Chapter 963: Important Matters
Chapter 963: Important Matters (Part )
After entering March, the land of Daibei suddenly "woke up".
The river water flows and tender buds break through the soil.
Bright flowers adorn the branches, and the tall willow trees stretch their waists in the wind.
Under the white clouds, the herdsmen also started to work.
Their houses seem to be getting better year by year. Some people have even abandoned their yurts and started living in houses built of adobe or wooden boards.
The old people kept muttering about the places they had visited in the past, how clear the water was, how lush the vegetation was, and how the ponds were as blue as mirrors.
At the end, I actually felt a little sad.
The growing boys burst into laughter and dispersed.
They seldom run around nowadays, not to mention their grandparents, they are even different from their parents.
They remembered the yurts they lived in as children, but the felt, ropes and wooden pillars had been piled up in the house for a long time and had not been used.
What they are experiencing now is the adobe house that was built bit by bit through the joint efforts of their parents and clansmen.
They would follow their father in repairing the roof, but they would no longer tie the ropes to the tent.
They would follow their mothers to the caravan to pick out cloth and household items; their lives were no longer just about cattle and sheep.
They still remember riding sheep as children and riding horses when they grew up, but now they are more down-to-earth and practice fighting on foot.
They are different now.
A gust of wind blowing from Luoyang brought about tremendous changes in the land of Daibei. Everyone was caught up in it, and whether you like it or hate it, you were forced to change.
The old man scolded the young man for having lost his traditions because no one would listen to his stories about the grassland heroes anymore.
As a child he never tired of hearing the mythical story of the grey wolf and the white deer from his ancestors’ time.
But nowadays, young people only talk about who became an official, who has a lot of Central Plains artifacts at home, and who drapes colorful silk on a beautiful girl...
"Oh!" The old man sighed heavily, with a hurt expression, and went to pound rice.
"Bang!" The old man held the wooden pestle with difficulty and husked the corn in front of the stone mortar.
"Bang!" The aroma of corn porridge wafted out of a clay pot not far away, and the old man suddenly felt a lot more strength.
Although tradition is getting further and further away from him, but for the sake of the corn porridge - it's so delicious!
"Wow!" A loud exclamation came from the distance.
The old man looked up and saw a large group of people leading horses towards him from the southwest.
In front were dozens of men in brocade robes and fur coats, followed by more than a hundred knights.
They were shining with silver, holding horse lances as thick as small trees, and both men and horses were covered in iron armor, looking very majestic.
On both sides of the hundred cavalrymen, there were two hundred men, most of whom had braided hair and looked like the Huns. They carried swords and bows and followed closely.
Armored Cavalry!
The old man's hands trembled and he was startled.
The Xianbei people, whether they were Duan, Tuoba or Murong - but not Yuwen - all liked armored cavalry, long spears and large halberds very much, and liked face-to-face confrontations.
Every time they fought for the people of the Central Plains, in addition to food and silk, they would always demand horse armor, lances, and iron armor.
At that time, Wang Jun gave 5,000 Xianbei horses and armors to the Duan tribe in one go. When the tribes near and far heard about it, they were all envious.
When the old man was young, he had fought with Tuoba Liuxiu and the Duan tribe. At that time, they were just a small force, all of them were lightly armored and lightly ridden. After being blocked by the light cavalry of the Duan tribe, the armored cavalry made a fierce charge and were defeated miserably.
From then on, he was afraid of this thing. Even the Dai Kingdom's own armored cavalry would scare him.
Fortunately, the one hundred armored cavalry stopped in the distance.
A braided-haired Hun knelt down beside the majestic warhorse, wanting the noble on the horse to step down from his back.
The young noble waved his hand, signaling him to leave, and then dismounted lightly.
He has a good foundation, obviously he has been taught by a famous teacher since he was young, and he has also been riding horses for a long time.
Hundreds of riders came galloping from the north, with large wolf-head flags fluttering in the wind.
The old man shrank his neck. What day is today? Why are so many distinguished people coming here?
The teenagers were dispersed far away, but they refused to leave and continued to watch.
Some people even dreamed: If I could put on this iron armor, wield this lance, and return to the tribe, would I be able to choose any beautiful girl I wanted?
The two groups of people approached each other quickly, with a distance of several dozen steps between them.
