The next day, Jia Min led the team to set off in the direction of Rus, and Lamei led several of her female soldiers to officially join Jia Min's caravan.

Wei Ruolan, Lin Dajiang, and Sun Yuanfei led more than 30 people, and they stayed in Pingyuan City.

Wei Song, Tuo Ke, Bogda, Liu Gengxin and others saw off Jia Min and his party.

Wei Song and Teucer each sent a guide, and introduced Jia Min to a few friends in front of him, telling Jia Min that when they got there, they could camp with their friends.

According to Wei Song and others, there are still more than 1,700 miles to go to the Sergei Fortress. It was the southernmost part of the Rus' borders.

In fact, if you look at the location of Pingyuan City, Fort Sergei is already in the northwest direction, but according to the direction of Bukui, it still belongs to the north.

Looking at Pingyuan City from Fort Sergei, it is actually in the southeast direction.

It's all reckless wasteland along the way, and there are no decent roads.

The roads here are basically left behind by caravans. In many places, you can't even see the road, but you actually walk on the grassland.

If it weren't for a guide, even people like Lamei and Jia Min's caravan who had experience living in the Windula steppe would be easy to get lost.

When it rains, the black soil becomes sticky, making it very difficult for vehicles to walk. Sometimes you have to stop and wait for the rain to clear and the road is drier.

From time to time, you will encounter high mountains, some with some steep paths, and others with only detours.

The largest mountain took two days to pass.

Crossing a river is also a very tricky thing to do. Fortunately, I was cautious, and there were no accidents.

Although the march was difficult, the personnel were safe.

Except for the occasional caravans, I rarely saw villages and people's homes along the way.

Many times, I don't see anyone for a day. Every time you go to a village, you have to replenish some food. The land here is vast, and there is still an abundance of food everywhere. In addition, there are some reserves, so there is no shortage of food.

As for the non-staple foods, there are only some easy-to-preserve foods such as pickles, cured meats, and dried fish. Vegetables or something, I can't talk about it.

Fortunately, there are still guides and acquaintances with some wild vegetables, and the government corps has experienced wilderness survival training, and they also have some experience in what can be eaten. Whenever I went camping, I went to collect some wild vegetables and came back to spice up the taste.

As for fresh meat, if you are not in a hurry, it is actually easier to catch some prey and catch some fish.

Some hares, goats, roe deer, etc., seem to be more silly, and they are not too afraid of people, and they are often encountered on the road, so they will hit some by the way.

Fish in rivers and some small lakes are very easy to catch.

Baochai has been waiting for so long, and he has become accustomed to this, although it is hard, he has gritted his teeth and survived.

The desolation mentioned here is actually mainly from a human point of view. It's just that because there are few people, it seems that there is no popularity here.

From an ecological point of view, it's full of life. In addition to the lush vegetation, there are also many animals, and the natural environment is very good.

"Chief Min, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"

Dai Zhi rode a horse, walking side by side with Jia Min, and suddenly said something without a beginning or an end.

"Mr. Dai, Chief Min is not a roundworm in your stomach, how does he know what you think?"

Liu Cheng said with a grin.

"I'm thinking that if we have more floods and droughts, it will be good for us."

Without waiting for Jia Min to speak, Dai Zhi said it himself.

"Mr. Dai has always been compassionate and compassionate, how can he think so at this time?"

This time Jia Min spoke.

"I thought that if there was a disaster, there would be a large number of displaced people, and when the time came, we would go and recruit them here. There is endless land here, cultivated and grazing, which can feed countless people. Why worry about food and clothing? ”

"That's right, there are many people in the south of the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, and when there is a natural disaster, the victims will be displaced and leave their hometowns.

Jiao/Li is also quite knowledgeable now.

"The key is the road traffic. In the future, we will first build the road, and when the road is opened, people will come. Along the side of the road, villages and market towns will gradually appear. Slowly, it will become a city. ”

"Chief Min, didn't you say how many cities you want to build? When can it be built? ”

"When we get back, we'll start talking about it. When the time comes, there may be some city lords among us. ”

"Chief Min, can we also build a city?"

"Of course you can, not only you Liu Cheng, but also your uncle Liu Tieshan and aunt Wu Hongmei will be called in the future to build a city together. It's called Liujiacheng. It's really not good, it's okay to build a town and a village, Liujia Town, Liujia Village, isn't it all good? Not only has a livelihood, but also can glorify the ancestors. ”

"That's true, Sir Min, if you say that, I'm really going to think about it."

The caravan from Bukui made a difficult trek all the way, but every day their hearts were filled with all kinds of longing.

After thirty-six days of trekking, they saw a village in the distance.

This is the largest man-made building they have seen since they came out of Pingyuan City.

This is the Sergei Fortress that belonged to the Rus' Empire, which is commonly known as Fort Sergei.

In the letter to Han Tiankui, the general of Ningguta, the female duchess of Tamar said that the junction location was here.

