Ba Lujia
The next day, starting from early in the morning, the messenger to greet the team began to go back and forth between the team and the construction site.
The person who went to greet the Tibetan envoy was Wang Duan, the Prime Minister of Honglu Temple. This guy had been following Zhang Xuanze for many years. Naturally, he knew that it was impossible for the prince to go out of the city so far to greet a Tibetan envoy, even if the envoy was also a noble.
From the moment he received the Tibetan envoys, Wang Duan remained silent until he got close to the Guannei Road, and then he occasionally chatted with the Tibetan envoys. As he approached Chang'an, he became extremely enthusiastic and chatted with the Tibetan envoys.
Among them, there is the matter of drought.
Since entering the country, the Tubo people have been asking about the drought.
In their opinion, when people in the Tang Dynasty encountered such a thing, they should try their best to cover it up.
As a result, to their great surprise, no matter where they asked or who they asked, the news they got confirmed the drought.
If they inquired in every possible way and finally found out after all the painstaking efforts that the drought was indeed happening, they would not be surprised. But such smoothness made them extremely worried.
The people of the Tang Dynasty could not be fools. People in power could not be unaware of the consequences of something like a drought being leaked. Therefore, when they inquired about the drought, they couldn't help but ask some more questions.
So, they knew that not only were the Tang people not affected by the drought, but they also took advantage of the drought to start road projects?
It has been the habit of the Central Plains people since ancient times not to build any buildings in the year of great disaster.
And not only did they not stop work, but instead built roads on a large scale, then there is only one possibility, that is, they are not afraid of drought at all, and the court can even carry out construction projects while providing disaster relief.
This is just a joke. Although Tubo officially came into contact with the Central Plains relatively late, they still know the Central Plains relatively well. Although the land in the Central Plains is fertile, the population has grown rapidly since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and they do not have enough food to eat.
Under such circumstances, where did the imperial court obtain so much food for disaster relief?
As a result, the envoys had two opinions on this matter. One side believed that Datang was pretending to be fine, but in fact it was almost unbearable. It should send a message back to the country immediately and take the opportunity to attack. It's the Tang Dynasty.
The other side believed that there was no need for Datang to pretend to be fat. Since such a thing happened, there must be an unsuspected reason. Although Tubo and Tang Dynasty often have frictions, the relationship between the two countries should be more stable and don't really break the relationship. At that point, there is no way to restore it.
The two factions each have their own opinions, and neither wants to listen to the other's opinions. The result of this confrontation was that they were obviously a group of Tubo people, but when they were on their way, they split into two groups that were almost the same.
As a member of the Tubo hawks against the Tang Dynasty, the envoy leader Ba Lujia did not join the faction against the Tang Dynasty. Even when Wang Duan started chatting with him, he greeted him with a smile and talked eloquently.
Because he had studied in the Central Plains, Ba Lujia knew the power of this country deeply. Of course, he also knew that even if he didn't like the Tang Dynasty when he was on a mission to the Tang Dynasty, he couldn't show it.
When he was studying in Datang, he felt that what he should least learn, and what he was most fortunate to learn, was hypocrisy.
Although he wished to turn the western region of the Tang Dynasty into a paradise for the weak and sick Tibetan people to recuperate, he would not express his will.
The team was still walking on the main road at first, but when they reached an intersection, Wang Duan stopped the team and said to Ba Lujia: "This is a fork in the road. If we continue to walk on the main road, it will take us a long time to get there." Arrive in Chang'an. However, if we take the path that is being built, we can arrive in Chang'an about half a day earlier. I'll leave it to you to decide."
Can it be half a day faster by taking another route?
Thinking of his journey from the plateau to Chang'an, Ba Lujia couldn't help but feel excited.
Many places in the western region of the Tang Dynasty were also backward. He had walked the mountain road for a long time, eaten dry food for a long time, and had never returned to Chang'an in these years. He was full of expectations for the moment he arrived in Chang'an.
"Then let's take the faster route. It's just right. Let me wait and see what the ongoing projects in Datang look like."
Seeing that Ba Lujia chose this path, Wang Duan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he didn't choose, he would send him to this road.
