Destiny Only Han

To the north of Yinshan Mountain, Longcheng (near Heshuo Qaidam Lake on the west side of the Orkhon River in Outer Mongolia today).

On the vast Gobi grassland, there are horse teams coming from all directions.

Unlike the impression that grassland people live in yurt-style tents, the Huns mastered simple methods of building cities. For example, the Dragon City where the Heavenly Festival is held every year has three buildings in a row, each with walls, ring moats, and corners. small city in Taiwan.

The three connected cities represent the three kinds of sacrifices performed by the Huns, namely ancestors, heaven and earth, and ghosts and gods (Note [-]).

It’s just that in the past years, this piece of water and grass was lush, and the wind blowing grass was a good place to see cattle and sheep. Now you can see the bare khaki-yellow ground everywhere. The wind blows, the dust dances, and the blue sky instantly turns yellow, which is quite a bit of doomsday. Wasteland feeling.

Since the beginning of spring, the grassland has not had a decent rain!
Therefore, many tribes that grazed far away in previous years also sent people to Longcheng to meet them with cattle, horses and camels.

Here, they prayed to the gods and ancestors for blessings, so that the drought would pass as soon as possible. Otherwise, large areas of cattle and sheep would starve to death, and people would not be able to survive either!
To the south of Dragon City, near the Tamir River, there are white tents built next to the water, the most conspicuous of which is of course the large tent of Mo Duna, which occupies an area of ​​twelve Hanas.

What surprised many Xiongnu herdsmen who had never seen Shanyu before was that the ones surrounding Shanyu's tent were not Hun warriors, but many strong men who wore animal skins but had heads shaped like people from the Central Plains. .

Some of these people were Jiuyuan County soldiers who survived after Maodun issued the order to stop the killing, and some were frontier soldiers who fled to the grasslands to make a living after the Central Plains War at the end of the Qin Dynasty.

Modu organized them into his guards, and not only gave them tents, cattle and sheep, but also Hun women as wives and concubines.

So these people are more loyal to Modu than many Huns...

Well, there was actually no nationalism in this period. What people pursued was to live. Just like the Loufan cavalry and Hun cavalry recruited by Liu Ying from the grassland, life, better life, is more important than anything else!

At this moment, Mao Dun listened to the reports of the tribes, with a sad expression on his face.

Ten years of accumulation, destroyed in one day!
Relying on his decades of experience, there is still at least one month before the rainy season on the grassland.

People can save water to get by, but grass can't. With the lack of water and the scorching sun, the grass leaves look green, but in fact they shatter when touched!
When the grass is gone, there is only one dead end for cattle and sheep, and there is only one dead end for people!
There was one more thing that made Mao Dun angry at the moment.

Hexi Wusun!

He originally thought that he had defeated the main force of the Yuezhi people. With the strength of the Wusun people, he would be able to drive all the remaining Yuezhi people out of the Hexi grassland.

In this way, the Huns can indirectly control the large area with rich water and grass through the Wusun people.

Unlike grasslands that rely on natural rainfall, the Hexi region relies on glaciers to melt snow, so even if it doesn't rain much, the drought is not too serious.

If the Wusun people control Hexi, the Huns can rely on the Wusun people's cattle and sheep to survive this disaster.

But for some reason, the Yuezhi people, who were like bereaved dogs, suddenly exploded, fighting back and forth with the aggressive Wusun people (chicken pecking at each other).

This not only left the Wusun people with no surplus food to support the Huns, but also curbed the tentacles of the Huns extending westward, preventing them from obtaining powerful weapons in the far west.

Although Mouton has recruited many people from the Central Plains, to smelt metals requires not only metallurgy, but also mineral exploration and other supporting technologies.

So at this time, most of the weapons in the hands of the Huns were spoils of war obtained from the treasury of the State of Qin, and if one was broken, one was less, which could not support their expedition to the Yuezhi people again.

After all, Mao Dun's eyes were staring at the neighbor to the south.

The merchants from the Central Plains from the south said that the newly emerging Han State disbanded its army and distributed a large amount of land to the soldiers who participated in the war.

Neighbors stock up on grain and I stock up on guns.

Now is a good time to head south!
Mo Dun repelled the tribal leaders who were crying and pleading for support for cattle and sheep, and sent someone to find the shaman.

He wanted to hear the other party's advice.

What kind of sacrifice can let the ancestors give them the motto of going south to attack the Han people!

..........................................

To the west of Liyang City, camel bells jingle.

Last year, the business group that went to the Western Regions took advantage of the heavy snow to close the mountains, and now they trekked back when the ice and snow melted and the weather was not hot.

The rotten and moldy old-fashioned leather armor piled up in the warehouse has now been replaced by countless agate jade, tapestry spices, horses and camels, and exotic orchids and musical instruments.

Of course, at the cat appreciation conference, people who are full of envy and eager to become cat slaves also saw the cats in different shapes standing on the camel's head...

Liu Ying pulled Xiao Tong, who was full of beards, to squat in the shade, and asked him about the progress of the Anti-Uprising Moon.

After all, what he wants to see is a fragmented Hexi land, not a monolithic one.

