Chapter 267: Drive the crowd, fight for 9 generations of revenge, fight for 7 feet, fight for a piec
Chapter 267: Driving a hundred thousand people, fighting for nine generations of enemies, fighting for a piece of land
A fast horse galloped out of Tashkent with a cloud of dust and headed straight for Korla.
The telegraph line had been stretched to Korla and was being laid to Kuche through the Tiemenguan Gorge. Although the Western Expedition had in fact ended, the telegraph line would certainly not end until Tashkent.
This time, the person who served as the express messenger for the 800-mile journey was not Shao Quanzhong's guard, but Zhang Zihuai, the chief of staff of the Guards Brigade.
He was shouldering a heavy responsibility and carrying with him two treaties, a secret agreement, a warrant from Shao Quanzhong to Liao Rong, Mark Twain's latest news, and the second edition of The Gorchakov Report.
When we arrived in Korla, the treaties and secret agreements would be sent to the Grand Council in Beijing and His Majesty the Tsar in St. Petersburg, the treaties and reports would be sent to Britain and Türkiye, and the news would be sent to Los Angeles.
This operation is a little complicated. If you accidentally send the secret agreement to the wrong person, it will be a big deal, so it needs to be done by someone who is reliable and cautious.
It takes four and a half days to get from Tashkent to Korla, which is 800 miles away, and a week to get to Moscow, so the Russians also entrusted us to forward their copy.
The distance between the two countries' nearest telegraph stations alone shows the difference in their level of advancement. Although the Qing Dynasty was still behind other powers, it had surpassed the Russians.
Shao Quanzhong's order was to be sent to Istanbul.
Well, Liao Rong brought his fleet, led the Greeks and Cuban Marines, and bombarded and robbed the Russians everywhere along the Black Sea coast.
Without wireless telegraphy, it is impossible to stop it in time.
Only when they received this telegram when they returned to Istanbul to replenish coal could the harassment of the Russians stop.
The treaty signed in Tashkent did not secure any benefits for Greece and Cuba, which participated in the war.
There is no need at all. They have already made a lot of money following Liao Rong, and Greece has also taken over Cyprus.
They just robbed Cyprus from Turkey in the Mediterranean and robbed the whole way. In the blink of an eye, with the support of Turkey, they used Istanbul as a supply base to rob the Russians in the Black Sea. This world is so mysterious.
Fifty thousand Russian regular troops reluctantly left the prisoner-of-war camp and, under the leadership of Governor Kaufman, withdrew from Tashkent and headed west.
They were going to retreat all the way to the Caucasus. After the signing of the treaties and secret agreements here, the newly established Turkestan Governorate lost all its territories and was disbanded.
Although the defeated general Kaufman could not become the governor, he was recommended by Gorchakov as the Tsar's special adviser. In the future, he would be in charge of the entire Russian army and be promoted to the central government.
Gorchakov warmly embraced Shao Quanzhong and said, "Duke Shao, you are now a Russian. Go to St. Petersburg as soon as possible to marry the princess and accept the official title of Duke from His Majesty the Tsar. Let's work together for the prosperity of Russia!"
As for the Russians' monogamy... of course they can make concessions when it comes to national interests. If I don't recognize your marriage in the Qing Dynasty, it's the same as not having it.
Shao Quanzhong said righteously, "I will definitely be loyal to the Romanov family. His Majesty the Tsar will be grateful to his descendants for this wise decision."
Gorchakov was talking about Lucia, and Shao Quanzhong was talking about the Tsarist family. In Gorchakov's view, these were the same thing, but Shao Quanzhong did not think so.
There are no legal provisions regarding nationality in our Qing Dynasty. Anything is allowed unless prohibited by law. Shao Quanzhong became a Russian citizen by authorization, but of course he is still a Chinese citizen.
For the sake of national interests, he had to marry a girl he had never seen before. Who knew if she was beautiful or ugly? Compared with the vast territory, individuals could make sacrifices, even if the girl was ugly - a Russian princess couldn't be ugly, right?
Tsar, I will protect your descendants. As the Duke of Russia and the son-in-law of the Romanov family, I am definitely a staunch supporter of Russia.
If there is any change in Russia, I will raise an army as the Duke of Russia and a member of the Romanov family... Hehehe, it is not a dream for China to take all of Siberia and expand the borders to the Ural Mountains.
"Report, Cossack Lieutenant Colonel Ivan wants to see you."
Ivan? Hasn't this guy left yet? What else does he want? He's not happy about Haiqing taking his money, so he wants it back? No way.
