I

  Chapter 850 846 [Border station]

  In the Heilongjiang and Songhua River basins, most of the indigenous boats are canoes.

  Even when the Manchu Qing conquered the Daur people, they ordered the local tribes to provide a number of canoes to accompany the army. As the Manchu Qing strengthened its control over the Songhua River Basin, in order to facilitate the shipment of Dongzhu and mink fur, they finally built slightly larger ships, and the tribes in the Songhua River Basin followed suit.

  In two years, Anton Duhufu (Heilongjiang Dusi) built more than 100 ships.

   Also organized and trained the Anton Navy, and the officers and soldiers were directly transferred from the post post system, because many of the officials in the post post system were abolished officers and soldiers of the Yangtze River Navy. If the number of sailors is not enough, the children of the sand people in the Yangtze River will be recruited. These sand people used to be between farmers and water bandits, and they have long developed a tradition of loving groups and being fierce and aggressive.

  From Tieling to Harbin, there are five water and land stations along the way.

  From Harbin to Tongjiang, there are four waterway stations along the way.

  From Tongjiang to Hailanpao, there are three waterway stations along the way.

  There are very few people in each post station, and there will not be more than ten people in the post station including postmen and even family members. Not to mention the sufficient settling allowance, there are additional subsidies, and the further north you go, the higher the subsidy fee.

  The post station also functions as a trading station, and the nearby tribes will send special products such as fur and Dongzhu. A small part belongs to tribute (disguised taxation), which has to be handed over to the Anton Governor's Mansion; most of them belong to commodities, which are usually stored in post stations, waiting for merchants to buy them.

  Although Heilongjiang is remote and bitterly cold, there are many people who are willing to do business.

  They are all small-scale traveling merchants, bringing cloth, tea, iron pot, grain and other commodities, and transporting them to various post stations in exchange for fur and pearls. On the contrary, silver dollars and copper coins are not widely accepted for the time being, and the currency value will not be reflected until the population increases and the volume of trade increases.

  The establishment of this post station and trade system quickly deepened the relationship between the imperial court and the aborigines.

  Businessmen can earn money, and natives can also obtain living materials, and the Duhufu collects symbolic taxes (in the form of tribute) by the way. Even the post officials and post soldiers have a small amount of money to fish for. As long as they don't catch much, the Duhufu will definitely turn a blind eye.

  In the next few years, the post station system will continue to extend eastward, from Tongjiang to Sakhalin Island.

  As long as the amount of tribute is not set too high, as long as the price of goods received is not too harsh, the tribes in the Northeast will not rebel. Even, whoever dares to attack the post station will inevitably become the target of public criticism. It is the only channel for the indigenous people to obtain materials from the Han!

  Zhang Tingxun set off with the grain transportation team, which was actually the Anton Navy.

  The ships of the Anton Navy have a displacement of only 50-100 tons. The tonnage is much larger than the Cossack ship, but it does not run so fast. The main task is to transport troops, food and goods.

  Under the readjustment of the imperial court, the displacement of ships is no longer measured in "materials", but in "tons". There are tools for calculating displacement in docks all over the country, and the most direct way is to apply heavy objects like Cao Chong said.

  The "ton" is a weight unit named by the emperor himself and appeared out of thin air.

  1 ton=10 stones=1000 catties=16000 taels=160000 coins=1600000 points.

   It can be clearly seen that for the convenience of statistics, Emperor Zhao changed the "stone". In the past, 1 shi was equal to 120 jin, but now 1 shi is changed to 100 jin, and the intermediate conversion unit "jun" (1 shi is equal to 4 jun, and 1 jun is equal to 30 jin) has been cancelled.

  Emperor Zhao also plans to change the hexadecimal system converted into jinliang.

   But the change is too big, the currency system has to be adjusted accordingly, and the scales in the hands of the people must be replaced with new ones. Faced with opposition from the ruling and opposition parties, Emperor Zhao could only choose to compromise.

   At night, the fleet stopped at the station wharf.

  The wharf was very poorly built, so the ground was leveled and some planks were erected by the river.

  The post station is even simpler, full of low houses of rammed earth. The walls are filled with withered grass, and the roof is also covered with withered grass, so that it can prevent the cold in winter.

   This kind of simple earthen house was built with the help of soldiers, and the few people in the post station were not enough.

  The great cause begins, and everything is kept simple.

  Yicheng came out to greet them with the postmen, they were unable to provide food, they just came out to say hello.

   Several sacks of grain were brought down, and Yicheng was very happy. He said to Hou Rusong, the general of the grain transport team, "General Hou, the leather and Dongzhu in the first half of the year have been collected for tribute (taxation)."

   "Thanks for your hard work, Brother Pei," Hou Rusong handed over a cigar, "I usually don't want to smoke the top-quality products from Gannan, let me have a taste."

   "The general is generous!" Yi Cheng smiled happily.

  Whether it is the navy or the post, they all came from the same system in the past, and now they are all thrown to the northeast. The relationship between them is very harmonious.

  Hou Rusong turned his head and asked Zhang Tingxun: "Do you want a cigar, my little grandpa?"

  Zhang Tingxun was very disgusted with this title, took the cigar casually, and said with a smile: "The general should call me by my name."

  Hou Rusong introduced: "Brother Pei, this is Zhang Tingxun, the son of Dudu Zhang's family."

  Yi Cheng hurriedly cupped his hands: "Meet the young master."

   "I'm Captain Zhang." The more Zhang Tingxun listened, the more depressed he became.

  Yi Cheng said again: "Meet Captain Zhang."

