Chapter 525 Calming the Violent Spirit (VII)

Pierre, who was led into the palace tent by the little hunter, found that the interior of the palace tent was very spacious.

The dome supported by six pillars had an unusual span.

There were many skylights on the dome, so although there were fences on all four sides, the inside of the tent was very bright.

However, compared with the reputation of the Blood Wolf, the palace tent of the Wenduoer tribe was not magnificent enough.

It should be noted that the Hede people like to display their property in public, regardless of whether they are rich or poor. The furnishings of the centurion's palace tent were simple, as always.

Many Hede people were already in the tent, sitting on the felt carpet in groups of three or two.

An elder with a young man half-knelt in front of the Blood Wolf respectfully.

The above was Pierre's first impression of the "big palace tent".

——

Just as Pierre was observing the situation in the tent, the Wenduoer people who were originally facing Batu under the dome also turned their heads and cast their eyes on the newcomers.

Some of them recognized Pierre, the "Batu who shoots arrows both near and far", while others had never seen the newly appointed governor of the new reclamation land.

In any case, when the Wendu people in the tent found that the new young man was not a member of the tribe, the palace tent suddenly became unusually quiet.

The Wendu tribe looked at the strange visitor while quietly paying attention to the expression on Batu's face.

Pierre, who found that he seemed to have broken into a ceremony, was a little at a loss for a moment.

Because he didn't understand the language and customs, he didn't know what he should say or do, let alone what he could say or do.

Just when he was in a dilemma, Pierre saw the centurion sitting high in the center of the palace tent, and waved to him calmly.

Pierre was a little hesitant, and the little hunter pushed him gently from behind, but he still couldn't be sure what the centurion meant.

Then he saw - the centurion waved to him again.

Pierre felt at ease all of a sudden. He walked to the center of the palace tent with his head held high, under the gaze of all the Hede people in the tent.

In the center of the palace tent, a platform about one foot high was built with wooden boards. Six guards in bright armor and majestic appearance stood on both sides of the platform - Pierre was sure that this arrangement was only for etiquette considerations.

Behind the platform, a curtain was drawn, separating the palace tent into two rooms, front and back.

The front room - that is, the space where Pierre was - was larger, with felt carpets on the floor. The back room was smaller and blocked by the curtain, so the situation inside could not be seen.

The platform in the center of the palace tent was naturally the exclusive area of ​​the head of a tribe.

However, there was no luxurious bed for other tribal leaders on the platform, only a camp bed with a bear skin on it.

Blood Wolf sat on the bear skin.

Pierre came to the platform, stood side by side with the two half-kneeling Hede people, and saluted the centurion.

Blood Wolf did not return the salute, but nodded.

Pierre thought that the centurion would introduce himself to the Hede people in the palace tent next.

Unexpectedly, the leader of the Wendor tribe said nothing, but just pointed to the empty space on the right camp bed, motioning Pierre to sit next to him.

Pierre was stunned, more hesitant than when the centurion waved to him.

Fortunately, Charles rescued Pierre in time. Charles, who was guarding both sides of the platform as the "captain of the guard", conjured up a stool from nowhere.

He took a big step forward, placed the stool on the right side of the blood wolf, half a body behind, and then held the saber and returned to the original position with dignity.

Pierre was relieved.

This time, he understood and patted his chest and bowed in the way of the Hede people, then climbed the steps and nodded to Charles in gratitude.

Because the stool would not appear out of thin air, Charles must have asked his men to get it as soon as he stepped into the palace tent.

Charles also blinked secretly.

Pierre climbed onto the platform and sat behind the centurion with impeccable manners.

He immediately noticed that the way the Hede people in the tent looked at him had changed significantly:

No one looked him up and down wantonly anymore, and the eyes they cast on him became more cautious, more respectful, and more curious.

Blood Wolf gently raised his hand, indicating that the interrupted ceremony should continue.

Pierre saw two Hede people, one old and one young, half-kneeling in front of the centurion, sweating profusely, and their knees trembling, as if they had been pardoned. The younger Hede man mumbled a bunch of Hede words, then raised the arrow in his hand and broke it with a "snap".

The centurion nodded and stood up - Pierre also stood up hurriedly.

Dabai and Xiaobai came to the platform from the curtain with a saber, a short-barreled musket, a pair of boots and a pair of stirrups.

Among them, the saber, boots and stirrups are all of the style of the Plato people, and there is no need to say more about the musket.

Pierre watched the centurion walk down the platform, tie the saber on the arrow-breaking Hud, put the musket on his back, put the boots and stirrups in his hands, then patted his shoulder, smiled and pulled the young Hud up.

Cheers and applause rang out in the palace tent.

The young Hud, who became the focus of attention, blushed, turned to face the crowd, and accepted the congratulations somewhat shyly.

At this time, Pierre noticed that although the young Hud was about the same height as the old Hud, his face was still very young, and he looked only fourteen or fifteen years old. He was probably just old enough to pull a real bow, not a toy cork bow.

Pierre realized that the ceremony he witnessed should be a rite of passage, and probably also a ceremony of allegiance.

From this, Pierre speculated that the two Huds, one old and one young, were probably not ordinary herdsmen or escaped slaves, but came from the head family of a small tribe that had joined the Wenduoer tribe.

Pierre searched carefully on the two Huds, and soon found more evidence - the workmanship of the old Hud's boots and robes were more exquisite than those of the new Whites in the caravan. They also wore jewelry and jewelry on their ears and fingers that escaped slaves generally did not have.

