The next day, Abba held a grand court meeting in the Wude Palace, and officials above the fifth rank of the court came to attend. Hundreds of civil and military officials were neatly dressed and lined up in unison inside and outside the hall, and they didn't dare to breathe. The left servant shot Pei Lin read out Abba's edict, first to evaluate the achievements, and then to reward the merits, the second brother was awarded the title of Tai Lieutenant, Envoy Festival, Shaanxi Road Daxingtai. Li Zhiyun was named Shangshu Ling, envoy to the festival, and Hedong Road Daxingtai. The other generals who participated in the war also had their own rewards according to the size of their merits.

Li Zhiyun's original position of Yongzhou pastor is still retained, of course, his newly promoted official positions are still the same as Yongzhou pastor, just in name, and there is no need to open a government and build a government, and sit on duty.

After the court meeting, Abba held a state banquet in the Tianxing Palace, many royal relatives, civil and military high-ranking officials gathered together, and the hall was filled with a faction of singing and dancing, festive and auspicious atmosphere.

It has been half a year since Li Zhiyun left Chang'an, and he planned to rest for a few days after he came back, but he didn't expect things to happen one after another, and he was so busy. In addition to visiting relatives and friends and attending the wedding of the fifth sister, he also had to receive officials who came to congratulate him and participate in various social activities. On this day, he had just taken a break and was about to go to the arsenal to find out about the development of new weapons in the days after he left Chang'an, when a servant brought a eunuch to look for him.

The eunuch was sent by the East Palace, and said that the prince was waiting for him outside the palace gate. When Li Zhiyun heard this, he hurriedly followed the eunuch out of the gate, only to see the prince's honor guards neatly lined up on the street, and there was no end in sight.

The eunuch led him to a large and luxurious carriage. He boarded the carriage and saw that the eldest brother was already sitting in the carriage waiting for him, and the eldest brother beckoned him to sit beside him. As soon as he sat down, the carriage started. Li Zhiyun said strangely: "Big brother, where are we going?" ”

"Out of town."

"What are you doing out of town?"

"There is a Qiang tribe who is strong and strong, named Bian Qidi." The eldest brother said, "He originally took refuge in Xue Ju, but recently he fell out with Xue Ju, and led more than 2,000 of his subordinates to Chang'an, defected to our Datang, and was stationed in Longwan Village, ten miles outside the city. ”

Longwan Village, located outside the Mingde Gate in Chang'an, was originally a village of hundreds of families, but was destroyed in the war a few years ago, and the villagers were either killed or fled, turning into an abandoned village. After the Qiang people came to Chang'an, the government repaired the houses in the village and temporarily stationed them in the village.

Upon arriving at the place, the carriage stopped. Li Zhiyun got out of the carriage with his eldest brother, and the two stood beside the carriage. Li Zhiyun raised his eyes and saw that more than ten zhang away was Longwan Village, and the houses in the village were uneven, but most of them were low and gray adobe houses. The village is surrounded by fertile fields that can not be seen at a glance, and there is a small river that is not too wide at the west end of the village, and the willows are still on the riverbank, and the scenery is beautiful.

The convoy stopped on the official road outside the village, and Li Zhiyun turned his head to look at his eldest brother and said, "Why don't we enter the village?" ”

"Wait a minute, the Qiang people will come out to meet us."

As soon as the eldest brother finished speaking, he saw a large group of people coming out of the village, and they could be distinguished from the clothes alone. The Qiang people wore a variety of costumes, some made of fur and some sewn from homespun cloth, and each wore a hat, either made of animal fur or wrapped with strips of cloth, and each had a few feathers of geese or pheasants inserted into the hat for decoration.

The man who walked in the front was about their leader, he was about five feet six inches tall, with a stout physique, dark skin, a round face, two thick eyebrows, a pair of leopard eyes, a garlic nose, thick lips and a large mouth. Li Zhiyun estimated that he was probably on the sidelines.

Before Li Zhi went to them, the eldest brother had already sent a messenger to inform them, so he led a group of subordinates out of the village to greet them. He stepped forward with a smile and bowed his hand: "The crown prince and the king of Chu came to condole, and the last general is grateful, the two of you have worked hard." ”

The eldest brother hurriedly returned the salute and said: "The general doesn't have to be polite, my two brothers came to work on behalf of the emperor, and I hope the general will check the items they carry." With a wave of his hand, the guard next to him hurriedly presented the gift list. He took the gift list and looked at it a few times, nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "There are two Laos, and I will enter the palace another day to thank the emperor in person!" ”

Li Zhiyun only knew at this time that the reason why the eldest brother's guard of honor was very long was that the carriage behind it was loaded with food and other consolation products. He instructed his subordinates to unload all the things in the carriage and transport them into the village, and then said to them: "Two noble envoys, please come into the village to rest and have a glass of water." The eldest brother didn't refuse, and arched his hand: "Okay, then bother the general." ”

"Qiang" was originally a general name for the nomadic tribes living in the western part of the motherland in ancient times. The Qiang people originated from the ancient Qiang, and the ancient Qiang people were famous for shepherding sheep and were an important part of the Chinese people. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Yiqu State built by the Qiang people fought a war with the Qin State for more than 170 years, and later the Qiang people were gradually integrated by the Qin State. In the Han Dynasty, the Qiang people were regionally divided into East Qiang and West Qiang, and the East Qiang who entered the Central Plains lived with the Han people, intermarried, and integrated. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Yao clan of the Qiang people established the Later Qin regime and ruled all ethnic groups in the Central Plains for 33 years.

