Chapter 59: Snow on the Frontier The snow in the northern desert is much hotter than that in the capital...
The snow in Mobei falls much more vigorously than that in the capital.
Endless snow was carried by the cold wind, covering the frozen grassland like a quilt. For the first time in her life, Mu Xue saw such a large snowflake that could block the door of the yurt overnight.
The location of the big tent has been moved to another place that is sheltered from the wind and warm. The guards built a wall with snow at the location of the original curtain city to reduce the wind. The big tent itself has also been reinforced. In spring and autumn, it is usually surrounded by two layers of felt. In winter, an additional layer of thick wool felt is added. A layer of satin felt is also hung inside. When the heavy snow falls, even in the daytime, the big tent is dim. Only in the enamel incense burner in the room, there are flickering stars of fire, and occasionally crackling sounds.
I don’t know what the situation is like in the capital, and whether the sheep are selling smoothly?
Muxue put her feet on the edge of the smoking cage, thinking quietly, while Qiuqiu lay beside her, spread out like a dog biscuit, and slept soundly.
In a few months, Qiuqiu has grown rapidly from a small ball that would be stepped on by the heels accidentally to a large one that looks like a Mongolian Mastiff. But he is still a naive and lively puppy, and wants to see and try everything - mostly with his teeth.
On weekdays, if Qiuqiu wanted to sleep in Dorji's tent, he would sleep there. If he wanted to sleep at Muxue's side, he would sleep there. So the two big tents, and even the small tents outside such as the dining room tent and the guest room tent, all had dog kennels. It was convenient for Qiuqiu to lie down anywhere, because the princess and her husband spoiled her. Sometimes the servants would jokingly call Qiuqiu "Gege". Sometimes even Muxue would call her that.
Mu Xue was thinking about it when suddenly her nose twitched.
Why is there a faint burnt smell?
She asked Rong'er, the maid beside her: "What are you cooking?"
"No? Yes." Rong'er shook his head.
The ball beside his feet was sleeping soundly, and the big dog was snoring: "Hoo-hoo-hoo."
He must have been tired from running around in the snow again, Muxue thought. She could still smell a faint smell of burnt food, and she was puzzled. In such a closed environment, fire prevention was the top priority, so she ordered the maid to check the big tent again.
The maids were lifting the embroidered felt, poking the charcoal fire, and even opening the lid of the pot of milk tea to stir the bottom to see if there was anything burnt.
After looking around, everyone shook their heads and said no. Yes, there is.
But the burnt smell became increasingly strong, and mixed with Qiuqiu's snoring, slowly fermenting in the warm tent.
"What's with that smell?" Mu Xue stood up suddenly, startling the ball at her feet.
It opened its eyes, confused and bewildered, not understanding what its owner was doing. But it moved obediently so as not to block its owner's way.
As soon as the dog turned over, Mu Xue screamed.
Qiuqiu looked at his owner innocently. The fur on the side that had just been leaning against the fumigation cage was now burnt and shiny, like a marshmallow that had been burnt by fire.
When Dorji returned from inspecting the winter pasture, he opened the warm curtain and saw the princess squatting on the ground, rubbing the dog with a wet towel in her hand. A carved silver basin filled with warm water was placed on the shelf, as well as goat milk soap and other items.
She wiped a tuft of Qiuqiu's fur, frowning. Seeing him, she immediately complained: "Look at this dog. The fur is all burnt by the fire! It's still sleeping soundly there. It's too careless! It must have learned it from you!"
Qiuqiu was already feeling aggrieved, and when he saw him, he cried out twice, struggled to break free, and hid behind Dorji.
Dorji smiled and rubbed Qiuqiu's head. The dog was too big to be picked up casually.
"It's no use looking for me. You even got the princess to scold me. Let me see, the color is quite unique."
Qiuqiu rubbed against him and made a whining sound.
Mu Xue stood up and rolled her eyes: "You're still laughing, what if you get burned?"
"Then you won't have that attitude. You're sure you're not really hurt." Dorji ordered his men, "Make a longer wooden fence to separate the smoking cages, so as to avoid burning the dog hair again."
"Okay, come over and warm yourself by the fire. It's cold outside." Mu Xue saw snowflakes on his thick cloak. "Is it still snowing outside?"
"Now that the snow has stopped," Dorji said, "is it stuffy in the tent? Shall we go out for a walk?"
"OK."
"I'll help you choose a hat."
He seemed particularly interested in helping her choose clothes for winter and picked out a white fluffy hat for her.
“How cute.”
Dorji exclaimed.
After being praised by him for several months, Mu Xue had gotten used to it. She was no longer shy and uneasy as she was at the beginning. Instead, she had a frank attitude: "Yes, let's go."
When I walked out of the big tent, the cold air hit me in the face and the snow was so bright that it blinded my eyes.
Qiuqiu was very happy. He dived into the snow nearby and played around. Except for the burnt fur, the rest of his body was the same color as the snow.
Muxue and Dorji walked slowly, still playing happily in the snow with their balls.
"Are your subordinates doing well this winter?" Mu Xue asked.
Dorji pondered for a moment and said, "It's not bad. The snow this year is less severe than last year and the year before."
"I have an idea," Mu Xue stopped and looked up at him, "I want to visit ordinary herdsmen's homes and see how they live."
Dorji just thought she was idle and said with a smile: "It's too boring to stay here during the winter, right? I can accompany you for the next few days."
