In just over half an hour, they arrived at the outskirts of the city with their sled and dogs.

subsequently

"Can dogs actually pull the sled so fast?" Amachi looked in surprise at the four big dogs pulling the sled in front of him.

Just now, Ogata and Omachi rode on a huge sleigh that could seat four people.

The sled is long and the passengers cannot sit side by side. They can only sit vertically in a line like a motorcycle.

Ichiro Nakahara, who was in charge of driving the sled, sat in the driving seat in the front row, then Ogata sat behind Nakahara, and Amachi sat in the back.

Responsible for pulling this huge sled are the four big dogs we just saw in the backyard.

The young man named Zhongyuan was sitting in the driving seat and shouted at the four big dogs pulling the sled in front of him. The four big dogs pulled the sled forward like a conditioned reflex.

The speed was far beyond Ogata and Omachi's imagination.

It was the first time for both of them to see dog sledding.

Before, the two of them had only heard that dog sledding was a special form of transportation in Ezo.

Dog sledding was originally a means of transportation for the Ezo people in Ezo.

Many people in Ezo who can afford dogs use them for transportation.

During the long-term confrontation between the Matsumae Clan and the Ezo people, they also enjoyed cultural exchanges invisibly.

Dog sledding was a form of transportation that was learned by the people of the Matsumae clan.

For some reason in Ezo, animals generally grow very big, and dogs are no exception.

The dogs in Ezo are so big and strong that a few dogs can pull a sled with people on it.

It was the first time for Ogata to see a dog sled and the first time to ride a dog sled.

The two people, who had never expected that dogs could pull the sled so fast, had a look of surprise on their faces.

"Hahaha." Zhongyuan smiled, "This speed is nothing. In addition to dogs, cats can actually pull sleds, and the speed is not slow."

"Can a cat pull a sled?" Amachi exclaimed.

"Yeah." Zhongyuan nodded, "But I've only heard about it, I've never actually seen it."

"I heard that the cats in Lucia are big and strong, so many people there use cats to pull sleds."

Matsumae Domain was originally a small domain with only 10,000 koku in total.

Nakahara said: By around 4 p.m., we will be able to reach the northern border of Matsumae Domain.

Nakahara never asked Ogata why they were going to the northern border of Matsumae Domain from beginning to end. He only focused on driving the sled.

Each of his left and right hands held something like a joystick.

Ogata asked Nakahara what the two joysticks were for. Nakahara said that these two joysticks were used to adjust the direction, so he used these two joysticks to control the direction of the sled.

There was nothing but snow all around. Ogata was tired of seeing this kind of scenery at Ou.

After the sled reached a relatively flat place, in order to kill time, Ogata asked Nakahara in front of him a question that he had been curious about ever since he saw Nakahara.

"Nakahara-kun, are you a naturalized Ezo?"

After saying that, Ogata glanced at Nakahara's profile that was full of Ezo characteristics.

"Hahaha." Nakahara laughed a few times, "No, I'm not naturalized in Ezo."

"It's just that my ancestors were naturalized Ezo."

"My ancestors moved into Songqian Castle during the Genroku period (1688 AD - 1703 AD) and became naturalized people."

"My grandmother is Nakato, so I have both Kazuto's and Ezo's blood in my body."

"During the Genroku period?" Amachi said, "Isn't that a hundred years ago?"

"Yes." Nakahara nodded, "So I can't be considered a naturalized Ezo. I am a native Matsumae."

"I can't even speak a word of Ezo now, I can only speak Japanese."

"More like a Japanese than a Japanese."

"only……"

Speaking of this, a hint of bitterness appeared on Zhongyuan's face.

"Even though I am a Matsumae native born and raised in Matsumae Castle, many people in the city still treat me as an Ezo..."

"Kazuto treats me like an Ezo. The Ezo people in the city treat me like a Kazuto..."

"Fortunately, the shop owner does not discriminate against Ezo and is willing to hire me as a shop assistant."

"Otherwise, if I am discriminated against by both Kazuto and Ezo, I really don't know how to live."

After saying that, Nakahara paused for a moment, then quickly turned around to apologize to Ogata and Atachi.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I seemed to have talked about some heavy topics that were not very interesting."

"Sit tight! We have entered a flat area, and I want the dog to speed up!"

After saying that, Nakahara yelled at the four big dogs in front of him, and then the four big dogs accelerated again, pulling Ogata and others straight forward.

…

…

at the same time

Ezochi, a certain river

swish swish...

The sound of sifting rice sounded like one after another on the river.

11 men of different ages stood on the bank of the river, holding something like a rice sieve. They kept shaking the "rice sieve" in their hands through the river water, as if they were sifting something.

Although their actions are very similar to sifting rice, and the thing in their hands is also very similar to a rice sieve, they are not actually sifting rice, and the thing in their hands is not a rice sieve either.

Their "rice sieve" contained soil that had just been salvaged from the river.

The tools in their hands are specially used to sift gold sand.

They are digging for gold.

At this time, an extremely strong man among the 11 people shouted loudly to the other 10 people:

"Hey! Take a rest! Take a break for now!"

As the strong man finished speaking, the other 10 people straightened up obediently, put down the tools they used to pan for gold, and then walked towards the camp they had set up not far from the shore.

These 11 people are a gold mining group.

Now that gold mining has been banned by the shogunate and hated by Ezo, gold mining has become a life-threatening activity with your head tied to your waist.

Under such heavy pressure, gold diggers also banded together in order to survive.

After the 11 gold prospectors returned to their camp, they sat around a big rock and chatted away while recovering their strength.

"I got nothing today again." A very short man sighed.

"It seems that there is no gold in this river." The person sitting next to him echoed.

"Look for another two days in this river." The strong man who just asked everyone to rest said, "If you still find nothing in two days, then look for another river."

This strong man can be regarded as their leader. He is not only superb in swordsmanship, but also has rich experience in gold mining.

In such a wilderness, their only entertainment is to chat together.

After chatting briefly with the people around him, the leader suddenly turned his head and said loudly to a warrior who was as thin as a monkey sitting not far away:

"Hey, Grandpa Jiang! Tell us some interesting stories about your past days as a bounty hunter."

The thin warrior who was suddenly named was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said:

"Boss, I've basically finished all the stories I can tell."

Grandfather Jiang looks like a nickname, but it is actually a serious surname, but it is relatively rare.

Grandfather Emoto was a bounty hunter who made a living from bounties.

But his skills are mediocre. He is said to be a bounty hunter, but in fact he has never captured or killed a wanted criminal.

Having had enough of the poor life, he decided to take a risk and go to Ezochi to find gold and become rich.

Determined to go all out, he snatched some money from a certain rice shop.

Then, through various means, he was smuggled to Ezo.

Not long after entering Ezo Land, we met this group of gold diggers.

At the invitation of this group of gold diggers, Grandfather Jiang joined them, became one of them, and followed them to pan for gold.

Grandfather Jiang joined them probably more than three months ago.

During these more than three months, Grandpa Jiang followed them around the Ezo land, panning for gold.

While we were wary of the shogunate, we were also wary of Ezo.
To be continued...