Three Kingdoms

"Ah! General Zhao!" The small-headed man from Bai Shiqiang smiled like a morning glory on the grassland, with a bright look on his face. He hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Long time no see, General Zhao..."

This is a distribution point of Baishi Qiang. The person in charge here is a small tribe leader from Baishiqiang. He has also been to Pingyang, so he knows Zhao Yun more or less.

Although there is a large market in Pingyang, not all Hu people are willing to climb mountains and wading rivers to reach Pingyang to trade. Therefore, the small distribution center provided by the Baishi Qiang tribe has become the first choice of these Hu people.

This trading center provided daily necessities for most of the Hu people living in groups or scattered throughout the northern part of Shangjun, including Gao Nu.

Zhao Yun glanced at the Baishi Qiang-headed man and said calmly: "A certain person is a captain, not a general."

The Baishi Qiangtou man quickly bent down and added: "Yes, yes... Colonel Zhao... But according to Colonel Zhao's ability, sooner or later he will also be a general..."

Zhao Yun couldn't comment, and there was no sadness or joy on his face. He sat down with a golden sword and said, "Do you have any salt here?"

"Ah? Yes, some..." The Baishi Qiangtou man quickly asked someone to fetch a jar of refined salt and delivered it to Zhao Yun himself.

Zhao Yun stretched out his finger, picked out a yellowish salt block from the salt shaker, and threw it into his mouth. The bitter salty taste melts in the mouth...

The so-called refined salt poured over by Baishi Qiang is probably the salt gathered near Qinghai. Although it is said to be refined salt, it is actually not a snow-white salt like later generations, but a plate-shaped body similar to northwest rock salt. The pieces are of different sizes, mostly yellow and less white, which taste astringent and bitter in the mouth.

Just like this kind of salt, it was considered to be the best salt in the Han Dynasty. The salt that ordinary people eat is not only yellow, but even black, and the bitterness is unstoppable. In this way, sometimes they can't eat salt and can only imitate the cattle and sheep to lick the salty earth and rocks. ,

As for the snowflake salt sold by Huang's Workshop in Pingyang, one tael of salt and one tael of gold are even at a low price, so you may not be able to buy them. It's just that the wealthy nobles bought some, but ordinary people couldn't afford it.

"How many more are there?" Zhao Yun pointed to the salt shaker.

The Baishi Qiangtou man bent down and said respectfully: "There are about five cans left..." Salt is a necessity for people and large animals. Although the lack of salt will not cause death immediately, it will also greatly affect physical strength and endurance. Therefore, salt is also a common commodity on the grassland. It's just that this is a small gathering place, so the warehouse is naturally not big, and the quantity of goods stored is not large. There are also other materials that need to be stored. Five cans of refined salt is already a lot.

"It's all gone!" Zhao Yun frowned slightly and said, "How much coarse salt do you still have?"

"Coarse salt, there are some coarse salts, but coarse salt..." The Baishi Qiangtou people were a little surprised and said in confusion, "Coarse salt is not as good as this..." Zhao Yun's appearance here is enough to make people confused. , but I didn’t expect that I suddenly came to buy salt, and even wanted coarse salt?

Zhao Yun waved his hands impatiently and said, "Go get them all, I want them all! As many as you want!"

"Ah? Yes, yes..." The Baishi Qiang-tou man was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted under Zhao Yun's ashen face. He quickly asked people to prepare, laughed with him, and carefully wanted to ask why Zhao Yun suddenly acted like this. There was too much salt, but Zhao Yun gave him a look and retreated in defeat. He had no choice but to give the Baishi Qiang people around him a look. After muttering twice in Qiang language on the ground, he was served some mare's milk wine, dried fruits, etc. , smiled apologetically, and served carefully.

Zhao Yun had a sullen face. Although there were dried meats, drinks and so on in front of him, he didn't eat any of them. He just urged people to pack the salt. Then he got up and went to Bai Shiqiang's large tent that served as the warehouse, and repeatedly confirmed that all the food had been packed. After loading the truck with salt, he dropped a bag of Zhengxi Tongbao and escorted the truck away...

The Baishi Qiang-headed man waved his hands, with a smile on his face. After Zhao Yun and his group disappeared, he pulled down, poured out the Zhengxi Tongbao from the bag, counted it roughly, and clicked his tongue twice.

I didn’t make much money, but I didn’t lose much either, so it was probably pretty good.

"What are these Han people doing here? Want so much salt all of a sudden? Did you ask me anything?" the Baishi Qiang-headed man turned to ask the tribesman next to him.

Zhao Yun refused to tell, so he looked for an opportunity to ask other Han soldiers...

As a Baishi Qiangtou person who can be the person in charge here, if such a strange thing happens, how can we rest assured and sleep well if we don’t find out clearly?

