Zhao Si and his party soon arrived at a place called Akji Mountain to the east of Jinshan Mountain. This is the remaining range of Jinshan Mountain. The mountain becomes lower, like a cat lying between the Mobei Plateau and the main mountain range of Jinshan Mountain.
It is bitterly cold and dry here, but among the mountains and valleys, there are streams and rivers formed by melting glaciers and snow, as well as puddles and small lakes scattered here and there. It is thanks to the nourishment of these that we can grow in this wilderness.
One piece of grassland after another emerged.
This grassland is located at the foot of Akji Mountain, with a small river winding past it.
The river is clear and not wide, and an adult can cross it in one step. It flows silently, drawing a winding black line on the half-green and half-grey field, and finally merges into a river dozens of miles away.
In the small lake.
There are three yurts on the grassland, located on the hillside. Unlike most herdsmen on the grassland, these three yurts, together with a large piece of grass, are surrounded by barbed wire fences, and they are also surrounded by two full
layer.
There is an extra layer of enclosure where the cattle, sheep, horses and felt bags are kept.
These barbed wire fences are placed on wooden stakes driven deeply into the mud. Every other five to ten wooden stakes is a cement stake as thick as an arm, which is an important support point for the entire wire fence.
In front of the felt bag, a clean felt cloth was spread, on which were placed mutton, horse milk tea, peanuts, baked potatoes...the best things that the herdsmen could come up with.
A family of six herdsmen stood aside in fear. They didn't know what kind of distinguished guests were coming. They only knew that the hundreds and thousands of households that used to be so distinguished were as humble as pebbles by the river in front of these guests.
"Come and sit, come and sit!" Zhao Si, who was sitting on the felt cloth, waved his hand, "If there are guests sitting, let the host stand."
"Distinguished guest," the male host named Sonamjie said a few words in Tatar. Finding that he was not worthy of the occasion, he pushed the eldest son out.
The eldest son of the herdsman is twelve or thirteen years old. He has a round face and slightly dark skin, and his white teeth are exposed when he opens his mouth.
He spoke fairly fluent Chinese and conveyed what his father meant.
"Dear guest, please don't dislike the poverty of our family. We only have this piece of felt, so we must give it to the guest first."
"I was negligent." Zhao Si greeted loudly, "Weizhong, put some felt cloth on the table, put our food on the table, make some good tea, and enjoy it with our master."
"Yes!" Yang Weizhong responded immediately, and then directed his attendants to lay out more than a dozen pieces of felt cloth, and then placed a lot of food from the carriage on the felt cloth.
The hot and rich aroma of brewing tea quickly wafted in the air.
"Come, sit down. The master's house, as well as all the households of Jia, Baihu and Qianhu, are all sitting down. Today we will hold a gathering at Suonanjie's house."
Zhao Si said, then pointed at Guo Lingbao and introduced to everyone: "This old man is an old immortal, Lingbao is a living immortal, Kuoduo Yizhensa, have you all heard about it?"
"It turns out it's the old god Kuoduo Yizhensa!" Suo Nanjie, as well as all Jiahu, Baihu and Qianhu, all came to Guo Lingbao to offer their most sincere greetings and blessings.
"These three are my sons." Zhao Si pointed at the three tigers of Jingling and said.
Suonanjie immediately said in blunt Chinese: "These three little eagles will definitely become eagles on the grassland. Guan family, you will definitely have many children and grandchildren, and you will live a hundred years of happiness."
Suonanjie didn't quite understand what the official meant, he only knew that he should be the most noble among the nobles.
"Haha," Zhao Si raised his head and laughed, "Thank you Suo Nanjie for your blessing."
After a few words of greeting, Zhao Si began to ask questions.
"Sonanjie, how many people do you have?"
"When I go back to the official house, there are six people in my family, my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law and I, and three children, two sons and one daughter. My daughter is the youngest."
"You are not from here."
"Yes, I am an official. I used to be a slave of the Merqi tribe. During the war with Lin, I drove sheep and transported supplies for the imperial court, so I was designated as a deputy householder. I was given cattle and sheep, and then I was assigned
I came to the ranch here. Two years later, I met Zhuo Xinla in Zaksa Town, Qianhu Station..."
Having said this, Suonanjie glanced at his wife sitting next to him. She was in her thirties, but she was actually a little shy.
