The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 927 Heavenly Journey

On the platform of Yining Railway Station, Yuan Shikai loosened the collar of his military uniform. The July wind, carrying the scorching heat of the northwestern desert, swept over him. He looked up at the station, a blend of Chinese and Western styles—a hipped roof with flying eaves and brackets spanning it, marble columns carved with dragon patterns from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and sunlight filtering through stained glass onto the platform, creating a dappled effect.

Duan Qirui carried two leather suitcases, his military uniform crisp and clear, the silver stars on his collar insignia gleaming in the sunlight. He stared at the end of the railway tracks, his throat bobbing: "Lord Yuan, this Yining must be one of the top cities in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom... It looks even more magnificent than our new Chang'an."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the crowd on the platform—there were European merchants wearing top hats, Persian merchants with turbans, and Taiping Heavenly Kingdom merchants in silk robes. They all looked quite wealthy; he wondered what kind of big business they were doing.
Yuan Shikai remained silent. Having traveled abroad and seen the world, Yuan Datou (Yuan Shikai's nickname) naturally understood that Yining City was merely an insignificant small town on the border between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Tang Dynasty. It had risen to prominence due to the Northwest Railway and border trade between the Tang and the Heavenly Kingdom, especially the "special border trade." It wasn't even close to being one of the top towns in the Heavenly Kingdom, let alone one of the top hundred or two hundred!
But this small city was a city that even the new Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, could not compare to. It was impossible to do without reform!

woo-

A long whistle blared, the rails trembled, and a steel behemoth, belching thick smoke, pulled into the platform. The locomotive bore a bronze dragon emblem, and its four pairs of driving wheels rumbled heavily over the rails. Duan Qirui, unaccustomed to such sights, stared wide-eyed, nearly dropping his briefcase—this locomotive's traction was probably comparable to that of a legendary cruiser!

"Are you two envoys from the Great Tang Dynasty?"

A Mandarin accented with Sichuan dialect rang out. Yuan Shikai turned around and saw a tall, thin man in a dark blue robe with a silver badge reading "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" pinned to his chest. Behind him stood a burly military officer, in his forties, wearing a gray woolen uniform and the rank of colonel.

"I am Yang Rui from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." The tall, thin man cupped his hands in greeting and then pointed to the burly military officer beside him. "This is Colonel Wang Zhengyi from the Ministry of the Army."

Colonel! Although Yuan Shikai himself was a "colonel," he was born into that rank, and in the Tang Dynasty, a colonel wasn't very valuable; the sons and nephews of the ten military governors could easily become colonels. But becoming a colonel in the Taiping Army wasn't so easy, and besides, this guy's surname was "Wang," which wasn't a surname among the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's princes, so he must have had real ability.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai quickly saluted Wang Zhengyi and introduced himself: "I am Yuan Shikai, the newly appointed military officer of the Tang Dynasty stationed in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. I am grateful for your warm welcome." Then he pointed to Duan Qirui: "This is my adjutant, Lieutenant Duan Qirui."

A loud-voiced railway worker on the platform announced through a metal loudspeaker: "Ticket checking for train T187 to Yumen is now open..."

“Let’s go.” Yang Rui pointed to the carriage with the “Special Class Box” sign. “We can chat about the Tsar’s ‘secrets’ on the way.”

As the train passed through the Yanzhishan Tunnel in Gansu Province, Yuan Shikai stared at the flickering light and shadow on the rock walls outside the window. The "high-tech electric fan" in the compartment hummed, but couldn't dispel the sweat from his brow—Wang Zhengyi's command sword lay across the coffee table, its scabbard pressing down on the secret Russian letter.

“Lord Yuan, please speak frankly.” Yang Rui pushed over a glass of chilled plum juice. “Do the Tsar and the Kaiser want to withdraw from the war, or do they want to remain in the NATO camp and cooperate with our Heavenly Kingdom?”

“That depends on the situation.” Yuan Shikai picked up his chilled plum juice and took a sip. “The navies of Germany and Russia are certainly not weak, but they are not on the same level as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the British Empire. So although they followed Britain in declaring war on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they did not really want to fight. Especially Russia…” He glanced at Wang Zhengyi, “They even want to jointly govern India with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom after the war.”

Wang Zhengyi suddenly burst into laughter, making the glass windows vibrate: "Are the Russians dreaming? Can their shabby ships even sail out of the Black Sea? They can't even get into the Mediterranean, let alone India!"

Suddenly, the train emerged from the tunnel, and blazing sunlight streamed through the windows. Duan Qirui lunged to the window—a ten-mile-long steel jungle gleamed on the boundless wasteland, ten distillation towers stood like giants clad in armor, oil pipelines wove into a silver spiderweb, and oil storage tanks gleamed with a dazzling blue light under the scorching sun.

"We've arrived at Yumen." Yang Rui gently tapped on the car window. "Last year, it produced 1.2 million tons of oil, and this year it's expected to reach 1.5 million tons. Its refining capacity is even stronger than Baku in Russia!"

Stronger?
Yuan Shikai thought to himself: "You Taiping Heavenly Kingdom people are too modest." He had seen the Russian oil fields in Baku, but while they produced a lot of oil, their refining capabilities were lacking. The vast majority of the crude oil had to be transported to Germany for refining. Compared to the scene before him, it was like a mud kiln meeting a royal palace!

