On the grassland in October, snowflakes have begun to fall frequently, leaving a vast expanse of white between the sky and the earth.
Normally, in such weather, I would have stayed in a tent holding a sheep to keep warm.
If they still have a little leisure, the men will carefully check the condition of each sheep. If they find that it is too weak, they will kill it to avoid losing weight too quickly.
Women will count the few grains they have left, calculate the daily consumption, and hope that the snow this year will not be too heavy, and that it will not cause a white disaster, and that spring will come early, otherwise the elderly and children will suffer
Will starve to death.
As for the old and the weak, they usually cling to each other closely, try not to move as much as possible to reduce consumption, and tremble under the power of nature.
Generally speaking, for the survival of the family and even the group, the old and the weak do not get much food in winter.
Because most of the grain and a small amount of meat must be given priority to men and healthy women, the strongest people must be allowed to maintain their strength and health, so that they can quickly resume production when spring comes.
If they starve to death, even if there is no white disaster and spring comes early, the elderly and weak will most likely not survive. Nature is so cruel.
But this winter, the grassland is full of laughter and laughter.
Because the tribes that followed Bai Congxin from the western expedition came back last year, these guys made a fortune in the river and brought back a large amount of grain, salt, sugar, tea and dried meat, which suddenly enriched the grassland.
These grassland people in a nomadic society still have some customs of primitive society. When a family gets rich, they will basically take the initiative to distribute some of their belongings to their relatives.
Firstly, they can't finish all the food at once and waste it. Secondly, when they encounter difficulties in the future, they will have to rely on relatives to support them.
The tents of Riluge, a Qianhu household in the left wing of Zubu Wanhu, were filled with a large amount of food from the river, enough to fill four tents. Their family, dozens of people, could not finish it in a year, and the rest was salt and sugar.
There is more tea.
Bursts of laughter came. The four sons and daughters of Riruge ate dried meat and fought together. The wife was making sweet tea. The old mother touched the pieces of silk cloth printed with exquisite patterns, and her beautiful eyes narrowed.
.
Riluge felt warm in his chest. On such a cold day, nothing makes people feel happier than having enough food and enough clothing to keep out the cold.
There was a shout in the wind, and Riruge carefully opened a corner of the tent and walked out. The shadowy figure appeared in the distance. Judging from the sound, it should be the Vajra slave's house not far from his home.
Since the Liufa Sect began to establish its status, when people on the grassland chose names, there were many more Vajra slaves, Guanyin slaves, Mahas, etc.
Riluge walked over and took a look. Vajra Nu and his brothers were driving more than a dozen cows, pulling a large amount of wood, cloth and even a few iron pots. As for other grains, dried mushrooms, etc., there were even more.
Vajra Nu saw Riluge coming over and greeted him warmly. Although Riluge was a Qianhu, he had just been sealed up by Tian Khan.
The old brothers haven't felt the change in Riluge's identity yet, and Riruge is also relatively easy-going, so these people are not as timid as they usually are when seeing noble people.
"Ba Yan, there is some mung bean cake here from Han Dynasty. It's called mung bean cake. It's so sweet. Take a few pieces back and give them to the ladies as snacks."
In normal times, even ordinary nobles would not be able to afford such sweets, but now Vajra slaves can even take out a few pieces from their bodies.
Riruge hesitated for a moment, considering that King Kong Nu’s family had many children and poor family conditions, so he was about to refuse, but suddenly saw something wrong with King Kong Nu’s face, so he quickly took it over.
The Vajra slave's face turned pale now, "Bayan, you are usually Vajra slave's best brother, but don't think you are poor. Look at these good things, they were all just bought from Dalidi's house."
Riluge grinned, "Is Dalidi going to the west? He has given all his family property to you!"
Vajra Nu nodded, "Niu Rui's Dalidi family has become prosperous. Not only these properties, but his share of pasture has also been sold to someone.
I heard that his brother made great contributions during the Western Expedition with Lu Sanlang Bayan. Lu Sanbayan rewarded his family with 300 herdsmen and 80 serfs. The grassland was about the same size as our thousand households, and it was especially fat.
.
If you are a good person, in ten or twenty years, a Dali family will become a thousand families in Dali."
