Clam Pearl

But it is said that in this winter, the Gu family in Shangjing was ups and downs in the waves. If Gu Zhao and his elder brother Gu Yan hadn't made many repairs and rescues, the reputation that the Gu family had built with great difficulty would be ruined.Even if Gu Zhao wrote eight or ten "God Books" on the pole, he would not be able to dig out and cleanse a family that killed his biological mother from the moral quagmire.

This winter, a fast horse galloped all the way from Shangjing to Yangbo Pass in the west of Daliang.This messenger was a reward from the Sihou Mansion, and he brought a piece of news that could not be said to be good or bad for Gu Maobing.

Yangbo Pass is located on the western border of Daliang State. Three hundred miles away from Yangbo Pass is Zhangfeng Town. From here, all the way westward is the prairie where the nomadic people outside the pass have lived for generations.

Zhangfeng is a small town outside the customs. In the beginning, there was only a natural lake of three or four miles in size. This lake was also called Zhangfeng Lake.In the earliest days, the beasts of the grassland mate and reproduce around Zhangfeng Lake every spring.Later, humans set foot here, and every June and July, the tribes on the grassland would bring their own products to trade freely in Zhangfeng.After a long time, Daliang merchants in Yangboguan also brought salty salt, tea cakes, spices, grains, and cloth from the inland to exchange for fur and other nomadic products such as sheepskin, cowhide, wool, and so on. There are horses...

Naturally, the inspections in these years are still not tight, and the businessman often smuggles some iron knives to Zhang Feng to exchange for horses and furs. They take a risk once a year, and they can make a profit for the common people to eat and use for several years.

In fact, in the early years, iron, salt, copper, sugar, and tea were all freely traded. It’s just that in these years, King Liang Guo didn’t know where he went crazy, and he restricted the circulation of some items. He first asked officials from various places to investigate the local population. After the relevant yamen in the west investigated the population of hundreds of tribes near Zhangfeng, they made a control policy on some specific items.

No one in the world knows that Gu Zhao has an unexpected paranoia about the population, especially when he knows that the population of nomads in the east and west has a ratio of ten to three to four inland, so Gu Zhao feels that something is wrong.

Because once a border war occurs, one of the most important reasons for its formation is that when the population ratio reaches a certain number, those tribes will automatically combine due to the population, resulting in classes and greater greed for interests, so the inland will be separated from the border. Nationality inspires more contradictions.With a large population, there is a large demand, and the grassland products are weak, so those nomads will naturally extend their hands to the inland.

Therefore, Gu Zhao repeatedly told Ah Run that the quantity of daily necessities must be strictly controlled, the secrecy of the country's metallurgical technology must be strengthened, and the nomadic people's dependence on the inland areas must be cultivated.Of course, at the moment, Gu Zhao doesn't care about the frontier affairs, and can only think about what happens when it happens.

At the end of the Tiancheng year, after the heavy snowfall in the inland, and then the heavy snowfall period in the Western Regions, I saw it coming. Standing on the top of the city wall of Yangboguan, I looked around, and the grassland in the distance was blindingly blinded by a vast expanse of whiteness.

On this day, Gu Maobing was sitting in a hut under the city wall of Yangbo Pass, drinking and having fun with a group of soldiers. After four years of wandering life, from Shangjing to Ganzhou to Xijiang, Gu Maobing took two thousand The soldiers come and go, living in no fixed place.He is becoming more and more slutty, the temperament of a noble child in Shangjing has been completely washed out from him, and now some of his body presents a new characteristic, rather than a characteristic, he is now wild and unruly, It's getting wilder.

It is a kind of wildness that fits the wildness of a grassland man, and the vast horizons that can be learned while roaming around. If there is a chance, Gu Maobing would rather not return to Beijing for the rest of his life, only wishing to keep his body free and gallop across There are many north and south, and now he feels that this is the life of a person.

