Fortunately for Sweden, winter is equal to both sides, and the Russian army is difficult to make a difference in this environment, allowing Swedish troops on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea to retreat to Riga and defend against the Baltic Sea.

Carl acknowledged the message that Crown Prince William said, and Crown Prince William also gave the Prussian combat plan against Russia. Of course, this plan is just a rough one, and it depends more on how to achieve the cooperation between the two countries' military strategies.

The Prussian side has a clear meaning. The Swedish army is now divided into two parts, divided by the Baltic Sea. Some are trapped in Riga, with no room for maneuver. The other is deployed in Finland. There are many lakes and swamps, and it is not a good place to launch large-scale military operations.

Crown Prince William suggested that Sweden should keep as little military force as possible to defend, transport the main force to the East Prussian region by sea, join forces with the local Prussian army to release Riga's siege. At the same time, Prussia supported Stanislaw I to restore the country in Poland. After that, the main Prussian army set out from the Brandenburg region and entered Poland, disguised as Polish troops loyal to Stanislaw.

In this way, the Russian army was mobilized in both north and south directions, and the two armies were not far apart. Whether the Russian army left Riga to rescue Poland or continued to siege Riga, it would inevitably lose an important achievement. In order to gain Carl's trust, Prince William directly stated that the army of East Prussia could accept the command of King Carl.

This is not the same as what Carl wants. What Carl wants is the Prussian side to quickly join the war, the two countries gathered their troops to fight the decisive battle with the main force of Russia. However, Crown Prince William clearly rejected this suggestion, and the reason was normal. The two armies did not have a tacit understanding of cooperation, and the Russian army had already demonstrated considerable combat effectiveness. If the decisive battle was not won, there would be nothing to gain.

In the end, the two sides did not reach any specific plan, so they could only agree to send a general and a staff organization officer group to conduct detailed deductions and arguments before talking. Anyway, neither Prussia nor Sweden wanted to launch a large-scale attack in the winter.

Xijin.

In winter, the atmosphere of the New Year is already very strong. The streets are bustling with people, and the sound of firecrackers can be heard everywhere. In the city, merchants from all over the country gather, coming and going, making Xijin City, which already had 240,000 people, even more crowded.

Before the New Year, King Yu's camp was also busy, and there were many people coming and going, especially in the nearby appeasement zones, where the foreign nobles founded their family business created by Li Junwei in the Western Expedition. Now I heard that King Yu was spending the New Year in Xijin, so many of them came to visit.

Although Li Junwei himself doesn't like this kind of occasion, he can't resist the old acquaintances coming and going. He also wants to meet these people, but when he meets them, he often complains to him.

Most people think that after the reform of the foreign vassal states, the nobles' lives were not easy, they were more and more restricted, and ordinary people respected them less. But these people just complained because their interests were not much damaged, but they were not as comfortable as before.

In the past, there were slaves under their posts for their dispatch, and they bullied whatever they wanted, but now they have to follow the law, which is really unacceptable. Most of the complainers are older and more traditional, and there are too many feudal lord factors left on them. However, their children and grandchildren did not complain about these, because they mostly grew up in school in the city and adapted to an equal life.

"Oh, a headache." Li Junwei returned to the study. He was about to take a break when he heard his son complaining. When he went in, he saw that the guy was sitting on the desk, with various account books in front of him and abacus in his hand. At this time, he was pinching his forehead with worry.

Li Junwei joked: "Now I know that if I don't take the lead, I don't know how expensive it is. This little thing will make you dizzy."

After the Battle of Poltava, although Russia and Sweden had withdrawn their troops, the southern Russian grassland was not peaceful. Because of the war, many Cossacks and Tatars worked hard to fight the family and robbery, and the nobles, landlords and merchants on both sides of the Dnieper River were not allowed to retreat.

The Expeditionary Force controlled the Dnieper River in just a few months before it was relied on. It turned out that Poland and Russia set up checkpoints to collect taxes on this river. Not only did the two governments collect it, but some nobles on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were also collecting it. The unruly Cossacks also formed an organization like gangs. Zelenko, who had just retreated here, was even more amazing. He was simply a big bandit.

