On weekdays, the wild horse well is probably the most neglected place in the area, but now it is April. In April, it becomes the most lively place at the junction of Ganmen and Mongolia, in the weak water area.
The reason why the wild horse well is called the wild horse well is because the herders in the Gan Meng area almost never come to graze in this pasture, and only wild horses graze here. The horses are not herded here, not because the water and grass here are not good, but because it is even the best pasture in the Khammon area, and the herders do this mainly because they want to keep it as a place for the horse racing meeting on April 20th.
April is the spring on the plug. In April, the oriole flies and the grass grows, the Guan Sui chirps, and the sun is warm and the flowers are fragrant. The Horse Racing Festival lasts for three days, which is a rare day for herders to rest all year round. This festival in Japan is a festival for ethnic minorities in the border area, but with the chaos of the Five Hus, the Central Plains have been turbulent again and again, and the composition of the residents here has long become more and more complex. Nowadays, most of the people living in this area at the junction of Ganmen and Mongolia are Han Chinese. They also learned to herd, and in some years and months they also followed the festivals unique to this nomadic people. ——The eating and living habits of the Han family have long become an unattainable homesick dream in the hearts of the displaced people who have been accustomed to herding horses for a long time, and in life, they still have to get married, funerals, food, clothing, housing and transportation. On the days of grazing, the crowd is far away from each other, so the most important communication problems in life can only be solved according to the customs of this ethnic minority.
This year's horse racing festival was very good, and it was sunny for several days. ——You may not have seen the sunshine on the grassland, but you have seen it scattered so evenly and carefully, the horseshoes, the grass and flowers, the ancient twisted mountain pass in the distance, the accessories on the girls' heads, and the knife edges on the young men's waists, all of which start to shine in the sun, illuminating everyone's hearts and eyes. The sour mare's milk pocket has been opened, and the strong aroma of wine fades into a joyful atmosphere when it reaches a little distance from the barrel, and people who don't drink will be stained with a little excitement, not to mention, on such a day, who wouldn't drink?
It is also wine, but in the cowhide tent a little far away from the venue, it brews a completely different atmosphere. The tent was very large, but a bowl of wine was placed on a crude ebony table at the entrance of the big tent, and the knife marks on the table were distinct, which were the pain marks left by cutting beef and mutton with a knife, but the middle-aged man with a gentle face who was in a daze facing this big bowl of wine was afraid that he didn't know. He looked at this large bowl of wine, and Qiao Hua who was standing in front of the case with an angry face, and he couldn't help but be stunned. I only heard Qiao Hua say: "Hey, Mr. Gu, don't you want to see my second brother?" You drink this big bowl of wine, and I'll take you in." "
The middle-aged man is the so-called Mr. Gu. He looked at the big bowl of wine in front of him in a daze, and said in his heart: "I'm afraid I can't stand it today." He was originally a scholar from the Kwantung region, his real name was Gu Weijun, and he had only learned with a belly, and he had been under the command of Li Yuan's heir and King of Qin, Li Shimin, since the third year of Wude. It is also because there are too many talents under Li Shimin, although he has a belly full of strategies, but he has not been very important over the years. Nowadays, King Shimin of Qin and Prince Jiancheng have reached the point of sword plucking the throne, and this time he sent someone to see Li Bo, which is a crucial chess for the King of Qin to spread the world in the Gan and Meng area, so Gu Weijun took the initiative to ask Ying to be this lobbyist. I didn't expect that just waiting for this Li Bo would take him almost a month, and it was easy to have this opportunity today, how could he miss it, so let alone a bowl of wine, it was a bowl of poison, he could only admit it. I saw him frowning, stretching out a thin white wrist with green veins and picking up the large porcelain bowl in front of him, and pouring it down like a medicine.
After taking this sip, he only felt as if his stomach was on fire, and the strange Taoist said that stuffing highland barley wine was the most mellow and strong.
Mr. Gu's face was red, and he struggled to suppress the wine in his stomach, and said, "I'm already drinking, so please take me to see your second brother." "
Qiao Hua looked at him, as if he didn't expect him to have this courage, grinned, picked up a wine bag and filled the bowl again. "Mr. Gu, look, on our grassland, how can there be a guest coming, the reason why you only drink one bowl of wine is to drink three bowls. I'm full, Mr. Gu, please drink. "
Gu Weijun looked at Qiao Hua's black face full of teasing and smiling, and knew that what he said was not a joke, and it was useless to argue, but how could he still stand in after these three bowls of wine? He raised his thin neck, sighed, picked up the second bowl of wine with the courage of Yi Shui to say goodbye, trembled and brought it to his lips, and barely poured it down.
