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  Chapter 860 856 [Felt for mammoth ivory]

  In Vasya Britotian’s view, if the Chinese choose to marry and cooperate with the Daily Sun Department, they will inevitably fight against the hostile clans of the Daily Sun Department.

  This is a simple value, we are friends, my enemy is your enemy, and your enemy is also my enemy.

  When the Cossacks came here, they were also welcomed by a certain tribe. They thought the Cossacks were very powerful, so they agreed with the Cossacks to build castles and wanted to form an alliance against other tribes. By the way, the castle of Yakutsk was built by Beketov who was eaten by Siberian tigers.

  The ending can be imagined. The tribe that made friends with the Cossacks was attacked by the Cossacks who had completed the fortification.

  Some tribesmen were brutally killed, some tribesmen were captured as slaves, and the rest of the tribes all fled.

   "Let me lead a mission?" Zhang Tingxun was quite happy. He had long wanted to go out and have a look. Living in a castle all day is really boring.

  Peng Chunlin said: "That female shaman fell in love with you and wanted to betroth a young girl to you. Go and see for yourself. If you like it, you will get married. If you don't like it, you will find a reason to shirk it."

  Zhang Tingxun said: "I have a wife in Nanjing."

"I know," Peng Chunlin said, "but you are in the Anton Governor's Mansion, and you can't go back for several years. You have to have a woman to take care of you. The court also encourages soldiers to intermarry with other races, and to multiply offspring to enrich the population. You should do it for your majesty and the 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. Although there was snow everywhere in the field, it was still a relatively warm month.

  Zhang Tingxun set off with eight soldiers, and the civil servant Li Jiang also followed. He was responsible for recording the route along the way. As for the temperature records in the castle, leave it to Peng Chunlin who can read the thermometer.

   Of course, Khabarov must also go, this guy is currently the only translator.

  The Cossacks left a few reindeer behind, put on the simple sled, and Zhang Tingxun followed the Saha people to leave.

   "Woohoo!"

  There was light snow in the sky, blowing on his face continuously, Zhang Tingxun became inexplicably happy. He likes this feeling, free and unrestrained, far better than the comfort zone in Nanjing.

  Why do you say that the Saha people are semi-nomadic?

  Because there are very 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, the location is biased to the north; the other is a winter pasture, the location is biased to the south.

  Summer pasture belongs to conventional grazing, just take the livestock to the pasture. Pastures in winter are more troublesome. Herdsmen need to mow and store grass, and rely on hay for livestock to survive the winter.

  The two fixed pastures are both tribal territories. Once a fight occurs, it often means a war for survival.

   After nine full days of galloping in the snow, they finally came to the winter pasture in the Ministry of the Sun.

  There is also snow everywhere here, but the thickness of the snow is not as thick as that of the castle. There are even some livestock, which were taken out by the herdsmen to dig up the snow and graze by themselves, and they are not afraid of spoiling their stomachs. The herdsmen next to them are not idle either, they are busy mowing grass and loading their trucks to store fodder for the coming winter.

  The tribe's residence is scattered with tents of all sizes.

  This kind of tent is called "Cuoluozi". It uses branches to form a conical support on the ground. In summer, birch bark is used as the top, and in winter, animal skin is used as the top.

  Every tent is surrounded by wooden fences. In addition to the wooden fence, there are wider wooden fences. The herdsmen's livestock are usually kept between two wooden fences, surrounding the tents where they live.

   Once encountering the extremely cold weather of minus 60 degrees, it will inevitably lead to the death of a large number of livestock, because the livestock lack cold protection.

  The Sunstrider is a relatively powerful tribe, because they also raise hundreds of horses.

  Where there are horses, there are cavalrymen!

   Very few Saha tribes even have "heavy cavalry". They made the iron armor pieces themselves, and connected them in series with leather cords, thus creating "composite heavy armor".

  These horses are also very peculiar, called "Yakut horses", or "Sahamas".

  Thick skin and long hair, strong limbs, able to withstand the severe cold of tens of degrees below zero.

  The primitive species in the extreme north are smaller in size, 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 mares is 137 cm.

  The south 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 species, and the leader of the Sun Chasing Department came to greet him on horseback. The shoulder height of the horse under his crotch was very likely to reach 145 centimeters. In addition, this horse is thick and full of hair, as if it is riding a monster.

  Cartographer Li Jiang murmured in a low voice: "Vice Zhang, this horse is strange. We can exchange a few horses in the coming year and send them to Hailanpao for breeding."

  Zhang Tingxun said: "The physique is too strong, and the limbs are thick. I guess it can't run fast. It is good to be used as a draft horse for dragging artillery. Moreover, the horse hair is long and long. It is extremely cold-resistant, and it is suitable for fighting in the Mobei grassland."

