Chapter 3: Wilderness (Part 1) Facts are always unexpected. When you start to despair about the future, hope often creeps in quietly. At midnight, when the vendors are exhausted and filled with despair, a large group of sheep appear.
, appeared out of thin air on the grassland directly in front of them.
The flock, it was a real flock, tens of thousands of them, "floating over" the withered grass like white clouds. The traders were stunned, and for a moment they forgot that wherever there were sheep, there must be shepherds. Such a big flock
A group of sheep means that an unprecedentedly wealthy tribe exists here! Everyone has suffered all kinds of hardships on the way, and they will immediately reap rich rewards!
Before they could recover from the shock, three shepherds wearing maroon leather coats with numerous bells tied to the corners of their coats and horses were galloping close, two in front and one behind, keeping a distance of about fifty steps from each other.
One of the men bent a bow and the other held a horn. They led the war horses about twenty steps away from the caravan.
"Guests from afar, what kind of wind brought you to Su Chuobu's felt tent?" The man holding the bow raised his voice and asked in Turkic language that was very fast but as long as singing.
Nowadays, among the countries on the Great Wall, Turks are the most powerful, and other tribes have attached themselves one after another. Therefore, Turkic language is almost the common language of the northern tribes. The traders who often travel among the tribes outside the Great Wall can each speak one or two sentences for the purpose of trading.
After hearing the shepherd's question, everyone quickly took their hands off their weapons and showed each other that they had no ill intentions. As the leader of the group, Sun Jiuze stepped forward slowly on horseback. He first pressed his left shoulder with his right hand, bowed his body, and then in turn
Answered in Turkic and Chinese: "The autumn wind blows us from the Central Plains, and we travel thousands of miles just to share the goods with our friends!"
"Distinguished guests, the Central Plains is more than a thousand miles away from here. There are mountains and rivers blocking the way. Who will be your guide? Who will show you the location of our felt bags?" The man holding the bow bowed slightly in return, but refused to release the arrow.
Leaving the bowstring, the questioning tone was full of alertness
It’s no wonder that the herdsmen of the Lin tribe are suspicious. The weather here is much colder than that in the Central Plains. Every August, snow has begun to fall in the sky. Therefore, Han traders who are unfamiliar with the grassland will never dare to venture into the depths of the grassland after August. It is already September.
At the beginning of the month, Qiu Xue had already played two or three games. In the eyes of the shepherds, the identity of Sun Jiu's gang was really suspicious. They looked more like spies of the hostile tribe than a caravan.
Before Sun Jiu could explain to the herdsman why he dared to go deep into the grassland during this season, Hao Laodao, who was leading the way, had already cursed impatiently at the top of his voice, "Su Chudu'er, have you forgotten two months ago?"
Is the old Dao of the Hao family who drank the same jar of wine with you by the fire gone? Is this how your family taught you to treat guests?" (Note 1) When the shepherd heard the scolding, the expression on his face was startled at first.
, and immediately showed a bright smile. The bow in his hand was still raised, but the arrow was loosened from the bow string. He changed his tone and said to Hao Laodao in a soft tone: "You are the subordinate of the Hao family (Wolf in Turkic language, also refers to the bodyguard).
, honorific), I remember your drinking capacity, but there are no permanent friends on the grassland. Yesterday you left the tribe with your hada, and you may have turned around and come back with a bow and arrow in hand!"
"We have bows and arrows, but they can only shoot at the local dogs blocking the road. We have swords and guns, but they can only be used to deal with the bandits who have been cursed by the Changshengtian. I, Sun Jiu, a native of the Central Plains, and my friends will never let the swords and arrows be stained.
The blood of kind people!" Sun Jiu bowed again and negotiated in Turkic language, "You can ride behind us and see if there is any smoke and dust splashed by horse hooves on the grassland. Friends may deceive you, but your eyes will never
Will betray his master!"
Seeing Sun Jiu speaking so frankly, the herdsman gradually lost his guard. The herdsman whom Hao Laodao called Su Chuidur spurred his horse forward, bypassed Sun Jiu, and ran straight to the other two herdsmen from the Xi tribe behind the caravan.
Still holding the alarm horn, his hand slowly dropped to the saddle.
After galloping in a large circle for about two miles in the left, right and back directions of the caravan, they found that there was indeed no sign of the arrival of the large group of people. Su Chuidur quickly ran in front of Sun Jiu, put away his bow and arrows, and bent down to the horse's head.
"Reckless Duer apologizes to the elders. You are indeed friends. Jackals are rampant in the grassland after autumn comes, so I have to be careful!"
After that, he turned around and shouted a few words to the shepherd farthest from the caravan, ordering him to quickly return to the tribe to deliver a message to the clan leader, saying that distinguished guests were coming from afar. Then he stretched out his arms and made an invitation gesture to all the traders.
The traders were already impatient with the delay, but they did not dare to rush forward quickly. Following Sun Jiu and Su Chudu'er, they slowly approached the place where the smoke was rising in the distance.
After half a stick of incense, there was a faint sound of wind and thunder in front of the sky and the earth. Smoke and dust rose in front, and more than a hundred war horses came rushing in like a torrent. The vendors had never experienced such a big battle, and their faces turned pale and their eyes kept wandering.
