Wei Xi boarded the boat more than an hour earlier than Chen Jian, and before taking the birch bark boat on the dock, he still had some contempt for Chen Jian's tribe, but when the bark boat crossed the waves of the grass river and saw the Xia City on the other side, he finally couldn't help but point to the heightened city wall and ask the accompanying person: "That is also your city?" ”

"Yes, that's Xia Cheng. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

The grass river is not too wide, much narrower than the big river he has seen since he was a child, when the autumn water comes, the big river waves are not seen on the other side, the grass river is a small river after all, less majestic and rushing momentum.

But the river is not without scenery, and the turning windmills on the cliffs that rise on the shore can be seen clearly even from a distance, which is not as magnificent as nature, but has more human breath.

He didn't know what the spinning windmill was, but he didn't ask much, and touched the birch bark boat and said to the people around him: "This boat is different from ours." ”

"Yes, this boat is very narrow, it can't sail in a big river, it will be overturned by the waves. Or is it better to blow up sheepskin. ”

The clansmen around him immediately made a comparison, wanting to find proof that their tribe was stronger, and that this kind of narrow and long boat was indeed not suitable for the waves of the big river, but it was very stable here.

As we approached the dock, a whistle came from the shore and explained to the person accompanying us: "If we cut down trees and go down the river, we may knock over and shatter the boat, and the whistle is telling us that we can dock." ”

As he spoke, the man who was bracing the oars turned the bow of the boat and followed a small boat full of ore that had come down from the upper stream.

Wei Xi pointed to the river bank in the distance and said, "You can land there." ”

"Not there."

"Why?"

"Ji Xia is not allowed, this is the rule."

The rules are the laws that Wei Xi understands, and he knows the meaning of the laws, so he no longer makes a sound, but he just thinks it's strange.

In fact, there are other reasons besides the rules. The seemingly calm surface of the water was covered with large rocks and pointed sticks stuck to the bottom of the water, which could catch the boat if you were not careful, and there were broken stones and pointed sticks everywhere under the river, so that in order to prevent people from attacking the city by boat, they had to go ashore from the docks.

There was a cow cry from the shore, and the slaves were hurriedly unloading the ore from the ship and loading it on ox carts to be transported to the copper kiln, a short stretch of road that had been tamped and paved with stones and loess, so that it would not be too muddy even if it rained.

Wei Xi stared at the ox cart for a long time, until a cow pulled the cart full of ore and began to move, he finally couldn't help but ask, "What is this......?" What is this? How can a cow hold so much ore? ”

The accompanying person proudly said: "This is an ox cart, your tribe doesn't have it, right?" ”

Wei Xi frowned and said, "Our tribe has a lot of cattle and more slaves, so we can't use it. ”

That's what he said, but he knew very well in his heart that if he had, of course his clan would be able to use it, and besides, the cow's back couldn't resist so much, which was a rare thing, and he had to tell his brother when he went back. Even though there are a lot of slaves, with this thing, it is certainly better to save slaves for other things.

The boats waited for a while, and the ones carrying the ore finally departed, and when the boats came to shore, the windmills on the top of the cliff were hoisting a few bags of wheat, and down the ropes some ground flour.

A stout woman with a burlap towel wrapped around the back of her head, with her cuffs rolled up, covered in white flour, as strong as a man, carrying half a pocket of flour in her hand, shouted at the top of her voice: "Seventh, which tribe is the seventh?" It's your turn, hurry up! ”

A few people waiting there hurriedly ran over with sacks, handed over the pottery ring, and shouted: "Let Ji Xia make a few more windmills, it's not enough at all, from the morning to now, it's a big deal that there are a few more people in our tribe." ”

Although there was some dissatisfaction in his tone, he did not dare to delay at all, helped the tribe in front of him carry the flour away, and hurriedly put the washed wheat on it.

Wei Xi couldn't understand what the people were muttering, but he found that the rope that could transport the sack did not need to be pulled by a human at all, but easily dragged a sack of wheat up.

"It's nothing, the slaves can do it, our tribe has a lot of slaves, it's just that a dozen slaves have been saved." He said to himself, but he was secretly calculating in his heart that from ox carts to windmills, as soon as he set foot on this strange land, the people of this tribe saved nearly fifty slaves, almost as many as the slaves he personally owned.

Stepping ashore, the entourage first took Chen Jian's token to find Yu Qian'er, and the rest of the people sent these people to the post house.

The neatly arranged rooms are rammed walls of loess, each almost the same size, with dried fish or a mess of herbs drying under the eaves.

What surprised Vesy the most was that the walls of each room were painted with white lime powder with a strange and distorted drawing, such as a "fish" painted on the nearest room, with a fish hanging next to it.

The things painted on each wall are different, but you can tell what they are at a glance on each wall, and even if you can't see them for a while, you can tell what they are when you turn your head and look at the real thing next to them.

Since the summer solstice, all the walls are painted with words, Chen Jian strives to be able to understand by every clan, and these words are also created by the clansmen, after someone draws them, they will first show them to the clansmen, and the clansmen will understand it, so they will decide how to write this word, brush it on the wall, even if they don't know it, they will be familiar.

Most of them were drawn by Redfish, who had been a priest of the tribe and had drawn many pictures, giving her an advantage over others. Every time you write a word that is recognized by everyone, you can get some reward from the public property.

Near the banks of the river are common things, fish, sheep, nets, boats, etc., and every month the young people of the various tribes will be randomly checked, and they will not need to be able to write, but they can recognize it, and if they can't recognize it, the tribe will be fined food.

