The howling cold wind was raging across the vast grasslands like ghosts crying and wolves howling. Under the white-haired wind, the ground was covered with thick white snow. The weather was extremely cold, and the field of vision was also very poor. It was not possible to see clearly even a few meters away.
"It's snowing too much!"
At the foot of a leeward mountain, a series of yurts are gathered together, inhabited by more than a dozen families of herders, who gather together to spend the winter.
Ji Rentai was drinking hot milk tea and looking at the howling cold wind outside, his whole person was full of worry.
The white-haired wind is what herdsmen are most afraid of, because often after a heavy snowfall, a large area of their cattle and sheep will freeze to death, causing heavy losses.
"Yes, it is indeed too big!"
Binta on the side nodded and said: "Even though the world is good now, in the past, if there was such a white-haired wind, I don't know how many cattle and sheep would freeze to death, and in the next spring, I don't know how many would starve to death."
people."
Binta is relatively old, already in his fifties. On the grassland, this age is considered a long life.
While drinking milk tea, he recalled the past.
"Grandpa, why do people starve to death?"
"Without cattle and sheep, we can still eat rice and noodles."
Next to Binta, his youngest grandson Li Duoer, who was only five years old now, asked in confusion.
"Haha, where was the rice and noodles to eat at that time?"
"At that time, we were not the same family as the Han people in the south. The tribal leaders on our grasslands would often take us south to rob the Han people, and the Han people would also rise up to resist us."
"The relationship between the two sides was very bad, so the Han people would not sell anything to us at that time. We couldn't buy the salt, tea, sugar, rice, noodles, etc. we eat now."
"At that time, an iron pot could be exchanged for two horses, and a pound of salt could be exchanged for several of our sheep. But even so, it was difficult for us ordinary herders to obtain these things."
"Winter is the saddest time for us. When the white wind comes, a large number of our cattle and sheep will be frozen to death. By the next day, a large number of cattle and sheep will be frozen to death and they cannot be kept fresh.
, we will have no cattle and sheep to eat, and people will naturally starve to death."
Binta touched his grandson's head and recalled those long years.
"The winter at that time was really extremely long, so long that it made people panic."
"Oh~"
"Then why are the Han people willing to sell these things to us now?"
Li Duoer thought for a while and asked again.
"Haha, that's because we are a family now."
"We, like the Han people, are now the subjects of the Emperor of Heaven, so there is no distinction between us. We sell cattle, sheep and horses to them, and they sell us tea, grain, salt, iron pots, etc. In this way
If that happens, the Han people will have beef and mutton to eat, and we will also be able to drink milk tea and eat rice and noodles."
When Binta heard this, he smiled and said.
"Isn't this nice?"
"Then why wasn't it like this before?"
After Li Duoer listened, he thought for a while and said with some confusion.
"Haha, yes, this is good, so we grassland people should live in harmony with the Han people, so that both of us will be better off."
Binta smiled and nodded.
As an old man, he once went south with the Great Khan and plundered the Han people.
I once returned home with great rewards, but I always lived a life of poverty.
An iron pot, a pound of salt, a pound of tea, food for winter, etc., these things are still luxuries for low-level herdsmen like them.
Even if you grab a lot of things from the south, they will all be used up quickly, and it will still become very sad in winter.
But now, they don't need to pick up machetes and bows and arrows. They only need to graze cattle, sheep and horses on the grassland to live the good life they dreamed of before.
There are many iron pots at home. You can use them casually. If they break, you don’t need to bring them to replace them. You can just go to the nearest town to buy new ones.
Tea, salt, and grain are all very cheap. You can get a lot of it by just buying some cattle and sheep. So much so that everyone is now accustomed to putting sugar in milk tea when drinking it. Sucrose from Nanyang is the only way to make such milk tea.
Delicious.
Whenever winter comes, every household will store a large amount of grain and tea, and eat it casually. Even now, everyone is still used to stocking up on some Chinese cabbage, radish and the like from Beizhili and Shandong, so that even if
You can also eat vegetables in winter without having to go to the toilet.
Such a good life was unthinkable before, but now, it is the life that the herdsmen on the grassland live.
Even though there is such a terrible white-haired wind, they can still sit together leisurely, drink milk tea, chat, talk about Morin Fhuur, and sing grassland songs.
There is no need to worry about whether the white-haired wind will freeze the cattle and sheep in the house to death, or worry about how to spend next spring, and live a prosperous life with less sorrow.
Isn’t this the life that prairie people have always been pursuing?
It's not like the previous winter, when the Great Khan gave an order, the men of the tribes on the grassland took their scimitars and bows and arrows and prepared to go south to plunder. Sometimes, the tribes would rob and kill each other.
Winter is the prairie people’s favorite season.
Because there are often unexpected deaths, anxiety, turmoil, restlessness, etc., it makes every prairie person extremely miserable.
"Drive~drive~"
There was laughter and laughter in the yurt, and the herdsmen gathered together, drinking milk tea, singing songs, looking at the heavy snow outside, and listening to the howling cold wind.
