The Tuoba tribe was incorporated into the northern border
Chapter 98: The Tuoba tribe is incorporated into the northern border
After Chu Huaibei issued the decree encouraging business, people in the markets everywhere became much more active.
In September, the sweet potato vines begin to turn yellow and it is time to harvest.
The people in the northern border had already grown sweet potatoes once and were accustomed to their high yields. However, the people in the prefectures and counties of the Central Plains, who were planting for the first time, were moved to tears by the sight of a yield of nearly 2,000 kilograms per mu.
They won't go hungry this year.
At the beginning, King Zhenbei forced every household to plant one acre of sweet potatoes. Many people felt resentful. They had never heard of what kind of food could grow from a bundle of green stems.
At this time, a man came to the gate of Youzhou City in the northern border.
"Your Highness, the military camp reports that a foreigner has arrived at the Youzhou city gate. He claims to be Tuoba Xiong, the chief of the Tuoba tribe, and requests an audience with Your Highness."
"Huh? Why is this person here?"
Chu Huaibei muttered something off the cuff.
"Um, I don't know."
Xue Zhan was stunned by the question.
"I don't blame you. Send a few people to bring him over."
Chu Huaibei first went to ask his mother for Manager Zhang, who was in charge of the caravan that used to travel the northwest route and could speak Mongolian.
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"Tuoba Xiong, the leader of the Tuoba clan, pays his respects to the King of Zhenbei."
Tuoba Xiong clenched his right fist, placed it on his left chest and bowed his head in salute.
"What does Chief Tuoba want from me?"
Chu Huaibei took a few looks at the man. He had a full beard and thin cheeks. His long hair was braided and tied with a simple colored thread. He was wearing a coarse cloth shirt without any accessories. He had a pair of old leather boots on his feet. It was obvious that he had cleaned up carefully and was dressed in a clean manner.
At this time, Tuoba Xiong knelt on one knee, with his left hand hanging by his side and his right palm placed on his left chest.
"Your Majesty, the Tuoba tribe is willing to submit to your rule."
"Do you want to bring your people to live in the North?"
Chu Huaibei straightened his back, leaned forward slightly, and stared into Tuoba Xiong's light brown eyes with a serious expression.
"Yes, my lord."
Tuoba Xiong answered firmly.
Chu Huaibei leaned back in the chair, and tapped the armrest with his right fingers again and again, making a slight tapping sound.
Tuoba Xiong had very good hearing, and the knocking sounds seemed to be knocking on his heart.
He took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Your Majesty, two years ago you gave us food on credit, which enabled my people to survive."
"Last year, the Mongols came to raid again. Seeing that there were still so many of us left, they captured several women and interrogated them. They learned that a caravan had come to trade grain on credit for wild horses."
"Then they waited in wait near us, hoping to intercept the caravan. However, the war broke out last year, and the caravan didn't show up. The Mongols didn't gain any advantage, and they took away all the young women, cattle and sheep from the tribe."
"My tribesmen rebelled together, and many were killed. Now there are less than a hundred of us Tuoba people left. It is difficult for us to survive on the grassland anymore."
"Please, Your Majesty, give the Tuoba people a chance to survive."
Tuoba Xiong has no way out.
Chu Huaibei was silent for a long time, and Tuoba Xiong's heart gradually cooled down.
In fact, he also knew that for Daxia, allowing foreigners into the city was tantamount to a fantasy, but the previous incident of buying grain on credit made him have some thoughts that he shouldn't have.
Tuoba Xiong's kneeling posture gradually became hunched.
"I will accept you into the city, but I have a few requests."
Chu Huaibei had never thought that the Tuoba tribe would come to seek refuge. He had just been thinking about what he should do after accepting them in order to maintain peaceful coexistence between the two tribes.
Tuoba Xiong's dark eyes sparkled with light again.
"Your Majesty, please speak!"
"First, upon entering the city, you must abandon your nomadic herding habits and learn farming techniques. I will assign someone to instruct you."
"Secondly, after entering the city, you cannot live in tents. You must live in houses. I will have someone build you a basic mud-walled thatched hut. When you have money, you can build another one on your own."
"Third, all members of the tribe must learn Chinese until they can converse fluently. Adults can choose to stop learning at this point, but children under the age of fifteen must continue studying the Four Books and Five Classics, both boys and girls."
"Fourth, if you have a conflict with the Han people, you are not allowed to hurt or kill anyone. Go to the local county magistrate to make the decision for you. Don't worry, the county magistrate will only judge right and wrong and will not take sides."
"But if one of your people is the first to injure or kill someone, the killer will pay with his life, and the injurer will pay for the damages before serving time in prison."
"Do you understand?"
"Your Highness, I understand. On behalf of all my people, I agree to all these conditions. Being able to grow our own food and live in a house is the best blessing Changshengtian has given to the Tuoba people."
Tuoba Xiong had no questions about these four requests. Accepting them into the city without providing any resources was already a favor from the prince.
What's more, the prince not only distributed land and gave away houses, but was also willing to let his children go to school for free. He was like a god descending to earth.
"Okay then. Go back and have your tribe pack up. Bring them to the city gate at noon ten days from now. Someone will take you to register your household and send you to the village."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. May the Eternal Heaven bless you with health and longevity."
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"Huaibei, did you let outsiders into the city?"
"Yes, Mother."
"Have you forgotten the rules of the palace?"
"Mother, this rule no longer applies. Sooner or later, I will drive the Mongols deep into the grasslands and prevent them from invading our borders again."
"I want the nomadic peoples on the grassland to know that King Zhenbei is tolerant. As long as they can meet my requirements, the outsiders can live a better life in the city."
"Everyone wants to live a stable life, with enough food and drink to eat and not be afraid of wind and rain."
