A foot-thick piece of newspaper.

Through the telescope, Zhu Xiangyu could clearly see the newspaper Xu Damao brought back. He couldn't help but be filled with all kinds of expectations for the newspaper.

What kind of news will be on it?

Is the Kou lady on the Qinhuai River already married to a lover?

Will the emperor have another heir?

Of course, Zhu Xiangyu also cares about his family - he cares about his uncle, although he knows that the emperor appreciates his uncle very much and knows that his uncle is among the cabinet ministers, but who knows?

Half a year, no one knows what will happen.

In the next few days, the grassland in front of the fortress became a market, and the news of the arrival of the inland traders attracted the Mongols within hundreds of miles of Fangyuan in just a few days, and even the princes and nobles would send stewards to search for fresh Central Plains goods so that they could keep up with the Central Plains trend. As for the ordinary herdsmen, after a winter had passed, the tea bricks had almost run out, and even their clothes were torn and the iron pots were about to rot, and when they learned that the caravan was coming, they naturally drove their horses and camels with wool and skins to come here in exchange for all kinds of goods they needed.

Tea bricks, cloth, iron pots and even needlework, etc., basically, as long as the Han people bring things, you can always find buyers, almost every day, this market will always be bustling with many Mongolians from all over the world, even after a month, this lively market has not stopped, every day there are new caravans from the Guannai, and there are also some caravans from other places to arrive here.

There were not only Han caravans in the steppe, but also Mongol caravans, most of whom were herders from the depths of the steppe or from the northern ice fields. They also need tea bricks and cloth. However, Han caravans rarely arrived there, so those tribes would select some men from the tribe to transport their wool, leather and other things here to exchange for tea bricks, cloth and other daily necessities.

With the arrival of spring, it will only become more and more lively, because it is the time of sheep shearing, and the real business is just beginning, knowing that the business is just beginning, Zhu Xiangyu, who knew that the business was just beginning, after the arrival of the second caravan, also sent a squad of cavalry to patrol around Coulomb every day to deter the horse bandits on the grassland - those small tribe caravans, although many times they are merchants, but occasionally they will make a cameo appearance as horse bandits, if they seize the opportunity.

Therefore, every time, when a caravan from a small tribe arrived, Zhu Xiangyu would carefully check the number and size of the other party. These caravans from the small tribes of the northern fishing sea (Lake Baikal) are not always easy to play, and last year some of them made cameos as bandits and robbed some of the bulk merchants. ，

However, as the garrison of Kulenburg, Zhu Xiangyu will never welcome their arrival because of these people's "sins", even if these people are barbaric and uncivilized "wild Tartars", he will also have a welcoming attitude, of course, he will not open the door of the fortress with a big grin, let the Tartars in, this Kulenburg is a military fortress, unless the Han merchants are attacked, otherwise usually, even if they are merchants, they can only live outside the fortress.

Because of this, a small market has long been formed in front of the fortress, some merchants who have been doing business here for a long time have set up businesses here, and they are still waiting to do business with the Mongols for a long time, after all, the living Buddha is here, and the Mongolian princes and nobles will also come here to worship the Buddha, and now these merchants are only doing small business, and the real big business will have to wait for a few more months, until autumn.

That's the difference between a big merchant and a small trader, but even so, the petty traders are extremely satisfied with the status quo, after all, each of them has been rewarded very handsomely.

As usual, every time, when a caravan from the north was discovered, Zhu Xiangyu would order the cavalry team in the fort to "greet" them out of the fort for safety reasons, and let them camp in the designated open space. He himself was watching from the top of the city, and if something unusual happened, he would order the gunners to open fire at any time - the Mongol horses were often not trained in guns, and the explosion of the cannonballs caused the horses to scream. Even the designated position is a "trap", if the opponent moves, the shell will fall on their head accurately, where the ranging has been completed, and after many test firings, the flowering shell can be accurately timed.

