At the beginning of October, a huge convoy left the north gate of Shenyang, crossed the Liaohe Plain northward, and then went northwest along the winding Xiliao River, and crossed the lofty mountains of the Great Xing'an Mountains along the Xilamulun River, one of the sources of the Xiliao River.

Coming out of the depths of the Great Khing'an Mountains, walking through a road of low mountains and hills, I suddenly saw a prairie like a vast ocean.

At a glance, the grassland in front of you is like a green carpet woven by skillful hands, stretching to the end of the sky. This is the Xilin Gol grassland, which is also the birthplace of the Mongolian people.

Walking in front of the convoy, a good-looking knight in his early 30s suddenly stopped his horse. He stopped at the edge of the convoy and began to shout at the passing convoy guys.

"The old and young masters are all in good spirits, we are out of this mountain, and the front is already the Xilin Gol grassland, and when we see this grassland, it is not far from home, the more times like this, the more we can't relax.

The goods that have been exchanged for more than half a year can't be pecked by the birds in the middle of the road. Whether the big guy's family can have a good year depends on the next few days. ”

"Don't worry, Fan Dongjia, with us, even a pair of broken straw sandals can't be taken for nothing..."

As a young man replied arrogantly, a convoy of hundreds of people suddenly began to make a fuss.

The young knight, dressed in a short dress, greeted the men who passed by him with a smile on his face, and occasionally replied with a few jokes in a loud voice, and immediately re-energized a convoy that had just crossed the mountain, feeling nervous and exhausted.

While the knight was boosting the morale of his convoy, a young man in his mid-20s took control of his mount and cautiously ran up from the back of the convoy.

After he stopped in front of the young knight, he whispered to him: "Uncle Yongdou, there seems to be something wrong with the people sent by the two Great Khans, they are always investigating where the convoy passes these days, and I have seen them quietly drawing pictures from people." They can't be spies, right? ”

Fan Yongdou stared at his nephew fiercely, and then reprimanded in a low voice: "You are full and have nothing to do, who told you to keep an eye on them." I only know that they are merchants who go to Zhangjiakou to buy goods, and I just take them on a ride. What does what they do on the road have to do with us? If you are unreasonable, believe it or not, I will send you back to Jiexiu's hometown? ”

Under his stern reprimand, the young man couldn't help but hang his head and follow the convoy.

Watching his nephew leave, Fan Yongdou looked up at the back of the convoy. In between, on a hill behind the convoy, two knights were dismounted and standing on the hill, pointing and talking to each other.

Fan Yongdou only glanced at it, then turned his head, sat down and returned to the convoy.

After leaving the hilly area of the Great Khing'an Mountains, the convoy walked northwest for two days and saw a large lake, and on the southeast side of the lake was a large reed pond. On the flat steppe to the east of the lake, hundreds of yurts are stationed, and large herds of sheep and horses are scattered on the left and near.

Originally, there were only a few people scattered between the yurts, but when the herdsmen grazing on the edge of the camp saw such a huge convoy appear, they rushed back to the camp to call the police, and the crowd that emerged from the yurts immediately filled the entire camp.

A small group of armed herders mounted their horses and rushed towards the convoy. By the time the herdsman was rushing towards the camp, Fan Yongdou had already ordered the convoy to stop.

After watching more than a dozen armed herdsmen gallop towards the convoy, he quickly opened his hands to meet the convoy while signaling the men of the convoy not to move. A small Mongol leader who led the group looked at his peaceful posture, and his subordinates stopped, and he rode his horse over.

"Distant friends, where do you come from and where are you going? This is the Kashketeng tribe under the protection of Lin Dan Khan, do you want to be a guest or our enemy? ”

Fan Yongdou hurriedly explained his identity to the small Mongolian leader in Mongolian according to the gestures common in the steppe, saying that he was just a businessman. He came to the grassland only to do business, and now he wants to return to Zhangjiakou.

Hearing that it was a caravan, the face of the little Mongolian leader suddenly softened. While motioning for the soldiers behind him to run back to disarm the alarm, he welcomed happily: "You are merchants? That's great.

This year, there were wars on both the west and east sides of the steppe, so the trade routes on the steppe were cut off. We have amassed a large number of furs, but we do not see merchants buying them. If you don't come again, we'll just watch as the leather rots..."

Greeted by the little Mongol chieftain named Hassan, the caravan began to move again towards the tribal camp by the lake.

The returning Mongolian herdsmen lifted the alarm of danger, and when the caravan came to a stop outside the tribal camp, the young woman of the tribe was already waiting at the camp gate with mare's milk wine, ready to receive these friends from afar.

After Fan Yongdou instructed his nephew to set up a rest camp outside, he ordered his men to take out some silk and cotton cloth, which he prepared as a gift to the leader of the tribe here.

