After being encouraged by Bo Shi, Zhang Weiyang only felt full of strength.

Then, he was sent to the mission by Bo Shi, and became a member of the Han delegation that would travel nearly 2,000 miles in the wind and snow season, through the wasteland and breaking ground, to reach the Wuheng Mountain, where the Wuheng tribe is located.

The mission consisted mainly of people from three parts.

First, it was the Han officials and soldiers led by Bo Xujian, the lord of Xinhua City, including Zhang Weiyang himself, a total of seventeen people.

Second, there are hunters and guides from the Haoren tribe and their hounds, about a dozen of them, all of whom are said to have survived in the snow for more than a month.

The third is to follow the mission back to their own tribe of the Wuheng people.

The number of these Wuheng people is relatively small, there are only five people in total, and there is also a teenager among them.

The status of the young man should be relatively high, and as Zhang Weiyang saw, the remaining four people usually surrounded the young man, quite respectful.

In addition, what is more strange is that these Wuheng people are different from the Yidi that Zhang Weiyang has seen and heard of.

In particular, the hairstyles they wear are even more peculiar.

They don't have their hair braided into braids like the savages of the Nohao tribe.

Instead, all the hair in front of the head was shaved, and only in China, only criminals who committed crimes would be punished by the government as punishment.

But this kind of hairstyle, here in Wuheng people, seems to be a tradition.

Also, at the feet of these Wuheng people, there is a big dog squatting at all times.

This dog seems to have been bred after crossing with wolves. It is much larger and larger than the dogs.

The largest one, even standing up. Almost a man tall, it looks extremely fierce.

on the ears of these dogs. It seems that they are all tied to a straw rope, and the straw rope is dyed with some colorful paint, and I don't know what it is used for.

At the beginning, Zhang Weiyang was still restrained, but silently under the instruction of the main envoy Bo Xu Jian, he helped sort out the dry food, flint and blankets covered at night, and put them on the sleigh.

But, wait until the mission departs, on the way. Because Zhang Weiyang walked on the outside side, he was not far from those Wuheng people, so he gradually became familiar with them, and even could use the language of the people to carry out some simple communication.

Slowly, Zhang Weiyang also knew the names of these Wuheng people, and also knew some interesting anecdotes.

The boy was named: Ye Lizhi. Anyway, the pronunciation is like this, it is the son of an adult in Wuheng, and this time he followed the mission to Han to see it.

And within the Wuheng tribe, the high-ranking nobles of the tribe. They all regard themselves as adults, and the low-level nobles are all handsome.

Between adults and adults, between small and handsome. Status is equal.

If there is an argument, then they will speak with their fists.

Two adults or little handsome. Shirtless, get into a fight. Whoever wins is right.

This made Zhang Weiyang surprised to hear it.

Naturally, Zhang Weiyang also told these Wuheng people about his hometown Handan and some common knowledge he had heard about Chang'an, the god of the Han Dynasty.

Of course, this must be exaggerated.

For example, the scale and permanent population of Handan City were exaggerated by at least three times by Zhang Weiyang's mouth.

The Wuheng people were even more stunned.

After going back and forth, Zhang Weiyang made friends and had a relationship with these Yidi, especially, during the break, after Zhang Weiyang invited these Wuheng people to drink two sips of wine, the other party immediately regarded Zhang Weiyang as a brother.

The young man named 'Ye Lizhi' even used the half-baked language of the people, patted his chest and promised Zhang Weiyang: "When you arrive in Chishan, I will definitely invite you to eat the grilled fish of our Wuheng people, now this season, it is just the time for the winter fishing in our clan to begin, and the fish in the Shenhu Lake in winter is particularly delicious!" ”

As he spoke, Ye Lizhi showed a look of longing.

He is only fourteen or fifteen years old at most, he has no scheming, and he is very simple.

But it is said unintentionally, and it sounds intentional.

Zhang Weiyang immediately secretly wrote down the situation.

In the future, this information will be compiled into a file and sent to Chang'an to appear in front of the Son of Heaven case.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Weiyang looked at the big dog that had been squatting beside Ye Lizhi, and asked curiously, "Why do you want to tie straw ropes to the ears of these dogs?" ”

Ye Lizhi listened, his face was a little sad, he looked at Zhang Weiyang, and said, "These big dogs are the guiding dogs of our Wuheng people!" ”

"Guide dogs?" Zhang Weiyang was a little puzzled.

