The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 822 It will definitely belong to the Seris Empire

The salty sea breeze brought a refreshing coolness, and the harbor was quite busy.

Seagulls soared back and forth in the sky, vendors scurried about on the ground, and street food stalls sold all kinds of roasted meat, flatbread, fruits and vegetables. Groups of naval soldiers in uniforms went around drinking and laughing, their laughter filling the streets.

Looking from the highest point of the port, although traces of war are still visible, the surrounding area is lush and green, with a large number of fruit trees, mainly orange trees, covering the hillside behind the port. The green leaves and orange oranges make the hillside look like the Garden of Eden.

What's most captivating is the vast plain surrounding the port, where crisscrossing fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Farmers toil diligently in the fields like ants, while the rice, already beginning to sprout ears, sways in the wind.

Li Zai twitched his nose twice, as if he could already smell the fragrance of rice blossoms.

His elder brother, Lili, remained in Tehran to control the imams, while he, guided by the Dreymu people, came to the port of Enzeli to bribe the Russian fleet commander, Senior Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich.

The so-called senior colonel is actually the same as the senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army in later generations. It is usually held by a field officer who is very capable but has not reached the level of general.

"What a beautiful place in the Jiangnan region beyond the Great Wall! If it weren't for this huge sea, I would have thought I was back in my hometown of Dayi."

One of the Li family members sighed, then turned to Li Zai and said, "Fourth Brother, can this land be granted to us? It's a wonderful place!"

Li Zai rolled his eyes at him, "You know it's a good place, yet you're still dreaming. This land and the Khuzestan Plain are like the two kidneys of the Persians. Without these two kidneys, the Persians are finished."

This place is too important. I reckon it will definitely be given to His Highness the Tenth Prince, the King of Liao, because without this fertile land, His Highness will find it difficult to defend the Caucasus region.

The tenth prince, Mo Zhouzhao, has not yet been granted the title of king, but almost everyone knows that he will be granted it soon, and they are also clear about his title.

Because Mo Zhouzhao's wife, who was nine years younger than him, was the eldest daughter of Emperor Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire and Napoleon's second wife in history, Marie Louise, was already twelve years old.

By the standards of that time, noblewomen in Europe who needed to marry into other families could generally get married at the age of thirteen.

Therefore, the Seres Empire and the Holy Roman Empire had already begun preparing for the wedding, and the first two million silver dollars of the eight million silver dollars interest-free loan as a dowry had already been handed over to Francis II.

Mo Zibu did indeed decide to give Mo Zhouzhao this precious land on the southern shore of the Li River, for the same reason Li Zai had given.

The Caucasus region generally has low precipitation. The Kura-Alas Plain, the main plain on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, receives only 300 to 600 millimeters of precipitation per year. Irrigation relies entirely on the Kura and Alas Rivers, two high-altitude snowmelt rivers.

Given such geographical conditions, without adequate water conservancy facilities, it would be difficult to even support the population, let alone stand on its own.

This is why the Caucasus region has always been a battleground for major powers; without external support, even a stable kingdom cannot be established here.

Therefore, if Dayu wants to establish a regional stronghold in the Caucasus region and support the new Rome of Mogongze, it must give the southern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea to Mozhou.

Li Zai and his brother chatted as they entered the port of Enzeli. Many Persians, seeing the two brothers looking like Seres merchants, showed fear in their eyes.

As a rare treasure on the Caspian coast, the "Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall" at the crossroads of Central Asia and West Asia, Anxi Province has sent troops to attack this place many times in the past seven or eight years.

Including the two recent trips to the Caucasus region to support local feudal lords who had submitted to the Great Yu, they also went there with this group.

Enzeli Port alone was captured by the Anxi army three times. In particular, the first capture in 1795 almost burned all the buildings in the city to the ground. When Li Li and his men entered the city, they saw the fire damage, which was mostly caused by that attack.

So much so that over the years, the Anxi army has instilled a psychological scar on the people of this plain. It is no exaggeration to say that the arrival of the Tatars could stop a child from crying.

