Cheng Zhijie sighed and shouted to these people: "Everyone, my troops are stationed outside, you inform each other, I will cook minced meat tomorrow to entertain everyone, please enjoy it." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Demon King, many of these are escaped slaves, who don't deserve sympathy at all, and don't get anything? Why bother with them? ”

Cheng Zhijie shook his head slightly and said, "Saving a life is better than creating a seventh-level floating slaughter." Bai Yi, don't always think about what you can get? But don't ask about the future when doing good deeds, let's go! ”

They turned to leave when they suddenly noticed curling smoke rising from a dilapidated room in front of them, and they could smell a faint aroma.

"Oh, this is an unexpected discovery, let's go and see where this is sacred." The three of them came to the dilapidated courtyard and found that the gate had arrived, and now it was blocked by a door panel.

The houses inside are also ventilated, and the curling smoke and faint aroma come from the side rooms.

"Is anyone there? Is there anybody? Shi Danai arrived at the gate of the courtyard and knocked on the two doors.

There was a clanging sound in the room, and then the door was opened, and a thin body leaned out of it, revealing a young face.

It was a young boy of only eleven or twelve years old, with a thin face and a thick cotton coat wrapped around his body; He stared at Lao Cheng and the others suspiciously, not knowing how these three could appear here.

Shi Danai said: "Child, are you the only one here?" We are merchants who are going to Dragon City, and we want to spend the night here because of the wind and snow; I saw that there were fireworks here, so I came and took a look. As he spoke, he leaned over slightly.

The child's eyes flashed, and he leaned down and said, "Oh, please forgive me for taking the liberty of being presumptuous, our merchants here are generally Hu people from the Western Regions; I really haven't seen a Turkic caravan yet. ”

Shi Danai smiled: "Our caravan is a little special, there are some things from the Central Plains in it; So a large army escort is needed. ”

The boy sighed and said, "It turned out to be a khan's thing, so it's no wonder; Would the general like to come in and sit down? ”

Shi Danai smiled: "I just don't know if it's convenient, but I want to beg for a bowl of water to drink." The child hesitated, but finally dodged and let them in.

There were two other people in the room, an old man, and one in the prime of life; The child introduced to Cheng Zhijie and others that the old man was his grandfather named Chengli, and the middle-aged man was his uncle named Cang Ling. He was a small chieftain of a tribe named Dul; The trio came here to track down a few horse thieves.

Shi Danai claimed that his name was Da Nai, and Cheng Zhijie and Bai Yi both reported their real names, but they claimed to be Liang Shidu's subordinates and were ordered to pay tribute to Jieli Khan.

The room was very simple, and there was nothing to sit on at all, so Cheng Zhijie and the others moved a few pieces of adobe and sat down cross-legged.

In the stove in the corner of the house, there was more than something cooking, and the smell was steaming. Durr laughed, "A few of you are lucky to have caught a wild goat in the wasteland, and we will taste it together in a while." ”

Shi Danai hurriedly nodded in thanks, and suddenly Cheng Zhijie, who was next to him, stood up, and then walked quickly to the stove, staring at the plant straw used as fuel.

He picked up a straw and said to Shi Danai, "Ask them, what is this?" Do they grow this crop here? ”

Shi Danai rarely saw Cheng Zhijie so excited, and hurriedly said to Duer: "Xiao Wang, my friend is very interested in this plant, do we plant more in Mobei?" ”

Dur shook his head and said, "Oh, this kind of white stack was passed down from Great Qin in the extreme west by Hu Shang from the Western Regions; It's just that it can only be used as a source of honey, and it is not very useful; We only have very few tribes that grow it. ”

Cheng Zhijie smiled secretly in his heart: "Bai Diezi, hehe, Bai Diezi!" Isn't this cotton? In ancient China, because the cultivation was all Asian cotton, the fiber was stubby and short and not suitable for machine weaving, and most of it was used as a padded pillow, so the cotton clothes of the ancients were actually made of cotton and linen.

In the Song Dynasty, long-staple cotton in Europe spread from the Western Regions to China, and cotton cloth began to prevail; Before the Song Dynasty, China only had the word "cotton" next to the silk, and there was no word "cotton" next to the wood. The word "cotton" began to appear from the Book of Song. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Yuanzhang listed cotton as the first of the five tributes and forcibly pushed it across the country.

Cheng Zhijie said in his heart: "It seems that this cotton has not been introduced, but everyone has not discovered its value; It hasn't been promoted yet. Hehe, let me take advantage of it, just bring this thing back to the Central Plains to make a trip. ”

"You ask him where he can get the seeds of this plant; Let's just say that our King of Xiliang loves flowers, and I want to contribute to please the prince. ”

Shi Danai pursed his lips and said secretly in his heart: "Liang Shidu's rough billet knows how to appreciate flowers!" However, he could see that Cheng Zhijie attached great importance to this thing, and said his words to the three people.

