"But the Tang people have marked our faces!"
"Does being a slave to the master mean you are not branded? It's not uncommon to cut off your hands, feet, and gouge out your eyes!"
"Yes, if I had known that being a slave to the Tang Dynasty was just like that, without being beaten, or having my hands, feet, and eyes cut off, I wouldn't have run away in the first place and suffered a whipping in vain!"
"You are better off just being whipped than those unlucky ones who have their heads chopped off, right?"
"That's true, but the people of the Tang Dynasty are really cruel! Six or seven of my fellow villagers were beheaded for escaping and hung on a tree. Within a short time, they were pecked by crows and their heads were changed beyond recognition!"
"Isn't it normal for prisoners to escape and be beheaded? Otherwise, why would the Tang people treat them to drinks?" Someone sneered: "Instead of cutting open the stomach, tying the intestines to the horse's tail, beating the horse and draining the intestines would be good. It sounds like you are lucky, if you had escaped with those fellow villagers, your head would have been hung on a tree!"
"Bah! Maybe I escaped back? You don't expect anything better from me!"
"Escape back? Do you know how far away from Dajian Lu is? It's hundreds of miles! In winter, Qiang people are everywhere, and the Tang people have promised us a reward! If you can escape back, you can't fly! "
"Not bad, unless it can fly!"
There was a burst of laughter from the crowd. The prisoners had forgotten what they said at the beginning and laughed loudly at the companion who was overestimating his abilities, while the unfortunate guy tried his best to defend himself with a red face. In this short period of time, these unfortunate people temporarily forgot the cruelty of fate, laughed at each other, and tasted the little joy.
"To be honest, if it weren't for the women and children, my parents, I really wouldn't want to go back!" A red-faced man with a curly beard sighed: "If you think about it, there is nothing bad here in Tang Dynasty. It's just work. , you can also eat, learn crafts from Tang craftsmen, and get some money every month. After working for a few years, you can use the money to redeem yourself with the Tang lords, whether you are a soldier or just looking for a job. It’s not difficult to support yourself, and life might be better than living in Tubo!”
"It's true that the craftsmanship of Tang people is much better than that of Tibetan craftsmen. If you can learn it, you can live a good life anywhere!"
"I'm just afraid they won't teach me!"
"If you don't teach, you won't be afraid. We can still serve as soldiers for Master Tang! You don't know how to fight?"
"That's true. I've also heard that soldiers in the Tang Dynasty are different from us, but those with military pay don't have to prepare their own food, clothes and shoes. In addition, they also get paid!"
"Really? Is there such a good thing?"
"Of course it's true. I heard it from a guard from Tang Dynasty. Besides, even if we can get a few pieces of meat every month, how come they can't get it themselves?"
"That's true!" The red-faced and bearded man just now sighed: "It's such a pity!"
The sigh of the red-faced man with beard made everyone calm down. This "what a pity" touched something deep in everyone's heart. For the first time in their lives, they compared their past life with their current situation, and then made a judgment. , this feeling is very unfamiliar to them. Because in ancient society, the vast majority of people did not have the opportunity to choose their own lives. They could only passively accept their fate, whether they liked it or not. But this time, these Tubo captives were surprised to find that they actually had the opportunity to choose their future life. They were like blind men seeing the sun for the first time, unfamiliar and frightened.
Tenzin stood up and rushed out. His companion reached out to catch him, but he threw his arm away, as if he was throwing away a burden. The companion shouted his name in surprise: "Tenzin, it's time to eat soon, where are you going?"
Tenzin strode forward, leaving his shouts behind. His head was filled with one thought and could not accommodate anything else. He crossed the uneven depressions and crossed the meadows, his feet covered with mud. , until caught by a strong hand.
"Tenzin, where are you going?" Aktun looked at the Tibetan prisoner coldly: "Are you crazy? If you go a little further and leave the camp, you will be beheaded if you run away!"
"I want to see the Governor Wang!" Tenzin said breathlessly, "I have something to say to him!"
Acton stared into Tenzin's eyes, and after confirming that the other person was conscious, he said, "What's the matter? Governor Wang is very busy, and he doesn't have time to meet a little person like you!"
