As soon as Liu Xin said there was someone outside, Ling'er's face turned pale. The posture she was leaning on Liu Xin was too ambiguous. If others saw her, she would no longer have to be a human being.
But there was another soft "clucking" sound coming from outside, followed by two meows of "meow, meow". Ling'er felt relieved and said in a trembling voice: "It's scary, it turns out to be a wild cat.
"While she was talking, she realized that Liu Xin's hand had almost touched her chest, and the face that had turned pale with fright turned red with embarrassment.
Sometimes things like cheating are just a thought. If the wild cat hadn't made a mistake just now, I'm afraid Liu Xin would have pinned Ling'er under her body at this time, but now Liu Xin has lost all interest and retracted.
He held off his hand and said angrily: "Yes, it must be a wild cat lying on the window. However, after being pinched by you this time, the fatigue is really gone."
Ling'er blushed and said softly: "As long as the master likes it, I can help him pinch it every day."
Liu Xin had completely returned to normal at this time and said with a smile: "Okay, thank you for your hard work. You should go down and have a rest early."
Ling'er softly said "Hmm" and slowly climbed up from Liu Xin's body, squirming and feeling full of loss.
Early the next morning, Liu Xin and his party boarded the building ship. This building ship was not only tall and large, but also had a very wide deck. Not only the war horses Liu Xin and the others rode, but even Ling'er's carriage also boarded the ship smoothly.
However, the capacity of a ship is limited after all. This time, a total of four large ships were used to pull all the people on board.
Liu Xin boarded the boat this time to cross the river. It was the dry season, the water flow was slow, and the boat was running very smoothly. Liu Xin stood on the deck, looking ahead, thinking of the land of Jingzhou under his jurisdiction that spanned the north and south of the river, and the army,
Materials were transported back and forth very frequently. It was really inconvenient for me to have to use four large ships to cross the river for three hundred cavalry. So I said without looking back: "General Su, go back and tell Kong Wen.
Develop a kind of ship. Each ship must be able to carry at least thousands of soldiers, their horses, equipment, and supplies. This kind of ship is not used for water warfare. As long as it has a certain self-protection ability, its main use is
It's about landing and delivering supplies."
Su Fei cupped his hands and said: "Back to my lord, there are ordinary transport ships that can carry hundreds of soldiers, but they are not as stable and safe as large ships, and they are not convenient for getting on and off war horses. If the ship my lord mentioned can be built, it will indeed be much more convenient."
.”
When Linger was a child, she followed her parents across the Yangtze River more than once. They all took small boats. This was the first time for her to ride on such a huge building boat. From time to time, she stuck her head out of the car window and looked around. Liu Xin turned her head.
Seeing her curious look, Ling'er smiled faintly at her. Ling'er was shy and retracted into the car in panic, then secretly stuck her pretty face out the window.
Soon the fleet arrived on the other side of the river. Liu Xin and his party abandoned the boat and landed. There was already a group of soldiers waiting in two rows on the pier. A captain walked up quickly, raised his hands and said: "General Wang Wei."
, I am here to greet my lord under the orders of General Zhang."
When Liu Xin heard this name, she felt it was very familiar, but she couldn't remember it for a moment, so she nodded and asked, "How is the war going?"
Wang Wei said: "Back to my lord, General Zhang has been victorious in successive battles and has now surrounded the barbarian rebels in a village."
Liu Xin knew that Zhang Fei had a violent temper and was worried that he would kill too many people, so he quickly said: "Immediately send someone to inform Yide and tell him not to attack, but to return to Wuling City to see me."
Wang Wei turned around and gave a command, and several fast horses galloped away.
A group of people mounted their horses and headed towards Wuling City. Liu Xin asked Wang Wei to accompany him so that he could learn the details of the matter from him. Most of the more than a thousand people Wang Wei brought with him were infantry, and the team's advance speed naturally slowed down. However,
In this way, Liu Xin had time to listen carefully to Wang Wei's story. If she didn't understand something, she would interrupt him and ask questions, and finally figured out the whole story.
The urgent report sent by Kuai Liang was not detailed. Now that Wang Wei was talking about it, Liu Xin gradually became clear about the cause of the matter. There was a family of gentry in Wuling County named Lin. They were very prestigious in the local area and had a long-term monopoly over the barbarians and Han people.
The barbarians live in the mountains and have only a small amount of land. Selling mountain products has become an important source of income for them. Most of the mountain products are sold through the Lin family. Lin Zhen, the eldest son of the Lin family, travels all year round.
After going back and forth between various barbarian villages, he became friendly with a barbarian girl. Lin Zhen was unwilling to marry a barbarian girl and went home. The girl couldn't think about it for a moment, so she threw herself into the river. The family found the Lin family and couldn't argue with it, so they were beaten by the Lin family.
There were many people. The barbarians were very united. When something like this happened, the whole tribe was very angry. Led by the patriarch himself, they rushed into the Lin family to seek justice. The two sides clashed again.
The barbarians live in the mountains and forests, and their living conditions are harsh. They have also developed a rough character. Sharp axes and machetes are both their production tools and weapons, and they have always been carried with them. At first, this conflict was limited to pushing and swearing.
