Hanhou

Zhao Jia and his party left Yunzhong City, said goodbye to Wei Qingmo on the way, and took the foal and steer to the livestock farm.

Uncle Xiong led the young men to open the fields and sow seeds, and Mrs. Sun and more than a dozen healthy women brought steamed cakes and hot water to everyone, and then they were busy checking the railings of the new circle and driving away the marmots that had dug holes too close.

Gongsun Ao was carrying a rattan basket, which was forage mixed with bean dregs.

Wei Qing and the three of them were busy cleaning the troughs, filling up fodder and fresh water for the cattle and sheep.

Hearing the sound of horseshoes, everyone stopped their movements one after another. When they saw Zhao Jia galloping towards him, they wanted to meet him, but they couldn't let go of what they were doing. They sped up their movements one by one, trotting all the way when carrying water, and so on. When we reached the trough, there was only half of the water left in the bucket, which caused the women to burst into laughter.

"Your Majesty is here."

Aunt Sun put down the wooden basin and wiped her hands on the coarse cloth skirt.

While driving away marmots, I happened to find two nests of hares.When encountering a rabbit that is still plump after winter, the women will naturally not be polite, and they will empty out the nest, clean it neatly, and prepare to add vegetables to everyone at night.

Spring is the time when wild beasts have their cubs, and few frontier people hunt at this time.But the hare is obviously not in this list.As long as they ran near the livestock farm, they would basically be caught and put on everyone's table.

In contrast, marmots are treated much better.

With Zhao Jia and Hu Bo making repeated orders, no one would eat them.However, if you run too close, you will be chased away by women and children in no time.Those who refuse to mend their ways after repeated admonitions can only be dumped, and then set on fire.

Even so, the number of marmots is still increasing day by day, and beasts such as wild wolves, foxes, and weasels will also appear frequently, and there are even more golden eagles and eagles flying across the sky.

Relying on the vigilance and skill of healthy women and young adults, basically any beast that dares to break into the livestock farm will end badly.Regardless of whether it is running on the ground or flying in the sky, draw the horn bow and shoot them all to death.

Zhao Jia was worried, but Uncle Xiong, Ms. Sun and others didn't realize it.

In the early years, when Emperor Wen immigrated to the border area, the border residents initially lived in thatched pavilions, not to mention the villages surrounded by earthen walls, and there were no decent villages.People often sleep in a shed surrounded by several logs, and wolves circle around outside.

After such hard days, now there are wooden houses, fences, bows and arrows and short knives in hand, but there are only a few wild wolves and foxes, and they are not seen by everyone at all.

As long as it's not a large pack of wolves, there is no need for young and strong, and Mrs. Sun can solve it with the women in the livestock farm.

A few days ago, two women killed three foxes. When they were skinning them, they kept thinking that the fur was not good, otherwise they could make a fur hat for your husband.Now I can only make do with being a leather scorpion for the gentleman to put on the horse's back.

When Mrs. Sun stepped forward, Zhao Jia had already dismounted from the horse, untied the cloth bag containing caramel from his waist, and waved to Wei Qing and the three-headed body with a smile.

"Lang Jun, don't spoil them." Mrs. Sun said with a smile.

"No." Zhao Jia emptied the bag and distributed the caramel to the children.The last two pieces were left, one was held in his own mouth, and the other was handed to the snorting bay red horse, but the latter licked his palm and almost bit the bag again.

Zhao Jia waved his hands away, more and more suspicious that what he raised was not a Xiongnu horse, but a decent horse Zhong Erha.

"Thank you sir!"

Wei Qing and the three heads shared the caramel, instead of eating by themselves, they ran to the horse in charge of taking care of it, and put their little hands to the horse's mouth.

Gongsun Ao emptied the fodder in the rattan basket, fed a caramel to the foal, ate half of it himself, and put away the rest.As before, when I go home next time, these caramels will be distributed to my younger siblings.