Pierre secretly guessed: "Does the centurion want to ensure the loyalty of these small tribes by taking hostages? It is a good way."

However, his suspicions were soon questioned by himself.

Because just after the little Hed accepted everyone's congratulations and found a place to sit down with the old Hed in the felt tent, a new family came in.

The family consists of a middle-aged Hud man and two half-grown children of similar age.

The process was the same as before. The three of them knelt on one knee, the two little guys broke arrows and swore an oath, accepted gifts and congratulations, and then found a place to sit in the felt tent.

The difference is that no matter how you look at it, this new family is a very poor ordinary herdsman family.

It was even possible that he was a runaway slave, because the middle-aged Hed man's bare hands and neck were covered with shocking earthworm-like scars everywhere, clearly the marks left by whipping.

Moreover, the middle-aged Hurds walked with a limp - Pierre heard from his father when he was a child that the Hurd barbarians on the prairie would cut open the heels of runaway slaves and sprinkle chopped wood into the wounds. Horsehair made the escaped slaves feel excruciating pain every step they took, even after their wounds healed.

The two little Huds are also thin and small. They obviously look more mature than the previous little Hud, but they are a lot shorter.

"Uncle and two nephews," Pierre heard the centurion introduce softly and concisely, "the ones in front are the grandfather and the grandson."

Pierre felt warm and ashamed.

Warm, because on this occasion, the centurion was afraid that he wouldn't understand, so he explained it specifically to him.

The shame was because, as the warden of the Waixin Reclamation Territory who would have to deal with the Hud people in the future, he could not understand any Hud language and had never even thought about learning it.

The ceremony continued. Groups of Huds walked into the palace tent one after another, and young Huds made vows one after another.

Among them there are rich and some poor, some many and some few;

Some Kheds took the initiative to offer gifts to Batu before receiving them. Some Kheds were so poor that they even wore only a piece of tattered felt cloth on their feet.

Pierre failed to conclude any rules at all. If he had to say it, there were only two things in common:

1. Those who took the oath were all Hittites;

Second, they are not very old.

In addition, Pierre also noticed that among the families that "handed over hostages", there were obviously more Hurd families with certain property than poor people with nothing.

It wasn't until the huge palace tent was almost full that no other Hart family entered the palace gate.

Pierre remained unsmiling, sat upright, and motionless throughout the whole process. By the end, his waist was extremely sore.

He estimated the time and felt that it was at least three hours, but looking at the position of the sun through the skylight, it was probably less than an hour.

After the last young Hird accepted the cheers and took his seat, Bell showed his head at the door of the palace tent to confirm that everyone's ceremony was over.

Pots of barbecue and bags of fine wine were immediately brought in table after table.

The atmosphere in the palace tent instantly became extremely relaxed.

The Wendor people who had been watching the ceremony quietly and only cheered when necessary gradually began to talk to each other, and the dome was soon filled with "buzzing" sounds.

Pierre moved his shoulders and lower back gently, and suddenly heard the centurion's voice, "How long have you been riding back?"

Pierre raised his head and found that the centurion, who had always maintained a majestic demeanor, was turning his head to look at him with a smile.

"It won't take long," Pierre whispered.

Pierre saw the centurion smile and asked again, "Are you hungry?"

This time, Pierre answered truthfully: "A little bit."

The first small table with wine, meat, salt, cheese and sauces made from wild flowers on the prairie was undoubtedly presented to the blood wolf.

The second one was placed in front of Pierre.

Next came the other people in the palace tent.

"Eat when you're hungry." Xue Lang took out a small knife with a leather rope-wrapped handle from his arms, picked up the piece of meat with bones, and ate it generously. While eating, he said: "Eat enough." There is still work to do.”

Pierre was so hungry that he had no feeling in his stomach and no appetite, so he didn't touch the food on the table.

But he suddenly found that the dark people in the palace tent were all staring at him.

He was stunned for a moment, but he immediately reacted. He followed the centurion's example and tentatively picked up a piece of boned meat from the small table.

The other people in the palace tent seemed to have received permission and started to move one after another.

"Originally, I wanted you to come to 'organize the banquet.'" Blood Wolf held half a sheep's head in his hand and tore the tender meat of the sheep's cheek ferociously: "This is an important job - in the Hede tribes In the concept, if you do well, you can show your face in front of everyone.”

"I failed you..." Pierre felt as if a stone was pressed on his chest.

"What are you letting down? I'm very happy that you took the initiative and came to know the basics of Waixinken in advance. I knew I had chosen the right person."

Hearing this, Pierre felt even more ashamed. He was only thankful that the centurion was sitting in front of him and could not see his red face.

"You said, 'After you've eaten, you still have work to do.'" Pierre struggled to find words: "Excuse me, what kind of work is it?"

The blood wolf turned his head and raised a meaningful smile on his lips: "You will know soon."

[UPDATE FORECAST]

[The previously set goal of "stable update to Sunday (April 28)" has been achieved, so the current goal is "stable update to this Sunday (May 5)"]

[But the author will be on a business trip on May 7th and will not be able to go home until May 10th (2024) or May 11th (2024), so there is no environment to write a novel from 5.7 to 5.11]

[The author will try his best to accumulate some manuscripts during the May Day period and strive to update normally during the business trip. However, if the plan to accumulate manuscripts does not go well, I can only ask for your understanding from book friends. Thank you very much and I am very sorry Orz]

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]