The mage in the late Qing Dynasty

You can't blame Zhao Chuanxin for acting like he's crazy and insisting on provoking Mao Zi's nerves.

After the signing of the "Xinchou Treaty", customs duties alone accounted for 40% of the reparation debt from 1861 to 1865, and the customs almost became the cashier agency of the great powers.

The annual cargo throughput of the Dongqing Railway is huge. How could Zhao Chuanxin let go of the overwhelming wealth?

Zhang Shouzeng was speechless.

Zhao Chuanxin seemed not to see the embarrassment on his face, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Work hard, He Yan, I'm optimistic about you."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and went out into the wind and snow.

Zhao Chuanxin did not return to the mountainside hut, so he put on his Balrog underwear to keep warm.

Stepping on the misty journey, Zhao Chuanxin crossed the border.

Due to wind and snow, visibility on the road is low, so the intelligent gyroscope is relied upon to provide direction.

Zhao Chuanxin can remember the road on the vast grassland all because of the intelligent gyroscope.

Although it only has a sensing range of more than one mile, it can remember the terrain and routes it passes.

The Dongqing Railway is a branch line of the Siberian Railway, and the Dongqing Railway is T-shaped throughout. It belongs to the Dongqing Railway branch south of Changchun Prefecture.

Crossing the border, Zhao Chuanxin walked along the Siberian Railway.

When this railway is fully completed in the future, it will span almost a quarter of the circumference of the earth.

This railway brought huge economic benefits to Tsarist Russia. Amid the roar of the train, desolate Siberia prospered rapidly. In the past few decades, its original population of more than 2 million has grown to more than 8 million.

With so many people, cities are rising from the ground. This pace of development is internationally known as "American speed."

Siberia also became Tsarist Russia's main agricultural and animal husbandry base.

Among the main foods of Russians, cereals provide 75% of calories, livestock foods account for 11%, potatoes provide 8%, and fish, vegetables and fruits provide 6%.

Because the types of cereals planted in Tsarist Russia were single, the weather had a great impact on cereal production, and the planting area remained unchanged all year round, so the output fluctuated.

In 1891, there was a great famine in Tsarist Russia.

It gradually improved over the next ten years, and 6 to 9 million tons of grain could be exported to European countries every year.

The vast Siberia is the main producing area for these exported grains.

The Siberian Railway continuously transported food westward.

Zhao Chuanxin kept walking along the railway line, passing by various villages and towns in Lower Chita.

After running for more than an hour, he finally arrived at a freight yard. Zhao Chuanxin saw workers loading logs into train carriages.

This is a lumber car with a load of 40 tons per car. The two locomotives are connected in series and can pull twenty carriages.

When Zhao Chuanxin arrived, the loading had already been completed.

Following closely behind came the horse-drawn boxcars of the loading yard.

Boxcars are specially used to transport grain.

Timber, coal and ore have special cargo spaces, but grain must be loaded into warehouses.

After the lumber truck hooked up and drove away, Zhao Chuanxian slipped into the cargo yard and followed the boxcar to the warehouse.

It's full of wheat and rye.

Zhao Chuanxin directly filled the secret realm with almost 75 tons of grain, turned around and left.

It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive at the south of the right wing of New Baal-Tiger, find a quiet place, open the "Old God Codex" and teleport to a sand dune.

"I" have been on the road these days. Zhao Chuanxin extended the refresh progress, and a sand dune came over for construction at every turn.

Wearing mud trowel gloves, he erected a stone tower about 6 meters in diameter and 4 meters high as quickly as possible. After opening several vents at high places, he randomly loaded the grain into it and sealed the top.

Working on the sand dunes the whole time, it doesn't matter whether the stone tower is beautiful or not, as long as it can stand upright.

Along the way, I went to the left wing of New Bar-Tiger and built two stone towers next to the southern forest area.

Looking at his watch, it was only half past nine, and Zhao Chuanxin was crossing the border again on his ethereal journey.

The old horse knows the way and the light carriage is familiar with the road.

I found the previous cargo station and moved 70 tons of grain back, almost emptying the cargo station.

Whether it is pocket technology or secret space, the main material is deep sea sediment.

It is impossible to make it into whatever shape you want, like a house. After Zhao Chuanxin's expansion, the volume of the secret realm is approximately 130 cubic meters, but the shape is neither round nor square, and is extremely irregular.

In addition to the necessary weapons, the loading capacity of 70 tons of grain is quite amazing.

After two trips, Zhao Chuanxin was a little tired, so he returned to the mountainside hut and fell asleep.

