Three Kingdoms

Shi Bazhi exchanging bacon for lamb is actually not a big deal. As the leader of a military stronghold, he not only has to serve as the commander of the military stronghold militarily, he also has to plan the military stronghold on weekdays. It is not easy to be a father and a mother at the same time, such as the soldiers' basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.

"You said those herdsmen were affected by the disaster?" ” Zhang He asked.

Shi Bazhi nodded and said: "Yes, I heard that the desert in the north was hit by another disaster, and then they started fighting over some mountain and some river... General, I can't remember the places they were chattering about... …These guys, at first, they pretended to be descendants of princes and wanted to come here to cheat people out of food and drinks…”

Shi Bazhi smiled and told Zhang He that in the beginning, these barbarians were all flattering themselves. I don’t know if it was from the ears of their older generation, or from where they heard that Han people were stupid and rich. , are willing to believe that the barbarians who come here are some kind of princes, so even if they are a small and poor tribe, they all claim to be the bloodline of the Khan of such-and-such a mountain, such-and-such cave, or such-and-such forest, and Chanyu The descendants expressed that they wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the Han Dynasty and deliver credentials to each other.

At the beginning, Shi Bazhi was doubtful, but later he saw through it after seeing more. After all, no matter how much he pretends, his daily words and deeds, as well as his daily habits of eating, washing, etc., can still show whether a person is moral or not. cultivated...

So when Shi Bazhi encountered his first scam and found that these guys ate almost everything they could eat like hungry ghosts, and then couldn't help but suffer from diarrhea in the middle of the night, he almost understood it. It's like a guy who likes to steal things says he is a prince of a certain kingdom. Can you believe it? So later on, Shi Bazhi basically didn't believe in these barbarians who would always show what kind of descendants they were.

Zhang He was not surprised by this situation. And to be honest, in the desert, various tribes are constantly conquering each other. If we talk about the tribes that have been in chaos in the desert for hundreds of years, the sons of wandering chiefs, etc., they are simply like stones in the grassland. , too many to count.

"Those Hu herdsmen north of the military stronghold," Zhang He asked, "are they here during this time?" 』

Shi Bazhi nodded and said, "Yes, they all came one after another during this period." I have sent people to check out the bottom. These people are small tribes under Xianbei. They can't afford to offend the Xianbei people, nor can they afford to offend us. So when the Xianbei people fought with us before, these guys stayed far away. ’s... Now that the Xianbei people have fallen, they dare to come back... Speaking of which, they are closer to us than to the Xianbei people. After all, the Xianbei people will rob their cattle and sheep and capture their men and women, but we don’t do that. This kind of thing... So if there is any trouble over there in the grassland and desert, they will rush over and send us a message in exchange for some salt, tea or something..."

In fact, Shi Bazhi did not tell the whole story.

This piece of land originally belonged to Xianbei, but later became the tentacles of the Han people, and the Hu herdsmen in the distance may be the real people who have lived here for a long time.

But without strength, in any era and in any place, it is the original sin.

"What are most of the messages they send?" Is it credible? ” Zhang He asked.

Shi Bazhi shook his head and said: "Basically, they are just messy rumors in the desert... Sometimes they themselves know only a little bit about it and can't explain clearly. But I think they are more or less a source of information, and they are helping us shepherd sheep, so there is not much." I’m thinking about it...』

Zhang He nodded, "Do these herders know each other and the people in the military camp?" Will they graze around Junzhai all year round? 』

Shi Bazhi replied: "The soldiers in the military camp were sent here after the training in the camp. They are not familiar with the herdsmen here... As for those herdsmen, they came last winter and never left... ...The pasture in the north has many rocks, the grass is not fat, and it is not easy to raise livestock. Originally, these herdsmen only came here in winter, and they still go north in spring. There is a water meadow about thirty or forty miles away, and the grass is fatter. But last year, it was said to be a white disaster, and many pastures were ruined... But this one has more rocks and less water, so the disaster was not serious..."

Zhang He nodded, thoughtfully.