The Qiang folk narrative poem "The Great War of Qiang Ge" records: In ancient times, the Qiang people lived in the northwest steppe, and were forced to move west and south due to wars and natural disasters. They wore wool around their necks as a symbol, and used hard dolomite and wooden sticks as weapons to defeat the "Goki", and finally lived in peace and contentment, and scattered in nine tribes. This legend reflects a period of history of the Qiang migration, and combines it with historical documents and archaeological data to confirm the origin of the Qiang people.

After Li Zhiyun and his eldest brother entered Longwan Village with the others, they walked into an adobe house made of rammed earth. This room is quite spacious, about a dozen square meters, but the interior furnishings are very simple, there is a shrine against the north wall, and there is a fire pit in the middle of the room, and seven or eight low wooden benches are placed around the fire pit.

The fire pond is of great significance in the life of the Qiang people, and people eat by the fire pond, entertain guests, and even sacrifice to the gods. In the Qiang culture, you can't cross the fire pond and quarrel around the fire pond, or say unlucky words, otherwise it is disrespectful to the god of fire.

Probably due to the limited conditions, the fire pit in the house is very simple, just made of three white stones, and the stone is set up for barbecue and steaming, which is the so-called "three stone bases and one pot". The reason why white stone is used is because the Qiang people are still white and black, and the white stone is not only a symbol of the gods, but also represents auspiciousness and joy. On the first day of the first lunar month, take the white stone into the house, indicating that the fortune is rich, and the white stone will be given as a gift to each other when visiting relatives and friends.

How to sit next to the fire pond is also very particular, the Qiang people call the side of the fire pond by the shrine "upper eight", which is the most noble position, the "upper eight" opposite is the "lower eight", which is the second position to the "upper eight", and again the position of the other two sides.

As distinguished guests, Li Zhiyun and his eldest brother were invited to the "upper eight", sat in the "lower eight" on the side, and several other generals who accompanied each other sat on both sides. After Li Zhiyun sat down, he found that the banquet had already been arranged. The Qiang nationality takes "nine" as auspicious, so nine big bowls are placed around the fire pond, the dishes in the coarse porcelain bowl are similar to those of the Han nationality, there is a "pig fat" made of pork smoked and roasted, similar to bacon, cut into small pieces and fried with vegetables, and then add pepper and chili pepper to enhance the flavor; There is also the pig blood and so on to fill the pig's large intestine, after cooking, it is called blood sausage, which is a kind of food when the banquet guests eat wine; There is also a soup made with sauerkraut soaked in cabbage and turnips. The staple food is cornmeal buns, as well as cornmeal cooked together in rice, commonly known as "silver wrapped gold". In addition to dishes and staples, there is also a jar of wine.

The wine that the Qiang people generally drink is called smacking wine, and the Qiang language is called "Rimaixi", which means Qiang wine. After boiling the barley, it is mixed with koji, sealed in the jar, and can be drunk after fermentation for 7 to 8 days. The Qiang people drink smacking wine, do not use wine vessels, but open the wine jar, suck with a thin bamboo tube, smack in the order of the eldest and youngest, take turns to smack, and continue to pour cold boiled water until the taste is light.

According to the rules of the Qiang people, the eldest brother smacked first, and then, it was Li Zhiyun's turn. He took a few sips with a thin bamboo tube, and the wine tasted sweet and refreshing, refreshing.

The brothers drank and ate with a few Qiang people, laughed and chatted, and soon became acquainted. Everyone is lively and lively, so happy. Halfway through the banquet, Li Zhiyun wanted to be relieved, so he confessed and left the table.

When he came back from the hut, he passed by the door of a house in the village, and saw that the gate was open and a bench was placed at the door. He looked into the house, wanting to go inside and see where the Qiang lived. Just as he was about to move the bench, he suddenly heard someone call out to him.

Li Zhiyun turned around and looked, and it was a guard of the eldest brother who came over. The guards came to him, clenched their fists and said, "King Chu, you can't go in." ”

"Why?"

"Look," said the guard, pointing with his hand, "there is a red note on the door of this house, and a bench at the door, which indicates that there are sick people in the house. According to the custom of the Qiang people, the sick are not allowed to meet strangers. ”

When Li Zhiyun heard this, he stuck out his tongue, he didn't understand the customs of the Qiang people, and he almost got into trouble.

The banquet lasted for nearly an hour, and after Li Zhiyun and his eldest brother had eaten and drunk enough, they left Longwan Village after saying goodbye to the side enterprises and others, and went back to Chang'an in a carriage.

A few days later, Honglu Siqing sent someone to send a post to Li Zhiyun. He opened it and saw that it was an invitation, stating that Abba would hold a banquet in the Hall of Light to entertain the Turkic envoys and invite him to attend.

This is an important foreign affairs activity, and of course Li Zhiyun does not dare to be careless. The next day, he put on the Nine Python court clothes, put on the crown, and took the carriage to the Taiji Palace early.