Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1481, Daming's Winter Prairie

"hu~hu~"

The howling cold wind raged across the vast grassland like ghosts crying and wolves howling. Under the white hair wind, the ground was covered with thick white snow. The weather was extremely cold, and the vision was very poor. Even a few meters away, it was hard to see clearly.

"It's snowing too much!"

At the foot of a leeward mountain, a stretch of yurts gather together, inhabited by more than a dozen families of herdsmen, who spend the winter together.

While drinking hot milk tea, Ji Rentai looked at the howling cold wind outside, and his whole body was full of worry.

The white hair wind is what the herdsmen are most afraid of encountering, because often after a heavy snowfall, a large area of ​​cattle and sheep in their homes will freeze to death, causing heavy losses.

"Yeah, it's really too big!"

Binta on the side nodded and said: "That is to say, the world is good now. If it was in the past, how many cattle and sheep would be frozen to death under such a white hair wind, and how many cattle and sheep would be starved to death in the spring of the next year?" people."

Binta is relatively old, already in his fifties, which is considered a very old age on the grassland.

While drinking milk tea, he recalled the past.

"Grandpa, why do people starve to death?"

"Without cattle and sheep, we can still eat rice and noodles."

Beside Binta, his youngest grandson, Li Doer, who is only five years old now, asked very puzzled.

"Haha, there was no rice or noodles at that time."

"At that time, we were not a family with the Han people in the south. The tribal leaders on our grassland would often take us south to plunder the Han people, and the Han people would rise up and resist us."

"The relationship between the two parties was very bad, so the Han people would not sell us anything at that time. We could not buy the salt, tea, sugar, rice, and noodles we eat now."

"At that time, two horses could be exchanged for one iron pot, and several sheep could be exchanged for one catty of salt, but even so, it was difficult for us ordinary herdsmen to obtain these things."

"Winter is the saddest time for us. When the white hair wind comes, a large number of our cattle and sheep will be frozen to death. The next day, because a large number of cattle and sheep will be frozen to death, they cannot keep fresh. , we will have no cattle and sheep to eat, and people will starve to death."

Binta touched his grandson's head and recalled those long years.

"The winter at that time was really extremely long, so long that it made people panic."

"Oh~"

"Then why are Han people willing to sell these things to us now?"

Li Duoer thought for a while and asked again.

"Haha, that's because we're a family now."

"We are the same as the Han people, and now we are all citizens of the Son of Heaven, so regardless of each other, we sell them cattle, sheep and horses, and they sell us tea, grain, salt, iron pots, etc., so that If the Han people have beef and mutton to eat, we can also drink milk tea, rice and noodles."

When Binta heard this, he smiled and said.

"Isn't that nice?"

"Then why wasn't it like this before?"

After listening, Li Duoer thought for a while and said in a puzzled way.

"Haha, yes, this is very good, so we grassland people should live in harmony with the Han people, so that both of us will be better."

Binta smiled and nodded.

As an old man, he once went south with the Great Khan to plunder the Han people.

I have also returned home with a full load, but I have always lived a poor life.

An iron pot, a catty of salt, a catty of tea, food for the winter, etc., these things are still luxuries for these low-level herdsmen.

No matter how many things are grabbed from the south, they will be consumed soon, and it will still become very sad in winter.

But now, they don't need to pick up scimitars and bows and arrows. They only need to graze cattle, sheep and horses on the grassland to live a good life that they dreamed of before.

There are a lot of iron pots at home, use them casually, don’t take them to repair if they are broken, just go to the nearest town to buy a new one.

Tea, salt, and food are all very cheap, and you can buy a lot of cattle and sheep in exchange for a lot, and even everyone is now used to putting sugar in it when drinking milk tea. Cane sugar from Nanyang, this kind of milk tea delicious.

Whenever it comes to winter, every household will store a large amount of grain and tea, and eat them casually. Even now, everyone will habitually store some Chinese cabbage and radishes from Beizhili and Shandong. Even in winter, you can eat vegetables, so you won’t have the problem of going to the toilet.

Such a good life was unimaginable before, but now, it is the life that all the herdsmen on the grassland live.

Even with such a terrible white hair wind, they can still sit together leisurely, drinking milk tea, chatting, talking about the matouqin, and singing grassland songs.

Instead of worrying about whether the white hair wind will freeze the cattle and sheep at home, worry about how to spend next spring, live a rich life and worry less.

Isn't this the life that grassland people have been pursuing for a long time?

Unlike previous winters, when the Great Khan ordered the tribes on the grasslands, the men took machetes, bows and arrows and prepared to go south to plunder, and sometimes the tribes robbed and killed each other.

Winter is the favorite season of prairie people.

Because there are often unexpected deaths, anxiety, turmoil, restlessness, etc., every prairie person suffers incomparably.

"Drive~Drive~"

There were laughter and laughter in the yurt, and the herdsmen gathered together, drinking milk tea, singing songs, watching the heavy snow outside, and listening to the howling cold wind.