Shi Bazhi said: "Those herders also sent some bird feathers, cattle, sheep and women..."

Zhang He stopped and looked back at Shi Bazhi, "So...you accept it?" 』

"How dare you? Shi Bazhi laughed and said, "General, I am not a new recruit. The military discipline is here... I sent people to send bird feathers and other things to the back to reassure them... cows, sheep, women and so on." All were confiscated and returned..."

The bird feathers mentioned by Shi Bazhi are actually some eagle feathers shot by nomadic people in the desert, or the long feathers of swan feathers. These feathers not only have military purposes, but also represent submission. The Xiongnu and Xianbei all liked to use this bird feather as a large banner, which represented authority.

Cattle and sheep represent wealth, and women are generally regarded as items for family reproduction in the desert. Offering cattle, sheep and women is also a custom that represents the surrender of tribes in the desert.

Zhang He nodded and did not sit on the tattered mat at the head of the table, because he could tell that it had been specially packed and there were even some wet marks on it that had been wiped off not long ago. As a desert place with a lot of wind and frost, people usually don’t sit on mats for no other reason than sitting on mats makes their buttocks feel cold.

Zhang He casually pulled up a stool and wanted to sit by the fire pit. Unexpectedly, as soon as he pulled it over and put it down, he saw that the stool got stuck, one leg fell off, and it lay crookedly on the ground.

Shi Bazhi suddenly felt a toothache.

The legs of this bar stool became loose some time ago and I forgot to nail them.

Shi Bazhi hurriedly stepped forward, only to see Zhang He turn over the bench by himself, put the loose leg back on, then lay it flat, stretched out his hand and pressed it twice, and then sat down as he thought there was no problem. Come down, then look up at Shi Bazhi.

"Sit down," Zhang He called Shi Bazhi, "What are you doing standing there?" Aren't there still stools over there? 』

Shi Bazhi grimaced, "General, why don't you... change your stool?" 』

Zhang He waved his hand and changed the topic, "No, it's not like you can't sit down." What's the point of sitting on rocks and lying on the grass when you're out on the march and can't find a suitable place? By the way, I see that less than half of your village is Hu soldiers... When I came here last time, there didn't seem to be so many Hu soldiers. Why are there more now? 』

Although in this vast desert, the Hu people also have black hair and black eyes, and their skin is as tanned as the Han people, but their face shape and hair texture are somewhat different, and there are still some obvious differences.

Following Zhang He's instructions, Shi Bazhi also picked up a barbarian stool and sat on the side. Then he said, "If we can't replace the regular soldiers, we will recruit some servant soldiers first... These barbarian soldiers are actually not bad, just for stuttering." , but they are obedient... Alas, they are all barbarians who are fleeing to avoid disaster... It is really bitter and cold here... These Han soldiers from the mainland can't stand it sometimes..."

Shi Bazhi told Zhang He something that happened not long ago.

It is not a good job to guard a military stronghold in a place like the desert. Many soldiers are not used to it. At the beginning, they were somewhat unable to bear it. After some soldiers passed the initial stage, they were able to I got used to it, but some soldiers reacted more...

After all, apart from facing these brothers and comrades of my own, I rarely see outsiders all year round. In addition, there are some differences in personality. It is inevitable that some soldiers will suffer from hysteria. No, in the military camp Among the recruits who came last year, one of them went crazy not long ago. He screamed in the middle of the night and was hung up and whipped ten times. As a result, the madness was not cured and the whiplash was not healed. He sneaked out again in the middle of the night and waited until dawn. When they searched again, they only found half a corpse, and Shi Bazhi was fined for it...

Zhang He nodded silently. He seemed to remember this incident and saw it in the military newspaper, but he couldn't connect it with the military camp in front of him for a while.

Because it was a dead person, someone was sent to verify it later. After all, in the military, there are many things where superiors suppress and bully subordinate soldiers. If a colleague is killed by mutilating and destroying the body, then it is not a trivial matter, but we are verifying it. During the process, there was no difference between the situation reported by Shi Bazhi. The only thing that can be criticized is that Shi Bazhi did not send anyone to watch the soldier when he fell ill...

