Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

On September [-]th, all the tribes in the Beiman Kingdom gathered near the Qingli Lake where Wang Ting was located. Millions of people gathered together and lived around the lake. to where the edge is.

Qingli Lake is a very large freshwater lake. The water source flows down from the top of the nearby snow-capped mountains. The surrounding water plants are incomparably richer than the Guna River. It is suitable for millions of people to settle down and graze here. Horse livestock in herd.Qingli Lake has belonged to the strongest tribe of the northern barbarians for more than a hundred years, that is, the tribe ruled by the Great Khan. In the hearts of the northern barbarians, only the strongest tribe can have the best land of water and grass.

Backed by green hills and facing the lake, the Great Khan’s Tent is located on the northernmost side of Qingli Lake, facing south like Jingren in the south.The other tribes lined up around the lake on both sides of the Great Khan's tribe. The tribes of the left and right sage kings were closest, and the rest of the tribes were arranged according to their status in the country. The higher the status of the tribe, the closer it was to the king's tent. , and those with low status are farthest away.

According to the customs of the northern barbarian country, all tribes surround the livestock pens in the center of the tribe to prevent wild animals from breaking in and hurting cattle and sheep.Many tribes even began to command tribesmen and slaves to harvest grass for livestock to eat after winter.The clansmen were busy preparing fodder, and the leaders were also busy exchanging feelings.All the leaders who arrived gathered near the king's tent, talking with each other, and the atmosphere was very warm.

People around kept saying hello to Abonajiang who had just arrived at the royal court, and even King Zuo Xian smiled at him, which made the rich man straighten his chest excitedly, laughing loudly, his face flushed , talking constantly with old and new friends around him, bragging about more and more cattle and sheep and more and more slaves in his tribe.

No wonder he is so happy, he is just a big family, but this year the Great Khan arranged his tribe to station in a place very close to the king's tent, even some princes did not have such treatment, the meaning of this is well known, It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is the confidant of Da Khan.

Different from Abonajiang, who is so beautiful, Xue Jin, who also went to Yasukuni once, was ignored at this moment.It is obvious that he brought back salt, which is a hundred times more important than tea, to the Northern Man country a few years ago, but all the leaders regarded him as nothing, just chatting with others, and even would rather sit and drink alone than have a relationship with Xue. Jin said the last sentence, pushing Xue Jin into an empty corner, embarrassed and at a loss.

King Dingling Xue Jin clenched his fists hard, his nails almost penetrated into the flesh of his palm, but he didn't feel the pain at all, instead he didn't feel any pain, he gritted his teeth and stared at the aliens and aliens who were alienated from him. chiefs.Why?How much benefit has he, Xue Jin, brought to the Northern Man country over the years?How much benefit did you seek?Why do these people treat him like this? !

Xue Jin glared fiercely at Abona Jiang who was standing in the crowd with beaming eyebrows and talking loudly, his teeth almost bleed.It's this bastard, if he hadn't talked nonsense, how could he and his tribe have fallen into such a situation!

At the end of the mission, he returned to Beiman from Yasukuni, and he and Abonajiang brought the missionary personnel to Qingli Lake to report to the Great Khan what they had seen and heard in Yasukuni.Although Da Khan frowned on what Xue Jin said about the strength of the Jing* team, he didn't say much. Only then regained my spirits.

As the envoy of the visit, he was supposed to be the one who reported to the Great Khan first, but this bastard Abnajiang, relying on himself as a pure-bred northern barbarian, didn't pay attention to Xue Jin, who was a descendant of the Jingren, and even greeted him. They didn't even fight, and they just started talking before Xue Jin.

Abernajiang kept bragging about the role he played when he was on the mission, what kind of attitude he had, and demonstrated to Prince Yasukuni... he completely described himself as a hero who loved the Northern Man country.Not only that, he also belittled Xue Jin, who was with him from time to time, saying that he admired the old land, liked Jingguo more than Beiman country, and even used to be more accustomed to the food and accommodation in Jingguo than in Beiman country. If it is human, isn't this a betrayal!

Before Xue Jin could defend himself, Abonajiang revealed the matter of tea trade he had discussed with Prince Yasukuni, which made Beiman Khan overjoyed, and looked at Xue Jin with even more gloomy eyes.

