Chapter 155 West Gouzaw Mountain
After arranging the affairs of East Gouzaw Mountain, it was already time to apply for the license, and everyone took a boat to West Gouzaw Mountain.
This place is different from the East Dog Paw Mountain. This place was originally the place where the king of Liang raised dogs. Most of these people were descendants of the dog people at that time. However, they gradually divided into two groups. One group insisted on raising dogs. Making a living by hunting and herding, one group gradually gave up on domesticating hunting dogs and moved from the mountains to the waterside to learn fishing and farming. The two places come from the same vein, communicate with each other, and support each other.
Zhao Zhen and his party first went to the fishing village at the foot of the mountain, called Xiawang Village. The ship docked. Ruan Xiaowu, Pei Xuan, and Du Qian followed. After meeting Li, Zhao Zhen asked: "Pei Xuan Brothers, where are brothers Liu Tang and Shi Qian? "
Pei Xuandao: "Master, the two brothers are stationed in Shangwang Village, and only three of us are in Xiawang Village."
Zhao Zhen said: "I heard that we encountered difficulties?"
Pei Xuan, Ruan Xiaowu, and Shi Qian looked at each other. Pei Xuan smiled bitterly and said: "Master, we are coming all the way. Although there are people in the two villages, Xiangyong, seeing that our armor was complete, our troops were in good order, and there was no resistance, they all surrendered. Originally, my brothers and I thought that we would wait all the way to Xigouzhaoshan. In fact, these villagers did cooperate, and the public treasuries of both villages were covered. After handing it over, they seized eight thousand stones of grain and three thousand pieces of salted fish. There was also a warehouse of furs in Shangwang Village, mostly sheep, rabbits, foxes, otters, minks, dogs, and wolves. There were also three black bear skins inside. "
"It's just that for some reason, wolves, bears, big insects and other ferocious beasts always sneak in here, hurting people at night, and the livestock on the mountain are also stolen. Less. Now, more than ten people in the two villages have been bitten to death. The villagers were in great distress because they had to constantly be on guard against wild beasts. After seeing us, they were willing to surrender and hoped that we could help drive away the wild beasts. Divide into two places and help patrol at night."
After hearing this, Zhao Zhen realized the reason. Although it was not a big deal, it was not easy to worry about.
Zhao Zhen saw that it was getting late, so he asked everyone to settle down first. He was afraid that Li Yun and Zhu Fu would be unhappy, so he turned to Li Yun and Zhu Fu and said, "I forgive you, two brothers. I wanted to set up a place today." I entertained the two brothers at a banquet, but I didn’t expect that this would happen, so I will give them some simple meals tonight. After these beasts are dealt with, I will take care of the two brothers.”
Li Yun and Zhu Fu saw that Zhao Zhen was dedicated to official matters and cared about them at all times. Zhu Fu said: "Don't worry, owner of the village. Not only did we see the customs of Liangshan today, but we also met so many good people. We are not unhappy at all. The owner of the village is again." He is a man who cares about the people, and when we see him, we are only happy and hope that he can serve the village owner as soon as possible." Li Yun also agreed.
After hearing this, Zhao Zhen did not pretend to be polite, and went to sit down with others in the village hall. After a while, Liu Tang and Shi Qian arrived with a short and sturdy man. Only then did Zhao Zhen notice that there was a man following Ruan Xiaowu, but he was tall and thin. Both of them had dark skin, and they were honest and somewhat shrewd.
After meeting Li, Pei Xuan made an introduction, introducing the current situation of Xigouzhao Mountain. Along the way, he also introduced Zheng Liu Shi from Shangwang Village and Zheng Liu Zhou from Xiawang Village.
After some introduction, Zhao Zhen also understood the boundaries of this place in more detail.
There are 90 to 50 households in Wang Village on Gouzhao Mountain, with a population of 433. They mainly raise dogs and herd sheep, part-time hunting and gathering, and only grow some vegetables on the mountain for daily consumption. The specialties of the village are black goats and Liangshan dogs. There were nearly 4,000 black goats, large and small, and they were considered public property of the village. After Pei Xuan and others took over Gouzaw Mountain, these goats were naturally confiscated. Pei Xuan was afraid of the villagers' resentment, so he negotiated with the villagers. The family bought all the black goats for one rock salt and two bolts of coarse cloth. From now on, they will still hire these people to herd them, and settled the matter at a very low price.
