Hanhou

After Yi Zhixie, several tribal leaders arrived with their crowds.

In the evening, with Shanyu's big tent as the center, various ministries set up camps, and tents of different styles stretched out for more than ten miles.

The slaves were driven out of the sheepfold, and the firewood was built in front of the camp, and the cattle and sheep were slaughtered.The woman who only wore sheepskin cleaned up the cattle and sheep and put them on the fire. If she moved slowly, she would be whipped.

Children who are not as tall as a wheel are crowded in the sheepfold. The sackcloth on their bodies cannot block the night wind, so they can only snuggle up to the ewes and lambs to keep warm.

The bonfire was blazing, and the fat of beef and mutton dripped into the fire, making a crisp sound.

The women stood by the fire, holding pottery bowls in their hands and brushes made of animal hair, brushing the honey in the bowls on a fat sheep.This roast lamb must be presented in Shan Yu's large tent, and the heat of roasting and the sauce applied are all very particular.If Shanyu is dissatisfied, these women will be killed on the spot and become the first batch of sacrifices to worship the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth.

The Xiongnu warrior stood in front of the bonfire, holding a horsewhip in one hand, pointing at the women, and from time to time let out a big laugh that sent chills down the spine.

The women's expressions are numb, their reactions to the outside world are very slow, and the whole person is like an empty shell.After experiencing the initial fear, resentment and struggle, now they are like walking dead, even if they are cut face to face with a knife, it may not be able to elicit any emotions.

"hurry up!"

The Huns grew impatient, and the women began to move faster.

A black-and-grey-faced Han woman nodded, and two darker-looking Ding Ling women carried the crossbar through the fat sheep and carried it to Shanyu's big tent, where slaves in colorful clothes brought it into the tent.

During the whole process, the women did not make a sound.

The slaves in colorful clothes looked at them with disgust, completely forgetting that they were also slaves, except for the clothes on their bodies, they were no different from these women who had been bullied.

"Go, don't stand here and get in the way!"

The servant girl in Caiyi waved her hand contemptuously, raised her chin, and let out a cold snort.

The women bowed their heads and walked quickly to the sheepfold after getting permission from the Huns warriors.It turned into a trot in the middle, until it crossed the fence and hugged the child under the ewe in its arms. Feeling the warmth of the child, the numb expression appeared to loosen, and the whole person also had a little vitality.

"When will such a day be the first?" A young woman with disheveled hair leaned against the fence, unfolded the sheepskin on her body, and tightly wrapped the girl in her arms.

The girl child was not born to her, and has no kinship with her.After the girl's mother was tortured to death, she took the initiative to protect the girl by her side, gave her half of what she had to eat, and held her in her arms in the cold night, like a she-wolf protecting her cubs, doing everything possible to keep her live on.

Among the women, there were Han people and Hu people, some were plundered by the Huns, some tribes were slaughtered, and some family members committed crimes and became slaves.After being put into the sheepfold, they lost everything and became like livestock.

Without these children, without the warmth in their arms, more than half of them would go crazy, and they would not last long.

"One more rain and hailstorm will kill these Huns!" A woman with brown hair and sunken eyes said angrily.

"Hush! You want to be heard by the Huns?"

The oldest woman yelled loudly, and several Huns patrolled past, and the sheep pen suddenly fell silent.

The Huns conquered all the tribes on the steppe, extending their tentacles to the small countries to the west.The Xiongnu army passed by, and no barbarian tribe could resist.

The only thing that the Huns feared was the Han Empire in the south.

However, the army of the Han Dynasty rarely went deep into the grassland. So far, the Huns are still the only overlord of this vast grassland.This also means that no one will rescue them, and they will continue to suffer and suffer until the end of their lives.

The sheepfold was quiet for a long time. A barbarian woman gently shook the child in her arms and hummed an ancient song.The women leaned together, accompanied by her tune, patted the child in their arms, and used their bodies to block the night wind of the grassland, gaining a short period of silence and tranquility.

In Shan Yu's big tent, Shan Yu, a military officer, occupies the top seat, and the left and right virtuous kings and left and right Guli kings sit on either side of him.The heads of the four are ministers, officials and leaders of various ministries.

A half-century-old man in a deep coat with a right lapel and a Chinese hair bun sat next to the military official Shan Yu, and was still in front of Zuo Xianwang Yu Shan.

For such an arrangement, the people in the tent behaved differently, some were used to it, some were not, and some had tense expressions, showing a hint of hostility.

The old man was no one else, but the eunuch Zhong Xing who had betrayed the Han Dynasty and defected to the Xiongnu, advised the elders and military ministers, and harmed the border people for more than 20 years.

