At the end of March, he set off from Beidi County, and before he knew it, four months had passed, and a large circle had been drawn on the paper that Chen Ping was carrying:

Xiaoguan to Huamachi, more than 400 miles; Huamachi to Helan grassland, more than 300 miles; Helan to Baiyang, more than 400 miles; Aries to the "Kujiesha" where the building is located, more than 400 miles......

Along the way, Chen Ping also suffered a lot, exposed to the wind and sun, and the little white face almost became a little black face, but it was slightly inferior to the black man. This is nothing, his most apprehensive mood is when he enters Kujiesha.

The people of the Central Plains talk about the unfamiliar desert, and the Chu people have imagined the scene of the desert in "The Conjuring": "The harm of the West, the quicksand is thousands of miles!" ”

The Chu people believe that under the quicksand, there is a terrifying thunder abyss, and once it is involved, people's bones will erode and collapse. In the desert, grains cannot grow well, and only clumps of thatch can be used for food. Sand can roast people, but they want to drink water but they can't get a drop. The red ants are as big as giant elephants, and the black bees are as big as gourds, and there are empty and dead realms everywhere......

Chen Ping was also afraid that he would not be able to get out if he went in, and his mood was a little resistant, but after he really entered the desert, Chen Ping found that it was not so exaggerated at all.

As long as they walk next to the big river, they will not lose their way, and they will have enough fresh water to quench their thirst. The local guide proudly told them that even in the deepest part of the desert, there were many ways to find water in seemingly dry places.

The rhizomes of plants, the stomach of desert foxes, and even the hump of the camel all store water, and on this barren desert, there are tens of thousands of farmers and herdsmen who fled here after being defeated by Lord Zhao, just like stars sprinkled on the starry sky, all over the sand sea.

They are the same as the white sheep, surrender to the Xiongnu Shan Yu, because the building is good at shooting, can use the local poplar wood to make a strong bow, so the Huns called "Ang Qinfu", that is, the meaning of the bow slave, hunting slaves, every year the Huns Shan Yu will take away a large number of wooden bows and livestock from here, so the Lou Fu in Henan has been poor.

The main goods that the inhabitants could provide were tuó camels, and Wu Shiyan bought a few camels for Chen Ping to ride, and walked on the sand where the horses could easily sink into it......

Chen Ping secretly remembered in his heart: "There are many deep sand in this tunnel, light vehicles come and go, it is still difficult, if the army goes deep, carrying the valley to this point, it will lead to stagnation, and it is appropriate to change the camel." ”

The camel seems to walk slowly, but in the desert, it is faster and more stable than a chariot and horse, and can carry a lot of heavy loads.

After walking for a few days and crossing the river, they finally left the desert, and a plain intertwined with water networks appeared in front of them, full of greenery and forests, which made Chen Ping unimaginable, this was actually Saibei?

This is the most fertile and rich grassland of the Xiongnu: Hetao, full of white felt tents and sheep, if the black man is here, I am afraid that he will have to chant again: "The sky is vast and the grass is blown, and the cattle and sheep are seen in the wind".

The river slowed down here, leaving behind a large amount of yellow-brown silt, Chen Ping also worked with his brother when he was at home, and he knew a little bit of soil identification, he twisted it up and tried it, only thinking that this was a good place to cultivate the fields.

Wu Shiyan said to Chen Ping: "It is said that decades ago, a king of Zhao in the east sent troops here, and also built a fortress in Yinshan in the north, called Gaoque Fortress. “

"It must be King Zhao Wuling." Chen Ping, but this place is too far away from the mainland of Zhao State, and the Dune Palace Change, Zhao State's small stronghold in Hetao was quickly abandoned and retreated to the line of Yanmen in the clouds.

The Xiongnu tribe was most concentrated in the Hetao, and the Wushi caravan was unhurried in the various departments, and it took more than a month to get out of the Hetao, passing through the ruins of Jiuyuan City destroyed by the Xiongnu, and Chen Ping sighed again.

"The former Xiongcheng is now ruined to this point, but it's a pity, it's a pity. The land of the northern vacation is more fertile than the land of Henan, the fertile field is thousands of miles, the water and grass are abundant, the soil is suitable for production and animal husbandry, it is suitable for re-camping the city, and the matter is cultivated. ”

However, Chen Ping also knew that he was working for Beidi County Wei Heifu, and next year's goal was still mainly Helan and Henan, and as for Beijiao, it was Mengtian's strategic goal of Yunzhong County......

But a comprehensive understanding of the Huns is not a bad thing, and those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a domain!

With this in mind, Chen Ping continued eastward, and by late July, they had arrived at Shan Yu Wangting: Tou Manchester City.

……

The Huns will not ram the earth and burn tiles, the bricks and tiles of Touman City are transported from Zhao Jiuyuan City, and the scale is also very cramped, in Chen Ping's view, it is only equivalent to a small township in the Central Plains, how can it be worthy of the name of "single royal court"?

