Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

Force across the ages is no joke.

Sima Shang suddenly laughed: "Speaking of which, Li Mu Taiwei hasn't come back yet?

At that time, he wanted me not to compete with him for the mission to go to the Southwest. I didn't expect that I had come back from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and he hadn't arrived yet. "

As soon as Sima Shang said this, the three of them laughed at the same time.

At this time, a gentle voice suddenly came: "Taifu Li Mu actually only needs seven or eight days before he will be able to make his triumphant return. There is still time before winter."

The three looked up subconsciously, and then saw an acquaintance.

Sima Shang smiled and said, "Minister Lu, I heard that you have recently been transferred to the Ministry of Communications. How about your new unit?"

The person who came was Lu Buwei. After all, Sima Shang was also the head of the General Staff Department. The two belonged to the same level, and there was no conflict of interest between an official and a general, so they usually got along relatively well.

Lu Buwei laughed and said: "How should I put it, everyone is a piece of stone in the Han Kingdom, we have to move wherever His Majesty wishes, right?

Minister Sima, two generals, this way please, your train is ready. "

"train?"

After hearing this word, the expressions of the three of them changed.

Sima Shang, who had just arrived, was fine, but Xiang Yan and Wang Jian arrived earlier, and they had obviously heard something.

Xiang Yan immediately smiled and said: "To tell the truth, Minister Lu, I have been looking forward to taking the train for a long time, and this time it can be regarded as a wish."

Wang Jian said with even more enthusiasm: "Then what are you waiting for?

Let's go quickly. "

Sima Shang looked at the two generals with some doubts, but in the end he didn't say anything, he just followed Lu Buwei's footsteps and walked forward with question marks in his head.

After a while, seeing the huge train, Sima Shang on the platform was shocked: "Such a big iron lump?

How many horses does it take to pull it. "

Lu Buwei laughed, and blinked at Sima Shang: "To tell the truth, General Sima, before this, many people have asked the same question as you.

how to say?

You should know when the train starts to move. "

Sima Shang, Xiang Yan and Wang Jian were not the only ones on this train, it would be too wasteful after all.

In fact, except for the first-class compartment dedicated to the three generals, the other compartments were all filled with soldiers who had returned triumphantly this time.

This can be regarded as some small benefits that Zhao Kuo gave to these expedition soldiers. You must know that train tickets are very expensive at this time, and most people are really reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars to take a train.

After the train started, Sima Shang was completely shocked.

"This, it actually moves by itself?"

After all, Sima Shang also sat in the first class, so he could clearly see that there were no horses pulling in front of the train.

Even Wang Jian and Xiang Yan, who were prepared by Sima Shang's side, were also a little bit overwhelmed by the creation of the industrial age like the train at the moment.

Yes, everyone knows that the train is a kind of cowhide, but after experiencing this train for myself, I realized that it is really too cowhide!Lu Buwei is obviously used to this feeling, he just showed a smug smile.

"Welcome to the future, everyone."

Chapter 1221 Li Mu's Return

After Sima Shang and others enjoyed the convenience of the train for several days, Li Mu also led the army of the squadron back to Daliang City.

"It's been a long time since I came back."

Looking at Daliang City in front of him, Li Mu couldn't help expressing emotion.

This time, the war to conquer the southwest lasted for more than two years and nearly three years, which was also the longest among the previous wars that Li Mu participated in.

Of course, the results of the battle are also the most brilliant. The entire Yunnan-Guizhou region has been completely conquered by Li Mu, and all the tribes that disobeyed the Han Kingdom have been killed to pieces. Only some people remain in the mountains and forests. Survival is a problem. , not to mention rebellion.

For Li Mu, he has always believed in one thing, that is, as long as the fist is big enough, everything is easy to say.

According to some unofficial statistics, Li Mu killed more than one-fifth of the natives in Yunnan and Guizhou this time, so there were some criticisms of Li Mu.

As His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Kingdom, Zhao Kuo never had a record of killing one-fifth of the conquered in his previous conquests.

But Li Mu is not worried about this, because he is very clear about Zhao Kuo's attitude on this matter.

Zhao Kuo once commented this sentence to Li Mu in a memorial: "The barbarians are afraid of power but not virtuous. If you are in Yunnan and Guizhou, you can do things cheaply."

Huaxia people, they must not be killed casually, but those Yidi who do not accept Huaxia, and even want to harass China from time to time, let's kill them freely.

All in all, Li Mu let go of his hands and feet in Yungui, and had a good time killing.

With Li Mu's killing, the natives of Yunnan and Guizhou must have left a heavy shadow in their hearts. It is conceivable that within a generation, there should not be any major disturbances in Yungui.

It was still Lu Buwei who received Li Mu. When he saw the train, Li Mu inevitably showed a surprised expression: "What is this?"

Lu Buwei chuckled. After all, Li Mu is the number one figure in the military and one of the three prime ministers of the Great Han Kingdom, so Lu Buwei's attitude is much better than when he was with Sima Shang: "Master Taiwei, this is the newest prime minister of our Great Han Kingdom." Researched technological creation train.

