Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 373 The Slave and the Vermicelli
In fact, after three months, the tribes on the grasslands in the northern part of the Banjiang River already knew what happened in the small place on the south bank.

The Taha tribe and the Central Plains people in Yunshang County wiped out the Zalan tribe and the Mulet tribe together.

Although there are not a few tribes coveting the fertile pasture of Mulet's department, considering that they have to face two opponents to cross the river, the tribe's headquarters may also be breached by the enemy, so no tribe responded to this for a while.

As for uniting several tribes to cross the river, it is even more unfeasible. The grassland is not enough for several people to share, and the investment is too disproportionate to the harvest.

"I heard that the river of the Central Plains people on the other side of the river has water again, and those guys who can only cultivate the land are short of manpower to cultivate the land. Now the price of 25 catties of grain is exchanged for a slave in the Central Plains. Your tribe is far away from the south. Recently, do you know if this is true?"

It was the Khan of the Huojia tribe who was asking the question, and sitting opposite him was his in-laws, the Khan of the Baglan tribe whose site was next to the Banyan River.

"It's true. The merchants from the Taha Tribe also handed over the words. 25 catties of wild vegetable vermicelli will be exchanged for a young and strong slave from the Central Plains. Each tribe only trades [-] slaves!"

"Wild vegetable vermicelli?"

"Come here, cook what I brought and serve it up! Merdeko Khan gave me a few catties, and it tastes good to eat. I heard that people from the Central Plains crossed the desert from the Central Plains and sent it to Yunshang. The taste is really good. .”

"So, your tribe is going to do the slave trade of those Central Plains people?"

"If you don't do it, who dares to disobey the order of the Zuo Dahu? I bought a Central Plains slave for 1 catties of grain, and then sold it to those Central Plains people. After deducting the expenses on the road, I will lose five hundred slaves." Four thousand catties of grain. It’s better than losing more than [-] catties! Besides, after eating this vermicelli, it also gains strength, not for those who can’t fill their stomachs.”

King Huojia Khan rolled his eyes when he heard that "vermicelli" was a serious food.

"If this thing is really serious food, then it's better to send all the food that can't fill the stomach in our tribe to Zuoda. If you calculate it like this, it's not a loss!"

King Baglan Khan also nodded with a smile.

"I knew you, an old boy, would think so, and I thought so too! I heard that those vermicelli can be stored for two years, which is good food! I'm going to spend a little [loss] and exchange all the food in the warehouse gone."

After a while, a large pot of mutton stewed vermicelli was brought up.

King Huojia Khan took out a palm-sized gold box from his small box, picked a little fine salt and put it into the basin.

Then he glanced at the somewhat dissatisfied King Baglan Khan, so he had to pick a little more fine salt and put it in.

King Baglan Khan simply snatched his gold box and quickly shook some of it into the basin.

King Huojia Khan, who was in pain, hurriedly took back his gold box, and poked the vermicelli with a knife while cursing.King Baglan Khan had the foresight to take out a special wooden fork, skillfully forked a large roll of vermicelli and stuffed it into his mouth with heat.

The two old men quickly finished the big bowl of vermicelli, but the mutton was hardly touched.

After another half hour, King Huojia Khan nodded.

"This thing really builds strength, and it's not for coaxing the stomach." He suddenly lowered his voice and asked King Baglan Khan, "Is there a lot of people in the Central Plains?"

"I'm not sure, but since those things were shipped from the Central Plains and there is a desert in the middle, I'm afraid there won't be too many, but this time it is said that they can be supplied until the end of summer. I know what you are thinking, or Forget it, Merdeko Khan of Taha, this guy has got his senses now. Do you know what he sent to me?"

"What can that bear say, is it threatening you to go to war?"

"He said that if I dared to play Nanfang's idea, he would have someone tell the matter about the vermicelli to Zuo Dahu. At that time, there will be no vermicelli left in everyone's tribe!"

King Khan of the Huojia tribe was stunned. Is this what the five big and three rough guys can say?Can eating vermicelli make people enlightened?
The bullock cart moved slowly on the endless grassland.

Lei Hu looked around with his hands on his eyes, and finally put down his hands in disappointment.

"There should be no tribes or single accountants here, and there are no traces of grazing."

The one driving the bullock cart was Deng Lao Wu, who looked like he hadn't woken up all day long.He heard Lei Hu's sigh, but he didn't react at all.

Lei Hu glanced at Deng Laowu, feeling a little bored in his heart.

He actually didn't like teaming up with Deng Lao Wu, because this guy was too slippery.