Xue Jin had no other choice, so he had no choice but to tell the story of the salt trade he had negotiated with Yasukuni for the Beiman Kingdom before Abonajiang further slandered him. cut.However, what was supposed to be a great contribution turned out to be a matter of "paying for the merits and offsetting the merits and demerits". The sweat only rewarded him with a few taels of gold and silver, and it was over. He received no other rewards at all, and offered slander instead. Abonajiang was appreciated by the Great Khan!

And I don't know if Abernajiang got into some slander later. Although the tribe composed of descendants of the Jingren rebels led by Xue Jin has achieved relatively good results in the Shepherd Conference in the past few years, they have always The pastures allocated each year will be worse than the previous year.

Last year, the Great Khan of the Northern Man even allocated the pastures of the Xue Jin tribe to a place in the north that was cold and far away from water sources. This almost prevented his tribe's livestock from thirsting to death, and even caused many tribesmen and slaves to fall seriously ill due to the cold. Finally die.What this represents is simply obvious!

Because of the strong suppression by the Great Khan of the Beiman who didn't even bother to cover up, the leaders of all the tribes in the Beiman Kingdom began to stay away from Xue Jin, even the Beiman and foreigners who Xue Jin had absorbed in his own tribe over the years Also began to flee or go to other tribes.

Xue Jin, who originally controlled a large tribe, now has only about 2000 people who are descendants of the Jingren. Even the 2000 people he couldn't keep.Even the slaves of the tribe began to flee, which shows how far his prestige as the leader has been suppressed.In name, he is still King Dingling, but what kind of king is a leader who is in charge of [-] people?

He is not the only one who is so miserable. In fact, the life of all the descendants of the Dajing traitors in the Beiman Kingdom has become difficult in the past few years. Although these tribes are not as miserable as Xue Jin, they are not so good where to go.Whether it is the grassland allocated after the Shepherd's Conference or the benefits obtained after the war, they are far inferior to the northern barbarians, or even other foreign races. crowd out.

In the past, as long as they made contributions to the northern barbarian country, no matter what race they were from, they could get the treatment they deserved.But what about the past few years?The Great Khan trusted the northern barbarians more and more, neglected the descendants of the Jing people, and even the treatment of other alien races was not as good as before.It seems that the northern barbarians became superior to other ethnic groups in one day, while the descendants of the Jing people became only better than slaves...

More and more descendants of the rebels began to complain, and even asked the Great Khan to comment, but after the eccentric Northern Man Khan captured several Jingren leaders and chopped off their heads, everyone else Frightened by his brutal behavior, he dared not speak.

In order to avoid the pressure of the northern barbarians, these descendants of the rebels gave up their original enmity, and gradually they all got together, communicated with each other, and formed a unified alliance to prevent their tribe from being hurt by other northern barbarian tribes. .

But it's useless even if they stick together, how many of them are descendants of soldiers who defected from Yasukuni?How many of their subordinates have Central Plains blood?There is no loyalty at all in the temperament of the northern barbarians, as long as they have no value, they will be abandoned by them in an instant, even if this person was the object of their allegiance in the past, it is the same for them.

Therefore, the number of people in these tribes is still getting smaller and smaller, and almost all the tribesmen of the northern barbarian blood have chosen to leave them to seek a living elsewhere. Fortunately, the tribesmen who also have the blood of the Yasukuni still have some loyalty from the blood. Even if they can no longer use the language and characters of the Central Plains, there is still some culture flowing in their blood.

They looked down on Yasukuni so much in the past, but now they have to rely on the "loyalty" in Yasukuni culture to live together. Is there anything more ironic than this?

Probably because of the thought of loyalty, the descendants of the Jing people have stronger cohesion, and they rarely betray in the face of danger. This allows them to survive in the Northern Barbarian Kingdom even though they have only [-] to [-] soldiers and horses.

A tribal leader who is also a descendant of Jingren approached Xue Jin at this time, and he whispered: "King Dingling, this life is really unbearable. This year alone, the cattle and sheep in my tribe have starved to death for three days." One-third of the people died of illness, and none of the northern barbarians were left, and all of them fled. If the number of people in the tribe continues to decrease, they will not even be able to manage slaves, and I am afraid that even the captured slaves will have to Ran away."

Xue Jin looked at the man, gestured with a lower voice, and sulked himself there.

Could he not know Jingren's suffering in the Northern Man country?He himself was having a hard time.The northern barbarian tribes around his tribe often clashed with them. The incident was never provoked by them, but every time it developed to the end, there would be armed fights.Regardless of whether Xue Jin's side wins or loses in the end, Da Khan is always pulling sideways. If he wins, he has to make up for other people's "losses", and if he loses, he has to bear the "responsibility" for instigating things. .

