11-45 Breaking through the shortage of Helan Mountain
11-46 Marry Xiangxiang
When Liu Ziguang placed Gu Lunmu's head in front of Huo Lingyao, Princess Xiangxiang had mixed feelings. The revenge for killing her father was finally avenged, but she was facing a tiger at the front door and a wolf at the back door. She really didn't know how to deal with the current situation.
When the Xixia army invaded, most of the elders and imams who returned to the tribe were killed. Only Huo Lingyao and other hundreds of young people escaped. When the plan of revenge fell on Princess Xiangxiang's young shoulders, she thought about everything.
Unable to resist the powerful Xixia, he had to seek medical treatment urgently and ask for help from the Han people in Guanzhong.
The original plan was to take advantage of the war between the Han and Xixia to secretly develop the strength of the Hui tribe. After accumulating enough troops, the backbone would naturally be strengthened, and the previous promises could be overturned and the Han people would be driven away. Logically speaking, this
It was a good idea, but I never expected that the arrogant Xixia army would be defeated so quickly. Excluding the time spent marching on the road, it only took two battles to recapture the city of Ningxia, and they didn't have the strength to return to their headquarters.
After saving up, Huo Lingyao was dumbfounded because now she had to face the problem of whether to marry Liu Ziguang.
Looking at the entire Hui tribe, there are no people with enough weight to help Huo Lingyao make suggestions. Only ambitious young people such as Meng Dan are secretly tinkering all day long, while the Han people are already preparing with great fanfare for Princess Xiangxiang's ascension to the throne and...
It was a ceremony to marry General Zhengxi of the Ming Dynasty.
There are frequent wars in the Hetao area. There are no aboriginal people who have lived there for thousands of years. The so-called Hui tribe are just the Uighurs who migrated from the Tianshan area decades ago, and are composed of other Semu people, Mongolians, and Han people.
Although the tribe believes in Islam, it is not authentic fundamentalism. Men and women have equal status, so Huo Lingyao can legally inherit the chieftainship of old Hoxha.
Liu Ziguang's idea of conquering the entire Hui tribe by marrying Huo Lingyao came from the past when he married into the Song Dynasty royal family. It is a long tradition of the Chinese nation to use marriage to integrate ethnic groups. However, in the past, princesses from the Central Plains married to foreign countries. Liu Ziguang reflected
Following the right path and marrying the queen of a foreign country has to be said to be another breakthrough in international politics and ethnic policy.
Although Huibu is rich in water and grass, it is just a corner of the country in Liu Ziguang's eyes. What he has to do now is to make peace, colonize, and gradually assimilate into Huibu according to the established policy. He can arrange these things quickly and still have to go to conquer Xixia, and
Compared with the Empire, it was not a huge empire that could be conquered with gentle policies. It had to invest a lot of energy and take several years or even longer to occupy and assimilate.
The reconstruction work of Ningxia City is proceeding in an orderly manner. In the old Hoxha's old house, the new Council of Returned Elders is being held. However, those present are not respected elders, but some people selected by Meng Dan from the city.
Radicals, this small group is now the highest decision-making body of the entire Hui tribe.
Today, the city of Ningxia is completely under the control of the Han people. The four city gates are guarded by the Red Shirt Army. Heavy artillery is mounted outside the city and they are watching eagerly. On the city wall and at various commanding heights in the city, there are steel wire crossbows that throw grenades.
The military pickets were divided into teams of twenty people and patrolled back and forth in the city. The name was to prevent the remnants of the Xixia Army from causing trouble, but in fact they took control of the defense of Ningxia City in disguise.
The power in the hands of the so-called Presbyterian Church is only a militia composed of two thousand herdsmen. In addition to a hundred firecrackers assisted by the Red Shirt Army, it is just ordinary swords, guns, bows and arrows. The training of the soldiers is also very problematic. It is impossible to fight with force.
There was no chance, so the Presbyterian Council could only think of other strategies.
Soon the group of elders who had gathered together formed a resolution to ask for money and supplies from Liu Ziguang in the form of betrothal gifts. They made a long list and gave it to Huo Lingyao, asking her to forward it to Liu Ziguang.
Huo Lingyao was almost stunned when he saw it. This was too outrageous. One million taels of silver, thirty heavy cannons, twenty steam armored chariots, a thousand firecrackers and corresponding ammunition. How could this be a betrothal gift?
, is clearly blackmail.
Huo Lingyao knew that this was Meng Dan's trick. He did not want to marry Liu Ziguang, but due to the situation he could not openly object, so he had to use this method to delay the wedding process. According to the tradition of the Hui tribe, the woman could propose to the man.
As for the betrothal gift requirements, a hundred sheep or ten horses are enough for the daughter of an ordinary family. The daughter of a chief is naturally more expensive, but it is only a thousand horses or ten thousand cattle and sheep, which is far from enough to be converted into silver.
There is no one million taels, let alone those advanced firearms that cannot be bought with money. It is strange that the Han people can agree to such harsh conditions, but if the Han people do not agree or bargain, it will violate the custom of returning to the tribe.
, the woman can break off the engagement, this is Meng Dan’s strategy.
