One month and six days after departing from Bukui, Jia Min and his entourage arrived at Tongyuan Fort.

It is a small town with a population of more than 1,000 people. However, in this area, which is thousands of miles away, Tongyuanbao is the largest village and town.

After coming out of Bukui, I never saw a city as big as Bukui on the way.

Tongyuan Fort is the northernmost border of the Dade Dynasty. A few dozen miles further on, there are some tribal areas. It is no longer part of the territory of the Daede Dynasty.

Theoretically, the vast area north of Bukui, all the way to Tongyuan Fort, was under the jurisdiction of Bukui. Including the entire Windula steppe near Bukui, it was actually the territory of the Dade Dynasty. The inhabitants of these lands also recognized themselves as subjects of the Dade Dynasty.

Although these places belong to the great virtues, the imperial court has not implemented effective governance, and is basically in a state of scattered sand and self-destruction.

According to Jia Min's original plan, after he developed Bukui and pacified the entire Windula grassland, he developed his power northward, attracting a large number of immigrants to enrich these areas.

Helplessly, he was dismissed, so he had to find another way out and set his sights on Beihai.

There were a hundred and twenty wagons in his line.

These carriages and horses were left behind after the disbandment of the government corps. Because he invested a lot of money at the beginning, these carriages and horses belonged to him, and no one raised any objections.

There were more than 180 men accompanying Wei Ruolan, Jiao Li, Dai Zhi, Liu Cheng, Sun Yuanfei, Wei Ruoshui, Qin Zhong, Jia Qin, Qinggele, and Sevante.

The female dependents include Baochai, Miaoyu, Daiyu, Qingwen, Mrs. Sevante and their maid Ying'er, wisteria, pothos, purple juan, snow goose and old mother, and rose Xie Baoli, a total of more than 20 people.

Rose Xie Baoli has now made a marriage contract with Jia Qin.

It was a huge caravan and an armed caravan. In addition to the absence of a Franc machine, the equipment is almost the standard configuration of the government corps, and there are chain guns and spray cans.

Even Baochai, Miaoyu, Daiyu, Qingwen and the maids all carried short guns and crossbow arrows.

Outside Tongyuan Fort, the convoy led by Jia Min met with Wei Ruoshui's forward team.

Wei Ruoshui led fifty people and fought at the front station. They have surveyed the route and the camping site.

A man who looks like a local squire stands with Wei Ruoshui.

"Chief Min, this is Liu Gengxin, a big family in Tongyuan Fort, and a native of his hometown."

Liu Gengxin bowed his hand, which can be regarded as a salute.

"Hello Mr. Liu, Jia is far away, I'm sorry."

"Jia Gongzi doesn't have to be polite, this is a deserted place, it's too late to be happy when you see people from your hometown."

A stone tablet that attracted Jia Min's attention.

This is a stone tablet two feet wide and five feet high, which records the process and purpose of establishing a post in Tongyuan Fort in those years.

The reason why this place is named Tongyuan Fort means that from here, it leads to a distant place beyond Dade.

It has been more than 80 years since the monument was erected.

At that time, the Dade Dynasty had just been established for more than 30 years, and its national strength was in its heyday. A post was set up at Tongyuan Fort, where more than 200 people were stationed.

Today's Tongyuan Fort, not only does it not even have a post, but it doesn't even have an official, and the residents are completely self-governing on their own, and Liu Gengxin is the head of Tongyuan Fort.

Although he is the head, he still looks shabby when he is dressed. The clothes were white cloth and not dyed.

Jiao/Li gave Liu Gengxin a gift: a piece of silk, a jar of wine, peppercorns, a pound of star anise, and a set of porcelain. Includes four plates, eight small plates, and eight bowls.

This set of gifts is already very valuable.

"Sir Min, the camp has been chosen, just in the courtyard of the old outpost, there is still a caravan there, there are forty or fifty people, and the leader is still our acquaintance."

"Acquaintances? Who is it so coincidentally? ”

"She won't let me say it, saying that she will wait until we meet and surprise you."

"Oh, I'd like to see this."

As he walked and talked, he entered the village, and in the middle of the village was an open space. On the east side, there were already a dozen yurts, and they stood there.

When the convoy came in, Wei Ruoshui commanded people and began to unload the yurt from the car.

Along the way, there are few people, and there are almost no inns.

A small number of pedestrians spend the night at the homes of passers-by. The caravan had to bring its own yurt and cooking utensils, and arrange its own food and lodging.

Jia Min and his entourage of more than 200 people, naturally there is no such a big inn along the way, and no family has this reception capacity, so they have to be self-sufficient in food and accommodation.

After a while, the door of a yurt on the east side opened, and a woman came out.

It turned out to be a plum blossom that I hadn't seen for many days!

"Sir Min, I didn't expect that we would meet here."

"Heh, Lamei Blossom, this world is really small, I haven't seen each other for so long, I didn't expect to see it here, fate."

"Naturally, it's fate."

"How else could you say that you were destined to meet thousands of miles away, how did you get here?"

"It's a long story, but I'll talk about it slowly in a moment. I came first to be the Lord, and then you were a guest, and I happened to buy a few sheep yesterday, and I gave you two. ”

"Thank you then."

