Five days after adding 210 more to the white silver Meng people under the sycamore, in the suburbs of Gumo, five hundred miles west of Qiuzi, the sun was hot.Liu Yaoguang sat on the grass, touching his dirty neck and worried, but he was surprised to see that Ren Hong was actually in the resting forest, touching around a tree that was about to bloom, and he was very excited."
It's really an apple tree."
Ren Hong didn't care about the eyes of others, walked around these trees a few times, looked at the shape of the leaves, and then smelled the budding buds, and determined that this was a wild apple tree.Gumo Kingdom is the later Aksu City of Xinjiang, famous for its abundance of apples, the sugar heart is extremely sweet, and the most important point: it is the crisp apple that Ren Hong loves to eat!
There are also primitive apples in the Central Plains, which will be called "柰" nài, which are also planted in Dunhuang County, and Ren Hong has tasted them, but unfortunately, they are cotton apples that he is not interested in, which are small in size and not sweet in taste.Although the Xinjiang wild apples are not large in size and a little sour in these years, if they can be introduced and cultivated, they can be regarded as more flavors.It's a pity that it's only mid-March now, and the flowers haven't bloomed, where is the fruit?
We'll have to wait until later.Ren Hong's excitement when he found the wild apple quickly passed, and he looked at Gumo City in the distance, they still had something to do."
In fact, there are a lot of people in Gumo country, more than 20,000 people, three or four thousand victorious soldiers, obeying Wusun, and every year they have to send some food, fine wars, fine brown and other things to Kunmi as tribute.I passed through this place when I went with Wan Nian, and King Gumo was very respectful to us.The sun tanned Liu Yaoguang's face like a red apple, and Ren Hong gave her a felt hat, with a leather coat and high-top leather boots of the Wusun people, and she wore it like a western woman."
However, according to Ren Jun's proposal, because it is not clear whether there are Xiongnu envoys in Gumo, we will pass through this city and not enter it."
Eat a trench and grow a wisdom, and suffer a loss in Qiuzi, Liu Yaoguang is much more cautious now, in addition to the two of them, there is also Han Dangdang brought by Ren Hong, and Liu Yaoguang brought a black granddaughter to escort.Ren Hong asked, "Princess, what is that fine zhn?"
”Liu Yaoguang replied: "It is the felt cloth woven by the fine wool of the yak." ”Ren Hong became interested: "Gumo also has yaks?"
I thought it was only the Nandao Qiang, which was two thousand miles away from here. ”"Gumo is at the foot of the White Mountain, the Tianshan Mountain, the terrain is quite high, naturally there is."
Liu Yaoguang slowly raised his hand high, making an analogy: "Starting tomorrow, we will have to walk up the river valley and mountain slopes, through the gaps of the glacier, climb the ladder, climb the Baishan Pass and go down to reach the summer pasture in Wusun."
Ren Hong thought thoughtfully: "Then when the princess passed by Gumo, she should have seen a small settlement in the northern suburbs of the capital?"
”"There is indeed a small village, but there are more than a dozen households, and the Gumo people say that it is a gathering place for the Sogdians."
Gumo can be connected to Khotan and Shule in the south, and can cross the Tianshan Mountains to reach Wusun in the west and north, and Qiuzi in the east, which is the status hub, so there are also Sogdian trading stations and communities.Ren Hong stood up: "Can you take me to take a look?"
”Liu Yaoguang was puzzled: "Why did Ren Jun go to the Sogdian village?"
”"There's a Sogdian Sabao who can help us."
Before people think about advancing, they should retreat first, and it is always good to prepare more, which is the key to survival in the Western Regions.He smiled and said: "After we got out of Qiuci, we went to Luntai first, and then went around to this place, it has been ten days, if nothing else, that person has escaped from Qiuci, just ask him about the current situation of Qiuci country!"
