This winter's wind and snow came extremely violently and lasted for a long time, and the herdsmen's tents collapsed countless times in the entire northern grassland, and countless cattle and sheep froze to death.

The more than 20,000 people in the White Horse City, sheltered by high mountains in the northeast and hiding within the city walls, are much safer than the herdsmen on the vast grasslands.

Whenever a deceased was reported, Wan Yankang braved the wind and snow to go to the deceased's home to express condolences and send a bundle of firewood and a bag of rice and noodles.

When the wind and snow gradually subsided, Wan Yankang personally led the sergeants to brave the severe cold to start winter training.

Winter training, in the eyes of ordinary people, is simply an act of death. The slightest mistake can easily cause a large amount of frostbite to the soldiers, which will seriously affect the morale of the soldiers.

But Wan Yankang was not afraid at all, and others did not dare to conduct winter training, mainly because the supply of materials and food was not available.

If the soldier's clothes are wet, if they are not replaced, they are naturally prone to frostbite.

When training in winter, the body's calorie consumption is greater, and the food is not enough to eat, so naturally it is impossible to play.

But none of this is a problem in Whitehorse!

Originally, in the city construction plan, White Horse City would need to be completed after this winter, so the material reserves were extremely rich.

Before the snowstorm, clothes and grain from Gyeongju were piled up in several warehouses. Before the completion of the construction of the city, Wan Yankang also deliberately asked Huang Jide and others to go to the Mongolian tribes they knew well and bought back a lot of cattle, sheep and leather goods.

Originally, the slaves who were only wrapped in a piece of animal skin, after joining the army, each was issued three sets of military uniforms and boots, and the winter training was also once every two days, which was considered to be relaxed.

After the cold winter, Wan Yankang and everyone stood on top of the city, looking at the north.

Suddenly, someone said: "After the heavy snowfall, the sword soldiers will rise!"

The man who spoke was a stout Mongol man, named Dalata, who was the first of the eight thousand slaves to be granted the status of a free man.

Dalata is brave in the 5,000 Mongol new army, and what is even more rare is that among a group of Mongols whose brains are all muscles, Dalata has a good brain and learns Chinese very quickly.

During the winter training period, Dalata performed quite well. In order to show encouragement, Wan Yankang specially promoted Dalata from squad leader to platoon commander.

Dalata was right. In every year of calamity, there will be swords!

The weak tribe shrank up and licked its wounds.

The strong will sharpen their knives and take the opportunity to annex other tribes, or wait for the opportunity to invade the south, reduce the losses brought by God, and transform the contradictions within the tribe.

Fan Junping said worriedly: "These surrounding tribes won't come to plot against our White Horse City!" ”

Wan Yankang let out a long laugh: "If you dare to come to attack my White Horse City, you will teach him to come and go!" ”

More than a dozen soldiers who followed beside him shouted one after another: "He must be taught that there is no return!" ”

Wan Yankang looked at everyone's reactions and nodded with satisfaction.

After a winter of training, the 5,000 new troops have been quite well trained, plus the armor, bows and arrows, and food and grass are sufficient. In Wan Yankang's opinion, in the current steppe, except for the tribes of Wang Han and Temujin, no tribe can have the strength to capture White Horse City.

"Rich man Huang, release the news, ten days later, I will prepare delicious food and wine, and invite the leaders of the tribes who are familiar with each other nearby to come to my White Horse City for a gathering." After Yan Kang finished explaining, he turned around and walked down the city wall.

Huang Jide got the order and hurriedly went on an errand.

There are almost ten large and small tribes around White Horse City, and the small tribes have no more than a thousand armored soldiers, and the largest tribe has more than 10,000 soldiers. After a cold winter, no matter how much material is left in these tribes, there is only one thing, which must have been wiped out long ago.

Wine!

Hearing these two words, the leaders of the tribes could not sit still.

Damn, this winter is so sad, I can't get out of the tent, what can I do without drinking, but I drink every day, and no matter how big the wine jar is, it's gone.

The little golden prince held a banquet, and the wine he took out should be such a good wine!

After receiving the news, the leaders of the tribes gathered their own soldiers and followed the messenger to White Horse City.

In order to welcome the tribal leaders, Wan Yankang had already set up two pontoon bridges over the Hele River.

Through the pontoon bridge, the leaders who rushed to the bottom of White Horse City, the first feeling was only two words.

Astound!

Compared with many cities in Dajin or the Song Dynasty, the scale and height of White Horse City are not worth mentioning, but on the grassland, it is extremely majestic!

What's more, this majestic city has risen from the ground in a few months, like a miracle!

The ruins of Black Sheep City have been seen by many tribal leaders who came here, who would have thought that in less than a year, this place has actually changed from a ruin to a heroic city.

The group of leaders came faster than Wan Yankang imagined, but in eight days, all the people invited arrived. The entourage of the personal soldiers brought by these tribal leaders, as few as a hundred, as many as three or five hundred, gathered in the city, and it was also an unstable factor for a long time, and after Yan Kang announced, the banquet would start two days in advance.

The banquet hall of White Horse City has been built early, the hall is as high as five zhang, the length and width are more than ten zhang, and the name is Yunlai, indicating that the guest is like a cloud.

A long table is placed in the center of the Yunlai Hall, and four round tables are set up on the left and right.

On the grassland, each meal is prepared with a food table, and in the Central Plains, it is also common to eat at a round table, but this long table, for a group of heads, is the first time that the big girl gets on the sedan chair.

