The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 632: Chen Guangyao's Great Contribution
After Mingde left, Chen Guangyao began to deploy troops.

In fact, he really did a lot of things in his Northeast Mission.

People in the court who didn't understand the situation thought that he had been in the Northeast for five years but had not advanced an inch of land, so he must be incompetent.

But only after arriving in Northeast China did I realize how difficult it was to develop Northeast China after it had been abandoned for nearly 150 years.

It can be said that except for the key cities, there is not much difference from pure land reclamation, and the key cities are basically in Liaodong and Liaoxi. Heilongjiang and Jilin have a total population of only more than 600,000.

After Chen Guangyao arrived, he was responsible for overseeing the construction of the Liaodong coal and iron base while also relocating immigrants to enrich the local area.

It is also necessary to recruit those people from various ethnic groups in the northeast who are hiding in the deep mountains and forests, who either consider themselves Jurchens and are afraid of being liquidated, or who are afraid that the Dayu Dynasty will also capture their able-bodied men.

These people were frightened and hid in the dense forests of Northeast China. It was quite difficult to persuade these frightened birds to come out.

Therefore, one can imagine how difficult and intense Chen Guangyao's work was over the past five years.

It can be said that if Mo Zibu was not a close relative like Chen Guangyao who knew him well, he would not be willing to hand over full power of the Northeast to him.

But at the same time, if it weren't for this kind of relationship, Chen Guangyao would never accept the task of coming to the Northeast to take charge. It would be too tiring and too hard.

Of course, now that everything has finally been sorted out, Chen Guangyao has successfully restored the water transportation network designed by the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties in the early Ming Dynasty and finally implemented by the famous eunuch Yishiha.

Today, the Northeast Mission has initially established a military, administrative and postal system that relies on the Heilongjiang, Songhuajiang, Nenjiang and Tumenjiang rivers as official roads to inspect and supervise various places.

From Miaojie to Blagoveshchensk, and then to Heilongjiang City (Heihe), Ningguta, Kuanchengzi (Changchun), etc., all places are connected by water networks. If something happens in one place, two to three thousand elite soldiers can be deployed within fifteen days.

With this system, the Dayu Dynasty could say that it truly controlled the Northeast, especially Outer Northeast.

. . . .

In the Temple Street Pacifier's Office, Chen Guangyao began to write the troop mobilization order by hand. His face was shining and radiant. After five years of laying the foundation, today was finally the moment to be proud.

At present, the water network system of the entire Northeast has been established, and at his request, the emperor abolished the post of General Liaoyang and the General's Office of the Governor of Liaoyang, which was responsible for important military and political affairs.

Liaoyang Province was changed to Liaoning Province, Lelang Province was abolished and renamed Lelang Prefecture, and the northern part of the peninsula was incorporated into Liaoning.

The president of Fuxing Company, Liu Zhisan, a native of Mingxiang, Hui'an, was transferred to serve as the governor of Liaoning, and Heshen, the vice president of Fuxing Company, was appointed as the president of Fushun Coal and Iron District.

"Lord Zhongshun, how long do you think the soldiers of the Matsumae domain can hold out?" Chen Guangyao asked Qian Daoguang, the lord of the Matsumae domain, whose clothes and hairstyle were almost the same as those of the Han people except for his figure and demeanor.

"Reporting to Lord Zhongtang, Xinwan Town was built according to the standards of a fortress. It has a large amount of gunpowder and lead bullets stored, and there is no shortage of food and water.

Meanwhile, the four hundred samurai of the Matsumae clan have already prepared themselves, and my son Liang Zhang is ready to rush over in person, vowing to fight to the bitter end.

Historically, Matsumae Michihiro's son was named Matsumae Akihiro, but now that they have been upgraded to the nobility, they naturally can no longer use the character "垫" (dian).

So Matsumae Akihiro changed his name to Liang Zhang, and the Matsumae family also changed their surname to Qian.

After expressing his determination to fight to the last man, (Matsumae) Qian Daoguang signaled his son (Matsumae) Qian Liangzhang to step forward and answer:
"Master Zhongtang, Qian Liangzhang is determined to die and overcome all difficulties. I assure you that the samurai of the Matsumae domain can hold out for at least two months!"

"Okay, with your determination, I feel relieved." Chen Guangyao exclaimed loudly when he heard this.