  The female shaman was communicating with the leader, seeming to explain the identities of Zhang Tingxun and others.

  Saha people have a strong concept of yin and yang, horses belong to yang, men take care of them, cattle belong to yin, women take care of them.

   Their habit of raising horses and cattle should have been formed in the Lake Baikal region.

  As for raising deer, it was only after moving here that I slowly figured it out. Nowadays, some tribes have not yet mastered the technology of raising deer, and cannot gallop in the snow and ice. Some tribes have no deer, but have dogs, and dog sleds in winter.

  The tribal leader is called Naini. He inspected the salt he brought back and wrapped the padded jacket he bought around his body.

   Then, he asked Kun De, the son of the female shaman.

Kunde said: "These Chinese are very good. They released me and let me help repair the castle. I can work every day in exchange for food. The Sakha people who were captured by the Rakshasa robbers were originally treated as slaves, but they were also taken by the Chinese. People were released, and women were rewarded as wives for 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 account.

   Before entering the account, Zhang Tingxun was stopped because there was another ceremony.

  The son of the leader took out the flint and hammered it, and lit the firewood in the center of the tent. This "ignition" ceremony is to welcome distinguished guests and also occurs during celebrations.

  Some people use long poles to remove the animal skin on the top of the tent, exposing a gap for smoke exhaust.

   With the "fire position" as the center, the position directly opposite the door is called "Maru". The leader Naini invited Zhang Tingxun to sit down together. The position on both sides of the "fire position" is called "Aolu", where female shamans, Datong soldiers and important members of the tribe sit.

  There is no soju here, but kumiss.

  The leader's wife and daughter entertained the guests with kumiss, as well as some meat and fresh fish.

  The tribe is located in a river valley. When Zhang Tingxun came, he traveled a long way on the frozen river. Fresh fish is also obtained by digging ice, cut into raw fish pieces, and I don’t know what seasoning is mixed.

   "Is this a horn cup? It doesn't look like a horn either." Zhang Tingxun questioned.

  The leader Naini laughed loudly and said something, Khabarov translated: "It's an ivory cup."

   Not ordinary ivory, but mammoth ivory.

  The main handicraft of the Sakha people is to carve with mammoth ivory, and there are many such things in Siberia.

  The leader, Naini, held up the mammoth ivory cup: "Welcome distinguished guests from Chinese tribes, and may our friendship not wither in the cold winter!"

   "I wish your Excellency good health, and I also wish that the livestock in the Ministry of Daily Life will not freeze to death in winter." Zhang Tingxun can speak more politely than Peng Chunlin.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

  The leader, Naini, was really happy, especially that the livestock would not freeze to death, which is the best blessing for the Sakha 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 strolled in the tribe and found that there were significantly more women than men.

  After inquiring in detail, I realized that even in winter, men have to go hunting and grazing. For this reason, accidents often occur, and the life expectancy of men is far less than that of women.

  Capable men are often polygamous.

   Here is the primogeniture system, and even the father's wives and concubines can be inherited. But the rest of the sons can also get a small amount of family property to ensure that they will not be frozen to death or starved to death.

  A woman’s dowry is her own private property, and the dowry is generally passed on to her daughter.

   Only shaman family is an exception, shaman has male and female. 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, medicine, astronomy, climate...etc.

Li Jiang said to Zhang Tingxun: "There are obviously more boys and girls in Saha. From now on, the felons who come here will not need to bring their wives with them. Let their wives remarry. If the felons are exiled here, they can just marry local women as wives." .”

   "Not bad." Zhang Tingxun nodded.

Li Jiang also said: "In the future, you can add felt and ivory to the goods you trade. Felt is the cheapest. Bring more. It can not only surround the tent to keep out the cold, but also cover the livestock to prevent them from being frozen to death. The Saha people will definitely like it." Felt. And ivory, which is a common item here, is worth a lot when sold in China.”

  Felt is really the cheapest thing among all wool fabrics, but it is very useful, and the Saha people don't have it.

  The Sakha people use many pieces of animal skins to sew together to shield their livestock from 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, Naini, has hundreds of deer.

   Trade cheap felt for expensive ivory. Use cheap cotton-padded jackets for expensive furs. This business is completely done, and you can get huge wealth without looting like the Cossacks.

   Garrison in Yakutsk will never lose money!

   "Deputy Zhang, Deputy Zhang..." Li Jiang continued to speak, but saw that Zhang Tingxun had lost his mind.

  He followed Zhang Tingxun's line of sight and saw a few Saha girls walking by with wooden barrels, probably going to milk horses or milk.

  These young girls are better dressed than ordinary women. They are covered in fur clothes all over their bodies, and there are even mink fur around their necks.

  Zhang Tingxun obviously took a fancy to one of them.

  (end of this chapter)