Tomorrow is 515, the anniversary of the starting point, and the day with the most benefits. In addition to the gift bag and school bag, this time's "515 Red Envelope Flip" must be seen, how can there be a reason not to grab the red envelope, set the alarm clock high~

It is not close from Menggong to Ava City, the capital of Donghu State, even if you walk the almost straight Dajinsha River, it is enough to walk thousands of miles. This river is also very peculiar, a section of hundreds of miles long is almost completely straight to the south, and there is no original appearance of the river that is originally curved and curved.

In the dry season, you can run two or three hundred miles a day by boat on the Dajinsha River, which is straight and wide and the water is gentle, and if there is a wind, you can even reach Ava in three days.

However, the sailors had to be matched with the land infantry artillery.

It only takes three days for the sailors to reach Ava, but tens of thousands of troops have to take at least half a month to cover this thousand miles. After all, although it is a flat river from Menggong to Ava, there is still the defense of Donghu's army on the road of thousands of miles. It took half a month to advance 1,000 miles, and it had to be very smooth, and it was not blocked by the fortresses along the road of the Donghu Army.

Fortunately, at this time, ships can be traveled in the river, and most of the materials, grain, grass, and heavier artillery can be transported by boats, and the army can easily save much effort, and only need to advance lightly, with a small number of light cavalry guns and field artillery.

In order to be able to attack Ava before the New Year, the Southern Expeditionary Army prepared many ships and recruited many people this time.

The Southern Expeditionary Army was dispatched from Menggong on the North Road and Mubang on the South Road, both by land and water. In addition to leaving 10,000 soldiers and horses to guard the house, 40,000 troops were dispatched on the north road, and 10,000 were dispatched on the south road as surprise soldiers. In addition, as many as 50,000 reservists and militia were recruited from the three provinces of Yunnan, Dali and Laos, and as many as 50,000 people were also recruited.

Zheng Zhilong and the generals of the Southern Expeditionary Army, who had been holding back for a year, were ready to strike a thunderous blow, taking advantage of the cool weather now, as well as the river channel, and the grain, grass and ammunition that had been accumulated for a long time. In the case of reinforcements and artillery in place, we must give those southern barbarians a powerful look.

So many troops, materials, people, artillery, etc., thanks to the Guizhou-Yunnan road, thanks to the fact that this is a good time for the cool season, and thanks to the fact that there is an excellent river water conservancy available, otherwise, if it is still in the mountainous jungle of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, such a large team has so many materials, and there is no need to fight for thousands of miles. I'm going to have to break down.

In the past year, the Southern Expeditionary Army has worked hard to build thousands of boats, in addition to many improvised wooden platoons, plus a large number of Yunnan horses, and the logistics officers of the Southern Expeditionary Army have also racked their brains.

If it were not for the purpose of ensuring the smooth flow and control of the land route, in fact, the officers suggested that they directly send troops to march by water during the dry season, and thousands of ships should go down the river and directly to the city of Ava.

However, Zheng Zhilong did not adopt this tactic, after all, Ava City was too far away from the Han army's Line of Actual Control. If you can't open a land route, then it's still very risky. In case something happens, Ava City will not be able to attack for a long time, and the supply line of the back road will be cut off. That's very dangerous.

Or fight all the way, fight a bloody road, and then build fortresses along the way, stationing soldiers and horses. At the same time, it is safest to transport supplies from the relay station in the rear.

Those improvised ships were small boats with a small displacement of 100 tons. Many of them are flat-bottomed boats. In particular, because of the rush of these ships, the timber is cut on the spot, and it has not undergone a good drying process, which makes the life of these ships actually very short, and it is estimated that it will take half a year and a year.

Of course, there are more wooden rafts and bamboo rafts. This kind of cost is cheaper, and it is completely made from local materials and used as you go.

Zheng Zhilong suddenly changed the date of sending troops and advanced the time of sending troops by twenty days, so Meng Gong Fortress, which originally seemed very relaxed, immediately became busy.

The leave of the officers and men of all units was cancelled, and the whole army entered a state of combat readiness, packed up their bags, packed their backpacks, kept their weapons on their bodies, and each infantry was also distributed with 50 rounds of ammunition and two grenades.

