Hundreds of thousands of people moved with difficulty in the ice and snow. Almost every moment, someone would fall and never get up again.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan frowned from time to time. Mo Jilian and Que Teqin also felt like their hearts were being cut by knives.
After another ten days, the hot air balloons ran out of fuel and landed on the ground. Que Teqin and the other tribe leaders were still 'protected' by Zhang Xiaobao's people.
In order to reduce the weight, the balloons in the hands of the other Turks were thrown away by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
Seeing the hot air balloons that could not be used anymore being used as firewood, Mo Jilian and Que Teqin looked at the clear night sky. They gathered around a bonfire and drank spicy wine. Their hearts were filled with bitterness.
"Zhang Xiaobao, can you think of a way to get the people in Feng Province to quickly transport the provisions? We can't afford to die. If our tribe continues to die, there will be less than half left. "
Mo Jilian glanced at Zhang Xiaobao and the others beside him and said to Zhang Xiaobao. At the same time, he sniffed and smelled a fragrance that he had never smelled before. He was very curious about what Xiao Bei and the others were holding.
Xiao Bei was scalded and changed his hands back and forth. Seeing Mo Jilian look over, he did not care if it would dirty his clothes. He put the sweet potato in his hand on his pants and rubbed his hands. He pinched a piece of the sweet potato and gave it to Mo Jilian. "Try it."
Zhang Xiaobao looked at his sister and then at Mo Jilian. He introduced, "This is called sweet potato. It can be used as food and can be made into powder. It is very delicious. After drying it, it can be turned into snacks. When the output increases next year, I will give you some to make porridge."
Mo Jilian was stunned. He took the sweet potato and suddenly remembered the purpose of coming. "Zhang Xiaobao, when will the provisions arrive?"
"Soon, soon. The road is difficult now. Your tribe has a lot of people. Even if the provisions arrive first, it will be a drop in the bucket. Hold on a little longer."
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he wiped his sister's mouth that was blackened from eating roasted sweet potatoes. He looked at Mo Ji with a helpless expression.
A cry came from afar. Mo Ji couldn't bear it and closed his eyes. He knew that another member of his tribe had died. He gritted his teeth and asked Zhang Xiaobao, "If, I say if, the people here are not from my tribe but from the Tang Empire, can't you get the provisions?"
"Uh! This … this …. "
"Zhang Xiaobao, I'm begging you, please show mercy. I'm guilty, I shouldn't have taken my people away. Kill me, don't vent your anger on my people." When Mo Jiilian saw Zhang Xiaobao's hesitation, she knew that if it were the people of Great Tang, Zhang Xiaobao would definitely have a solution.
With a plop, she knelt in front of Zhang Xiaobao and begged. She thought that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were not satisfied and deliberately wanted more people of her tribe to die.
Xiaobao looked at Mo Jilian in front of him and frowned deeply. He didn't pull Mo Jilian back. Instead, he sat on the ground and looked at Mo Jilian.
"To tell the truth, if it were the people of Great Tang, let alone hundreds of thousands of provisions, I would have sent a million people here long ago. It's not that I'm angry at you, but I'm afraid that once I mobilize all the resources, I won't be able to guard against you. What if someone instigates and attacks me while I'm deploying resources? What should I do?"
"No, I promise not. They have no strength left." Hearing that there was hope, Mo Ji hurriedly promised.
"You promise? When it comes to the survival of a tribe, can you promise? How about this, order your people to throw away all the copper and iron, kill all the horses, and burn all the leather armor. Let the old and young eat their fill first and walk in front of the army. I can promise that within three days, there will be food and salt and tea. But the salt and tea will only be for the old and young. If you agree, you can give the order. "
Zhang Xiaobao finally relented, but he put forward a bunch of conditions.
Mo Ji knew that this was Zhang Xiaobao's bottom line. Hearing the gradually weakening cries in the wind, she nodded gratefully. "Okay, I'll immediately give the order. We'll do as you say."
"Brother." After Mo Ji left, Xiaobei leaned into Zhang Xiaobao's arms and whispered in his ear, "Brother, don't let them eat their fill. Just now, when Xiaoyuan and I went to give some roasted corn to their leader's children, they glared at me."
"Oh? Then our Xiaobei didn't kill them? "Zhang Xiaobao rubbed his sister's head and asked.
Xiaobei shook her head. "No, what's the use of killing a few? Unless all of them are beaten to death, Xiao Yuan said that they don't hate us, but hate the unfairness of the Heaven. They are all like wolves who can be killed but can't be tamed. When they are fed, clothed, and educated, their ambitions will vanish. After a long time, the wolf may become a dog, like a wild chicken or domestic fowl, like a wild boar. "
"Oh, our Xiaobei knows so much." Zhang Xiaobao praised.
