The crisp and hurried sound of horse hooves rang out on the mountain path. The soldiers on the watchtower picked up their bows and arrows and vigilantly looked into the distance.
There were tall watchtowers built at the four corners of the village. They had a wide field of vision and could see everything in their surroundings. From the tall watchtower, they could see a brown horse galloping on the mountain path like an arrow. The person on the horse shook the whip in the air and then lashed it on the horse's buttocks in a very rhythmic manner. With each lash of the whip, the horse's speed increased.
"It's the second steward!"
A sharp-eyed soldier was the first to shout, "Open the gate, the second steward has returned."
The wooden gate with a spear-like fence on the top half of the gate opened. The middle-aged man on the horse whipped the horse again and charged into the village.
This was Kaori's village. Kaori ruled over a large area of land and countless people. However, his village and people were scattered in all kinds of places, such as river valleys, mountains, and plains. The village that the Kaori family's chieftains lived in was only slightly larger than the other villages. Limited by the production of the land, it was impossible to gather too many people here.
At this time, Kaori had just returned from inspecting his village and fields. On his land, the chieftains were revered by his people like gods. No one dared to offend the chieftain's authority. However, the prerequisite was that the chieftain had to let everyone have food to eat. If the chieftain didn't let his people have enough to eat, it would bring him great danger.
The chieftain didn't just own the land and gave it to his people to farm. He had to manage the spring ploughing and autumn harvesting. A long time ago, there was once a chieftain who didn't choose the best seeds to distribute to his people during the spring ploughing. As a result, the crops didn't grow well. When pests appeared in the summer, he didn't take any effective measures to eliminate them. As a result, there was no harvest in the autumn.
Another chieftain who had a grudge against him took the opportunity to lead his troops to attack him. The chieftains on this piece of land and even the headmen under the same chieftain would often have conflicts and fights. However, they all purposely controlled the scale of the fights. Once it got out of hand, even if they didn't want to stop, the other chieftains and headmen would interfere.
But this time, before the other chieftains and headmen could interfere, the chieftain who sent the troops successfully attacked the enemy's stronghold and killed his entire family. Because when his troops arrived, the other chieftain's commoners knelt down and surrendered. No one resisted, and no one went to protect their chieftain.
In the end, the Chieftains who hurriedly interfered could only choose a Chieftain from the immediate family of the slain Chieftain to inherit his position. This incident was taken as a lesson by all the chieftains. They would talk about it again and again to their chosen successor, telling him the importance of land, food and people.
Kaori had also grown up listening to this story. He gave people the impression that he was a crude and barbaric old man, but in his village, he was a leader and an elder who loved his people and cared for everything they did.
The Bai Man's customs were similar to the Han people. They mainly farmed, raised silkworms, weaved cloth, and fished. They also had a small amount of livestock. The most important thing for them every year was the arrangements for spring plowing, but the control of drought and pests in the summer was also very important.
This year, there was plenty of rain, so there was no need to worry about drought. What Kaori was most concerned about was the pests. He had just returned from the fields. The crops planted by his people were growing very well this year. He had drilled into the fields to take a closer look. The effects of the pests were minimal. When Kaori rode back to his stronghold, he still had a satisfied smile on his face.
Along the way, his clansmen would respectfully stop in their tracks and bow to him. Kaori sat on his horse and straightened his back. He solemnly nodded to his people to return the greeting.
At this time, a fast horse galloped over. Kaori glanced at the person and jokingly scolded, "It really is Long Fei. This kid likes to be rash."
The man riding the horse into the stronghold also saw him. The horse quickly galloped toward him. When there was still six or seven zhang between them, the man hurriedly pulled on the reins. The fine horse neighed and reared. When its front feet touched the ground again, the man had already run in front of Fumiaki. He bowed deeply and took out an invitation from his bosom.
He said to Kaori, "Chieftain Daren, the imperial envoy sent by the court has invited Chieftain Daren to Yaozhou City to discuss the capture of the traitors. Because the banquet is set for tomorrow, your servant was worried that I would miss the banquet, so I immediately rushed back."
When Kaori heard that Huang Jingrong had summoned him, his face immediately darkened. The second steward, Long Fei, respectfully presented the invitation. Kaori grabbed the letter in his hand and looked at Long Fei, saying, "I heard that during the banquet, all the chieftains were very unhappy?"
Long Fei respectfully said, "Yes! That imperial envoy probably thinks of himself as the emperor of the central plains and all of our chieftains and chieftains are his slaves. He is very rude and all of the chieftains and chieftains are very angry at his rude actions. "
Kaori increased his tone and said in a loud and rough voice, "What imperial envoy, he is just a greedy hyena, a savage jackal! In his eyes, there is only gold, women, and power. Traitors plotting a rebellion? Those pitiful traitors plotting a rebellion? What a great joke!
