On July 10, 1645, the newly promoted naval captain Liu Haiyang stepped onto a soft estuary to storm the plain. This is the mouth of the Songhua River that the Feyaka people call it, but after careful reference to the map, Liu Haiyang found that this should be the estuary of the river called the Amur River (i.e., Heilongjiang) by the aborigines further upstream.

After careful communication, he realized that it was a misunderstanding. Because the Feiyaka people here still regard this section of the river that flows into the sea after the confluence of the Heilongjiang River and the Songhua River in the upper reaches as a continuation of the Songhua River, and the map of the people on the east bank is obviously marked as the Heilongjiang River. It's not a big deal, though, just figuring out what the place is.

The Phyakka had a sentry post not far from the mouth of the sea, and a dozen or so houses formed a circle in the distance, mixed with some wooden fences, and this was a simple walled city. It's just that such a walled city really doesn't have any defensive capabilities, and it's no wonder that those Fyakats want to ask the people on the east coast for help, as long as the 130-odd Cossacks led by Boyarkov return here, with their relatively sophisticated weapons and equipment, and skilled combat skills, it seems that there is no difficulty in conquering this humble walled city.

Two squadrons of soldiers of the Standing Detachment were forming a formation on the beach. Of the 500 men, 300 were local miscellaneous soldiers from Henan, and 100 soldiers from Japan and Oroqen each, who had just changed into uniform khaki cloth uniforms and black-brimmed hats, armed belts around their waists, and brand-new suede shoes on their feet, which looked like the same thing.

Some of the soldiers carried the low-quality bird guns captured from Shandong and Beizhili, but many more still used cold weapons. At this time, they lined up in a crooked five-element horizontal formation at the sound of the officer's command. The flag bearer raises the bright red Vulture Army flag. After the formation is finished. They were led by the officers and headed inland along the river.

The main settlement of the Fiyaka is still a few days away. According to the guide who led the way. Their homeland is on the border of the upper reaches of the Amur River with the Amgun River, or the Henggun River. Next to it is a lake (Lake Darijin), with abundant water and grass, and they make a living from the cultivation of oats and rye, which is a mixture of fishing, hunting and farming.

The entourage brought Liu Haiyang a Mongolian horse, Liu Haiyang turned over and rode on, and then under the escort of about seven or eight sailors, he went forward with the forward team. As for his lieutenants, part remained on the warship. Just in case; Others, in small boats, began to measure the depth of the channel and draw maps at the mouth of the Amur River.

According to Liu Haiyang's memory, large ships can pass through the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and later Russia had large ships enter the Amur River from the estuary bay in the 19th century. However, the navigation conditions here are also bad enough, and the entrance to the sea is a large shoal, so it is no wonder that several explorers such as Labrouz and Gavrilov of the Russian-American company asserted that the mouth of the Amur River was not navigable without field measurements. The Tsar listened to them and almost ordered the Amur River basin to be abandoned to China, but the young Nevelskoy disobeyed the orders of his superiors and insisted on an expedition, and found a channel near the coast at the mouth of the river with a depth of more than eight meters for large cruisers, which shook the whole of Moscow.

Liu Haiyang was convinced that his gunboat, with a draft of more than three meters, would be able to bypass the shallows at the mouth of the river. Thus he sailed into the wide Amur River, but he did not dare to make a second time until he had found out the exact route. If it runs aground, it will be troublesome, and then you have to let the big berth send a ship to tow it. Therefore, on this trip to the settlement of the Fiyaka upstream, it was better for the large ship to stop in the open sea, while he led two squadrons of soldiers along the banks of the river and marched inland on foot. The supplies needed for the journey were loaded by several small boats unloaded from the large ships, and the southeast wind was blowing outside, and it was not slow to prop up the sails.

The name Amur comes from the locals. The locals originally called Heilongjiang "Mamu", but over time it became "Amur". The land on both sides of the Amur River is very fertile and is black humus. In addition, the precipitation is abundant and the soil is very permeable, so it is no wonder that it became a famous agricultural area in later generations. A large number of farmers from northeastern China flocked to the Russian side, rented land to grow grain, and the harvest was extremely high, and this was the harvest obtained when the Russians did not allow Chinese farmers to use chemical fertilizers, so you can imagine how fertile the land here is.

