A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1124 Changing the Flag
The nomadic life of the tribes on the grasslands of the Western Regions was not a place of poetry and leisure. The Silk Road was not always prosperous.

In Gongyue City in front of Cheling Mountain, the market and shops were open again. This was because the Western Camp of the Western Expedition notified them to open. Whether it was Turkic merchants, Sogdian Hu merchants, or traveling merchants who stopped in the city to rest, they all suffered a lot of shock and losses in the chaos of the battle that night.
Some people also died in looting.

The headquarters asked them to register their losses and then quickly let them claim their merchandise. Although they only got back part of it, they were still very happy and grateful.

I thought I had lost it, but I didn't expect to find it again. It's so exciting.

There are many Tang cavalry guards at the Gongyue City Gate, and inspections have been strengthened. Every merchant leaving the city must first go to the city lord's mansion to get a pass. The caravan's personnel, number, destination, route, and cargo list must all be registered. After passing, a stamped pass will be issued.

But because of the war,

Those Silk Road merchants passing by planned to stay in Gongyue City temporarily to observe how the situation changed, and then set off again after the situation became clear.

The vassal troops were stationed outside the city.
The Tang army was stationed in the city with strict military discipline. There were teams guarding the gates and patrolling day and night, making the city much safer than before.

Petty thefts are gone.
Anyone who dared to take advantage of the opportunity to steal, rob, fight, etc. was severely punished by the Tang army. Several ringleaders were beheaded, and the rest were all demoted to prisoners and forced to work for the Tang army.

More and more people are gathering towards Gongyue City.

There were also caravans that were still unaware of the situation and arrived at Gongyue City as planned, and were then surprised to find that the situation here had changed.

"Is this the Tang army?"

"Why are they in Gongyue City?"

"Could it be the Anxi Army of Yizhou?"

The merchants were extremely confused and worried, but they had already appeared in front of Gongyue City, and the patrolling Tang cavalry team also came to meet them.

So they had to stay where they were, feeling uneasy.
The caravan leader had already asked people to prepare money and even goods. The caravans that travel long distances feared war the most. Normally, they often traveled along the Silk Road and were very familiar with the various forces along the way. They even had good relationships with them.
Although you need to take care of things along the way, it is safe after all.

They were afraid of the sudden outbreak of war. If they appeared on the battlefield, they would be lambs to be slaughtered. What they feared most was the defeated soldiers. There was no reason to argue with them. The defeated soldiers would rob them without hesitation.
If they are lucky, only their money and goods will be robbed. If they are unlucky, even the people in the caravan will not be spared.

"These Tang troops won't rob us, right?"

"All soldiers are the same, they are bandits." A bearded leader of the Sogdian merchant group sighed. It was bad luck for them. They came from Suiye City and didn't hear any news.

“We can only pray that they don’t get too greedy.”

"There's nothing we can do about being greedy, but please let us go." The captain of the caravan's escort was a sturdy Zhejie warrior. He was agile, good at riding and shooting, and quite famous on the Silk Road.

But in front of the army, especially the Tang army, this warrior with the Chinese name Cao Hong, who had traveled to Chang'an from Hezhong many times, could be considered an experienced merchant caravan guard.

But if we encounter the Tang army here, we still have no confidence at all.

A group of Tang cavalry galloped over in an instant.

The men and horses were strong and their armor was shiny, so shiny that it even hurt the eyes of the Sogdian merchants.

The leading Tang cavalryman shouted from his horse, "I am Cao Po Lu, the patrol cavalry of the front wing of the Great Tang Western Expedition Camp. Where are you from and where are you going?"

After he finished speaking, someone next to him shouted it again in Turkic and Sogdian.

The leader of the caravan, who was wearing a pointed flowery hat, a narrow-sleeved flowery jacket, with a deep nose, high eyes and a big beard, jumped off the camel and took a few steps forward.

He answered in Chinese with a Chang'an accent, "I am Kang Muke, a merchant from Hezhong Kangguo. I am on my way to Chang'an with a batch of goods and will pass through Gongyue City."