Nowadays, there is a share of the pasture, and each herdsman can get a voucher from the Liufa Sect temple where his respective thousand households are located. This voucher represents how wide the nomadic space of their family can be, and how many cattle, horses and sheep they can raise.
Because the young men of all ethnic groups in the grassland are now barely considered valuable, they cannot be allowed to be consumed by fighting among themselves.
Nor can the Supreme Heaven raise a group of weak men just because the grassland exceeds the capacity.
To put it simply, even if the current grassland herdsmen die, they can only die in the direction pointed by the Supreme Khan.
Riluge couldn't help but feel a little envious. Although he was a Qianhu now, he had no military merit, so he still lived with his family and sometimes had to graze by himself.
As for the serfs and herdsmen, don't even think about it, because the men on the grassland are all the sons of the Supreme God, and it is impossible for the soldiers of the Khan of Heaven to be slaves of others.
If you want slaves, you must obey the orders of Tian Khan and plunder places that do not belong to 120,000 households.
"Brother, brother, wuwuwuwu!"
Riluge had just said a few words to the vajra slave when he saw someone in the distance galloping towards him, crying and shouting. The voice sounded like it was Asge, Riluge's younger brother.
Riruge hurriedly greeted him, and the vajra slaves around him also hurriedly followed. Even the mother in the tent heard the cry and came out to take a look.
Asger was only wearing a single piece of clothing, his hair was disheveled, his eyes were red, and he smelled strongly of alcohol. The horse under his crotch had already run away and was foaming at the mouth.
Riluge quickly asked his wife to take the horse away to keep it warm. Over there, Asge came over with red eyes and grabbed Riluge's arm.
"Brother, Luktu bullies people too much. He bullies people too much. I want to kill him. I want to kill him!"
Only then did Riluge remember that his younger brother Asge was invited to attend a banquet hosted by Lu Sanlang's son Luktu. Why did he suddenly go crazy and run back? Could it be that they bullied Asge?
"Asige, don't be afraid, my son. No matter how much Ruktu is the eagle of the Khan of Heaven, he must still be reasonable."
As soon as the mother heard that her favorite son had been bullied, a look of anger immediately appeared on her face.
"Mom, there is a beauty in Naruktu. Her voice is as sweet as a nightingale, her face is whiter than milk, her eyes seem to be able to talk, and her figure is better than all the prairie beauties.
My son likes her very much, and Luktu also said that he would give it to me, but today he suddenly said that he never said this at all. When my son went to argue, he secretly ran away with the beauty!
He can do this, how can he do this? I didn't even have time to touch it!"
Grandma, Riruge, and Vajra Nu were all stunned at the same time, but at the same time they breathed a sigh of relief. It was not a big deal, it was just jealousy among young people.
"I know that beauty is the princess of Ogus, and I heard she has blood from the Ashina family."
The fourteen-year-old son of Vajra Nu suddenly stood on the bullock cart and shouted loudly, it seems that the beauty of this beauty has already spread throughout Yanran Mountain.
"Oh! Luktu, you're such an ass!" When Asge heard this, his whole body ached even more uncomfortably.
Yesterday, he originally wanted to ask for the beauty, but ended up drinking too much.
When he woke up in the morning, everything had changed. When he heard that this beauty was not only beautiful, but also very noble, Asge felt as if he had lost a hundred million, rolling back and forth on the ground and crying.
In fact, it is not as evil as King Kong Nu said. If it is not only beautiful but also noble, it must be given to Emperor Zhang first.
This beauty is just the daughter of Ogus Xiaoyinale. She is beautiful, but her status is still low.
However, this low is relative. It is low for Zhang Shengren, but for these grassland herdsmen, it is extremely noble.
Riruge suddenly blushed like Guan Gong, not out of anger, but out of shame. He rushed forward and punched and kicked his brother who was rolling in the snow.
"You idiot, you idiot, don't you have any sense of shame? If you want a beautiful woman, wouldn't you go and grab it yourself?
Luktu has a beautiful concubine, which he won through a bloody battle for the Heavenly Khan.
What achievements do you have, but you are half an official? How dare you find someone to ask for such a beauty, I will beat you to death, you are so shameful!"
