Of course, the Tubo people's victory in foreign wars can compensate for these effects to a certain extent. For example, the plundered population, looted wealth, and external expansion of the land can bring more fertile and richer fiefdoms to the Tibetan nobles. But there must be a premise for all this, that is, the battle must be won, and the spoils brought will be greater than the consumption of the war, otherwise this business cannot be sustained.
But the problem is that in history, the Tubo Empire almost started at the same time as the Tang Dynasty, and it lasted for almost two hundred years. Obviously, the Tubo people could not have been victorious for such a long time, otherwise the Tubo Empire would have annexed the Tang Dynasty or the Indian subcontinent. , to be able to sustain the war for such a long time without social collapse, there must be something in the Tubo Empire that he does not know that is supporting him.
"Where is the Tubo Deputy Hundred Household?" Wang Wenzuo asked.
"Just down the hall!" Igillenbod hesitated: "But his feet were frostbitten when he came here, and he is still unable to walk on his own, so-"
"Then carry it up on a stretcher!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Now is not the time to be formal. By the way, what is his name?"
"Tenzin!"
"Dengzin?" Wang Wenzuo frowned. He didn't like the name, but that didn't matter. The beauty or ugliness of the name had nothing to do with the quality of the person, not to mention that it was just a pronunciation symbol: "Pass him up. ! We are pressed for time!"
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There was a fire burning in the brazier, and the air in the room was stifling. The heat made Tenzin drowsy. The doctor asked him to lie on his back and he immediately closed his eyes to allow himself to rest. There was a dull sound of a wooden pestle hitting a stone mortar outside the door. It was the doctor's apprentice pounding herbs. "It will hurt a little later!" the doctor said, "but this is a good thing. At least it means that your feet can still be saved. If it had been anyone else, these two legs would have been ruined!"
Tenzin didn't quite understand what the doctor said. He was so sleepy that he just nodded blankly. As a prisoner, he was lucky enough to be able to lie on the bed instead of being shackled and thrown into the animal pen. The doctor was a thin middle-aged man. He carefully peeled off Tenzin's pants and boots, exposing his calves and swollen ankles. He let out a sigh, took the stone mortar from his apprentice, and smeared the crushed herbs inside. On Tenzin's bruised and swollen feet, a severe sting immediately woke him up from his sleep, and he screamed.
"I told you it would be very painful!" The doctor said with a joking smile: "It hurts or you become a cripple, it's your choice!
"The Governor wants to see him immediately!" Acton raised the curtain and said to the doctor.
"The Governor?" The doctor was surprised. He pointed to Tenzin on the bed: "But this guy can't stand up at all now. How can he see the Governor!"
"Then carry him over on a stretcher!" Acton said: "The Governor has said that the situation is urgent, so there is no need to be formal. Wrap his feet quickly. The smell is too strong. We can't let the Governor smell him. Your feet smell, right?"
"Okay!" The doctor quickly applied the paint on Tenzin and then wrapped it tightly with cloth. Two servants came in and carried Tenzin onto the stretcher. Actun said to the Qiang girl beside him: "Tell him, If the Governor wants to ask him later, if he is stupid, even the King of Heaven and I will not be able to save him!"
"Grand Governor?" The Qiang girl's translation was very poor, but Tenzin still figured out the general idea. In Tubo, low-level officers like him were not qualified to directly meet such high-ranking officers. The Tang people must have some purpose in doing this, so What should I do? Should he die without saying a word, or should he betray his family and tribe in exchange for his life? He felt as if a large ball of wet towel had been stuffed into his head, making it a mess.
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Tenzin entered the room with hesitation and questions. He saw a handsome and capable young man sitting among them. He wore a short round collar, a gray bun, a neatly trimmed beard, and curious eyes, standing on his right side. A handsome young man was talking to the man in the middle.
"The people are here, let's get started!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Ijilianbode, I'll trouble you to be the clerk!"
"Yes!" Yiji Lianbode responded, returned to the cases on the side, picked up paper and pen, and waited for Wang Wenzuo's inquiry.
"Let him introduce himself first, his name, identity, official position, tribe he belongs to, and what is the name of his superior!"
Faced with a series of questions from Wang Wenzuo, Tenzin answered them tamely one by one. In his opinion, this was not succumbing to the enemy's power, let alone betraying his family and tribe. After all, these questions were mostly about his identity and his relationship with others. The ongoing war has nothing to do with it. It would be different if Wang Wenzuo asked the Tibetans about their military plans and their strength.
