The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 488 Chen Ziang

Du Zhenglun also returned to Chang'an with a car full of autumn pears.

The pears in Luoyang are not only juicy but also refreshing to eat. Li Chengqian ate the pear while listening to Du Zhenglun's report.

"Your Majesty, Governor Gao said that since those students picked pears for Your Majesty, can you forgive them?"

Li Chengqian said: "They fought with others to protect Chongwen Hall. They picked pears for me, so of course I forgive them. I hope I can see them in the imperial examination next year."

Du Zhenglun bowed and said, "Students all over the world will surely appreciate your majesty's kindness and righteousness."

In the autumn of the ninth year of Qianqing's reign, a piece of news was delivered to Chang'an City that civil strife had broken out in the Kingdom of Little Bolor and the old king of the Kingdom of Little Bolor had passed away.

The people in the Honglu Temple believed that the Tibetan minister Ru Laijie must have been behind this.

Qin Ling returned to Tubo and had conflicts with Ru Laijie, and the two sides were about to fight several times.

In front of the snow-capped mountains of Tubo, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of the Potala Palace. It was snowing heavily in Lhasa at this time of year.

There was silence in Lhasa City, where the Tibetans were hiding from the severe cold.

Wang Xuance brought his wife, Queen India, and their children to the city of Lhasa.

Ru Laijie came to greet him personally.

"Haha! My Tibetan brother!" Wang Xuance opened his arms and hugged him in the snow, patting his back hard.

Ru Laijie has white hair, but his eyes are still energetic. He said, "I heard that General Wang has become the chief marching commander of the Tianzhu Road. Congratulations to the general."

Wang Xuance joked, "You have contributed a lot to this, too."

Ru Laijie sighed: "Your child is this big now?"

Wang Xuance took the child over and said, "Call Ru Grandpa."

The child said in authentic Guanzhong dialect: "Grandpa Ru."

"Hahaha!"

Ru Laijie laughed loudly in the snow and laughed for a long time.

This was the first time that Wang Xuance heard the old man laugh so heartily.

The Tang people are the most trustworthy. Once an agreement is reached, they will keep it no matter how far they have to travel. This is what other countries think of the Tang people.

The Tang people have always been practicing their promises. Both the people from the Western Regions and the Tibetans are convinced by the spirit of the Tang people.

Wang Xuance had originally agreed with Ru Laijie to climb the snow mountain together.

The snow-capped mountains behind the Potala Palace are not easy to climb. Wang Xuance came to the top of a snow-capped mountain, from where he could see the panoramic view of Lhasa City, as well as the cattle herds and Tibetan monks under the snow-capped mountains.

Ru Laijie opened his arms and shouted loudly.

The howling of the wind on the snow-capped mountains drowned out his cries.

He said, "The snow here is relatively shallow. We will encounter wolves when we get to the deep snowy mountains."

Wang Xuance sat cross-legged on the snow, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled a breath of hot air. His Tang Dynasty robe was fluttering in the wind.

Ru Laijie smiled and said, "You are the first Tang person to climb the snow-capped mountains of Tubo."

Wang Xuance slowly opened his eyes and asked, "Do you often climb snowy mountains?"

Ru Laijie also sat down cross-legged and replied, "I haven't climbed for a long time. I'm old and can't climb anymore."

Thinking of the adventures they had experienced together in India and how they had traveled thousands of miles to help the Pamirs, Ru Laijie always had a smile on his face. This was the most brilliant feat of his life and he was destined to be written about in history books. He felt that his name would definitely appear in the history books of the Tang Dynasty.

Ru Laijie sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, seeming to listen to the sound of the wind in the snow-capped mountains.

Wang Xuance also closed his eyes and sat quietly.

After a long while, Wang Xuance finally opened his eyes, patted his shoulder and said, "Come with me to Tianzhu."

Ru Laijie shook his head and said, "The Tibetan children still need me."

"Don't think I don't know. Your situation in Tubo is not good. Qin Ling has been oppressing you. When he came back, all the warriors of Tubo were willing to follow him. You were abandoned."

Ru Laijie lowered his head and said, "Did the Khan ask you to persuade me?"

"It's not Tian Khan's intention. It's me who wants you to go to Tianzhu."

Ru Laijie shook his head and said, "I want to bury my bones here, on the snowy mountain. I want my body to become dry bones in the wind and snow. My dry bones should be like now, on the snowy mountain looking towards the east."

Wang Xuance took a sip of barley wine and handed the wine bag to him.

Ru Laijie took the wine bag and took a sip.

"You shouldn't have died on the snowy mountain. This would only make Qin Ling think you are weak."