He walked out of Shangjing and left the battlefield. Many things that he had been struggling with before were not so important now.Sometimes in the dead of night, Gu Maobing would miss his relatives, his little uncle, the home he seldom went back to, and even occasionally he would think of his mother, brother, and deceased father. Just like what happened to others, it is getting weaker and weaker. Now that the status is different, the mood is different, and the age is getting older, and the hatred is not so much.

The room for eating and drinking is a temporary earthen embryo house built by veterans under the city wall who are on duty. Push it to the corner.A few soldiers in cloth armor and sheepskin coats were drooling around a furnace of muddy earthen fire.

There was enough dried horse dung burning in the furnace, and a coarse casserole pot was hung above the horse dung flame, and the whole lamb liver and lung soup was rolling in the pot. Very fragrant.Beside the horse dung fire, the cut whole sheep was hung and grilled in pieces. The surface of the lamb was half-cooked, the skin was browned, and the fat dripped off.

After three bowls of strong wine, Gu Maobing was slightly tipsy. One advantage of him is that he is born with a large capacity for alcohol. If he drinks a few buckets of strong wine on weekdays, at most he will feel hot all over his body, and the rest will be fine, just like ordinary people .

Today, Gu Maobing is wearing a ermine jacket with a fine silk surface and a pattern of white butterflies, and black-faced fine cloth sandals on his feet. He doesn't like a crown on his head now, he only likes to dress like a nomad , that is, the hair is loosely separated into a few strands at the sideburns, and five-color beads are embellished on it.Although this guy likes to show that he is a strong man on the outside, in fact, he still loves big red and purple in his bones, and likes to wear delicate, bright and exquisitely embroidered clothes.In the past few years, when he went home alone, he also went to the stinking problem of crying, only a little!He can't see tears.

Just like last month, an old woman on this street died of her grandson, and she sat cross-legged at the door of her house and cried for a while.This frontier woman's crying and singing skills are top-notch, as long as she cries, she will definitely cry and sing about her difficulties from birth to her whole life in a special form.Therefore, when Gu Maobing saw and listened, he revealed the truth, and cried for a long time with him, and when he got up early the next day, his eyes were so swollen that he couldn't open them.

In the past few years, Gu Maobing has been doing very well in Xijiang. The civil servants and military positions here are full of familiar faces. In addition, he is generous, and he has made friends with many tribal leaders. He even got a nickname. "Little Jade Dragon on the Racecourse".

The barbecue was fragrant. Gu Maobing took a fork and stabbed it a few times on the mutton fan. After feeling smooth, he said, "Come on, eat, it's almost done!"

The soldiers in that house were so hungry that they were so hungry that they cheered when they heard the words, and they did it themselves regardless of whether it was hot or not.For a while, the sound of hissing and humming continued in the house.

Gu Maobing was happier when he saw that everyone ate deliciously than he did.He took a few sips from a bowl of milk soup, then stopped eating, just thinking about things with the bowl in hand.

The leader of the hut is Fei Yong. He is 64 years old and has been a city gate official for 25 years. He met Gu Maobing three years ago, but he doesn't know Gu Maobing's identity. He only knows that he came from the horse farm in Beijing. Ma Guan is just Gu Wuye's distant nephew.

"Huanxi (Gu Maobing's pseudonym), why are you so generous today, you are willing to give up a whole sheep to save ours alone, do you want to do some private goods business?" Big brother Fei Yong took a bite of the leg of lamb, fragrant Xiang took a sip of the wine, stretched out his hand to touch the grease on his beard with his sleeve, and put his hand under the table, not wanting to waste it, and gave the local dog with legs a sweet mouthful.

The soldiers shouted together:

"That's right, Master Gu, if there is such a good thing in the future, I will remember my brothers again."

"Thank you, Mr. Gu. You can bring whatever private goods you want. We don't care. As long as it's not too much, it's up to you! Haha!"

"Come on, let's offer a bowl to the host. Don't dislike the roughness of our wine. We brew it ourselves."

