Although it was March, the lake was still frozen, and it was three or four hundred miles away from the nearest Qing stronghold, and even more so from Ningguta. The people who live here www.biquge.info Bi Qu Ge are all Feiyala, Balhu people, Daur people, who were contemptuously called "barbarians" by the Qing army, and some Evenks and Saurons who did not want to be incorporated into the Eight Banners by the Qing Dynasty. Some have lived here for generations, while others migrated from the south with their fathers and ancestors decades ago, including Han Chinese who fled the massacre of the Manchurians, and even some descendants of the Ming army guards.

These Ming military guards belonged to the Ming Dynasty Nuergandu Division of the jurisdiction, the guards guarded the frontier for the Ming Dynasty in the far north, when it was extremely prosperous, it was really a vast expansion of land, the territory was far broader than the Qing Dynasty in the south now, there were 384 guards alone, the jurisdiction of the territory started from the Onen River in the west, to Sakhalin Island in the east, to the Outer Khingan Mountains in the north, to the Sea of Japan and the upper reaches of the Tumen River in the south, including the vast area of the Heilongjiang River basin and the Ussuri River basin to Sakhalin Island. It's a pity that in the last years of Wanli, the dragon and tiger general of Jianzhou Wei, Nuerhachi, rebelled and occupied the Guanwai at once, so that the Ming military guards in the far north could no longer get in touch with the Guannei, and after losing the support of the imperial court, the guards in various places were gradually abandoned. The original garrison either died in the battle with the rebels, or integrated into the local ethnic groups, the 384 guards of the year are no longer seen, only the ruins bear witness to the Ming Dynasty's jurisdiction over the northern polar regions, hundreds of ethnic groups, telling the world how powerful the Ming Dynasty was and how small the Manchu Qing Dynasty was to replace him. (Author's note: The Ming Dynasty did not manage the Nuergan Dusi in custody, but actually and effectively administered it, and every year the imperial court appointed officials went to govern the localities, that is, liuguan)

There is another large lake thousands of miles west of Lake Berhail, called Lake Baikal. There is a city named Yakos 400 miles to the southwest, which was originally the location of a Mongolian tribe, but it has been occupied by the Rakshasas from the west over the years. The Rakshasas were so powerful in their firearms that the Mongols could not defeat them, so they abandoned the area and moved south. A few years ago, the Qing Dynasty's generals outside the pass had sent troops to attack the Yakos, but unfortunately they were defeated by the Rakshasas halfway, losing several ships and hundreds of soldiers. After that, the Qing army no longer dared to provoke those green-eyed and red-haired Rakshasa devils, and Jacos became a stronghold of the Rakshasas. With the help of the Jakos, the Rakshasas continued to extend their influence to the surrounding tribes, causing them to suffer from it.

Two years ago, a group of Rakshasas arrived, and after killing dozens of Balhu who dared to resist, they established a stronghold upstream, and ordered the surrounding tribes to regularly offer them food and furs, herbs, and curiosities. Because the Qing army in the south did not dare to come, the various ethnic groups dared not speak out against the oppression of the Rakshasas, so they had to pay tribute regularly for the safety of the tribe.

..........

On the northern shore of Lake Berhail, in a secluded wooded place, a lonely wooden house stood surrounded by a low fence and a clearing with vegetables growing outside. In the yard, a child with pigtails coquettishly hugged his slightly chubby mother, and his eyes blinked at his mother, his face was a little shy and a little expectant. At his feet, there was a basket with a broken side, in which were placed several potatoes.

"Grandma, why hasn't Abba come back?"

"Agu, do you want Abba or do you want to eat meat?"

"Abba said when he left, come back and bring meat to Agu."

The child tilted his head and glanced into the distance, but there was no Abba in his sight, and he couldn't help but be a little disappointed, and his mouth pursed out, as if expressing his dissatisfaction with his mother: Why hasn't Abba come back?

Looking at her son's disappointed appearance, the woman was a little amused and a little sad, since the Rakshasa people came here, their lives have changed. In the past, every time a man went out, he could catch yellow sheep spores, and the family could not only eat enough, but also exchange the excess prey for some oil and salt, but now they had to work for the Rakshasas twenty days a month, and the remuneration was pitiful, and it was impossible to maintain the expenses of the family. In order to supplement the family, the woman has used the open space around the house as much as possible, and usually eats as little as possible with the man, leaving the only meat for her only son, so that he can eat enough and grow up healthy and happy, but the meat is too little, and the man has to work for the Rakshasa people most of the time every month, and when he comes back, he can't catch enough prey, and most of the prey he gets has to be paid to the tax collector of the Rakshasa people, and this day is not possible at all.