”"By the way" Ren Hong sniffed himself, he could smell the smell through the thick clothes, because his personal hygiene was too poor, he was stared at by horse lice in the past few days, and those little things sucked the blood of the radish and sucked his blood.He looked at Yaoguang, who was also dirty and uncomfortable, and smiled: "Tomorrow we will start to cross the White Mountain, and we should also take a bath and rest." ”The Sogdian settlement in Gumo was built on the northern outskirts of Gumo City, close to the mountains, and was very remote.The rugged path was hidden by the woods, and if Ren Hong hadn't known that they were a merchant people traveling through the Western Regions, they would have thought that this was the hiding place of the hermits.And when the four approached the village, they understood why the Sogdians had been driven out of the city and completely cut off from the rest of the village.The Sogdians were gathering on a mound at the edge of the village to perform strange rituals.But I saw dozens of Sogdians, all dressed in black clothes, circling the mound from afar, walking and jumping barefoot, touching their chests and crying, and then slowly retreating, looking at the mound and bowing down.Ren Hong and Liu Yao looked at each other, they came unfortunately, could it be that they were just in time for the funeral?
But when they saw the situation on the mound clearly, from Liu Yaoguang to Han Dangdang, they all showed expressions of disgust in disbelief!
But I saw a naked male corpse lying on his back on a brick platform on the mound, looking like he had been dead for many days, emitting a foul smell.What's even more terrifying is that a group of dogs, domestic dogs raised by the Sogdians, some black and some white, are tearing and chewing around the corpse, and after a while, the man's corpse is already incomplete and his leg bones are exposed!
And those Sogdians, who were still weeping bitterly, were probably the man's family and friends, but they were not angry but happy in the face of the scene of dogs eating human corpses."
I remember."
Liu Yaoguang said in a low voice: "The Gumo people said that the Sogdians have a bad custom, and they specialize in building a house next to their settlements, and every time someone dies, they take the corpse and put it there, and let the dogs eat it until only the white bones remain, I thought it was a joke, but I never thought it was true." ”Wusun, Gumo, and Qiuci, like the Central Plains, are all buried state tribes, paying attention to returning to the earth after death, leaving a whole corpse, they can't even understand the cremation of the Qiang people, not to mention the hard-core burial in the belly of the dog?
This death is worse than killing a corpse.Han Dangdang's eyes widened: "No wonder some Sogdians would dig up the tombs of the Han soldiers in Lucang before, it turns out that their own people's corpses were so humiliated." ”A voice came from behind him: "You are right, the Sogdians, who truly believe in Ahuramazda, believe that dead bodies are unclean, and that darkness enters the body to bring about aging and death, and if it is allowed to come into contact with the ground, water, and fire, it will pollute all souls.So it must be purified, and only the birds or dogs can eat it. ”Therefore, the real Sogdians will never touch the relics of the dead.Doesn't this mean that those gravediggers are impostor hounds, false Sogdians attached to the city of Mo?
”Ren Hong turned his head, and it was the Sogdian Sabao Shibo knife whose face looked fatter after shaving his beard.Even though Shi Bodao repeatedly explained, Liu Yaoguang and Han Dangdang still couldn't accept it, and when they entered the Sogdian villages, drank their water, and ate their food, they were a little hesitant and worried, even if the Sogdians, who loved cleanliness, did clean their houses to be spotless.Ren Hong understood that this was the reason why the Sogdians were ostracized everywhere.I heard that whether it was Khotan or Gumo, as long as they had seen the Sogdian funeral, they were mercilessly blasted out of the main city, and stayed in a remote corner.After all, this kind of shocking burial custom is considered cruel and barbaric in all nationalities other than the followers of the Fire Zoroastrian religion, and it is difficult for people to accept."
It's no wonder that the Fire Zoroastrian Cult is almost impossible to spread, even if you don't pay attention to blood, who wants to become a piece of shit after death?
That's not a life to a dog. ”But even so, the Sogdians, who were wealthy but marginalized in the Western Regions and had no status, needed to cling to a powerful empire that would keep them safe and do business.When Shi Bodao had previously joined Ren Hong in Qiuci City, he told him that he would bribe the guards and take all the Sogdians to drive the camel caravan out of Qiuci City and take refuge in the Sogdian gathering point in Gumo.Because Shi Bodao felt that Qiuzi was going to be messed up, and something would happen if he stayed."