…

The next day, Zhang Shouzeng took people to Manzhouli to negotiate with Wu Sadi.

It's just that this time it's not just Wu Sadi, he also brings several others with him.

Wu Sati introduced to Zhang Shouzeng: "This is Major General Putilov, this is the boundary demarcation committee member Rudanov, this gentleman is Horvath, the general manager of the Dongqing Railway Company, and this gentleman is the deputy general manager Da Niel. In this meeting, the five of us will make a decision together on behalf of Russia."

Zhang Shouzeng was surprised.

These are all heavyweights.

I'm afraid, if Zhao Chuanxin hadn't come out of nowhere, he would never have had the chance to meet these people.

Not only that, someone pushed the door open and entered.

Zhang Shouzeng looked up and saw that the person coming was Song Xiaolian, a Taoist from Hulun Bingbei Road, followed by Huang Shifu from the Bureau of Reclamation.

His mind was filled with questions, why did he call these two people? It wasn't him who called it anyway.

Wu Sadi smiled and said: "I don't need to introduce these two people. I think General Manager Zhang is very familiar with them."

Zhang Shouzeng quickly stood up and bowed to his subordinates.

Song Xiaolian had a dark face and said nothing.

Huang Shifu glared at Zhang Shouzeng: You're such a pickpocket, are you wearing the same pants as Zhao Chuanxin now?

Zhang Shouzeng just smiled bitterly.

Everyone took their seats.

Wu Sadi got straight to the point: "General Manager Zhang said that the Lubin Prefecture set up a card in Manchuria to collect customs duties. We cannot agree with it."

Ever since Zhao Chuanxin chatted with him for a few words last night, Zhang Shouzeng understood Zhao Chuanxin's attitude.

He was not gentle at all, and spoke to Maimang: "Why don't you agree? Our country should have its own tariffs. Shouldn't it be appropriate to set up a card to collect taxes?"

Wu Sadi coughed lightly: "Corruption is rampant in your country. Do you know that the British are in charge of your country's customs. They are the only customs in your country that do not breed corruption. It is actually the most honest and honest department in the Qing Dynasty. It is really incredible. . If Manzhouli is handed over to you, not only will corruption breed, corruption will also hinder our trade."

How much tax Qing officials collected and how much they paid to the court, or whether they paid or not, depended on their mood. As a result, the British were put in charge, and the British handed over everything except the debt repayment part. Zeng Guofan saw it at the time and was shocked.

Zhang Shouzeng glanced at Song Xiaolian, and a trace of anger flashed across Song Xiaolian's face.

The anger was not directed at him, but at Wu Sa Di.

Anyone who hears such remarks would probably be furious.

Song Xiaolian said: "Mr. Wu Sadi's words are wrong. Tariffs should be controlled by the country, not to mention the increase in lijin, which will greatly hinder our commercial development..."

The so-called Lijin is a tax specially imposed by the great powers for the Chinese. In other words, imports only need to pay tariffs, but exports are subject to additional taxes, which is targeted at Chinese businessmen.

Before he could finish his words, he was rudely interrupted by Putilov: "Please wait a minute. We will only talk to the Lubin Prefecture about the customs duties."

Song Xiaolian was scolded and her face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

But I really don’t have the confidence to refute.

Whether the sovereignty over customs tariffs can be recovered is out of the question with the Russians.

Now he has no control over Zhao Chuanxin's affairs.

Zhang Shouzeng was under great pressure and suddenly touched his pocket. There was a pack of cigarettes that he had snatched from Yao Jia last night.

He lit a cigarette, but he couldn't smoke it. He choked and coughed, but he didn't put it out.

After coughing, he said: "I dare not say it elsewhere, but the customs department of Lubin Prefecture will definitely not breed corruption, because no one dares to stretch out this hand."

In fact, the customs duties were not absolutely irrecoverable at this time. The British Minister to China, William Wytoma, once took the initiative to ask the Qing government to take over the customs itself, but was firmly rejected by the Qing government.

Because you know your own character.

For example, when Hart resigned, customs duties and taxes had increased six times since 1861. If he were to be replaced by an official of the Qing court, I am afraid that this number would never change. As long as he could make business, occasionally he might still slightly less.

But in the next era, it will not be so easy to take back the tax rights. After a lot of effort, only Lijin was revoked.

Wu Sadi had several conversations with Zhang Shouzeng, and he formulated a strategy: to overcome strength with softness.

He smiled, shook his head and said, "No, we can't take this risk."

