When the Yuanda River just showed signs of thawing, Nikan left a hundred cavalry in Yilinka, a hundred cavalry in Chitamu Village, and set off with the remaining three hundred cavalry.

It can be said that in addition to Harhatu's artillery and Muren's one hundred dragon cavalry, Zhu Ketu's one hundred flying dragon cavalry, Suha's one hundred tiger cavalry, Yadan's one hundred dragoons, plus Alina's thirty relatives.

The guards, all one man and two riders, set off from Chita in a mighty manner and marched westward along the post road on the north bank of the Yuanda River.

Nikan naturally had his own considerations in taking these many people and horses to the west to Kyaktu in full view of the public.

During the conversation with Ulji, he learned that the Coltey tribe only accounted for half of the entire Yonda River Valley, which was about two hundred miles from Chita to the vicinity of Boshuye Lake in the later world.

Starting from Lake Shuoye and going to the west, there are more than a dozen continuous freshwater and saltwater lakes. The vast area before the Yonda River turns south is occupied by a Buryat Mongolian tribe called Irgenbu.

This Irgen tribe also occupies several large natural lakes in the northwest mountains of Chita, led by Lake Irgen, and Lake Irgen is the source of the Shilok River, another large river that leads to Kyaktu.

Kyakhta Trading is easily accessible via Shilok River.

Three days later, three hundred horses arrived at Uligi's station, near Drovianaya in later Russia. Uligi frowned when he saw Nikan coming with so many people and horses.

"Deputy Khan, we are here to trade and do business, not to fight. What are we doing with these people?"

Nikan shook his head, "Amuzi, I was almost deceived by you. The entire Chita Valley is four hundred miles long, and I didn't expect you to occupy less than half of it!"

Uligi said: "It's pretty good. Our troops only have more than 500 households within a 200-mile radius, and it seems empty if we put them all in. I've placed a hundred standing troops here to guard against the Buryats."

, as long as we hold on to this section, the herdsmen heading east will be safe and sound.”

"What's the name of this place?"

"The Buryats are called Gerny"

"Amuzi, it's not enough to just place a standing army here, you have to set up a walled city."

Wuliji also knew the role of the walled city, and after hearing this, his heart moved, "Where should it be set up?"

"Naturally located on the north bank of the Yuanda River, an important traffic thoroughfare"

"..."

"Forget it, when Chita's city is built, I'll ask Sun Laodao to come over and help you."

Seeing the large number of people led by Nikan, Uligi only followed with twenty cavalry. Before entering the sphere of influence of the Buryat people, he said: "The leader of the Irgen tribe is called Kurtuqin, and he governs the north.

Shilok River Valley, an area of ​​five or six hundred miles to the south of the Jouda River Valley."

"His standing army is probably about the same as yours. It is estimated that there are more than 500 cavalry. There are more than 100 cavalry in the Yuanda River Basin. Our troops just moved from the mouth of the Kruchina River and fought with them. However,

It’s probably because the two sides have never met each other before, and they don’t know the depth. Their more than one hundred cavalry were severely defeated by our troops.”

"When he learned that I had 500 households here and could dispatch 500 or 600 fine cavalry, Kurtuqin made peace with me, so that my troops could go to Kyaktu without any hindrance."

"How many people are there in the Yirgun tribe in the Yonda river basin?"

"There are thousands of tents, all near the lake in the west."

"Thousands of tents? Are they all Mongolians?"

"Not entirely. The Mongols have up to 600 tents, and the rest include the Saurons and Daurs, all of whom are tribes dependent on them."

"Sauron?"

"Oh, they used to be a tribe of deer messengers in the mountains. After coming to the grassland, they gradually became a tribe of horse messengers."

"Then do the Mongols still have a standing army here?"

"Yes, this place is managed by Kurtuqin's younger brother Kurdoqin. They have learned about the Nerchinsk Congress and have stepped up patrols. The standing army has been strengthened to more than two hundred people. The large tent is located near Lake Tanga.

