[Latest Broadcast] Tomorrow is 515, the starting point anniversary celebration, the most benefits day.￥f.￥f In addition to gift bags and school bags, this time, you must read the 515 red envelopes. There is no reason to not grab the red envelopes. Set the alarm clock~

It is not close to Meng Gong to Awa City, the capital of Dongyu. Even if you walk the almost straight Da Jinsha River, it is a thousand miles away. This river road is also extremely strange. A section that is hundreds of miles long is almost completely straight to the south, and it is completely different from the original winding river.

During the dry season, take a boat to the Da Jinsha River, which is straight and has a wide and gentle river surface, and can run two or three hundred miles a day. If there is wind, you can even reach Awa in three days.

However, the navy must be worthy of acting with the land infantry and artillery.

The navy only takes three days to reach Awa, but it takes at least half a month for tens of thousands of troops to complete the thousand miles. After all, although it is a flat horse from Menggong to Awa, there is still Dongyu's army defending the road to a thousand miles. After half a month, it must be very smooth and not blocked by the fortresses along the road.

Fortunately, you can sail in the river at this time, most of the materials, food and heavier artillery can be transported by ships. The army can save much effort easily and effort. You only need to move forward lightly, bring a small number of light cavalry cannons and field cannons.

In order to invade Awa before the New Year, the Southern Expedition Army prepared many ships and recruited many civilians this time.

The southern expedition troops were dispatched in full swing, from Menggong on the north road and Mubang on the south road, respectively. Both sides advanced by water and land. In addition to leaving 10,000 troops to guard the home, the northern road dispatched 40,000 troops and 10,000 troops from the south road dispatched 10,000 as surprise troops. In addition, up to 50,000 reserves and militias were recruited from the three provinces of Yunnan, Dali and Laos, and more than 50,000 civilians were recruited.

Zheng Zhilong and the generals of the Southern Expedition Army, who had been in a year, were preparing for a thunder attack. Taking advantage of the cool weather, the river channels, and the food, grass and ammunition that had been accumulated for a long time, must give the Southern barbarians a strong look when the reinforcements and artillery are in place.

So many troops, supplies, civilians, artillery, etc. Thanks to the completion of Guizhou-Yunnan Road, thanks to the good season of the cold season, and also thanks to the availability of excellent river water conservancy, otherwise, if it were still in the jungle of the mountainous areas of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, such a large team and so many materials, a thousand miles of expeditions, without fighting, you will have to collapse.

The Southern Expedition Army has worked hard to build thousands of ships over the past year. In addition, there are many temporary wooden rafts, plus a large number of Yunnan horses, the logistics officers of the Southern Expedition Army have racked their brains.

If it were not for the purpose of ensuring smooth and control of land routes, the officers actually suggested sending troops directly to march through the water during the dry season, thousands of ships were sailing across the river, and going downstream directly to Awa City.

However, Zheng Zhilong did not adopt this tactic. After all, Awa City is too far from the actual control line of the Han army. If a land route cannot be opened, it will be very risky. If something happens, Awa City cannot conquer for a long time and the supply line of the rear road is cut off again, it will be very dangerous.

It’s better to fight all the way, fight out a bloody road, then build fortresses along the way, and garrison troops, and at the same time, it’s safest to transport supplies from one stop behind.

Those temporary ships are small boats, with very few displacements of 100 tons, and many of them are flat-bottomed boats. Especially these ships are cut down on the spot due to rushing work, and they have not undergone good processes such as drying, which makes these ships actually have a short lifespan, and it is estimated that they only last half a year.

Of course, there are more wood rafts and bamboo rafts. This is cheaper, and it is made entirely by local materials and is made as you use them.

Zheng Zhilong suddenly changed the date of the troops and advanced the time for the troops twenty days. So Menggong Fortress, which was originally very relaxed, immediately became busy.

All the soldiers of each unit were cancelled. The entire army entered a state of combat readiness, packed their luggage, packed their backpacks, and kept their weapons away. Each infantry also distributed fifty rounds of ammunition and two grenades.

