Chapter 2 Section 1 Yiqu Big Niu Shou accepted the sheepskin blood contract

The car cracked Shang Yang, and the elders of the family in Xianyang celebrated with each other. Heavy snow has closed the door for the past few days, but the Grand Master's mansion is full of people.The family elder in charge of government affairs urged more than 20 servants to clear away the half-deep snow in courtyards, gates, and carriage and horse farms, so that the cars and horses that flowed like water could stop and turn around.Those who came to visit the Grand Master's Mansion were all nobles from the aristocratic families.They drove luxurious bronze chariots, wore various styles of honorary dresses bestowed by the monarchs of past dynasties, and came hand in hand, chatting and laughing happily. The festive feeling surpassed any grand festival. Another scene emerged.

The main hall of the Grand Master's Mansion was already full and there was nowhere to stand, even under the snow-proof mat shed that was erected in the courtyard temporarily, it was full of luxuriously dressed guests.The nobles crowded and walked around to greet each other, but they were all talking and laughing loudly with omnipotent words such as "God has eyes, snow heralds a good year", and from time to time burst into bursts of extremely comfortable laughter!The strange thing is that no one talks about state affairs, they are all chatting, but they are all full of interest.People in Qin call this kind of gossip "Qi Xian Chuan", which is a traditional kung fu to pass the cold weather when relatives, friends and neighbors get together in the winter season.But these luxurious guests came here in high cars and horses, but they didn't come here for leisure. They were obviously waiting for something, but they didn't say anything to anyone, they just wanted to be happy.

The winter is short, look at the twilight has come, although the blizzard is small, but the snowflakes are still fluttering, the cold air hits, and some people have already started stomping.At this time, the luxurious guests gradually quieted down, and the chatter and laughter subconsciously froze. "Hey, it's strange! I didn't eat or drink, and spent a whole day here?" Someone was surprised. "That's right, it's time for the old master to come out and say a few words." Someone suddenly came to his senses. "Of course, the crown and belt are like clouds, don't you want the old grand master to make a decision?"

"Yes, yes, why hasn't the old master come out?" Amidst the discussions, an old man coughed loudly.With a sound, there was a crackling sound all over the courtyard. A few white-haired old men were blushed by the violent coughing, and squatted on the ground out of breath, wiping their noses and saliva. Be on the go.The luxurious guests didn't realize it during the whole day's excitement. Once the excitement subsided, the ice, snow, wind and cold air that invaded the body along with the chattering and laughing all day burst out suddenly, making these nobles who had been idle for a long time very excited. It was so embarrassing that they squatted under the mat shed in the courtyard, unable to catch their breath.

"The old grand master is meeting all the adults—!" In the midst of this chaos, the old man walked out of the main hall and shouted loudly. The luxurious guests suddenly regained their energy and stood up together, eagerly looking at the arched door leading to the bedroom from the main hall. With an old cough, the gray-haired old master Qian Long walked out of the door tremblingly.He is holding a mulberry stick, wearing an unbleached natural-colored cloth robe, with loose white hair, no jade crown on his head, and no brocade belt around his waist. He looks like an old country man with a room full of luxurious guests. In comparison, Lao Qianlong is so shabby that he is like a flock of cranes.But it was such an old man, when he walked through the hall and walked to the corridor, and his eyes slowly swept across the main hall and the courtyard, all the luxurious guests lowered their heads in shame, avoiding his dull and sharp eyes.

"Old master, we all want to hear your opinion." It was the Taimiao Ling Du Zhi who spoke eagerly. "Hmph," Old Qianlong sneered, "I only look up to the king, how can I have a good opinion? You are all old in state affairs, and state affairs should be discussed in the court, understand?" After finishing speaking, he trembled Weiwei turned around and went back without paying attention to anyone.The nobles in the room were so embarrassed, they looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces.The new guest minister, Zhao Liangji, is extremely intelligent, after thinking for a while, he suddenly became clear, and said loudly: "My lords, please go back, it's very cold." After speaking, he turned and left.