"Yes, if I die, then it will carry my clothes and hair back to the Sacred Mountain Red Mountain, and then, the adults of the tribe will know that the soul of the wild power has returned, and they will burn my clothes and hair with fire, so that this big dog, with my soul, will go to reunite with the ancestors and gods!" Ye Lizhi explained with some sentimentality: "These straw ropes are the faith that our Wuheng people return to the arms of our ancestors and gods after their souls, and each straw rope has been blessed by shamans in front of the gods...... Last year, our tribe returned with more than 300 guide dogs......"

"More than 300 guide dogs?" Zhang Weiyang didn't turn the corner for a while.

"Yes, a guide dog is a person, I only see a dog, I don't see a person, that is, the owner has died outside......" Ye Lizhi's tone became more and more gloomy.

But when Zhang Weiyang heard it, he didn't care in his heart.

More than 300 people died in a year?

It doesn't seem very serious, does it?

But how did Zhang Weiyang know that in the Wuheng clan, the people who can raise a guide dog are the elite of the tribe.

Slaves and ordinary herdsmen are neither qualified nor have the spare energy to raise such a large dog.

Usually ordinary herdsmen die, they are all in a unified time period, and the shaman sends an old dog to carry dozens or even hundreds of people's clothes and hair before death, and burn them together.

This is still a good year for the tribe.

Therefore, in all the tribes of Wuheng, all of them are added up, and they can raise guide dogs. Probably less than 2,000.

Three hundred died at once, which is equivalent to the death of one-seventh of the elite.

Such a loss. If it is placed in any ethnic group, it is painful. It may even lead to the extinction of the race.

But what can the people of Wuheng do?

These dead people were all forcibly conscripted by the Xiongnu to fight.

They died on the way to charge for the Huns, and used their own lives to give the people of Wuheng a way to live.

Their death has allowed more than a thousand more babies born in the clan to survive this year.

From the point of view of the maintenance and survival of the clan, they died a well-deserved death.

However, there is a premise for this view - that is, the Huns want to ensure that they are the overlords of the steppe and the world, and can decide and control the life and death of the tribes on the steppe at will.

And now. The supremacy of the Huns began to waver.

The Han Dynasty from the East rose strongly.

Last year, Xiongnu Shan Yu even had to kill Wuheng's neighbor, the leader of the Xianbei tribe, and take his head to pacify the Han Dynasty, as evidenced by this.

Otherwise, with the domineering of the Huns. It is simply impossible for it to bow its head in front of a force that is weaker than his.

So, through the tragedy of their neighbors, the Wuheng people knew that they had one more choice.

It's just that. In this Han Dynasty to the east, the Wuheng people have never dealt with them, and they are not clear. Whether the people of the Han Dynasty were man-eating tigers or kind elders.

That's why there was a visit from Ye Lizhi this time, and Ye Lizhi and others were pleased. The Han Dynasty showed great enthusiasm for their visit. Shan Yu of the Han Dynasty even ordered to send the current mission to visit Wuheng.

And this is undoubtedly a good start.

Ye Lizhi stayed in Xinhua City for more than ten days, he saw with his own eyes, heard with his own ears, in the past, often by Xianbei, Wuheng and even Ding Lingren bullied the Hao people, since they took refuge in the Han Dynasty, life is getting better day by day, the Han Dynasty Shan Yu even sent an army to garrison on the territory of the Hao people to protect them.

The upper echelons of the Haoren tribe have even lived a life that stunned Yeli.

Even if it was just a small head, they all lived in a large spacious house, the walls and warehouses of the house were full of dried fish and dried meat, and they were dressed in beautiful and warm fur clothes.

As for the leader of the Hao people in the past, the guy who is now called Canghai Jun.

In the past, every year, people would be sent to send livestock and slaves to Chishan with their heads bowed and waisted, so as to bribe the Wuheng tribe so that the Wuheng cavalry would not invade them.

But now, when this guy saw Uncle Wuheng, his eyes were facing the sky, and he didn't even bother to get up.

And he does have such a reason to be proud.

With his back to Shan Yu of the Han Dynasty, it is said that he has been approached and rewarded by Shan Yu of the Han Dynasty many times, plus the head of the Xianbei King who was made of wine vessels in his living room, in this extreme east, there is no one who dares to offend him without opening his eyes.

The consequences of offending him would be tantamount to waging war against the huge empire in the east with a million armor and a territory of tens of thousands of miles.

No one can stop the thunderous wrath of Shan Yu of the Han Dynasty.

