Baykov finally mentioned the whereabouts of Ablin, and the doubts that had been in place for many days also puzzled Barbatov! It stands to reason that Barbatov, who is also an old man, is still well aware of Ablin's ability, and he will definitely not lose his way on this old road. But the reality is that this guy has not been heard from now, which is really suspicious!

"This ...... Dear Lord Baykov, there is absolutely no problem with this path, I can assure Allah! All the fortresses, temples, mountains and lakes we saw along the way also proved the accuracy of our route. ”

Barbatov blinked his squinted eyes, and after a brief moment of thought, he gave a reason that facts speak louder than words, and became complacent about the sufficient reason he had finally found.

"As for why that Ablin guy hasn't shown up for a long time...... Perhaps it was this cunning profiteer who took the goods you gave him, or the precious goods that the Emperor Bogda exchanged for us, and went to make a fortune elsewhere. ”

Babatov lost no time in once again belittling the abilities and integrity of his countrymen in front of the nobles, in order to highlight his ability and loyalty.

"Okay. If it is as you say, when I meet the three stupid fellows of Ablin and Yaryzhkin, and Ivanov, I will definitely teach them a good lesson! ”

Baykov reluctantly chose to swallow his anger, but did not promise Barbatov any empty words about replacing Ablin and becoming the first Bukhara merchant in Tsarist Russia, as he had done a few days ago.

In his eyes, these Bukhara merchants were mercenary. Everyone is half a pound and eight taels, and they can definitely not be called loyal and reliable friends. They will be loyal only to gold coins and rubles, and on this premise, the powerful and wealthy and decisive Tsar will be their master. God knows that if Tsar Alesek had not had these two things, these Bukhara merchants would have been the first traitors to abandon him!

When the two accused Ablins and his party, how could they know that Aberin and his party had indeed "gone somewhere else" - in the direction of Lake Baikal! But it wasn't the Bukhara merchant who was greedy, but the one who worshiped Fyodor. Ivanov's stupidity led to the abandonment of an established "best route" to and from China, which both Babatov and Ablin had faithfully implemented.

In the seventeenth century, the Russians crossed the Ural Mountains and expanded eastward. Beijing was a key location for Russia's contacts with China during this period. It is not just a destination for Russian missions. And it is the main object of their "geographical exploration".

Before the Petrin Mission[1] went to Ming China, the Russians knew very little about China. Before Baykov's current mission to China, the world's accepted route from Europe to China was by sea. There are only two land routes: the first is from India to China. At that time, the Jesuits were the Mughals of India, and they learned about China. That's the way to go. The second land route was from Persia to China. There is no other way.

Fortunately, Petrin opened up a completely different route to China via Central Asia. To this day, Baykov wisely chose to be a companion of Bukhara merchants who had long been shuttling between Bukhara, the Mongol Taiji territory and the Chinese Bukhara merchants. Thus unwittingly opening up a clear Russian-Chinese "road of transport".

The route was entirely due to the contribution of the Bukhara people through the years of travel, that is, from Tobolsk, to the Irtysh River by flat-bottomed boat, first to the river called the Baishui River and the famous Yamesh salt lake not far from it, and then to the Oirats sphere of influence.

If everything goes according to the established route, they will first see a Kalmyk [i.e. Oirat] temple. In about a week, you will arrive at a lama temple. The lama temple has crop fields, which are cultivated by the Bukharas. After walking for half a month from the lama temple, you will arrive at the Beshka River. At the place where the Beshka River joins the Irtysh River, a city is being built, and the craftsmen are all from Chinese mainland [this is clearly recorded in the Manchu inscription materials of the Lifan Yuan] In fact, the so-called "city" refers to the "Abalai Monastery[2]".

Starting from the Beshka River, after half a month's journey, you can reach the "Temur Gyur Guo River". From then on, the south of the river became the pasture land of the Dzungar tribe, specifically the Dzungar Mongol Abalai [generally translated as "Abu Lai" in Russian] and the Ulus of Taiji [the division of the Mongol kings was called the Ulus, which was their nomadic land]. One of the most important iconic landmarks is the famous Jaisang Po[3]!

After that, they will pass through Mongolia to the beautiful Chinese city of Kukutun (the predecessor of Hohhot). Kukutun is located in the steppe outside the Saiwai and is an outpost against the Khalk Mongols, and it is two weeks walk from the city to Beijing.

"But only Heavenly Father knows where Ablin has gone now!" Baykov thought.

When his mission departed from Tobolsk, it consisted of fifteen men, except for Fyodor, a close minister appointed by the Tsar. Ivanov, Bukhara merchant Sheitkul of Tobolsk. Ablin, Cossack leader Peter. In addition to Yaryzhkin, there were also Barbatov, who was also a Bukhara merchant, and Orchushka, a Turkinsk merchant. Danilov, Tobolsk musketeers of fifty men Ivashka. Yufimev. Uschuzanin, as well as military service officer Mijka. Manover, Iwashka. Mamykin, Grishka. Prokshin, Grishka. Ilyin, as well as four other members of the military service.

