Back in early August. The nearly month-long Ezochi combat operation in Beihai Town finally ended. However, there is nothing thrilling about this operation, it is really lackluster.
The Matsumae Domain tax office and the Omi merchant's warehouse in the Sapporo area were easily uprooted by the Hokkai Town troops. Under Zhao Xin's indifference and deliberate instigation, the angry Ainu killed all the prisoners.
Later, Zhao Xin officially named this place Pingyuan Town. He asked his men to build a four-meter-high shelf with several long logs at the location of the JR Tower in later generations, and painted it with white paint as a temporary landmark in the center of Pingyuan Town.
Deng Fei's sea blockade operation had no results at all. In order to avoid being noticed by the Matsumae clan while driving the Thor, he deliberately waited on the ocean five kilometers offshore for several days.
What Zhao Xin did not expect was that since Matsumae Michhiro was killed during the previous bombardment of Matsumae Castle, the shogunate and the various branches of the Uyizaki family were busy fighting for control of the Matsumae Domain. The few important ministers who were alive in the domain were now He couldn't care less about the unusual situation in the north.
The Matsumae family is in chaos, who has the time to worry about the affairs of the Ainu people. So Deng Fei wandered around the Tsugaru Strait for seven or eight days but did not see Matsumae Clan's troop transport ship going out to sea, so he had to return to Sagawa.
Wang Yuanfang, who originally wanted to prevent the killing of prisoners, was fooled by Zhao Xin into returning to Shachuan from Pingyuan Town. After that, he led the team southward from Shachuan to the small plain at the foot of Lihuang Mountain. He found that except for a small tribe of Ainu people, there were no ghosts on the island! Helpless Wang Yuanfang had no choice but to lead the team back after exchanging some food with the local tribe.
Liu Sheng led his troops eastward and marched to the beach of Makomai. The terrain here is exactly as Zhao Xin expected, with rivers and lakes crisscrossing the area, and low-lying swamps and wetlands scattered throughout the forest. According to communication between the guide and local seaside tribes, except for the occasional fishermen from the Matsumae Domain who come here to fish, no one else comes here.
At this point, the second-stage combat plan designated by Zhao Xinhe and the Ministry of Security declared "failed."
The large swamps in Makomai may be transformed into fertile land, but with the farming technology of this era, reclamation will be very difficult, and it will not be completed without decades of reclamation. But what Liu Sheng didn't know was that the waters near here were rich in northern oysters, and in later generations the northern oyster catches here accounted for 10% of the entire island country.
In response to the situations discovered during the implementation of the second phase of the combat plan, the original plan to build military stations and outposts was also adjusted. In addition to the Shachuan tribe's village, a military station will be built by the seaside of Pingyuan Town, which has become Tuka's target.
As for the originally planned military station at Mount Sichuan, Tuka sent people to contact the tribes there and asked the locals to transport sulfur ore directly to Shachuan to exchange for daily necessities with Beihai Town.
For the vast area of Ezo, Zhao Xin's troops were seriously insufficient; and he did not want to send more soldiers and family members from the island country. As for the animal husbandry and feed breeding industries to be developed here in the future, Zhao Xin planned to leave them to the hungry people of the Qing Dynasty in the future.
With the cooperation of Beihai Town's force, the Sagawa tribe, which incorporated seven or eight tribes near Pingyuan Town, immediately became the largest tribe in Ezo, with more than 2,000 Ainu tribesmen under their command. For those disobedient tribal chiefs, Tuka did not take action himself. Instead, he tied these people up and fed them directly to the black bears.
Fearing that Tuka's power would suddenly expand, its foundation would be unstable. After Zhao Xin thought about it, he asked Tuka to provide some trustworthy Shachuan people who would be trained by Beihai Town soldiers stationed in Shachuan Village. He also plans to issue old-fashioned revolvers produced by Zhao Liang's workshop to Tuka's men in the future.
As for Liu Sheng's concern about whether Tuka would fall out with Beihai Town in the future, Zhao Xin is not very worried, because as long as the supply of revolver flash caps is controlled, the Ainu can only be "fish in a cage." --Can't afford any waves.