"

When he heard about Lake Tanga, Nikan felt a chill in his heart.

Tanga was an important town in later Russia. From there, you can reach Chita along the Indus River to the east, and you can reach the Chuku River along the Indus River and a series of small rivers in the southwest. This is also the closest road to Kyakhta.

Going northwest through a section of water and dry road, you can reach the Shilok River.

The Chukwu River and the Shilok River are both tributaries of the Selenge River!

If you want to take a good tour of the Chita area, you must hold Tanga Lake in your hands, but that will have to wait until you return from Kyaktu.

When Nikan's brigade marched westward along the north bank of the Yonda River, the herdsmen of Kurdoqin were faced with a powerful enemy, but they did not attack them. When they met some Sauron and Daur herdsmen, the team also received good supplies.

Two days later, the team arrived near Lake Tanga. Along the way, Nikan saw more than a dozen lakes of different sizes, most of which were freshwater lakes. There were three salt lakes, and a bitter salt lake that was much larger than Ilinka. Now

Buryatia does know how to boil salt, but the boiled salt is crude and crude, and the bitter salt lake is even more neglected.

What a waste of natural resources!

Nikan thought secretly in his heart.

When they arrived at Tanga Lake, Kurdochin was on guard on the post road with more than 300 riders. Kurdochin himself was over forty years old and stared nervously at the strangely dressed team in front of him. Nikan also stayed behind.

Staring at them while drooling.

These more than three hundred cavalry are probably the most elite force of Kurdoqin. With three hundred cavalry in hand, he can easily gain a big victory by rushing in when they are not prepared. By then, the area near Lake Tanga will be within easy reach. Unfortunately, there are still three hundred cavalry.

We are going to Kyaktu to trade. If we cause an accident now, there will definitely be no peace along the way.

In the end he forced himself to hold it back.

After crossing Tanga Lake, there were two roads to go. Nikan mixed the three hundred cavalry and formed three centurions. Each centurion consisted of 30% flying dragon cavalry, tiger cavalry and dragoon cavalry.

He asked the subtle Suha to take a hundred horses northward, and asked him to pass through the Shilok River Valley to Ulan-Ude, where there were also the three Sauron tribes of Tuktana, Nahata, and Luojia.

It was under the jurisdiction of him, Bogra Khan, so it was only natural that he would send people to contact him and collect the skins.

Of course, the most important thing is to observe the reality of the Irgen tribe and the Holin Buryat people in Ulan-Ude along the way. Uligi only understands the situation of the Irgen tribe in the Yonda River basin.

In other places, he neither has the intention nor the strength to complete the investigation.

The three Sauron tribes are not all near Ulan-Ude. They are all located in the Ude River Basin, the Shilok River Basin, and the Selenge River Basin. The three tribes are all small tribes, with a total of less than 1,000 households. Because

The journey is far away, and these three tribes are nominally under the jurisdiction of Ghent Mur, but in fact they are jointly led by the Buryat Kholin tribe entrenched near Ulan-Ude.

In the jungles near the three major rivers, there are still a large number of Evenki and Yakut people living. They are small tribes with a small number of people. They usually tremble under the power of the Mongols and Saurons.

They hunt to survive, but if a natural disaster occurs, their lives will be wiped out.

Nikan didn't know exactly how many such small tribes there were, but he had heard Aji say before that according to the area of ​​nearly 60,000 square kilometers of the three major river basins in the southeast of Lake Baikal, most of them were mountains and jungles, although they were all small tribes.

, the total is estimated to be quite considerable, maybe three to four thousand households.

Nikan took Zhuktu, Yadan, and Alinga along the upper reaches of the Yonda River to the southwest, while Suha took Baiqi on another road, which was more dangerous, but now Zhuktu has already

He is nineteen years old, Alin'a is twenty, and Suha is eighteen years old. It's time to go out on his own and experience it.