When he attacked Zalan's army last time, this guy led his ten-man team to follow behind his ten-man team to pick up leaks, and almost turned the two sides against each other.But this time Baichang just put them in a group.

This time, their two teams of ten were formed into a team, and they took five bullock carts full of vermicelli mixed with wild vegetable powder, and went north to the depths of the grassland to do business.

Their purpose is to buy horses.

As the drought continues, famine has begun in grasslands ravaged by locusts.

The herdsmen had to start slaughtering their livestock cruelly.They killed sheep first, then cattle, and finally horses.Of course, the herders here will not kill dogs until they die, because the dogs can bring their relatives to find their bones after being starved to death.

In the hot summer, horse meat cannot be preserved for a few days, so it is better to exchange horses for some food that can be preserved for a long time.

On the prairie, there are thousands of small tribes or settlements scattered across the prairie.

Zhang Zhe decided to avoid the Waqiang tribe and buy war horses from these tiny tribes.

According to the results of Zhang Zhe's discussion with several staff members, these tiny tribes probably would not violate the grassland covenant and sell male horses to them, but selling mares should not be a problem.

For a team like Leihu, Yunshang County sent a total of [-] of them, with a total of [-] riders, and they were all outstanding riders.

If there is no deterrence of combat power, the other party may not sell the horse, but ride the horse and wield a long knife to make a "zero yuan purchase".

The convoy moved forward again on the field where the lichens had been gnawed by the locusts. After more than an hour, a dozen tents appeared in front of them on the left.This is a small settlement!

Lei Hu judged that there would not be more than 30 men who could fight on horseback in this small settlement, so this was a good deal partner.

Deng Laowu was in charge of the transaction. He cooked a pot of vermicelli to entertain the leader of the other party, and finally they sold a whole carload of vermicelli. 150 catties of vermicelli were exchanged for a mare, and Lei Hu and the others took away ten of them.

The Waqiang Zuoda Danghu's camp is on the bank of Yanqiang Lake, [-] miles northwest, and he has assembled a full [-] Waqiang cavalry left behind.Although he thought that his idea was better than that of the Wunu people, the refusal of the affiliated clans was also within his expectation.

After all, the subordinate ethnic groups also need food to live, so he had to kill a few chickens for everyone to see.

The name of Zuo Datanghu is Shuhu, and he is the youngest brother of Eagle Khan.

Shuhu is 37 years old this year, with two beautiful beards, at the moment he is discussing with his subordinates in the big tent.

"Haha, interesting!" Shuhu was in a good mood, this was the rare time he had smiled since the locust plague, "I thought Yunnan Department 24 would deliberately find excuses to delay the execution of my order, and I was ready to wash the cloud North. Oh, right, it’s not 24 now, it should be 22. Who cares, the number of tribes on the grassland is the same as that of the fickle clouds. But why do they choose slaves from the Central Plains?”

Shuhu's steward also laughed. The knowledge and interest of various ministries in Yunnan allowed his master to reduce the steps of conquest, and now the alarm inventory finally saved another sum.He didn't think that in this year, how much food could be plundered from those tribes in Yunnan.Along the way, tens of thousands of people ate horse chews, and what they grabbed was probably not enough to cover their expenditures.

"My master, don't forget that the Beibei people have opened the road between Yunnan and the Central Plains. The Central Plains people in Yunnan also have an official from the Central Plains. It is a small estimate that these Central Plains slaves sent to Yunnan, It is estimated that they are all young and strong people from the Central Plains, and they may be exchanged for grain shipped from the Central Plains."

"Oh?!" Shuhu laughed, "No wonder they are so obedient this time. I am preparing to send troops to punish the Nine Departments of the Xialan Grassland who dared to disobey my orders. I can't take care of things in Yunbei for a while. Go secretly Find out, find out the ways of the Central Plains people, if there is really food from it, why do you want these slaves to transfer it?"

"No one is wiser than you," the manager smiled flatteringly, "These slaves don't waste food or water, so selling them to the Central Plains people is the most cost-effective thing. I don't know how many catties of food these slaves in Yunnan sell. For the Central Plains people, maybe they are all making a fortune in silence!"

Shuhu patted the head manager on the shoulder, making the slave's bones feel lighter by three points.

"Just say that it is my order to gather all the slaves of the Central Plains from all tribes. Except for the slaves bought by various tribes in Yunnan, they are not allowed to kill or resell at will. You send someone to Yunnan and ask those guys to give up a Lu Lai, send me all the slaves from the Central Plains to the abandoned city. Sell as much food as you can sell, and throw the rest to them, even if the official of Zheng State owes me an IOU. Now I only want one thing, That's food!"

