In Vasya Britotian's view, if the Chinese choose to marry and cooperate with the Zhuri tribe, they will inevitably become enemies with the hostile clans of the Zhuri tribe.
These are simple values. We are friends, my enemies are your enemies, and your enemies are also my enemies.
When the Cossacks came here, they were also welcomed by a certain tribe. They thought the Cossacks were very powerful, so they agreed to the Cossacks building a castle and wanted to form an alliance to deal with other tribes. By the way, the builders of the Yakutsk castle were eaten by Siberian tigers
Lost Beketov.
The ending can be imagined. The tribe that befriended the Cossacks was attacked by the Cossacks who had completed building the city.
Some tribesmen were brutally killed, some were captured as slaves, and the remaining tribesmen all fled.
"Let me lead the envoy?" Zhang Tingxun was quite happy. He had long wanted to go out and have a look, but it was boring to live in the castle all day.
Peng Chunlin said: "That female shaman is interested in you and wants to marry a girl to you. Go and see for yourself. If you like her, then get married. If you don't like it, you can find reasons to shirk it."
Zhang Tingxun said: "I have a wife in Nanjing."
"I know," Peng Chunlin said, "but you are in the Andong Protectorate and cannot go back for several years. You have to have a woman to take care of you. The imperial court also encourages soldiers to marry other races and reproduce more offspring to enrich the population. You should do it for His Majesty and the imperial court.
And take concubines."
"Let's talk about it later," Zhang Tingxun said perfunctorily.
It was only a few degrees below zero at this time, and although there was snow everywhere in the wild, it was still a relatively warm month.
Zhang Tingxun set off with eight soldiers, followed by civilian Li Jiang, who was responsible for recording the route along the way. As for the temperature record in the castle, it was left to Peng Chunlin, who could read thermometers.
Of course, Khabarov must also go, and he is currently the only translator.
The Cossacks left a few reindeer behind, hitched up the simple sleigh, and Zhang Tingxun followed the Sakha people away.
"Alas!"
There was light snow falling in the sky, and it kept blowing on his face. Zhang Tingxun felt inexplicably happy. He liked this feeling, being free and carefree, far better than the comfort of Nanjing.
Why are the Sakha people said to be semi-nomadic?
Because there are few places suitable for grazing, if a tribe wants to survive and reproduce, it must have at least two fixed pastures.
One is a summer pasture, located towards the north; the other is a winter pasture, located towards the south.
Summer pasture is conventional grazing, and the livestock can be led to the pasture. Winter pasture is more troublesome, requiring herdsmen to cut grass and store it, and rely on hay to keep the livestock through the winter.
The two fixed pastures are both tribal territories. Once a dispute occurs, it often means a war for survival.
After running in the snow for nine days, we finally arrived at the winter pasture in Zhuribu.
There is also snow all over here, but the thickness of the snow is not as thick as that of the castle. There are actually some livestock, which are taken out by the herdsmen. They dig through the snow and eat grass without fear of eating up their stomachs. The herdsmen nearby are not idle either.
Busy cutting grass and loading it into trucks to store fodder for the coming cold winter.
The tribe's camp is dotted with large and small tents.
This kind of tent is called "Quluozi", which is made of branches on the ground to form a conical frame. In summer, it is topped with birch bark and animal skin in winter.
Each tent is surrounded by a wooden fence. Beyond the wooden fence, there is a wider wooden fence. The herdsmen's livestock are usually kept between the two wooden fences, surrounding the tents where they live.
Once encountering extremely cold weather of minus 60 degrees Celsius, a large number of livestock will inevitably die because the livestock lack protection from the cold.
The Zhuri tribe is a relatively powerful tribe because they also have hundreds of horses.
Where there are horses, there are cavalry!
A few Saha tribes even have "heavy cavalry". They make their own iron armor pieces and connect them to the leather armor with leather ropes, thus creating "composite heavy armor".
These horses are also very peculiar and are called "Yakut horses" or "Sahamas".
It has thick skin, long hair, and strong limbs, and can withstand severe cold temperatures of dozens of degrees below zero.
The original species in the far north were smaller, similar to Mongolian horses.
The Yakut horses in the middle are larger in size. The average shoulder height of male horses is 139 cm and the average shoulder height of females is 137 cm.
In the south, it has become a large breed. The average shoulder height of male horses is 141 cm and the average shoulder height of mares is 136 cm.
What Zhang Tingxun saw at this time was the southern breed. The leader of the Zhuri tribe came to greet him on horseback. The shoulder height of the war horse under his crotch was very likely to reach 145 centimeters. In addition, the horse was thick and hairy, as if it were
Riding a monster.
Li Jiang, the cartographer, murmured in a low voice: "Mr. Zhang, this horse is strange. We can exchange a few horses in the coming year and transport them to Hailanpao for breeding."
Zhang Tingxun said: "The body is too strong, and the limbs are thick, so I guess it can't run fast. It would be a good draft horse for dragging artillery. Moreover, the horse hair is long and abundant, so it is thought to be extremely cold-resistant and suitable for fighting in the Mobei grassland."
The female shaman was communicating with the leader and seemed to be explaining the identities of Zhang Tingxun and others.
