Chapter Seventy: The Way of Benevolence and Forbearance (Three)

  The Hua Yan Shi Lie is one of the two major families in the Pin Department, and since its formation, it has been a powerful assistant to the Pin Department's ruler, firmly occupying the position of the Pin Department's elder. Unlike other elders' promotion within the tribe, the great elder always comes from the Hua Yan Shi Lie family, just like the succession of the ruler is always inherited by the Hua Yan Shi Lie family without exception. The current great elder of the Pin Department is named Wan Shi Ming, who has a very heavy say in the department. After the sudden death of the ruler, Wan Shi Ming's influence on the entire tribe became even more significant.

  It has been several years since entering Liu Cheng, and the noble people of Pinbu have occupied the original large family courtyards in the city, living a life of wealth and stability. Wan Shi Ming is no exception, he chose a three-entrance courtyard for his own home, the front yard receives external guests and handles tribal affairs, the middle yard has a neat and tidy empty space where a row of weapon racks are placed, on which knives, guns, bows, axes and other weapons are hung, next to the rack are stone locks and other objects scattered around. When he is free, this old man will play with knives and guns in the courtyard, lift stone locks, and recall his bravery in those years.

  The middle hall was where the old man would meet with secret guests, receive his confidants, and handle important private matters. Now, Wan Shi Ming was sipping tea in the teahouse on the left wing of the middle hall. Sipping tea was a habit that Wan Shi Ming had developed after entering Liu Cheng. In the past, on the grasslands, drinking tea was merely to refresh one's mouth and throat, a necessary act for survival, just like eating meat was to fill one's belly. Wan Shi Ming had never thought that there would be so many subtleties in drinking tea, and according to the southerners' way of speaking, it should be described with the word "appreciate" instead.

  Wan Shiming sat on a round wooden bed, sometimes unconsciously crossing his legs and curling them up. He always felt that sitting on a rug was more comfortable, but since he had heard that "sitting on a bed" was the custom of the nobles of the Tang Dynasty, Wan Shiming made an effort to adapt to this way of sitting, lest he be despised by the thin man in front of him.

  Qiu Cheng, a thin man, was a Han Chinese merchant whom Wan Shiming met after entering Liu City. According to Qiu Cheng's own account, he was a descendant of the Qinghe Qiu clan, from the noble family of the five surnames and seven visions of the Central Plains, but now that the war had broken out, the Qiu family had declined, and he had reluctantly become a merchant. Wan Shiming did not know what "five surnames and seven visions" meant; all he knew was that this Qiu Cheng owned many seagoing ships, which every year sailed from the south to cross the sea, entering the White Wolf Water estuary against the current, and going straight up to Liu City.

  In recent years, Choi Sung has brought a large amount of goods that are urgently needed by the Pinbu people, such as salt, tea, white porcelain, and silk fabrics, in exchange for the furs and mountain products accumulated by the Pinbu people. Of course, every time Choi Sung comes to Ryucheng, he will visit Wan Shi Ming and give him some good things used by the Han people in the south, such as a large wooden box he is now fiddling with.

  Choi Sung opened the box and took out one thing after another, placing them in front of Wang Ming.

  "I mentioned it to you last time, and I've brought them all this time on my trip north. There are twenty-four pieces in total, and if you want to have a good tea tasting, none of them can be missing..."

  "This is a wind furnace, used for making fire and boiling tea... A charcoal hammer, used to break up charcoal... A fire clip, used to hold the charcoal in place in the furnace..."

  "Golden tripod used to brew tea soup......hmm, this is a pear wood tea tray, someone will put the tea bowl on it soon......tea strainer, tea container..."

  "Jade then, used for dividing tea into a kettle...... Jade square, an object for storing water......"

  "This time, I brought to the adults the Maojian from Qingliang Mountain near Lin'an in Yuhang County. One or two Maojian can be exchanged for five sheep... The water in Yu Fang comes from Hu Tu, and among the waters used for brewing tea, it is a top-grade one..."

  She stared intently at Cui Cheng's cloud-like tea-making skills, watching as he danced with the charcoal stove, roasted and ground the tea leaves, and added water and salt with a light and smooth touch. She listened attentively to his detailed explanation of the "first boil", "second boil", and "third boil" fire timing and control, and finally saw him pour the tea soup into the celadon teacups with a graceful movement... Everything was so misty and mysterious, yet fresh to the extreme.

  Carefully lifted a cup of tea, learning from Cui Cheng's style to take a deep breath, the fragrance rushed forth and he couldn't help but feel slightly intoxicated. The pale green soup was set off by the light green thin porcelain, making it seem as if there was nothing in the teacup. Following Cui Cheng's guidance, Wan Shi Ming used his tongue tip to sip the water, and after finishing a cup of tea, he felt that the aftertaste lingered on, leaving his mouth fragrant.

  Looking at the exquisite tea sets in front of him, Wang asked: "I wonder how much this set of tea utensils costs? How can I get it?"

  Choi's eyebrows furrowed in displeasure, saying: "Sir, how can you be so distant? Over the years, sir has shown me great favor, how dare I speak of 'exchanging' such a thing. Could it be that sir has never considered me a friend all along?"

  Wan lost his sight and hurriedly said: "Don't blame me, young brother, it's only natural for friends! Just looking at the shape of this tea set, it must be extremely valuable..."

  "Since you, sir, consider me a friend, have you ever heard of friends exchanging gifts and still having to exchange things? Don't mention this again, or else I won't dare visit your doorstep next time."

