I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 513 Khitan Capital

Heilongjiang Dusi.

The first war between Ming Dynasty and Tsarist Russia ended hastily.

It can't even be said to be a war. It was completely a one-sided massacre. The motley army composed of Cossacks, Siberian natives, and exiled nobles almost collapsed in the face of the Ming army's attack.

More than half of the more than a thousand miscellaneous troops were killed and wounded, and most of the rest were captured. Only a dozen people were missing and most likely ran away.

But they can't run very far, without the advantage of an organization. Not to mention the Siberian indigenous tribes, even the harsh environment and ferocious beasts are not enough for these people.

The Ming troops patrolling the Waixing'an Mountains were also confused. They just took over from the Manchus and followed the post roads left here to conduct routine patrols on the border.

Although the Heilongjiang Dusi was established, 70% to 80% of the entire territory of Heilongjiang to the north was actually governed by a kind of tyranny. Because it is so cold. If there weren't so many corrupt criminals, it would be difficult to solve the problem of Han immigrants.

As a result, during the first border patrol of the year, they encountered an invading force from the Rakshasa Kingdom, and their combat effectiveness was actually so poor. Except for two people from the Ming Army patrol who rushed too fast and fell down, there were no casualties.

This credit is as good as picking it up for nothing.

The officers of this Ming army patrol force did not dare to neglect, and packed up all the remaining Tsarist Russian prisoners and sent them to the ship directly to Acheng.

In addition to cold and frozen soil, Heilongjiang and even the entire Siberia have developed hydrology. This is the reason why the Cossacks were able to quickly conquer the vast Siberia.

The Cossacks were not famous for their cavalry at first. Instead, they had excellent boat-building and fishing skills. They fought with the Siberian natives. If they couldn't defeat them, they would escape by boat, maximizing their mobility.

It was not until the Cossacks slowly developed that large-scale cavalry began to appear, and they were recruited by the Tsarist Russian court as mercenaries.

Besikov was a nobleman of official rank in Tsarist Russia and the leader of this motley army of native Cossacks who crossed the Udy River and headed south to Heilongjiang.

The aristocratic system in Tsarist Russia was relatively complex, especially after Peter the Great's reforms. The categories were divided into official rank aristocrats, title aristocrats, medal aristocrats, ancient blood aristocrats and foreign aristocrats.

In a few decades, there will be privileged classes such as reward nobles, life-long nobles and honorary citizens, and the city Duma.

Of course, Besikov can now only be regarded as an exiled political prisoner. His noble status has been automatically revoked along with his official rank and exile.

At first, Besikov just wanted to take advantage of the beginning of spring to plunder the border towns of Heilongjiang and inquire about the military situation. However, the plan went bankrupt before it even started. By chance, they ran directly into the Khitan army. The other party was well-trained and powerful, completely beyond the imagination of the Cossacks.

The Cossack mercenaries recruited by Besikov and the indigenous Siberian warriors almost collapsed at the first touch.

Even Besikov felt that these Khitan troops might be more powerful than the regular army of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

Then, Besikov was captured. He originally thought that he would be executed directly, but he did not expect that the Khitans singled him out and sent him directly to the south.

It was indeed going south, because he could feel that the temperature was higher. Although it was still very cold, it was obviously no longer in Siberia.

The ship arrived in Acheng, and Besikov stayed in the cabin for a long time. He finally saw the sun again and saw the formed post roads around the city, as well as many giant ships plying the Songhua River.

Besikov was amazed in his heart. These Khitans were different from the Manchu Tatars before. Do they really intend to manage the Amur River (Heilongjiang) basin well?

It's not that Besikov has a keen eye, but the Ming Dynasty has clearly done so. It built post roads and established a river and water transportation system, all of which were opening up and controlling the transportation conditions in the Heilongjiang Basin.

Only when transportation is established first can military control be further advanced, followed by civilian governance.

Besikov was quickly taken to Acheng, the capital of Heilongjiang Province.

I saw that Yu Kecheng was wearing exquisite armor and a sword on his waist. The most important thing was the tactical telescope inserted into his left waist. These few pieces of equipment were not something ordinary people could possess.

The person in front of me must be a great Khitan noble.

Besikov was very sensible and bowed his head: "Besikov pays homage to the incomparably noble Khitan noble lord!"

Yu Kecheng didn't understand at all and asked the military interpreter assigned by the court, "What is he talking about?"

The military interpreter then translated the question to the Sauron who came with him, and then the Sauron translated it to Besikov.

There were too few exchanges between China and Tsarist Russia, and the few times there were wars. In addition, Tsarist Russia was closed, so there were actually very few people who could speak Russian, at least not the interpreters of the Heilongjiang Dusi.

