Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 248: Attacking the Weak
From some fragmentary records, the scholars of Gan Ning’s navy finally discovered that Yizhou was not just composed of dozens of scattered islands - in fact, from the perspective of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there were less than ten small islands that could be considered "slightly valuable".
The real main island of Yizhou is further east. Even when Gan Ning flew to the limit of the gold and jade armor and looked far away through a telescope, he could already see the shadow of the "huge" coastline!
It was not far from the Yizhou Islands. The ancestors of these Zhuxia immigrants had been there before, but only the unfriendly warnings from the local natives were left...
However, this was obviously not a problem for Gan Ning. After resting for a few days in the Izu Islands, Gan Ning set sail again with 70% of the fleet.
I can vaguely see the coastline through the telescope, which is very comfortable...
Three days later, they arrived near the main island of Yizhou. Looking at the size of the island, Gan Ning breathed a sigh of relief - this trip was not in vain!
For the General's Office, the real significance of occupying Yizhou at this time is to build a secret shipyard on the sea - so secret that outsiders cannot come at all.
Moreover, an Yizhou with warships can pacify Jiaozhou nearby, remotely control Nanyue in the middle, and show its power in Southeast Asia in the far distance.
Gan Ning had no idea about Nanyang or anything like that. After all, when people talked about South during the Han Dynasty, they meant Nanyue, or the land of Baiyue.
Nanyue, firstly, refers to the Nanyue Kingdom established by Zhao Tuo during the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, including the present-day Jiaozhou, and its southernmost tip can reach the central and northern parts of Vietnam in later generations. Secondly, it represents the Nanyue region, which refers to the entire Indochina Peninsula... Thailand, Myanmar, Laos... in later generations can all be regarded as the Nanyue region.
However, there is almost no communication about Nanyang, or the Nanyang Islands. In the Geography of the Book of Han, the "Nanyang" mentioned also refers to the South Yue.
It was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties that exchanges with Southeast Asia were recorded. In the Ming Dynasty, "going to Southeast Asia" was even regarded as a novice task for "going to the West"...
Gan Ning had never heard of Nanyang before, but... since Bai Tu said it, he believed it.
However, Gan Ning was very disappointed with the Yizhou Islands before. Even if he tried his best to cultivate such small and scattered islands, how many people could survive? It would be difficult to even have a thousand households!
How can this meet the General's expectations for Yizhou?
It was not until he discovered the records of Yizhou that Gan Ning rekindled his hope. However... based on the description of the Xia immigrants, it was only vaguely said that it was "the size of a country", so Gan Ning was a little nervous before. After all, a country in the Spring and Autumn Period... at a larger scale, it was larger than the territory controlled by the current General's Mansion, but at a smaller scale... it might not even be as big as a county!
Now that he had actually arrived close to the main island of Yizhou, Gan Ning finally felt relieved - the mission had been perfectly accomplished.
The only problem is that, as the immigrants from Zhuxia said, the native Yi people in Yizhou are not friendly to outsiders .
The Zhuxia immigrants in the Yizhou Islands have basically given up on going to their homeland. Although the other side still has the technology of crude copper and stone axes, they cannot withstand the large number of people, and... the smelting technology of the Zhuxia immigrants is only slightly stronger, and their numbers are far less than that of the other side.
However, facing Gan Ning's regular army, these native barbarians were clearly no match for him.
As soon as Gan Ning and his companions landed on the boat, groups of barbarians swarmed over. They should be a tribe on the seashore. It can be seen that they are already able to use weapons similar to bows and arrows, but... is the range of the bows only thirty steps?
Gan Ning tried his best to show goodwill with body language, but he received no friendly response. The other party was still trying to drive them away with what could barely be considered a bow and arrow. Gan Ning had no choice but to give the order: "Throw it at the ground! Watch the distance!"
After a round of shooting, countless steel-headed arrows pierced the ground in front of the indigenous barbarians...
Listening to the thunderous sound of arrows and watching the sharp blades that fell from the sky and penetrated three inches into the ground, the opponent's offensive suddenly stagnated.
Even they understood that if these arrows had been shot directly at them, they would have become "prey" long ago.
At this moment, Gan Ning also stepped forward in armor and cut an ancient tree that was several people thick enough to hug in half with one stroke!
As the ancient tree fell, a group of hundreds of ragged barbarians immediately let out meaningless cries and fled back to the mountains in a mess.
Bai Tu had warned Gan Ning not to kill the indigenous people of the states indiscriminately, and not to use the "distinction between barbarians and Chinese" to make the difference between humans and animals. He needed to put himself in their shoes and understand that whether they were barbarians or Chinese, they were all real "people", and those who relied on their strength to raise the butcher knife against the ignorant were beasts.
certainly……
Under the premise that they are all "human beings", there is a distinction between enemies and friends. It does not mean that Gan Ning should not fight back when being beaten or insulted.
Faced with the natives who were attacking crazily, Gan Ning chose to intimidate them with absolute force first.
Since the indigenous Yi people here were not as friendly as the Xia immigrants, Gan Ning also chose a different strategy.
First, let his soldiers choose a suitable location to set up camp near the coastline, and gradually use small boats to transport most of the soldiers over. After that, they will move step by step toward the center of the island to search for the indigenous settlement they have just found!
