the enlightener says

And it's not like he hasn't made such a guess.

Why did Master choose to save himself in the first place?

On that wasteland, he was not the only one waiting to die in despair, even when he was leaning against the broken wall with only one breath left, a wild dog biting him was heard not far away. The child's cry of pain.

And after the two met in a dramatic way, did he really want to take good care of himself, so he lived in a corner and decided to stay in Daoxiang Village in obscurity?

Then why did he then cruelly dismiss himself with an empty coffin?

The tomb of King Ye only explained the former question, but could not explain the latter question.

Perhaps the real master is not exactly the same as I imagined, and even in many places, it will appear completely opposite.

Some answers are revealed, not always gratifying and convincing.

Just when Qin Ke was about to ask for details, his words were interrupted by the neighing of the horse, making the air that had been warmed by the warm wine become dignified.

Although there are several big shots sitting in Daoxiang Village today, the place like Daoxiang Village is very remote, and the loud horse neighing coming from outside at this time is obviously not something that ordinary horses can make.

Then there was a violent crash, as if someone had kicked open the gate of the yard and was walking in.

"I'll go and have a look..." Uncle Ji, who was adding firewood to Aunt Qing's stove, subconsciously wanted to go to open the kitchen door, but Aunt Qing held her hand firmly.

Cao Meng and Guan Changyu put down the wine bowls in their hands, exchanged a tacit look, and each had a deep smile at the corners of their mouths.

"Bahadu, Karkuku put the calf..." The words of the barbarian resounded in the yard, and in the white snow, several tall horses panted slightly after galloping.

Hearing the barbarian's voice, Aunt Qing hurriedly covered her mouth that was about to scream, and Uncle Ji also became nervous, looking at Qin Ke who came to comfort him, he said in a low voice, "Don't talk, I guess it's a barbarian!" Come over and grab something, as long as we don't do anything, they will leave after grabbing something."

When Aunt Qing heard this, she suddenly couldn't help but said, "Oh...gold! The gold brought back by Ah Ke...hasn't had time to go into the crock!"

"Don't worry about the gold." Uncle Ji said with a sad face: "After all, the whole county is dominated by the ocean, even if we have gold, we have no place to spend it."

"I'll go take a look." Qin Ke shook his head, not because he wanted to protect some gold, but because he wanted to find out what these barbarians were doing. Anyway, with Liu De and Guan Changyu here, they definitely won't have much to eat here today. deficit.

It seems that because of the cooking smoke, the barbarians almost went straight to the kitchen. When the door of the kitchen was opened and the wind and snow poured in, several tall barbarians in animal skin armor were already standing at the door, and one of them was carrying A longbow almost as tall as Qin Ke's, with a beast-like light in his eyes.

Chapter 612 Barbarian Etiquette

The northern prairie owners ate beef and mutton, and many barbarians were born taller than the Central Plains people.

The land is not conducive to farming, but the fertile aquatic plants have raised countless wild horses and livestock, and also allowed those native barbarians to practice proficiency in bowing and horse kung fu. The clothes and clothes in the Central Plains are made of cotton, hemp and silk threads, but the barbarians mainly use animal skins for clothing. Even on sunny days, they seldom take off their heavy animal skin jackets.

In fact, it was not the first time Qin Ke saw barbarians. When he was in Jingwu, he paid most attention to the tall barbarians in the Great Wall and the Canghai Mission.

On the way from Jicheng to the village, he even encountered several groups of barbarians who were greedy when they saw the red fire on his horse and wanted to snatch him with knives.

It's a pity that these barbarians obviously didn't find the right target, so they were all penetrated by the sword intent of the Qijin Sword in the end, and became dead bones piled up beside the road.

But from the barbarian in front of him, Qin Ke smelled a fatal danger, whether it was his sharp eagle-like eyes, strong and powerful heartbeat, or the somewhat exaggerated big bow behind him, they were all in the air. Tell him that this barbarian is no ordinary man.