Gu Maobing smiled, held the wine jar and bumped into everyone a few times, poured the wine jar and drank a few sips, then put his legs down on the table of Fei Ge's house and said with a smile: "Think about it What, I don’t do business like wrapping private goods! Today is a snowy day, and if you don’t eat this haggis soup, it doesn’t feel like a day in Xijiang.”

Fei Yong laughed loudly, patted his legs and said: "That's true, the most delicious food in our western border is this whole sheep, but how can we have this blessing in normal times, we should borrow your light from the host. "

After Fei Yong finished speaking, a soldier with a red beard laughed and said: "Master Gu came from the capital, and he has a lot of money. He has eaten ginseng. What is it to eat a whole sheep? Just because you are petty, I saw it just now. It's time for you to hide the sheep bones, are you going to finish eating it in a while, motherfucker, you still have to cook a pot of bone soup when you get home!"

After the red beard finished speaking, everyone in the room burst into laughter. They were laughing happily, but they didn't expect that the old linoleum curtain outside the room was lifted, and someone entered the room. They first stamped the snow on their feet, and then fucked He said in a half-baked inland dialect: "I'm so fragrant, all the masters of the soldiers are so good at eating."

The people in the room looked up and saw that it was an old guest wearing a tribal robe outside Xinjiang. However, the old guests he usually saw were all in their 50s and 24s, with a very naughty appearance, but now this one is different.This man looks like [-] to [-] years old, he wears a bearded hat, and the hair on the hem of the fan robe is actually mink. This man has a slightly dark complexion, thick eyebrows, big eyes, shining eyes, and a straight nose bone. He is actually very handsome. A tough character, if it weren't for his slightly high cheekbones, as long as he was wearing Han clothes, throwing this man to the border town would definitely not reveal his blood.

These days, the relationship between the ethnic groups in Western Xinjiang and the people in the border towns is not bad. Everyone grew up in the same place. In this city, there are often daughters who marry tribes, and of course there are border townsmen who marry tribe girls. Naturally, it is a minority!In the eyes of the people in the border towns, the tribal people are just countrymen who have never seen anything in the world, but their cattle and sheep are still relatively cheap.

Pei Yong stood up and said with a smile: "The old man is able to endure hardships, so he has to go out of the city at this time? There are so many snow dumplings, and the old man is crazy poor. In this weather, you come out to make ends meet. You don't want to die."

The old man smiled, and sat directly by the fire without politeness, took out a pack of shredded tobacco rolled in straw paper in his arms, and handed it to the soldier, while he himself took a black rough porcelain bowl and filled it with milk The soup is not too hot, and a bowl of it can be eaten in a blink of an eye.After a while, Xu Shi recovered his body, and he sighed: "The food exchange in the tribe was late this year, and it was extremely cold this year. The old uncle at home predicted that there would be a snowstorm this year, so he asked us to come out and exchange some food supplies. Come on, otherwise, who would want to suffer this? We drove all the pregnant ewes in the flock, hey, once the snow hits, we won’t be able to keep them..."

While talking, the old guest looked at Gu Maobing curiously. You must know that such a delicate person is rare in Xijiang.

Gu Maobing smiled at him and said, "Is it changed?"

The old guest couldn't understand half of his words, so he asked, "What's the deal?"

"Nature is food."

"Oh, you Liang people are treacherous. If the price has been raised, we won't change it." The old man hummed politely, and added: "Even if we starve to death this winter, we won't accept it!"

Gu Maobing naturally knew that the profiteers in the border towns would naturally raise their prices when they saw snow falling, and they would go to the market as they went. No one could say that they were wrong!It's just that he couldn't bear to see this old guest angry, so he sat up and handed over his wine jar, "How big is your family?"

The old guest opened his mouth and was about to answer, but he didn't want to hear a squeaky sound from outside. Gu Maobing's horses were almost mature in recent years, so he jumped up and ran out of the house.

