The road from Yixun City to Loulan Wangcheng took a whole day, and the city lord Yi Xianghan personally led hundreds of people to escort the envoys to the southwest in order to show his heart.And along the way, these Loulan people showed Ren Hong that there is an old tradition that the people of the Western Regions Province can sing and dance.Like a relay race, from Yi Xianghan to his servants, everyone showed their singing voices.Yi Xianghan sang a ballad in praise of the previous generation of the king of Loulan, the song is very long, translated into modern Chinese is this meaning: "Kunqi Yuan Meng, the king of Loulan, a round of red sun rising in the Puchang Sea, your glory shines on the earth, when you give grace to the world, your words are like larks singing, and everyone listens to it with a pleasant heart." ”"The silk on your body is like a rainbow of seven colors, you have thousands of acres of fertile land, you can't see the edge at a glance, slaves work in your fields, and the harvest is so heavy that the animals can't carry it, and when you meet an orphan in distress, you will definitely extend a helping hand.""
Your three hundred horses are strong and fat, you are wearing armor, charging into battle, the spearhead is pointed at Ruoqiang and Jimo, God has given you two sons, An Gui and Wei Tuqi, and the Huns sent you the Yan clan, but they scraped a large number of cattle and sheep from you" But more ballads are dedicated to the "virtuous and good river god".This is the honorific title of the Loulan people for the Peacock River, compared to the praise of the King of Loulan, the lyrics dedicated to the river are more solemn and reverent, Lu Jiuyu translated to Ren Hong, and the words are full of metaphors such as "mother" and "nectar".Indeed, it is true that the reason why Loulan can exist is completely due to the blessing of the Peacock River.The Peacock River, known to the Han Chinese as the Beihe or Dunxu Water, originates in the Tianshan Mountains, empties into Bosten Lake, and continues southward, after confluence with the Tarim River, bypassing the magnificent Kuruktag Mountains, passing through the dry desert Gobi and finally joining the Lop Nur Depression.It became the most important source of fresh water for Loulan, and poplar trees grew into forests on both sides of the river, and the reeds and white grasses were also very dense, which was completely different from the dry dead riverbed in later generations.For this "mother river" that brings life to Loulan, Loulan people know how to be grateful and do everything they can to worship and love.When he was approaching the river, he begged the envoys not to cut down any trees within ten paces of the river."
The grass and trees that grow by the river are the hair and eyelashes of the virtuous river god, and they must not be offended, so Loulan has its own law, if you cut it by the root, no matter who you are, you will be fined a horse, and if you cut off a branch, you will have a calf!"
Ren Hong wanted to applaud him after hearing this, Loulan people are good, there is a forest protection law so early, and they are aware of the harm of soil erosion?
Zheng Ji was very strange: "Then where did you cut down the trees that you usually use to repair houses and build ships?"
”Yi Xianghan said: "Only those trees that are far away from the river are given to the people of Loulan by the virtuous river god." ”At noon, Ren Hong and the others waded through this turquoise river, with a depth of about four or five meters and a width of hundreds of meters. ”"It's a lot smaller, really."
Xi Chongguo and Sun Shiwan recalled last year's scene and agreed.After going ashore, Yi Xianghan also proved that the water in the Peacock River this year is smaller than in previous years, and I am afraid that it will affect the harvest in the field."
Since ten years ago, the water has been little by little, and I don't know why, but when you look at the riverbed, where there used to be water, it is much drier now."
He sighed.Before the Peacock River joins Lop Nur, it forms a large and vast delta, and the land suitable for cultivation in Loulan is all concentrated in the delta.Ren Hong and they saw along the way the river branch of the delta, all Loulan people open canals to divert water for farming, when the water flows into the dry land, regardless of men, women and children, everyone kneels down to worship the chief, and calls it "virtuous and good river god".On the way, I also met a "water sacrifice", a typical little old man in the Western Regions, with a goatee, a scarf wrapped around his head, bare feet, and his calves were held high, and he was directing several farmers to bring water for irrigation.He knew Yi Xianghan, and the two stopped to chat.The two spoke quickly, and Lu Jiuyu translated to Ren Hong in a low voice: "The water sacrifice told Yi Xianghan that he dreamed last night that the Xianshan River God did not accept the five-year-old cow he worshiped as a sacrifice, but asked for a two-year-old bull" The king of Loulan and the city are in charge of the city, and the vast countryside of the delta is responsible for more than a dozen water sacrifices, and they lead the villagers to worship the Xianshan River God, and collect the water fee, that is, a sacrificial cow, together with the grain of each village, and hand it over to the king of Loulan, which is the tax of Loulan country.At this time, the water priest found that the Loulan farmer behind him had secretly dug an extra foot of the canal to divert water, and immediately went over with a black face to scold!
