On June 17, a delegation of more than 30 Manchuria arrived in Xin'an (present-day Ulan-Ude, Russia), where they planned to rest for a few days and wait for the rain to subside, and then continued their journey to Zhongjing (present-day Chita, Russia), the capital of the Bohai Kingdom.

As the summer begins, the rain begins to increase, making the entire mission difficult. And this is also a common problem in Beihai and even the entire Lingbei region. Flooded rain often makes roads very muddy, which can be a disaster for transportation.

In this era, whether it is the Liaodong region (referring to the entire northeast) in the territory of Daqin, or the Lingbei region, winter is the busy season for traffic in various places, and ice and snow tools such as sleds and plows are constantly coming and going, transporting a large number of materials to various places, effectively promoting exchanges between various places.

In winter, it only takes about ten days to travel from Shin'an to Zhongjing with a dog plow, which can be described as a god's speed, and some people even say that in winter, it only takes about five or six weeks to get from Boli City to Krasnyarburg (now Krasnoyarsk), the stronghold of the Yenisei River of the Rakshasas, and it takes only five or six weeks to arrive by climbing the plow, which is much faster than in summer, which cannot but make people very surprised.

Of course, the cold weather in winter is a very serious challenge for transportation, especially in extreme snowstorms, and if you are not careful, it is likely to swallow up a whole convoy of people rushing on the snow and turn it into ice sculptures in the wild.

However, fortunately, with the support of Qi and Beiming, the Bohai State also introduced many flat-bottomed galleys, which carried out segmented transportation in various rivers under the condition that the rivers could be navigable in summer and autumn, and could barely support the transportation requirements of materials and personnel within the territory. In some Jingqili River and Heilongjiang River basins with wide rivers and better navigation conditions, there are even a few small inland steamers made by Qi running back and forth in the river.

"Oh boy, that ship is still smoking!" Cen Tai, the leader of the Yellow Banner of Manchuria, set up a pergola with his hands, looking at a small steamer full of all kinds of materials, and there was a roaring sound with a thick smoke, and he couldn't help but be stunned for a while.

The boat had no sails, no oars, and no slendermen, as if it had run in the river on its own!

His grandmother's couldn't have imagined that a barbarian country like Bohai would have such an artifact.

It took a lot of effort to get this 250-ton small steamer to the Beihai area, mainly responsible for the turnover and transportation of materials and personnel near the Beihai, and traveled through the Selenga River, the Beihai, and the Angara River, which greatly improved the transportation efficiency of the region.

"The ship was supposed to be powered by a steam engine, and the smoke coming out of it was also formed by the burning of coals by the machine." The chief envoy of the Manchurian Mission, Sibeile Yinzhen (the fourth master Yongzheng of later generations) still has some knowledge, through the hazy rain and mist, watching the small steamer gradually disappear at the end of the field of vision, sighed slightly, and said: "It is said that in the Jiangnan and Shandong provinces of the Qin State, there is a kind of big iron ox driven by a steam engine, carrying tens of millions of stone goods, on the laid rails, galloping day and night, hundreds of miles can be done morning and evening, and the end is a militaristic weapon. Moreover, the Qin State was building a railway from the Central Plains to the northwest. Once it is done, the Qin State will be even more powerful when it conquers the northwest. In this way, whether it is Dzungaria or our Manchuria, we may face a situation of exhaustion, and the future is unpredictable! ”

"Lord Belle, it is not surprising that the Qin State can rely on its huge population size and continuous financial resources to force Dzungaria and our Manchuria to the northwest corner, and we will not lose unjustly." Cen Tai watched several Bohai officials greeted them with oilcloth umbrellas surrounded by a team of heavily armed soldiers, with a little disdain at the corner of his mouth, and said with hatred: "But you said that these traitors in Bohai, with thousands of people, can make such a momentum in just a few decades after rebelling against my Qing Dynasty, which is really unacceptable." …… His grandmother's, isn't it shit luck! ”

"Silence!" Yin Zhen glared at Cen Tai, then straightened his clothes, squeezed out a smile, and hurried towards the Bohai officials who rushed over.

"Your envoy is coming to visit, are you going to join our Bohai State on behalf of your Manchurian Department?" Su Tu, the commander of the Bohai State in Xin'an, raised his chin and asked arrogantly.

"......" When Yinzhen heard this, he immediately smiled, clasped his hands into fists, arched his hand in the direction of Kobdo, and said solemnly: "I am ordered by the Great Khan of my family to send an envoy to your country, which is to make friends and help each other, not to pay tribute as a vassal and surrender to the Bohai Sea. I'm afraid this Lord Metropolitan has misunderstood. ”

"Really?" Su Tu smilingly swept around the Manchurian mission personnel who all showed indignation, and sneered, "Dzungaria is about to be defeated, and all the Khalkha tribes are attached to the Qin State, and you Manchuria are cowering in the land of Kobdo, with only a few thousand soldiers and less than tens of thousands of people. ”

"It's better to be broken than to be complete!" Yin Zhen said in a deep voice: "My Manchurian tribes, although the population is scarce, the army is not strong, and the output of the land of Kobdo is also limited, but if you want to make Manchuria bow and bow to others, then even if you step on the corpses of tens of thousands of men of our clan, you will never be able to force me to surrender to Manchuria!" ”

"You love Xinjue Luo, I'm afraid there will only be a hard mouth!"

