I

The officer who came to the Wumeng Department to preach the policy was called Zhang Shihe, a nine-year veteran of Chongzhen.

He didn't have any soldiers with him, only Yi guides by his side. Such great sincerity surprised the Lu family and their daughter. They felt that the Han officers in front of them were very different from the Han officers of the Ming Dynasty before.

The Han officials of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to come to the Yi village at all, and the only few times they brought troops to kill them.

Zhang Shihe cupped his hands and smiled: "Lu Tumu, I have admired your name for a long time. My surname is Zhang, Zhang Shihe, a missionary officer in the Datong Army."

"I have admired Zhang Xuanjiao for a long time." Lu Ahuan can speak Chinese.

Because Wumeng is also a horse breeding area in Shuixi, the Wumeng horses produced here are quite impressive. Since he was a teenager, Lu Ahuan has followed his father every year, taking Wumeng horses to pay tribute to the local Mu Kui, and often assists in escorting war horses to Guiyang.

An Rupan asked his son to marry a woman from the Wumeng tribe, which was also intended to win over her, mainly for Wumengma.

Lu Tianxiang looked at Zhang Shihe boldly and thought: These Han people are so white, don't they bask in the sun?

Lu Tianxiang has a pair of long legs and a very pretty face. His skin color is darker than that of Zhang Shi and this soldier. In terms of skin color, she looks a bit like a black North African, like a descendant of a long-term mixture of blacks and whites, but her facial features are indeed oriental.

Zhang Shihe smiled and said: "Lu Tumu, let's sit and talk."

Zhang Shihe sat on the ground without any weapons. After he sat down like this, it was not easy for him to escape. The Lu family and his daughter could kill him with one knife.

However, they did not dare. There were still five hundred Datong troops at the foot of the mountain.

Not only the Lu family and his daughter did not dare, but also the nearby villages did not dare. Because most of the young people in the village have been recruited as soldiers and are currently stationed in Shuixi City, the Datong Army can easily attack the village.

Lu Ahuan also sat down. He has a straightforward personality. Since Zhang Shihe is sincere, let's sit down and talk seriously.

Zhang Shihe glanced at Lu Tianxiang and said with a smile, "Do you two know about the Datong Army?"

Lu Ahuan nodded: "I heard this year that you captured Bijie and Chishui and drove away the Han soldiers there."

Zhang Shihe asked again: "Do you know His Majesty the Emperor of Datong?"

"Is he the Han emperor?" Lu Tianxiang asked.

In the Wumeng Mountain area, the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, and it was under the jurisdiction of the chieftains. They knew that the emperor had been changed, but they didn't know who became the emperor.

Zhang Shihe said: "Your Majesty's surname is Zhao and the country is called Datong. Your Majesty was originally an ordinary citizen. He was oppressed by the government and had to lead the poor to rebel. Your Majesty knows the plight of the poor and does not impose corvees and taxes. Therefore, the poor are all I am willing to fight for the emperor. His Majesty also said that all ethnic groups in the world are brothers and sisters. The Han people are human beings, the Miao people are human beings, the Tong people are human beings, the Yao people are human beings, and the Yi people are human beings. There should not be wars between various ethnic groups. , should love each other."

Lu Ahuan was surprised but also dubious at the same time: "Did the Han emperor really say that?"

Zhang Shihe nodded and said: "Your Majesty only has three concubines, one of whom is a Yao woman. The officers and soldiers of our Datong Army are not only Han, but also Miao, Tong, Qiang, and Yi. Warriors from all ethnic groups train together. , eat and live together, and fight together. Regardless of each other, they are all good brothers. If anyone is bullied because of his ethnicity, he will be punished by being demoted in the lightest way, or expelled from the army in the worst case."

Lu Tianxiang said: "The Han people are cunning and accustomed to deception. Who knows whether what you say is true or false? There are rumors in the other side of Zexi that the Han people want to kill all the Yi men, rob all the Yi women, and also capture the Yi children. Be a slave.”

Zhang Shihe smiled and said: "If you two don't believe it, you can send a few warriors to our army to have a look. The Datong Army in Sichuan also recruited Yi people from southern Sichuan when it expanded its army. In a short period of time, what have the Yi people done? Commander, he can command ten soldiers. There are also many Guizhou soldiers who followed the governor Zhu Xieyuan to fight and surrendered early to follow His Majesty the Emperor of Datong. These Guizhou soldiers were all slaves, some were Yi people, some Miao people, and some children. One of them has already become a general. Not a general like a chieftain, but a general of the Datong Army. He commands thousands of Han soldiers."

Lu Tianxiang said in surprise: "A Yi general, instead of commanding the Yi people, can actually command the Han soldiers?"

Zhang Shihe said with a smile: "In the new Datong Dynasty, there is no distinction between ethnic groups. We are all brothers and sisters. In this case, why can't the Yi generals command Han soldiers? In our Datong army, there are not only Yi generals, but also a Han woman General."

"Can a Han woman also be a general?" Lu Tianxiang became more and more curious, sitting cross-legged on the ground and asked.

The Shuixi Yi people belong to a patriarchal society, and women are not allowed to participate in wars except in emergencies. In the early Ming Dynasty, Mrs. Musk and Lu Tianxiang took over the military and political power on behalf of their sons after their husbands died. The same was true for Shi Dian and Qin Liangyu. All power belonged to their sons.

Zhang Shihe said: "Your Majesty once said that in terms of personality, everyone is born equal, and men and women are naturally equal. Men can be generals, why can't women be generals? In our Datong court, there are not only female generals, but also female civil servants .One of the female officials has become the prefect. Do you know the prefect?"

