Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms: Volume 56

Northern Seas: The Historical Evolution of Russia

Page 6

To the east lies the source of the Qian River original: 謙河; the Yenisei River, which borders the current Heilongjiang The Amur River region. These are all lands north of the mountain ridges that did not belong to Russia at the start of the Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368 AD. It is only in recent times that they have been completely annexed by Russia and designated as the "Four Departments of the New Eastern Vassals." Further details can be found in the Research on the Northern Territories of the Yuan Dynasty. To the west of these five departments lay the lands divided among the Yuan princes, such as Kaidu, north of the Jinshan Mountains; however, the History of Yuan contains no records of this which constitute that entire region.

During the Ming Dynasty 1368–1644 AD, these areas were obstructed by the Shuomo The Gobi Desert/Northern wastes and had no communication with China. At the beginning of the current Shunzhi reign 1644–1661 AD, the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China, their people, whom we called the Luocha original: 羅刹; "Rakshasa" or "Demons." This was the early Qing term for Russians, likely a phonetic rendering of "Ross" filtered through Buddhist terminology for man-eating demons, secretly occupied the area of Yaksa original: 雅克薩; known in the West as Albazin on the Amur River. They built a fortified city and resided there, harassing and plundering the Solon and Dagur peoples. The two tribes of Solon and Dagur resided in the lands of the Argun River and the Jingxili River, bordering the territory of the Luocha. In the 15th year of the Kangxi reign 1676 AD, Russia sent an envoy to present tribute. Our government issued an edict strictly forbidding the Luocha from disturbing our border tribes. However, the Luocha continued to secretly invade places like the Jingxili The Zeya River, lingering there and refusing to leave.

The Emperor ordered the Commander-in-Chief, Duke Peng Chun, to lead an army to punish them. The Luocha were cornered and begged for surrender. However, as soon as our troops withdrew, they secretly re-occupied Yaksa as they had before. In the 24th year 1685 AD, the Emperor again ordered Sabusu, the General of Heilongjiang, to lead troops to besiege them. The number of those who surrendered grew daily. In the 25th year, their nation's Tsar...