In order to minimize the risk of failure on this trip, Baykov "cleverly" selected Ablin from among the two Bukhara merchants, and in addition to the three who volunteered Ivanov and Yaryzhkin, he was very "generous" and personally selected four people from the eight military personnel in charge of the escort, and accompanied Ablin as the leading team, and marched towards the city of Khan Bali [Beijing] for nearly half a year. Not only that, but Baykov also "generously" handed over a considerable part of the valuable gifts to the Bogda Emperor from the Tobolsk trade!

According to the agreement, the two teams should have reunited near "Jaisangbo" a month ago. For this purpose, Baykov even deliberately delayed his trip and delayed for a long time at the place of Abaraitaiji, in order to give Ablin enough time to trade with the Emperor Bogda. [According to the two texts of Baykov's later envoy to China published in the book "Russian Diplomatic Envoys in China" translated and published by the General Editorial Department of Oriental Literature of Science Publishing House in 1966, it is unknown why he was delayed for a long time in Mongolia during this period, leaving us with infinite room for reverie. According to this, Hongyi's arrangement can be regarded as something new, in fact, the truth of history has long been annihilated in the past and is unknown......] But seeing that the harsh winter is coming, Ablin and his party are still silent. In desperation, Baykov had no choice but to bid farewell to Abarai Taiji and continue eastward with his team.

But this hateful and cunning "unscrupulous man[4]", I really shouldn't have been so gullible in your abilities and loyalty! The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

(Chapter to be continued)

"A limerick poem. Hidden Head

Reading literature and reading history is only a long breath

I was saying that there was an opportunity back then

The layout is a long-cherished wish

It's hard to come and go

Get up and spend a hundred years

Point out the suffering and diseases of the world

The edge of the town was razed to the sea

Wen'an Wuding tears of joy

[1] In May 1618, Ivan Ivan Brown was the first to report the letter of Ivan . Petrin is the envoy, Andre. Madov was the deputy envoy and the attaché was Piatukka. Kizhelov and others were composed of the Russian mission -- the expedition team. Nikolai departed from Tomsk on May 9 and arrived in Beijing in September of the same year. The route and date of the trip mentioned in Petrin's "Records of Observations and Experiences" are: 10 days of cycling from Tomsk (12 days in the Moscow version) to the Kyrgyz region; From there, it takes six days to reach the Abakan River; From there, it took nine days to reach the Kemzik River; From there, ride for three days to reach a large lake (i.e., Ubusu Lake); After walking for 15 days along the Tes River, which flows into the lake from the east, and reaching the upper reaches of the river, he met Altan Khan. After that, they continued their travels in the Mongol region, passing through the Ulus, the domain of many princes and princes, and the khanates, known individually as khanates. In Mongolia, they finally passed through the cities of Bansheng and Labin. Bansheng is the naturalization of the Ming Dynasty. , today's call for hot. It is difficult to find out what city is now. I only know that the next stop is Zhangjiakou due east, so Labin City should be east of Hohhot and west of Zhangjiakou. From the time they entered the Altan Khanate, Petrin and his entourage walked for more than 40 days before entering the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

[2] "Abalai Monastery" is the famous temple "Irtysh Temple" in the Mongolian region of Xinjiang. Construction of the temple began in 1644 and was established in 1657. At that time, the name of Chokyi, who presided over the temple, was Darhan, so sometimes this temple is called "Darhan Choji Temple". In fact, this temple was built in the Irtysh River valley by one of the leaders of the Oirat Mongol and Shute tribes, Abarai Taiji, who donated a huge amount of money. Therefore, it is commonly known in the annals as "Abalai Monastery" or "Irtysh Monastery". According to historical records, its name is "Punchuk but into the forest", "he has two large Buddhist temples, both of which are built with bricks (painted with lime)", there are many colleges in the temple, and there are thousands of lamas and monks in the heyday. It covers an area of about 10,000 square meters and is located at the confluence of the Irtysh and Beshg rivers. Destroyed in 1757. Currently, the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk is being built in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan.

[3] Jaisangbo, a Jaisanghu, Mongolian "Jaisang Naoer". The word Jaisan is a Mongolian language, meaning the official title of the ancient Mongolian people, and is now located in the center of the Zaisan Basin in eastern Kazakhstan, at the western foot of the Altai Mountains, through which the Irtysh River flows. In October 1864, China and Russia signed the Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary, and Russia used diplomatic fraud to misinterpret the relevant contents of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Beijing and the threat of force, and cut off 440,000 square kilometers of land east and south of Lake Balkhash and north and south of Zaisangnaur. After the establishment of the Soviet Union, the lake area was assigned to Kazakhstan to this day.

[4] The term "non-stabbing people" is a general term for the Muslim immigrants who lived in Central Asia or East Turkestan at the time. In seventeenth-century Russia, these people belonged to the freedmen of market towns. (To be continued......)