"Go back." Du Zhi seemed to understand something, and said in a rough voice, "That's right, you can only do it, you can't talk about it." Only then did the nobles come to life, and they looked up at the sky one after another: "Let's go, let's go, it's freezing, go home and nest." Discussing with each other indifferently, they each hurried away, and the colleagues in twos and threes There are no roads, and it is quite different from the crowds talking and laughing loudly when they came.In a short while, the Grand Master's Mansion became deserted, and it was so cold that it returned to its former state.

When the old man walked into the study to report, old Qianlong was leaning against the burner, turning the red charcoal with a long small shovel, as if he wanted to see through the charcoal fire.After listening to the old man's report, his ravine face just twitched a few times: "My old man, call Gan Shi. Remember, from today onwards, there will be no guests in the Grand Master's Mansion." The old man nodded respectfully: "Understood." They went in a hurry. A moment later, a middle-aged man in his forties entered Qianlong's study.He is Gan Shi, the eldest son of Old Ganlong. He also wears a cotton robe, and looks as simple as a villager. Only his bright eyes and gait, but he naturally reveals a kind of shrewdness and strength.Lao Ganlong has three sons, the second son Gan Su and the third son Gan Yan have both worked in the government as small officials with real power equivalent to the next doctor.Only the eldest son, Gan Shi, who is most qualified to be an official, has always been dressed in white clothes, living at home and rarely interacting with others.Except for a few former officials who were close disciples, many people in the court didn't even know that Lao Qianlong had this eldest son.However, it is precisely this white clothed son who is the real flesh and blood of Old Ganlong and the pillar supporting the Gan clan.During the twenty-three years when Old Qianlong was completely annihilated, all the conspiracies were carried out through this seemingly dull Ganshi.Without Gan Shi, it would have been impossible for Qian Long to have caused the murder of the prince, nor would he have known the truth about Gongsun Jia, nor would he have conspired with him to infiltrate the power of the family and thus split Shang Yang.Gan Shi is the secret weapon of Lao Ganlong and the main axis of mediating the political situation of Qin State.Now the car tore apart Shang Yang, Qin is at the crossroads, and old Qianlong is about to use his secret weapon again.

Stirring up the charcoal in the burner and sipping thick rice wine, the father and son went from dark to pale in the east. Half a month later, before the heavy snow that blocked the road had completely melted, an ox cart left the north gate of Xianyang, creaked up to Beiban, and braved the howling wind into the northern mountains. The two people driving the car were both dressed in red robes and spoke the official dialect of Daliang. Anyone could see that they were businessmen from the Kingdom of Wei.They squirmed unhurriedly in the ice and snow, and whenever they came across a village, they used medicinal materials to exchange for animal skins, and occasionally they would rest in that mountain village for two days, chatting happily with hunters, farmers, and medicine men.Stopping and stopping like this, even wandering on the road during the Chinese New Year, until the beginning of March when the snow melted and the new branches of willows opened, the ox cart finally arrived at the mountains, forests and valleys in Longxi.On this day, the ox cart turned over a high mountain, a piece of pale yellow forest, and a piece of messy tent appeared in front of him!

"Brother Gan, is it Yiqu Country?" A young businessman pointed to the tent in the forest and shouted excitedly. "Who is Brother Gan? Be more careful." The businessman in red in his forties reprimanded solemnly. "Forget it when you're happy, slap your mouth!" The young businessman laughed and slapped himself. "The happy things will come later. How urgent are you? Take a break first, and listen to me tell you about the details of Yiqu Kingdom." "It's time to say it! I've made a boring gourd all the way, holding my breath!" The young man yelled loudly, and took out a piece of dried meat and a wine bag from the bullock cart neatly and walked over.The middle-aged businessman took the wine bag and uncorked it, took a deep breath, touched the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, and took a long breath, then pointed to the tent in the dense forest of the river valley, and said slowly——

