The Amur River in late October is getting colder, especially in this era, it is even more cold.

The steam engine "Fenshui" had just returned from the upstream. They received more than 200 Shandan people on the north bank of the river and sent them a considerable amount of hay, grain, cotton coat, honeycomb coal, and liquor. The hundreds of Henan surrendered soldiers who were allocated to Hengguen Village last year finally survived only half of them. The heavy labor, the fierce climate and the unacceptable environment caused nearly 400 thin Henan people to die on the banks of the Amur River. It is difficult for outsiders to adapt to the climate here after all!

In fact, as long as you compare the climate in Dabo area, which is more milder than the Amur River, if the residents who settled here in the first year have passed the winter, the death rate is about 15%-20%. Of course, if you survived the first year, then basically even if you have initially adapted to the climate here, coupled with the increasing development of Dabo, and the vigorous construction of brick and stone huts with fireplaces and fire pits, the mortality rate of residents has plummeted, and even some newborn children can adapt to it well.

Compared with Dabo, the mortality rate of settled residents in Heishui Port, which has a colder climate, is quite low in the first year. This is mainly due to the improvement of urban facilities here and the advanced residential housing system, which have effectively guaranteed the residents' winter life. The coal mines outside the city continuously deliver the fuel produced to the city, transported by pack horses in summer and by sled in winter. In short, it is produced 24 hours a day, in order to prepare for the peak period of coal use after spring.

To be honest, the coal produced by Heishui Coal Mine is extremely high-quality hard coal, which is a very ideal thermal coal. Without this coal mine, it can be said that most of the ships of the East Coast Heishui Temporary Task Force - mainly those sailing ships - would become decorations. They could not effectively bear the heavy responsibility of transporting and immigration. This is also the reason why the East Coast people chose Heishui Port as the core city in the Far East, which is a city born from coal.

Quarries, logging farms, and coal mines outside the city are still operating in winter. In this era, the Russians in Siberia have to work for their farmland in other seasons and prepare hay for their livestock for winter. Therefore, they can only have time to make some cash income in winter. The main channels are mining - many of them are gold mines, logging and tanning leather so that they can pay enough cash to tax officials like wolves and tigers after spring. Many of them are outdoor work, and they still have to work even in the severe cold of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius. Later generations such as Belvey, Chekhov (this lord was exiled to Sakhalin Island) once used their own personal experiences to tell the difficult history of Russian farmers in Siberia and the Far East through literary works.

The residents of Sakhalin Island have to work in winter. The same is true in Miao Street on the banks of the Amur River and Hengguzhai. For example, at the Miao Street Wharf, a large number of Shandan women were lined up and using soda ash transported by the people on the east coast to start tanning leather. The leather was mainly wild sheepskin, which were interspersed with a small amount of precious fur such as marten, fox skin, wolf skin, bear skin. In early autumn this year, the team hunting outside caught a group of wild sheep on the desert meadow north of Miao Street, with a number of about 3,000. After a hard hunting, Shandan hunters successfully captured most of the wild sheep. After using precious salt also sent by the people on the east coast to make braised meat, the remaining wild sheep were locked up as reserve food.

Now, selling various fur, cured meat, and animal fat to the East Coast men. It has become an important income for the residents of Hengguzhai and Miaojie. The East Coast men sold skinning knives, salt and soda ash to the bitter Daur people, Oroqen people, and Buryat people, and then asked them to pay the bill with tanned leather, cured bacon and animal fat. If the goods sold are still surplus, then the East Coast people will also recommend that they buy some leather shoes, cotton coats, spirits, tobacco, sugar and other things to recover the cash they may have left.

Of course, if you want to "get rich quickly", then joining the army for the East Coast people is definitely the only choice. Haven't you seen those warriors who have returned from going out to fight, either of which is bulging waist and rich? Sweet sugar, spicy tobacco, strong enough wine, and warm cotton coats, which one is not just buying it. Not only do you eat, wear and enjoy it yourself, but even your family will benefit a lot. Therefore, under such a demonstration effect, more and more Shandan people tend to join the army and fight, and in the end it has gradually become a popular trend.

This time, the more than 200 strong young men who were picked up by the "Fenshui" steamboat to Hengguzhai in the upstream area were the new group of Shandan people who joined the army. They will gather more than 300 people recruited in Miaojie, and then go to the Lishiri Island Pier together, waiting for the ships to transport them away. Yes, you read that right, they were not going to Jeju or Yantai, but to the east coast. They will take a boat to Australia first with the ordinary immigrants, and then wait for the ships to transport them back to the east coast.