Even the civilians who were responsible for transporting materials all distributed a spear.

Most of the food, grass, artillery, etc. are transported by ship, but considering the needs of combat, the number of artillery operated by infantry on land is still quite large. In addition, ammunition, food, grass and other materials are still under very bad land conditions, transportation pressure is still very high.

Most of the supplies have to be transported by horses, and the unique small Dian horses in Yunnan and Guizhou. Many places here cannot pass through carriages, and they can only rely on people to carry horses and carry them. This type of Dian horse, which is not much bigger than a donkey, is even less than some big mules, is an excellent livestock for walking such a road.

Wang Li and his two Dian horses were also in this transportation team. His hometown is Tengchong, and in the past he was a horse gang driver. Last year, the imperial court built the Guizhou-Yunnan Road. Wang Li borrowed money to buy six horses, and then took his two younger brothers to drive the horses together. He and some horse gang drivers who also bought horses in the village, and jointly established a horse gang.

This horse caravan invests in horses. Their horse caravan has more than 200 horses and more than 100 shareholders. The most are three or four horses, and the fewest are only one horse. Everyone works together to drive horses to take on business. Because of the road construction, there is a great demand for horse caravans. Their horse caravan is busy until the end of the year. It is hard work and it is indeed a lot of money to earn.

After the road was repaired, the officials found them again and said that Myanmar was going to fight and needed horse gangs to transport supplies. However, it was not a forced recruitment, but hired, and they would accept it voluntarily. However, the price offered was still good, and the horse gangs finally felt that they were coming to this trip.

Wang Li did not let his two younger brothers come, so he asked them to go home. He drove two horses by himself. There were more than 30 horses in their horse gang, and one hundred horses joined the transportation team. When Wang Li used to work as a horse rusher for others, he came to Myanmar. At that time, they were selling tea and salt. Everyone was accustomed to calling coming to Myanmar the Yifang.

It is 400 miles from Tengchong's hometown to Menggong. This used to take a long time to walk, but this time they came here and took the newly built Guizhou-Dianjiang North Road, which could directly reach the north bank of the Dajinsha River.

Along the way, you don’t need to walk on the ancient Yangyan Road, you don’t have to cross the river, or even spend the open air overnight.

The wide Guizhou-Yunnan Road is very flat, and iron chain bridges are also set up on the turbulent rivers, with wooden boards on them, and walking on them is like walking on the flat ground.

No matter how steep the mountain is, it is now becoming very smooth under the winding mountain road.

Especially every other section of the road, there is always a small fort with inns, warehouses, hotels, tea shops, toilets, livestock sheds and postage shops.

You don’t have to work hard to get on the road for a day, and then camp in the barren mountains and ridges, cut trees and make fires. Those who are willing to spend money can eat directly in the restaurant. Those who are reluctant to leave can rent their shops only. Then cook by yourself, or process them with dried grain and vegetables for the kitchen, and give some processing money.

Eat a hot meal, soak your feet in hot water, and have a good sleep on the dry bed. This is a very happy thing for those who often run horse racing to drive horses.

In the past, it might have to go more than half a distance. This time, the 30 people from the horse gang drove a hundred horses with loads of supplies from Teng. As a result, the horses and horses were relaxed and they didn't lose a single horse along the way. It took only ten days to arrive at Meng Gong.

But after crossing the Da Jinsha River, the above told them that the road ahead would not be so easy. Although there would not be so many mountains and valleys, there would be no more roads. Of course, there would be no more military stations and fortresses along the way.

The transportation task assigned by Wang Li and his horse team is to help transport food, which is a relatively easy transportation task and is also a regular transportation material. The loss of grain and hemp buns to horses is also smaller. Unlike sometimes, some goods that are not easy to carry, when walking those extremely poor roads, the goods often scratch the horse's skin off.

