Everyone followed the White Wolf Cavalry for about half an hour before arriving at a long and narrow pasture. More than 500 tents of different sizes were scattered in the pasture. When the women next to the tent saw the men at home returning, they all held kumis in their hands.
He ran to the camp entrance. When he saw the thousands of foreigners behind his man, he couldn't help but feel nervous and took a few steps back.
"Has, you're finally back! Amida just woke up and is crying for you." A beautiful woman from the White Wolf tribe didn't care about the stranger who suddenly arrived. She ran forward and surrounded her.
Stay in the arms of old Hass and serve the brewed kumiss.
"Kunkaya, my beautiful waist (Note 1), I have brought friends from the Tang Dynasty to the tribe. Go tell Mo Hefu (Note 2) and ask him to set up a banquet to welcome the gift of immortality to us.
Friends." Old Hass chuckled and ordered the beautiful woman, then he jumped off the horse and walked towards Gao Xiuyan.
"My friend from the Tang Dynasty, the envoy of the Central Plains, please follow Old Hass to Mohefu's tent. He will definitely be very happy to see you." Old Hass laughed loudly.
Gao Xiuyan put one hand on his shoulder to thank the host for the invitation, and then smiled and said: "Then I won't bother old man Mohefuta."
Gao Xiuyan shouted to the soldiers around him: "Tell everyone to station on the hill three miles away. Don't be rude!"
The soldier clasped his fists and happily accepted the order and left.
After receiving the commander's order, all the generals of the Tang Army jumped off their horses, tied them in front of the felt tent, and followed Lao Haas to the center of the White Wolf tribe's camp. For some reason, Li Kuo always felt that something was abnormal and reminded Gao Xiuyan several times.
After getting no results, they had to give up. Under the leadership of Old Haas, everyone crossed many paths surrounded by felts and stopped in front of a large felt tent wrapped in milky white sheepskin. Old Haas put one arm on his shoulder.
After apologizing, he quickly moved into the tent.
After about half a cup of tea, a middle-aged man from the White Wolf tribe, about forty years old and wearing a yellow sheepskin on his shoulders, walked out of the big tent surrounded by dozens of people.
"Friends from thousands of miles away, what kind of wind brings you here? In the eternal heaven, let Suta pay the most sincere respect to the friends who come from far away." The middle-aged man put one arm on his shoulder and said with
He spoke fluently in Tubo to Gao Xiuyan.
Gao Xiuyan also bent down and saluted, and said loudly: "It was the wind that brought us here, and it was the divine wolf that guided us forward. Friends of the White Wolf tribe, Gao came to your tent with his tribe, and I just want to
Ask for a glass of kumiss."
These words, translated by Chen Xu, had a clear nomadic flavor, and Chief Suta nodded repeatedly.
The middle-aged man named Suta was Mohefu from the White Wolf tribe. With his eyebrows stretched out and his face full of joy, he opened his arms and embraced Gao Xiuyan, and by the way, he gave a plain white hada to him.
Got him.
No need to say anything else, the host has already sent out an invitation. According to the rules of the White Wolf clan, all the guests have to do is drink and enjoy the host's hospitality.
Seeing the enthusiasm in the other party's brows, Li Kuo's doubts in his heart were reduced a bit. He simply stopped thinking about it and followed the others into the big tent wrapped in milky white sheepskin.
Although he had been in Dafeichuan for some time, Li Kuo was still stunned when he stepped into the tent of the White Wolf tribe. Looking from the outside of the tent, the style of this tribe was not obviously different from that of the Tubo people.
are different, but when you step into the felt tent and look inside, you can clearly compare the difference between the two. Several pieces of yellow sheepskin were sewn together and tightly wrapped inside the felt tent;
Although the wooden tables that came here were a little mottled, the things from home still warmed Li Kuo's heart outside the Great Wall.
Tubo reigned supreme on the snow-covered plateau to the west of Chiling, and all the nomadic peoples surrendered to it. Over time, their culture was inevitably assimilated. It is truly commendable that the White Wolf tribe can preserve their tribal traditions so well.
Looking around, there was no silverware from Persia and no spices from the food. Instead, there were porcelain and silk from the Central Plains. The sight here made Li Kuo find it hard to believe. Is the person in front of him really a nomadic people?
Seemingly seeing the doubts in Li Kuo's mind, Chief Suta smiled slightly and said in slightly stiff Chinese: "Young man, we originally lived in the Wuxun'er River Basin, but were oppressed by the Tuyuhun and Tubo people who moved north.
We had no choice but to move the tribe here. The snowstorm three years ago swept through the alpine grasslands, and the cattle and sheep were frozen to death. We could not pay tribute to them and were afraid of retaliation, so we had to move the whole tribe to this big place.
Feichuan."
Chief Suta paused and then said: "By chance, a Central Plains caravan that was going to Luoshu City got lost and came to Dafeichuan. We entertained them warmly and exchanged items with them."
When Chief Suta said this, his eyes shone with light, and his hands trembled slightly with excitement: "You also know that the Tubo people do not allow us to sell horses to them. Although the Tuyuhun and Qiang people are powerful, they do not dare to fight against them.
This made horses extremely in demand in the Central Plains, and many Central Plains people risked their lives to come to Dafeichuan just to make a fortune."
