Autumn is the harvest season. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

For the sedentary nation-states on the other side of the equator, this is the busiest time of the year when they harvest their grain for the second time after the summer and prepare for the winter. Due to the abundance of food, frequent wars often choose to break out at such times.

The so-called full of food and thought ****, human beings who have nothing to do when they are full will always start to find something to do. Throughout history, human ambitions and territorial conflicts have often been inseparable from the seasons, and people who are well-fed need certain activities to vent their excess energy, and the people on the west coast have opted for war in favor of the endless Abu Sera steppes, where they regard themselves as barbarian nomads and choose a relatively "peaceful" way.

The ceremony of gathering to celebrate the harvest has been busy since this morning.

After the rainy season, some of the fattened animals were slaughtered in these days, the wool was washed and dried, the cowhide was soaked in water and matured, and a small part of the inedible offal and blood were discarded all over the area. The smell of blood wafting far away attracted a large group of predators, and herders patrolled the neighborhood on horseback with bows, waiting for an opportunity to shoot certain parts of their bodies that could be exploited or that were too dangerous.

The large quantities of salt needed to cure and preserve meat could only be obtained by plunder, so of course it was not enough for all of them. But as we've been saying, no matter where we are, humans can quickly learn and find ways to adapt. Unable to marinate, huge racks were erected for smoking, and a large row of fresh meat cut into strips hung neatly on top of the huge campfires in the camps was air-dried and then smoked.

Dried meat burned and smoked from animal manure was a bit unacceptable to Henry and his party, but after two or three days of being here, they were invited to a banquet by the patriarch of the Aries clan and they did not have to force themselves to try it - it was to be kept until the dry season, and in the rainy season when there were abundant resources, the first celebration was freshly slaughtered livestock.

After all, the means of preservation are limited, and no matter how you deal with air-dried bacon, it will not taste as good as fresh. The best way to celebrate the barren and long dry season, the lack of resources, the lack of water to grow food - the best way to celebrate the rainy season after another year of dry season is to eat and drink, laugh and sing and dance.

Henry, who had been invited, and his group of mercenaries and merchants stayed in the camp of the Aries Clan, where a huge bonfire had been lit since the morning. Tens of thousands of people were crowded and busy throughout the basin, and because of the high demand, the various livestock meats that had to be fired early were burned, and the fat dripped, and the ashes made a "zi-zi" sound, and the plundered grains were scarce, so they were added to the cauldron and boiled with the oily meat.

The large metal vessels used to cook them, which were common even on the barren West Coast, were treasures to the steppe people, and Mira could see at a glance that many of the cauldrons had a turquoise glow on the outside, apparently bronze rather than iron, of the kind of ancient times.

In addition, there are many brass cauldrons and even clay pots, because the thermal conductivity is too good, the handles on both sides of the copper pot are wrapped with thick cowhide for heat insulation.

Many of the women of the Absela brought spirits made from mare's and goat's milk and placed them on the chairs and tables around them, a sour smell that made many of the southern mercenaries frown. Dairy products and meat are the staple foods of the Absera, and a woman pours a rich yogurt into a large clay jar that appears to stir to make some kind of drink, adding sun-dried fruit and grains in addition to the fermented yogurt.

The spices that the group had offered to the patriarch were quickly put to good use and put into several cauldrons around them, boiling them with broth, and the smell of spices that gradually spread as the cauldron churned made many dirty slaves and the smaller groups around look at it with envy.

Among the nomadic peoples, whose social structure is rather primitive and simple, the same kind of political means as in other regions can still be glimpsed. Although it is a simplified version many times, this kind of ostentatious behavior that clearly shows the beauty and strength of their own people's life, and makes the people feel very face-saving, is really the same as the way the nobles on the west coast and the south express themselves with fancy clothes and elaborate carriages.

