The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 854 Politics Heads North, Railways Head West

Tianjin, on the banks of the Haihe River.

This once quiet town on the Bohai Sea has finally begun to stir again.

The establishment of the Great Yu Dynasty actually dealt a heavy blow to Tianjin, because Beijing's political status declined rapidly in the first twenty years.

The population was also declining, after all, there were more than 300,000 Manchus who were eating and drinking for free, so there was no need for so much grain transported by canal to supply them.

As a result, Tianjin, a key node in the Grand Canal transport system, lost its status as a major transport hub and the millions of people who traveled through it every year, and quickly declined into a terrible state.

However, thirty years after Mo Zibu ascended the throne, the situation reversed, because Mo Zibu decided to revitalize the north.

This will not only restore the canal transport to some extent, but more importantly, the maritime transport technology of the Great Yu Dynasty is now quite advanced.

Tianjin is adjacent to Beijing's Shuntian Prefecture, located at the mouth of the Haihe River, and connected to Beijing by train. Its maritime trade is extremely busy, so it would be difficult for it not to prosper.

Mo Zibu came here this time to take advantage of the prosperity and upgrade Tianjinwei from a military prefecture to Xing Tang Prefecture.

During the Dayu Dynasty, prefectures with the words "Xing Tang" added before their names were essentially equivalent to modern-day centrally administered municipalities. They were under the leadership of the province, but in many ways, they could directly reach the emperor. The head of such a prefecture was not called a prefect, but rather a prefectural governor.

The first prefect of Tianjin Prefecture in the Xing Tang Dynasty was named Ye Zhentang. He was not the one who sang "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" in history, but rather the elder brother of the Crown Princess Ye.

The sound was deafening, followed by an even sharper screech of brakes, and finally the hissing of steam being expelled rapidly.

Large amounts of white mist rose rapidly from the front of the train, making the entire station appear as a vast expanse of white.

Consort De, Ye Yizhen, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and coughed twice before dusting off her clothes.

"Your Majesty, the smoke and dust are still too much. The fine coal dust is not easily visible, but there is still quite a lot after a train ride. We really need to study how to improve this."

Hearing Ye Yizhen say this, the Imperial Noble Consort's little cousin, Azhen, rubbed her ears and said, "Some black coal dust is fine. When I was young in the countryside, I would eat a couple of pounds of dirt every day while working. It's just that the train is too loud. The clanging and banging makes my heart ache."

Mo Zibu wholeheartedly agreed. Because the train was moving at high speed, most of the black smoke from the engine didn't have time to land before the train passed by, but some invisible black ash would still fall on people.

The excessively loud roar of the steam engine, and the violent vibrations caused by substandard steel quality, were indeed very annoying and affected the riding experience.

To promote trains more widely, both of these aspects must be addressed.

A group of people, escorted by the Imperial Guards, walked out of the station at Dingzigu, chatting and laughing. Outside the station, Ye Zhentang, the Prefect of Tianjin, was already waiting with his men for the Emperor's arrival.

Mo Zibu glanced at the prefect, who looked very young but was actually only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, asked a few questions casually, and then nodded in satisfaction.

Ye Zhentang was able to become the Prefect of Tianjin not entirely because his sister was the Crown Princess and his aunt was Consort De, but because he had real ability.

Back then, Ye Zhentang's father had already risen to the rank of major general, but he had to have his left leg amputated and retire after being shot by a bullet, which he deeply regretted.

For the next twenty years, he devoted himself entirely to raising his children, and his strict educational methods were well-known among the meritorious officials of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Ye Zhentang's childhood was nothing like that of a second-generation official; it was a grueling training camp, which is why his abilities are so remarkable among the second generation.

"Hebei is an important province for implementing the new law. As the most prosperous city in Hebei, Tianjin will definitely face a greater impact than other cities. It is conceivable that many shady dealings will also gather in Tianjin on a large scale."

"The pressure you, as the prefect, bear is immense."

