On October 11th, Shu Shu and his party traveled sixty miles and rested in the afternoon. On October 12th, we traveled ninety miles. We set out relatively early and arrived at the inn before sunset.
On the morning of October 13th, the group arrived at their destination. Along the official road, there is a palace built in the early years, called Kalahetun Palace, which is the place where you stay on the way to Mulan Paddock.
The main body of the palace consists of several connected houses and a barracks with a martial arts training ground, where everyone is accommodated.
After a brief lunch, the general manager led the way, got off the official road and walked eastward for more than thirty miles, taking everyone to a place surrounded by mountains in the north.
After climbing over the blocked mountain road, you can see a mountain canyon crisscrossed by rivers, with clouds and mist swirling above it.
It is surrounded by mountains. Na Xing said in the main pipeline: "This is the junction of Manchuria and Mongolia. There are no civilians. There are only a dozen or so families of Mongolians who make a living here by fishing and hunting." This is the junction of Aohan, Karaqin and Wengniute tribes in Monan Mongolia. In the early years, three ministries dedicated Mulan Paddock to Kangxi, including the Rehe area bordering Manchuria.
When Brother Ninth saw it, he couldn't help but feel distressed and said: "It's such a pity that such a big place has no farming or grazing." Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying also followed, looking at the canyon in the distance.
Not to mention anything else, just look at the rivers and there is no shortage of water, so it should be more livable. It's far away now, so everyone has to go down the mountain road to get there.
No wonder this place is called Rehe. It turns out that the water vapor in the clouds and mist is the water vapor brought out by dozens of hot springs upstream.
Everyone was wearing big sweaters, but when we got here, we felt the difference. Perhaps it's because of the mountain canyon or the vapor from the hot springs. The temperature here is much hotter than on the hillside. The vegetation along the river is still a little green and has not withered away.
Except for the withered and yellow grass at the foot of the mountain, many trees on the mountainside are still green. They should be evergreen pines and cypresses.
In the distance, I saw several small boats on the riverside, and someone was casting a net. I saw dozens of riders coming, and the people on the boat were also whispering to each other.
After a while, an older fisherman came to the place where everyone was staying in a canoe. When I got closer, I saw a Mongolian man dressed in a Mongolian robe made of sheepskin. His face was dark and red, and his face was full of wrinkles.
"Distinguished guest, welcome to Rehe..." the old man said in a loud voice, spreading his hands and saying
"GuluGulu" in Mongolian. Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying were dumbfounded. Both of them were familiar with Manchu, but Mongolian was not good here.
Brother Jiu didn't ask anyone to reply, but said to himself: "Which herdsmen are you from? Aohan, Kalaqin or Wengniute? Which prince, Taiji, are you a member of?" The old man shook his head and said, "We have been here for generations. I live here and have gone to the tribe mentioned by the nobleman to go to the market, but I am not one of their subjects." When everyone looked at the mountainside just now, they did not see any villages gathered together.
These people should maintain the living habits of herdsmen and live scattered in the canyon. Brother Jiu asked: "Since you are old households here, do you know how many families live in the canyon here?" The old man pondered for a while and said: "There are still twenty families. Earlier it was twenty-one. However, the old grandmother of the Agula family died of diarrhea last month, so there are only twenty households left." Brother Jiu was very satisfied after hearing this.
In this way, the entire canyon can be planned arbitrarily without worrying about disturbing residents' land. Next, it depends on where to choose the location.
It is necessary to choose a land boundary formed by mountains and rivers, and take advantage of the force of nature. In this way, you can simply build a house and save a lot of money.
There should also be open space around to build garrison barracks and horse stables. Since the territory is prepared for the Mongol princes to come to court, the camps for the Mongol princes must also be set aside.
It seemed to take a lot of space in total, but the huge canyon was enough for them to choose from. The ninth elder brother said to the old man: "Bogda Khan is the emperor outside now, and his land is under the sky. He will build a palace here. You can tell the local herdsmen that there will be a royal horse farm and a palace here." If you know how to choose a royal herdsman, your young men can come and get a share of the emperor's mission, and your children and grandchildren can all get a share of money and food." The old man listened to Mihu, with confusion on his face.
For this kind of retail investors who have been thriving for hundreds of years, listening to these words, I can only vaguely understand the general meaning.
Brother Jiu didn't say anything else and asked everyone to turn around and leave. It takes half an hour to get out of the canyon, and more than half an hour to get from the canyon to the palace.
It's getting late. There were dozens of riders in a group, coming and going in a hurry. On the river, the herdsmen who had only dared to watch before rowed canoes to the old man.
The old man was the leader of these people. He once brought dried fish to the surrounding Mongolian tribes to exchange for sheep and salt tea cloth.
He also understood what Bogda Khan was, a ruler among the Mongols. He is the lord of the world.
The pastures for hundreds of miles to the northwest are all royal pastures. For this reason, their journey to the market was extended by more than 200 miles.
He was telling these herdsmen who had never been out of the canyon what Bogda Khan was, what the royal ranch was, what the emperor's mission was... Shu Shu and his party, hurrying slowly, only returned to the palace at dusk.
Together with the mountain road, it is equivalent to a round trip of eighty miles. When Brother Jiu dismounted, his legs couldn't close together. He ignored his own discomfort and looked at Shu Shu worriedly, because he was worried about Shu Shu's hard work.
