Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 544 The Life of a Captive

"Go to the Tang army?" Yang Jin frowned: "You are Zanpu's special envoy, so it's not appropriate to go to meet the general of the Tang people like this?"

"No one knows my identity except you!" Lang Ri smiled relaxedly: "Besides, Zamp has given me full power to deal with everything before departure, and I just need to report to him afterwards!"

"Okay!" Yang Jin snorted coldly: "If that's the case, then it's up to you. Are you going to let the people of Tang know your real identity?"

"No, you can tell Tang Ren that I am your subordinate, and I am going this time to discuss the exchange of prisoners between the two sides!"

"As you wish!" Yang Jin shook his head helplessly: "You can do whatever you like, as long as you don't kill your own life, otherwise it's no wonder that Zanpu didn't skin me!"

"Don't worry, I still value my life very much!" Lang Ri smiled and stood up: "Then it's a deal!"

Walking out of the room, the smile on Lang Ri's face disappeared, and the biting cold wind blew in his face, tearing his coat like an eager lover.He came to fight Jianlu this time originally because he wanted to catch up with the two defeats and pull Yang Jin over from the Gar party. If Yang Jin refused, he would take the opportunity to dismiss him.

But just now the proposal of the envoy of the Tang Dynasty gave him another way of thinking. The reason why the Gar family can have such a powerful force is because after the death of Songtsan Gampo, the two generations of Lu Dongzan and his son have always held the military power in Tubo. In other words, the Gar family holds the right to distribute the spoils.Unlike Datang, Goguryeo, Silla and other feudal autocratic countries where households have been established and the monarch can collect taxes and labor from the whole country to control huge wealth, Tubo at this time is still in the process of transforming from a tribal alliance to a slave state Among them, although Zanpu is the king of a country, his main source of income comes from his own territory, and he cannot get much wealth from the territories of other nobles.

The victorious foreign wars exacerbated this contradiction. Compared with Tubo, which is located on the plateau, the newly conquered Qinghai, Western Regions and other new territories have more fertile land and more population. The new aristocrats who expanded into new territories were richer and more powerful than the old aristocrats who remained in their native lands.Ever since, the more successful Tubo's external expansion war was, the more unstable Zanpu's throne would be.In order to ensure his own throne, Zanpu had only two options before him: Either stop or slow down the war of external expansion, or take military power in his own hands and replace the Gar family to command the Tubo army.The former is obviously impossible. The Tubo country is actually built on the basis of external expansion. If the external expansion is stopped, Zanpu will soon be killed by the Tubo nobles whose interests have been damaged; while the latter is even more difficult. Qin Ling of the Gar family is a famous general in Tubo. He fought with his father in the army when he was a child; Mansong Mangzanpo rarely left the palace after he became the king, playing with girls every day, although Lang Ri He is a good friend of Zanpu, but he does not think that Mansong Manzanpu has the ability to replace Qinling to command the army.

But if what the envoy from the Tang Dynasty said was realized, the situation would be quite different.Through trade with the Tang people, the Zanpu family can obtain huge benefits to buy supporters.And in order to conduct trade, it is possible to cease war with the Tang people, and even use this as a reason to relieve Qinling from his post as commander and let him return to the capital to recuperate. Of course, all of this is just an idea, and a lot of practical work is needed to become a reality. The job, and the meeting with the king's governor is the first step.

"Maybe this is also a trap, but it's worth a try!" Lang Ri clenched his fists, his exposed cheeks were flushed from the cold, and his stinging feet had long been protesting, but he ignored it, the wind was blowing He roared in his ears, and the gravel creaked under his feet, but Lang Ri's heart was filled with excitement, and he couldn't help but think of the old days in Chang'an.

"Maybe this is a chance to revisit the past!" he said to himself.

Song Mao said.

"Get out of the way, everyone out of the way, don't stand here!" Snowflakes fell on Tenzin's face, melting between his hair and beard.Seeing that all the Tibetan laborers had dispersed, he turned around and waved the red flag vigorously to the other side of the mountain stream.After a while, a horn sounded from the opposite side. Tenzin hurriedly lowered the red flag, jumped off the rock, and hid behind the rock.