Several tribes were originally a little dissatisfied, but the wooden plaques exchanged in Fang City were gradually written in words, and in desperation, the next leader and heir of several tribes had to find time to learn these ghost talismans.

Wei Xi looked at a few lines, and finally showed a hint of appreciation on his face, this is not something that more slaves can replace, and even if he has never been to this tribe, but some words still know what it is at a glance, and he can draw it with a wooden stick after reading it a few times, which is indeed a very good thing.

On the way to the inn, a few very small girls were playing with the ropes, and outside a large house second only to the sacrificial hall, several older children were wiping their tears, and a few slightly older children were tapping their palms with sticks, muttering something as they tapped it.

When Wei Xi saw this scene, he smiled slightly, and said that he didn't dare to ride a bull when he was a child, and his father also knocked his hands with a small stick; It's a little bigger, you can't pull the bow, and the stick in the palm of your hand grows with you...... Now that my father is gone, my brother has become the leader, and no one beats his palms anymore.

He involuntarily clenched his fists, just like he did every time his father beat him a long time ago, and his heart was inexplicably sour, and he really wanted to close his eyes to feel the sour feeling after being beaten in the palm of his hand.

After a long time, he sighed, gently wiped away a little dampness from the corners of his eyes, opened his eyes and smiled: "What are those children talking about?" ”

The entourage listened for a while and said, "Forty-nine thirty-six, five hundred and nine-forty-five, sixty-nine fifty-four......

"What is this?"

"The children learned, Ji Xia's mantra, it seems that this month is to memorize these, and the tribes that can't memorize it will also be punished with food."

"Hahaha, back these? Your tribe is strange, but it's a bit like ours. We are children who can't draw the bow, and we have to punish the corn and beat the palms of the hands, but you have to read these things? ”

"They will also learn archery, swordfighting, clay kneading, stone lifting, and wheat harvesting. This month only learn this mantra, no matter how stupid the child is, there will be a lot of time to learn archery and sword fighting. ”

After speaking, he pointed to a line of very complicated words on the wall of the school that he didn't recognize at all but could already recite and said: "Labor, spear, number, discipline, writing, singing, the six arts of the country." The children are better than us, we are not, old. ”

Among the six arts, Wei Xi basically understood, but he didn't understand what discipline was, and when he asked, the man pointed to a group of eleven or twelve-year-old children outside the school and said, "That's discipline." ”

As far as they could see, the children were lined up in several rows, holding a stick about the length of their own.

A few tribesmen who were wounded and disabled on the battlefield wore beautiful fur hats on their heads, and they were reluctant to take them off even if it was very hot, which was an honor and the value of their lives, at least they were still useful to the tribe, not people who could only eat and not work.

They pinched sticks with their handicapped hands, supported their bodies with their broken legs, and beat several disobedient children with upside-down spears, blowing pottery whistles in their mouths, and beating drums next to them, so that the children could learn basic movements such as forward, turning, and turning.

"Isn't this a military formation? The military formation is discipline? ”

He stared intently, secretly surprised in his heart, if he continued to practice like this, in a few years, these children would grow up and be a good hand on the battlefield. Although he is not very old, he has also fought with his father and brother several times, and he knows the horror of the military formation.

The barbarians in the west are very brave, but they always lose when they really want to fight, and after a few battles, those barbarians don't want to learn the military formation, but they always can't learn well.

Looking at the dozen or so people near the school, he asked a little strangely, "Don't these people have to work on weekdays?" ”

"They're just working. Ji Xia said that this is also a kind of work, and you don't have to use your hands to work, but you also have to work with your head. ”

"It's so much easier than being in the land, doesn't everyone want to do it?"

"Then you have to be able to do it, there are so many people, you have to be better than others to do this job. The first batch is the best, they usually have time to think about these things, and the rest of them still have to work, and they can only ponder after finishing their work, but the academy is still short of people, but after waiting for so long, few have passed. ”

He pouted and whispered, "Do you see the one in the corner?" He was going crazy, and when others were tired of cultivating the land, they would sing love songs with women or lie down to rest, and when he was reclaiming the land, he would squat in the corner of the wall and count when he was resting on the land. It's been a long time, and the ones in the school that don't need to be cultivated have been calculated, and he hasn't figured it out yet, so I hope he will figure it out soon. ”

"What number?"

"Who knows? Ji Xia's problem is strangely tight, it seems to be a leaky clay pot, filling it with water while leaking, how long and when it can be filled. ”

Wei Xi smiled: "It's weird enough, if this clay pot is leaking, throw it away, why do you still have to fill it with water?" Is your tribe short of clay pots? ”

The entourage smiled: "Where will there be a shortage of clay pots, originally a clay pot can be exchanged for a lot of things, and now it can be exchanged for a small half jar of grain, I estimate that next year I can't even replace half a jar, the black pottery of the Eyue tribe is better than ours, thin like an eggshell, and they can't exchange things, but many tribes go to change their black pottery." Tao Guan Acorn has been so worried that he can't sleep these days, and when he fell asleep that day, he suddenly sat up and shouted: I will! Then I lay down and snored, and I was playing backgammon with the white horse, which startled me, and when I asked him the next day, he didn't know at all. ”

Saying that, he laughed, and Wei Xi shook his head, looked back at the words on the wall, the child who recited the multiplication table, and the windmill that towered on the top of the mountain, and scratched his head, "What a strange town. ”