Of course, the Anxi army has not yet been able to control this area.

Because the southern plains of the Caspian Sea are so long and narrow, only twenty or thirty kilometers wide in most places, and the surrounding waters are shallow and suitable for landing, they are very easy to be cut off by enemies from the sea.

Therefore, although the Anxi army almost completely occupied the area several times, they did not choose to occupy it because they were afraid of being cut off by the navy of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The Tsarist Russian Empire only launched one Caspian expedition in 1796. Empress Catherine II mobilized more than 100 warships of various types and 22,000 expeditionary troops. Under the leadership of Count Gudovich, they recaptured the port of Enzeli, repelled the Anxi army, and also defeated the Persians.

During this expedition, the fleet's flagship was even a Class V frigate, the Saint Catherine, which displaced over 600 tons and had 38 guns.

This thing is nothing special in the real sea, but in the Caspian Sea, where the navy is basically only played by Tsar Rus, it is a massive warship. The Anxi army is often made to look bad by this behemoth.

Thus, this precious land on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea has been transformed into such a distorted state.

The Anxi Army of the Great Yu Dynasty has a strong land force, and if they were willing, they could definitely take this place. However, because they do not have a navy, they dare not station it for a long time.

Apart from the 22,000 troops that Count Gudovich sent on his expedition in 1796, the Tsarist Russian Empire was unable to commit many troops here at other times.

Therefore, whenever the Anxi army attacked, the Rus' army would go to sea and then use their naval advantage to launch small-scale raids on land. When the Anxi army could no longer bear the harassment, or rather, when they had looted enough and left, the Rus' army would return.

As for the indigenous Persian Delamu people here, they initially resisted, but unfortunately, they were no match for anyone.

In the back-and-forth struggle between the Seres Empire and the Tsarist Rus Empire, the Dremu people suffered greatly and had no choice but to switch sides to protect themselves. Their population plummeted from more than 700,000 ten years ago to less than 500,000 today.

“Annenkov Ivanovich.” In Port Enzeli, Senior Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich, commander of the Salorite Squadron, murmured the name. His eye twitched, and he immediately knew who the visitor was.

As a peripheral member of the Golitsyn family, the second largest family in the Tsarist Rus' Empire, whose ancestors came from the Gdiminid dynasty of Lithuania, Senior Colonel Vladimir Mikhailovich was very familiar with the name Annenkov Ivanovich.

After all, it was quite rare for the son of the governor of Siberia to surrender to another country during the years when the Tsarist Rus' Empire was on the rise.

"Uncle, should we arrest this traitor?" Colonel Vladimir's nephew asked. As a notorious traitor, Anenkov's head was worth a lot of money, and could even be considered a decent military achievement.

“No, we can’t arrest him,” Colonel Vladimir shook his head, “because it won’t do our family any good.”

His Majesty Caesar is currently causing trouble for the nobles everywhere. If we were to find Annankov here now, and he were to be falsely accused, it would be very difficult for us to clear our names.”

It's not that it's hard to explain, but Colonel Vladimir was afraid to take the gamble.

Paul I has been targeting the nobility like crazy in recent years, hoping to implement a policy of emancipating serfs. If he uses this as an excuse to attack Colonel Vladimir's family, then we'll be in trouble.

"And I know what this guy is here for. The Seris Empire is indeed full of smart people. I think we should listen to what conditions Anenkov has brought."

The nephew was startled, but said nothing. At this time, the relationship and form of the ruling class within the Tsarist Rus' Empire were somewhat similar to the early Northern and Southern Dynasties of China.

These are all local powerful families expanding their family structures. In Colonel Vladimir's fleet, almost all the officers are from his family or related to his family. When it comes to the most critical moment, family interests still take precedence.

“Fyodor, go out and buy some food and wine. Tell them I’m treating the officers to dinner tonight. Take a large wagon.” Colonel Vladimir stood up and said, emphasizing the words “take a large wagon.”

Fyodor, the nephew, understood, and when he returned from buying wine and food, he brought Annankov in with him.

