March is warm in the south, but spring is just beginning to bloom in the north.

This is still the weather in the Great Wall, out of the Great Wall to the north, it is the grassland, although the weather in the grassland at this time is much better than the winter a few months ago, but it is still a little cold.

The grassland in my memory seems to be as written in the poem: "The sky is vast and the wilderness is vast, and the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep." ”

But this is not the case in the actual grassland, and after a winter, the young grass on the grassland has not yet grown, and as far as the eye can see, it is a large area of depressed withered yellow, with only a few green dots dotted among them.

Ma Shizhou told Zhu Shencone that the grassland will not have its true appearance until April, and the current weather is still very different, sometimes cold and sometimes hot, and the weather will stabilize after May.

It has been a few days since Zhu Shen walked out of the Great Wall and entered the grassland, he was wearing a leather jacket and a hat, dressed like an ordinary herdsman, and he and his people drove a few horse-drawn carriages along the grassland slowly, and on the cart there was also a small pennant embroidered with the name of the business, which was the symbol of the grassland merchants.

Although the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia have been at war since the beginning of the country, the entry and exit of merchants on the grassland has never been cut off, after all, the Mongols need the goods of the Ming Dynasty, especially salt, tea, cloth, silk and even grain, copper, iron and other materials. The Mongolian cattle, sheep, skins and even horses were also needed by the Ming Dynasty, except for the horse markets opened by the imperial court, many of them were sold privately through merchants.

In order to obtain supplies from the Ming Dynasty, successive Mongol Great Khans ordered that merchants should not be intercepted and killed in the grassland, because such an act was to kill chickens and eggs. The Mongols were not stupid, especially the Mongol nobles, who knew very well that only the existence of merchants could allow Mongolia to obtain long-term and stable supplies from the Ming Dynasty in this way.

Once the merchants were intercepted and the goods brought by the merchants were plundered, then no more merchants would come to Mongolia in the future. That's why the Great Khan gave this order, and for hundreds of years, it has become a rule on the steppe, and it has been enforced.

Zhu Shencone's small flag on the car represents their identity as merchants, as long as they see this small flag, the Mongols will understand what they do.

This is also a kind of safety guarantee for the merchants who walk in Mongolia, which Zhu Shencone did not know before, or Ma Shizhou told him, and thanks to this advance arrangement, in the past few days after entering the grassland, their group was quite smooth.

Because Ma Shizhou was here, Zhu Shencone and others went out of the Great Wall very smoothly.

Dredging the relationship in advance, plus Ma Shizhou had been an officer in the border army before, so he was very familiar with the border pass, plus their group was not as large as those big caravans, just six people and a few cars, and the defenders of the border pass who spent some money to buy it out, so easily got to the outside of the Great Wall.

The present Mongols are divided into several tribes, namely Tumut, Chahar, Korqin, Khalkha and Warat, plus Buryatia further north.

Among them, the Chahar headquarters is directly under the jurisdiction of Lin Dan Khan, and Tumut is also under the jurisdiction of Lin Dan Khan, and these two parts of Mongolia are close to the border pass and directly border the Ming Dynasty.

From the central part of Shanxi to the north, the first to enter is the Tumut Division, and if you go east after entering the grassland, it is the Chahar headquarters of Lin Dan Khan.

For this trip to the grassland, Zhu Shencone made a plan and discussed it with Ma Shizhou.

Finally settled, after entering the grassland, first go northwest, to Toyoshu Beach.

This place was also called Helinger in later generations, and it was the station of Altan Khan before, although now Lin Dan Khan has moved his station to the headquarters of Chahar after succeeding to the throne, but Fengzhou Beach is still an important area of the Tumut Department.

When they arrived at Fengzhou Beach, they would stay there for a few days, and then go north to Sanniangzi City (Hohhot). Then turn east from Sanniangzi City, directly arrive at Jining, leave Jining and turn back to the south, and then enter the eastern part of Shanxi from Chahar, enter the Great Wall from Yanghewei or Gaoshan Wei and finally return to Shanxi.

This route was decided after careful consideration, firstly, the several areas they passed through were the main stations of the Tumut and Chahar tribes close to Shanxi, and secondly, this route was relatively safe, Zhu Shencone was the first time to enter the grassland, and he did not know the situation of the grassland, and it was not safe to go too deep.

As for the third, this time in the north of the grassland, in addition to understanding the situation in Mongolia, Zhu Shencone has other ideas, and the current Great Khan on the grassland is Lin Dan Khan, both of which are under the control of Lin Dan Khan, because of the rise of the Later Jin and the relative independence of Horqin and Khalkha, Lin Dan Khan has a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty in order to obtain the support of the Ming Dynasty, and it is more convenient to walk in his territory.

The topography of the grassland is different from that of the Ming Dynasty, and many places look the same.

