The mountain streams are clear and refreshing, which is a pleasure to look at.
By the stream, a small tribe of several thousand people became commotion because a big shot had arrived.
The herdsmen were forced to bring out the richest food to entertain the nobles.
"Is this what you want to eat?" Shao Xun asked, looking at the wild vegetable porridge in front of him.
Wild vegetables is a general term. A closer look shows that there are actually too many types, and the specific meaning of "wild vegetables" varies from place to place.
The name of the wild vegetable in front of Shao Xun is "drum flower", which is a common local wild vegetable, or medicinal material.
Locals often eat the roots together, but the wild vegetables given to Shao Xun only have young shoots - this is VIP level.
"Your Majesty, in spring, livestock is short of forage, and people are short of food. This is called 'green and yellow'." The leader fell to the ground and said loudly.
"Why do you always kneel down when you stand up to talk? My Prime Minister is still sitting and talking with me." Shao Xun picked up the wooden bowl and took a sip of wild vegetable porridge. It was very fragrant and not unpleasant to eat.
After putting down the wooden bowl, he looked at the other food on the table. They were all presented by the leaders. As for whether they were poisonous, of course they were not, because they were all made on the fly under the supervision of personal soldiers.
Buckwheat cake is made from sweet buckwheat (not tartary buckwheat) that grows in the mountain slopes and valleys on both sides of the Yellow River.
The growth period of this plant is only two to three months, which is amazingly fast. It even has time for you to get two crops a year. It is especially suitable for colder mountainous areas. The yield is a bit low, but it is very suitable as a supplementary income in addition to grazing.
In addition, there are pork meat, dark bread, wild fruits, cheese, kumiss, etc. They are basically the best things they can get their hands on.
After Shao Xun finished the porridge, he distributed other food to the leaders, invited everyone to eat together, and then said: "In the past, you were waiting to wander between the Xiongnu and Xianbei. I just want to ask, are you living well?"
This place is south of Junzijin, near Baode County in later generations. Compared with the last time we patrolled the river, we walked further and almost reached the traditional border of Tuoba Xianbei.
After the Tuoba clan finds out, if they feel there is a threat, they may mobilize a large number of troops to go south. At that time, the 6,000 silver spear troops, nearly 10,000 government troops, thousands of cavalry, and 20,000 yellow-headed troops brought by Shao Xun will face military friction.
——The Yellow Head Army is training troops and acting as logistical auxiliary troops at the same time.
It sounds like it's a bit of a trap for Yu Mian, who has already left Yanmen, but from another perspective, isn't it a support for him? It all depends on the opponent's strength and how he thinks about it.
"Your Majesty, the Tuge clan and the Tuoba clan are not very good, but they are just recruiting soldiers and sheep." Faced with Shao Xun's question, someone said truthfully.
"Isn't that very bitter?" Shao Xun asked lightly.
"Living is hard." The leader replied, which actually had a philosophical meaning.
Shao Xun stood up and said: "You are right, people are not born to fight and kill. It's just that life is difficult and too painful, so you take risks. You were born in the border area, and when Tuoba came, you gave him sheep.
It’s especially hard to pay tribute when the slaughter comes!”
These tribes, which are located at the junction of the original Liu Han and Tuoba dynasties, have complicated bloodlines and difficult to determine their clan affiliation. They are the kind of people who are caught in the middle and suffer the consequences.
Tuoba went south and asked them to provide food and grass, and even took their young men to fight against the Huns.
When the Xiongnu went north, they also asked them to provide food, grass and even soldiers.
No one has ever been able to rule this area stably for a long time, leaving these tribes at a loss. The most timid ones heard that they had to pay taxes on both sides and were miserable.
Shao Xun visited the border today and was forced to pay some tribute: seven or eight tribes jointly presented a pair of golden eagles, 200 sand fox skins, 500 deer skins, 1,000 yellow sheep skins, honey, wax and other miscellaneous things.
.
In addition, there are more than 30,000 cattle, sheep and miscellaneous animals - on average, it is equivalent to the cattle and sheep of 2,000 shepherds.
These tribes may have been used to being surrenderers, and their spirits were so low that they were probably all bloody and died in the war against the Xiongnu and Xianbei.
