evidence: Assault, however, could reinforce indigenous identity as Qing subjects. As early as 1653, a group of five Cossacks were sent out to explore routes to China in order to obtain its emperor’s submission to the Tsar. En route the Cossacks demanded horses and guides from what they called a "Ducher" village. They also declared the tsar’s proposal that Heilongjiang be divided roughly in half, with Russia taking the territory east of the Non River (Nenjiang). As their tributary mission later reported in an imperial audience in Beijing, the villagers, probably known to the Qing as ethnically akin Hūrha, decided that they could not maintain livelihoods as Cossack tributaries. So, in gratitude for state gifts of clothing and horses bestowed for their pelts, the villagers killed the Cossacks and added their victims’ fox and sable to augment their own annual tribute. After admonishing them to spare further Russian emissaries, the throne sent the delegation off with their statutory gifts of clothing.76