Once on the road, Ba Lujia stuck his head out of the carriage and looked at the newly built road.
It was not that he had never walked through the official roads of the Tang Dynasty, but he had never seen a road as spacious as this one.
An ordinary official road can accommodate two carriages traveling side by side, but this official road is actually spacious enough to accommodate four carriages traveling side by side.
and....
The carriage kept moving forward without any turning, and even if it turned, it would be an imperceptible small turn.
This road is actually so straight!
Looking at the overall picture from a small perspective, Ba Lujia suddenly discovered that the construction of the Tang Dynasty Road might have involved more investment than he had imagined.
It is said that the Tang Dynasty was starved to death due to drought, but if this was true, how could this road be built like this?
I have seen people pretending to be fat, but if the Tang Dynasty cannot bear the drought and still builds roads and pretends that nothing is wrong, I am afraid that they will not need to attack, and their own people will rebel.
In the end, this matter all needs to be verified.
Thinking of this, Ba Lujia was no longer in a hurry to reach Chang'an.
Looking at Wang Duan, Ba Lujia smiled and said: "Wang Sicheng, I have an unkind request, I don't know..."
Wang Duan looked at Ba Lujia warily and said as naturally as possible: "What is your request? Let me tell you first."
Wang Duan did not dare to underestimate Ba Lujia.
Although this guy was tall, just like a Tubo man, he was well-read in poetry and books, spoke the Mandarin of the Tang Dynasty, and spoke it more fluently than some petty officials. Since receiving Ba Lujia, every time he talked to him, he could feel how knowledgeable this guy was.
To be honest, if this guy puts on Tang people's clothes, Wang Duan will feel that he will admit his mistake.
As a barbarian, if you can reach this level, you have to be careful. This shows that this guy is a superior person both in terms of intelligence and character.
Perhaps, among the envoys who came to perform Hajj this time, this person was the most troublesome.
Seeing that Wang Duan did not agree, Ba Lujia hesitated for a moment and said with a smile: "Wang Sicheng, you also know that our Tubo is located on a plateau and transportation is inconvenient. To travel between the two tribes, you even need to cross the snow-capped mountains."
"When I was studying in Datang, I was impressed by the convenience of road transportation in Datang. After returning to the plateau, although I wanted to build roads, I didn't know anything about it. Since we are walking on the newly built roads in Datang, I don't know if we can Slow down a little, and let me take a look at how road construction was done in the Tang Dynasty."
Although I really don't want to have another dispute on the road, it's rare for the Tibetan envoys to relent. They just take a look, it's nothing.
Besides, isn't one of His Royal Highness's arrangements for the Tibetan envoys to take a good look at the road construction project?
After making sure, Wang Duan opened the curtains of the carriage and gave a few instructions to the outside. As a result, the speed of the team immediately slowed down.
Seeing that Wang Duan actually agreed, Ba Lujia couldn't help but be secretly surprised. He lifted the car curtains and looked outside eagerly.
The section from the intersection to Chang'an has been almost flattened. Although it is only in prototype, the driving feeling is already comparable to the official road, and even exceeds it in some places.
The further the team advanced, the more anxious Ba Lujia became.
It has been some time since Tubo received news of the drought in the Central Plains. He was not surprised that the road in the Tang Dynasty could be built like this. What surprised him most was that the road was built for such a long time.
This is by no means a project that can be completed overnight, or even in a month.
It seems that Datang is not bragging, but is really going all out to build roads.
The carriage continued to drive, and before noon, it finally encountered a construction site with people.
Pretending to be in a hurry, Ba Lujia got off the carriage. After solving the water problem, he took advantage of the situation and walked towards the construction site.
Standing on the roadside and looking towards the construction site, he was amazed.
This is a large construction site, because the established route of the road passes through a deep ravine, so the soil excavated from both sides of the ravine to clear the road will be poured into the ditch. According to the mason's estimation, it can almost fill up a wide road.
After the road is filled in, trees must be planted on the slopes on both sides, and two protection lines must be built with stones on both sides of the road.