"You -" Shao Xun thought for a moment and said, "Think about it carefully. If you can come and surrender, I can set up a Jisi County here and you can make your own decisions. If there is a war, the imperial court will not turn a blind eye.
"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent.
It’s not that I haven’t tried to take refuge with Liu Yuan, Liu Cong and his son before, but what was the outcome?
Tuoba Xianbei went south from here many times, either to Jinyang, or south to Xihe or Pingyang. The most dangerous time was that Liu Cong even blocked Tuoba Xianbei and defeated him in Pingyang.
When Tuoba came, they surrendered.
After Tuoba's defeat, Liu Cong sent a force to pursue them, and on the grounds that they were uncertain about their rebellion, they plundered them and then left.
There really isn’t a good person!
What is the difference between this King of Liang in Jin Dynasty?
To be honest, what if you can protect them from being robbed and bullied, and you actually vote? The key is that you can't do it.
Since the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains court had no say in this area. Can the Liang king who has emerged now really be able to go north to the grasslands? No Central Plains person has been able to do it for two hundred years.
If it weren't for the fact that this person brought a large number of people, and they didn't receive the news in advance and had nowhere to run, they wouldn't have given this small tribute.
No one will do things that are in vain.
Looking at their expressions, Shao Xun knew that his words had no effect.
In their eyes, he is just another Liu Cong, who comes here to inspect, give some face, and gain some wealth.
These leaders have official seals issued by Liu Han, Tuoba Dai, Jin Dynasty and even further dynasties. When they meet anyone, they will take out the corresponding seals to show their identity, but in fact, all the forces look down on them.
It is impossible for them to resolutely join any party. Surrender is their survival philosophy, and those who cannot do this will be eliminated.
No matter what, it's impossible to convince them with empty words.
We are not preparing to attack Tuoba Xianbei this year, so what we are doing now is just preliminary preparations.
As long as these tribes don't become enemies when we set out to conquer another day, it will be fine.
Of course, at that time, there is actually no middle option. Either the enemy or one of our own, there is no choice.
****
The army of capturing students has expanded to more than 1,800 cavalry, led by Gao Yi.
As a garrison in Heyang, he had been fighting with the Huns in the wilderness of Hanoi all year round. Burning, killing and looting was his specialty, but he rarely fought serious wars, so that the Yi Congjun felt that they were too slippery and unruly.
Shao Xun gathered the chiefs dozens of miles away in the south, and they had already rushed to the vicinity of Junzijin. It was said that during the time of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, a Luoyang merchant brought his property to the grassland for business, and died of a sudden illness. The boatman who crossed the river collected the merchant's property.
When the merchant's son came to look for his father, he returned it intact. He had noble character and was like a gentleman, so it was named "Junzijin".
The tribal leader who was grazing near Junzijin also went south. His tribe did not stop them and even provided some supplies.
After collecting some ferries, hundreds of horses crossed to the west within a few days. Seeing this slow movement, Gao Yi couldn't wait any longer, so he crossed the river himself on April 10th and landed on the west bank of the Yellow River.
"Warlord." Several scouts galloped over and dismounted from a distance.
"How?" Gao Yi asked without dismounting, pointing his whip.
"Shi Le set up a fort on the Papaya Plain, sixty miles to the southwest, with an unknown number of troops," the scout said.
"Where is the Dugu tribe?" Gao Yi asked again.
"This unit is moving erratically and has not been able to trace its whereabouts," the scout replied.
Gao Yi wanted to get angry when he heard this, but he held it back and shouted: "Zhang Si."
"The end will be here." A rider came out and responded loudly.
Zhang Si was a surrendered general from Shi Le.
While serving Shi Le, he sent several envoys to the "North of the Mountain" to lure Jiehu outside Yanmen Pass and north of Hengshan Mountain. He was very familiar with affairs outside the Great Wall.
"Tell me, where might the Dugu tribe have gone?" Gao Yi asked.
Zhang Si secretly sighed that I didn't know this, but he didn't dare not answer, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "Since Yilu's death, the dispute between the old and the new Tuoba clan has become more and more fierce. Maybe he was summoned by some noble person, and the party is united and opposed.
"
The leaders of the Tuoba clan are actually far-sighted, and they have been undergoing a painful process of feudalization. But how can this kind of political reform be so simple?
Shao Xun was so cautious in Henan, but Tuoba's methods were much more brutal, so the internal cracks grew day by day.