Rulaijie's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance, and he said, "When I die, when the Zamp dies, he will also appoint another Zamp, and he will also become the most powerful prime minister in Tubo. He is a very ambitious child. He has been like this since he was a child. If he is not disciplined, it will not only be a hidden danger to Tubo, but also a hidden danger to the Tang Dynasty."

"Tian Khan sent this child to Luocheng to deal with me, but it's actually unnecessary. This child will be more ambitious than me in the future. His ambition will kill him and make him die miserably. I am saving the children of Tubo. Qinling must not take advantage of his own strength."

Wang Xuance helped him stand up and said, "Let's go to Tianzhu. Before you die, we will have another battle with the Arabs."

There was a different kind of light flashing in Ru Laijie's eyes.

Wang Xuance said: "The Tang Dynasty and the Arabs will have a war sooner or later. The next battle will be a life-and-death one and it won't take long."

Ru Laijie walked down the snowy mountain with Wang Xuance on crutches. He asked, "Do you still need to read military books now?"

"No, I gave my military book away."

Ru Laijie said: "Every time a war is about to start, you will read military books."

"Ah."

"Can you win the battle without reading military books?"

"Haha!" Wang Xuance laughed heartily, "I have a military book in my heart. As for that volume of military book, it is nothing more than a few numbers. The real military book is not in the book, but in my heart."

The two walked back to the foot of the snow mountain.

Qin Ling rode up on his horse and said loudly, "General Wang."

When the young man returned to Tubo, he looked better and stronger. It seemed that this child was born to live on this plateau.

He was very weak in Chang'an City, but he was full of energy when he returned to Tubo.

Wang Xuance smiled and said, "Qinling, Ru Laijie wants to go to Tianzhu with me."

"it is good!"

"We also need Tibetan troops."

"can."

Qinling agreed to all the conditions, and Ru Laijie took away three thousand Tibetan soldiers when he left.

When leaving Tubo and preparing to go to India, Sambhota came personally to see him off.

Sambuza said: "You lost, you lost to the Khan and the Zamp."

Rulaijie bowed to the vast expanse of heaven and earth in the east using Tibetan etiquette, saying, "With the Khan and the Zamp here, Tibet will not be in chaos."

Sambuza said, "You gained too much treasure by attacking the small kingdom of Bolor, and now Qinling wants to attack it too."

"Go ahead, kid, you're meant to fight."

Ru Laijie spoke Guanzhong dialect with a Tibetan accent.

The group left Tibet with cattle and horses.

Sambuza saluted the marching team, knowing that Rulaijie would never come back. After crossing a mountain stream, they saw a stream in front of them. The stream flowed down from the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Rulaijie scooped up the clear water and drank a mouthful, saying, "Aren't Jiang Shiren and Li Yibiao here?"

Wang Xuance said, "They are not coming."

The Queen of India, who was sitting in the luxurious carriage, said, "As long as they have children in India, that's fine."

Ru Laijie saw the young soldier following behind Wang Xuance again and asked, "Is this the new Tang general?"

"General Wang Xiaojie."

Ru Laijie said with emotion: "Young Tang generals, I hope you will still be so proud when you attack the Arabs."

Wang Xiaojie said seriously: "Of course."

Wang Xuance took the wine bag from the general and said, "He is from Xinfeng County. He brought Xinfeng wine. Would you like to try it?"

Ru Laijie took a sip of the wine and said, "Good wine."

In the past, this old Tibetan man never ate other people's food or drank other people's alcohol.

Now he has changed a lot and even drinks Tang people's wine.

Everyone rested for a night. At night, Wang Xuance told him about the current Chang'an City and what Songtsen Gampo had encountered recently.

They set out again, and half a month later they arrived at the territory of India, where a huge war elephant walked out from a forest.

It was the first time that Wang Xiaojie saw such a huge creature. He put his hand on the hilt of the knife and was very alert.

The Indian Queen walked forward, stroked her war elephant with her hand, and said with tears in her eyes, "I'm back."

The war elephant seemed to be moved and shed tears as well.

The little Indian King stood beside his mother. He had the facial features of a Tang person and the skin color of an Indian. He reached out his hand and timidly touched the ivory.

Until the war elephant sat down obediently, the Queen of India held the little King of India and sat on the back of the war elephant again.

It had been several years since I last saw it, and I heard the stories told by the people of India.

This war elephant was very human-like and kept wandering between the north and south, waiting for its master to return.

When the war elephant stood up again, the Indian queen sat on the elephant's back, opened her arms, and the Indian subjects around her bowed down one after another.

Wang Xuance came back this time to prepare for war.

Prepare for the final battle between the Tang people and the Arabs, and prepare troops and food in advance.

Ru Laijie said: "The war between the Tang people and the Arabs is bound to be a long expedition. I wonder when the Heavenly Khan will wait before launching the army?"

Wang Xuance said: "Not now, maybe we have to wait a few years. If the Arabs move eastward, India will send troops to fight against them first."