It's just that after seeing such a preparation after seeing the other party accept the order and obediently set up in the designated location, Zhu Xiangyu's heart was relieved at the same time, and at the same time, an inexplicable melancholy swelled up.

Could it be that from now on, the world is really peaceful?

Of course not, after all, now the Manchus are still entrenched in Shaanxi, although after His Majesty ascended the throne last year, the Manchus sent envoys to pay tribute, expressing their willingness to be vassals, but His Majesty's answer was very simple - let the heads of all the envoys be cut off, and then the heads of the Han Chinese among them were hung on the head of the city, and the heads of the Manchus were returned.

"If the two countries are at war, what country is Kerr? When will there be a great Qing Dynasty in the world? I only know about Jiannu, but I don't know what the Qing Dynasty is! ”

Even so, in the short term, the imperial court seems to have no intention of using troops against the West - His Majesty has just ascended the throne and is not stable at all, so it is not suitable for a large-scale use of troops.

"When?"

Zhu Xiangyu, who was on the head of the city, sighed, the reason why he chose to come to Mongolia last year was because he knew from his uncle that His Majesty would not use troops in the northwest in the short term, so he hoped to go to Mongolia to show his ambitions, but now, the environment here makes it difficult for him to use it.

Could this be the end of the military career?

When Zhu Xiangyu sighed there, in the distance at the designated camping position, among the busy Mongols, there was a man in a sheepskin coat and a felt hat, who was looking at the fortress on the high ground with wide eyes.

"It's a fortress? When will the Mongols build such a fortress? ”

There he was talking to himself, his words were not Mongolian, and his appearance was very different from that of the Mongols, with his curly brown hair, his high nose, and his dark eyes, all of which indicated that he was not Mongolian.

However, the beard on his face obscured his face, and he always covered himself with a felt hat, and his outfit looked no different from that of an ordinary Mongol, so even the cavalrymen in the patrol did not notice this.

For the patrols, they didn't bother to check each other at all, after all, there were no contraband to check on the steppe, the Han merchants would carry firearms, the Mongols would carry swords and arrows, everyone was to protect themselves, and these weapons were naturally not contraband.

But even so, the interpreters in the patrol team chatted with each other for a while to inquire about the news in the north, which is their duty, in the past year, it is through contact with the small tribes in the north that they have a certain understanding of the situation in the north, knowing that in the north, there are not only Mongolians, but also Rakshasas.

After learning some information about the Rakshasas from these Mongols, after a few more words of advice from the patrol, they turned back to the fortress.

After the Ming army patrol left, these Mongols immediately began to get busy, unloading goods and setting up tents, everyone seemed to be busy, and there was not a single idler in front of these people. The man in the gray felt hat was also helping to unload the goods, but his eyes were constantly looking at the cavalry in the distance, and occasionally he would look at the fortress on the high ground.

Absent-minded, he carried two packets of furs, a product of the boreal forest, and put them on the grass beside him. Occasionally, he would look at the fortress, and everyone seemed to see that he was lazy, and everyone was busy with their work.

At this moment, a man with a small head came to his side and said in a low voice beside the bearded man.

"Sir, this is Cullen. The cavalry who came to check just now, the Ming army in the fortress, and the palaces and temples over there were built by the Ming emperor for the Tatars. ”

All this is not new news, as early as last year, they already knew all this, and the reason why he is now leading a caravan here is to find out the news here.

Ming dynasty!

As early as a few decades ago, they had contact with the Ming Dynasty, but later heard that the Ming Dynasty had fallen, but who would have thought that now the Ming Dynasty actually appeared again, and the Ming Dynasty also built a fortress to Mongolia, which cannot but arouse their vigilance.

"I know that, Ivanovic."

The man said impatiently.

