Since October, the area around Temple Street at the mouth of Heilongjiang has been unusually cold. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info is now the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, this bitter cold land in the extreme north is frozen for thousands of miles, and as far as the eye can see, it is a snow-capped snow field. It's still a sunny day, but if a blizzard comes, the cold wind blows from Siberia further north, and the wind and snow are raging, and people can't move outside, because when the blizzard comes, people are accidentally buried in the snowdrifts and frozen into popsicles.

It was unusually cold outside, but inside Temple Street Castle, it was very warm.

This castle is an oriental castle built near the mouth of the Heilongjiang River by Zheng Zheng for a year, using a large number of stones, firing bricks by himself, cutting down century-old trees from the nearby mountains and forests around the Xing'an Mountains, plus cement, lime and other building materials transported from the south.

The design of the castle, Zheng Xi is imitating the design of a Japanese castle, this castle is eight stories high, the total height is about 18 zhang high! At the base of the castle is a three-story stone base with a circumference of 500 zhang. The stone base is the first line of defense, with a female battlement on which the soldiers can defend themselves. Above the stone base is a five-story castle of mixed stone, brick and wood, with a cornice castle in the middle, and the five-story castle is densely packed with shooting holes; In the middle, on the four corners of the main fort, there are also four bastions, which can expose attackers to three flanking fire.

Behind the castle, there is the pier. There is a water gate at the bottom of the castle, so that small transport ships can directly enter the castle, even if the castle is besieged, it will not be trapped, and it can also keep the supply line open, unless the opponent has the ability to defeat Zheng Zheng's navy, it is possible to completely trap Zheng Zheng.

In fact, there was no need for Zheng Xi to build such a strong and large castle, because the Eight Banners outside the gate had a very poor ability to attack fortifications, and it was impossible to capture Yaksa City, which was much simpler than this castle. In the Far East, the Russians actually have very few troops, as long as a castle with a wooden structure, equipped with artillery with a firing range that exceeds that of the Russian army, can suppress the few artillery pieces of the Russian army, and can hold the castle.

But in order to show his majesty, Zheng Xi built a large Japanese-style castle here. Most of the coolies who built the castle were Japanese from the other side.

As for the inhabitants who were sent here to herd sheep and cattle, when winter came, they were sent to Sakhalin, and when the weather warmed up and the snow melted, they returned to graze and start construction. Just one island of Sakhalin can accommodate a large number of cattle and sheep, providing fur and meat. And the breeding of military horses is mainly in Tamna Island, which is Jeju Island, which is under the control of Zheng Zheng.

At present, there are a large number of samurai and ashigaru hired from Japan stationed on Tamna Island, and even if the Koreans want to take back Tamna Island, let alone whether they can defeat Zheng's navy, even if they land on the island, they will not be able to defeat the Japanese.

The stone base of Temple Street Castle is hollow, and a roaring fire is burning inside, and heat is sent to each room through the floor and wall mezzanine. The burning earth dragon made it a low temperature of dozens of degrees below zero outside, but the inside of the castle was as warm as spring, and even short sleeves were enough.

Zheng Xi was sitting in the office at the top of the castle, and his subordinate Xiao Gongchen was sitting inside, reporting the situation. The office was covered with a large red carpet, and the heat sent by the earth dragon entered the mezzanine of the walls, and the room was very warm. Near the north, on the ground is a burning stove with an enticing aroma of salmon stewed in an iron pot on the stove.

"Lord Wang, it's cold, but the Tartars haven't stopped contacting the Rakshasas! Our men on the periphery have already intercepted three batches of Tartar messengers! Xiao Gongchen reported.

Li Yingqing, who was in charge of intelligence work, said: "Lord Wang, the Tartars want to cooperate with the Rakshasas and deal with us together!" It's just that at present, the Tartars don't know about our existence, and they think that the attack on Korqin was done by the Rakshasas, and they want to resolve their hatred and join forces with the Rakshasas to destroy our Ming first! ”

Zheng Xian's general Cao Conglong arched his hand and said, "Lord Wang, the castles of the Rakshasa people have been occupied by us several times. However, there are several castles to the west, the largest of which is Yaksa Castle. We should continue to march west, as long as we take all the castles of the Rakshasas, so that the Tartars don't want to contact the Rakshasas, and we can avoid the Tartars from cooperating with the Rakshasas to deal with us! ”

"It's cold now, and it's not good for a siege. When the climate warms up, we will swim against the current and take the Yaksa City of the Rakshasas! The Rakshasas have been captured, let them deal with the Tartars! Xiao Gongchen said.

Zheng Xi looked around: "We have all the castles, have enough grain, grass and firewood?" In this far north, you can only hide in the castle in winter, and wait until the weather warms up before you can attack the city. ”

"Back to the prince, the castles have enough grain, grass and firewood, please don't worry!" Cao Conglong replied.

"That's it! The fish is also stewed, so let's have a few drinks together! Zheng Xi beckoned everyone to sit down together.

The surface of the river leading from Temple Street Castle to the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River is covered with a thick layer of ice and covered with snow. On the river in winter, the sleds of the Ming army shuttle back and forth from time to time, providing supplies for the castles scattered all over the country. Near the shore of the river, many locals who have submitted to the Ming Dynasty are digging ice for fishing. The wild fish resources in Heilongjiang are abundant, not to mention that the population was sparse at that time, and there were so many fish that they couldn't eat it all. The fish caught by the locals, except for those they kept for their own consumption, were sent to various castles.

Dawa is a local Evenki, and now he has a Chinese name, called He Lin. Their tribe was by the river more than a hundred years ago. But then the Rakshasas came, and the Rakshasas went down the river in boats, and the local Evenks could not defeat the fierce Rakshasas, so they were forced to leave the riverside where they had lived for generations and enter the deep mountains and old forests.

The Evenks were originally a fishing and hunting people, and fishing by the river was a more stable source of food than hunting, so some of the stronger tribes lived by the river and mainly relied on fishing for a living. Since the Rakshasa people came, they were forced to leave their homes and enter the mountains and forests, and since then they have lived a life without food, especially in winter, the wild beasts in the mountains and forests are almost extinct, and the wild fruits and wild mushrooms are gone, and eating is a problem.

Later, an army arrived, armed with the same weapons as the Rakshasas, but friendly, and they defeated the Rakshasas so that the locals could return to life by the river.