As for Xiawang Village, although it was relocated, it has more registered households than Shangwang Village, with 153 households and 733 residents. There are 4,000 acres of fertile farmland in the village, and otters and cormorants have been domesticated. In addition to farming, they also go fishing in the lake. There are more food sources such as shrimps, crabs, snails, frogs, etc. than on the mountains, so there are more people growing and raising them. As for specialties, there are none.
After introducing the situation of the two villages, Liu Shi, the chief of Shangwang Village, and Liu Zhou, the chief of Xiawang Village, came forward and bowed down. Zhao Zhen helped them up and still let them serve as the chiefs of the two villages. , the two of them thanked him quickly.
Liu Shi stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Sir, I have a gift to offer. Please allow me to bring it."
Before Zhao Zhen spoke, Liu Tang said with a smile: " Go quickly." After hearing this, Liu Shi turned around and went down. Zhao Zhen scolded: "Brother Liu Tang, these people are poor people. How can we let him give gifts?"
Liu Tang said: "Master, It's not a valuable treasure, but Liu Lizheng heard me say that the owner of the village likes hounds, and he also raises Liangshan fine dogs, and a different breed of Xue Shangfei. Liu Shi heard this in his heart and prepared a few for the owner. I saw it. It’s a few dogs, so it’s not easy to stop them. After all, it’s Shangwangcun’s intention.”
After a while, Liu Shi led four dogs into the hall. Everyone in the hall was a little surprised when they saw these four dogs, two thin dogs, and two were as big as calves. After giving the order, the four dogs sat down obediently. Zhao Zhen saw them. Fortunately, he had also seen Gao Hu's mastiff.
Liu Shi said proudly: "Sir, these four dogs are the best field dogs and guard dogs in our Shangwang Village. I present them to you today. I hope you will accept them." He also glanced at Liu Zhou, who was standing aside, as if to say, "I want you to give up raising dogs." Liu Zhou glared at Liu Shi.
Liu Shi then said: "Sir, we were originally dog breeders of King Liang. After King Liang, although this place was gradually abandoned, our ancestors still took root here and spread their branches. I left behind the dog breeds and the methods of training them. I have always insisted on domesticating them in Shangwang Village. In addition to herding, I also go hunting. The Liangshan thin dogs are the best at hunting, and these two are the best."
said. Pointing to the two dogs on the left, he then said: "These two are the best in the village, they can understand human speech, and they are also the fastest."
Zhao Zhen said: "Whose family do these two belong to? Mr. It would be better to give some compensation." Liu Shi said: "Sir, these four dogs are not raised by each family. Every household in Shangwang Village raises dogs. Because there are so many dogs, this dog is fertile. Keep the good ones, and drive the rest out when they are older and let them hunt on their own. As a result, there are many ownerless dogs in the village. These dogs do not bother people. They hunt in the mountains during the day and often stay at night. Rest in the village. We also fed them with some leftovers in the winter, and Tao survived. These four were the most intelligent, and they all had visions. After communicating with them, I brought them all as gifts to the Buddha. "
As he spoke, he pointed to the two dogs on the right and said uncertainly: "These two dogs should be mutated. According to our ancestors, these two dogs should be called mastiffs."
Xiao Rang said: "Master, I have also heard that the dog is a mastiff with four feet. Today is the first time I have seen it. With such a body, hunting wild boars is easy, right?"
Liu Shi said: "What this official said is that this is the first time I have seen such a large mastiff. These two mastiff dogs run slower and cannot hunt. They are best for guarding the home and courtyard. Most of the wild wolves that sneaked into the village were killed by these two mastiffs."
Wu Yong also interjected: "It is mentioned in "Book of Rites and Justice" that dogs are divided into three categories, namely, guard dogs and dogs. They are called field dogs and food dogs. They are kept to guard the house and guard the courtyard. The field dogs are used for hunting. The food dogs are used by gentlemen as cooks and common people. When they are raised, they can also be used for sacrificial ceremonies and as a herb for grain. Together, it means "dog Yiliang".
Everyone admired the two mastiff dogs in the middle, but Pei Xuan pointed to the two Liangshan fine dogs on the left and said: "If you want to say the best, I think these two are still the best."
Seeing the crowd They all looked at him, and Pei Xuan said: "Master, look at this, this one is pure black, only the ears are white, it has a name, it's called [Big King Dog], the animal is rich and noble." He pointed to the other one and said: "Look at this one again. It's all white with tiger stripes. It also has a name. It's called [South Dou Dog]. A dog with tiger stripes is fighting in the south. It's a king dog. An animal can weigh thousands of stones."