Yiqu, an ancient tribe.At the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, Yiqu was one of the largest tribes in Xirong, and one of the few powerful tribes that called themselves "country".At that time, their area of ​​activity was in the Mobei grassland, and they were a completely nomadic grassland tribe.The Yiqu people are fierce and good at fighting, occupying the best river valley and grassland in Mobei.At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King You of Zhou lost his power and disrupted the country, and wanted to depose Prince Yijiu.Shen Hou (March of Shen Guoguo) is the prince's uncle, so he secretly contacted Xirong to send troops to protect the prince.Xirong had always admired the Central Plains, and the eight largest tribes, including Huangfa, Hongfa, Yiqu, and Quanqiu, jointly formed 80,000 cavalry and attacked Haojing, known as "Eight Rong Jingguo".The Eight Army Cavalry originally planned to make a great contribution to the royal family of the Central Plains, and they were satisfied with a title and a marginal pasture from the new emperor. Then his ambitions swelled, he killed King Zhou You, ransacked the royal family, and burned Haojing to the ground!Among them, Yiqu cavalry killed the most, and was called "Niu Mo Yiqu" by Zhou people.Crown Prince Yijiu avenged his shame, and secretly traveled to Longxi to ask the Qin people to send troops to calm the disaster.The Qin tribe secretly marched eastward, and the 50,000 cavalrymen fought a bloody battle with the eighty thousand cavalrymen from the Eighth Rong, killing the Eighth Rong cavalry to the ground!From then on, Ba Rong had a bloody feud with the Qin people.Especially the Yiqu tribe had the most casualties, only 5,000 of the 20,000 strong fled back, and the hatred was the greatest. More than two hundred years later, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty weakened, and the various ethnic groups in Xirong began to enter the Central Plains again.The Shanyi in the south, Dongyi in the east, Zhuhu in the north, and Rongdi in the west shouted to kill and eat, and surrounded the Central Plains like a vast ocean!Yiqu was the most powerful, and even burned all the way to the south bank of the Yellow River, occupying a wasteland of two to three hundred miles, and declared that he was the "King" and wanted to use this place as the foundation for the establishment of "Yiqu Kingdom".At this time, Duke Huan of Qi united with the princes, respected the king and fought against the barbarians, and joined the princes of the Central Plains nine times to launch a war against the barbarians who invaded the Central Plains.When the Yiqu tribe retreated westward, they were blocked by the Qin army led by Qin Mugong who had just ascended the throne. In a thrilling bloody battle, the Yiqu tribe was killed and only 20,000 to 30,000 people escaped from the encirclement.The Yiqu tribe once again forged a blood feud with the Qin people. Later, when the Central Plains struggled for hegemony, Qin Mugong tried his best to pacify the Western Rongdi.More than a hundred Rong and Di tribes, large and small, were all defeated by the Qin army and became Qin's vassal princes.In other words, submit to Qin, pay tribute, but still self-government.However, Qin Mugong hated Yiqu country so much that he moved all 30,000 strong people from Yiqu to the hinterland of Qin, punished them as slave farmers (slaves), and drove the rest of the old and young women to the desert area north of Yinshan Mountain. up.The Yiqu tribe recorded another vengeance against the Qin people. After Qin Mugong, the four generations of Qin State weakened, and the Yiqu tribe fought back tenaciously, occupying the valley grassland in the upper reaches of the Jingshui River.Until Qin Xiangong came to the throne, Qin State reorganized its army and trained military forces, and had to get rid of Yiqu, a thorn in his side, before going to war against Wei State.After several fights, Yiqu was defeated, but he escaped very quickly, and his vitality was not injured.As soon as the Qin army retreated, Yiqu immediately made a comeback, and Qin Xiangong was so angry that he couldn't laugh or cry.At this time, Qianlong, a young Chinese doctor, put forward the strategy of "pacifying Yiqu to fix the rear", and pleaded for orders, and went to Yiqu alone for peace talks.After three months, Qianlong and the leader of Yiqu reached a blood contract of "Yiqu proclaims his minister, Qin State strikes down".The rear of the Qin State was stabilized, and Yiqu also gained recuperation. At that time, Yiqu occupied only the valley grassland in the upper reaches of Jingshui