I

In the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang, even though the Manchus kept taking people away, after the Cossacks came, they were still amazed at the wealth here.

Because they saw that there are farmlands in many places on both sides of the Heilongjiang River, and occasionally Daur cities (villages). This is like a paradise in the desolate and cold Siberia, mainly because it can be cultivated and reproduced.

However, in history, when the aristocratic generals of Tsarist Russia came to raise (plunder) the food and grass of the army, they were furious by the sight in front of them. On both sides of the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang, all the farmland was destroyed, and the villages were all dilapidated. It has reached the point where there is no food to grab. It is really the previous Cossacks who killed too hard.

Due to the early arrival of the Datong Army, the situation here is much better.

Zhang Tingxun came to the Heilongjiang River Basin by boat and found that some farmland had been recultivated. According to the transliteration of the local dialect of each tribe, it is compiled as "a certain village". The leader is appointed as the village head, and if the leader is dead, let them elect the village head.

There will be no town-level units for the time being, to prevent a certain department from taking the opportunity to become bigger!

Hou Rusong pointed to the farmland by the river and said, "In a year or two, when these villages recover, we will be able to collect land taxes from them. Those who can farm will be taxed on grain, and those who cannot farm will be taxed on fur. After a few years, there will be enough food, so the military food will not have to be sent all the way.”

Zhang Tingxun asked: "I see that land can be cultivated everywhere here, why don't more people immigrate and cultivate?"

Hou Rusong explained: "We need to eat every bite. Now the focus of immigration in Northeast China is the prefecture (Harbin) and surrounding areas of the Andong Governor's Mansion. Even there, serious immigrants are reluctant to go. At first they were forcibly expelled. There were some big and small troubles, and the court could only throw the criminals here. Didn’t Nanjing catch gambling fiercely?”

Zhang Tingxun nodded: "Last year, I often caught gambling. I heard that the casino owners, shopkeepers, and thugs were all sentenced to exile. Their wives and children were also exiled together."

"That's right, Li Duhu (Li Zheng) requested it," Hou Rusong said with a smile, "arresting people from all over the country and escorting exiles to Heilongjiang in batches will take 30,000 to 40,000 people in three years. When the population over there is full, the exiles will be placed near the post station. Around the post station along the river, Han villages will be built one by one, and they will be upgraded to villages and towns in the future, which will definitely deter and subdue the surrounding aborigines. This is the imperial court’s plan to open up the Northeast, don’t worry Take your time, we are all here to fight the front station. As long as the post officials you met don’t freeze to death, they will definitely be the mayor of the town in the future. Not only manage the Han people, but also rule the surrounding tribes of the town.”

The Northeast is not a colony, it is developed as a native place.

"Thank you General Hou for clarifying the confusion." Zhang Tingxun cupped his hands.

These were all arranged by Li Zheng to let Zhang Tingxun get familiar with the situation along the way, and let Hou Rusong explain anything he didn't understand.

Hou Rusong continued: "As long as it is not a Raksha ghost, basically anyone I meet here can ask them to help. In case of an emergency, go to the nearest indigenous tribe, whether it is Daur or other tribes, they will help you. I am willing to gather troops to help, because they all have a blood feud with Rakshasa ghosts."

"Understood." Zhang Tingxun nodded.

Historically, the Daur people were bullied so badly by the Man Qing, but when they faced the Cossack bandits, they all felt that the Man Qing was their own.

Without him, the Cossacks are too cruel!

Hou Rusong pointed to the shore in front of him: "There used to be a big village there, where the royal relatives of the Jianzhou Tartars lived. The Raksha ghosts took advantage of the village owner's going out to eat wedding wine, and attacked and captured the village. They were all killed, and then burned the stockade with fire. The people of this tribe died of freezing and starving in winter. Now, the Duhu Mansion has built a post station with the remaining stockade, which is named "Ai" according to the local dialect. Hui station'. This is the nearest post station to Hailanpao, and sixty miles north is Hailanpao."

The land around Aihui Station is fertile, and it is adjacent to the strategically important Hailanpao. This will definitely be a key development village in the future, and it is estimated that it will become Aihui Town in another 20 years.

It was getting late, and the food transportation team chose to rest on the shore.

Only two or three hundred Daur people who originally settled in Aihui returned one after another, and many of them died due to lack of clothing and food. They lived around the post station, and regarded the postmen and postmen as protectors, and when they saw the grain transport team coming, they offered to help unload the goods.

After talking a lot, Zhang Tingxun asked the army guide: "What are they talking about?"

The guide explained: "These Daur people are asking merchants when they will bring salt. There is not enough salt stored in the station, and they have not been traded to them. Now they are all looking forward to Han merchants."

"What kind of salt did they eat before?" Zhang Tingxun asked.

The guide replied: "Some tribes eat pond salt, and some tribes eat earth salt. The taste is not good, it is bitter, and it is difficult to get. Last year, these people tasted the sweetness and waited to exchange their fur for salt. .”

Hou Rusong called Zhang Tingxun over, and said in a low voice: "If you don't give enough on purpose, let them taste the sweetness first, and then continue to whet their appetite. This is how you deal with the aborigines. You went to the northern border of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and the way there is the same. Almost. Not only the amount of salt is controlled, but also the tea. If the Mongols don’t have tea, strange problems will appear, and tea is the lifeblood of the Mongols.”

Zhang Tingxun asked curiously: "How to prevent merchants from transporting more tea?"

