When he really saw the Mudanjiang River, Liu Yu really understood Jiao Lao Butu's warning.

Standing on a hill by the river, looking sideways, the rivers and mountains are picturesque.

Covered with white snow, dotted with green pines, big trees that cannot be hugged by one person abound, and many people who fall by lightning strike lie across the ground, decaying into mounds, and it is difficult for chariots and horses to walk.

On both sides of the river, there are many swamps, the grass at the head of the tower is all over the place, the grass roots are knotted for thousands of years, just like a pagoda, one person is more high, the people walk on it like dancing on the pontoon bridge, the gap between the towers, the mud swallows people, the roe deer is still not there, and there are more than one person.

The jade belt of the river has become the best road.

The goodness is like water, the level of all things, the summer waves are turbulent and rushing and folded, and the winter is condensed into ice and flat like the Imperial City Avenue.

When it comes to hardness, I'm afraid only the Imperial Dao in the Forbidden City can compare with it.

This is only the source, and the river is not wide, about 100 meters.

On both sides of the river are dense willow trees, sometimes interspersed with clumps of ash, and the autumn fruits are like pendants all over the riverbank.

If there are really people lying in ambush on both sides of the riverbank, the river is open, and the enemy is dark and clear, and it is indeed difficult to deal with it.

There is nowhere to catch it, because there are no roads, and there are woods everywhere.

Whether it is a local tribe or a nearby border army, they are all local snakes and are familiar with the terrain.

Even if there is snow, people still have a means of concealment-jumping on a big red pine that is more than one person thick, stepping on the branches that are connected together, and running away, without even leaving half a footprint.

From here to Handoliwei, there are still four or five hundred miles, and there is only one Ningguta village that was originally Houjin on the way, and now it has also become a post station, and there are not many people.

From here to the city of Yaksa in the Solon Khanate, the distance is no less than the return to the capital from here, and even more so is unattainable.

Not to mention Yaksa, it is Ningguta, someone once commented: Ninggu cold and bitter world is unfounded, from the beginning of spring to the middle of April, the wind is like thunder and lightning are close at hand, from May to July rainy successively, in the middle of August it snows heavily, and in early September the river is frozen. When the snow reaches the ground, it becomes solid ice, and there is a vast white snow for thousands of miles.

What's more, or say: People say that Huangquan Road, if you reach Ningguta, there will be ten Huangquan and you will not be afraid!

Liaodong has not yet been filled, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and few people come to this kind of place.

In the rebellion at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people from the various ministries of the Later Jin Dynasty were enriched, and the smallpox epidemic was raging, and the land was already vast and sparsely populated.

On average, there are only one or two villages in tens of thousands of square kilometers of land, which is indeed a good place for the border army to "engage in sideline business".

Think about it, under the tribute system, the tribal leaders have court official positions, and the border army cannot rob the tribe's skins like the Cossacks opposite, and if you want to get rich, you can only find smugglers.

Liu Yu can't stay in Handoliwei either, at least until he finishes exploring the castle closest to Handoliwei, he won't go to Handoli City, for fear that someone will leak the news.

From here, everything has to be done carefully.

The road is easy to walk, there is no need to go over the mountains and mountains, like the highway in later generations. As long as you follow the river, the road is smooth, and the ice is like cement.

If you go fast, you can reach the first castle of the Rakshasa people in half a month at most, which the Rakshasa people call Stepansk, at the confluence of the Songhua River and the Heilongjiang River, near Jiamusi in later generations.

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen and the first year of Yongchang, the battle of Tongguan, there was a Jurchen named Sha Erhuda in the battlefield.

Originally, shortly after the death of Li Zicheng Jiugongshan, this man was transferred to Ningguta and fought a battle with the Russians at Jiamusi, killing the Cossack leader Stepanov.

But because of the change of history, after the battle of Jingxiang by Li Guo, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was shaken, and the smallpox epidemic led to the continuous death of Manchu generals.

