When a person comes to the West, in fact, the first change in the environment is never anything else, but the body's memory of time. ←,
When the body wakes up according to the time engraved by the biological clock every day, the bright sky will always give people a trancelike illusion, making people want to lie down again, and then jump up with the next scream.
Not to mention that I feel extremely trapped, but the sun in the sky that brings light and heat to everything in the world still exists stubbornly at the top of the skyline, even though it has become huge and fiery, just like the ending of those stars in the universe.
, but the light emitted is refracted by the sky and still makes the sky show a magnificent mixture of gray-blue and orange-red.
Crossing the mountain peaks from Jinyang to this place getting closer and closer to the sky, my body seems to be changing bit by bit.
From Linqiang, we marched northwest along the mountains and passed Longqi City, which theoretically left the western boundary of the Han Dynasty.
"Going west from here, we can see the legendary 'Salt Pond'."
There are steep mountains on both sides. You can still see some traces of snow on the top of one side, but you don’t know what era they were. After all, neither Qu Yan nor Lori had ever gone deep into it before.
Go to this place.
"I checked various documents before coming here. In fact, our expansion into the West this time is not without precedent. In fact, Xihai County was established here as early as the Xinmang chaos, but this
Administrative divisions did not exist for a long time. With the rise of Red Eyebrow and Green Forest in the chaos, the place was taken back by the Qiang people again."
"Huss~ He is indeed a learned scholar. He knows all these things. Since there is a relevant introduction in the book, can you explain it to me in detail, so that I, a ignorant person like me, can learn more about it?
Learned a lot."
"Haha. It's not such a thrilling story, it's just some things about the evil thief Wang Mang when he was the Great Sima of the Former Han Dynasty. At that time, Wang Mang was not as rebellious as he later was, and the power of the Former Han Dynasty still seemed to be extremely powerful, so he went to
In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 4), he sent Zhonglang General Pingxian and others to the West Sea, which was then known as the Fresh Water Sea.
and other places, with money and silk, they induced the Qiang leader Beihe and others to offer land and annex it. Beihe and others were frightened by the power of the previous Han Dynasty and were greedy for gold and beads, so they agreed to annex it, so there was a sea of fresh water and a large area.
The Qiang tribes from Yungu, Yanchi and other places with fertile water and grass moved out, and a total of about 12,000 Qiang tribes were acquired. Later, Wang Mang moved the attached Qiang people to dangerous places in high mountains, thinking that they were a vassal territory of the Han Dynasty.
After Wang Mang obtained the Xihai Salt Pond, he reported to the Empress Dowager, saying that at that time there were East China Sea, Nanhai and Beihai counties in the country. He requested that the land dedicated by Beihe and others be used to establish Xihai County, and the governance of this Xihai County
So. It was Longqi City that we just left not long ago.
After all, Xihai County was a newly annexed place, and the Qiang people under his rule had been moved to high mountains and dangerous places. In order to enrich Xihai County, Wang Mang issued fifty new orders across the country, all of which were evil orders, with the intention of forcibly imposing violators
They migrated to the West Sea area. Therefore, in the following years, more than 10,000 households in the Han Dynasty were forced to move to the West Sea, causing public resentment.
Although the Xiqiang marshal who offered the soil was temporarily confused by the gold beads and intimidated by the power of the former Han Dynasty, he was in a dangerous and dangerous land. After all, it was difficult to restrain his greed for the fertile land. Therefore, the marshal Pang Tian was first
Fu Ban and others raised troops to expel the prefect Cheng Yong, and later Beihe and others took advantage of the ongoing civil strife in China to retake their homeland.
After Guangwu's resurgence, he only sent troops to occupy the eastern part of the original Xihai County and established the western captaincy in Longqi City. In the end, he was still unable to restore the entire Xihai County. Even during the Qiang Rebellion a few years ago, even the entire Jincheng County
They are all occupied by the Qiang people. I believe that everything that happened in this area during that time did not require me to do anything in front of you, a native of Jincheng."
"Is it true that the salt lake here was already famous a long time ago?"
"I'm not very clear about this. After all, they are all things I read from books. To be honest, I walked all the way from Jinyang to here during this period. I feel more deeply about the knowledge in books and the real world. Sometimes
The gap is so big that it’s hard to count.”
"Perhaps it is precisely because of the existence of the salt lake that the livestock there are stronger and more numerous than in other places. I know very well that if I want to raise those animals well, the forage
Mixing a little bit of salt will make their appetite 30% better than usual, and they will feel much better after eating."
