"My name is Feng Xuan, I am twenty-eight years old, and I am the great slave of the Suo clan in Dunhuang."
After being exposed by Ren Hong, the dead man who crossed the plug had no choice but to hang his head and confess his identity.Dunhuang Suo, its ancestor was the Taizhong doctor Suo Fu when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Ren Hong's grandfather Ren An was at the same level, all of which were ranked more than 2,000 stones.It is said that Suo Fu admonished Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not to ask for immortals to no avail, but was condemned by Liu Che, who was fanatically pursuing immortality and looking for the Queen Mother of the West, and was dismissed from the official position and moved to Dunhuang.The already huge giant deer Suoshi then migrated here, crying and crying when they came, but more than 30 years have passed, they have taken root in Dunhuang, multiplied, and become the only "Hao family" in this land.The wealthy families of the Western Han Dynasty were far less powerful than those of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but as a great contributor to the development of Dunhuang, the sons of the Suo family served as officials in the county, and there would be no shortage of slaves and maids in the fields under their names.This Feng Xuan is Suo's field slave, there is no freedom of identity, the Han Dynasty has abolished most of the corporal punishment, and the government does not put words on people's faces, but Haoqiang still left a mark on their backs in order to prevent slaves and maids from escaping.Seeing the black character on Feng Xuan's back, Ren Hong remembered his radish, this horse seems to be given to Fu Jiezi by Suo, and Fu Jiezi gave it to himself, and there is also a brand on the horse's buttocks of the radish.It can be seen that the status of slaves and maids is not much different from that of livestock, and is regarded as property rather than people.As private slaves in the family, in addition to getting up in the morning and sweeping early, eating and washing, and doing all kinds of chores, they also have to withstand the wind and sand in the north of the country, cultivate the fields, and rarely rest."
It's too hard to be a house slave, I really can't stand it, but I heard people say that the Huns are happy, the monarchs and ministers are lightly restrained, and there is no prison" This is the reason why Feng Xuan fled to the Huns.Ren Hong has heard of it, in addition to the Xiongnu raiding the population every time, the Han people often take the initiative to flee north.In order to completely get rid of the dilemma of being pursued by the government, the thieves who fled to the Xiongnu became the best choice.The second is the inland immigrants and the border soldiers, not everyone has good luck, meet a general who treats his subordinates preferentially, if the officials treat slavery harshly, the soldiers dare not speak, until one day the string of patience finally breaks, then choose to flee and flee back to their hometown may be caught and punished, and it seems better to flee to the Huns.The last category is Feng Xuan's slaves, who have a low status and a miserable life, after they heard some rumors about the "freedom" and "happiness" of the Xiongnu, they could not bear to suffer because of the proximity to the Xiongnu and died."
After I heard those rumors, I secretly prepared, and finally ran out of Yihe Houguan with my wife" Speaking of this, Feng Xuan lowered his head and wept, and when they climbed over the wall, they found that the life of the Xiongnu was far less beautiful than hearsay "Life is better than death in the Xiongnu, so I fled back, but my wife was arrested." ”Hearing this, Zhao Hu'er, who had been silent, suddenly became angry, and actually stood up and kicked Feng Xuan hard!"
It's just that you go to the Huns to seek death yourself, why bother to take your wife to the fire pit!"
When it comes to nomadic life in later generations, it is often "the wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep", the scenery is picturesque, and the days are elegant and free.But on the way back to Po Sui, the nomadic life from the mouths of Zhao Huer and Feng Xuan was completely different: "In the Xiongnu, the life of ordinary herdsmen is much more bitter than that of Sene." ”Zhao Hu'er's eyes crossed the Great Wall, and seemed to see the Huns who had risked their lives to shepherd sheep by the Shule River this morning.Nature is for survival."
In Sene, even if there is no barren land, a family of five, 100 acres is enough to feed.""