Qin Ke lowered his head and began to compare this barbarian with the masters he had met one by one.

It's just such a barbarian who can be seen from his bones. After seeing the few people in the kitchen who were still sitting calmly on the stools and didn't even stop drinking, he involuntarily lowered his head and bent his knees. , facing Cao Meng in a kneeling posture.

"Lord. Military advisor. General." The leading barbarian was the sharp archer Zhebig of the Canghai Navy. He looked at the three people in front of him and called them respectfully one by one, with one hand on his chest, which was the standard barbarian etiquette.

Just hearing these names, Aunt Qing rolled her eyes and fainted neatly, which made Qin Ke and Uncle Ji flustered.

"This..." In fact, Uncle Ji was as flustered in his heart. When he heard that address, his legs began to tremble, and the blood on his face faded little by little, and he became extremely pale. "The lord? The lord of the barbarians ? This...doesn't it mean..."

"Cao Meng from the sea." Qin Ke said in a low voice, while supporting Uncle Ji's body vigorously, he finally did not let this cowardly nature, the biggest official he had ever seen in his life, the county magistrate, fell down. .

Compared with Uncle Ji, he didn't show any surprise or panic, perhaps because he had already noticed Cao Meng's extraordinary status from the moment he entered the door - he could sit at the same table with Liu De, Guan Changyu talks and laughs happily, how many people are there in the whole sea?

After careful calculation, he has seen quite a few big shots.

From Zhuge Wanling and Gao Changgong of Jingwu, to Mulan, the lord of the Mu family of the Great Wall, as well as Mohist Wang Xuanwei and Master Zhong, who is not the top figure in the world?

It's not surprising to see more.

Of course, if he could know that the gardener named Guan Shanyue he met in the palace of the Tang King was actually Li Qiuhuang, the lord of the Tang Kingdom, he would be even more embarrassed.

But what he wanted to see the most was not Li Qiuhuang, but the giant of the Mo family.

After all, among the well-known heads of state, he is the only one who has the cultivation of a master.

Cao Meng sat at the table, but he didn't look at the few barbarians who had stood up by themselves. He just quietly looked at the wine in the wine bowl. Under the reflection of the fire, the wine was like a mirror In general, showing his pair of deep eyes.

Then he drank it all in one gulp, and continued to pour himself the wine, his movements were smooth and natural, without even raising his eyes, as if he completely regarded the barbarians as non-existent.

Feeling Cao Meng's deliberate neglect, the straight backs of the barbarians were a little stiff, and the expressions on their faces became gloomy. They looked at each other in confusion, as if they didn't understand why Cao Meng had such an attitude.

The air seems to have become a lot heavier.

Compared with Cao Meng, Guan Changyu's city mansion is obviously not that deep, so after seeing his elder brother and the king were silent as if they were practicing closed-mouth meditation, he snorted coldly, looked at the barbarian in front and said: "Zhe Bigge, you just kneel down on one knee when you meet the king, you are so arrogant."

Hearing Guan Changyu's words, Jebiger's gaze was a little strange.

In fact, this is not the first time for him.

The tribe he came from was the one on the grassland that respected tradition the most. Even now that he has become a subject of Canghai, he still maintains the original etiquette.

On weekdays, Cao Meng turned a blind eye to his "ancestral tradition" and didn't say much. Why did Guan Changyu suddenly attack this matter today?

A gleam flashed in Zhebige's eyes, thinking that when Mr. Cao Pei was talking to him, he seemed to have intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that he and his subordinates had robbed property along the way.

Could it be that Cao Meng's attitude today is because of this matter, so he wants to give himself a bad start first?

If this is the case, Jebiger feels that he is making a big deal out of a molehill.

After all, it is a common thing for countries to fight and plunder property. According to the rules on the grassland, only children and women who have not grown whips can survive the defeated tribes.

These soldiers were born and died for Cao Meng. Could it be that they were punished for violating orders and robbing some property?Then how will Cao Meng be able to command these warriors of the prairie in the future?