However, who would have known that this guy would dare to run? This can be considered a crime of desertion. You must know that even if you are not eaten by a wolf, your head will still be lost if you catch it alive!

Furthermore, anyone who disturbs the military camp in the middle of the night should be killed according to the law.

Shi Bazhi only whipped him according to the noise, which was considered a lenient treatment.

It's hard for people, and it's hard for beasts too. There might have been a pack of wolves staring at the pile of stones in Junzhai, wondering where to start, but in the middle of the night a piece of meat was delivered from the pile of stones...

Under such circumstances, these relatively remote military villages and the Hu soldiers who are more accustomed to life in the desert have become better choices, and not all Hu people can accept them.

Shi Bazhi said, "There were a few remnants of Xianbei before, and later there were some in the Northern Desert, but...it seems that more barbarians have fled to us during this time...some of them are lustful people, and it makes me sick to look at them." Yes, so I didn’t even stay..."

Zhang He nodded.

Different from the Xiongnu and Xiqiang, these barbarians in the desert have now clearly become two different types. One is similar to Wuhuan or Jiankun, and they still maintain a certain organizational structure. Nomadic tribes, and others are very sparse small tribes, just like the Junzhai tribe not far from the Junzhai.

Zhang He has been thinking about one thing, which is what kind of responsibility the Northern Territory Protectorate has.

If it is to defend against the invasion of nomads from the north, the Xiongnu has collapsed, Xianbei is divided, and Wuhuan is half dead. In addition, these desert herdsmen, large and small, are gradually surrendering. It can be said that the threat to the north has gradually decreased. Heavy defense is required. If it was to check and balance Cao's army in Youbei, the Northern Territory Protectorate already had enough strength to fight against or even destroy Cao's army in Youbei. At least Zhang He thought so, so why not send troops?

But one good thing about Zhang He is that he can think, rather than venting his unformed complaints wantonly. After all, having stayed with Cao Cao, he knew the consequences of casually complaining.

Very early on, the Northern Territory Protectorate began to use salt, tea, and some iron tools to win over and alienate the tribes in the grassland and desert, and recruited the barbarians from these tribes to become servants. Shi Bazhi admitted a small number of herdsmen to graze sheep in the northern pastures, and did not have much objection.

As Shi Bazhi said, these scattered herdsmen could serve as spies to inquire about some sporadic information, but their role in promoting the progress of the war was very limited.

The grassland and desert are really too big. Those nomadic tribes scattered everywhere are like water drops on a lotus leaf. If they don't gather together, nothing will happen. But once they gather together in one place, sooner or later the lotus leaf will become wet. lost balance.

As he was talking, soldiers suddenly came to report that some herdsmen had come to the military camp and wanted to see the Han general!

Shi Bazhi thought that the herdsmen wanted to see him for something, so he called him a general, just like how everyone in later generations would call him a leader or boss. He glanced at Zhang He embarrassedly and said quickly: "Who are you going to see?" These guys who spend all day in the lake! 』

The soldiers confirmed again, saying that it was Zhang He who the herdsmen wanted to see.

Zhang He was stunned and immediately frowned, "How dare you peek into the military camp?" ! 』

Zhang He and others certainly did not hide any traces when they came, but they did not publicize it so loudly that the whole world knew about it. Therefore, these herdsmen arrived here not long after Zhang He arrived, which means that these shepherds may have been watching. Military stronghold!

Shi Bazhi's body suddenly trembled, and then blood came to his head. There was faint blood rolling behind the scar on his face, as if blood would spurt out in the next moment, "The thief is so brave!" General, give the order and I'll cut off that thief's head! 』

Zhang He pondered for a while, waved his hand and said, "No, let him come and see what he has to say..."

Guard Zhang He soon brought a grassland herdsman wrapped in a black leather jacket.

