Chapter 1: The Great Thief (Part 2)

Xu Dayan originally planned to pretend to be Li Xu's companion to pass the test, but when he heard it, he revealed his identity, so he had to step forward to salute, bowed down and said: "Xu is in the grassland, and he has heard about Brother Yu's methods for a long time, and I can see it today, it is really a good opportunity given by Immortal God!" ”

"Brother Xu is polite, I saw snow falling in the sky, and I thought that I would be able to wait for the two of you in spring next year. I didn't expect to welcome the two heroes so soon! But Yu bowed down to Xu Dayan and returned the salute and laughed.

Both of them are smart people, and they talk to the point. After laughing, Qi Yu pulled Li Xu with one hand and Xu Dayan with the other, and pulled the two teenagers into the camp gate as if they had not seen friends for many years. In the company camp, the sound of drums immediately sounded loudly, and thousands of Turkic warriors played all the instruments of the army, such as war drums, gongs, and horns.

"The new city is grass-created, and the rough people in the army can't make any sound of mountains and flowing water. I let them be lively and lively, hoping that the two brothers are not strange but slow guests! Ashina Qiyu smiled, with unquestionable politeness in his tone.

"This is a place to hide soldiers, of course, you have to use the drum to sound enjoyable. I guess that song just now must have been the sound of a forward attack! Men are in the world, and it is also a pleasure to listen to this every day! Xu Dayan smiled and praised as if he admired the chaotic rhythm.

"People say that Sage Xu is as wise as the sea, and when I saw it today, it was really amazing!" Ashina Choyu raised his thumb and praised, but what came out of his mouth was a Chinese sentence.

"It's just a matter of listening to the strings and knowing the elegant arts, and the small skills of carving insects are not worth the Fang family's laughter!" Xu Dayan simply dropped his schoolbag, and his writing was crepe, as if he was learning from Confucianism.

Except for Li Xu, the people around him were confused. Ashina but Yu didn't explain to everyone, quoting a sentence of "Book of Songs" in the east and a sentence of "Analects" in the west, and actually chatted with Xu Dayan.

Inside the wooden city walls, there are countless felt bags. From the outside to the inside, different colors of linen are sewn on the top of the felt bags in different positions. Circles, rows, and rows, it looks neat. Everywhere Ashina Choyu passed, someone leaned out from the door to salute him. Or soldiers, or shepherds, or craftsmen, all shapes and sizes, and so on. The red cloaks are interspersed around the felt bags, always one step ahead of the road, and the road that Lord Qiyu is about to pass through is "cleaned".

"But Brother Yu ruled the city with soldiers, and he was really clever!" Xu looked around for a while, then turned his head sideways and praised in Turkic.

"I just got this land by the gift of Immortal Heaven, and I have to manage it more tightly. When the herders are familiar with their surroundings, they don't have to be so rigid. But Yu nodded and smiled and replied modestly.

Li Xu has not seen many cities, so he can't see many doorways. I just think that this wooden city is huge enough and neat enough, but it seems to be missing something compared to any small county in the Central Plains. "It's fireworks!" As he walked, he gradually got an answer in his heart. The streets of my hometown are crowded and dirty, but the noise of buying and selling is full of life. The wooden city is neat and clean, but it is like a prison without any warmth.

As they spoke, the three of them walked to the central tent. This big tent for Ashina Choyu to deal with government affairs and banquets is even more majestic, just looking at the area of the felt tent, it can already be worth the felt bag group of the Sil patriarch's family that day. More than 20 gold-armored guards and a number of generals and civil officials under Ashina Choyu walked in one after another to greet the guests, but the tent did not seem crowded at all. It's just that the names of those people are long and lengthy, and there is an official position with a strange pronunciation in front of the name, what big Mei Lu Pei Li Gollum, Little Bourke Bilian, right Tutun Kesi reasonable, left Tutun Basi Hara, etc., made Li Xu's eyes go straight to Venus. (Note 1)

After a circle of friends finished introducing, Ashina Choyu clapped his hands, and immediately the housekeeper in charge of banquet etiquette stepped forward to arrange for everyone to sit down. In order to show respect for the guests, the host's family referred to the Central Plains custom since the Qin and Han dynasties to let everyone eat separately. Li Xu and Xu Dayan came from afar, and were arranged on the top passenger seat closest to Qiyu by one left and one right. The two of them resigned again and again, but Ashina was not allowed. I had no choice but to obey the arrangement of the master's family and sit down.