The light snow outside the house turned into heavy snow flakes, and the true colors of the border town have been covered up. A group of shepherds drove three to five hundred fat sheep by the city wall to keep warm in the shelter of the city gate, and leaned against the hitching posts on the city wall. There are several horses, the most conspicuous of which is pure black in color and has four hooves on snow. It is half a head taller than ordinary horses. The statue of the king of horses.

Gu Maobing couldn't love it in his heart, he walked over and wanted to stroke this fine horse, but someone beside him grabbed his arm and said: "Big brother, Heifeng has a bad temper, and if a stranger touches it, he will be kicked."

Gu Maobing turned his head, but saw the old customer holding a bowl of mutton soup in one hand, and holding himself with the other, with an indescribable smile on his face.

"But? Mawang?" Gu Maobing looked excited.

"Heifeng is the emperor of Mali, bigger than the king of horses!" The old guest explained seriously.

Gu Maobing naturally knows that famous horses are all hypocritical, and each of them has its own temperament, especially this kind of good horse, which is rare in a century, is even more spiritual. Except for the owner, it is really difficult for ordinary people to near.The old man was not polite, but he had good intentions.

Gu Maobing smiled and nodded, he couldn't love in his heart, so after walking around the horse for a few times, he took out a few pieces of dough pancakes from his bosom, held them to the horse's mouth and said, "You Smell, sweet..."

That horse was so smart, it turned Gu Maobing's eyes with disdain first, then turned his head to look elsewhere.

"Damn!" Gu Maobing cursed, and all the men from the tribe over there burst out laughing.

"Heifeng won't eat the ingredients given by anyone except me." The old customer laughed proudly.

Gu Maobing nodded, sighed and threw the bread to the old customer, then asked him: "Is this horse for sale?"

The laughter stopped immediately, and someone yelled: "You Liang people are so boring, of course Brother Tata's Black Wind won't be sold! Even if it's for a thousand sheep!"

The old customer also shook his head with a smile and said: "We don't sell brothers!" After finishing speaking, he stroked Hei Feng's mane and sighed: "Even if I die, I will be buried with it!"

Gu Maobing stretched out his finger and said, "Two thousand sheep, ten carts of grain."

The laughing stopped immediately, and the old customer stared at Gu Maobing, ten carts of food, if they got it, the tribe would not be afraid to starve to death of those old and weak this year.But... this is Black Wind!

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Gu Maobing stretched out another finger and said, "Thirty carts of grain, plus ten iron pots!"

The snowflakes are falling, the strong wind swirls the snowflakes, and the weather is getting colder and colder. Gu Maobing feels sorry for Heifeng being frozen in the snow, so he stretches out his hand to take off his flowered jacket, and stretches out his hand to cover Heifeng's back .Hei Feng shook his body, threw the flowered jacket on the ground, stretched out his hind hooves and stomped on it a few times.Gu Maobing didn't care, just looked at Hei Feng and smiled.

Seeing that Gu Maobing really loved Heifeng, the old man thought of the thirty carts of grain, and his relatives in the tribe.

I don't know how long it took, the old guest looked at Gu Maobing and said, "Can you treat him like a brother?"

Gu Maobing nodded: "Naturally, I will provide it with the most luxurious saddle, build the warmest stable, and feed it the best fodder."

The old guest gritted his teeth, his big eyes turned red, hesitating again and again and finally said: "I don't want the sheep, I need another twenty carts of grain, and I need salt."

The men in the tribe over there suddenly boiled, and someone shouted: "Brother Tata, you can't sell it, even if you starve to death, you can't sell Heifeng..." After the man said half a sentence, he burst into tears.

Tata had no choice but to sigh: "If you don't sell Heifeng, why don't you follow the rules of previous years and drive the old father out!"

The shepherds over there stopped talking, but most of them showed grief and resentment, not daring to hate God, and now...they don't know who to hate.

Naturally, Gu Maobing didn't know that Tata's tribe worshiped the horse god, and this black wind was a godlike symbol to their tribe.What's more, Tata has a deep relationship with Heifeng. In order to get it, Tata once built a shack for four years on the bank of the tribe's Shenshui Tan, and fought with Heifengyou for four full years before conquering it. The tower became an important support for the tribal leader.