Ru Laijie smiled and said, "General Wang has plenty of time to prepare for a war."

The war has not yet come, but in Ru Laijie's imagination, it must be a huge war that will go down in history.

At that time, the Tang people brought troops from all over the Pamir Mountains, as well as troops from India, Tibet, and the Western Regions, in a massive and earth-shaking war. There could only be one overlord on this land.

On the other side of the earth, in the snowy Tianshan Mountains, Bai Fang rode a horse with a group of soldiers from the Western Regions and arrived at Suiye City.

There are still many Hu merchants in Suiye City today, but there is still no one living outside of Suiye City, and the herdsmen from that time are still gone.

After the Battle of Pamirs, this place has remained like this, without any changes and it is difficult to recover.

Bai Fang dismounted, led the horse and the Western Region soldiers into Suiye City.

Along with Bai Fang came a Tang official named Zhang Da'an.

Zhang Da'an was both a teacher at the Chongwenguan and a magistrate at the Jingzhao Prefecture. He had served in Luoyang, Tubo, and Chang'an.

In the dispute over the grain transport, Xu Jingzong's quota was given to Zhang Da'an, but he lost to Xu Yueshi.

After that, Zhang Da'an volunteered to come to the Western Regions to build Jingzhao Prefecture in the Western Regions.

A Tang official came running over and said, "I am Cui Xuanwei, your humble servant, and I am honored to meet Judge Zhang."

Bai Fang handed over a document and said, "I am here to guard Suiye City by order of the Anxi Protectorate."

Cui Xuanwei took the document, confirmed it, and then asked, "How many soldiers did the general bring?"

Bai Fang said: "Three hundred people."

Cui Xuanwei nodded: "Suiye City is the pass of Congling Mountain, I am afraid..."

Zhang Daan explained: "The Protectorate knows that the food supply in Suiye City is tight. These 300 people are here to guard the pass and cultivate the land. The army is right behind us, so there is no need to worry."

Cui Xuanwei added: "Suiye City is in need of a brave garrison general. Please feel free to serve as you wish."

"Hahaha!" Bai Fang laughed out loud. He also felt that he was brave, so he began to give instructions to Zhang Daan.

For Bai Fang, he only had 300 Western Region soldiers because the Western Region had just started harvesting cotton and he couldn't spare too many manpower, not even enough to transport the cotton.

But three hundred soldiers are just three hundred soldiers. Bai Fang feels that it is enough even for attacking cities.

The Arabs were fearless when facing an enemy force that was twice as large as the Tang army. How difficult was it to defend the city of Suiye? Three hundred men were enough.

Suiye City is no longer what it used to be. It was rebuilt by then-King Li Shen, and everything was modeled after Chang'an City.

Cui Xuanwei saw a child of about four or five years old following Zhang Daan and asked, "Who is he..."

Zhang Daan smiled and said, "I am not married yet. This is the child of an old friend. His name is Chen Ziang."

Cui Xuanwei stroked his beard and smiled, "You have broad eyes and eyebrows. You will definitely be a good young man in the future."

Chen Zi'ang was wearing thick clothes and looking around.

Zhang Daan explained: "This child's father is very good at magic and has lived in seclusion in the mountains. I don't want him to be delayed by his biological father's stubbornness, so I brought him with me to teach him well."

The Bai side began to defend the city of Suiye. Soldiers from the Western Regions mixed with the Tang army and stood on the city wall of Suiye.

Suiye City also has a main street that runs through the entire city.

Zhang Daan hugged Chen Ziang, who was not in a good mood, and said, "Did you lose something?"

Chen Ziang whispered, "What did Zhang say?"

"He is an official in the Anxi Protectorate."

"Where's He Zhizhang?"

"He is ill and needs to stay in Anxi Protectorate."

Chen Ziang looked around, lowered his head and asked in a low voice: "Can we go back?"

Zhang Daan said, "We will go back after we finish the matter in Suiye City. You must be brave and don't be afraid of strangers."

"Ah."

Seeing that the child was still timid, Zhang Da'an said, "There is a very smart child in Chang'an, his name is Luo Binwang, he could write poems at the age of seven, how about you?"

Chen Ziang counted on his fingers and raised them again, as if he could not remember how old he was.

It is said that Suiye City is a bitter and cold place. But when Zhang Daan actually settled down here and started looking through the files here, he realized that this is actually a very prosperous place.

Originally, there was no poverty where people lived together.

People's nature makes them choose to live in prosperous areas. The so-called bitter and cold places are relative to more prosperous places.

It was also the first time for Zhang Da'an to come to Suiye City. He inspected the soil here and read the files left by the Sinong Temple. After reaching a conclusion, he asked someone to submit a memorial to Chang'an.

(End of this chapter)