It is said that even the Xiongnu Shan Yu does not dare to annoy the Han Dynasty's Shan Yu now.

"It's a pity, we Wuheng people, there is no ancestor named Shaogao......" Ye Lizhi couldn't help but be a little depressed when he thought of this.

The appearance characteristics of the Hao people are very similar to those of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, they are naturally very refreshing when they climb up their relatives.

However, the people of Wuheng can't......

Ye Lizhi looked at the yellow beard and obviously different skin tones of his people, and shook his head helplessly.

The appearance of the Wuheng people is not only not like the Han Dynasty, the Hao people, the Koreans, but even the Huns, in the grassland, only a few of their close relatives are like Xianbei or something, and they have the same skin color and appearance.

…………………………

After hitting the road again, Zhang Weiyang took a break and ran to the envoy of the mission, Bo Xu Jian, the master of Xinhua, and reported some news he had inquired about.

After listening to this, Xu Jian was also very interested, and immediately asked people to record it and form a text.

Chinese scholars, since the Spring and Autumn Period, have noticed that in order to deal with Yidi, one must first understand their customs and traditions.

Moreover, Xu Jian is not like Zhang Weiyang, who was semi-illiterate a year ago.

Xu Jian was born in Jicheng, and his father and ancestors were all attendants of the Yan Palace, so he once saw some records in the palace collection of the Yan Kingdom.

And these records are quite similar to some of the habits and customs of the Wuheng people mentioned by Zhang Weiyang, in some places.

"It's about Wuheng. When it's Donghu......" Xu Jian guessed in his heart.

During the Warring States Period, when the Yan Kingdom was expanding. once encountered the challenge of the Donghu people, and Donghu was even able to suppress Yan Guo for a time.

Until the late Warring States period. The birth of Li Mu made the strategic situation of Yan State better.

During that period, there were close diplomatic exchanges between the people of Yan and Donghu, and even the prince of Yan was hostage to Donghu, and there are many relevant records, and there are many that have survived to this day.

It was from these fragmented records that Xu Jian smelled the vague connection between Donghu and Wuheng.

It's just that he doesn't know for sure.

After all, there is not much in common between the two, and it is possible that a certain tribe that was once influenced by Donghu was transformed.

…………………………

The mission trekked through the icy wilderness. Gradually moving north, slowly moving away from Xinhua City.

Three days later, he left the farthest patrol area of the Han army, crossed the mountains, and entered a world of ice, snow and mountains.

When you get here, the whole world is white, and it's easy to get lost.

Fortunately, the hunting dogs carried by the Wuheng people seem to have a talent similar to that of an old horse. Always be able to guide the direction in time at critical moments.

In addition, they seem to have a very keen sense of smell and can easily spot animals such as rabbits hiding in the snow. It also added a lot of meat to the mission.

The only trouble for the mission was that they had to sleep in the open.

And in the world of ice and snow. Choose a good spot to sleep in the open without waking up the next morning to find yourself buried in snow and ice. It is undoubtedly a matter of life and death.

Moreover, the bitter north wind in the mountains and the low temperature at night can almost kill. Also began to plague the Mission.

After entering this strange and barren world of ice and snow, the mission began to suffer from injuries.

The next day, when Zhang Weiyang got up, he found that there was even a Han soldier who froze to death on the sentry post during the night vigil, but there was still a fire burning in front of him.

This is undoubtedly a painful lesson.

Therefore, from then on, the people in the mission, every time they kept vigil, there would be three people to remind and warn each other.

But this is not a long-term solution.

Fortunately, the accompanying Wuheng people comforted the rest of the mission, saying that they would soon be able to enter the range of activities of the Xianbei people.

The Xianbei people will definitely leave the stone caves or even stone chambers where they lived when they hunted nearby.

When you enter the cave, you don't have to worry about the cold and low temperatures, which will silently take people's lives.

Sure enough, after entering the place mentioned by the Wuheng people, the mission found several inhabitable caves on the hills along the way, and in the caves, there were even extinguished fires, neatly laid hay shops, and even luckily, a lot of firewood.

But, as they continued to move forward, the Wuheng people and their hounds began to get nervous.

Zhang Weiyang even discovered that sometimes, those originally extremely quiet and tame hounds would crouch down and bark low, and Ye Lizhi was even more vigilant as if facing a great enemy.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Weiyang then went over and asked.