"Yes, sir. The Tatars said that the Ming army in the fortress was about 800 people, and the guard and the fortress were guarded by a Han commander, and he was also responsible for collecting taxes, according to the agreement between the Tatar Khan and the Ming court, the taxes in the market were collected by the Ming army. ”

Although Ivanovich had just arrived here, he had learned a lot of information from the Tatars, and of course, this had a lot to do with his appearance, his father was a Rakshasa and his mother was a Buryats, so his appearance was very similar to that of a Tatar, but he had never considered himself a Rakshasa and would not even bother to speak Tatar if it weren't for the fact that he wanted to extract information from the Mongols.

As for the so-called "commander", it is also because the concept of "captain" is not included in the concept of the Mongols, so the reason why they take it for granted is that they use a "commander of a thousand", a Mongolian-style military rank.

"On the fortress of the Han Chinese, there were five cannons in total, but according to the Tatars, they also had a few more cannons that could be towed. From the cavalry just now, they are also different from the Tatars we have seen, and each of them is armed with muskets, and the Tatars say that these Ming people use muskets. ”

"Han Chinese? The people of the Ming Dynasty were not Tatars? But their appearance did not seem to be any different from that of the Tatars. ”

The man said disapprovingly. It seemed to him that the Tatars of Asia all looked exactly the same.

"That's what the Tatars say. They also said that a thousand versts further south from here would lead to the land of the Han people, where tea, cloth and silk were brought here. I found out that these Han Chinese and Tatars are completely different, and their soldiers also use muskets. ”

Ivanovich looked somewhat cautious, in his opinion, the musket was precisely what distinguished the barbarian from the civilized.

"Well, that's what we're here for."

Habaguev looked down and thought for a moment, then asked.

"Did you hear about the heading south? Can we go south? ”

In fact, for the Ming Dynasty, Russia has a certain understanding through various channels, as early as ten years ago, they had captured the Han people in the Amur River area, and it is from the mouths of those Han people that the Ming Dynasty had a large population, rich in products, and the emperor surnamed Zhu was the only one in the world.

And twenty years ago, the Russians, through the Khalkha Mongols, knew that China had two emperors, one was the Bogda Emperor and the other was the Emperor of Old China, and there were silver mountains in the territory under their jurisdiction. And the old China was the Ming Dynasty.

And this time Khabaguev, on the orders of the governor of Yakutsk, led a caravan to contact the Ming Dynasty, and of course, if there was an opportunity, they would go south, all the way to the legendary Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, it was to make contact with the Ming Dynasty, and of course, on the other hand, to find the missing envoy who had been sent to the Qing Dynasty a few years earlier, that is, the Bogda Emperor, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

"Back to my lord, none of the Tatars have been to the south, and if we want to know the specific situation in the south, we need to ask the Tatar merchants in the south. But from the Tatars, I know that two years ago there was a war in the south, and the Bogda Emperor was defeated by the Ming Emperor, so the envoys we sent may have ......."

Before Ivanovich could finish his words, a voice suddenly came from the side.

"You, do you mean that Da Ming defeated Dongyu?"

It was a Chinese man dressed entirely as a Mongol, and his appearance seemed to be indistinguishable from that of a Mongol, but when he said this, his expression was very excited. Even muttered as he looked at the fortress.

"They are the Ming army? Are they really the Ming Army? Really......"

Originally, he wanted to see if there was a "Ming" flag on the fortress, but he didn't see it, he had hoped to see the Ming clothes on the bodies of those soldiers, but their clothes looked a little strange, but now, Ivanovich told him that the Ming had won, and the so-called "Bogda Emperor", that is, the Manchu Emperor, had been defeated.

"Nikolai, we don't know all this, we have to figure everything out."

Habaguev frowned slightly, looking at the Han man with an excited expression, he even wondered if it was the right choice to bring him here, but he needed a translator.

"I'm not called Nikolai!"

After flatly rejecting the name, he looked at the distant fortress with some excitement and said.

"My name is Wu Zidong, I am a Han Chinese, and I am a Ming person!"