What he said was extremely disrespectful. If it spread to the Tubo people in Luoxue City, they would probably be at risk of being exterminated. But he didn't seem to care and continued: "But we are at the end of the road, how can we still survive?"
After discussing with the tribal elders, we decided to sell horses to the Central Plains." Chief Suta deliberately emphasized the word "horse sales" to see Li Kuo's reaction.
Seeing that he was unmoved, Chief Suta breathed a sigh of relief and sighed: "We sold nearly half of the tribe's horses to the Central Plains people in exchange for countless grains, salt, tea and porcelain. With these things
, we gradually emerged from the shadow of tribal migration and established a firm foothold in this great African river."
Seeing Chief Suta finish speaking, Li Kuo stared at him closely, returned the gift from the Central Plains with his hand, and said with a wry smile: "Chief Suta has indeed a long-term vision. The Tang Dynasty has good relations with the tribes on the plateau.
However, Tubo Zampu imposed injustice on all ethnic groups for his own selfish interests. Restricting the trade between all ethnic groups on the plateau and the Central Plains will only make things worse. The chief took the lead in carrying out trade with the Tang Dynasty and will definitely benefit from this."
Chen Xu translated Li Kuo's words into Tubo language without hesitation, and after finishing speaking, he bowed his head to Chief Suta.
Chief Suta's eyes flashed with a cunning look, and then he laughed and said: "Okay, okay, okay. I thought you would definitely refute me, but I didn't expect that you could see through what I was thinking. You are worthy of being a wise man from the Central Plains."
.”
Li Kuo couldn't say anything else, so he could only slightly cup his hands as a way of thanking Chief Suta for his praise.
Gao Xiuyan was already impatient. He walked forward in a few steps and said to Chief Suta: "Dear Chief of the White Wolf Tribe, please let your friends from afar fill their stomachs so that you can be friendly with the hospitable White Wolf Tribe."
The wolf brothers went out on horseback to hunt the fat yellow sheep."
Gao Xiuyan's tone was a little strange, and Chen Xu's translation was a little eager. Chief Suta was slightly startled. After being reminded by his subordinates, he finally understood what Gao Xiuyan meant. Suta had no regard for this casual Tang Dynasty guest.
Dissatisfied, I saw him stroking his hands and laughing, waving his hands to signal the tribesmen to carry two roasted fat sheep. The generals of the Tang army, who had not eaten cooked food for a long time, did not take much care, and apologized to Chief Suta.
He took out his pocket knife, cut off a large piece of mutton, and started chewing it.
There was a peaceful and beautiful scene in the tent, but Li Sheng was sitting alone in the corner, eating a piece of Hu cake, and never said a word.
Li Kuo had a vague premonition in his heart, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. Feeling depressed, he picked up a bowl of kumiss and drank it down.
"Some things don't need to be made clear. What you see may not be true. If you want to see the truth of the incident, you can only endure it and figure it out slowly." Zhou Wuxin's words rang in the young man's mind again, so what is
What about real things? How can we see real things?
Li Kuo's heart trembled, and the way he looked at Chief Suta was slightly different. After letting go, Li Kuo simply picked up the kumiss and walked slowly towards Chief Suta.
"The saint of the plateau meadow, the descendant of the White Wolf. On behalf of the people of the Tang Dynasty, I, Li Kuo, present to you, the great Chief Suta, a gift from the immortal god." Li Kuo heard a lot about the grassland from his third brother since he was a child.
As for the customs of the nation, although the White Wolf Tribe belongs to Tubo, they are still nomadic, and their customs are similar. The young man put his arm on his shoulder, saluted, and then raised the porcelain bowl above his head with both hands to pay respect to Chief Suta.
go.
His words frightened Chief Suta to a great extent. How could this Han man know so much about the etiquette and customs of his own nation? Could it be that he was not from the Tang Dynasty?
With such thoughts in mind, Chief Suta stood up solemnly, bowed to the west, and muttered something silently. After a "ceremony" to show fear, Chief Suta turned around and smiled bitterly at Li Kuo.
He said: "Young people must really not understand the situation of our tribe. It is not easy for our Naji tribe to win over this piece of grassland."
Li Kuo originally wanted to take the opportunity of complimenting Chief Suta to get more information. Unexpectedly, he was so cautious on this issue and refused to reveal anything. The young man had no choice but to give up and drink a large bowl of kumiss with a wry smile.
And finished.
Feeling that the atmosphere in the tent was a little awkward, Chief Suta coughed lightly and clapped his hands. More than a dozen young women from the White Wolf Tribe wearing dark red one-piece gowns filed in. The hems of their floor-length skirts flicked from time to time.
The silver bells embellished on the skirt made a crisp sound, which was really beautiful.
Gao Xiuyan and others had never seen such attire before, and they were deeply attracted by it. They no longer cared about the etiquette of host and guest, and shouted "Hello".
All the women from the White Wolf Clan have already lined up, surrounding a young woman who is about 28 years old in the middle.
There were already musicians on both sides, Hou Li. Chief Suta clapped his hands, and the sound of pipa and Qiang flute followed.
The young woman slowly moved her feet to follow the music and danced gracefully.
She dances lightly on her sleeves and spins her belt quickly, which makes many Han family members envious.