841, Caravan (1/2)
The sun was hanging low, and the blue sky was very low.
The boundary between heaven and earth is not so obvious in the Secret Realm.
Su Wu and Tenzin's family stood on a hill, overlooking a cypress forest on the plain ahead.
Tall cypress trees stand in rows along the dirt road. Many ordinary people and village leaders, carrying baskets on their backs and pulling yaks, gather beside the road formed by people walking for many years.
These people with different statuses placed the goods they brought in front of them, forming a small market there.
In this small market, they traded with each other the necessary grain, salt, cattle, sheep, and livestock, some rare herbs, and fungi. Some people even squatted there holding a large stone.
Outside the market, there are many ragged children carrying rattan baskets, picking up the feces excreted by cattle, sheep and livestock.
People came and went in the small market, taking something away and leaving something behind.
Even though so many people gathered there, the merchandise trading in the market was not prosperous.
Even a little lifeless.
The common people and serfs in the market could not afford the cattle, sheep, horses, and animal skins brought by the arrogant leaders. The leaders absentmindedly stood in front of their livestock, and their target customers could not afford it. It's not the common people or serfs who can't even afford clothes.
"You're too late..." Tenzin looked a little frustrated after seeing the scene in the market in the distance.
He looked at the baskets carried behind him, his wife and daughter, wiped the sweat from his face, and murmured to himself: "People have picked up all the cow dung, and I thought I could bring something back..."
Cattle and sheep dung is an important fuel nowadays.
Wood fuel is not so easy to come by nowadays - everything on the land of the Secret Realm, including pastures, forest farms, fields, cattle and sheep, etc., all belong to nobles and monasteries. A tree cut down by ordinary people at will is very likely to be It is a 'thing with an owner', and even ordinary people themselves are also 'things' of nobles and temples.
Cutting down trees randomly to use as firewood is not advisable today.
After the dung of cattle and sheep was dried, it became the main source of fuel for serfs and civilians.
The nights in the Secret Realm are extremely cold.
A piece of dried cow dung could even save a family of serfs at night.
That's why Denzin is so frustrated.
“We came here today mainly to trade with the Tang people’s caravan.
Is the Tang Dynasty’s caravan coming? "Su Wu patted Tenzin on the shoulder and changed the topic.
They had already set off before dawn, and hurriedly and slowly arrived at this trading market that Dan Zeng said was a "very close place". If they were to miss the "Tang Dynasty caravan" in such a hurry, Then Su Wu would have to consider using some extraordinary measures.
"Not coming, not coming." Tenzin timidly pointed at the leaders who owned large numbers of cattle and sheep in the market. He was afraid that the leaders in the distance would notice his gesture and come over to teach him a lesson, so he pointed a few times. He lowered his arms and looked at Su Wu, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, "The leaders' cattle and sheep haven't been sold yet!
It means that the Tang Dynasty's caravan has not arrived yet.
Let's go quickly! "
As he spoke, Tenzin walked down the hill first.
Su Wu pulled Lunzhu, who was silent, and followed Tenzin with Ram. He spoke unhurriedly: "Do you come to this place often?"
“I passed here carrying the leader’s son on my back.
Those Tang people traded farm tools, tea, silk, and good knives with the chieftains.
I saw a great knife! Tenzin said with a smile.
"You read it once and remembered it?" Su Wu also laughed.
"Well!" Tenzin didn't pay much attention to the beautiful silks, precious teas, and rare jade in the market. He had been paying attention to it since a long time ago, when he passed through this small market with the son of the leader on his back. Just on those fine knives with shining silver and cold light.
——Sometimes, it is not the possession of a sharp knife that leads to the murderous intention.
It's because he has deep-seated hatred and murderous intent in his heart that he draws the knife to kill after grabbing the sharp blade.
Tenzin turned his head and saw Su Wu smiling. He scratched his head, and the smile on his honest face became warmer: "Those Tang people came from far, far away. They brought many, many things, mainly with the lords. They and the Buddhas trade with each other, but the Buddhas and lords cannot buy all their goods, so they will stop wherever they pass.
We, the people, can trade with them. "
Su Wu nodded after hearing this.
More than two hundred years have passed since he buried himself in the lair of 'Poison Baren' and practiced 'Demon Body Seed Dao'.
The powerful Tang Dynasty has long disappeared into the dust of history.
But traces of ‘Tang’ are everywhere.
For example, ordinary people like Tenzin, who are far away in the hidden realm, still call the Han people Tang people, and the country of the Han people is called Tang country.
"But those Tang people brought a lot of things, and the Buddha and the nobles couldn't buy them all.
But those Tang people walked and stopped along the way, selling goods and replenishing goods along the way, so their goods seemed to never be sold out. "Su Wu explained a few words to Denzin.
