Tibet

Qiao Bin handed the horse to the soldier and walked cautiously to the civilian tent with the red and yellow flags hanging.

It was his first time to enter the military camp. He originally thought that the military camp would be lively and noisy, with soldiers training everywhere, but he did not expect that it would be so quiet, even a little deserted, and the school grounds were covered with thick snow.

"They all went home for the New Year!"

A middle-aged scribe stood in front of the big tent and said with a smile: "I am Chen Huan, and you must be Qiao Bin!"

"I am!"

"It's cold outside, come in first!"

Chen Huan took Qiao Bin into the big tent. There were documents piled everywhere in the big tent and it was very messy. Chen Huan smiled and said, "We are short of people now!"

"My humble job is to deal with all kinds of paperwork."

Chen Huan nodded and pointed to the sheepskin on the ground, "Please sit down!"

There was no couch, so Qiao Bin had to sit on the ground. Chen Huan sat down opposite him and said with a smile: "I wasn't used to it at first, but later I found that it was like this here. Even the governor sat on the ground. Later I asked the soldiers and they said it was for the convenience of marching, so I Understand, it is really inconvenient to march with a couch."

"I understand the humble position!"

Qiao Bin handed a resume to Chen Huan, "This is my resume!"

Chen Huan took it, glanced at it, and said with a smile, "Did you write this word?"

"Yes! I wrote it last night."

"The handwriting is not bad and very neat. In the army, there is no requirement for good handwriting, but it must be neat. Because many generals are rough and rough, and they won't recognize it if they write a little sloppily, so neatness is very important."

"I remember, you can't scribble!"

Chen Huan looked at his resume carefully and frowned slightly, "Are you only sixteen years old?"

"Yes! I am one year younger than the governor."

Only then did Chen Huan realize that this was the governor's friend, so he must be young. He took up his pen and crossed out the age line, and said to Qiao Bin: "There is a principle I have to tell you. We can't lie, but we must learn to be flexible. For example You may know the age of the governor, but only two or three people in Anxi may know it.

I know, the governor's grandfather told me, but no one else knows except you and me. This is top secret, so although you can't lie, you can also avoid it. "

"I will remember my humble duty!"

Chen Huan pointed to his head and said with a smile: "You have to remember, you must think more about which things can be confessed and which things must be avoided. For example, you are only sixteen years old, how can you serve as a soldier and join the military? The officials will never If you approve it, you’ll be causing trouble for yourself.”

Chen Huan smiled and said: "Actually, I know you don't understand, it's just that you are a newcomer and don't dare to make decisions without authorization. You can just ask more questions in the future."

Qiao Bin nodded silently.

Chen Huan looked at the executioner and smiled: "Are you working as a household clerk in Chang'an County? How long have you been working?"

"It started last November, a whole year ago!"

"What do you do?"

"The main thing is population and housing registration. Not long after I joined the job, I started the biennial population and housing revision. I need to re-investigate and re-register, and check the original records. If they are different, I need to find out why they are different, and It was very tedious to write notes on the side, with a population of nearly 800,000! The five of us were busy for three months and almost died of exhaustion."

Chen Huan smiled and nodded, "It seems that you are very suitable to be a soldier and a military officer. It is basically the same as what you did in the county government. Register and check the military status, compile the military register, and establish the Hezhong Army. The military register is very important. It is also very urgent. It must be compiled into a book before the 17th of the first month of next year. It must be made into three copies, one to be reported to the Ministry of War, one to be sent to the Governor, and one to be kept by the soldiers. A total of 12,000 people, let’s start today!”

Qiao Bin nodded, "I'm ready for my humble job!"

It was noon, and the Wude Restaurant, the largest restaurant in Pingkangfang, was bustling with people and business. Every table was packed. In a semi-open private room on the second floor, Li Ye and Suzaku sat opposite each other. The table in front of them was filled with all kinds of exquisite dishes, which made Zhuque smile happily.

She has been following the master for the past few months and has had nothing but simple meals every day. Today she finally had a good meal. How could she not be happy?