While talking, Lamei saw her sister Rose and others one by one. Everyone is an acquaintance, and it is quite cordial to meet in a foreign country.

There is room and board here, and many local villagers come to see the excitement. Liu Gengxin also beckoned some young men to come over to help.

There are also many women who come to watch the excitement, but they are not as shy as mainland women, and they don't seem to mind showing their heads. There were even some children who came up close to see the excitement.

Two wagons came and some of them unloaded some vegetables from the carts, and two others brought two sheep.

These are all things that Wei Ruoshui bought here before.

Caravans pass by from time to time, but the commodity economy is hardly discussed. So, silver is not of much use here.

Locals prefer to exchange for something they need. It was only under Liu Gengxin's persuasion that these owners accepted the silver.

This is still the realm of Dade, although it is inconvenient, the silver can be spent sooner or later. Further on, out of the realm of great virtue, silver may not be useful.

In addition to the physical object, there is actually a preference for gold. Therefore, Jia Min did not bring much silver on this trip, but more goods and gold.

First, the yurt was built, and two hours later, the meal was complete.

Because it is too troublesome to cook on the road, when I usually eat, I eat one meal and one dish.

Men are all easy to say, mainly Baochai, Miaoyu, Daiyu, and Qingwen, and they must not be used to it at the beginning.

Even the maid and the old mother are like this.

Don't say it when you're in the house, even in Bukui, you don't get tired of eating, and you get used to it.

So in the first ten days, these people also complained a lot, and sometimes they even stopped eating.

Jia Min also ignored them, always loved to eat or not, and when the time came, he was so hungry that he couldn't stand it, so he naturally ate it.

It's not that he's stingy, it's not that he's ruthless. Walking on the road, if you still follow the set of scores at home, then don't rush along the way, just cooking a day is enough to be busy.

Seeing that passive resistance was useless, and their stomachs were so hungry that they couldn't stand it, a few people gradually changed their problems, and now they have followed the crowd.

Today is considered to be a big place, and it is the last stop in Dade, so the food is much richer, and there are four dishes.

Although it is not finely made, it is good that the portion is sufficient and the taste is fresh, which can be regarded as an improvement.

Jia Min's room is more abundant. In addition to his own four dishes, two plum blossoms were brought, and Liu Gengxin asked the family to make a pot of stewed chicken and a pot of fish.

Added up, it was very hearty, but it was the most sumptuous meal along the way.

"Lameihua, what kind of business are you doing?"

Jia Min is indeed a little curious about the business of Lamei Blossom.

"I'm not doing business, I'm going to pay tribute."

"Tribute? Where to pay tribute? ”

"Where else can I go, go to the imperial capital."

"When will it be your turn to pay tribute?"

"Didn't your emperor say every day that the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's ministers. So, I found a few tribes and went to the imperial capital to pay tribute. ”

"Where are the tribes?"

"Chief Min, you are not an outsider, and now you are not an official of the imperial court. I'll be honest with you, it's not actually any tribe, it's just some of my tribe and a few friends from North Windura. Just make up a name and say that it is a certain grassland tribe, there are tens of thousands of people. A certain mountain and forest tribe, there are tens of thousands of people, bring some local products, and go to pay tribute. ”

"That's it?"

It was so simple that even Jia Min was surprised.

Previously, he also knew that some small and vassal states around Dade often used the method of tribute to go to the imperial court to coax rewards.

The envoy or the prince or something, or the above table is called a minister, or a letter of praise, and he praises the emperor and the court, what is the wisdom and martial arts, the heavenly kingdom, the surrender of the four seas, the eight directions to the court, etc., the words are like a tide, and the emperor is dizzy.

The emperor was happy, Chrysostom opened, and rewarded. A large number of precious things become people's own.

A cheap tout has been exchanged for a lot of benefits. This made tributary a very lucrative business.

When countries got the benefits, they came one after another, some even several times a year.

"Isn't that enough, how hard do you think it will be?"

"They're not going to audit it? Find out the authenticity? ”

"Who has the time to look it up? If they all check carefully and check all the people back, when the time comes, there will be less tribute, will the emperor be happy? ”

"There are not many people to pay tribute, and there is still a prosperous scene of convincing people with virtue and tendering the world? No one came to pay tribute, and there were all over the world to submit, and the heavenly kingdom from all directions was decent? ”

"Do you think that if you defeated me, I would have no way to make money? To tell you the truth, if I pull a few people to pay tribute, I will have tens of thousands of taels of income, which is much easier than you can make money. ”

"Sir Min, I admit that you are a good man, a loyal minister, a man of affection and righteousness, a genius of poetry, a genius of business, a genius of military affairs, a good man, a good officer, and a good friend."

"But so what? Haven't you been stripped of your fame, cut off your post for the people, and finally even the government corps with great achievements in war has been abolished for you, and you have come to this wild place to do business? ”

"The princes and nobles of the Manchu Dynasty, civil and military officials, which one is not thinking about himself, how many people like you are working hard and conscientiously for the sake of the country, the society and the people?"

"Even the emperor himself, the royal people themselves, don't take their own country seriously, they only like to sing praises of virtue, slap horses, intrigue, exclude dissidents, play with power, and you are still worried about others. Tell me yourself, what kind of person are you? ”

"Who am I?"

"You're a fool!"