One hundred and ten years later, Tsarist Russia and the former Soviet Union no longer existed, and the Sarykol Ridge became an undefined border between China and Tajikistan.

Beginning in 1997, China and Tajikistan held many talks on the territorial issue of the Pamirs, and in 2002, the president of Tajikistan came to China and decided to return to China about 1,000 square kilometers of land in the former Soviet-controlled areas, part of which is located in the mountainous part of the Sarykole Mountains.

After the agreement was reached, the personnel of China and Tajikistan began to survey the boundary along the Sarykole Ridge. However, in the summer of 2004, the Chinese boundary surveyors encountered a strange snowstorm.

According to the agreement between China and Tajikistan, the national boundary demarcated this time is located on the western side of the Sarekole Ridge. This belongs to the Gobi Mountains on the plateau, except for the barren mountains, that is, the barren sand and stones, looking around, in addition to the blue sky, is the endless gravel.

Of course, if you look to the east, you can see a stretch of white icebergs standing majestically in the distance, which is the Muztag Peak, which is known as the "father of icebergs".

With an altitude of more than 7,000 meters, Muztagh Peak is known as the "Three Pamirs" together with the nearby Gonger Peak and Gonger Jiubie Peak. There is a place called Karasu not far from the bottom of the Muztag Peak, and the area to the west of Karasu is called Kolemai, and there is a lake called Langkuli Lake to the west of Kolemai, and the place where the boundary is surveyed is on the mountain between the east shore of Langkuli Lake and Kolemai.

There was a young man in the boundary survey team, his name was Lin Shan, a student at the University of Geosciences, who had just graduated and was assigned to the boundary survey team, responsible for surveying and mapping work, and carrying a total station or theodolite all day long.

Lin Shan was also an active athlete when he was in college, and he liked to climb mountains and play extreme sports, so for others, surveying the boundary on the deserted plateau was a chore, but he was like a fish in water and never tired of it.

The boundary survey is a matter of two countries, so there are both Chinese and Tajikistan people in the boundary survey team. Although the two countries have signed an agreement, the implementation is different in practice.

What's more, only the boundary points are described in the boundary survey agreement, and as for how to connect the two boundary points, whether they follow a straight line, or according to the direction of a mountain range, or according to a river basin, or according to historical settlements, the members of the boundary survey team need to analyze, argue, and even report to solve the problem.

Therefore, the literal agreement was signed, but in the actual survey, there was still a situation where every inch of land was contested.

On this day, the task faced by the survey team was to start from the previous pillar and then identify and install the next one.

It's also the job they have to face every morning when they wake up.

The last pillar was located on the top of an unnamed mountain at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and under the joint witness of the personnel of the two countries, the survey team pierced through the stones, buried the cement piles, and sealed them with concrete, and then the personnel of the two countries respectively inlaid their respective national emblems on both sides of the boundary pillars.

As for the next pillar, the latitude and longitude are specified in detail in the agreement, but the actual connection from this landmark to the next boundary marker needs to be confirmed by the boundary surveyors of the two countries and drawn on the map.

As you know, the so-called mountain ranges are not actually connected in one vein, the kind where the peaks of each mountain are connected in a line, and many mountain ranges will form many branches when walking, and these branches may be able to distinguish on Google Maps, but if you stand in the mountains, when you are surrounded by mountains, you can't tell which mountain is the main vein and which mountain is the branch.

I don't know the true face of Lushan, only because I am in this mountain.

This verse is just right.

So soon, from the previous landmark to the next landmark, the survey teams of the two countries had different opinions.

There is a hill between the two landmarks.

It is said to be a small mountain, but it is only relative to the surrounding mountains, in fact, this mountain is also more than 3,000 meters above sea level, much higher than the famous Wuyue, and even higher than Wutai Mountain and Emei Mountain.

Before the arrival of the Chinese boundary survey team, the border survey team of Tajikistan had already walked here once, and they naturally marked this nameless mountain into their own territory.

However, after the Chinese team arrived, through the analysis of the text of the agreement, plus aerial photographs, and contour analysis, it was believed that this nameless mountain should belong to China.

"If you look at the agreement carefully, it is clearly written - 'go roughly southwest along the ridgeline of an unnamed mountain range', the highest ridge of the ridge is called the ridgeline, and the mountain under our feet is to the west, and it is higher than the nameless mountain, so this is the ridgeline, and that mountain belongs to China." The captain of the Chinese side emphasized.

"Pint, pinch (Russian: no)!" The captain of the tower shook his head vigorously, "That mountain is high, and that mountain is the ridgeline!" ”

"You see, this is a picture taken by our aerial camera, and this is the height analyzed by the system! The mountain at our feet is 3203.23 meters above sea level, and the unnamed mountain in the east is 3199.98 meters above sea level, and this side is the main mountain ridge. The Chinese captain argued with reason.

"The machine is not reliable. We went up and measured it ourselves, and the height of the mountain was 3,205 meters, which is higher than this mountain. Captain Tafang shook his head from the sight of the mountain, and Lin Shan suspected that he would be more hypoxic if he continued to shake like this, and he would faint on the hillside.

The Chinese captain is named Zhang Jianwen, and the Tajik captain is surnamed Shorukh. The two of them often fight for blushing and thick necks at work, but when they don't talk about work, they see the sky in the tent and drink with their fists.

Shorouch also learned some Chinese, he called Zhang Jianwen "Lao Zhang", and Zhang Jianwen also called him "Lao Shao".

"Lao Shao, aren't you? What age is it now, and surveying and mapping technology is not a hundred years ago. We have satellites overhead, and drones around us – our drones are imported from Germany, and the measuring instruments on them are also the most advanced. It doesn't matter if you don't believe me, you have to believe in science! ”

"Pinch, pinch!" Lao Shao continued to shake his head, "I believe in science, but I don't believe in instruments, especially these instruments are yours, even satellites are yours." Tajikistan is too small and does not have satellites. ”

"Do you think I can't fool you with fake data?" Zhang Jianwen was immediately anxious, although he has a "Wen" in his name, he has been eating on the Gobi in the mountains for a long time, and he has long been less gentle.

"No chickens (Russian curses)! What are you yelling at me! Lao Shao was also anxious.

"I'll go to your grandma's house, I'm suspicious all day long, and I'm scolding! You came to my tent last night and drank my Ili Daqu again! Eat my luncheon meat again! Eat my two buckets of instant noodles too! As soon as you wake up in the morning, you suspect that I lied to you! If you don't have two chickens, you don't have two chickens in your brain! Zhang Jianwen squirted at him, and then said to the translator, "Translate it truthfully for me!" Don't tamper with me! ”

As a result, before the translator could speak, Lao Shao seemed to have understood.

"Ni nag a soldier drop!" Lao Shao also refuted it in non-standard Tianjin dialect.

"You old man, you scold me! Spit out my Ili Daqu! Eat my instant noodles every day! Spit it out too! ”

The translator said to Lao Shao, and Lao Shao's eyes widened.