Although he knows that the best thing for him now is to give in first and say a few nice words.But when he thought of his own tribal chief, King Tamuzhen Khan, who was so dominant in the grassland that even Cao Meng had to be scrupled, he lost a little fear.

Although Canghai now occupies more than half of the grassland, and several major tribes have all been brought under the command of Cao Meng, most of the barbarians still live in the old tribal system, obeying their own parents and King Khan.

Cao Meng is their lord and the "Great Khan" recognized by all Khan kings. Once he issues a call-up order, all tribes will gather to form a large army.

The Zhebege tribe is led by the Tamuzhen Khan, who not only has the most fertile pastures, the most cattle, sheep and horses, and the most sword-wielding warriors in the grassland, but also the Tamuzhen Khan himself is a There are countless master masters in the world, but they seldom leave their tents, but they are not very famous in the sea or in the world.

Zhebege has always regarded his Tamujin Khan as the pride of his life, so he naturally respects the "ancestral system" in his own Khan's mouth, and has always insisted on using the traditional etiquette of the barbarians, while ignoring the national policy of Canghai. Cao Meng has never shown any dissatisfaction.

Want him to kneel down and salute in the undignified way of the Central Plains people?

He sneered in his heart, absolutely impossible.

Seeing Jebig's head raised high, Guan Changyu's chest burst into anger, and he just wanted to shoot at the table, but before he dropped his palm, a hand lightly supported his wrist.

Liu De looked at him, shook his head slightly, then closed his eyes, looking at his nose and heart, as if he regarded himself as an outsider.

At this moment, Cao Meng finally spoke slowly.

"Coming?" There was no emotion in his voice, and his words sounded like ordinary chatter, nothing special.

Zhebige was shocked when he heard such a short word, and then suddenly raised his head to look at Cao Meng, and replied solemnly: "I didn't know that the king was actually hunting here after receiving the letter from the second son. late."

His Central Plains dialect is actually not very fluent, with a very heavy barbaric accent, and he speaks slowly, as if he is uttering each word, but it is precisely because of this way of speaking that makes this person The words are more solemn.

"The escort is late?" Cao Meng shook his head, drank half a bowl of warm wine, smiled and said, "I didn't inform you when I came here for hunting. It's not easy for you to come here so quickly, let alone hunting , It’s not an assassination, why did the escort come late? Get up, there is a jar of good wine here, let me give you a bowl, Liu De, help me give it to him.”

Liu De nodded, and after pouring a bowl of rice wine, he walked slowly in front of Jebeg, looked at this barbarian who stood up to be a head taller than him, and passed the wine bowl over with both hands.

Chapter 613 The King of the Sea

Zebiger took it carefully, but for some reason, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before the bowl of wine, as if he didn't know whether he should drink it or not.

Although this barbarian sharpshooter looks rough in appearance, he is still rough and fine. He has experienced many struggles between tribes and gained a lot of experience.Even Tamujin jokingly called him a wild fox on the grassland, and since that was the case, he would always be more thoughtful than most barbarians.

He believed that he had been born and died for Cao Meng for so many years, so he shouldn't be given death just because he robbed some people's property, but who would know, would Cao Meng surprise him?

You know, before Cao Meng killed his adoptive father, he drank with him at the banquet with a smile on his face. The old man laughed, and said that he would betroth his own daughter to Cao Meng.

But in just half an hour, Cao Meng led his subordinates and rushed all the way into the mansion, stabbing to death the old man who was full of disbelief without hesitation.

This kind of behavior, even he, a prairie man, would feel chills when he saw it.

This bowl of rice wine looks crystal clear, who knows if Cao Meng has poisoned it?Although it is said that it is very difficult for a master in the realm of a small master to be poisoned, it is not true that he is not afraid of being poisoned.

Maybe if he drank it in such a gulp, the poison that pierced his intestines would turn into a knife in his stomach, cutting him so painfully.