"I asked...the Han people didn't explain it very clearly..." Bai Shiqiang's tribe said, "I just know that General Zhengxi led his troops north to go to Yinshan, but the salt he brought was not paid attention to on the way, and it was soaked by the rain. There was quite a bit, but it was too late to prepare it temporarily, so I came to buy salt from us..."

"You, what did you say?" The Baishi Qiang-headed man was stunned for a moment, and then asked hurriedly.

"...I said that the salt of the Han people has been soaked by the rain, so I came to buy salt...Touman, you said that the Han people are stupid enough to let the salt be soaked by the rain on this rainy day, haha..." Baishi Qiang people Some smiled happily.

"Laugh your ass off! I'm talking about the previous sentence!" The Baishi Qiang-headed man slapped this incompatible clansman on the back of his head.

"...before, the previous sentence? General Zhengxi went north to Yinshan?" the tribesman said, covering his head.

"Yes, General Zhengxi is here? Why is he going to Yinshan? What happened to Yinshan? The Huns rebelled again? Or are the Xianbei coming again?" The Baishi Qiangtou people asked a barrage of questions.

"Ah? This... this..." How can Bai Shiqiang's tribe know these questions? Besides, I don’t have time to ask in detail, not to mention that if I ask, no one may be able to tell.

"Idiot! Trash! Damn guy!" Bai Shiqiang scolded and turned around in circles, muttering something unknown, his face turning green and white.

Is there going to be a war?

This is no joke!

"Leave now? Or wait a little longer?" The Baishi Qiangtou man was a little undecided. He suddenly stopped and stared at the Zhengxi Tongbao in his hand. He was stunned for a while, then immediately walked back, shouting as he walked. He said, "Come here, go to the big tent and take out the black bear skin! Wrap it up and take it with you! Prepare some horses and come with me to visit General Zhengxi!"

The Han army marches north! General Zhengxi is going to Yinshan Mountain!

If there was really a war going on, he would have to move immediately! Otherwise, if we are really affected by the flames of war, we will have no place to cry!

But the problem is that Zhengxi was just patrolling the border. If there was no war, he would move so rashly. Not only would he lose this trading point, but he would also suffer a lot of losses along the way...

Bai Shiqiang is basically a middleman now, and what is the most important thing about a middleman?

Naturally, it is the credibility of business.

In this era, unlike later generations, you can hang a sign to inform those barbarians who come to trade that our store has moved to No. XX Street, turn right from here for 150 meters, etc. Let these barbarians find a new trading place. Once they move, all the original trade will be cut off. If they want to re-establish trading habits and credit, it will be like starting from scratch.

How can the Baishi Qiangtou people bear this?

At the moment, since General Zhengxi is still in the mood to buy Tong Baocai, it means that the problem is not too big, but no matter what, he still needs to find out clearly before he can feel relieved...

…………………………

Although the Hu people's concept of clan is not as strong as that of the Han people, and they do not always emphasize where their ancestral home is, they are not completely without surname differences, such as Huyan, Xubu, and Qiulin. , the four surnames of Lan are the famous clans among the Xiongnu.

But now, the Qiulin clan has long existed in name only, and the Lan clan has been basically exhausted on the battlefield along with the previous division of the Southern Huns royal court.

The remaining Huyan clan followed Yufuluo in Yinshan, while the Xubu clan knew that they were not well received by Yufuluo, so they stayed away from Yinshan and settled in Gaonu.

After all, Xu Bu was elected to succeed Luan Ti Qiang Qu Chan Yu after his death. Although he was coerced, there was no guarantee that Yu Fuluo had nothing in mind, so he simply decided to It would be better to stay away from Huvro, out of sight and out of mind.

Huchuquan failed to raise his troops, and the news of his capture also spread to Gaonu. Knowing that Huchuquan was detained in Yinshan and waiting to be dealt with, the people of the tribe directly under Huchuquan were naturally as if they had been beaten by frost, while the Xubu clan Just to catch my breath, I showed off my laughter for a few days.

After all, Huchuquan did not make things difficult for the Xubu tribe at the beginning. Now most of the cattle and sheep that were taken away by the people of the Huchuquan tribe, or admitted their mistakes, or were lost, are now back. Of course Xubu Dierjin also managed to control the emotions of the tribe a little, and did not suppress the remnants of Huchuquan too much in one breath. After all, Huchuquan has not been formally dealt with yet...

As time went by, Subdierjin also began to murmur. After all, there was no news of Huchuquan being punished, which meant that the possibility of a major incident turning into a minor incident was getting higher and higher.

"Is it possible that Huchuquan can turn over again?"

Subdierjin turned the jade ring in his hand and pondered. The jade ring in his hand was left to him by his father Xubu Guduhou before his death. It can be regarded as a symbol of the Xubu family, or a token.

"Grand Chief!" Just as Subdeljin was thinking, a tribesman suddenly came forward and reported, "Grand Chief, we have finished eating the salt we saved..."