What's more, with Nikan's military deployment of hundreds of cavalry, and in the name of Sauron Bogra Khan, no tribe should be stupid enough to blatantly provoke - Maoming'an tribe is a lesson learned from the past. At this time, the fate of Maoming'an tribe should be passed down.

Arrived in the Ulan-Ude area.

This division of troops also played a role in confusing the enemy. As the deputy khan of the Sauron people, Nikan also set up a flag, the military flag of the Ilinka camp, for Suha to fly to Ulan-Ude.

, but more than two hundred of his own horsemen went to Kyaktu to trade under the banner of Ghent Mur, and Tushetu Khan couldn't figure it out even if he wanted to intercept him.

After walking for more than a hundred miles along the north bank of the upper reaches of the Yonda River, one of its tributaries, the Dzekoy River, appeared. Dzekoy is the Buryat Mongolian dialect, which means easy to flood.

Nikan quickly understood the power of this river.

It is now the time when the large and small rivers in Mobei are thawing. Perhaps the terrain near the Zhekoi River is flat, and small rivers are mixed with ice floes rushing around, and dozens of small rivers have been washed north and south.

The hundreds-mile-long Dzekoy River Basin covers a total area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers. Due to the rich water source, the basin is densely covered with birch, fir, cedar, linden, beech and other trees. However, due to the fact that the terrain is too high (more common than those in the surrounding areas)

(a height of two to three hundred meters), the climate is extremely cold, and not many tribes can survive here. Only one Aiwenji tribe called the Nanshan Savage has thrived here for about a hundred years.

"Nanshan Savage" is naturally the contemptuous name given to them by the river valley tribes, but the Avenki people themselves call them the Zekoi people, just like the river.

The Dzekoy people control the only channel from the Yondago River to the Chukwu River but they don't know it. With an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers, there are only more than 300 households. Even if they want to rob, they are no match for the tribes that travel to the Dzekoy River.

It is estimated that they have tried several times before, but after failure, they no longer appear on both sides of the Dzekoy River, and they are all hidden deep in the jungle.

However, this kind of transportation artery is surrounded by dense jungles. Except for those who go to Kyaktu trade, it is usually inaccessible. It is naturally a paradise for horse thieves and bandits. They will definitely not be polite to small tribes who are alone.

, but for a group like Nikan, they can only run as far as they want.

Therefore, along the way, Nikan and the others did not see even a single person.

The total length of the Zhekoi River is about a hundred miles, connecting the Yonda River and the Chukwu River from east to west. There happens to be another river in the middle that joins the river from the north. Nikan stood at the intersection of the rivers and was full of thoughts.

The water in the Zekoy River Basin melted with an alarming force, but it returned to a calm, shallow river state after two or three days. The place where he was now was a highland. If a wooden village was built here, it would be easier for people to travel. It is very nice for traders to provide convenience.

"Who wants to go to the jungle to look for the Dzekoy?"

Nikan looked at Alin'a, Zhuktu and Yadan.

"I'd better go," Alin'a stood up first, "Great Khan, they are the savages of the Southern Mountains. I used to be from the savage tribe of the Northern Mountains, so I should be able to communicate very well."

"Very good", Nikan's eyes were full of approval, "How many people are you planning to take?"

"Ten people are enough. I heard that there are horse bandits here. Ten people are enough to deal with it. It is inconvenient to have more people. They will scare away the Nanshan savages."

Nikan nodded and said to Zhu Ketu and Yadan: "This place is really too big. You two should each lead ten people into the jungle. If you encounter danger, fire a warning shot. No matter what, you will return within five days." Meet here"

When Ulji saw that Nikan had sent three groups of people, he was a little confused and asked, "Nikan, what are you doing?"

"Amuzhi, this place is in a good location. If a wooden village is set up here with ready water and other supplies, wouldn't it be much more convenient for us to travel to Kyaktu?"

Wu Liji shook his head, "This place is deserted, that is, there are people walking in May and June, and there is no trace on other days. If you want to set up a wooden village, you must have other meanings."
To be continued...