1635 Han style rises again

On January 1674, 1, Anping Fort (now Vyazemsky, Russia).

A "dog sled" (that is, dog sled) was parked outside Anping Fort. Several officials from the Bohai State raised their heads and raised their voices. They were negotiating with the Ming army stationed at the top of the city, saying that they came here normally. Trade, request immediate access to the city.

However, the Ming army in Anpingbao did not know whether they were too cautious, or they wanted to deliberately toss these "barbarians" in the north. One moment they would send up the official Kanhe documents issued by the Bohai Kingdom in a hanging basket, and the other moment they would let the Bohai Kingdom Officials and guards took off their furs and weapons to show no hostility.

Anping Fort is the northernmost stronghold in the Zhenzhou territory under Yongwang. It is located on the right bank of the Wusuli River, only more than 150 kilometers away from Boli City, the capital of the Bohai Kingdom. It was established two years ago.The entire fortress is built with a mixture of masonry, stone and giant wood, with a circumference of less than 700 meters and more than 100 Ming troops stationed there.In addition, there are more than [-] farmers in the fort village, who are cultivating and colonizing nearby, planting some barley, potatoes, and various vegetables to meet some needs.

Although there are not many troops stationed in this small fortress, with sharp muskets and two 3-pound cannons, it has become the most powerful force within a hundred miles around.The nearby Hezhe people and Sauron people came here one after another to show their goodwill, some of them even expressed their submission, either in order to seek protection or to obtain urgently needed daily necessities.

Zhenzhou has operated in this area for more than [-] years. Under the guidance of the Qi people, it has gradually explored a set of mature means of local conquest.Follow the direction of the river, control the key points, and set up fortresses.Then, by virtue of strong force, they declared their governance over the local area and traded various indigenous products with the local area.Through force deterrence and economic control, the surrounding natives were recruited as soldiers or coolies in the army.

After a few years, those local aborigines who served or served in Zhenzhou, after experiencing the influence of "civilization" and "modern" lifestyle, generally choose to approach Zhenzhou actively and become the people under the rule.

Up to now, there are about 22 people in the whole Zhenzhou area, including more than [-] registered indigenous peoples such as Hezhe people and Sauron people.

Regarding the Bohai state in the north, which was established by a group of rebellious Qing captives, the local officials and garrisons in Zhenzhou had extremely complicated feelings about it.Emotionally, they don't accept each other's existence very much. People who are not of our race must have different hearts, especially since their ruling class is all Jurchen, so how can they not become a barbaric "Second Qing captive" again? ?
From the perspective of geopolitical security, this Bohai state is also a potential threat to our town. In other words, the captive chieftain Nurhachi was a small tribe of Jianzhou Zuowei, who first hibernated in Liaodong, and after years of "insignificant development", gradually became a big , and finally wiped out all the forces in Liaodong, and later took advantage of the civil strife in our Ming Dynasty to enter the pass and almost wiped out the Ming Dynasty.

However, this Bohai state was supported by the Qi state, saying that it was to deal with the Raksha people who came from the far west, and it could also form a coercive trend against the Liaodong region that was cleared of captives.

"What's happening in Bohai State recently?"

During this period, precious furs were very popular commodities, whether they were sold to the Qi State, or transported to the mainland and North Korea, they could get a lot of money.The Heilongjiang area where Zhenzhou and Bohai State are based has a vast territory, criss-crossing rivers, and flat terrain. It is covered with many virgin forests, and there are various cold-resistant animals: minks, arctic foxes, ermines, white bears, roe deer, foxes, etc. , Hunting their fur is the main economic means for the people in this area to obtain income.

Almost every year, the Bohai Kingdom went south to Liaodong, or to Northwest and North Korea, routinely raided grassy valleys, plundered Dingkou and property, and almost never encountered any major counterattacks.But if you want to attack my Zhenzhou, you have to weigh it carefully, maybe you will be allowed to come in, and you may not be able to get out.

"I guess that's what Bahai planned." Yang Haoyuan said: "You think, the military strength of Bohai State is only five to six thousand people. As a result, after the Ming army attacked Liaodong, the Qing captives fled to Bohai State in a swarm. It is said that among the more than 6000 young and strong civilians who were coerced away, there were [-] soldiers from the Eight Banners Army, almost as many as the troops of Bohai State. Under such circumstances, how can Ba ​​Hai feel at ease? Naturally, he will try to find ways to It weakens, and eventually swallows and digests it all."

Therefore, no matter in Bohai State or Zhenzhou, in addition to using domestic rivers for transportation in summer and autumn, in winter, "dog carts" are widely used to traverse mountains, rivers and snow fields.

If a major war breaks out, local officials in Zhenzhou can also conscript local aborigines and armed soldiers from all over the country. It is not difficult to mobilize an armed force of 1 people.