The battle next to Jiamusi was not fought, and the Rakshasas built a city there, named after the Cossack leader, which can be described as an outpost for the southern invasion of the Rakshasas.

It is also the trading post of the Rakshasa country in the Heilongjiang River Valley, the smugglers of Liaodong and North Korea, and the tribes from all over the country will trade there, and it is also the first stop for Liu Yu to investigate.

Although the Dashun border army has a banditry, the Cossacks of the Rakshasa are also a hanging sample, they can stab the commander to death for the uneven distribution of spoils for a few furs, and even the Cossacks who defected to Tsarist Russia often plundered the towns and even official ships of Tsarist Russia - if they enter, they will be the people, and if they go out, they will be bandits.

Coupled with the deer-hunting tribes in the surrounding mountains and forests, and the remnants of the Jurchens who retreated to the tribal state, it can be said that they may be in danger all the way.

Seeing the possible danger clearly, Liu Yu also had an idea in his heart.

"Brother Shu, I think let's take a break here today. You take a few good hands and go hunting some roe deer and so on. It is not only a tooth sacrifice, but also a firecracker, a tribute to the mountain god grandpa, the river god grandma, and bless us with peace and security. ”

Jiao Lao Butu smiled: "My lord, this is going to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger? It's also true, there are many of us, unless it is a border army, ordinary tribes don't dare to do anything to us when they hear the gunshots. Cheng, the lord is resting here, I will take a few brothers to put a few shots, and also add some movement to the mountain god, so as not to be lonely. ”

Hopping on his horse, he rushed down the ridge to the bottom of the mountain.

He took out his roe deer fur hat from the tent, which had been prepared for a long time, and some people were going to go north to survey the terrain in disguise as a deer hunting tribe.

The whole head of a roe deer is cut off, and it must be horned, and the bones and flesh inside are hollowed out, and a false eye is sewn on the eye with black skin.

It is said that their ancestors were only qualified to wear this kind of hat if they had shot a tiger to death, and Jiao Lao Butu may not have that ability with a bow and arrow, but he also killed a tiger with a large-caliber arquebus, and it is a bit shameless to get this hat, I don't know if it is cheating.

shouted at a few veterans who were originally hunters, and went to the mountains and forests with guns.

By the river, the team that got the order to camp stopped, busy setting up tents, digging ice and boiling water, Liu Yu went down the mountain and found the carpenter who accompanied the army - there were not only carpenters in the team, but also stonemasons, in addition to expanding the Yongning Temple stele, they also had to engrave a new Yongning Temple inscription and build a small temple.

"You know how to make ice plows, right?"

The carpenters shook their heads, but then said, "Adults, the little ones are not boasting, and their craftsmanship is definitely okay." What adults want to do, just say. As long as the adults can say it, the villain will do it. ”

He looked at the calluses on the carpenters' hands, and was sure that what he said was true, so he roughly said.

It is nothing more than to find two logs, remove the skin, make the ground smoother, and insert the crossbar and the wheel with a tenon.

Three or four meters long, like a cart, except that it does not need wheels, but it is much easier to slide on the ice with horses than a carriage without bearings and balls at this time.

When he said this, the carpenters felt a little insulted, and laughed: "What should I be, it turns out to be this thing." It's also simple, and you can understand what the adults say. But I don't know how many adults want? ”

After counting the number of people, Liu Yu stretched out eight fingers.

"Cheng, don't worry, my lord, I will finish it by tomorrow morning."

The carpenters went to work with their tools, and there were good timber nearby, which they could use at will.

Liu Yu took some people to pick up the bark of the birch tree in the woods next to him. The bark of the birch tree, like a white oiled paper cloth, is extremely tough, and when it encounters the slightest fire, it will hula and burn. Afraid of fire, but not afraid of water, it can be used to make a simple boat, or it can be used to shelter from the wind and rain.