The Weng Lord who went out of the fortress had long since passed away, and the palace servants and eunuchs who served the Weng Lord also died one after another.Only the Bank of China said that it has been alive, even if it is accused by thousands of people, it still lives freely without any guilt.

He resented the Han Dynasty and had vowed to be a Hun.

Ironically, he still wears Han costumes and wears a Han bun. As he grows older, he even teaches the Huns around him to speak Chinese. This series of actions has attracted much attention.

The roasted fat sheep was carried into the tent, Zuo Xianwang Yu Shan stood up, strode to the wooden tray containing the fat sheep, pulled out the dagger with one hand, and began to cut the sheep.

The part that symbolizes nobility is dedicated to Shan Yu, followed by King Youxian, King Zuoguli and King Youguli in turn.When the servant put the mutton in front of Yi Zhixie, the big tent suddenly became deathly silent.

Looking at the sheep's tail on the wooden tray, Yizhi's face sank like water, and his clenched fists were bulging with blue veins.

Yu Dan stood where he was, looked at Yi Zhixie with a sneer, and clenched his dagger tightly, as if he was waiting for the other party to attack him.

"Brother Wang." The military official Shan Yu suddenly said, and when Yi Zhi looked sideways, he ordered someone to send the mutton in front of him.

"Thank you Shanyu!" Yi Zhi stood up obliquely, pounding heavily on her chest with one arm.Then he sat on the seat, inserted the mutton with a dagger, dipped it in some salt, chewed and swallowed it in his mouth.

The silence was broken, and the noise quickly returned to the tent.

Yu Dan stood on the spot, his face turned blue and white, his teeth were clenched, and the muscles on his cheeks were trembling.

Everyone averted their eyes one after another, not wanting to touch this bad luck.

Since Maodun killed Touman with a Mingdi arrow and won the position of Shan Yu, the relationship between Shan Yu's father and son became delicate.Although the tradition of the prince being the virtuous king of Zuo and Shan Yu being passed down from father to son is maintained, it is just like Mao Dun is to the old man, and the old man is to the military officials. For Yu Shan's son, the military officials Shan Yu's support is true, But he is always on guard.

If not, he would not have adopted Zhongxingshuo's suggestion and allowed Youxian King and Zuoguli King to continue to expand their power to achieve the goal of checks and balances.

"May the great order established by heaven last forever!"

Yi Zhixie took the lead to congratulate, and everyone responded one after another.Yu Shan returned to his original position with a livid face, raised a cup with everyone, and poured down the bitter and stale wine.

The slaves and maidservants in colorful clothes danced in the tent, and the noise came from outside the tent.The warriors and herdsmen of all ministries are also celebrating, and the smell of meat is all over the camp.But not everyone can drink the turbid wine, only the most outstanding warriors can share a cup and a half to satisfy their greed.

In the big tent, the roasted beef legs were served, and many leaders threw away the wine cups and began to tear the beef.

The Bank of China, who had been silent all this time, stood up, bowed to the Chanyu, and said, "The heavens set up a great chanyu. The autumn harvest is not far away, and the barns of the Han people are about to be full. The great chanyu will leave a letter from the emperor of Han, ordering him to Present the rice and glutinous rice cakes as a gift to all the ministries."

"Okay!" Shan Yu laughed and said, "It's exactly what I want!"

"In addition, there is still a Han family named Yan in Shanyu's tent, so he should be ordered to send the princess to serve the eldest Chanyu."

Before the Bank of China spoke, there were voices of opposition in the account.

"Impossible! Shanyu Dayan is still alive, how can he marry again!"

"However, daughter of the Yiyue clan, can you still stop Da Shanyu?"

"The princess of the Han Dynasty entered the grassland, and there was a lot of rice and glutinous rice cakes. What did the daughter of the Yue family bring?"

"No..."

The noise was getting louder and louder, and the loudest voices were all the leaders of the headquarters.Among the other departments, only those who have a direct relationship with Yuezhi will speak out.But compared to the powerful and well-resourced HQ Guizhong, the latter's voice always lacked a bit of confidence.

Yu Shan didn't say anything from the beginning to the end.

His mother was a Hun who died of illness shortly after his birth.Who is the Yan clan of the military minister Shanyu, or how many Yan clans he has, does not have much influence on him.

However, after the death of Shan Yu, the military official, all the women in these big tents will become his property.There is a princess of the Han Dynasty, which may be helpful for him to inherit the Shan Yu throne.

The counselor behind him also had similar thoughts, and when everyone was arguing, he leaned over to whisper a few times in Yu Dan's ear.

Facing Yu Shan, Yi Zhi sneered and swung the dagger down, piercing the short table in front of him.

Seeing that Lan and Xu Bu were about to draw their knives, Shan Yu finally said angrily, "Shut up!"

The messy big tent finally quieted down.

