Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

But how to bring it up is also a problem.

In fact, the average level of Qing emperors was far higher than that of previous dynasties. Except for the last one, who lived a muddled life in the first half and then spent the second half writing about the first half, and was eventually reformed by the people, the emperors were all diligent in their duties and at least had the ambition.

Even the Tongzhi Emperor, who was even worse than the Guangxu Emperor, wasn't entirely without merit.

When Prince Zhi asked about muskets, Solovyov actually knew a thing or two, having some connections in the matter.

The Qing Dynasty may have realized some of the problems, but the pace of change was still very slow.

The Russian warship that visited China this time, the flagship "Grace," has 130 cannons and is undoubtedly a first-class warship.

While they were out to sea off Guangzhou, Jiang Youxian had already received the report.

The scene of Russian warships firing in succession when they arrived in Zhili and paid tribute at sea greatly shocked Qing Dynasty officials.

It was all written in the memorials. After Jiaqing saw it, although he did not discuss it with his ministers, he was considering the issue.

Russia also seems to have strong ships and powerful guns, and the intelligence is somewhat outdated.

Emperor Jiaqing dispatched his second son, Prince Zhi, Mianning, to find out the situation.

After discussing firearms, Prince Zhi also inquired about Russia's weaponry.

Based on the principle that even at its peak, the Qing Dynasty would only take action if its adversaries provoked it first, there was no border conflict with Russia, so the Qing army would not take any action.

Apart from the Dzungars, the area was basically reduced to geographical names by the Qing army, with only a small number of Dzungars below Dawachi escaping the attack.

This deal is worth doing, and we can also discuss some weapons-related matters.

Therefore, Solovyov also mentioned the state of British weaponry and the fact that Britain was able to produce weapons both domestically and in its overseas colonies.

Solovyov even mentioned the latest intelligence on Gurkha.

"Is this really true?"

"When the foreign minister passed through Batavia, he learned from local Dutch officials that during the European war, the British had occupied Batavia and other places, and the East India Company was also active in India, which was known as the 'Gongbanya'."

The Qing Dynasty had some general knowledge of the situation, but the intelligence was inaccurate. In addition, missionaries began to leave China one after another at the end of the Jiaqing reign, which made the already scarce intelligence even scarcer during this period.

"As for the Gurkha, they have fought against the British in recent years and lost three times. They acquired land thirty years ago, but now one of the three parts have been taken away, and the land is now under British control."

"How can the British, who are thousands of miles from their homeland, profit from this?"

In Prince Zhi's view, it was clear that at such a distance, deploying troops would require an enormous expenditure of money and supplies.

"It's all for profit. Your Highness knows that the British are fond of tea, and Western countries also love tea. Although India has a hot climate and is prone to miasma, its land is fertile and suitable for cultivation. In addition, it has the advantage of trade and supply, so it has accumulated huge wealth. However, there is nothing profitable to trade with the Celestial Empire. Therefore, they are scheming to prevent silver from flowing into the Celestial Empire."

"Second brother, Father Emperor received a memorial from Lord Suleng'e two years ago, and it was about this matter."

Incidentally, the Third Prince added insult to injury, explaining the current situation.

Clearly, the title of Prince Zhi did not match his actions. When he quelled the Heavenly Principles Rebellion, his musket fire did not solve the problem. In the end, it was An Cheng, the second son of the First-Class Super Brave Duke Hailancha, who led the Ruijian Battalion and the Shenji Battalion to arrive and finally dealt a heavy blow, dispersing the rioters.

Courage still precedes wisdom, but one is always somewhat slow to act.

However, the issue of money was enough to warrant his attention.

The crux of the matter is that we must talk about it every day, every month, and repeatedly, so that everyone in the Qing Dynasty, from the emperor to local officials, knows what kind of good things the British barbarians are doing all day long.

Moreover, although the Qing Dynasty was suffering from the poison of smuggled opium at this time, it was not as serious as during the Daoguang era, and it was not like the Ming Dynasty where a lazy emperor took the lead in smoking opium.

It was during the Daoguang era that opium smoking began in the Qing Dynasty court.

The Empress Dowager and her concubines were also poisoned, and Solovyov couldn't help but mention this issue.

The environment created by tobacco and opium is very bad for the next generation.

Although Prince Zhi himself was not greatly affected, matters concerning the imperial heirs required his attention.

When Emperor Daoguang died, he was seventy years old. Emperor Xianfeng was only twenty years old at the time, and Emperor Daoguang was eighteen years old. Where did the other princes go?
Aside from the rumored death of the eldest prince, the premature deaths of the second and third princes, and the adoption of the fifth prince, the order of succession for Emperor Daoguang's sons experienced a long period of gaps, which is hard to say is unrelated to events within the palace.

On the other hand, some people are unaffected after washing their hands, but others might use this as an excuse to argue.