In the past few years, everything has gone wrong for him, and his life has become more and more aggrieved, and this bad breath can only be swallowed, which makes his heart ache!

Abernajan, that despicable villain!Xue Jin spat hard.Hmph, out of sight, out of sight, out of ear, out of ear, Xue Jin directly got out of the tent and went outside to get some air. Many leaders who were also descendants of traitors also followed Xue Jin out of the king's tent.Instead of being ostracized and embarrassed inside, it's better to wander around outside to pass the time.

A few years ago, among these people, Xue Jin was the only one who hated his ancestors for arbitrarily deciding the future of their descendants, but now, it is estimated that all the descendants of Jingren living in the Northern Man Kingdom have begun to complain about their reckless ancestors.If I had known that life in Beiman Kingdom was so miserable and full of injustices, I might as well have stayed in Yasukuni back then, at least I wouldn't suffer from such uselessness!

The group of people turned around and turned to the sheepfold of a tribe not far from the king's tent. In this sheepfold enclosed by a wooden fence, there were countless fat and strong snow-white sheep, and they were leisurely walking there. Looking down to eat grass, it seems that they are much more comfortable than living people like them.

Xue Jin was resentful there when he suddenly heard a "Huh" from a descendant of Jingren next to him.The man tugged at the sleeve of another Jingren leader beside him, pointed to a place in the sheep pen, and said gloatingly, "Look, that sheep...is there something wrong?"

The man caught by him also looked in the direction of his finger, and couldn't help raising his eyebrows and gloating, "Sheep plague... I've seen this disease before, that sheep definitely got sheep plague !"

Although the sheep looked like it had just gotten sick, it wasn't very sick, but the symptoms were very special, and it was obvious that it was not a curable disease.Although there are many types of sheep plague, no matter what kind of disease is cured, it will be fine after one sheep is cured.As long as one sheep gets plague, none of the sheep living near it will be able to escape, and all of them will get sick.I'm afraid that many of the sheep in the wooden fence will not escape this catastrophe, and maybe a small part of them will die of illness.

It's no wonder that the descendants of the rebels are gloating there. This sheepfold does not belong to their tribe. It is located close to the royal court. At a glance, it must belong to those arrogant northern barbarians. Their own tribe, cattle and sheep are all there. To the south of Qingli Lake, it takes a long time to ride a horse. Who cares what will happen to the cattle and sheep here, since they can't infect their livestock anyway.

So what if you're sick? Isn't it good to be sick and die?Who let the northern barbarians reject the Jing people, all these sheep will die of illness!Why should the cattle and sheep of their tribe starve to death because there is not enough grass to eat, but these northern barbarians have no loss at all?It is best to die of sheep plague!They should also feel the pain of the death of the tribal livestock!

Of course Xue Jin also saw the sick sheep, but he didn't care about it. Like other Jing people, what's the point of meddling other people's affairs? Let them take care of the affairs of the northern barbarians. He doesn't have the time to help his enemies!

He glanced at the flag on the tent next to the sheepfold that marked the tribe he belonged to, and he knew at a glance that it was Abonajiang's tribe.Hmph, it would be better if all the livestock of that villain died, so that all the members of his tribe would starve to death in winter!

This group of descendants of traitors watched the excitement for a while, and left without saying anything, but they stayed here for so long, and pointed at the sheep in the fence, it was inevitable that they would attract attention.

A member of Abonajiang's clan who was in charge of the sheepfold came over and stared into the sheepfold for a long time, but he didn't see anything wrong.There are so many sheep in this sheepfold, and only one of them got the sheep plague, and it was squeezed into the surrounding sheep in a blink of an eye. How could it be easy to see the problem.

The clansman frowned, shook his head and walked away, muttering to himself as he walked, what were the descendants of the Jing people looking at just now?There's nothing wrong with that...

That night, the leaders of all the tribes gathered in front of the Great Khan's tent, sat on the ground under the light of the bonfire, drank mellow kumiss with the Great Khan sitting at the top, and ate fresh roasted lamb.

Although it is said to sit on the ground, the order of each person's seating is also very particular.The Beiman Kingdom has been greatly influenced by Yasukuni over the years, and even the theory of Yasukuni's seating order has been introduced to the Beiman Kingdom.Therefore, the better the relationship with the Great Khan, the higher the status of the tribal leader will sit closer to the Great Khan, and the smaller the tribe's population, the weaker the strength, and the less important the people who are not valued by the Great Khan will sit farther away .

