The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 409: Today, Tang people plant trees
Li Yuan could see that his grandson shot every arrow seriously. Every time he pulled the bow to its full length, the arrow whizzed out and landed steadily on the center of the bull's eye.

"I can't even remember the last time I saw you practicing archery like this."

Mingda said: "My brother always practices in the morning, but grandpa has to sleep until dawn every day, so naturally he can't see my brother practicing archery."

She hugged her grandfather's arm and said, "My royal brother's archery skills are becoming more and more sophisticated."

When speaking, you have to raise your voice so that grandpa can hear clearly.

Li Yuan said slowly: "I am old, but now I see that Li Chengqian still looks like the young man he was back then. This child really hasn't changed at all."

As he watched, Li Yuan fell asleep again.

Mingda put a cloak on his grandfather and sat quietly beside him.

The eunuch stepped forward and laid down the recliner. The autumn rain had just passed and the sun was shining brightly now.

Mingda looked at the sunlight shining on his grandfather and said quietly, "Grandpa, you must live to be a hundred years old."

As if he heard his granddaughter's words, the sleeping grandfather actually nodded.

The autumn colors have spread all over Guanzhong. At this moment, in the Anxi Protectorate, an official in his early twenties escorted five thousand prisoners here.

He was wearing the uniform of an imperial censor. He took off his boots and emptied the sand out of them. He sat by the wall of Xizhou, gnashing his teeth and brushing off the sand on his feet. He said, "Why is the road to the Western Regions so difficult? How did Xuanzang travel all the way west?"

As he was speaking, Pei Xingjian led a group of people to the city gate.

The censor who was resting stood up and said, "I am Lou Shide, the censor of the Imperial Censorate. I am under the order of the Ministry of Justice to escort the prisoners to the Western Regions to plant trees."

Pei Xingjian, who had a scruffy beard at the moment, looked at the visitor and asked, "Lou Shide?"

He said again: "I passed the imperial examination in the 18th year of Zhenguan."

Pei Xingjian added: "What a coincidence, I also passed the imperial examination."

The two men were of similar age. Pei Xingjian looked at the group of prisoners at the back and said to the deputy general beside him: "Take all the prisoners to plant trees."

"Here."

Pei Xingjian said, "Yushi Lou, let's go into the city and rest."

Lou Shide said: "I also want to see the tree planting situation in the Western Regions."

After saying this, Lou Shide supported his waist again and said, "I have been exhausted all the way here. I'd better take a rest first."

Pei Xingjian smiled knowingly and asked, "Is this your first time in the Western Regions?"

"Exactly."

"Where are you from?"

"Zhengzhou Yuanwu."

Pei Xingjian asked someone to take care of the censor's camel, led his people into the city, and sat down in a tavern.

Lou Shide looked at the gorgeously dressed Hu girls in the distance and couldn't take his eyes off them for a moment.

Pei Xingjian said, "Don't look at it, Hu Ji is very expensive."

"Cough, cough, cough..." A mouthful of wine choked on his throat, and Lou Shide started coughing violently. It took him a while to calm down, and he said, "Protector Pei is a young general with a great reputation in the army. I didn't expect him to be so approachable."

Pei Xingjian shook his head and said, "What young general? I'm already over 20 years old."

Lou Shide realized it later and said, "It turns out that Protector Pei is about the same age as me. I didn't expect that he is already a young and promising general, while I am still just an imperial censor and have not yet achieved anything."

Pei Xingjian said: "Want to achieve merit? Come to the Western Regions and fight."

"Hmm? There's still war going on in the Western Region?"

The shop owner is a Tang person from the Hexi Corridor. There are many Tang people in Xizhou now, and most of them come here to do business.

The shopkeeper enthusiastically served fruits, naan, and some roasted mutton, and also specifically instructed: "The shop bought some high-quality pepper and made pepper salt according to the Protector General's instructions. Protector General Pei, please try it."

Pei Xingjian picked up the skewer and tasted it, saying, "It tastes good. Next time, put less pepper and more salt."

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement.

Noticing Lou Shide's gaze, Pei Xingjian explained, "Here, pepper is not so precious."

Lou Shide smiled again and said, "This store is doing very well in the Western Regions. This wine shop is very spacious."

Pei Xingjian stepped on a bench, biting into the mutton and said, "Salt, iron, tea and soap are selling very well here. Cotton, pepper, fruits and grape wine from the Western Regions are sold to Guanzhong. The Anxi Protectorate collects tens of thousands of strings of cash in taxes every month. People travel thousands of miles to the Western Regions. How can they not make enough money?"

Lou Shide was amazed to hear his story and asked, "What other wars are there in the Western Regions? Protector Pei has not yet informed me."

"Last month, General Liang Jianfang led a thousand soldiers to Congling and encountered an ambush by the Hu people. Fortunately, no soldiers were lost. Those people are still hostile to the Tang people."

