"Lao Wu, why didn't Wei Xiang come to the palace today?" Zhao Bin looked at Wang Wu and asked.
"Before leaving yesterday, Old Wei said that it is now the autumn harvest and there are many things going on at the government office, so he will not come to the palace in the past few days." Wang Wu thought for a while and replied.
Zhao Bin didn't want to delay this matter, so he immediately gave instructions: "Send someone to inform Lin Jingtang, Cao Li, and Wei Xiang to come to the palace tomorrow to discuss matters."
Seeing that Zhao Bin's face was a little serious, Wang Wu immediately responded: "It's the prince. I'll call someone to inform you now." After saying that, he left the hall and ran to the gate to ask a guard to pass the order to the government office.
Early the next morning, Lin Jingtang, Cao Li, and Wei Xiang came to the palace together. When the three of them arrived at the palace, Zhao Bin had not gotten up yet. As a person who had traveled through time in modern times, he still had not adapted to the ancient habit of getting up early. It wasn't until Wang Wu came to report that Zhao Bin reluctantly got up from the bed.
When Zhao Bin came to the hall, the three of them stood up and saluted: "I humble myself to pay homage to the prince."
"Okay, you are all outsiders. Please sit down. I have asked you three to come here today because I want to discuss something with you." Zhao Bin sat down on the main seat and said, "My lords, are there Xianbei people and people in Yancheng?" People from Xiliao?"
Lin Jingtang pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty, there is a small tribe of 500 people less than a hundred miles north of Yancheng. They are Xianbei people. There is an area of Xianbei people between Xiliao and Yancheng, so there is no Xiliao people in the territory. people."
"Master Lin, does he know how many people there are in the Xianbei tribe?" Zhao Bin asked.
"The exact number of people is not clear, but it should be less than 200,000. The Xianbei people had about 700,000 or 800,000 people in their heyday. However, over the past hundred years, the Jie tribe has continued to grow, constantly invading the Xianbei people, and fighting with the West. The Liao Dynasty competed for the area and there were frictions from time to time, which led to the continued reduction of the Xianbei population and the shrinking of their activity areas, only remaining near the southern part of the Xianbei Mountains," Lin Jingtang replied.
Xianbei Mountain is actually the ancient name of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the origin of the Xianbei people.
"Approximately how many people are there in Xiliao?" Zhao Bin asked again
"It should be no less than 400,000 people." Lin Jingtang.
Wei Xiang wondered: "If 400,000 people want to eat a tribe of less than 200,000 people, I can't say that it's 100% sure, but it should be 70% or 80% possible. But why didn't the Xiliao people attack the Xianbei people in a big way?" territory?"
"Probably because they don't want to face the Jie tribe directly. There are 400,000 people. Excluding the old and the weak, there should be about 100,000 young men who can mount a horse and fight. The Jie tribe should have millions of people now. General Ding regained Hebei twenty years ago. Dao, killed more than 50,000 people, but in the past twenty years, the number of young people who have grown up far exceeds 50,000 people. Now the Xiongnu tribe to the west of the Jie tribe is also extremely powerful. If they are not prepared, the Xiongnu will take advantage of it. If we enter, I'm afraid the Jie clan will invade in large numbers." Cao Li said unhurriedly.
"Master Cao is right. At present, the Xiongnu and Jie people are on par with each other. Only by keeping each other in check can Daxia be a little more stable. If the two families join forces, I am afraid that not only Hebei Road, but also Shanxi Road and Guanzhong Road will be in danger." ." Zhao Bin said while tapping the table with one hand.
"Forget it, I didn't call you here to discuss this matter. I mainly want to discuss how to purchase livestock." Zhao Bin continued.
Cao Li asked curiously: "Your Majesty, the carriage that came back yesterday was from the beach?" He heard that ten carriages entered the courtyard west of the palace yesterday.
"Yes, King Yanben has asked people to bring him back, and now he wants to make deals with these tribes. At the moment, it seems that the Xianbei people are the most suitable, but only one Xianbei tribe is not enough. Mr. Lin, Mr. Cao, you two I will try to contact the people from Xiliao in a few days, and at least find a messenger from Xiliao for me." Zhao Bin looked at the two people and said.
"It's the prince"
"In addition, Wei Xiang, send two people to take my king's letter to the Xianbei tribe in the north. Tell him that I want to see the leader of their tribe and ask him to come to Yancheng in the next two days." Zhao Bin said to Wei Xiang.