"Lang Jun, how come there are so many horses?" Seeing the horses unloaded from the cart, Mrs. Sun asked in surprise.

"A Wuhuan caravan came to the city. Uncle Hu and Ji Xiong have seen it. They are all Xiongnu horses. Otherwise, they also have the blood of Xiongnu horses. There are no sick or weak ones, and they can be used as war horses when they are well raised."

When Zhao Jia spoke, Ma Ju had already unloaded the car and was driven into the circle by Hu Bo, Ji Bao and others.

The steer was not very obedient, but it didn't bother everyone. Ji Xiong grabbed the bean cake with one hand and pulled the rein with the other, and said, "Wait, put on the copper rings, it looks like a dishonest one!"

The women checked the railings and went to the new pens to tend the new foals.

Wei Qing and the other three looked curiously, lying on the railing one by one, and were quickly chased away by the women like sheep.

"Go, move the fodder!"

The children ran away with a smile, one by one having fun on the grass, looking healthy and happy like a foal, without any signs of frailty when they first came.

Lu Xin and five people got off the cart, Zhao Jia briefly explained the situation to Mrs Sun, and said, "Please take care of the five of them."

"Prairie savages?" Mrs. Sun frowned first, carefully looking at the five teenagers.After hearing Zhao Jia's story about their arrest and what happened in the city, his expression softened, and he turned around and called three strong women to prepare hot water.

"Wash clean first, and then change into clothes." Seeing that the boys were still barefoot, Mrs. Sun called Gongsun Ao loudly again, asked him to stand with the boys, compared their heads and feet, and said, "First Wearing A Ao's leather jacket, I remember there are some new pairs of boots in the storeroom, they are a bit too big, so let's make do with them."

The women moved quickly, and soon the hot water was boiled and placed in the yard in front of the house.

The weather is getting warmer, and the stove is basically no longer burned in the wooden house, and the cooking and water are all outside the house.

Before the five of Lu Xin understood the situation, they were picked up one by one by the women, stripped off their tattered leather jackets, and pressed them into the wooden barrel.

Since their parents and family members were shot dead, the five of them have been wandering on the grasslands, let alone taking a hot bath, they can't even take a sip of hot water.To avoid rangers and herdsmen, they dare not even light a fire, and eat raw meat most of the time.

When he first came into contact with the hot water, Alu was even startled, and was about to jump out of the barrel.In the end, the woman pushed him back, grabbed his neck like a wolf cub, soaked the coarse cloth, and began to scrub his back.

"Don't move, I can drag the steer away, but I can't hold you a little calf!"

The women rolled up their sleeves, held down the struggling young boy, and scrubbed vigorously.

Alu began to bark his teeth, causing the women to burst into laughter.

After Wei Qing finished his work, he and a few three-headed men lay on the wooden fence, watching the five teenagers being pressed into the barrel by the women, remembering when he first came here, he kicked the wooden pile with his feet and laughed out loud. sound.

Lu Xin's wound had scabbed over. Mrs. Sun checked it and told him that no medicine was needed.

"Take it up in these two days, and you'll be fine soon."

After the teenagers washed and put on their leather jackets, with their half-wet hair hanging behind them, Zhao Jia discovered that two of them had very dark outlines, and their hair was not pure black, but dark brown, obviously of Hu people's blood.

But people have already arrived at the livestock farm, so it is not so important whether they have Hu blood or not.

Zhao Jiayue got on his horse and was about to go find Uncle Xiong when Ji Bao suddenly called out excitedly: "Lang Jun, wild horse, it's a wild horse!"

"Mustang?"

Zhao Jia immediately turned the horse's head and looked in the direction Ji Bao pointed.

About 200 meters away, there are seven or eight horses galloping past.The horse running in the front was completely black and extraordinarily strong, with a shoulder height of nearly 1.6 meters, which was a bit taller than Zhao Jia's mount.Such a size is an absolute "big man" in a Xiongnu horse.