"I want to stay, I don't want to go back to Tibet!" Tenzin said.
"What are you staying here to return to Tibet!" Acton frowned impatiently. If the speaker was not Tenzin but another Tibetan prisoner, he would have no patience to listen anymore: "Speak clearly, don't talk nonsense. Nonsense!”
"I heard that the Governor Wang was negotiating with the Tubo nobleman to exchange us and the Tubo people for Qiang slaves. Is this true?" Tenzin asked.
"Tenzin, do you want to be whipped?" Acton said angrily: "I am the one asking the question, not you!"
"I'm sorry!" Tenzin calmed down: "But I can only answer your question if I first confirm whether this is the case!"
Akdon looked at Tenzin coldly. Several times, Tenzin thought that he would be tied to a tree and whipped more than a dozen times. As an officer in Yaqiandu next to Wang Wenzuo, Akdon fully had this power. . But in the end, Acton didn't do that. He nodded: "That's the case, but it's not confirmed yet!"
"Well, I want to stay here and don't want to be put back!"
"Why? Don't you want to go back and see your family?" Acton showed a curious look in his eyes: "There are not many opportunities like this!"
"You don't understand!" Tenzin sighed: "Qiang slaves are the property of the noble lords. If I are exchanged back like this, the noble lords will ask me to compensate for their losses. Not only myself, but also my My family is also likely to become the slaves of noble gentlemen. Rather than doing this, I might as well stay with you, at least my family will not be implicated!"
"You and your family will become slaves of a noble lord? Is this true?" Acton was surprised: "How could this happen? Weren't you captured because you were a soldier? The cost of redemption is already The state should pay for it! Why should we pay for it ourselves?"
"That's how it is in Tubo!" Tenzin said with a bitter smile: "And even if I can afford the ransom, my family will be looked down upon and laughed at as a coward because I didn't die in the battle and became a prisoner. If I stay , as long as my companions say that I am dead, my family will live a better life!"
"But I can't blame you!" A look of sympathy appeared on Acton's face for the first time: "You did everything you could under the circumstances. Even if you risk your life, you can't change the outcome!"
"Yes, but this is how we are in Tubo, we either win or die. Anyone who escapes after a defeat will be called a coward and ridiculed with a fox tail on his head; not to mention being captured. If I If we go back alive, I’m afraid the whole family will be humiliated, and it’s better to be treated as if we were killed in battle!”
"I understand!" Acton nodded: "I will tell the superiors what you mean, but in the end it is not up to me to decide whether it works or not!"
"Thank you!" Tenzin exhaled a long breath and bowed to Acton.
Looking at Tenzin's leaving figure, Acton had mixed feelings in his heart. He suddenly shouted loudly: "Tenzin, don't be sad, things will always get better!"
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Wang Wenzuo's residence.
Wang Wenzuo lowered his head to write, the quill pen in his hand quickly scratched on the paper, and said without raising his head: "Say it!"
"That's what happened, Governor, I don't know whether I should tell you or not. It might waste your time." Acton looked hesitant.
"You're already wasting my time!" Wang Wenzuo put down his pen and raised his head: "Go ahead and let me decide whether you should tell me or not!"
"Yes!" Acton lowered his head in embarrassment, recounted what Tenzin had just said to him, and finally said: "That's it, I feel that although this matter is not big, I should still tell you. After all, There should be more than one person like him among the Tibetan prisoners!"
"You did the right thing!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Acton, are you doing this because you sympathize with him!"
"Yes!" Actun raised his head and took courage: "I was the one who captured him at that time, but I swear, he tried his best at that time. I first launched a night attack, and then used fireworks to smoke out his people. He was so smoked that he couldn't open his eyes, rolled down from the high ground, and even lost his weapons, so they surrendered. On the way back, he endured a lot of pain, but even so, he still did not abandon A copper kettle containing the bones of my friend!”
"This is a brave man!" Wang Wenzuo nodded: "A brave man should not become a slave. You can go back and tell him that he can stay if he is willing. If there are other people in a similar situation to him, You can also stay, but there can’t be too many people!”