"What this Lord Metropolitan says and does, but on behalf of the lord of your country?" Yin Zhen's face had sunk, and the other party's aggressive attitude made him feel a little cool in his heart.

This Bohai country is still jealous of the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty for punishing its founding lord Sha Erhu Damanmen?

Of course, at that time, in addition to the killing of Shaerhu Damanmen, all the generals and soldiers who betrayed our Qing Dynasty with him were severely punished, the adult men of the family who remained in Beijing and Shengjing were beheaded, and the women and children were also reduced to slavery.

This domineering Bohai capital thought that he was the rebellious descendant of those years, so he spoke disrespectfully to our Manchurian mission and sneered at it to the fullest.

If the whole Bohai country has such an attitude, then the prospects of this envoy may be very bad!

"Hehe...... don't blame you, what Su Tu Dutong said is slightly biased, so naturally he can't represent the lord of my family." Chen Shiyang, the prefect of Xin'an, took a step forward, snorted a haha, and said in a harmonious voice: "It is raining here, and your mission will take a carriage with us and go to the city to settle down and rest first." When the sky clears, our Bohai State will definitely send someone to escort the mission to Zhongjing to meet the head of my family. ”

"You're a lady." Yin Zhen nodded, and he was relieved.

"Four Baylors, there are Qi people." After boarding the carriage, Ortai, the deputy envoy of the mission and the blue-flag capital, approached Yinzhen and whispered.

"I see it." Yin Zhen replied expressionlessly.

The iconic big cap, navy blue military uniform, beautiful ribbon, eye-catching epaulette collar flower, this outfit can be recognized at a glance as a soldier of the Qi State.

Before the envoy, the Manchurians also knew that behind the Bohai State were the Qi people, relying on the sophisticated firearms provided by the other party, all the way from Heilongjiang to Beihai, and then took advantage of the situation to establish this Bohai State.

Push forward a few decades, if it weren't for the many obstructions and constraints of the Qi State in many ways, I would have swept away the rebel forces in various parts of the mainland one by one early in the morning, completely unified the Central Plains, and established the Qing Dynasty for 10,000 years.

Who would have thought that I had been in charge of the Central Plains for decades in the Qing Dynasty, but I was finally overturned by the puppet Qin, so that I fell short and had to travel far to the northwest to survive.

It can be said that Qi is the biggest sufferer of my Qing Dynasty, and it is the main culprit of my Qing Dynasty's defeat!

So, how much influence will Qi have on the foreign policy of the Bohai State?

Will they prevent the Bohai State from interacting with our Manchuria and helping each other and helping each other? ——

On the evening of July 3, the Manchurian delegation arrived at Meihebao (present-day the town of Shylock) and prepared to rest overnight.

It was a settlement located in a river bend, and on the south side of the fort was a small river that flowed and naturally became known as the Mei River (present-day Siberian Shilok River).

Meihebao was a small settlement of the local tribes, but because it was located on the main road between east and west, it was brought under the direct jurisdiction of the Bohai local government, and officials and soldiers were stationed to manage the tribes and households in the area and surrounding areas.

There are less than 200 families here, and most of them are immigrants, except for forty or fifty who are local Fiyaka. In fact, from the type of houses in the village, we can judge the obvious differences between them.

Because, most of the houses of those immigrants are relatively regular, and the materials are also mixed with rammed earth and wood, and the overall layout has courtyards, ear rooms, utility rooms and livestock sheds, and there are all kinds of vegetables planted in front of and behind the houses, which is a typical Central Plains farmhouse.

The houses inhabited by the local Fiyaka people consisted of tents made of birch bark, branches, planks and leather. Against the wall of the tent lay a large warm plank, which was heated by the chimney of the stove; In the middle of the tent, between the four pillars, there is a high platform on which the dog sleeps.

Yinzhen even saw a month-old cub tied to a pillar in the large open space in the tent, which seemed to be caught by the owner for fun. Under the canopy there were wooden poles to hang clothes and all sorts of rags, and on either side of the door at the entrance to the tent were stoves with pots on which the Fiyaka would cook for their families and for their dogs.

Each family had a small storehouse, erected high on a pillar near the river, which stored fish, wild fruits, vegetable roots, and animal oil, as well as a small amount of grain, which were their main foods. The dried fish should have been the main food of the Fiyaka people, just like the bread of the Europeans, the rice or the bread of the Central Plains.

The tents and their attached utility rooms were the main household belongings of the Fiyaka, but they had almost nothing and no large livestock – mainly no experience in keeping livestock.

These Fiyaka people made a living from hunting, hunting for furs and meat, which they exchanged for other necessities of life through local farmers and itinerant traders.