But outside the fortress, the Huns did not grow grain, but drove livestock to eat grass and then feed on their meat and cheese.One hundred acres of grassland can only feed one sheep, and a family of five needs thirty or forty sheep. ”This means that a herdsman needs at least three to four thousand acres of pasture.Moreover, livestock are generally reluctant to kill, and can only rely on milk and cheese to survive, Feng Xuan initially imagined that the life of Xiongnu herdsmen eating meat did not exist at all.Cattle do not need much care, and when they have eaten enough, they regurgitate in place, while horses, on the contrary, are active creatures with four long legs, and can go to distant places to graze and then go home on their own.However, it is not a picky eater, has a high reproductive rate, and has a high milk yield, so it is not possible to use sheep as the main breed.They are incapable of protecting themselves, and need to be constantly watched by manpower, and they cannot be distracted for a moment.And the sheep eat a lot, and after eating a piece of grass, they have to drive them to the next place.Therefore, if you want to be a good herder, it is by no means easier than a farmer, or even more difficult, you have to be careful to control the proportion of livestock, control the time spent in the pastures of the four seasons, and have to do side jobs such as shooting, gathering and even participating in war and looting, in order to barely make ends meet.This is the nomad's choice.So, the Central Plains people who don't know anything about these skills can live a good life when they go to the Xiongnu?
Only fools believe.After those who defected to the Huns arrived, they found that it was completely impossible to support themselves on their own, so what should they do?
It's just like in the Han Dynasty, attached to others.The class differentiation of the Xiongnu was also very serious, the kings and thousands of commanders lived a life of drinking and meat, and as for the slaves and maids who escaped like Feng Xuan, they were still slaves.It's just that the work has become herding sheep, collecting dung, milking cows, cutting autumn grass, loading and unloading felt tents, or planting grain for the kings of the Huns, and there is no rest all year round.Feng Xuan worked hard for a year like this, and his wife was occupied by the "commander of a thousand" who enslaved them, and gave birth to a beard for her, but she didn't let Feng Xuan blow the flute outside the tent to cheer up when he was doing errands.As a slave, such a situation may also be encountered in the Han Dynasty.But it is more cruel than the Central Plains, which has abolished human martyrdom and only a few places are still secretly insisting, because of the heavy sacrifices of the Xiongnu, the Han people who fled will often be treated as human sacrifices" I have heard the end of Li Guangli, the general of the second division. ”Hearing this, Ren Hong spoke: "Li Guangli, the most favored general and relative of Emperor Xiaowu in his later years, was once named king by Shan Yu after the defeat and surrender to the Xiongnu, and he was favored.But in the end, because of the words of the Yan family and Hu Wu, he was killed by the Xiongnu Shan Yu to sacrifice to the gods!
”The lives of the dignified generals and kings are still in danger, and it is even more common for the nobles of the Xiongnu to kill a few Han people to sacrifice to the sky every festival."
I just heard that the commander of the thousand was going to sacrifice my husband and wife to their gods, so I escaped."
Feng Xuan was held behind by Lu Guangsu, crying and telling his story, and he regretted the escape."
It's your choice!
Deserve!
”Zhao Hu'er was still angry, and turned around and scolded Feng Xuan again.Ren Hong shook his head.Hateful people must have pity, in fact, this Feng Xuan has no choice.He was born a slave, and no matter in the Han Dynasty or the Xiongnu, in Anxi or Rome, Yueshi, the situation of the lowest class will always be hell But then again, although the Han Dynasty within the Great Wall is not equal to the rich and poor, and other classes, the perfect paradise on earth.But Ren Hong can pack a ticket, she is probably this world, in this era, the most peaceful and stable country of the Han Wu Emperor has ended, after more than ten years of recuperation, the people's livelihood is slowly recovering, the new agricultural technology was promoted by Zhao Guo, the land rent is thirty taxes, the levy is reduced, and the local heroes have not regained momentum after being beaten by the Han Wu.Look at the life of ordinary people in the Han Dynasty, although there are many unfilial sons here, but at least respecting the elderly has always been a ritual in the Central Plains, as a stable life of farmers, the Han people live a tight life, and can also leave some food to provide for the elderly at home, so that they do not have to choose self-sacrifice.And the ordinary Xiongnu herdsmen's homes can't even squeeze out this bit of resources for the elderly.Which side do you say is the harsher life at the bottom?
