The caravan stopped on the spot, and the young men jumped into the water, pricked the water with their spears, caught the fish, and threw them into the canoes of the local men, or threw them on the shore.

Amutong ordered them not to go into deep water. He said that the river was formed by the melted snow on Baishan Mountain and Yujing Mountain. This month is when the water volume is large. Just let these boys play by the river, but not

Dare to go deeper.

Young people are always easy to deal with. The local young men were attracted by the caravan's spears, and soon there was a topic of conversation. They used the harpoons made of poplar wood in their hands to use the caravan boys' spears, and the two sides soon became lively.

stand up.

Chu Yuan led everyone to unload a few pots and some iron grates from the carriage, preparing to cook and eat later.

At this time, Chu Qing was attracted by the red willow flowers on the shore.

Against the backdrop of the green Populus euphratica forest, the pink tamarisk flowers grow freely, one by one, in clusters, in rows, and in rows; the thick Populus euphratica trees either surround or possess them,

Guard them by their side.

They may be leaning against each other, or they may be independent, surrounding the river bank, as if they are looking down at their reflection in the water.

Dependent on each other for a long time and born together, this scene made Chu Qing's eyes red for some reason.

Xiaobao's screams brought Chu Qing back to his senses. This naughty kid was holding a big carp. The carp was very strong and flopped in Xiaobao's arms. However, Xiaobao had small hands and a slippery fish body, so he couldn't hold it.

Unable to stop himself, his excited little face flushed and he shouted: "Where can you escape! Look, I will give you a life-threatening thunder palm!" As he said this, he slapped the carp on the head.

Populus euphratica and red willow, Chu Qing immediately forgot about them all. Nothing was as interesting as Xiaobao!

Amutong looked at the young man splashing in the water with a smile. He went to the edge and pried off some red willow branches, cut out the tips and made many skewers.

Chu Yuan and Zhuo Yao were already cutting open the fish with daggers. The young men from the tribe came over to help. They quickly lit a fire, scraped the fish's scales, cut it open from the belly, removed the internal organs and gills, and flattened it.

Thread it on a skewer made of tamarisk and make it into a large piece, then put it on the side of the fire to bake.

Chu Yuan and the others grabbed a few fish, chopped them into large pieces and threw them into the pot, and also put in a few pieces of dried mutton.

Amu Dong asked the boys to get some wild ducks to eat, and the boys ran away in a hurry. Chu Qing still had a lot of bean cakes in the convoy, large and round bean cakes, which Amu Dong

Dong thought this was also a kind of naan.

When Chu Qing took the bean cake and baked it and the aroma came out, Amutong's eyes lit up: "It tastes good! What is this?"

Chu Qing broke off a few pieces and gave them to him, and Amu Dong also gave Chu Qing his roasted naan. The two of them ate happily.

Soon Chu Yuan brought two grilled fish over, nibbling one himself and passing one to Chu Qing. The fish was delicious with a little salt and no other seasonings were needed.

Chu Qing walked and ate the fish, regardless of the rules or the way they were eaten. She looked from fire to fire, and if she saw whose fish was different from her own, she would bring one over. Soon, she had five grilled fish on her hand.

Xiaobao followed Chu Qing's example. When he saw wild duck eggs, he asked for two; when he saw river shrimps, he asked for two skewers; when he saw rabbits, he asked for two pieces...

When they returned to their own fire, the two women exchanged tastings next to each other. The bean cakes were welcomed by the locals, and they left a lot.

Chu Qing did not expect that what they wanted most was not an iron pot, not tea, not silk, but soybean oil!

However, Chu Qing's team did not bring much fuel. This made Chu Qing regretful because he was not fully prepared.

Chu Qing left a jar of oil for herself and gave the rest to them.

Amutong was their village chief. He was very excited and very embarrassed to express his gratitude. He felt that it was really unethical to take someone else's things for free.

How can there be a free lunch in the world? Chu Qing looked at him and smiled without saying a word.

After dinner, before it was completely dark, Amutong led the caravan to his village. It was here that iron pots and kettles became popular.

