Hu Kejian nodded, picked up the teacup with a smile, and Zhao Wende hurriedly got up to say goodbye. Hu Kejian said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, if it is someone else, our family will definitely keep him for a few more days."www.biquge.info But I know that you are my brother Liu Xian, and I can't leave you for a day, so I won't keep you more! ”

When Zhao Wende walked out of Hufu, a cold wind blew in front of him, and his spirit was suddenly shocked. Several guards who were waiting outside responded and said respectfully, "Mr. Zhao, where are you going now?" ”

"Where?" Zhao Wende looked at the surrounding streets and the towering palace city in the distance, although compared to the Jingshi, whether it is Chaoyi, Datong or Guihua City, it is much narrower, but under that rough appearance, there is a rough vitality, jumping and surging. And this Youyan Xiongcheng, although the three-hundred-year-old Shenjing of the Ming Dynasty is still majestic and majestic on the surface, it has long been decayed and festering inside. At this time, Zhao Wende couldn't help but remember a sentence he heard in the sermon of a Russian priest in his spare time: "Although he is weak, he will be strong; The mighty will perish! Zhao Wende repeated in a low voice in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "Let's go, let's go out of the city immediately and go back to Datong!" ”

Naturalization City.

The wind is like a knife, and the earth is regarded as a chopping board, slaughtering all beings; Thousands of miles of snow will make the sky like an oven, forging everything into silver.

In December, the grassland is already white in the sky and on the ground, and there is no human population as far as the eye can see. The tribes of Monan either went to the Great Wall, grasslands, and valleys to escape the winter, or moved to the city of Guihua, where legend has it that construction was taking place, and the Jinong Lord, who had just conquered the left wing, was going to raise a large floating slaughter to present the Bodhisattva for the victory he had won not long ago! Whether it is Monan, Mobei or even Moxi, the noble chiefs of the tribes are thousands of miles away, sending people to pay tribute to show their respect for Lord Jinong, the Great Khan and the Bodhisattva!

Since Lord Jinong was in the "Southern Capital", as many Mongols called Datong, in order to distinguish it from the city of Naturalization, it was his wife, Min Min Beji, the beloved daughter of Dzungar Khan Batur Taiji, who took over the power in the city. Many Mongols compared her to Khaelun (the mother of Genghis Khan) and Manduhai (the wife of Jebe Khan), both of whom were wise and courageous, and made great contributions to the establishment of the two steppe heroes, Genghis Khan and Dayan Khan. Storytellers and lamas alike say that the immortals, tired of the cannibalism of the Mongols, reincarnated the god Daikoku and reunited the Mongols under Genghis Khan's Sulu ingot, so that those who resist disobedience will be destroyed and those who obey and obey will be blessed.

Liu Cheng's purpose in doing this is obvious - the city of naturalization, that is, the modern Hohhot is backed by the Daqing Mountain, the west of the Yellow River, facing the fertile Tumut Plain, from a geopolitical point of view, it is the natural military and political center of Monan, if before the Eastern Expedition, Liu Cheng did not dare to build a large number of buildings in the city of Guihua, only as a fortress to protect the area west of the Yellow River, after solving the threat of the left wing and the Later Jin to the Tumut Plain, Liu Cheng can already rest assured and boldly invest a lot of resources in the city of Guihua, turning it into the economy and politics of Monan, military, religious centers. The first step was to fulfill the promise made to the Gelugpa sect behind Chesang by expanding the Silver Buddha Temple to make it the largest temple in Monam, and appointing him himself as the presiding officer of the monastery. In addition to repaying the support of Chesang and the Gelug sect, Liu Cheng did this, and more importantly, for the Mongols at that time, the monastery was not only a religious center, but also a center of commerce and wealth. Lamas are monks, teachers, doctors, artists, poets, secretaries, and so on. In a sense, the lamas were the Mongol scholars, and if Liu Cheng wanted to bring these unruly steppe ladies under his rule, he could not do without the cooperation of the lamas. Not to mention that every Buddhist festival, Mongolians, regardless of whether they are high or low, come to the temple to worship almsgiving, whether it is to open a market or to collect taxes from it, they can obtain huge benefits. Although Liu Cheng's plan was still in its infancy, it had already won the full support of the Gelugpa monks, as exemplified by the various legends that circulated in the ears of the herdsmen.