"It's not me, it's Xiaoyuan. He looks so knowledgeable all day. It's annoying to look at him." Xiaobei put the softest core of the sweet potato into her mouth and muttered while sucking on her fingers.
Zhang Xiaobao did not expect that Wang Juan's younger brother would start to study this matter. He smiled and wiped his sister's finger that was stained with saliva, and then asked, "Then the people of the Tang Empire will not be hot-blooded, right? Not even as ambitious as the Turks? "
"That's not the same. Xiaoyuan said that the foreigners' ambition is to seize, while the Tang Empire's ambition is to create. That is to say, when the people around them see that our Tang Empire has good things, they want to snatch them. Our Tang Empire makes things that make our lives better. They don't understand the benefits of creating things. As long as we don't let them become Emperor, we will continue to create, right?"
As Xiaobei spoke, she could not understand, so she could only ask her brother.
Zhang Xiaobao could not explain too deeply to her sister. Even if he said, Xiaobei would not understand, so she could only nod in agreement.
Mo Ji, who had gone to give the order, did not go so smoothly. Many people were not willing to throw away their weapons, let alone kill the horses. Mo Ji could not persuade them, so he began to force the people in the tribe to do so. He even killed a few hundred people to achieve his goal.
At dawn, the group set off again, moving much faster than yesterday. Horse meat was also food. Those who were full would be able to replenish their strength and have a stronger resistance to the cold.
Mo Ji, Que Te Qin, and the other Turkic tribe leaders did not have good expressions. They were worried that if they really submitted to the Tang Empire, they would lose their status. They were even more afraid that the people in the tribe would see Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's guards and not have any bad thoughts.
Mo Ji repeatedly told the other tribe leaders about the power of the Tang Empire's weapons and told them to suppress the dissatisfied tribesmen. If there was a conflict at this time, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan would probably harden their hearts and destroy the entire Turkic Empire.
Walking on the road, there were still people who froze to death from time to time. Those who caught a cold did not have any hope of surviving. Every time they moved forward, there would be a few corpses left in the group for the wolves who did not dare to come forward as food.
In the howling winds, the mood of the Turks was even more unstable. Several times, some people came out of the group to attack Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan's group, but they were discovered and killed by others.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan did not seem to know. They continued to chat and laugh with Mo Ji and the others, treating this trip as if they were traveling. Occasionally, they would find a snake cave, catch a hibernating snake, dig out the snake gall, and break it open with strong wine to make snake gall wine for their brothers and sisters to drink.
Xiaobei had complained many times that the snake gall wine tasted bad, bitter and astringent, but she never refused to drink it. The main reason was that drinking a little wine made her feel dizzy and comfortable.
Just as Mo Ji was worried that some people in the tribe would lose control of their emotions and bring disaster to the entire Turkic Empire, the three days that Zhang Xiaobao had promised were finally up.
In front of them was still an endless grassland covered by a layer of snow. At noon on the third day, when the group was resting, a row of black dots suddenly appeared on the horizon. The Turks who were eating stood up one by one and looked over vigilantly.
Mo Ji quickly took out his Clairvoyance and looked over. He saw that there were countless deer and dogs running in their direction. Behind the deer and dogs were a sled that was tilted up in front.
In addition to the deer and dogs, there were also people with sails behind them. They were moving with the wind like snakes. There were also many people wearing white clothes and capes, stepping on two bamboo poles. They were moving forward with a pole in each hand. If the other party did not move and did not look carefully, they would not be discovered.
"This is the group that delivered goods to the supermarket in Fengzhou, right?" Que Teqin looked at Mo Ji curiously and asked.
Moji shook his head slightly. "I don't think they're just here to deliver food. There's also an army here to suppress us. The ones in white. In order to maintain the same speed, the deer and the dog didn't use their full strength when running."
As the distance between the two groups got closer and closer, even without the Clairvoyance, they could see the situation on the other side clearly. The Turkic people who were ready to make a move finally became obedient. If it was said that they wanted to make Zhang Xiaobao and his group stay, now that the other party had arrived, there was no hope at all.
When the Tang group was less than a hundred steps away from the Tubo group, a thousand people on skis came out and spread out in all directions, forming a semicircle formation to surround the Tubo group.
Another dozen or so people directly rushed towards Zhang Xiaobao and the others. Every time their arms thrust into the snow, these dozen or so people would advance a long distance. Their speed was much slower than a galloping horse on the grassland, but it was also many times faster than a person traversing the snow.
"Reporting, Little Young Master, Little Miss, the Snow War Camp of Fengzhou is here to report. 1050 people are here, but 1049 people are here. One person sprained his ankle when he just set off. End of report."
The dozen people came to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, and the person in the middle stood out to report.
Mo Ji and his group were puzzled when they saw the appearance of these people, because they did not know what they looked like. They were wrapped up from head to toe, and even wore something for their eyes. They were probably afraid of the wind and had a problem of crying in the wind.