"How many people are there in your family? How old are you? How many children and wives do you have? Do you have brothers and sisters? How many slaves, how many cows, how many fields, and how many crops can you grow each year? How much food is harvested? How many times the seeds? How many years of grain storage do you have at home? What kind of land do you use to harvest crops? Wooden plow or iron plow? Iron sickle or stone sickle? How do you shell the grain? Do you use animals to pull stone rollers? Or human power , is there a wind or water-powered mill? What is the price of food in your hometown this year? You don't use copper coins? How much is the price of cloth compared with food? Can you drink tea on weekdays? Are your parents still alive? Oh, your father has passed away. How much did it cost for his funeral? Three yaks and twelve sheep? This is a lot of money! Your mother is still alive and in good health, and she can still carry water and weave cloth every morning. That is really enviable Ah! Healthy old people are a blessing for our younger generations!"
As the questioning progressed, Tenzin became increasingly confused. The question asked by the "King Commander" of the Tang Army was very broad. He seemed to have deliberately avoided questions that would arouse Tenzin's vigilance. He was not so much asking questions as he was making a routine, making Tenzin completely unable to be alert. In the end, he even complained about the boots on his feet.
"The master originally said that he could go home after two months of service, but it was delayed month after month. I originally brought clothes and boots from home. If the clothes are torn, they can be mended, and the shoes are torn. What should I do? I brought three pairs of shoes, and the soles of two pairs were worn out. There was also something wrong with the third pair. This time my feet were frozen because of the shoes!"
"This really shouldn't be done! You come out to serve as a soldier for your superiors, do you still have to prepare your own shoes?"
"Tubo is like this! They prepare their own weapons, armor, clothes and shoes!" Tenzin asked in surprise: "Didn't the Tang Dynasty prepare it themselves?"
"Yes, but if the time is too long, the emperor will give you clothes once in winter and summer. In summer, Ge cloth will be given, and in winter, cloth will be given, so that the soldiers can make their own clothes and shoes. Otherwise, no matter how good the clothes and shoes are when they go out to fight, It wears out over time! In addition, there is also pickle money and charcoal money. The former is used to buy pickles for the soldiers to eat, and the latter is used to provide firewood for the sergeants to keep warm in winter. The rent for family members back home can also be reduced!"
"If that's the case, your Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is really kind!" Danzeng sighed.
Wang Wenzuo smiled, but did not accept what Tenzin said, and said with a smile: "I heard Acton say that you are carrying a copper jar with your friend's bones in it, and you want to take it back for burial. Is it true or false?"
"That's right. He has been my good friend since childhood. If I died in front of him, he would do the same thing!" Tenzin replied.
"Well, this is a rare act of righteousness!" Wang Wenzuo nodded. He turned to Acton and said: "Let's ask here today! Give him a more comfortable room and treat him well! There is no need to go to the hospital until he recovers from his injury. Shackles!”
"Yes!" Acton responded and took Tenzin away.
"Captain! I have memorized everything. Do you have any questions?" Yiji Lianbode handed over the book he had written. Wang Wenzuo looked at it and saw a hand with beautiful fly-headed regular script, which looked pleasing to the eye: " Not bad, not bad, your handwriting can be exchanged for wine at a Chang'an wine shop!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Governor!" Ijilianbod said with a smile: "But you didn't ask those important questions just now. Do you want to attack his heart first?"
"You're only half right!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Actually, I already know a lot from that person today!"
"Oh? A lot of things? But I just heard you asking about his parents' shortcomings!"
"That's because you haven't thought about it carefully!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "I asked him before how many children there are in the family, how many slaves, how many cows, how many fields, and how many crops can be planted every year? The food harvested is from seeds. How many times? How many years of food storage do you have at home? It should be noted that the Tubo army has no military pay, and it is composed of soldiers and peasants. Knowing this, you can roughly deduce how many troops they can mobilize, and these troops can continue to fight outside. for how long.
