Mountains and seas can be flat

The Great Elder Ming Ye had something to ask Fang Zheng, and he just wanted to ask the Great Elder about Ba Guo.

Elder Xuan Si has not woken up yet.However, it is obvious that his strategy was drawn up with the Great Elder Ming Ye.Fang Zheng pouted his mouth at the ax that he wanted to smash when he saw it. Although he was furious when he saw it, it didn't prevent him from scrutinizing every inch carefully.

Fang Zheng wanted to talk, but he couldn't let Elder Mingye know that he and Zifeng were not in the same group.

According to Fang Zheng's speculation, a tough fighter like Zifeng is only suitable to be controlled by the real power of a big country, and will not be sent out at will.In other words, this small tribe should not be able to reach the level of a person like Zifeng before they formed an alliance.

"Master Zifeng would like to learn more about the details of the alliance." Fang Zheng began to gamble again.

Elder Mingye didn't doubt it at all, on the contrary, he was very pleased that Zifeng would care about this, and his eyes were even a little moist.

"No problem, the envoy who brought the ax really has a heart..."

According to records in the literature, Yue is mostly made of copper or iron.This ax is made of brass, and some craftsmanship has been used to brighten it. In a country with such smelting technology, as long as well-trained soldiers are equipped with sharp weapons, their combat effectiveness must not be underestimated.

Not to mention, if that country has trained many masters like Zifeng or that dead eunuch.It is simply a mobile war machine.If the "Zifeng-style fighter" can be mass-produced, it can be said to be invincible.

Elder Ming Ye did not doubt that he was there, and when it came to the reason for the alliance, it was actually not complicated.Great Elder Mingye would go to the capital of Badian every spring to pay the autumn tribute for medicinal materials and stones that were inconvenient to send away.The quantity is small and the value is precious.To personally escort.

Fang Zheng caught the keyword "capital"?His heart trembled, but he pretended to ask casually, "Have you ever seen such a big city?"

There is a "capital city" in this era?

When Fang Zheng crossed, he did not know many archaeological results of the new era in the future, which proved that the large city was built in the early Xia Dynasty or even earlier.So he was surprised by that.

Elder Ming Ye said: "This is the largest capital I have ever seen, with tens of thousands of people living there."

Fang Zheng thought to himself, so in this era, there is already a counting unit of "ten thousand".Although there are thousands, tens of thousands, and billions in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States classics, Fang Zheng is really surprised that they can be traced back to ancient times.

Tens of thousands of people was indeed not a small number in ancient times.It means that the city needs infrastructure such as sewers and can build a capital that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. Fang Zheng believes that Badian's strength is not only in animal taming.

"So you met them while you were going out?" Fang Zheng still didn't know the name of the powerful country behind Zifeng, so he chose words not to reveal his ignorance.Fortunately, Great Elder Ming Ye immediately gave the information.

"It was Yu Yi's people who came to find me on their own initiative. A low-level scout. My robe is embroidered with tribal patterns, and Badian also allows it."

It turns out that the big country in the east is called "Yu Yi". In ancient times, Yi meant a foreign race, but in the earlier ancient times, when there was no clear concept of Yi and Xia, Yi was a collective name for different tribes in the east.As for Yu, it is a relatively common ancient surname.

Scouts sound like ancient intelligence workers who later became scouts.Fang Zheng also probably understands that this kind of people is also an important part of foreign affairs work when they find and instigate dissident small tribes in the hostile country's affiliates.

Elder Ming Ye's white robe was embroidered with a dog-like pig-like creature on his chest, with a tail on his face. Fang Zheng pointed and asked, "This is the pattern of your 'Youbi Country'? What kind of animal is it?" ?”

"Elephant." Elder Ming Ye said.

Fang Zheng choked up for a moment, and couldn't help asking: "Have you ever seen an elephant?" At the same time, he complained crazily in his heart that the person named "Elephant" was the ancestor of Yubi country, and he really painted the tribal pattern as a head The problem with elephants is that they are nothing like them.

Elder Ming Ye was not embarrassed at all: "It's fine if the ancestors have seen it."

Fang Zheng thought that your ancestors might not have met in a dream, so he smiled: "Then, people from Yu Yi came to you and encouraged you to do something?"

Elder Mingye couldn't understand "do something", he was stunned for a while and continued: "Yu Yi has taken a fancy to Badian..." He suddenly turned his eyes and asked Fang Zheng, "Don't you know?"

