Unlike Vladivostok, which is like a natural secret land, the port of Yating chosen by Xu Linhu was originally the residence of a small tribe, which made a living from fishing, so there was still some development foundation in the local area.

May is also the most idle month for local tribes, and it is also the bleakest month for tribes that mainly fish and hunt. This is the season when animals are just beginning to grow and reproduce after the cold winter.

It was originally not suitable for hunting season, but now someone recruited them to build a port, and the reward given was the daily necessities that were in short supply on the island, so Xu Linhu recruited a large number of people.

Compared with the Jurchens in the northeastern coastal area, the local tribes who have been in contact with the Central Plains Dynasty have many skilled craftsmen.

With their help, and the island's abundant forests, the construction of the port was soon in full swing. At this time, Xu Linhu ordered Edmond Dantès to lead two ships to continue north, surveying the coastal terrain of Sakhalin Island and contacting the indigenous tribes in the north.

On May 14, Edmond Dantès traveled north along the eastern coast of Sakhalin and arrived at the northernmost point of Sakhalin three days later.

After rounding the sharp corner and entering a large bay, Edmond Dantès discovered with some regret that although there were many lagoons in the eastern and northern parts of the island, they were blocked by sandbar reefs and could not be entered. However, on the northeastern coast of the island, there are many lakes of black oil and asphalt.

Heading west from the Great Gulf into the strait between the mainland and Sakhalin, the surface of the ocean begins to slowly rise.

According to Edmond Dantès, a ship entering the channel from the north can reach a full load depth of 7 meters, but when entering the channel from the south, the full load depth cannot exceed 45 meters.

In other words, if you want to enter the Heilongjiang River, the flat-bottomed boat should be the most suitable. In the north-central region west of Sakhalin, Edmond Dantès finally found a suitable area to stop.

Although the northern part of Sakhalin is flat, the population is much more sparse than that in the south. The living customs of the indigenous tribes here are quite different from those of the Fiyaka people in the south of the island, and it is said that there are frequent conflicts with the southern tribes over hunting grounds.

These natives claimed to be the Hezhe, and the largest of them numbered only a little over a hundred people. Last year, when the Ming ships sent people ashore to investigate the adjacent area, they were also attacked by a tribe loyal to the Houjin.

However, this year, when Edmond Dantès arrived with three ships and hundreds of sergeants, the local tribes either moved inland or submitted to Edmond Dantès.

Under the auspices of a Ming official, the leaders of several nearby tribes led about 6 or 700 people to swear to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and burned the books and official uniforms that were given to them by the Houjin.

These tribes were organized into three guards, which were guarded outside the harbor suitable for docking ships. In addition to accepting the construction of this port for the Ming Dynasty, they also agreed to pay a number of mink skins and other tributes to the Ming Dynasty every year in the same way that they had paid tribute to the Houjin in previous years.

Edmond Dantès also learned from these Hezhe people about the way the Later Kim ruled over the indigenous tribes of Sakhalin.

In both the south and north of Sakhalin, Houjin pursued a different policy than for the indigenous peoples on the mainland. For example, after Nurhachi raised an army against the Ming Dynasty, he sent troops to sweep the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang and the northeast coastal area.

For the ethnic minorities in these areas, Nurhachi called them Jurchens and moved them to the upper reaches of the Songhua River or Liaoshen to supplement the population of the Jurchens in Jianzhou.

However, with regard to these indigenous tribes on Sakhalin Island, the Later Jin adopted a relatively relaxed ruling policy, such as not making up any subordinate tribes, not listing the Eight Banners of Manchuria, and appointing patriarchs and township chiefs to count the population.

Their obligation to Hou Jin was to go to the three surnamed cities once a year to pay tribute, and Hou Jin would reward them as appropriate.

The city of the three surnames is located at the confluence of the three rivers of Songhua River, Mudanjiang River and Wuken River, and the official name of this place is Hetun Gashan, Han meaning: ancient city Tun. It is said that this is the city of the Five Kingdoms where Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and Northern Song officials were imprisoned by the Jin people.

In the forty-fourth year of Wanli, Nuerhachi ordered the guards to conquer the Sakhalian Department of the East China Sea (located in the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River), traveled to the Wuerjian River, recruited its chieftains, and took a total of 36 villages in Henan and Hebei.

Subsequently, Nurhachi moved the three surnames of the Hezhe people living in the Heilongjiang River basin - Ge Yikel (Ge surname), Hu Shihari (Hu Xing), and Lu Yele (Lu surname) to live here. Tens of thousands of people were relocated here, and this place began to flourish, although there was no city built here, but the border people still called this place the city of three surnames.

Nurha's frontier governance policy of guarding the middle and the void certainly enriched the strength of the Jianzhou Jurchen headquarters, so that although the Houjin numbered only one million, they still defeated the Ming army repeatedly.