"really?"

Pei Xingjian chewed mutton and explained, "There is a country called Shi to the west of the Pamir Mountains. They have united with the Zhaowu Hu people..."

"That is, the white-clothed Hu merchants and the Sogdians." Pei Xingjian explained casually, and then said: "There are also Talas City, Telmanchuan, Humi Kingdom, Bolerchuan, Tanjuling, Big and Small Bolor Kingdom, and 16 Hu tribes. These people also have contacts with the black-clothed Daqin."

(Note: The New Book of Tang records the place names recorded by the Tang Dynasty during the Pamir War and the Battle of Talas, which are historically known as the 72 Hu Kingdoms.)
Pei Xingjian said with an angry look, "If I hadn't been guarding the Anxi Protectorate, I would have wiped them out with General Liang Jianfang and his troops."

After drinking the wine, Lou Shide, who came from a not-so-affluent family, hadn't even touched the mutton on the table. He rubbed his hands on his trouser legs awkwardly.

Pei Xingjian said, "Eat it, it's okay, the expenses will be charged to me."

Lou Shide asked, "Is Pei Duhu very rich?"

"It's just the little money given by the court. I have an elder brother who I have known since childhood. He is my elder brother Pei Mingli. He is now doing business in the Hexi Corridor. This wine shop was also opened by him in Xizhou City. I just let the store owner take care of it."

Hearing Pei Duhu say this, Lou Shide picked up the mutton and started to chew it, mumbling a few words.

Pei Xingjian frowned and asked, "What did you just say?"

Lou Shide swallowed the mutton in his mouth and said, "My expertise is not suitable for the position of censor."

"Oh, so what do you want?"

"I want to join the army."

Pei Xingjian looked him up and down, and was about to see a man from the Western Regions walking quickly towards him. It was Bai Fang.

As soon as he sat down, he unceremoniously picked up the mutton and put it into his mouth, saying, "The matter of Jiaohe City has been settled."

Lou Shide was surprised and asked: "Who is this..."

"A friend of mine, his name is Bai Fang, he is a monk from the Western Regions."

Bai Fang chewed mutton, puffed up his cheeks, and said, "I am not a monk anymore. I am now a handyman in the Anxi Protectorate." Pei Xingjian felt a headache when he saw this man. He held his forehead and said, "I am sorry to make you laugh, Censor Lou."

Lou Shide laughed heartily and said, "If the Tang Dynasty wants to govern the Western Regions, it must naturally make friends with the people of the Western Regions. It is natural for Protector Pei to make friends with the people of the Western Regions."

Bai Fang nodded heavily, then felt something was wrong, and hurriedly bowed and said, "Bai Fang greets the Imperial Censor."

Lou Shide waved his hand and said, "No need to be so polite."

Bai Fang asked with eyes full of admiration: "Yushi, why did you come to the Western Regions?"

Lou Shide was still very friendly to this Westerner. "Now more and more officials in the court are being sent to the Western Regions and Tubo, so naturally I came as well."

The White side saluted towards the east using the Tang people's etiquette.

Lou Shide asked curiously, "You speak Guanzhong dialect very well. Did Pei Duhu teach you?"

Pei Xingjian snorted coldly: "I never taught him."

Bai Fang explained: "Master Xuanzang taught me."

"Xuanzang..." Lou Shide sighed with emotion.

"Is Master Xuanzang dead?"

Lou Shide added: "He is still alive, but Xuanzang seems to have an agreement with His Majesty. Now he is traveling eastward, and I don't know where he is."

Pei Duhu saw that Bai Fang was about to finish eating the mutton on the table, so he stood up and said, "I will take the censor to rest."

The two stood up and were about to leave.

Bai Fang quickly put all the mutton on the table into a cloth bag and followed behind, eating as he walked.

Lou Shide was walking in Xizhou City. This place used to be Gaochang Kingdom. After Gaochang was destroyed ten years ago, it became Xizhou City.

Although we don’t know what Gaochang Kingdom was like in the past, generally speaking, the people of Gaochang Kingdom would feel that things have changed a lot when they come here again.

Lou Shide looked at everything in the city and said, "The Tang people should spread out here and have more Tang people here."

"I have long advised Pei Duhu to have a few children with Hu Ji here, but he just doesn't want to."

Pei Xingjian smiled awkwardly and said, "Bai Fang, if you dare to say these things again, I will kill you."

Bai Fang smiled and didn't care. He continued to follow behind, chewing mutton. He said, "I dream of becoming a Tang person. I heard that Tang people would take in adopted sons."

Lou Shide looked at Bai Fang and noticed that he was about the same age as him, so he put away his good intentions.

Pei Xingjian found a mud house in Xizhou City and let Lou Shide live there temporarily, and then took Bai Fang away.