, gradually turned into a fight. Although the Lin family also had a group of servants to guard the courtyard, they were no match for these barbarians. They were defeated after a short time. The barbarians rushed into the Lin family and saw that the house was magnificent and filled with gold, silver and grain.
The warehouse was full, and they couldn't help but started looting one after another. Even the clan leader couldn't stop it. In this conflict, except for some young and beautiful women of the Lin family who were snatched up the mountain by the barbarians, the rest of the family, old and young, were killed. Lin Zhen also died unexpectedly.
All the silver and property were looted, and the house was burned to the ground.
Lin Pu, the current governor of Wuling, was the county magistrate under Cao Yu at that time. He was of the same clan as the Lin family who was exterminated by the barbarians. After receiving a report from the village chief and learning that so many people had died, he did not dare to neglect and immediately sent people to the barbarian settlement.
They negotiated with the region and asked for the murderer. The people sent knew the relationship between the Lin family and the prefect, so they naturally favored the Lin family with their words. This angered the barbarian leader and simply cut him in two, contacted other tribesmen, and raised the flag to rebel.
After asking Wang Wei, Liu Xin realized that barbarian customs were quite different from those of the Han people, and that barbarian women were gentle and affectionate by nature, and were often easily fooled by the elegant appearance of Han men. This was the case with this barbarian girl who committed suicide. Liu Xin
He originally thought that both parties should be responsible for committing adultery. Now it seems that the situation is not what he thought. Adultery before marriage is considered a major immoral event by the Han people. In many places, both men and women are imprisoned in pig cages.
. Among the barbarians, marriage is not as strict as the Han people, who pay attention to "the orders of their parents and the words of the matchmaker." Young men and women can interact freely before marriage, and even pregnancy before marriage is normal, and most of them
Loved men and women eventually became husband and wife, and it was very rare for them to break up. In this way, in the eyes of the Han people, both Lin Zhen and the barbarian girl were at fault, but in the eyes of the barbarians, only Lin Zhen and the barbarian girl were at fault.
The girl is not at fault.
Not only that, but what surprised Liu Xin was that the barbarian forces in Wuling County were the most powerful among the three counties of Wuling, Lingling, and Guiyang. In the early Han Dynasty, a tolerant policy was implemented towards the barbarians, and seven of them were exempted from all taxes. However,
After hundreds of years of development, these seven surnames have gradually declined, and some new families have gradually emerged, such as the Feng family in Wuling, the Jiang family in Guiyang, and the Zhu family, Yong family, Meng family, and Mao family in the Bashu family.
They are all the leading surnames. The barbarians living in Jingnan belong to the Baipu lineage, and the barbarians living in the southern county of Jingbei belong to the Bashu lineage. Baipu and Baiyue in Yangzhou and other places actually belong to the same clan, but the barbarians in Jingnan and Bashu
However, the barbarians in Wuling came closer, and the Feng family in Wuling had the strongest momentum, vaguely intending to become the co-leader of the barbarians in Jingnan.
This is quite different from Liu Xin's original estimate. He originally thought that Lingling and Guiyang counties were closer to the southwest, and the barbarian forces should be stronger. Who knew that the situation was exactly the opposite. The reason for this situation is probably
Since Wuling was closer to the Central Plains, it had easier access to relatively advanced production methods, which enabled the barbarians to achieve rapid development. Apart from this, I really can't think of any more reasonable explanations.
As for why Han and barbarians live together in the Jingnan area, and the Baipu barbarians in Jingzhou are closer to the Bashu barbarians, it can only be because the Han people are generally unwilling to marry barbarians. Although most barbarian women are beautiful and gentle, there are still few
Han men are willing to marry barbarian women, and intermarriage can also be regarded as the best way to solve conflicts and achieve national integration.
Although there are still many situations that have not yet been understood, Liu Xin already has a relatively clear idea in her mind.
Along the way from the dock to Wuling City, you can see that many people have begun to be busy in the fields. It seems that they have not been affected by the war at all. After asking Wang Wei, he found out that the so-called barbarian rebellion was just them raising the banner.
, refused to pay taxes, and did not take the initiative to attack. On the contrary, after Zhang Fei led his second army to arrive, they fought several battles in succession. The barbarian coalition forces were retreating steadily, and now they have retreated from various villages to the area controlled by the Feng family.
In that village.
At dusk, Liu Xin and his party entered Wuling City. Not long after, Zhang Fei also rushed back from the military camp outside Fengjiazhai. As soon as he got off his horse, he went straight to the hall and shouted with a loud voice: "Brother,
If you hadn't sent someone to tell me to stop the attack, I would have captured the Feng family stronghold and brought all the young men of the Feng family to my eldest brother to see if they still dare to rebel!"
Liu Xin smiled and said: "Yide, I know you are impatient. Just beating and killing alone cannot ultimately solve the problem. Sometimes it is necessary to use both kindness and force."
Zhang Fei said unconvinced: "Brother, how come you have become as literate as Mr. Zirou? How can you combine kindness and power with a big killing? By the way, I came this time and brought a greeting gift to eldest brother."