The troops in the north dispersed, revealing a gorgeous carriage.
The eight-year-old Tuoba Shiyijian was helped down. He looked around and then fixed his eyes on the tall boy in front of him.
He Lun, the chief officer of the Shanyu Protectorate, tucked in his fat belly and said, "Dai Gong should step forward and greet you."
Liu Lugu glanced at him and said nothing.
Wang Chang, the governor of Yunzhong, and Zhang Tong, the governor of Mayi, looked at their noses with their eyes and their hearts with their noses, without saying a word.
Pu Gu, a nobleman from the Pu tribe, smiled gently when he heard the words, as if he couldn't smell the subtle scent in the air.
Tuoba Shiyijian nodded, and walked forward surrounded by several muscular young men.
Shao Gui whispered a few words to his followers and quickly walked forward.
He was more polite and bowed first: "Greetings, Mr. Dai."
"Greetings, Mr. Shao." Tuoba Shiyijian said.
Shao Gui smiled and greeted He Lun again.
He Lun was more polite and said, "The prince is extremely graceful and has gone deep into the bitter cold land. This is admirable."
"You are too kind." Shao Gui paused and said, "Since I am a Zhonglang in the Shanyu Palace, I should come here. But I wonder how the farming here is going?"
He Lun called someone over.
Pei Shiliu, the clerk of the Military Farm Department of the Chanyu's Office, immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Dai Gong, follow me, and I will explain it in detail."
"Well, seeing is believing." Shao Gui avoided the dry dung not far from his feet without leaving a trace and headed towards the village ahead.
Tuoba Shiyijian was a parallel to him.
After they set off, a group of officials, followers, and dignitaries followed them.
Liu Lugu fell behind at the end and glanced at the armored cavalry who were dismounting.
They were led by a strong man of about thirty named Gai Hou, the younger brother of Anping prefect Gai Zhi. He was from the Gai family of Yuyang, skilled in archery and horse riding, and had amazing bravery.
After seeing Liu Lugu, he raised his eyebrows and grinned. Liu Lugu retracted his gaze and quickly followed Tuoba Shiyijian.
******
"The people in this village are from the Pu tribe. There are 73 households and more than 400 people in total. They have been farming and grazing here for three years." Pei Shiliu said, pointing to the village where smoke was rising from cooking fires.
"According to what the historian said, farming and grazing began in the year the Shanyu Mansion was established?" Shao Gui asked.
"That's right." Pei Shiliu replied.
"Where were they originally from? What did they do for a living?" Shao Gui asked.
"We were originally in the northwest of Dongmugen Mountain." Pu Guting came over and said, "After King Liang defeated the mother and son of the Qi family, our tribe stayed in the area of Sanggan River until today."
“Not nomadic anymore?”
"There are still nomadic clans, but most of them move between Yunzhong and Mayi and don't go far." Pu Gu heard: "Some of them don't move anymore, and they are like this village."
"What clan is this village? The Pu clan?"
"Pugu, Putun, etc. are all Pu, but they are different." Pugu himself was confused, so he called someone over and asked carefully. The man said, "This village calls itself 'Puliu Ru', which is a small surname."
Shao Gui said "oh" and said he had never heard of it and didn't take it seriously.
The largest clan in the Pu tribe is the "Pu Gu" clan, which has been the tribal leaders for generations.
"It seems like someone is pounding rice in the village?" Shao Gui pointed to a house at the entrance of the village and said.
"Just go and take a look and you'll know." Pu Gu was more positive and invited.
"Okay." Shao Gui nodded and walked forward.
Liu Lugu pulled Shi Yijian and asked him to follow.
Shi Yijian's face was tense and he seemed unhappy.
Liu Lugu glanced at Pu Guting.
The man was wearing a valuable mink fur coat, with golden ears and neck.
Under the fur coat was a gorgeous brocade robe, which was not given by King Liang, but was made by someone himself.
Thinking of the Pu family's mansion he saw in Xinping, as well as the wrestlers and beautiful female musicians kept in the mansion, Liu Lugu felt a little unhappy.
Pugulü and his son Puguting have already fallen!
Do they still remember the difficulties their ancestors encountered during their migration?
Do they still remember the hardships their ancestors went through when they were in Shengle?
Do they still remember the lofty ambitions of their fathers and brothers?