Nearby, there was a big birch that one person couldn't hold, and he took out a knife and slashed it vertically on the tree, and slashed it hard, just like taking off his clothes, and he could pick it down at once.

The bark was threaded together with some straw ropes, and in the evening the ice plows were ready, and the huge birch bark was pasted around the plough like window paper.

The climbing plow, which was originally leaking everywhere, was like a house without a roof.

As night approached, the distant gunfire of hunting and scaring the surrounding tribes gradually stopped. Boil several large pots of venison, add a pinch of salt, cut off a piece with a knife, and dip it in the salt.

Liu Yu took out some more wine and shared a small glass to relieve the bitterness of fading out of his mouth these days.

When he was eating, Liu Yu took the opportunity to talk about the future.

"Now that you are here, you can no longer be as lazy as before. No one knows when a buckshot will be fired in the woods. Be careful. ”

"I'm going to go up the river tomorrow. When the time comes, everyone is divided into three teams. ”

"The front team of thirty people, riding horses three or five hundred steps in front of the brigade."

"Thirty people in the rear, riding three or five hundred paces behind the brigade."

"The rest of the people are in the brigade. All the vehicles, divided into two rows, are fifty paces apart horizontally, forming two walls. Except for the charioteers, the rest of the people sat in the climbing plow, in which a fire was lit, which was warmer and the fire rope was ready at any time. If something happens, fight back immediately. ”

"The horses that are free are in the middle of the convoy. Convoys on both sides, connected with ropes. If an enemy attack is encountered, a horse will run in panic and shoot the panicked horse to death immediately. The person who drives the car is responsible, and if the horse panics and messes up the chariot, whoever drives the chariot will be punished. ”

"As soon as something happens, the front team and the back team immediately outflank the wings. The men of the brigade refused to stand in the formation of the car and listened to my orders. The front and rear teams are changed every day, and the drivers are changed every day, and the craftsmen and draftsmen do not participate in the rotation. ”

"Pick five scouts, go out to investigate, and pass the news. Those who are selected as scouts can get two taels of wine and one pound of meat every day. 10-day rotation, after the rotation can rest for 20 years. ”

"Do you understand?"

The crowd had fur hats and gloves a few days ago, and today they drank again, and their morale was high. Liu Yu's words have already gained weight, and they have said yes.

Jiao Lao Butu secretly praised it, and felt that Liu Yu's layout was clear and eye-catching, and it was indeed like that.

According to his own thoughts, it is nothing more than that, but he would never have imagined that using birch bark with a climbing plow can not only shelter from the wind and keep warm, but also have a fire to light a fire rope at any time.

He thought of using the convoy as a wall, but after all, he was an officer, and he didn't think of how to make the soldiers comfortable, which was not in the officer's consideration.

Thinking that he was arrogant before, I didn't know if I had a mustard with Liu Yu, and I thought that I was already planning to hug my thighs, but at this time, I happened to hit the snake with the stick, and took advantage of the situation to arch my hand and said: "My lord, I Shu Tu is only considered to be an adult today." To tell the truth, don't blame adults, I used to think that adults were just a gentleman, but today it seems that adults have real skills. Under admiration, admiration. ”

"Zi said, judge people by their appearance, I lose my son. Today, I judge people by my family background, and I am even more wrong. If you can't choose your appearance, how can you choose your family background? It's really wrong. ”

This is a half-truth and a half-truth, as early as a few days ago, when Liu Yu used his "money ability" to win people's hearts and quietly take away the command, he had already accepted it.

I just felt that it was a bit abrupt at that time, so I kept secretly waiting for the opportunity.

Today's timing is just right, and it is even more like a mistake made before the heart, which is easier for people to believe.

Liu Yu laughed, thinking that when I saw you angrily scolding Tian Ping that day, I only felt that the gold and iron in your bones could make a pair of armor; The arrogance in your guts can blow out a furnace of iron, so it turns out that you are also an old oilman.