Even the people who were in charge of transporting the supplies were given a spear each.

Most of the grain, grass and artillery will be transported by boat, but considering the needs of the operation, the number of artillery that moves with the infantry on land is still not small, plus ammunition, grain and grass and other materials, under very bad land conditions, the transportation pressure is still very great.

Most of the supplies had to be transported by horses, the kind of dwarf Yunnan horses unique to the Yunnan-Guizhou region, and many places here could not pass by horse-drawn carriages, so they could only rely on people to pick up horses. This kind of horse, which is not much bigger than a donkey, or even the size of some large mules, is an excellent livestock for walking this kind of road.

Wang Li and his two Yunnan horses were also in this transport team, and his hometown Tengchong used to be a horse driver of the horse gang. Last year, when the imperial court repaired the Guizhou-Yunnan road, Wang Li borrowed money to buy six horses, and then took his two younger brothers to drive the horses together. Together with some of the horsemen in the township who also bought horses, he formed a horse gang in partnership.

This gang is a horse shareholder, and their gang has more than 200 horses and more than 100 shareholders. The most had three or four horses, and the few had only one horse. Everyone partners and drives horses to take over business. Because of the road construction, there is a great demand for the caravan, and their caravan is also busy until the end of the year, hard work is hard, and the money is indeed not less.

After the road was repaired, the officials approached them again and said that Burma was going to fight and needed horse gangs to transport supplies. But it was not a forced call-up, but a hiring, whether everyone voluntarily accepted it or not, but the price offered was still good, and in the end the caravan felt that he would come to this trip.

Wang Li did not let his two younger brothers come, he told them to go home, and he himself drove two horses over. Their gang of horses came with more than thirty horses, and a hundred horses joined the transport. When Wang Li used to work as a horse driver for others, he came to Burma, and at that time they were selling tea and salt.

There are 400 miles from Tengchong's hometown to Menggong, which used to take a long time, but this time they came over and took the newly repaired North Qiandian Road, which can directly reach the north bank of the Dajinsha River.

Along the way, there is no need to walk the ancient road, cross the river without wading, or even spend the night in the open air.

The wide Qiandian Road is very flat, and there are also chain bridges on those fast-flowing rivers, which are paved with wooden planks, and walking on them is like walking on flat ground.

No matter how steep the mountain is, it is now very gentle under the winding mountain road.

Especially every other stretch of road, there is always a small fort. There are inns, warehouses, restaurants, tea shops, toilets, livestock sheds and post shops.

You don't have to work hard for a day, then camp in the barren mountains and mountains, cut down trees and make fires. If you are willing to spend money, you can eat directly in the restaurant, and if you are not willing to do so, you can just rent their shop, and then cook by yourself, or take grain and dried vegetables or something for the kitchen to process, and give some processing money.

Eat a hot meal and soak your feet in hot water. Meimei slept on a dry bed, which was a very happy thing for the horse runners.

In the past, they may have to walk more than half of the journey, but this time they helped thirty people to come from Teng with a hundred horses carrying a full load of supplies, and the result was that the people and horses were also easy, and they did not lose a single horse along the way, and it only took ten days to reach Menggong.

But after crossing the Dajinsha River, they were told that the road ahead would not be so easy. Although there will be no more mountains and valleys, there will be no roads like this, and of course, there will be no more military stations and forts along the way.

Wang Li's horse team was assigned a transportation task to help transport grain. This is a relatively easy transportation task, and it is also a frequent transportation material, and the loss of grain sacks to horses is also smaller, unlike sometimes transporting some goods that are not easy to pack. When walking on those very poor roads, the cargo often scrapes off large pieces of the horse's skin.

In fact, after arriving here, the best means of transportation is no longer the dwarf Dian horse. It's elephants. The Taungoo people are also quite accustomed to domesticating elephants as helpers, such as carrying people, transporting goods, and even fighting. An adult elephant can transport goods that are incomparable to Dian horses.