The Jianzhou Jurchen Eight Banners extracted and supplemented Ding Zhuang from these Jurchen and Jurchen clans in the East China Sea, which can be said to be indispensable. However, this also caused the emptiness of the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and the indigenous tribes north of the Heilongjiang River and east of the Ussuri River began to migrate to this area.

As a result, the already small population of Eastern Siberia has become even more sparsely populated.

Last year, the Ming Dynasty sent people to survey the estuary of the Heilongjiang River and broke the stockade stationed at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River by the Houjin, which was actually the only armed force of the Houjin in the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River.

After this force is broken, it can drive straight along the Heilongjiang River until it reaches the area of the three surnames, and then you can see the armed forces of Houjin.

From the estuary of Heilongjiang to the Sanxing area, the mileage along the river is nearly 3,000 miles. The lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River begin to freeze in the second half of November every year and thaw at the end of April.

After the beginning of spring, there is a tidal period, from the mouth of the sea to set off a tide head nearly 25 meters high to the upstream, often up hundreds of miles. Summer and autumn are also the rainy seasons in Heilongjiang, and after May, there is a months-long flood period.

Therefore, although the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River can be navigated, it is not suitable for the operation of large transport fleets. The boats used by the local indigenous people are often small light boats that can only carry 3 to 40 people.

Therefore, whether it is Sakhalin Island and the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River tribes going north to pay tribute, or the Houjin sending troops to the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, they will choose to use the climbing plow that can walk on the ice to go to the three surnames after the river freezes at the end of November.

Trained dogs, deer, and climbing plows can run 100-200 miles a day. From the estuary of Heilongjiang to the three surnames, it is a short 20 days, and the maximum is only 30 days. However, if it is changed to shipping, then it will take at least nearly 2 months.

After listening to the introduction of these Hezhe people, Edmond Dantès no longer had any worries about Mao Kexi and others who went to the middle and lower reaches of Heilongjiang to explore the geographical environment.

Although the three boats led by Mao Kexi were only about 200 tons, they were already huge compared to the small boats built by the natives out of birch bark or timber.

What's more, the firearms on these ships can completely allow those natives to be destroyed before they get close.

In this season, it is impossible for the Houjin to send an army to strengthen the defense of the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River. If you send less, it won't help, and if you send too much, you will encounter problems with logistics supply.

When Nurhachi moved the indigenous tribes of this area upstream, the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River became a weakness of the Houjin.

No man's land, no matter how dangerous, is not enough to hold back the attack of a small army. Moreover, it is known from these Hezhe people that although Houjin conquered the indigenous tribes in this area, he did not fully trust these indigenous tribes.

Nurhachi, for example, issued an edict prohibiting the sale of weapons and armor to Mongolia and other frontier tribes.

This is also why, last year, the Ming expedition ship, with a small number of soldiers and sailors, defeated the Houjin defense force stationed at the mouth of the sea.

A small tribal chieftain in the northeast of Nurhachi eventually conquered most of Liaodong and defeated the Ming army several times. His experience was that he was equipped with excellent weapons and armor with the connivance of the Ming army, so as to conquer other tribes in Liaodong who were equally brave but not as disciplined as himself.

It was Nurhachi who had this experience, so he was wary of all the ethnic minorities adjacent to Houjin. Whether it is to move these tribes to the area controlled by the Jurchens in Jianzhou to monitor and assimilate, or to prohibit these tribes from buying weapons and armor privately, and to crusade against the powerful large tribes.

His main purpose was to eliminate the hidden dangers of the Later Jin, so that there would be no emerging forces around the Later Jin, so that he could concentrate on dealing with the Ming Dynasty.

However, this behavior also led to a consequence, although the core area of Houjin centered on Liaoshen was impregnable, the entire Outer Northeast region became weak and abnormal.

Realizing that there would be no force in the middle and lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River to threaten Mao Kexi's fleet, Edmond Dantès continued south.

In the southwest of Sakhalin, Edmond Dantès also discovered two ports in good condition, and then returned to the port of Aden on 2 June.

It took only seven days to circumnavigate the island, and seven or eight days to survey and negotiate with the indigenous tribes of the north. However, a simple wharf has been built in the port of Adine, as well as a simple lifting device made of wood.

With this simple wharf, the speed of loading and unloading is obviously much faster. After three days of repairs at the port of Adin, the "Zheng He", which was loaded with cargo, was ordered to return.

After only 5 days from Yating Port to Jeju Port and a day in Jeju Port, Edmond Dantès made a brief report to Ye Yuxuan, who was stationed at Jeju Port, and then set off for Tianjin again.

Returning to Tianjin from the port of Jeju, Edmond Dantès chose a direct flight and arrived in Dengju in three days, and then arrived at the port of Tianjin on June 17.