Sitting next to it were two pipa girls, playing and singing with their pipa in their arms, telling the story of the love between men and women.

The two pipa girls are very distinctive, one is a dark-skinned Kunlun slave woman, and the other is a blond and blue-eyed Daqin woman. One has skin like ink, and the other is as white as snow. The contrast is very strong.

This was the first time Li Ye saw black and white people in Chang'an, and he kept looking at the two of them.

Seeing that he was absent-minded, Suzaku was a little unhappy and said: "I don't care if I can't find the treasure. I don't pay attention to eating. Haven't you listened to the ditty?"

Li Ye smiled apologetically: "This is indeed my first time listening to Xiaoqu. I have seen Hu Ji dance before, but what interests me is not Xiaoqu, but their race. It seems that their speech is no different from ours."

"What a country bumpkin. It seems that this is your first time to Wude Restaurant. Wude Restaurant is famous because of its characteristics. The servant leading the horse is a black man from Kunlun slaves, and the bartender is Silla and Japanese. , the wine sellers and dancers are Sogdian Orchid girls, and the pipa girls who sell and sing are all black and white girls."

"Open your eyes, where did they come from?"

"The white women were brought by the big cannibal traffickers by sea. They are from the Qin Dynasty. Some of the black Kunlun slaves were also brought by the big cannibal traffickers, but some of them were black women from Tianzhu brought by the Jiantuoluo merchants. You should know about the country!"

Li Ye nodded, "I have dealt with their businessmen."

The Giantuoluo Kingdom is today's capital of Islamabad. The small black people of Tianzhu should refer to the indigenous people in southern Tianzhu. Although their skin is very dark, their facial features are still different from African black people.

The white people are from Da Qin, and Da Qin is the Eastern Roman Empire. In fact, these white women should be Slavs.

"They look like teenagers!" Li Ye added.

"They should be the second generation. They were raised in the band. Except for their appearance, their language and customs are no different from ours."

"Where is their home? Why have I never seen it before?"

"Actually, you should have seen it!"

Suzaku smiled and said, "The square where they live is very close to your former Yonghe Square. It is in Chonghua Square to the north of Yonghe Square. Your mother said that you were very naughty when you were a child and ran around. Haven't you seen them?"

You may have seen Li Ye before, but you have definitely not seen Li Ye now. Li Ye smiled and shook his head, "I don't remember."

"Tell me about your childhood! I have never understood how the grandson of the Prime Minister could end up in Yonghefang?"

Zhuque looked down on Yonghefang in his tone, but Li Ye didn't dislike it. Yonghefang was a famous slum in Chang'an, and all Chang'an people had prejudices against it.

"Didn't my mother tell you?"

"As she said, her father is Pei Fang, the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu."

"My father's wife turned out to be Yu Wenluo, the daughter of the Yuwen family, you know!"

"I know she is a very strong woman. Her sister Yuwen Cairen is also very strong in the palace. No one can beat her in a fight."

"Many years ago, not long after my father passed the imperial examination, he followed Pei Min to Ganzhou for a visit. As a result, he met my mother. They fell in love at first sight and they were engaged for life. At that time, my father was actually married to Yu Wenluo, and they had just married. He gave birth to a son, but he disliked Yu Wenluo very much. He went back to report to his father and divorce Yu Wenluo. Not only did he not succeed, but he offended Concubine Wu Hui's housekeeper and was dismissed from his career by Concubine Wu Hui, and he never recovered.

Then my mother gave birth to me and was kicked out of the house by her father. There was only Aunt Mu by her side. The two of them carried me and came to Chang'an to find my father. As you can probably guess, Yu Wenluo didn't allow my mother to enter the house, and my mother didn't want to either. When I was a stay-at-home woman, I opened a small clinic in Yonghefang out of anger and made a living by treating patients. She brought me up through all the hardships. At that time, my grandfather didn’t even know I existed. My father came to see me. She beat her mother out many times. "

Suzaku's eyes were full of sympathy, "It's not easy for your mother to raise you by herself!"

"Tell me about you! I want to hear your story!" Li Ye smiled.