The musicians at the door blew the horns, and a team of young women dressed in flowers and butterflies walked into the big tent and delivered fragrant milk tea. A Shi Qiyu poured the first lamp with his own hands, and left the table to hold it in front of Xu Dayan.

For the customs of the Turkic people, Xu Dayan was already familiar with it at this moment. took the milk tea, held a curly-bearded Turkic general with both hands to his head, the Turkic general was slightly stunned, and immediately smiled, picked up the tea bowl with both hands, and handed it to the Turkic civil official who was even lower in his head.

Ashina Choyu is the younger brother of Shibi Khan, and he is the leader of the army, and he is only a high-ranking official second only to the prime minister in the Turks. The generals under his command, who can sit and eat with them in the account, are at least a prominent position such as a tutun. Today, they were arranged to sit under the two infamous Han boys, and everyone was unwilling. At this time, seeing that Xu Dayan was so proficient in Turkic etiquette, the mustard in his belly suddenly became a little smaller.

After a round of milk tea, the atmosphere between the guests and the host was much more harmonious. The butler who was in charge of arranging the banquet ran down, and after a while, he lined up with dozens of female slaves to enter the account and arrange melons and fruits for each low table. What grapes from the Western Regions, autumn pears from the Central Plains, grass chestnuts from Liaodong, and large peaches from Goryeo tribute, one by one, plate by plate, Li Xu was dazzled. There are some fruits that he can't name at all, but Ashina Choyu picks up one and persuades him, so he picks up one and eats it. Sour, sweet, fragrant, crispy, but also a lot of fun.

Xu Dayan's eating is far more elegant than Li Xu's, and almost every fruit is tasted shallowly. Occasionally, I will comment a few times, boasting about the purity of the taste and origin, and I can hear that the host and the accompanying guests here are proud.

"Sage Xu is like a god with soldiers, he must be a disciple of the Great Sui General, I don't know which hero the sage inherited." Sitting in the third place on the left, a general in gilded leather armor stood up and asked in a low voice.

Xu looked back with big eyes, vaguely remembering that this person's name was Bi Lian, and he was a Burke who led the troops. sat up straight and replied seriously, "Where am I behind the door, but I have gnawed a few military books and compared them randomly, who would have expected that I would be lucky and win a bet." That is, the situation at that time forced me to do it. Thinking about it now, I'm a little scared! ”

"Sage Xu is humble, if you are indiscriminate, we are all blind people riding blind horses!" Little Burke sat down cross-legged and said with a smile.

Judging from the appearance of the two of them, the officials have already seen that Li Xu must be from a poor family. I thought that Xu Xian, who had a calm demeanor, was a high-ranking official of the Great Sui, so he was able to receive them with such a big pomp. Unexpectedly, this person was also a grass people, and the expressions on his faces suddenly became rebellious, and he occasionally raised tea to salute him, and he no longer stood up.

"Among them, there is a saying that heroes don't ask about their origins. At that time, Lord Attached Li shot down my eagle with an arrow, and Xu Xian skillfully broke the rope head Xi 5,000 elite soldiers. We're at his age, but still riding horses and chasing rabbits? Seeing that his subordinates gradually began to indulge, Ashina Qiyu coughed and introduced with a smile.