In fact, after arriving here, the best means of transportation is no longer the short Dian horse, but the elephant. The people of Dongyu are also quite accustomed to taming elephants as helpers, such as carrying people, transporting goods, and even fighting. An adult elephant can transport goods that are incomparable to Dian horses.

The more suitable Dianma horse is the dangerous road conditions of climbing mountains and ridges, but there are only a hundred elephants in the southern expedition.

The people who drove the elephants were also local natives of Meng Gong. These people were originally surrendered to the chieftain tribes of the Ming Dynasty, but later Dongyu invaded and they were defeated and surrendered to Dongyu. Now that the Han Dynasty has returned to Central and South China, many natives have chosen to surrender to the Central Plains.

Although it was only a mountain, the Menggong natives were obviously darker and thinner. They respected and cautious the Han army and even the Han people like Wang Li. These elephant-driven people were the elephant slaves of the tribe leaders, and were driven to the elephant to obey the orders of their masters.

At first, when they were in contact with Wang Li, they were always a little cautious and afraid, as if they were afraid of the Han people. But later, Wang Li found that these people were also honest and simple. For example, these people actually lived a miserable life in the tribe, and were just slaves to the leaders. People didn’t even have a pair of shoes, and no matter where they went, they were barefoot, and they only had a very simple linen around their waists.

But in the Menggonghan Army camp, although theirs were not as good as the soldiers, they were also good. They had enough white rice, and even had canned fish or bacon and ham. They also had a salary. Although the money might have to be handed over to the leaders in the end, they were at least very good at eating in the camp.

Many natives here actually live very poor, similar to the natives in the mountains in Yunnan before, and even worse than those in many places. But now, life has changed greatly, while Meng Gong has not changed much, and even because of the previous war, life has been even harder.

Wang Li has a good relationship with a Xiangnu here. The man knows some simple Chinese, and Wang Li also has some Burmese language, so the two of them communicate well. It happened that the Xiangnu's name is Ali.

Ali told Wang Li that starting this summer, many people from their side have married their daughter to Yunnan. In the past, many Tu people in Yunnan and northern Dongxue were originally of the same roots, so although they belonged to the two countries, they often had contacts and marriages.

But more than ten years ago, more native people in Yunnan married their daughters to their fellow tribes in Myanmar. Because in the late Ming Dynasty, Yunnan was in constant war and turbulent, and life was not as good as that in Myanmar. But now, this place has been included in the territory of the Han Empire and still belongs to Dali Province.

Many people have heard and even seen that the same tribe living in Yunnan have lived a good life, so when those tribes come to propose marriage with generous brides, no one refuses.

Many people are proud of having a son-in-law from Yunnan.

Ali told Wang Li that the silver coins of Dahan are now popular with them, and they can buy various outputs here, and the silver coins of Dahan are often cheaper.

Wang Li also saw the native people here in Meng Gong. Their lives are indeed very primitive and simple. Many people live in sheds and can barely eat enough, but their clothes are not covered, and many people are wearing animal skins.

And now, in Meng Gong, a newly built castle by the Han army, a large number of indigenous people have worked here.

Wang Li and his friends from the horse gang and Ali and others visited Menggong City. The castle was actually not big, and consisted of two parts. One part was a military fortress castle, not big, but the prism-shaped fortress and the cannons on the turret were very powerful, with soldiers stationed inside and military camps.

And where this fortress is very close to each other, there is another city, or a market. There is a siege city with a city gate, and there are planned residential areas, markets and workshop areas. There are many workshops and many shops, which purchase specialties of the natives and sell various goods transported from the Central Plains to the natives and garrisons.

Here, the indigenous workers in the workshop only have ten cents of copper coins per day, while the indigenous young women in brothels in the city are the cheapest and even only charge five cents at a time.

Everything seems to be cheap here.

However, the Han Chinese goods sold in the shops are not cheap. Even the most ordinary salt costs fifty cents per pound. But in Ali's opinion, these Han salts are extremely white, without any impurities, not bitter, and as white as snow. But only fifty cents per pound is very cost-effective and very cheap.

