Time goes back a few days ago.

Coleman's batch of Erguotou that had just been shipped back from Liangzhou was sold out, and the tribe immediately fell into a jubilant atmosphere.

In recent months, the life of this small tribe of servants has been little by little.

At first, it was just that Coleman followed the servant Gusi and brought back a batch of two-pot heads.

After tasting the sweetness, Servant Bone Si immediately asked all the middle-aged men in the tribe to turn into wine dealers, constantly going to Liangzhou to buy goods, and then selling the second pot head to the nearby Servant Bone Tribe.

Although the Servant Bone Division was not a big tribe in the Xue Yantuo Khanate, it was also a tribe that occupied a radius of hundreds of miles of grassland, which was enough for this small tribe led by Servant Bone Si to live a good life.

"Chief, there are more and more people selling Erguotou on the grassland now, but there are still many places where no one goes. Do you want to expand the scope of sales of some two-pot heads before others fully react? ”

Coleman felt the benefits of earning money, and his heart began to grow bigger.

The past few times he went to Liangzhou, he bought a lot of things that he couldn't think of before.

Although the entire tribe has a population of only about 200 accounts, one is counted as one, and now all of them have iron pots.

Although it is the kind of iron pot that looks relatively inferior, the herdsmen of every account have an iron pot, which is definitely a rare thing in the steppe.

You know, a few years ago, even a clay pot was a representative of family wealth on the grassland.

Wok?

The tribal leader doesn't necessarily have a shabby mouthful.

"Yes, but if we really make the business bigger, then there is basically no way for our tribe to leave people to take care of it. Even some sturdy women had to help with the work, and the old men and children stayed in the tribe if they ran into horse thieves......"

Naturally, he also hopes to make as much money as possible.

Those gold and silver coins, if they had been placed a few years ago, he might have thought that there were not a few cattle and sheep coming.

But now that he has seen how many of them are purchased in Liangzhou, he has completely liked them.

The glittering gold coin, put it under the sun, can feel a different kind of happiness.

"Chief, why don't we go to Liangzhou to buy goods this time, let's simply move all the people and horses of the tribe to the outside of Liangzhou City. From now on, we will also be from Liangzhou City. In this way, we can go to various places to sell Erguotou without worrying about their safety. ”

Coleman spoke out what he had been thinking about for a while.

It has to be said that this decision is a bit radical.

Although this small tribe led by Gu Gusi is not of much scale.

But it also has its own footfall in the prairie.

If Coleman did it, it would be equivalent to completely abandoning the playground, or even living a nomadic life.

This change is not acceptable to everyone.

"Chief, I heard that those Tang people in Liangzhou generally do not keep a lot of gold and silver coins at home, but store them in the Tang Dynasty Royal Money House, or exchange them for silver tickets, so that it is very convenient to keep. Nowadays, we have a lot of gold and silver coins in our tribe, and if we really encounter horse thieves or other tribes next to us when we go out, then we will lose a lot.

But as long as we move outside the city of Liangzhou and exchange the gold and silver coins for silver tickets, whether we carry them with us or hide them somewhere, we can come out and do things with confidence and boldness. At this rate, it won't take us a few years to be like Askar and Mountbatten, and we'll be able to drink and talk to the Tang people. Isn't that kind of day much more comfortable than we are on the prairie? ”

Coleman saw that the servant was still hesitating, and couldn't help but add more ingredients.

The Hu people didn't have so much nostalgia for relocating to their land, and they just hadn't gotten used to this change.

Now that Coleman is pushing in the back, he has made a decision right away.

"Okay, just do as you say, after tonight's carnival, tomorrow we will prepare to move."

Thinking about what he saw at Askar's house, and thinking about his life on the prairie, he finally made up his mind.

"Chief, twenty miles to the right, a large army has passed by."

At this moment, one of the herdsmen in charge of guarding the tribe galloped back on horseback, bringing unusual news.

"There's an army passing by?"

The servant asked rhetorically.

This grassland, although it cannot be said to be the depths of the grassland, is far away from the frontier, and in the spare time, whether it is the army of Xue Yantuo or the Tang army, it will not appear here on a large scale.