It can take you to the Imperial City within one day. "

"one day?"

Li Mu was surprised at this moment. You must know that even for the cavalry that Li Mu is most familiar with, it takes two days to reach the Imperial Capital from Daliang City.

If he wanted to get from Daliang City to Imperial Capital City in one day, all Li Mu could think of was the kind of [-]-mile rush, and he could only do this by changing horses at post stations along the way.

With this dubious attitude, Li Mu walked into the carriage.

A few hours later, the train slowly stopped at Dijing West Station.

Li Mu got off the train and looked at the Imperial City in front of him, the shocked expression on his face was beyond words: "It's really a good guy."

Suddenly, Li Mu's eyes froze, and he quickly knelt down: "I have seen Your Majesty."

Zhao Kuo walked over with all the military officials, and helped Li Mu himself with a smile: "These days, Aiqing has suffered in the southwest.

You also made great contributions to conquering the Southwest for the Great Han Kingdom! "

Li Mu also smiled and said: "Your Majesty is serious. As a general, I should do something for the Great Han Kingdom!"

The monarch and his ministers joined hands and returned to the palace together by car.

On this day, a grand celebration banquet was held in the imperial palace of the Han Kingdom.

Zhao Kuo is really very happy, because with the conquest of Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou, the territory of the Han Kingdom has completely included all areas of modern China.

Even those two big southern islands now have the development bases of the South China Sea Fleet. Therefore, Zhao Kuo has completely taken down all the traditional Chinese areas that should be taken.

What Zhao Kuo needs to do next is to go out of East Asia and take the troops of the Han Dynasty to Central Asia, West Asia, and even Europe and Africa, so that those people can also see the power from Dongfang Ming!Winter is coming soon.

After the arrival of winter, some problems inevitably occurred in the operation of trains, and there were even outages for several days.

Zhao Kuo didn't say anything about this. After all, this is the first winter of the railway's operation, and some problems are inevitable. It's just a matter of learning from experience.

In fact, it is not difficult to say that it is difficult to solve this matter. It only needs to deploy manpower to patrol the railway lines and eliminate all kinds of dangers in time.

To put it bluntly, it is a matter of money. As long as the money is in place, are you afraid that no one will work?

Not to mention it's winter, after you give enough money, even if you go to hell, there will be people rushing to go.

With the arrival of winter, the trains are not only constantly full of freight, but also the demand for passenger transportation has reached an unprecedented peak.

In other seasons, you can also choose to move slowly on the road, but after the road is blocked by heavy snow in winter, the railway becomes the only means of travel.

As a result, almost every passenger train in Daliangcheng Imperial Capital was full, and even ticket scalpers began to appear.

Xu Li, Pang Nuan and other prime ministers fully saw the promotion effect of the railway, so they didn't talk nonsense, and immediately discussed with Minister of Transport Lu Buwei, and came up with a very bold plan.

Since there is no way to solve the problem of trains crossing the Yellow River at this stage, Xu Li and others decided to organize excellent manpower to tackle the problem of the Yellow River Railway Bridge. .

In the north of the Yellow River, the two metropolises of Handan and Jidu are mainly used as the main railway lines. After the construction is completed, other main lines will be considered.

As for the southern part of the Yellow River, that's something to say.

The most important thing is to extend the Daliang Imperial Railway from east to west. The east side will be extended to Linzi City, and the west side will pass through Xinzheng and Luoyi and then enter Guanzhong until Xianyang City.

Just extending from east to west is not enough. There is also a railway going southeast from the imperial capital, heading towards Chencheng and Pengcheng, until it reaches the edge of the Yangtze River.

If there is a breakthrough in the technology of railway bridges in the future, the railway will continue to extend across the south of the Yangtze River and reach Wu County in Kuaiji County.

In the southwest, there should also be a railway extending directly to the original Yingdu of Chu State.

The railway in the direction of Bashu is also under planning, but considering the special terrain of the Bashu Basin, basically we can only wait until the railway is built to Guanzhong, and then build from Guanzhong to Bashu.

In addition, there is another very important railway that is about to start construction now, that is, the railway from Wuwei City in the Hexi Corridor to the Western Regions. This railway is built to shorten the communication time between the Western Regions and the hinterland of the Central Plains as soon as possible. A big test of railway construction.

All in all, the Han Kingdom's railway strategy has kicked off vigorously, and the total investment has exceeded tens of billions.

Of course, it is impossible to allocate such a large amount of money all at once, but to pay back the cost while building. After all, according to the previous plan, it will take at least ten years or even longer to complete the construction of the above railways. .

When Zhao Kuo saw the whole plan, he couldn't help expressing emotion: "This is the power of the industrial revolution."

With the steam engine, the progress of human society can be said to advance by leaps and bounds, from an agricultural society to a primary industrial society.

Although it is only a primary industrial society, it will still bring about earth-shaking changes.