"The Great Wall," Hou Rusong explained in detail, "there are many parts of the Great Wall, only low side walls were built, and those side walls can't stop the large army. It has two functions, one is to delay the Mongolian cavalry, so that the beacon tower can spread the news; The second is to prevent merchants from smuggling, merchants dare not destroy the side wall, and transport teams simply cannot get through."

The main purpose of the low and fragile Great Wall is really to guard against businessmen, and it can only slow down the Mongols!

The Han dynasty used economic sanctions to deal with nomads. Stop the mutual market trade, prohibit the export of salt, tea, ironware, and grain, and the Great Wall is a supporting facility for material embargoes. As long as the frontier army does not leave a back door for smuggling, this kind of embargo can drive the nomads crazy.

It's a pity that in the middle and late stages of the dynasty, every time the imperial court ordered an embargo, it was giving the frontier army a chance to make a fortune.

Zhang Tingxun came to his senses in an instant, slapped his head and said, "I remembered, the strategy chapter of "On War" talked about this, and the types of embargoed goods are still a must."

The next day, we continued to move forward, sailed for sixty miles, and finally arrived at Hailanpao.

It is obviously much more lively here, and the garrison has increased to 1,500 people. After Yaksa is captured, 1,000 people will be stationed there, and Yaksa is the real strategic location.

Yakesa's north-south tributary can control the indigenous tribes in the depths of Eda Xing'an Mountains. On the tributary to the southwest, you can go straight to the Hulunbuir Prairie by boat, and Mobei Mongolia is right in front of you. The westward river can lead to Nerchinsk, and it is very close to Lake Baikal by Nerchinsk.

Still far away from Hailanpao, Zhang Tingxun saw a lot of smoke rising.

"It doesn't look like wolf smoke either." Zhang Tingxun asked doubtfully.

Hou Rusong explained: "This is roasting bacon. Although hunting is usually not done in spring, it is time for wild animals to reproduce. But this year, troops will be sent out, so there is no need to control so many. As long as the Daur people in the vicinity hunt meat, they will eat it." It can be soaked in Hailan and exchanged for cotton cloth. What we transport here is not only ordinary grain, but also baked marching rations."

Zhang Tingxun nodded and said: "I understand that the food and grass go first before the soldiers and horses are moved. By the way, do you want to stay with the food transportation team?"

Hou Rusong said with a smile: "We are the navy, since we want to fight Yaksa, of course we need the navy to transport troops and supplies, and we have to fight the Raksha ghosts at critical times."

Wang Fuchen had already rode to the riverside, looking at the many ships with joy: "All the Anton navy is here?"

Hou Rusong replied: "Three battleships were left, and the rest came to you. We also brought twenty additional troop carriers. The troop carriers were all newly built, and the wood hadn't had time to dry in the shade. They were all protected by turpentine, dry ash and tung oil." Shen. You are in a hurry here, and the guard can only make do with the shipbuilding."

For the warships of the Anton Navy, the wood was transported from Liaoning, and many shipbuilders and apprentices were recruited.

And these many troop carriers were built by felling trees nearby in the lower reaches of Harbin. It will definitely leak after several months of use, and it must be repaired at any time. If it cannot be repaired, it will be declared scrapped.

This is a manifestation of the strength of a big country. If it were a small country, it would take several years to build ships.

When Hou Jin conquered the Daur people, he could only raise a large number of canoes.

"This is Captain Zhang Tingxun from Nanjing Military Academy." Hou Rusong introduced.

Zhang Tingxun hurriedly stepped forward, stood at attention and saluted: "Zhang Tingxun is here to report, please arrange tasks for General Wang!"

Wang Fuchen was a little puzzled, and seeing Hou Rusong blinking at him, he immediately understood that Zhang Tingxun's identity was not simple, and immediately praised: "Good boy, quite majestic, you have worked hard all the way, go to the castle to rest first."

After sending someone to take Zhang Tingxun away, Wang Fuchen asked, "What is the origin of this man?"

Hou Rusong said: "The son of Zhang Dudu's family is going to fight at the front line. He is not bad, he is not a playboy, and he can share joys and sorrows with the soldiers along the way."

Wang Fuchen had a headache: "How should I serve? Should I let him stay in Hailanpao?"

Hou Rusong said: "What the guard means is to let you take him into battle. Except for particularly dangerous battles, where he is absolutely not allowed to participate, he will be treated as an ordinary sergeant at other times. To put it bluntly, if this can If he dies, he can only blame himself for his bad luck."

"Understood." Wang Fuchen breathed a sigh of relief.

Hou Rusong asked: "When will the troops be dispatched?"

Wang Fuchen said: "Just wait for your ship. As long as you come, you can send troops at any time. I have been preparing for a full year."

"What happened to Yaksa?" Hou Rusong asked.

Wang Fuchen said: "The last time I caught that Khabarov, many Raksha ghosts were killed, and then some Raksha ghosts moved to Yaksa, and they were still desperately gathering food to build castles. Last year, another group of Raksha ghosts came, and the spies came back. Said that six more cannons were installed on the city wall."

"That's not easy to fight." Hou Rusong was a little worried.

Wang Fuchen said with a smile: "Don't worry, no matter how you build the city, the Raksha ghosts don't have many manpower to spare. A few more cannonballs can knock down the city walls. The cannons of the Raksha ghosts are really pitifully small, about the same size as a tiger crouching cannon." .If it wasn’t for the lack of ships to transport troops, I would have gone to fight them myself, how could you have a chance to fight?”