I

Jiangxinzhou.

Elle knelt in front of Khabarov and immersed himself in speaking the lines he had memorized.

He was the smartest in the tribe, and his parents were killed by Rakshasa ghosts, so he was selected by Wang Fuchen to be a dead man. As long as the task is successfully completed, he will be rewarded with food. Even if he dies, he will reward his brother with food.

After listening to the Daur people's translation, Khabarov became excited: "You mean, there is a Han caravan bringing gold and silver to your tribe to buy fur goods?"

"Yes." Erle nodded.

Khabarov asked: "Are the Han tribes powerful and wealthy? Where is their territory?"

Erle was confused by the question.

The Daur boy who worked as a dog for Khabarov suddenly said: "Master, I heard the shaman in the tribe said that the Han people live in a warm place far south. There is no ice and snow throughout the year, and the land is so fertile that it can flow out. Honey. The Han people have a big leader (emperor) who lives in a very big house. There is too much food to eat, and there are too many livestock to eat."

Live somewhere warm in the south? There was a big leader who lived in a big house and had too much food to eat? Is the land so fertile that honey can flow out of it?

Khabarov thought for a long time and asked: "Are you talking about Khitan (China)? Are the Han people Khitans?"

It was the Daur juvenile delinquent's turn to be confused. He said weakly: "I have never heard of the Khitan. I only know that the Han people are very rich."

Khabarov thought about it and felt that it could not be Khitan (China).

In fact, among the Cossacks, although stories about China are circulating, no one knows where China is.

Khabarov asked: "How many people are there in the Han caravan?"

Elle replied: "Many, many people, more than two hands and two feet. They came by boat, as big as your boat. In addition to gold and silver, they also brought a lot of cotton cloth, and a piece of leather can be easily exchanged." A big piece of cotton cloth. They also brought wine. I heard from the patriarch that if you drink that wine, it will cut your throat like a knife and keep your whole body warm even in the coldest winter."

"And wine?" Khabarov couldn't help swallowing.

Erle said: "There is wine."

Khabarov stared at Erle and asked: "Why did you come to report the news?"

Elle replied: "I want to join you and grab a lot of food, a lot of women, and a lot of furs. In this way, you won't starve or freeze to death, and you can give birth to many sons."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Khabarov laughed loudly upon hearing this, completely dispelling his doubts.

Half of his bandits were natives. There are more than one or two natives of all kinds who have actively requested to join the team.

Khabarov asked again: "Have any Han caravans come here before?"

Erle said: "No. I heard that the Han people used to fight with the Jurchens and defeated the Jurchens in recent years, so they came to do business."

"Jurchen?" The Daur boy was shocked.

Khabarov asked: "What's wrong?"

The Daur boy said: "The Jurchens are very powerful. They often came to attack the Daur tribe, and even incorporated us into the Eight Banners."

"Eight Banners?" Khabarov didn't understand.

The Daur boy explained: "There are many tribes organized into one banner, and each banner has a hunting animal wing chief. Some of the furs hunted by the tribe must be handed over to the tribe leader, who then gives it to the animal hunting wing chief. Those who can hunt animals and have long wings are the leaders of large tribes. The Jurchens will also come to recruit soldiers, and the tribesmen of each banner are bannermen. If the Jurchens do not hand over enough tribesmen to serve as soldiers during the recruitment, the women will The real person will personally lead his troops to arrest the person."

Khabarov immediately understood that the Jurchens were a large tribe and had conquered the indigenous people here.

The so-called Daxiu Wing Chief is an indigenous leader who is responsible for collecting taxes and recruiting troops, equivalent to the indigenous lords in Europe.

A large tribe that can enfeoff the natives as lords may have established a nation.

Such a powerful Jurchen tribe, or rather the Jurchen country, was actually defeated by the Han people. Then the Han people are also a large tribe, or they are simply a country of Han people.

Regardless of tribe or country, they are definitely richer than these natives!

In the eyes of these Cossack bandits, both sides of the Heilongjiang River were already wealthy lands.

Khabarov's predecessors took the lead in exploring the Daur area (Outer Xing'an Mountains) after hearing about the legend of wealth in Amur (Heilongjiang).

Nowadays, a richer place than Amur has emerged, which is very, very important news.

Khabarov muttered: "The Han tribe, or the Han country, should be further south in Amur (Heilongjiang). The climate there is warmer, so a lot of food can be grown and cotton can be woven. This Han caravan, the most It is better not to attack directly, but to get in touch with them and find out the specific location of the Han tribe."

Khabarov was not a reckless man, otherwise he would not have been able to transform from a landless peasant to a wealthy businessman owning salt fields and farms, and then make a comeback after his property was seized by lords.

He is even a master at running a farm.

He could tame the natives and farm in the tundra. He was once the largest Cossack food supplier in the Lake Baikal region. Today's Yaksa (north bank of the Mohe River) has also been opened up as a farm by Khabarov, and a group of Daur natives are helping him farm the land.

Khabarov called a few of his confidants and ordered: "Let's go south immediately to meet the Han caravan there. Remember, put away your ferocity and smile for me. Even if the Han caravan is weak, don't rob it. They just need to show our strength. If we can reach an agreement, I will send a few people to go to the territory of the Han tribe with the caravan. We will choose how to treat the Han tribe after we find out the details of the Han tribe. Perhaps, we can summon more The Cossacks focused on the wealthy Han tribes to conquer."

