He Qizhou didn't expect Changda to be as cheerful as his brother, and said hurriedly: "Wait a minute, didn't you say ten horses? You originally caught three, and we have two, plus my companions and yours
Two horses each, making a total of nine horses, so I can finally explain it to Zhou Ting."
Di Li shook his head and said: "It's useless. There is a trade route between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Western Regions that passes through our tribe. Although we are not required to pay taxes, every time Zhou Ting's people pass by here, we pay for food, drink and food. That Xiazhou governor
It has always been true that if we lose one kilogram of grain, he will fine us at least ten kilograms, so this time we must meet the amount he mentioned, even if we have all the horses, we will not be able to pass."
Xu Mu asked: "How far behind are you? How are you going to deal with it?"
Dili hesitated for a moment, and Chanda said anxiously: "Brother, tell me, did you guys come up with the final result of the discussion?"
Di Li said: "The hay we have collected is less than 30,000 jins. The flour is exchanged with livestock and Dazhou. The total is only about 8,000 jins. Because of the drought, we need to protect the grassland. It has been slaughtered in the past two years.
Half of the sheep currently totaled only more than 3,000 in the five camps.
We still have more than a thousand people, hundreds of horses and thousands of livestock that need to survive the winter. We don’t have much gold and silver. If we hand over all the grass and flour, then we, the Keji people, will be doomed.
So we thought about going northwest, bypassing the Altai Mountains, and trying our luck in the Western Regions. Maybe a small country would be willing to take us in, since everyone here is a good herder."
"This won't work! Not to mention that as long as one of the kings has bad intentions, we will be exterminated. If Da Zhou sends two or three hundred troops to pursue us, we will be finished. The journey of thousands of miles is nothing decent.
It’s a pasture, the road is rugged and we can’t walk fast, how can we escape from Zhou Qi’s clutches? No, no!”
"More than half of the people think the same way, so what do you think we should do?" Dili was already extremely annoyed.
"Should we be incorporated into their territory of the Zhou Dynasty? We donated our land and became their people. Will they still treat us like this?" Chanda asked.
Di Li said: "You also know that what they want is Tianju, followed by our girls. If you really want such a barren grassland, can't you do it in the blink of an eye?"
"It's useless to say more. Let's wait until they come and beg for mercy. See if we can be accommodating for a while. If it rains twice, maybe we can survive the winter without so much hay." Changda said.
"What else can we do? Who told us to be so weak?" Dili shook his head helplessly.
Xu Mu said: "I have an idea, would you like to consider it?"
Chanda's eyes lit up and he asked, "Tell me about it."
"All of you, follow us through the Altai Mountains, and then go south through the four-hundred-mile desert. Come to Daqi, but there is not much grassland in Daqi. I think a quarter of you can be arranged to go to the south of the desert.
At Anxi Racecourse, I will find a way to arrange for the other people to move to other places, or give you a piece of land to cultivate and settle down..."
Dili said: "Camels can't pass through that stone forest. Some places are too narrow."
"Indeed," Xu Mu said: "There is a dangerous road in the mountains to the south. Only horses can pass it. You have to abandon your camels and tents!" Changda said: "I heard that the people of Qi are cunning and fickle. Don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about you.
Oh, I'm afraid..."
Xu Mu said: "There are good people and bad people everywhere. If you are willing to believe me, I can find a way for most of you to live in Daqi without losing dignity. As for whether you are rich and whether you can continue to live the way you are now, I have to say
To be honest, I can’t guarantee it.”
He Qizhou hurriedly said: "Yes, it is more important to survive. You should think about it quickly."
Dili and Chanda looked at each other and nodded. They called the people discussing the matter into the tent and started arguing endlessly. Half an hour later, Dili walked out feebly and said to congratulations:
"You should hurry up and follow the people of Changda. After arriving at the camp, you and your companions will go to the 'Xiemen' overnight. Changda will send someone to take you in. At first, we were unwilling to move westward because we did not want to be separated from our own people.
I don’t want to leave this land. In fact, these things have nothing to do with you at all. If you don’t come, these disasters will still befall us, so please don’t worry, we will handle this matter."
He Qizhou and Xu Mu wanted to send Tianju away again, but Dili and Changda were unwilling to accept it. They could only pack their luggage and follow one of Changda's followers to their camp. The three of them ran north.
After two or three miles, we saw smoke rising from the east, and from a distance we could see a cavalry of dozens of people galloping towards the camp.
Changda's entourage hurriedly urged the two of them to leave quickly. If their mounts were seen by Zhou people, it would be a serious matter.
The two of them had no choice but to continue heading north. Changda's camp was at the northernmost point of the grassland, about forty miles away from Dili's camp. The three of them walked for more than ten miles. He and Xu were preoccupied and walked slower and slower.