"The grandsons of Anping Fort, are they trying to freeze us to death here?" Yang Haoyuan, the black-clothed guard Yuwu Xiaowei (captain) who came with the caravan from the Bohai Kingdom, felt a little bit in his heart when he saw that the gate of Anping Fort had not been opened for a long time. Furious, he lifted off the bearskin jacket wrapped around his body, revealing a majestic black woolen military uniform of Qi State, jumped off the sleigh cart, and walked over quickly.

"So, the Bohai State will continue to attack the Ming army in Liaodong?" Guo Ruiquan heard the key point in the words, "In this case, is it possible for the Bohai State to occupy all of Liaodong?"

In winter, although the weather is cold and the snow is vast, it is extremely fast and convenient to rely on a large number of sled dogs domesticated in various fortresses to drag sledges and sledges full of supplies and personnel.In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, dog-pulled sleds or sleds existed in the north, which was called "dog carts" by the world.The Hezhe people and Sauron people living in the Northeast are even more veterans. "When the water freezes in winter, they can travel two to three hundred miles a day by riding a plow and driving a dog."

"What? When the Bohai Kingdom intends to attack Liaodong in the south, weaken and annex the Eight Banners who came to vote? They really are... a good way!"

"Damn it, it turns out that you ordered the Ming army at the head of the city to deliberately make things difficult for the people of Bohai, and not let us easily enter the city!" Yang Haoyuan saw Guo Ruiquan, the army intelligence staff officer and Lieutenant Renyong (Lieutenant) who came up to him smilingly, and scolded: "You bastard, you are not afraid of freezing your brother to death in the wind and snow.... Xiaobao caught the wind and cold and had a fever, so I brought him back."

"The Bohai Kingdom will naturally continue to attack Liaodong." Yang Haoyuan felt the warmth of the fire, and stepped back a little, "Bahai should not attack Liaodong under our warning, but just wants to weaken the Eight Banners in this way. The strength of the prince, the two of them can't be integrated at all. You know, decades ago, Bahai and his father Sarhuda were just slaves of the princes and relatives of the Eight Banners. Although forced by the situation, they had no choice but to vote. But in his bones, he definitely doesn't look down on Ba Hai, the lord of the Bohai Sea. Maybe, he plans to come to a magpie's nest to take Ba Hai's position."

"Yes, the emergence of this kind of situation is seriously inconsistent with our strategic layout in the Northeast of Qi." Yang Haoyuan said with a wry smile: "It seems that we can only increase our support for King Yong, first arm Zhenzhou, and timely Launch a strike against Balhae. In this way, their feverish minds can be cleared up a little bit."

Shen Shubao, the army intelligence staff officer and accompanying captain (Second Lieutenant), still had a fever at this time. Hearing the movement next to him, squinting at his companion who was leaving aggressively, he couldn't help tightening the bearskin jacket he lifted and covering himself. body.

"It's okay." Shen Shubao said with a stuffy nose, "Drink more ginger soup and lie down for two days. The weather in the northeast is really cold! It's not like our Xuanhua (now Timor Island), all year round. There are no more than two pieces of clothing on her body."

Through fur trading and reselling, the Zhenzhou area earns no less than 20 taels of silver from the Bohai state every year, which greatly promotes local economic development and immigration development.

It is said that the people of Qi State are also very annoyed by this, and they are going to have a serious negotiation with Bohai State over the matter of Bohai State's hastily going south, forcing it to withdraw from the Songhua River Basin and continue to expand to the north and west.

"More than half a month ago, the Bohai State drove more than 300 people from the Eight Banners who came to vote to take advantage of the snowy weather to try to attack Liaodong. As a result, they got caught in Sanwanwei (now Kaiyuan City, Liaoning) and lost nearly [-] yuan. People." Yang Haoyuan said with a smile: "Ba Hai, the leader of the Bohai Kingdom, took the opportunity to deprive the leader of the army, Xichun, of his military power on the charge of being unfavorable to the war, and then allocated half of his troops to the former subordinates of the five armies of the Bohai Kingdom."

As for whether the Bohai Congress will suddenly invade the territory of Zhenzhou, the Ming army stationed there does not think it will really happen.Although the number of Ming troops in Zhenzhou area is less than 2000, there are only four battalions, but these troops are all full-time professional soldiers, and they are also new-style firearms troops trained by Qi military instructors.

"In order to deal with these noble relatives of the Eight Banners, Bahai also deliberately revealed the news of their attack on Liaodong to the Ming army. He wanted to use the hands of the Ming army to weaken their strength. Of course, it was also for us to show that they are from the Bohai Kingdom. They have no intention of occupying Liaodong. However, they want to keep the old land of Nuer Gandusi and prepare it as the foundation of their Bohai Kingdom."