Therefore, Solovyov only mentioned some of the dangers of opioids that he already knew.

The addictive nature alone is already a very serious problem.

Moreover, Emperor Jiaqing and his son were quite averse to the outflow of silver.

"In that case, General Suo, what are your thoughts?"

"Your Highness, please do not be hasty. If we want to ban opium, we must start with customs inspections. If we continue to inspect as we have in the past, with only the Guangdong Navy and Green Standard Army infantry conducting inspections, there will inevitably be many loopholes. It would be better to select a vanguard team from the navy, train them diligently, and in addition to being proficient in naval warfare, they should also be able to board ships for inspections. This way, we can only prevent it, but we cannot completely ban it."

Prince Zhi had heard of this tactic before.

When I was studying in the Southern Study, there were always Hanlin Academy scholars of both Manchu and Han ethnicity, as well as compilers, writers, and probationary officials from the Hanlin Academy. Among these people, some had been involved in combating smuggling and various other businesses in the south before passing the imperial examinations.

Actually, if we're talking about it, Lin Zexu was probably already quite familiar with the future Daoguang Emperor at this time.

When Solovyov mentioned this, Prince Zhi also said: "Lin Shaomu of the Hanlin Academy, after passing the imperial examination, assisted in maritime affairs, cracking down on pirates and suppressing smuggling. He also mentioned this to me during the lectures."

"Who is Lin Shaomu?"

Unlike people of previous dynasties, people from the Qing Dynasty with modern knowledge are more likely to remember the names of those who lived in the Qing Dynasty, rather than paying attention to their courtesy names.

Especially during the Qing Dynasty, many Manchus and Mongols were already highly Sinicized, except for the queues on their heads.

When people talk about Lin Zexu, they always refer to him as Lord Lin Wenzhong or simply mention his name. His courtesy name, on the contrary, is often overlooked.

If it's a modern figure, and some people even have traditional courtesy names, they are often mentioned.

For example, there's this guy, whose real name is rarely mentioned, but people keep calling him by that damn word.

"Naturally, it is Lin Zexu of the Hanlin Academy. He was also the fourth-ranked Jinshi in the second class in the sixteenth year of Jiaqing's reign."

"Where is this Hanlin scholar now?"

They actually found the right place. Prince Zhi also knew that Lin Zexu had left Beijing in the intercalary sixth month to go to Jiangxi to preside over the provincial examination and serve as the deputy examiner. He had not yet returned to Beijing at this time.

However, he had already been selected for the Hanlin Academy's Qingmi Hall, where he was given the duties of lecturing the emperor on classics and teaching the princes. In fact, this position was the most convenient stepping stone for future advancement to the central government, the six ministries' ministers and vice ministers, and the Grand Council, as well as for being transferred to various localities as governors-general and governors.

As for Lord Lin, although Solovyov was still thinking about reciting poetry, it was like Gou.
The poem no longer exists, so there's nowhere for him to express his longing.

"What, General Suo is also somewhat interested?"

"It's quite unexpected that this Hanlin scholar is also an expert in maritime affairs. I'm just a foreign official, and I thought Hanlin scholars were like lecturers of the Five Classics. Speaking of which, when I was in my country, I also taught the king's younger brother military strategy and Chinese studies."

"Then General Suo can be considered a scholar who can wield a sword."

"Perhaps."

Prince Zhi then laughed heartily, showing no airs. It was indeed quite interesting that the Russian envoy, a military officer, was going to lecture a Russian prince on Confucian classics.

Solovyov laughed along, and then Prince Zhi spoke again.

"If this were during the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei's teacher, Lu Zhi, would also have been a man of both literary and military talent, capable of both lecturing and leading troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans."

"But even then there were white-haired scoundrels and old scoundrels. In the book, they were cursed to death by Zhuge Liang, and their sons became accomplices, helping the Sima family usurp the Wei throne. They even falsely claimed to have read the sayings of the sages, taking advantage of the fact that Zheng Sinong had already passed away and could not personally debate the classics. Moreover, their sons were also extravagant and wasteful, truly a time of moral decay. In this world today, there are many such people in various countries. Even the famous British general, the Duke of Wellington, had to rely on his brother to buy his way into office to get promoted. France has civil servants who exploit local officials, Russia has ministers who embezzle and accept bribes, and there are also customs duties and likin in the German states."

It seems that the Qing Dynasty had all of these things, only differing in degree.

In fact, for the Qing Dynasty, because they had heard too many stories of the Three Kingdoms while they were outside the Great Wall, it was a kind of political correctness for people from the Cao Wei camp to be criticized.

As for their military tactics, the ambush techniques they used were basically derived from Zhuge Liang's ambush tactics, with a touch of Cao Cao's unethical military strategy.