As for the iron swords and steel swords sold in the shops, they are even more popular with tribal leaders. However, for Ali and others, most of the things here can only be seen but cannot be afforded.

There are also many shops opened by natives here, which charge quite cheaply. For example, when eating, some shops only cost one or two cents for a meal, which is as cheap as drinking a big bowl of tea in the Central Plains.

The cheapest one is the women here.

Only four or five yuan of the Han Longyuan can marry a young indigenous girl. This four or five yuan actually includes all the marriage costs, and there is no need for any additional bride gifts, banquet money, etc.

But the most amazing thing is not that marrying a daughter at a cheap price, but that the indigenous men rented out their wives directly.

Zhao San in the horse gang is already in his forties and has a wife and children at home. However, after seeing the cheaper prices of the native women here, he actually spent a silver dollar to rent a young native woman while everyone was not paying attention.

When he invited Wang Li and the others to have a wedding banquet, Wang Li and others couldn't believe it.

A simple banquet cost less than 200 cents in total, plus a thousand cents of renting his wife, Zhao San even married another woman here.

Zhao San spent 200 cents to rent a simple house for a year, then placed his Burmese wife here, and finally gave him another 300 cents, which was considered living expenses. Then he left the newly married wife and drove her horse to set off with Wang Li and the others.

"You just throw people here like this?"

"Anyway, I only spent two silver dollars in total." Zhao San said with a smile. He can earn seven or eight yuan a month by driving a horse now. This time, he can earn more than ten yuan a month for the military work. Only two yuan did he sleep in a young indigenous woman. Even if he was a Burmese native, Zhao San felt it was very worth it.

"When you look back, are you planning to take the person back? Have you figured out how to explain to your sister-in-law at that time?" Wang Li asked with a smile.

"What do you take it back and let her stay here. If we come here in the future, we will have a home. I have calculated that at most one or two silver dollars a year is enough for her to live a good life. If I come here in the future, I will have a place to stay and a warm bed, which is great."

After Zhao San's explanation, Wang Li realized that the native concubine Zhao Sanna actually had a husband. Moreover, he was not acquaintance or adultery, but the woman's husband took the initiative to rent his wife out to foreign Han merchants, etc., and a piece of silver dollar could be rented out for one year. In this year, his wife was the one who paid for the rent.

The officials in Menggong City turned a blind eye to this situation and ignored it.

This amazing behavior of renting a wife is much cheaper for those merchants who come here than going to brothels, and it is not as convenient as renting a concubine. Renting a long and short-term rent is fine. It is not like buying a concubine, but it is just renting a man, and renting is more cost-effective than buying. For some natives, renting a wife can earn a thousand yuan rent a year, which is very profitable.

The officials here not only disregard this matter, but also regard this act of renting a wife as a commodity trading act, and also imposes a tax of 5% on it.

It is really the world's greatest, and everything is strange.

Some natives sell their daughters as commodities, but their families don’t even rent their wives as commodities to make money. “If you think this wife is good, you can rent them for a long time, or even buy her from her husband. But I think the best place to rent a wife is to rent it. If you want to rent it, you can rent it immediately if you are tired of it.”

Wang Li suddenly felt that this was reasonable and he was speechless for a moment. He looked at his other companions and found that several of them were eager to try. If he hadn't set out in advance and left in a hurry, maybe these guys would have spent one or two dollars to rent a house and a wife here now.

"Ali, the wives of these natives who rent out are relatively young and beautiful. I think you can rent one too. When the court conquers Dongyu, it will definitely be very lively here in the future. Our horse gang will definitely come here often. At that time, rent a house and a wife here. When you come, you have a woman in a family. Wouldn't that be great? Even if you rent a long-term rent, you won't be able to spend a few dollars. It's enough to have two or three silver dollars a year, which is more cost-effective."
Chapter completed!