Zhang Shouzeng also shook his head: "The prefect has said that the land customs duties must be recovered."

Wu Sadi's expression froze. Last time Zhang Shouzeng had to take care of his face and the intimidation of Tsarist Russia, but this time he was unexpectedly tough.

Song Xiaolian and Huang Shifu also looked at Zhang Shouzeng in surprise, feeling that Zhang Shouzeng had changed and was no longer the same person as before.

But Wu Sadi still kept smiling: "Guiting only had customs duties before, and land customs only had regular customs. There is no precedent for collecting land customs duties."

Zhang Shouzeng refused to give in: "Currently, Manchuria is controlled by you Russians. Except for livestock and fur trade, we can't even collect taxes from regular customs. Even if the land customs should collect less tax than the customs, the amount of this tax can be determined by our two countries." We can discuss it, but it cannot be decided by you. Besides, the imperial court has a decree, and Lubin Mansion is autonomous and has the right to decide on taxation issues under the rule."

He also learned to talk about “autonomy.”

At this time, Putilov interjected: "General Manager Zhang speaks sharply, isn't he afraid of causing diplomatic disputes?"

As he said that, Putilov stared at Zhang Shouzeng fiercely.

Zhang Shouzeng was a scholar, not a martial artist.

But this time he was not afraid. He put out the cigarette butt that he had only taken a few puffs into the ashtray, and looked at Putilov without fear: "Don't be afraid!"

Zhang Shouzeng said in his heart: Zhao Chuanxin is a murderer. I dare to contradict him sometimes. Who do you think I am?

Blanch!

Song Xiaolian, Huang Shifu, Wu Sadi and others were all shocked.

In just a short period of time, everyone who came into contact with Zhao Chuanxin seemed to have changed.

The five-wing manager put on a pair of trousers with Zhao Chuanxian as quickly as possible. Wu Sade wanted to have a quarrel? No! Song Xiaolian wants to take command? No!

Now even Zhang Shouzeng, who was sent by the Qing court to restrain Zhao Chuanxin, not only stood on the same front as Zhao Chuanxin, but also became bolder.

When Putilov heard this, his nose felt so hung up and crooked.

Wu Sadi's face finally turned green and red, but then he smiled again: "This matter is of great importance, and we will discuss it in the long term. Now let's talk about the issue of boundary demarcation."

Song Xiaolian and Huang Shifu were relieved.

I was really afraid that the two sides would just get up on the spot, after all, Putilov looked like he was not easy to mess with.

Horvat spoke in a serious tone: "Zhao Chuanxin killed hundreds of our country's railway guards, and recently moved Obo without authorization and erected boundary markers. What is the purpose of being so aggressive?"

Putilov said forcefully: "I have the emperor's instructions. If things are not harmonious, we will not hesitate to launch a war to resolve disputes. Anyway, in the past years, war has usually been the most effective means to resolve disputes."

Song Xiaolian didn't wait for Zhang Shouzeng to speak, and spoke first: "Everything can be done if it is reasonable, and it is difficult to do anything without reason. The purpose of our negotiation today is to resolve the dispute without resorting to force."

But Zhang Shouzeng was angered by Putilov's tough tone. He pressed his hands on the table and said, "Then let's talk about the issue of boundary demarcation."

Tsarist Russia’s boundary demarcation committee member Rudanov came on stage: “The location of No. 63 Oboaba-Haitu boundary point needs to be re-determined because the Ergun River flows southwest into Hulun Lake, and Hulun Lake is the Ergun River. The source of the Ergun River, so it should be our land. Moreover, the boundary markers that Zhao Chuanxin moved without authorization must be removed."

Zhang Shouzeng laughed angrily.

He and Yao Jia looked at the map every day and knew every inch of the land here.

Not only does this guy want to demolish the boundary markers, he even wants to bite back and try to occupy thousands more square kilometers of land.

He sneered and said: "You are talking about the Dallan Oromu River, not the Ergun River. Hulun Lake is not the source of the Ergun River. I won't say whether the boundary monument should be moved or not. If your words are heard by our prefect, If you do, your head will fall to the ground on the spot, Mr. Rudanov, don’t say anything nonsense, I advise you to be careful with what you say!”

Rudanov: "..."

Song Xiaolian and Huang Shifu thought Zhang Shouzeng was crazy.

When will we be able to threaten Tsarist Russia?

Most of the day's wrangling was fruitless.

When Zhang Shouzeng went out, he looked at the clear sky and took a deep breath.

Song Xiaolian also went out.