Qiao Hua didn't expect this scholar to have this courage, but he didn't believe that he couldn't pour him, so he poured the third bowl when he lifted the wine bag, and didn't speak, just stared at the scholar with those eyes. Gu Weijun also knew that begging for mercy was useless, so he picked up the third bowl of wine and closed his eyes, this time he couldn't feel the feeling of a knife in his throat, and he kept falling. There was no longer an accurate part of it, and half of it even fell directly into his neck. After pouring, he didn't even look at Qiao Hua and walked straight to the big tent.
He walked crookedly and staggered to the tent, only to see that there were a total of four cases placed at the top of the tent, and one person sat behind each case. Directly above the left head is a tall and honest middle-aged man of thirty-eight or nineteen years old, Gu Weijun has recognized him as Zhang Jiuchang, the boss of Jingtieshan Wuyi; The first two seats on the left are a man with arms like an ape and a strong figure, but he is Ma Yang, the third child in the Five Meanings of Jingtie Mountain; The person sitting in the second seat on the right has a slight yellow light in his eyes, that is, the 'leopard eye' Shi Zhen; What Mr. Gu has not seen is a white-faced man sitting on the right seat, the man is thirty-four or fifteen years old, wearing a coarse cloth robe, thick eyebrows and heavy eyes, not angry but powerful, and good spirit. Mr. Gu took a breath, knowing that this was the person he wanted to see this time - Li Bo, the object he wanted to persuade.
As soon as he bowed his hand, Li Bo had already waved his hand at him: "Fourth brother, give Mr. Gu a seat." "
I saw Shi Zhen stand up in response, so he sat down in one place with his third brother Ma Yang. Gu Weijun sat in his seat just now.
I only heard Li Bo say: "Mr. Gu, let the fifth brother insist that he must let the gentleman drink these three bowls of wine at the door, not necessarily to follow the rules on the grassland, but just let the gentleman also feel the life of our children on the grassland." There are not many people on the 'grass on the sand', the old and young, women and children, together are only five or six thousand, and there are more than 23,000 fast horses. We outcasts usually live like this. "
Gu Weijun was stunned, and he didn't know why Li Bo remembered to say this, so he only nodded. Li Bo waved his hand, picked up a bowl of wine in front of him, and raised it to Gu Weijun: "Drink." "
Gu Weijun smiled bitterly, and could only pick up the bowl and make a show on his lips. Li Bo put down the wine bowl and said, "Sir, you have seen it, do you think there is any difference?" "
Gu Weijun was stunned again.
Li waved his hair, waved the hem of his robe, and said: "Clothes"; picked up a knife stuck in front of him on the case: "utensil"; Refers to outside the account: "customs"; He stretched out his finger again, and his strong finger popped out a bone, which was hitting a drum on the edge of the carpet in the tent: "There is also music." "
Then he cut off a large piece of beef, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, and said, "Sir, you must have noticed that what Li Bo is wearing is not necessarily Han clothing." When I was a child, there was also a gentleman at home, who taught me etiquette, and whenever he talked about the "Li" set by Confucius, his eyes would be in tears, saying that etiquette is the most important. The first thing to pay attention to in etiquette is clothing, the nobles have the clothes of the nobles, and the untouchables have the clothes of the untouchables. In addition, the body, hair, and body skin cannot be changed casually by parents. But my husband has noticed that I am almost a Hu clothes and cut my flesh? "
After this long discussion, Mr. Gu didn't know what he meant, so he could only listen obediently. I only heard Li Bo say again: "Mr. Guanzhong came from afar, and he must speak of me in the righteousness of the Central Dynasty." I think that since the rebellion at the end of the Sui Dynasty, my eldest brother and five brothers have cut their hair and dressed in Hu clothes, grazed in the wilderness, and left the countryside, like savages for more than ten years. Now that the world has been settled and the world can be expected to be peaceful, it is time for my brother to return to his hometown, clean the ancestral hall, reorganize the crown, and change the rites and music. Mr. was sent by King Shimin of Qin, and he must have convinced me that Shimin is an extraordinary sage, the cauldron of the country, if I enter his command, with his virtue, with my talent, extraordinary achievements can be expected, and the virtue of the people's renewal is expected, is this what the gentleman intends to do? "
Gu Weijun was asked by him so single-handedly, and his mind couldn't help but stagnate - people said that Li Bo was extraordinary, and it seemed that this was indeed the case. I only heard Li Bo sigh: "But can you tell me, sir, if I, Li Bo, are really willing to help, promise the King of Qin with my brother's reputation on the frontier, the horses on the pasture, the lives of his relatives, and the energy of his life, and help him level the rivers and mountains, and after the ninth five-year plan, what will he do?" "
One of his eyes suddenly looked into the distance, and outside the door of the tent in the distance, there was the ancient twist mountain pass directly opposite where he was sitting:
"Is it to re-enforce the law, weed out the powerful, hang the royal way to obey the people, suddenly raise the hegemony to punish the other, strictly enforce the net, educate first, civil officials are in power, and the villages govern each other? ——Let me tell you, after all these years, I don't believe in this anymore. "
The expression in his eyes suddenly deepened: "We Han people, once a generation has been like this, I have had enough of the chaos, but I have also suffered enough of the rule of civil officials, do you think I will help him rectify the peaceful world that the saint said?" I am absolutely not at ease to hand over the village elders back to those county officials for control. What's next? However, it is the extreme desire of luxury from generation to generation, generation after generation of harsh taxes, and generation after generation of patience until it collapses. I don't believe this anymore. I only believe in strength, in horses, in my own bow and arrows, and in the horse herding career and freedom that my four brothers and I have created for our fathers and elders. ——This kind of life is not without suffering, but this is the only chance for us to take care of ourselves, so don't use your Confucian words to move me again, and don't use the so-called heroic cause to persuade me, I have already seen through this. Our brothers are used to this kind of life of sand and grass. I don't want to be a pawn in the competition between the King of Qin and the prince, and I don't want to play in the politics of the Han people anymore - once in power, punish and poke at others, be powerful, and glorify the lintel, that is not my brother's ambition, keep these words and listen to those generals under the command of the King of Qin, we don't want this opportunity to wait for an opportunity to sit big or 'Lideng wants Lujin'. Even if the King of Qin is really heroic, the system and dynasty he wants to establish are the subjects he built for him, and my brother just wants to herd freely for a lifetime. If you come here to buy a horse, today is a good day, we will talk about it tomorrow, there are many good horses on the grass, and they can be sold to the King of Qin. If you want to pull my brother into the group, then it's hands-free. "
As soon as he said this, he waved his hand and said, "Pour wine." Qiao Hua had already brought over the wine bag, filled a bowl for his second brother first, and then filled a bowl for Gu Weijun. Gu Weijun looked at the bowl of wine, his mouth was speechless, and what he wanted to say had been sealed by Li Bo's words, but this wine, should he drink it or not?
I only heard Qiao Hua say coldly: "Are the people sent by the Tang Dynasty such a small amount?" "
Gu Weijun couldn't answer for a while, but he heard someone outside the tent suddenly say coldly: "Born with all people, there is a difference between large and small, is it the pride of the five righteousness of Jingtie Mountain to bully a scribe and scholar?" If you want to drink, I'll accompany you. "
The people in the tent were shocked - someone had approached the door of the tent without their attention, and the big tent of sand on the grass was not as good as the strict forbidden and high-hanging buckets among thousands of troops, but it was not so easy to approach. Qiao Hua was stunned, and was about to scold, but he heard Li Bo spit out two words first: "Coming?" "
He was slightly stunned and sighed, and only Qiao Hua in the audience ignored the complex emotions in those two words.
I only heard the outsider say: "It's coming!" "
Qiao Hua looked at the door of the tent, wanting to see where the madman came. He thought it was good, and he was really a madman. I saw that the shadow of the sun at the door of the tent was covered, and a person had walked in. The man was quite tall, and he even lowered his head slightly when he entered the door. Li Bo is also a tall man, but he is afraid that he is not inferior to Li Bo. The visitor's hair was tied up, and his long loose hair was tied to the top of the high crown, and his hair seemed to be messed up by the wind during the long drive, and a few strands were still on his sweaty cheeks, and there was a strong uninhibited falling zhe coming to his face. The man was wearing a gorgeous Turkic-style leather robe, with a long knife slit on the back of the right side of the robe, and the robe covered his obviously too thin body. The man had long eyebrows and thin eyes, and his mouth and nose were sharp, and he saw that he had a flute inserted diagonally on his clothes, and the flute body was very long, which was very harmonious with his long figure. His whole person, there is a hint of wildness in his culture, and there is a kind of gentleness in his wildness, which makes people don't know what kind of taste it is in their hearts. As soon as the man came in, he first looked at Mr. Gu, then at the wine on the case, then at Qiao Hua, and then said, "You said that Tang envoys can't drink?" "
Qiao Hua was stunned, the man had already stretched out his hand, took the bowl of wine on the table, and said, "I'll drink with you!" "
Before the words landed, his bowl of wine had been poured, so fast. What was faster was his skill, he stood at the door more than two feet away from the case, but this distance seemed to be out of the way at all. The color in Li Bo's eyes deepened, and Ma Yang and Shi Zhen looked at each other—
- "Thousands of miles of courtyard shrinking"! This is the skill of "shrinking a thousand miles", this kung fu is extremely difficult to practice, is there really anyone in this world who can practice it?