In view of the deterioration of relations with the Spaniards, Peng Zhicheng's letter to Mo Ming also asked Mo Ming to recruit some soldiers who could adapt to the combat environment of cold areas, so that after the war with the Spaniards, the East Coast people could gain a foothold in the cold southern Chile area, and then together with the Araucan guerrillas, attacked the Spanish colonists in Chile. As natural cold-resistant Shandan people, they were naturally an excellent candidate tailored for this action. They endured hunger, cold-resistant, simple and loyal, coupled with their unrealized wildness, and excellent survival in the wild and ambushing skills, which would definitely give the Spaniards in the central and southern Chile a deep impression that they would never forget.

Compared with the reluctance of the Ming people when they left their homeland, these Shandan people with lower levels of civilization were not nostalgic. They were optimistic about starting a new adventure in the distant new continent. For them, as long as there is money to get, meat to eat, wine to drink, warm clothes to wear, and women to sleep, then there is no doubt that there is heaven. No matter what new continent or old continent they are in, they only care about their own lives.

Nearly 600 strong people were removed from Henggu Village and Miaojie this time. If it were in the past, it would have definitely damaged the vitality of any large tribe. However, today, with the increasing population of the two places, this is not a big problem. In just one year from last year to this year, more than 2,000 outsiders came to join the two cities, of which more than 1,200 people went to Miaojie and more than 800 people came to Henggu Village, making the population of the two places reach about 3,000 respectively.

In addition, this year, the East Coast people sent more than 1,000 Qing army green camp soldiers captured in Jiangbei to the Amur River Basin, and at the same time sent seven or eight hundred young women from Jeju Island to come here. Therefore, it is certain that the population on this fertile black soil has skyrocketed. A few months ago, with the approval of Mo Ming, the captain of the Black Water Development Team, the third banishment site on the banks of the Amur River - Jiangdong Village near Mariinskoye, later Russia, was officially established. In addition to more than 1,000 Qing army green camp surrenders and more than 700 Korean women, there were more than 100 injured soldiers in the rear team, as well as more than 400 Shandan people who came from nearby.

The total of more than 2,500 settlers have now built a winter camp and a simple wooden wharf. The food, hay and livestock transported by the people on the east coast can barely fool this winter. Besides, after the river freezes in winter, they can easily contact Hengguzhai and Temple Street in the downstream through sleds. Even if there is a slight shortage of supplies or cold protection materials, they can borrow some from these two places. Although the food of these two "old settlements" is still not fully self-sufficient this year, the gap is not large. If the large number of salmon and wild sheep caught in autumn, there is still a certain amount of food. There is no problem in supporting the new settlement of Jiangdongzhai.

Continuously moving to the Amur River Basin to the Ming people, and at the same time, the local mountain paintings and strong people were recruited to the mainland and even the east coast to fight wars. What kind of thoughts about this land has been revealed. This is to greatly change the rhythm of the population composition of this place! With the fertility of the land in the Amur River Basin, even if it is limited to the cold climate at this stage, it can only plant one season of rye or oats a year, and the grain harvest will never be bad. Moreover, there are also very rich fishing here.

Industry and animal resources are there. If the population density is not particularly large, there is no reason why they cannot survive. Russians can farm in colder places than this. Even if the people on the east coast are not as adaptable as the other party, they will eventually be able to take root here in time. After accumulating a certain population and supplies, they can provide the rear supply base for the troops heading south to the east coast, so that the Qing army in the Ningguta area will be in peace.

The Miaojie Township Principal appointed by the East Coast people quickly sent more than 300 strong men to the East Coast people's steamship, and then brought a batch of hundreds of furs onto the ship, saying that they were going to Rishiri Island to register for transactions. After a brief farewell to their families, these fearless Shandan Xinting sat quietly on the deck of the "Fen Water", looking at the backs of the town gradually fading away, and looking forward to their beautiful life.

After carefully avoiding two pieces of ice floating ice, the "Fenshui" raised sails, and then drove faster and faster under the strong northwest wind. Soon, the four big words "Glory of the Soldier" brushed with lime water on the wooden lighthouse of Miaojie Pier in the distance became smaller and smaller, gradually becoming a string of small dots and then disappeared from everyone's sight. (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!