"The Xianbei people are coming...... Ye Lizhi said cautiously: "Go and tell the others, get ready to fight, our hound smells the scent of the Xianbei hunter, there will be no mistake!" ”

"Xianbei people?" When Zhang Weiyang heard this, he didn't pay much attention to it.

As a Han Chinese, Zhang Weiyang is confident enough.

Last year, the Xianbei people killed a few people in a sneak attack, and their king's head was sent to Xinhua, and it is still in the living room of Canghai Jun.

What else can a small tribe and widow like this do?

Do they have the audacity to attack and stop the Han mission, which is on the mission of the Son of Heaven?

However, Ye Lizhi's next sentence made Zhang Weiyang immediately alert.

"There are many savage tribes in Xianbei, and some of these savage tribes are headhunters, and they will hunt other humans who are not Xianbei people like hunting wild beasts!" Ye Lizhi said solemnly: "Especially in such a winter, it is difficult for them to hunt prey, so they will eat people!" ”

Zhang Weiyang didn't dare to slack off, and immediately reflected the situation to Xu Jian.

After Xu Jian heard this, he immediately gave the order and armed himself, but he was not too afraid.

There are more than a dozen soldiers with military training in the mission, and there are more than a dozen Hao people, and they also bring bows and crossbows.

However, Xu Jian soon knew that he was wrong.

On the mountains in the distance, a figure appeared.

Not one or two, not ten or twenty, but hundreds, densely packed, riding a sleigh cart, roaring Yidi.

Moreover, they appear from more than one direction.

When Ye Lizhi saw it, he immediately shouted loudly: "This is someone from the Xianbei Headquarters!" ”

For their neighbors, the Wuheng people are too familiar.

With your eyes closed, you can tell that those are wild and those are really fresh.

It's just that when did these Xianbei people come down from Xianbei Mountain?

Xu Jian saw such a situation, but he was relieved.

In such weather, with such fanfare, Xianbei people definitely did not come to embarrass them.

So, Xu Jian picked up his yak, flicked the snow on his body, walked out of the mission, came to the front, and shouted in Xiongnu language to the Xianbei people who were roaring: "Who is coming?" This is the place where the Han mission is stationed, according to the law of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu alone, where the Han mission yak is, it is regarded as the Huns alone in the big beetle, where the big and small ditches are handsome, shall not be violated! ”

After shouting three times in a row, the Xianbei people who were roaring stopped a hundred steps away from the embassy, and then there was no movement.

This made Xu Jian feel a little dry in his throat.

Maybe about a quarter of an hour later, or more, when Xu Jian felt that he was about to lose the knots in his hand, the Xianbei people a hundred steps away walked out of a man in a fox fur, this man shouted to the mission in Xiongnu dialect: "Lord Xianbei Qiu Kegu, hearing the arrival of the Han envoy, I am overjoyed, and I specially invite the Han envoy and the delegation to come to Xianbei Mountain as a guest!" ”

He uses Chinese with a round accent and is extremely fluent.

And it's obviously Chinese with a Qilu accent.

This made Xu Jian suddenly feel like he had seen an alien - when, in this wild land of ice and snow, deserted, and never visited by Chinese, Han people appeared? (To be continued.) )

PS: Note: Xianbei and Wuheng have the same ancestry, and the current social habits of Wuheng people are not very examinable, only sporadic records.

For example, some can be found in the Book of Wei, some can be found in the Book of Jin, and some are also recorded in the Book of the Later Han.

From these accounts, we can know some general information.

For example, the beards of the Wuheng people are yellow and belong to the Caucasian race, and the Xianbei people are similar.

The evidence is that Emperor Jin Ming was scolded as a yellow-bearded Xianbei slave, because his mother was a Xianbei person, and he himself was also a yellow-bearded man, with Caucasian characteristics.

In addition, Wuheng people are good at raising dogs, and Xianbei people live in stone caves, which are all recorded in Ming history.

According to the Later Han Dynasty, the Wuheng people sang and danced when they were buried. Fattening a dog, and tying it with a colored rope, and taking the clothes of the deceased's horse, and burning it and giving it away' proves that they will be sent to the end with a dog.

As for the records of the Xianbei people living in the stone cave in the early days, there are many records, and the Northern Wei Dynasty even sent people back to the stone cave where their ancestors lived to worship.

In addition, the leaders of Xianbei Wuheng are all called adults, and I don't know why.

Now, it is no longer clear where Wuheng Mountain and Xianbei Mountain are, but we only know roughly that they were in Raoleshui at that time, and the area around the current Xilamulun River.