Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 392 The mountain is not high
Zhang Lexing urged his horse to go faster, and followed the secretary who came to greet him, quickly passed through the outer city, the inner city, and arrived outside the imperial city.

After the inspection, Zhang Lexing dismounted and walked towards the Forbidden City under the guidance of several soldiers of the Imperial Guard.

Soon, he was brought into the palace.

Looking at the magnificent building with red walls and golden tiles in front of him, Zhang Lexing's eyes were filled with shock.

"Is this the palace?"

"This Forbidden City is truly magnificent!"

Although the interior of the Forbidden City is very dilapidated, it is still spectacular and impressive just from the outside.

Especially the sacred feeling that the majesty of imperial power can bring to people made Zhang Lexing breathe rapidly and feel tremendous pressure in his heart.

Many times, whether a palace is magnificent and majestic does not actually lie in the architecture of the palace.

But it depends on the power of the person living in the palace!
If a powerful emperor lived in the palace, even if the palace was in ruins, it would still give people a feeling of being sacred, solemn and inviolable.

But if there is only a puppet living in the palace, no matter how magnificent the building is, it will not be able to shock people spiritually.

This is what we call a mountain is not high!

Zhang Lexing walked into the Forbidden City with a nervous mood and headed towards the densely packed palace.

Soon, Zhang Lexing arrived outside the Yangxin Palace.

After being informed and searched again, Zhang Lexing stepped into the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

Soon, he saw Li Yi looking at him with a smile in the Yangxin Palace.

Zhang Lexing bowed immediately.

"I, General Zhang Lexing, pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi just raised his hand lightly.

"No need to be polite, please take a seat!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lexing obediently got up from the ground and sat down opposite Li Yi.

But his expression was very reserved, and when he sat down he only sat halfway.

Li Yi said with a smile.

"I summoned you to the capital this time for two main reasons."

"First, I haven't seen your family for a long time. Now is a good time to meet and reminisce with you."

When facing his subordinates, Li Yi usually doesn't put on airs and appears to be very friendly.

He likes to use this method to build closer relationships with his subordinates and ensure their loyalty.

"The second reason is because of what happened in Zhangjiakou."

"I'm sure you've already understood that the Sunite tribe outside the Great Wall brazenly attacked Zhangjiakou, causing heavy losses to Zhangjiakou. The Tang Dynasty must retaliate."

"Otherwise, the Mongols on the grasslands will probably not take the Tang Dynasty seriously in the future."

"And I intend to give this task to the Qing family!"

"I wonder what you think?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lexing clasped his fists and said solemnly.

"I will obey the emperor's order!"

"Make sure to complete the mission and present the enemy chieftain to the emperor."

Li Yi still said with a smile.

"very good."

"With your words, I feel relieved."

"This time, your family will lead the army to the north. The court will provide all possible support. We only hope that your family can complete the task in one battle."

"We will destroy the Sunite tribe in one battle, shock the grasslands, enhance our national prestige, and restore peace to the northern border of the Tang Dynasty."

The reason for saying this is not that Li Yi doesn't want to take over the grassland.

But things should be prioritized!
At present, the Tang Dynasty should focus its main attention on the interior and the Qing Dynasty.

Before resolving the issues in the interior of the country and the Qing Dynasty, Li Yi did not want to launch a large-scale military operation against the grassland.

Well, if Li Yi had the energy to use troops against the grassland, he might as well send troops to Southeast Asia, defeat the Dutch and Spanish forces in Southeast Asia, and take over Southeast Asia.

Not to mention anything else, just from the perspective of grain production, the value of Nanyang is much higher than that of the grassland.

Zhang Lexing spoke again.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will complete the task."

Then, Li Yi asked Zhang Le to pick up the chopsticks.

Although the banquet consisted of only ordinary home-cooked dishes, Zhang Lexing enjoyed it very much.

Because the importance of a banquet does not lie in what is eaten, but in who is present.

This is the key!
……

After the banquet, Li Yi returned to the harem.

Just at this moment, Li Liang came running to report.

"Report, Your Majesty."

"The secret agents of the Military Intelligence Department in Shaanxi reported that Shi Dakai has already left Chang'an and is heading towards the capital."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi showed a genuine smile on his face.

"Haha, so best, so best!"

"As long as Shi Dakai is willing to come to Beijing, the three provinces of Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu will be secure."

"Haha, the world will be unified soon!"

Li Liang heard this and spoke.

"The Tang Dynasty is able to have the current situation thanks to your Majesty's wisdom."

"Without Your Majesty, there would be no Tang Dynasty today." Li Yi smiled and first declined modestly before continuing to give orders.

"By the way, the Military Intelligence Department will focus its main efforts outside the Great Wall."

"We must not only keep a close eye on the movements of Xiqing and Dongqing, but also keep a close eye on the movements of the Sunite tribe, and ensure that the movements of the Sunite tribe are under the control of our army."

"So that in the future, our Tang Dynasty can send troops to the north to make an example of them!"