At this time, a sound of horseshoes came from a distance, which quickly attracted everyone's attention. The men hurried out of the yurt and looked at the people coming.

I saw an official wearing Qipin County Magistrate's Mansion riding a horse with a dozen people and dozens of horses heading towards this place where herdsmen gathered for the winter.

"Hi everyone~"

Li Hanchen waved his hand from a distance, and greeted Binta, Ji Rentai and others with the words on the grassland.

He is a county magistrate under the Horqin Mansion in the Grassland Province, and the grassland under his jurisdiction is very wide. Winter is also the busiest time of the year for him.

Because according to the instructions issued by the imperial court, officials on the grassland must always pay attention to the winter situation of the herdsmen on the grassland, whether the herdsmen have enough food, clothing, salt, tea, and hay for cattle and sheep to survive the winter, etc. It needs the close attention of the officials on the grassland.

If herdsmen were frozen to death or starved to death in winter, officials at all levels would have to be held accountable. The court attached great importance to this point, and it was also included in their assessment indicators.

"Hello, Mr. Li~Hello, Mr. Li~"

Seeing Li Hanchen, Binta, Ji Rentai and others hurried forward to greet them. It was not the first time they met Li Hanchen. In previous winters, Li Hanchen would visit them every year.

Look at Li Hanchen's side again, Li Hanchen and the dozen or so yamen servants behind him are all covered in snow, and dozens of horses are dragging a lot of things on their backs.

Binta, Ji Rentai and others enthusiastically welcomed Li Hanchen and others into the warm yurt, and served hot milk tea.

"Whoo~"

"It's winter, drinking a sip of milk tea will keep you warm."

Li Hanchen took a long sip of milk tea, and couldn't help exhaling a breath of cold air. Going out in this snowy day was really an extremely difficult thing, but there was no way, he basically came here throughout the winter.

"How is everyone doing this winter?"

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Hanchen also asked about the living conditions of the herdsmen.

"Everything is good, everything is good, there is food and drink, nothing to worry about~"

Ji Rentai and the others replied with smiles on their faces.

"That's fine, that's fine~"

"The Son of Heaven is very concerned about everyone's winter, and requires the government at all levels on the grassland to always care about everyone's situation. If you encounter any difficulties and problems, you can report to the government in time. We will try our best to help you .”

"I came here this time and brought you some tea, rice, flour and salt. In addition, a batch of silage corn stalks will arrive in various small towns on the grassland recently. At that time, you can buy some and feed them to cattle and sheep. Sheep will not lose fat so badly, and they can survive even such a white-haired wind."

Li Hanchen nodded in satisfaction, and then explained his reason for coming this time.

Being an official on the grassland is not an easy task. The imperial court has very high requirements for officials in the grasslands, Western Regions, Nanyun, Northwest, Central Asia and other provinces. The most important one is to pay attention to unity and care about the living conditions of minority tribes. Solve some major problems in a timely manner.

"Thank you, the Son of Heaven, for caring about us. I'm so grateful, I'm sincerely afraid~"

When Binta, Ji Rentai and others heard this, they immediately said excitedly, and after they finished speaking, they had to bow in the direction of the capital in the south.

To be honest, since the grassland was included in the Ming Dynasty, not only their lives have become better, but they can also feel the importance of the court.

If in the past, the nobles, leaders, and khans of various tribes would not care about the life and death of these low-level herdsmen, in their eyes, these low-level herdsmen are soldiers, slaves, and property.

Unlike now, every time it comes to winter, Da Tianzi will miss the herdsmen on the grassland, worrying that everyone will have a bad winter, not enough to eat, not warm enough to wear and so on.

The reason why the grassland was able to settle down quickly was that apart from bringing the chiefs and nobles of the various tribes in the grassland to live in the Beijing-Tianjin area, the most important reason was that after being merged into the Ming Dynasty, the lives of the herdsmen on the grassland had truly changed. All right.

Life is richer, and there is no war between tribes, it is very stable. Who doesn't like this kind of life?

Could it be that he still likes to go to the days of fighting and killing, full and hungry?

After bowing in the direction of the southern capital, Binta and Ji Rentai hurriedly ordered the women in the family to slaughter cattle and sheep to entertain Li Hanchen and others.

While eating delicious beef and mutton, while drinking fragrant milk tea, chatting about plans for next year.

"The price of wool has been rising. Every year, everyone can raise more sheep and shear more sheep. This wool is like leeks, which can be harvested endlessly."

"The price of horses is also rising. We have a great demand for horses overseas in Daming, but the price of beef and mutton is falling. The main reason is that the Beijing-West Railway has been opened, and cattle and sheep in Hezhong, Western Regions, Central Asia, and Northwest provinces can be obtained in a steady stream. The continuous shipment into the Beijing-Tianjin area has caused the price to drop a lot..."

(End of this chapter)