"I will allocate another thirty rifles equipped with long bullets (Migné bullets) to you. You don't need to hold out for two months, just one and a half months. The credit will belong to your Matsumae clan."

After hearing this, Lord Matsumae Tadatsune and his son expressed their gratitude profusely.

In China, the rifled gun using Minié bullet is transliterated as rifle, which was naturally suggested by Mo Zibu.

The main limitation was that the cost of bullets was much higher than that of smoothbore guns using lead bullets, so Minié bullets and rifles were not widely popularized.

The Imperial Guards have basically completed their uniforms, and only 30% of them have been deployed in the Beijing Camp. Naturally, they are particularly precious when they are deployed in other places.

After seeing the father and son happily go down to prepare, Chen Guangyao began to make arrangements for the next troop deployment.

The situation of the Northeast Mission is rather special. Having been abandoned for more than a hundred years, the population of the Northeast is too small, and the Han people who can produce surplus are even rarer.

Therefore, the supplies from the Northeast alone cannot support the stationing of many regular troops.

Especially now that all the manpower and material resources in the Northeast have been transferred to Shenyang to build the Liaodong coal and iron base, the gap in other places is even greater.

As for the military, the court had to prepare for a major war in the northwest and suppress various small and medium-sized rebellions in Southeast Asia. The Imperial Guards had only eight regiments and the Beijing Camp had a total of twelve armies, which was not enough.

Therefore, the Beijing garrison that came to guard the border every three years was basically not fully staffed, and Chen Guangyao was too lazy to take the trouble to command these troops that were not his direct subordinates. The two or three thousand people of the Beijing garrison were basically left in Shenyang by him.

What Chen Guangyao can use now is mainly his prime minister's model.

Among them, the Jilin Iron Cavalry, wearing light armor, was mainly composed of Solon, Oroqen, Daur people, mixed with some Han people recruited by Chen Guangyao himself from Daibei. There were a total of 2,500 cavalrymen, equipped with longbows, heavy arrows, hand guns and waist swords.

The Aihui quiver soldiers were mainly composed of Western Bai people and Lelang Han people, that is, Han people who migrated to North Goryeo and a small number of Northern Dynasty people who obtained Chinese identity.

The name is Quesher Soldiers, but they are not actually equipped with bows and arrows. Instead, they are half line infantry and half light infantry, with two regiments of 3,000 people.

The Yaer Army was mainly composed of Mongolians from the Ergun, Barhu and other tribes in eastern Inner Mongolia, and was named after the famous Hedong Shatuo Yaer Army in history.

At that time, Hailar, Manzhouli and other places in eastern Inner Mongolia were under the administration of Heilongjiang, so Chen Guangyao was able to recruit such a Mongolian cavalry of about 4,000 people.

However, although the Yaer Army was a Mongolian cavalry, their main combat method was not horseback archery, but dismounting and shooting with bows and rifles on foot. They were a type of dragoon cavalry that was good at small-scale raids and had oriental characteristics.

These nine thousand people are the standing army that Chen Guangyao can truly rely on, because they are all elite soldiers and their combat effectiveness is decent, but compared with the vast Northeast, they are still too few.

And because the territory is large, half of them have to be stationed in various places on weekdays, and they can only be gathered when a war is about to break out.

Of course, in addition to the Prime Minister's standard-bearing troops, there are also 20,000 garrison troops under the command of the nine governors under the Northeast Mission.

But these are not standing troops, they are deployed in rotation. In peacetime, there are at most 3,000 people on duty, and many of them are from various ethnic groups in the mountains. If they are to be recruited, firstly, there will not be enough time, and secondly, the news will definitely leak out.

So the deployment of troops really requires great care.

We had to be careful not to be discovered by the infiltrating Rakshasas. We also had to consider that some areas were still unstable and we couldn't move too many people, lest some ignorant natives cause trouble. We also had to consider the distance of the journey.

The discussion lasted until late at night, and Chen Guangyao finally finalized the troop deployment plan with the help of staff officers, staff and subordinates.

The Yaer Army is too far away, so we won’t transfer them. Firstly, it’s too late, and secondly, we don’t want to leak the news.

The Jibei Iron Cavalry also only brought 300 cavalrymen, because they had to rely on steam ships to quickly deploy to the location. The ships in Temple Street were not big, and each cavalryman had to ride two horses, which was a waste of transportation capacity.

