The woman looked back at Hong Chengchou, then turned around and ran towards the leader barefoot. She seemed to say something, and then she rushed to a middle-aged woman behind him and hugged the woman.
"Isn't she the leader's woman, but his daughter?" Hong Chengchou had doubts in his heart. There will be no answer to this doubt for a while. He peeked at the leader's expression and found that he had no intention of spitting fire in the eyes of his enemies .
Instead, the leader enthusiastically let Hong Chengchou into the wooden house, while the soldiers stayed outside.
The hot tea served by the maid had too strong milk flavor, and Hong Chengchou was not used to it. He just sat opposite the leader.
The language is not clear, and both of them smile wryly.
After sitting for a while, the leader got up and pointed his finger in the direction of the Wuda River. Hong Chengchou estimated that he was going to fish again. It seemed that the tribe leader didn't have much privilege.
Out of the wooden room, there are almost a hundred men with upper bodies, holding wooden forks and sticks, and carrying fish baskets on their backs. They should be waiting for the leader. On the other side of the wooden room, there are already a group of people holding wooden sticks. People, one after another set off toward the south.
Hong Chengchou wanted to see how they fished. Only a simple wooden fork can fish from a wide river. Perhaps these people have learned some special skills from their ancestors. Besides, he also wants to get along with them. Nearly.
The fishermen don't mind the Ming army following, as long as you don't delay their fishing, Hong Chengchou and hundreds of soldiers followed the fishermen to the south bank of the Uda River.
The water of the Wuda River flows slowly to the west, and there is not even a duck on the river. It looks unusually calm. Compared with the grandeur of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, it is definitely a quiet and peaceful paradise.
If there is no war forever, without the intervention of the Hongmao and Ming army, this place can be regarded as a paradise.
Hong Chengchou's eyes were fixed on the surface of the river. There was not even a splash on the surface of the river, and there was no sign of fish movement at all.
The Buryat fishermen were not nervous, and they did not need to negotiate. Nearly a hundred fishermen were automatically divided into five groups and went down to five areas on the shore.
They seem to have been matched long ago, and there are dozens of fishermen in each group stepping into the river.
"Military seat, how can they walk in the river? Are they immortals, or have they practiced'floating on the water'?"
Hong Chengchou took a closer look and found that there were many fishermen walking barefoot in the river. The water just didn't reach their calves. "Huh? These Buryats didn't learn any special skills from their ancestors, right? Is the river so deep?"
"Military seat, it's not right, they seem to be standing in a line." The soldiers found that the fishermen's position in the river water is regular, but they can't tell what the regularity is.
"Is there a hidden pile under the water?" Hong Chengchou didn't understand, "Don't worry, take a look first."
The fishermen formed a curve in the river, like a semicircle. The remaining few people, holding wooden sticks and forks, took off the last strand of cloth on their bodies, entered the middle of the semicircle, and fumbled in the water.
They either slapped the water with a wooden stick, or used a wooden fork to fork into the deep water blindly, and two others plunged into the water together, making countless waves in the water.
"Fishing in troubled waters? But, fishing with this method is too inefficient, right?"
Before Hong Chengchou's words were over, there were already soldiers cheering: "Fish, they caught the fish!"
A carp swam past by the fishermen on the periphery, and he used a wooden fork to catch it. After the carp came out of the water, it still swayed violently on the wooden fork, which seemed to weigh more than a catty.
The fisherman held the fork in one hand and clasped the gills in the other, and threw it into the fish basket behind him. His eyes turned to the shallow water in front of him.
Only then did Hong Chengchou see that the places where the fishermen stood were some dams that had just submerged in the water. The fishermen in the water were disturbing the fish. The frightened fish fled from the dam and just happened to encounter the fishermen’s wooden fork.
I just don't know whether these dams existed in the first place or were built by fishermen.
"Hey, there really is a way, they have their own way of survival." Hong Chengchou shook his head and sighed, but didn't know how many fish could be caught by such a primitive method, enough for their daily meals.
If there are Han fishing nets, the effect should be better. Unfortunately, here is Lingbei Province. There are not many Han people. There are no fishing nets and no hemp silk for fishing nets. I don’t know if hemp silk is produced here.
In the morning, the fishermen caught an average of 20 catties of fish. When they ate at noon, they poured the fish out of the fish basket, removed the fish scales and internal organs, put a bit of salt on them, and prepared to make a fire.
The fishermen used two stones to make a fire by hitting each other, and while making a "squeak" sound, they would also produce sparks.
"It turns out that it was flint to make fire!" Hong Chengchou gestured to the soldier. The soldier took out the fire folder and opened the cover. The spark was still there. He blew a few mouthfuls and the flame came out.
The fishermen were shocked, the fire came too easy!
The leader hurried over and snatched the firefly from the soldier's hand. He went to light the firewood first, but the flame was immortal.
The Ming army soldier walked over and instructed him a little bit on how to put out the fire and how to start a fire. After three times, the leader had mastered the essentials. After trying it himself, he couldn't help but smirk at the fire.