Dur said: "There are not many plants in this one, but I heard that there are a lot of them planted in Yudujin Mountain, and you can try your luck wherever you have the opportunity." ”

Cheng Zhijie and the others were dazzled, isn't this their destination? Is there such a coincidence in the world? They secretly remembered it in their hearts, and after talking for a while, the big man named Cang Ling said: "Xiao Wang, the meat has been cooked, everyone come and taste it." ”

Durr laughed, "Okay! Hurry up and get the chunks! Cang Ling agreed, scooped up a large piece of mutton bone from the pot, and distributed it to everyone.

Cheng Zhijie and the others thanked them again and again, and gnawed together with the three of them. Dur glanced at Cheng Zhijie and said, "This strong man, I heard that the Central Plains was in turmoil, how did your Xiliang King participate in it?" ”

Cheng Zhijie said with a smile: "We do not have an advantage in the Central Plains War, and it is difficult to get the recognition of the Central Plains people in the relationship with the Turks. But big fists make sense; As long as our own strength is strong, we can attack, retreat, and defend, and at least be a free vassal king. ”

Durr was slightly stunned and smiled: "The big fist is the truth, but the words are not rough; Excellently said. However, after the reunification of the Central Plains, you will have to face a behemoth, how can you survive? ”

"Haha, the Central Plains is a behemoth, and the Turks are also behemoths, as long as the Turks do not fall, we will be safe and sound. And now our King of Western Liang is also secretly reserving strength, only when our strength arrives, will we attract the attention of both sides, and we can find the right and left between the Turks and the Central Plains. ”

Durr listened and thought so, and then the few people feasted and then took their leave.

The three of them came to the outside of the courtyard, and Shi Danai said: "Demon King, these people are not simple, when I met, I used the etiquette of the royal family to hear the news from them, that Dur actually knew, he was definitely not the little king of the ordinary tribe, but may be a Turkic royal family." ”

Cheng Zhijie said with a smile: "That's not your family, it's also surnamed Ashina, then he is not Ashina Dur." Ashnadur? It's him! Cheng Zhijie turned his head abruptly and took a deep breath.

Shi Danai was nervous for a while and almost pulled out the horizontal knife, and asked anxiously: "Demon King, is there anything wrong with this kid?" Do you want? ”

Cheng Zhijie shook his head slightly and said, "No, if it's really Ashinadur, we will have a time to say goodbye." Besides, he is the second son of Luo Khan; Thou art the son of Shibi Khan; Operator, he has to call you cousin; Can you do it? ”

Shi Danai sighed and said: "There is nothing that can't be done, since I changed my name to Shi Danai, it has nothing to do with the surname Ashina." ”

Lao Cheng patted him lightly on the shoulder, and then the three of them urged the horses back to the camp.

Chengli closed the door of the house and said to Duer: "Little Khan, these people are very suspicious, they can't be Xue Yantuo's pursuers!" ”

Ashinadur shook his head and said, "Don't worry, they are definitely not Xue Yantuo's people. Although these people ostensibly take Da Nai as the leader, he has to look at that Cheng Zhijie first when he speaks and acts; And that Cheng Zhijie is heroic, how can they hide it if they want to! This is a team of Han people, and what they are going to do is not what we need to care about. ”

Chengli and Cang Ling nodded thoughtfully, and Chengli said: "It's all to blame on the hateful Xue Yantuo, this time Xiao Khan borrowed soldiers from the princess, and he must give them a good look." Cang Ling asked suspiciously: "Little Khan, why should we go to the Western Turks at the expense of the near and far, can't we beg Jieli Khan to send troops to suppress Xue Yantuo?" ”

Ashinadur snorted coldly and said, "My third uncle is very deep about us; Brother Tuli was lined up to the east by him, and every time he went out, he didn't feel at ease, so he always had to take it with him. I was sent to the extreme west, and I was called the overseer of Tiele, Xue Yantuo, Huizhi, Tongluo and other departments, but my son Yugu took away the command of my army.

I'm already far away from the Khan Court, but he still refuses to let me go, saying that it is not his intention to say that Xue Yantuo rebelled?

The person just said is very right, big fists are the last word; He wants to be left and right between the two behemoths of the Turks and the Central Plains, so why can't I seek development between the Eastern and Western Turks?

Therefore, it is only when I find my uncle in the Western Turks that I can recapture what I want. ”

Hearing this, the two nodded, they quickly buried the traces of their activities, and then hurriedly walked towards Yanran Mountain, preparing to pass through the thousands of Western Turks in Yanran Mountain.

Cheng Zhijie and the others rested for the night, and then urged the horses to go straight to Yanran Mountain, where they met several Turkic tribes along the way, but none of them found the coveted cotton seeds. Lao Cheng put his last hope in Yanran Mountain.

The closer they got to Yanran Mountain, the more Turkic tribes gradually increased; Cheng Zhijie and they also had to be cautious, because there was a Turkic wolf division stationed here, and the three eagle divisions had more than 50,000 horses; If these 3,000 of them are discovered, they will not be made dumplings.