Xinshun 1730

Chapter 53 Choice
In the camp on the banks of the Heilongjiang River, Liu Yu was staring at the captured Russians.

In order to get more credit in this war, it can be said to be exhausting.You have to use some skills, and a frontal attack is definitely useless.

On the memorial sent back, he vaguely stated that he was going to do something big, which could be regarded as a vaccination for the emperor in advance.Whether it will work or not, you will only know if you try it.

The grass stalks he was chewing and playing in his mouth had lost the slightest smell of green grass. He spit out the saliva mixed with grass clippings and green water, pointed to a Russian boy by the fire in the distance and asked the old man beside him, "Who is that?" What do you call the one with chicken-papa-colored hair?"

"Mikhail, or Michael, Michael... just the name of the archangel. He is an intern who came out with Bering. Why do you ask him?"

"Nothing. Ask him to borrow something."

The old man turned his head to look at Mikhail, and said curiously: "What can he lend to the adults? Maps and the like have been taken away by the adults."

Liu Yu stretched out a finger, scratched his neck, and said with a smile: "Isn't there a head on the neck? It can be borrowed and used. You go, take the vice-captain of the expedition team, not the first officer. , it was the deputy captain of the Rakshasa who called over."

The old-fashioned way went away, not knowing why.

Along the way, Liu Yu was observing these captured Russians.It was discovered that this young man named Mikhail seemed to have a good relationship with the vice-captain named Alexey Chelikov, and the two often murmured without knowing what to say.

The composition of this expedition is interesting.

The captain and the first mate on board are both foreigners, and the vice-captain is a Russian, half of them are accomplished explorers and cartographers; half of them are intern boys.

Vice-captain Chelikov was by the fire at this time, eagerly looking forward to the boiling of the water in the teapot in front of him.

In Chelikov's eyes, the Khitan officer on the opposite side is still very generous.The Khitan officer did not confiscate the copper kettle produced by the Tula Arsenal where he boiled water, but continued to let them use it.

Tea cakes, which can only be drunk in the upper class of Russia, are just rations after meals in this Khitan expedition.Chelikov and others also got some.

The summer on the bank of Heilongjiang is not warm, and the grass leaves are always wet at night. Drinking a pot of tea at this time is simply a kind of enjoyment.

The captured life was not as bad as imagined, but Chelikov kept trying to escape.

Those Danes, Swedes, and Khitans offered them a high price, and promised to send them back on a Dutch ship in the south if they had the opportunity.

Only these Russians, the attitude of the leader of the Khitan expedition has never been clear.Chelikov wondered if these Khitans had already declared war on Russia?
There are a lot of rumors in the team.

Some people suspect that the Khitan Khan wants to learn from the Byzantines and form a Varangian guard, so they should not think about returning to Russia in this life.Surely they would be sent to their capital, clothed in silk, as the Varangian guards of the Khitan Khan.

Some people say convincingly that in the era of the Mongols, the Mongolian Khan also had a Russian guard stationed in Beijing.

For this speculation, the Russians in the team were mixed.

Some people think that if the Great Khan of Khitan allows them to continue to practice their orthodox religion, then it would be fine to stay in Khitan as Varangian guards.If you really have silk clothes to wear and tea to drink every day...

Some people believed that they might be captured by these Khitans and returned to the capital, stripped naked, with feathers stuck to their buttocks, and paraded through the streets of the capital.Or, like the Ottoman sultans, castrate them as court eunuchs.Most people are terrified of this possibility, but there are one or two people who think it’s okay. They are castration believers who believe that childbirth itself is original sin, and castration can end sin and go to heaven after death.

For that vast China with rich legends, these Russians can only use the Ottomans and Mongols they have come into contact with to guess their future lives.

Chelikov was skeptical of these rumors and kept looking for opportunities to escape.Every day when he poops, he will observe the surrounding situation. The guards only allow group actions. If he wants to escape, he has to wait for a suitable opportunity.

People in the team cannot be trusted, and in this captive environment, everyone hides their true thoughts.

The only person Chelikov could see through his mind was the brown-haired naval cadet named Mikhail.

This is a very good boy, very energetic.

I am usually very diligent on the boat, and I will seize all the time at night to learn various mathematical skills, and I can skillfully master the use of the sextant.

Even after being captured, this young man still faces life with a smile every day.

He said that a person who can't laugh must not be a qualified explorer, and a dejected person dare not face the vast sea and the endless sea journey.

