In the wild northern desert, many places are still covered with ice and snow. Winter is like a person who is sealed by a quilt early in the morning, unable to get up, lingering, and suppressed to the point where no small flowers or grass can emerge.
White ice and snow that has not completely melted are scattered here and there on the black-gray soil or rocks, like diarrhea, covering the entire earth, but the green that should have been there is extremely dark.
Rare.
"Headman, this can't go on like this. The livestock have nothing to eat..." A Xianbei looked worriedly at the hungry cattle and sheep pulling Canxue everywhere, "If we can't find new pasture... this... this...
well……"
"...I know, I know..." A strong man murmured in response and patted the Xianbei on the shoulder, "Go and look around, and then look for any new grass.
...I'll go find the high priest and think of a solution..."
The Xianbei man stroked his chest and saluted, then mounted a horse and took two or three people with him to the distance.
The strong man looked at it, then lowered his head to look at the soil under his feet. He was stunned for a long time, then reached out and grabbed a handful, rubbed it in his hands, and really felt the feeling of the fine and sticky soil in his fingers.
Only then did they confirm that they had not found the wrong place, but that there was no grass growing in this area this year.
The strong man was stunned for a while, sighed, frowned and sprinkled the soil in his hand on the ground, and then walked towards a colorfully painted tent in the north of the camp. His pace was very slow, as if he was carrying something on his shoulders.
It was like a heavy object weighing a hundred kilograms. After walking a few steps, several children rushed out from the tent, laughing and chasing each other. One of the older children chased a younger one, and those younger children
Some children just ran away without looking at the road. They bumped into the strong man's leg and fell flat on their butts...
The strong man frowned, pointed at the slightly taller child and said, "Taljila, what are you doing! At this time, you still have the heart to lead your younger brothers and sisters to fool around! Are you able to hold on after eating enough?"
Perhaps the strong man's voice was a little too loud, but the children seemed to be frozen by the ice and snow. They immediately stood up, stiffened their hands and feet, and looked at it with some horror.
The child who had fallen on his butt raised his head and saw that the strong man looked bad and was holding something tightly with both hands. He was frightened and frightened and started crying loudly.
"Targera, why are you chasing him?" The strong man frowned, bent down and stretched out his hand to pull up the little kid sitting on the ground, and asked casually.
The older child hesitated and said: "Mundo...Mundo picked up bones and gnawed them. I was afraid that he would swallow them...so, so..."
The strong man frowned and gently opened the child's hand. He found that inside the small palm was an empty mutton leg bone that had been smashed open and only half of it was left. He didn't know why a burst of irritation rose in his heart.
.
"This is not food! Do you understand?" The strong man couldn't help raising his voice, pointing at the white bone covered with mud and said, "Are you stupid? This is a bone! There is no meat, there is no meat on it.
,Can’t eat! Can’t eat!”
"..." The little kid curled his lips and burst into tears, "...I, I'm hungry..."
"..." After a moment of silence, the strong man took out a piece of meat as thick as his little finger from his arms, tore off a piece and stuffed it into the kid's mouth. The kid immediately covered it with his muddy hands and smiled happily.
stand up.
Under the hungry eyes of the children around him, the strong man hesitated for a moment and did not put the dried meat away, but handed it to Taljila, "Go, take it and share it! Take your younger brothers and sisters with you!"
Taljila, the leading child, quickly stepped forward, took the dried meat with one hand, and pulled the little Maotou, whose face was still covered with runny nose and tears, with the other hand, and then ran away with a group of children.
The strong man couldn't help but sigh again. He found that he might have sighed more during this period than last year.
"High Priest..." The strong man opened the curtain of the colorful tent, walked in, and saluted an old man with gray hair.
The high priest was rummaging for something among a pile of parchments. Without raising his head, he just said: "Sit down...Why are you so angry with a child? King Fei Yun, you have lost your temper..."
King Fei Yun, the leader of this Xianbei branch in the Northern Desert, nodded and admitted: "Well, I couldn't control it."
"At this moment, you must not be confused or panic, otherwise the people below will be even more panicked and confused..." Although the high priest said this, his eyes were always on the parchment and did not raise his head.