On the contrary, although the military discipline of the Imperial Expeditionary Force is more or less problematic, compared to these local snakes, it is really strict. Especially when winter comes, the Dnieper River is about to be sealed and the commodities are to go along the river roads, which is even more inseparable from the Expeditionary Force maintaining order.

So merchants from various countries formed a petition group to Xijin, joined forces with local chambers of commerce, and requested the Expeditionary Force to continue to station. These merchants also offered to pay military taxes to cover the expeditionary force's military service costs.

At the request of the merchant, the expeditionary army simply stood down along the river to maintain order. Li Su handed over a series of affairs such as military expenditure and material procurement to Li Zhaocheng. This made Zhang Fei embroidered the guy one by one.

"Dad, while the New Year is approaching, hurry up and let the Expeditionary Force retreat. Why are we the ones who guard the house and protect the hospital?" Li Zhaocheng almost started crying and howling when he saw Li Junwei.

"It's the peacekeeping security force!" Li Junwei corrected.

After the Battle of Poltava, the Expeditionary Force changed its name and became a peacekeeping security force.

"Okay, peacekeeping security forces."

Li Junwei said: "Isn't it decided? The training will officially start in December."

"But Brother Rong just withdrew the combat troops and left 4,000 military police and other troops. I still have to take care of these people's food, drink, defecation and sensation." Li Zhaocheng almost cried.

"You want to join the army. If you become a soldier, you must obey orders."

Li Zhaocheng muttered, "When you led the army to the west, you didn't see you like a soldier."

Li Junwei smiled. Although what Li Zhaocheng had in his hands may not be first-class, it is also good to temper his son's character. Li Junwei stepped forward, covered the account book, and said, "Stop reading the account book today, and I don't listen to those foreign vassals' naggings. How about our man going to the theater?"

"Theater, go watch the show?" Li Zhaocheng was intrigued.

Li Junwei looked stern: "How can we say we are going to watch the show? We are going to work. To the imperial soldiers stationed in the Dnieper River and to maintain peace and security in the southern Russian region, we have selected some repertoire and performance teams to comfort the army. This is to watch the show for work..."

"Go for a walk, go to the show for work."

The cultural ecology of Xijin is somewhat similar to Shenjing. It is a place where various local operas in the empire have gathered. In recent years, the empire economy has flourished and the opera industry has made many progress. Operas derived from various places have been improved and have gradually become a popular art nationwide.

But this is the driving force of folk music art, and in the imperial cities, especially educated new young people, there are also their favorite types, such as dramas.

And in Xijin, these art forms are available.

In a certain drama troupe, Li Junwei was performing in the stands. The door of the box was opened. The attendant walked in and whispered in Li Junwei's ear: "Prince, the Netherlands, the British Consul is outside the door and said that he happened to be watching the show here, and he wanted to come in and visit you."

Li Junwei frowned and said, "If it were the case with Groningen, let them find King Rong."

The so-called Groningen incident occurred two months ago. The coast guards in the Xijin area discovered a Dutch merchant ship Groningen. During routine inspections, they found thousands of flintlock smoothbore guns on the ship. This merchant ship that violated the law of the Empire's sea, that is, the military supplies transported by the Empire's territorial waters, must be reported in advance even if it is legal trade.

It was not that the Groningen deliberately did not report it, but that as long as it was reported, the Imperial Coast Guard would definitely not allow these guns to be shipped to Russia. The reason is very simple. If the Russians won the Battle of Poltava, the Empire will naturally no longer ignore the fact that Russia purchased military supplies from Europe. If this batch of supplies goes through the Dnieper River, it will definitely not be able to reach the place.

Obviously, the empire's attitude towards the Great Northern War was to limit whoever wins.

"Say it's not that." The attendant insisted.

Li Zhaocheng turned around and said, "You boy won't take them any benefits."

"I dare not, the second son." The attendant said with his head down, "When I was downstairs, I heard them speak, and I knew English. They should be doing the peacekeeping security forces on the Dnieper River."

"They are really in charge." Li Zhaocheng said.

