The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 882 The Tsar's Double-Dealing
Lee Sung-pyo actually knew that he might not be able to go back.

Over the past year, more than a thousand farmers from Huai'an and Wanquan counties of Zhangjiakou Hall in Xuanhua Prefecture have cultivated nearly 30,000 mu of farmland here.

Although it's only 30 mu per person, it doesn't sound like the 70 or 80 mu per person, or even 500 or 600 mu per family, that's common in my hometown in Hebei.

But in reality, Zhangjiakou was not a place suitable for farming at that time.

It is said that each person has seventy or eighty mu of land, but half of it is hillside and grassland, which is basically only suitable for grazing sheep, planting fruit trees, making firewood, and harvesting beans, etc., with very low cultivation value.

Of the remaining forty acres of land, there are generally only a few acres of arable land along the river that are convenient for irrigation.

The remaining wheat, which can only be harvested once a year, yields about 200 to 300 jin per mu. If corn or potatoes were planted instead, the yield would only increase by another 100 to 200 jin.

The forty acres of land on the eastern coast of the Black Sea were the best farmland in Zhangjiakou.

Because of the need to requisition supplies and laborers, Lee Sung-pyo did not return to his home in Boje City, but went directly to his family's farm outside the city.

Upon entering the village, I saw my nephew dressed in a neat cotton-padded coat, wearing a belt, with a knife on his left and a pistol in his right, ready to go.

"Fourth Uncle, please take me with you this time. I've been learning marksmanship and drill from Brother Zhang for a year, and I'm no worse than the three guards of the Great King."

Brother Zhang was a traveling officer who accompanied Li Chengbiao to Liaodong, and he provided Li Chengbiao with a great deal of help along the way.

Now, Brother Zhang, who came here with nothing but weapons and no money, is a centurion of the Boji County Garrison Command, a figure whom people from all over the area address as "Sir".

During the Ming Dynasty, the garrison commanders were military units directly under the border settlements, and the Dayu people continued this system.

This is also a characteristic of the Da Yu colonies. Densely populated developed areas such as Anxi (including the Caucasus) and Nanyang were organized according to the Ming Dynasty's garrison system.

Under this system, Han Chinese civilians were used as settlers, and local natives were mixed in with civilians and incorporated into the garrison commanderies, constantly assimilating them and breaking down the local power structure.

In wild and uncivilized places like Beihezhou and Dazhanzhou, the main challenge was overcoming the harsh natural environment. The local people were not a significant threat, so a management structure based on the Zhechongfu-Tunbao-Zhuangyuan model was established.

They used a rough and ruthless governance model, giving the people the greatest degree of freedom, and relied on the Fubing system, a system of universal conscription that differed from the Tunjian system, to go out and plunder people and wealth to strengthen themselves.

As for those who were assigned to cultivate the land for the soldiers, they were either Han Chinese who could not go to the battlefield or other ethnic groups who had been captured.

Li Chengbiao sighed, "If we fight here, we won't be able to go back, because we are civilians under the Liao vassal garrison, and our military achievements belong to the Liao vassal garrison."

Unless you've made an extraordinary contribution, you'll get a discount when you return to the Central Plains.

"Fourth brother, we're not going back." Upon hearing this, Li Chengshao looked up and saw that his third brother, Li Chengji, was also dressed in armor and was wiping his bayonet with a piece of silk cloth.

"This land is not bad. It has plenty of rainfall and irrigation. There wasn't much fertile land before because the people here weren't good at farming, and their ability to build water conservancy projects was nowhere near ours."

Now that we've arrived, and with the King allocating funds, grain, cement, and steel to support it, it will soon become a treasure trove.

The Caucasus region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea is far less desirable than places like Romania on the western coast. The climate there is changeable, the environment is complex, and the biggest problem is flooding.

For example, Batong District, which is adjacent to Pakje District, receives up to 2,500 millimeters of rainfall annually due to orographic rainfall brought by the windward slope, with most of it concentrated in winter.

The cold rain poured down like a torrential downpour, and without adequate water conservancy and flood control facilities, it would be a complete disaster, causing great suffering to the Georgians here.

However, after the Liao vassal arrived, with the support of Liao King Mo Zhou, Lin Zexu brought in a large amount of cement from Anxi and began various construction projects.

With the added advantage of the Chinese people's natural talent for farming, the eastern coast of the Black Sea, equipped with well-developed water conservancy facilities, was quickly transformed from wasteland into a treasure.

This is also a major reason why local ethnic groups such as Georgians on the western coast of the Black Sea have few complaints even when they are tenant farmers.

Originally, they lived worse than dogs in the harsh natural environment and the back-and-forth between the Ottoman and Tsarist Rus' Empire. But under the rule of the Great Yu Liao Kingdom, they could at least be considered human.