River, but during the more than 20 years when Qin Xiangong had no time to look around, Yiqu took the opportunity to occupy the mountainous grasslands in Qishui River Valley, Qishan Mountain and Liangshan Mountain, and became a semi-grassland. A farming and semi-pastoral tribe.Qin Xiaogong and Shang Yang have been busy reforming the law for more than 20 years. As long as there is no rebellion in the western Rongdi, they will not be touched.In this way, the Yiqu Kingdom has grown steadily for more than 50 years, and has become a wealthy and powerful tribe. "I mean," the young man said with a smile, "Old brother is well thought out, it turns out that old man Yu Yiqu has the grace of rebirth, good!" "Even so, you can't be careless." The middle-aged man stared at the plumes of smoke in the dense forest in the valley: "Rong and Di are fierce and stubborn, they are just sharp weapons that can be used, and we can't be serious with them. Alright, let's go." The bullock cart creaked down the hillside and walked along the trail to the forest.I saw a raging fire on the hillsides on both sides of the valley, surrounded by a large group of shirtless men and women waving wooden shovels in their hands, cheering and frolicking. Once the fire was extinguished, the cheering crowd immediately rushed into the sparkling ashes. Wielding a wooden shovel and violently digging over the hot soil, there was another burst of shouting and noise.The middle-aged man told his young companions in a low voice: The Yiqu tribe believes that cattle are their ancestors and gods. They cannot plow the fields with ox-drawn carts, let alone slaughter them. They can only fight on horseback. "Weird!" The young man shook his head contemptuously and sneered. "Don't talk nonsense. Here you go, look." The forest in the valley ahead was already sparse with dead leaves, and a large tile-roofed house was exposed.There was a big black flag floating on the open field in front of the house, and a ferocious tauren figure could be vaguely seen embroidered on the flag!The two stopped the ox cart outside the forest and walked towards the tile-roofed house on foot. Suddenly, there was a low roar of "moo!" in the forest, and someone shouted loudly: "Ox, biological parents!" "Human, cow body and spirituality!" The middle-aged man replied vigorously. A burly man walked out of the forest path, wearing a tube-shaped animal skin gown, and asked in a rough voice, "Are you from Qin?" "Exactly." "What are you going to do?" "I want to see Big Niu Shou, it's urgent business." "Ah, I get it, are you the two sons of Gandu?" The animal-skin robed man inspected it, and it was obvious that he was a leader who knew the truth. "Exactly, Xia Ganshi." The middle-aged man pointed at his companion, "This is the young master Du Tong. I have seen the general." "What's the general? I'm Erniu!" The man in the animal skin robe carefully corrected his official title, then glanced out of the woods, and his face darkened: "You, dare to use the cow god to pull this rotten car? " "Master Er Niu," Gan Shi clasped his hands and replied, "This is a divine ox, and it insists on pulling a cart to see the head of the big ox." "Oh? The car is a tribute to the big cow's head?" Er Niu's face was dark. "Exactly. Medicinal materials, animal skins, and swords." Er Niu suddenly laughed loudly: "No wonder no wonder! You are a god cow!" He turned around and shouted, "Wu Niu, go and remove Grandpa Niu and ask two women to serve him. Pull the cart to the palace yourself!" "Hi! Wu Niu obeys!" Someone outside the forest agreed in a rough voice. "Okay. You, you, come with me." He strode forward and led the way. Du Tong tried his best to hold back his smile, and followed the serious Gan Shi through the winding forest path.With a casual glance, Du Tong found at least one or two hundred archers with khaki animal skins hidden in the dense forest, pointing their bows at the path in the forest. He was startled, and couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat. " laughed out loud.It turned out that in the sparse gaps in the forest, several strong cattle were walking around. A group of men and women were vying to suck milk under the belly of the cow, and there were even a few half-naked girls crawling on the back of the cow, panting and moaning constantly... ...Gan Shi turned around, gave Du Tong a stern look, took his hand and strode forward. Going out of the woods, when he came to the big tile-roofed house, Gan Shi pulled Du Tong and bowed three times to the big banner with the bull's head and human body.The "Er Niu" leading the way folded his hands around his mouth, and