Qin Official

On the grassland at the foot of Helan Mountain, a Hun woman holds down a goat while a man with a blade neatly cuts its trachea and arteries. The goat kept struggling, and its blood spattered on the ground, turning crimson in the brown soil. After convulsing for a while, it finally became motionless and completely dead.

A group of people were busy picking up the dead sheep. They quickly cut a small hole in the sheepskin and blew air in until the sheep was as loud as a puffer fish. Chen Ping was very surprised.

This is the first time in his life that he has seen this method of tidying up sheep. At this time, the skin and meat of the dead sheep have been basically separated, making it much easier to peel off the skin. The man who killed the sheep peeled off the entire sheepskin three times, five times, five times, and two times. , then turned it inside out, then began to remove the internal organs and chop the meat...

When the Huns were killing cattle and sheep, Chen Ping stood by and watched with his hands in his sleeves. At first, the Huns did not welcome this pretty boy with a strange smile on his face and looking around curiously.

But when Chen Ping took out a piece of salt, or even more rare, a small grain of brown sugar as a gift, the Huns, regardless of gender, old or young, put on warm smiles and allowed Chen Ping to look around, and even tried their best to invite him to Qionglu. Sit inside.

Chen Ping did not reject their kindness. He remembered his mission: only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle! He is the eyes and ears of Lieutenant Heifu, so he must observe every detail of the Huns, and if possible, try to learn their language.

This is the pasture of the local "Xiao Qiequ". The translator arranged by Wu Shi Yan for Chen Ping could not explain the original meaning of Qiequ. According to Chen Ping's understanding, it is probably similar to the Qiang Rong's "Jun Chang".

Chen Ping came to Helan Mountain for a few days. Although this place was just one of the many grazing areas of the Xiongnu, it was the time when the Xiongnu prince Mo Dun was getting married. There were many Xiongnu nobles gathered here, so Chen Ping finally sorted out the various titles within the Xiongnu. :

The Shanyu was the supreme leader of the Xiongnu tribe. He combined military and political power. He was hereditary from the Luotang clan. Who was the first Chanyu? The Huns themselves can't tell clearly. Anyway, the Huns have been a country for decades. They started from the Yinshan and Hetao areas and gradually grew. Today, Touman Chanyu rules the Huns.

Under the Chanyu, the Xiongnu also had left and right Danghu, left and right Guduhou, etc. These were high-status nobles who could command "ten thousand cavalry". Small tribes had thousands of people, and the ruler was called Danghu. The small tribes were called Qiequ, Qianchang, Baichang, and Shichang.

Based on this calculation, the Xiongnu implemented a feudal system. From the Chanyu to Wanqi, Danghu, and Qiqu, each had its own fiefdom and subjects. During the war, they had to lead the troops to follow the Chanyu...

Since he is a small noble, Xiongnu Xiaoqiequ's family is well off, which can be seen from the large amount of milky yellow cheese drying on the grass outside the dome.

The method of making this kind of dairy product is to simmer goat's milk or cow's milk for several hours until it becomes a paste, then put it into a container or shape it into pieces by hand, and then put it in the sun to dry . After a few days, it becomes as hard as a rock and can be stored for a year and a half without any problem.

As far as Chen Ping saw, each of the Huns had a few pieces of cheese in their bags to satisfy their hunger and thirst. They could be heated and melted for consumption, or they could be put directly into their mouths and held in their mouths for an hour. When talking, Almost everyone has a sour smell.

Seeing this scene, Chen Ping suddenly realized: "No wonder Wu Shiluo once said that the Chinese people are not as good as the Xiongnu when they are tired from wind and rain, but not hungry or thirsty. In fact, the Huns are not really able to endure hunger and thirst, maybe because they eat cheese. , dried meat, easy to carry, can be put into the mouth at any time, it is really an excellent marching food..."

When it comes to long-distance marches and thousands-mile raids, the Huns have a huge advantage.

But Chen Ping didn't have to worry, because before he came, Beidi County Lieutenant Heifu had purchased a lot of wheat flour from Guanzhong and planned to tinker with a new type of dry food called "Guokui"...

Chen Ping's first reaction was to ask Heifu: "What is the pot?"

Finally, Chen Ping's wife took him into the kitchen and pointed at the new cooking utensils in the kitchen of Hei Fu's house. Chen Ping finally understood.

While thinking about it, Chen Ping was invited into Qionglu by Xiao Qiequ of the Xiongnu.

The so-called Qionglu is a felt tent. Its walls are woven with wicker and sheepskin felt cloth is sewn in the gaps. The top is raised in the middle and the sides are drooping. The shape is like the sky, so it is called Qionglu.

This kind of living room is not big, and the whole family is squeezed in it, so it is naturally not very comfortable. It can only protect you from wind and rain. Its advantage is that it is easy to disassemble and move.

Chen Ping began to think again: "That's why the Xiongnu people often farmed in the city and migrated in pursuit of water and grass. They dismantled the domes and put them on oxcarts. The whole family mounted horses, drove cattle and sheep, and ate cheese. Go hundreds or thousands of miles away. Because this happens every year, he marches and fights and breaks out of camp very quickly..."

Compared with the Central Plains army, which can only travel thirty miles in one day and spend another two hours setting up camp and digging stoves to cook, the Huns' customs are really suitable for fighting.

The Xiongnu Xiao Qiequ didn't know what Chen Ping was planning, so he enthusiastically asked his wife and daughter to bring fresh hot milk. The Huns usually added some salt from Huamachi to the hot milk. But this time, Chen Ping gave him a pound of brown sugar as a gift. Xiao Qiequ's wife and daughter cut half of the brown sugar into pieces and put them into the hot milk. After trying a bite, Xiao Qiequ's eyes lit up and he raised his thumbs up and praised loudly!