After his nephew Fyodor left, Colonel Vladimir immediately summoned several of his most trusted officers, who were also his clansmen.

"After the talks, if Anenkov doesn't say anything of value, kill him and throw his body into the Caspian Sea. Don't let anyone know."

Colonel Vladimir's residence was on a hill west of the port, guarded by gun emplacements on both sides, and a wide road led directly to the dock. It only took about ten minutes to ride a horse to the ship.

Li Zai followed behind Annankov, having shaved his head and now wearing an exquisite tan wig.

This was taken from the head of a Cossack officer with a similar head circumference to his and then custom-made for him.

Therefore, once he put on the uniform of a Salo officer, he was almost flawless.

"Vova, oh, you seem to be doing poorly. You've lost that air of yours from when we used to hang out in St. Petersburg. What's wrong? Did your family's estate in Rostov also get forced to emancipate the slaves?"

"Vova" is a colloquial nickname for Vladimir, and Anenkov immediately went straight to the heart of Colonel Vladimir's problem.

Serfs were the Achilles' heel of the Tsarist Rus' Empire. Without liberating the serfs, the productive forces of 35 million people could not be fully utilized. Liberating the serfs was tantamount to the Tsar cutting himself off from the nobility and committing suicide.

Historically, Tsarist Russia's rise and fall were both due to serfdom, a system with virtually no solution.

Vladimir looked at Annankov, who was dressed as a servant but had a gold pocket watch inlaid with jewels hanging on his chest, large gemstone rings on three fingers of his left hand, and who deliberately showed two big, golden teeth when he spoke. He felt an indescribable envy. This guy really had made a fortune, just like the legends said.

Both of them came from noble families and did have some interaction when they were teenagers at a noble academy in St. Petersburg, but not much.

Therefore, Colonel Vladimir felt a pang of envy and resentment at Annankov's words. He sneered and retorted, "In any case, Mr. Annankov, this is much better than having all the estates of some people in Voronezh province confiscated."

The Annenkov family's estates were mostly located in the Voronezh region. After his father was killed in battle and he surrendered, they were all confiscated by Catherine II.

Even his family's noble status was stripped away, and his wife and children were only secretly brought to the Great Yu region after he paid a lot of bribes over the years.

“Vladimir, you don’t find this funny, do you?” Annankov had been waiting for this. He stood up angrily, looked at Colonel Vladimir, and growled in a low voice:
"My father, as the governor and baron of the empire, fought to the last with only a small garrison, and gave his life for it."
I, Annankov, also fought for the Empire to the last moment. I was captured after the Khitans stormed Irkutsk.

I did not betray him, because the Khitan Emperor promoted me from among the prisoners, and at that time I was already the Khitan Emperor's private property.

And yet, even these nobles, so loyal to the Third Rome, were stripped of their noble status and lost all their estates. Vova, do you really think our family deserves such punishment?

Being captured and then promoted by the ruler of an enemy state is plausible not only in European culture, but also in Chinese culture.

Colonel Vladimir was left speechless. As a fellow nobleman, even though Vladimir had not had a good impression of the Anenkov family before, he felt sympathy for them at this moment. This is the empathy that comes from being of the same social class.

After a long pause, the senior colonel bowed slightly. "I apologize, Annankov, I shouldn't have said that. I am also saddened and deeply respectful of the Governor Baron's martyrdom."

“Vova, I accept your apology. I know we are still friends. So I came here today so that you won’t suffer the same fate as my father, who shed his last drop of blood for the Third Rome, only to become a sinner of the empire in the end.”

"Vova, His Majesty Paul is even more petty than His Majesty Catherine II!"

Li Zai's eyes lit up. This Anenkov was indeed quite capable. He deliberately provoked Colonel Vladimir, and then opened a gap in the senior colonel's defenses.

Colonel Vladimir then turned his gaze to Li Zai, and slowly shook his head. "I won't do that, because I have a fleet, and I can leave this place at any time."

Now it was Li Zai's turn. He looked at Colonel Vladimir, smiled, and nodded.

