The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 217 I Don’t Understand These
The horse bandits immediately surrounded them, and the Tang army in the distance discovered the people and also rode over.

The Tang army and the horse bandits stopped when they got close.

A bandit leader holding a scimitar walked quickly up to the Westerner who had been running all the way.

Zhang Shigui looked at the other party and said, "This is the territory of the Tang people."

The horse thief was about to kill the man from the Western Regions. Facing the question from the Tang general, he hesitated a little. Then he gritted his teeth and swung his knife to chop at the man from the Western Regions.

But then the sound of an arrow breaking through the air was heard. The arrow pierced the throat of the horse thief leader. He staggered backward, covering his bleeding neck, and finally fell to the ground.

The remaining bandits did not dare to act recklessly in the face of the Tang army and rode away one after another.

"General, these bandits are becoming more and more brazen."

Zhang Shigui listened to the words of the deputy general beside him and said in a deep voice: "We will deal with them sooner or later."

Then the fleeing Westerner was dragged over, his weak feet dragging on the ground until he was surrounded by the Tang army.

He took out a roll of sheepskin from his bosom and said, "The messenger of Dilishi Khan!"

Zhang Shigui took the parchment scroll from the other party, read it carefully, and then ordered: "Take this messenger to rest."

"Here!"

This is the next envoy who came after the envoy from Yanqi.

It seemed that the Western Turkic Khanate was becoming more and more chaotic. After Zhang Shigui returned to the camp, he counted the camels in the camp. There were a total of 3,000 camel caravans, which were important livestock for traveling through the Western Regions.

The messenger slept for a day and a night before waking up.

After waking up, he began to eat frantically. Zhang Shigui sat in the camp, looking at the parchment scroll in his hand. It was written in Western characters and was difficult to read.

I can barely understand some of the meanings. Please ask Tian Khan to deal with Yu Gushe.

Whether it was Dilish who fled south, or Yanqi and Khotan, these small countries were all very worried. Now Yuguse had begun to hunt down those old subordinates who were pro-Tang, and ordered them, including Gaochang, not to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty.

This was a provocation to the dignity of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Shigui put away the sheepskin scroll, put it in a wooden tube, handed it to the deputy general beside him and said, "Send it to Chang'an as fast as possible."

"Here!"

Looking at the envoy in front of him who had already eaten and was still chewing food, Zhang Shigui ordered again: "Send it too."

"Here."

Three Tang soldiers took the envoy away again, and this time they were heading for Chang'an.

Zhang Shigui was not stationed in Fuqi City, but to the west of Fuqi City. It was not that Fuqi City was difficult to defend, but that he had to raise camels outside the city.

He has been raising camels for half a year.

When the envoys left the Tuyuhun territory and approached the Hexi Corridor, they saw the scenery along the way, with patches of grassland and many poplar trees.

The closer you get to the Qilian Mountains, the more grasslands you see and the cooler the temperature becomes.

The messenger who came all the way from the desert saw this scene and felt as if he had arrived in a paradise on earth.

Li Zhen has been stationed in the Hexi Corridor for more than half a year. Today, heavy snow fell in the Hexi Corridor, and there were flocks of sheep and war horses eating lush grass in the valley.

After the last Jiuquan County was built, the Hexi Corridor accepted a large number of people.

There are more and more merchants here, and it looks like a city born for trade.

Here you can eat Zenggao from Guanzhong, dates from Lantian County, and wine from Xinfeng, which was something I never dared to imagine before.

"Report! General, the envoy of Dilish Khan has arrived."

Li Daliang had been recuperating for more than half a year. When he heard the news, a glimmer of light finally flashed in his eyes, and he asked, "But did Yu Gushe cause trouble?"

"That's right. General Zhang ordered them to send the envoy to Chang'an as soon as possible."

Li Daliang stood up, holding up his belt, and said in a loud voice: "Send him to Chang'an as soon as possible. I will wait for the order from the court."

"Here!"

Along the way, newly built city gates were opened everywhere.

It was not until night that the envoy left the Hexi Corridor.

After finishing what he had to do today, Li Zhen came to Murong Shun's residence at the foot of Wuwei County.

Murong Shun spent ten strings of money here and bought a house here. He also had many Hu concubines serving him, and even many old friends from Tuyuhun.

The Tuyuhun Khan is now a businessman. He has never returned to Fuxi City, which is a sad place for him. He still remembers how his father Khan abandoned him.

Murong Shun drank tea and watched Li Zhen walk into the courtyard.

"General Li, is the Tang Dynasty going to go to war with the Western Regions?"

Li Zhen also poured himself a bowl of tea. He was never polite in Murong Shun's house because everyone worked for the prince.