In fact, Huo Lingyao was very confused. She was in a dilemma about getting married. To be honest, at first, she just planned to use her beauty to lure Liu Ziguang to send troops to help, and had no intention of actually marrying him. However, things progressed too quickly. In less than a month,
The Xixia people were defeated in time, and Liu Ziguang was not a bad person at all. He was a hero at a young age. Although he sometimes looked lewd, he should still be sincere to himself. He used his strength to fight off the enemy.
It's not Huo Lingyao's style to turn against others.
But it is also difficult for Meng Dan to deal with this aspect. After all, they are childhood sweethearts who grew up together. Meng Dan's feelings for him are obvious to all, and the sun and the moon can tell. When the Xixia people invaded, if he hadn't protected her and fought her way out.
, I am afraid that Princess Xiangxiang is already a ghost under the sword at this time. The way Meng Dan still fought bravely to kill the enemy despite being hit by more than ten arrows has always been engraved in Huo Lingyao's heart, but this kind of relationship is just that of brother and sister, and there is no relationship between the two.
That feeling of calling.
Huo Lingyao was undecided about what to do, and finally decided to stay out of the matter and let Liu Ziguang and Meng Dan fight according to their own abilities.
To everyone's expectation, after seeing the list of betrothal gifts issued by the Council of Elders, Liu Ziguang signed his name on the spot with a large pen, and used the seal of his general who conquered the west, and ordered his subordinates to raise the betrothal gifts according to the gift list.
, and in addition to what was listed on the gift list, another one million taels of silver were given to help the Ministry build the railway from Ningxia City to Guanzhong. Meng Dan and others were dumbfounded. Not only did they agree to such harsh conditions,
I also paid twice as much money.
Not only did the Han people agree readily, but they also delivered the bride price with ease. The heavy artillery and armored chariots outside the city were directly handed over to the Hui tribe for management, and a million taels of silver notes were immediately delivered to Huo Lingyao's house.
Guns and ammunition still need to be allocated from the country, which surprised everyone in the Huibu. This is the trump card of the Han people. They were handed over to the Huibu so easily. Aren't they afraid that the Huibu would turn their backs and disown them?
The Han people were so generous and had only one condition, which was to get married as soon as possible. After some discussions, the Presbyterian Council finally agreed to this request. An earthen platform was built outside the city of Ningxia, and chiefs from various tribes in the Hetao area came here to watch the ceremony.
Princess Huo Lingyao officially accepted the canonization of the Ming Emperor and became the Huibu Khan.
At this point, the goal of returning to the base and building a country has been completed. The Red Shirt Army also helped them establish the latest modern firearms army and supported them with millions of silver.
It shows the honesty and kindness of the Han people. Liu Ziguang has also appeared frequently these days, visiting orphans, elderly people and households with five guarantees, etc., showing his closeness to the people. The people of Ningxia City saw that their Khan's future husband-in-law was a talented and kind man.
There were some small grudges in my heart, but now they have been resolved.
The only unhappy people were Meng Dan and his followers, a group of young men who gathered together for mysterious meetings with blood-red eyes all day long, not knowing what big event they were planning.
The wedding date is imminent, and red silk cloth urgently transported from Guanzhong is hung all over Ningxia. For this wedding, both parties have dispatched tens of thousands of people, more than 100,000 taels of silver, and countless cattle and sheep wine. It is possible to hold a wedding of the century.
meaning.
All the herdsmen in the entire Hetao area were invited to come to Ningxia City to have a wedding drink. For a while, there was a crowd of people outside Ningxia City. The herdsmen riding horses and carrying bows and arrows were beaming with joy. They drank in the colorful shed set up outside the city to receive guests.
After drinking bowl after bowl of kumiss, they did not go into the city at night, but directly set up tents and stayed next to the red shirt camp.
When all the guests from all over the country arrived, the wedding officially entered the countdown stage, and everything was carried out according to the custom of returning to the ministry. Huo Lingyao accepted invitations to visit relatives' homes every day and was extremely busy. The day before the wedding, the man sent someone to send her wedding clothes.
On the day of the wedding, the man prepares a float and goes to the woman’s home to welcome the bride, and asks the imam to hold a religious ceremony of reciting “Kabini”. The elders of both parties will publicly review the bride price paid by the groom to the bride. Since the elders of both parties are not present,
, so this task was handed over to the respected old man in the city. Liu Ziguang’s bride price was two million taels of silver notes, one thousand taels of gold ingots, and a box of jewelry and jade. This kind of generous bride price is even for the most picky person.
Unable to say anything, after reciting Kabini, the imam distributed the walnuts and red dates brought by the two families to the guests and friends who came to congratulate them, to show that the wedding was successful.
Since Liu Ziguang was a bride-in-law, the wedding banquet was held at the bride's house. Old Hoxha's mansion was decorated. Beef and mutton, butter tea, kumis, oil aroma, and steamed buns were continuously served on the table. The guests feasted and ate.
Not very pleasant.
The various camps of the Red Shirt Army also welcomed enthusiastic guests. They brought roast mutton and spirits and invited the Han brothers to have a carnival. When the commander married his wife, the soldiers of the Red Shirt Army were naturally happy and opened the camp gates.
Celebrating with the returning soldiers, I put aside the firecrackers, waist knives and so on.