Wu Shiyan laughed when he heard this: "This Xiaoyi is just a place used by the Huns to store bows and grains, and guests are not allowed to enter. The real Shan Yuting is not in the city, but outside the city, on the edge of the 蹛 (dài) forest! ”

He explained, Chen Ping then knew that the Huns calculated the seasons, not according to the fixed time, but regarded the grass as a year, and took the mother's pregnancy, foal, weaning and growth, and releasing the foal into the group as the four nodes of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

According to these four times, the Huns had two major court meetings, the first was in the summer after the mare gave birth to a foal, the assembly was held in the ancestral dragon city, and the leaders of the leaders were sacrificed to the ancestors, heaven and earth, ghosts and gods, which was the most important and solemn sacrificial activity of the Huns.

At the end of July and the beginning of August, when the foals are weaned and grown, the head of the forest outside Manchester is the head of the administrative assembly, and the main purpose is to count the population and the number of livestock, and collect tribute.

Chen Ping understood: "It is similar to the plan of the Central Plains, which is a novelty. ”

It was autumn, and it happened to be the annual "Lap Forest Conference" of the Huns, so Wu Shiyan took Chen Ping to see the excitement.

"Tou Manshan is called the Eagle of the Prairie, and he likes to wear a golden-crowned eagle crown."

On the way, Wu Shiyan also told Chen Ping the story of Toumandanyu.

It is said that Tou Manshan Yu's father once led more than 100,000 Huns into Zhao, and was defeated by a Zhao general, and the Huns once declined and were torn apart. However, Toumandanyu gathered the tribes again, and it took thirty years for the strength of the Xiongnu to recover as before. ”

This "recovery as before" is not a lie, Chen Ping saw thousands of Huns riding at the wedding of Prince Maodun in the Helan grassland, he thought it was enough, but now he found that it was really a small thing.

On the grasslands in all directions, there are Huns galloping on horseback, strong men riding lightly, and old and young women driving cattle, sheep and horses. Fearing the power of Touman, all the tribes near and far came to the scene, gathered 100,000 people, and brought no less than this number of livestock to be sacrificed to Shan Yu.

Chen Ping's dress soon attracted the attention of the Huns, and ten patrolling riders galloped closer, inquired about the intentions of everyone, and after learning that it was the Wushi caravan, they whispered and escorted them to Toumandan.

In the center of the sea of withered yellow grass is a large circle of felt tents, which surrounds a radius of more than ten miles, and the Huns who came to participate in the conference are stationed according to the direction. Beyond the felt tent, Chen Ping saw a lonely forest standing on the grassland, which was the "Lapping Forest".

The rumbling sound was not thunder in the sky, but the vibration caused by the trampling of countless horses' hooves on the ground.

A ceremony was being held in the forest, and Chen Ping was surprised to see that thousands of ...... No, I am afraid that there are tens of thousands of riders riding their horses, running clockwise around the forest, and whistling.

The Huns were not chaotic carnivals, but joined in according to the color of the horses they rode, the first to circle the white horses, then thousands of riders to ride the green horses to join, followed by the black horses, the horses, were gathered together one after another, galloping around the woodland for three weeks.

With the horses' hooves, the dust was flying, and Chen Ping's color moved slightly, not to mention the number of these riders, which was several times that of Qinbei Prefecture. Let's just say that the Hun riders seem to be disorganized, but in fact orderly, this terrible degree of organization, I thought that only the Central Plains have, I never thought that the Huns could do the same, they were trained when hunting and looting.

He didn't have time to think about it, Wu Shiyan had already patted him, and said that Tou Manshan was summoned, and Chen Ping could act as his deputy and enter the account together.

The big tent of Touman Shan Yu is particularly huge, the top is decorated with all kinds of colorful ornaments, entering the tent, the left and right are Xiongnu nobles, and Shan Yu sits in the center.

After Chen Ping entered, he peeked in, but saw a golden-crowned eagle crown on top of his head, the braid tied to the bell was white, and it looked oily by relying on animal fat, his eyes were slender, and his skin was as deep as polished copper, sitting on a tiger skin, holding a horn cup, and drinking mare's milk wine.

Chen Ping also noticed that in the lower position, in addition to the Hun nobles, there was also a middle-aged man with a high crown and a Xia dress, staring at Wu Shiyan and his party, the meaning was unknown.

He suddenly had a bad premonition......

Wu Shiyan smiled, and was about to go up to meet Touman, who had often traded with Wu Shi in the past ten years, and offer a gift.

Unexpectedly, before he could speak, the high-crowned Central Plains man suddenly stood up and said in a skillful Hun language:

"Shan Yu, I said a long time ago, these Qin merchants are all meticulous, the trade with the Xiongnu is fake, and the spying is real, please kill them!"