The Yunnan horse is more suitable for the treacherous road conditions of crossing mountains and mountains, but there are only about 100 elephants in the Southern Expeditionary Army.

The elephants were also driven by some Menggong local natives, who were originally also subordinate to the Tusi tribe of the Ming Dynasty, but later the Donghu invaded, and they were defeated and surrendered to the Donghu. Now that the Han Dynasty has returned to Central and Southern China, many natives have chosen to return to the Central Plains.

Although they are only separated by a mountain, these natives of Menggong are obviously darker and thinner. They are also very respectful and cautious to the Han army and even to the Han people like Wang Li. These elephant chasers were elephant slaves of the tribal leaders, and they were ordered by their masters to drive elephants to obey orders.

At the beginning, when they came into contact with Wang Li, they were always a little cautious and afraid, and they seemed to be very afraid of the Han people. But later, Wang Li found that these people were also very honest and simple. For example, these people actually had a miserable life in the tribe, and they were just slaves of the leaders. People don't even have a pair of shoes, and wherever they go, they are barefoot, and they only have a very simple piece of linen around their waists.

But in the camp of the Menggong Han army, although they were not as good as the soldiers, they were just as good, the white rice was full, and there were even rations of canned fish or bacon and ham, etc., and they also had a salary, although this money may have to be handed over to the leaders in the end, but at least they ate well in the camp.

Many of the natives here are actually very poor, similar to the natives in the mountains of Yunnan in the past, or even worse. But now, the lives of Wang Li and other Yunnan people have changed greatly, but Meng Gong's side still has not changed much, and even because of the previous war, life is even more difficult.

Wang Li has a good relationship with an elephant slave here, that person can speak some simple Chinese, and Wang Li can also speak Burmese, so the communication between the two is not bad, and it just so happens that the elephant slave's name is Ali.

Ali told Wang Li that since the summer season this year, many people on their side have married their daughters to Yunnan. In the past, many Tu ethnic groups in Yunnan and the northern part of Donghu were originally of the same root, so although they belonged to the two countries, they often had contacts and marriages with each other.

But more than ten years ago, more than 10 years ago, some natives in Yunnan married their daughters to the same ethnic group in Myanmar. Because at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan was also in constant war and turmoil, and life was not as good as that of the same people in Myanmar. But now, this side has also been included in the territory of the Han Empire and belongs to Dali Province.

Many people have heard and even seen that the life of the same people living in Yunnan is good, so when those people of the same tribe come to ask for marriage with a rich bride price, no one refuses.

Many people are also proud to have a son-in-law in Yunnan.

Ali told Wang Li that the silver dollars of the Han Dynasty were now the most popular on their side, and they could buy all kinds of output here, and they were often cheaper to use the silver coins of the Han Dynasty.

Wang Li has also seen the indigenous people here in Meng Gong, their life is indeed very primitive and simple, many people live in sheds, and they can barely eat. But the clothes are not covering, and many people are still wearing animal skins.

And now, in Menggong, a newly built castle of the Han army, there are already a large number of indigenous people working here.

Wang Li and his friends from the Ma Gang and Ali visited Meng Gong City together, this castle is actually not big, it is composed of two parts, one part is a military fortress castle, not big, but the prismatic fortress, and the cannon on the turret are very powerful. Inside were soldiers stationed there, as well as barracks.

And in the immediate vicinity of this fortress is another city, or a market. There is an earthen walled city, there is a city gate, and there are planned residential areas and markets and workshop areas, where there are many workshops, as well as a lot of shops, to buy the specialties of the natives. as well as the sale of various goods transported from the Central Plains to the natives and garrisons.

Here, the indigenous hired workers in the workshop are usually only ten copper coins a day, and the indigenous young women in the green buildings in the city. The cheapest ones even charge only five cents at a time.

Everything seems to be cheap here.

But the Han goods sold in the shops are not cheap, even the most ordinary salt, a catty of 50 yuan. But in Ali's view, these Han salts. Snow-white, without any impurities, not bitter. It is as white as snow, but it only costs 50 yuan a catty, which is very cost-effective and very cheap.