Wan Yankang sat in the center, ten seats were arranged in the first row on the left for ten leaders to sit, and on the right hand there were Fan Junping, Ou Hua, Wu Shiman and several wealthy businessmen such as Huang Jide, who sat down in turn. The entourage of the leaders arranged to sit down at the round tables on the left and right.

After all the guests were seated, Wan Yankang clapped his hands, and the attendant at the back of the banquet hall carried the wine tank into the room, and first filled the main table with a bowl of wine.

The aroma of the wine made the index fingers of the people who had not seen the wine worm for a long time move, only hindering the owner from making a sound, otherwise he would have drunk regardless of the image.

Wan Yankang looked at the expressions of the leaders with great interest, and after the entourage around him also poured wine, he picked up the wine bowl and stood up: "This bowl, I respect the leaders who have come from afar, so that my White Horse City will shine!" ”

After that, Wan Yankang took the lead in drinking the spirits in the big bowl in one gulp!

Most of these tribal leaders can speak some Chinese, even if there are a few who don't understand, watching the little prince get up to toast, they all get up and drink the wine in the bowl in a hurry.

After the first bowl of wine was dried, the attendants served the food tables one after another, and the little prince announced that he would only drink and feast for fun today, and talk about business tomorrow.

The wine tube is enough, and the meat tube is full!

The meat dishes prepared in the Yunlai Hall were particularly sweet when the leaders ate them. The meat at the banquet was originally a common beef and mutton on the grassland, but the city cook, after Wu Shiman, a seasoned chef, had a different flavor compared with the primitive practices on the grassland.

The wine is fragrant, the meat is good, and the guests and hosts are happy for a while!

After three rounds of drinking, Wan Yankang toasted with the leaders one by one, and the leaders frequently returned the salute.

Speaking of reciprocation, these leaders want to take the opportunity to drink a few more bowls of wine.

After Yan Kang's bowl comes, it is dry, and it is arrogant.

These leaders originally saw that his face was tender, and they thought that although this person was the little prince of the Jin Kingdom, he still had no hair on his mouth, and he looked down on Wan Yankang a little.

After a banquet, most of the rough Mongolian leaders were lying on the table.

The remaining few were dropped directly under the table by the shout.

On the grassland, we have always believed that the strong are respected.

Whoever has a big fist will be good for his reasoning.

When there is no fist competition, the amount of alcohol is a symbol of the strong.

At noon the next day, when the leaders gathered together, when they looked at Yan Kang, the little prince with no hair on his mouth, there was a little more awe in his eyes.

"Guys, did you have a good drink last night?" Wan Yankang asked with a smile.

Only this time, he used Mongolian, and all the leaders listened to it and thanked the little prince for his hospitality.

"This time, I invite you to come from afar to witness the joy of the construction of my White Horse City, which is my joy and your joy. I built this White Horse City to be a city of north-south trade. In the future, the cattle, sheep, and horses of the chiefs' tribes, as well as the tea, cloth, and other goods brought by the southern merchants, could be traded in the White Horse City. ”

As soon as these words came out, many of the leaders changed their faces, thinking that he was going to use this to monopolize the transaction. Several leaders exchanged glances, and after whispering timidly, they took the lead and said: "Little prince, my Hakim tribe is more than three hundred miles away from here, if you drive cattle, sheep, and horses to this White Horse City to trade, I'm afraid it will not be very convenient." ”

These leaders resisted, Wan Yankang had expected it, he was not in a hurry, and said a few guarantees with a smile.

First of all, Wan Yankang only advocated that everyone come to White Horse City to trade, not mandatory, whether to trade or not, it is all voluntary.

Secondly, the implementation of the minimum protection price of major categories of commodities, to ensure that the transaction price of the head of the people is not lower than the average price of the past three years, if the head of the goods brought by the head of the goods can not be sold, can be sold to the lowest protection price to the White Horse City.

Thirdly, Whitehorse ensures the safety of trade routes.

The security of trade on the grassland in the northwest of White Horse City is allied by the blood of White Horse City and all the leaders, and if anyone intrudes on the trade road, everyone will fight together!

The security of trade south of Whitehorse Castle is the sole responsibility of Whitehorse Castle.

In the end, Wan Yankang made a little request, to trade in White Horse City, to accept protection, of course, to pay taxes.

The commercial tax of one out of ten taxes is a lot, not too much.

On the way here, everyone asked the messenger of the notice to understand the reason, in fact, they all had plans in their hearts, originally most people wanted to come over to have a show, sell the big gold and the little prince to save face, that's it, how the business was done in the past, and how to do it in the future.

After Yan Kang said these points, the faces of all the leaders eased a lot, and they were thinking about the pros and cons in their hearts.

Huang Jide interjected in a timely manner: "My Huang someone's caravan will only go to White Horse City in the future, and I won't leave further north." ”

Several big businessmen followed suit, and in the future, the materials of the caravan will be transported to White Horse City for trading, and then let them carry their heads to the northwest grassland, which will definitely not be done.

At this time, the leaders suddenly realized that where was the voluntary trade and where the negotiation was clear, it was clear that everyone was kidnapped in the carriage of White Horse City.

Those who know the times are Junjie, these leaders can mix in their current positions, and there are no stupid people, they all jumped out at this moment, their chests thumped, and they all expressed their resolute support for the wise decision of the little prince!