The wind and snow were getting bigger and bigger, Tata finally took off his saddle and threw it aside. He put his arms around Heifeng's neck and stroked its mane. He buried his face in Heifeng's mane, and suddenly said Sing a song.

Gu Maobing couldn't understand what Tata was singing, he just felt that the song was sad, desolate, and lonely.

Heifeng seemed to understand something, it looked at Tata as soon as he lowered his head and bit the hem of his robe, but he didn't let go.

Tata stood there, forced a smile on his face and sighed: "Silly brother, what good is it to follow Tata, I can't even give you a good saddle, you will be blessed in the future, the guest over there is a lover Damn, really, when did we ever lie to you..."

Heifeng was very paranoid, still biting the corner of Tata's robe, and Tata couldn't bear to treat it, so he could only take off his coat, and stood in the cold wind wearing an inner jacket.

Gu Maobing is the most emotional person, seeing this man and horse arguing like lovers now, he felt uncomfortable immediately.

Oh, forget it, it's not a gentleman's job to take someone's favor.Thinking of this, Gu Maobing said: "Old customer... Forget it, I will take your horse back, and I will not be familiar with it. I am afraid that the highest railing on my horse farm can't hold its heart. Someday It found an opportunity to run out, and found you in a hurry, so I am not lucky to die?"

Tata glared, and snorted, "Guest, I'll sell you as long as I say. Don't worry, Heifeng will send you back even if Heifeng runs back a thousand times. Could it be that you broke the contract?"

Gu Maobing laughed and said: "Look at what you said, who do you take me for? Although we are not grassland men, we still have to keep our promises, but this horse is like your brother. Now I have won your favor. In the future Thinking of me, I feel awkward, isn't it? If not, next spring, when the flowers bloom, you bring it to my horse farm. I don't have anything else there. There are plenty of beautiful mares. By then..." Gu Maobing stretched out two Hands, compare two thumbs and fingers. This gesture means breeding.

It's a pity that Gu Maobing was kind, but that Tata didn't appreciate it. He stared over there and said: "You really regretted it, I want food! I want it this winter!"

Gu Maobing was helpless, stretched out his hand and patted his forehead and said: "You are such a fool, haha, who said that you will not be given food? Here it is for you. You will take someone to my horse farm in a while, and I will ask someone to give it to you. Pull twenty carts, but... for the next five years, your Heifeng is not allowed to find a wife, if he is looking for a wife, he can only look for it in my horse farm."

Tata glared: "If it meets someone it likes, it runs out by itself, and I don't care about it!"

Gu Maobing sighed: "If you don't care, then let's go!"

Tata was stunned: "Let's go?"

Gu Maobing was extremely depressed, turned his head and stared and scolded: "You are so boring! Let's go, I will give you food! Don't want your brother, you are stupid!" After speaking, Gu Maobing walked forward with a sigh, while walking While nagging: "I'm so stupid, I also do such a silly business, just to breed a seed, and give people food in advance, the most stupid is me, and I have the nerve to say that people are stupid, I am the only one in this world. The biggest fool hahaha..."

Gu Maobing was nagging, when suddenly someone behind him grabbed him, and then twisted his body around with great strength.This Tata stared at a pair of bull's eyes and asked Gu Maobing: "Rich man? As long as the grass sprouts next year and I bring the black wind, you will give me food?"

Gu Maobing nodded: "Yes, I will give you food!"

Tata asked again: "What if your mare can't get pregnant!"

Gu Maobing sighed and said: "If you can't conceive, I will give you food."

"Really?"

"Really! Are you going to change or not!!!!!!!!!" It was the first time Gu Maobing saw such a long-winded tribesman, and he shouted the last sentence before he finished speaking. Ta looked up to the sky and laughed, suddenly stretched out his arms and hugged Gu Maobing's waist, and spun in circles in the snowflakes!