At this time, Sonamjie's mother-in-law, a sixty-year-old woman, spoke, but she spoke in Tatar, which most people, including Zhao Si, could understand.
"Distinguished guests, our family originally lived in the north of Beihai and belonged to the Huoli Tuma tribe. My old man and son were originally the servants of a leader. In the past few years, the Mobei melee caused the Huuli Tuma tribe to eat
The battle was defeated, and the old man and his son died in the revolt, leaving only us two."
Having said this, the old woman clasped her hands together and said piously.
"With the blessing of the Immortal God, a benevolent Khan descended upon us - the Great Emperor Tenggiri Khan. He asked thousands of households in each banner to count and provide for the orphans, widows, old and weak. We, the two of us, were recruited by the Xuanwu Banner and pointed here.
.. Suonanjie is a good man. He doesn’t dislike me for being old and useless, so he takes me home to support me. The God of Immortality blesses the kind. In the past few years, my daughter has given birth to two sons and a daughter for him, and life has gotten better and better.”
Zhao Si nodded, turned to Suo Nanjie and said, "I can see that your family is living a good life. Where did you learn Mandarin?"
"When I returned to my official home, I once followed the Xuanwu Banner Flag Guard Army and went south to Gaochang twice. Not only was I promoted to the official household due to my meritorious service, and I was given a lot of cattle, sheep and property, I also learned to speak Mandarin and Chinese in the literacy class with the army.
I read Chinese and learned to write forty or fifty characters at the same time. It’s a pity that it wasn’t my turn this time when I went south.”
Having said this, Suonanjie's face glowed with pride and regret.
"Okay, life should get better and better. I think your eldest son can speak Mandarin better than you."
"The officials are right, Suo Keji learned Mandarin in school."
"Is it a primary school?" Zhao seemed to ask with great interest.
"If I go back to the official house, I don't know if it's primary school or what?" Suonanjie replied, and then gave his eldest son Suo Keji a hard push, who was in a daze.
"What happened to you today? You feel like you have lost your soul. In the past, when guests came, they would always rush to talk and talk more than me. But today it is completely different. It seems like a different person."
Under his father's urging, Suo Keji timidly replied: "Back to the big... If you're a gentleman, it's a national school. All grades of primary school are mixed together, and there are a total of two teachers. Children from hundreds of households study there. During the free time, there are two teachers."
I go there every day when I’m busy, and I often have holidays when the farming season is busy. In winter, if it snows, I’ll stop classes and rest for the whole winter.”
"National School, how many children are there studying there?" Zhao asked kindly.
Perhaps it was because Zhao Si's attitude was so kind and approachable that Suo Keji slowly relaxed his tension.
"Reporting to the noble man, there are about forty children studying, all boys. The oldest is fifteen years old, and the youngest is seven years old."
"Oh, do any of these children go to a higher-level school to study?"
"Yes, but very few. If you go to a higher-level school, you have to go to the town where Qianhu is located to attend the national middle school. In recent years, we have only had a total of 26 children from 100 households studying there."
"So few?"
"Yes. First, when you go to school, you just want to know some words, be able to write your own name, read a few pamphlets, be able to count, and understand some basic principles. The requirements are not high. The second is to go to the first year of high school.
Studying in a high-level school requires full support from the family. Without a strong laborer, there is an extra expense, which many herdsmen families cannot afford."
"Yeah," Zhao Si nodded.
Suokeji is right. Herders have no requirements for going to school. They just need to be able to read a few words, be able to count, and get rid of ignorance. When they reach a certain age, they should be used as strong laborers to contribute to supporting their families in Hukou.
"It's better to learn more words. When you grow up, you can participate in Qili's expedition, earn a share of the family business, set up a household, and share your life. When you miss your parents, you can write letters back. How nice."
Suonanjie nodded quickly, "The officials are right. The teacher in the literacy class said the same thing back then. We didn't have any enthusiasm at all. When we heard this, we immediately became energetic."
"Yes, we will have several sons in the future. Except for the youngest son who will inherit the family business, the rest will fly around like eagles leaving the nest... When the time comes, he writes a letter and comes back. If he is illiterate and can't read it, then
What a pity. So we put out the energy to fight against the evil wolf, gritted our teeth and learned to read..."
What Sonamjie said was interesting, and everyone burst out laughing.
The warm sunshine shines down on everyone. The cheerful laughter is like birds dancing in the colorful halo.