This is like the musketeers of the Han Dynasty today. If they were brought to later generations, these musketeers are actually very weak, but in this era, musketeers are the existence that crushes everything!After the railway construction strategy was determined, Zhao Kuo convened another court meeting, this time devoted to military research.

At the court meeting, Sima Shang, still the head of the staff department, proposed a new strategy in front of everyone.

"Everyone, according to the research of our staff department and the instructions of His Majesty, we believe that the time to destroy the Seleucid Empire is now fully ripe!"

After Sima Shang's opening remarks fell, all the officials of the Han Dynasty present were immediately moved by it.

After several years of business and trade, the high-level officials of the Han Kingdom have already gained a very deep understanding of the Seleucid Empire.

It was a powerful Hellenistic country, and it was also an opponent that should not be underestimated by the Han Dynasty.

However, if it is said that the Han Kingdom is not afraid of Seleucus, then of course it is not afraid at all.

After all, no matter in terms of land, population, military technology, and army quality, the Han Kingdom has completely formed a crushing situation for the Seleucid Empire.

To put it simply, the mentality of the Han Kingdom towards the Seleucid Empire is actually somewhat similar to the mentality of the modern British Empire towards the Qing Dynasty.

It's big, but vulnerable!Sima Shang continued: "According to our previous research, the focus of the Seleucid Empire these years has always been on the west, competing with several enemies for dominance in Macedonia, Greece, Egypt and other places. As for the east, It was the emptiest guard of the Seleucid Empire.

It is true that after His Majesty's last Western Expedition, the Seleucid Empire has more or less strengthened its defenses in the East, but according to our current calculations, the entire Seleucid Empire's Eastern Governor's District can use troops at best. There are only 8 people, which can almost be said to be nothing to worry about. "

The important ministers of the Han Kingdom were all absorbed in listening to Sima Shang's words. After a while, Xu Li said: "The Eastern Governor-General of the Seleucid Empire is indeed nothing to worry about, but our goal this time is to destroy the entire The Seleucid Empire, so what I want to ask is, what is the state of the military strength of the entire Seleucid Empire?"

Sima Shangdao: "According to our intelligence, the total strength of the Seleucid Empire should be between 30 and 40, but considering the necessary troops left behind, it can be considered that the Seleucid Empire can really fight against us. The number of soldiers and horses in the army should be about 30, and the highest cannot exceed 35.

Therefore, as long as our Han Dynasty can dispatch more than 20 soldiers and horses this time, then victory is a certainty. "

20 soldiers and horses, this is the minimum number of troops considered by the staff.

For this military strength, the monarchs and ministers of the Great Han Kingdom actually don’t think too much, because the current Great Han Kingdom has a population of more than 5000 million after conquering Qinghai-Tibet and the Southwest, and can mobilize more than 100 million soldiers and horses at any time. The numbers are really not many for the Han Kingdom.

Sima Shang continued: "Considering that we have absolute advantages in muskets, explosives, etc., our combat policy this time is also very simple, that is, push all the way to the capital of the Seleucid Empire, and eventually Destroy it completely!"

Sima Shang's strategy sounds simple, but what is contained in it is the infinite self-confidence brought about by the powerful national power of the Han Dynasty.

After a moment of contemplation, none of the important ministers of the Han Kingdom raised any objections to this strategy.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuo also said calmly: "Since there is no objection from your love ministers, then let's follow this strategy.

By the way, this time I am going to personally conquer Seleucus, all my lovers should have no objections, right? "

Zhao Kuo's personal conquest had already been planned for a long time. After all, this was the first time that the Han Kingdom extended its tentacles to Central Asia and West Asia. Of course, Zhao Kuo had to personally supervise the battle and solve the problems that might arise.

After hearing Zhao Kuo's words, the important ministers of the Han Kingdom were obviously taken aback.

But unlike before, no one chose to object this time.

After all, with the experience of the last Western Expedition, it was confirmed that the Han Kingdom could operate normally when Zhao Kuo left.

Moreover, the prince has grown up and will be 16 soon. Although he has not yet reached adulthood, if something happens, the 16-year-old can barely make the decision.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuo showed a satisfied smile: "Very well, then this matter will be settled like this.

Li Mu, Sima Shang, Xiang Yan, Wang Jian and others, let's all go out with me this time. "

The four people Zhao Kuo pointed out are also the four strongest generals in the Han Dynasty. The reason why Zhao Kuo brought them was to let them be trained in this war and know how to conquer foreign races.

Like Baiyue, Yungui, and Qinghai-Tibet aborigines before, those are not clear at all. This time the Seleucid Empire is different. This is an empire inherited from the Greek civilization. It wants to conquer this different civilization. The empire, even for Zhao Kuo, is a brand new challenge.

But Zhao Kuo is actually not nervous, after all, he is very confident in the superiority of Huaxia Ming and the strength of the Great Han Kingdom!After Zhao Kuo's decree was issued, although it was still winter, various orders were still issued quickly, and the state machinery of the entire Han Kingdom began to run rumblingly.

As long as the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, it will be the time when the Great Han Kingdom will really start the Western Expedition!