It was very strange that Liu Lugu, a Tiele Hun, empathized with Suotou.
However, Pugulü and his son, who are of authentic Tuoba bloodline, are slowly changing.
The chaotic footsteps stopped at the entrance of the village.
All that was left in the yard was a tilted wooden pestle and half-pounded corn, but no one knew where the old man had disappeared to.
Pu Guting asked his servants to go forward, search for a while, and pull the old man out.
Shao Gui looked around and found that the yard was really dirty and smelled bad. He couldn't help but stop and didn't want to go any further.
He called a guest named Tianchuan and asked him to come forward and ask questions.
This man was from the Tian family of Beiping and could speak Xianbei. After he went up, he talked a lot of nonsense with Pugu Ting and the old man.
After a while, he came back and reported: "My lord, this family has planted more than ten acres of millet and ten acres of sorghum, and more than twenty acres of land are planted with grass."
"I planted some mulberry trees at home, but they didn't grow. I don't know why."
"We didn't kill any sheep last fall, so we feed them on hay from the fields and wilds. We also have two horses at home, which we also feed on hay. In the spring, there will be a shortage of hay, so we plan to feed them with bran to fatten them up, as we will need them soon."
"Where is it used?" Shao Gui asked curiously.
"His youngest son just came back from Yue's family and has little wealth, so he plans to lend him the horse and go to Shuofang with the General Zhenbei." Tianchuan replied.
According to the customs of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, after a man and a woman get together, they must live at their parents-in-law's house for a while and help them with work. Then the couple will "leave the house empty-handed" and formally form a family - of course, some parents-in-law will give them some property and will not really leave the house empty-handed.
"Why are you going to Shuofang?" Shao Gui asked.
He knew that last year, when the Prime Minister Wang Feng attacked Shuofang, he failed the first time and did not take it. The second time he gathered a large army and finally took it. When the General of the Zhenjun Army Liu Hu heard about it, he was very upset, so he fought against the Hexi and Helan tribes in the area of Yixin Mountain and Nuozhen River, but was defeated by them.
Is there a rebellion in Shuofang?
"Capture prisoners." Tianchuan whispered, "Start from Shuofang, go south to Kujiesha, or Beiyishan, capture the mixed Hu people, and sell them to the court."
Shao Gui suddenly realized.
"The proceeds from the sale are silk." Tian Chuan added, "This item was originally of little use in Dai State, but now it can be used to buy things from the caravan. According to the old man, his youngest son plans to buy some silk floss and exchange it for some brocade to make a brocade quilt."
"Is capturing prisoners so profitable?" Shao Gui was a little surprised.
Brocade quilts were usually only affordable for the rich, but a poor herdsman on the grassland actually wanted to use a brocade quilt? How many slaves did he have to capture?
"I don't know about that." Tianchuan shook his head.
Shao Gui nodded.
You don’t know until you come, and you’ll be shocked.
Unconsciously, the situation on the grassland has changed so much.
Some people settled down and engaged in farming, making a living by growing crops, growing forage and raising livestock. Some even asked the Wuhuan people for mulberry seeds and tried to grow mulberry trees.
Some people are semi-sedentary and semi-nomadic, and the income brought by the settled lifestyle is increasing day by day.
Some people simply do business with no capital, making money by killing people and capturing prisoners.
There were also Xianbei nobles who made a lot of money from the trade between the Central Plains and the grasslands, and gradually became fond of enjoying life.
The changes are not particularly big, but they seem to be an unstoppable trend.
Tuoba Shiyijian also heard it.
He seemed to become even more unhappy, and always felt that something of his was slipping away bit by bit.
Yesterday, General Zhendong told him that his mother had secretly given birth to a daughter in Changchun Palace, and the girl is still being raised there to keep Tuoba Lizhen company.
Shi Yijian felt very sad, aggrieved and even resentful.
He didn't know what to do.
Liu Lugu asked him to wait patiently for the opportunity, and once the time was ripe, he would kill the rebels and return power to him.
Shi Yijian didn't dare to do it at first, but now he feels that it doesn't matter.
From the distance he heard words like "horse plowing", "several times", "huge increase in yield per mu", etc. He could not bear to listen any more and just thought about his own things.
(The third update is here. If you have tickets, please vote quickly, otherwise it will be wasted.)
(End of this chapter)