Think about it, men usually only respond to the most intuitive things, such as soybean oil. The caravans fried rabbits by the river in oil, and they found it delicious after eating it, so they liked soybean oil.

But back in the village, when the women saw the iron pot, they were very curious about it. Only those who cook know the importance of the pot.

The locals don't use pots very much. The naan is dug in the sand and grilled, and the fish is grilled on the fire. Women are different. They make fish soup, and some waterfowl are better stewed.

eat.

Therefore, professional things need to be appraised by professionals.

Zhan Dui explained to them what Chu Qing's caravan had, and what they could buy or exchange for. The villagers had no money, and they were the same as herdsmen like Zhan Dui. Without money, they had to barter.

Iron pots, iron kettles, flour, and soybean oil are all what they want, but they don't have horses, cattle, or sheep, so they don't know what to exchange for them.

Chu Qing had been thinking about cotton for a long time, so she directly said that she needed cotton. Amutong was very embarrassed and said: "We have planted cotton and wheat, but the harvest is very small, and we still have to pay it to King Guli. We

I can’t give it to you.”

Who is King Gu Li? Chu Qing looked at Zhan Dui in confusion.

Zhan Dui said: "The king of Tuhuerte. Originally Tuhuerte was just a small tribe, but they attacked many tribes and incorporated them. Then the leader of Tuhuerte was named King Guli and was

All the territory he conquered became the king's territory, and now the whole group is called the Tuhuerte tribe."

It would be more appropriate to call it the Tuhuerte area. Chu Qing thought about it in his mind.

There is little cotton and they are unwilling to change it. This problem needs to be solved.

"What will you do if the harvest is not good and we can't deliver cotton?" Chu Qing asked.

"You can pay money. But we don't have it. So when the time comes, whichever village doesn't pay enough cotton, someone will have their hands and feet chopped off, or even their skin will be shown to the public."

Chu Qing and Xiaobao both shuddered. This was too cruel.

"Then what else do you have besides cotton?" Chu Qing asked again. Normally, they should be considered cotton farmers. But they let the cotton fields become infested with insects and go fishing. It seems that they are not doing their job properly.

"We have nothing left. Originally, our ancestors did not grow grains or herd livestock, but only fished in small boats for food. Later, the cotton here was favored by the king and designated our ancestors to plant it. But no matter how much cotton was planted, we could not harvest it.

How much?" Amu Dong said.

"We still have to plant wheat, but we won't be able to harvest much." Some villagers agreed.

"Then besides growing cotton, do you also fish?" Chu Qing asked again, why did she feel that such a life was too leisurely? Since she is poor, why not spend some effort on life?

"No, we want to hunt."

That's right. You have to have both a main job and a side job to fill your stomach.

"What are they hunting for?" Chu Qing asked again. She received marmot oil and fur from Zhandui and the others, but she didn't know what the Tuhuertes had in their hands.

"We hunted a lot of things. See if you want to buy them." A woman said urgently. They needed money, so when they saw Chu Qing being curious about the prey, they rushed to seize the opportunity.

Soon, the women brought in the inventory from their respective homes: rat and rabbit skins, Yarkand rabbit skins, wild boar tusks, some beautiful bird feathers, elk antlers, mink furs! There were even tiger skins.

There are also tiger skins, "Are there tigers here?" Chu Qing was curious, this is a desert.

"Yes, we have a species of tiger here, which is hard to come across. This kind of tiger is becoming rarer and rarer. There is a species of giant ant in the desert that specializes in eating the afterbirth of tiger cubs. The ants crawl over in swarms, collecting the afterbirth and cubs.

will be eaten."

There are also mink! This is a good thing! Chu Qing saw that almost every household has mink skins.

Chu Qing touched the fur and couldn't put it down. It was all money!

Chu Qing learned that their men were actually very busy, fishing, hunting, and growing cotton and wheat, but women and children were relatively free.

Fortunately, there is the help of Falcon, otherwise the men would be very tired.
Chapter completed!