  Wan Shiming's heart was filled with joy, and after a few words of good advice, the two of them sat down to taste tea and chat, unaware that it had already become evening. After Cui Cheng bid farewell and left, Wan Shiming lovingly played with the various colorful tea sets in front of him, sighing in admiration without stopping.

  When Tuli arrived, Wan Shiming hadn't had the heart to replace the tea leaves in the teapot, and he didn't know how many times he had refilled the water, but it was no longer the Tiger's Leap Spring water that Cui Cheng from Yufang had brought, which was too precious for Wan Shiming to use.

  Tuli sat uncomfortably on the small, round wooden kang, and with a swing of his leg, he kicked it open and plopped himself down on the thick woolen blanket. He took the celadon tea cup handed to him by Wanshi Ming, tilted his head back and gulped it down in one go, just like drinking liquor.

  She lost her temper and cursed in a coarse tone, then rearranged her feet on the woolen blanket, feeling more elegant despite the discomfort. A warm smile spread across her face as she said, "This tea is delicious, husband, have some more." She refilled his cup and handed it to him.

  Tuli was not surprised by the elegant demeanor of the old man, who had been a vassal to the Han people for many years. He took over the teacup but didn't move, pondered for a moment, and said: "I plan to leave in three days, going to Yu Guan."

  "Isn't this too hasty? The brave warriors have just returned from their eastern campaign, exhausted, and haven't even had a chance to rest properly... With the warm weather approaching, there aren't many days left. Why not take some more time to rest and recover in the city, and then head south to conquer Yu Guan with renewed strength?"

  As for who will inherit the position of Khan, it is clear that Wulu is inclined towards Yelu Deguang. However, there is one thing that makes Wulu dissatisfied with Yelu Deguang, which is his insistence on the Khitan nomadic customs. Whether it was Suli or Yelü Bei, or even Yelu Runtu who is now in charge of the Dàyuè region, several successive rulers of the Khitan have been trying to change and learn from the Han people in the south, learning how to build cities, smelt iron, and cultivate land, and expanding their military power without cease, gradually making the Khitan stand out among the various tribes on the grasslands and becoming the most powerful non-Han ethnic group outside the passes. Learning from the Han has become a vague consensus among the high-ranking officials of the Khitan, especially among the aristocracy, with Wulu being the most radical.

  But Yelü Dashi was different. After Abaoji's death, Yelü Dashi's military achievements grew higher and his influence within the tribe grew greater. However, he opposed sinicization and insisted on maintaining the traditional Khitan customs. Abaoji's widow, Empress Shulü Ping, noticed Yelü Dashi's changes, which stemmed from Yelü Bei's departure. According to Khitan tradition, the position of khagan should be elected by the tribal elders among the descendants of Yelü Abaoji based on their merits and abilities. However, Yelü Bei wanted to contend for the throne because he was the son of a senior wife and had the blood of the imperial family of Liao in his veins. This reason came from the Han Chinese concept of "legitimate birth".

  Wan Shiming could understand Tuli's anger, but he suspected that Tuli's anger was one-sided and exaggerated. Especially in the few years since occupying Liu City, Wan Shiming had been deeply fascinated by the grandeur and spirit of Han culture. If the Han people could occupy the prosperous Central Plains for thousands of years, it meant that their system must have its merits, so why completely deny it?

  Therefore, although Wan Shiming thought that Tuli was a suitable successor to the position of Pin Department, he was worried about formally giving him this identity and delayed the convening of the tribal elders' meeting for various reasons. He hoped that before Tuli took over as Pin Department, he could change his ideas through hard work to ensure the correctness and continuity of the future development direction of Pin Department.

  Tuli could also guess the intention of Wan Shi Ming, he had always been respectful to Da Zhang Lao and tried his best to get along with him, but at this moment, with the prestige of Dong Zheng's great victory and having an ace in the hole, he decided not to tolerate it anymore.

  "The Shulü family's Abao has been urging me to quickly break through the Lulong army's defenses from the Yu Guan direction... This is not only Abao's intention, but also the intention of Yelü Cholu and Abaoji. I think it also represents the intention of Da Yu...". Although Tulie's words were an explanation for his own hasty departure to Yu Guan, another layer of meaning was already very clear - the big shots of the Dielei tribe had reached a consensus, supporting Tulie as the master of Pinbu. What Tulie didn't say was that he had also exchanged a large piece of land east of Yanjun with the Wuhuan tribe for their support, but he had reservations about whether this approach was correct, so he didn't mention it.

  Wan lost his sight and was silent for a while, then said: "I'm old, I can barely ride a horse now. In the past few years, on the coldest winter days, my waist and legs would ache severely..."

  Tuli tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said slowly: "The Hanghai Shi Lie family can stay in Liu City, from now on Liu City will be the fief of the Hanghai Shi Lie family."

  Wan lost his sight and nodded, taking a deep breath: "I can start preparing immediately, and convene the tribal elder conference within ten days."

  Tuli shook his head: "No, the Elder's Congress will wait until I return from Yu Guan to convene. I need to take down Yu Guan and report back to Ah Kuo... Besides, there is also Wuri, if his matter is not resolved properly, even if the Elder's Congress is convened, I won't be able to sleep soundly."

  Two shallow cups of tea, a few short words, and the two reached an agreement. Da Chang Lao allowed Wan Shi Ming to continue promoting Han culture in the Huo family, and even generously gave Liu Cheng to Wan Shi Ming. In return, Wan Shi Ming agreed to let Tu Li become the new leader immediately, but to make it more legitimate, Tu Li voluntarily postponed the date.