Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Goguryeo and the eastern border of the Baishan Mountains are not far away.

In the early autumn of 667 A.D., along the Tumen River (the name of the Tang Dynasty is unknown, so it is replaced by the modern name) upstream for about a day's journey upstream, there is a village of Mohe called Atumen.The leader's family had just given birth to a boy, and the little boy was crying loudly as he struggled to break free from his mother's body. His skin was flushed with spots, his body was slippery, and there were patches of blood clots.The two wrinkly-faced midwives, Granny Opu and the baby's grandmother Adusa, both smiled happily at the sight of a boy doll.According to the customs of the ancestors, the arrival of the first-born boy in the family predicts that the gods will not only bestow special favors on the parents, but also favor the parents' families.

The villagers who learned of the boy's birth congratulated the leader one after another, and the leader was also very happy for the birth of his first grandson. He and all his sons stood in front of the door and bowed to every congratulatory villager.But not everyone is happy about the addition of new members to the family - the youngest son of the leader, Acton, the baby's brother-in-law, looks gloomy for the simple reason that he was going to go fishing in the river with a few companions today For salmon, at this season of the year, crowds of salmon swim upstream, and the Mohe people can easily catch large quantities of fresh fish, which are an important source of food for them in winter after being dried in the sun.On this beautiful day, my friends will drive a birch kayak on the river for fun and fishing, but I have to stand at the door of my house and bow to everyone who comes with a silly smile, all because of that little monster who can only bark.

"Akton, in order to celebrate the birth of our child, our family will entertain the neighbors tonight!" The leader seemed to see what his youngest son was thinking: "You go to the river to catch some salmon, and we will use it at home tonight!"

"Ah, really?" Acton looked at his father in surprise and joy: "Can I catch fish now?"

"Yes, otherwise you would stand here with a bitter face, and those who don't know would think that our family gave birth to a girl!" The leader said angrily, "Anyway, you have an appointment with someone to go to the river today. Fishing! Go now! Bring forty half-man salmon back before dark!"

"Thank you, Ama!" Acton was surprised and delighted. It is still very early, and there are still four hours until dark. There are so many salmon in the river this season, and they don't need fishing nets, just take a sharpened Any stick can bring a harpoon up.

"Let's go, let's go! You don't live up to it!" The leader waved his hand impatiently: "You've become an uncle, you're still a child, and you've lost all face at home!"

His father's scolding came from his left ear and came out from his right ear. He ran into the yard cheering, and after a few minutes, he led the dog and ran to the river outside the village with his short bow and arrows on his back, where he caught up with him. I missed my companions who were moving boats into the river.Acton excitedly told the good news to his companions: "If you hand over forty half-person-high salmon before dark, you will have your own for a day!"

"Forty? So many?" A companion asked with a bitter face.

"No way, my eldest brother's first child was born last night, it's a boy!" Acton shook his head helplessly: "My ama said that I will invite the whole village to dinner tonight, so I need forty and a half people You won’t help me with the big salmon, will you?”

"No wonder it's so lively in the early morning. It's a great thing! If the first child in the family is a boy, good things will happen. Acton, your father must be very happy!"

"Yeah, I can't stop laughing from ear to ear!" Acton said while helping to lift the birch bark boat, "But do you think this will really be a good thing? Nothing good has happened in the past few years." Good news! Tribal adults come to pull people every year, saying that they are helping the Goguryeo people and the Tang people and the Khitan people to fight, but what kind of hatred do the Tang people and the Khitan people have against us, and they didn’t stop us from fishing, farming and hunting, what are we doing Want them to fight?"

The oldest teenagers present were thirteen or fourteen years old, and the youngest were twelve or thirteen years old, which could not be considered a child in ancient times.After the Tang army failed to besiege Pyongyang under the command of Su Dingfang in 662 AD, although no large-scale troops were sent to conquer Goguryeo, cavalry were dispatched every spring and autumn to attack and harass Goguryeo's land and plunder the population to weaken Goguryeo's national power.In order to resist the harassment of the Tang army, Goguryeo had to recruit troops from various Mohe tribes attached to him, even Mohe tribes located in remote places like Attumen were also affected.

