In the villa in Yuquan Mountain on the outskirts of Beijing, Sun Chengzong watched his son Sun Quan serve tea to Li Xiao.

He waved his hand and signaled his son to step back.

Sun Chengzong is already very old. When I saw him the year before last, his eyebrows, beard, and hair were still somewhat black.

It's all white now!

In addition, he is bald and his huge forehead is exposed. If he picks up a dragon-headed crutch and holds a birthday peach, he is not much different from an Antarctic fairy.

There are not many teeth left in the mouth. Fortunately, Ming's medical technology has advanced by leaps and bounds.

The dentists at Tongzhou Army Hospital installed a set of dentures for the old man. It is said that these dentures are made of ground ivory!

Of course, according to the old gentleman's status, ivory is nothing special. It can help him eat a few more mouthfuls and live a few more years, and whale tusks are no problem.

"It's better for you young people, traveling all the way from Russia is nothing.

I can’t do it anymore!

When this person gets old, he starts to age from his legs first.

Now my legs hurt so much even after walking a few steps. I can't put this crutch down once I put it on."

Sun Chengzong was showing off his age, but those stern eyes betrayed him.

Where can I find a ninety-year-old man with eyes as sharp as an eagle?

“Russia doesn’t have many good things, but it does have a lot of white bears.

I brought you two white bear skins and some white bear paws.

The white bear skin mattress is very warm. I have never eaten white bear paws, so I don’t know what they taste like.

However, surviving in the bitter cold land of the far north must also have a great tonic effect, so I will bring it to you to replenish your body."

"Have a heart!

How is the war going ahead? Is it still a stalemate?"

“The war was relatively calm for the time being. It raged from summer to autumn, and then the Tsaritsyn War started in winter.

We are tired of fighting, and so are the coalition forces.

Now that both sides have calmed down, the battle is basically just checking the sentry and capturing two prisoners.

There is also fire reconnaissance, which is a small squad-level battle.

We have more firepower and better equipment, so we take advantage in most battles like this."

“Since ancient times, sharp soldiers and armor have been important in battles.

But Brother Xiao, the best thing you can grasp is that you have not mobilized an army that exceeds the national strength of our Ming Dynasty.

In this way, even if we deal with a war, the country's foundation will not be shaken.

I went back to my hometown in Hebei a few days ago. There is also a school in my home county.

They asked me, a grandpa, to cut the ribbon!

I made a piece of red silk and rolled it into two flowers, then cut them with scissors.

I'm still thinking in my mind, doesn't this mean a clean break?

But people in my hometown say that this is a new ritual and it means auspiciousness.

I just obeyed them, they were just trying to have fun!

With the school, the children at home can go to the school to study. It is much more reliable than those taught in private schools.

I see that many teachers in private schools in my hometown only know the Four Books and Five Classics, but have not yet read through all the schools of thought.

Not to mention, teach some mathematics and natural knowledge.

Nowadays, many private school teachers in the village have never even seen an electric light.

I heard from the county magistrate that when electricity first came on, there were people who worshiped the electric lights, saying they were gods appearing.

I tell you this just to let you know.

The capital city of the Ming Dynasty seemed to be prosperous. Every house had running water, electric lights at night, electric fans in summer, and electric stoves in winter.

But our Ming Dynasty is so big that more than half of the people in various provinces, prefectures, and counties still have never seen an electric light.

Many places in Gansu, northern Shaanxi, Yimeng Mountain in Shandong, and Henan are still poor.

In many places in Jiangnan, people spend a lot of money on salt.

Due to the impact of the war, Sichuan still has no trains.

The land of abundance produces a large amount of food every year, but there is no way to transport it. It can only be brewed into wine and transported by airship.

It's just like Yibin, where Wuliangye Distillery has built a branch. The wine brewed with the same recipe is better than the one from Hongluoshan.

Yunnan and Guizhou are even more densely populated by mountains. Within the 100,000 mountains, there are still a large number of unplanned Miao, Dai and Zhuang barbarians.

If you really unite the whole country to fight in Europe, there will inevitably be unrest in the country.

At that time, if we want to restore the current great governance, we don’t know how many people will die.”

"But it is precisely because of this that our Ming Dynasty fell into a situation of insufficient military strength.

In Russia, we still need a large number of Russian troops with low combat capabilities. There is no way, our troops are not enough to maintain the entire front.

In Europe, if Lao Er had sufficient troops, he would have landed in France by now.

And now?

The only thing we can do is to gradually and gradually control the European influence in the Mediterranean.

The Kurds in the Middle East beat the Ottomans to the point of wailing like ghosts. Without our help, they might even lose Constantinople.

The purity of your home has been able to sustain the situation in the Middle East with the surrender of French troops and a mere 80,000 troops.

The Basra oil field was saved and the oil supply for Ming Dynasty was guaranteed.

These are all caused by insufficient military strength.

It seems that spring is coming, and when spring begins, the coalition forces will have another big operation.

The French and slave states on the southern front numbered more than 1.5 million people, and the coalition forces led by Prussia on the northern front numbered more than 2 million.

On the center line, Israeli and British troops exceeded 800,000 men.

As for our army, we only have more than 700,000 combat troops. Most of the rest are logistics support personnel.

We cannot survive without the Russian army.

But now, something big is about to happen."

"hehe!

I know that you came all the way back from Russia. You definitely didn’t do it just to give me two bears skins and a few pairs of bear paws."

Sun Chengzong pointed at Li Xiao and laughed.

"I told you this, so you don't have the intention to make fun of me." Li Xiao glanced at Sun Chengzong.

Seeing Li Xiao's serious expression, Sun Chengzong also became serious.

He knew that the matter that Li Xiao valued so much must be a big deal.

"Russian Empress Catherine wants to rebel. She wants to make peace with the coalition forces and backhand us."

"Is there such a thing?" Sun Chengzong was shocked. According to what Li Xiao said before, if this thing is true, then...

The millions of Ming troops in Russia will be in danger!

"It has not yet been fully confirmed, and this is what makes me anxious. I am not sure whether this is true or false, or whether it is a conspiracy by the coalition forces.

That’s why I rushed back from Russia to ask you for advice.”

"Haha! Let me ask you, what do you think about this matter in your heart? Do you think it is true or false?"

Sun Chengzong did not answer, but smiled mysteriously.

"If it was just a alienation scheme by the coalition forces, then everything would be easy to talk about.

If it is true, then we need to capture Ekaterina immediately and support an obedient person to come to power.

No matter what, the war must continue.

The Ming Dynasty’s million-strong army in Russia cannot be lost!”

"Look, you've even thought of a countermeasure. In your heart, you still believe in this matter."

"But it's easy to arrest Ekaterina and impeach her. We not only have to arrest her, but we also have to catch all the nobles in the upper echelons of Russia.

That's Russia, that's their territory.

It is difficult for me to catch them all. If I am not careful, I will miss one or two culprits.

Then...the consequences...!"

"The consequence is nothing more than that they raised an army to fight against the Ming Dynasty. As for how effective this army can be, no one knows."
To be continued...