When Ba Lujia saw the construction site, he happened to see some workers digging holes and planting trees.
Just by looking at the look of the dirt here, you can tell that the road is newly laid. All the signs add up, and Ba Lujia has no doubts about the progress of the project.
When he walked to the roadside, he saw that Wang Duan did not follow him. Looking at his clothes again, Ba Lujia changed into a Tang suit without hesitation, sneaked up to the migrant workers who were working, and asked: "This old man , I heard that you are building roads? I wonder if the wages are high? I also want to come and follow you."
The migrant worker who was planting trees raised his head and glanced at Ba Lujia, frowning and said: "Where did you come back from? Why are you thinking about working now? If you want to work, just walk three miles to the northwest. There will be stewards at the construction site there. , as long as you sign up, you can come to work. As for the wages, just relax, the court will treat me well, as long as I am not injured, the work will be much better than you farming at home..."
Listening to the migrant worker's rambling introduction, Ba Lujia couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
When the Tang Dynasty encountered a drought, it still dared to build roads, and even paid the people such good wages. This shows that the strength of the Tang Dynasty is beyond imagination.
Under such circumstances, if Tubo still sends troops...
Although he is not afraid of failure, there is really no need to fight against Datang.
In other words, Tubo should not have had this idea from the beginning!
After bowing his hands and saluting, he turned and left. When passing by his team, Ba Lujia whispered a few words to several guards he had trained.
He was in the carriage and couldn't see everything, so the guards outside had to pay more attention.
The carriage continued to move forward, and because of the reduced speed, it did not arrive at the construction site where Li Xian was until the sun was about to set.
In just one day, two huge pits appeared on both sides of the hill.
Although it's not profound, it's still quite spectacular when you look at it from a distance.
Entering the construction site and seeing the flags hanging on the construction site, Wang Duan knew he had arrived at his destination.
Wang Duan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, am at this construction site. Would you like to pay me a visit?"
See you?
Ba Lujia thought for a while and said with a smile: "Prince? That's fine. I'd like to ask Wang Sicheng to introduce me to you."
Wang Duan naturally smiled and agreed.
The carriage stopped, and the guards dispatched by Honglu Temple, along with Ba Lujia's guards, retreated to the side.
As a messenger entered, more than a dozen guards quickly emerged from the construction site.
As soon as Ba Lujia got off the carriage, he was surrounded by guards.
Seeing this scene, the guards of the Tibetan team suddenly became excited.
But Ba Lujia waved his hand to signal them to settle down.
People in the Tang Dynasty had many rules. When he met the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he also had such a set of procedures.
However, in his opinion, these are all nonsense.
With Tang Ren's small body, he could take down four or five of them even without weapons.
After being searched by the guards, Ba Lujia followed the guards into the construction site.
As for the Tubo guards, all their weapons were taken over before they were allowed to follow them.
When he walked into the construction site, Ba Lujia noticed something was wrong, because no matter where he went, he could feel the eyes of hatred, and the source of these eyes was the migrant workers who were working.
From a distance, you can see a pergola covered with black linen on three sides, standing arrogantly at the highest point of the construction site.
And a guy in gorgeous clothes was sitting on a strange-looking chair inside the pergola, looking extremely arrogant.
Approaching the pavilion, Wang Duan took two steps forward, bowed his hands and said, "Your Highness, the Tibetan envoy Ba Lujia wishes to see you."
Li Xian, who was lying on the recliner, sighed and then stood up.
This morning, he thought that exercise was also exercise, so he went to work with the migrant workers and worked for a while.
result....
I fell down tired!
When practicing martial arts, the physical exercise is scientific and limited, but this is not the case when working.
How should I put it? Li Xian was surprised to find that there seemed to be some involution on the construction site.
It’s hard to imagine that these migrant workers even have to compete with each other to carry loads of soil. Continuous and high-intensity work can easily consume a person's physical energy.
Li Xian, who thought he was a little master, sadly found out after a whole morning's work.
If we were purely talking about physical fitness, I might not be a match for these migrant workers at all.
The training he practiced during his martial arts practice had a very limited effect!