Left Assistant Minister Liu Tai'er thought that Mo Zibu was unaware of what the officials might do, but Mo Zibu was very clear about it.

About 20 percent of the population will be driven out within ten years, and then about 20 percent will be driven out again in the next ten years.

Given the Chinese culture of being attached to their homeland, what other way could they possibly accomplish this besides exploiting natural disasters and man-made calamities to cause large-scale bankruptcies among farmers?

Who stays and who leaves, and how they leave, is entirely up to the officials. There is so much room for manipulation and so many vested interests involved.

Mo Zibu sighed. This would be a movement ten or even a hundred times more brutal than the early days of reform and opening up, which drove farmers into cities to become migrant workers and then exploited their surplus value to accumulate the most primitive wealth for the Republic and lay the foundation for industrial take-off.

It is conceivable how many dark things will happen in the five provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Shaanxi, as well as half of Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu.

This was also a process of primitive accumulation. Those who were driven away would be shrouded in a thick fog in the future, while those who remained would become small landowners and the pillars of this empire.

"Your subject understands. I will do my utmost to defend the last line of defense and prevent Tianjin from becoming a den of evildoers." Ye Zhentang immediately knelt down and expressed his stance to Mo Zibu.

"Very good. You didn't say anything about fairness and impartiality, which means you know what you're doing. You know that under my wicked laws, it's impossible to achieve any fairness or impartiality. But you will definitely uphold the bottom line of morality and ethics for me."

As he spoke, Mo Zibu pulled Ye Zhentang up. "I appointed you as the most important Prefect of Tianjin Prefecture not because you are the descendant of meritorious officials from Fujian and Guangdong, so everyone has to give you some face, nor because you, Ye Zhentang, are so capable that no one can compare."

It's because you dare to offend people, and even if you do, you won't face retaliation more than ten years later.

Ye Zhentang nodded, beads of sweat dripping onto the ground.

The only reason he would not face retaliation more than ten years later was that Crown Prince Sen would ascend the throne more than ten years later.

As the Crown Prince's brother-in-law and trusted minister, the Crown Prince's maternal uncle, and the future Empress's elder brother, Ye Zhentang truly didn't need to give face to anyone, because his future rise to prominence was destined.

"This is the only time His Majesty has ever opened his heart to an outside official. Ah Tang, you must keep your mouth shut. You must also be prepared to go all out in handling the affairs of Tianjin Prefecture." As a cousin within five degrees of kinship, Consort De, Ye Yizhen, gave her very solemn instructions.

"The future governor of Hebei will be Xie Lansheng and Xie Peishi. Do a good job and be responsible!"

After hearing this, Ye Zhentang felt even more pressured.

Xie Lansheng, courtesy name Peishi, was from Nanhai, Guangdong. Although he was very famous, he was famous for his calligraphy, painting, poetry, and lecturing. He was a scholar with a rather unassuming personality.

Moreover, Xie Lansheng had always served in the Hanlin Academy within the emperor's inner court. He was quite favored but was not one to do any real work and had never served in any local government position.

The reason Xie Lansheng was appointed as Ye Zhentang's superior, the Governor of Hebei, is definitely because Ye Zhentang is too young. It would be too shocking for a 27-year-old to become the governor of a province. Xie Lansheng is here to endorse his power.

"Go down and think carefully about the future. Just do your job well." After giving Ye Zhentang a brief reminder, Mo Zibu dismissed him.

Besides giving Ye Zhentang personal advice, advocating for Tianjin to become the most important city in the Bohai Bay, and moving the Hebei provincial government to Tianjin, another reason for his trip to Tianjin was to meet with the British special envoy, Charles Whitworth.

Charles Whitworth has been in Dayu for four or five months, but Mo Zibu has been dragging his feet on meeting him. The reason, of course, is that England is still a bit too proud to lower itself.

Two years ago (1804), Mozibu proposed that both sides should define the scope of British Canada, but England was not sensible and did not express its disagreement, but just dragged its feet and was unwilling to move forward with the issue.