Pass.
"...Actually, High Priest, you are also panicking..." King Fei Yun was silent for a while and then said something in a low voice.
The high priest was looking through the parchment for a moment, then finally raised his head and stared at King Fei Yun. After a moment, he sighed longly: "I understand...Is it so obvious..."
King Fei Yun said: "High Priest, you haven't left your tent for three days..."
"Has it been three days?" The high priest was stunned for a moment.
The way the Xianbei people remember things is ancient abstract lines and symbols. The result of this is that everyone uses different marking methods. Even after a long time, they may not be able to recall what they marked. Among the inherited parchment scrolls
The twisted lines and symbols, after two or three generations, really look like a heavenly book.
Anyone who can serve as a priest must have the talent of superior memory, but no matter how strong the talent is, it cannot resist the invasion of time. As we get older, along with the decline of physical functions, the memory also declines little by little. In order to find a way out, the high priest
And the answer, I have been in the tent for three days without knowing it, and I haven't left it even to eat, drink or have sex.
"...Help me..." The high priest moved his legs, only to find that his legs and feet were numb, and he couldn't use any strength at all. He could only stretch out his hand to King Fei Yun, and then bent down in the tent.
Shaking his legs, he straightened his waist after a while and said to King Fei Yun, "Go out for a walk?"
The two of them left the tent one after another, and then walked to the hillside behind the camp, looking around. The surrounding tribesmen saw them from far and near, and they all touched their chests and saluted. After receiving the response, they all seemed relaxed.
Some are the same, it seems that someone is singing a pastoral song faintly...
Seeing that the tribe seemed to have regained some vitality, the high priest and King Fei Yun looked at each other, and they could see some bitterness in each other's smiles. The tribe was relaxed, and they felt that it must be the case that the two of them were in the mood to go out and relax.
A solution to the problem was found, but in fact the burden on the two people was heavier.
"...I checked all the parchments...This pasture here is the southernmost one..." the high priest said softly, like the misty white smoke in the cold winter, "...it is also the last one recorded.
…”
"Yesterday," King Fei Yun said after a moment of silence, "the people sent to contact the king came back. They said that the king agreed that we can go to their pasture, but... we have to hand over half of the animals..."
"Half!" the high priest breathed.
"Either starved to death, or half." King Fei Yun looked at the sky, the flesh on his cheeks twitching.
The high priest was silent for a long time and then said: "If you don't go to the king's side now, there are only two roads left... One is to go south, fight the Han people in the south, and go to their territory... The other is to go to the west...
…”
"To the west?" King Fei Yun turned to look at the high priest, "Is there any new pasture to the west?"
The high priest shook his head and said: "Because there should be pastures, and there are our real tribesmen... But, I don't know, and I can't find the specific way to get there... I'm not sure, because there are many things...
…It’s been so long ago that many of the records in the parchments have been lost…”
"Real tribesmen?" King Fei Yun smiled bitterly, "I didn't expect that we still have real tribesmen? High Priest, are you sure you are not the tribe that is planning to take half of our lives?"
"We are actually different from those guys... From King Maodun of the Huns to Tan Shihuai and King Bu Dugen of the Shiwei people... we seem to be used to it, but..." the high priest said faintly
Said, "...I searched all the parchment scrolls and discovered one thing... Although it is not very clear, our Lushui clan is not really surnamed Juqu, just like our ancestors lived near Lushui
It was called the Lushui tribe... The Huns had an official position very early, under the left and right kings, and it was called the left and right Juqu. Our ancestors were one of them, and later they took this as their surname...
But, do you know what our last names were first?"
"What's your last name?" King Fei Yun asked.
"?iwet..." The high priest looked to the west and uttered a strange and primitive syllable. (Note 1 of this chapter)
…………………………
The royal court of the Southern Xiongnu.
At this moment, in this place where Fei Qian originally thought there would be another war, a clear polarization formed...
When Fei Qian led the army and arrived at the royal court of the Huns, Yu Fuluo seemed to have lost half his life. He was so angry that he almost died. The reason was very simple. The great elder took his crippled son and did not fight to the death.