The train slowly pulled into the platform. A group of technicians in white coats hurried past, their name tags reading "Taiping Petroleum Research Institute." Duan Qirui's eyes widened—among them was a blond, blue-eyed foreigner discussing "catalytic cracking" in fluent Chinese.

"German experts?" Yuan Shikai asked tentatively.

“No, it’s the Americans,” Yang Rui smiled. “The West Coast alliance has an annual oil production of nearly three million tons, and its refining technology is comparable to that of the East Coast.”

"Are there white people in the American West?" Yuan Shikai pressed. "Of course!" Yang Rui nodded emphatically. "Among the thirteen states of the American West, there is one white state—Utah. In addition, California, Nevada, and Colorado also have many white people. Moreover, the American West welcomes white immigrants from Europe to settle there, especially those who have mastered science and technology."

The train had come to a complete stop. Wang Zhengyi picked up his command sword, smiled, and said to Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui, "We've arrived at the station. Let's get off first and talk more at the guesthouse."

At the reception desk of the Taiping Yumen Petroleum Company guesthouse hung two portraits: Hong Xiuquan in his yellow robe and Luo Yaoguo in military uniform, side by side. Duan Qirui was pondering the mystery of this "two saints worshipped together" when a gate rattled open—this was the legendary elevator!

“This building has six elevators,” Yang Rui pressed the button for the fifth floor. “Only Jiangnan Elevator Company in the whole world can manufacture them.”

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's electric power industry was far ahead of the competition, and its related products were naturally unparalleled in the world. Germany and the United States could produce "elevators" using steam engines and gasoline engines, but only the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could manufacture "elevators" at that time.

In a spacious guest room, the country bumpkin Duan Qirui stroked the leather sofa armrest, recalling Yuan Shikai's mention of the interior decoration and furnishings of the Orlov Palace. He spent a long time studying the toilet in the bathroom, and the enamel bathtub was large enough for both him and Yuan Shikai to lie down in.
The banquet was held in a private room on the top floor. Through the glass window, one could see the lights of the entire Yumen Oilfield. The oil refinery here runs 24 hours a day, and the bamboo streetlights on the main road are lit all night long. A waitress of Western Region descent, wearing a tight-fitting jacket and a horse-face skirt, served a large plate of fragrant roasted mutton.

"Tell me the conditions of the Tsar and the Kaiser." Wang Zhengyi cut open a piece of mutton, giving a large slice to Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui, Yang Rui, and himself. He then added, "Don't talk about joint administration of India after the war. India is the lifeblood of the British Empire; it's not even certain whether it will be taken away. Let's talk about how the three countries will cooperate to cheat the British!"

Yuan Shikai felt a chill: Did this mean that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom might still retain the British Empire after the war?
He put down his wine glass and lowered his voice: "The Tsar and the Kaiser guarantee that their armies will not engage in direct confrontation with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army and navy!"

“Hmm, doesn’t that mean our country won’t attack the Russian Empire from land or sea?” Yang Rui took a bite of mutton. “We want the development rights of the Pacific coast of Eastern Siberia, and the Russians are not allowed to station troops in the Pacific coast region of Eastern Siberia.”

Duan Qirui's chopsticks clattered onto the table—this was tantamount to Tsarist Russia ceding territory!
Wang Zhengyi sneered: "If the Tsar were truly sincere, he should have ceded the coastal lands of Eastern Siberia after the war, and of course, there would have been compensation for recognizing the independence of the Kingdom of Alaska."

Cold sweat beaded on Yuan Shikai's forehead. This wasn't negotiation; it was clearly an outrageous attempt to fleece Russia!

Yang Rui suddenly pulled a telegram from his briefcase and pushed it in front of Yuan Shikai: "Lord Yuan, this is the Prince of Wu's message—if the Tsar really wants to cooperate, he should produce something substantial."

The telegram contained only one line: "The Pacific Ocean is ours, and we'll take half of the Indian Ocean and the Middle East."

Yuan Shikai looked at it and asked, "What about Germany? What are your demands on Germany?"

"No!" Wang Zhengyi shook his head. "We agree to continue our cooperation with Germany!"

continue?

Yuan Shikai frowned: What does this mean? You've been cooperating all along?

Tsar Alexander III slammed the telegram down on the desk in the Winter Palace, the flickering light of the golden candlesticks dancing on his somber face. He turned to Foreign Minister Giles, his voice as cold as the Siberian wind: "Establish the East Siberian Pacific Coast Governorate, with Grand Duchess Natalia concurrently serving as Governor."

Giles gasped. This appointment was tantamount to handing over the Far East coastline—Grand Duchess Natalia's relationship with Luo Yaoguo was anything but ordinary.
"Your Majesty," Field Marshal Milyutin couldn't help but interject, "shouldn't we consult the Germans?"

"The Germans?" the Tsar sneered. "How did the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom obtain Krupp armor steel, steam turbines, and Daimler internal combustion engines?" He pointed eastward, panting heavily. "Now, Luo Yaoguo agreed to their demands without asking for anything. Doesn't that say something?"

The Tsar glanced at the last sentence Yuan Shikai sent—"Half of the Indian Ocean and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Middle East"—and suddenly let out a laugh like an owl: "Half, indeed! Tell Yuan Shikai that my secret envoy will depart in three days, aboard the icebreaker 'Amur' on the Arctic Ocean route."

(End of this chapter)