The clear Ob River flows quietly in the Siberian Plain. In autumn, the banks of the Ob River are full of harvest scenery. The plains are full of oats with extremely high shoulders, and golden wheat ears seem to be undulating like waves under the breeze.

However, this pastoral scenery did not conceal the tension in the air. The city of Tomsk, located on the banks of the Ob River, looked like a ban on the forbidden area. Behind the stone wall, the Cossacks holding muskets looked outside the city vigilantly.

Although the oats outside the city were almost ripe at this time, these Cossacks did not wave their scythes to harvest the oats like in previous years, but instead held weapons to defend their city.

The so-called "Cossacks" are actually not an independent nation, but a military group. They are mainly composed of Slavs, including Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles or Russians. Hundreds of years ago, they were slaves of slave owners. Because they could not bear the cruel oppression, they escaped from their master's manor and were forced to escape. They grazed on the Ukrainian prairie and made a living on both sides of the Don River. They called themselves "Cossacks", and "Cossacks" were the "free people" in the Turkic language. In the following hundreds of years, the Tatars, Caucasians, Georgians, Karmetsks and Turks continued to join in, and eventually the "Cossacks" became a group of "free people" on the Ukrainian prairie.

This group of "free people" are also known for their bravery and fighting skills. They are free from Rakshasa and Poland. Although after the Khmelnikki Uprising, the Cossacks used Ukraine as an independent administrative region to establish a substantially independent Cossack Principality. However, there are still many pro-Rakshasa Cossacks who serve for the Tsar, and the Tsar uses them to expand their territory.

Especially in the expansion to the east, the Rakshasa Tsar gave the Cossacks enough "privileges", such as tax exemption and other powers. They were the first peak of the expansion of Rakshasa. In the past 100 years, it was these Cossacks who conquered large swaths of Siberia. On this land, they enjoyed various privileges.

And now, with the coming of "bad news", these Cossacks realized for the first time that they had been challenged like never before! Now they must fight to defend their "privileges on the land".

There was even a trace of ominous premonition that followed!

While the city gate was closed, Governor Stroganov looked extremely serious when he held a letter of help from other towns in his right hand.

Even though he was born into the famous Stroganov family, even if his desire for fur reached the point of being insatiable, he was by no means an incompetent guy. An incompetent guy would die in the wastelands of Siberia!

People can be greedy, but they must not be incompetent!

Holding the letter in his left hand, Stroganov groaned:

"Look, it's the Tatars again! The Tatars, in the past two years, those Tatars have attacked our strongholds everywhere, and our connection with Yakutsk has been taken away. Those indigenous people, have they already contacted the Mongolian Khan? I have said that if we cannot resolve the Mongolians, there will definitely be trouble in Siberia. The men in the Siberian yamen cannot see these threats at all. Lieutenant Peterev, do you think so?"

The Siberian yamen is the command center for Rakshasa to colonize and expand Siberia, and it is also the administrative center for colonial management and cruel plunder of Siberia. Tomsk accepted its management.

"Sir, Tatars, they are all Tatars. When Dorgon attacked us, the Tatars here must be unwilling to be lonely."

The officer named the name said directly.

He was in Tomsk very well. The so-called Tatars, that is, those Mongols, when they knew that a Mongolian Khan launched an attack on the southward direction of Rakshasa, whether it was the Khan who asked for help or launched a riot, it was inevitable.

For the Tatars at this time, all the Rakshasa people were greedy robbers. They only had the superficiality in their eyes and would not understand the natives here at all. They could not bear the cruel exploitation and rebellion and angrily happened from time to time in the past.

As for the current situation where Rakshasattva has lost Kazan, how could the Siberian Tatars remain silent?

"Yeah, now what should we do if the Tatars attack Tomsk?"

Stroganov's brows frowned.

"Sir, although the villages between us and Yakutsk are villages, they are like us, with city walls, artillery and muskets guarding. The Cossacks there will definitely resist to the end. Usually, the indigenous people have no chance to conquer the city. If I am not wrong, they must have encountered a large number of Tatar sieges. Now, the Tatars must have had tens of thousands of troops."

Peterev's speculation made Stroganov's heart tighten.

"You mean we may be besieged by tens of thousands of people!"

Stroganov's tone seemed a little nervous. Although he knew that the Tatars had poor combat power, he knew very well that his strength was less than a thousand Cossacks in Tomsk City. Among them were old men and children, even if they would fight to the end.

But can you defend this place when facing the attacks of tens of thousands of Tatars?

What if... they have cannons?

The Mongols in the south owned cannons!

Maybe they have been colluding together for a long time, otherwise, how could they remove so many strongholds this summer?

Those strongholds, called strongholds, are actually Cossacks immigrant villages. The so-called villages are all "fortresses" with a population of more than 100 people. The Cossacks were grazing outside the fortress, but now, these strongholds have been destroyed by the Tatars.

"This... the Tatars are definitely gathering their strength. We don't know how many of them are, but if they are large enough, it is definitely not a good thing for us."

Peterev said directly.

A good thing?

It was simply a disaster!

"Yeah, you're right."

After hearing this, Stroganov nodded thoughtfully and said:

"If Tomsk is really besieged by a large number of Tatars, then we must stick to it and then dispel their delusions in one fell swoop!"

“Yes, sir.”

Peterev said affirmatively.

"Not only do they have to dispel their delusions, but they also have to impose severe punishment!"

Stroganov nodded and said:

"Yes, let the Tatars pay twice as much mink!"

There is no gold in Siberia, but there is another kind of "soft gold" mink!

Fur was the biggest driving force in the expansion of Tsarist Russia in the 17th and 18th century. In 1651 alone, the mink paid in the Lena River alone had more than 140,000 yuan, and the local tax paid was 15,661 rubles. The local tax alone was enough to support thousands of Tsarist Russian soldiers. The mink paid in the Lena River was worth a lot of value. The first-class mink was worth more than 20 rubles equal to the salary of three Cossack cavalry a year. 140,000 mink sold from Moscow to Western Europe was hundreds of thousands of rubles. mink was equivalent to gold in Rakshasa and Eastern Europe.

Because Siberian fur can match Tsarist Russia's military expenditure, all classes of Tsarist Russia have always had the motivation to continue to expand. As long as the Cossacks can handle the Siberian indigenous people, they can give each household a share of more than 20 minks a year. As for how much they handed over to the Tsar, the nobles were all just doing it themselves.

No one will feel that money is stubborn, even now, facing the threat of war, they still think about how to squeeze those natives.

“Double…”

Stroganov laughed. Compared to the threat of war, he valued more the wealth brought by mink!

In fact, since the founding of Tomsk in 1604, their struggle with the local Tatars has never stopped. There will even be large-scale Tatars besieging and looting the city of Rakshasa. However, for them, every siege is an opportunity to make a fortune.

After all, the Rakshasa people with high walls and artillery had a comprehensive advantage over the Tatars when guarding the fortress.

Then he ordered Peterev:
Chapter completed!