"We have what you don't have. ”

In the final analysis, whether it is the construction of an ornate palace or a tall statue, it is only a further extension of this behavior. All people always yearn for a better life, and how to prove that their life is better is naturally through the way of comparing themselves with others.

Showing what others don't have, or what others do, shows that they are better than them, this kind of buying people's hearts makes his members more identified with the group, and at the same time makes the people around him begin to feel envious of themselves, primitive and effective-the old patriarch is the old patriarch after all, even if he seems to be a little old and dizzy, he still has a very smooth time about how to control the psychology of the clan.

The old patriarch generously took out the spices and salt that the leader of the caravan had given him, such as spices and salt, which were considered high-value commodities even in the south, and shared them with the people, and this kind of investment was to put a long line to catch big fish, he was not unaware of the preciousness of these things, but the benefits of distributing them were greater than keeping them for himself.

If it is a young and inexperienced patriarch, he is likely to feel that he has the status of a nobleman and deserves to enjoy everything, but this kind of behavior of appropriating everything for himself, although it is true that he can use the status of a nobleman to suppress people so that his subordinates dare not complain, will eventually cause rumors within the group, and eventually lead to estrangement and even conflict.

Giving up some of the benefits, not greedy for the whole, but using them to buy people's hearts. Taking out these spices and sharing them with everyone in public, the aroma that can be directly felt by the mouth and nose makes the people under his command also realize the benefits of trading with the southerners instead of fighting, not to force everyone to accept it as the patriarch, but to pull everyone to the same front to feel what they feel - the old patriarch of the Aries clan didn't even need to do much, and the people under his command naturally accepted the fact that Henry and his group came here to participate in the celebration.

The cunning of the old treacherous can be seen from this, although it can be regarded as a cooperative relationship at present, but after Henry and Mira roughly dissected it, the white-haired Luoan girl had to secretly raise her vigilance.

If the old patriarch of the Aries clan was a traditional steppe person, then they would probably not negotiate with their group at all. In this respect alone, it is a good thing that he has a more enlightened and more sedentary mindset.

But at the same time, it is precisely because he is not the kind of warrior patriarch who is simple-minded and says one thing and two two, and is more strategic and political, and is good at using stratagem to achieve his own goals, that the people on their side cannot completely trust each other.

Just like the merchants of the South, the old patriarch of the Aries clan is a man who believes in profit.

Regardless of the fact that he was now quite friendly to the group, even inviting them to come here for important celebrations - if anyone touched the bottom line, such as offending the leaders of other clans with a higher status than him, then the old patriarch would not hesitate to turn his face in order to protect himself.

In a way, he was more dangerous than the other simple-minded steppe people. And this seemingly friendly invitation is actually not a bit tentative - this is why not all of the people who are invited to come, and Henry has to explain the ins and outs of all this to Mira before leaving.

Those mercenaries who were casual and uncontrollable were left in the camp in the rear, firstly as a hole card to keep, and secondly, they were worried that those reckless guys would accidentally touch what kind of taboo, causing the problem to become bigger. Killing them is a small matter, the steppe people will not listen to your explanation, once the matter is big, everyone will have to give some fools a burial, they are now in the enemy camp, in the face of tens of thousands of nomads, if one is not careful, the total annihilation is a matter of course.

The total number of people who came to the banquet for the "......" was twenty, including Mira and Henry, and the mercenaries under the command of Ferex accounted for more than half, while the remaining seven were all members of the caravan. The instructions put a lot of pressure on these people, so that they could not enjoy the campfire and food to the fullest, and several young caravan members looked around like timid rabbits to find a corner where no one was around, while the slightly chubby Inagi, the caravan leader, maintained his usual smile and calm.

The difference in the reactions of people who have never seen the world can be seen in the details, and when the celebration began, Mira and Henry naturally walked somewhere nearby and sat down. Vigilance is required, but there is no need to be nervous. It was an important celebration for the steppe people, and when it began, all the real Absellahs were immersed in it, and with the exception of those with ulterior motives, not many of them would care about their presence as a handful of outsiders.

