The wooden bridge across the creek has a beautiful name called "Rainbow Bridge", and it looks particularly strong because it looks like it has just been built with wooden planks that have not been built for a long time, and the bridge is covered with a thick layer of mud and cinders.

The head of the bridge has a tall wooden stake with several wooden signs nailed to it;

Northern; It is 77 kilometers from Linyi Town, 220 kilometers from Jinan Town, 1078 kilometers from Cairns and 1949 kilometers from Cape York.

Orient; 84 km from the coast.

Western; It is 117 km away from Shepherd's Valley.

The top wooden sign reads;

A long journey is not a scenery of life, I wish you a happy journey.

The signs are simply written with a brush, but they are written in both Chinese and English, and the content is detailed and intimate.

Old Mack pressed his horsewhip upwards against his wide-brimmed cowboy hat, and looked at the north with deep eyes, and became more confident about the future.

He used to be the mayor of Pine Tree Town, and he has long accepted the administrative orders of the Red River Valley, and you can see the administrative style of the Red River Valley from this simple sign, which is intimate, meticulous and warm, with a strong human touch.

The development of the north is an economic development policy promoted by the Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, Li Fushou, and the Red River Valley is deeply involved, with investment from the Red River Valley accounting for the majority of the construction of more than a dozen new towns in the north along the planned railway line.

It is unthinkable for Queensland's finances to build a dozen new towns at once, and to be honest, they can't afford to come up with that much money.

To drive a development of this magnitude, it is necessary to rely on the Earl of Queensland, a wealthy farmer.

Night falls

The sky was shining brightly, and a campfire was lit up in the camp next to the stream, and the light of the fire illuminated the herdsmen sitting around the campfire.

A large pot of creamy potato soup was simmered on the campfire, and a bowl of warm meat was drunk at night, and Mai Guangtian used a sharp knife to separate the roast lamb and busily filled everyone's plate with a portion.

Marimin carefully flipped the roasted hares on the campfire, these were the two hares he had brought in the afternoon, which had been roasted on the bonfire, and he was carefully sprinkling salt and cumin.

Ma Ming's wife brought him a bowl of hot soup, and Ma Ming took it and took a sip and said; "The soup tastes great, everyone wait a while, and the hare will be roasted in no time."

"Come over for a drink, man."

"Come on, right away."

Everyone sat around the campfire, eating mutton, drinking wine and having fun, and Mike sat at the top of the fire, took the large piece of roast lamb handed by his eldest daughter, and took a big bite of the hot meat, and ate it with oil.

There were more than 20 people in the group, both men and women, old and young, and everyone enjoyed the warm atmosphere of this moment.

"Old man, come and taste this wine, it's strong."

"What kind of wine is this?"

"Huh...... The sweet potato dry wine made by Chinese friends with sweet potatoes is really strong. Hudson smiled and handed it over.

Old Mike took it and opened the wine bag, a spicy smell of wine immediately came up, he did not hesitate to take a big sip of the wine bag, and then let out a long sip of wine, and his face was visibly red.

Nine out of ten cowboys are drunkards, spirits can drive away the cold of the night wilderness, and the climate in north-central Australia is warm, but the winter climate is also very cold, with snow falling every year in the windy areas of New South Wales and Victoria.

These places are also the most pastureable and developed areas, where cowboys graze cattle and sheep all year round, and spirits and rifles are the best companions, and Old Mac is no exception.

"It's really hard, I like this wine, it's the kind of liquor that a man in the wilderness should drink." Old Mac praised, but quietly covered the wine bag.

Zhao Qishan, who was sitting on the side, didn't speak when he saw this, just ate and laughed, he knew that this was a very high degree of dried sweet potato wine, which had not been blended at all, and it was very rare to drink it in such a big sip without a foreign appearance.

He has no intention of exposing Hudson's shenanigans, which is a friendship between old fellows.

"Zhao, don't just look at it, come and taste this spirit, I can guarantee that you will be very impressed." Hudson was still unsatisfied and wanted to pull Zhao Qishan into the water.

Zhao Qishan took out a delicate tin wine jug from his arms, opened it, poured it and handed it to Old Mike, and said with a smile; "Stop playing, Hudson, I don't want to go crazy with you because of the burning of such a strong drink."

"Hey...... Zhao, I know that this time Lord Earl has expanded the strength of two divisions, and many of your old fellows of the Dragoon Guard have been promoted, don't you want to go back? Hudson withdrew his leather wine bag, tightened it and tossed it aside, and took another flask from his bosom and drank it comfortably.

"Forget it, I have a wife and children, and I am no longer suitable for a career as a horseman, I just want to live a peaceful and stable life."

"I don't believe it's your heart, you're still young...... Man, don't tell me any nonsense about reluctance to have a family, don't officers have families? ”

"I can't bear to leave Susan, and my daughter is still young."

"Man, you're not afraid of war, are you?" Hudson's question was abrupt.

Zhao Qishan knew that this old guy didn't have any scheming, and he had always had a straight temper, so he didn't get angry, and said with a faint smile; "We now have such a good life, all thanks to the blessing of the earl, I Zhao Qishan is a person who knows gratitude, as long as the earl gives an order, immediately ride a horse and bring a gun to the battlefield, go to the soup and fire, do not hesitate, not just I think so, we veterans of the cavalry guard all think like this, sell this life to the earl...... It's worth it, if I'm lucky enough to come back alive, I just want to spend the rest of my life quietly with Susan and my daughter. ”

The blazing bonfire reflected Zhao Qishan's solemn face, he was not chatting, but expressing his chest directly.