"How come there are wild horses here?" Hu Bo walked to Zhao Jia and asked in surprise.

There are indeed wild horses on the grasslands, but they are also in the territory of the Huns, and they are rarely close to the border counties.

"Which horse farm did he probably run from?" Zhao Jia said.

"It's not like, at least the leading one is not something that can be bred by a horse farm." Huber said.

"Lang Jun, get the rope back!" Ji Bao stared at the galloping horses, looking for the rope.

Regardless of whether it was a pure wild horse or it came from the Hun tribe, since it came to this land, there was no reason to let it go.Especially the one in the lead, none of the war horses that Zhao Jia has seen so far can match it.

"Okay, set it back!"

Zhao Jiaqu raised his finger to his mouth and let out a long whistle.When the nearby young and strong heard it, they would rush back immediately to join the operation.

Hu Bo, Ji Bao and the others had already mounted their horses, each carrying a bundle of ropes on their shoulders.

Young and strong came back one after another. Seeing the scene in front of them, they immediately took the rope from the woman and followed behind Zhao Jia and the others.

Auntie Sun and the women worked together to clear the easternmost fence, waiting to accommodate the wild horses.

Gongsun Ao, Wei Qing and the three-headed people were driven to a fence a little farther away, watching Zhao Jia and the young and strong galloping away, all of them clenched their fists, their faces were flushed with excitement.

The five of Lu Xin wandered on the grassland and were no strangers to wild horses.Seeing that Zhao Jia and the others were preparing to tie up the horses, they were not very interested. Instead, it was the marmots not far away that attracted their attention.

Looking at the chubby meatballs, Alu and Aman almost didn't drool.If you see so many marmots on the grassland, if you find a way to catch them, you won't be hungry for at least half a month.

"You can't catch those." Seeing the appearance of Alu and Aman, Wei Qing turned his head and said seriously, "Your Majesty said that those things are very dangerous, and you will get sick if you eat them."

Can you get sick from eating meat?

Teenagers don't understand.

In order to survive, they ate everything, even snatching carrion from crows.Why can't such fresh meat be eaten?

"In short, I can't eat it." Wei Qing frowned and said seriously, "There is mutton to eat in the livestock farm, as well as millet rice, dried tofu and steamed cakes, all of which can fill your stomach!"

In order to strengthen his persuasion, Wei Qing took out a cloth bag from his belt, and when he opened it, there were two square pieces of dried tofu inside.

"Here you are." Wei Qing said as he handed the dried tofu to Alu, "This is delicious, only available in Mr. Lang's house."

Alu grabbed the dried tofu and was about to put it into his mouth, but when Lu Xin pressed his shoulder, his movements stopped suddenly.

"Ashin?"

Lu Xin pressed Alu, returned the dried tofu to Wei Qing, and said, "We will remember the rules here. This is your food. If you eat it for Alu, you will be hungry."

"No." Wei Qing handed the dried tofu to Alu again, "As long as you obey the rules and work honestly, Mr. Wang will not let us go hungry."

"Lang Jun also taught us to practice calligraphy." A three-headed man leaned over, took a piece of the caramel left before, and handed it to Alu who was biting the dried tofu.

"I still have it here."

"I have dried meat, which was given by Mrs. Sun."

The three bodies have all experienced hardships and know what it feels like to be hungry.With Wei Qing taking the lead, they took out the dried meat and caramel from their bodies and handed them to Lu Xin and the other five.

"Thank you." Lu Xin's voice was dry. Everything he experienced today broke his 12-year cognition.A few days ago, I couldn't even imagine dreaming.

"No need." Wei Qing put away the cloth bag, heard the noise in the distance, turned his head to look, and immediately said excitedly, "Caught it! Mr. Caught it!"

The three-headed people were attracted, and immediately leaned back to the railing, stood on tiptoes excitedly, and put their arms on the wooden railing, just wanting to see more clearly.