Mu Xue shook her head: "It's not all about this. Since I married here and became your wife, these bannermen and herdsmen are also my people. I want to know how they survived this winter. In this way, maybe my past experience can help a little, just like Princess Wencheng came to Tibet to benefit the local people."
She had been here for almost a year, and the people she met on a daily basis were all Mongolian princes and nobles. In the end, they were all aristocrats, and although their living and eating habits were slightly different, their pampered status had not changed.
As for how ordinary herdsmen live, Muxue has no idea. This seems a bit bad, so she wants to experience it.
Dorji didn't expect that she actually thought so, and smiled in surprise: "My Muxue wants to go, there's nothing wrong with that. Then go tomorrow?"
"Wait, I don't want to go in a big way. Have you ever heard of an incognito visit?"
Mu Xue combined the plots of the emperors' private visits in TV dramas in her previous life and made up a story about the emperor of the Central Plains who went on a private visit in disguise to understand the people's sentiments. The emperor discovered that the people were defrauded by corrupt officials, and he wanted to help but was suppressed by the corrupt officials as a troublemaker. In the end, he revealed his true identity and the truth came to light.
Dorji had never heard of such a story before. He listened with great interest and agreed to go on the incognito visit with Muxue.
After some discussion, they chose a place close to the king's tent and decided to let the guards and others watch from a distance outside while they pretended to be a young couple moving to winter pasture and went to see the herdsmen.
"Then I'll give you a Mongolian name, okay? Otherwise, they'll be confused when they read your name." Dorji said excitedly, "Saren, which means moon, okay?"
This name is not bad. Mu Xue nodded and said, "You should also change your name. Dunduobudorji sounds like a noble man. I am the moon, and you are the sun, called Nalan."
So, in the Right Rear Banner of the Tushetu Khanate, a new couple who were visiting relatives appeared.
Because the felt tent of their relatives was still some distance away, they had to stay there for one night. They also brought dried meat and tea bricks as payment for food and lodging.
When the herder Maya Amama heard the story, she warmly invited the young couple into her yurt.
"What's the point of paying or not? Everyone has problems when they go out. Come in, daughter, there are guests."
Although the yurt was small, it was very clean. Maya's daughter, who was about fifteen or sixteen years old, had been dozing off by the stove. When she heard the noise, she stood up to greet him. She hurriedly took out two coarse earthenware bowls and filled them with two bowls of salty milk tea and served them.
Mu Xue thanked him and took it, saying, "Did your father go out to work?"
"Dad is gone." said Maya's daughter.
...Oh help, she seemed to have asked a stupid question! It's so embarrassing to bring up someone's sad story.
Mu Xue's face turned red due to embarrassment. After holding it in for a while, she said dryly, "I'm sorry?"
"Sorry for what?" Maya's daughter asked curiously, "He went to Houqi to worship the lama and will be back in two days."
Muxue was stunned holding her milk tea, while Dorji, who was watching a small misunderstanding, started to laugh.
Based on his understanding of the princess, she must be overthinking it again.
After the unexpected episode, Muxue saw Maya's mother going to feed the livestock, so she hurried forward to see, and Dorji followed her.
There was a sheepfold near their yurt, and the sheep were digging snow on the ground to find food. Maya's mother grabbed a lot of hay to feed the sheep.
"Did you prepare this fodder in the fall? That's great."
"Yes, there are some." Maya's mother said while spreading grass, "I also borrowed some from the leader. Alas, I have to pay him back more next spring. I have to pay back one and a half carts for every car I borrowed. I have to borrow again this year after replacing last year's. But our flag is not bad. If it were another flag, hmm, some would suffer."
The leader is equivalent to a minor official and can coordinate the harvest and distribution of forage on the pasture.
Muxue quietly asked Dorji if this was the rule for lending fodder.
"Borrow in spring and return in autumn, 50% interest, this is the rule under my banner," Dorji explained, "but other banners have their own rules, for example, my uncle Ahai seems to have doubled the interest, borrowing one cart of grass and returning two carts of grass, plus seven days of labor."
Seeing that Muxue was still a little confused, he simply explained this part of the Khalkha Regulations to her. If the fruit could not be repaid, it could be paid with a lamb or five days of labor. Not only the princes and taijis, but also some herdsmen would borrow from the temples, and the interest rate was similar.
Mu Xue listened thoughtfully.
If she put the 3% interest from her pawnshop in Beijing here, it would probably be snapped up by people.
But it was not possible. If she dared to lend at such a low interest rate when all the princes, nobles and temples on the Mongolian grasslands had tacitly agreed to lend at such an interest rate, she would be attacked by everyone.
At most, when a disaster year is foreseen, a memorial will be submitted to the emperor, requesting the court to allocate more low-interest funds in the name of disaster relief. Only in this way can these herdsmen benefit while not being criticized.
Muxue had originally planned to set up a financial institution such as a pawnshop on the grassland after Yunqi and others brought back the money this year. But now it seems that lending to ordinary herdsmen is not a good idea. She is unwilling to do so and has to find another way.
At night, the whole family and Muxue and his wife slept together in the felt tent.
Although Muxue closed her eyes, she couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
When spring comes, according to regulations, someone from the Taiji in Mobei must take the "annual shift".
She opened her eyes in the night.
The properties of these princes and nobles were mostly cattle and sheep, but when they arrived in the capital, they had to spend money.
This is an opportunity that can be exploited.
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