To put it simply, the old people, Suotou, are the most primitive nomadic tribes.
Newcomers mainly refer to Jin people and Wuhuan people.
During the great chaos in the Central Plains, a large number of Han people took refuge in the grasslands. In addition, Tuoba Xianbei went south several times to merge with the state and plundered many people. There were also Jin people in Yanmen and Daijun themselves.
In the political struggle with the traditional Xianbei tribe, the Wuhuan people sided with the Jin people.
The leaders of Tuoba Xianbei were actually inclined to learn Han culture in their hearts. Especially after occupying Yanmen and Daijun, and having many contacts with Bingzhou, they became more familiar with Han culture, regulations, and systems.
A large number of local talents were also employed, gradually forming a force.
But Leader Tuoba is also very difficult.
The basic market is a "cable". Do you want to forcefully promote Chineseization regardless of the sentiment of the basic market? Then the basic market will leave you.
In short, this kind of reform is actually very difficult. Every step of the process is frightening, and there are even many flashes of swords and swords——
Tuoba Yilu and Tuoba Pugen were both considered "newcomers". They yearned for the Han Dynasty and were determined to reform. For this reason, they did not hesitate to assist the Jin in many battles and attack the Xiongnu.
This behavior aroused dissatisfaction among the old people, who believed that this kind of war was unprofitable and that many people would die, which was not worth it. However, Tuoba Yilu suppressed it with military orders.
After Yilu died, Pugen succeeded to the throne, and then his son died suddenly after a short reign. It is difficult to say whether it was a normal death. Anyway, Tuoba Yulu, who is now in power, relied on the influence of the "old people".
Such a complicated internal situation is very beneficial to Shao Xun, who is determined to conquer Tuoba, but Gao Yi cannot stand so high and cannot see that far. He only considers military issues: Where is the Dugu tribe?
At this time, several more scouts returned and brought a prisoner with them.
Gao Yi perked up and asked, "Who is this?"
"General Governor, this man is from Liu Lugu's tribe. Because he did not want to go eastward, he went south to Shile and was captured by me halfway." The scout dismounted and replied.
"Going east? Where to go?" Gao Yi was startled.
Liu Lugu was the younger brother of Liu Hu, the leader of the Tiefu Xiongnu. After Liu Hu escaped, Liu Lugu led some of his tribe to surrender to Tuoba.
Tuoba Yulu treated women as wives, and they were treated very well.
"Dongmugen Mountain."
Gao Yi looked at Zhang Si.
"Warlord, Dongmugen Mountain is in the north of Xinping City." Zhang Si said.
After answering this sentence, Zhang Si asked again in Xiongnu and Wuhuan respectively, and then said with a solemn face: "General Governor, Tuoba Yulu has left Shengle and led his army to Dongmugen Mountain. Dugu, Helan
The second part is no longer here, and has gone to Niuchuan."
"Where is Ushikawa?"
"In the northwest of Xinping City."
Gao Yi was stunned and asked subconsciously: "What does Tuoba Yulu want to do? These tribes are all his cronies, right?"
From an economic perspective, the old and new party members within the Tuoba Dynasty actually had a nomadic culture and an agricultural culture.
Tuoba Yulu relied on nomadic forces to come to power. Dugu and Helan tribes were important parts of his power. They all left Shengle, and I am afraid they have great intentions.
"Warlord, there are two possibilities for this matter." Zhang Si said.
"Come and listen."
"First, Tuoba Yulu wants to control the newcomers. Secondly, Tuoba Yulu wants to compete in the Central Plains."
Gao Yi was silent, and after a while he asked: "If he were to compete in the Central Plains, where would he go south from?"
"Go south from Yanmen and go straight to Jinyang, or go south from Kelan and attack Lishi." Zhang Si replied.
Hearing this, Gao Yi was no longer silent and immediately ordered: "Go back, go back to the east bank."
Zhang Si also feels that the problem is serious.
Regardless of whether Tuoba Yulu wants to go south or not, concentrating the main troops on the grasslands north of Pingcheng is a huge threat in itself, and King Liang doesn't seem to know it yet...
Of course, Tuoba Yulu may not have known that Prince Liang actually visited the northernmost part of Kelan County.
Neither side knew anything about the other's whereabouts.
Chapter completed!