Ashina Duowen's Khan tent is located at the southwest foot of the Daxianbei Mountains (I don't know what the Turks called it at that time, but it was called this by the people of the Northern Wei Dynasty), by the Wanshui River.
This is also a good place with abundant water and grass, mountains and water. The scene that people longed for later, of beating roe deer with sticks and scooping fish with gourds, is a true portrayal here.
Of course, there is no need to be too envious. In today's world, people who can survive among the white mountains and black waters are not so happy.
The best time here is spring and summer, but the long winter is everyone's nightmare. Howling winds and snow so thick that it can bury people are not something people today can contend with.
Therefore, the population here cannot flourish at all. The Khitan, Shiwei, Xi tribe, Mohe and other tribes are struggling to survive in such an environment.
Once the time comes in autumn, when the cattle and sheep are fat, everyone will pick up swords, guns, bows and arrows, some to prevent people from robbing their cattle and sheep, and others to play the role of bandits.
In particular, the uncivilized Mohe people are one of the main creators of chaos here. They are widely distributed in the dense jungles of the northeast, and are feuding with the herding Khitan people.
Ashina Duowen set up the Khan tent here after careful consideration, so that he could better control the various tribes affiliated with the Turks in the northeast.
Moreover, this is the main source of Dongfang Khan's wealth, including various animal skins, pearl agate, several gold and silver mines, various herbs, etc., all of which are good things.
In more than ten years, Ashina Duowen has accumulated a lot of wealth here.
He was not stingy. Some of it was sent to the royal court and offered to the Khan and the nobles in the royal court. Some of it was given to his confidants to win their hearts.
In addition, he often returned gifts to the tribal leaders who came to see him, which earned him a lot of gratitude.
Then there are the transactions with the Goguryeo people and Dou Jiande of Hebei in exchange for various things...
Well, in general, he is more like a Turkic Khan than Ashina Qura. At least the tribes under Dongfang Khan's rule are doing well, and the Khitan and other affiliated tribes have not been too severely oppressed.
But in the past two years, Ashina's knowledge has started to spread. His eyes turned to Liaodong City in Goguryeo, which he felt was more suitable as the location of the Khan's tent.
A city more majestic than the city of Dali is worthy of his status.
He didn't care whether it would provoke any complicated disputes. The Sui Dynasty had already perished and Goguryeo was still hanging on. It was the time when the Turks should eat.
So he increased the exploitation of various ministries, because it was not easy to attack Liaodong City. He needed to accumulate more men, horses, cattle and sheep to launch this war.
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There was also eating and drinking in the royal tent, and it was more lively than in Ashina Qura.
Because something worthy of celebration happened, more than 20 Mohefu tribesmen of Nanshiwei sent people to present gifts to Tuli Khan and asked Tuli Khan to allow them to move south to live in the upper reaches of Wanshui.
Basically, it means surrendering to the Turks and serving as servitors to the Turks.
The people of Shiwei are now roughly divided into five parts, of which the northern and southern Shiwei are the second and most important part.
The other three tribes do not have many people and are located further north, like exiles.
I guess they themselves don’t know how the Shiwei people came here. They should be roughly the descendants of the Xianbei people, plus the Donghu, Khitan, Mohe and other tribes, as well as the Huns, Rouran people, etc. who fled here.
A whole hodgepodge.
The reason why they are regarded as a whole and named after Shiwei is that the Northern Wei, Northern Qi and other dynasties divided them based on the region where they lived, the language they used, their appearance, etc.
Just like people now call Khitan, Xi tribe, Mohe and other ethnic groups, they can give them names when they gather together. Over time, they themselves also agree with this statement.
The Shiwei people are still very backward and have barely entered the farming era. Yes, they are different from the nomads on the grasslands. They live a life of half farming and half herding.
Because the Shiwei people did not know how to make iron, they often had to trade with the Goguryeo people in exchange for some iron things. When they fought, most of the weapons in their hands were wooden products, which shows how backward they were.
They were expelled by the Turks in the war a few years ago. To a large extent, it was not because they were not brave enough or there were not enough soldiers, but mainly because of their weapons.
Because the Khitans alone could not stop the fierce Shiwei people, they could only rely on the power of the Turks.
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Ashina Duowen was very happy that the Shiwei people took refuge.
He did not give preferential treatment to the Shiwei people and win their hearts while letting the Shiwei people feel at ease to move south as he had done before. Instead, he took the opportunity to make many demands on the Shiwei people.
For example, let the Shiwei people send their most powerful warriors to become his slaves to help him fight, and then the leaders of each tribe will send their most beloved and beautiful daughters to Turli Khan's tent, and their sons will also be hostages.
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There are many other requests, which are a bit fragmented compared to the previous ones. For example, the mink fur made by the Shiwei people is very famous in the Northeast, and Ashina Duowen asked them to offer some to him every year.
All of these, anyway, the harshness is very different from when Ashina Tawen ascended to the throne of Khan.
In order to survive, the people of Shiwei agreed in humiliation. The heavy snowfall a few years ago and the subsequent war made them exhausted, so they had no choice but to surrender.
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June is the best time here, with warm weather, luxuriant vegetation, and cattle, sheep, and various wild beasts eating to prepare for the harsh winter.
It was also very hot in the sweat tent. People threw away their leather hats and exposed their chests.
The huqin was playing, and several beautiful prairie girls were dancing to the beat in the middle of the tent.
Tuli Khan Ashina Duowen's face was red from drinking. Compared with when he left Dali City, he was obviously much fatter. His face, which was still handsome, was now a bit swollen.
Although his surname is Ashina, he has no obvious characteristics of the Turkic royal family. His eyes are black, his facial features tend to be flat, and his skin is not that fair. These are obviously due to his mother, a Tiele noble.
female.
There is no need to doubt whether his bloodline is noble. His parents are undoubtedly the top Turkic nobles...
After drinking too much, his mood became high. He stood up unsteadily, shook off the support of his servant, and walked into the arena to the beat.
The nobles who were invited by him exploded with excitement. While loudly cheering for King Khan, they began to clap their hands neatly according to the rhythm of the music...