He is a barbarian, and he doesn't have the stupid loyalty of the people in the Central Plains that "the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die", but judging from the current situation, it is impossible for him to smash the bowl directly and draw a knife to resist, right?

If you really want to do that, I'm afraid it will just give Cao Meng a reason to kill himself. Among the few people present, no matter whether it is Guan Changyu or Liu De, it would be easy for him to kill such a small master. He was charged with "conspiracy" and was reviled by future generations.

Zhebig, who was in a mixed mood, thought for three breaths, but in the end he had no choice but to hold his breath, and drank the bowl of rice wine like arsenic.

Qin Ke watched it amusedly, thinking that the expression on this guy's face after drinking this bowl of rice wine was even uglier than eating Xiao Hei's shit.

Seeing that Zhebige finally finished drinking, Cao Mengcai said lightly: "If you think about this bland rice wine, it won't taste very good in your mouth, and it won't be very comfortable to drink."

Liu De, who lowered his head, showed a smile at the corner of his mouth. Compared with Qin Ke, who was watching the officer, he certainly knew Cao Meng better.

What do you mean there is no taste in your mouth?If this is the case, why would Cao Meng drink this bowl for others?I'm afraid that this bowl of rice wine, which was bland in his mouth, really has all kinds of flavors in Zhebige's mouth, all kinds of sour, astringent, bitter and spicy.

It's true that it's uncomfortable to drink.

Hearing this sentence, Zhebige also understood what he meant by letting him drink this bowl of wine in Cao Meng. This was to warn him that it would be easy for me, Cao Meng, to kill you. A bowl of poisoned wine, an assassin, an order, what? Can't do it?

Even if he was protected by the prairie Khan King Tamujin behind Jebege, could it be possible that a prairie Khan could really turn his face against the Lord Canghai because of his unrelated subordinate?

After figuring this out, Jebeg’s previous pride suddenly disappeared. After gritting his teeth, he knelt down abruptly, and this time he was kneeling on the ground, and at the same time he said forcefully: “My lord, calm down, Jebeg is wrong. gone."

Cao Meng took no haste, poured himself another bowl of wine, and said in a steady voice, "Oh? Then tell me, what's wrong with you?"

"Zhebige took credit for being arrogant in front of the lord, and his manners are not good enough, please forgive me, the lord." Jebege gritted his teeth.

"Arrogance? It seems that at this point, you are still stubborn." Cao Meng sneered, then closed his eyes and meditated, "Zhebige, how many years have you been fighting for the lonely?"

"Eight years." Jebage said with a bow.

"In the past eight years, has Guke ever treated you badly?" Cao Meng asked softly.

"No." Jebeg took a deep breath and said, "It is because of the king that Jebeg has his current status. The king also devoted himself to building this big bow for me. I have always been grateful for the reward from the king. "

"Then, do you think the official position I gave is too low?" Cao Meng's voice echoed leisurely in the adobe room.

Jebege lowered his head and said, "Zhebege's current position is only lower than those of the generals. These generals are all heroes. Jebege is not their opponent, so he is naturally convinced."

"Is that because I gave you too little money?"

Jebig shook his head and said: "Zhebig's mother lives in a big tent, and the pastures around her are all our family's cattle and sheep. Jebig's son wears gold and silver, and the king has already rewarded him with many things. .”

"Then tell me, what else do you need?" It seems that because of the positive answer, Cao Meng finally opened his eyes. With just one glance, Qin Ke next to him felt his heart skip a beat, and he clenched his eyes subconsciously. The hilt of the Bodhisattva sword.

Those are the eyes of a tiger!

Containing fury and majesty, he was as lofty as a king. In fact, in the country of Canghai, he was also the one standing on the highest point. With just a glance, the two barbarians behind Jebage bowed their heads.

Cao Meng's voice also contained great anger, and he looked at the back of Jebig's head almost gnashing his teeth and said, "What else do you need? Do you still need to go to the common people? Do you still need to go to the homes of those big families? Do you think that no one will impeach you, the "General of the Arrow" when you are alone in Hongguan? In just two days, you kidnapped and killed five civilian women, and three of them even had their homes wiped out by you. If you exhaust those people, you will be able to suppress this matter, without anyone noticing it?"