   "It's easy to say, Pei Yicheng is polite." Zhang Tingxun returned the courtesy.

  Yicheng asked: "Did you bring the newspaper?"

  Hou Rusong said: "I brought them, they are all old newspapers from last year."

   "As long as there are newspapers, it doesn't matter whether they are new or old." Yicheng was even more happy.

  The post stations in the Heilongjiang and Songhua River basins are now equipped with only three small fast boats for each station. All materials need to be transported by the navy, and the fast boats at the post station are used to convey military information.

  The postmen and postmen will also farm their own land, but the main thing is to grow vegetables, and the grain fields still need to be reclaimed slowly.

  Even the food in Harbin was shipped from Liaoning, and then transported from Harbin to the station along the way, the consumption on the way accounted for a large proportion. Therefore, it is impossible to station large troops in the Heilongjiang River Basin, and the logistical burden is too heavy.

  When the various tribes resume agricultural production, they will start to collect taxes in kind on the farmland along the river, and at that time the tribute of fur and Dongzhu will be cancelled.

  The sailors went ashore to set up pots to cook food, and Yicheng Shan invited Hou Rusong, Zhang Tingxun, and several other officers into the house to eat.

  Very simple rice and vegetables, and some cured meat.

   Meat comes from postmen hunting in their leisure time. The postmen here are equipped with a full set of armor. Once encountering a war, immediately put on cotton armor and fight with muskets and waist knives.

  Yicheng took out the wine jar, and was about to shatter the seal when Hou Rusong stopped him, "Save it for winter, don't drink it up now."

   "Yes, there are, and I have prepared some." Yicheng laughed.

  Hou Rusong said to the other officers: "Pay the money!"

  Including Zhang Tingxun, everyone paid for it one after another. What Zhang Tingxun took out was copper coins, and all the rest took out military tickets.

  Yicheng quickly refused: "No way, no way, they are all my brothers."

   "You work hard here, I can't let you spend money." Hou Rusong insisted on giving money.

  The post station in the New Dynasty of Datong does not provide free meals, and this meal is obviously a treat for the post. The post station here was just established last fall, and it is harder than the soldiers in Harbin.

   Finally gave the money and forced it into the hands of Yicheng.

   Waiting for everyone to fill up their stomachs and go out to chat outside, the postmen and postmen called their wives to eat the leftovers. Because there is meat and meat, even the leftovers are better than the usual meals.

  Their children were not picked up, and they were thrown in their hometown to be taken care of by relatives.

  Li Zheng is currently applying to the imperial court to bring in more doctors. Even apprentices who have not yet graduated from the teacher will do. Try to assign doctors to each post station, and even part-time midwives in the future. And with doctors, the station will become more popular, and the nearby aborigines will definitely come to seek medical treatment and medicine, and the connection between the aboriginals and the Han people will be closer.

  It was getting dark at this time, and the postmen picked up the newspapers that had just been delivered, and read the outdated news from last year with relish.

  They used to be sailors, and the army has a deblinding class, so they can read a few words more or less. But reading newspapers is still a bit difficult, often halfway through reading, I would come to ask Yicheng what he meant.

  They are not passionate about knowledge, nor are they trying to broaden their knowledge, they are simply thrown into a bitter cold place, wanting to obtain more information about the Chinese region.

  After reading the newspaper, it feels like returning to the pass.

  Yi Cheng saw that Zhang Tingxun had no aristocratic airs, so he took the initiative to ask Nanjing anecdotes.

  Zhang Tingxun said with a smile: "The biggest news in the south is that the crown prince is going to choose a concubine. Do you guys know how to choose a concubine?"

  Even Hou Rusong became interested, and hurriedly asked, "How did you choose?"

Zhang Tingxun said: "You have to graduate from middle school. Ten candidates from each province are selected and sent to Nanjing for re-selection. The first step in the re-selection is to take an exam. If the exam is too poor, it means that the local officials have cheated. Not a high school graduate!"

   "Hahaha," Hou Rusong laughed loudly, "This is really strange, the crown prince also has to take the test to choose a concubine."

  Yi Cheng's eyes sparkled: "Isn't it true that the daughters of us soldiers, as long as they can graduate from middle school, can also have the opportunity to be the concubine of the Tian family?"

"Then you should give birth to a daughter as soon as possible," Hou Rusong teased, "The crown prince is about to get married, and he will have a grandson in a year or two. If you give birth to a daughter, she will be about the same age as the grandson, so in the future, you will be married." Heaven's chance."

  Yi Cheng happily said: "Tomorrow, I will work hard with my mother-in-law."

   "Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed.

  Harbin is planning to build a school, but it is too late because there are no children at all.

  In the future, the children of the post stations along the way can be sent to school. The primary school must be free, and the secondary school will increase the number of public-funded students. This can be regarded as preferential treatment for border soldiers.

   There was a lively chat here, and the postmen stopped reading the newspapers, and gathered around to listen to Zhang Tingxun's lecture on Nanjing anecdotes.

   Zhang Tingxun is not good at reading, but he is good at telling stories, and he specializes in telling interesting stories about dignitaries and noble families. A certain official, who is afraid of his wife, was chased into the street by his wife with a broom. A so-and-so dude was caught when the government was raiding the casino, his parents felt ashamed, and beat him in the street when he was fined to collect the money.

   Where did the frontier soldiers hear these anecdotes?

   When it was getting dark, everyone still had something to say and respected Zhang Tingxun as a top storyteller.

  Zhang Tingxun also found happiness here. He likes to deal with soldiers, unlike when he was in Nanjing, there were so many rules, as if he was a bird that flew out of the cage.

  (end of this chapter)