The soldiers of the Ming Army wanted to get back their Huozhezi, but the leader was reluctant. He looked at Hong Chengchou eagerly.
Hong Chengchou smiled and asked the soldiers to give the Huo Zhezi to the leader, "Give them ten Huo Zhezi. As long as they are used to the Han Chinese items, they will be inseparable from the Han in the future."
The leader was overjoyed when he got eleven fire folds. After the fish was cooked, he sent a few to Hong Chengchou. Hong Chengchou waved his hand and refused. These grilled fish only have a little salt, not even ginger, and the smell must be very strong. , He is not a cat.
The leader had to give up. He looked at Hong Chengchou, clenched his empty fist, and made a gesture of drinking water.
Hong Chengchou knew that he wanted to drink distilled spirits, and shook his head with a wry smile.
He now only has a jar of distilled wine left, and he has sent someone back to Chita to get it, and he doesn't know when he will be back.
The leader shook his head disappointedly. Like the fishermen, he sat around the fire and relished the grilled fish without any flavoring.
For fish that cannot be eaten, the internal organs are removed, salt is applied, and the fish is dried on the ground.
The Ming army ate their own dry food and settled for lunch with the clear water of the Wuda River.
After the meal, the fishermen continued to fish in the river under the leadership of the leader. Hong Chengchou lost the interest in watching. He divided the soldiers into two groups and drew the local topographic map separately.
The woman the leader gave to Hong Chengchou still came to the barracks every evening to serve Hong Chengchou, and then left by herself in the morning. Hong Chengchou felt that the silent night was not full of fun, and while holding her Qianqian hand, he named her a Han Chinese name: Li Qianqian.
On this day, it began to drizzle and the temperature began to drop. Hong Chengchou thought of this extremely northern land. The winter was extremely cold. The Ming army’s marching tents were far from being able to withstand the cold here.
He has already drawn the topographic map of the vicinity, and based on the advice of the staff, has selected the site for the fortification of the city.
"Perhaps it's time to build a city here, and build some residential houses. The low earthen walls are much more cold-resistant than tents."
But here is the Buryatian territory. If you want to build a city, you must get their approval. If you don't want to use force to solve it, Hong Chengchou thought about it. The only thing that can attract the interest of the leader is the distilled wine.
He took the dry food and the last jar of distilled wine, accompanied by Li Qianqian, went to the wooden hut to meet the leader.
The accompanying soldiers escorted six other women in the army and eighteen red-haired prisoners of war.
Because of the rain, the leader did not plan to go fishing or hunting today. He met Hong Chengchou in the wooden house.
Seeing the purple-black jar held in Hong Chengchou's hand, the leader's eyes suddenly lighted up, and he immediately rushed towards Hong Chengchou, wishing to swallow the jar.
Hong Chengchou stretched out his hand to block him, then put the jar on the wooden square table in front, "I will drink at noon, now I have something to do with you." Knowing that he didn't understand, Hong Chengchou had to take his arm and drag him out of the wooden house. .
It was still raining outside. Hong Chengchou put on the leader a raincoat customary by the Ming army, and also put it on himself. The two of them rode horses and traveled south along the Segereng River. A large number of soldiers followed them, far away from the Uda River. At five miles away, Hong Chengchou and the leader stopped.
The place where Hong Chengchou wanted to build the city was right here. He asked four soldiers to stand on the open ground as the four corners of the city wall. Worried that the leader would not understand, he made gestures with his hands and asked the soldiers to shovel the soil with a spade. This will be its own territory.
The leader frowned, wondering if he couldn't understand, or he didn't want to give up the land to the Ming army.
Hong Chengchou squeezed a big hollow ball with both hands, like a jar, then squeezed a hollow fist with his right hand, making a drink, and pointed his finger at the leader.
The leader's gaze showed doubt, but he still didn't nod his head.
Hong Chengchou stretched out his left hand, spread it flat in front of him, held his fingers with his right hand, and counted them one by one, "Five altars!" Seeing that the leader still did not answer, he flipped out the back of his hand and held it finger by finger. Ten altars!"
The leader also stretched out his left hand, turned it once, and grumbled something in his mouth.
"Twenty is twenty. As long as the city can be established here, everything in the future will be Daming's." Hong Chengchou felt that trading twenty altars of wine for a city's land was simply too worthwhile, and it was a peaceful agreement. , It is conducive to the naturalization of these Buryats in the future.
The leader took out the Huozhezi Hong Chengchou gave him from his arms and turned it over four times with his hands.
"Plus forty fire notes?" Hong Chengchou doesn't care about fire notes. Daming has the fact that soldiers will carry fire notes on everyone. "Okay, the deal, you don't make other conditions."
Fortunately, the leader was not too greedy, nor did he make any other demands. In fact, he didn't know what else the Ming army had worth his greed.
Hong Chengchou didn't care if the two sides had made any mistakes in the meeting. Since the leader agreed to his territorial requirements, he let the soldiers stand in the rain, which was regarded as formally starting the city.
As for the name of this city, he had thought about it. It was close to Beihu Lake and to the east of Beihu Lake. It was called Beidong.