"If you dare to live up to your kindness, I will not let you go!" Gongsun Ao did not stand with Wei Qing and the others, but stayed where he was, looking directly at Lu Xin, "I have seen prairie savages, I I know who you are! If you dare to avenge your kindness, I will definitely let you die without a whole body!"

A Lu and Bai Mang roared, Bai Man and Wang Fang showed fierceness, Lu Xin stopped the four of them, looked at Gongsun Ao calmly, and said forcefully: "I swore, Zhao Langjun will take me in, my life It belongs to Mr. Lang. I will not betray Mr. Lang, and I don’t need you to warn me!”

"You'd better do what you say!" Gongsun Ao snorted, turned around and walked to Wei Qing, ignoring the five of them.

Lu Xin pressed Alu four times, and said fiercely: "You should also remember that we are savages, but we are not heartless beasts! Our life belongs to Mr. Zhao. If you dare to be sorry for him, I will kill him personally. Tear your throats apart and pull out your bones one by one!"

If Zhao Jia didn't buy them and kept them in Wuhuan's hands, they would have no choice but to die.Lu Xin knew this, so he swore that his life belonged to Zhao Jia, as long as he was alive, he would never break his promise!

Not far away, several women put down the bows and arrows in their hands, and picked up the wooden basin again, preparing to marinate the rabbit meat in the basin.

Zhao Jia didn't know about the conversations of the teenagers. At this moment, he was desperately holding on to the rope in his hand, cooperating with Ji Bao and others, trying to hold back the wild horse struggling wildly.

The strength of this horse is beyond imagination. With three ropes around his body, he can still gallop forward.Zhao Jia didn't pay attention and was almost dragged off the horse.

"Lang Jun, let go!"

At this moment, Uncle Xiong led his men to catch up, and more than a dozen young men and more than 30 servants dispersed to intercept the wild horses, and cooperated with each other to target a wild horse.

Zhao Jia let go of the rope, rode his horse back, spread out his numb fingers, saw the strangle marks on his palm, the pain gradually returned, and could not help but hiss coldly.

With the addition of Xiong Bo and others, Ma Qun gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Zhao Jia didn't want to get in the way, so he rode his horse back to the livestock farm first.It didn't take long for four Mustangs to be sent into the new ring.Although it ran nearly halfway, the leading dark horse was finally caught back.

"What should we do next?" Zhao Jia asked Uncle Xiong.

"Walk around for a few days first." Uncle Xiong got off his horse, looked at the vigilant black horse that was emitting heat from its nostrils, and asked, "Mr. Lang, do you want to change your mount?"

"No." Zhao Jia shook his head instinctively.

The bay red horse is very good, such a fierce guy, he can't handle it.But such a good horse would be wasteful for grazing.

"I want to give it to Mr. Wei." Zhao Jia pointed at the black horse, and patted the bay red horse's neck back.The bay red horse snorted, and for some reason, bared its teeth at the wild horse inside the railing.

Uncle Xiong nodded and said, "Mr. Lang can send someone to deliver a letter to the city. Before Wei Shijun sends someone, I will take care of these horses myself."

"Alright."

Zhao Jia's letter was sent to the prefect's mansion, and Wei Yue was about to leave for Yuanyang City.Before he could leave the mansion, Wei Shang sent someone to call him back.

Knowing the cause and effect, the third son of Wei couldn't help but be surprised: "Is there a herd of wild horses nearby?"

"Go and see." Wei Taishou picked up a piece of caramel from the plate, "If there are wild horses, they must be captured as soon as possible."

Although there is a horse farm in Bianjun, there is still a certain gap with the Xiongnu in terms of the number of war horses.For this kind of wild horses, regardless of whether they came from the Xiongnu tribe or not, they must be caught as much as they can, and as many as they are caught, they are all drawn into their own bowls.