In the next few days, Zhao Xin took Liu Sheng or Wang Yuanfang back and forth between the eighteenth-century Bear Island and the modern ice-free port. Prepare for transfer and base construction after spring.
The ten heavy-duty draft horses purchased from Uncle Andrew's ranch have been sent to the farm in the north of Freezing Port. Zhao Xin recruited a local farmer to take care of these horses. As for the repairs of the old houses on the farm, he didn't care at all, so he just left them abandoned.
After spending a day in the local public library, Zhao Xin found local maps and surrounding mineral resource distribution maps from the late 19th century from numerous materials. These will be handed over to Chen Qingsong, allowing him to start planning and designing in advance.
Five days later, news came from Deng Fei that the bulk cargo ship had left the port carrying 5,000 tons of grain! Estimated arrival in twenty-five days.
Zhao Xin carefully calculated the time. After the cargo ship arrived at the port, the ice period on the sea surface on Bear Island would also end. The transfer can begin immediately.
At that time, Liu Sheng will bring Wang Yuanfang and others to pick up the ship.
Zhao Xin has asked Liu Sheng to start training Wang Yuanfang and other modern people on ship knowledge. Zhao Liang and Zhang Bo will temporarily be responsible for the ship management duties.
Liu Sheng, Deng Fei, Zhao Liang, Zhang Bo plus Ding Guofeng, the freighter is ready to start. As for the insufficient sailors and crew, they can be trained slowly.
The Mandarin class on Bear Island is progressing quite smoothly. Ten people, including Elu, Serdan, Hengji and Sheng Haizhou, can already pronounce their names in Chinese, and can also use some simple daily greetings with difficulty; it is estimated that After a few more months, general communication won't be a problem.
Yalha's condition improved greatly after the arrival of Hong Tao and Liu Siting. Large areas of infection throughout the body have been cured. The only drawback is that three necrotic fingers and two toes were necrotic. Hong Tao performed excision after careful diagnosis.
Zhao Xin has handed over all the medical supplies he purchased previously to Hong Tao and Liu Siting. They also asked the two of them to make a list of other medical supplies that needed to be purchased. Hong Tao asked to buy a small X-ray machine and color ultrasound equipment, and Zhao Xin agreed.
Chen Qingsong has some design and planning skills. He immediately got to work after getting the map information provided by Zhao Xin.
Zhao Xin's suggestion is to build a future city near the port, relying on it to develop northwest along the Xila River and establish multiple agricultural towns; the development of local farmland is mainly on the east and west sides of the Xila River basin. Expand. Future primary mining and smelting facilities are planned to the east of the port.
Another thing Zhao Xin took the time to do was to call Gu Xi and break up directly. After listening to Zhao Xin's explanation, Gu Xi on the phone hung up the phone without saying anything.
The two of them had never been together for a few days since they met, which made Zhao Xin feel that instead of being so disconnected, it would be better to say goodbye in peace.
After he put down the phone, he suddenly realized that there was actually no place for Gu Xi in his current life and the foreseeable future.
Zhao Xin felt that he didn't take advantage of others anyway, so there was nothing to be blamed for. Just think of it as a break in life.
He considered that in the next year, unless he needed to leave temporarily to purchase weapons, he would stay in the time and space of the eighteenth century for most of the rest of the time.
…
In mid-February of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign, as a ten-man team of sentry riders rushed back from the fishing village delivered news, everyone's eyes and attention finally focused on Bear Island, the largest of the fourteen islands in the South China Sea.
Ute Shan, the leader of Hunchun who was sitting in Kengchou City, couldn't care so much anymore. More than a hundred people had lived without seeing anyone dead or dead, so he found the local shaman to ask for good or bad luck.
In front of the shrine, as the sound of waist bells and scratching drums sounded, two masked shamans held drum whips in one hand and scratching drums in the other, and began to beat rhythmically, and their bodies began to rise and fall; the other two The masked shaman held a rattle in his hand, shaking it while his feet moved forward and backward.
The old shaman in charge of divination wore a sacred hat with colorful tassels covering his face. After kneeling in front of the shrine and offering incense, he began to sing a melodious sacred song and perform divination.