Everyone listened. Looking at these two thin dogs again, it turned out to be exactly what Pei Xuan said. Zhao Zhen was overjoyed and said to Liu Zhou: "Liu Lizheng is very thoughtful. Such a good dog is so rare that you can't find it. I'm ashamed to accept it."
Liu Zhou handed the rope in his hand to Zhao Zhen and guarded it carefully. Afraid of dogs attacking Zhao Zhen. Zhao Zhen stepped forward and took the dog leash, and stroked the dogs' heads one by one. Then he took off the dog leash and asked the four dogs to sit in front of him. All four dogs did so one by one.
Everyone saw it and marveled at it. They thought that this dog seemed to be born specially because God knew that Zhao Zhen was coming. Zhao Zhen laughed loudly after hearing this, knowing in his heart that he had the [Spike Pendant], and even more With [Cunning Horn], this is the case. Zhao Zhen saw that these four dogs were also of different species, so each of them spent a little bit of luck to gain enlightenment.
Liangshan Fine Dog ([Big King Dog], pure black and shiny, with snow-white ears/[Southern Fighting Dog], all white with tiger stripes.)
Race: Dog
Level: Level 1 Level 1
Attributes: Strength 12, Constitution 10, Agility 17, Spirit 7
Skills: Attack, Tracking, Search, Hunting
Liangshan Mastiff (big head, long hair, shape like a lion, body like a tiger, strong character, strong and brave, big body and good at fighting, long tail and short limbs)
Race: Dog
Level: 1 Level 1
Attributes: Strength 18, Constitution 15, Agility 10, Spirit 5
Skills: Attack, Hunting, Patrol
Seeing that Zhao Zhen accepted the four dogs he offered and was praised by everyone, Liu Shi took a step back. Liu Zhou stepped forward and said, "Sir, there are also gifts from Xiawang Village." He also glanced at Liu beside him. stone.
He continued: "Since Xiawang Village moved to the foot of the mountain, there have been fewer domesticated hounds. At most, each family can only keep one barking dog to guard the house. In addition to farming, I also work in Xiawang Village. As for fishing, our ancestors were not very good at fishing because they were used to hunting. They often didn't catch much in a day, so they hired two helpers to replace the hounds and tame cormorants and otters. In addition to fishing, I often pick up stones, wood, etc. that I see at the bottom of the water. Although they are mostly stones, scraps of metal, etc., occasionally there are some unexpected harvests. "
After that, Go down and get two boxes, one big and one small. Four people carried the big one up, and Liu Zhou stepped forward to open it, and then said: "Inside this box are two ivory tusks, one foot long. Originally, I only found a rib under the water. I don't know what it was. It was hard in texture, so I kept it." Later, they fished out all the bones below and found these two tusks. Only then did they realize that this was the burial place of an elephant. There were too many bones and teeth, and they were all outside. These two ivories are presented to the owner of the village."
After hearing this, everyone came forward to see the ivory. Although they had never seen the ivory, they had heard about it. The nobles used it to carve out various utensils. , also known as ivory chopsticks. Jiao Ting stepped forward, took out an ivory, weighed it, and said, "This ivory weighs half fifty kilograms. How many chopsticks will it make?"
Everyone laughed after hearing this. After some joking, everyone retreated. When Liu Zhou saw it, he opened the small box next to him. The inside was lined with silk and satin, and contained several pieces of silver jewelry. Liu Zhou said, "Sir, these four silver deer are also in the box." It was fished out of the water and made very lifelike. I think it has some origin and is dedicated to the owner of the village.”
After listening to Liu Zhou's words, only Wu Yong, Pei Xuan, and Xiao Rang came forward to take a look. The others were not interested. After looking at it, Wu Yong said: "Master, this thing is inlaid with gems and has a camel back coral. It comes in a set of four. It should have come from the palace. It is a good ornament. The owner of the village has set up an office, so it is suitable for decoration."
After hearing this, Zhao Zhen took one and looked at it. It was indeed very well done. , meticulously carved, and carefully selected gems and corals. After accepting these gifts, everyone talked about the problem to be solved this time.
Pei Xuandao: "Master, after this period of hard work, Liu Tang, Shi Qian, and Du Qian and their people have eliminated the wolves, bears and other beasts that came over, but there are always a few of them every night. Hao Shanfeng rushed over, and that place is now blocked by fog. I really don’t know what happened to the main peak, Hao Shanfeng.”
(End of this chapter)