A different taste is also a good experience for the Hun nobles, and brown sugar can also be sold at a good price on the grassland.

When Xiao Qiequ and Chen Ping were communicating in a language they didn't understand, the freshly cut mutton was already being cooked in the tent. Chen Ping noticed that the iron cauldron used was not the one from the Central Plains, but an ordinary four-legged pottery pot. , which is not bad. Most herdsmen's families can't even afford pottery, so they use thick cowhide to store water for cooking.

Except for salt, no seasoning is added to the mutton. In the land of the Huns, no grains are grown, and spices can only be used by the nobles. The cooked mutton pieces will be evenly broken down and then distributed to family members and guests.

As a guest, Chen Ping was given the best food: sheep's eyes. Although he resisted a little, he still put it into his mouth with a smile. It tasted a bit chewy, like cartilage.

Several of Xiaoqiequ's wives and children gathered in the tent. At this time, Chen Ping discovered that Xiaoqiequ was sitting in the chairman's chair, with himself as a guest below him. Opposite him was Xiaoqiequ's almost adult son, and then It's other wives and children.

Only at the last table, farthest from the food and closest to the door, sat an old woman with gray hair. She carefully ate the cold leftover milk that was handed to her the whole time.

"Who is this?" Chen Ping tilted his head and asked the translator in Xia dialect.

The translator said: "It is the mother of Xiaoqiequ."

"stepmother?"

"No, it's my biological mother."

Chen Ping was a little surprised. In the Central Plains, parents are expected to sit at the head of the family, and the son has to choose the best food, remove the bones, and serve it himself!

"The customs of the Xiongnu are very different from those of the Central Plains."

The translator explained: "The Xiongnu value the strong and the strong, and despise the old and the weak. The strong eat fat food, and the old eat the rest. Xiao Qiequ is doing a good job for his mother. In many Xiongnu herdsmen's families, their parents are still alive in their sixties. Throw them away from the place where they are offered to heaven, and let them starve to death and be devoured by wild wolves and vultures!”

Chen Ping couldn't help but be shocked. Although he learned from Huang Lao and did not strictly follow the etiquette, the meaning of filial piety and brotherhood were the ethics that all schools in the Central Plains vigorously promoted. The Qin State even made laws to punish unfilial sons. The behavior of the Huns was not allowed to the Qin Dynasty. , every household will be accused and sentenced to death...

However, with Chen Ping's wisdom, he understood after careful consideration: the Xiongnu clearly focused on war and attack, and their old and weak were unable to fight, so they relied on their fat and healthy diet.

After arriving at the frontier, he gradually discovered that the life of animal husbandry was crueler than farming. A snowstorm or a plague caused the death of cattle and sheep, and the herdsmen could only survive by eating grass and hunting. In this case, having one more mouth in the family is a burden. They either choose to abandon the old man who can no longer work, or choose to kill the newborn...

Chen Ping remembered what the county captain Heifu said: "Survival of the fittest, survival of the fittest!"

This sentence is vividly reflected on the grassland: when the basic living conditions cannot be met, one must plunder outside to maintain a livelihood; to protect one's livestock and wives from being plundered by outsiders, a military system must be established.

The cruel environment created a cruel nation, so besides herding and hunting, the Huns also committed robbery and plunder, which was also their way of making a living.

Earlier, Yan, Zhao, and Qin were invaded by the Huns. Later, Li Mu defeated the Huns, and the Huns no longer dared to enter the border. So the Xiongnu targeted the Loufan, Baiyang, Linhu and other tribes in Henan, plundered them several times, and conquered them as slaves of their own tribe.

The man who just killed the sheep for Xiao Qiequ was an Aries man; the salt his family ate was carried by the flower horse Chi Yanrong; and on Helan Mountain, there were some Linhu people who had snatched it from hundreds of miles away. Specialized in felling wood and splitting firewood.

Chen Ping somewhat understood why Heifu proposed the strategy of expanding to the west, and then made a key suggestion: first defeat the Xiongnu, and then conquer the Yueshi!

"I once heard that King Wuling of Zhao wanted to make his son the king of the country, but he wore Hu clothes and led the scholar-bureaucrats to attack the Hu land from the northwest. He wanted to attack Qin from Yunzhong and Jiuyuan directly south, so he pretended to be an envoy and entered Qin to observe Qin. Politics..."

"Although King Zhao Wuling's mission failed and Zhao was destroyed, the Xiongnu replaced the powerful Zhao and became a serious problem in the north of Qin."

Decades of repeated plundering and conquests made the Xiongnu stronger and stronger. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Qin to unify the Central Plains and have no time to visit the north, they took the opportunity to cross the river and occupy a large area of ​​land south of the Hetao, with hundreds of thousands of people in control. And it is located in the north of Guanzhong. If you can break through the Great Wall with a light horse, you can reach Ganquan Mountain in half a month by walking up to the county and north!

If not dealt with in time, the Hu people may become a nuisance to the Central Plains.

He secretly thought: "The county captain is really far-sighted, and he is not as good as me..."

Smart people are always aware of the subtleties, and Chen Ping did not eat this meal in vain.

After finishing the meal, Chen Ping left another piece of cloth as a gift and said goodbye to Xiao Qiequ. When leaving Qionglu, Xiao Qiequ and his wife and son, who had their mouths full of oil, greeted each other warmly.

While Chen Ping was polite as he promised, his eyes could not be separated from the old mother who was sitting on a worn felt mat, holding a stone, knocking on the leftover sheep bones, and struggling to suck the marrow inside.

At her feet, several of her family's dogs were snatching food from her, gnawing on meaty bones...