"That's right, I only saw the forward troops, there were at least tens of thousands of cavalry, and there was an overwhelming army in the rear. Chief, it seems, there seems to be something big about the Khan. ”

"It shouldn't be, I only came back from the little Khan yesterday, and I haven't heard of any new envoys from the Zhenzhu Khan to send troops and horses."

Servant Gusi said a little confused.

Whether it was the former Turkic Khanate, or the current Xueyanta Khanate.

Essentially a tribal alliance, the Khan didn't really control the entire steppe's forces.

Usually when there is a need for war, men and horses are apportioned from various tribes.

"Chief, although our area is six or seven hundred miles away from Liangzhou, the tribes around Liangzhou are generally oriented to Liangzhou and are relatively close to Datang. Could it be that the Khan was afraid of alarming the Tang army, so he did not send troops and horses from our tribes? ”

Coleman thought of a possibility, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was a big possibility.

Yi Nan is not stupid, he sees the changes around Liangzhou City, and he is anxious in his heart.

If the Tang Dynasty is allowed to infiltrate like this, then soon the various tribes that took refuge in Xue Yantuo will turn around and completely throw themselves into the arms of the Tang Dynasty.

The tribes on the steppe, the bottom line is so low.

"At least tens of thousands of troops, without any warning, appeared here, looking at their appearance, nine times out of ten they are heading for Liangzhou. Coleman, do you say that in the end it will be the victory of the Tang Dynasty or the Khan? ”

The servant thought about the pros and cons in his heart.

Is it when nothing happens, wait and see?

Or Pegasus went straight to Liangzhou to ventilate the news?

Which approach is best for you?

"Chief, it's not that I'm going to say something discouraged. Even if the Zhenzhu Khan succeeded in raiding Liangzhou, it was the Tang Dynasty that won the victory in the end. In Liangzhou, we can already feel the strength of Datang, which is a kind of strength from the inside out. I heard that Chang'an is even more prosperous.

I look at the defenders of Liangzhou, all of them are wearing large swords made of stainless steel, the armor is all iron, and the bed crossbow on the city wall is said to have a range of up to 200 zhang. Besides, there is a cement road from Liangzhou to Chang'an City, and in the case of an eight-hundred-mile expeditious, it only takes two days for the situation in Liangzhou to reach Chang'an City.

Datang can immediately send a large army to come to the rescue along the cement road, and it will not take a few days to save the unfavorable situation. This situation, more than ten years ago, would have been unimaginable. In such a situation, do you think the Pearl Khan will be able to win, chief?

The city of Liangzhou is high and thick, and it is definitely not something that can be captured in three or five days, and when the time comes, it will be attacked by the Tang army inside and outside, and it is difficult to say whether there is Xue Yantuo Khanate on the grassland. ”

Coleman was afraid that his leader would make the wrong choice, so he hurriedly gave a bunch of reasons there.

"What do you mean, do you want us to dare to inform the Tang people in Liangzhou City before the army arrives?"

"That's right! Since the Xueyanta Khanate is doomed to destruction, why should we sink with it? The Khanate of Xueyanta is the country of the Xueyanta people, not our servants. What have they done to us servants over the years? Chief, when we were in the Liangzhou Restaurant, the storyteller there told an allusion to the 'casting of names'.

At this moment, it is the best time for us to pay the vote! Once we pass the news to the defenders of Liangzhou before the arrival of the army, then no one in our tribe will dare to bully in Liangzhou in the future. Even if it is a Tang person, it will receive our love!

If you are worried, we can only take some of the elites and go to Liangzhou in several ways, and the rest will stay in the tribe and not go anywhere until the situation is clear! ”

Coleman's suggestion can be said to fully take into account the concerns of the servants.

Sure enough, the mind was not stupid, but after thinking about it for a while, he made a decision.

"There is no need for anyone else, just the two of us, each with twenty skilled clansmen, and set off for Liangzhou now! If you're late, you'll have to run for nothing! ”

……

In the Daming Palace, the lights are brilliant.

Today is the founding day of the Tang Dynasty, and a military parade was held in the morning, which made Chang'an City completely fall into a wave of excitement.

In order to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, after the military parade, Li Shimin took hundreds of officials to the Tang Monument to pay respects.