"Oh~ This is a secret that must be written down. It must be written down."
"Suddenly I feel like I have done something very un-businesslike. Should I ask for some 'compensation'?"
"It doesn't matter even if you don't have that kind of thing."
"So, you, a brat like you who gets a good deal and acts like a good boy, really needs a good 'education'."
"Hey, hey, who didn't pay for listening to the story just now? Speaking of which, at the tea stall in Jinyang, you have to pay at least one tea to listen to the book. Even if someone speaks well, there should be no less reward or something, otherwise
But you will be said to be too stingy~"
"I'm not the kind of rich listener who can casually reward 10,000 yuan or even 100,000 or 1 million yuan."
"Tsk, so you really chose the wrong thigh before leaving. If I were a very rich man, I might have made a fortune by now, instead of looking at the empty cliff here and hearing the news of the failure of life in my ears.
The uncle’s wail.”
"I'm so sorry for being the loser in life. I haven't read a book, so it's unfortunate that I have to ask you to support me in negotiations and stuff."
"Well, at least it's quite impressive to be self-aware."
"But after hearing this kind of 'praise', I didn't feel happy at all."
"As long as you really feel that it is a compliment, you will definitely be happy."
"Then I'd rather watch the goshawks flying in the sky, or the fat fish swimming in the river...at least I'll find something for dinner."
"At least on this point, I completely agree. This place... is really a nostalgic place."
"That's why I say that you are a child in the city. If you exchange your life in Jinyang with the herdsmen here, I believe no one will be willing to give up the opportunity to exchange with you. Although the scenery here is great, there are all kinds of
Such dangers have never been less.”
"...There is no way to refute it. Speaking of which, I had the same feeling when I first went to Bingzhou North for 'internship', and then I also received the same 'gift' from the senbei, and then the wolves at night gave us these things that we had not yet seen.
A grown up 'child'
An unforgettable lesson. Although the wolf attack was finally repelled with the help of the veterans, looking back now, those pairs of eyes glowing with green light in the dark night made me feel like my three souls and seven souls were about to be destroyed by that one.
Both green eyes looked like they were torn into pieces."
"Hehe. A child who has never met a wolf can never be called a good man from the frontier."
"But I heard from the old people in Bingzhou that since my lord arrived in Bingzhou, the wolf tide that originally broke out every ten years seems to have been quiet for a long time. The last time I heard about the wolf tide was when the Xianbei people invaded Taiyuan.
, and the wolf tide that time was not
But he did not attack the people of Bingzhou, but instead helped his lord, who was the governor of Xihe at the time, to defeat the Xianbei royal court troops. The old people said that the lord was the reincarnation of the wolf god, so those unruly beasts not only did not attack the lord, but became his most trusted companion.
warrior."
"There is such a statement, but I don't know if it is true."
"I don't know if it's true, but I will never tell you that the goddess in my heart, Miss Lingqi, and the most noble Miss Li Nie in my heart, occasionally hold or ride a tall and mighty horse.
The giant wolf went to the official school for a walk or something..."
"Lolicon!"
"What's wrong with men controlling lolita!"
"I'm sorry, I prefer the taste of a wife to a lolita."
Ahem, let’s put an end to this kind of struggle between the Loli Party and a certain branch of the Royal Sister Party. Anyway, there will never be a winner.
I have to say, regardless of living conditions, the scenery here is indeed very pleasant. The blue sky is more refreshing than the increasingly gray sky in Jinyang recently. The surrounding green mountains are more refreshing than Jinyang's recent increasingly gray sky.
If it hadn't been for the government's order, the Yangzhou area would have become completely bare due to population expansion.
But even so, the yellow mountains everywhere are much more beautiful. Although the thick meadows under your feet are more pleasing to the eye than the vast wheat fields in the Central Plains, there is a strange feeling when you step on them wantonly.
When you are on a plant, you will always have an inexplicable feeling of "I am free."
Leaving the river valley, you enter a very open and flat plateau area, which is surrounded by mountains. Occasionally, there are one or two low mountains inserted into the plains, but the relative height is not too high, and the slope is not too high.
It’s not too steep. When you climb to the top of the mountain and look down at the surroundings, in addition to the crisp scenery in the distance, you can also see groups of white dotted on the grassland like scattered pearls.