Zhebige didn't understand that he had already arranged the aftermath and almost suppressed the whole thing, so who dared to expose his faults?Or...Cao Meng never let go of his surveillance.

"You take credit for being proud, and you don't care about it." Cao Meng's eyes were sharp, "I'm not those pedantic old scholars who don't need to sort out the rules for everything. You Zhebige was born in the begging tribe, and you followed your Khan King Tower Muzhen grew up during the war, so he respects the traditions on your grasslands and refuses to act according to the etiquette of the Canghai Kingdom, these orphans can ignore it."

"But you plundered the people's wealth, and even more indulged your subordinates to act recklessly, so that people's resentment boiled. It is impossible to pretend that these things have never happened." Cao Meng said seriously, "The only thing that matters is that our army has nothing to do with the Mohist people. But what have you done? Do you still see loneliness in your eyes? Is there still the sea? Or is it that you, Jebeg, intend to simply raise the banner and rebel against the sea, and continue to go back to your grassland to nomad?"

Every question seemed to weigh heavily on Jebage's shoulders. Before Cao Meng could finish speaking, his head almost fell into the mud in the kitchen.

"Zhebige has no intention of rebellion." Jebige lowered his head and said in a low voice: "The king's autumn has not committed any crimes, and Jebige doesn't understand. Jebige is just doing things in accordance with the rules on the grassland. They won the battle and many people died. There is nothing wrong with them wanting to grab something they can use. I heard that Xiang Chu's army from the Tang Dynasty almost looted all the gold, silver and food when they passed by. Why did our army do this? From Zhebige's point of view, even if the Mohist army set foot on the grassland, they would still steal gold, silver and treasures and rape those women who are powerless to resist."

"Of course you don't understand. Gu's mission this time is to quell the war, to unite the people and unify the world. But what do you want to give Gu? Poison the world? Destroy it?" Cao Meng looked at Zhebige coldly, "If that's the case, why should the common people attach to me, and why should the people of the world attach to me?"

But Zhebige shook his head and said: "There is a saying on the grassland that sheep will succumb to beasts, but they will not be grateful for the weeds that keep them alive. The king wants to be kind to the Mohist people, but the Mohist people really will Accept this love?"

Chapter 614 Rules of the Grassland

"Okay. Zhebige, you are eloquent." Cao Meng said coldly, "Since you have heard this sentence, have you not heard another sentence on the grassland? Hada Gunar, Mogot ..."

Qin Ke on the side was stunned when he heard it. He didn't expect Cao Meng to speak barbarian language. It's just that Qin Ke had never really dealt with barbarians, and he didn't know whether his pronunciation was standard and proficient. His face gradually became ugly, and he even lowered his head unconsciously, silent.

"You don't understand?" Liu De stood next to Qin Ke and explained gently: "This sentence is a famous saying of the barbarians, and it is also the words left by the boss of the Qiyan tribe where Jebege is. It means: your How big your heart is, how far your war horse can gallop."

"How broad is your heart, how far can your war horse gallop?" It was also the first time for Qin Ke to really listen to the famous sayings of these barbarians. The wine is average, full-bodied and full of stamina.

It was difficult for Zhebige to respond for a while, so he could only kneel down, kowtow heavily and said: "Zhebige understands, please punish the king."

Cao Meng looked at Zhebige with deep eyes, "If I am punished, are you sure you can bear it? Zhebige, I know you are a strong man on the grassland. I heard that you were defeated in the battle and were punished by the leader of the Ula tribe. I was tied to a horse and dragged for a day and a night without even begging for mercy, but that was on the grassland, now, you should also know the strict laws of my Central Plains."

Zhebige raised his head to look at Cao Meng with an ugly face, of course he knew the knife light hidden behind Cao Meng's words.