As soon as he entered the command post, the man immediately prostrated himself on the ground, curled up and kept kowtowing. Even after being scolded several times by Shi Ba, this guy still didn't dare to raise his head and speak.

Zhang He looked carefully, looking at the man's leather robe and his tattered linen clothes, and then listened to him speak intermittently, even some incomprehensible nonsense, "Huh?" What? He said he was the commander-in-chief? What kind of commander-in-chief? 』

Zhang He had no idea that the guy in front of him, who was dressed in rags and whose dark face was stained by wind and sun, turned out to be the commander-in-chief of more than a dozen tribes! And what Zhang He couldn't figure out was how could such a dull guy who could speak gibberish be able to integrate herders from more than a dozen tribes into one place to form a new big tribe...

Could it be that these nomadic herdsmen in the desert who were used to being unruly suddenly changed their temper, and one or two of them turned into obedient little lambs?

The translator asked, while the old herdsman, the commander-in-chief, stumbled and spoke.

Then Zhang He finally understood in general, in fact, this is actually somewhat related to the Northern Territory Protectorate...

In the past, the Northern Territory Protectorate and Xianbei and Wuhuan fought several battles, defeating, defeating, and defeating the structure of these alliances. This reduced the threat to the Han Dynasty, but it also These tribes, which were originally gathered in the south of the desert, fled to the northern end of the desert.

Some of these fleeing tribes were really frightened and fled all the way without returning. Of course, some gritted their teeth and remembered this hatred and vowed to fight back again.

Since we want to fight back, we definitely can't do it without troops. So just like the Huns who finally whipped Rome, these fleeing nomads, whether they are the remnants of Xianbei or the Wuhuan tribe, have at least practiced with the big Han people. They are more or less the actual combatants, bullying the small grassland tribes in the north. , of course there is no problem. Many of these small grassland tribes who originally did not want to participate in the war and stayed away from each other have suffered disasters. Almost all the men were killed, few women survived, and an unknown number of cattle, sheep and livestock were robbed... …

These small tribes that were maimed and disrupted fled again. In order to survive, they reintegrated into the so-called "grand alliance" of tribal groups, which is the group of old herdsmen in front of Zhang He.

"So, these so-called dozen tribes are actually all old, weak, sick and disabled, and there are not many people left?" ” Zhang He raised his eyebrows and said. No wonder this so-called commander-in-chief can't even speak clearly, and only knows how to kowtow when they meet.

Zhang He said to the translator: "Let him stand up." 』

The translator spoke several times in succession, but the old herdsman seemed not to hear, curling up on the floor and kowtowing.

The translator had no choice but to call two soldiers over and pull him up, but the old herdsman still didn't dare to raise his head. He seemed to have no muscles and bones, hanging loosely on the arms of the two soldiers, and his legs were limp. He didn't use any strength. As soon as the two soldiers let go, the guy immediately collapsed again.

Zhang He looked at it and was slightly sure that this guy was no longer pretending.

If you can pretend to be so natural and realistic, that's a skill.

Zhang He waved to someone to bring some wine and drank some for the old herdsman.

The alcohol carried by the army is all distilled high-strength alcohol. On the one hand, it can keep out the cold when necessary, and on the other hand, it can also be used to clean wounds.

After a few sips of strong wine, the old herdsman's fragile nerves recovered slightly. He ignored the residual wine still flowing around his mouth and neck, and put his hands above his head, chanting like a song.

The old herdsman's speech was unclear, and the translator on the side was struggling to translate, "...the condor flying high in the sky hopes to accept...accept allegiance, become a slave, and graze life and death...Pray to the condor, that is, we Can help him get revenge..."

Although the translation is not very clear, the general meaning can still be understood.

"He means..." Zhang He pondered, "Some people from his alliance were attacked?" 』

The translator asked again, and the old herdsman nodded repeatedly.

"Please ask clearly, who exactly was attacked?" Is it a barbarian or Cao Jun! 』

Zhang He suddenly felt that he seemed to vaguely hear the sound of a battle horn...