shouted loudly into the big tile house, "Moo! Mr. Qin, the old grand master, please see the big cow!" There was also a "moo!" in the big tile-roofed house, and then a distant voice responded: "Come in!" When Gan Shi Dutong came to the big tile-roofed house in the middle, he saw a whole stone gate open, and six tiger-skin archers were standing outside the gate valiantly.Entering the door, it was dark, like night.It turned out that there were no windows in the room, and it was so deep that it would have been hard to see if it wasn't for a thick animal oil lamp flickering with squeaky oily smoke.Gan Shi and Du Tong couldn't help rubbing their eyes, only to see a huge earthen couch called "Huokang" by Yiqu people in the deepest part of the big house.On the kang was a large tiger skin, and on the tiger skin lay an old man with gray beard and hair.Gan Shi knew that this was undoubtedly the head of the big bull.There is a big hole under the earthen kang of Da Niu Shou. The fire in the hole is blazing, and the whole room is hot.Two half-naked female slaves were snuggling up beside the squinting bull's head, one was combing his white hair carefully, and the other was tapping his calf with a small wooden stick.On the ground next to the kang, a mighty bull with shiny curved horns stood upright. The bull's body was covered with a red cloth, and its head was wearing a copper mask. It kept stepping on a naked woman lying on the ground.The woman tossed and turned and moaned softly, as if she didn't feel any pain. Gan Shi remained calm as usual.But Du Tong was astonished as if he had entered a dream because he came to Yiqu for the first time. "Is it Mr. Gan and Du who are here?" The old man on the kang said hoarsely and leisurely. "Gan Shi, Du Tong, see the head of the big cow." "Okay, okay. The old master brought me something good for Lao Niu?" "Report to the head of the bull, and my father will give you one hundred catties of medicinal materials, one hundred animal skins, and one hundred fine swords." "Oh, it's all the things that Lao Niu wants. Tell me, do you want me to send troops to Xianyang?" The old man still squinted his eyes. Gan Shi cupped his hands and said: "Big Niu's head, it is not the intention of my father alone that Yiqu is difficult to settle down in Xianyang, but it is the heart of all the people of the country. If Shang Yang's new law is not abolished, and Mu Gongzu's rule is not restored, the people of Yiqu will also be in great trouble." "Does the old master have a letter written by himself?" Da Niu head ignored Gan Shi's generous speech. "Da Niu's head is clear, and my father's dark book will arrive later. I'm afraid...I'm afraid that there is no one in Yiqu who can read it. Therefore, Gan Shi Du Tong is the special envoy first to show integrity." "Quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack!" Du Tong never dared to interrupt.Of course, he understands the particularity of the "Yin Shu": Whenever a secret order is to be delivered on military or state affairs, more than a dozen bamboo slips in a letter will be shuffled into three or five parts, and several fast horse knights will send them in separate routes. Only one copy is given away, if it is intercepted by the enemy, no one can understand the meaning!After receiving the bamboo slips, the recipient rearranges them according to the symbols on the back of the bamboo slips to know the original meaning.This is called "Three Issues and One Arrival" or "Five Issues and One Arrival". If there is no experienced scribe, it is really easy to make a mistake in the order and cause the content of the decrypted letter to be wrong.Yiqu is a barbarian, where does this kind of scribe come from?Thinking about being angry, Du Tong couldn't help but shouted: "Big Niu Shou doesn't understand the truth! Isn't it better for the old grand master to send out his parents and children than a black letter?" Big Niu Shou chuckled again: "You boy, what you said is quite reasonable. Well, this matter is over, and the old cow doesn't care about those few bamboo boards." "Big Niu's head made a clear decision." Gan Shi took the opportunity to flatter him. "Hmph," Big Niu Shou's face turned cold, and he picked up the topic just now: "Gan Shi, you don't have to lie to me. Shang Jun's reform has an agreement with our clans: Rong Di Zu system, unchanged for thirty years I am Yiqu, what disaster is there?" "Da Niu Shou is in trouble!" Gan Shi waved his hands again and again: "Even if it remains the same for 30 years, there are only five years left for Da Niu Shou's peaceful time. Five years later, the new law will be implemented in the