Changsheng's inspector Pei Huan had long since disappeared, and shortly after Yang Tingxiang left for Mexico City to serve as the governor of New Spain, he was given a special mission of his own, and he was asked to roam every tribe in the Changsheng countryside with Bai Tao, the leader of the White Horse Alliance.

He would take many people into the tribe, and while he left, some would stay there, some would leave a few behind, and some more would be more.

It depends on the people of the tribe, not only in terms of the number of men in the prime of life, but also the number of women who can use the loom, and there are at least five people left in each tribe, which represents five occupations.

A gentleman who teaches the Chinese language and writing, a farmer who helps the people master the skills of farming, a woman who teaches women to weave on advanced looms, a craftsman who makes tools for the village and teaches apprentices, and a banner army who trains strong men to use weapons.

Their official name is the Five Rank King Envoys.

The weavers usually choose the wives of other dispatches, except for the flag army, all of whom come from the immigrants, and the land allocated by their families at the beginning of the migration is reserved by the county government, and others are hired to cultivate it, and the harvest is sent directly to the county government warehouse, and the crops are converted into treasures and given to them by the post station personnel.

Five people is the standard number of tribes with 100 middle-aged males, and for every 100 more than that, the banner army will send one more, and the others will remain the same.

Pei Huan's main mission is to explain the tasks of the five tribes with the assistance of Bai Tao, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings in the future.

"It's not easy to come to your tribe."

Pei Huan raised his eyes to look at the mountains and plateaus that were gradually rising in the distance, and in the vast farmland he watched the tribal leaders from the longhouse not far away who were staring at the shirtless warriors led by the feather crown, he opened his arms to stop the entourage from picking up the birds, and said in a jerky aboriginal language: "Put away the weapons, I have no malice, I just want to beg for a bowl of water to drink." ”

The tribal leader and his men were dark-skinned by the sun all year round, and their bodies were exceptionally strong through the mountains and forests, and the most striking thing about their formidable appearance was that they possessed a large number of weapons in good condition.

Needless to say, the dozen or so guards who followed the leader on European horses wore cuirasses of Spanish origin, and the shoulders of the armor were made of Asian-style woven cotton cloth with 'short sleeves', about one or two quarters, and some riders also rolled the cuffs at the junction of the cuirass on the shoulders, which was very capable.

The most common weapon they carried was a weapon similar to that of a meteor hammer, with wooden poles connected to three leather ropes made of several strands, each of which was wrapped in a boar intestine at the end of a ball of stone or other material, which seemed to be able to easily smash iron armor and shatter bones under the impact of a galloping horse.

In addition to the meteor cords, there are also irregularly shaped war sticks made of hardwood, with multiple sharp horns fixed to stone, metal or bull horns, which also look like armor-piercing weapons.

The remaining riders carried the heavy spears used by the Spaniards for foot combat, while the native infantry behind them had longbows and a large number of European muskets in addition to these weapons.

They were unlike any tribe Pei Huan had seen before in the vicinity of Changsheng, well-armed and formidable.

"Water?"

The leader of the feather crown on a European war horse laughed, and the scars and horizontal flesh on his face made him look fierce and cold, his eyes looked at Pei Huan's entourage, and when he saw Bai Tao and his subordinates wearing the aboriginal warriors wearing the helmets of the Ming army, his eyes narrowed sharply, and said: "White horse, now you bring new helpers and want to conquer me and join your tribe?" ”

Bai Tao threw a helpless look at Changsheng Inspector Pei Huan, handed the reins to his subordinates, took a few steps forward, and said: "Leopard, I'm not here to conquer you, I told them that it's best not to provoke you, but the outside world has changed." ”

In the past, the White Horse was the most powerful tribal leader in the area of the White Horse River, and in the northernmost part of his influence, after crossing the small tribe in the middle of the wall, he belonged to another tribe, and the leader of that tribe was the man in front of him, named the short-tailed leopard, or short-tailed tiger.

Bai Tao whispered to Pei Huan in Chinese: "The last time I saw him was a few years ago, when he didn't have so many guns, and they used to use golden knives. ”

Golden knives?

Pei Huan was a little skeptical that the golden knife Bai Tao said was the kind of shiny that he thought in his heart, and he could leave tooth marks with his teeth, and a golden knife that could be exchanged for eight silver knives.

"Has the outside world changed?"

The short-tailed leopard did not have the idea of dismounting, and really pulled out a golden knife less than a foot long from the horse's back, he touched the blade with his fingers, looked at Bai Tao and said, "Where has it not changed?" The golden sword is not good enough, sharpened once, smaller, but I know a man, a Dutchman, and the golden knife can be exchanged for a gun, or a steel sword, armor, and a war horse from the other side of the sea. ”

"You don't have to tell me anything to join your alliance against the Spaniards, I am stronger than you, every year, the Dutch will send me forty horses and one hundred and sixty muskets, and when you die, I will fight the Spaniards alone and defeat them!"

"Don't set foot in my territory until you die, if there's anything to say, it's said now, go back."

The short-tailed leopard spoke very quickly, some words in Spanish, some words in the ancient language of the aborigines, and the rapid change made Pei Huanji scratch his head, he could only understand the Dutch, the horses, the muskets, and the Spaniards, but when they came together, they didn't know what they were talking about.

But Bai Tao could understand, he showed helplessness about the attitude of the short-tailed leopard, he explained the words of the short-tailed leopard to Pei Huan, and also explained the strange relationship between them: "My tribe and alliance are in the south, I want to see the Spaniards earlier, he has many brave and warlike warriors, and he is unwilling to join my alliance, I have been defeated by the Spaniards, surrender to them, before the arrival of the Ming army." ”

"Some of the Spanish squads would be sniped by him by the river after passing through my tribe, and he won...... But that's because it's just a squad, I'm not saying he's better than me, it's just that he's also good. ”

Pei Huan listened to Bai Tao's somewhat comical explanation and nodded slightly, Bai Tao is now one of the leaders of the three major tribal alliances known to the Ming army, and he is still extremely cautious about the short-tailed leopard, from this point he can see the power of this fierce warrior-like tribal leader in front of him in this land.

And Bai Tao was not at all impatient with the arrogant words of the short-tailed leopard, he explained: "The outside world has changed, you live on the plateau and guard the land left by your ancestors, and do everything you can to defeat the Spaniards alone after my death, but you don't know that my tribe has left the White Horse River, and you don't know that the Spaniards have been defeated. ”

As Bai Tao spoke, Pei Huan saw the expression of the short-tailed leopard on horseback changing wonderfully, those arrogance and self-esteem disappeared in an instant, and a huge consternation occupied that fierce face: "You say, the Spaniards have been defeated?" ”

The short-tailed leopard breathed heavily, staring at Bai Tao with wide eyes, and his three views were greatly impacted.