At this time, a rapid sound of horse hoofbeats came from a distance, which quickly attracted everyone's attention. The men hurriedly walked out of the yurt and looked at the person.
I saw an official wearing a seventh-grade county magistrate's coat riding a horse with more than a dozen people and dozens of horses heading towards this place where herdsmen gathered to spend the winter.
"Hello everyone~"
Li Hanchen waved his hand from a distance and greeted Binta, Ji Rentai and others in the language spoken on the grassland.
He is the magistrate of a county under Horqin Prefecture in the Grassland Province. He has jurisdiction over a wide range of grasslands. Winter is also his busiest time of the year.
Because according to the instructions issued by the court, officials on the grassland must always pay attention to the winter conditions of the herdsmen on the grassland. Whether the herdsmen have enough food, clothing, salt, tea, hay for cattle and sheep to survive the winter, etc., are all important.
It requires grassland officials to pay close attention.
If herdsmen freeze to death or starve to death in winter, officials at all levels will be held accountable. The court takes this very seriously, and it is also included in their assessment indicators.
"Hello, Mr. Li~Hello, Mr. Li~"
Seeing Li Hanchen Binta, Ji Rentai and others hurried forward to greet him. This was not the first time they met Li Hanchen. In the past, Li Hanchen would visit them every year in winter.
Look at Li Hanchen's side again. Li Hanchen and the dozen or so government servants behind him are all covered in snow, and dozens of horses are dragging a lot of things on their backs.
Binta, Ji Rentai and others enthusiastically welcomed Li Hanchen and others into the warm yurt, and served them hot milk tea.
"Huh~"
"It's such a cold winter, if you take a sip of milk tea, your whole body will feel warm."
Li Hanchen took a long sip of milk tea and couldn't help but exhale a breath of cold air. Going out in this snowy day was really an extremely difficult thing, but there was no other way. He basically came here like this throughout the winter.
"How is everyone doing this winter?"
After some pleasantries, Li Hanchen also asked about the living conditions of the herdsmen.
"Everything is fine, everything is fine. We have food and drink, so we don't have to worry about anything~"
Ji Rentai and others replied with smiles on their faces.
"That's good, that's good~"
"The Emperor is very concerned about everyone's winter affairs, and requires the government at all levels in our grassland to always care about everyone's situation. If you encounter any difficulties or problems, you can respond to the government in a timely manner, and we will try our best to help you.
.”
"I came here this time and brought you some tea, rice, flour and salt. In addition, a batch of green corn stalks will arrive in various small towns on the grassland recently. Then you can buy some to feed the cattle and sheep. In this way, the cattle
If a sheep loses fat, it won't lose weight so much, and it can survive even if it encounters such a white-haired wind."
Li Hanchen nodded with satisfaction, and then explained his purpose of coming this time.
Being an official on the grassland is not an easy task. The imperial court has particularly high requirements for officials in the grassland, Western Regions, Nanyun, Northwest, Central Asia and other provinces. The most important one is to pay attention to unity and care about the living conditions of minority tribes.
Solve some major problems in a timely manner.
"Thank you, Emperor, for your concern for us. We are so grateful and sincerely frightened~"
When Binta, Ji Rentai and others heard this, they immediately said excitedly, and after speaking, they knelt down and bowed in the direction of the capital in the south.
To be honest, since the grassland was included in the Ming Dynasty, their lives have not only become better, but they can also feel the attention from the imperial court.
If in the past, the nobles, leaders, Khans of various tribes, etc., how would they care about the life and death of these herdsmen at the bottom? In their eyes, these herdsmen at the bottom are soldiers, slaves, and property.
It's not like now. Whenever winter comes, the Great Tomorrow will miss the herdsmen on the grassland, worrying that everyone will have a bad winter, not having enough to eat, not wearing warm clothes, etc.
The reason why the grassland was able to settle down quickly was that, in addition to bringing the leaders and nobles of the grassland tribes to live in the Beijing-Tianjin area, the most important reason was that after the merger with the Ming Dynasty, the lives of the herdsmen on the grassland really changed.
alright.
Life is more prosperous, there are no wars between tribes, and it is very stable. Who doesn't like this kind of life?
Do you still say that you like to live in the days when you were able to fight and kill with a knife, and eat and be hungry?
After kneeling down in the direction of the southern capital, Binta and Ji Rentai also quickly ordered the women at home to slaughter cattle and sheep to entertain Li Hanchen and others.
While eating delicious beef and mutton, drinking fragrant milk tea, we talked about plans for next year.
"The price of wool has been rising. Every year, we can raise more sheep and shear more wool. This wool is like leeks. You can cut it in one crop or another."
"The price of horses is also rising. We have a huge demand for horses overseas in Ming Dynasty. However, the price of beef and mutton is falling. This is mainly because the Beijing-Western Railway has been opened. Cattle and sheep from Hezhong, the Western Regions, Central Asia, and the northwest provinces can be supplied in a steady stream.
The constant shipments to the Beijing-Tianjin area have caused prices to drop a lot..."