As for the iron and steel swords sold in the shops, they were deeply liked by the tribal leaders. But for Ali, most of the things here can never be seen and cannot be afforded.

There are also many shops owned by local people, and the fees are quite cheap. For example, when eating, some restaurants only cost one or two pennies for a meal, which is as cheap as drinking a big bowl of tea in the Central Plains.

The cheapest are the women here.

As long as four or five big Han dragon yuan, you can marry a young indigenous girl. And these four or five yuan already include all the wedding expenses, and there is no need to give any additional bride price, banquet money, meeting gifts, etc.

But the most striking thing is not that they marry their daughters cheaply, but that indigenous men rent their wives directly.

Zhao San in the horse gang is in his forties, with a wife and children at home, but after seeing the cheapness of the indigenous women here, he actually took advantage of everyone's inattention and rented a young indigenous woman for a silver dollar.

When he invited Wang Li and them to drink the wedding wine, Wang Li and the others couldn't believe it.

A simple banquet cost less than 200 yuan in total, plus 1,000 yuan for renting a wife, Zhao San would marry another mother-in-law here.

Zhao San spent 200 yuan to rent a simple house for a year, then placed his Burmese wife here, and finally gave another 300 yuan, which is considered living expenses. Then he left his newlywed wife behind, followed Wang Li and the others to set off on horseback.

"You're just leaving people here?"

"It only cost two silver dollars anyway." Zhao San said with a smile, he can earn seven or eight yuan a month by driving horses now, and he can earn more than ten yuan a month for the work of the army this time. It only cost two yuan, and a young indigenous woman slept with it, even if it was a Burmese native, Zhao San felt that it was very worthwhile.

"You're going to bring people back when you turn around, right? Have you figured out how to explain to your sister-in-law when the time comes? Wang Li asked with a smile.

"Whatever you bring back to do, just let her stay here, if we come here in the future, won't there be a home here." I've calculated, at most one or two silver dollars a year is enough for her to live well, if I come here in the future, there will be a place to stay, and a warm bed, how good. ”

Zhao San's explanation made Wang Li understand that Zhao Sanna's indigenous concubine actually had a husband. And he is not cheating, adultery or anything like that, but the woman's husband took the initiative to take out his wife and rent it to foreign Han merchants, etc., and a silver dollar can be rented for a year, and this year, his wife belongs to the person who pays for the lease.

And the officials in Meng Gong City turned a blind eye to this situation and turned a blind eye to it.

This amazing behavior of renting a wife is much cheaper for those businessmen who come here than going to the Qinglou, and it is not more convenient than taking a concubine, renting for a long time and for a short time, unlike a concubine who is a buyer, and this is only a renter, renting is more cost-effective than buying. For some natives, renting out their wives can earn 1,000 yuan a year, which is very profitable.

The officials here not only did not care about this, but also regarded this act of renting wives as an act of commodity trading, and imposed a tax of 5 percent.

It's really the world's biggest, and there are no surprises.

Some natives sell their daughters as commodities, and they don't even let their families rent their wives as commodities to make money. "If you think the wife is good, you can rent her for a long time, or even buy her from her husband. But I think that the good place to rent a wife is to rent, you can rent if you want to, and you can immediately change the rent if you are tired. ”

Wang Li suddenly felt that this was so reasonable, and he was speechless for a while. He looked at the other companions, and found that several of them were a little eager to try, if it hadn't been for the haste of leaving this time, maybe these guys would have spent a dollar or two to rent a room here by now.

"Ali, these natives rent wives are all relatively young and beautiful, I think you can rent one too. When the imperial court has defeated Donghu, it will definitely be very lively here in the future, and our horse gang will definitely come here often in the future. Wouldn't it be nice to rent a house here and a wife here, and a family with a woman when you come? Anyway, even if you rent for a long time, it won't cost you a few dollars, and two or three silver dollars a year is enough, how cost-effective. ”

PS.5.15 "Starting Point" is raining red envelopes! Starting at 12 noon, grab a round every hour, and a large wave of 515 red envelopes depends on luck. You all go and grab it, and the starting coins you grabbed continue to subscribe to my chapters! (To be continued.) )