Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 406 Integration
At dusk, the Heilongjiang River shimmered with golden light, and the wooden and stone walls of Bryborg cast long shadows in the setting sun.

Squads of armed militiamen patrolled back and forth with flintlock rifles, their dark cannon muzzles protruding from the corner towers, pointing towards the dense forest in the distance.

Inside the city's council chamber, the atmosphere was heavy.

More than ten tribal chiefs sat around a long table, with plates of colorful, fragrant, and delicious dishes laid out in front of them, including fish, venison, roasted chicken, several bowls of bear paws, and a few plates of crisp vegetables, but no one dared to touch them.

Wang Mingyuan, the commissioner of the Blackwater Colonization Zone and the general manager of Boliburg, sat in the main seat, dressed in a black woolen military uniform with an exquisite flintlock pistol at his waist. His sharp gaze swept over each of the leaders present.

Two guards stood behind him, their hands on the hilts of their swords, their expressions solemn.

"Fellow leaders..." Wang Mingyuan picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and said slowly while chewing, "Hurry up and eat, otherwise the food will get cold and lose its flavor."

Sitting on the right, the Akuri chieftain Gardasu chuckled dryly, grabbed his chopsticks, and tried to pick up the roast chicken in the middle of the table. But his movements were clumsy and stiff, and he couldn't pick it up after several attempts. Finally, he simply dropped the chopsticks, picked it up with his bare hands, tore off a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Upon seeing this, Wang Mingyuan couldn't help but laugh.

These savages didn't learn to use chopsticks even after four years.

It seems that the task of education and moral guidance still has a long way to go!

Led by Wang Mingyuan and Galdasu, the leaders began to work, and in just a short while, the long table was a mess.

Most of them, like Galdasu, grabbed the food from the plates with their hands. Except for a few bowls of steaming hot bone broth that they couldn't touch, all the plates and dishes were swept clean.

"Bring the wine!" Wang Mingyuan took a towel from the guard, wiped his mouth, and gave the order in a low voice.

As jars of wine were brought to the table, the tribal chiefs beamed with joy. They vigorously wiped their greasy hands on their clothes, then eagerly grabbed large bowls, poured themselves a full bowl, and drank it all in one gulp.

"What fine wine!"

"Haha, although it's not as comfortable as winter, it's still extremely enjoyable!"

"Come on... have another bowl!"

"..."

Wang Mingyuan did not join the tribal leaders in raising their bowls and drinking. Instead, he sat in a chair and quietly watched their hearty and unrestrained behavior.

"My lord..." A tribal chief raised his wine bowl and offered it a toast from afar.

"Gentlemen, we've eaten and drunk our fill. In a couple of days, we'll pull ourselves together and go greet the Jianzhou Jurchens who have come from afar." Wang Mingyuan had a guard pour him a bowl of wine, then stood up, raised it high, and invited everyone to drink together.

"No doubt about it, as long as you give the order, my Niman tribe will certainly provide the manpower and strength to chop off the heads of those Jianzhou people!" Sai, the leader of the Niman tribe who was the first to submit to the new Chinese, also raised his wine bowl.

He not only owned a house in Buriburg, but also gave his two children to the new Chinese as guards, and the entire tribe of more than sixty people were closely bound to the new Chinese.

“That’s right, kill these wolf cubs so they won’t come and harm us!” Boheli, the leader of the Alin tribe who also had close ties with the new Chinese, echoed loudly.

"Uh..." Although the leader of the Ulihan tribe, Aldai, was a little dizzy after drinking a few bowls of wine, he still had a sliver of clarity. Upon hearing their words, he immediately frowned and put down his wine bowl.

He was a burly man with a white beard, shrewd and intelligent. His tribe had over 270 members, making him one of the largest tribal chiefs in the area. He stroked the bone-carved dagger at his waist, looked at Wang Mingyuan, and chuckled, "Sir, those Jianzhou people have traveled a long way. They have no food supplies and no shelter from the wind and rain. They won't stay for long."

“Even if we don’t drive them away, they will leave on their own in a few days. In my opinion, we should not make a big fuss and start fighting.”

“Yes, yes!” Balda, the leader of the Urusu tribe, echoed.

He was a lean man with cunning eyes. Holding a wine bowl, he said with a grin, "There will definitely be casualties in this fighting and killing, and it will also consume a lot of resources. Our tribes are not large in number and do not have much savings. If we fight, it will cost us our lives!"

“That’s true! Anyway, those Jianzhou people won’t stay here; they’ll leave sooner or later. Why bother fighting them?”

“That’s right. As long as we ignore those Jianzhou people, they’ll run out of food and water and have no choice but to slink back to the Khanate. We can continue living our lives here; there’s no need to make things so tense!”

"..."

"Heh..." Wang Mingyuan sneered twice, slamming the wine bowl in his hand heavily on the table, and said coldly, "You think they'll let you go if you don't turn against the Jianzhou people?... That's utterly ridiculous!"

“In the eyes of the Jianzhou people, as long as you choose to stand by and do not provide them with any material or personnel support, you will definitely be their enemy and will inevitably be purged by them afterward.”

“In this Blackwater area, no one can take a third path, and no one is allowed to sit on the sidelines. Either you join the Jianzhou people and launch an attack on us Chinese, or you change course and stand with us Chinese to resist the tyranny and oppression of the Jianzhou people.”

“You should think carefully about how the Jianzhou people have treated you over the past few decades. Slaughter, plunder, conscription, tribute, and many other forms of exploitation—have you ever had a single day of peace?”

"It is foreseeable that once this group of Jianzhou people returns to Shenyang, they will surely persuade their Khan to send a large army to attack. At that time, if we Xinhua people are no match for them, we can choose to leave by boat to avoid their wrath. But you, who have lived and multiplied here for generations, have nowhere to hide. When the Jianzhou people brandish their butcher's knives, will they show you mercy?"

"Remember, the moment you first cooperated with us and exchanged that first fur, you betrayed the Jianzhou people. So, whether you want to sit on the fence or remain neutral, it's nothing but a one-sided act of self-deception!"

“In the eyes of the Jianzhou people, you are all rebels.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent. The tribal chiefs sitting on both sides of the long table were stunned and stared blankly at Wang Mingyuan, speechless for a long time.

At this point, do we have to take sides?
-
On the third day, at dawn, the gates of Bryburg were wide open.

Two hundred fully armed Xinhua militiamen marched out in formation, their muskets like a forest and their artillery wagons rumbling.

On the open ground outside the city, the allied forces of the Daur, Oroqen and other tribes lined up in their respective ranks, each holding a steel knife and a spear, carrying a hunting bow, numbering about five hundred, and stood quietly on both sides.

Wang Mingyuan rode his horse across the city gate, walked to the front of the column, his eyes sweeping over the various allied forces, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

It doesn't matter whether these tribal soldiers can fight or not, as long as they dare to follow behind Xinhua, that's enough.

This means that through this Qing invasion, the Qing forces indirectly helped our Xinhua quickly integrate these local tribes, ultimately bringing them under our control.

"Sir, the Warka tribe and the Reindeer tribe still haven't arrived," said Lin Dalong, the militia captain, in a low voice.

"Never mind them!" Wang Mingyuan looked at the distant mountains and forests, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“These ungrateful bastards, we’ll deal with them after we drive out this Qing army.”

"At that time, not a single one will be left alive!"
-
(End of this chapter)