"I don't know about that!" A companion sighed: "I have never seen a Tang person, nor have I seen a Khitan person!"

"That's right, I haven't seen it either!" Another companion replied, "But I heard that Tang people are very smart and can do a lot of weird things!"

"You mean Tang people are the same as shamans?" Someone showed a terrified expression: "That would be terrible, how could the Goguryeo people beat Tang people?"

"No, Tang people's intelligence is not the same as that of shamans! How should I put it? I can't tell, anyway, you will know it when you see it!"

"Aren't you talking nonsense? There are no Tang people here!" Someone laughed and said, "Have you forgotten what our place is called? It means it's very remote! Why did Tang people come here?"

"That's not necessarily true! You all know Fuchuji! It's the market town that is a day and a half away from here! There is everything there, and businessmen from all over the place will come, maybe there will be people from Tang Dynasty too!" Speaking of which, Ah Ke Dun sighed: "I really want to go to Fuchuji to see it!"

Acton's sigh aroused the sympathy of the teenagers. Although they were born in a remote village, like all their peers, the teenagers have a brave heart beating in their chests, and their exuberant curiosity drives them, eager to go to the unknown. world.

"Akton, hurry up and go fishing! Look at what time it is now! You know your father's temper, if you don't bring back forty half-person-high salmon before dark, your The ass is hard to protect!"

The words of his companion made Acton shudder. Even among barbarians like Mohe, Acton's father was known for being strict. If Acton failed to bring enough salmon home at night, What awaits him is definitely a whip that will last for a month.He waved his hand: "Okay, I owe you a favor, let's go and catch enough salmon first!"

As the oars moved, the birch bark boat broke through the water and headed for the river.The river surface was clear in early autumn, and the hillside on the other side of the river was covered with birch, oak and chestnut trees. The unripe fruits weighed down the branches of the oak and chestnut trees. Drooping branch, tore off a handful of chestnuts, and distributed them to his companions.The bitter taste rushed straight to the forehead, and the teenagers let out crisp laughter, which echoed on the river.

When the birch bark boat arrives at the fishing ground, even standing on the boat, you can see groups of salmon swimming underwater. This kind of brave fish will go upstream from the sea every year, break through all kinds of difficulties and obstacles, and reach the river Some lake deep pool upstream, where they will lay countless eggs, and then die, their carcasses will be the rations of the new life, and when these small fish grow a little bit, they will go down the river again, into the In the sea, live there until the next cycle, and this great cycle also supports many other life - such as the Mohe people.

Acton and his partners skillfully laid down the fishing nets, and then used harpoons to catch the prey caught in the nets. Soon the cabin was full of fishes, and they had to dock to the shore to drag the caught fish ashore , Open the belly of the fish, take out the internal organs, and clean them.These are what they have been used to seeing and doing since they were young, so they are proficient and fast.

"Ahu, get out of the way, these are not for you!" Acton skillfully handled the prey, while kicking away the hunting dogs trying to get close. There are a lot of roe in the belly of the female salmon in this season. According to the customs of the Mohe people, this is a delicacy, and the swim bladder can also be used to boil the glue for making horn bows, so only the leftover internal organs can be eaten by the hunting dogs. Ah Hu, who was kicked away by the owner, whimpered in dissatisfaction, as if A wronged child is acting like a baby to an adult.

"Akton, Acton, there's a boat coming on the river!" cried his companion.

"It's a boat near the village, right? Leave them alone, let's do our own thing. There are plenty of fish this season, and no one will fight for salmon!" Acton replied without turning his head.

"It's not the boat near the village. Look back, it's a big boat, a very big boat!"

Acton turned his head, and the bone knife in his hand slipped out of his hand. His companion was right. It was definitely not a boat near the village. It was a big boat, as long as twenty birch kayaks connected together. A birch kayak wide!