Just as Min Min was building in Guihua City, a group of caravans came out of Mobei and crossed the Hanhai Sea following the footsteps of the Han army's northern expedition in the past. These men walked on the desolate desert, with no human struck along the way, boiling snow to quench their thirst, feeding on dry food and camel milk, and even shooting wild foxes and marmots, and by the time they crossed the sea, they had lost a third of their horses. When they crossed the Hanhai Sea, they turned west and walked along the Daqingshan Mountains, and when they saw a white road between heaven and earth, they couldn't help but burst into cheers—it was the frozen Yellow River, which meant that they were not far from Guihua City.

"Mr. Ahmat, I have heard that the statues and murals in the Silver Buddha Temple are ingenious, but is it true?" Babu said with a smile to Ahmat on the side, as the eldest son of the Chechen Khan Shuoli, he inherited his father's burly figure and black and red face, but the facial contours were deeper, and his biological mother was an Asut beauty.

"Taiji, I don't dare to say this!" Ahmat said with a smile, compared to when he came out a few months ago, he had lost a lot of weight, his double chin was long gone, and even his cheekbones were bulging. He stroked his beard: "But I heard that Lord Jinong has hired painters and craftsmen in the Central Plains to build the Buddha Hall and the main hall with a lot of money, and if you are willing to come, your lord will pay ten times the salary." ”

"Oh, so the craftsmanship of the painters and craftsmen in the Central Plains is very good?" Babu asked with interest.

"Tiji, when I was a young man who went to Persia to do business, I heard the proverb: 'If you want to seek wisdom, you must go to Greece; But when it comes to skills, no one can match the Tang people', the last time I gave your father Khan, the set of utensils and Buddha statues were made by craftsmen in the Central Plains, what do you say about their craftsmanship? ”

"That's good, of course!" Babu recalled the surprise he was at the sight of the delicate vessels and Buddha statues, and his eyes couldn't help but glow eagerly: "I have also heard that Min Min Begi is a beauty like no other in the world, and if I can see her style, it will be worth the trip!" ”

Ahmat was stunned when he heard this, and secretly thought that this Shuo Lei Khan was so shrewd, how could he give birth to such an open-mouthed straw bale son? It took a lot of effort to make this visit happen, so wouldn't it be self-defeating and cause trouble? He was thinking about his heart, but he responded: "Min Min Beji's demeanor is naturally intoxicating, but there are many new things that can be seen in this naturalized city, Taiji must not miss it!" ”

After all, Babu was still young, and his attention was immediately diverted by Ahmat, and he asked, "Tell me anything new!" ”

Ahmat was about to speak, when an exclamation suddenly erupted from the crowd, and the eyes of the two suddenly looked to the place where the sound came from, only to see a few sail shadows on the ice of the Yellow River in the distance, sliding towards this side, and it seemed to be white clouds from a distance. Many people thought it was a Bodhisattva apparition, and jumped off the horse to bow down and pray to him.

"What's, what is this?" Babu exclaimed, "Isn't this season already frozen, how can there be sailboats?" ”

Ahmat was already dumbfounded, and although he had traveled through various countries in business, it was the first time he had seen such a spectacle, and his mouth was speechless.

"I'd like to see it clearly!" The Báb jerked his mount and rushed towards the riverbank, but Ahmat could not stop him, so he had to beat his horse and follow, but the Babu horse could not catch up. When Babu chased for a long time, he came to a river bay and saw that the white sails were several large ice sleds, with sails on them, driven by the wind, and several ice sleds dragged behind them, which were piled with all kinds of goods. By this time the sails had been lowered, stopped, and formed in a circle, like a ship at anchor.

"Sailing on ice, I really don't know who came up with a clever trick, it's the first time I've seen it!" Dumbfounded, Babu jumped off his horse, walked to the bank of the river, and asked in a loud voice to the men on the sleigh, "Who are you?" What is this thing and who came up with it? ”

The men on the ice sled were very vigilant when they encountered the unpleasant guest of Babu, and they all stood up and took up their weapons, and said coldly, "Who are you?" Tell your name first? ”

Babu was born in the family of your chieftain, how could he have been subjected to such cold words, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment and then laughed: "What? Do you want to bully people because of how many people have them? ”

The man sneered: "Is there anything you can't recognize when you see this ice boat in this desert south land?" It's clearly pretending to be stupid! Horse thieves for sure! Come on, take this guy down for me! With a wave of his arms, a dozen men surrounded him, and Babu laughed angrily, drew his sword and got on his horse and shouted, "Okay, I will be a horse thief for a day today, and let you see how good I am Babu Taiji!" ”