"After the sacrifice is over, immediately send someone to Chang'an and ask the emperor of the Han Dynasty to send a princess!"

Da Shanyu made the final decision, even if someone was dissatisfied, he didn't dare to stand up at this time.

Yi Zhi raised her head sideways, looked at Shan Yu, the military official in front, and said, "Da Shan Yu, the Han people are cunning, and the ones they sent were not princesses."

"It doesn't matter." The military official Shan Yu leaned on the bear skin behind him, and smiled, "What I want is grain and silk from the Han people, and craftsmen who can make utensils!"

"Da Shan Yu Yingming!"

Soon, the servants brought the dirty wine again, and everyone started to exchange glasses again, as if the dispute just now had never happened.

Bank of China said that sitting next to the military official Shanyu, his eyes swept over the people in the tent, first he stayed on Shanyu, then slowly turned to Yi Zhixie, the corners of his wrinkled mouth curled up, showing a meaningful smile.

The banquet dissipated, and the camp gradually returned to silence, only the bonfire was still burning.

In the next few days, Shan Yu led the army to sacrifice ancestors, heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, and killed thousands of slaves, cattle and sheep, and the grass was stained red with blood.

After the sacrifice, according to the tradition, the warriors from each tribe will compete in fighting, riding and archery.

In the last match, Yi Zhixie and Yu Shan went off the field by themselves. When fighting for a lamb, they refused to give in to each other and tore the lamb in half.Blood splashed on the heads of the horses of the two, and there was a burst of applause.

Because it was hard to tell the winner, Shan Yu, the military minister, made the decision in the end, and the reward was doubled. They each got ten camels and fifty sheep.

The military official Shan Yu clenched his fists, beat the shoulders of the two men respectively, and said loudly: "Brave!"

"Brave!"

"Roar!"

In Shanyu's big tent, Da Yan, who was dressed in silk clothes, pushed away the maid and threw a wooden box on the ground. Feeling puzzled, he pulled out a dagger inlaid with gemstones and stabbed it hard on the animal skin. With a clear and crisp cracking sound, the snow-white animal hide was cut into several pieces.

"Han, it's that damned Han again!" Da Yan clenched his dagger tightly, his plump breasts heaved up and down, his full red lips had clear teeth marks, and his blue eyes were full of anger.

"I want to kill him, I must kill him!"

"Princess, don't let others hear you!" An older maid's expression changed drastically, and she hurriedly stopped her words.

"What am I afraid of? What am I afraid of!" Da Yan sat down among the messy animal skins and stabbed the dagger fiercely by his side, "It was he who proposed Shanyu to attack my father's tribe, so that the tribe would not be wiped out. I was given to the Huns!"

"It's been hard until today, and he encouraged Da Shanyu to marry the princess of the Han family!"

"What am I, what am I?!"

"The Bank of China said, I want to kill him, I must kill him!"

"There is always a chance, there is always a chance." The elderly maid knelt down, climbed up to Da Yanshi, hugged her tightly with her arms, and persuaded her in a low voice, "Princess, bear with me for a few more years, until King Zuo Xian Inheriting the position of Da Shan Yu, the Bank of China said that he would definitely not survive!"

The Bank of China said that serving the old man and the two generations of military ministers had done a lot of hard work, even if he was a Han, it was not something the Da Yan family could do casually.This is not the case with Yu Shan. When he becomes the Great Chanyu, it will not be difficult to kill a Han.Furthermore, the counselors around him must not allow the Bank of China to say that they should rob the position of the counsellor.

"Princess, as long as King Zuo Xian becomes Shan Yu, those Han people and Wuhuan people around him will definitely kill the Bank of China!"

"I can't wait that long!"

"Princess, think of the little prince!"

After Da Yan married Shan Yu, a military official, they gave birth to two sons and a daughter. Only the youngest son, who was three years old, survived.Such an age would not pose a threat to Shan, and with the tradition of the Huns, Yu Shan's attitude towards the Da Yan clan was not bad.

Hearing the maid mentioning his son, Da Yan's expression finally calmed down, he took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly, repeating this, the madness in his expression finally disappeared without a trace.

"Send someone to look at the Bank of China and say it." Da Yan clenched his dagger tightly and said coldly, "I heard that he is taking medicine from a Han doctor? Find a way to get the prescription."

"Princess……"

"Don't worry, I won't act in a hurry." Da Yan sneered, "But when you get something, there is always a time when you can use it."

The maid took the order and went down to make arrangements soon.

A ritual will be brought to the fore in the feud between Shan and Yizhixie.It's just that Shan Yu, a military minister, is pressing on top, and the conflict between the two is limited to a small area. So far, there has been no large-scale fight, and no one has been killed on the surface.

After the sacrifice, the military minister Shan Yu appointed the head of the Lan family as an envoy, and set off for Chang'an with the letter of credence and a gift for the Emperor of Han.