Zhang Xiaobao knew that it was called goggles. It was specially made for the Snow War Camp to block the wind and not worry about snow blindness. When he heard the report, he took a step back and let Wang Juan in front. He said he would not care about the army, so he did.
Wang Juan returned the salute and nodded, "Very good. Take care of the one who sprained his ankle. Go back and strengthen the basic training. Come back to the team."
"Yes." The person answered. He did not stand at attention for Wang Juan. He was afraid that he would fall, so he used his ski poles to support himself, swung his legs, and turned around to slide back to the team.
Another person stood up and said, "Feng Province Logistics Camp reporting, 2,200 people are here, 2,200 people are here, 1,000 snow deers are here, 1,000 snow deers are here, 6,000 snow deers are here, 1,000 snow deers are here, 6,000 snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here, four snow deers are here.
"Very good. Come back to the team. Pay attention to the four injured sled dogs and keep them warm." Wang Juan returned the salute.
She could imagine the situation of the four dogs. The dog in front must have passed by, and the ice suddenly broke, and the four dogs in the middle fell. According to the training, the people on the sled would brake the sled. Then, the dogs in front would push forward, and the dogs behind would push backward. The dogs that fell would be tensed up and wait for people to go and save them.
This was usually what well-trained polar sled dogs would do. She did not expect the people in Feng Zhou to train them successfully.
"Feng Zhou Medical Team reporting, 300 people reported, 300 confirmed. End of report."
"Feng Province's Engineering Battalion reporting. Six hundred people are here. Six hundred people are here. Report complete."
"Feng Province's Loss Management Team reporting. Should have 450 people, 450 people actually present. Report complete."
"Feng Zhou Battle Command reporting, 60 people reported, 60 confirmed. End of report."
"Feng Zhou Reconnaissance Camp reporting, …"
"Feng Zhou Spy Camp reporting …"
"Feng Zhou Towing Artillery Camp reporting …"
One by one, people stood out to report to Wang Juan. Wang Juan also returned the salute one by one. Not far away, the leaders of the Turkic tribes were also listening. At this time, they realized that a single army could have so many branches, each in charge of their own things. It was not like the vanguard and the middle of a march.
After the people in front finished reporting, there was only one short person left. A dwarf?
The short one also skated to the front, but he didn't report to Wang Juan. Instead, he looked around and found Xiao Bei, who was at the back. He propped himself up with his ski poles a few times and approached Xiao Bei. With a childish voice, he said, "Feng-Fengzhou Children's Troupe, Troupe, reporting, reporting, reporting, there should be 100 people, but there are 86 people. 14 of them cried because of the cold, so the adults sent them back."
Xiao Bei looked at the people from the Children's Regiment in surprise. His mouth was wide open, and he blinked hard. After a while, he reacted.
"Feng Zhou also has a Children's Regiment? They actually cried because of the cold. So stupid. You're embarrassing me. You can even cry because of the cold wearing down. I didn't cry even when my face was red. Instead of studying in school, why are you here? "
"Stupid, I can't study anymore," the little guy from the Children's Regiment replied weakly.
"Okay, then that's it. Return to the team. Pay attention to keeping warm. Don't cry because of the cold. If you fight, remember to shoot from afar. Don't rush forward. Choose the leader first, just like the one wearing this."
Xiao Bei deliberately pointed at the leaders of the various Turkic tribes and introduced them to the leader of the Feng Zhou Children's Regiment.
"Yes, remember. Choose the leader first." The leader looked at them seriously and agreed. He also supported himself with his hands, squatted down, and swung his legs at the same time. He wanted to learn how to turn like the others, but in the end, he fell with a plop. He struggled to get up and left.
Xiao Bei covered his face when he saw this. It was really embarrassing.
Zhang Xiaobao was amused when he saw this. He said to Xiao Bei, "Xiao Bei's Children's Regiment is still very brave."
"Don't mention it. I'll disband them later." Seeing so many pairs of eyes looking at him, he turned around and smiled shyly. "Uncles, Little Bei was just joking. I didn't ask them to really beat you guys up. I was just joking. They'll forget about it after a while. That's right, I was just joking. They're just kids after all. They can't beat adults, right?"
Xiao Bei's explanation was obviously not acceptable. The leaders of the various Turkic tribes were more worried about the people from the Children's Regiment. Children were not as steady as adults. If they made a slight move, they might be misunderstood. Usually, children would not be able to defeat adults, but children with guns were a different matter.
Wang Juan watched from the side and did not stop them. She silently agreed to this matter. She understood that the threat Xiao Bei brought to others was greater. It was like handing a loaded gun to a monkey that was curious about everything.
