Tibet.

Chapter 1376 Persian Mansion Store
There is a Persian Residence next to the East Market of Chang'an, which is actually an inn and restaurant run by the Sogdians. It also provides some product information and currency exchange services.

This Persian mansion had a camel shed covering hundreds of acres in Xianyang. After unloading the goods in Chang'an, the Sogdian merchants turned back to Xianyang. The camels were arranged in the camel shed in Xianyang, while the merchants lived in the Persian mansion in the East Market.

In the past two months, the Sogdian merchants were very uneasy. There had been news early on that the imperial court would launch a westward expedition after the spring. This made the Sogdian merchants very nervous as it was related to their vital interests. In the past few months, the Persian palace was filled with Sogdian merchants every day, inquiring about various news.

In fact, the Sogdians had long been interfering in the politics of the Tang Dynasty, especially during the An-Shi Rebellion. An Lushan and Shi Siming were both Sogdians, and a large number of Sogdians contributed money and effort to support their rebellion.

After the Anshi Rebellion was quelled, the Tang Dynasty did not liquidate the Sogdians for various reasons, which was also out of financial needs.

But it does not mean that the Sogdians were not afraid in their hearts, especially since Emperor Li Ye once led his army to attack Kangguo and had always been tough on the Sogdians. Could his westward expedition be a reckoning with the Sogdians?

Today is the second day of the first lunar month. Most shops are closed, but some restaurants are still open. This is competition. At first, they opened on the tenth, and later moved to the sixth. But under strong competition, major restaurants opened on the third.

But don’t say you are early, there are people who are even earlier than you. Now, there are restaurants opening on the second day of the Chinese New Year.

But the second day is the extreme, it is impossible to open business on the first day. This is the custom. On the first day of the first lunar month, except for the imperial court holding a grand New Year's ceremony and a New Year's banquet, ordinary people do not go out.

The Persian Palace opened on the second day of the first lunar month because the situation required it. Some news would definitely leak out after the first day of the first lunar month, and everyone needed to communicate on the second day of the first lunar month.

The lobby style of Persian Residence is different from that of normal restaurants. It is decorated with bright colors, and there are carpets on the walls and floors. The windows are closed and the door is hung with thick curtains. Only the tiles above the head let in some light, making the lobby dim. There are also exotic incense burning, and the whole lobby is full of exotic atmosphere.

The lobby was covered with thick carpets. Everyone took off their shoes and came in to sit in semi-enclosed small boxes. In each box, several Sogdians sat cross-legged, drinking and chatting together. Everyone had their own small circle and sat in a fixed box.

At this time, the bell at the gate rang, and a middle-aged Sogdian man pushed the door open and came in. The shopkeeper, Shi Gaoke, hurriedly greeted him, "Master Da is here!"

In fact, the surname of the people of Kang is Kang, the surname of the people of An is An, and the surname of the people of Shi is Shi. These are their Chinese names. They also have their own Sogdian names in their own country. If they lived in the Tang Dynasty, their Chinese names would be forgotten after a long time.

The middle-aged man was called Kangda, also a Sogdian, but he was not a businessman. Instead, he served as an eighth-rank Sogdian envoy in the Honglu Temple of the imperial court. In the past, there were seven or eight Sogdian officials in the imperial court, but now there are basically no more, with only Kangda left.
He was very famous among the Sogdians, and almost everyone knew him. When they heard that Master Da had arrived, the Sogdians in the guest rooms all stood up and looked at him. Kunda waved his hand and said, "Everyone continue to eat, there is nothing serious!"

Kunda sat down in a box, and immediately three old men came over with wine glasses and sat next to him.

An old man said, "I'll pay for Master Da's expenses today, so please say something!"

Kangda sighed and said, "What else can I say? Everyone knows that the Tang army is heading west. One hundred thousand camels and a large amount of supplies have been transported to Jincheng County. The camel team will set off at the end of this month. I don't know the situation of the army's mobilization."

Another old man said, "We don't really care about important military intelligence. We just care about whether the Tang Dynasty will annex the nine Sogdian states like Liaodong did. Master Da, tell us what you think!"

Before he knew it, more than twenty people had gathered around him, and each of them was looking at Kunda expectantly.

Kangda had no choice but to smile bitterly and said, "Then I will just say a few words, which only represent my own opinion, not the official one. In fact, you can look at the latest bulletin of the court. Suiye has been occupied. The Hezhong Governor's Office is not safe, which means that the main purpose of the court's westward expedition is to restore the Hezhong Governor's Office, not to expand the territory. Another intention is to strengthen control over the Sogdian countries and prevent the Arabs from going north to annex the Hezhong region. Then, if we analyze these two intentions, we can probably understand the movement of the Tang army."