Looking at Sun Jiu, as soon as the leader gave the order, everyone immediately abandoned their baggage and fled far away. However, Sun Jiu calmly chatted with the Suchuan herdsman named Duer in Turkic language. The two seemed to be talking very speculatively.
From time to time he burst into laughter
The cheerful laughter made the vendors gradually feel at ease. They pressed their hands on the handles of the protective daggers and continued to move forward for a moment. The oncoming torrent was getting closer and closer. A sky blue pole was embroidered with a herringbone formation of high-flying swans.
The big banner is picked out from among the horses.
"Dear guests, please stay here later. My Aijin has come to greet you in person!" Suchudur said in Turkic language. Then he rode forward and greeted the big bamboo pole from a distance.
The torrent slowly slowed down, and at the place where it was about to meet the caravan, it suddenly stopped. A middle-aged man wearing a light green cloak, with maroon yellow sheepskin trim around his clothes, bowed to everyone and saluted: "The original brother from this
, Brothers Su Chuobu, the descendants of White Swan, welcome you!"
"The descendants of the White Swan respectfully welcome the original brother!" In front of the team, more than sixty strong men from the Xi tribe wearing yellow sheepskin jackets, with bare arms, and hair and clothes hems decorated with copper bells bowed at the same time.
"The descendants of the white swan, the brother of Zhongyuan came here to visit his brothers and sisters!" Sun Jiu bent down to express his gratitude. The merchants followed Sun Jiu's example and put their hands on their shoulders, and leaned over to salute. The poor Turkic dialect was spoken in a northern and southern accent, and the neatness of their movements was also remarkable.
Far less than one ten thousandth of the other party
Seeing the chaotic movements of the vendors, the leader of the Suchu tribe turned around with a smile on his face and waved back. More than twenty women wearing colorful brocade shirts with silver bells on the corners immediately jumped off their horses.
Pour out bowls of fragrant wine from the leather bag. The clan leader swung off his saddle, raised the first copper bowl and sent it to Sun Jiuma. The two women followed and opened a white hada with both hands.
More than sixty strong men dismounted at the same time, holding wine bowls and came to the vendors. As they walked, they sang in a long and melodious voice. The words were incomprehensible, but the melody contained a strong sense of welcome.
Xu Dayan wanted to jump off the horse several times, but Li Xu held his arm firmly. Before heading north, his father had taught Li Xu many Turkic rules.
Not much difference. If Xu Dayan jumped off the horse at this moment, it would definitely leave a bad impression on the owner. Although other people in the caravan deliberately watched the two teenagers make a fool of themselves, they would not forgive the teenager if their business was affected.
people's ignorance
Sun Jiu took the wine bowl from the patriarch, bowed, dipped a few drops on his fingers and sprinkled it into the blue sky, then repeated it again, and sprinkled the wine syrup on the earth. Finally, he picked up the wine bowl and thanked the patriarch: "
Sun Jiu, a native of the Central Plains, thanks Changshengtian for arranging this opportunity for you and me to meet each other. Sun Jiu, a native of the Central Plains, is willing to witness our friendship on the grassland. Brothers of the Su Chuanbu, let us drink from this bowl together!"
When the clan leader saw that Sun Jiu and others did not neglect the etiquette of the Ping people, the smile on his face became even stronger. He picked up the white Hada from the hands of the girl in the clan, raised his feet, and gently placed it on Sun Jiu's neck. Sun Jiu bent down.
, treated each other calmly in an extremely uncomfortable posture until the patriarch finished setting up the Hada, then raised the wine bowl to drink with the patriarch, and then gently jumped off the horse.
After Sun Jiu and the clan leader had finished drinking the first bowl of wine, all the vendors also picked up their wine bowls to drink with the Suchu tribe's people. Then, they all dismounted and, with the help of the people from the tribe, led their mounts towards the tribe's settlement.
Dozens of Sino women accompanied them with singing, while the enthusiastic Sino men carried the guests to the first fence of the tribe. They unloaded the vendors' goods and placed them neatly in the tribe's special fence.
came out, in several large felt bags near the center of the tribe.
The vendors were treated as distinguished guests, and all their fatigue was swept away. Especially Wang Mazi, Du Scaru and others, since they finished drinking, their eyes have not blinked, and they have been staring at the women from the Xi tribe who were pouring the wine.
The woman was not shy. Instead, she smiled back, and from time to time communicated with Wang Mazi and others by putting together sentences using simple Turkic words.
"That bowl is dismounting wine. You must not dismount before you drink it!" The two teenagers walked at the end of the team and communicated in low voices. They had been influenced by their father for many years. Li Xu also knew a few words in Turkic language to explain the Turkic people.
The rules and the conversation between Sun Jiu and the clan leader just now were probably introduced to Xu Dayan. Xu Dayan was confused, confused, and curious.
"You stood up for me that day and beat up Wang Mazi and Du Scaran. Hu, with a grudge, must have tried every means to make the two of us look embarrassed. You should pay more attention to the prairie people. Although they are straightforward, they don't care about the rules of the clan.
"Very persistent," Li Xu whispered in a low voice. Unknowingly, he and Xu Dayan had swapped their roles in taking care of each other.
Note 1: Aijin, the title of the tribe leader, is equivalent to Qushuai Suchuudur, a Turkic name, which means the athlete of the Suchu tribe.