Following a few soft sounds, Tenzin poked his head out, and he saw several short spears nailed to the ground, each with a thin rope tied to the end of the short spear.With a cry of joy, he stepped forward to pull out a short spear, and pulled the thin rope with all his strength. Six or seven hands stretched out to help, and soon the thin rope was pulled across the mountain stream, and at the end of the thin rope was a thick rope , and then a hemp rope as thick as a forearm.Dan Zeng led the people to fix one end of the thick cable to the pre-established stone pillar beside the mountain stream, and then spread wooden boards on the thick cable, and soon formed a simple cable bridge over the mountain stream.

"You two, move these wooden barrels over there!" a Tang craftsman ordered to Tenzin.

"Yes!" Tenzin was already able to hear some simple Tang Hua, he greeted, and raised the wooden barrel with his companions, listening to the sound, it should be filled with some kind of liquid, he asked carefully: "These are What? What is it for!"

"It's tung oil. Apply it on the ropes and wooden boards. Otherwise, the bridge will be rotten in a short time due to the wind and rain!" The Tang craftsman said with a smile. He began to use a brush to smear the ropes and wooden boards. Tenzeng looked carefully, walked up the ropeway, staggered under his feet, as if walking on clouds, and looked down boldly. Through the gaps in the wooden boards, he could see When he came to the mountain stream and rocks, he felt dizzy for a while. He instinctively reached out and grabbed the rope on his right to avoid falling.

"You bastard, who told you to come up here? The tung oil is not yet dry, and there are footprints everywhere!" Tang Ren's craftsman raised his head and found that Tenzeng had stepped on the undried wooden board, and shouted loudly: "Don't scratch around, If you touch this thing to yourself, it will be itchy and painful, very uncomfortable! Find some saponins and wash it!"

Dan Zeng retreated in a hurry, and soon, the back of his hand became red and swollen just as the craftsman Tang said, and then itched and tingled, and he couldn't help screaming.

"Don't scratch, the more you scratch, the more painful it will be!" The Tang craftsman said with a smile: "Whoever urinates, just urinate and wash, and it will feel better!"

According to what the Tang craftsman said, he tore off his pants and urinated on Tenzin's hands. I don't know if it was a psychological effect, but the pain in Danzen's hands got better. He thanked the Tang craftsman. He waved his hands boldly: "Since we are working together, don't be so polite. You go to the rest meeting first, and when the bridge is repaired, there will be a delicious meal!"

As the Tang craftsman said, by the next afternoon, the cable bridge had been roughly completed.Tenzin walked on the cable bridge, although his feet were still shaking, but it was enough for people and horses to pass. In the past, pedestrians had to walk seven or eight miles of rugged mountain roads to bypass this mountain stream, which could save almost half a day.To celebrate, wine and pork were served for dinner, and even the Tibetan laborers were given a glass of light wine mixed with water and two or three small pieces of pork. The guards shouted and cursed.

"Is your skin itchy? Eat and drink quickly, rest early after eating, drinking and playing, there is still work to do tomorrow!"

Dan Zeng translated the yelling and cursing of the Tang guards into Tubo dialect, and the laborers fell silent.Tenzin also sat down and began to eat his portion.To be honest, it is much better now than it was at the beginning. At that time, most of the captives were desperate. They thought that the Tang people would treat them like the Tibetans treated other prisoners of war, with whips, beatings, poor food, and heavy labor. Soon he was tortured to death.

But they soon discovered that the situation seemed to be different from what they thought. Yes, the Tang people branded their faces at first, but other than that, there was no malicious torture.Although the labor was heavy, the food was plentiful. They also provided enough soup, straw sandals, clothes, and even doctors, which were not available in the Tubo army in the past.The Tang people didn't even put wooden shackles on the captives, just let them work like that, but counted the number of people each day when work was over and started.

At first, Dan Zeng wondered why the Tang people were so relaxed. Aren't they worried that the Tibetan captives would escape?But soon he understood the reason. The first group of escaped people were sent back by the surrounding Qiang people in the evening of the second day. Prisoners, this is the first time, so only [-] lashes will be given. If someone escapes next time, they will be beheaded after being caught.The construction site of the Tibetans started from the southern end of Songmao Road, which is hundreds of kilometers away from the area controlled by the Tibetans, and there are a large number of Qiang people living in this area. Rewards, the faces of the captives have obvious marks, what kind of luck and strength are needed to escape back to the Tubo-controlled area across this mountainous area!