western frontier, and the Yiqu people will have to use cattle to plow the fields to pull carts." The clan slaves have to be abolished. Da Niu Shou can only be an ordinary patriarch, and is no longer the Da Niu Shou of the Yiqu country. Yiqu people must also be incorporated into the official household registration, males must join the army, and females must be sangma , One person breaks the law, and ten families sit together. At that time, the bull god Sun and Moon, who ruled the country in Yiqu, will disappear from the Jingshui River Valley forever." For a while, the Yiqu Niuguan in the house looked at Gan Shi in panic and anger. Da Niu Shou suddenly sat up straight, pushed away the female slave beside him, and smiled coldly: "If the Mu Gongzu system is restored, what good will Yiqu have?" "On the day when the ancestral system is restored, the veterans of the Qin family will support the new king. The Yiqu country can get three hundred miles to the west of Sanguan and officially establish a country. The big bull head can be called the Duke of Yiqu, and stand side by side with Qin in the world!" Gan Shi Generous and forthright, just like an envoy of a country. "It's a pity, there is no basis for empty talk, ah quack quack quack quack!" Big Niu Shou laughed again. Du Tong stepped forward: "Big ox head, this is the blood contract of the thirty-two patriarchs of the family!" What he held in his hands was a piece of white sheepskin.The big ox head on the kang took it, and leaned closer to the squeaking and smoking animal oil lamp, and the bloody characters were impressively visible!Finally, there is a list of names that Daniel Shou is familiar with.Da Niu looked at it for a while, shook his sheepskin and said with a smile: "Then I will leave this blood contract, and there will be a settlement in the future." Du Tong said urgently: "Big Niu Shou, this is not acceptable, I will go to other tribes..." Gan Shi hurriedly interrupted the conversation: "Big Niu, I will return from Didao in ten days, and I will leave a blood contract as proof, how about it?" Big Niu Shou sullenly said: "That's fine, I'm not afraid of being cheated by you. But if there is a blood contract, I will send troops. Otherwise, don't blame me, the old cow, for saying nothing!" Gan Shi was stunned.According to his father and son's plan, the blood contract "is only for viewing, not for keeping."Such a major evidence of splitting the land and dividing the country must not be left in the hands of these amorphous barbarians.But this old, treacherous and cunning bullhead would not send troops without a blood contract, so what should we do?The reason why he wants to connect from the nearest tribe is because he is afraid that if Xianyang changes suddenly before their connection is completed, the tribes already connected will be able to send troops immediately; if he does not leave a blood contract for him, this perfect plan will be tantamount to failure , wouldn't it be a big deal?After thinking for a moment, Gan Shi cupped his hands and said, "Big Niu Shou values ​​the blood contract so much, I'll just leave it in Yiqu later. However, I have two conditions." "Let's talk. As long as Lao Niu is not deceived, he will not make things difficult for you." "First, if the leaders of other tribes send someone to investigate, the leader of the big cow must show the blood contract." "This blood contract was originally intended for the various tribes in the western frontier, so it is natural for you." "Secondly, if there is a change in Xianyang before we return, Da Niu Shou must send troops immediately." "Crack!" Daniel clapped his palms together: "I, Yiqu, have a five-hundred-year blood feud with the people of Qin. Do you need to say it? It's a deal!" After spending the night in Yiqu, Gan Shi Dutong inquired in detail about Yiqu's military strength and possible allied tribes. Along the way, Du Tong was worried about the possible future troubles caused by leaving the blood contract, and babbled several times.Gan Shi laughed angrily and said, "Are you out of your head? Don't you know the plan for the second step?" Du Tong said in a daze, "The second step? What is the second step?" He picked a thick dead branch blocking the way: "After taking power, immediately wipe out the Rong and Di! There are these bird kingdoms in the backyard of the Qin State, what about Mu Gongzu's system? He left a blood contract, and the birds use it!" Du Tong laughed suddenly: "Brother Gan, a Confucian scholar, the vulgar words are ingenious. Straight mother thief! Let's go!" The two laughed loudly, then raised their whips and urged their horses to go west.