Knowing how many slaves and children there are in the family can tell how many soldiers they can send out, because if there are too many young and middle-aged men guarding the country, then the slaves in the country are likely to cause riots. The price ratio of grain and cloth can tell whether the food and clothing are sufficient, because the Tibetan people did not mint money. In fact, cloth was used instead of copper coins in the country. If you ask if you can drink tea, you can know whether the Tibetan people's business travel is smooth, because the Tibetan people do not have Self-produced tea, all tea comes from foreign trade. Tea trade can not only meet the needs of the common people and nobles, but the king can also get a lot of tax money from the tea trade, just like the salt tax and wine tax of our Tang Dynasty generally. The king's finances were scarce, and even if he could send troops, the king's power would be unstable and in danger of overthrowing. Do you think these are useful? "
After hearing what Wang Wenzuo said, Ijilenbode couldn't help but be stunned. He had never expected that Wang Wenzuo could get so much useful information from the conversation just like a normal conversation. No wonder he wanted to use his pen as a recorder just now.
"You can keep this for now!" Wang Wenzuo clicked on the book: "In a few days, when his foot injury recovers, I'll call him and ask again. In the next few days, you can sort out those Tibetan prisoners according to what I asked today. Read it once, then compile it into a volume, and if possible, send it to Chang'an to present it to the emperor!"
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Outside Chang'an City, Changting.
"Sister!" Princess Pu'an raised her wine glass: "I have to say goodbye, but I don't know when I will see you again! I just hope you can sing a triumphant song and rebuild your tent on the shores of Qinghai Lake!"
"Thank you sister!" Princess Xiping raised her wine glass, but her face was not pretty, pale and bleak, and her smile flashed: "I hope everything will be as you said!"
"What's wrong?" Princess Pu'an felt something was wrong with her sister's expression. She waved the maid aside and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Isn't this a good thing? Why are you acting like this? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No!" Princess Xiping smiled sadly and shook her head.
"What is that? You don't want to leave Chang'an?" the eldest princess asked.
"Yes, but not because of this!" Princess Xiping whispered: "Sister, do you think Datang can win this time?"
Princess Pu'an looked at Princess Xiping, and after a while she whispered: "I am a woman, how can I know about military affairs? It's just that this time the imperial court chose General Xue as the general manager of the march, and also mobilized Longyou, Beiting, and Guannai With elite soldiers and strong generals, if we can’t win this, there is no other way!”
"I'm not saying that General Xue is not good! It's just that he is far worse than the British Duke and Liang Guogong (Qiru Heli)!"
Princess Pu'an laughed when she heard this: "What you said is true, but the British Duke is dead, and the Liang Duke is old and recovering from illness recently. How can he lead the army to fight? Among the generals of this generation, General Xue It’s already a leader!”
"Sister, General Xue is brave when he is brave, but the Tubo people are very different. The most important thing is that the road over there is far away, the mountains are high and the weather is cold. I'm just afraid-"
"Okay, stop talking!" Princess Pu'an interrupted her sister: "The dispatch of troops has been decided. You and I are both women, and you are the official wife of King Tuyuhun. How can we say more about this kind of thing? ?”
"Okay!" Seeing this, Princess Xiping had no choice but to nod her head: "I hope this is all my mistress's troubles in vain!"
After sending Princess Xiping away, Princess Pu'an fell into deep thought on the way back home. He knew very well that his sister was not the kind of purdah woman who was prone to neurasthenia. The Li family, which was founded in Wuchuan, also inherited the strong family tradition of women from the Northern Dynasties. It is different from the family tradition of a Han family like Cui Lu, who passed down rituals and laws and lived in simplicity. The daughter of the Li family is outgoing, brave, and even aggressive. When Li Yuan raised troops in Taiyuan, his daughter Princess Pingyang, who was staying in Guanzhong at the time, resolutely sent her husband Chai Zhao away while she fled to Li's manor. She spent her family wealth to recruit troops and contacted the heroes of Guanzhong to start a rebellion. When Li Yuan's army invaded Guanzhong, they surrounded her. In Chang'an, Princess Pingyang already had 70,000 troops and occupied a large territory.
Later, the princesses of the Tang Dynasty also actively participated in the government and recruited talents. They were by no means the kind of women who lived in the boudoir and knew nothing about everything in later generations. For example, Princess Xiping has been married to King Tuyuhun for many years. The two of them ruled the Tuyuhun tribe and had a lot of dealings with the Tubo people. People like her are so pessimistic about the future war. I'm afraid we can't ignore this, right?
Thanks to book friends such as Goddess Is Hei Changzhi, Zhuanzhuanzhu, Cao Mengde, Born Overlord and so on.
(End of chapter)