When Yang Lin gave Jia Min this letter, it had been a while since he got this letter. This letter has been in Jia Min's hands for more than two and a half years, and if you add the time spent in Yang Lin's hands and on the road before, this letter should have been sent from the hands of the Duchess of Tamar, at least three years.

Three years on, will things change?

Can you find the Duchess of Tamar or her agent here?

Jia Min's heart is actually not very bottomless.

Whether it is Sergei Fort or Sergei Fortress, in fact, there are no city defense projects and fortress projects in the military sense. To put it bluntly, this is a relatively large village, with more than 100 families.

Actually, there really isn't a need for fortifications here.

To the south, there are scattered tribal areas, and in more places, there are no people. It is almost impossible to launch a large-scale military offensive here.

It is not necessary to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to build some useless projects.

About two miles from Fort Sergei, a detachment of about twenty men came up to meet them.

"Mr. Cervante, it's your turn to step in. Remember, from now on, I am Viscount Jia Min. ”

"Understood, Huaiyuan."

Cervante said yes, and rode with Mrs. Sevante to meet him. The couple will be responsible for dealing with the Rus' for the first time.

Jia Min doesn't have a title now, he, the viscount, is just made up.

However, with his status as the Duke of Rongguo, it is not too much to fabricate the identity of a viscount.

He has the title of Tanhua, and he once had the guerrilla official position of Zhengsanpin, even if he is not knighted, it is not too much to be a hereditary viscount. There are people who believe it.

Besides, even if you don't believe, what can you do? Could it be that the other party can still go to the imperial capital to verify?

Whether the other party believes in his identity or not does not really depend on these. It's about his strength.

This strength is a combination of factors.

Including his pomp, wealth, the number and quality of his followers, the ability to speak French, English, French poetry, waltzing, etc., these labels determine the authenticity of his identity.

The Rus' Empire at this time was basically a serfdom society.

In terms of the stage of development of the social form, it was even more backward than the Great German Empire.

Although Dade also has slaves, after all, there are only legal slaves in aristocratic families such as Jiafu.

At the level of society as a whole, it is not actually a slave society.

The rulers of the Rus' Empire, as well as the economic lifeblood of the entire society, were basically in the hands of the aristocracy, and the Rus' Empire was still an agrarian country.

At this time, Britain, France and other European countries had just begun the industrial revolution, and by the time this wave reached Rus, it was even later.

It is precisely because the nobles have a high status, and the nobles with titles are the best among them, so Jia Min appears as a nobleman and a viscount.

Of course, he has another identity.

At this time, Mr. Cervante was discussing Jamin's identity with Andrei.

Captain Andrey, that is, the commander of the garrison of Fort Sergei.

"Mr. Cervante, are you saying that this Viscount Jia Min is a member of the Dade royal family?"

"He's a relative of royalty."

"Relatives?"

Andrei didn't understand for a moment.

"He is the younger brother of Empress Dade, and he is extremely respected."

Cervante directly named Yuan Chun as the queen.

This guy is even more powerful than Yuanheng Tianzi.

"Are you saying that His Majesty the Great Emperor has finally sent an envoy to see our Tsar?"

Captain Andrei said this, in fact, there is a factual basis.

Many years earlier, Rus had sent an envoy to the imperial capital to ask for a meeting with the Son of Heaven. The two countries are required to establish diplomatic relations and conduct trade.

At that time, it was still the reign of the first emperor.

In the eyes of the Great German Dynasty, a country like Rus was naturally a barbarian land, so how could it be worthy of establishing equal diplomatic relations?

I have a vast land and a vast land, and I lack nothing, so why trade with them?

If you want to establish a relationship, you can first pay tribute.

Naturally, people will not agree to such a request, and the mission of the envoy will naturally fail. The establishment of diplomatic relations and trade matters will not be a matter of course.

"This is not an official mission, but Viscount Jia Min is here to travel and investigate. In the near future, the possibility of becoming an emissary is not ruled out. In my opinion, this is an excellent opportunity for Captain Andrey. ”

"Viscount Jia Min is not only the younger brother of the Empress, but also the third poet of the Imperial Palace, the Governor of Bukui, and can speak French and English. On top of that, he brought an Eastern vodka technique with him and wanted to seek a business partner. ”

"Oriental vodka?"

Andrei's eyes lit up.

"I've brought a few samples for Captain Andrei to taste."

Cervante pulled a small flask from his bosom and handed it to Andrei.

Although Rus has had vodka for a long time, but, until now, vodka was a luxury. In addition to the upper class and the wealthy, it is difficult for the average person to enjoy.

Andrei took a sip, tasted it, took another sip, tasted it again. Then he drank all the wine from the flask.

"Mr. Cervante, what a good vodka. I would love to introduce Duke Tamar to Viscount Jamin. However, I can't do it anymore. ”

"Why? Are you willing to let go of this rare opportunity? ”

"Of course I don't want to let it go. However, the Duchess of Tamar had already died a year earlier. ”