Li Xuan wants the Europeans to hold back the Tatars!
Just delay, not defeat the Tatars!
We can neither allow the Tatars to conquer Europe too smoothly, but we also cannot allow the Tatars to be defeated in Europe. If the Tatars are defeated in Europe, they will turn around and focus on defending the Western Region in order to preserve Central Asia.
territory, then the Tang Empire would have to face hundreds of thousands of Tatar troops.
Although the Tang Army was not afraid of the Tatars, it was better to do less than to do more.
Why fight to the death with the Tatars when we can take over the Western Regions and even Central Asia in the simplest and easiest way?
What's more, the senior officials of the Tang Empire could guess why the Tatars were so focused on the Western Expedition, wasn't it just to avoid the Tang's westward expansion?
The current mentality of the Tatars is that they can’t afford to hide from me even if they can’t offend me?
The Tang Empire had no need to break the mentality of the Tatars. If the Tatars wanted to conquer the West, the empire would support them. Once they left, the empire could easily take over the entire Western Region and even Central Asia.
However, the empire was not willing to allow the Tatars to completely occupy Europe, which would further expand the Tatars' strength.
When a meeting of ministers was held to discuss the matter, although Li Xuan did not find any opinions on the surface, the meeting naturally followed the path set by Li Xuan.
After much discussion, we finally decided to send a mission to Europe!
Why go to Europe? Of course it is to help Europeans.
One of the main purposes of the mission is to get Europeans, especially the big countries in Europe, to unite to resist the Tatars. Otherwise, Li Xuan suspected that the Europeans would be swept across Europe by the Tatars in less than three years.
It is almost impossible for an ununited Europe to stop the Tatar attack!
In addition, it is preparing to provide military assistance to Europe.
To put it bluntly, it is exporting various weapons.
Just like what the Tang Dynasty did in northern India and Persia.
The Tang Dynasty now particularly likes to do things like military assistance.
On the one hand, you can achieve the political goals you want through the arms trade, but on the other hand, this arms trade is very profitable, real huge profits!
Within the Tang Empire, the industrial production of export-type plate armor was simple in process and low in cost. It could be produced by any small domestic workshop at a cost of less than ten yuan at most, let alone mass-produced by specialized arsenals.
However, this kind of ordinary export-type full-body plate armor can be sold for at least a hundred yuan when transported to South Africa. As for those European businessmen selling it in the European market, the price is even more expensive, and the price is often doubled.
Even though this plate armor is not as profitable as silk or porcelain, it is not too small.
Cold weapons such as plate armor have always been Datang's key export commodities. The indigenous people from Southeast Asia to India, Africa, Europe and even the Americas are all loyal users of Datang's plate armor!
As for matchlocks and artillery, although Europeans also have these things, they are all produced manually and the output is too low.
But the Tang Empire was different. Once the factory started up, it could easily produce two to three hundred thousand matchlocks per year. If it were produced for a few more years, it would be enough to arm the entire Europe!
The Tang Dynasty's response to the Tatars' invasion of Europe and the capture of Moscow was to send envoys to Europe. As for more, I'm sorry, they are gone.
The Tatars beat their own, and the Tang Dynasty beat its own. Isn't this good?
On the contrary, the Tang Dynasty was quite happy to see the Tatars invade Europe and fight to the death with a group of European countries. The Tang Dynasty naturally followed the Tatars, first robbing the Western Region, and then
Central Asia was recovered, and finally West Asia and Europe were liberated.
After deciding to send the mission, Li Xuan simply forgot about the Tatars and Europeans.
Regardless of whether they are Tatars or Europeans, in the eyes of today's Tang Empire, they are just clowns and cannot make any trouble.
The Datang Empire is now undergoing an industrial revolution, and the wave of industrialization has swept across the entire empire. Under this situation, the Datang Empire is still focusing more on its own development, and some external clowns are not a concern.
The Tang Dynasty can barely be regarded as an industrial country now. In a few more years of development, it is estimated that it will be able to completely complete the first industrial revolution, that is, the steam engine will be thoroughly applied to all walks of life, and production and transportation will enter the era of mechanization.
The Tang Empire, which had completed its industrialization, was almost irresistible.
So what if the Tatar cavalry is sharp?
Let’s not talk about the railways that will be rolled out all the way to Central Asia or even West Asia in the future. Let’s just say that the current Tang Army cavalry is not much worse than the Tatars.
The Tang Army's various cavalry divisions, independent cavalry regiments, division-affiliated cavalry regiments and other light and heavy cavalry combined totaled more than 150,000 cavalry.
Even if the number is compared, it is no less than the number of Tatar cavalry.
The Tatars are destined to not pose any actual threat to the Tang Empire. Therefore, although the Tang Empire is also concerned about the actions of the Tatars, they will not go to the extent of making a big fight. The northwest garrison will not even
Conduct targeted military operations.
Everything will wait until the northwest railway is completely completed in the fall.
On the first day after arriving in Shanghai, Li Xuan did not go out for inspection, but stayed at the Shanghai Palace. In addition to handling daily affairs, he also summoned local officials in Shanghai, including officials from the Jiangnan Province Yamen and Songjiang Prefecture.