"Master, maybe we should grab those Central Plains people, I..."

"Idiot!" Shuhu suddenly changed his face and kicked his manager down, "What I want is a steady stream of food! I snatched it once, will the Central Plains people still transport food to the abandoned city?"

The manager hurriedly kowtowed to the ground.

"Your servant understands, this is to do business, and the road will take a long time, so that the Central Plains people will be willing to transport grain across the desert!"

Shuhu nodded in satisfaction.

"That's what it means! Let's do it!"

In the dilapidated horse pen, a man with grass foam all over his head quickly crawled in.

A little girl who was cutting grass, when she heard the voice and looked back at the man, a smile appeared on her face.

"Father!"

"Hua'er, keep your voice down," the man cautiously looked around, and then took out a few small shrimps from his bosom.He caught it in the stream when no one was looking for it while washing the headman's horse.

Hua'er's eyes lit up immediately, and she was not polite, quickly grabbed four small shrimps from her father's hand, stuffed them into her mouth, and began to chew quickly.

Without making a sound, the man stuffed the remaining two small shrimps into his mouth, and swallowed them in two or three bites.

The famine on the grassland became more and more serious. Most of the slaves in the Western Regions who used to be flattering were brutally killed by the barbarians in order to reduce food consumption.And these Central Plains slaves who are usually not taken seriously, because they are capable and know some skills, so we haven't had their turn yet.

However, their rations have also changed from one vegetable soup a day to a bowl of clear soup every two days.

Bai Nangui was actually thinking of taking his daughter and fleeing. He thought that if he managed to escape at this time, the Hu people would not chase him too hard.It is also a choice to let their father and daughter starve to death on the vast grassland.

But when the work was over in the evening, a group of Waqiang cavalry came to the tribe, and roughly pulled all the slaves from the Central Plains with ropes and led them out of the tribe.

When he was taken out of the tribe, Bai Nangui hid a sharp stone in his bosom, and desperate thoughts kept rising and falling in his mind.

But before they went far, they, the Central Plains people, were all assigned a small grass pancake.

"Lowly slaves, this is your two-day ration, save some! Hahahaha~!"

The Hu who took the lead didn't have a sad face all day long like the tribal leader. It seemed that this Hu was in a good mood.

This journey lasted six days, and the barbarians who took care of them gave each of them a wild vegetable pancake every two days, and allowed them to find food within a certain range when they rested on the way.

But those who dared to escape would be miserable. On the third day, three escaped people were caught and returned.

The Hu people who took the lead were very angry, and Bai Nangui hugged his daughter to prevent her from watching what happened next. Everyone thought that the three people must die.

But they were only given twenty lashes!

Six days later, they were taken to a large gathering place, where tens of thousands of people gathered, all of whom were slaves from the Central Plains or descendants of slaves from the Central Plains.It was here that Bai Nangui knew the plan of the Hu people.

There are officials in the Central Plains who are willing to exchange food for them!
Next to the slave camp, there is a small camp.In a tent in the middle of the camp, a negotiation is going on.

"Thirty catties of vermicelli? No, no, no!" The obese manager Mi Da shook his fat finger at Chen Jiong, "Chen, all the ones I brought here are young and strong! Don't treat me like those from Yunnan. Country guy, after the Yunhe River returns, you can open up a few acres of land when you bring a young man back, and you will collect his lifetime tax! Sixty catties a piece, not less than one tael!"

"Lord Kemida, it is also very difficult for us to transport our grain from the Central Plains. This time, we have used up all our five-year grain and grass!" Chen Jiong's "acting skills" were not bad with a face full of embarrassment.

Mida smiled: "But you people from the Central Plains know how to farm! My people know that you are opening up wasteland, so the more you have, the more fields you have. Chen, think about it! This is a guaranteed profit. business."

"Master Mida," Chen Jiong begged helplessly, "If I trade at your price, my errand will be over!"

Mida blinked: "Oh? That's a pity."

Chen Jiong gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.

"Master Mida, if we agree on a 45-jin piece, we can actually deliver a [-]-jin piece. What do you think?"

Mita's eyes lit up immediately.

"Oh, that's the best idea I can think of!"

"But, we only need 1 people!" Chen Jiong raised a finger seriously.

"No, Chen, it must be 2 people!" Mida raised two fingers thoughtfully, "For every four people from the Central Plains, I'll give you one person from the Western Regions, isn't that interesting!"

Chen Jiong's face immediately became "very smelly".

(End of this chapter)