(This is the ancestor of the dance master of later generations.)
The main generals of Wu Teshan and the Three Banners stood aside nervously, waiting for the results of the divination.
An hour later, the old shaman, who finally finished communicating with the gods, revealed the results of the divination.
"The gods said that several demons came to the island, leading a group of subordinates... They could use fire-breathing iron weapons... Those armored soldiers all died in the battle..."
"The Water God said that these demons also have iron boats as big as mountains... that can travel thousands of miles a day on the sea..."
It is said that shamanism believes in the animism of all things. Among the various gods, the ghosts and gods formed by the dead ancestors and the gods that bring various diseases and death in the world are the core. Fire, mountains, rivers, water, trees, sun, moon and stars, Thunder and lightning, clouds, ice and snow, wind and rain, rainbows and some animals are also endowed with godhead.
"The ancestors said, we...we..." The old shaman hesitated for a long time, but finally did not say anything. The words he swallowed just now will make his head fall off if he speaks them out!
The people in Wote Mountain looked at each other in confusion, cold sweat streaming down their foreheads. Especially Wuteshan, his legs were shaking at this moment, and he knelt on the ground with a plop, kowtowing continuously.
All dead? Something big is going to happen now!
The two assistant leaders and a group of supervisors looked at the assistant leader who collapsed on the ground, with sympathy in their eyes and joy at seeing that promotion was just around the corner. However, Wu Teshan is still the co-leader, so he can't be too explicit. So everyone knelt down and kowtowed to their ancestors' spiritual thrones together.
A few days later, three hundred cavalrymen transferred from Ninggu Pagoda, led by Deputy Capital Commander Anlin, finally arrived in Hunchun; a few days later, Jilin General Qinggui sent to participate in the investigation. A co-leader also arrived with two hundred knightly cavalry soldiers.
The name of the Manchu leader with a yellow flag from Wula, Jilin, is Tuoketong'a. He is a genuine old Manchu. Unlike Wute Shan and others, they were all transformed into "Yi Che Manchu" by the local Kurkhaqi people who surrendered. ".
Tuoketong'a handed over a letter written by Jilin General Qinggui to Anlin. In the letter, Qinggui ordered that the living person should be seen and the corpse should be seen after death; this matter must be investigated clearly without delay.
An Lin, who was sitting in the lobby of the government office, first asked his master to read Qinggui's letter to the generals below. Then he glanced coldly at everyone present. After feeling that the official atmosphere was tense and serious enough, he slowly said: "Master Qing has reported the matter to the Ministry of War immediately and is preparing to report to the Emperor..."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the room heard a "clang!" and when they looked up, it turned out that Wu Teshan had overturned to the ground along with the chair underneath him.
A leader of Zhenghuang Banner quickly stood up and stepped forward to help Wuteshan up, and then raised the chair for Wuteshan to sit down.
An Lin sighed inwardly. Although Wuteshan is good at doing things for others, his luck is really bad. It was just a trap stabbed by his men, but more than a hundred living people disappeared without a trace.
He, Woteshan, can only handle this matter by himself. If he is dismissed or investigated afterwards, it will probably be light. It was hard for him to talk about the court's punishment at this time, otherwise he would frighten all the people in Hunchun, and no one would bother to do the job.
An Lin waited for Wu Teshan to sit down again, and then said: "Wute Shan, please tell us about the progress in the past few days."
Woteshan mustered up the courage to stand up, bowed to An Lin and said, "Sir, according to the news sent back by the sentries in the past few days, I can be sure that Yarha, Serdan and all the thieves are hiding in Xiong." island."
Wu Teshan paused, glanced at An Lin, and then said hesitantly: "However, according to the report from the Sentinel Cavalry team that returned to the city the day before yesterday, another team of ten people also lost contact since they went to the island to search. I'm afraid...I'm afraid they have suffered the same fate as Tomohuoguo."
"Hiss" An Lin took a breath, the situation became more and more serious. He thought for a moment and then asked Wu Teshan: "When will the ice in the South China Sea thaw?"
