Country color

Chapter 445
In February, Youzhou is already full of spring and flowers are blooming, everything is recovering, and a scene of melting ice and snow is thriving.

But the grasslands in the north are still icy and snowy, and the north wind howls endlessly.

Among the towering trees that few people can hold together, a Khitan forest man wearing deerskin, holding a big wooden stick wrapped in a stone, digs ice at the edge of the lake to catch fish.

Suddenly the sound of horseshoes resounded in the forest, and a large group of Khitan men wearing roe deer skins appeared in the forest. The snow on the treetops was shaken by the sound of horseshoes, and slanted down from a high place.

The people in the Khitan forest looked up at the running cavalry, they didn't pay attention, and continued to dig ice with stones.

The cavalry team came out of the forest and came to a wide field where the Khitan tribe and the Fufuyu tribe were imprisoned.

Hundreds of slanting pillars are built together. The so-called slanting pillars are supported by [-] to [-] wooden poles with a length of [-] to [-] meters, and then the houses are built with animal skins or birch bark.It is said that the slanting pillars can prevent rain in summer and keep out cold in winter. In the umbrella-shaped house, the roof is open, which is convenient for lighting, lighting fire and exhausting smoke.

People in the Khitan forest living in the dense forest have lived like this for hundreds of years, surviving severe winters one after another.

The galloping cavalry dismounted together in front of a gate with a large slanted banner, and the leading Khitan man went straight into the king's tent and shouted, "Brother Qulie, I'm here."

Holding a knife and wearing a bearskin waistcoat, a man walked out of the door. This man was Yi Lijin Qulie from Fufuyu tribe.

Curie glanced at the other party, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Tie up the horses and go inside to drink."

Having said that, the big Khitan man ordered his subordinates to fasten the horses and entered the wooden house.

There was a bonfire in the wooden house, which drove away the severe cold outside. The big man took a stone bowl from Qulie, drank a few gulps, and then sat down and stretched out his hands to warm them in front of the bonfire.

"How is your department doing this winter?" Trillie asked casually, with his legs inserted.

The big Khitan man shook his head, and said: "The wind and snow are heavy, and the people of the clan have eaten enough to eat. Half of the elders and children in the clan are ruined. Now the wind and snow have stopped, so I only use the ones from last year." Go to the Goguryeo people in the south for some iron, otherwise, once the skin rots in the summer, it will be worthless. The Goguryeo people are god damn, and they ask for such a ruthless price. Three good mink furs are only exchanged. A waist knife, in the past, a mink fur can be exchanged for a good iron saber."

Qu Lie asked: "You don't go to Yuyi Town, you have to go to the Goguryeo people to ask for trouble. Who is to blame? It's just that you exchange fur for some food, how can you exchange ironware?"
The big Khitan man listened for a long time before saying: "Brother Qulie, do you know? Yan Lie from the south is also dead!"

Qu Lieben was cutting a piece of half-cooked bloody mutton with a knife. Hearing this, he stopped, put the blood on the knife on his tongue, and asked, "How did you die?"

"I heard that he fought for the Sui people in the south and died in battle. Khan asked me to bring you a message, asking if you would like to loot it."

"It turns out that you traded iron for the purpose of going to the south to plunder," Qulie said after listening to the sharp eyes in his eyes. "How come we have forgotten the disastrous defeat of the Khitan people at the foot of the White Wolf Mountain two years ago and Wuhou Qinshui five years ago. Do you still dare to provoke the Sui people at this time?"

Hearing that Qulie mentioned Bailangshui, Wuhou and Qinshui, the big Khitan man showed a slight look of fear on his face, but then he said: "Brother, we are not going to beat the Sui people, but those lackeys, who betrayed us." Tengger, attached to the Sui people, Khan said they are ten times more hateful than the Sui people."

Qu Lie thought for a while and said: "Although Yan Yelie is dead, there are also [-] to [-] tents stationed on the north bank of Wuhou Qinshui. I heard that they have followed the Khan of the Sui Dynasty and marched south every year. The harvest is not small, so the army is strong and the horse is strong. There is an old man watching from the side, this old guy is an old dog who guards the house, don't think about it with him."

The big Khitan man said: "You don't know about that, the old Qiu Lihan is seriously ill now, I don't know if he can survive this winter, and there is also a commotion in Yan Yelie's department."

