly to the Mongolian region. Further east of Mobei is the Nurgan region in the Heilongjiang River basin. By then, a scene that has already happened in history will occur. Once they move south, they will not only threaten the entire southern part of the desert, but also the Ming Dynasty. How could Zhu Shenzui allow such a thing to happen?
Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, once said, "How can I allow others to snore beside my bed?" With such a powerful enemy, how can the Ming Dynasty have a peaceful future? Moreover, the greed of Tsarist Russia is not a temporary thing, it is their nature. It was like this before, it is like this now, and it will be like this even hundreds of years later. Maybe when Zhu Shenzhui is alive, he can contain the other side and start a war to beat them back, but what about later? After Zhu Shenzhui dies, can his descendants ensure that they all have such vision? Or are they all wise rulers? What if a prodigal son appears and gives these Russians an opportunity to take advantage of it? Wouldn't it be an endless trouble?

"Let Guihua keep a close eye on this matter and report to us immediately if there is any news!" Zhu Shenzhui instructed Zhou Anmin in a serious tone.

Zhou Anmin responded, then hesitated and asked, "Does Moxi want to intervene?"

"No need to intervene. The Tenger tribe has already participated in this battle. With the ability of Wang Hai and Burigude plus the combat power of the army they control, there should be no problem. Moreover, once the Ming Dynasty intervenes, the situation will be different. Desert West is not as good as Desert South, and the attitude of the tribes towards the Ming Dynasty is unpredictable. If the vigilance of the tribes in Desert West is aroused, it will be counterproductive."

"I understand. I will immediately send more people to naturalize the people and also send people to Qinghai to inquire about the situation. Report as soon as there is any news!"

"Well, Jinyiwei should pay more attention to this matter and don't take it lightly." Zhu Shenzhui nodded, then thought for a moment and asked, "How is it going when I asked you to send people to the northern part of Nurgan? Can you contact the various tribes of Solon?"

Zhou Anmin was ashamed and shook his head, saying, "I have sent three groups of people, but only a few have returned, and neither of them has completed the mission. The main reason is that the northern part of Nurgan is too far away. There are only two ways to get there from Daming. One way is to go north from Chahar to Khorchin in the south of the desert, and then go north from Khorchin back to the northeast. This journey is thousands of miles long, not only is it difficult to travel, but my people will easily expose their identities, and once discovered, they will not be able to escape at all."

"In addition, there are wild beasts along the way. The first group of people I sent were almost wiped out because they encountered tigers and wolves, and only two people escaped. As for the other route, it goes without saying that it is through Liaodong, which requires passing through the heartland of the Jiannu, which is more difficult than taking the grassland."

"But don't worry, Regent. I have already started to prepare to send more people, but I can't guarantee whether it will succeed. Moreover, I heard from the people who came back that the various tribes of Solon have continued to migrate north to avoid Jiannu. It is not easy to find their traces."

The problem Zhou Anmin mentioned did exist, and Zhu Shenzhui knew it. Moreover, when he asked Zhou Anmin to do this, he only gave a brief explanation and did not issue an order to do it at all costs, so the Jinyiwei temporarily put the matter aside after sending people several times without success.

But the situation is different now. With the sudden appearance of the Russians, Zhu Shenzhui felt the crisis in the north. Moreover, Huang Taiji is currently busy with internal rectification, trying to completely control the Eight Banners and consolidate his position. As a result, the military operations against the Solon tribes in the north have slowed down.

Under this circumstance, the existence of the various Sauron tribes had a different meaning than before. The Sauron tribe had strong combat effectiveness, but because of insufficient productivity and weapons, it had always refused to surrender to the Jiannu, but could not defeat the Jiannu, so it could only continue to migrate northward.

If Suolong was brought over to serve the Ming Dynasty, not only could a strong army be established in the north of Jiannu to deal with Huang Taiji's Eight Banners Army, but it could also serve as a barrier for the Luosha people to advance eastward. As long as the Suolong tribe was there, neither Jiannu nor Luosha people could easily control this area, which was of great benefit to the Ming Dynasty.

After thinking about it, Zhu Shenzhui made a suggestion. Since the land route was too far and unsafe, it would be better to find another way. It was a bit difficult before, but now the situation is different. With the establishment and expansion of the Shandong Navy, and Zheng Hongkui as the commander-in-chief of the Navy, he is a general who is a pirate and is particularly familiar with naval battles and sea routes. In addition, the Ming Dynasty has taken back Pi Island and has a Navy station and transit place in the north. Then Zhou Anmin can send people to Nurgan through the Navy's ships.

By going north along the coastline by sea, bypassing the Korean Peninsula and heading directly north, you can reach the northern part of Nurgan, and then directly arrive at the Nurgan Dusi Weisuo area of ​​that year.