To be precise, the Sauron translator should be considered a Daur person. The Sauron tribe was forcibly divided by the Manchus. Its predecessor was the Savage Jurchen, and actually included the Daur, Ewenki, and Oroqen people. Among them, the Evenki are also the Yakuts of Siberia.

After several translations, the meaning must have deviated, but at least it didn't deviate too much. At least the Khitan sentence was translated very accurately.

Yu Kecheng frowned: "This general is the Heilongjiang Dusi of Ming Dynasty China, not the so-called Khitan noble lord."

Besikov was taken aback and quickly changed his words: "Yes, my dear Lord, the Governor of Heilongjiang, Ming Dynasty!"

At the same time, he thought: These Khitan people, have their names changed again now?

Yu Kecheng didn't know what he was thinking, so he asked: "Others said that you are the leader of these Rakshasa ghosts?"

After being translated by the Daur people, Besikov heard, "Are you the leader of the Cossacks?"

Besikov immediately said: "Lord Dusi, I am not the leader of the Cossacks. I just recruited these Cossacks. They are just a group of serfs who betrayed His Majesty the Tsar and fled to far Eastern Siberia. I am a nobleman of Tsarist Russia and was inspired by Peter His Majesty the Tsar issued a decree to confer official titles to nobles." Yu Kecheng ignored the problem of translation and asked with interest: "Are you still a noble? Why did you come here? As far as I know, here It seems to be the place of exile for your Rakshasa Kingdom?”

Besikov said: "I was originally a nobleman in Tsarist Russia, but because I offended Prime Minister Menshikov, I was exiled to the Far East of Siberia. All my family brothers have been separated and starved to death, and I am the only one living here. .”

Yu Kecheng asked again: "Then why did you invade Heilongjiang, the Ming Dynasty? Don't you know that this is Chinese territory, or is this the intention of your Rakshasa king?"

Besikov replied: "This has nothing to do with His Majesty the Tsar. Even His Majesty the Tsar has been sidelined by Prime Minister Menshikov. We just heard that China has changed its emperor. It turns out that Khitan has been stolen... No, it's China. The Manchu Tatars were expelled, so I thought to see if I could find an opportunity."

Yu Kecheng nodded: "Then during your invasion of Heilongjiang, have you notified the Rakshasa Kingdom's court officials? How many troops do you have in the future and where will they be stationed?"

Besikov shook his head: "We did not inform the Governor of Yakutsk that all our troops have been captured by the Chinese army. Even if there are still escapees, there should be no more than 100, and they cannot go back to Yakutsk." Tsk’s.”

Yu Kecheng asked carefully: "Where is Yakutsk? How many troops are stationed?"

Besikov fought hard to survive: "Yakutsk is right along the Lena River, far north from the Udy River, and there is frozen soil there. The main business is fur and leather business. , very popular among the upper-class nobles of Tsarist Russia. The Governor of Yakutsk is just a down-and-out nobleman who cannot survive in the capital. In the entire city of Yakutsk, there are only less than 300 Cossacks garrisoned, but there are many natives who have joined here, almost Thousands.”

Lena River?

Yu Kecheng was confused and had no idea where it was. He could only ask the staff officer to record it, and then asked: "In addition to Yakutsk, how many cities do you have?"

After Besikov sold the governor of Yakutsk, he obviously let go: "To the east of Yakutsk, there is a coastal castle called Okhotsk, and further north there are Zahiversk, Japan Gansk. Along the Lena River to the south, along Lake Baikal, there are also castles such as Barguzin, Irkutsk, Nerchinsk (Nerchinsk), Kiliansk, and Oryok Minsk. This place was originally The territory of Buryat Mongolia has now all surrendered to the Russian Empire, and only sporadic tribes still resist from time to time."

Yu Kecheng didn't know where Buryat Mongolia was, but he still asked the staff officer to record it and wrote down all the mentioned castles, Lake Baikal, and Lena River.

Staff officer Xue Yancong only looked at the recorded castle and its general scope, and couldn't help but marvel: "These Rakshasa ghosts have occupied such a large area of ​​land in the north without knowing it, and the Manchu Tatars are not even aware of it. They are really barbarians! "

Yu Kecheng smiled inexplicably and said: "It's not necessarily that he doesn't know, it may also be that he deliberately pretends not to know. Didn't His Majesty say that the Manchu Tatars would rather be with friends than domestic slaves."

Xue Yancong was startled, and then became furious: "That's a mistake for China. They all deserve to be killed!"

Yu Kecheng reminded: "The only ones who deserve to be killed are the Manchu Tatars. Don't be impulsive. Those Mohe people have already joined the Ming Dynasty."