The people of the east bank walked along the bank of the river for five days before they came across the settlement of the Fiyaka, which appeared to be a larger village. However, this large village is only relative to the outposts at the mouth of the sea, and there are still only a few dozen households in the whole village, less than 300 people. Considering the extremely low population density here, it is likely that within hundreds of miles of the nearby banks of the Amur River, it is difficult to find a "big tribe" that can match them. And it is precisely because they have so many dingkou that they can occupy such a treasure of feng shui from the lower reaches of the Amur River to the estuary. The food source here is abundant, the land is fertile, and there are many mountain goods in the nearby forests, so it is impossible for a tribe without some strength to occupy this place for a long time.

Seeing the arrival of the yellow-clothed army, which was larger than the population of their entire clan, the gray-bearded Patriarch Feiyaka immediately walked up to Liu Haiyang, knelt down with a plop, and said in Liaodong accent Chinese: "Slave Barkin, bow to the heavenly soldiers under the command of Da Bo Mo Da Bo Mo." The heavenly soldiers are extremely strong, and the cannibal king Boyarkov will not dare to come again. ”

When Liu Haiyang heard this, he immediately felt that this old Feiyaka was not simple, at least not as stupid as those traditional barbarians, which could be seen from his fluent Chinese, and he must have been to Han when he was young.

After Liu Haiyang helped him up, the conversation between the two sides confirmed his conjecture. This Barkin went to Shenyang when he was young, when Shenyang was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the trade was prosperous, the people were rich, the Han people, the Mongols, the Koreans, the Jurchens and the Tungusic people could be seen everywhere, Barkin liked to go to Shenyang to sell mink fur at that time, because there was no other place that could sell Shenyang at such a high price. It's a pity that with the war between Houjin and Daming, this business gradually can't go on.

Later, the Ming Dynasty even lost Shenyang, and Barkin couldn't even figure out how Shenyang's fortified city, which seemed to him to be impossible to break, could be lost. Later, it was the Manchurians who controlled the fur trade, and they forced the Saurons, Oroqen, Daur, Feyaka, and Buryats to pay the fur tribute on time, and at the same time to participate in their wars with the Ming Dynasty. And all this undoubtedly created a God-sent opportunity for the Russians who invaded the Amur River valley in the Far East.

Unable to withstand the exploitation of the Manchus and the extortion of the Russians, Barkin's tribe migrated to the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, eventually settling in their present location to avoid the radius of the Kiliansk and Yakutsk forts built by the Russians on the banks of the Lena River, as well as the Udi forts on the banks of the Udy River. The Russian rakshasas are cruel and greedy, coveting the wealth of the indigenous people, and their desire for land and forests is not hidden, and many tribes have fled their control areas.

However, it seems that it is still not safe to escape here, because everyone underestimates the greed and land ambitions of the Russians. The Cossack chieftain Poyarkov dared to venture deep into the Far East with only one hundred and thirty men, including bankrupt Russian peasants, and fought many battles with the natives along the way. They had been spending the winter here last winter, and had threatened that more Cossacks would come here, demanding that they stop paying taxes to Bogd Khan of Manchuria and to pay taxes to Golovin, the overseer of Yakutsk, Russia.

"Balkin, since you are willing to submit to my East Coast Republic of China, then we have a reason to shelter you. We can sell you weapons and armor, and you can pay us mink or gold dust. But we are not open-minded, rights and obligations are equal, we protect your safety, and even teach you to fish, log, farm, and dig gold more efficiently, but you must also fulfill your obligations. For example, paying taxes and doing military service, can you do it? Liu Haiyang sat on a chair brought by the soldiers with a big grin, and the guards around him were brightly armored and extraordinary. The five elements of fully equipped soldiers behind him added to his might.

"We can transfer to you the taxes due each year to Bogd Khan and the Yakutsk overseers, but military service is ......," Barkin said, looking at Liu Haiyang with some embarrassment.

"That's a piece of! If you don't want to do military service and fight, then there is nothing to talk about! Liu Haiyang stood up and said dissatisfiedly: "You wait for Boyarkov to come to you for trouble, I'm too lazy to care about you." ”

Liu Haiyang's fierce and resolute attitude caused a big uproar on the side of the Feiyaka tribe. When the soldiers of the East Coast Advance Team saw the situation, they immediately struck the ground with the hilts of their spears, making the noise that had just gotten up on the opposite side suddenly become quieter again.

Barkin glanced at Liu Haiyang with a complicated expression, turned around and discussed with a few people behind him. They conversed in the local vernacular, but it was evident that the conversation was not very peaceful. Liu Haiyang was not in a hurry, just stood there and waited slowly. What kind of joke, if he can't even rectify a Fiyaka tribe that is at the end of the mountain, then how can he complete the integration of the nearby Shandan tribes and make them form a joint force to form a strong military pressure on the Manchus in the south? (To be continued......)