Fang Zheng was more exaggerated than the Great Elder when he saw the tricks, "Do you think I know?"

You think I should know what you know, and I think you should know that I know.

Regardless of whether the Great Elder was stunned or not, anyway, the momentum is enough.

After this deceit, Fang Zheng quickly thought about the issue of resources in his mind-Zifeng was holding sophisticated weapons, precious medicinal materials, and silk clothes, all of which reflected Yu Yi's national strength.A strong national power is bound to be accompanied by dependence and consumption.The only thing they can rely on is "force" in this era of the jungle.And the elements to construct this kind of force—the extraordinary weapon materials rely on—combined with the geographical conditions of Badian Kingdom that he personally experienced during this period—

"Wood." Fang Zheng said confidently on the surface, but nervous inside.

Elder Mingye blurted out, "So you really know."

Guessing right, Fang Zheng heaved a sigh of relief, chuckled and said, "Of course."

Resources other than technology for smelting weapons are metal and fire.

Zifeng's country must already have smelting technology, and there will be no shortage of metals. After all, judging from Zifeng's skill, he is very proficient in using that kind of weapon, and it should have become a scale. However, the constraints of mass production still include burning materials.

fire.Requires a lot of consumables.

Badian country is humid and rainy, with continuous forests and numerous mountains.It has almost inexhaustible timber resources.

Great Elder Mingye was full of doubts by his falsehood, and said half aloud: "In short, he has taken a fancy to the wood of Badian. Besides, the four major kingdoms in the south, east, north and west have always been wrestling with each other."

Fang Zheng captured another important message: In addition to Badian and Yu Yi, there are two other suzerain states that can rival them.The south is Badian, the east is Yuyi, and the west and north are temporarily unknown.

Fang Zheng has been thinking that since there are all descendants of "Xiang", the era of Shun at the same time as Xiang is over. According to historical records, Shun gave up to Dayu, who was the founding king of the Xia Dynasty.But looking at it now, it seems that this land is not "one big country", but several big countries.This is completely different from the "unified origin" education that Fang Zheng received. ※

I don't know which country "Xia" is from, and which generation the descendants of Dayu have passed down.

Elder Mingye said again: "Anyway, Yu Yi is going to take away a large forest in the east of Badian, which is the wild forest next to our tribe."

Fang Zheng had heard this name in "Shan Hai Jing".Mangfu Forest comes from the entry of Fengbozhishan in Zhongshanjing. The records of Mangfu Forest are many beautiful trees, birds and beasts. To the west is Fengbozhi Mountain, and there are gold, jade, iron and other minerals on the mountain.

However, the records in the "Wu Zang Shan Jing" are very mysterious. Some people say that the Shan Jing is the sacrificial text. The priests stood on a fixed high platform and looked around to pray, and gave different names to the distant mountains.But others say these mountains exist in reality and have drawn maps of them.Fang Zheng then asked: "Is there a mountain of Fengbo around this wild forest of yours?"

Elder Ming Ye didn't understand: "What mountain? There are mountains around here."

It seems that it is not completely consistent with the records in "Shan Jing".Fang Zheng quickly changed the subject, and followed the words of the Great Elder Mingye to speculate: "It's nothing. In order to take this forest, Yu Yi must take down the war slave tribe and production tribe on the front line of Badian."

Fang Zheng said that he knew their cooperation strategy well, so Yu Yi sent Zifeng and the others to sneak in from the forest path, so that they could attack the Zhannu tribe back and forth.

Fang Zheng thought, then as an outpost to defend against Yu Yi, Badian should choose the most elite fighters and war slaves to guard the front.It is a hard bone to gnaw directly.

Although the War Slave tribe is surrounded by the production tribe, it is still possible to sneak in by finding a path in the middle of the large forest and from the high mountains.Maybe it's not suitable for a large-scale army, but with Zifeng's skill, even if there are worms and tigers on the road, he can still easily kill them.

Elder Ming Ye stared at Fang Zheng: "So you know so much." His eyes were different.He thought that Fang Zheng was Yu Yi's ordinary scout, who had mastered some knowledge that didn't belong to him, and was just an ordinary subordinate of Master Zifeng.