According to the Mongolian tribe's custom of welcoming guests, they drank three bowls of introductory wine in a row to the singing of several healthy Mongolian girls, and Fan Yongdou and several retinues were taken into the most luxuriously decorated yurt in the middle of the camp.

This tribe belongs to a branch of the Keshiketeng tribe, and the original pasture is on the Liaohetao grassland on the other side of the Daxing'an Mountains.

Because Lin Dan Khan gave the order to move westward, they had to follow the Chahar Department over the Great Khing'an Mountains.

This medium-sized tribe, which originally consisted of nearly 2,000 people, finally resisted Lin Dan Khan's orders after being continuously drained of nearly 400 young people.

Although they did not dare to directly resist Lin Dan Khan's orders, they adopted a passive confrontation approach. They dragged their feet on the migration route, unwilling to keep up with the footsteps of the Chahar army.

On the other hand, after Lin Dan Khan easily conquered the fertile pastures such as the Karaqin and Tumut tribes, he first occupied the richest pastures, and no longer constrained those vassal tribes to move to his side.

As a result, not only did there be some contradictions within Chahar because of the unfair distribution of grassland, but also those small and medium-sized tribes that were originally vassalized in Chahar, after following the order of Lin Dan Khan to move west, also began to move back and forth because the allocated grassland was not as good as the old land in Liaodong.

After receiving these news, this Keshiketeng tribe immediately terminated its further migration to the Hetao Plain, but they did not dare to return to Liaodong alone, and finally settled down at Gangennuoer Lake, near the Great Khing'an Mountains.

Here, they gathered some Mongolian herders who had been displaced by the war, and now they are thriving even more than they were before the migration.

Gangennuoer Lake is known as an inexhaustible lake, there are hundreds of streams flowing into the lake to replenish the lake water, so the water surface is unusually open, and the lake is rich in aquatic products, but because the Mongolian religion cannot eat fish, so the fish resources in this large lake have not been developed. Therefore, the food that entertained Fan Yongdou and others was mainly dairy products and beef and mutton.

Because of the abundant water in Gangennuoer Lake, the waterfront area in the southeast has become outside the reed pond, and most of the shore near the lake has also become a swampy wetland. Only the higher terrain on the north side of the lake can go directly to the shore.

Because of the existence of this large lake, it is the best pasture in the vicinity, especially the large reeds in the southeast, which are the most suitable for grazing large animals such as horses and cattle.

After settling in this place, this Keshiketeng tribe liked this place and felt that it was not much worse than their old camp in Liaodong.

But there is also a great disadvantage of being stationed here, that is, it seems to deviate from the trade routes of the grassland. They could not produce anything other than milk, beef and mutton, and leather goods.

Although not long after settling here, the Keshiketeng tribe found the large tribes that settled nearby and exchanged salt and a small amount of daily necessities from them, except for the high-quality Daqing salt produced in Guangji Lake, which was relatively cheap, other daily necessities were ridiculously expensive.

It's such an expensive daily necessities, and the other party is not willing to exchange them more, because they also want to exchange them from the Han people. And this year, due to the westward migration of the Chahar Department, the trade routes on the steppe have been cut off, so these daily necessities have become valuable goods.

The leader of the Mongol tribe, Batu, who was in his 40s, frowned and told Fan Yongdou and other merchants about the plight of his tribe, hoping to establish a long-term relationship with the caravan.

Before Fan Yongdou could figure out how to answer Batu's request, a young man with a dignified appearance and a burly physique sitting next to him had already leaned sideways and ordered in his ear: "Promise him, this is the key place to go out of the Great Xing'an Mountains. If the Great Khan led his troops out of the mountains, he would have settled here to repair himself. ”

Although this young man of about his age had a bad tone, Fan Yongdou, who had always spoken well in the caravan, did not have the slightest look of displeasure.

He looked up and said to Batu, who was sitting at the top: "Batu Taiji's proposal is exactly what the villain wants, and the villain intends to open up a trade route from Zhangjiakou through the Bashang grassland, and then cross the Xing'an Mountains into Liaodong.

Since Batu Taiji wants to establish a long-term trade relationship with us, I wonder if Taiji Yun will not allow our caravan to set up a warehouse here as a cargo collection and transshipment center..."

The leader of the Mongol tribe was clearly interested in Fan Yongdou's proposal. The two then talked all night long, finalizing the trade and the establishment of the warehouse.

What made this Batu Taiji very happy was that this Han man named Fan Yongdou was unexpectedly fair in doing business, which made him suddenly have a good impression of Fan Yongdou.

In the casual conversation after the negotiation, Fan Wencheng, who claimed to be Fan Yongdou's cousin, was not only knowledgeable, but also outstanding, which made Batu Taiji admire.

When they left, Batu Taiji personally escorted them for a while, and sent a guide to lead the convoy.