Chapter 580: Trip to Ulanba

"Expand the Ningjin Army to 60,000 people to deal with the harassment of the Northern Di." Zhao Xu pondered for a while and said in a firm tone.

He had measured this number, no more, no less.

The limited population made it impossible for him to recruit soldiers arbitrarily.

In general, the recruitment ratio of 20 to 1 is quite high. If it is higher, it will affect production and construction.

After all, they are all young and strong.

In this way, he will not have enough population to promote the steam revolution in Yanzhou.

Therefore, with a population of more than 3 million in Yanzhou, he maintained the royal palace's personal army at 150,000.

Ningjin Dusi currently has a population of more than one million, and it is reasonable to maintain 50,000 troops.

Because of the threat of the Northern Di, he gave an extra 10,000 to maintain 60,000.

"Thank you, Your Highness, 60,000 Ningjin troops are more than enough to deal with a Northern Di king's tent." Yang Zhen was excited when he heard this.

Zhao Xu looked towards the distant north and nodded slowly.

In his heart, he had actually divided Ningjin Dusi and Yanzhou into two war zones.

Ningjin Army is responsible for the northern war zone, dealing with the northern Di people, and will also be responsible for expanding the territory to the north in the future.

Even if the royal army participates at that time, it will only cooperate.

If the north is handed over to Ningjin Army, then the south will naturally be handed over to the royal army.

In addition, Zhou Yi is responsible for the ocean.

This is all his current strength.

In the future, if there is a problem in any direction, the army in that direction will be dispatched, and it will be calm and orderly.

Of course, he did this to dilute the military power.

Ningjin Army, the royal army, and Zhou Yi's navy are relatively independent, and they are all directly responsible to him.

In this way, it can avoid a general controlling too many troops.

Of course, he does not distrust Chang Wei.

But the army needs a stable structure so that anyone who sits in Chang Wei's position will not cause too much trouble.

After talking about the defense problem of Ningjin Dusi for a while, the three of them went down the tower.

Zhao Xu said to Yang Zhen at this time: "General Yang, you can go back to Yancheng if you have nothing to do and meet General Yang and your daughter."

"Your Highness..." Yang Zhen's whole body trembled, his eyes suddenly reddened, he hesitated for a while, he said: "Your Highness has allowed me to lead the Ningjin Army, which is a great favor. I am worried that my identity will be exposed and cause trouble for Your Highness in the court."

"Hahaha..." Zhao Xu laughed loudly, "Now the court is messed up by the powerful families, and the emperor is under house arrest. There is no court at all. Just go. If something goes wrong, the king will take responsibility for you."

Chang Wei was even more disdainful of the powerful families, "With your Highness's support, why bother with those flies? Sooner or later, I will stuff them into the toilet to eat shit."

Yang Zhen was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed, "It's really rough but true."

He felt relieved a lot in his heart. That's right, with the support of the King of Yan, what is he afraid of.

Beidi had the King of Yan drive out Ningjindusi, how much trouble can this group of powerful families stir up?

After chatting for a while, Zhao Xu went to comfort the Ningjin army soldiers.

The next day, he led Liu Fu and other officials to the county near Jincheng.

Let them know more about the situation of Ningjindusi.

After staying for more than three days, he and everyone returned to Yanzhou after more than two days of trekking.

...

Beidi Khan Court.

When Zhao Xu arrived in Yanzhou, Mulehongzhen saw off Ulanba and his party with the help of Temuta.

Thanks to Ivan's medical skills, he survived the war.

After returning to the Khan Court and resting for a few days, he could barely get up and walk.

"Ulanba, you must be careful when you go to the Russian Kingdom." Mulehongzhen said seriously.

This Ningjin War made him realize the gap between Beidi and the King of Yan in firearms.

This gap is so large that the number of soldiers can no longer make up for the advantage of firearms.

So after being injured, he decided to let go of Beidi's arrogance towards Russia.

Following Ulanba's advice, he sent envoys to Russia to establish contact with Russia and find ways to narrow the gap with King Yan in firearms.

"Father Khan, please rest assured. Russia is not Goryeo. I know it well. And with Ivan's introduction, this mission will be much smoother." Ulanba looked at Ivan.

Ivan bowed to Mulehongzhen on horseback.

The excitement in his eyes was hard to hide.

He thought he would be trapped here by this barbaric tribe for the rest of his life.

Unexpectedly, he could finally return to Russia openly today.

Although he still hated Beidi.

But through the understanding during this period of time, he believed that compared with Beidi, the King Yan of Dasong would be the enemy of Russia in the Far East in the future.

It is necessary to support Beidi to deal with this King Yan.

Of course, this is just his idea.

When he sends the information back to Russia, the great Emperor Nicholas will respond.

So, suppressing the malice in his heart, he said to Mule Hongzhen: "Please rest assured, I will serve as a bridge between the Russian Empire and the Northern Di, and let us establish a good relationship."

Mule Hongzhen showed gratitude on his face and gave a look to the Northern Di general beside him.

The Northern Di general immediately stepped forward, opened a box and showed it to Ivan.

Under the sunlight, the box was shining with dazzling golden light.

Ivan looked at it and couldn't help breathing a little heavier.

It was a box full of gold bars.

"If the Russian Empire can sell firearms to the Northern Di, there will be generous gifts every year." Mule Hongzhen said.

In addition to the gift for Ivan, he also asked Ulanba to bring a heavy gift, which would be given to important officials of the Russian Empire at that time.

"Thank you Khan." Ivan quickly put the box in his luggage regardless of his status as a missionary.

He was not ashamed, after all, most missionaries in this era were just a type of spy.

Mule Hongzhen nodded. Seeing the sun rising higher and higher, he urged Ulanba to set off.

According to Ivan, they will go to the far north, and then from the far north to the capital of Rus.

After Ulanba and his entourage disappeared, Mulehongzhen said to Temuta: "My injury only needs to rest. You should also set off to find your second uncle Ashur."

"Is this really necessary?" Temuta never dared to refute his father, but this time, he couldn't control himself.

In order to punish himself, this man who failed in the competition for the Khan throne exiled himself and his royal tent to the far west, where he fought with the Tusmans who continued to invade eastward every year.

Let him know that his father Khan has lost Ningjin Dusi.

The second uncle didn't know what words he would use to humiliate him and his father.

"Although he is at odds with me, it is a family matter in Beidi. He and I are always of the same mind when it comes to foreign troubles. Facing the rise of King Yan, we can no longer worry too much. Moreover, only he can help you in the short term. Conquer Tubo within a short period of time," Muller Hongzhen said slowly.

Temuta sighed and nodded again.

In this battle, they no longer dare to look down on King Yan.