"The weather this year is the same as in previous years, so we can only go sailing in early March. In previous years, we always visited the South China Sea islands in early March."
"What's the ice situation like now? Is there any investigation?"
"The sentry came yesterday to report that the ice has loosened, but we still have to wait."
“Where’s that side of Bear Island?”
"Because the northern bay of Bear Island does not freeze all year round, the ice age there ends early every year. If we try to go up now, it may be difficult for the army to pass. If we only send a small team up, I'm afraid..."
An Lin was silent for a long time, tapping his fingers on the table, and then said after a while: "In this case, I'm afraid I can only wait until March."
Wu Teshan didn't answer, just lowered his head. What he fears most now is that An Lin orders him to lead troops to the island. What the old shaman said after the divination frightened him completely.
"What's the situation with the warships at Shuiying?" An Lin continued to ask.
"There are thirty warships, including twenty three-plank ships, ten four-plank ships, and fifty grain ships. All kinds of warships are equipped with artillery, including one odd cannon on the three-plank ships, and the four-plank ships are equipped with multiple guns. Two guns. All ships are in good condition and have no damage."
"So... let Shuiying start preparing warships now, and when the ice age is over, immediately go to sea and land on the island." An Lin ordered.
"Yes." Wu Teshan bowed and returned to his seat, quietly wiping a cold sweat while no one was paying attention.
An Lin sat in the hall and fell into silence. This guy spends his whole day just thinking about making money, and when this happens, he is in trouble.
"Sir." Tokton'a, who was sent by Jilin General's Mansion, stood up at this time. "The general requested to lead his two hundred armored soldiers to search Bear Island."
Just over a hundred of them were gone, and someone popped out and they were still trying to get in.
"Sir, you must not do it." Wu Teshan suddenly stood up, bowed and saluted, and then dissuaded him. Although he and Tuoke Tong'a were both co-leaders, they were old Manchurians, so Ute Shan still showed great respect.
"Oh? Are you, Wu Teshan, so frightened that you lose your courage?" Tokton'a said contemptuously.
"The sea water has been getting warmer in the past few days, and the ice on the surface of the South China Sea has begun to loosen. It is very dangerous to walk on the ice from the mouth of Suifen River. Even horse-drawn sledges can't cross it now." Wu Teshan explained quickly.
"Then we can't wait here any longer, right? Lord Qing is still waiting for news." Tuoketong'a said anxiously.
"I think so." An Lin suddenly said. "Woteshan, let the sentry team that has returned lead the way. You can send another hundred armored soldiers to go to the mouth of the Suifen River with Toktong'a to investigate the details."
"Tok Tong'a." An Lin turned around and said. "You are only going to investigate the situation on this trip. You are not allowed to land on the island without permission. Violators will be punished by military law."
"Sir, this... general may not be able to deal well with the general's mansion."
"What's the rush? I haven't finished speaking yet." An Lin glared at Tuoketong'a and continued: "Hunchun will arrange food, fodder and horses for you. After you arrive, camp in the north of the fishing village. Troops must be dispatched every day Monitor the situation on Bear Island and make sure one person escapes. When the ice melts in March, we will land on the island from the west and north sides and attack them. I will see where they can go."
"The last general takes orders." All the generals in the hall bowed and saluted.
After everyone retreated, An Lin's master came up and asked: "Master, do you think it is a beast on the island? Since it is called Bear Island..."
"Nonsense!" Although An Lin was greedy and shameless, he was not stupid. "What kind of beast can make more than a hundred armored soldiers disappear without a trace?!"
"This matter is not that simple." An Lin said with certainty: "The soldiers with yellow flags in Hunchun City are all elite, and many of them have been to Jinchuan and Jinchuan."
The Big and Small Jinchuans mentioned by An Lin refer to the second Battle of Big and Small Jinchuans between the thirty-sixth and forty-first years of Qianlong's reign. In the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, the emperor mobilized 2,000 Jilin Sauron soldiers to participate in the battle to encircle and suppress Jinchuan.
The master said in embarrassment: "Master, how can I report back to the General's Mansion?"
Yes, how should I report it to Jilin Wula?