As the only source of fresh water, the Peacock River has a large but not endless runoff, especially during the dry season, when the water supply is scarce in this small oasis country, and the king, city lords and priests have a firm grip on the distribution of water.This Loulan has a small population and a lot of land, so the cultivated area does not depend on the amount of land occupied, but on the amount of water. ”After listening to Lu Jiuyu's translation, Zheng Ji's eyes suddenly lit up, and he came to Fu Jiezi's side during a break, and said in a low voice: "Fu Gong, since King Loulan and his Yan clan both appeared, should we do it at the altar?"
”Ren Hong subconsciously felt that it was inappropriate, and said: "I heard that in the states of the Western Regions, killing a king is not a big deal, just change it." ”But if it offends their custom of sacrificing, it is a big deal.Fu Jiezi bowed his head: "Do you still remember what Yi said to Han when he passed by the river just now?"
”He recounted his personal experience: "The Loulan people were punished heavily for cutting down trees by the river, but when the general of the second division conquered Dawan, our soldiers did not know, and even if they knew, they didn't care, so they cut down many trees along the river, built bridges, built bridges, and burned fires for cooking.The people of Loulan hated a whole generation because of this, and later Loulan favored the Xiongnu, and Angui was made the king, which also has this reason. ”It's just that the Huns were too greedy and blackmailed Loulan too much, and the things of twenty years ago gradually faded away, and the Loulan people remembered the good of the Han Dynasty."
Loulan attaches the most importance to the worship of the river god, because it is related to a year's harvest.If we kill An Gui at the altar, most of the people of Loulan will not be ashamed of us killing their king, but will resentful us for ruining their sacrifice, which will not be conducive to the long-term management of Loulan by the Han Dynasty in the future. ”"I see."
Ren Hong knew that after decades of contact with the Western Regions, the Han envoys could be regarded as having found a way to deal with the states of the Western Regions, which was different from the simple and crude methods of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the envoys of low quality were incomplete.Today's Han envoys have become more professional, flexible and precise.After walking for half a moment on the road, when they climbed a mound, Loulan City was already in front of them.From a distance, Loulan City is located on an island-like territory surrounded by two rivers that flow after the diversion of the Peacock River, and the city is three times larger than Yixun City.The altar is located in the open space by the river, and there are 7 regular rings of wooden piles on the surface, the wooden piles are from the inside to the outside, the thickness is orderly, and outside the ring, there are radial four-way columns of wood, which are not chaotic.Half of the people in Loulan City came, and thousands of people gathered around the altar circle, and inside the circle were the Loulan King and his wife who knelt down to pray to the river god, Loulan Wang Angui was very thin, and his Yan clan was a little fat, wearing the gold ornaments loved by the grassland people, shimmering and reflective and in the center of the altar, the most respected water sacrifice in Loulan country, with a somewhat strange wooden mask, beating the drum in his hand, and the sacrifice was sent up in the same way: there were barrels of wine, poured into the river as if they didn't need money, and there were also cattle and sheep handed over for sacrifice in various villagesAfter slaughtering on the spot, the water priest held a wooden scoop and sprinkled blood on the heads of everyone present.The last and most important sacrifice was a young slave pair, a man and a woman, dressed in costumes, poured with a lot of wine, drunkenly carried onto a wooden poplar boat, in which lay many half-man-tall wooden figurines, and dried red willow branches and reed poles.The warriors of the king of Loulan lit the boat and pushed it downstream, and the boat burned and floated towards the mouth of the river.Under the leadership of the water sacrifice and the king and wife of Loulan, all the people of Loulan faced the Peacock River and sang a ballad praising the virtuous and virtuous river god, and looked extremely pious to their mother, who gave their life."
Xianshan River God, you give life to Loulan.""
And Loulan, I will also give you life!"
The people of Loulan believe that life and death must be balanced.So there was this simple and barbaric sacrifice, and the death of two slaves was exchanged for the life of the entire Loulan.Yi Xianghan also bowed to the ground reverently, looking around the altar, more than a thousand people knelt, but the thirty-four Han envoys were still standing, they were either curious, or disdainful, or like Ren Hong, looking at the scene in front of them thoughtfully.And when the song ended, Yi Xiang Han Cai stepped forward and reported to the king of Loulan to inform him of the arrival of the Han envoy.Perhaps frightened by Fu Jiezi's beheading of the Hun envoy in Qiuzi last year, An Gui was really suspicious and suspicious, so he didn't dare to approach to greet him, only far away from dozens of Loulan warriors, saluting Fu Jiezi.Without waiting for King Loulan to make the next arrangement, the fat Hun clan beside him had an idea, commanded the envoys, and said loudly in Loulan dialect: "The reason for the small river water this year has been found!"
”"It was the arrival of the Han people that angered the virtuous river god!"
PS: Shanshanguo's "Forest Protection Law" was unearthed in the ancient city of Loulan.In addition, I recommend the Dog Emperor's new book Daming Outstanding Youth: I just want to be an excellent person, whoever wants me to move the pit, I will send him to see Emperor Taizu!
Light-hearted and humorous, the shelves are fat.