"You speak Chinese well. Have you been to Chang'an?"

"I have been to Chang'an many times. May I ask, General, what happened in Gongyue City?"

Captain Cao Polu had a favorable impression of this Sogdian Hu merchant from Kangguo in the Western Regions who spoke Chinese with a Chang'an accent, and said with a smile, "Yu Gushe and Gaochang King Qu Wentai rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, blocked the Silk Road, and attacked Yanqi, a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, blocking the way for the Western Regions to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty. The saint was furious, so he sent troops to the west to punish the country on behalf of heaven. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Wu, we traveled thousands of miles and killed all the way to the northwest courtyard of Mount Dianhe, captured Yu Gushe alive, and sent troops to capture Gongyue City.

Now Yugushe and Gongyue have both realized their mistakes, repented, and submitted to the Tang Dynasty."

Kang Muke looked shocked.

Can't even believe it.

There was no news at all, but the Tang Dynasty sent troops as soon as it said it would, and hit the target with one strike?
Yugushe has risen strongly in the Western Regions in recent years, like a fierce dragon crossing the river to suppress the local snake. The father and son of Shaboluoyehu Khan of the Western Turkic Khaganate were no match for him. Seeing that Yugushe might unify the Western Turkic Khaganate,

How did he suddenly become a prisoner of the Tang army?
In addition, the city lord of Gongyue City is Yuzhi Jijin of the Chuyue tribe, a famous warrior.

It's gone just like that.

"What goods did you bring?" Cao Bolu asked during his routine inspection and requested an inspection.

Kang Muke was too shocked to care about it. He quickly took out the gift he had prepared in advance, the silver coins of the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia. He handed the purse to Cao Polu and said with a smile, "General Cao, you have worked hard. This is a small gift from our merchant group. It is tea money for you and your brothers."

Cao Bolu glanced at the purse in his hand.

Kang Muke said quickly, "Just one hundred silver coins."

He was afraid that Captain Cao didn't know how much the money was worth, so he explained in a low voice, "One silver coin can be exchanged for 32 Kaiyuan copper coins in Chang'an, and one hundred silver coins can buy three horses in the Western Regions."

One hundred Persian silver coins are worth three thousand two hundred copper Kaiyuan.

This courtesy is quite sincere. After all, it is worth three horses, which is indeed a lot for a team leader.

But Cao Polu handed the silver bag back to him.

Kang Muke thought he thought it was too little, so he gritted his teeth and said, "The goods we are selling this time are mainly spices, gems, agates, crystals, gold and silver wares, carpets, orchids and famous horses, etc."

"We will give General Cao a bag of pepper and a good horse."

"You misunderstood me," Cao Bolu still waved his hand, although he was actually quite tempted by the gifts that were delivered to his door, a hundred silver coins, a bag of pepper, a horse, even if he shared them with his brothers in the team and gave some to his superiors, he would still have a lot to give.

But he still had to refuse.

The Grand Commander Wu Xianggong enforces strict military discipline and has issued repeated strict orders, so he dare not interfere.

Fortunately, after taking Gongyue City, everyone received a generous reward.

"Let's send another Hu Ji to General Cao." Kang Muke said with concern.

"Don't worry, I'll just do a simple check, and then you can enter the city. The general manager has ordered that the safety of the Silk Road be maintained, and no one is allowed to hinder the Silk Road and infringe on merchants and travelers.
From now on, all taxes on merchants and goods passing through Gongyue City will be reduced or exempted."

"Chief Kang, Gongyue City welcomes you,"

"Welcome to Gongyue City in the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty!"

"please!"

Kang Muke was stunned for a while when he saw that the Tang captain actually refused the gift he had given him.
He often traveled between Chang'an and the Nine Zhaowu Clans in Hezhong for trade. From Chang'an to Longyou, and then to Hexi, he had many dealings with Tang Dynasty officials and military officers along the way, and basically had to take care of everything.

But these Tang soldiers didn’t accept gifts?

Did the Tang people reduce or exempt taxes on merchants in Gongyue City, which was occupied by the Tang people?

(End of this chapter)