Chapter 406 Old acquaintance
Ma Bao said, "That's not a tent, it's a house where Tatars live. They are all houses like this here."
"Did you see that in the center of the rows of houses, there is the largest and tallest house with a flag on the top. This is where the lord of this small tribe lives."
"The Tatars have a total of twelve large tribes, one tribe has twenty small tribes, each small tribe has a lord, and there are many small villages..."
You can know how big this grassland is.
The grassland is very big, very big. Xia Zihan stood on a high place, stood on the tree, and looked into the distance. Layer by layer, wisps of green space, like clouds, layer upon layer, and further away, there are There are faint mountain peaks, woods, small transparent lakes, and patches of white tents.
Xia Zihan looked up and could see three or four small tribes and some tiny tents, which should be small villages.
Ma Bao told her, "The grassland here is the largest and most vast. A little way over, there are many woods with many poisons in them. Although it is easy to hide, there are also many dangers."
Xia Zihan was surprised when he saw what he said so clearly, "Have you been here?"
"I haven't been here before, but there is a sheepskin map of the Tatar territory hanging on the wall of the master's room. The slave often looks at it."
Even if he had never been here, he knew the terrain here, and he had heard from the original residents of Shuimu City that the most dangerous place was in the forest on the grassland.
And they were hiding in a forest at the moment.
"Princess, let's go back to the cave first. In two days, it will be the day for the Abagalun tribe to trade items. By then, we may be able to find out something."
The Abagalun tribe is one of the twelve major tribes on the grassland. The people of this tribe do not farm or farm, not even vegetables. They do nothing but raise cattle, horses and sheep. They eat nothing on weekdays. They are all meat or milk from cattle, horses and sheep, and the items they use in daily life are all obtained from Han merchants.
There are only three execution gatherings for the exchange of goods in a year. The gathering two days later is the last one this year, and it will not be until March or June next year. Because the winter here is very cold, it comes early, September The temperature will drop suddenly at the end of the month, and it will snow in October until February. After the snow melts, the road will be easy to walk, otherwise the merchants' horse teams will not dare to cross easily.
Therefore, there must be a lot of people attending this gathering. Some herdsmen from far away will come here if they have to travel ten or eight days. They are afraid that if they miss this gathering, they will be without food and items for the winter.
Even so, the items that the Tatars exchange every year are not enough to survive the winter, because Han merchants are limited in the items they can bring, and some important items are controlled by the court and are not allowed to be brought in too much, such as flour, coal, salt, and especially medicinal materials. During the war, the imperial court was determined not to allow merchants to ship a lot of goods and make huge profits.
However, the imperial court did not dare to deny the merchants access. Rabbits would bite people when they were anxious, not to mention the ferocious and arrogant Tatars. If they were not given any supplies for the winter, they would be forced to die and angered. If they rise up to attack them, they will be afraid that the mighty soldiers and horses of the Great Sheng Dynasty will not be able to withstand the stampede of the Tatars' ten thousand horses.
When the time comes, it will be in a situation where the enemy is injured by one thousand and I am injured by eight hundred, which will be of no benefit to anyone.
……
Two days later, the market opened.
Xia Zihan and a group of people dressed up as ordinary merchants and sneaked into the market.
It is said to be a market, but it is actually on the grassland. Merchants and herdsmen put all the goods they have brought outside for each other to choose from. As long as they like something, the two parties will bargain for the most suitable price. Exchange each other's items.
The most common items for herdsmen to exchange are salt, coal, flour, and cloth. As for some daily necessities, pots and pans, etc., some people also exchange them, but not many.
The herdsmen who have more money will also exchange them for some beautiful jewelry, tea, spices, various embroidery threads and other luxuries for the herdsmen.
The more affluent herdsmen would also exchange some jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, but they exchanged less of these, and the merchants did not bring much.
As for the items brought by the herdsmen, in addition to sheep horns, horns, sheep treasures, cow treasures, horse treasures, sheepskins, wool and other items found on cattle, sheep and horses, there are also some small items that are very eye-catching.
There are belts, clothing, socks, shoes, etc. with grassland colors embroidered by herdsmen women, as well as various jewelry, saddles, etc. made by herdsmen.
These items were brought to Dasheng Dynasty and were very popular among women. Merchants would buy some and resell them to make a lot of money.
But the attention of Xia Zihan's group was not on the products. They moved separately and spread out in all directions. They all pricked up their ears to listen to the conversations coming from the herdsmen around them.
Some secret things are said inadvertently, especially in this lively scene, it is easier to slip up.
And this is Xia Zihan's opportunity to inquire about Chu Jingqi.
After Ma Bao walked around, he got a herdsman's clothes from somewhere, put them on, and then pretended to get close to the herdsmen.