When the Turkic officials saw their superiors talking like this, they immediately regained their enthusiasm. Someone asked Suo Touxi and Zhu Fei about the war between Suo Touxi and Zhu Fei, and someone asked about the legend of the blessing of the holy wolf. When it comes to the scene of the two armies fighting and the flesh and blood flying, he said it in detail, and he can't wait to describe every action and eyes to everyone clearly. When it comes to how to use troops and how to anticipate the enemy, he is dizzy, as if he has not participated in decision-making at all.

However, several generals under Yu's command are all people who have experienced the battle array, and when they hear it, they know that Xu Dayan's words are not true. hindered the face of Lord Qiyu, and everyone didn't break it, and followed the civil officials who didn't know how to fight. Li Xu was clumsy, and he knew that telling stories was not as exciting as Xu Dayan, so he didn't interject and ate hard.

After killing two large bunches of grapes and a few peaches that were born out of season, a female slave girl held a silver cup and plate. One by one, the workmanship is fine, the pattern is exquisite, and Li Xu's eyes are shining. Xu Dayan also stopped boasting, picked up a silver meat cleaver, and carefully examined its origin and color.

This was his family tradition, and although the Turkic nobles knew about the beauty and value of silverware, they could not imagine how much of it was exquisite. After hearing the difference between the fineness of Persian silver and the eastern silver, the use of silver in the South China Sea and the cave said that the use of silver was similar and different, and the king of Persia went on a westward expedition, just to grab a few silversmiths to go home. The Tocharians saved money all their lives in order to make up enough anecdotes such as their daughter's headdress, but they only listened to them with a smile and a great sense of knowledge.

Amidst the laughter of the hall, several strong men brought up the dishes for the dinner. The food on the grassland is mainly meat, although Ashina Choyu has a noble status, the dishes of the banquet guests are only four kinds of whole sheep, whole fish, deer fetus, and suckling camel. It's just that these four materials are divided into five or six firing methods, and seven or eight parts are cut out, and the number of patterns is not clear.

Ashina Choyu picked up the first bowl of wine and washed the dust for the guests. The sound of silk and bamboo sounded in the big tent, and two teams of beautiful singers stepped forward, holding wine bowls and singing loudly.

Li Xu picked up the copper bowl and observed the people in the tent while sipping it. From the beginning to the present, Ashina Choyu didn't ask a word why the two of them left Su Sibu, obviously he was very confident in the effect of the serial plan. Big Meru Pei Li grunted with kindness, but when he spoke, he always pulled at the silver wolf, probably to find out why Gan Luo was not by his side, whether he stayed in Su Si or released into the wild. Little Boke Bilian was very dissatisfied with Xu Dayan, and he seemed to be dissatisfied, but Yu used such a standard feast to entertain two lowly guests. Right Tutun Kesi is a fine person, and the most asked thing is the number of cattle and sheep in Susi, Shetuo and other departments, the distribution of pasture and water sources. Zuo Tutun Basihara is an old fox who doesn't talk much, but every sentence falls at the key point, which makes Xu Dayan very difficult to avoid.

Whether these people like or dislike themselves, Li Xu doesn't care too much. But Ashina's enthusiasm is really unbearable. For the first time, he enthusiastically called himself a brother, and he counted the entire Su Si Department into it. Today he welcomed the guests with such a grand courtesy, and he couldn't figure out what tricks he would make.

After thinking about it, Li Xu didn't find that he had anything else to calculate. A few gems and jade in his bag are precious in his eyes, making Xu Dayan look like a little money. In the eyes of a Turkic royal family like Ashina Choyu, it is estimated that it is not worth seeing. All that was left was a horse and a bow, and if Yu turned his face and wanted to buckle the bow horse down, Li Xu also knew that he had no choice.

While I was thinking about it, the song was over. Everyone drank the wine in the bowl and sat back in their seats one after another. Ashina Choyu clapped his hands again, and the singers squatted down to salute the guests, and then lightly stretched their sleeves and jumped up gracefully.