Only the Empress, who sat in a palace made of gold and acted like a tyrant, who listened to the flattery of a few close servants, who never personally inspected her people, and who never went to see the harvest of her land, would believe such stupid words! Long Fei, if I remember correctly, your son's wife is a traitor woman, right? "
Long Fei beamed and said, "Yes! My daren, she is really a good woman. She is beautiful, diligent, and especially filial to the elderly. The rarest thing is that she is literate like you, chieftain. That son of mine is really lucky. She is already pregnant, and I will be holding my grandson soon. "
Kaori laughed loudly and said, "Then tell me, will she plot a rebellion? Should she be dragged to be beheaded? "
Long Fei was furious and his eyes turned red. "How could such a docile and good woman rebel? She is still pregnant with my, Long Fei's, grandson. If any damned Han official dares to drag her to be beheaded, Long Fei will fight him to the death! "
Kaori laughed loudly and did not even open the invitation. He directly tore it into pieces and threw it into the air. Then, he turned his horse and galloped towards the rock house he lived in.
… …
Yun Xuan hurriedly found Wen Hao and said in a low voice, "Kaori is not willing to come!"
Wen Hao asked nervously, "Could it be that he discovered something?"
Yun Xuan said angrily, "Discovered my ass! I have already asked around. He was tricked by this Huang Jingrong in Feng Province and was only let go after being blackmailed. It would be strange if he was willing to come again! "
Wen Hao paced around the room nervously and asked again, "Is that Meng Zhe Zhu willing to come?"
Yun Xuan said, "It's not like you don't know that Meng Zhe Zhu has always liked to compete with Kaori. If Kaori doesn't come, wouldn't he be lowering his own status if he came?"
Wen Hao punched his palm and was extremely vexed.
Yun Xuan comforted him, "You don't have to worry too much about it. I already said that this method is useless. Even if we capture their chieftain, their tribe will not use the surrender of the entire tribe in exchange for the chieftain's freedom. When the time comes, they will raise up a successor and use the banner of revenge for the chieftain. It will not be easy for us to clean up the mess. "
Wen Hao gritted his teeth and said, "Then there is no other way. We can only use force!"
Yun Xuan said cheerfully, "That's right. This is the only method we can use. Then shall we make our move tomorrow? "
Wen Hao nodded his head heavily and reminded, "Don't forget to first ask Imperial Censor Huang for a warrant!"
Yun Xuan smiled knowingly and said, "Don't worry, I know!"
In the afternoon of the second day, the farmers were hard at work in the terraced fields on the hillside.
The weather was still hot and the treetops were drooping weakly. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves could be heard in the distance. The farmers who were working in the fields looked into the distance and saw a few horses galloping in their direction. On the left, right, and behind the horses, there was a large group of soldiers holding spears and long blades.
The farmers thought that it was a chieftain who had come to inspect their territory and quickly returned to their fields. They did not dare to raise their heads and were about to kneel down and kowtow to their master when the spears and blades wielding soldiers pounced on them like wolves and tigers.
The ground was covered in blood and screams. The farmers were shocked to find that these masters were not the masters of their territory. Some of them quickly fled to the fields, mountains, and valleys. Some of them, because they still had wives and children to protect, clenched their teeth and pulled out their blades to fight for their lives.
The people of this area were tough and intrepid. Whether it was to defend against possible bandits or wild beasts that suddenly appeared in the forest, a blade was an essential weapon. But the farmers were outnumbered. Soon, corpses were left on the ground and the others had all escaped.
The farmers who had escaped back to the village had just told the chief what had happened in the fields. The chief ordered people to blow the horn and gather the young and strong people in the village to help. But those people had already rushed to the village with a murderous look.
The village had been looted. Food, cattle, sheep, and everything of value had been forcibly taken away by the bandits and soldiers. Some of the bandits even carried some young and beautiful girls on their shoulders.
Indescribably sorrowful and angry people cried on the ground, cursing and crying as they watched the bandits come and go in a hurry. Above the burning houses, sparks danced in the sky …
This village belonged to the chieftain of the smoked period. It was said that this village sheltered the vagrants.
After Yang Fan rushed to the city of Yaozhou, he spent two days figuring out the power structure of Yaozhou and some of the things that had happened after Huang Jingrong had arrived. However, Yang Fan still hadn't thought of a particularly appropriate way to discreetly incite a greater conflict between the Yaozhou tribe and Huang Jingrong, incite them to stir up trouble, and also control the situation within a manageable range.
At this time, Huang Jingrong had already impatiently launched an attack on the smoked period chieftain. Yang Fan had never thought that Huang Jingrong would actually be so cooperative. Before he had done anything, Huang Jingrong had already done everything. Moreover, she had done it better and more efficiently than him …
…
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