"Lieutenant Shen, there are some barbarian youths on the shore, do you want to send a boat to catch them?" An officer asked, pointing to the chaotic youths on the shore not far away.

"Catch what!" Shen Faseng scolded angrily: "He is a local, and he knows the way. If you go to the forest, where are you going to catch it! Find someone who can speak the local dialect and see if you can coax one over. !"

"Obey!" the officer said triumphantly, calling a guide who knew the local dialect, and shouted to the shore.

"Akton, run!" A companion grabbed Acton's arm: "Otherwise it will be too late!"

Acton ran a few steps, then stopped again: "I've never seen such a big ship, I want to stop and see what it looks like inside!"

"You are crazy!" the companion said urgently: "How many people are there on such a big boat! If you are caught, the whole village will not be able to snatch you back!"

"It's not so easy for such a big ship to dock!" Acton said with a smile: "If it's not right, let's go into the woods, and they can catch up? I don't know when the next time we will be able to catch up with such a big ship." See you again, if you are afraid, go first, I want to stay and have a look!"

The boy looked at the big boat on the river, then at the woods only a dozen steps away from him, hesitated for a while and said, "Okay, I'll stay too, but remember, if the situation doesn't go right, let's run away! "

"Of course, I'm not a fool!" Acton laughed.

At this time, the big ship had gotten closer, and Acton announced that the big ship looked slow from a distance, but when he got closer, he realized that it was much faster than his own birch bark boat, and he became a little more curious.

"What are you shouting on the boat? It seems that you don't want to go?"

"Yes, and I'm a good person! The tone is a bit strange, but it's indeed the words of our Baishan Mohe people!" Acton nodded: "I don't know which tribal leader is so powerful and has such a big ship!"

"According to my opinion, it may not be the boat of our Mohe people!" The companion once again sang a different tune: "My ama also helped the tribal adults, and he said that the stockade where the adults live is bigger than our village and has more people. , there is an extra wooden fence and a moat outside, and everything else is similar, our village can also build canoes, and the tribal adults can at best build larger canoes, how can we build such a big boat?"

"Perhaps the craftsmen were invited from the Goguryeo people?"

"Impossible. The Goguryeo people are very wary of us. They won't even give us better bowsmiths and weapon craftsmen, let alone such a great shipbuilder?"

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On the deck, Shen Faseng and Yiji Lianbode looked at the two mohe boys on the shore who were looking at their ship curiously, and they were secretly happy. They had been looking for a market town with a large amount of iron in this area for more than ten days, but they couldn't find it. no idea.Different from the modern Tumen River estuary, the Tumen River estuary at that time was composed of dozens of tributaries of various sizes, many peninsula islands, and large wetlands. In the legendary town of Fuchu, it is harder than finding a flea in a stable.The only way is to inquire from the local aboriginal population, but the problem is that the local area is sparsely populated, and once in a while, they run faster than a rabbit, which almost makes the two of them desperate.

"Ijilian Bode, you wait on the boat, I will take two people ashore to capture those two little savages!" Shen Faseng said.

"That's all!" Igillian Bode said: "Let me go there myself!"

"you?"

"Yes, I grew up in the Eastern Kingdom. The local Ainu language and customs are a bit similar to these Mohe people. Dealing with these barbarians is better than you!" Yiji Lianbode untied the long knife at his waist and took another bag Carrying brown sugar on his waist, he took a small boat ashore, stopped a dozen or so steps away from the two Mohe teenagers, and raised his arms: "Look, I have no weapons, and I have no malicious intentions!"

"Then what's on your waist?" Acton asked, pointing to the dagger at Igilein Bode's waist, and Igilein Bode realized that he only took off the long knife just now, but forgot to use it to cut paper for body protection. With an idea, he pulled out the short knife and the bag of brown sugar, tied the rope that tied the pocket to the handle of the knife, and threw it over: "This is a gift for you, please accept it!"