Speaking of black bears, we have to mention the "breeding bear festival" of the Ainu people. At the end of winter, they would catch a bear cub and bring it back to the village, where it would be fed by a woman. When the little bear grows big enough and starts to pester or catch people, it is kept in a strong wooden cage and fed with fish or millet porridge. They are usually kept in cages for two or three years until killed during sacrifices.
(Later generations of scholars believe that there are many cultural similarities between the Ainu people's "breeding bear sacrifices" and the Manchu people's rituals of raising pigs as sacrifices. This proves that there were frequent exchanges between ethnic groups in Northeast Asia in the early days. Forming a unique cultural area.)
Liu Sheng originally wanted to bring a little black bear back to Beihai Town to raise, but Zhao Xin dissuaded him. Zhao Xin said, brother, if you want to take this thing back as a pet, will my King Duofu still have a chance to survive?
Before leaving, the companies of Sheng Haizhou and Hu Ji were arranged to stay and guard two military stations. Two months later, Li Ji and Pan Xiucheng's company would replace them.
Manzo and Shigesuke led their two thousand construction teams to continue building the road from Sagawa to the landmark of Pingyuan Town, and later also built the main road to the Yubari Mountains.
Director Liu Da of the medical team left several nursing team members on duty at Shachuan Military Station and established a small clinic to deal with the headaches and fever of the soldiers stationed there.
On August 13, the Thor hurriedly returned to Beihai Town carrying five companies of soldiers and medical team members, as well as a large number of animal skins seized from Pingyuan Town.
It’s impossible not to come back, because the Mid-Autumn Festival in this time and space is coming.
A group of modern people headed by Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng have been busy since they came to Beihai Town, with no days off at all. It’s finally time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we have to get together no matter what.
Moreover, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Thunder God will go south to the Flower and Bird Island again to deliver cigarettes, animal skins and other goods to Shen Jingdan and Huang Maocai. The most important thing is that after going south this time, Zhao Xin was preparing to land in Shanghai and enter the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty.
It is said that the islanders of the Edo period also enjoyed the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and moon viewing activities were inseparable from "Tsukimi Dango". Zhao Xin had never heard of this kind of snack before traveling to the island country. The night he returned to Beihai Town, Li Ji came to him and mentioned the Mid-Autumn Festival snacks.
Zhao Xin thought that he would still use glutinous rice to make snacks, so he agreed without hesitation. Ke Liji's subsequent explanation made Zhao Xin dumbfounded.
It turns out that snacks like Tsukimi dumplings are mainly made from taro. Seeing that the day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhao Xinna has to find this taro thing! Just use glutinous rice!
So Shino, Duohe and other women from each family used the glutinous rice they received to make taro-shaped dumplings, and wrapped the dumplings with soy flour mixed with sugar. Because this year is a leap month, there are thirteen dumplings per plate.
Zhao Xin took a look at the Tsukimi dumplings sent by Shino and said, "I'm going!" Isn't this the same as donkey rolling around, except there is no red bean paste filling inside.
However, when making Tsukimi dumplings, each family made a portion for Zhao Xin, a great benefactor, packed it in a wooden box and sent it to the Thor.
Okay! On August 15th, Zhao Xin felt dizzy looking at the thousands of boxes of glutinous rice snacks in front of him. Don’t eat too much of this thing, otherwise you’ll get gastric acid; you’ll have to eat it until the Year of the Monkey!
So he took a few boxes to give to Shen Xuan. Unexpectedly, when he arrived on the yacht, he saw that Shen Xuan had also received dozens of boxes. Since there were no snacks to eat in Beihai Town, Shen Xuan liked these small glutinous rice dumplings very much and had them for dinner directly.
It is said that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the islanders of the Edo period not only eat moon-viewing dumplings, but also tie them into balls with seven kinds of autumn grass. Sitting in the grass dumplings, eating dumplings and admiring the moon. So on the afternoon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the seaside was covered with all kinds of grass balls. If you dare, you can reserve a seat in advance!
Zhao Xin also heard from Katayama's wife Duohe that one should reward two people to appreciate the moon. This means that if a moon-viewing activity is held on August 15th but not on September 15th, it will be a "moon-viewing activity alone"; in the cultural customs of the island people, it is very taboo.
What a mess of rules!
(End of chapter)