"Huh? You've finished eating the salt? Why are you saying it now?" Subdeljin stood up and followed the tribe to the place where supplies were stored. He picked up the black round clay pot used to store salt blocks and stretched his head to look at it. Look, I reached out and touched it again. Except for some salt residue and powder, I had indeed finished eating.

"Didn't it happen a few days ago?" Subdeljin said with some confusion.

The tribesman on the side said respectfully: "Yesterday, the tribe leader ordered us to add some salt to the cattle and horses..."

People need to eat salt to gain strength, and large animals also need to eat salt. Cattle and horses that have been raised for a winter need to gain fat again in the spring. In addition to eating a lot of fresh grass, they also need to add some salt to the cows and horses, otherwise they will also lose weight. Easy to get sick.

"The Qiang people in the south have moved away? Didn't you buy some?" Subdierjin handed the salt shaker to the tribesman on the side and asked him to put it away, then asked immediately.

The Huns did not produce their own salt. Most of the salt was sold by the Qiang people who traveled to the Western Regions, especially the Baishi Qiang people, who have basically become a big middleman.

"I went..." the tribesman replied, "but the Qiang people all said...all said..."

"What did you say?" Subdeljin didn't pay attention at first. As he asked, he turned to look at the people on the other side of Huchuquan and said, "Other things are easy to say, but salt is always needed... ...What did you say? Those who are hesitant are not the warriors of Changshengtian!"

"What the Qiang people said is very strange..." the tribesman said, "When there was no salt in the morning, we went to find the Qiang people... We told the Qiang people that we wanted to buy some salt, and they also wanted food for cattle and horses... but the Qiang people People say that we are almost out of cattle and horses, so why do we need to buy salt? They say they don’t want to buy us salt, but they want to buy our cattle and horses..."

Subdier was stunned for a moment, turned to look at the tribesmen and said, "...What do you mean?"

The tribesmen who went out to trade with the Qiang people shook their heads and said: "I don't know, the Qiang people are weird anyway... We emphasized that we wanted to buy salt, but the Qiang people asked for too high a price. It was much higher... We said why not first?" We wanted to give some money on credit, but the Qiang people said they couldn't do it on credit and wouldn't sell our salt..."

"Why can't we pay on credit?" Subdierjin's eyes widened, "No! Why did you increase the price for us? What the hell, where did you get the courage to increase our price? Are you new here? You didn't say it was us. The salt we want is not those little random tribes!”

The tribesman shook his head timidly and said: "It's the Qiang tribe in the south..."

"Idiot! Trash! Damn that guy!" Subdier roared angrily, then led a dozen guards, got on the horse, left the tent like a whirlwind, and galloped towards Bai Shiqiang.

When the sun was setting in the west, Subdierjin came back with a sullen expression, carrying a small jar of coarse salt.

After Subdierjin threw a small jar of salt to the tribesmen, he paced back and forth in the tent for a long time, then walked out, gritted his teeth and shouted: "Come here! Gather the tribesmen, let's go to Yinshan Mountain! "

"Clan leader? What's so urgent?"

"General Zhengxi is heading north! The Han people are going to Yinshan!" Subdierjin roared, "Damn Huchuquan! He is going to use Gaonu's animals and people to follow what...what..."

Subdierjin suddenly got stuck, as if he had forgotten how to pronounce that proper noun. After mumbling for a long time, he said: "...Anyway, I want to use Gaonu's people and animals to find Zhengxi to offset him. Guilty! The Han general who conquered the west went north just for this matter!"

"Just pay for the crime..." The people of the Xubu clan had not yet reacted, "What does it have to do with us if the Huchuquan tribe pays off the crime?"

"Are you deaf?" Subdeljin yelled, "Did you say it belongs to the Huchuquan tribe?! It belongs to the entire Gaonu! It belongs to the entire place! Damn it, damn it!"

"What!" The people of the Xubu clan also jumped up, "What does Huchuquan's crime do to us?"

"We know, how do the Han people know? Besides, the Han people don't care about this! The Han people only know that the soldiers were sent from Gaonu! Of course, the people here in Gaonu must apologize!" Subdeljin was like a dog trapped in The wild wolf in the cage bared its teeth, "So those Baishiqiang wild dogs are also here to take advantage of us! These damn beasts!"

"...Clan leader, how about we escape?"

"Escape? Where to escape? To the south is the Baishi Qiang, and beyond that is the territory of the Han people. To the east is the Han people, to the north is the Yinshan Mountain, and to the west..." Subdeljin smiled miserably and said, "To the west, go to the west To the west is a desert land, which is a combination of the Gobi Desert and the desert. Although there is a little bit of vegetation, there is really only a little bit.

"The only way is to go to Yinshan Mountain!" Subdierjin's eyes were gloomy, "If you want to atone for your sins, you must also be redeemed!"