The bonfires were strong, and the people who spoke Sumu that Mira didn't understand were the only ones who could get their emotions high over the language barrier. The blood rolled and dissipated on the ground near the slaughter of their cattle throughout the day, and the blood rolled and dissipated in the large shallow lake in the basin, which had been stained red for a large part of the lake, and in the evening the people of Absera, who had finally finished their preparations, had changed into some clothes and jewelry.

The celebration began in earnest.

The priests, dressed in rich clothes, were the first to appear, and under the guidance of the most influential high priest in the area, they began in the middle of the largest camp and followed the tribe camps along the way. The priests, whose faces were smeared with red clay, wore clothes made of sheepskin and linen dyed in intricate colors, and looked solemn and solemn. They were chanting an ancient language in unison, and Mira couldn't understand it, but from the elongated, vague way of pronouncing it felt like a new old language she had heard from the dwarven blacksmith Mike before.

The priests repeated these words, and combined with the undulating movements of kneeling, it was inferred that it was a prayer for the protection of some kind of god for peace and well-being in the coming year.

The people stood silently watching the presence of these priests, even the slaves did not say a word, and when they had finished praying and thought of the next direction, the people suddenly burst into a joyous sound as if they had been disarmed with a collective silence spell that interfered with their vocal cords.

Wearing gold and silver jewelry inherited from their mother's mother, the Absera girls began to look for their favorite men and danced to the company of the bonfire, and the sky gradually turned from dusk to dark blue, and people laughed and danced freely, and the oily and fragrant food was freely placed on the table, and even the slaves were free to go and take it, and only when the stars were shining in the sky, the lively song and dance gradually quieted down.

The camps of the various clans had their own celebrations, and the patriarch of the Aries clan sat on the chair at the door of the main camp to observe all this, and when the last few young men performing in front of the campfire returned to the group, suddenly someone brought out several targets made of compacted weeds. Several of the steppe warriors as representatives took out their short bows and arrow feathers, and it was obviously appropriate to use archery as an after-dinner feeding activity, and the cheers continued one after another, and the arrows hit the target again and again, making many people around them eager to try.

The atmosphere was very lively, a large amount of food prepared during the day was almost eaten now, some people began to prepare more barbecue again, and Henry, who seemed to be a little idle, and his group of twenty people were not ignored by the people of the Aries clan like this.

"Next, please invite our guests to come up and put on a show!"

I don't know what Zhi'an was thinking, but the patriarch of the Aries clan suddenly spoke. The performance he was referring to was obviously something related to martial arts, which was beyond the expectations of many people in the team, and even an experienced caravan leader like Inyaji was a little overwhelmed for a moment, this matter was not announced in advance, and everyone who had not been mentally prepared began to panic at this time.

What kind of candidates should they send? If they are too strong, losing the face of the Aries clan will obviously lead to conflicts, so they must lose directly?

Is this a tactic used by the cunning patriarch to show his people that the Southerners are actually quite weak?--Henry looked over from a distance and met each other's eyes through the campfire, and unlike the group that was still struggling, the Aries clan seemed to have chosen the person who would "perform" early--

“...... Me?" The white-haired Luoan girl pointed at herself with some hesitation, and the man who came over and stood across from her was about twenty years old, he was the youngest son of the old patriarch, the true first class within the Aries clan.

"Yes. The young man, whose black hair was all combed back and fixed with a headband to expose his forehead, was about one meter seven or eight tall, and he held a spear in one hand, said a simple byte in the strangely pronounced Laman, and then beckoned to Mira as if he were her opponent.

"Go ahead. Many of the other members of the team looked at the girl with some nervousness, but Henry, who was still calm, nodded slightly, and Mira, who had received support from her teacher, did not hesitate any longer, and after nodding slightly to the other as an opponent, she stepped forward. (To be continued.) )