In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 40 We don’t lack cattle and sheep, but we lack women
After the war, the grasslands north of the Liaohe River became quiet again. All tribes were busy reproducing humans and animals, and Lin Rui was also preparing to divide his troops into two groups and engage in construction.

After all, Dorgon will definitely return with his army before winter, and he will definitely come to defeat them then.

Although the Houjin Tartars were not good at attacking cities, they had a large number of people and were united, so he wanted to take advantage of this precious time to repair the stronghold on the mountain col, and then transfer some supplies and food there so that he could quickly strategic shift.

Just when Lin Rui was planning to ask Mrs. Niu to take 100 people to guard the house while he took the rest to build the stockade, the brothers and sisters from the Chatu Department came to visit again.

This time, Lin Rui invited the brother and sister into his tent. As for the kumiss, he didn't have it and had already drank it all.

"Brother Lin, were there any people from our Chatu Department alive last time?"

"I've already asked. There are a total of forty people from your Chahar tribe, and seven of them are from your Chatu tribe."

Lin Rui nodded and didn't hide anything.

The eyes of the brother and sister suddenly lit up, and then Hubbell said with a look of expectation: "Mr. Lin, how about we trade two cows and twenty sheep for one person from our tribe?"

This was the price originally offered by the Han people, but Hutch was obviously much more sensible than his sister. He was afraid that Lin Rui would find it too little, so he gritted his teeth and added: "We can add another horse."

Who would have thought that Lin Rui still shook his head.

"I'm sorry, you two, but we have no shortage of cattle, sheep and horses."

"You don't have any cattle or sheep now, how can you not be in shortage?"

Hubbell said subconsciously.

She believed that there was no shortage of horses, but all the cattle and sheep of this group of Han people were robbed by Kashgar and the others last time.

"We still have a lot of beef jerky. If you really want to exchange for those people, let's exchange them for girls. We still lack some women here to herd livestock and raise horses.

One by one, you can rest assured that we will treat those girls well and will not let them starve or freeze, nor will they be beaten or scolded for no reason. They can go back to visit relatives in the future. Lin Rui waved his hand and said.

"This...Brother Lin, do you really plan to stay in the grassland for a long time?"

When the brother and sister heard that the girl was to be exchanged, they were a little embarrassed for a moment, and then Hutch asked curiously.

"I probably won't be going back in the short term."

"How about it, should I change it or not? Just give me a pleasant word. By the way, those girls must be from your Chatu tribe. You can't use the ones I replaced last time. If the other six Chahar tribes also If you want to change, you can.”

"We have to go back and discuss this with Abba."

The brother and sister looked at each other and Hutch replied.

Then the brother and sister said goodbye and left.

Warriors in the tribe are important, but women are equally important, especially girls, so the decision can only be made by Abba.

"Brother Lin, why should we trade girls with them? Wouldn't it be nice to keep those captives to mine and build the stockade?"

After the brother and sister left, Mrs. Niu immediately asked in confusion, while Zhang Xiuying looked at Lin Rui in confusion.

After all, there are more women than men in the settlement, and now they have to build a village to mine. Those Tatars in their prime must be stronger than the girls.

"There are 40 to [-] less able-bodied laborers, so the impact will not be big, but what we really lack are spies who are skilled in riding and familiar with the grassland environment. If a group of Mongolian girls are responsible for the investigation, if there is a slight disturbance within a hundred miles in the future, we will be able to promptly Knowing this, I won’t be as passive as this time.”

Lin Rui explained with a smile.After hearing this, both of them were stunned. Thinking about it, it does make sense. Then Mrs. Niu worried: "But will they be willing to change? Even if they are willing, will those Tatar girls be reliable? If they run away by then, won't we suffer a big loss? ?”

"Haha, as long as you treat them better and find a man for them, they will naturally fall in love with you over time. As for whether to change, it depends on how they choose."

Lin Rui chuckled.

Sister-in-law Niu thought that they were captured by the Tatars and were about to become slaves, but now she wanted to treat the Mongolian girls in exchange for kindness. She also said with a look of reluctance: "That is really an advantage for them."

Lin Rui naturally understood what she was thinking, and said helplessly: "There is nothing we can do about it. If we want them to get information, we can't tie them up. We have to give them weapons and horses. Once they are beaten and scolded every day, they will still Can’t you run back immediately?”

"I don't have anything to do with it. I'm just afraid that the other sisters won't understand." Sister-in-law Niu said.

"If you don't understand, you have to think about it. This is a strategy. If we want to develop and grow on the grassland, we must recruit some Tatars to serve us in the future. Only in this way can we make up for our shortcomings in riding and shooting as soon as possible."

Lin Rui waved his hand, this time his tone was a bit harsh.

"Brother Lin, don't worry. I will explain it clearly to the sisters so that they all understand your painstaking efforts and there will be no trouble." Zhang Xiuying said understandingly.

"Then I'll trouble Sister Xiuying."

Lin Rui nodded.

The ideological work of the team has always been the most important. He didn't want any disagreements to arise and affect unity. It was perfect for Zhang Xiuying to do the ideological work of women.

After the brother and sister returned to the tribe, they told Chatu about Lin Rui's conditions and weighed the pros and cons. Finally, Chatu chose the exchange and planned to contact the other six tribes to see if they wanted to exchange.

After all, although girls are very important, they have already replaced more than 100 women last year, plus the warriors lost this time, so the tribe is currently short of adult warriors.

Anyway, girls in the tribe have to exchange marriages with other tribes when they get old. As long as they are not enslaved and exchanged for those Han people, it doesn't matter. They may live a better life.

Sure enough, under Chatu's persuasion, the six Chahar tribes also decided to exchange the young girls for the captured warriors.

So the Hutch brothers and sisters made another trip to determine the number of people in each tribe. Then they began to select suitable girls from the tribe, and then took them directly outside the castle to trade.

Although the forty girls all came on horseback, during the transaction, in addition to the clothes on their bodies, even the knives were taken away by their respective clan leaders.

Lin Rui and the others were even more outrageous. The forty prisoners of the Chahar tribe were only wearing a pair of trousers. They were all bare-chested and barefoot, with their hands tied. Apparently even their shoes had been stripped off by Mrs. Niu and the others. Come down.

Neither side accused the other of being stingy. After the transaction, the chiefs of the seven tribes left with the warriors.

After the forty Mongolian girls were brought into the castle, all of them had curiosity and nervousness on their faces. Sometimes they looked left and right, sometimes they talked quietly with their companions.

"Everyone come here to gather and welcome the new members. From now on, they will all be our own people. Whether they are Han or Mongolian, they must strictly abide by the military rules and disciplines of the camp. Violators will be treated equally and will not be tolerated."

Lin Rui stood on the wall, first announced in Chinese, and then repeated it to the forty girls in broken Mongolian.

And those girls felt relieved when they heard that they would be treated the same as the Han people in the camp from now on.

Not only did these girls not reject being exchanged for Han people, but they actually looked forward to it. Most of them were the sisters or daughters of the captives, and they all volunteered for the exchange.

After all, not only can I get my relatives back, but there are walls here, which is very safe, and there are houses to live in. The Han people can farm again. If there is a snowstorm in the future, they will not starve and freeze like before.

As for the forty Mongolian girls that the young master brought back, the men didn't care. Although the women were a little uncomfortable, they didn't say anything after Zhang Xiuying's explanation, but they didn't look good.

(End of this chapter)