"Why?" Curie asked, stopping his movements.

The big Khitan man said: "Yan Yelie's eldest son was sent to Han as a hostage to Bo Erhan, and he learned a lot of Chinese language and Han culture, but now his foundation is not stable, and many of the original tribes do not accept his rule. , are making trouble now, so this is a great opportunity."

Hearing this, Qu Lie's heart moved, and he said: "This is an opportunity, but the horses cannot be without a champion. Khan lost to the Han last time, and now he has lost all face. If he comes to pick the leader, I will not be convinced."

Qu Lie secretly said that his tribe is strong and powerful now, and it seems that he can take this opportunity to establish his reputation among the eight Khitan tribes and replace the Dahe clan in the future.He wanted to listen to the other party's opinion and see if the other party would respond to him.

Qu Lie deliberately asked: "Who do you think the eight Khitan tribes raised their banners to attack Yan Yelie's tribe this time? It can't be Xi Ren, right?"

Speaking of this, the big Khitan man moved closer and said: "No, although the three tribes of the Xi clan also have the same intention, but the real challenger is the Turkic Sui man Zhao Yande, he said to mobilize a few tribes, otherwise they would not have the guts. "

"It's this Zhao Yande again," Qu Lie said, throwing the stone bowl on the ground, "It was also his idea last time, and as a result, tens of thousands of our Khitans died in Bailang Mountain, and the Turks didn't even have a horse." The hair didn’t fall out, so I didn’t say anything this time.”

The big Khitan man said: "Brother Qulie, you have to go. Last time at White Wolf Mountain, our seven tribes lost a lot of cattle and sheep. Only your tribe has no losses. Some people have rumors that you secretly surrendered to the Han Khan. .”

"No such thing! If so, my soul cannot return to Tengger after death." Although Qu Lie said loudly, his three sons are also hostages in Youzhou now.But the Khitan people are ruthless, and Qu Lie has twelve sons, so he doesn't care.

The big Khitan man said: "I can trust you, Brother Qulie, but Khan and the others don't believe it. In the past two years, your tribe has been growing, and it has already made the Dahe clan unhappy. Maybe you will not send troops this time. They will attack you first, big brother, and use the blood of your people to sacrifice the banner of battle."

Qu Lie rolled his eyes when he heard this, smiled and said: "Brother was just joking, why didn't I go to attack Yan Yelie's department? It’s also listed as part of my share.”

"Then that's great, let's go to the south together, and find some beautiful Sui girls to have babies."

After finishing speaking, the two of them laughed out loud, but Qu Lie's eyes showed seriousness.

Yuyi Town, Ruoshui Prefecture Governor's Mansion.

Today's Yuyi Town has already become the capital of the Great Wall after five years of development.

There are more than [-] households of Han people settled in the town, and there are the same number of Fan people.The ice and snow had just melted this spring, the road was not muddy, and camel bells rang outside Yuyi Town.

Before the north and south city gates were opened, caravans of all sizes were crowded outside the gates. There were Han merchants from the south and Hu merchants from the north, chatting with each other while waiting to enter the city.

And on both sides of the city gate, there are people with baskets of mustache on their heads, selling them to the roadside merchants.

In more than a dozen temporary thatched huts by the roadside, a dozen or so barbarian masters were cooking cakes bang bang, the white gas was steaming there, and the children on the side were still yelling: "The city gate will not be opened until two minutes away. Come to a bowl of hot porridge, a bowl of Sanwen, keep you warm from head to toe, and go to the city happily to make a lot of money!"

Many Han merchants couldn't resist the temptation of hot porridge. They removed all their belongings and hitched their horses. After paying for the hot porridge from their children, they squatted on the ground and drank the porridge along with their big mouths.

Businessmen who are not bad at this level sit directly in the thatched shed, where tables are set up and sit around. They drink porridge and eat pancakes while exchanging business experience with their business partners.

The crowd was busy and noisy, so they had a rest period before going to work. After the drums thumped on the city gate, all the merchants immediately returned to the team and lined up to enter the city in order.
In Ruoshui Prefecture Duhufu, which has only been built for two months.

Junkuo, the new protector of the capital, frowned as he looked at the documents sent from the north.

Suddenly Wang Junkuo threw the document on the ground and said, "These Fan people really don't know what to do!"

(End of this chapter)