Although Nurgandusi was abandoned by the Ming Dynasty and occupied by the Jurchens, not many people were left there after the rise of the Jurchens. Most of them went south. After all, the north was too cold and there was nothing to produce. Even if the territory was large, it was useless. The map of this road is still there. You should be able to find it by looking in the warehouse of the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Households. The Jinyiwei Yamen also has previous records, so it is not difficult to find it. As for going by sea, it is not difficult either. Except for the winter when it is impossible to go because of the cold climate and ice, it is completely feasible for half a year in a year.

Now that spring has arrived and flowers are blooming, the northern waterway is almost open to traffic. The Jinyiwei contacted Zheng Hongkui and asked him to select two ships and add some excellent sailors. They can use this route to search for the various tribes of Sauron.

Zhu Shenzhui's words made Zhou Anmin's eyes light up. You know, he has always been troubled by this mission. He has sent people to the north three times, but none of them succeeded, and a lot of manpower was lost. Now, when the Jinyiwei heard that they had to go to the north of Nurgan to contact the Solon tribe, they were terrified. No one wanted to go to that remote and dangerous place. After all, it was too dangerous. It was not that they were afraid of death, but the risk was too great and the possibility of success was extremely small.

If you go by sea, the situation will be completely different. The sea route is much safer than the land route. In addition, it can sail directly to Nurgandusi, which not only saves a lot of distance but also avoids many risks. The success rate will be much higher.

"The Regent really woke me up with his words! Why didn't I think of this method?" Zhou Anmin smiled and nodded repeatedly.

"Brother-in-law, your flattery is too awkward. You are the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei. The responsibilities of the Jinyiwei are not limited to internal affairs. You have to pay more attention to external affairs in the future, especially military affairs. Although the Jinyiwei cannot interfere, it still has to pay attention." Zhu Shenzhui laughed jokingly.

Zhou Anmin nodded in guilt, saying that it was indeed his negligence. He thought to himself that he should pay more attention to external intelligence in the future and not just focus on the present. As the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had a heavy responsibility and burden.

"By the way, I remember there are Europeans living in Beijing?" Zhu Shenzhui suddenly asked.

Zhou Anmin was slightly stunned, then immediately responded: "You are talking about the foreign monks from Europe, right?"

"Foreign monks? Haha, yes! These are the people, or to be more precise, missionaries." Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile.

Zhou Anmin didn't know who was a missionary or not, but he knew something about the Europeans sent by the Catholic Church in Beijing, and he immediately reported: "Reporting to the Regent, there are indeed a few missionaries from Europe, but since their leader Matteo Ricci died in Beijing in the 38th year of Wanli, there are not many left. Except for Xu Guangqi and other people from the Ming Dynasty who also converted to their religion, the rest of the Europeans don't seem to be in Beijing. The most famous one among them is Long Huamin, who is now over 80 years old, but he usually lives in Qingzhou, Shandong. As for the others, I only know of one person who entered the Imperial Observatory as an official in the second year of Tianqi, and his name is Tang Ruowang."

Zhu Shenzhui immediately became excited when he heard the name of Tang Ruowang. That's right! It was this person! In later generations, many people knew Tang Ruowang's name. The key point was that he was mentioned several times in the novels written by Er Yuehe, and he also appeared in the TV series he filmed. He was considered a well-known person.

Not to mention Matteo Ricci, who was even more famous. He was buried in the capital after his death in the 38th year of the Wanli reign. His tomb has been preserved to later generations and is a national key protected cultural relic. But who is Long Huamin mentioned by Zhou Anmin? Zhu Shenzhu has never heard of him. Moreover, Zhou Anmin said that this person is over 80 years old. How could he still be alive at such an old age? Could it be that his identity is not simple?
Zhu Shenzhui was instantly curious about this and asked about Long Huamin's situation. However, Zhou Anmin didn't know much about this man. He only knew that Long Huamin had been in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, more than 50 years, and was the successor after Matteo Ricci's death. He had a high prestige and status among missionaries.

Hearing this answer, Zhu Shenzhui immediately lost interest. In his opinion, Long Huamin, who had lived in Ming for more than 50 years, was no different from the people of Ming, not to mention knowing the situation in Europe. This was not the later times. Information was transmitted very slowly, and many news were relatively closed. Long Huamin had lived in Ming for more than half a century. How could he know the situation in Europe? No matter how high his status and how precious his identity was, he was just a Catholic, which was useless to Zhu Shenzhui.

In this case, it would be fine if Long Huamin did not meet him. Besides, it would be troublesome if he died on the way from Shandong to Beijing at his age. So Zhu Shenzhui directly asked when Tang Ruowang came to the Ming Dynasty. When he knew that Tang Ruowang came to the Ming Dynasty in the 48th year of Wanli, Zhu Shenzhui decided to meet him. First, he wanted to see what this famous historical figure looked like, and second, he wanted to learn about the situation in Europe, especially the situation in Tsarist Russia, from Tang Ruowang.

(End of this chapter)