These guys don't know what they are talking about, and they are also bold.

Decades ago, the Spanish governor of the Philippines clamored to send two thousand troops to conquer China. A few years ago, the Siberian Cossacks planned to gather 300 troops to conquer the entire Heilongjiang.

Now, Khabarov is making plans to conquer the "Han tribe".

Faced with the unknown huge wealth, Khabarov could not sit still. The next day after receiving the news, he took a boat south.

A day and a half later, Elle pointed to the river and said: "That is my tribe. After the master conquers it, please reward me with the most beautiful woman in the tribe. I have liked her for a long time, but her father is very hateful. It takes ten mink skins and lots and lots of food before you are willing to marry your daughter to me."

Khabarov smiled and said: "Haha, this is a small matter. After the Han caravan leaves, I will help you fulfill your wish."

The three artillery pieces are all small field artillery pieces that can be carried around by two people.

Khabarov left the gunner behind and mounted the artillery on the ship, ready to respond to the landing troops at any time. Immediately, he led two hundred troops and couldn't wait to get off the boat and land.

Although they did not directly attack the Han caravans, they still had to show force.

In Khabarov's understanding, only by showing his strength can he sit down and talk with the other party on an equal footing.

105 Cossacks armed with cold weapons lined up at the front. More than 20 Cossack musketeers walked behind with Khabarov. On the two wings are 112 indigenous hunters. There were also more than a dozen Cossack cavalry, who quickly rushed out to inquire about the situation and immediately issued warnings in case of danger.

With his own force so powerful, Khabarov believed that he could scare the Han caravan.

As long as the other party is afraid, then things will be easy to handle.

Khabarov had a sweet dream in his heart. He wanted to summon more Cossacks. At that time, I will take 500 Cossacks and hundreds of indigenous hunters to conquer first the declining Jurchen tribe, and then the richer and more powerful Han tribe. He would become a hero in Russia, knighted by the Tsar, and become a true noble lord.

After not advancing far, a Cossack cavalry ran back: "Boss, something is wrong. The natives in the village were not very afraid when they saw us. They did not run away immediately, nor did they pick up weapons to defend."

"Stop!"

Khabarov frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Elle was already sweating on his vest, and said bravely: "The Han caravan is accompanied by soldiers. The people here are backed by Han people, so they are not afraid of the master."

Khabarov sneered, pointed at the Daur boy and said, "Go outside the village, ask the leader of the Han caravan to come out and talk, and tell him that I have a big deal here."

Wang Fuchen dressed up as a merchant and negotiated through an interpreter, hoping to attract some Cossacks.

Khabarov continued to move forward with his troops, but after walking for a while, he stopped and asked Wang Fuchen to come out to discuss business, unwilling to risk entering the village.

Wang Fuchen said helplessly: "This bitch is still very alert. Let's blow the trumpet!"

"woo woo woo woo!"

The horn sounded, and the rumble of horse hooves soon came from the forest two miles away to the north.

At the same time, from the forests on both sides of the upper reaches, hundreds of natives rushed out with canoes. Their task was to intercept them from the water.

When the Tatars first conquered the Heilongjiang Basin, they took canoes, all contributed by the affiliated indigenous tribes.

"How dare you lie to me!" Khabarov was furious.

Erle had already run away and ran towards the river, hoping to jump across the river to survive.

"Boohoo!"

A shower of arrows came, but it was the indigenous hunters who were shooting.

The dead man who led the enemy into the encirclement was instantly shot into a hedgehog and fell to the ground with an unwilling look on his face.

"Get back to the ship!"

Khabarov gave the order and more than 200 bandits fled. Regardless of the formation, they scrambled to escape to the river. As long as they got on the boat, they would be safe.

The Cossack gunners on the ship also hurriedly filled the shells to cover the retreat of their main force.

Less than three miles away, 700 Datong cavalry arrived in an instant, and the soldiers and civilians hiding in the stockade also rushed out.

"Boom boom boom!"

Three artillery pieces were fired. One of the charging Datong cavalry was hit in the chest, and the hoofs of three war horses were hit by the advancing and rolling cannonballs.

The Cossacks scrambled to get on board, and the native hunters crowded together and pushed each other.

Seeing that there was no other solution, Khabarov quickly said: "Turn around and line up, turn around and line up!"

This guy is extremely cruel to his subordinates. Those who usually disobey will be hanged in public. When the order was issued at this moment, there were actually many indigenous hunters who turned around to face the enemy with fear of death.

Taking this opportunity, Khabarov decisively led people on board the ship and abandoned the indigenous hunters as cannon fodder.

Those twenty-odd Cossack musketeers were Khabarov's heart and soul, and the rest of his men could be sold off at any time.

Hundreds of well-armed cavalry rushed towards him, and Khabarov fought only when his brain was in trouble. A cavalry force of this size and equipment could already serve as the main force of a small country in Europe. He knew that he had hit the wall this time.

More than 60 native hunters who were not thinking well started shooting arrows at the Datong cavalry in a panic.

Some arrowheads, even those made of bone and stone, were immediately replaced by hundreds of iron arrowheads. When the arrows fell, the native hunters collapsed immediately. Those who survived turned around and ran away, fighting for the boarding planks with the Cossack masters.

"Bang bang bang!"

The dragoons also fired, hitting the crowd at close range. From time to time, enemies fell into the river.