Zhang Shouzeng smiled: "Master Song, do you want to go to Lubin Mansion to sit down?"

"..." Song Xiaolian gritted his teeth: "I won't go. Are you going to see how Zhao Chuanxin preys on the common people?"

"Fish and meat common people?" Zhang Shouzeng was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Huang Shifu.

Huang Shifu smiled awkwardly, but couldn't interrupt.

Zhang Shouzeng said calmly: "Master Song, can you see with your own eyes that the people of Zhao Prefecture are eating and drinking?"

"There are official goods tickets everywhere recently, is it from him? Aren't they just common people?" Song Xiaolian said angrily.

In his opinion, this must be a new tax method developed by Zhao Chuanxin to exploit the people.

Just as Zhang Shouzeng was about to speak, he suddenly heard rows of gunshots coming from behind him.

Huang Shifu trembled.

Some people were even so frightened that they fell off their horses.

Some Russians watching the excitement pointed and laughed.

Only Zhang Shouzeng had a cold face and spat: "Ah... tui! You are so spicy, you actually fired a gun to threaten us? Do you think we people in Lubin Mansion are scared? I think these people are looking for death!"

Huang Shifu: "..."

…

Zhao Chuanxin woke up very early and went to Xinba and Erhu's left and right wings respectively. He ordered Chehe Zha and Bodigrile to send people to look at the granary.

As early as the 29th year of Guangxu, the Dongqing Railway was opened to traffic, and Tsarist Russia built more than ten railway stations from Lingdong to Lingxi in Hailar.

Since Zhao Chuanxin took office and expelled the Hailar Area Railway Guards, Tsarist Russia began to increase troops to these ten railway stations intentionally or unintentionally, starting from Zha-Lantun and ending at Yakeshi.

Zhao Chuanxin had not had time to look at it before, but when he took a stroll today, he found that the road protection teams on this section of the railway were extremely dense.

The most powerful thing about the Piaomiao Journey is not the speed on flat ground, but the super climbing ability.

In the past, he couldn't hold the board when climbing uphill, so he tried to run on flat ground.

Now with the roots of the desert, no matter how steep the place is, your feet can firmly wrap around the misty traveler, and you can climb mountains and ridges as if you are walking on flat ground.

He surveyed the mountains on the left and right along the railway line. He did not return to Lubin Mansion for a whole day, wandering around looking for goods yards.

When a train from the east passed Abner Station, a column of soldiers got off the freight car and joined the rest of the Russian soldiers to carry out the boxes one by one.

An officer came and opened the box to inspect it, while the soldiers beside him waited respectfully.

In Russia, ordinary infantry soldiers are poorly paid, and their status is so low that they are stepped on the ground.

When meeting officers, they strictly adhere to their rank and show sufficient respect. They are not allowed to take public transport except in special circumstances, such as this time. They were not allowed to enter the theater to watch plays, otherwise they would be kicked out and insulted.

This situation has been going on for hundreds of years.

The officer opened the wooden box and struggled to pull out a Russian Maxim, an M1905 heavy machine gun. After careful inspection, he waved his hand.

A group of soldiers quickly closed the lid and began to move the box down.

During the Russo-Japanese War, when the Japanese used "meat-and-bomb tactics" to attack, they encountered Tsarist Russia's M1905 machine gun in Nanshan. This gun taught the little devils a lesson and cost them more than 4,000 lives before they attacked the highlands after Tsarist Russia ran out of ammunition and food.

There are 12 boxes in total, and each box contains only one Russian Maxim, because in addition to the clean gun, there are also wheeled gun stands and bulletproof shields.

Together it weighs over 60 kilograms, and even if two people carry it for a long distance, they still have to grin.

Why are there only 12?

We can't blame them for being stingy. From 1905 to 1918, they only produced a total of 37,345 rifles, including those consumed during World War I.

An infantry regiment is equipped with 8 Russian Maxims as standard.

Now only 12 of them have been unloaded at one small station, which is already super-standard equipment.

It can be seen that they are preparing for war now.

After unloading the Russian Maxim, the officer opened the next box and saw batches of ammunition bridges inside.

The bullet bridge is a small clip for quickly loading the rifle. Five rounds of bullets are stuck on it, and the bullets can be pressed directly into the gun.

If a soldier is equipped with a bullet bridge, he usually presses a bullet bridge bullet into the chamber first, and then fills up the bullet bridge. During combat, after firing the bullets in the chamber, he directly presses the bullet bridge bullet into the chamber to achieve rapid loading.

The magazine is actually a complicated magazine bridge, and later a depressor was invented specifically to quickly reload the magazine.