Murong Shun is Master Du He's man, but in terms of relationship, he works for Master Du He, and both Master Du He and he work for Jingzhao Prefecture.

If you work for Jingzhao Prefecture, then you are working for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Li Zhen said: "I don't know."

Murong Shun whispered, "I still have a lot of caravans in the Western Regions. They can explore the road for the Tang Dynasty."

"really?"

"We merchants always value credibility." Murong Shun stroked his brown beard and bowed towards Chang'an City, saying, "I have to do what I say, otherwise I won't become a famous merchant in the Western Regions. My wealth is nothing, but if I leave the Tang people, I will be nothing."

In the war, Murong Shun was the most determined one to stand on the side of the Tang people. If he left the Tang people, all his wealth would be lost.

Murong Shun added: "I can persuade those small countries in the Western Regions to come to the aid of the Tang people."

Li Zhen took a sip of tea and had to say that Murong Shun's house was very beautiful. There was even a pond and a water pavilion, which he built according to the house of Tang Dynasty nobles.

The craftsmen we invited were highly skilled Tang people, and judging by his current lifestyle, he looks just like a Tang person.

Seeing that General Li did not respond, Murong Shun continued, "I asked people to bring many Tang books so that the children of Tuyuhun can learn the Tang characters and language. It won't be long before the Tuyuhun people will become Tang people."

Li Zhen shook his head and said, "I don't know if there will be a war with the Western Regions. I have been ordered to guard the Hexi Corridor. I will not care about anything that has nothing to do with the Hexi Corridor."

"General Li is wrong."

This person spoke in the most authentic Guanzhong dialect: "The stability of the Western Regions is related to the prosperity of the Hexi Corridor. The Persians, Indians, and Arabs all need to pass through the Western Regions to come to the Tang Dynasty. What Yu Gushe and the King of Gaochang want is nothing more than a trade route."

He went on to say, "Over the years, the Tang people have controlled the source of soap, which has begun to make some people in the Western Regions dissatisfied. Merchants like me don't have enough. We want more. People are always looking for profit."

Li Zhen didn't understand the principles of business, so he just listened quietly.

The Hexi Corridor is now very wealthy, to an unreasonable degree. Li Zhen couldn't understand why so many merchants came to settle in the Hexi Corridor after Murong Shun came there.

Pei Xingjian and Xue Rengui did not walk fast along the way, and they did not reach the Hexi Corridor until autumn. Pei Xingjian looked at the bustling Wuwei County with suspicion. The streets were full of merchants, and there were Turks, people from the Western Regions, Tibetans, and even Persians walking around.

Xue Rengui stared at a shop with his eyes wide open. He saw soy sauce! Yes, it was the soy sauce that was only available in Guanzhong.

A pot of soy sauce costs two hundred coins, which is so expensive that it makes one's teeth tremble.

The prices here are almost three to five times higher than those in Guanzhong. Pei Xingjian found that the money given to him by Brother Mingli would not allow him to survive here for long.

Xue Rengui ordered a bowl of soup noodles. Fortunately, soup noodles were not expensive. A bowl of soup noodles without meat only cost three cents. He ate the soup noodles and said, "Eat less meat. We need to be frugal."

Pei Xingjian was eating a bowl of soup noodles while looking around. He didn't expect that a newly built county town would have so many merchants.

The population here is indeed not large. Those who come and go are merchants from Guanzhong who come to buy furs or horses. Some buy horses from Tianshan, some buy Tibetan barley wine, and some even choose Hu girls.

Pei Xingjian talked with the merchants from Guanzhong and asked about the situation here.

The prices of goods here are very high. Even soy sauce that costs two hundred coins is easy to sell here, and there is a lot of stockpiling.

Not only that, most of the merchants are in Wuwei County. I heard from them that there is a city that is not inhabited, and that is Dunhuang County, which is guarded by a large number of Tang soldiers.

Every month, cartloads of food and various supplies were delivered to Hexi and all stored in Dunhuang County.

Xue Rengui ate two bowls of soup noodles and burped. The shopkeeper politely served him a dish of mutton. He introduced: "This is Tibetan antelope. Their mutton tastes very good. Please try it. It's free."

Xue Rengui clasped his fists and said, "Thank you very much."

The shopkeeper also reminded: "If there are any rules that you don't understand, you can go to the soldiers under the tower of Wuwei County. They will help us Tang people."

"Thank you."

"It is said that there will be a war in the Western Regions soon, and there are more and more people in our Hexi Corridor."

Xue Rengui was puzzled and asked, "If there is a war, people should have run away. Why are there more and more of them?"

"My brother, you don't know this." The shopkeeper explained while wiping a ceramic bowl leisurely, "When those people heard that there was going to be a war, they could only live in peace in the Hexi Corridor."