It is said that in war, food and supplies must be prepared before troops move forward, but in Li Yi's opinion, this is not entirely true.

The importance of intelligence is actually no less than that of food.

In a war, if you can obtain detailed intelligence about the enemy before the battle begins, then you have already won half the battle without even having to fight.

The same is true in reverse. If your detailed intelligence is known to the other party, then you have also lost half the battle.

Because of this, Li Yi attaches great importance to intelligence work.

Before the army set out, he ordered the Military Intelligence Department to begin collecting intelligence outside the Great Wall in advance to prepare for the future army's march out of the Great Wall to fight.

Upon hearing this, Li Liang nodded to show that he understood.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. The Military Intelligence Department will increase its investment in the areas outside the Great Wall."

Li Yi nodded with satisfaction.

Soon, Zhang Zhidong came in from outside again and came to Li Yi and spoke.

"Your Majesty, a report has been sent from Nanyang."

"Under the threat of our South China Sea Fleet, the Batavia authorities gave in and agreed to several conditions proposed by the Tang Dynasty."

"Please give us your instructions on what Batavia should do next."

Li Yi nodded slightly, touched his chin and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, Li Yi spoke.

"Well, it's good that the Batavia authorities have given in."

"Next, in addition to sending more troops to Batavia, our army must also use the Dutch to clear out the natives near Batavia as soon as possible..."

The reason why Li Yi did not take advantage of the Dutch taking the initiative to hand over the handle and directly take over Batavia.

On the one hand, it is because the Tang Dynasty does not currently have too much energy to invest in Batavia.

It would be easy for the Tang Dynasty to capture Batavia, as the Dutch authorities in Batavia could not withstand the offensive of the Tang army.

However, after the Tang army captured Batavia, how to govern the place and how to deal with the relationship with the indigenous people became a huge project.

What if the Dutch instigated hostility between the natives and the Tang Dynasty after their defeat?
Does the Tang Dynasty have to play hide-and-seek with the natives in the mountains?
This is not a good choice.

Therefore, Li Yi plans not to attack Batavia first!
Instead, they took advantage of this incident and used military pressure to borrow the power of the Dutch to wipe out the local indigenous people in Batavia.

In this way, one can kill with a borrowed knife and reduce the Tang Dynasty's investment in Batavia.

Second, it could alienate the relationship between the Dutch and the natives.

Third, they could take the opportunity to clean up the area around Batavia and pave the way for the Tang Dynasty to take control of Batavia in the future.

It can be described as killing three birds with one stone!
After that, Li Yi continued to ask.

"By the way, what is the attitude of Britain, France, Spain and other countries towards the military threat to Batavia from the Tang Dynasty?"

Zhang Zhidong heard this and responded.

"In reply to your Majesty, Britain and France have remained silent on this matter and have not spoken out."

"But the Spanish side is a little bit upset."

"The Spanish Minister Cotero, together with the Dutch Minister Andre, protested several times in public."

"I hope that through protest, we can stop the Tang Dynasty's actions against Batavia."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's understandable."

"Haha, Britain and France currently need help from the Tang Dynasty, so they will naturally not fall out with the Tang Dynasty over such a trivial matter."

"But Spain and the Netherlands are inseparable, so it is normal for the two countries to come together."

"By the way, what about Tsarist Russia?"

Zhang Zhidong continued to reply.

"Tsarist Russia once publicly expressed its appreciation for the Tang Dynasty's decisive military action to protect the interests of overseas Chinese..."

It is obvious that Tsarist Russia was the kind of country that enjoyed watching the fun and making trouble.

I wish the Tang Dynasty would fight with the Netherlands, Spain, and even Britain and France.

Li Yi nodded and said.

"That's good!"

"By the way, what is the current situation in Crimea?"

In the first sentence, Li Yi was replying to Zhang Zhidong, and in the second sentence, he was asking Li Liang.

Several months have passed since Li Yi last received news about the outbreak of war in Crimea.

For several months, Li Yi has not received any follow-up information from Crimea.

That's why I couldn't help but ask.

He didn't believe that several months had passed and the situation in Crimea had not changed.

Upon hearing this, Li Liang stood up and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I was just about to report to you the latest news from Crimea."

"The main forces of Britain, France and Russia have all entered the Crimean battlefield. 60,000 British and French troops landed in Gallipoli and launched an offensive against the Sevastopol fortress of Russia, attempting to completely wipe out the Russian Black Sea Fleet."

"The latest news is that the attack and defense of Sevastopol was very fierce. Britain, France, and Tsarist Russia all invested a large number of troops. The amount of gunpowder, shells, and various supplies consumed every day was astronomical."

"From the perspective of the battlefield situation, Tsarist Russia is undoubtedly at a disadvantage, and Sevastopol may not be able to hold out for long."

"But now the British and French allied camps are plagued by diseases, syphilis and venereal diseases. The British casualty mortality rate is as high as 42%, and France is not much better."

(End of this chapter)