Tenzin didn't understand, so he just said: "You've never seen it before. There are many of them and they bring a lot of goods.
No one has enough cattle and sheep to buy all their goods! "
Su Wu smiled and shook his head but said nothing.
A group of four people merged into the small market.
The smell of grass from cattle and sheep, the smell of manure, and the moldy smell of various furs and felts are all wrapped up in a lump, spreading everywhere in this market.
Dan chose a place and sat down with his family.
He was a little nervous and kept his wife and daughter behind him, huddled up like a napping quail.
——Most of the civilians in the market sit in a similar posture to Tenzin.
Those people with big horses and golden knives sitting on their slaves and carrying stools are the leaders who own several yaks, a dozen sheep, and even a few horses.
These leaders are actually the ‘protagonists’ of this small market.
Tenzin's eyes were darting around, following the movements of the leaders.
Whenever the leader looked at him, he would immediately lower his head and look dull.
Su Wu looked calm and looked at the end of the dirt road in the distance.
He has changed his description. In the eyes of others, he is just an inconspicuous serf.
Only Tenzin's family can see his true appearance.
"The caravan of the Tang Dynasty is coming." At a certain moment, Su Wu looked at the dusty road in the distance and suddenly said to Tenzin.
Tenzin quickly raised his head and followed his gaze towards the end of the road.
——The sound of horse hooves reached the ears of people in the market.
The dust and smoke at the end of the road in the distance was blown away by the wind, and a dusty team escorted the carriages and walked towards the small market.
Although there were several carts of goods brought by the 'Tang Caravan', they were not far from the 'endless goods' that Tenzin said.
A caravan of more than a hundred people came towards us.
The man at the head is as majestic as an iron tower, wearing a suit of patent leather armor. The horse under his crotch is smooth and smooth, tall and strong.
The man had a long knife hanging from his waist and a short spear hanging from his saddle.
His expression was kind, but the few scars on his face clearly highlighted a sinister aura;
After the leading man, three more big men came slowly with bows and arrows on their backs and swords and guns on their shoulders, driving their horses.
The three big men each only wore a piece of rattan armor, but they all wore a colorful cloak on their backs. The various colors on the cloak came together to look like ghost faces;
The men in the third and fourth columns have worse armor and weapons than the men in the second column.
Their saddles were hung with gongs, bells, horns, and other things;
After that, the members in the middle section of the caravan became even more mixed.
Some old people and women also began to appear.
However, these old and weak people were protected in the center by strong men, and what they displayed to the outside world was the powerful image of the entire caravan.
Su Wu looked at the caravan of more than a hundred people approaching slowly and lowered his eyes.
The current caravan is undoubtedly a well-organized 'caravan'.
There were also some small caravans and wandering traders mixed in the team.
"Is this the Tang caravan you mentioned, with goods that can't be sold out?" Su Wu looked at Tenzin with a smile and asked Tenzin.
Tenzin frowned and spoke to Su Wu in a low voice: "No, no.
The Tang caravan I saw had more people and more goods than this one. Their team could line up from one end to the other! "
"Um?"
Su Wu raised his eyebrows slightly.
He glanced at the leaders in the market who were guarding their herds.
Immediately, I noticed that the leaders looked at the caravan with amusement in their eyes.
Things are faintly revealing something strange at the moment.
The caravan stopped in the middle of the road, and a shorter young man drove his horse out of the group. He dismounted and faced the leader at the eastern end of the market, who had the most cattle, sheep, and horses.
The young man walked up to the man on the other end, bowed to him first, and casually spoke fluently in the language of the Tibetan Realm, and said to the man on the other end: "Gabutou man, we have brought you the best tea. Silk, and a lot of iron.
I hope to exchange for the cattle, sheep and furs in your hands.
In addition, if there is an herbal medicine like ‘Herb of Life and Death’, we would also like to buy some. "
The man turned his eyes and did not respond to the young man's request first. Instead, he ordered the servant to bring a black box and ordered someone to open the black box - revealing a large long stone that was as tall as a person inside.
Apart from the slight cracks on the surface, there is nothing unusual about the stone.
The Garbutou man pointed to the long stone standing in the black box held by the servants, and said to the young man: "I just got a strange stone. You must exchange fifty pieces of Shu brocade for this strange stone in my hand." !
I only want Shu brocade, don’t use Hu brocade or Fan brocade to trick me! "
A piece of Shu brocade can be exchanged for several cows and dozens of sheep - now the cloth-headed man ordered people to carry only a mediocre stone, and he wanted to exchange it for fifty pieces of Shu brocade from the Tang caravan - Such a request made the young man's face change!