"I know," Lu Ahuan nodded, "The Han people's mansion is bigger than the Yi people's Zexi."

Xiao Hong has indeed been promoted to prefect, but true equality between men and women is impossible.

If Xiaohong were a man, based on her qualifications and achievements, she would probably have reached the third level. But after so many years as an official, he has only been promoted to prefect, and has attracted countless rumors. If Zhao Han hadn't personally given the order, she wouldn't even be the prefect.

Zhang Shihe said to Lu Tianxiang: "If the Wumeng tribe submits to the imperial court, the girl can also lead troops to fight, and she can also serve as a civilian official to govern."

Lu Tianxiang's eyes lit up at these words, and she almost agreed on the spot. When she heard her father coughing, she quickly shut up and stopped talking.

Lu Ahuan asked: "Is Zhang Xuanjiao here to recruit the Wumeng tribe to surrender?"

"No," Zhang Shihe shook his head and said, "It's just that there are too many rumors about the Datong Army in Shuixi. General Huang sent us to various Yi tribes to explain clearly to the Yi people what the Datong Army is like. We don't kill people indiscriminately. , and will not snatch women and children. The Yi people have the custom of catching slaves, but the Han people do not, and the Datong Army will not catch slaves. After the Shuixi Chieftain is wiped out, the people of all Yi tribes will be the people of His Majesty Datong."

Lu Ah Huan remained silent. He did not believe it and was afraid of being deceived by the Han people.

Zhang Shihe said: "Although the drought in Shuixi this year is not particularly serious, as far as we know, in order to fight the war, Chieftain An sent people to various tribes to collect grain, and also forcibly recruited Yi people as soldiers. Is the food of Wumeng tribe enough? We will all be a family from now on, all brothers and sisters. If the Wumeng tribe does not have enough food, we can borrow military rations from the Datong Army."

"Can I really borrow food?" Lu Ah Huan was moved.

Zhang Shihe said: "Of course. Since we are brothers and sisters, isn't it normal for relatives to borrow food from each other? Lu Tumu didn't believe it, so he sent some people down the mountain. I didn't bring much military food this time, but I can still borrow it. Come up with some.”

In order to judge whether Zhang Shihe was talking, Lu Ahuan sent more than ten young men to the Datong military camp at the foot of the mountain to borrow food.

How many young men can carry back to the mountain with more than ten young men? It's just a few stones of food.

Lu Ahuan had been sitting outside the village gate waiting. When he saw the hundreds of kilograms of grain being moved up the mountain, he was immediately moved beyond measure.

The Datong Army is really good, and they can actually borrow food.

On the other hand, Shuixi Tusi would not be able to lend them food even if they encountered a natural disaster. Not only that, the more natural disasters occur, the more ruthless the chieftain will be in urging food.

In addition to collecting grain, there are also corvee labor.

Each tribe and village had corvées assigned by the chieftain. The Wumeng tribe mainly raises horses for the chieftains, and there is a tribute amount every year. When a plague epidemic occurs, too many horses die, and the Yi people of the Wumeng tribe have to live in poverty. If the war horses cannot be paid and the food cannot be produced, the boys and girls must be sacrificed to be slaves to the local Zexi leader.

Whether it was the Shuixi'an clan or the Shuidong Song clan, uprisings broke out from time to time. The Yi, Zhuang, and Miao people could not bear the oppression of the chieftains, so they could only rise up and even join forces with the Han people to rebel.

More than once, the chieftain could not suppress the uprising and could only ask the Ming court to send troops to suppress it.

In the eyes of the people of all ethnic groups, the imperial court and the chieftains were the same group, and they were both big bad guys who exploited and oppressed them.

Although the Datong Army only lent a few hundred kilograms of grain, Lu Ahuan was very happy. He took Zhang Shihe's hand and said, "Anyone who is willing to borrow food is a friend. The Yi people never treat their friends badly. Let's go in and have a drink."

Zhang Shihe said: "We are not friends, we are brothers, we are a family."

"Hahaha, yes, we are brothers, we are a family," Lu Ahuan pulled Zhang Shihe up, "Brother, when we go to the village to drink, we become a real family after drinking."

Zhang Shihe said to the Yi guide: "When you go down the mountain to report the news, just say that I went to the Yi village to drink."

Lu Ahuan took Zhang Shihe into the village and said to his son: "It's gone, it's gone. The people at the bottom of the mountain are friends, not enemies who come to fight us. Take out the good wine I have collected!"

The Yi people who gathered urgently dispersed one after another.

But those slaves were disappointed. If they couldn't fight, they couldn't regain their freedom.

He took out the wine jar and poured it into a big bowl to drink without any food.

"Brother, drink this bowl and try our home-brewed wine!" Lu Ahuan was full of enthusiasm.

Zhang Shihe's scalp immediately went numb. This was not the popular rice wine, but the distilled wine brewed by the Yi people. It looked like it weighed a full kilogram.

Moreover, the other party seemed to let him drink it all!

Zhang Shihe held a big cup in his hand and started to drink it. After drinking less than half a kilogram, he choked and wanted to vomit it out, and his head started to feel dizzy.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Lu Ahuan laughed, thinking that Han people can't drink well, but Yi warriors can drink.

Lu Ahuan raised his hand and pressed the wine bowl: "If you can't finish the drink in one gulp, then take your time, and I'll pay for your brother's drunkenness."

Zhang Shihe, who was granted amnesty, faintly praised: "Good wine!"