"Look at this land. In winter, it's shrouded in clouds and mist, with plenty of rainfall. In summer, it's warm and humid, and the soil is dark brown. It's suitable for growing tea, and high-end tea at that."

Lee Seong-pyo lowered his voice mysteriously and said, "The Prefect said that His Majesty has already applied to His Majesty for permission to plant tea in Batong County and our Boji County."

Lee Sung-pyo is right. The Batong area is indeed very suitable for growing tea, and because of the suitable soil, the tea grown there is all high-end tea.

If this goes through, once it's shipped to the four provinces of Anxi, it will be a high-quality product that's in high demand and short supply. It's even possible that it could be resold domestically as a high-end brand.

This was also the pillar industry that Lin Zexu, the chief administrator of the Liao Kingdom, designed for the Liao vassal state. Whether it was sold to the four provinces of Anxi in the east or to Europe in the west, there was no worry about finding a market.

Of course, Lin Wenzhong did not expect that his painstaking plans would soon come to fruition, as the Liaodong vassal state was about to be relocated.

"Can Your Majesty allow the Liaodong people to grow tea? This is an industry that is prohibited from being exported by law." Li Chengbiao was somewhat worried, as the tea ban of the Great Yu was still very strict.

Li Chengji naturally couldn't answer that question. He smacked his lips and said, "Your Majesty cares for the people and your benevolence extends throughout the land. You should agree, right?"

Lee Seong-pyo did not answer, but he was somewhat worried. He had served as a soldier and an official, and now he was an official of some rank in Boji County, so his vision was much broader than that of his elder brother and nephew.

The Liao vassal lands are alright, but the climate is changeable, the mountainous terrain is complex, and transportation is inconvenient, making it difficult to integrate them into a unified whole.

Therefore, historically, when there was no powerful empire ruling this area, it was basically a disorganized mess with each side acting independently.

Now, the Great Yu has indeed taken over this area and become the dominant power in unifying the Caucasus, but there are still hidden worries.

The underlying concern is that the Caucasus region is too poor. If it cannot establish a pillar industry, it will certainly not become rich, and if it cannot become rich, there will be many conflicts.

For the Han people, the situation here is complicated. There are many local Christians and Allahs. Now that Dayu has come to repair bridges and roads and build water conservancy facilities, everyone can benefit and get along relatively harmoniously.

However, if development stagnates in the future, and the Han people, being the privileged class, reap most of the benefits, then the local people will feel that the Han people have stolen the benefits that belong to them.

When that time comes, there will be a war to fight, and it will be the kind of endless, petty fighting.

The Han people here are not only in a state of exile, but also have to fight at any time, so their lives must be extremely difficult.

Li Chengbiao made up his mind that if His Majesty did not allow the Liaodong people to grow tea, he would find a way to leave. If His Majesty allowed tea to be grown, staying here as an official would not be out of the question.

Princess Maria Castle (Tbilisi).

The reason for changing Tbilisi to this name is that it is not advisable to be too radical at this time. Changing it directly to a Chinese name would probably be unacceptable to the Georgians.

Naming Tbilisi after the Queen of Liao, a princess of the Austrian Empire, is in line with their tradition and also carries a sense of intimidation.

To the west of the Caucasus lies the sphere of influence of the Austrian Empire, and to the east are the four provinces of Anxi. The Austrian Empire had a population of forty million, while the Great Yu had four to five million in Anxi. As a bridge between East and West, the Liao vassal state received strong support from both Austria and the Anxi envoys. As long as one side was involved, the natives of the Caucasus had to behave themselves.

“My dear, I have a bad feeling because my father, Emperor Franz, has never done anything well.”

Princess Mary was truly a filial daughter; she never held back when criticizing her father.

King Mo Zhou smiled but didn't say anything. He and Princess Mary had a very good relationship.

That's perfectly normal. Any twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old man who marries a sixteen-year-old bride will naturally dote on the older man and younger woman.

In addition, although Princess Mary was not very beautiful, she was humble, knowledgeable and interesting, and provided a lot of emotional value.

Napoleon was very fond of Princess Mary in history, and Mo Zhouzhan was similar.

"It's alright. With Brother Xia and Brother Liang here, even if the war goes badly, Father-in-law won't be in too much danger."

Princess Mary shook her head upon hearing this. "I'm not afraid my father is in danger, I..."

Princess Mary suddenly felt that what she said did sound a bit inappropriate. Seeing Mo Zhouzhan trying hard to suppress his laughter, she finally couldn't help but roll her eyes without regard for etiquette.

“I mean, my father is the Emperor of Austria, so even if he were captured, no one would dare to do anything to him.”

