Chapter 118 Yang Zhen is in the Northeast
Winter in the north comes later.
This is especially true here in Yang Zhen.
Yang Zhen has spent a long winter here.
This is a river port near the outlet of Heilongjiang River.
They built many wooden houses near the port. But among the more than 100 people who followed Yang Zhen north, three people still froze to death. There is no way around this.
However, now there are not fewer people under Yang Zhen's command, but more. the reason is simple.
Since humans walked out of the African continent, they have survived in most places on the earth except Antarctica. The environment in the outer Northeast is certainly harsh. But it’s not to the point where it’s completely impossible to survive.
It’s just that winter increases the difficulty of survival for these people, who have to find food and survive in the ice and snow. Make these people more aggressive. Before Yang Zhen came, he brought a lot of food, not only just in case, but food is also the hard currency here. The most sought-after items.
Yang Zhen's supplies were naturally discovered by these savages. Launched an attack on Yang Zhen's situation.
Of course, these people did not benefit from the equipment of the Ming Dynasty soldiers.
However, Yang Zhen was not moved by a little victory. He knew very well what he was here to do. He didn't come here to kill a few savages. But to do things, to do business, these people are the best fur suppliers.
So instead of punishing these people, Yang Zhen exchanged food for their furs.
Soon, Yang Zhen was temporarily parked. A place that doesn’t even have a proper name has become a well-known trading center. There was a large gathering of people. A small town formed. Exchange goods.
And the price of fur is very, very low. Just say one thing. You can understand how low it is. The price of fur is based on weight. That is to say, it is usually three times the weight of grain in exchange for fur. Be aware that the fur left by these people can be traced back to them. They are all good leather.
After all, these are people who make a living by fishing and hunting. Fur is not only the source of their clothes, but also a by-product of their lives.
They eat prey and have large amounts of fur left over. They don't care about a lot of ordinary fur. Let them keep it. All are fine leather. For example, snow fox skin as white as snow, tiger skin without an edge on it, etc.
Of course, these people are not fools.
Don't know the price of these furs.
Although these furs here are naturally not as good as those in the Central Plains, the price is simply a lot of money. But it’s not something that can be exchanged for this little grain of food. However, their food reserves were too little.
In the cold winter, extra fur is of no use at all, but food can save lives.
The price is understandable.
The food Yang Zhen brought was only about a thousand dan. The equivalent of silver in Liaodong is about three hundred taels. Food prices in the north are slightly more expensive. But a whole boatload of furs were replaced.
Although Yang Zhen could also see that these people's fur processing methods were far inferior to those of the Central Plains craftsmen. But the quality of the fur itself is so good. After reprocessing, if not 10,000 taels of fur, the number of furs on this boat was at least several thousand taels.
Especially some treasures. Yang Zhen didn't even know how to estimate it.
On the one hand, Yang Zhen was in Nanyang before and was not very familiar with the price of furs. On the other hand, it was because the furs were so good. It's so good that it's priceless. It depends on what price you sell it for.
In addition, Yang Zhencong brought goods, whether they were light tools or knives and guns. Waiting for them to be cleared one after another. They also exchanged for some things other than fur, such as gold sand and pearls. gem. There are also some precious medicinal materials and so on.
In short, Yang Zhen didn't even know how much profit he made, ten times the amount. No, at least a dozen times.
Moreover, Yang Zhen also made a lot of money.
Some lost their tribes in the winter. The tribes in the mountains and forests are not the big tribes on the grasslands. There are only two to three hundred people in a tribe. Even less so, it is very common for an entire tribe to die in an instant due to extreme weather.
It is difficult for people who lose their tribes to survive in the mountains and forests. These people will usually defect to new tribes. Or were captured as slaves by other tribes. In the eyes of these people, the caravan led by Yang Zhen was actually a tribe.
And there are slaves.
The entire outer northeastern region, in the eyes of the Chinese, is a cold and barren land. But in the eyes of these people, it is their home. Nature has its own survival system. Even because of the war between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, many Han people fled here.
This is the power Yang Zhen can use.
Yang Zhen recruited dozens of people. Prepare to build a stronghold here. Keep people stationed. Although there are only a few dozen people. But Yang Zhen is not worried about their safety. On the one hand, they have weapons and complete fortifications, and the people here, although their personal qualities are very good. But the understanding of war is still too shallow.
On the other hand, although the tribes here kill each other. There are even some feuds that will not attack businessmen.
Because the more remote the place, the more obvious the benefits of caravans are. Even when the Mongols were marching and fighting, they did not kill the caravans. These tribes also inherited this style.
And Yang Zhen is going back now.
He went north last year and set up three strongholds along the coastline. This was the last one. Even when he came here, Heilongjiang had begun to freeze. Taking advantage of the last period of time, wooden houses were built to allow most people to spend the winter safely.
He went back to inspect the other two strongholds and at the same time returned to Liaodong to purchase goods.
And prepare to go upstream along this river in the future to see where we can go. At least at this moment, Yang Zhen didn't know that this river was connected to the Songhua River.
Sliding down the river from Heilongjiang, it didn't take long to enter the sea. The ship was tossed and turned in the sea wind. After a while, the east coast was seen. This is Kuwu Island, also known as Sakhalin Island.
Yang Zhen's other stronghold is here.
In this era, the ecological environment and humanistic environment on Sakhalin Island were not much different from those at the seaport of Heilongjiang. Just the same. There are not many people in Yang Zhen's stronghold here, only two to three hundred people. A considerable number of people are still Japanese.
Fortunately, we are far away from the disputes between Japan and Ming Dynasty here. In other words, the war there is just a war between countries and has little to do with each specific person.
In that environment, everyone fought hard for their own situation. Now that we are out of that environment, very few people are willing to fight to the end for the Emperor.
The harvest here is also full.
In this way, the fleet, loaded with large quantities of furs, slowly headed south, passing Sado Island on the way. However, they saw Sado Island in the distance, with thick smoke billowing up, which seemed to be a coordinate in the sea and sky. A beacon.
Yang Zhen secretly muttered in his heart that he could see it from such a distance. I don’t know what these people are doing on the island? Either a volcano erupted or there was a fire.
However, Yang Zhen just thought about it and put this matter aside.
Because he had been warned before coming, he was not allowed to approach Sado Island under any circumstances. Sado Island was heavily guarded by troops and many other people. The number of Han Chinese on Sado Island has exceeded 10,000.
It can be said that this is the place with the highest concentration of Han people within hundreds of miles.
But what to do on Sado Island? They are all military secrets and cannot be interfered with. Yang Zhen had no intention of interfering. After passing Sado Island, he soon came to his first stronghold, which already had a name.
His name is Xuanyang.
Because this is the focus of business, as soon as he arrived here, Yang Zhen hung up the Xuanyang Society's sign. The local natives didn't understand its meaning, so they turned it into a place name. Later, more and more people started calling, so we started to follow the rules.
At this moment, Xuanyang has made do with a simple small stronghold. But small towns.
It is built near the sea, has a natural harbor, and probably has a population of over 10,000. Naturally, some of them were the sailors who followed Yang Zhen, as well as the Japanese. The rest are Jurchen tribes who come to do business from various places, and even Mongolians who come from afar.
Although they are both in the Northeast, this place is completely different from the bitter cold places in the Heilongjiang estuary area. There aren't even big tribes there, because if there are too many people, they can't support them, so they have to separate tribes. But here it is completely different.