As for letting the cavalry walk over, well, forget it. The Outer Khingan Mountains had just thawed in April and the ground was muddy. The cavalry's long-distance mobility capability could not catch up with the infantry.

Therefore, the only ones who sent out two thousand people were the Aihui Archers.

The old city of Aihui is not far to the north of Heilongjiang City (Heihe), and the patrol jurisdiction is the area from Heilongjiang City to the Wude River in the north. It is a local battle and the area is familiar.

Meanwhile, the Aihui quivers were the only group of the Prime Minister's standard bearers where more than half were Han Chinese, making them more reliable to use. Their combat effectiveness might not be significantly higher, but their fighting spirit was undoubtedly the strongest. Just as the reinforcements gathered in Temple Street for their final joint training and deployment, Qian Liangzhang, the heir apparent of the Matsumae clan, arrived in Xinwan Town with fifty Matsumae samurai.

This is a small seaside town located at the southern estuary of the Wude River. It is surrounded by the Wude River on the north and west, and the sea on the east.

The only south side without any natural barriers is wide open, but it has been artificially flooded and turned into a swamp. There is only a road wide enough for five people to walk side by side that can pass through.

Well, maybe it's not a swamp, but the deepest part is frozen mud that looks like porridge, but it's still above the knees, and you can slip three feet with every step.

It's barely okay to pass by on a normal day, but if you enter such a place during a war, your movement speed will be reduced by 70%, which is basically suicide.

This kind of extreme defense capability is a basic configuration in the East Xianbei Glacier (Eastern Siberian Mountains) belonging to the Greater Khingan Range. Cities such as Yakutsk and Nerchinsk occupied by the Russians are even more extreme than this.

"Yoshi!" Qian Liangzhang couldn't help but admire, but as soon as the words came out, he felt a little embarrassed. How could he speak Fuso dialect in front of so many people?

But after looking around and finding no one paying attention, Qian Liangzhang coughed twice and said in Chinese, which was almost without any accent:

"That's great! Xinwan Town was born for trade. It will definitely become the most important stronghold of our Matsumae clan in the future!"

Qian Liangzhang tightened his clothes. It was already the end of March in the lunar calendar, and the temperature in Xinwan Town was still around two or three degrees Celsius. It could even drop below zero at night. Only at noon could one feel a hint of the sun's warmth.

But this did not prevent him from praising Qian Liangzhang from the bottom of his heart. The same was true for the Matsumae samurai who came with Qian Liangzhang. While praising him non-stop, they kept telling Qian Liangzhang that they were willing to fight to the death with the Russians for Xinwan Town.

The reason why the samurai of Matsumae Domain were so excited was that the domain lord (Matsumae) Zen Michihiro was willing to sacrifice even his heir.

In addition to the fact that (Matsumae) Qian Daoguang vowed to repay the emperor for forgiving the Matsumae clan's debts, it was also because the living environment of the Matsumae clan had changed so much in recent years.

Before this, although the Matsumae clan only had a fiefdom of 10,000 koku, it was actually seriously underestimated.

Because they could trade with the Ainu people, buying low and selling high, they could make a profit from both sides, and the actual stone price might be more than 30,000 stones.

Moreover, when there was a shogun in the past, the Emishi were the only barbarians that Japan could contact and control, and they were very important on the political level.

Therefore, as the only domain on Ezo Island, the Matsumae domain had a relatively high political status in Japan, and the Tokugawa Shogun often treated the Matsumae domain with preferential treatment.

But now, the Shogun is gone, and the Ezo people are no longer a problem. The Matsumae domain has instantly fallen from the spotlight into a remote and poor region.

What's worse is that the trade volume with the Ainu people has also stopped.

After Japan returned to China, all non-Chinese people became contract laborers and could be bought and sold, so Japan immediately began a frenzy of human trafficking.

After three years, nearly three million people left Japan's four eastern provinces. By the fourth year, the various feudal domains were unwilling to sell any more people.

Because these three million are basically healthy men and women, there are only about twelve or thirteen million of this kind in the entire Japanese country.

After selling so many people, the financial situation of the Japanese daimyos has been greatly alleviated, the labor force is no longer saturated, and they themselves have the desire to expand and need to leave some people for themselves and their descendants.

Of course, by the fourth year, many non-Chinese citizens in Japan realized that they were valuable and that even being a contract worker in Southeast Asia was a thousand times better than being at home. So without waiting for the feudal lord to sell them, they sold themselves to Southeast Asia first.