After that, Li Shimin saw that everyone was so excited, and thought of the suggestion that Li Kuan had mentioned to him before to gradually relax the curfew control, and simply announced that Chang'an City would cancel the curfew tonight.

And Li Shimin also feasted the ministers in the Daming Palace.

Since ascending the throne, Li Shimin has been strictly thrifty, not only laid off a large number of palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, but also led the harem concubines to spin linen cloth there.

Therefore, he rarely does the things of feasting the ministers.

Even if there is a feast, it is often not rich.

However, today's banquet is an exception, and it is unprecedentedly rich.

A large number of chilled seafood brought from Dengzhou in a special carriage were put on the table of the banquet.

Palm-length prawns, palm-sized abalone, three-finger-thick sea cucumbers, delicious yellowfin tuna sashimi......

This level of luxury has simply refreshed everyone's understanding.

However, at this time, even Wei Zheng, who is very picky, will not stand up for impeachment so inappropriately.

After all, at the beginning, Li Shimin had already made it clear that all the expenses for this year's National Day were included in the internal expenses, and there was no need for the household department to pay a penny.

In recent years, thanks to the strong "money printing" ability of the East China Sea fishery, Li Shimin's domestic wealth far exceeds that of previous emperors.

A banquet like this, no matter how much money is spent, is a drop in the bucket.

"I didn't expect to see such a peaceful and prosperous world in my lifetime."

Next to Xiao Yu, there was an old man who was over the age of six, but looked very temperamental.

That is his own sister, Empress Xiao of the former Sui.

Since the fourth year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty defeated the Eastern Turks and welcomed Empress Xiao back to Chang'an, she has been living in seclusion, and many people in Chang'an City do not know that there is such a number one person.

Even most people thought she was dead.

Today, on this special day, she participated in this feast with Xiao Yu.

In some wild histories, it is rumored that Empress Xiao has followed six emperors in her life, and even Li Shimin covets his beauty.

In fact, Li Kuan thinks this statement is ridiculous.

When Empress Xiao was young, there was no doubt that she was overwhelmed by the country and the city.

But when she was welcomed back to Chang'an, she was already in her sixties.

Even if she can maintain it, without botulinum poison injections, it is impossible for people in their sixties to make Li Shimin covet.

In fact, after Empress Xiao returned to Chang'an, she has always been courteous to Li Shimin.

There are several reasons for this.

First of all, Empress Xiao is, after all, the empress of the former Sui dynasty, and by respecting the previous dynasty, she can indirectly achieve the purpose of asserting the legitimacy of the regime of this dynasty.

Secondly, this is also related to the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Yang family and the Li family, both from the Northern Zhou Bazhu state in the early years.

It can be said that the two families have a generational in-law relationship.

Li Shimin even had to call Yang Guang a cousin.

There is another point, the Lanling Xiao family, where Empress Xiao is located, is the largest family in the south of the Yangtze River, and Xiao Yu himself is also the prime minister of the Wude Dynasty and the Zhenguan Dynasty, and Li Shimin will be better to Queen Xiao for the purpose of winning over the Xiao family.

Of course, no one knows if there are some of Li Shimin's childhood fantasies about mature women.

"Sister, the Tang Dynasty can have today's grand occasion, which is really far beyond the previous dynasties, even if it is the prosperous era of the Han Dynasty, there may not be such a scenery. Not to mention anything else, the food on this table alone reflects a lot of problems. ”

Although Xiao Yu carried Li Shimin at every turn, she was still very gentle in front of her sister.

"That's the same, spices from Nanyang, frosting from Guangzhou, abalone from Waguo, seafood from Dengzhou, crocodile meat from Jiangnan, beef from Liangzhou...... The Tang Dynasty is thriving. ”

Empress Xiao has long passed the age of pursuing delicacies from the mountains and seas, but she is still very emotional when she sees such an extraordinary banquet.

She has always missed the days when Yang Guang had just ascended the throne.

However, to speak a word of conscience, even the Great Sui at that time was not as good as the current Datang.

"Now our Xiao family has also shifted its focus to the sea, and many of the nobles of Chang'an City have shifted their attention to the sea, which everyone has never thought of before."

Just when Xiao Yu and Empress Xiao were chatting there, a hundred horsemen who came in a hurry interrupted this lively scene.