Chapter 492 Knives and forks

The camp of the Tang Zhongjun was surrounded by simple fortifications, and two arrow towers were built at the camp gate, and the chariots of the envoys and nobles of various ethnic groups came to pass under the arrow towers, so that they had a new feeling like the "que" of the palace gate. The conditions here are harsh, and the makeshift facilities are very rudimentary, far from the elaborate architectural etiquette of the Chang'an court, but the real power does not depend entirely on those things, just like now this nameless place has suddenly become the center of the gathering of the northern tribes.

At the beginning of October, the first heavy snow of the year finally came, and Xue Chongxun summoned envoys and nobles from various countries to the Chinese army's tent on the day of the snowfall. Above the big tent hangs a map outlined on white paper, the color of white life is like the white earth outside, and like a big cake waiting for people to divide it.

The tent was warm, and the whole sheep were roasted on several fires, and the sergeant next to him carefully rolled the lamb until the skin was golden brown, and the fat was bubbling up, and a tempting fragrance permeated the tent and made people smell it. There were reliable cooks in the army but no materials for court banquets, and the nomads liked meat, so the Tang people simply roasted mutton with fine wine to prepare for the banquet.

At this time, the tiger skin above was still empty, but the envoys from various countries had almost arrived, and they sat down to eat a few cases and gossip, most of them did not know each other, at first they only talked to their own people, and gradually introduced each other to recognize that so-and-so was the younger brother of the Khitan leader and so-and-so was Xi's favorite minister, although they had not met, they had heard of it, and they were familiar with it. Everyone is becoming more and more casual, most of them sit cross-legged on the ground in a mess, if this situation is left in the mainland of the Tang Dynasty is like a gathering of a group of local tyrants and nouveau riche, the family will definitely scoff at it, because the minimum sitting posture for eating on the low table should also be kneeling, and the envoys see that there is no stool but most of them sit on the ground, and there is no way to do it in this place.

After a while, there was a loud insult, and everyone looked sideways, it turned out that it was the Khitan and the Uluo Protector who had made a fuss there, and people understood what was going on without listening to the content when they saw the two parties involved. Someone stepped forward to persuade the fight, but this persuasion is very strange, and the more they persuade, the more fierce they become, and the trouble is unavoidable.

At this time, Murong Xuan, the king of Tuyuhun Khan, who was sitting upright and kneeling in a white felt robe, said indifferently: "What's the use of arguing now? After a while, wait for the king of the Tang Dynasty and Jin to come, can't you let him be the master for you? ”

Everyone nodded their heads when they heard it, the nomads actually made some sense, whoever contributed more had the right to dominate the interests, and the Tang army won the victory in the entire Monan region in this war, so the Tang people have the absolute right to speak, and everyone has no objections.

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived, and at this moment, Xue Chongxun led a group of staff members to open the curtain and walked in from behind, and everyone stood up one after another and performed all kinds of etiquette in a mess. Xue Chongxun smiled when he saw this, raised his hand and waved, "Excuse me, everyone sit down." I ordered someone to roast the lamb with wine, and I hope it will suit your taste, so please enjoy it. ”

The envoys also understood the Chinese language, and after listening to it, they sat down on the ground one after another, and the people who could be sent here could still understand the Tang people's speech, otherwise it would be troublesome to communicate.

A big man didn't sit down and said indignantly: "We, as allies of the imperial court, helped the Tang army attack the Turkic Khanate, but the Khitans attacked halfway, which is obviously equivalent to being an enemy of the imperial court!" Now that the Turks have been defeated and retreated to Mobei, it is only right to severely punish the Turkic minions, where is there any reason for them to forcibly seize the land of Wuluo again? ”

Li Siyi, the younger brother sent by the Khitan leader Li Shuhuo, immediately confronted each other: "In the past, eight of my ten states were forced to submit to the brutal Turks, and when the army of the Tang Dynasty came to Heisha City, the Khitan leaders did not listen to the instigation of the Turks to become enemies of the Tang army, and were ready to join the court to deal with the Mosi Khan. General Du Xian of the Tang Dynasty personally agreed that we have the land of Wuluo as a compliment, you people who have not achieved enough things and have more than enough failures have even surrendered to us Yu Wenhong's eldest son, what else is there to talk about? ”

"You ......" Uro's face flushed, and he was about to sneer at him. Xue Chongxun said: "Don't worry, sit down and taste the delicious food first, and then it's not too late, I will treat it fairly." Someone came, and served meat and wine for the envoys. ”

After hearing this, the two stopped arguing for a while, and still glared at each other when they sat down. Not only these two groups, but also other tribes also had their own expectations, but they didn't quarrel so early like the Wuluo Protectors and Khitans.

After a while, the sergeants took the plates and cut the cooked mutton and sent it to the shore of the diners, and the tempting delicacy made most of them happy, shouting "eat, eat" and other sounds, and everyone picked up knives to cut the meat and taste, and praised the deliciousness.