The entourage didn't understand Chinese and just kept urging. It was getting dark. His mission was to lead all the people to the Altai Mountains overnight. If he went this way, he didn't know when he would be able to reach the Altai Mountains.
He Qizhou and Xu Mu glanced at each other, paused knowingly, and then called out to the follower in front of them, then turned their horses and ran towards Dili's camp at full speed.
…
After seeing off He Qizhou and Xu Mu, people from the court arrived in a blink of an eye, and more than ten tribal leaders including Dilichangda went to the outside of the camp to greet the visitors.
What came were two people from the local government and fifty fully armed Zhou Dynasty cavalry. The cavalry also brought fifty strong horses. The standard configuration of one person and two riders, any one of them was no less impressive.
The top stallion in their tribe.
Dili recognized the local magistrate as Pang Ke, the magistrate of Xinghe County in the east. He would come to the tribe every three days to mop up some oil. He couldn't offend him, so he put on a smile and greeted Pang Ke. Unexpectedly, Pang Ke
With a face on his face, he asked Dili to ask the clan leader to come out quickly, saying that the heavenly soldiers had arrived, how could he be rude? Then he greeted the officer who had just dismounted with a flattering look on his face.
Dili recognized that it was Baihu's dress, and he was of the same rank as Pang Ke. Why did Pang Ke be so flattering to this person? But now that he had something to ask for, he could only hold back his anger and ask someone to call his mother.
The officer did not enter the big tent with the clan leader until Dili's mother arrived. He sat on the clan leader's throne without any explanation. Half of the fifty soldiers entered the tent, and the other half were on guard outside. The officer did not let the Keji tribesmen sit down.
, knowing that only the Dili brother could speak Chinese, he asked Dili, who was supporting the patriarch: "Are the horses and things ready?"
Di Li said: "Sir, because of the drought, there are many fewer horses than usual, but we have already caught five..."
The officer suddenly became furious, slapped the back of his chair, and yelled at the county magistrate: "Didn't I give you repeated orders to take ten horses first? How do you want us to explain to the superiors?"
Pang Ke was so frightened that he knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I don't care about this matter. The governor has always been responsible for the tribute horses. I heard that I sent someone to rush them in the morning..."
"Go away!" The officer kicked away the county magistrate in front of him and sneered at Dili: "Since you can't catch the horse, let's ask all the girls under the age of twelve in your tribe to come over. Five people are worth one horse.
, I will pick twenty-five first, and how many horses will be redeemed before sunset tomorrow, how many people will be redeemed!"
"Sir, you can't do this! Our ancestors and the Emperor of Zhou agreed to turn in five horses every year..." Changda rushed forward and said anxiously.
The guard next to the officer kicked Changda over. Maybe he used his yin strength. Changda was unable to stand up even though he was so big. He managed to stand with the help of two tribesmen. His fat face was so painful.
Twisted and deformed.
"You don't speak until I ask questions, do you understand?" the officer said sullenly: "Go and prepare the girl's affairs immediately. I see that the camp is so small that I can't pick out a few people. Let the people in other camps hurry up."
Apart from horses, only you women of the Keji tribe can send people here. I ask you, how are you preparing the food and grass?"
Dili suppressed his anger and replied: "We can only produce five thousand kilograms of hay, two thousand kilograms of flour, and three hundred sheep. If there are any more, our people will not be able to survive the winter."
The officer seemed to have expected this. He glanced at the tent sinisterly and said in a deep voice: "Is this drought the only place? The Qi people are about to attack. We are trying our best to protect you, and the people are also enduring hunger.
You came to support the imperial court, but you ignored the imperial court giving you such a large pasture and only cared about yourself. Do you treat your benefactor like this?"
"That's where we..." Dili wanted to say that it was the pasture of the Keji people, but the officer's look frightened him into swallowing his words.
The officer continued:
"We are crossing the border this time so that you, the Keji people, can live a long and safe life. Listen carefully. People and food are as important as food and grass. We will also requisition this camp for two days. It seems that you were discussing something just now.
Well, that's good, the people in charge of each camp will stay, and everyone else will go to the adjacent camp to stay for two days.
Tomorrow we will bring everything we need and select ten guides who are familiar with the route to the Western Region to go with us. We will leave early the day after tomorrow. Don’t worry, Da Zhou will not treat you badly. If things go well, he will give you
The tribe deserves compensation.”
With a dead expression on his face, Dili repeated what the officer said in the Keji language, and the tent fell into dead silence for a moment.
The old patriarch pushed Dili away, walked forward three or four steps in front of the officer, and spoke a few words word by word. Dili hesitated for a moment, and then repeated in Chinese: "We, the Jike tribe, have lived here for generations.
, I don’t owe Da Zhou anything. I don’t know if it’s the emperor’s intention to ask us to provide so many things this time. If we are forced to a dead end, no one will capture Tianju for Da Zhou in the future. General, please go up.
Please ask for instructions and leave us a way to survive."