Compared with the songs and dances of the Xia people, the dance postures of the Turks are more complex and varied. The fierce place is like a goshawk volley, and the tactful place is like a building in the west. The dance skirts on each woman's body were made of silk silk, which did not cover the elbows or knees, but were tied with silver rings at the hands and ankles, and two bright light yarns were hung on the arms and legs. If so, it adds to the allure of the dance, even a person like Li Xu who has been influenced by Tao Kuo's delicate dance posture also feels blood after watching it.

"You two, go pour wine and cut meat for the guests!" After the song ended, Ashina Choyu pointed to the two singers who were leading the dance and ordered loudly.

The two singers bowed and saluted, and the smoke drifted to the sides of Li Xu and Xu Dayan. The other thirty or so singers chuckled, and the petals scattered around the officials and generals.

"They are my two favorite concubines, one is called Luzhu and the other is Yanluo, I hope they don't stain the eyes of your guests!" Ashina Qiyu looked at Li Xu and Xu Dayan, who were embarrassed, and said politely.

Xu and Li hurriedly turned sideways to get out of the way and invited the two women to take their seats. The Turks had the custom of letting their wives or favorite concubines accompany their guests, but the guests were never allowed to exceed the courtesy, otherwise they risked being kicked out of the house by their hosts.

The two women picked up the wine bowl that the guest had placed on the small table and poured it full. Ten fingers gently hold the bottom of the bowl and raise it between the eyebrows. Xu and Li looked more and more embarrassed, took the wine bowl, opened their mouths and poured it into their throats, half of the bowl of wine went into their stomachs, but most of them were spilled on the placket of their clothes.

"There is nothing to be afraid of in the army of thousands of horses, but how can you be frightened by two women who can't carry knives!" Big Meru Pei Li grunted his hands and laughed, and asked loudly.

The men and women in the audience laughed, and everyone was laissez-faire and uninhibited, and they were used to fighting, even if they occasionally lost their morality after drinking, no one investigated it deeply. For the first time, someone saw someone who was so frightened by the two singers that he spilled half a bowl of wine, and he was more interested than seeing a five-legged cow or sheep.

Li Xu's face turned red again, and he didn't know what to say to answer. Xu Dayan was choked by the wine, and while coughing, he replied: "Haven't you heard of a knife on the head of the color word?" Among the two armies, there is a place to avoid swords and arrows. In the eyes of the woman, the knife and arrow are invisible! ”

Everyone laughed again, and they all said that Xu Xian answered skillfully. A group of women took the opportunity to pour wine frequently, and after a while, they picked everyone's wine to the ** place.

"In such a season, the two heroes went south together. Could it be that there is something urgent at home that needs to be done in a hurry? After a few more rounds of drinking, Little Bourke asked, holding up the bowl.

"I've been away from home for too long, and I suddenly want to go back and see!" Li Xu cast a meaningful glance at Ashina Choyu and replied with a smile.

Xu Dayan was already drunk by the singer named Luzhu, and he couldn't hold the knife steadily, and his head was crooked to his knees again and again. At this moment, no matter what tricks the Turks make, Li Xu must deal with it alone.

"It's not like rushing back to serve the country!" Ashina Choyu put down the wine bowl in his hand and asked with a smile.

"Serving the country?" Li Xu was asked a little inexplicably, why did he leave Su Si Ministry, Ashina Choyu should know better than everyone here. Is he deliberately pretending to be confused, is it for the sake of the guest's face, or does he have other bad intentions?

"Yes, don't you know that the Great Sui has already made great preparations for Goryeo?" Ashina's eyes widened and he was surprised. "By the way, you have been away all year round, so I guess you don't know what's going on in your hometown. Come here, spread the word to him, and let him tell the distinguished guests about the recent situation in his hometown! ”

"There is an order for the special service, and it will be passed on!" One by one, the red-cloaked guards standing outside the door passed down the order. After two bowls of wine, a young man with a delicate face and a little fear on his face was brought in by the guards.