There is a special county in Shanghai, and by the way, important officials from Huating, Qingpu, and Jiading counties have also met.
Of course, there are also military generals stationed in Songjiang. Among them, many naval generals from the First Fleet and the Third Fleet of the Datang Navy are in Shanghai at this time.
The purpose of summoning the naval generals is to go to Jiangnan Shipyard tomorrow to visit the commissioning ceremony of the new generation battleship Malacca.
After handling many affairs in the afternoon, Li Xuan naturally couldn't be idle in the evening. Wang Wenhua, a loyal minister, had already prepared many Shanghai-style women in advance to present a wonderful song and dance performance for the Holy Emperor.
Well, don’t get me wrong, it’s not those vulgar performances, but the most serious palace dance, but I wore a little less clothes, and later I didn’t wear any...
However, this is still a serious court dance!
As the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuan, the Holy Emperor, had always worked hard for the development of the culture of the Tang Dynasty, and coming to Shanghai was no exception.
Of course, as an emperor, he cannot go to a brothel to play with a group of oirans like those self-destructive scholars. Except for Li Xuan who would go there secretly in the early years, he doesn't go there much anymore.
Not for any reason, just because I am afraid of getting sick.
However, Wang Wenhua has always been a good courtier who understands the emperor's wishes. This experienced oiran cannot be sent to the dragon bed, but he can still be a servant of the Qing Dynasty, especially the traditional cultural heritage Yangzhou Shou Horse in Yangzhou. Wang Wenhua has been looking for it in recent years.
A lot.
The dance troupe prepared in Shanghai this time is naturally composed of innocent women.
After the Holy Emperor Li Xuan spared no effort to appreciate and guide their dancing skills, Li Xuan fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, Li Xuan had breakfast and went out with a large group of important civil and military ministers and guards. He had to inspect many places today and could not waste time.
Li Xuan's schedule is quite tight. After all, he needs to tour many places, and he cannot stay outside for too long. Although the total estimated tour time is more than three months, he needs to travel all over the country along the railway line. This
Time is still quite tight.
Therefore, in a major industrial and commercial town like Shanghai, Li Xuan only had five days left for inspection.
It was naturally impossible to see all of Shanghai in five days, so Li Xuan could only choose some of the important ones to see.
First, he briefly inspected the urban area of Shanghai. Shengjia walked around along the Yangtze River Avenue to see the prosperity of Shanghai. Then in the morning, he went to Shanghai and even the first department store in the entire empire for a shopping experience.
This department store is not a royal property, nor is it a property of the Ministry of State-owned Enterprises, but a private company.
Of course, even if it is a private company, but it can welcome the emperor's inspection, its background is not that simple, because it is the Bai family industry.
The so-called Bai family is naturally Empress Dowager Bai's natal family. Marquis Bai Yunqi is the head of the family. Bai Yunqi has now retired from the political front and has not become the general manager of Datang Western Trading Company. Instead, he has
for retirement living.
As the first cousin family in the Tang Empire, the Bai family has many children who are engaged in politics and the military, and its overall strength is better than other cousin families.
Among the relatives of the Tang Empire, except for the Bai family, the Dong family was relatively comfortable. As for the relatives of Li Xuan's other concubines, they were all suppressed by Li Xuan himself.
This was for the sake of political stability. Bai Yunqi was the uncle of the state, so he was reused.
As for the Dong family, that's because Prince Li was born to Empress Dong. The Dong family was actually mentioned to protect the crown prince. As for the other prince's uncle's family, they were basically suppressed by Li Xuan.
As the first cousin family, the Bai family naturally has many industries, and the Shanghai Department Store is one of them. Speaking of which, Li Xuan proposed this department store.
When he was chatting with Empress Dowager Bai, they mentioned the department store model. Empress Dowager Bai thought it was a way to make money. She originally planned to let the Royal Assets Department do it, but Bai Yunqi happened to find out about it.
Then, before the department store opened by the Royal Assets Department in Jinling City could open for business, the Bai family opened a department store in Shanghai, which made Empress Dowager Bai very dissatisfied.
She thought that Bai Yunqi, a younger brother, didn't care about her as a sister, so he actually stole the emperor's idea and opened the business first.
But Bai Yunqi doesn't care. This is not a major military or political matter, it's just a business idea. If your old Li family can open a department store, why can't my Bai family open one?
Also, sister, your surname is Bai. You don’t care about the life and death of our Bai family on weekdays. Why, why don’t you let us do this business?
By the way, in these years, Queen Mother Bai has never cared about the life and death of the Bai family. She has never taken anything from the Li family to the Bai family. She always said that the married daughter threw water. This is reflected in Queen Mother Bai.
Especially obvious.
In the eyes of Empress Dowager Bai, except for her own emperor's son, well, a few princes and grandsons, there was basically no one else. She didn't even bother to talk to her own daughter, Princess Huichen, let alone her natal family.
This is also the reason why Queen Mother Bai is unhappy with the Bai family for opening a Shanghai department store first. She thinks that her parents' family has poached the corner of her old Li family...