If there is such a day, I hope my wife's family can understand!

Nowadays, the tense situation of confrontation between the north and the south can be seen by anyone with a discerning eye; from last year, the southern extension of the coastal railway was frequently attacked by horse bandits, and several construction sites were killed and injured, and the "Queensland Public Newspaper" repeatedly denounced the southern states for inaction, rampant political and business corruption, and collusion between officials and bandits, and sat idly by while tragedies occurred one after another.

New South Wales and Victoria have successively promulgated bills prohibiting the circulation of Huitong golden tickets, and incidents of deportation and oppression of immigrants have occurred frequently, and there have even been dozens of vicious incidents of openly snatching the property of immigrants and burning houses.

Susan walked over holding her two-year-old daughter's hand and sat quietly beside Zhao Qishan's lap, she didn't say anything, just silently supported her husband with this kind of action.

No matter what decision Zhao Qishan makes, no matter how long he has to wait, Susan will always support him.

"Zhao, marrying my daughter to you is the most correct decision in my life." Old Michael threw the sheep bone in his hand into the campfire, wiped his greasy hands on Hudson's body, and said with satisfaction; "Although I am of English descent, I have never been to that ghost place in my life, and I have never enjoyed the grace of the British Empire, my father came to this barren continent as prisoners, and there is no noble Earl, and Old Mac will not have his own cattle and sheep and pastures, and there will be no honor of superior class and my lovely granddaughter, so no matter what those damned Southerners say, as long as the Earl gives an order, Old Mac will also ride his horse and bring a gun to fight, Hudson, are you going?"

"Hahaha...... Count me in. Hudson laughed, raised the flask to sign, and then took a large sip of wine, which ran down his golden beard, and said with his hand absently; I don't have as much reason as you, I just can't get used to the Southerners, right...... Old Mike, what does your granddaughter have to do with Lord Earl? ”

This sudden question made Old Mike stunned, he just said it so casually, and now that he thinks about it, there is really a problem, and he can't help laughing.

Ma Folk came over with the thick sticks of roasting hares in both hands, pulled off two fat rabbit thighs and gave them to old Michael and Hudson, and said a word as he left; "Say hello when you go, count me in, I don't think the Southerners are happy."

Everyone in front of the campfire looked at each other with pride, and in this quiet night, laughter and laughter drifted far away, bringing a different kind of life to this empty wasteland.

A few days later

Linyi Town

It is a newly built town with only a few hundred residents, almost all of whom are Chinese immigrants, many of whom were left behind by workers who built roads, and most of the houses here are two-story Ming and Qing dynasty style wooden buildings with high ridges and eaves.

Not surprisingly, Linyi Town has the same equipment as all other new townships; A Fook Lin Mun Hotel, a Huitong Bank office, a wool buying station, an Australian telegraph company office, a Carrefour department store.

Carrefour Department Store is a subsidiary of the Red River Valley Industrial Corporation and deals in a variety of daily commodities and non-staple foodstuffs, including kerosene, gas canisters and stoves, as well as long and short guns, weapons and ammunition.

Today, Carrefour department stores have dozens of stores, in every city and town, and are popular for their complete range of products and reasonable prices.

Zhao Qishan and Ma Limin rode to the town and stayed in the wasteland for more than ten days, and they wanted to buy a lot of things to bring back.

"Hey...... Man, where are you from? ”

"Hello, Mr. Mounted Police, we are cowboys heading to Qingdao Town, and there are large herds of cattle and sheep grazing not far from here, and we need to buy something."

"Do you have identification?"

"Yes."

Zhao Qishan and Ma Limin handed over their identification documents one after another, and the Chinese Royal Mounted Police who stopped on the road took it and flipped it over, and immediately showed a respectful look on their faces, and saluted; "Hello old sir!"

"How...... Are you also a veteran? Zhao Qishan took back his ID card and asked casually.

"Yes, old sir, I am a soldier of the 79-year wolf cavalry guard, and I have just been assigned here shortly after I was discharged from the army, two years later than you."

"Huh...... What's your name, isn't it an expansion today, why are you wolf cavalry guards still discharged on time? ”

"Report to the old chief, my name is Wu Xiaoshan, our wolf cavalry guards follow their personal wishes and go to stay voluntarily, didn't I have a family for me!"

"Oh......"

Zhao Qishan suddenly realized, now nothing is important to get married, what should you do if you don't come back to get married, the bride is robbed?

He patted Wu Xiaoshan's shoulder with deep sympathy and said with a smile; "That's right...... Why do I have to check my ID when I go in and out of town now? ”

"You don't know, old sir......"

"Don't ...... I have retired from the Dragoon Guard, my name is Zhao Qishan, everyone used to be the Pao Ze brothers, you can call me Brother Zhao. ”

"Well, that's okay, Brother Zhao, I want to remind you, recently our Linyi Town is unstable here, there are always small groups of horse bandits running around committing crimes, and I only have 4 RCMP in the town, so it's very difficult to deal with it, so we have already reported to the upper peak, but where can we catch up at a time or two, we can only be careful to take precautions."