Seeing that the two sides are tense, they are about to fight. Suddenly there was the sound of horses' hooves on the riverbank, but it was Ahmat and Babu's entourage who caught up. When the man saw that Babu had come for reinforcements, he made a gesture, and when they had retreated to the sleigh, they took up their bows and arrows and prepared to fight. Babu sneered, and was about to order his subordinates to give the gang a little color, when he heard someone on the sleigh shouting, "It's Ahmat's father?" ”

Ahmat was stunned when he heard this, and asked, "Yes, it's me, who are you?" ”

"Sure enough, you're old!" After confirming Ahmat's identity, the tone of the man on the ice sled became much more affectionate, and I saw that the man signaled his subordinates to put down his weapons and saluted Ahmat: "I am a servant of Gucheng, a person from the head of the servant Guhe, when you were in the city of naturalization, I was the one who led the horse for you, have you forgotten?" ”

After being reminded by the other party, Ahmat remembered the slender man who was always smiling on weekdays, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be you, I didn't expect to meet you here, what are you doing now?" ”

Fu Gu Cheng said with a smile: "Thanks to the blessing of the Bodhisattva, I am also in the Western Expedition Army this time, as a servant of the young master of Fu Gu, and I also killed two dog thieves on the left wing!" The lord promoted me to be the commander of the ten, and escorted the goods from Daqingshan to transport the goods back to Huacheng! ”

"Oh? Congratulations! Ahmat said with a smile, he glanced at Babu next to him, and said with a smile: "This is Babu Taiji, the eldest son of the Chechen Khan Shuolei in Mobei, who was invited by Lord Jinong!" ”

When Fu Gucheng heard the words "Lord Jinong", his face changed greatly, and he hurriedly beckoned his subordinates to kneel down and salute Babu: "I don't know if it is Lord Jinong's distinguished guest, so I ask for your forgiveness!" ”

Babu was born in a noble family, and knew that although the Fugu clan was not a noble surname such as the Erjin clan, it was also a famous family among the Chahar tribes, and Fugu Heai was an elder who was deeply relied on by Liu Cheng and Min Minxin. The man in front of him can be the young master of the Fugu family, and he also killed the enemy before the recent Eastern Expedition and made meritorious contributions, which must be very important to the Fugu family. Although he was powerless to himself, now that he had knelt down to apologize, it would be meaningless if he continued to entangle. Thinking of this, he waved his hand and motioned for the other party to get up: "Get up, but just now I asked you where you came from, and you said I was a horse thief?" ”

Fu Gucheng stood up and replied carefully: "Taiji doesn't know, this ice boat is only owned by the Guihua City family on the grassland, no matter who sees this white sail, they will know which one it is." You just asked me, I thought you were pretending not to know, trying to paralyze me and wait for the opportunity to rob! ”

"I see, I can't blame you for that!" Babu laughed, "But this is the first time I've seen this ice boat, you can take me over to see it!" ”

"Taiji, please come with me!" Wanting to curry favor with Babu, he hurriedly led him to the boat, where Babu looked down and saw that the ice boat was not directly next to the ice, but suspended in the air, and clinging to the ice were several rails made of hardwood. The sails on the ice boat are not made of cloth or leather, but are made of dozens of small wooden planks, but they are painted white, and they look like a white sail from a distance. Babu looked at it for a while, and then asked the servant Gucheng, "I don't think this thing is unusual, isn't it a spell that can drive on ice?" ”

"Where is there any spell!" Fu Gucheng smiled: "Taiji, you push hard!" ”

"Push?" Babu looked at the ice boat, which was piled with all kinds of goods, and was afraid that it would weigh several thousand pounds, and although he had the strength of his arms, he did not think that he could push such a heavy thing. Seeing that Babu hesitated, he walked over to the ice boat and pushed it hard, only to see that the ice boat moved slowly. Babu was taken aback when he saw this, could it be that the man in front of him was a strong man who lifted a thousand pounds? He walked to the ice boat and pushed it with all his strength, although the ice boat was heavy, it was much easier to push than he imagined, and as long as he started to move, the more effort was saved in the back, no wonder the servant Gucheng could push the ice boat.

"This ice boat weighs thousands of pounds, to say the least, why is it so effortless to push?" Babu asked excitedly to Gucheng.

"I can't tell you about this!" Fu Gucheng said with a smile: "But I heard the Han craftsman say that the secret is in the ice blade at the bottom of the boat!" (To be continued.) )8