Otherwise, reloading would be a chore. Zhao Chuanxin hated reloading the most. Shooting was so satisfying that it was a blast to the crematorium.

Generally speaking, soldiers are not equipped with too many bullet bridges.

But based on the bullet bridges in front of us, I am afraid that each soldier in this small station must be equipped with four or five bullet bridges.

Then there is a brand new batch of 1891 Mosin Nagant, also known as Shui Lian Zhu.

The last one is a batch of 1895 Nagant revolvers, which are also Zhao Chuanxin’s commonly used guns, nicknamed Qixingzi.

However, the single-action models used by Zhao Chuanxin include 6 and 7 rounds.

There are several variations of the Nagant Wheel.

At that time, officials of Tsarist Russia invited bids from all over the world to develop a low-cost, light-weight, powerful wheel that could kill a horse at a distance of 25-30 meters, and had more ammunition than the runner of the same period...

When the major arms dealers took a look at the bidding documents, they realized that the corrupt officials in Tsarist Russia were so greedy for money. Isn't this embarrassing? Most people turned around and left, leaving Maozi to play by himself.

Eighty-year-old Jiang Taigong fished and was never afraid that no one would take the bait.

Faced with a lot of strange requests, the Belgian Nagant brothers rose to the challenge.

Strong power means strong recoil. If the gun is too light, it will not be able to roar.

More bullets means smaller caliber, and smaller caliber means lower power.

Tsarist Russia initially requested the use of less powerful black powder because it was cheap.

As a result, the two brothers worked hard on air tightness and developed a Nagant runner with a small diameter and high power. It has one more round than a normal six-shot runner. Because of its good air tightness, it also has a low-noise effect. The bullet is also special. The warhead is completely installed in the cartridge case, and the top is tapered to maximize the pressure of the launching gas.

This is definitely not something that ordinary people can imagine, and it has epoch-making significance at this time.

Many people think that this kind of silencing does not spread far. It is not that the sound is small. That is just nonsense. In fact, it is just that the sound is small. It is the smallest sound in the world at this time.

It's extremely powerful, but its initial velocity is much faster than other guns.

Various costs have been saved, but what about the selling price?

It is only 10 rubles cheaper than the mirror box, which is famous for being complicated and expensive. It can only be said that it is so expensive that it can hardly be sold except for Maozi himself.

After the guns, ammunition and other equipment have been inspected and all the goods have been unloaded, the train starts.

They transported the weapons to the barracks warehouse.

When we arrived at Douzizi Station, we unloaded many more guns.

From west to east, from Hylar to Zha-Lantun, the number of weapons removed gradually decreased.

In other words, the closer to Hyrule, the more weapons will be unloaded.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see who this is aimed at!

The snow has stopped, the temperature is very low, and a large cloud of mist can be exhaled when I breathe.

In the evening, Douzizi stood.

The Russian soldiers wore overcoats, with a Bashlik hood covering their heads and surrounding their necks. They also wore a black lambswool Shapka hat with a double eagle insignia inside. The cuffs of the coat were particularly long and could be covered when lowered. Hands, shiny high-waisted leather boots, orange elastic belt, water bottle, and single-room backpack are all available.

Such a row of soldiers wearing winter clothes patrolled in front of the military camp.

There isn't much snow on the ground as a lot of it has melted during the day.

A faint crunching sound could be heard, but no one was visible.

The temporary arsenal is just an ordinary house built of clay and stone.

There are soldiers guarding the front.

Two Russian soldiers were smoking, their cigarette butts flickering in the dark night.

One person said: "It would be nice if there was wine."

Another person said: "It's just such a small salary, it has been spent long ago. Do you still think about drinking every day?"

"Hey, when I return to my hometown and farm, I may earn more than carrying a gun."

"It was a bad time for you. I once went to rob the herdsmen's cattle and sheep, and I sold the leather goods for 15 rubles."

"I heard that there is going to be another war. I heard that the new Qing Dynasty official is against us? I heard from my distant relative on the boundary demarcation committee that the emperor has ordered Major General Putilov to prepare for the war. Prepare."

"Haha, very good, then we are going to make another windfall. I see the Sauron people over at Abner Station. They are all good hunters. They have a lot of good skins hidden at home, including tiger skins. ."

"I hope you can tell me what to do by then, so that I can have more money."

"Okay, just follow me."

Behind the temporary arsenal, the windows were silently cut open and disappeared out of thin air. Biting cold wind poured into the house. The soldiers in front knew nothing about it...