"Yes, Colonel, you can leave at any time because you command a fleet, which is why Annankov and I came to find you."

"Colonel, haven't you realized that you are now at a crossroads in your life, a point where your future may hold a crucial juncture, and that you possess what may be the most valuable asset of your life?"

"The most valuable asset in my life?" Colonel Vladimir didn't want to listen to the Khitan man any longer, because after careful consideration, he realized that he could attack or defend, but he just couldn't defeat the Khitan man. Running away was still an option.

But upon hearing the words "most valuable bargaining chip," Colonel Vladimir's interest was piqued, and several of his trusted officers behind him also showed interest.

"Your fleet, though not powerful, is exactly what the Seris Empire needs, so His Highness the Crown Prince is willing to exchange a sum of money for it, as well as the loyalty of the fleet's warriors."

Colonel Vladimir chuckled. His fleet of twenty-four warships had a combined full-load displacement of less than two thousand tons, averaging only seventy or eighty tons per ship. How could they possibly be the most valuable asset of his life?

"In that case, how much money is the Great Emperor of Khitan willing to offer in exchange for my powerful fleet? Hahahaha!" Colonel Vladimir couldn't help but laugh as he spoke of the powerful fleet.

snort!
Li Zai snorted coldly. These barbarians from such a cold and harsh place, calling themselves colonels or nobles, live worse than a small factory owner in Jiangnan. How could they know the wealth of Da Yu? He has never had a good life.

"Fifty thousand silver dollars!" Li Zai held up five fingers on his right hand, "plus a baronial title!"

"What!" Colonel Vladimir jumped to his feet, his eyes wide. "You mean, the Emperor is willing to pay 50,000 Seris silver dollars for my fleet!"

Fifty thousand silver dollars was roughly equivalent to sixteen thousand pounds, or about one hundred thousand rubles. At that time, the ruble was still pegged to silver and had very strong purchasing power.

In Tsarist Russia, due to the country's poverty and low prices, a major's monthly salary was about 150 rubles, which was enough for his family to live a comfortable life.

In the Tsarist Rus' Empire, one ruble could buy fifty Russian pounds (45 catties) of black bread or four catties of beef, which was quite a considerable purchasing power.

Therefore, in the Tsarist Rus' Empire, a lieutenant general's annual pension was only about 1,500 rubles, and even a lieutenant general of the commander-in-chief rank from a noble family would only receive 2,500 to 3,000 rubles.

No wonder Colonel Vladimir lost his composure; that amount of money was roughly a hundred years' worth of his salary.

Not to mention he also had the title of baron. Although he had a noble status in the Tsarist Rus' Empire, he did not have a title.

"Yes, the Emperor is very generous to those who know how to adapt to the times," Li Zai affirmed.

"Moreover, Colonel, you don't have many choices. The great war between the Third Roman Empire and the Seres Empire is about to begin. If you don't want to be driven to the Black Sea by the Seres army, you need to make a decision as soon as possible."

"Furthermore," Li Zai said meaningfully after glancing around at the Sharo officers in the room, "His Majesty the Great Emperor is determined to have this fleet; it will definitely belong to the Seris Empire!"
If the Colonel is unwilling, and does not wish to enjoy the comfortable life afforded by 100,000 silver rubles and an annual noble pension of 5,000 silver rubles (2,500 silver dollars), then we would not mind finding another person willing to cooperate with us.

"Oh no!" Colonel Vladimir suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Damn it, when faced with a one-time reward of 100,000 silver rubles and a baronial title, what confidants, what clansmen, even parents can't necessarily be relied upon.

He shouldn't have let so many people in. Now look what's happened. If he doesn't make a decision soon, he might get hacked to death in his bed at any time.

"I need some time, I need to think things through carefully, and my family is still back home, I have to think about them," Colonel Vladimir said hastily, explaining his predicament.

He did need some time to process things, and he was also telling the officers behind him that their families were still inside the Empire.

"Of course, we're not in a rush right now, but you have to understand, Colonel, the battlefield situation might change at any time, and we might not need this fleet anymore!"

(End of this chapter)