It's better to be closer to the Great Wall, but the deeper you go in this direction, the more difficult it is to identify, plus there are no official roads on the grassland, and you can't even find the path.

Ma Shizhou is indeed familiar with the grassland, and after entering the grassland, he took Zhu Shencone and them all the way, relying on the guidance of the streams, hills, sun, moon and stars on the grassland, plus his rich experience, the walk was quite smooth.

Although Ma Shizhou doesn't like to talk much, even if he camps on the way, he is often alone alone. But after contact, Zhu Shencone had to admit that the person recommended by his uncle Wang Rong did have a few brushes, if he hadn't been there, just relying on them, let alone walking, I was afraid that I would have to get lost the next day after entering the grassland, and I couldn't even tell the direction.

"Uncle Ma, it's windy and cold, take a sip of wine to warm up?" When the day came, Ma Shizhou commanded everyone to camp. After setting up the camp, everyone was busy, cooking and cooking, sorting out the goods, Zhu Shencone was not idle, and after the busy work, he came to Ma Shizhou with a wine gourd, and handed him the gourd with a smile.

After thanking him, Ma Shizhou took it, unscrewed the lid and put it to his mouth, took a sip, and then closed it.

"No more sips?"

"Don't drink it, the road behind is still long, you have to drink this wine slowly, and in a few days, you can only drink the Mongolian mare's milk wine after drinking this wine." Ma Shizhou smiled reluctantly and handed the wine gourd back to Zhu Shencong.

Zhu Shencone didn't drink it after taking it, he hung it directly on his waist, and then looked at the gradually setting sunset.

The scenery on the grassland is still beautiful, especially when the sun sets. The sky was red, and the grasslands that were dyed yellowish but not all green were brilliantly colored.

"If things go well tomorrow, maybe we will meet a small tribe." On the side, Ma Shizhou pointed to a direction on the right-hand side.

Seeing Zhu Shencone's puzzled face, Ma Shizhou explained a few words and told Zhu Shencone that he could see it from the traces left on the grassland.

The place where they camped had been stationed before, and although some days had passed, they could still vaguely distinguish one or the other. Although the tribal herdsmen of the grassland are nomadic people, their migration and life are still traceable, and Ma Shizhou has lived in the grassland for several years, which is not difficult for him.

From these traces, it is clear that tomorrow they will continue to move forward, and there is a high probability that they will be able to run into this small tribe. The population of this small tribe should not be large, but only a hundred, which is very common in the grassland.

"Sixth Master, you have to pay attention to it tomorrow, it's best to leave directly after the transaction, and don't stay with those Mongols at night. If the Mongolians want to invite you to drink wine and eat meat or something, find a reason to excuse it, don't say yes. As he spoke, Ma Shizhou's expression became a little serious, and he said solemnly to Zhu Shen.

Zhu Shencone asked why this was wrong? Since they have encountered tribes, it is natural for them to trade as merchants. And after making a deal, it is reasonable to drink wine and eat meat together, plus walking on the grassland, being able to be stationed with the Mongolian tribes, and taking care of each other, why did Ma Shizhou say such a thing?

Also, won't the Mongol Great Khan have rules? According to this regulation, it is still safe for them to walk on the grassland, but now the information revealed by Ma Shizhou is not like this.

"Sixth master, rules are rules, and the actual situation is different from the rules." Ma Shizhou smiled bitterly.

He told Zhu Shencone that the situation on the grassland was very complicated, they had just entered the grassland before, and they were still close to the border pass, and the herdsmen here were more sinicized, and this way was basically peaceful. But from now on, they have entered the heart of the grassland, and the situation is different from the previous days

Zhu Shencone is right, there are rules on the grassland that do not harm traders, but not everyone can abide by the rules of the Great Khan.

It's better if it's a big tribe, or if they have a caravan with a lot of people.

But they were just a small caravan, including Zhu Shencone and Ma Shizhou, and there were only six people in the entire caravan.

Except for Ma Shizhou himself, the other five people are all coming to the grassland for the first time, and they don't know anything about the customs and culture of the grassland.

The tribe is large, which means that the Mongolian leaders of the tribe are all middle- and upper-class Mongolian nobles, these nobles are well-informed, most of them also understand Chinese, and their observance of rules and vision are naturally not comparable to ordinary Mongolian herdsmen. Small tribes, on the other hand, are especially small tribes of a few dozen people, which are usually composed of a few or a dozen herdsmen who are family-oriented herdsmen for warmth, and belong to the lowest level of existence among the Mongols.

In the Ming Dynasty, there has always been a saying that poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people, and the same is true in Mongolia.

These small tribes don't care about the Great Khan or not, because such a high-ranking figure as the Great Khan is too far away from them. Driven by interests, once you are greedy, you can do anything. Kill a few people on the grassland, throw the corpse casually, and you can be devoured by the hungry wolves roaming the grassland overnight, and there are not even bones left.