At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 106

The Khitan belongs to the Donghu Xianbei race, mainly originating in the Yellow River and Tuhe River basins. They are divided into eight major tribes. They have not yet formed a country, but only implement a tribal alliance system. Usually, each tribe will nomad and plant on its own without interfering with each other. Joint actions will only be taken during major diplomatic events or in a state of war, such as preparing to attach to a powerful country, or when fighting abroad, the alliance leader will coordinate and command in a unified manner.

The ancient eight tribes of Khitan have basically collapsed under the military attack of the Northern Qi Dynasty. The existing eight tribes of Khitan are the new eight tribes, namely: Daji tribe, Juebian tribe, Duhuo tribe, Fenwen tribe, Tubian tribe, Ruixi tribe, Zhuijinbu and Fubu, the current leader of the Eight Bubu Alliance is named Duo Luo, who was born in the noble family of the Dahe clan.

On the fifth day of the winter month of the seventh year of Daye, Gao Bufan and others left Liucheng and headed north to the alliance tent in the south of Khitan Tuhe. After the snow, the weather is cold and the roads are very difficult to walk.

Originally, Luo Yi, as the highest military officer in Liucheng, could not leave Liucheng easily, but this person was keen on fame and obviously did not want to let go of the great opportunity to show his face in front of Ke Dun, so he personally led his troops to escort Gongsun Yingxiu, leaving only A deputy warlord and Xue brothers are in charge of defending the city.

To Gao Bufan's surprise, Luo Yi also brought dozens of small wooden boxes, which were tightly wrapped, and he didn't know what was inside. Anyway, it didn't look like a birthday gift for Ke Dun.

Of course, Gao Bufan will not be bored enough to go deep into the matter. When he arrives at the place, he pays his respects to Princess Yicheng's birthday, buys a batch of stallions, and then leaves. Once it's the twelfth lunar month, this place will definitely be colder, and there will be a few heavy snowfalls. , I'm afraid it will be difficult to move an inch.

Let’s say that the team traveled all the way north, leaving early and staying overnight, and it took six days to arrive at the camp of the Khitan people. On the one hand, it was because the road was difficult to walk after the snow, and on the other hand, the Khitan people moved the tent to the north. For hundreds of miles, it is probably because they are worried that the war between Da Sui and Goguryeo will bring disaster to Chi Yu!

Fortunately, there is still time, because Princess Yicheng's birthday is the twelfth day of the winter month, and now it is the eleventh day of the winter month, and there is still one day to prepare, which is just right!
The alliance tents of the Khitan people were built on the east side of the south bank of the Tuhe River, while the Ketun tents were built on the west side of the south bank of the Tuhe River. Well, it is very spectacular, there are cattle, sheep and horses everywhere, and it is very lively.

Brother Gao Shixiong was so excited when he saw this, Gao Shiheng said, "Grandma, this is the first time I have seen so many horses, maybe there are hundreds of thousands of horses."

Cui Hu shook his head and laughed: "At most twenty thousand heads. The Khitan people were hit hard by the Northern Qi first, and then by the Sui and Turkic forces in the first year of Daye. Now they have recuperated for six or seven years, and they just recovered a little bit. The population Absolutely no more than [-], part farming, part grazing, and nobles don’t do production, so how could they raise [-] horses.”

Gao Bufan heard the words and said: "In this way, the Khitan people should be very hostile to us Sui people, but the Khitan people we met along the way seem to be quite friendly, except for the group that attacked us before!"

Gao Shixiong said with a smile: "Second brother and I have been beaten by Lao Tzu since we were young, and we are not submissive now. Presumably the Khitan people are also like this. They don't remember to eat or not. After beating him badly, he is as obedient as a cat or dog."

"You are quite self-aware, kid!" Gao Bufan laughed.

Cui Hu also smiled and said: "That's the reason, but the Khitan people may not hate us Sui people, they just don't have the courage to resist. Once the power of the Sui Dynasty weakens, they will inevitably show their fangs, so we have to guard against it." .”

Gao Bufan nodded secretly, Cui Hu was quite foresighted, although the Khitan people were weak at this time, they would eventually form a powerful Liao Dynasty, almost occupying the entire Central Plains.

At this time, the marching team stopped suddenly. It turned out that a group of Turkic cavalry came up to meet them. The Turkic general in charge was negotiating with Luo Yi, and it seemed that the Sui soldiers were not allowed to get too close to Ke Dun's tooth tent.