Xue Yancong said: "However, most of the cities mentioned by this Rakshasa ghost are further north. Acheng alone is so cold, especially when the Rakshasa ghost just mentioned that Yakutsk is covered with frozen soil. We are afraid It is difficult to send troops here, and it is too cold and remote. Food alone is a big problem. Now that the Heilongjiang Capital Division has been newly established, we can only strictly guard against it first, and order the Sauron Department to cooperate with the court to patrol and guard the border, and then report the matter to the police. The imperial court. Fortunately, these Rakshasa ghosts are just acting on their own initiative this time, and it is not that the Rakshasa king really wants to attack Heilongjiang."

Yu Kecheng smiled and said: "You have read a lot, so I will listen to you. However, these Rakshasa ghosts can build so many cities in the north and west, and I am afraid they will have to go south sooner or later. Although they are small in number, they can occupy such a large number of cities. The vast land must not be good for people. Moreover, it is too cold here, and it is difficult for us to mobilize an army in the north. We still have to rely on these Sauron tribes. I can finally see why the Manchu Tatars want these Saurons. They recruited troops and allowed them to multiply in Heilongjiang. It turned out to be this reason."

During the discussion between the two, the matter was settled.

Besikov stared blankly at the Khitan nobles in front of him talking to the Khitan people next to him. He couldn't understand the key words at all, and he couldn't help but feel impatient. He had already betrayed Tsarist Russia's intelligence in the Far East. This should be able to protect Save your life!

Without waiting long, Besikov saw that Yu Kecheng seemed to have finished the discussion, and with a wave of his hand, he was blindfolded, gagged, and taken away.

On the same day, Besikov and other Cossack prisoners were packed and taken away on a ship. They also went all the way south, transferring from Pyongyang to a grain ship and heading to Nanjing.

The grain ships were small and had no cabins for prisoners.

Besikov could only be forced to squeeze into a small space with other Cossack prisoners, and was also tied up. The cloth around his eyes was untied, but it made him even more frightened.

what happened?

He had clearly given information about the military situation in the Far East, and also told about several of the empire's pioneering castles in Siberia. Why were these Khitans still unmoved? Shouldn't they directly recruit him and let him serve the Khitan Empire?

Looking at the Cossack captives around him who were also in fear, Besikov was about to collapse. Could these Khitans intend to drag him and these despicable Cossacks together to behead them all?

Because they were confined to a small space on the ship throughout the entire journey, they did not dock until they arrived in Shandong for supplies, and then transferred to an inland river official ship again. So Besikov didn't know how far south he had gone, but the feeling of coldness disappeared and he obviously left the Heilongjiang Basin.

After being kicked off the ship, I saw the tall city walls of Dengzhou Prefecture, the civilian ships coming and going, and the ever-expanding port.

Besikov's eyes almost went straight. This must be an important town of the Khitan people. In terms of wealth, population, and merchant ships, it was already comparable to the capital of His Majesty the Tsar.

In this regard, the port in Dengzhou Prefecture was newly built not long ago, and it was mainly developed in Liaodong. In order to meet the commercial development of Liaodong, the imperial court decreed the opening of the port in Dengzhou Prefecture.

As for the later-famous Weihaiwei, it was still just a coastal town at that time. It was certainly not as prosperous as the capital city of Dengzhou, nor was it closer to the Liaodong Peninsula and Lushunkou in a straight line.

Before Besikov could take in all the wealth in Dengzhou Port, he was escorted into the cabin of the official ship again by Ming army soldiers, and then went south along the Grand Canal, and finally entered the Yangtze River directly to the city of Nanjing.

After disembarking from the Nanjing Pier, I looked at the endless stream of merchant ships on the Yangtze River, and the countless dock coolies working hard for a living. Then I saw the tall and thick city walls of Nanjing, and I couldn't even see the side.

Besikov was completely shocked. Even the capital of His Majesty the Tsar was not so vast and rich!

Not only was Besikov shocked, but the merchants and coolies at the dock were also quite curious. They had seen a lot of foreign barbarians, but this was their first time seeing Rakshasa ghosts. Moreover, they were tied up by officers and soldiers, and they were obviously prisoners. Come.

This official ship came from outside again, most likely from the north to the south.

Many private businessmen who are familiar with the military situation in Liaodong couldn't help but secretly wonder, could it be that the Rakshasa ghost from back then has returned?

But looking at it like this, it seems that the Rakshasa ghost can't defeat our great soldiers of tomorrow, which is also reasonable. After all, the Tatars can't defeat the great tomorrow's soldiers, and the Rakshasa ghost can't even defeat the Tatars, let alone our new Ming Dynasty. .

Besikov didn't know what these dock merchants thought of him. He was still shocked when he saw the Nanjing city wall. When he was escorted into the city by the Ming army, he looked at the bustling downtown in the city and even saw many people wearing leather jackets. The nobles of Qiu.

Well, at least he thought that these people were all nobles. With such a vast city, tall city walls, countless population and wealth, and a settlement of nobles, this must be the capital of the Khitans!

(End of this chapter)