The young man believed that the Pythagorean theorem, which was true in the Petersburg school, must also be true among the Khitans.These Khitans are not barbarians, they can use muskets and know how to survey and map, they are not barbarians, and they will be released when the war is over.

The boy would pester Cherikov every day, asking questions about cartography.I am sure that Her Majesty the Empress will organize new expeditions after returning one day, and then he can become an official draftsman.

This is an optimist, in the panic of those endless rumors, like the sun after the polar night in Arkhangelsk, it will always bring warm hope to people.

He is the youngest, and everyone in the team likes him very much.Sometimes when everyone is downcast and thinks that they are about to be castrated, the young man will sing some Cossack songs to cheer up everyone's spirits, or tell some legends in the upper class of Petersburg: Emperor Peter was killed in the Boys' Army by his peer Romodano The story of the reprimand of Prince Vsky.It's as if he is the illegitimate son of someone important, knowing many stories that others don't.

Today, as usual, Chelikov is here waiting for the water to boil, and Mikhail is next to tell some anecdotes about Petersburg. After a while, the boy will come to ask him for some details about the Mercator projection.

As soon as the allocated tea cakes were thrown into the kettle, Chelikov was called out by a voice. After hearing what the translator said, he reluctantly put down the teapot and followed the translator into the tent.

In the tent, Liu Yu prepared a jug of wine and some pickles.Chelikov smelled the alcohol in the tent, and swallowed uncontrollably, but he warned himself to be careful of this devil-like young man in front of him.

Liu Yu made a gesture of invitation, and after two glasses of wine, Chelikov's mind was still clear.Liu Yu also asked some questions, none of which were secret, and Cherikov thought it would be worthwhile to exchange some alcohol for these questions.

In the following days, Chelikov was invited to drink in the tent every day.The questions asked are also about the adventures in Siberia or Okhotsk.

One day shortly after crossing the Ussuri River, when Chelikov was about to continue drinking in the tent as usual, a few guard soldiers suddenly rushed into the line of captured people, and the young brown-haired Mikhail was caught out.

Liu Yu said a few words in Chinese that Chelikov could not understand, and the interpreter followed behind and translated loudly: "Mikhail Petrovich Terekin. Because someone reported that you are going to flee, And he was charged with inciting others to flee, so he decided to execute him by shooting."

Before Mikhail, who was holding a copy of "The Art of Surveying" compiled by Peter I, could cry out, two soldiers dragged him away.

Near the camp, a soldier with a captured Tula flintlock pointed at his head, followed by a shot.

All the captured Russians in the team stared in amazement at the twitching corpses in the distance, and then Qiqi turned their attention to Chelikov.

Liu Yu was very satisfied with this look, and pretended to draw a cross on his chest with his left hand, telling the captured Russians solemnly.

"You are criminals who were captured and brought weapons into the border without customs clearance documents. The crime is not serious, and you can be released in the future. However, this is close to your fortress, and it is absolutely not allowed to escape without permission. If anyone escapes, There is an option to report, some reduced sentences, and even alcohol as a reward."

After speaking, he left without looking back, leaving a few soldiers to guard the prisoners, dug a hole on the ground, and buried Mikhail's body in it.

While digging a hole, a Russian prisoner approached Chelikov, suddenly shook his shoulder, and hit Chelikov hard with his elbow in the stomach.

"Judas!"

"Pooh!"

"Sick as maggots."

"Save the wine that the Khitan gave you for your mother to wash. Your mother contracted syphilis in a brothel in Petersburg."

I don't know who cursed first, and several people who were digging the pit rushed over in turn, and the guarding soldiers pulled them away after a lot of effort.

Chelikov clutched his painful stomach, the corners of his mouth twitched, and squatted on the ground.Looking at the fuzzy Mikhail whose head was hit by lead bullets in the pit, he clenched his fists when he heard the scolding in his ears.

That night Chelikov was alone in a small tent, not with the rest of the Russian prisoners.

There was no guard in the tent, and Liu Yu left him three things.

A skin of wine.

A dueling pistol produced by the Tula factory and captured by Liu Yu.It was full of gunpowder and only one lead bullet.

And, a hairpin for binding hair.

Chelikov stayed up all night.

After drinking all the wine, his hands kept wandering between the hairpin and the pistol.

At dawn, Chelikov finally reached out and untied the hussar-style braids on his head.

He didn't know how to tie his hair, but he still imitated the appearance of those guarding soldiers, twisted the untied braids around his head, and used his teeth to tear off a piece of cloth from his clothes to tie it.

After a final hesitation, he finally inserted the hairpin into his messy hair.

(End of this chapter)