In the land of Hetao, east of Helan Mountain, south of the Yellow River, on the vast alluvial plain, the camp is like a pearl, the cattle and sheep are herds, and the war horses are neighing. In the future, the Fuping County of Daqin is still occupied by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu were never a very hospitable people, but on this day they came with guests.

The Xiongnu lived on nomadic herding, grassland cattle and sheep, war horses and strong bows were all they lived. Relying on strong bows and strong horses, for hundreds of years, he has been going south to harass and plunder the Chinese people who rely on agriculture as their economic basis.

The Xiongnu were never a country with centralized royal power like the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, but an organization similar to a tribal alliance.

In the past, Li Mu, the general of Zhao State, defeated the Hu allied army in Yanmen, killing more than 100,000 of its horses. Since then, the Huns and Donghu have suffered a great loss of vitality, and the Hu people have not dared to go south to herd horses for more than ten years.

Later Qin set up a divisive plan for Wang Jian, and Wang Zhong of Zhao planned to kill Li Mu, Li Mu died and Zhao was destroyed. Taking advantage of the gap between Qin's annihilation of the Six Kingdoms, the Xiongnu seized the opportunity and recovered some territories to the south over the years. However, for a nomadic people like the Xiongnu, the size of the land is not the most important, and the strength of a Xiongnu tribe is measured by the number of horses under it.

In the process of the Xiongnu going south. The leader of the Xiongnu section stood out from the crowd. Over the years, he gradually annexed the Xiongnu tribes, collected the cattle and sheep people of the various tribes, and made the warriors of the Xiongnu tribes concentrated under his command.

And he was called Shan Yu by the people of the Xiongnu tribe, Tou Man Shan Yu. Since his beginning, the Xiongnu have ceased to be the loose tribal confederations they once had, but a unified slave state.

However, the unified Xiongnu were still weak Xiongnu. Right now, it has the powerful Donghu to the east and the powerful Otsuki clan to the west. To the north, there are numerous small tribes. To the south is the mighty Great Qin.

In the king's tent of Touman, Toumandan, who was in the prime of life at this time, was discussing the affairs of the tribe in the tent. He had just put down a civil strife, and was worried about the loss of cattle, sheep and horses.

"Our Hun warriors suffered little losses in this battle, but thousands of damaged weapons, tents, and horses were killed. The dead cattle and sheep were rotting because they did not have enough salt. We now lack enough food to survive the current crisis. ”

Tou Mandanyu's meaning is very clear, and they are going to do their old business again.

Among Touman's subordinates, an old man came out, he was an old shaman among the Huns, and his status was respected. The old shaman said worriedly: "Shan Yu, we have just experienced a big war right now, and it is too early to start a war with the forces in the east, west and south at this time. Although the tribes in the north are numerous, most of them are huddled in the ice and snow. If we forcibly march north, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses. ”

Touman also understands the predicament at this time, the Xiongnu was originally a hungry wolf, but now this wolf can't find a place to put his mouth. The forces around him are too strong, and the only north that is not strong does not have much oil and water.

At this moment, a loud noise sounded outside the tent.

Tou Manben was thinking hard about what to do, and he heard the noise outside the tent and shouted, "What happened? Why is it so noisy? ”

A subordinate outside the tent walked in, "Qi Yu Shan Yu, a caravan of southern barbarians has come from the tribe, and it has brought a lot of items. Including rouge, jewelry, furs, horses, and the ladies went to choose them. ”

"Horses?" Tou Manshan Yu wondered, "When will it be the turn of the Southern Barbarians to sell horses to us?" Let's go, go out and have a look. ”

Touman walked out of the big tent with his men, and on the open meadow not far from the king's tent, two carriages were parked at this time. A merchant with four or five of his men was selling all sorts of delicate jewelry to his women.

However, these are not the reasons for Touman's attention. What really surprised him was that in the middle of the two cars, a sturdy horse was neighing.

As a Xiongnu Shan Yu, Touman is naturally a person who knows horses, and he was immediately attracted by this horse.