"It's the prince. I will send someone immediately after I return from my humble position." Wei Xiang responded.
Zhao Bin asked some more about the current autumn harvest. After hearing that there had been no news of plundering by the Jie tribe, he felt a little more at ease. Then he gave some instructions and let the three of them go back.
Soon after, two government officials rode out of the north gate on fast horses...
In the camp of the Xianbei tribe, an old man of about fifty sat in the center of the camp, listening to the people below reporting on the statistics of cattle and sheep this year.
"Reporting to the clan chief, this year our tribe has harvested 2,000 horses, 3,000 oxen, and 20,000 sheep. We have 800 mature horses, 1,000 oxen, and 10,000 sheep that can be handed over to the sweat tent. The rest can be provided to the tribe. Keep it for next year's production of cakes." A middle-aged man wrapped in sheepskin stated one by one.
Another middle-aged man in his thirties said angrily: "Huh, the number of sweat accounts is getting more and more every year. It's so damn irritating."
The old man also said with a sad face: "The Jie tribe invades our tribe every year, and the grasslands west of the Xianbei Mountains are occupied by the Jie tribe. If this continues, the Xianbei tribe may not be far away from being exterminated."
While they were talking, a man with a sword walked into the camp from outside and said, "Chief, two Han people came outside and said they wanted to see you."
"Han people? Are they from Yancheng?" the old man asked.
"Yes, they said they came to deliver the letter on the order of King Yan," the man replied.
"King Yan?" the old man asked doubtfully. His tribe has moved here for many years. People from the tribe occasionally go to Yancheng to exchange some items. Many people in the tribe have learned simple Chinese, but they have never heard of it. What kind of king is there in Yancheng? The two middle-aged men also looked at each other.
"Let them come in." The old man said slowly.
When the two officers entered the tent, the old man ordered some barbecued meat and goat milk tea. After a brief communication, the old man learned that King Yan was the third prince of Daxia Kingdom and had been in Yancheng for more than a month. The letter only contained some greetings and said that they had something important to discuss, but did not specify what it was.
After hearing the purpose of his visit, the old man showed a trace of hesitation. His tribe only has a few hundred people, and most of them are old and weak. It is so close to Yancheng. If he doesn't go, he may offend the King of Yan. But if he goes there without knowing anything about the King of Yan, he may risk it. There was an unexpected incident, although the two families had not had any friction in recent years. The officer saw that the old man was hesitant and seemed to have remembered something. He immediately took out a small wooden box from his arms and handed it to the middle-aged man beside him, indicating that it should be handed over to the clan leader.
The old man took the wooden box and opened it. Inside was a small sealed cloth bag with the word "salt" embroidered on it. The old man opened the bag and was a little surprised to see the items that were as white as fine sand inside. His tribe had bought salt in Yancheng, but the salt looked yellow and dark, and there was still some food mixed in it. The things you can't see clearly are completely different from the fine sand-like things in your hands. The middle-aged man next to him also saw what was in the bag and asked in Xianbei dialect: Chief, what is this?
"The word "salt" is written on the bag, but it doesn't look like salt before." The old man said as he put his hand into the bag and twisted a handful to taste it, but was stopped by the middle-aged man.
"Clan leader is not allowed, let me do it." The old man looked at the middle-aged man and said nothing, seeming to agree with the middle-aged man's opinion. The middle-aged man carefully picked up a little salt, looked back at the two guards, and then put the fine salt into his mouth.
Perhaps it had been a long time since he had eaten salt. The middle-aged man looked a little excited and said, "Chief, this is salt, good salt, salt that is not bitter."
After a while, seeing that the middle-aged man was fine, the old man calmly took a little salt and put it in his mouth, with a look of surprise on his face. Looking at the cloth bag in his hand, the old man seemed to have guessed something. He immediately said to the two officers: "It will be getting late today and it will be inconvenient to travel. If you don't mind, you can stay in the clan for the night. Tomorrow morning I, Su and Tu, would like to accompany you to pay homage to King Yan."
The two officers looked at each other and said, "Thank you so much, Chief Su, but we have orders and have to rush back to recover, so I won't stay here any longer."
The reason why the two of them had to rush back was, firstly, because they did not dare to spend the night on the barbarian's territory for fear of something unexpected happening, and secondly, the smell of sheep was so unpleasant, and the tents were all covered in starch. It's like handling a suet dish. The two of them didn't waste any more time, and immediately got up and left while the night was still dark.