It can be seen that these Fiyaka people are very content with their current lives. A few years ago, they were in great demand for grain and salt for their daily lives, not to mention the various "sacred things" brought by the merchants of Qi and Beiming: sugar, tobacco, spirits, biscuits, canned fruits, canned fish and other luxury goods. In recent years, with the increasing trade and trade in the Lingbei area, luxury goods such as these have become widely popular in the region. Not only do these Fiyaka people who have not seen the "advanced civilization" like it, but even the Rakshasas further west love it, but it is a pity that these things are limited to long-distance transportation, and the price is expensive, and it is really painful to enjoy.

The arrival of Yinzhen and his party aroused the curiosity of the inhabitants of the fort, but when some of the immigrants from Qin and Korea learned that they were Manchurians, they immediately took a very unfriendly stance. Even, there was no shortage of people who cursed in a low voice, and the reprimands such as "dog Tartar", "Jiannu", and "Pseudo-Qing remnants" were incessant, which made the Manchurian mission personnel feel a little embarrassed in addition to indignation.

These are all sins created by their ancestors when they invaded the Central Plains decades ago!

Fortunately, those Feiyaka people are relatively simple and honest, and they are also willing to respond to Yinzhen's initiative to talk and understand the local people's livelihood, and they also take out dried fish and dried fruits very hospifully to entertain them.

However, the information they can provide is crude or incomprehensible, such as the fact that they can only gesture their fingers when expressing the harvest of their homes, and then proudly point to the grain and furs stored in their homes, and when asked how far from Chukyo is here, they cannot accurately describe it in words, but only draw a few bars on wooden boards with charcoal blocks, indicating how many nights they need to sleep on the way to a certain place by riding a horse (deer), riding a sleigh, or rowing a boat.

As for the local customs, what specialties they have, what the weather is like, and what other tribes they have, they are at a loss, or they know in their hearts but can't express them in detail in Chinese, which makes Yinzhen also confused after talking, and he doesn't know why.

These people, looking extremely majestic, are also very athletic, and they are definitely good hands in the army, comparable to my Manchurian Eight Banners Bayala. In those years, when I settled in the Central Plains of the Qing Dynasty, in order to supplement the shortage of the Eight Banners, I organized troops to go deep into the Ussuri River and Heilongjiang many times to capture the Evenks and Oroqen people there and incorporate them into the Eight Banners of Manchuria. Those people are the same as the Feiyaka people in front of them, they are strong in combat, they are not very afraid of death, and they are definitely the best soldiers (cannon fodder). But they are brave, but the level of civilization and productivity is too low.

However, it seems that the Bohai Kingdom is trying to naturalize and tame these "wild people", there is a school in the fortress, although Yinzhen did not go in to see it in person, but when he got out of school at night, he found many Feiyaka children, running out of it with those Han and Korean children, and playing in the streets.

It is said that under the guidance of the advisors of the Qi State, the government of the Bohai State used to come to the caravan as an intermediary and established a simple post station communication system, which collected the local people's livelihood customs and tribal events from various colonies and military strongholds, and then passed them to the nearest towns, and finally gathered them one by one in Zhongjing, the capital of the kingdom, and presented them to the King of Bohai and the cabinet ministers as the basis for governance.

The dozens of Bohai officers and soldiers accompanying the escort mission did not prevent them from communicating with the locals, and did not seem to mind that they Manchurians were probing the truth of their country in this way, and there was a hint of contempt for them in their eyes.

Also, since the establishment of the Bohai State decades ago, they have been in a state of continuous expansion, relying on sharp firearms and superior military scale, the Rakshasa people from the Heilongjiang River valley all the way to the Yenisei River valley, occupying this extremely vast territory.

It can be said that the Bohai State has almost no competitors in the Lingbei region, and with the support of the Qi State and the Northern Ming Dynasty, they will use more effort to gradually clean up the tribal peoples under their rule, consolidate the foundation of domestic rule, develop the economy and people's livelihood, and always maintain an army that can fight well, then it will not be difficult for them to finally eat this land with an area of millions of square kilometers. It's just a matter of taking more time. Ten or twenty years is not enough, then forty years and fifty years, without being disturbed, the Bohai State can slowly digest the territory it occupies, so as to stand tall in the north of the mainland.

But the question is, can the Bohai State really develop smoothly and steadily without being disturbed?

These Feiyaka people, who have lived in the dense forests of Lingbei for thousands of years, have inevitably been involved in the changing regional situation under the influence of the surging general trend of the world, and the Bohai State is dominating the north and looking at the Central Plains, how can it be spared?

When the Qin State defeated the Dzungaria and conquered the northwest frontier, their eyes would inevitably shift to the north, at that time, how could the Qin State tolerate the emergence of such a powerful country on the northern side.

"Perhaps, in the face of the common threat of Qin, we in Manchuria and Bohai can join hands with each other to establish a military alliance to some extent in order to cope with future changes." Yin Zhen thought to himself.

(End of chapter)