Speaking of drinking, Qiao Hua is really not afraid of people. He wasn't particularly good at drinking, but he was never convincing. He lifted the wine bag and poured a bowl for himself, then poured it down his throat and poured a bowl for the person who came. The man didn't look at him, turned to Li Bo, and asked two words before drinking: "Li Bo? "
Li Bo nodded. The man sneered: "You can say that you like sand and grass, but how do you know that your villagers think the same as you, do you think: is your hometown really so easy to abandon, is your hometown really so easy to leave?" Most of them are from Longyou, are you really sure that they like the sky and the earth as much as you do, and they will be desolate for the rest of their lives? "
There was a sudden complicated look in his eyes: "——Home, only home, is the greatest wish of a person's life." "
As he spoke, he drank a second bowl of wine. He blocked his face with a wine bowl, and if there were careful people, he might see that because out of the corner of his eye, when he said the word "home", there was a hint of tenderness unfreely.
Qiao Hua said angrily: "What kind of person are you, dare to come here to teach my second brother a lesson!" "He has a simple temperament, and since that person is already fighting with him, he wants to see him on the wine and teach him a lesson. He lifted the wine bag, poured himself another bowl, and filled it to the man.
After two large bowls of wine, the man's expression did not change at all, he just stared at Li Bo, stared at it for a while, and then said quietly: "In any case, even if your people are willing to choose this kind of grazing life, you should not rob the 150,000 loads of grain and grass." With your knowledge, you won't know how big the 150,000 loads of grain and grass are. Not to mention that the imperial court must investigate, not to mention that the Turks may re-offend the frontier, not to mention that Zhang Wuwei has taken the opportunity to declare to the imperial court that the resumption of the war against you, the border people, will be coming soon, you should also know that in today's world, after a long time, you are clearly causing trouble to the country and the country. Even if the imperial court doesn't care, there are always people in the rivers and lakes who have to take care of it. "
The corners of Li Bo's lips pursed into a single line. "For example, you?"
The man didn't answer, his eyes met Li Bo. Li Bo said lightly: "I had guessed that Li Yuan would not fully believe Zhang Wuwei's words, and he would definitely send another person to investigate, but I didn't expect that the person he sent could still be born under Zhang Wuwei's interception, and I didn't expect to see this person." "
He tapped a finger on the case, "So, who are you?" "
The person who came was drinking the fifth bowl of wine with Qiao Hua, and when he heard the words, he said coldly: "Chen Liu fought a battle, and there were thousands of corpses; The border commander is like ice melting and snow falling. "
Li Bo said "Oh", as if he was stunned - "Are you Chen Li?" "
The person who came said lightly: "I am Chen Li." "
The two of them stopped talking. The end of the Sui Dynasty was originally an era of heroes, he said "I am Chen Cheng" just like Li Bo said "I am Li Bo", after this sentence, not only the explanation of the two names, but also their past, the fame and career they used their lives to spare, and the temperament that the opponent had to respect.
Chen Cheng suddenly said: "What are you going to do with so much grain and grass?" "
Li Bo did not respond.
Chen Shi raised his eyebrows: "Don't say it, I can't report to the King of Tang, Zhang Wuwei's army may arrive in an instant, after the soldiers and horses, do you think that your thousands of people can resist his 100,000 army?" When the jade and stone are burned, can you still afford this hero? I know that you must have difficulties in robbing grain and grass, and I also know that you are not a person who is greedy for money and goods and causes disaster rashly, and maybe you still think that what you have done is worthy of being called a hero. However, this is an opportunity to pacify the world, from this era onwards, everything must have certain rules, and all heroes and those who think they are heroes must die. It's not that you don't understand, this is the times! Now it is no longer the troubled world, and there must be sacrifices from chaos to governance. Tell me, what exactly are you robbing it for? "
Li Bo was quiet, thought for a while, and suddenly stood up: "I can take you out to take a look." "
He passed by Chen Cheng, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and Chen Shan was not afraid. At this time, he and Qiao Hua had reached the ninth bowl, Qiao Hua's eyes were red, and Chen Yan's calm eyes were bloodshot. He saw Qiao Hua fill another bowl, and after taking it, he finished it in one gulp, and then, suddenly pulled out a meat-cutting knife on the table beside him, threw the wine bowl into the air, and when the bowl fell, he slashed the bowl with a knife, and this knife actually split the bowl into two pieces.
Good knife skills! ——Ma Yang and Shi Zhen couldn't help but look at each other in shock. I only heard Chen Cheng say to Qiao Hua: "I don't have time to drink with you anymore." However, drinking does not mean that you win even if you are not drunk, but you have to be able to take out the knife after drinking, and it counts if you can get out of the knife steadily. "
After saying that, he glanced at Mr. Gu, who was already depressed next to the case, and there seemed to be worry in his eyes,—— King Qin also sent someone? But at this time, he didn't have time to think deeply, he went out with Li Bo in his clothes, leaving Qiao Hua behind him to look at the bowl on the ground that he had split into pieces and was stunned.