The profiteers involved in human trade are also happy to bypass the middlemen such as the lords of various fiefs and take people away directly at a lower cost.

As a result, the population loss became even more serious, so the retired emperor, Prime Minister Mo Tianci of Dongyang had to personally order that unscrupulous merchants were not allowed to bypass the daimyo, and he also dispatched warships for inspection before he could suppress this trend.

At this time, some wicked guy remembered that there were Ainu people on Ainu Island. Although these people were far less useful than Japanese laborers and could only be sold for half the price of Japanese, no one would think that the money was too much.

As a result, the Ezo people of Ezo Island immediately turned from barbarians into walking silver dollars. There were only 20,000 to 30,000 of them in total, and most of them were captured within a few months.

Now, not only did they not lose the privilege of being in the spotlight, but trade with the Ainu people also completely came to a halt due to their disappearance.

In just four years, the entire Matsumae domain was isolated from the world, as if surrounded by ice and snow, with no future and few benefits.

But it was different in Xinwan Town. Everyone felt that the emperor seemed to have an obsession with Nanyang and Outer Northeast China. He was willing to spend money and allocate supplies to these two regions.

Although Shin'an Town is further north than Fukuyama Castle, the headquarters of the Matsumae domain, it is colder and has a longer freezing period.

However, there are tens of thousands of ethnic groups from the Greater Khingan Range surrounding Xinwan Town, and the mountain treasures produced there are incomparable to those from Ezo Island.

The Matsumae clan has established itself here and monopolized the trade. After the war, it will no longer need to maintain the scale of 400 samurai. The costs will drop sharply. If it does well, it can earn at least 4,000 to 5,000 silver dollars in net profit every year.

Don't think that this is a small amount. For a small town domain like Matsumae, where the land output is less than a few thousand stones, this is simply the pillar industry. It is truly worth risking one's life to protect.

. . . .

At this time, the area east of Lake Baikal in the Rakshasa Empire was not under the jurisdiction of the Siberian Governor-General's District, but a separate Irkutsk Governor-General's District.

The Irkutsk Governorate consists of four oblasts:
Irkutsk Oblast is located west of Lake Baikal.

The Nerchinsk Oblast is located east of Lake Baikal and mainly controls the Buryat Mongols.

The Yakutsk Oblast is the area north of the Greater Khingan Range where Xinwan Town is located.

The Okhotsk Oblast is located northeast of Yakutsk and controls a large area including the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Lebao's Even Castle is located in the Okhotsk Oblast, and even across the Okhotsk city, it is only more than 40 kilometers away.

It was already so difficult for Chen Guangyao to mobilize troops south of the Greater Khingan Range, and it would be even more troublesome for the Russians to mobilize troops north of the Greater Khingan Range. The temperature in Yakutsk is still basically minus one or two degrees Celsius.

Therefore, even though Lieutenant General Jacob Ivanovich, the Governor of the Irkutsk Governorate, kept urging them, the 6,000 soldiers from the four provincial districts still did not arrive at the designated time.

Therefore, the battle plan had to be modified, and the main force of the army of 4,500 people from Yakutsk to the Ulu River was placed under the command of Major General Nikolsky, the Governor of Yakutsk.

The original commander, Major General Ivan Andreyevich Ram, Governor of Kamchatka-Okhotsk, led 60 ships of various types and 1,500 soldiers, setting out from the cities of Okhotsk and Magadan to attack the town of Xinwan from the sea.

"Major General, those cunning Tatars seemed to have disappeared overnight. We searched many places before we captured a few hundred of them."

Fu Kang'an's estimation was correct. The first thing the Russians did when they set out was to attack their Caogu.

"It seems that we mobilized too slowly and the Tatars have already received the news." The new coach, Major General Nikolsky, waved his hand indifferently.

“Then don’t waste time, without these Tatars, the boys will have to work hard on their own.

Everything will wait until we reach Xinwan Town. After we seize the supplies hoarded by those Khitan rats, I will only take 30% and give the rest to everyone."

If the soldiers of Dayu heard what Major General Nikolsky said, they might fall to the ground in despair. You alone take 30%, and the people below will get nothing!
You act like you've suffered a great loss.

However, upon hearing what Major General Nikolsky said, the gray beasts, consisting of various Cossack bandits and Rakshasa criminals, immediately burst into cheers.

Obviously, Major General Nikolsky is really generous.

(End of this chapter)