For example, Abernajiang, in terms of status, he is just a householder. There are many people with higher status than him, but now he is sitting so close to Da Khan.As for Xue Jin, the Dingling King of the Northern Barbarian Kingdom, as a prince, he could only sit at the end with the other descendants of the Jing people, and he couldn't even see the face of the big sweat.

There were still some Jingren leaders who were dissatisfied, but Xue Jin held them down one by one.Their lives are already miserable enough, if they still make a fuss in front of the eccentric Khan, wouldn't they be driven to death by the northern barbarians!Forbearance for a moment, in exchange for a hundred days of peace, Xue Jin thought in his heart, barely suppressing his anger.

Performances are naturally indispensable in the banquet.If it was in the Yasukuni, at this time, the people in the teaching workshop would perform songs, dances or musical instruments, but the customs of the Beiman Kingdom were different. During the banquet in the Beiman Kingdom, there was only one performance - wrestling!

Wrestling was also known as jiaodi and sumo wrestling in the Central Plains, but it was the only name in the Northern Man Kingdom.Compared with other fighting methods that use swords and weapons, wrestling is not only more performative, but also less dangerous, with a lower mortality rate.

Wrestling requires not only the strength of the performers, but also their proficiency. The northern barbarians believe that any warrior who is good at wrestling will also be outstanding in other martial arts. Therefore, wrestling has undoubtedly become an important martial arts event in the northern barbarian country.

Since you want to perform wrestling and serve drinks to everyone present, of course you have to choose the right warrior.The sweat sitting on the top squinted his eyes, drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then said: "Then choose warriors from the tribes of Abonajiang and Xue Jin."

Abernajiang is just a powerful householder, but Xue Jin is the king of Dingling. It stands to reason that the Great Khan should say Xue Jin’s name first, and then Abernajiang’s. Changing their order, they didn't give the descendants of Jingren any face at all, and the contempt in their tone was undisguised.

When Abonajiang heard that he was going to send his warriors to fight against Xue Jin's subordinates, he raised his eyebrows and gave a few words to the subordinates around him.After the subordinate retreated, not long after, he called out a giant man who was more than eight feet tall, and asked him to stand in the center of the field, looking at Xue Jin's direction from afar.

Xue Jin couldn't help but gritted his teeth. Of course he also knew that big man, and he was the warrior who was best at wrestling among the Abernajiang tribe.

People in Beiman Kingdom are generally short, half a head shorter than Jing people, and generally only about six feet tall, but this big man is more than eight feet tall, much taller than Jing people like them.

His whole body is muscular, and he can be described as big and round. His eyes are not brown or black, but blue, and he obviously has foreign blood.I heard that this person is highly skilled. He was originally a top expert in a small country in the Western Regions. He left the old country to join the Beiman country because he admired the powerful Beiman country. Once he arrived in the Beiman country, he was recruited by various tribes. He is the number one wrestler in Beiman Kingdom.

This person is a talent who can only be recruited after he has made great contributions to the Yasukuni. He has been hiding it in the past and refused to show it to others before the shepherd's conference. Now he easily He was sent out to wrestle for everyone's fun, and anyone with a discerning eye would know that he was aiming at Xue Jin!

Even though he knew that Abernajiang had bad intentions, Xue Jin still had no choice. He ground his teeth and recruited a tall subordinate of his own to go up and perform.Xue Jin thought that even if he had to lose, he had to look good. Instead of sending a weak person to be humiliated, it is better to send a master to at least save some face.

The subordinate he sent was the best wrestler among his tribe. In Xue Jin's heart, he felt that this man would not lose much to that big man, and he would not lose face when he went up to fight.

Standing in the drawn circle next to the bonfire, the wrestling officially begins.The two looked at each other for a long time, looking for each other's weaknesses in circles.The big man suddenly rushed forward with his legs, intending to hug the opponent's arm.However, Xue Jin's subordinates were very flexible in their movements, constantly changing their footsteps, which did not allow him to seize the opportunity to grab the arm at all.

However, the space in the circle is limited. No matter how flexible he is, facing an opponent with long hands and feet and a lot taller than himself, Xue Jin's subordinates are still caught by the opponent's arm.Even if he was caught by the arm, Xue Jin's subordinates did not panic. He is also a seasoned master, and his footsteps are still constantly moving and changing, just to find the opponent's weakness and trip him up.