Looking at her son's somewhat yellowish face, the woman's heart couldn't help but ache, sighed, and secretly cursed a few damned Rakshasa robbers, if it weren't for these robbers, their family's life should be happy and carefree. He also complained about why the Qing army in the south did not make decisions for them, causing them to be bullied by the Rakshasa devils.

"Why hasn't Kyik come back yet?"

After standing with her son for a while, the woman was a little worried about the man, and she picked up her son and walked out of the courtyard gate to look into the distance. Today is the day when the man comes back, usually at this time he has already returned with the pitiful dried meat given by the Rakshasas, why hasn't he come back so late today? The Rakshasa stronghold was dozens of miles away from here, and every time the construction period was over, the men would rush home, but now they had not returned, and the woman could not help but be a little worried.

Did something happen on the way? The woman became more and more worried, the man was a very punctual and family-oriented person, and every time he finished work, he would rush home as soon as possible, and would never delay or stay in other places, but today he did not come back, which made the woman nervous, and she was a little afraid. Ever since the Rakshasas came, she had heard that many of their tribes had been killed by them, had she? ... The woman didn't dare to think about it anymore, she didn't dare to imagine that Kayk was killed by the Rakshasas.

The child noticed that his mother's face had changed somewhat, and his little hand gently hugged his mother's arm, and called out to his mother in a childish voice: "Grandma, what's wrong?" ”

"Nothing, Agu."

The woman didn't want her son to be nervous, so she forced a smile at him, her eyes fixed on the road to Jacos, hoping that Kayk would soon appear in sight, and with his trademark smile he opened his hands to his son from afar. After a short wait, the woman's eyes suddenly lit up as she saw her man, Kik.

"Kik! Kuik! ”

"Abba, Abba!"

The woman and the child cried out at the same time, and the child struggled to jump out of his mother's arms and ran as fast as he could to Abba. When the woman saw this, she did not call her son, but smiled at the man who was getting closer and closer in the distance. As the man's figure got closer and closer, the woman's eyes suddenly froze, and the smile on her face instantly froze, and she saw that there were many, many people behind the man.

"This is your son?"

Dochina, who was riding on a horse, saw a cute child running over in front of him, and asked with a smile.

Kayk, who had recovered from Fang Cai's panic and uneasiness, hurriedly nodded at Dochna: "My lord, that's the son of the villain. ”

"Your son is cute, what's his name?" Dochina rode lightly, and the horse's steps took a few steps forward.

"Agu."

Although the Manchurian Lord in front of him was very friendly, Keyik still instinctively maintained enough respect for him, as if he was treating those Rakshasas, his voice was always very quiet, and he didn't dare to raise the volume a little, and every time he answered this Zuo Ling's question, he lowered his head and didn't dare to look directly at the other party.

"Agu, Agu," Dochina said a few times, and laughed, "Good name." ”

"Abba!"

Agu also saw that there were many people behind his father, but he had no other thoughts, he just wanted to get his father's hug as soon as possible. In Agu's young heart, his father's arms are as warm and safe as his mother's, and the people who are with his father are naturally good people, so he is not afraid of his uncles with braids who he has never seen behind his father.

Seeing that his son was about to rush in front of him, Keyik subconsciously wanted to reach out to hug him, but as soon as his hand moved, he suddenly retracted again, and he lowered his head a little nervously and didn't dare to move.

"Go and hug your son."

Sitting on his horse, Dochina observed Kyik's reaction and knew that the somewhat timid Daur man was afraid of himself and his men. In order to let the Daur man lead the way with peace of mind, Dochina comforted him and said, "By the way, go and tell your wife, we are officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, and you have to take us to the stockade." ”

"Yes, sir."

Listening to Zuo Ling's words, Kayik hesitated slightly, then took a few quick steps forward, hugged Agu who was running over, held him in his arms, and lifted him up and down, with a heartfelt smile on his face.

After handing a pound of dried meat in his hand to Agu, Kik hugged him and walked to the fence, and when he walked to his wife with a suspicious face, he glanced back, handed Agu into his wife's arms, and said softly: "Don't be afraid, they are soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, and they want to see our patriarch." ”

"What did the Qing people do when they saw our patriarch?"

The woman was very strange, she had the impression that the Qing army in the south was very cold to their tribes, and didn't care about their life or death, why did they send someone to see the patriarch this time?

"I don't know, you take the children back to the house, I'll take them over."

Keik shook his head, he really didn't know the purpose of the Qing people, but these Qing troops were very good to him along the way, he guessed that maybe it wasn't a bad thing, it might be that the Qing army in the south wanted to deal with those Rakshasas from other places, which needed the help of their locals. Thinking that if the Qing army could drive the Rakshasas away, he would no longer have to work for the Rakshasas, Kayk's heart suddenly became hot, and he couldn't wait to take these Qing troops to meet the patriarch immediately, and then the whole clan went into battle to help the Qing army fight off those bullying Rakshasa devils.