When we came here, the originally sparse Qiang tribe began to become denser again. From time to time, we would encounter Qiang horse teams grazing or patrolling, as well as a large number of cattle, sheep and horses, which would be enough to make people wander anywhere.
Wealth that makes people proud.
Because of this, if the team that Qu Yan was in was not a caravan, the patrolling Qiang people might not only stare at these "strangers" with vigilant eyes, but also take more intense and rough measures against them.
The means are not certain either.
It can be said that the Qiang people here are much more wary of the Han people than the Qiang tribes east of Longqi City.
It has to be said that although they are only separated by a river valley, the Qiang people on both sides have extremely different attitudes towards the Han people, and this is particularly obvious when the two sides treat the Han caravans.
You must know that the Qiang herdsmen in Jincheng County will greet the caravan enthusiastically whenever they see the caravan dressed as a team passing by, and they will also respond enthusiastically and help simple matters such as asking for directions.
This is not to say that they are not vigilant, but the work of vigilance is usually completed by specialized herdsmen. Ordinary herdsmen can make choices based on their own wishes in this matter.
Of course, the main reason why the Qiang people are so enthusiastic about caravans is that they can get a lot of interesting "good things" from the caravans - don't care about the content of the goods or whether their values are equal, anyway, as long as
Just take what you need. Even if the goods are sold very cheaply in the country of origin, if the factors of the road and unknown dangers are added, these are within the cost range, and it is natural that they will reach a very high value.
matter.
So you can buy some cute accessories to successfully please the woman you love, and you can buy some interesting toys to put a smile on the face of the child who lives a hard life with you. As long as the things you exchange are within your own tolerance, then this
Is there anything I should regret about this transaction?
Think about it, because of the cute accessories, you beat other competitors to marry the woman you love, and let your genes be passed down in the body of your beloved. Children who are in a cheerful mood because of interesting toys will thrive better, and ultimately
Become a good man who can support a new family even if he is not upright.
Therefore, even though they know that the investment in education is likely to be in vain, parents still happily shout "buy, buy, buy" and let their children "learn, learn, learn". Have these people really not calculated their own
Is the behavior a loss or a gain?
Therefore, even the sophisticated Qiang people know that the caravan earns a lot from them, but as long as the caravan can bring their tribe the goods they need for life, then the basis for the transaction can be established.
Of course, smart people will bargain based on the transaction, and then make the transaction more beneficial to themselves.
Similarly, those powerful men in Jincheng and Longxi also have a rather complicated relationship with the powerful Qiang people - they can become opposite-sex brothers who are inseparable for life and death, but in the blink of an eye they will become a pair who fall in love and kill each other in the Qiang chaos.
; You can go to great lengths to make the other person you visit feel your passion, or you can force each other for greater benefits.
But no matter what, there is a complex relationship between the Qiang people who theoretically live in Han territory and the Han people, which is constantly being resolved and confused.
But unlike the Qiang people outside the country, or who once belonged to the country but have now become outside the country, they always look at the travelers coming and going with suspicion. It seems that every Han person may become their enemy, and every Han person may become their enemy.
They were the pioneers and accomplices of the Han Dynasty in order to regain the land that once belonged to them.
"Yes, they regard us as accomplices. Even though we are all called Qiang people among you Han people, you should know very well, Brother Qu Yan. In addition to being in the same tribe, the relationship between our tribes
It’s always very complicated. In fact, your family is not very different from our tribe. It’s just that our tribe can include several powerful families.”
This is a Qiang man who Quyan hired from Longqi City with a lot of money and is familiar with the situation in the Xihai area. Although it seems that the relationship between the two people can be like brothers, it seems very good, but without the "heavy money" offered by Quyan, both parties would obviously
No brother can do it.
Of course, as Qu Yan, who is relatively familiar with the various Qiang people in Jincheng County, he will not be taken advantage of in vain. At least the Qiang guide in front of him and several of his fellow tribesmen who came to "help" still have a good relationship.
Unless he encounters Qu Yan and wants to fight his tribe's swordsmen, he will definitely accompany the caravan to fulfill their previous agreement.
It can be said that it is precisely because he knows that he has such innate advantages in opening up the West Sea that Qu Yan has devoted himself to the journey of the ending position without hesitation. After all, even he himself has thought clearly. Faced with talents.
With the vast Bingzhou Army, no matter how hard he tried, it would not be easy to cross the two thousand stone barrier. And because of Qu Yi's existence, even if he wanted to start a rebellion, it would be impossible, so it would be better to be like now
Just give it a try.