Asge screamed repeatedly after being punched and kicked by Riruge. The severe physical pain soon covered the pain in his soul. He hurriedly got up and hid behind his mother.
Riluge was still furious, pointing at Asge, who was as strong as a bear, and yelled: "Don't you always brag that your arms are as strong as ten thousand catties, and that you are the most heroic warrior in our Qianhu family?
Why not seize the enemy's beauty yourself instead of relying on charity?"
Riluge is of a relatively short stature. On the grasslands, people of this stature are lighter and can become the best horse archers. His younger brother Asge is as strong as a bear and is the best strong archer and heavy armored infantryman.
Death.
Asge was beaten at this time, and was blown away by the cold wind. Most of the alcohol was gone, and he was immediately ashamed. He was about to say something more, but he heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance.
After a while, everyone saw more than ten messengers running towards the city with golden swastika flags on a silver and white background and a red sun-shining banner on a silver and white background. One of the messengers was none other than Riluge, a member of the Dusengtong with thousands of households.
Du Sengtong flew off his horse and solemnly handed a roll of thin bamboo slips to Riruge.
"The Khan of Heaven has issued an edict. Thousands of families on the left wing will send out three hundred light cavalry and fifty heavy armors. They will gather at Yanran City before February next year. One day later, they will be killed!"
At this time, the messenger was followed by at least three to four hundred horsemen. They were all herdsmen from thousands of families on the left wing.
After these people saw that the people who conquered the West had gained a lot of wealth, they had long been looking forward to the Khan of Heaven to recruit them. At this moment, as soon as they heard the edict, cheers rang out.
Riruge knelt down on one knee, accepted the bamboo slip for recruiting troops, and then shouted loudly: "In ten days, those who are sixteen or under thirty will bring their own long swords, big bows, bows and arrows, and horses here to wait for selection. Enter the brave man.
, those who are timid can stay and drink the wind and eat the snow!”
The cheers rang out again!
....
On the banks of the Onan River, the recruitment and selection of tens of thousands of households in Mierbegged had already begun.
In total, there were only more than two thousand beggars left, who drove their families and families from the grasslands and pine deserts of various places.
The assessment mainly tests riding skills, archery skills and physical fitness. After passing this basic selection, it is about whether you can understand orders and execute tactics.
Tactics commonly used by light cavalry such as swarming, multiple assaults, pulling back and forth, and flanking attacks will all be tested.
Whenever someone is selected, the relatives behind him will burst into violent cheers.
A man with long arms was holding an oversized walking bow, and he used a projectile method to hit five out of five shots at one hundred and ten steps, which immediately aroused cheers from the audience.
His wife's face turned red with excitement, and her young brother and half-grown sons cheered with admiration, as if they were not going to fight but to become officials.
According to historical records, Mierbeg was tall and strong, and liked to use a big bow and long arrows.
In terms of shape, it is similar to the English longbow, or it can be said that the English longbow has not yet been formed at this time. The Merqi people are currently the tribe that likes to use this kind of bow and arrow most.
The former chief of Merqi, Tuoheida, did not cheer, he looked into the distance silently.
When Tian Khan was elected the year before last, he finally arrived with the Mierqi people and saved the establishment of Mierqi Ten Thousand Households. Of course, it was just the establishment, and he also got one Deputy Thousand Households.
After returning to the tribe, the life of the Merle beggars was still very difficult. If it were not for the support of the eminent monks of the Supreme Destiny Six Dharma Sect, the entire tribe would not even have the more than 2,000 tents it has now.
You must be lucky.
In order to maintain his prestige, Tuoheida divided all the food donated by the temple fairly among his family.
Many old people in the tribe were gradually dying due to lack of food. Tuoheida had just buried his mother five days ago.
In the distance he looked toward, among the small piles of undulating earth, there was his mother's grave.
"Qianhu, this is the last chance for Mi'er Beggar, you must seize it!"
After a low chant of the Buddha's name, a great figure from the Six Dharma Sect dressed in powerful clothing appeared behind Tuohei Da.
Tuoheida quickly bent down to salute and chanted Buddha's name to show respect to the great virtue.
"Dear Mingzhen, please rest assured that the Mermaids will definitely use their bravery and loyalty to prove their worth to the Supreme Heaven!"