"That can't be right." Mo Zhouqian blinked. "Weren't Charles I of England and your uncle, King Louis XVI of France, both beheaded?"

Princess Mary was so speechless she wanted to roll her eyes. She tried to explain, "The King of England can only die at the hands of the English, and the King of France was killed by the French themselves."

The Emperor of Austria was destined to die at the hands of the Austrians, if that day ever came.

This is the rule in Europe: the monarch is highly bound to the country and the nation, unlike you Seres who have two different expressions: the fall of a country and the fall of the world.

If the French were to murder my father, they would face a far more terrible wrath than if His Majesty Louis XVI had been assassinated, so they would not do it.

“Alright, I understand. Please continue.” Mo Zhouzhan raised his hand, signaling Princess Mary to continue.

Princess Mary took a sip of tea, composed herself, and continued, "Although my father will not be in much danger, if the Austrian Empire suffers a crushing defeat, it will be very detrimental to our future rule over Constantinople."

A weakened Austria will likely have to rely on Ferdinand, or rather, His Highness King Xia, for support in many areas in the future.

"By then, what will we rely on to demand Constantinople? Merely on bloodlines?"

King Mo Zhouqian of Liao then became serious, because the relocation of the vassal state to Constantinople was a very complicated issue.

It involved the partition of the Ottoman Empire after the war, which was a war that could have lasted eight or ten years.

Princess Mary is right. If the Austrian Empire had been weakened too much at that time, and the war had been entirely handled by King Mo Gongze, what would Mo Zhou have had to offer to take Constantinople? Would he really have relied on his connections?
"Then we should increase our aid. We happen to have many restless nobles under our rule; let's pull them out to participate in the war."

"If we win, you'll come with us to Constantinople and live the high life; if we lose, you'll die on the battlefield, and the only difference will be a bit more compensation."

It's no wonder that King Mo Zhou of Liao had the ability to expand his territory; he was very adept at manipulating people.

"Then three regiments of garrison troops will be transferred to Europe, leaving only the central and left guards to protect important cities."

"Yes, we must demonstrate the value of the Liaodong vassal state on the battlefield and train a group of capable local Caucasian nobles."

Even the introverted Princess Mary became excited; after all, the allure of becoming Queen of Constantinople was simply too great.

Saint Petersburg, Winter Palace.

Upon receiving news of the mobilization of Crown Prince Dassen in Anxi, Tsar Alexander I and his ministers immediately became tense.

Although extremely reluctant, Tsar Alexander I put aside his dislike for Kutuzov and appointed him to take charge of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad).

Currently, within the Rus' Empire, only Kutuzov can reassure Alexander I.

But Kutuzov also made a demand. He looked at his Tsar seriously and said, "I need at least 150,000 troops, and Your Majesty must ensure that enough troops can be dispatched to support you at any time should the Khitan offensive become fierce."

"Marshal, how dare you use the words 'must' and 'guarantee' to address your monarch? This is not something a subject should say!"

Alexander I suppressed his anger. He knew that Kutuzov opposed his alliance with France because Kutuzov felt that the Khitans might not necessarily have the ambition to rule the Slavs.

Most importantly, the French were significantly easier to deal with than the Khitans.

Furthermore, from a profit perspective, allying with France does not necessarily guarantee the acquisition of Constantinople in the future.

If they allied with the Khitan and defeated the French, they would lose most of the Black Sea, but they would gain Poland and Sweden.

It's hard to say who will gain more or less, so why choose the most difficult person to deal with as an enemy?

"This is indeed not something a subject should say, but Your Majesty, it is something a qualified general must say."

If we ally with France but still have to expend too much military force in the west, then the alliance will be meaningless.

Alexander I was furious when he heard this, and just as he was about to explode, his trusted advisor Speransky stopped him.

“Your Majesty, we can use this as a reason to reduce the number of troops sent to Austria. There is no need to treat the Habsburg family or even the Germans as the biggest enemy at this time.”

Hearing this, Alexander I's expression improved considerably.

He really didn't want to go to war with France against Austria at this time, because the Rus' Empire didn't have the strength to suppress the Poles while also taking over Bohemia.

"Alright, I agree with your opinion, Marshal, but there must be no problems with Tsaritsyn, because we have already lost the two principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia because of Tsaritsyn."

Mentioning these two places makes the Tsar's heart bleed; they represent the fruits of fifty years of struggle for the Rus' Empire, and now they are all gone.

"We must ensure that our children do not become slaves of the Khitans!" Alexander I was still uneasy. After saying this, he hurriedly left.

At that moment, the French envoy requesting the Rus' Empire to send troops to Bohemia was still waiting for him.

(End of this chapter)