Shu Shu thought it was okay, but her body was damp. We had stayed in the valley for three quarters of an hour before. The temperature was high and our clothes were thick, so we were all sweating.
This is true for Shu Shu, let alone Ninth Brother, who is slightly weaker in physical strength. The couple was not in a hurry to eat and ordered hot water first.
The dining room had been prepared in advance. The two of them not only washed their bodies but also washed their hair before they felt alive.
Brother Jiu was still thinking about what he saw in the afternoon, and sighed: "There is still not enough money, or it will be all over." Shu Shu wiped his hair and didn't want to follow him.
She asked: "I will be drawing tomorrow, will you come over?" She thought that when she met a hot spring, she would not take a bath, just soak her feet and feel comfortable. It was a wonderful thought, but in fact there was no road in the canyon.
Nowadays, the vegetation is withered and everyone walks around casually, but it is still incomparable to having a road. Brother Ninth immediately shook his head and said: "No, let's rest in the palace and walk around nearby. Let Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying go. We can't go out in vain. We have to give them a chance to make contributions!" Shu Shu Shu couldn't help but laugh.
Only Brother Jiu can describe laziness in such a fresh and refined way. However, the couple went out just to relax, not with the intention of working hard.
The key is that the temperature fluctuates from high to low, making it easy to catch a cold. Thinking of this, Shu Shu ordered some walnuts and said: "Ask the kitchen to make ginger soup, add more ginger, and let everyone drink a few bowls, especially Mr. Zhang and Mr. Cao are about to deliver it." Ninth Brother is crispy, so The two don't look very strong.
Walnut went down and gave orders. After a while, Xiaotang brought someone to prepare a meal. Tonight is mutton soup, a total of six sheep were killed.
Here, Shu Shu and Jiu Age use lamb, a milky-white mutton bone soup with chopped mutton in it, and a lot of pepper. There is also a plate of grilled lamb chops, a plate of mutton sausage, and a platter of mutton blood sausage. , a plate of fried bracken, a plate of cabbage stewed in mutton soup, and a plate of fried mutton with dried beans.
The two of them were hungry after running around all afternoon. Shu Shu is okay, the lamb chops are charred on the outside and tender on the inside. Bracken is a local specialty. The dried beans were bought in Miyun and tasted okay. The cabbage is made from leaves and the stewing time is short, so it is still sweet when you eat it.
Brother Jiu frowned. After taking a bite, the bracken felt hard and the dried beans felt greasy. He stared at the only fresh vegetable, Chinese cabbage, and complained to Shu Shu: "In the next ten and a half days, we will only have cabbage to eat all day, right?" Shu Shu said: "I'll deal with it first, and I'll call you tomorrow." It will be refreshing if you make vermicelli cabbage or sesame cabbage." Brother Jiu frowned and said, "Tomorrow I will send someone to the canyon to buy fish and shrimp. If there are no vegetables, I will use fish to make up for it. This guy always eats mutton and gets a long time on his forehead. Pimples." Shu Shu nodded and said: "You can also collect some mushrooms and do something else." At present, this place is not close to the boundary. It is 400 miles away from Mulan Paddock, 400 miles away from the capital, and 400 miles away from the Karaqin tribe, so it is still There really is no place to go for supplies.
Brother Jiu asked Walnut for tea, rinsed the greasy cabbage and ate it with rice. Seeing this, Shu Shu knew that he would definitely not be able to drink the mutton soup, so she asked Walnut to serve him a large bowl of ginger soup.
Shu Shu drank mutton soup here, and the effect of pepper made her sweat. It was very comfortable. Brother Ninth ate half a bowl of cabbage with rice and drank a large bowl of ginger soup. His face was rosy and he felt hot from the inside out... In the palace across the courtyard, Zhang Tingzhan and Cao Yueying also finished washing and sat down to eat.
There were four dishes for two people, but one less dish than Shu Shu's was grilled lamb chops and stir-fried lamb with dried beans. The two of them ate without saying a word, finished their meal quietly, drank the still hot ginger soup, and drank until they were full.
Although they didn't speak Mongolian, they asked Erhe and Fu Qing about it on the way back. Both of them were educated in Qi and learned Manchu and Mongolian, so they told the two adults about the conversation between the ninth elder brother and the old man.
When this matter was mentioned now, Zhang Tingzhan told Cao Yueying: "Jiu Ye is kind and encloses the land to build a palace, so he must first think about the livelihood of these herdsmen." Cao Yueying has been walking in front of the emperor for more than ten years and has always been cautious in his words and deeds. , thought more, and said: "When it comes to the emperor's mission, it can be considered a permanent shortage. Master Jiu should not be responsible for it, and he needs to ask for an edict." Zhang Tingzhan said: "There are only twenty households in total, so it is easier to arrange. , if you specifically ask for an order, it would seem to be making a fuss. Master Jiu has been on duty for three years, not just when he was in the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Cao Yueying said: "The emperor has been in charge of the imperial palace for many years, and he has long been accustomed to being arbitrary." Zhang Tingzhan was silent.
The emperor still likes the new and hates the old. In his early years, his father was highly regarded, and just like Ma Qi today, he held many positions and was very popular.
Whether it's the master of the East Palace or the Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu, it's all arranged by the emperor. As time passed, the emperor only saw criticism and displeasure in his eyes.
This is true for ministers, and it is also true for princes. Maybe Cao Yueying is right, and you can never make a big mistake by being careful...