This is not in his interest, nor is it in the interest of the Han Empire.

If that day really comes, he doesn't mind recruiting some volunteers to go to punish the people and fight crimes, and the ups and downs will continue...

Xiao Tong chewed a black dried fruit, and strangled a flea casually: "Don't worry, Your Highness, with the Liang Dangjia we sold, it will not be a problem for the Yuezhi people to keep their territory!"

"However, I think we don't need to sell their armor this year. Like the Wusun people, they are weak... Even fighting on both sides for a long time can't kill a few people..."

"So there are so many armors that many Yuezhi people wear two pieces of armor, that is, they put on the two pieces of armor on the body, one on the front, one on the front, one on the left, one on the left, one on the left, and one on the other, and they also protect their armpits tightly, so that they will not die. ..."

As he said, he handed Liu Ying a dried fruit with his dirty hands: "Your Highness, try it, it's delicious..."

Liu Ying glanced at him full of disgust, and silently moved aside.

What Xiao Tong held in his hand was not a raisin, but a long strip, whose prototype was unknown.

But out of curiosity, he still asked, "What is this?"

Xiao Tong scratched his chest that seemed to be bitten by fleas: "I don't know, anyway, before this thing is dry, it looks a bit like a radish. When those delicate sweat horses play their temper, they rely on eating This will calm you down…”

"Looks like a radish?" Liu Ying was silent for a while, then raised her head and asked, "Is there any one that has been dried? Let me have a look!"

If what Xiao Tong said was what he thought, it should be very durable.

Xiao Tong nodded, got up and grabbed a camel that was traveling with the caravan, and immediately rummaged through the camel bag.

At this time, Liu Ying saw a cow cat stepping off the camel's head, and walked up to Xiao Tong to rub and rub, meowing and meowing.

What's the situation, could this guy be the legendary cat physique... Liu Ying pinched her chin in a contemplative state, full of uncertainty in her heart.

After all, cows and cats are crazy...

After a while, Liu Ying saw that Xiao Tong threw a piece of dry grass to the cow cat, and pulled out a black or purple strip more than half a foot long from the camel bag, walking towards him.

That's right, it's a carrot... Liu Ying made a judgment in her heart. Although the carrot in Xiao Tong's hand was a purple carrot, in fact, carrots have various colors. The most common orange color in later generations was bred by the Dutch. Promoted species.

But Liu Ying's attention was actually on the dry grass that was taken away by the cow cat.

"This should be the legendary catnip!"

After all, Liu Ying is too familiar with the appearance of a drug addict like a cow cat!
So he pulled Xiao Tong and asked, "Is there any more catnip? It's the dried grass you threw to the cat! Where did you buy it? Do you have any seeds?"

Xiao Tong was dumbfounded for a moment, he was stunned for a while, and then licked his lips: "Yes, it was given by the Western Region merchant who sold my cat. The cat didn't run around all the way, it's all thanks to this kind of thing..."

Satisfied, Liu Ying pocketed the remaining catnip and seeds, looked at the purple carrot in her hand, thought about it, and decided to fry it before eating.

He continued to ask absent-mindedly: "When you were in Yuezhi, did you hear anything unusual?"

Xiao Tong thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and said: "When I came back, I met a caravan of the Huns. They were going to sell their furs to the Qiang people, and then buy grain... Do you think they are stupid? Although the Qiang people farm, they also herd horses and sheep, and there is no shortage of fur!"

Liu Ying smiled in agreement, raised her head and said, "Where are they? Call them over."

Xiao Tong opened his eyes wide, with an expression of disbelief: "How does Your Highness know that I brought them back?"

Liu Ying smiled mysteriously without explaining.

People like Xiao Tong are naturally caravans when they meet the local tribes, but if they meet other caravans, as long as the timing is right, they will become bandits if they cover their faces...

So when he heard that Xiao Tong met the caravan of the Huns, he naturally understood the fate of the other party.

After a while, a small and thin Huns with bruised mouth and eye sockets was dragged over. As he walked, he cursed in lame dialect: "You Nanman, the lonely Tu Shanyu will not let you go!"

When he approached, Liu Ying looked at the Huns who had been whipped more than a dozen times by the wooden board, and the corners of his mouth were covered with blood, and asked, "I have a doubt, if you can answer it, I will let them beat you less! You If you don't tell me, I'll let them cut you up and feed them to the dogs!"

Liu Ying will not have the slightest sympathy for people who are not of my race.

The Huns were stunned. He really didn't expect the child in front of him to be so vicious, but seeing the people around him, it was obvious that the person in front of him was their leader.

So he nodded silently.

Liu Ying asked word by word: "Why do you go to the Qiang people to buy food?"

The Huns were full of disdain: "If it doesn't rain, the cattle and sheep will starve to death. If you don't buy food, are you waiting to starve to death?"

"not raining?"

Liu Ying repeated it, and an ominous premonition arose in her heart.

Note [-]: The theory of Longcheng comes from the "Brief Excavation of Ugui Nuoer Sumu and Rimentala City Sites in Houhangai Province, Mongolia".