Ma Bao has learned the language here and speaks it fairly well. In addition, he has often traveled back and forth between Shuimu City and the capital in the past few years. He has also grown into a weather-blackened cheek like the herdsmen. If you look closely, he is really different from other herdsmen. No different.
Getting close to the herdsmen will not make the herdsmen wary.
The two of them, Fox, Flower and Snake, also wanted to change into herdsmen's clothes, but their skin was white, thin and tender, and they didn't look like men on horseback on the grassland at all, so they gave up the idea. As for Xia Zihan and Chu Chulin, they were wandering around the small stalls set up by the herdsmen. Their beauty was a beautiful sight wherever they went, attracting attention. Especially Xia Zihan, in recent years, , that face grew longer and more open, and the longer it grew, the more beautiful it became. It was so delicate and beautiful that it almost looked like a mortal.
"Master, someone is following us."
Xia Zihan knelt down at a small stall and curiously looked at a blue hat embroidered with a giant eagle and several white clouds. Chu Lin knelt down and whispered in her ear.
Xia Zihan hummed.
She also noticed that she was being followed, so she stopped on purpose just to see who the other person was.
"Hey, that person looks a bit familiar. I think I've seen him somewhere?" Chu Cong said suddenly.
"Do you know him?" Chu Lin was surprised. Then, she followed Chu Cong's gaze and said, "It's him. I really know him."
"Who?"
Seeing that they both knew each other, Xia Zihan turned his head curiously, and then saw a face that seemed familiar yet unfamiliar.
Zheng Wenting saw the three masters and servants of Xia Zihan looking at him. He grinned, walked over with an excited smile, and said excitedly, "I didn't expect to see you here, you..."
"I was just curious to have fun." Xia Zihan quickly interrupted what he wanted to ask, changed the subject, and asked, "Is this your caravan?"
Although he didn’t know why, but he could see that the other party didn’t want to reveal his identity, Zheng Wenting did not salute or address her, but smiled and said, “Well, this is the second time I have brought a caravan to the grassland, and I will come again in June. I visited once and found it interesting, but it is even more interesting to meet Miss Xia here.”
Ever since Zheng Wenjing got married, his father has put business matters on his shoulders bit by bit, and all he has done are hard and tiring jobs, such as bringing caravans to the grasslands, and the most difficult tasks. Fortunately.
His father often said that if you want to support the Zheng family's huge industry, you can't do it without enduring hardship. Not only do you have to endure hardship, you also have to understand everything and be able to do it. In this way, when you take over his position in the future, the managers under him will be able to do it. Be willing to obey him and be driven by him.
"Several times, I wanted to go to the capital to find Miss Xia, but unfortunately, I was never free. Also, congratulations."
Although he did not explain this, Xia Zihan knew that he was congratulating her on getting the title.
The fact that Xia Zihan was granted the title of princess again had already spread throughout the Dasheng Dynasty. Zheng Wenting had always been in contact with the capital, so he naturally knew about it.
But this identity couldn't stop his heart from beating feverishly for her.
He had fallen in love with Xia Zihan a few years ago. When he saw her this time, he found her beauty breathtaking and outrageous. His heart beat like a wild horse the moment he saw her. Same.
However, he is a businessman and is not worthy of her.
He and her could never be together. He could only suppress this impulse deep in his heart, not letting it come out and not scare her away. If he could be her friend, he would be satisfied.
What's more, he was already engaged last year.
When Xia Zihan heard him say that he was leading the caravan in June, she was startled.
It happened to be the time when Chu Jingqi got into the grassland. According to Ma Bao, Chu Jingqi first got into the caravan, then entered the grassland, and finally got into the herdsmen.
Xia Zihan smiled and said, "If there is a place, let's chat." Maybe Zheng Wenting can find out something here.
"Yes, go to my tent." Zheng Wenting said.
Then he took the three masters and servants to his tent.
The tent is a hundred meters away from the market, very close, and it takes less than a cup of tea to arrive.
As soon as he reached the door of the tent, a young man opened the tent curtain from inside and walked out. When he saw Zheng Wenting, the young man was overjoyed and said, "Master, I am going to find you. Prince Daklu is here." I’ll wait for you in the tent.”
Then, he curiously looked at the three masters and servants of Xia Zihan. Seeing how beautiful Xia Zihan was, he thought he was another beauty sent by another merchant to seduce his young master. The look on his face became disdainful. He groaned twice and cursed a bitch in his mind.
A young boy, Xia Zihan didn't care about him, just looked at Zheng Wenting and said, "Since you have guests, I will come back later."
"You go and wait for me in the tent nearby. I'll come over to find you after I finish talking about the business. You haven't eaten authentic roasted whole lamb on the grassland yet. I'll ask someone to make it in a while. It will definitely satisfy your appetite."< br>
(End of chapter)