Ivan didn't come to ask for money at all. When he saw Shao Quanzhong, he saluted and said, "Your Highness the Duke, as I guessed, we Cossacks have been abandoned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I would like to join you and become your retainer, leading these 6,000 Cossacks to serve you." Shao Quanzhong scratched his head. What's the use of me having Cossacks?
These bandits have some fighting power, but they are definitely not as strong as the regular Huai Army. The Huai Army has as many reserve troops as it needs, so why should I spend money to support a bunch of bandits? It would be better to let them build railways.
The only thing they are good at is probably "robbery" - huh? Who said that robbery is useless? I used to be a beard, and I also aspire to be the world's best beard, so -
Shao Quanzhong patted Ivan's shoulder with a smile, "Not bad, you are a talented person with ideas. I heard that my brother Haiqing extorted your 220,000 silver coins? I'm really sorry for you, and I can't punish my brother. How about this, you take 6,000 Cossacks with me, do some meritorious service, and I will recommend a high official of the Qing Dynasty to compensate you."
It's done. The few days I stayed in Tashkent were not in vain. Is the official recommended by the Duke a small one? I will have food and drink for the rest of my life.
Ivan immediately patted his sleeves and knelt on one knee, "Thank you, Lord Zhongcheng, for your patronage."
Having lived on the Qing-Lu border for many years, Ivan was quite familiar with the rules of the Qing Dynasty and immediately regarded himself as a Manchu official.
"Come on, assemble the team!"
At the end of the war, more than 80,000 Huai Army troops gathered in Tashkent, together with more than 10,000 Jin Shun's Blue Banner soldiers and 6,000 Cossacks newly released from the prisoner-of-war camps, a total of 100,000 troops gathered outside the city of Tashkent.
Shao Quanzhong stood on the top of the city wall and said, "Brothers, it has been two years and eight months since we swore to march west in Fengyang on the tenth day of the seventh month in the third year of the Tongzhi reign. Thanks to the hard work of the brothers, we have now completely won the war. I declare that the war is over, and everyone will soon take their rewards and go home to reunite with their families. Now, give out the rewards!"
Hundreds of loud-voiced messengers spread Shao Quanzhong's words to every corner, and 100,000 people cheered together, "Long live! Long live! Long live!", mixed with the Cossacks' shouts, "Hurrah!"
The rewards for the Huai Army in the previous stage had already been distributed in Kashgar, and now the rewards for the Western Expedition to Central Asia were being distributed.
Shao Quanzhong now had sufficient military funds. He had only spent thirty million of the forty million taels for the Western Expedition, and the Turks had given him another eleven million taels, leaving a full twenty-one million taels of military funds.
Of course, it cost 6.1 million taels of silver to buy British Columbia and Alaska, and they also had to pay off a debt of 7 million taels of silver for British Columbia.
The remaining money was used to pay for the first year's down payment of the Ili Province Railway and the Central Asia Railway. With this calculation, after the rewards were distributed, the budget for the Western Expedition was just spent.
In fact, the largest reward was given out in Jinjibao. As many as 14,000 Huai Army soldiers were killed in Gansu, and over 10,000 were killed or wounded in the recovery of Ili Province. The bulk of the rewards were given in the form of compensation for soldiers killed in action.
By the time we got to Central Asia, casualties were negligible, and the soldiers' rewards were a fraction of the huge cost of arms and food for the Western Expedition.
It’s not that the Russians are easier to fight than Ma Hualong and the bandits in Yili Province, it’s just that we have to annihilate the bandits completely and attack one of the most solid fortresses in the world.
We were only fighting against the Russian Central Asian troops, and it happened that the Russian economy collapsed, the country was in chaos, and they were unable to provide reinforcements, so we were able to achieve results beyond our expectations, which were finally transformed into diplomatic achievements.
The Torghut troops, the Solon Xibe camp, the Tibetan troops, and Jin Shun's Blue Banner soldiers all received rewards. Even the Cossacks who had just surrendered were given their first month's salary - much lower than that of the Huai Army. However, the Cossacks had no salary at all from the Russians and had been owed salary for a long time.
It would be unbearable for one hundred thousand people to eat food here. Even after the rewards were distributed, the army did not disperse yet.
Shao Quanzhong ordered, "Come on, follow me and stroll south. There is one last small country that needs to be dealt with here. We probably don't need to fight a war. The more people who go there, the better."
A small number of troops were left in Tashkent to garrison, while the 100,000-strong army marched southward toward Kabul.
Ten days later, the army arrived in Samarkand, and the vassal state of Bukhara Khanate had already prepared food and fodder for the army. Suddenly, Zhang Zihuai was seen riding a fast horse in the direction of Kokand Province in the east, coming in a cloud of dust.
"Report! The imperial court's reward has arrived!"
(End of this chapter)