Facts have proved that even the Tibetans, the vast majority of people still understand what it means to retreat in spite of difficulties. After about half a month, there were no more escaped heads on the stakes outside the captive camp. At the end of the month, everyone who stayed behind even received varying amounts of Zhenguan Tongbao, which caused a sensation among the Tibetan captives. The Tang people actually gave money to the captives who worked?What the hell, they had never seen what copper coins looked like when they were soldiers in the Tubo army!

These copper coins had an immediate effect. Tang Jun guards were surprised to find that from the second month onwards, these Tibetan captives became much more docile and diligent, and they no longer looked like gloomy, desperate living dead with more eyes. It has become more popular, and sometimes people can even hear people singing, and the enthusiasm and efficiency of work have also increased a lot. Under the command of Tang craftsmen, the progress of the road construction project is very fast, and nearly 160 miles of road renovation have been completed.

As the project progressed, some of the more clever people among the Tubo captives, such as Tenzin, were surprised to find that the huge advantages of the Tang people in engineering technology, in many of their eyes, were completely impassable cliffs and cliffs. Plank roads and cable bridges can also be built.It is easy for them to think that these engineering and technical advantages can easily be transformed into military advantages. The dissatisfaction, resentment, and resentment when they were defeated are gradually replaced by fear, admiration, and even envy. This subtle transformation is slow and gradual. Irreversible, even the most stubborn Tibetan captives have to admit that the Tang people are superior to themselves in many ways, and their defeat is not accidental, but a normal result of the comparison of strength.

As an interpreter for the people of Tang, Tenzeng thought more long-term. He hid the copper coins he got, and hid a thought in his heart that maybe one day he could get rid of his captive status and regain his freedom.With money, he can buy a few mules and work as a small trader on this road. In his opinion, it should not be difficult for him to support himself as a trader on such a convenient road.

"Ten times, ten times!"

"What's the matter!" Tenzin hurriedly stood up: "Captain Acton, what are your orders!"

"The higher-ups need an interpreter! Clean up and come with me right away!" Acton said.

"Yes!" Dan Zeng replied, and hurriedly sorted it out. He knew that the "superior" in Acton's mouth was a big figure in the Tang army, and it might even be the king's governor.He washed his face and hands, and walked to Acton's side: "I'm all ready!"

"Okay, come with me!"

Tenzin followed Acton, walked out of the prisoner's camp, got on his horse, walked four or five miles, and arrived at a small camp. There was only one tent in the camp, and the surrounding area was larger than the largest tent he had ever seen in his life. Twice as loud, the sound of music came from inside the tent.It was made of animal hides like the other tents, but it was made of the most beautiful hides Tenzin had ever seen.Around the top of the tent was a gigantic antler almost as tall as two men.

"You wait here, go in when you are called!" Acton whispered, and then he walked into the tent.

The tent was as warm as a spring day. There were braziers filled with charcoal at the four corners, emitting a dim red light, and the floor was covered with a thick bearskin carpet.Wang Wenzuo is leaning on the brocade mat, and Cao Wenzuo is sitting on his left.Langri was wearing a scarlet robe, sitting cross-legged on a sealskin, playing the guqin, and chanted while playing: "Throw me a papaya, repay it with Qiongju, and the bandit repays it, and it will always be good." Throw me a peach, repay it with Qiongyao, the bandit repays it, and it will always be good."

Wang Wenzuo had heard this poem before, but not here—in an animal fur tent on the northern Sichuan plateau, but in a junior middle school Chinese class in the 21st century, so he felt a little strange.

Lang Ri stopped playing, and gracefully put his hands on the guqin. This handsome young man gave Wang Wenzuo the illusion that what he was facing was not a Tubo nobleman, but a noble son from Chang'an.

　I found out about King Gesar’s mistake this morning. I’m sorry. I really didn’t expect that the hero of a Tibetan myth and epic was from the Song Dynasty. I thought it was even older!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)