The Sakha people have a strong concept of yin and yang. Horses belong to yang, and men take care of and raise them. Cows belong to yin, and women take care of and raise them.
Their habit of raising horses and cattle should have been formed in the Lake Baikal region.
As for raising deer, I slowly figured it out after I moved here. Nowadays, some tribes have not mastered the technology of raising deer and cannot gallop in the snow and ice - some tribes have no deer, but they have dogs, and they pull sleds in winter.
The tribal leader's name was Naini. He checked the salt he brought back and wrapped himself in the cotton-padded jacket he had brought back.
Then, he asked Kunde, the son of the female shaman.
Kunde said: "These Chinese people are very good. They released me and asked me to help repair the castle. I can work every day in exchange for food. The Saha people captured by the Rakshasa bandits were originally treated as slaves, and they were also used by the Chinese
After the slaves were released, they also gave women as wives to the slaves. Those Sakha people who were freed were very grateful to the Chinese and voluntarily stayed in the castle to grow food."
The leader Naini was convinced that the Chinese were very friendly and warmly welcomed Zhang Tingxun and others into his tent.
Before entering the tent, Zhang Tingxun was stopped because there was another ceremony.
The leader's son took out a flint, hammered it, and lit firewood in the center of the tent. This "fire lighting" ceremony was to welcome distinguished guests and also occurred during celebrations.
Some people use long poles to remove the animal skins at the top of the tent, exposing a gap for smoke exhaust.
With the "fire position" as the center, the position facing the door is called "Malu". The leader Naini invited Zhang Tingxun to sit down together. The positions on both sides of the "fire position" are called "Aolu", where female shamans, Datong soldiers and tribes are important.
Members are sitting there.
There is no soju here, but there is kumiss.
The leader's wife and daughter entertained the guests with kumiss, and also brought some meat and fresh fish.
The tribe is located in a river valley. When Zhang Tingxun arrived, he traveled a long way on the frozen river. Fresh fish was also obtained by digging out ice and cut into raw fish pieces. I don't know what seasonings were mixed with it.
"Is this a horn cup? It doesn't look like a horn either." Zhang Tingxun asked.
The leader Nani burst out laughing and said something, and Khabarov translated: "It's an ivory cup."
Not just any ivory, but mammoth ivory.
The main handicraft of the Sakha people is carving from mammoth ivory, of which there are many in Siberia.
The leader Naini raised the mammoth ivory cup: "Welcome the distinguished guests from the Chinese tribe. May our friendship not wither in the cold winter!"
"I wish your Excellency the leader good health, and I also wish that none of Zhuri's livestock will freeze to death in the winter." Zhang Tingxun is better at speaking in a formal manner than Peng Chunlin.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Chief Naini was indeed very happy, especially because the livestock would not freeze to death. This was the best blessing for the Saha people.
The leader asked someone to set up a tent for them, and they all slept in the tent that night.
The next day, everyone walked around the tribe and found that there were obviously more women than men.
After detailed inquiry, I found out that even in winter, men have to go out hunting and grazing. For this reason, accidents often occur, and men's life span is far less than that of women.
Capable men tend to be polygamous.
Here is the primogeniture system, and you can even inherit your father's wives and concubines. However, the other sons can also receive a small amount of family property to ensure that they will not freeze to death or starve to death.
A woman's only private property is her dowry, which is generally passed down to her daughter.
The only exception is the shaman family, where there are both male and female shamans. Once a woman serves as a shaman, she is never allowed to marry outside, because the shaman holds the most important knowledge. For example, poetry, medical skills, astronomy, climate...etc.
Li Jiang said to Zhang Tingxun: "There are obviously many boys and girls in the Sakha people. From now on, the felons who are exiled will not need to bring their wives with them at all. Let their wives remarry. The felons who were exiled here can just marry local women directly."
.”
"Not bad." Zhang Tingxun nodded.
Li Jiang added: "Felt and ivory can be added to future trading goods. Felt is the cheapest. Bring more. It can not only surround tents to prevent the cold, but also cover livestock to prevent them from freezing to death. The Sakha people will definitely like it."
Felt. And ivory, which is a common item here, is valuable when sold in China."
Felt is really the cheapest of all woolen products, but it is very useful, and the Sakha people don't have it.
The Sakha people use many pieces of animal skins sewn together to cover their livestock from the wind and snow. Think about it, how many animal skins are needed to cover hundreds of deer?
A slightly wealthy family has dozens of deer, and the leader Nani has hundreds of deer.
Use cheap felts in exchange for expensive ivory, and cheap cotton jackets in exchange for expensive furs. This business is completely successful, and you can get huge wealth without plundering like the Cossacks.
Garrisoning troops in Yakutsk will definitely not make a loss!
"Deputy Zhang, Deputy Zhang..." Li Jiang continued to speak, but saw that Zhang Tingxun was already distracted.
He followed Zhang Tingxun's line of sight and saw several Saha girls passing by carrying wooden buckets, most likely to milk mare or milk.
These girls were dressed better than ordinary women. They were covered in fur clothes and even had mink fur around their necks.
Zhang Tingxun obviously fell in love with one of them.