"yes!"
After Acton left, Wang Wenzuo sat down behind the desks again and tried to continue his work, but he gave up after a few minutes and threw the quill on the desks. It took a while before he calmed down again.
"It's simply unbelievable that the Tubo people can still have a national destiny for more than two hundred years after doing this!"
Compared with his stubborn arrogance when exchanging prisoners, Langri seemed much more reasonable in conducting trade. As a Tubo nobleman who had studied abroad in Chang'an and Luoyang for many years, he was very familiar with the various commercial and trade conditions of the Tang Dynasty at that time. When Wang Wenzuo proposed the tea-horse trade, he immediately put forward a quite feasible plan - in short, it was a simple version of the east and west cities of Chang'an:
The two parties conduct trade once in the middle and at the end of each month. The transaction takes place in a predetermined small market. Merchants from both sides conduct trade in the market, and the market is managed by a three-person committee - Tang He Each Tibet sent an official, and the remaining one consisted of a respected businessman. They adjudicated disputes and conflicts, collected taxes, and guarded the market with a hundred soldiers on each side. The types of goods to be traded are agreed in advance. Any trade conducted outside this market is considered illegal. Once discovered, the goods will be confiscated and the merchant will be sentenced to exile. This agreement is guaranteed by an oath, which is taken at the beginning of each year. Overall, this agreement is simple, crude but effective. Although it has nothing to do with the principles of free trade, it has two great benefits: first, it is conducive to taxation and management; second, it can be a monopoly. Both Langri and Wang Wenzuo, who represented the interests of Tubo Zampu, maximized their own interests in the agreement.
"That's it in general. Let's leave the specific details to the documents below to discuss!" Langri smiled and raised his glass: "How about it?"
"Very good!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "Then when will the two parties take the oath of alliance?"
"Hahaha!" Langri laughed: "The King's Governor is still so impatient!"
"It's not that I'm impatient, but as far as I know, your country believes in gods. As long as you slaughter livestock in front of the gods of mountains and rivers and make an oath within the validity period, you don't have to worry. After all, this trade is a matter of mutual benefit. My family is not the only one who benefits!”
"That's true! Governor Wang really understands us Tubo people!" Langri smiled: "But I still have a question. Governor Wang, you are the Governor of Songzhou Governor's Mansion. Your trade with the Tibetans will not infringe on each other; but The Tang Dynasty was deploying troops and generals, and also made Xue Rengui the general manager of the Luosuo Road march, and Luosuo is the capital of our country, how to explain this? "
"Haha!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "General Xue is in Longyou, and I am in Jiannan. Do you understand what I mean?"
"You mean that General Xue's beating of General Xue has nothing to do with you?"
"General Xue and I are both ministers of the Tang Dynasty, how can it not matter!" Wang Wenzuo smiled: "But the Tang Dynasty does not have many soldiers in Jiannan, and is on the defensive. As long as I can stabilize Jiannan, don't let the Tubo troops attack If we reach the city walls of Chengdu, I will be worthy of General Xue, and the court will not blame me!"
"Hehehehe!" Lang Ri laughed and said, "What the Governor Wang said is a bit wishful thinking, isn't it? In the confrontation between the two countries, you gain and we lose. You want to use the weak troops in Jiannan Road to contain our country's southern line, but Letting your army from Longyou attack our Qinghai is too much, isn't it?"
"Really? But I think even if the Tang Dynasty captures Qinghai, it will be a blessing in disguise for your country!"
Langri's eyes narrowed, and he stared at Wang Wenzuo's face, trying to see through his appearance to see what was in his heart. A few minutes later, he whispered: "The land of Qinghai is the important place of our country, with good horses and beautiful horses." All animals are born here, and the Huang River Valley is full of fertile land. If it is lost, it will be like the Huns losing their land west of the river. Women are colorless, how can we say they are blessed?"
"It's good to have good horses and livestock, and vast hectares of fertile land, but it's a great disaster for the country to be light on the inside and heavy on the outside, and a big tail that doesn't fall off. You should understand this, right?"
(End of chapter)