In the following days, Lou Shide kept watching Xizhou City, collecting news from the city, and wrote down the situation there and had it sent to Chang'an.

Lou Shide thought that Pei Xingjian was of the same age as himself, and looked at the gorgeous and enthusiastic Hu Ji greeting this Pei Duhu.

There was even a girl named Hu who skillfully placed her slender hand on Pei Duhu's shoulder.

Lou Shide was very suspicious that Pei Xingjian must have a child in the Western Regions.

While thinking, Lou Shide sat in front of his residence and wrote his thoughts in the memorial to the censor.

But then he thought again, he didn't want to be a censor.

After thinking it over again and again, Lou Shide tore up the piece of paper he had just written, threw it away, and then shouted, "Protector Pei!"

Pei Xingjian then pushed away the Hu Ji who was about to hang on him, strode over and asked, "What's the matter?"

Lou Shide bowed and said, "I don't want to be an imperial censor anymore. I would like to ask Pei Duhu to assign me to the Anxi Army. If Pei Duhu can make the decision, I will write a letter to the court to resign."

"No need." Pei Xingjian refused. "To join the Anxi Army, you need to be registered with the Ministry of War. When the war in the Western Regions starts again, you can follow the army. If you have made some military achievements, you can serve in the army. It is not that easy to join the Anxi Army."

Lou Shide could also understand that one could not enter and leave the army at will. The court now strictly controlled the confidential affairs of the army, and any addition and replacement of troops had to be approved by Lord Ying himself.

After much thought, Pei Xingjian's method is indeed better.

A fast horse entered Xizhou City, stopped in front of Pei Xingjian, and handed over a military report: "Protector Pei, urgent news from Qinghai!"

Pei Xingjian, who had been lazy before, immediately became serious, reached out to take the military newspaper and read its contents.

Lou Shide also asked nervously: "What happened?"

Pei Xingjian put away the military report again and said, "Wang Xuance has led his troops to Tianzhu. The 50,000 troops of Anxi Protectorate are all gathered together and are waiting for the order from Cui Dunli, the commander-in-chief of the Qinghai Road."

At the beginning of this year, Wang Xuance put down the civil strife in Tubo. After only one year of governing Tubo, he once again led his troops on a diplomatic mission to India.

Pei Xingjian looked up and said, "Wang Xuance, I really misjudged you at the beginning!"

"Does Protector Pei still have any contact with General Wang Xuance?"

"When he rushed to help Songzhou, Wang Xuance told me that he hated fighting. Why would someone who hated fighting go to India? I also want to go to India and claim the credit for destroying a country."

Lou Shide emphasized: "It is a diplomatic mission, yes! It is a diplomatic mission, not to destroy the country, it is written in the military newspaper."

Pei Xingjian sat down and said to the soldier who was delivering the message, "Please report back to General Cui that the 50,000 Anxi troops are ready to fight and await orders."

"Yes!" The man got on his horse again and left Xizhou City.

Seeing Pei Xingjian was about to leave, Lou Shide followed him and asked, "Is Protector Pei going to reorganize the army?"

Pei Xingjian explained: "The army is under the command of General Liang Jianfang. I only have 2,000 soldiers. I will go and see how those prisoners are planting trees."

Not far west of Shazhou, there is a poplar forest, where the poplar trees are very short.

From afar, you can see people walking in the Populus euphratica forest. Some of them are prisoners escorted from Guanzhong, and some are people from the Western Regions. In the past ten years... a large forest has grown to the west of the Hexi Corridor.

Pei Xingjian rode on a camel and explained to Lou Shide beside him: "Yushi Lou, it is not easy to plant trees here. The trees planted are easy to die. Someone has to look after them every day. In ten years, a forest stretching nearly a thousand miles west of the Hexi Corridor has grown."

Lou Shide stroked his beard and smiled, "In ancient times, the Qin and Han dynasties built the Great Wall, and now the Tang people are planting trees. This is truly a magnificent sight in the world."

In the distance, a large crowd of people were walking back and forth, and saplings were being planted.

Bai Fang said: "If it is the rainy season, these trees can still survive. If there is a continuous drought, the newly planted trees will not survive for long. If the trees die, we will replant them. After this year's cotton is picked, we can go to the Yili River next year and see endless cotton. That's a beautiful view."

Speaking of the Ili River, Pei Xingjian's face turned cold again. The Hu people west of the Ili River often came to cause trouble during the picking season, which was very annoying.

The censor Lou Shide was very diligent. He recorded everything he saw in the Anxi Protectorate and wrote memorials to the court almost every day.

“Are there many monks in the Western Regions?”

Pei Xingjian followed Lou Shide's gaze and saw a group of monks heading west in the distance. He explained, "After Xuanzang returned, more and more monks came to Shazhou to see the Buddhist caves he had built, and they said they wanted to follow the Buddha's footsteps and head west."

(End of this chapter)