At this time, the land was not actually referred to as Canada, and the English colonization here was limited to the northern shore of the Great Lakes, the banks of the St. Lawrence River, and the vicinity of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

There were approximately 300,000 people, of whom 90,000 came from New England, which is America. Mozibu then wanted to take this opportunity to give the English a good thrashing, to confine the English territory to this area and prevent them from expanding westward.

The English were naturally unhappy, because their rule in Canada was still very fragile and fragmented. If they were to limit their territory at this point, it would be tantamount to giving up their right to expand completely.

Considering that their territory was relatively fragmented at the time, and it was impossible for them to completely occupy the Great Lakes region, once the treaty was signed, the Chinese could at least come to the Lake Superior region, the westernmost part of the Great Lakes, to settle and colonize within the next thirty years.

Given the size of the Chinese population, it is very likely that in just thirty years, Chinese people will become the dominant group in Canada.

That makes sense, but you also have to consider the actual situation. If you're about to lose your homeland, and you're still reluctant to give up a little bit of profit from Canada, then you're completely failing to see the bigger picture.

So Mozibu used their own methods against them, and he also began to delay all negotiations for further cooperation with England.

Anyway, time is on the side of Da Yu. England's native population is too small. Even if they are allowed to immigrate, they cannot cause Canada's population to surge in a short period of time. On the contrary, the threat from France to them is growing day by day.

Of course, things are constantly changing. Although the tenth son, Prince Mozhou of Liao, had not yet arrived, a messenger had already been sent to Beijing to report the news.

Therefore, when Mo Zibu learned of the formation of the Fourth Coalition against France, and that his eldest son, Da Laosen, and nephew, Mo Gongze, both wanted to completely defeat the Tsarist Russian Empire, he had no choice but to temporarily put aside his plans for North America.

In the temporary palace where they were staying, Mo Zibu led a large group of people to conduct several simulations and concluded that if the Great Yu wanted to defeat the Rus' Empire, it would at least need to capture Moscow.

"The risk is too great, Your Majesty. If we are to march on Moscow, we will not only be facing the Russian army, but also the French army."

After returning to China at the age of sixty-two, King Li Xianwen of Xia was much more energetic. His back and legs no longer ached, and he learned to drive a steam locomotive. He was a completely different person from when he was in Anxi. Now, he even began to offer advice and strategies based on his rich military experience.

"The Ross people are naturally hardworking and have great endurance. They can survive even when livestock can't. With the help of the harsh winter, they are a formidable opponent."

In my opinion, even if we take Moscow, it will be difficult to corner them. We must invade the Kiev Plain and cut off their food supply. All of this will take at least two years.

Also in his sixties, the third brother, Mo Zirong, who had just stepped down from the position of Prince Lu, was grinning at Mo Zibu and saying that he had been in Europe for a long time and was quite familiar with the Russians, so he knew that this battle would not be easy.

But in fact, Mo Zibu knew better than the two of them what fates Napoleon and Hitler had in history; those were clear facts.

Moreover, the French and German attacks on Rus' were much closer than those on the Great Yu.

Mo Zibu thought about it carefully. Historically, even when Napoleon invaded Moscow, the Russians did not surrender. This attack of his would not be easier than Napoleon's. He had to be prepared that even if he entered Moscow, the Russians would still put up a strong resistance.

However, the Great Yu has one advantage over Napoleon's French Empire: its larger size allows it to offer benefits that France could not.

Meanwhile, the Tsar and the Rus' nobles around him ruled the lower classes with extreme cruelty. The Rus' people at the bottom of society lived worse than cattle and horses. This gave the Great Yu room to show mercy, and perhaps they could make a fuss about this.

"How did the General Staff estimate the forces that would need to be mobilized for this battle?"

Mo Zibu thought for a moment, then looked at his nephew beside him, Mo Gongling, who was also the commander of the last Sino-Roman war, the deputy privy councilor of the Privy Council, a general of the army, and a general of chariots and cavalry.