Fang Zheng continued to choose words to test: "Actually, I also have a lot of things I don't know, such as this year's sacrifice sacrifice, what happened when the big snake came to attack your village?"

Elder Ming Ye sighed deeply, "Sacrifice is held every year. We originally put the selected people outside the village every year. When the time comes, the big snake will take people away and it will not come into the village. But this year, I don’t know what rumors the people of Badian heard. They suspected that our tribe had hidden spies from the east, so they said that this year is a ‘big sacrifice’, and they will let the snake in for a while. This is not only the way the big snake chooses sacrifices, but also A kind of... punishment."

Fang Zheng imagined how cruel and bloody it would be for that terrifying giant snake to wander outside the village every year and snatch away its victims.This year it got worse, and several people died in the tribe.But although Great Elder Ming Ye had a sad expression, Fang Zheng didn't fully believe him.How is it such a coincidence?The big snake swam into the village, and Zifeng happened to set up an ambush with bows and arrows on the roof.You know, that location is well chosen, the downwind vent has no smell, and it will be blocked by the eaves when you squat down, but when you stand up, it is open and well-lit.

Who knows if the "hidden spies" was released by Elder Ming Ye himself to Badian Kingdom, in order to lure the snake into the village, and then cooperate with Zifeng to destroy it.There were other spices in the wormwood that the great elder burned at that time, maybe it was the herb that made the snake move slowly.In short, Great Elder Ming Ye is by no means as innocent and ignorant as he expresses in his words.

"The snake is dead now. What are you going to do?" Fang Zheng only cared about the next step on the surface.

Only then did Elder Ming Ye show a determined look: "Although Badian already knew, the nearby snakes and snake witches have all been killed. They will be transferred from other places, whether it is the army or the snakes, it will always be too late." gone."

Far water is hard to put out near fire.

"The only obstacle now is the three war slave tribes in the front, northeast, and east. They are separated by tens of miles. There are about 2000 people in total. Yu Yi's army will soon arrive in front of them. Then we will According to Master Zifeng's order, follow him to attack back and forth, and get rid of the three tribes of war slaves." Great Elder Ming Ye thought that Fang Zheng was here to ask them about their determination, and he spoke very impassionedly, with a hint of flattery.

"Yuyi doesn't need the tribe to surrender. The tribes around it are like younger brothers and sisters, united with it."

But Fang Zheng always felt that this sounded too good, and he always had a skeptical attitude towards beautiful things.He has always been a person who is not afraid to speculate on the world with the greatest malice.He secretly said in his heart: Wouldn't Yu Yi enslave you?Will it really set you free?

Forget it, this is not something he should worry about.As soon as the blockade was opened, he ran away, regardless of whether these guys lived or died.He has already heard enough information.

When Fang Zheng walked out of the commune, he saw the tribal women discussing how to deal with the huge dead snake.If such a big snake is to be transported out and thrown away, everyone must move it together.

"Eat." Fang Zheng suggested as he passed by.

The women who were arguing were stunned for a moment. Before that, their debate was limited to throwing it outside directly, or offering some sacrifices for burial.Because the snake is a holy beast in Ba, they unknowingly worship this thing as a kind of god, and the death of a snake is the corpse of a god.Although this is not the god they believe in, some people say that it should not be enshrined, and some people think that something should be sacrificed.

Nobody feels the need to "eat" it.

Eat "god corpses", even if they are not the gods of their tribe.

But what Fang Zheng said, they suddenly seemed to be opened up: why can't they eat the corpses of other tribes?Isn't this equivalent to eating the gods of other tribes?Bless them in war.

So the next moment, Fang Zheng saw these women in amazement, and began to discuss how to eat snakes in full swing.

Fang Zheng likes delicious snake meat, so he generously gave suggestions.

"Baked and eaten, sprinkled with salt."

"What is salt?" Ji Liu asked in surprise.

"Salt is the brown 'swan' of Great Elder Ming Ye."

"It's so precious, how could it be possible to give us barbecue!?"

Fang Zheng showed what could be called a hateful smile again, "Just wait and see."

Fang Zheng returned to the commune, and not long after, he came out with a jar of salt.

Teng Mao looked suspiciously at the things in his hands: "You didn't steal it, did you?"

Fang Zhengdao: "Sister, you still don't believe me? You can ask the elders yourself. I am upright. This is a god's corpse. Take some precious salt and sprinkle it on it. It is a respect for others."