Xue Rengui scratched his head and continued to stuff mutton into his mouth.

Pei Xingjian asked, "Is this meat different from the mutton we have in Guanzhong?"

"I ate too fast and didn't taste it carefully."

Pei Xingjian was a little overwhelmed with the chopsticks in his hand. The mutton had already been eaten by Brother Xue, so he could only put down his chopsticks and continue chatting with the shop owner.

In the Tubo territory, Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan rode their horses on the grassland. This is an area with crisscrossing rivers and dense grass, and it is also an excellent location for grazing.

We rode to the banks of the Buha River. The weather was very cold, and the wind and snow felt like knives cutting on our faces.

Lu Dongzan pulled the reins and immediately said, "Zamp, after crossing the Buha River, we will reach the territory of the Tang people."

This area was very beautiful, and Songtsen Gampo stopped his horse in time because he had seen a group of Tang soldiers in the distance.

Since Tuyuhun was conquered, Tang people have been stationed in Tuyuhun territory. The easternmost tributary of the Buha River is used as the boundary between Tubo and Tuyuhun, and the two sides have lived in peace for several years.

"Will the Tang people really go to war with the Western Regions?"

Lu Dongzan smiled and said, "Not so fast."

Songtsen Gampo asked: "Will the Heavenly Khan just sit there and do nothing?"

Lu Dongzan said: "The emperor of the Central Plains always has a legitimate reason to go to war."

The Buha River is a very beautiful place. This river flows from the Qilian Mountains through Qinghai. Every year, a large number of fish return to Qinghai. Whenever they return, a large number of water birds gather here.

Songtsen Gampo and Ludongzan rode their horses along the Buha River. The horses stopped and walked to eat water plants. When they passed a shallow beach, they would startle a large number of water birds.

The droppings of water birds nourish the aquatic plants here, allowing horses to eat more green grass.

This is the best place for grazing. Even the east side of the Buha River is the pasture that the Tibetans look forward to.

It was January at the beginning of the eleventh year of Zhenguan, and the cold winter had not yet passed.

Some people say that the dynasty is a huge machine. The masters of this machine are the emperor and his courtiers, and their words and deeds influence the direction of the machine's operation.

Now that the Tang Dynasty is beginning to prepare for war, this machine is operating with war as its core.

Food and fodder are always prepared before troops move out. Regardless of whether the Tang Dynasty goes to war or not, food and fodder are stored in the Hexi Corridor.

These are all the food and fodder squeezed out from between the teeth and taken out from the gaps in scheduling.

However, many people did not expect that while ensuring the abundance of food in Guanzhong, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could actually allocate 600,000 shi of grain and fodder.

How this was put together is unbelievable.

This was because the crown prince was a thrifty heir apparent, and he would be very calculative even if an extra string of coins was spent on court expenses.

Now, all the officials in the court, whether civil or military, are praising the prince's frugality. It is rare in history that he can produce so much extra food through frugality.

In the eyes of the military generals, as long as the war can get the support of the prince, there will be no problem with the allocation of money and food.

In the autumn, the emperor briefly presided over the morning court for two months, and now the court has returned to a state of rest.

Now in Ganlu Palace, a small court meeting is being held. The envoys from the Western Regions arrived in Chang'an City a month ago and have been debating whether to go to war these days.

In the palace, there were no other princes present except the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian stood aside with his hands in his pockets, listening to the debate in the hall, with his eyes closed and not moving.

Changsun Wuji said, "I think we should first ask Your Majesty to send a letter ordering the King of Gaochang not to block the trade route and to draw a clear line with Yugu."

Minister of War Hou Junji shouted: "Why should I be afraid of him? Your Majesty, give me two thousand soldiers and I will conquer the Western Regions!"

Cheng Yaojin was immediately dissatisfied, and he also shouted: "I only need one thousand soldiers."

Wei Zheng said sternly, "Didn't you say you didn't want any soldiers? You can just bring your own troops!"

Cheng Yaojin stroked his beard and said in distress, "Since I was conferred the title of Duke by Your Majesty, I have become more and more forgetful. Did I say this back then?"

Wei Zheng waved his sleeves and said, "Man!"

Li Ji said: "Duke Zheng, if I go to conquer the King of Gaochang, I will definitely capture the King and his son alive and bring them to Chang'an."

"Yes!" Cheng Yaojin shouted, "Dance for His Majesty."

Listening to the loud voices of the generals, Li Chengqian felt as if his eardrums were vibrating. Sometimes he understood his father quite well, as he had too many powerful men under his command.

Fang Xuanling stepped out of the court and asked, "What does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince think?"

Li Chengqian still closed his eyes and frowned, saying: "I don't understand these things, I will just listen to the decision of you and my father."

(End of this chapter)