The slaves and maidservants of the Han land fled to Saiwai, only to find out that they had been fooled and could not repent.The Hu tribe outside the Saiwai, in a desperate situation, also under the leadership of the kings, defected to the Han Dynasty in large groups, but they became "Guiyi Hu" in a down-to-earth manner, and lived a happy life in the five subject countries."
It's a siege."
Ren Hong turned his face sideways, looking at the Great Wall that was like a yellow dragon, separating the two empires of Han and Hungary and the two lifestyles of agriculture and animal husbandry, and secretly sighed: "The people in the wall imagine how free and beautiful the outside of the wall is, and they always want to go out, but they don't know that the people outside the wall want to come in even more" At the end, he looked at Zhao Hu'er, who was touched by Feng Xuan's memories and walked forward with his head stuffy, followed and handed him the light rice wine."
What about you?
Zhao Hu'er, I want to hear about you, why you escaped from the Huns. ”Zhao Hu'er was silent for a long time, and finally touched the felt hat that Ren Hong gave him on the top of his head, and still said: "My mother was taken captive by the Huns when they entered the fortress, and after she gave birth to me, she still taught me to learn Chinese, told me the wealth and stability of the fortress, so that I will go back one day!"
”When talking about her mother, Zhao Hu'er's eyes rarely showed a trace of warmth and nostalgia, it was the time when the young man pillowed his head on his mother's lap under the blue sky and white clouds and on the green grass."
And my father" Speaking of his biological father, the warmth in Zhao Hu'er's eyes was gone, but there was a little more hatred: "It was the rude Hu who took my mother away from Sene and often beat her, and whipped me at any time and beat me to death."
There were originally nearly 100 cattle and sheep in the tent, and he was a good hand, so he lived quite well. ”"But on the grassland, when there is a disaster, no matter how many cattle and sheep you have, it will not be used!"
After October every year, the white-haired wind with snow has been blowing, the snow on the grassland is too thick, the livestock can not pick up the snow to eat grass, and often large groups of people will starve to death.It was easy to survive the winter, but the black plague came again, and there was no rain for several months, and the livestock could not survive without water.There are also plagues and wolves, even if a family has hundreds of cattle and sheep, a disaster will immediately extinct the household!
What happens when the cattle and sheep die?
That's when you have to make a choice."
When disaster strikes, the old man can only be abandoned, left in the wasteland to die, or eaten by wolves and vultures.""
If there are not enough cattle and sheep left to feed the family, the women will have to make sacrifices, and they will be sold to the rich who have enough livestock in exchange for livestock that can keep others alive.""
So my father gave my mother away as a slave, just in exchange for five sheep and three bags of mare's milk wine" Zhao Hu'er clenched his hard bow: "I broke my head, hoping to replace my mother with me, but he just kicked me away!"
”"Not long after, my mother died, and was abused to death by the wealthy Hu people, and when she threw it in the field afterwards, she was regarded as a dead sheep!"
Ren Hong understood: "This is the reason why you escaped from the Huns, then your father" Zhao Hu'er gritted his teeth and said: "When I heard the news of my mother's death, I took advantage of him to get drunk, burned the felt tent, and escaped. ”In Zhao Hu'er's eyes, there seemed to be the burning felt tent, and the self who was only twelve years old, chased by Hu Cai, fled to the Great Wall for his life."
My father is the one who taught me to hunt and to find footprints."
Zhao Hu'er raised his head, took a sip of wine, looked at the sky, and laughed heartily: "He was also killed by me, the first Hu man!"
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