At this time, Zhang Xiaobao said to Mo Ji and the others, "The first batch of goods has arrived. Everyone, make the necessary arrangements. The rest of the goods will arrive one after another. I hope that we can unite and fight against the cold environment together. I hope that everyone will do their best."
Mo Ji and the others agreed and dispersed to make arrangements. At this time, Zhang Xiaobao did not continue to watch over them. Everyone was here, and he was not afraid that they would cause trouble.
Just as they had agreed at the start, the old and young were the priority when it came to the goods, especially the salt, tea, and medicine. The Turks did as they were told, not daring to express any of their thoughts. Everything was harmonious.
"Xiao Bao, what about the 200,000 people who have surrendered? We can't leave them all in Feng Province. There is not enough people there. Once they get a chance, there will be trouble. "
When the group moved again, Wang Juan began to worry about the personnel arrangements and asked Zhang Xiaobao.
"Arrange for them to be sent to Henan Province, Huainan Province, Jiangnan Province, and five thousand to be sent to Jili Province. We need to disperse them and not let them form an advantage. Arrange for people to explain the laws of the Tang Empire to them. They will be treated the same as the other people of the Tang Empire. There will be no preferential treatment.
I don't need to be soft to them. Since they admit that they are part of the Tang Empire, don't give them special treatment. If they don't admit it, destroy them. As for the traditions of the Turks, they can be kept as long as they do not conflict with the laws of the Tang Empire. If there is a conflict, change them all. "
Zhang Xiaobao clearly knew that this arrangement would cost a lot of money and provisions, but he had to do it. Otherwise, it would be difficult to do it again in the future.
"The Yellow River has been frozen. We have to go by land. Let's inform them in advance. We also need to transfer more troops to deter them. I will arrange it." Wang Juan agreed with Zhang Xiaobao's idea and began to do it.
*****
When the Turks were no longer a threat, the lives of the people of Xinluo began to become difficult.
County Magistrate Mu received benefits and began to write a letter to the imperial family of Xinluo with Li Dong. They also used the demolition fee given by Song Qian to carry out the demolition.
It was now the end of the year and the new year had not passed yet. Most of the people were focused on the new year. When they heard that County Magistrate Mu was going to demolish, their first thought was that County Magistrate Mu did not intend to let them have a good new year.
Those who did not want to be demolished before the new year and were more courageous joined forces with their neighbors and came to the county yamen to discuss with the county magistrate. They hoped that the county magistrate could make an exception and wait until after the new year.
In the end, they did not see County Magistrate Mu. What they saw was a black-faced yamen runner. After a few words of dispute, they were beaten up. They could not find a place to reason and could only suppress their anger.
County Magistrate Mu was not afraid of the people causing trouble. Those who dared to cause trouble were all arrested and sent to prison.
At this moment, he was secretly happy. Song Qian gave him the money according to the number of people in the household register. It was not calculated according to the size of each house. It was impossible to calculate. Other than the corresponding officials, no one registered the houses. Usually, what was registered was the number of fields. There was no difference between building ten houses and building one house.
The price Song Qian gave was five hundred copper coins per head. The money given was the Tang Dynasty's banknotes. One could directly buy good things from the Tang Dynasty.
County Magistrate Mu's mind became active. He was prepared to divide the people in the county according to men and women, old and young. An adult man would be given three hundred copper coins, an adult woman would be given two hundred copper coins, an elderly person would be given one hundred copper coins, and a child would be given fifty copper coins.
Moreover, the money given was not the Tang Dynasty's banknotes, but the Xinluo's banknotes. He kept the banknotes for himself. Part of it was used to spend, and the other part was used to give gifts to the people above.
Under the threat of force, the people in the county had no choice but to pack up their belongings. They reluctantly left the house they had lived in for a long time and thought of ways to find a new place to settle down.
County Magistrate Mu also urged people to hurry up. It would be best if they could complete the demolition work during the new year.
At this moment, a piece of news from who knows where entered the ears of the people in the county. The Tang Dynasty merchants gave each person five hundred copper coins in banknotes, and did not require them to complete the relocation before the new year.
This matter became more and more real and spread more and more. It did not take long for the people in the county to know. Looking at the money they received and comparing it with the money in the rumors, the people immediately knew that the money was embezzled by the people in the county. The bold people once again organized people to find the yamen.
"Wicked people, wicked people, all wicked people. Beat them, catch them." Seeing more and more people gathering outside the yamen, County Magistrate Mu was a little worried, but more than that, he was angry. Orders were passed down one after another. Very soon, the yamen runners had work to do. They beat and caught, causing the county to be in chaos.
The people did not fight with the officials. Under the deterrence of the powerful force and status, the people in the county became obedient. One by one, they began to restrain themselves. According to County Magistrate Mu's arrangements, they came to a new place to think of a way to rebuild their houses. The resentment in their hearts grew, but they could not do anything at the moment.
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