Chapter 48: Construction is more meaningful than destruction (Part 2)
Two months later, on the outskirts of Kodun City, where the snow had long melted away, the neighing of horses was everywhere, forming a sea of tents.
——These are all nomadic tribes who listened to Yelu Dashi’s call and moved to Kedun City after the beginning of spring to “jointly participate in important events.”
Then, they were so shocked by the various explosive news in front of them that their jaws almost dropped:
Floating in the sky above the city of Kedun, with its many buildings, cornices and brackets, the appearance is extremely gorgeous. It is known as the Castle in the Clouds where the gods live!
The Song Dynasty from the south had the ability to soar into the clouds and mist, and had boundless magic power. With one big move, he could annihilate the invincible immortal of 200,000 gold soldiers!
The Jurchen Jin Kingdom, the ancient enemy in the East that makes people fearful, was destroyed this winter, and even the capital city of Ning was burned down. Unprecedented good news!
Then came Yelu Dashi, who had been trapped in Kedun City for several years, and was preparing to lead the survivors of the Liao Dynasty to set out to fight this year to regain their homeland!
And...high-yielding crops that can be grown in the bitter cold of Mobei and harvested surprisingly quickly! ! !
On the banks of the small river in the suburbs, thousands of nomads in fur robes looked at the golden piles of newly harvested grains in awe.
And when the officials who counted the total used wooden buckets to weigh the last batch of newly harvested "seven-day quick-growing wheat" and announced this year's total grain harvest, many poor herdsmen who had not had enough to eat all year were plunged into chaos. In the state of joy, one cries, laughs, jumps and jumps like crazy.
Two hundred thousand stones! A total of two hundred thousand stones of wheat!
——In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that eight rounds of wheat have been planted on the same land in a row, and the soil fertility is on the verge of being exhausted, and alfalfa needs to be planted to increase fertilizer, if we insist on ignoring the desertification of the land and plant a few more rounds of crops, Then I'm afraid it won't be a problem to get 300,000 stone of food!
You know, although the Liao Kingdom in its heyday once completely conquered the entire prairie of Monan and Mobei, with the collapse of the Liao Kingdom, it is still following the Khitan people's white wolf war flag and swearing an oath to Yelu Dashi. Among the loyal nomads, only some tribes under the Northwest Recruitment Department remained. There are only more than 20,000 households in total, with a population of less than 100,000. If distributed on a per-capita basis, each person would receive an average of two liters of these grains!
This wonderful prospect made everyone present couldn't help but look forward to the happy days of having a full meal of pasta and rolling around in the millet.
Of course, as horse-breeding experts, they all know that going to war is different from grazing in daily life. Once the horses are run for a long time, they must provide the horses with fine materials such as grains and beans. They cannot just use them. Pasture copes. If you go to the Central Plains in the south where horses are precious, eggs are even added to the horse feed, so a large part of the food is used to feed the horses... but it can still keep everyone happy.
Moreover, I heard from the Han people who grew these crops that this astronomical figure of 200,000 shi of grain was only harvested from a small piece of land near the city of Ketun. If this miraculous wheat could be promoted throughout the grassland, even if it was only planted in those places with abundant water and grass near rivers and lakes... For a time, every grassland nomad present was attracted by I was fascinated by this beautiful prospect.
In addition, at the request of Guo Jing and Wang Qiu, Doraemon also found some seeds of cold-resistant vegetables such as potatoes, radishes, onions, and cabbages, and asked the soldiers and civilians of Kodun City to open vegetable gardens and try them out. Planting was carried out to replace the shortcoming of not being able to obtain large quantities of tea.
——The reason why the nomads on the grassland like to drink tea is because their daily diet is mainly beef, mutton and dairy products, which is too greasy. Drinking some tea soup can not only whet the appetite and strengthen the spleen, but also resolve greasiness. At the same time, it can also supplement vitamins and various nutrients needed by the human body that are not known at this time to ensure that their bodies will not suffer from dietary changes. Something went wrong.
As for the era before tea was cultivated by the Han people, northern nomads used rhubarb as a substitute.
However, if vegetables can be grown on the grasslands like those south of the Great Wall, providing the grassland residents with essential substances such as vitamins and fiber, then drinking tea will become a pure pastime rather than a necessity to maintain good health... …Considering that some tribes have no fixed residence and move frequently, and may not be able to settle down for a long time to grow vegetables, the time travelers also taught the residents of Kodun City how to grow bean sprouts from beans.
In short, with these 200,000 stones of food as a foundation, Yelu Dashi's plan to summon all the tribes to swear an oath and go out for the expedition went very smoothly.
——All seventeen tribes near Ketun City responded positively to his call and assembled 13,000 cavalry outside the city.
In order to celebrate the unprecedented harvest of food in history and welcome the chiefs and nobles of various tribes, Yelu Dashi ordered a banquet to be held.
The banquet on the grassland does not have as many red tapes as in the Central Plains and Han Dynasty. It is a huge iron pot set up in an open space surrounded by tents. The chefs are throwing the freshly chopped pieces of meat into the pot. When it is simmered, the aroma of meat wafts out, attracting many hounds and greedy children to watch eagerly nearby. Not far from the iron pot, a dozen tough men were shirtless, wearing only a leather skirt, covered with stains of blood and grease. Each of them waved the big knife in his hand, killing the man who had just been killed by Alfalfa. Feed some fat cattle and sheep.
——Unfortunately, spring is a time for birds and animals to multiply and reproduce. According to ancient traditions, hunting is generally prohibited, and Yelu Dashi did not violate the traditional ideas without reason, so at this Jiefeng feast, there were only ordinary beef and mutton dishes. , there is no rare game.
However, although the dishes were a bit monotonous, the flattering words from the guests showing their loyalty were enough to make Yelu Dashi feel happy.
Looking at the chiefs who used to be embarrassed and pushy every time they recruited troops, now they are vying for help to be the vanguard, and they are full of flattery... Yelu Dashi couldn't help but sigh with emotion: Alas, this It’s called “Having food in your hands and no panic in your heart”!
Of course, as the initiator of the Khitan restoration war, Yelu Dashi was also very generous in allocating weapons and food. Before the army was dispatched, all the weapons that Doraemon obtained from the Song Dynasty Arms Inspector were distributed to ensure that all young and middle-aged warriors of these Turkic and Mongolian tribes had at least one metal weapon. Instead of using bones and stones to grind arrowheads. As for the elite personal guards of the chiefs of each tribe, each of them was assigned a spear, a long iron knife, and dozens of long arrows with iron arrowheads.
Such equipment was only at the level of ordinary Xiang troops in the Song Dynasty, but in the Mobei grassland where there was a severe iron shortage, it was already armed to the teeth.
In addition to ordnance, Yelu Dashi also shouldered all the food required for the expedition. During the assembly and reorganization of the expeditionary force, their tribe's horses, cattle and sheep could also enjoy free feed supplies and gnaw on the outskirts of Ketun City. Eat newly planted [Edelweiss alfalfa] to keep fat. In the end, although according to the rules on the Mobei grassland, the spoils can only be divided after returning from a victorious battle. But in order to improve the morale of the troops participating in the war, Yelu Dashi specially followed the rules of the Central Plains Dynasty and rewarded each soldier with a small amount of departure fee before setting off. Although it was only one glass bead per person, he still rewarded The poor herdsmen who had nothing but their horses shed tears of gratitude.