At this time, the shopkeeper, Skoko, brought the wine and said with a smile: "Master Da, please tell us in more detail! These guys only care about money, they don't understand the current situation."

"Don't you understand this? Those are the lands of the Tang Dynasty that need to be recovered, including Suiye, Kuzhanti, Kulan City, Talas City, and Aral Sea County. As for Bukhara, I guess it won't be able to escape this time and will be annexed by the Tang Dynasty. The rest are Dongcao and Shiguo. It depends on their luck! The big mistake Dongcao made was occupying Kuzhanti. If the Tang army wants to retaliate, Dongcao will be doomed. The main reason for Shiguo is that it has been colluding with the Arabs, so it depends on its luck. As for the other Sogdian countries, I think the court will continue to retain them."

Everyone was delighted, except Shi Xiangnan, a merchant from the Shi Kingdom, who looked worried and asked, "Is our Shi Kingdom going to be destroyed?"

"Then you have to ask yourselves. It is said that the army that lost Suiye came from your Shi Kingdom. If that is true, then you cannot blame others for the destruction of Shi Kingdom." "How would I know? How can a small businessman like me understand the inside story?"

"Everyone go away and let Master Da eat."

The shopkeeper said hello, and everyone dispersed. Skoko whispered to Kunda, "After dinner, come to the back!"

Kunta nodded and continued to drink and eat without showing any expression.

After dinner, Kunda came to the backyard of the Persian residence and saw a Sogdian man sitting in the sun.

Shi Gaoke introduced to Kangda: "This is the eldest prince of our Shi country. He just arrived in Chang'an yesterday!"

Scourge introduced Kunta to the eldest prince, and the two of them greeted each other quickly. Scourge invited them to sit down in the room.

The eldest prince was called Shi Shuting. He said to Kangda, "I set out in September last year, right after Suiye fell, and only arrived in Chang'an yesterday. I want to meet with the high officials of the court and explain why Suiye was attacked."

Kangda nodded and said, "I'm afraid it will be the fifth day of the first lunar month at the earliest. Just be patient and wait for a few days!"

Shi Shuting sighed and said, "It doesn't matter if I wait a few days, as long as I can meet the senior officials."

Kangda smiled and said, "It should be possible. After all, you are here on behalf of Shiguo, and it is at this sensitive moment."

Although this year's New Year marks the first anniversary of Li Ye's accession to the throne, it was actually a very ordinary day. The family came to Huaqing Palace in Mount Li for vacation. In official language, the emperor, his concubines, princes and princesses visited Huaqing Palace.

After offering sacrifices to the ancestors at noon on the 30th day of the first lunar month, the family set off accompanied by a large group of palace maids and guards. Dugu Xinyue successfully secured her pregnancy and was able to ride in a carriage.

Huaqing Palace, also known as Li Palace, is backed by mountains and faces water. There are several hot springs here, which attracted the attention of the Tang Dynasty rulers. They began to build a winter palace here in the early Tang Dynasty. It was originally called Tangquan Palace. After Li Longji invested huge sums of money to build it into a beautiful and fantastic place, it was renamed Huaqing Palace.

Li Ye had long wanted to bring his family here for a winter vacation, but he was worried that it would affect Yang Yuhuan. That night on the top of the tower, he found that she didn't care at all, so Li Ye decided to bring his family to Huaqing Palace to soak in the hot springs during the New Year holiday.

On the morning of the fourth day of the first lunar month, Li Ye's family were skiing on the ski slope in Huaqing Palace. This was the ski slope built by Li Shimin specifically for the concubines. The slope was only 45 degrees and the surface was very flat, without even a pebble. Everyone skied down the hillside, which was about 300 steps long. The children were especially excited and laughed loudly.

In front of the wooden house next to the ski slope, Dugu Xinyue was half lying on a wide lounge chair with a thick mattress underneath and a soft, thick duck down quilt on top. She was smiling as she watched her husband taking the children skiing. The ski sled whizzed down from a great height and the older children were all on their own.

The little kids, who were two or three years old, sat in their father's arms, shouting with excitement.

Sitting next to Dugu Xinyue was Zhang Qian. She was named Lady of Luo State. Originally, she was not included in the vacation at Huaqing Palace this time, but Dugu Xinyue gave face to her husband and brought her along to save her from being a resentful woman alone in the palace. She was also needed to join the women in playing mahjong.

Zhang Qian was very excited. She hoped to have another son so that he could integrate into this big family. Unfortunately, after Li Tengkong examined her pulse, he thought it would be difficult for her to get pregnant again.

Zhang Qian suddenly saw Yang Yupei, who was sliding down the cable car at high speed and laughing heartily. She suddenly felt a little suspicious. A trusted palace maid beside her told her that this Madam Yang was most likely the Madam Guoguo of that year.

(End of this chapter)