"At least 300,000 troops will be needed, including at least half of them being cavalry, including infantry and mounted soldiers. At least 500,000 auxiliary troops and laborers will be needed to transport supplies."

Mo Gongling counted on his fingers, saying that this was the downside of the firearms era—the logistics required far too much manpower and resources.

However, seeing that his uncle the emperor looked very unwell, Mo Gongling quickly said, "Supplying 800,000 people is impossible for the current Anxi Envoy's headquarters to handle. But fortunately, we have a solution: water transport."

Mo Gongling pointed to the map and, under the watchful eyes of Mo Zibu, Li Xianwen, Mo Zirong, and others, drew a line across the Volga River.

“We can first stockpile supplies in ports on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, then transport them to Astrakhan, and then use steamships to go upstream directly to Kazan, or even to the vicinity of Nizhny Novgorod, which is only 400 kilometers away from Moscow.”

Therefore, although the expedition seemed very difficult, what we actually needed to protect was only a 30-kilometer radius around both banks of the Volga River.

With water transport available, the number of laborers could be reduced to around 100,000 to 150,000, fewer than the army.

Mo Zibu's eyes lit up. "That's right!" he exclaimed. "When Napoleon attacked Moscow, he basically had to cross the East European Plain, using mules and horses to transport supplies along the way."

However, if they were to attack Moscow themselves, they could stockpile supplies along the Caspian Sea coast and then travel up the Volga River, relying entirely on river transport with the aid of steamships.

"Let's proceed with this plan, and the General Staff will refine it further." Mo Zibu laughed heartily.

"Once I control the Volga River, I will defend the major cities of Kazan, Tsaritsyn, and Astrakhan in winter, and launch an attack on you in summer. Let's see how long Alexander I can hold out."

Several generals and Mo Gongling, who were in the distance, exchanged glances upon hearing this. It seemed that the emperor was not yet senile and had no intention of swallowing up the Russo Empire.

That's good. If we only need to subdue the Rakshasa Kingdom, then we have a much better chance of winning this battle.

"Not enough, this is far from enough!" Li Xianwen reminded him again.

He knew very well the Anxi Envoy's resources. To supply 200,000 troops and 100,000 laborers, the four provinces of Anxi would not be able to come up with even a third of the resources, let alone a third of them.

"Your Majesty, the Volga River can solve the problem of transportation capacity, but it cannot solve the problem of supplying materials."

The Anxi Envoy's headquarters still couldn't afford such terrifying logistical expenses; the 300,000-strong army alone was almost equal to the number of adult males in the four provinces of Anxi.

"Then build railways. Let King Wei lead the Ministry of Railways to set off now and increase the existing railway transport capacity by more than three times within five years."

At the same time, 300,000 laborers and 600,000 mules and horses were conscripted from the four provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, and Hebei, and supplies were immediately transported to Anxi.

Mozibu made the decision with a wave of his hand. At this time, the technology of steam engines and explosives was about thirty to forty years ahead of its historical counterpart, approaching the level of 1850.

The most famous railway in history during this period—the American East Railroad—began construction around 1863.

In other words, the technical difficulty of building railways over mountains and valleys was no longer particularly high at this point.

This is precisely why Mo Zibu is challenging England on the issue of Canada.

At present, Dayu's colonization in North America is still limited to the west coast. The Cordillera-Rocky Mountains are too difficult to cross, and it is basically impossible to communicate by manpower alone. Only railways can make it possible.

Even with the existence of the transcontinental railroad, over 60% of goods still had to be transported by water via the Paramount Canal to connect the East and West.

Mozibu originally planned to invest heavily in building railways in North America in order to connect Vancouver to Louisiana.

But now it seems that this plan has to be delayed.

The most important issue is that the capacity to build railways must first be transferred to constructing a railway from Lanzhou to Yining, and from the Fergana Basin to the Caspian coast.

(End of this chapter)