The wind is calm and the sun is beautiful, and the time is just right.
The grassland has been mostly sunny recently, and if you think about it carefully, the beginning of spring is getting closer and closer.
Zhang Qi and the others were walking in the lush primeval forest. Most of the ice crystals hanging between the pines and cypresses had fallen, revealing a dark green color full of vitality.
Tens of thousands of cattle and sheep screamed, and they also returned to the camp in the Daxingan Mountains.
After more than half a month of absence, the camp in the forest has changed drastically. The former clearing in the forest has now been expanded several times, enough to accommodate more than 4,000 people.
The yurts are neatly arranged, with smoke curling up from the cooking pots, and they no longer look as messy as before.
The children were laughing and playing, helping the adults collect firewood. Countless thick logs were piled neatly around the camp. They were not processed and were only used as a slight buffer.
The sound of tens of thousands of cattle and sheep walking around in the forest was naturally not concealed from the people in the camp. Hui and Ying had brought people out early to lead the cattle and sheep together.
Entering the camp, the imaginary scene of cattle and sheep dancing did not appear in front of Zhang Qi's eyes. After asking, he found out that Ying sent a few people with quick legs and feet to explore the path in the Daxingan Mountains. There was a camp not far away from here. The valley is large enough to accommodate those cattle and sheep.
Zhang Qi nodded and asked Wang Li, Naqi, and the Huns to lead their own people to help build the camp. Under the guidance of Lu Mu, he himself came to a slightly luxurious yurt. .
Zhang Qi sat down, Hui and Lu Mu bowed to Zhang Qi at the same time, and then presented several large rolls of cloth.
Lu Mu: "Lang Jun, during this period, Xiaolaoer and Hui Langjun have registered everyone in the camp, including 670 adult men, 2,800 adult women, and 1,200 children. Remain."
"In addition, the little old man mixed them up on his own initiative, and the people from each tribe have been dispersed."
Lu Mu stood beside Zhang Qi, gesturing on a spread piece of cloth.
The number of people, names, genders, and ages are clearly recorded on it.
Zhang Qi nodded: "You're doing well, you're serious about it."
Zhang Qi was very satisfied with Lu Mu's arrangement. It was equivalent to a small census, allowing him to know more clearly how many people he had.
After briefly looking at the cloth that recorded the herdsmen's information, Zhang Qi opened another one.
This piece of cloth records materials.
At this time, Hui also walked to Zhang Qi's side and began to introduce them one by one. If Lu Mu was responsible for the manager of the human resources department, then Hui was the director of the financial department.
First, the number of cattle, sheep and horses plundered more than a dozen tribes, and now Zhang Qi counted the last rich man in the land.
"Now we have 37,224 cattle, and more sheep, more than 58,000. Now they are all placed in the valley in the southwest, and are looked after by the women who believe in Qi. , but milk production has been somewhat reduced recently, so you’ll have to make an idea later.”
"The number of horses is a little less. I'm not telling you, Qi, you were too extravagant when you led Ying and others to thresh the grass and grains. You killed so many horses at will. Now the number of horses in the camp is only more than 2,000. There are more than 6,000 ordinary horses.”
When Hui was talking about the horses, she glanced at Zhang Qi with a slight annoyance. The news she learned from Ying was that when Zhang Qi led people to thresh the grass in the valley, the horses would be slaughtered as long as they were exhausted during the attack.
Zhang Qi shrugged his shoulders: "Should we obey the authority in urgent matters? If we don't do this, once those tribes wake up, we won't gain so much this time."
"That's the truth." Hui nodded, and then continued to point at the cloth.
"Our milk collection containers are almost exhausted these days. In addition to the daily allocation of fresh milk for each person, the remaining milk has been arranged for the herdsmen to start making cheese (dong4). However, due to the climate Because of this, it will take some time for this batch of cheese to be eaten."
Jing cheese, also known as cheese, is one of the daily staple foods of the prairie people. Zhang Qi and others have also tasted it. It is not delicious, but it is indeed nutritious.
After the cheese is made, it can be refined again and the water is removed to make cheese. This kind of dry food is easy to preserve. It is one of the daily rations for the Huns' elite soldiers and is often used as military rations.
For the grassland people, the craft of making cheese is just like the Han people who work in the fields. It is a skill for survival, so Zhang Qi has no objection to this.
He nodded and let Hui continue.
"The last thing is the quantity of some utensils. There are tens of thousands of yurts, but now only more than two thousand are used. The rest have been bundled and stored, and the number of pottery utensils is not enough.
The pieces you asked the eagle to bring back were so rotten on the road that animal skin bags are now being produced in large quantities in the camp to hold water and milk.
But you also know that the smell of animal skin bags is really unpleasant, and the milk and water inside will become smelly in a short time. "
"Well... that's also a question." Zhang Qi supported his chin with his left hand and nodded.
Utensils are something that you don't think much about when you taste them, but once they are missing, you will be exposed to big trouble.
Zhang Qi thought for a while and said to Lu Mu, "Are there any craftsmen among those herdsmen who are good at making pottery?"
Lu Mu cupped his hands and said, "I was about to tell Mr. Lang that there are some craftsmen among the herdsmen who were once from the Han region. But you haven't come back, and the little old man doesn't dare to make any decisions, because once the kiln is built and burned, The movement was a bit loud."
Hearing what Lu Mu said, Zhang Qi also frowned slightly. It was true that the kiln was no different than other kilns. The movement of the thick smoke was like the smoke of the Great Wall, very eye-catching.
"Go and think of a way. Discuss it with the craftsmen. Maybe they will have an idea."
Zhang Qi said to Lu Mu, who nodded and walked out of the yurt.
As soon as Lu Mu left, Zhang Qi continued to look at Hui: "Please tell me if you have any other questions."
Hui nodded and continued: "The other thing is that our horses don't have enough fodder. The cattle and sheep consume an astonishing amount every day. Even the hundreds of women who are devoted to you can't supply enough fodder. Now those cattle Seventy percent of the sheep have already shown symptoms of milk loss."
"So let alone the war horses, if you don't come back, I'm thinking about killing a bunch of cattle and sheep first to reduce losses."
As soon as Hui finished speaking, Zhang Qi made a final decision and said: "Kill, we have to kill a batch. Including the cattle and sheep I brought back today, the number of hundreds of thousands has already exceeded the demand in the camp. It is the wintering period now. There is not enough fodder, and if we don’t kill them, they will lose weight.”
"How many will you kill?" Hui asked Zhang Qi.
Zhang Qi thought for a moment: "Kill 20,000 sheep first. The meat will not spoil so quickly in winter. Let the people in the camp eat more meat, supplemented by some fresh milk. It just so happens that I have already planned to train troops. The more meat, the better ."
"Okay, I'll make arrangements."
Since Zhang Qidu said this, Hui immediately agreed. He was in charge of the supplies in the camp. These large numbers of cattle and sheep were usually precious wealth, but in winter, he was really powerless.