"I've seen Lord Yu, but the little ones don't know what Lord Yu is looking for, what do you command!" The young man, whose name was Hebu Lang, bowed and asked timidly. His Turkic language is extremely stiff, and it sounds like a word-by-word translation of Chinese.

"You can say in Chinese, this friend of mine is from your clan, and I want to know what happened in the Central Plains recently!" Ashina shook his head and pointed at Li Xu to give orders to Hebu Yan.

"Yes, little one!" He replied with a long bow. As soon as he changed to Chinese, his speech was immediately clear. The virtues and politics of the Great Sui Emperor in the past year or so were explained one by one, and the tone could remain flat at first, but later, his voice became higher and higher, his eyes were red, and he couldn't wait to pull out a knife and be desperately angry with others.

It turned out that His Majesty the Great Sage Emperor inspected his own martial arts and found that it was a little inferior to the Qin Emperor and Han Wu, so he decided that he must wipe out Goryeo in his lifetime. Since last year, all men have been conscripted in various provinces, and all men under the age of 45 have been required to enlist in the army, regardless of whether they are scholars, farmers, merchants, or only sons-in-law. Armor and weapons need to be brought by themselves, and the government ignores them. Some of them were over forty-five years old, and they were also forced into the army by black-hearted officials. Some people are less than five years old, and as long as the family has no money, they have also received the army roster.

As a result, many families went bankrupt in order to take care of the government. Others had to leave their homes in order to avoid military service.

Li Xu knew this, so he was not surprised by it. But the next words of Hebu Qi made his jaw drop to the ground completely. "The Holy Lord conscripted 1,300,000 soldiers, and 3,000,000 conscripts and conscripted the people, and those who fled and did not return or did not report to the army within the time limit were caught in the same crime as robbery. Many people were late for the journey, and before they arrived in the army, they were put in prison in a daze! ”

"Ahh Li Xu grew his mouth, and felt the wine all over his body surging to his head. This time he decided to return south, and the plan was to bribe the government with the money in his hands and find an opportunity to cross himself off the conscription roster. If it doesn't work, he will join the army and kill the enemy, maybe with his current skills, he can also win some fame. Unexpectedly, before entering the Great Wall, he had become a criminal of the imperial court. is the same crime as robbery, I have grown so big, when did I take a stitch from others!

Trying to look at Xu Dayan on the other side, Li Xu hoped that he could come up with a good idea at this moment. As far as his eyes could see, he saw a white and bright saliva flowing from the corner of Brother Xu's mouth to the low table. The singer sitting next to him frowned, looking indescribably bored.

"The battle has not yet begun, and the news has reached the grassland. In my opinion, it's better not to go back. Although both of you are heroes, what good results can you get out of following such a bastard emperor! Ashina saw that Li Xu's eyes were blank, and took the opportunity to put forward his own suggestion.

I can't return home, and Su Si can't stay. Do you really want to follow this treacherous Ashina to live a foolish life? Li Xu felt dizzy, and had countless thoughts in his heart, but none of them could withstand scrutiny.

"Su Si is not more than 10,000 people, how can he deserve to keep a hero like you. Follow me, Ashina Choyu can guarantee that the fame and wealth of the two of you are at your fingertips. As for the famous woman, which one do you like, I'll get it for you at once! Ashina Choyu persuaded with a smile with a little wine.

Note 1: "Tongdian Northern Turkic Biography": "The Khan Yugu Shan Yuye, his wife is Kehedun, and he is also the ancient Yanshi. His children are called special services, and those who lead troops in other departments are called set up, and their senior officials are at the level of Qu Lu, the second Apo, the second Jaw Lifa, Tutun, and the second Qijin. It is estimated that the set is equivalent to the festival of the Tang Dynasty. Usually by the special services. Tutun is equivalent to a civil affairs official in charge of a county, similar to the prefect of the Central Plains. Burke, usually a nobleman, a general. Meru is the steward.