Chapter 815

Imperial Study.

After hanging a map of the Great Yu Empire on the eastern wall, Xiao Ming hung a world map on the western wall.

These two maps were brand new and were drawn by the most excellent cartographers in Qingzhou City.

Compared to his own rough sketches, the quality of these two was extremely high. One could say they were almost indistinguishable from precise contemporary maps.

On the maps, mineral deposits, mountains, and rivers were all clearly marked. On the world map, Xiao Ming also marked the colonial territories he currently understood.

Overall, current Southeast Asia was almost entirely occupied by Western powers. Among them, the Netherlands occupied Luzon, which was contemporary Philippines. However, due to the decline of its national power, the Dutch only held a very small part of Luzon; most of the area was still occupied by Spain. Overall, Spain was the ruler of Luzon.

Southwest of Luzon, which was Indonesia, was the Netherlands’ largest colony in Southeast Asia. The Dutch had occupied Jakarta two centuries ago.

Malaysia, west of Indonesia, was once also a Dutch colony, but after losing the naval war, it was ceded to Britain.

In addition, Britain also possessed two colonies, India and Burma, while France held the so-called Indochina, which were contemporary Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Great Yu Empire currently referred to them as Annam, Vientiane, and Zhenla respectively.

Looking at the map, Xiao Ming then looked at Australia. According to information provided by the Dutch, this place also belonged to Britain, and similar to history, it was also a place for exiling convicts.

His gaze shifted from the southeastern corner of the Great Yu Empire to the north. Xiao Ming looked at the three cities still in barbarian hands.

For him, after losing Jinzhou, the barbarians were severely weakened and could no longer wage large-scale wars with him.

The reason was simple: the barbarians had lost their grain supply areas. Dispatching cavalry to attack already occupied cities at this time would be a foolish act.

Currently, the barbarians’ smartest move would be to return to the grasslands and, after recuperating, resume their past life of raiding and plundering. However, he clearly would not give the barbarians this opportunity.

To strike a snake and not kill it is to suffer its revenge. He would not give the barbarians any more breathing room. He had now issued a ban: no merchant was allowed to sell any goods to the barbarians.

He would rather lose some silver than allow the barbarians to live on the grasslands. At the same time, Qi Guangyi would be stationed in Raozhou, leading his cavalry to continuously compress the barbarians’ living area.

Scanning Raozhou City, Xiao Ming looked at Yingzhou. His eyes slightly narrowed.

Compared to Raozhou, Xiao Ming attached more importance to Yingzhou this time, because this place had always been a source of national pain in later generations. Perhaps many people didn’t know where Yingzhou was, but they would certainly understand what the Tumen River estuary meant.

It could be said that in the northeastern region of Guandong, this location was the only outlet to the sea. From Yingzhou, following the Tumen River for fifteen li would lead to the future Sea of Japan.

As long as a naval port was established here, he could strike the Japanese mainland with his navy at any time.

In contemporary times, the Qing Dynasty, having signed the “Sino-Russian Aigun Treaty” in 1858 and the “Treaty of Peking” in 1860, ceded the adjacent territory between the northeast and the Sea of Japan to Tsarist Russia. It was never reclaimed even after the founding of the People’s Republic.

After World War II, to prevent his country from utilizing the outlet to the sea, Russia even colluded with North Korea to build a so-called “Russo-Korean Friendship Bridge” over the Tumen River.

This bridge spanned the Tumen River, with extremely low bridge piers. It could be said that no large cargo ship could pass through, thereby completely cutting off his country’s access to the sea via the Tumen River.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming picked up his pen and drew a circle around Yingzhou.

After the Northern Expeditionary Army occupied it, he would meticulously manage this city. Currently, the east side of Yingzhou was Goryeo territory. After this war ended, he would forcibly occupy the land between Yingzhou and the sea and establish the Great Yu Empire’s second navy there.

His gaze continued northward. Xiao Ming saw Jianzhou. The Great Yu Empire’s Jianzhou was equivalent to contemporary Harbin. North of Jianzhou was the future Heilongjiang region, and further north was the Siberian snowfield.

Information provided by the Dutch stated that the Moscow Principality in Europe had formed the monarchical Tsarist Russian Empire forty-seven years ago. After the first Tsarist Russian Emperor, Alexander the Great, the current ruler of Tsarist Russia was an Empress named Ekaterina.

It was said that this Tsarist Russian Empress and the British Queen were of similar age, taking over their countries at eighteen and twenty years old respectively, and had now ruled for four or five years.

Although both these monarchs were women, Xiao Ming had no intention of underestimating them, because modern history proved that European empresses were very formidable. Often, when empresses were in power, it was also the time of the greatest national expansion.

Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria of Britain, needless to say. During the reign of Empress Catherine the Great of Tsarist Russia, it was precisely the period of conquering Siberia and Alaska.

Although the Empress Ekaterina of this era differed by only one character from Empress Catherine the Great, her abilities seemed no weaker than those of contemporary Catherine the Great.

Now, she had extended Tsarist Russia’s reach to Siberia and Alaska. However, it was fortunate that Tsarist Russia was currently still focusing on Europe.

This conquest of Siberia and Alaska was merely a spontaneous act by the common people. This was similar to how Britain expanded its sphere of influence at sea using armed merchant ships. Tsarist Russia, meanwhile, pursued expansion on land using civilian forces.

“We cannot give Russia a chance to grow,” Xiao Ming said, holding his arms and musing.

Whether in this era or in contemporary times, this country was extremely dangerous and volatile. Once it grew strong, it would be a nightmare for the Great Yu Empire. Therefore, he could not allow Tsarist Russia to freely seize land around him.

However, although he thought this, Xiao Ming knew that he currently lacked the ability to extend his sphere of influence to Siberia. Guandong was still a mess. He had no way to provide grain and fodder for the army from Qingzhou Province to Siberia; this route was too long.

Before advancing into Siberia, he had to at least stabilize Guandong.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming’s gaze shifted to Central Asia, then to Europe, Africa, and the Americas. On this vast world map, the area he currently controlled was but a small fraction, while Europe had already extended its sphere of influence across the entire world.

“We must speed up.”

Xiao Ming turned around. How could he be absent from this most glorious Age of Discovery? Now, steam warships were already under construction, and shipyards were also undergoing industrial modernization.

His ultimate goal was to build ironclads. This way, his navy would dominate the seas with a generational advantage. Then, no matter how experienced British warships were, his fleet could bury them all in the sea.