Sure enough, not long after I left the city, I heard that King Qiuci was dead, because" Shi Bodao laughed, leaned into Ren Hong's ear and said: "It's because Ren Jun is dissatisfied with the prostitution, and the big trouble with Qiuzi caused his heart disease, and he suddenly died violently." ”"So I, like Fu Gong, killed a traitorous King Hu?
I really have to thank the Qiuzi people, this is a great achievement. ”Ren Hong couldn't be happy, the two were already very familiar, and he patted Shi Bodao's bulging belly: "But Shi Sabi, that day, I was very satisfied with your performance!"
What happened after that?
”Shi Bodao said: "Jiangbin became the king of Qiuci, Guyi was in charge, Qiuci was under martial law, and two thousand soldiers were gathered in the city to suppress those who were dissatisfied.He also sent 3,000 soldiers from the rest of the cities to the east to besiege Luntai with the Xiongnu servants. ”Ren Hong and Liu Yaoguang glanced at each other, no wonder this Qiuci country was determined to join the Huns, it turned out that there was a coup d'état, and the pro-Huns Guyi controlled power, but this also means that Qiuci is now extremely unstable."
Shouldn't Ren Jun escort the Wusun delegation to the Jade Gate?
Why did you come to the west instead, in the words of the Han people, isn't this the opposite of the north?
Could it be that the way south has also been cut off?
”Ren Hong smiled mysteriously and said: "If you want to go east, you must first go west, Shi Sabao, I want you to buy a few things for me." ”He made a list of the same: "Isn't there a yak in Gumo Country?"
And I got a good yak tail triple, which had to be dyed red with dye, bright yellow, and an eight-foot black lacquered wooden staff, made of good material, preferably hard enough to peek through the chest. ”Shi Bodao responded one by one, and Ren Hong looked at Princess Yaoguang, who was restless, itchy but embarrassed to scratch it, and said, "I also have to prepare a clean house for this lady, enough hot water, I'm tired." ”Ren Hong knows, they have been sleeping all night, and they hardly have time to rest, let alone take a bath, although Yaoguang is also "the sky is the dome and the ground is the bed", not picky and never complaining, but they don't take a bath for five days, the sand comes and goes, and the princess can't bear it anymore!
Yaoguang glanced at Ren Hong gratefully, and if he had been pardoned, he didn't care how terrible the funeral in this Sogdian village was, and hurriedly got up and followed the Sogdian woman out."
Old Han, you and Princess Yaoguang's guards go out to patrol the surrounding area, don't be careless."
Ren Hong even dared to send Han away, and then whispered to Shi Bodao: "Shi Sabi, there is one more thing." ”"Ren Jun, please speak."
Shi Bodao knew that the Han and the Xiongnu were competing in the Western Regions, but for the Sogdians, the temperamental and unable to provide silk were not a good trading partner.And in the past few months, he has also tasted the sweetness of monopolizing the silk trade of the Han Dynasty, so he would rather fight the risk of sacrificing the Sogdian business in the Northern Western Regions to become a friend of the Han Dynasty!
For Ren Hong's requirements, it can be said that he responds to requests."
Ask Shi Sabao to let the Sogdians preach one thing in the bazaars of Gumo, Wensu, Weitou and other cities."
Ren Hong said: "King Qiuzi robbed and killed the Wusun delegation and wanted to detain the princess and prince of Wusun, but fortunately with the help of the Han envoy, the princess and the prince were able to escape.And Qiuzi sent people to chase and kill, and several died. ”"Wusun is known as the one hundred thousand strings, the strongest country in the Western Regions, and now he is humiliated and despised by Qiuzi, if he just swallows his anger, he especially dare not add troops to Qiuzi.The annual tribute of Gumo and other states does not have to be given to Wusun, but should be transferred to Qiuzi!
”"Finally, I will make up a song and spread it among the states."
Ren Hong is also a talent, clapping his hands and opening his mouth."
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Wusun Wusun, the grandson of Qiuzi!"