Li Junwei thought for a while: "It may not be a concern. I think they are here to thank us."

"What are you grateful to us? Thank you for blocking their trade routes and preventing them from making money from making arms. A few days ago, have you seen their faces?"

"You kid, you are so straightforward. Those who engage in diplomacy have two faces, and their faces have changed faster than the weather. Yesterday, they may have protested to affect their wealth, but today they may have been thanked for something." Li Junwei said, and then ordered the servants to invite the two consuls in.

Although the empire was not the first to be pioneered by the diplomatic system of ambassadors abroad, it must have been matured in the empire. Before the establishment of the empire, the empire had only a plenipotentiary to Europe. He worked in Lisbon for a long time and was responsible for the affairs of the whole of Europe. Later, there were ambassadors to various countries. As the trade relations with some countries were closely related, there were consulates.

Especially in the Netherlands, there are embassies in The Hague and consulates in some major cities such as Amsterdam.

But foreign embassies in the empire are different. Although the embassies are all in Shenjing, in fact, the consulate in Xijin is the most important, and most of the economic diplomacy can be handled in the consulate in Xijin. Only major diplomatic affairs will be introduced by Shenjing's embassy. This situation will not be improved until ten years later.

"Lord Betty, Mr. Barrow, please sit down. I didn't expect that I happened to meet you here." Li Junwei greeted the two enthusiastically.

After the two sat down, "This is a chance encounter. The drama troupe's drama is very good. We were originally going to invite them."

"Oh, can you watch dramas on Christmas in the consulate?" Li Junwei asked with a smile.

Betty shook his head: "No, we invite them not to perform in the consulate, we invite them to Kelsun, to perform in Kiev, to enjoy these dramas, officers and soldiers of the peacekeeping security forces. This is a consolation event organized by the European Federation of Merchants, and His Highness Rong has approved it."

This was something Li Junwei didn't expect. He looked at Li Zhaocheng, and Li Zhaocheng thought for a while: "It seems that this is the case."

"Can I ask, why are European businessmen so enthusiastic?" Li Junwei asked on his own initiative.

"This is what it should be. Your country's peacekeeping security forces have made great contributions to the security and stability of the Southern Russian region. This is something that benefits us all." Balrow took the initiative. He looked at Betty and simply said his intention directly: "With Lord Betty, I want to express my gratitude, and I hope that you can extend the peacekeeping period of this army and expand their peacekeeping scope. I think this is also the common wish of merchants and governments in all countries."

Betty also said: "Yes, it's true. As far as I know, the consulars of Portugal and Genoa are organizing similar activities."

The peacekeeping operations of peacekeeping security forces are recognized by so many countries because they have indeed protected the interests of all countries, and the greatest interest is food security. Especially for the two countries that rely on food imports.

The two countries have just broken away from the war and are undergoing reconstruction. The domestic unemployed population needs relief, agriculture and animal husbandry are still recovering, and they are very dependent on foreign food imports. Moreover, the war has brought too much pressure on national debt to the two countries, so they can't afford the high grain prices.

The main food of the two countries comes from around the Black Sea, especially in the Southern Russia region. If there is a large-scale war in this place, the food gap will be difficult to make up for in other places. After the Spanish throne inheritance war, Li Junwei also wanted to take this opportunity to deal with the two countries again, but found that it was completely impossible.

If it were ten years ago, this would be possible, because at that time, the Xijin province of the empire was also a grain export area. But now, although Xijin is also exporting food, it cannot make up for the gap in the turmoil of Southern Russia, because the urbanization of Xijin and Wucheng has caused the local area to consume a lot of food. In recent years, the grain output in Xijin area has not kept up with the growth of grain consumption, and the export volume has decreased year by year.

The reason is that new and old immigrants who arrived in Xijin found that the income from growing grain in the North Caucasus was completely unable to keep up with the income from growing cotton in the river. The Egyptian region is also expanding the cotton planting area on a large scale and importing a large amount of grain. Pasha of the Ottoman Empire adopted a long-term cooperation with the large farm in Xijin to order grain.
Chapter completed!