Due to the rain on the way, the team moved slowly and arrived in Bianjun in late June.

When the patrolling frontier soldiers found the Huns coming, they immediately prepared to light the wolf smoke.

The head of the Lan family ordered the team to stop advancing, put on the banner of an envoy, and sent two riders to Saixia, stating that this trip was to deliver the letter of credence and repair the relationship with Chang'an.

The big household of the Lan family chose to enter the Han Dynasty from Yunzhong County, which happened to be under the rule of Wei Taishou.

When Wei Shang heard the news, he sent people to report to Chang'an, and even sent his servants to fly to Yuanyang City. He strictly ordered the city gates to be closed and the cavalry not to step out of the camp. .

After the Huns envoys entered Yunzhong County, the news quickly spread in various counties.

Wei Qing'e specially came to find Zhao Jia and invited him to go to the city together.

"I don't see you running horses in the livestock farm these days. You are always bored at home, and be careful not to get sick."

The girl walked up to Zhao Jia and forced him out from behind the mountains of bamboo slips and sheepskin.Seeing the young man's slightly pale face and light blue lower eyelids, he immediately raised his eyebrows, pursed his red lips, and pulled his sleeves out.

"Look what you've become?!"

"Sister, it's not..." Zhao Jia wanted to explain, but the girl didn't give him a chance at all.

Being dragged all the way to the courtyard, Zhao Jia couldn't help squinting his eyes under the long-lost sunlight, and covered his forehead with one hand.

"I know you're going to do big things." Wei Qing'e sighed, patted Zhao Jia's forehead, and said with concern, "But things can't be done in a hurry. Look at your current appearance, how can you not make people worry?"

"I know……"

"Ok?"

"I was wrong." Zhao Jia admitted his mistake honestly, and the girl finally showed her beauty.

"If you know your mistake, go to the city with me tomorrow. The Huns entered Yunzhong City, and I heard that the envoy who led the team was a well-known family member from the Lan family."

"Lan's family?" Zhao Jia narrowed his eyes and put his hand on his forehead, jokingly said, "That's right. If it's the Xubu family's, they probably won't be able to enter the city gates, and they will be hacked to death by Wei Shijun with a sword. "

The girl was amused, and the more she thought about it, the more amusing she became, and she couldn't stop for a while.

Zhao Jia gave up on continuing to improve the map and stayed in the courtyard with the girl.Standing in the sun, he stretched lazily, his bones made a crisp sound, and then he realized how long he had been locked in the house.

Changan

The urgent report from Bianjun was sent to Weiyang Palace. After Emperor Jing had read it, he did not rush to summon his ministers, but went to see Empress Dowager Dou first.

"Mother, the Xiongnu intends to restore the marriage." Sitting on the side of the low couch, Emperor Jing repeated the matter in person.

Empress Dowager Dou pondered for a long time, and said, "What is A Qi's intention?"

"You haven't mastered fine cavalry yet, so don't go to war. Discuss with courtiers first. As usual, you can remarry and pass the customs." Emperor Jing's idea is very practical. First drag the Huns until they are trained as elite soldiers and can sweep the grassland. kill.

Even if he can't do it, there is still a prince.

In Emperor Jing's view, the prince was young and intelligent, with a resolute and resolute temperament, and he would definitely do better than him in eradicating powerful enemies.

"Is there anyone to choose?" Queen Dowager Dou said.

"The kings and lords..."

Before Emperor Jing finished speaking, he was interrupted by Queen Mother Dou.

"Your Majesty is honorable, if you allow your father and brother to commit crimes, how can you treat them lightly to the Xiongnu!" Empress Dowager Dou sat up and said in a deep voice, "Just choose the son of the Ye Ting family."

A few years after the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the rebellious princes and kings were all dealt with according to the law, and the queens and daughters were more lenient.Emperor Jing's original intention was that if the court agreed to make a marriage, they would choose one of the princes and daughters.

Empress Dowager Dou is not even willing to nod to the princess. If she really wants to get married, she simply asks Emperor Jing to choose from among the untitled palace servants.

"The marriage still needs to be discussed with the courtiers. What does A Qi think about the prince's marriage?"

Before Empress Dowager Dou proposed three candidates, all of which were rejected by Emperor Jing.Bringing up this matter now is to see Emperor Jing's true attitude.Before Guantao went to Weiyang Palace, she was always worried.

"This matter is not urgent for the time being. The crown prince is still young, please wait for two more years." Emperor Jing said.

"Alright."

Hearing Emperor Jing's answer, Empress Dowager Dou's heart sank.When Emperor Jing left Changle Palace, he sat alone in meditation for a long time, and when Chen Jiao came close, he sighed deeply, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.