Touman approached to watch, and his wives and concubines avoided a path. Touman's eyes flashed, and his rough hands stroked the smooth and soft hair of the horse, as if he cherished the white ketone body of a woman, and said lovingly: "Good horse, good horse!" ”

However, he immediately felt that something was wrong, and said to the sneering merchant beside him: "This horse is very different from the horses on the grassland, and it should not be a horse from the place where you southern barbarians are born. Where did you get that from? ”

The merchant patted the horse's ass and said, "Shan Yu's knowledge is really extraordinary, this horse is from Wuche City. ”

"Five-car city? Although I don't know much about you Southern Barbarians, when did this five-car city come out? ”

"Haha!" The merchant smiled, did not sell Guanzi, and said: "Wuche City is a city built by the fourteenth prince of Great Qin, Anxi Jun Yingziyi, led by 3,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 immigrants on the border of Longxi. After he established the castle, he made a trade agreement with the Otsuki clan to the west. This horse was brought back from the Western Regions by his caravan. Later, it fell into the hands of villains. ”

"Commerce, what is the scale?"

"There are more than a dozen caravans going to the Western Regions through the Five Cars City every month."

"In this way, this Ying Ziyi is also an amazing character, how old is he this year?"

"Seven years old!"

"Huh?" Touman thought he had heard something, but after he confirmed with the merchant again, he learned that the so-called Anxijun was really only seven years old.

At this moment, Man's heart unconsciously flooded with greed, a seven-year-old child, a population of more than 20,000, and countless caravan goods.

"Shan Yu"

"What's wrong?" Touman came back to his senses and realized that the merchant was staring at him.

"The horse," the merchant asked softly.

"I bought this horse. I'll go get the gold with my minister!" Touman laughed, in a happy mood, and turned back to the big tent.

But Touman didn't notice that when he turned around, the merchant lowered his head, and his original flattering face disappeared in an instant, replaced by an eerie sneer.

In the evening, in the shaman's tent, Touman was anxiously waiting. The old shaman was dancing unhurriedly around the altar at this time.

The moonlight slanted down through the vents left at the top of the tent and shone in the still water of the groove in the center of the altar. When the moon in the water was about to be full, the old shaman stopped his movements and knelt down, his face full of incomparable piety, praying for something.

It was already a full moon in the water. The old shaman's body shone with a layer of green light, and in the blink of an eye, he threw himself into the pure water and disappeared. The old shaman also seemed to have run out of strength and collapsed to the ground.

Touman hurriedly stepped forward to support him and asked, "What was the result?" ”

I saw that the old shaman's face was full of fear, and his wrinkled face was bent and no longer human. He grabbed Tou Man's hand tightly, and said in a weak voice: "Shan Yu, you can't absolutely not provoke that Nanren, he is a demon from hell." To provoke him will cause untold trouble. The decline of our Great Huns will be inevitable, and there will even be an end of overturning. ”

Touman's brows furrowed, it was the first time he had seen the old shaman like this. "In that case, I should all the more have to destroy him. While he's still a kid! ”

Touman said firmly, he stood up, and instructed the attendants beside him: "You take good care of the old shaman, and I will go to discuss the specific matters of this operation." ”

"Yes!"

"Single-on-single!" In the big tent, only the old shaman's voice was almost pleading

Ying Ziyi, who was known as the evil ghost, had no idea that the Xiongnu tribe, who was thousands of miles away, had already targeted him.

He was standing on the newly built wall of the Five Carriage City at the moment, experimenting with the newly built ballista of the Gong Wing.

"One more wild deer." Ying Ziyi waved his hand, and the guards under the city wall released a wild deer from the cage. The wild deer was free, and galloped out as hard as he could.

"Crossbow bolts!" Ying Ziyi commanded, and his men loaded the newly built crossbow arrows onto the rack. The crossbow arrows are one meter long, and the arrows are still wrapped in iron sheets, which looks quite sharp.

"Put!"

Peng screamed, and the bowstring of the ballista broke.

Ying Ziyi frowned, this ballista has good power and range, but it is too intolerant of X, so it was broken after more than 20 test shots.

"Mr. Gongyi, is there any way to increase the lifespan of this crossbow?"

Gong Yiyi has been accompanying Ying Ziyi since the morning, and it is already afternoon. Facing the tireless and excited Ying Ziyi like a child getting a new toy, he smiled bitterly: "Qi Yu Gongzi, according to the understanding of his subordinates, there should be a fierce beast near here, named the Black Spotted Tiger." Their tendons are quite flexible and tough, and they are the best material for making bed crossbows. It should be possible to increase the life of the ballista. ”

"Spotted Tiger?"

~~~~~~ thanks to who slept big tonight, Jinao little angel big, Xingluo infinitely big, Wenfeng Denglin big, ywueric big reward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~