"If they occupy the old land of Nuergandu Si, which has better geographical conditions, then we may not be able to control the Bohai Kingdom in the future!" Guo Ruiquan sighed: "Although it is not as developed as Liaodong, its geography and climate are similar to Liaodong. It should not be difficult to make full use of the fertile black soil there, and achieve food self-sufficiency under good management. Moreover, such a regime of farming plus fishing and hunting is definitely a smaller Qing captive."

"Hey, your feet really stink!" With the temperature of the fire, the two pairs of stinky feet also emitted a smoky smell. Guo Ruiquan pinched his nose, avoided the window, and opened a gap slightly. The cold and sober air penetrated in an instant.

The "dog convoy" that came from Boli City today has more than 50 sled vehicles, accompanied by more than [-] officials and guards, dragging a large amount of fur, antler, gold and silver, and is going to buy some food and other items in Anping Fort. The daily necessities were returned to support the rapidly increasing population of the place.

"That's right, where in Xuanhua, there are no other seasons besides summer." Yang Haoyuan sat by the stove, took off his leather boots with great effort, and then unbuttoned two layers of woolen socks, revealing his frozen clothes. My feet became a little stiff, and I warmed up to the fire, "Xiaobao, hurry up and bake, you know, the cold starts from the soles of the feet. When the feet are warm, the body will also warm up, and the wind and cold can be dispelled to some extent."

However, with the collapse of the Qing forces in the Liaodong region, the Bohai State took the opportunity to go south and occupy part of the old land of the former Nuer Gandu Division, which made the local officials and garrisons in Zhenzhou immediately alert.They are very worried that the Bohai Congress will not fully inherit and accept all the forces of the previous Qing Dynasty, and will repeat the incident of the late Jin Dynasty.

When the Ming army stationed at Anping Fort saw the appearance of the Qi State officer, they immediately ended the long-term interrogation, descended from the suspension bridge, opened the city gate, and let in the coming Bohai State caravan.

In the entire outer northeast region, winter is actually the main season for trade and material transportation compared to other seasons.Because of the vast territory and the absence of roads between the various settlements, the passage of people is not a big problem, but it is very difficult to drive horse-drawn carts and ox carts to transport goods to and from various places.

"Are you okay?" Guo Ruiquan turned to look at Shen Shubao with a sick face, and asked with concern: "Should I transfer you back to Zhenzhou City, where we have military doctors from Qi State?"

Considering that everyone has a common enemy, under the guidance of Qi State and the strict order of King Yong, Zhenzhou has maintained a relatively friendly and cooperative relationship with this Bohai State for so many years.The other party used fur, antler, ginseng, gold and silver and other materials to exchange food, cloth, salt, agricultural tools and other production and daily necessities with the local people in Zhenzhou.

"King Yong is probably not very interested in going to war with the Bohai Kingdom!" Guo Ruiquan said, "It is said that he has always wanted to seize the northern territories of Japan. Compared with the cold and remote Bohai Kingdom, the rich and warm Oshima Island of Japan is not that. It has a greater temptation. At worst, it is much more cost-effective to occupy more territory from North Korea than to take down a few fortified cities in Balhae."

"Hehe..." Yang Haoyuan couldn't help laughing when he heard the words, "By the way, this Yongwang's ambition is really big! Japan, a big country with a population of nearly 2000 million, dares to go up and take a bite, so he is not afraid of being rebelled by others." Push it back and take his Yunzhou directly? Besides, for so many years, Zhenzhou has continuously encouraged the local aborigines to cross the border to occupy the land of Hamgyong Province in North Korea, attacked the border villages, and successively occupied the coastal strongholds such as Chongjin and Rajin, It is only one step away from the Jingcheng Duhufu in North Korea."

"The Great Ming has expelled the Qing captives from the customs and completed the unification of the country. King Yong is worried that Sun Kewang will take this as an opportunity to abolish and establish a new dynasty at any time. He is so aggressively expanding his power and seizing territory. It is estimated that It’s about preparing for what’s to come.”

"If Sun Kewang abolishes the Son of Heaven, then King Yong may rebuild the succession of the Ming Dynasty in Yunzhou, Zhenzhou and other territories?"

"It's not possible." Guo Ruiquan said firmly: "As long as Sun Kewang usurps the throne, King Yong will definitely establish a new Ming Dynasty as the direct brother of Emperor Guangde. I heard that King Yong's newly built palace in Ningzhou (today's Sapporo City, Hokkaido) , and its structure is almost the same as that of the Nanjing Imperial Palace....Maybe, in his heart, he wished that Sun Kewang would kill the king and usurp the throne, so that he could become the successor king of Ming Dynasty as soon as possible.”