The fighting style of these natives was still very rudimentary, and the means they used to conceal their whereabouts during their retreat seemed completely "blatantly exposed" to Gan Ning's scouts.
That evening, the scouts reported to Gan Ning the location of the settlement of this group of coastal indigenous people.
The indigenous people in this area are estimated to be several hundred households, because... they mainly live in caves, and the scouts can only make a rough estimate based on the number of people they see.
Judging from the situation of the immigrants from the Xia Dynasty, a tribe with hundreds of households should not be considered small.
In addition, some traces of planting were found near the settlement, but they were still very primitive, and... judging from the planting area, the Yi people here should mainly engage in fishing and hunting, with planting as a supplement.
In fact, the Xia immigrants in the Yizhou Islands also focused on both gathering and farming - after all, they were immigrants who came in the pre-Qin period. In the pre-Qin period, especially in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were not many purely agricultural countries among the Xia.
In areas such as Yanshan where wild chestnuts grow, the "wild people" can basically rely on picking wild chestnuts as their staple food and can make a living purely by gathering.
The real and complete transformation to farming did not occur until after the unification of the Han Dynasty and the explosion of population.
After receiving the report, Gan Ning ordered his troops to rest for one night. The next day, he led dozens of soldiers towards the settlement.
In order to avoid further provoking the opponent, Gan Ning did not bring many people with him, and did not reveal their swords or weapons.
However, even so, it still aroused the other party's vigilance. When Gan Ning arrived at the settlement, the Yi natives were huddled in the cave, and from the dark cave entrances, he could vaguely feel their wary and fearful gazes.
Of course, I am not like a silly roe deer, pretending that the "enemy" cannot see me...
In front of the cave nest, there were various foods, animal skins, shells... and a naked girl, sitting in the middle with an expressionless face.
The appearance of the natives is somewhat different from that of the Han people. They are thinner and have darker skin. It can be said that... even if neither side uses weapons, an ordinary sergeant on Gan Ning's side can beat five or six of these thin and short "young and strong" people.
However, this girl who was offered as "tribute" was obviously carefully selected. Based on universal aesthetics, Gan Ning felt that her appearance was... not bad. Well, just not bad.
Although this was the first time Gan Ning saw this, with some logical reasoning ability, he could understand what it meant.
Perhaps in Yizhou, the fights between tribes were like this - the loser offered food, property, and... beautiful girls.
Looking at the naked woman, some of Gan Ning's generals were also shocked.
Although the aesthetics are a bit biased, but... this is just a small tribe. With their military strength, can they... emmm...
The devil always whispers in the ears of the "strong".
One of the generals couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and then... he felt a pain in his buttocks, as Gan Ning kicked him like a dog.
"Commander-in-chief..." The lieutenant general looked at Gan Ning with some grievance. I didn't do anything... No, I didn't even say a word!
"Go back and copy the military regulations and training ten times!" Gan Ning said expressionlessly.
The lieutenant general did not dare to refute, but said with relief: "General, there are only enough papers and pens for the teachers... or I'd better keep watch."
"Write it on the ground while you're on guard. I'll check it tomorrow morning." Gan Ning continued with a blank expression.
Lieutenant General A: ...
Gan Ning was seen walking towards the thin woman while taking off his brocade robe.
After two months of sailing with almost no supplies, the fifty sets of brocade robes Gan Ning brought with him were no longer enough for changing, so he could only... pick out a relatively clean one to wear every day.
However, when Gan Ning was replenishing fresh water in the Yizhou Islands, he finally washed all the brocade robes - well, although he couldn't take off one and throw it away like he did in Yangzhou, and never wear it a second time, and if he didn't throw away five or six pieces a day, it would be considered a day of staying at home... but after washing the brocade robes again, Gan Ning's mood was much better.
The Yi woman couldn't help feeling a little nervous when she saw the man who looked like a peacock coming towards her.
She understood that she was placed here as a symbol of surrender.
As the victor, if he is satisfied with her, he can take her and other spoils away. She will face a life of slavery for the rest of her life. Of course...it is very likely that she will not have a rest of her life. It is also very common that the spoils will be "consumed" as consumables after a few days.
If the other party is not satisfied, they will use a stone spear to pierce her chest to express their rejection of her tribe's surrender.
How can I not be nervous?
However, when the peacock man came over, he did not use weapons, nor did he pull her away violently. Instead, he took off his "peacock feather".
When she saw the other party reaching out his hand, the Yi woman closed her eyes in fear, but still did not dare to make a sound. However, in the next moment...
Smooth and soft?
A feeling she had never experienced before spread across her skin. When she opened her eyes, she saw the peacock man's arms simply wrapped around her neck, draping the gorgeous peacock feathers over her body...
At this moment, when the Yi girl had no idea what she was feeling in her heart, bursts of rosy clouds appeared in the sky and fell on the Yi girl wearing a brocade robe.
Accompanied by strange visions, strange fragrances, and strange sounds... the barbarian girl was enveloped by a beam of light, and the brocade cape she was wearing turned into a neatly trimmed brocade robe. Her originally rough skin instantly became shiny and bright, and her messy hair ends also hung down neatly and naturally.
A breath that was different from that of humans, but very familiar to the Han people, rippled over the barbarian woman...