Xue Chongxun also put a piece of fragrant cooked meat in front of him, he reviewed the eating appearance of everyone and couldn't help laughing, only to see that some of the people took a knife and cut it off with their hands and chewed it, and some simply grabbed the whole piece with both hands and gnawed there, making their hands full of oil, and then reached out to grab the wine cup and stained the wine cup again. But Xue Chongxun indifferently took out a fork made of wood and wiped it with a cotton cloth a few times, then took it in his left hand, picked up the knife for cutting meat in his right hand, cut a small piece very skillfully, and then picked it up with a fork and put it in his mouth to chew it carefully, and nodded: "It's a good roast." ”

Everyone looked at his eating method in amazement and was dumbfounded, and Murong Xuan on the lower side only felt that this way of eating meat was elegant and calm, and he was even more yearning, and said busily: "It turns out that Datang not only uses chopsticks, but also pays attention to eating meat, and there is a wooden fork in the tent?" ”

Xue Chongxun said: "It's better to be happy alone than to be happy with everyone, fortunately, I asked someone to cut some more, and if you want to use it, you can use it." ”

The envoys felt that the novelty also followed suit, but this thing looked as simple as chopsticks, but they didn't listen to the call when they really took it in their hands, and many people simply threw it aside and continued to grab it with their hands, thinking that it was more enjoyable to eat meat and drink wine, and only a few people such as Murong Xuan seriously learned to use this tool.

After eating for a while and drinking a few rounds, I saw Xue Chongxun stand up, pick up a knife and walk to the front of the map, and casually cut down two pieces of paper with the names of mountains and rivers marked on it, and the location was in two places north of the Tuhe River in the northwest of the Khitan and west of the end of the chestnut, and then put two pieces of mutton on the mat and handed it to the sergeant's hand and said: "Send it to Li Siyi, I will give him a taste." ”

Everyone immediately fell silent, the meaning of Xue Chongxun's series of actions was very obvious, if there was no other meaning, who would draw paper on the map to pad meat? The Khitan envoy Li Siyi also looked at the things placed in front of him in surprise, he was a little happy but a little puzzled, so he didn't make a statement immediately, waiting to see what the purpose was, could it be that he gave away two pieces of water and grass land in the eastern Khitan for nothing? These places used to be controlled by the Turks, but now the Turkic forces were driven to Mobei by the Tang Dynasty, so of course they were the benefits obtained by the Tang people.

After a while, Xue Chongxun scratched off the piece of paper on the map, and two holes had appeared in the drawings hanging on it. Xue Chongxun looked at the Khitan people: "Since the two places have sent the Khitans for grazing, I will return this place to the Wuluo Protectors, do you have any objections?" ”

Li Siyi and his companions looked at each other, and someone in the companion whispered: "The land of Wuluo is very cold, and it is not necessarily better than the Turkic grassland that the Tang Dynasty sent us. Besides, if we have to occupy Wuluohu, it will make the court unable to step down, and it will be difficult to live in it justifiably, and it will not benefit anyone. ”

Li Siyi thought for a moment, and then replied briskly: "Thank you King Jin for your reward, in this case, we Khitans should also generously return the land of Wuluo to Yuwenhong's eldest son." ”

Xue Chongxun nodded and said to the Uluo Protector: "At the beginning, the Uluo Protector rushed to send troops without the imperial court's edict, which not only defeated themselves, but also affected the overall situation. You have not made an inch of merit, but you remember that they are loyal to the court, there is no merit and hard work, we can't bear to see the Wuluo protector lose his homeland, he will send an envoy to escort the leader back to the country to rebuild, hoping that he will do it himself. ”

The Uro Protector hurriedly thanked him, the purpose of their trip was to recover what had been lost, and it was thankful that they could achieve their goal, and they really couldn't ask for too much.

At this time, several groups of envoys from the various tribes of Tiele looked at the hot eyes, and the three surnames of Balugu, Huluwu, and Ratnishi in the northwest stood up and pleaded, saying that they had suffered huge losses in the war against Mosi, that their land was barren and not rich in water and grass, and that the Turks in the southern part of the desert were sparsely populated after migration, and wanted to take their cattle and sheep south to borrow land for grazing after the beginning of spring next year.

Xue Chongxun said: "The imperial court will place the Shan Yu Duhu Mansion in Heisha City, and the Monan Grassland will also be incorporated into my Tang Dynasty territory." It will take some time for the border people to migrate to the new land, and I am in favor of the merits of the Tiele tribes in containing the forces of the Mur Khan, and I agree with you in the southward herdsmanship, and you should obey the laws of the Protectorate of the Metropolitan Protectorate, and cherish the long-term friendship between the tribes and the imperial court. ”

The tribal leaders were very happy, and the grasslands of Monan were obviously rich, and the climate became warmer the further south they went.

Then Xue Chongxun promised to reward Xianbei and other tribes with cattle and sheep tents and other materials, which was undoubtedly a joyful gathering of spoils. Xue Chongxun said: "God has blessed all ethnic groups with land and everything, so that people can enjoy food every day, and I am willing to share some wealth with all ethnic groups, just like now enjoying delicious food with everyone...... But those who are unjust and unkind to the court are the common enemies of all, and I will raise an army to attack them as I did with the Turks, without ambiguity! ”

Everyone echoed and expressed their willingness to jointly maintain order on the grassland for the allies of the imperial court. At this time, Murong Xuan took the opportunity to stand up and said: "The clan is big and small, strong and weak, we don't want to be treated unfairly, since the King of Jin is willing to be the master of everyone, why don't we put blood for the alliance and elect the King of Jin as the leader of the alliance, and from then on we will live in harmony with each other?" ”Q