At least from the news received from Longqi City, their team seems to be making good progress, but they won't be like those guys who are dazzled by the legendary benefits and plunge into the mountains without preparation.
But they never came back.
"So how do we gain their trust?"
This is extremely important for the success or failure of this caravan. Only when the initial trust between the two parties is established can it continue to develop. Otherwise, if you adopt a hostile attitude towards everyone from the beginning, you will only gain the West Sea.
All Qiang people are hostile.
Even though the environment here is much more difficult than that in the Central Plains, Wang Mang was able to move more than 10,000 people from here. Mi Tang, the leader of the Shaodang Qiang tribe who repeatedly caused rebellion, also hid here again and again, or the small and large Yun in the south.
The Qiang tribe here is obviously not something that a caravan of only a few hundred people can resist.
Not to mention that they know nothing about the topography here, and if they attack rashly, they will only fall into the opponent's rhythm and be played to death by others. In this situation where neither the right time, the right place nor the right person has an advantage, they can fight slowly, even in
Under certain circumstances, a fight between vertical and horizontal sides is the best way to take root and survive here.
Of course, this is also the conclusion Qu Yan came to after talking to Lori when he first joined the group. After all, he may have the intuition of a beast, but without Lori turning this intuition into a detailed plan,
At least Koo Yan himself does not have that ability, so he may act casually and uncontrollably, unknowingly laying the foundation for future failure.
"It is not easy to win their trust. My brother, you must know that even though more than a hundred years have passed, the tribes here have always been afraid that you Han people will send troops to retake this place. Their vigilance has always been so high.
If, brother, you want to establish a good relationship with ordinary herders, this may not be possible.
It's not difficult. In fact, a few fair and reasonable transactions can build enough trust between us. Just like this between us, I absolutely believe in your sincerity. You see, for the sake of our friendship, I
I also brought some of my good brothers here. They are both excellent warriors and excellent guides."
"You said it is easy to establish a trusting relationship with ordinary herdsmen, but what about the tribal leaders, handsome men, and shamans?"
"Well... to be honest, it's not easy to establish a good relationship with them. Even we all think that the leaders of the tribes living at the head of Huangshui are a group of greedy and capricious guys. If it weren't for
Brother Qu Yan, you are my good brother, I really don’t want to deal with those guys, they are all very troublesome guys.”
"Uh, can you tell us the specific situation?"
Well, who says these Qiang people are not cunning? The guy in front of him didn't tell him a word about this situation before he came.
"How should I put it? Those heroes are very greedy. As long as you can afford the money, they will do almost anything for you, including attacking any other tribe here, including our tribe across the river valley. They can do it.
Come out. As long as you can afford the price. But if they feel that your strength is not
Not strong, but very rich, they would not mind turning into robbers directly, and there was no warning for all this. Even just now, he was chatting and laughing with you at the banquet. The next moment, you were surrounded by swords. Luck
If they are lucky, it will be their hard work, and if they are unlucky, only God knows.”
"You mean, their words and their people are not trustworthy?"
"No, no, it's just that they are extremely defensive against the Han people. In fact, those ordinary herdsmen are very hospitable people. As long as you make friends with them, they will treat them with the best food and wine.
You, they will sing and dance for you, which they only bring out during festivals
However, as long as they become the leader of the tribe, most of them will become like that. But even if we maintain friendship between brothers, this does not mean that we can 100% trust the Han people
The court, my brother, you are also very clear about this, aren't you."
Just like what the Qiang people said, although they are wary of unfamiliar Han people, it is not an impossible task to establish friendship with those Qiang people. In fact, no matter it is a fair transaction (at least it can make those Qiang people
people feel
The deal is fair then), or Lowry's treatment of the sick among the Qiang people, both can win the favor of the Qiang people, especially the latter's actions, the actions of the noble "Han Shaman" are obviously easier
Gained the gratitude and admiration of the Qiang people.
Because of this, after discussing with each other, the caravan was not in a hurry to contact the tribal leaders of the Qiang people. They planned to walk around this unfamiliar territory for the time being, take a look, and naturally draw up the relevant information here.
map, it is not too late to make contact until we know more about this place, or when the Qiang leaders know more about them.
For two parties who are strangers to each other, temporarily maintaining an appropriate distance does not seem to be a bad thing for both parties.
Anyway, Qu Yan and Lori are fully prepared and have enough patience. (To be continued...)