Sure enough, after the Turkic general finished negotiating with Luo Yi, the latter ordered to set up camp on the spot, about a mile away from Kedun's tooth tent.

After everyone set up camp, Luo Yi told Gao Bufan and others not to move around indiscriminately, so as not to cause misunderstandings, so he only led a few soldiers to meet Ke Dun in Yazhang, and Gongsun Yingxiu was a guest invited by Ke Dun, so he naturally followed went together.

About half an hour later, Gao Bufan and the others were feeling bored, Luo Yi came back, and unexpectedly said with a strange expression: "Brother Gao is quick-witted, I have a question I would like to ask."

"Dujun Luo has won the award, but it's okay to say, it's just that I don't know much about it, so I don't know if I can help you." Gao Bufan said calmly.

Luo Yi said with a smile: "That's how it is. If there are a lot of tree trunks with similar sizes, lengths, and thicknesses, how can you tell which one is the bottom and which one is the top?"

Gao Bufan almost bit his tongue, and wondered: "Why did Governor Luo suddenly ask this?"

"You don't have to worry about it, just tell me how to tell the difference!" Luo Yi said.

Everyone in the room couldn't help thinking, but Gao Bufan said with a relaxed smile: "This is simple, just saw off the two ends of the trunk and look at the annual rings at both ends... Those are the rings, the ones that grow densely are the bottom, and the ones that grow sparsely It's the top!"

Luo Yi slapped his thigh and said, "Isn't it? It's just that people think it's too troublesome. Is there an easier way?"

Gao Bufan frowned, thinking it was troublesome?This sounds a bit like finding fault.Seeing that Gao Bufan frowned and remained silent, Luo Yi couldn't help but be a little disappointed and said: "Is there really no other better way?"

"Of course, as long as you throw all the wood into the water, the slightly sinking end will be the bottom, and the slightly floating end will be the top." Although Gao Bufan felt strange, he helped people to the end and pointed out Luo Yi a bright way.

Luo Yi was overjoyed when he heard the words, but he was also quite clever, and asked, "What is the basis?"

Gao Bufan said casually: "The lower part is denser, the upper part is less dense!"

Luo Yi didn't know what density was, but seeing what Gao Bufan said with such certainty, he didn't go into it any further, and went straight to Ke Dun's tooth tent excitedly, and everyone couldn't help but look at each other.

After about a cup of tea, Luo Yi came back again, and asked with a complicated expression: "Brother Gao, what is density?"

Gao Bufan didn't know how to explain it for a while, and said vaguely: "Density, as the name suggests, is the degree of compactness. It's like filling a bottle with sand. The denser it is, the heavier it will be. The longer the tree grows, the density And the bigger it is, the heavier it is!"

Luo Yi suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. Brother Gao, do you know which came first in this world, the chicken or the egg?"

Cui Hu couldn't help wondering: "Where did Governor Luo come up with these strange questions?"

Luo Yi said sarcastically: "Not yet from the Khitan... Forget it, I'd better trouble Brother Gao to come with me, Ke Dun wants to see you!"

Gao Bufan faintly felt that something was wrong, and quickly asked: "Why does Ke Dun want to see me?"

Luo Yi explained with some embarrassment: "The general just went to Yazhang to meet Ke Dun, and it happened that Ke Dun was hosting a banquet for the chiefs of the Khitan Eight Tribes. But if Dun can't answer, not only will he lose face, but also Da Sui's face, the question about the wood just now was made by that guy from the Ministry of toilets."

Luo Yi coughed lightly in embarrassment, and continued: "It's all my fault that General Ben is talking too much, he told Ke Dun the method Brother Gao taught just now, and he couldn't explain what density is, so... ahem, Brother Gao is troubled. "

"Can you not go?" Gao Bufan was in pain.

Luo Yi's expression was complete, and he said decisively: "No, if you don't go, you will be disrespectful to Ke Dun, and you will be punished, not to mention that it is about Da Sui's face, which is no small matter!"

Gao Bufan secretly greeted Luo Yi's ancestors, and said helplessly, "Then go."

Luo Yi raised the bar, felt at ease, and reminded: "Brother Gao, are you sure? This general has blown you up in front of Ke Dun, so don't make a fool of yourself in public, otherwise neither of us will even think about it." Better off."

Gao Bufan shrugged and said, "Do your best!"

Cui Hu and Gao Shixiong watched with concern as Gao Bufan and Luo Yi went to Ke Dun's tooth tent.

(End of this chapter)