The man's movements were changeable, and he kicked the big man's leg several times in a row, but the big man's lower body was too stable. He obviously kicked the opponent's ankle and knee several times in a row, but he couldn't make the big man lose his balance. Instead, he shifted his center of gravity a lot and almost fell to the ground.

That man still refused to be convinced. As the number one wrestler in Xue Jin's tribe, he had also participated in the Na Mu Zhe Conference many times, and his results had always been good.He is more proud of the strong than anyone else, and he is unwilling to admit defeat even in the face of an opponent who is taller and stronger than himself.Grab the opponent's arm and push forward suddenly, using the strength of the waist to push the opponent back.

He had already used all his strength, but who knew that the big man under Abernajiang was much stronger than him in terms of strength, and all the tricks he tried could not make him take a step back.The big man grinned and pressed his arms fiercely. Xue Jin's clansmen immediately felt that their arms were numb from the pressure, and even their stable waist and legs were a little loose, and their balance was immediately destroyed.

The burly man refused to let others go, and when he turned his body horizontally, his right foot was inserted under the opponent's legs where the center of gravity was, and he pushed hard again.Xue Jin's masters were pushed back by this blow, and the strength of their waists and legs immediately disappeared.

The big man seized the opportunity, let go of his right hand, and grabbed his belt suddenly before the opponent could react. With both hands at the same time, he lifted Xue Jin's clansman abruptly.

Xue Jin was taken aback. He had always known that the big man's wrestling skills were great, but he never thought that he would be so powerful. However, after a few rounds of fighting, he seized the flaw and defeated his subordinates.The big man had already lifted his clansmen high, and it looked like they were going to be thrown out of the circle. According to the rules of the game, once out of the circle, Xue Jin's side would be considered a loser.

Xue Jin took a sip of wine, thinking helplessly, if he loses, he loses. He never thought of winning, but the loss is just ugly.

Unexpectedly, the big man did not choose to throw Xue Jin's subordinates out of the circle, but raised his knees, and slammed the opponent's back into his own hard kneecap.

Only the sound of "click, click" was heard, and the body of the master who was still wrestling on the field just now was bent into an impossible angle by the opponent, the entire back was twisted into a right angle, and the spine was obviously broken into several sections.Even so, the clansman did not die immediately. Blood sprang from his mouth and nose, his eyes protruded and were covered with bloodshot eyes, and his lips kept shaking, as if he wanted to say something, but was rushed out of his mouth Blood stopped.

The big man threw his body on the ground casually. The man seemed to be struggling to move, but he could only tremble slightly.It wasn't until after a stick of incense that he died with regret...

Xue Jin shook his hand, and the gold cup in his hand fell to the ground, and it rolled twice before stopping.He knew that his side was doomed to lose, but he didn't expect that big man would dare to kill his subordinates in front of all the tribal leaders!This is simply deceiving too much!

Xue Jin stood up, just about to reprimand a few words, and let the big man pay for his clansmen with their lives.Unexpectedly, at this time, the sweat sitting on the high place actually said: "Wrestling is a fight to the death! How can there be no injury or death in a fight? Since Xue Jin's subordinates are not as skilled as others, they are injured If you die from overweight, then the winner will be the side of the Aberna River!"

Hearing such words, what else could Xue Jin say when he stood up?He can't say anything!He couldn't help but listen to Da Khan!

Xue Jin gritted his teeth and saluted, then sat back down again, feeling his whole body was freezing cold.At first, he thought that the Great Khan only suspected that the descendants of the rebels wanted to betray the Northern Barbarian Kingdom and seek refuge with the Jingren, so he suppressed them, who were of Jingren blood, but what does this mean now?Da Khan is not suppressing them at all, he is trying to drive out all the descendants of the Jingren, leaving no one behind!

Today, Abonajiang's subordinates dared to openly kill their own people. This is a clear signal.The northern barbarians who saw the attitude of the Great Khan would definitely respond to their master's treatment of their descendants of the Jing people. How many of his people would be killed in this way at the shepherd's conference later?If their tribe's performance in the conference is not good, will there still be their grassland next year?

Great Khan, are you really not going to let us loyal courtiers continue to live?What do we descendants of the Jing people who have defected to the northern barbarian country look like to you?Is it your loyal courtier or a thorn in your side, a thorn in your flesh? !

Xue Jin only felt his mind go blank...