Wang Situ is doing well now; his name will likely be known from Ireland to the Khitan in the future.

Solovyov had been to Ireland, and now he was known as "Khitan" in Russian, so everyone knew that.

Prince Zhi knew that his chubby, white-haired father was too good-natured; he could actually be brought to tears by the corrupt officials under his command.

If it were the Emperor himself, instead of benefiting the Emperor, he would only be concerned with his own greed. Officials in various regions might as well prepare to either pile up a mound of corpses or return all their ill-gotten gains.

This shows the extent to which things had reached the local level; even the Qing dynasty's imperial family, who were not allowed to leave the capital unless absolutely necessary, had heard about it.

Reforming the bureaucracy is no easy task.

Prince Zhi also heard from Solovyov that Russian nobles were themselves large landowners, and they had exploited the local areas extensively. As for those like Yue Zhongqi, who were sentenced to owe the Qing Dynasty's treasury 750,000 taels of silver, that did happen.

"What does General Suo's family do for a living?"

This also aroused curiosity. Since Europe was plagued by rampant corruption, how could officials make a living if they weren't corrupt?
“My father was an eighth-rank civil official. My grandfather left behind a hereditary title and land, which were managed by various nobles for a living. As for the officials outside the capital, they could exchange patents for exclusive rights. My father was also quite good at managing the business, so they had some family wealth. The emperor also gave many rewards and granted land. All the military merits added up to 500,000 taels of silver.”

Yes, his shrewd businessman nature has indeed remained, as he directly converted his million-ruble reward into cash.

Prince Zhi also learned that Russia was willing to spend money on meritorious soldiers.

Russia and the Qing Dynasty were like half-brothers, sharing many similarities.

Furthermore, Solovyov mentioned that the patent fees he received from the state for designing weapons, as well as the rewards for various inventions, amounted to a considerable sum.

"The state is going to allocate silver to reward artisans and meritorious officials? That's a good thing, but will there be any punishment?"

Both the Qing and Ming dynasties were responsible for the design and production of weapons.

Especially during the Ming Dynasty, in order to avoid any problems, craftsmen created a bunch of weapons that were not very lethal but were still technologically advanced.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty's weapon production technology was still better than that of Europe, but its research and development was relatively backward.

The Qing Dynasty did pay more attention to new weapons, and it relied on the red cannons brought by the Three Princes who were forced to rebel to win many battles after entering the pass.

However, over time, some problems still emerged.

Of course, while the Qing Dynasty emphasized horsemanship and archery, it did not forget about firearms.

In fact, the Qing Dynasty used a lot of firearms, but most of them were matchlock guns, as well as "general cannons".

Moreover, the types of artillery shells were relatively outdated.

But the most troublesome thing for the Qing army was probably that many soldiers were unwilling to engage in close combat and would often retreat when faced with hand-to-hand fighting.

This problem was not obvious during the Qianlong era. In order to fight against the Eight Banners elite battalions trained by the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan, they were still able to play a role to some extent, and their combat effectiveness could barely be maintained during the Jiaqing era.

It should be noted that the "Ten Great Campaigns" were only largely completed at the end of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.

After hearing about these weapons, Prince Zhi was very impressed.

After all, Solovyov had only passed by the fort and glanced at it a few times, yet he already knew the strength and weakness of the Qing army. Such a veteran general was quite young, truly a rare talent.

Fortunately, given the attitude of the Russian monarch, they still tended to maintain trade and friendship with the Qing Dynasty.

As can be seen from the various interactions between Alexander the Great and the Qing Dynasty, Russia hoped to increase trade because the Kyakhta port could still generate some revenue.

However, what goods to export during trade is also a problem.

Solovyov, however, thought that the Qing Dynasty could replace its matchlock guns and muskets with standard flintlock guns.

Those heavy cannons and the like can now retire from the stage of history.

The artillery that Russia had phased out was probably enough for the Qing army to use.

The subsequent issues depend on the Qing Dynasty itself.

If the Manchu imperial family and some Manchu and Han officials had been able to see the state of the world, there would still have been hope.

Solovyov's familiarity with weapon parameters also posed a problem for Prince Zhi.

"Since General Suo says so, our Great Qing Dynasty is the Celestial Empire."

"Why should Your Highness worry so much? Those red cannons were brought by the Three Princes who defected from the Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for that inhuman Ming official who wouldn't let it go because a few soldiers stole his chickens, these cannons would have arrived even later. We all know that these were brought to Europe after the Portuguese missionaries returned to Macau. Moreover, we can conduct firearms drills and naval warship drills. Not only can Your Highness not watch them, but even if the Emperor were in the mood, my personal guards could conduct drills for his inspection."

Well, he was a bit too formal, and he was also a little tipsy.

This Imperial Jade Liquor is quite potent, and it's always telling the truth. (End of Chapter)