"Mother, please believe me. Foreigners are not to be feared. Their arrival may even change some outdated concepts and make life better for everyone in the future."
"You want to break the situation where women can't study. You want women in Daxia to become independent."
The concubine's words were a statement of fact, not a question. It had begun when Huaibei ordered the construction of workshops to recruit only women, and had been gradually implemented, with the establishment of female households, and now the children of all ethnic groups, both boys and girls, were allowed to attend school.
If equal education for both sexes is implemented in the North, it will not be accomplished in a short period of time, because those scholars are the most ruthless when it comes to scolding people.
"Yes, mother, you still understand me the best."
Chu Huaibei personally grinds ink for his mother. Now there are more and more books on his mother's desk, and she is busy from morning to night every day. If it weren't for her rosy face and bright spirit, Chu Huaibei would definitely share the work in his mother's hands with others.
"Okay, go ahead and do your work. Manager Zhang will stay with you first. Once you've dealt with the foreigners, return him to me."
"Oh, all right. Thank you, mother."
Chu Huaibei responded with a smile.
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Ten days later
It was still early before noon, and nearly a hundred foreigners were standing quietly in two rows outside the city gate with their luggage, waiting for their guides to arrive.
Manager Zhang took over the job and opened the city gate on time at noon to lead the Tuoba tribe into the city.
The Tuoba people breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the person coming was the familiar Manager Zhang.
Manager Zhang led everyone to a specially designated area, and more than 30 thatched houses were rushed out within a few days.
There was a wooden table at the entrance of the village, and two clerks in charge of household registration sat at the table.
Manager Zhang took people to register one by one in advance. He originally wanted to take people directly to the government office, but he was afraid that they would be attacked by the people. To be safer, he asked the clerk to come to the village entrance to handle it.
The Tuoba people were really casual in naming, and there were many people with the same name. Manager Zhang racked his brains to use homophones to distinguish their names even though they had the same Mongolian pronunciation.
Manager Zhang wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling fortunate that he had studied for several years and had some knowledge in his head.
After the household registration is established, each family is allocated land according to the number of people and registered at the same time. However, the land is currently free for them to farm, but it does not belong to them. When they have money, they can purchase it first.
Giving away houses is Chu Huaibei's bottom line. It is impossible for him to give away fertile land. Not to mention how much it is worth, what if someone is lazy and turns around to sell the land? This possibility must be eliminated.
Each family was allocated a house. The Tuoba people, who moved into the house for the first time, looked at the house inside and out several times. They were most satisfied with the kitchen, which made it much more convenient to make fire and cook.
Manager Zhang distributed food and vegetables to every household at the village entrance, and at the same time informed them to gather at the village entrance at noon the next morning to study Chinese.
When distributing the food, Zhang, the steward, recognized the child who had traded his pony for steamed buns two years ago. He had indeed survived.
This Chinese teacher is naturally Manager Zhang.
It was his first time as a teacher, so Manager Zhang was still a little nervous. However, after teaching for half a day, he could only sigh, and all his nervousness and excitement disappeared.
Mongolian and Chinese have different pronunciation methods. Children have soft tongues and learn faster, while older people cannot pronounce the sounds correctly at all.
After just one day, Manager Zhang began to despair. These people were really not very smart. He could even learn Mongolian, so why was it so difficult to get them to learn Chinese?
Compared with learning Chinese, they were more enthusiastic about learning farming. Men, women, young and old followed the instructions seriously, holding farm tools and turning the soil with great joy.
Although it was already late, we still let them plant the wheat. We didn't expect much to grow, but now all they had to do was learn how to farm.
Chu Huaibei asked the wool workshop to deliver wool to the Tuoba people so that they could weave felt. The wages for each piece of felt were calculated based on its size and fineness.
When the Tuoba tribe received the first batch of wages, they were very excited and gave all the money to the tribe leader Tuoba Xiong, hoping that he could buy some wine so that everyone could celebrate together.
The kumis they originally brewed was stolen by Mongolia long ago.
Tuoba Xiong went to see Manager Zhang for help. Manager Zhang had stated in advance that he was not allowed to cause trouble after drinking. Only after Tuoba Xiong agreed did he take Tuoba Xiong to the wine shop in the city to buy wine.
Tuoba Xiong was surrounded by onlookers all the way. If Chu Huaibei had not issued an order in advance that the Tuoba people in the city would be considered people from the northern border and would not be beaten or killed, and that those who killed someone would have to pay with their lives, he would not have been able to enter the city safely.
It was the first time that Tuoba Xiong had witnessed such a prosperous scene. It was even more lively than the annual fair in Mongolia. There were rows of shops and a dazzling array of goods, which was overwhelming.
It was the tavern that Manager Zhang brought him into. There were more than a dozen varieties of wine, and the aroma of wine was everywhere. Of course, in the end, he was short of money and only bought the cheapest wine.
After returning to the village, Tuoba Xiong put down the wine jar and described everything he saw in the city to his clansmen. They all showed longing expressions and decided to go to the city to take a look after their wages were settled next time.
Half a year later, stimulated by their first trip to the streets, all members of the Tuoba tribe began to study Chinese seriously, and the adults have already graduated.
As for children under the age of fifteen, they continued to study, but they were not taught by Manager Zhang, but by a female teacher specially invited by Chu Huaibei.
Among these children, two girls were extremely intelligent. After winning the imperial examination, they passed the imperial examination and became the first female officials of different ethnic groups in the court.
That’s all for later.
As the Tuoba people lived in the northern border longer, they assimilated more deeply with the Han people. Tuoba men were good at weaving and earned a lot of money, so they gradually became popular with girls from surrounding villages. After gaining the recognition of both ethnic groups, they gradually began to intermarry.
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