Ji Liu couldn't help asking: "Respect? Didn't you say we're going to roast it?"

"I said it, and I told the elder," Fang Zheng pointed at his stomach solemnly, "Eating is the best respect."

Grade six: ...

The tribal women have a clear division of labor. More than a dozen skinners pulled out the whole snake’s skin. For the remaining bright red meat, more than a dozen female hunters used various tools to chop it into strips that were as long as an arm and as wide as a wrist. on the roof.Right now is the humid season of summer and autumn, and it is not easy to dry.If there is a lot of salt in later generations, cured meat can be made.But now they can only hope that the weather will be fine for a few days, and take advantage of these few days to eat seaweed.

With the amount of this snake, all the women in the tribe let go of the sea and ate it for three days and three nights, and they couldn't finish it.

The women cut a lot of firewood, and made a huge pile of firewood on the spacious open ground in front of the commune. The grass was stacked underneath, and the firewood was placed on the top, which was loosely built and then started to burn.It took a whole morning to drive away the moisture on the ground.

The smoke was very high.Elder Ming Ye didn't stop them, anyway, the snake had already died here, Badian understood what they were doing, and there was no way out.A good meal is considered a good move.

The bonfire was burning brightly, and the huge bonfire was big enough for every woman to sit around, and each held a snake in his hand and passed it through it with a wooden pole.Almost everyone gets a bit of brown salt.Some people were reluctant, but some listened to Fang Zheng and rubbed salt into the folds of the meat.

Fang Zheng took a piece of meat as a matter of course, sat by the campfire and roasted it skillfully.Turn the barbecue back and forth to let it be heated evenly, and the snake meat will be sizzling with oil.

The dancing flames shone on Fang Zheng's young face. At that moment, he looked like a really happy young man, even pointing to the women next to him in a mood.

"Bake on the brightest part of the flame, and the temperature is the highest." Fang Zheng instructed Ji Liu beside him, "The salt is less, so you have to rub the salt in and stick it in. The particles are very large and will melt after heating. Your kind If it doesn't look good, you have to keep turning it over, or it will burn..."

Ji Liu could hardly take his gaze away from Fang Zheng's face, looking at him affectionately.What a wonderful young man, handsome, young, know so much, and the most important thing is that he saved her twice.She has been working in a productive tribe since she was born. I heard that in some tribes, men and women live under the same roof.Women are responsible for darning and cooking, and men are responsible for hunting.When they are free and no longer need to be slaves of the suzerain country, can they have their own men?Although she seemed to remember what Fang Zheng said, he was only interested in having sex with the long-hanging ones below, but people's thinking might change?

Fang Zheng can see it clearly, but his temperament is always bad. Even if he is not interested in women, he feels very proud of seeing them bewildered by him. Anyway, he has said what he should say, and they come together to wrestle With a broken heart of glass, Fang Zheng was still happy to watch the show.

Ji Liu stared sideways at Fang Zheng, his head almost touching Fang Zheng's shoulder.There were a lot of people crowded around, Fang Zheng didn't care, he concentrated on grilling the snake meat, it was half burnt and fragrant, and was about to enjoy it, when a fluffy snake suddenly squeezed into the gap between him and Ji Liu. head.

It turned out to be Zifeng, his chin was still covered with a bandage, but there was no blood seeping out. The whole person looked like a little old man with a white beard growing around his chin, but only half of his face was still amazingly handsome.Being close to the fire made crystals appear on his forehead, and his eyes looked at Fang Zheng intently, with two small flames reflected in his eyes.

"Master Zifeng, you are afraid of getting angry if you eat this wound." Fang Zheng thought that Zifeng came to grab the ready-made barbecue, and it was so hard to roast it so perfectly, he was reluctant to give it to him.

Ji Liu was so crowded that he couldn't breathe, so he had to move to the side to make room.Zifeng sat down next to Fang Zheng as a matter of course, put his head on his shoulder and rubbed against him.

Alarm bells rang in Fang Zheng's heart, his eyelids twitched, what's going on?

At that moment, he suddenly felt a drum in his heart—this young man who seemed shallow and gentle might not be exactly what he appeared to be.

Going thousands of miles deep into the enemy's rear, single-handedly slaughtered the giant snake, and also shouldered the mission of engaging in diplomacy with the tribe.

Is it that simple?