After the First World War, he fled with some strong tribesmen, leaving behind injured cattle, sheep and livestock all over the royal court.
Of course, there are also those relatives and related people of Yufuluo who escaped death and are crying about their tragic fate during this period.
Yes, not all of them were killed. Even most of the injured people had been slashed once or twice. With treatment, some might be able to recover and some would be disabled. I don’t know if the great elder got it from his disabled son. The inspiration, including the injuries of many cattle and sheep, are all on the hooves...
The soldiers who conquered the west were very happy. If it wasn't for the sake of Yuvluo's face, maybe someone would have taken a knife and carved something with the words "XXX was here for a visit" to prove that they had brought the Xiongnu to Xiongnu. The royal court is underfoot.
For Yu Fuluo, he could either send troops to hunt down the great elder, but this would mean that these cattle, sheep, and horses would be understaffed and would not receive adequate care, and most of them would probably die in the end; or not After chasing, all the manpower is left to take care of these big animals, but how can Yu Fuluo's bad breath be eliminated? At the same time, not all of them may recover. It is inevitable that some of them and animals will die due to excessive injuries or infections of this or that. die.
Want revenge or survival?
For Yu Fuluo, no matter what choice he makes, he is destined to suffer losses.
After such an internal strife, the Southern Huns have been split into at least three parts. Yu Fuluo's desire to restore the so-called grand occasion can basically be said to be a luxury, and it will definitely climb down within one or two generations. One who can't get up, let alone one who can jump around and stir up trouble.
For Fei Qian, the matter has basically come to an end at this point. As for whether to pursue the great elder or not, it is Yu Fuluo's business.
Whether this great elder will be like a villain in movies and TV shows, shouting, "I will come back," is not Fei Qian's focus at the moment.
Fei Qian's current concerns have diverged a lot. As his status rises, he is gradually developing in the direction of the overall strategy...
If Yinshan is stable, it can be used as a granary and a war horse reserve base. Once it reaches a large scale, it will be like a strategy game in later generations. You can win even with an A. Who will care about the other party controlling three or two dragon knights flashing aside? Dance and perform exquisite operations?
"Send some smarter people to help..." Fei Qian pointed to the Huns who were busy rescuing cattle and sheep, and said to Zhao Yun, "The Huns are quite capable of dealing with livestock... Pay attention to how they treat them. What herbs were used..."
Zhao Yun understood, accepted the order and left.
Fei Qian looked at the busy Huns, and a question suddenly arose in his mind. He had discussed it with Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Zaozhi before, but he didn't have direct contact with many Huns at first. Now that he came to Bingbei, it was originally in his mind. Problems that had been settled for a long time gradually emerged.
The Huns, or these Hu people, seemed to be very decisive when they needed to abandon their pastures and migrate. But when the Chinese people migrated, it seemed to be more than ten times more difficult than the Hu people, and the losses seemed to be ten times more. Is the reason for this just the difference between farming and nomadic customs?
Because the traffic is inconvenient?
Because of different living habits?
Because production and living conditions do not allow it?
Because the level of cultural materials has not been reached?
At first, Fei Qian also thought that it might be the reason for this or that, but now he understands a little bit. In fact, it is not an external cause, but an internal cause, just because he doesn't want to, or he has never thought about it at all...
Could these so-called difficulties be more difficult than when the ancestors of China migrated all the way from the source of the Yellow River, east to the East China Sea, west to the Western Regions, south to South Vietnam, and north to Northern Xinjiang?
Fei Qian still vaguely remembered genetic research in later generations, and then said that it was discovered that human genes evolved from migration all the way from Africa. So if this is true, why did people in primitive society, or even before primitive society, travel across mountains and rivers across continents, but in the Han Dynasty?
Isn’t it going to work? Even the dynasties established by the Han people in the later period did not develop much. Even the Ming Dynasty, which went to the West, would rather destroy the ships and burn the charts in the end? (Note 2)
So, if you really want to, you can definitely do it!
Fei Qian raised his eyes to look at the sky, looking at the three-color war flag flying in the sky above his head, and the large Han military flag with thick colors...
Change may as well start from now on...
Perhaps one day, the banner of the Han family can be planted in every corner of the world!
