Looking down from the top of the mountain last night, I felt that the Tibetan soldiers and horses in Motuo City seemed to be very nervous and busy, and the whole city looked like they were facing a great enemy. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info but walking on the narrow streets of Motuocheng, Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan found that it was not the same thing at all.

The city was indeed brightly lit and the streets were full of soldiers and horses, but it did not give the impression of being on the verge of a great enemy. On the contrary, the soldiers and horses on the streets walk leisurely, more as if roaming the streets than patrolling. In the shops on both sides of the street, the Tubo soldiers sat inside in twos and threes, laughing loudly, without seeing the panic of the Tang soldiers and horses approaching the city.

And Wang Yuan was surprised that there were so many shops opening at night in such a small city. In Wang Yuan's imagination, the merchants at this time should close their doors and leave this small city early, but he didn't expect this to be the case.

The three of them stood on the street corner and discussed in a low voice for a moment, deciding to inquire about the news first. In addition, it was still early, and the matter had just passed at the beginning, and it was not yet time to act. If you want to find out the news, the restaurant is undoubtedly the best place, and it has always been the place where the latest news is distributed. Besides, you can eat a full stomach and not go hungry to work.

The three of them chose an inconspicuous street shop and walked in, because the small shop was remote and the store was small, there were only three or four people eating in the store. There is only one person in the store who is busy, presumably the owner and the guys in one. It was a man of about forty years old, with a cloth towel wrapped around his head, a big robe with a hammer, and a simple and fat face.

When the man saw the three of them enter the store, he hurriedly greeted him with a smile on his face, nodded and said a few words. Wang Yuan suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem, and he didn't even consider the problem of language barriers, so the identities of the three of them, who were pretending to be Tibetan soldiers, would have to be exposed.

The shopkeeper also saw that the three of them didn't understand him, and said in Chinese with a strange accent with a surprised face: "The three turned out to be Han people, and they couldn't understand the villain's words." ”

Wang Yuan's hand had already rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and he planned to immediately kill this person if something went wrong, and also killed several diners in the restaurant.

"It's a villain, it's not a villain, we have a lot of Han brothers in the Tubo army, and we should have spoken Chinese. Please. The shopkeeper smiled and stretched out his hand to invite the three of them to sit down.

Wang Yuan's hand holding the hilt of the sword loosened, and he breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that his nerves were too tense. In fact, although there were many wars between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet, they were also reconciled for many years, and the commercial and cultural exchanges between the two countries have never stopped. The Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan couple also brought about several long-term relaxation of relations, which also made the people-to-people exchanges between the two countries extremely intensive, and there were many Tibetan businessmen in Chang'an, and the Tang people who took root in Tibet must not be in a small place. The fact that the Tubo shopkeeper in front of him can speak Chinese is proof of this, and it is not surprising that the high-ranking officials of the Tubo Kingdom, such as Yixiang Yele and Iron Blade Sinoluo, whom Wang Yuan has come into contact with, can also speak fluent Chinese.

The shopkeeper led the three of them to sit down next to a small table in the back, and asked politely, "What do you want to eat?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "Seeing that you don't have many guests here, you must not have any good food, just come a few things to fill your stomach." ”

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "Master Jun, you don't know, it's not that the small shop doesn't have any good food, but the place is too remote." Although those big restaurants are magnificent, they also have small shops. The tsampa in the small shop is definitely not worse than theirs, and the butter tea is definitely as fragrant as theirs. Yak beef jerky, matsutake soup, roast mutton, roast fragrant pig, I have them all here. The military master can say that the business of the small shop is not good, but he can't say that the small shop does not have good food, doesn't this ruin the reputation of the small shop? ”

Wang Yuan smiled dumbly, this store seems to be a little anxious, it seems that the reputation of the small shop is very important to him.

"That's it, I said the wrong thing, I'll accompany you. Then let's have some dried yak, and some tsamba, butter tea is naturally wanted, and the portion is enough for the three of us to eat. Wang Yuan said with a smile.

"Okay, let's go. Anyway, don't the three military masters order wine? There is also a small barley liquor shop. "The owner is a businessman who always wants to make more money.

"I don't want to drink, just come back and drink it. Didn't you see that the tens of thousands of troops of the Tang Army were in the valley under the city? If they attack at night, how can they defend the city after drinking? Wang Yuan smiled.

The shopkeeper praised with a tall finger: "If you don't say that you Han people who have taken root in our Tubo country are still good." We Tubo locals are all addicted to alcohol, how can there be a reason not to drink when eating? Even if the sky falls, you will drink. But the military master seems to be too careful, what is Tang Jun? Our city of Metuo is an impregnable wall, we are in the sky, they are underground, what will they attack with? Let's talk about their army of 50,000, what about 500,000? Isn't it the same as suffocating in the valley? The military master's worries were completely unnecessary. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "The store is so confident? ”

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Of course, didn't the city lord Alajiang say it when he patrolled the streets?" The Tang army will definitely not be able to attack it, and we are like an impregnable wall here, so there is no need to worry about it. Didn't the three military masters hear it? ”

Wang Yuan hurriedly said: "Of course I heard it, how could I not hear it." We're just going to be careful. You're right, we're here with impregnable walls, unless they grow wings and fly in. ”

The shopkeeper smiled: "That's it, do you want a pot of barley wine?" ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "Let's have a pot." ”

The shopkeeper nodded again and again, and finally the sale was successful, and he was satisfied. So he bowed down and prepared. Dried yak and mutton were also roasted, rice was cooked, butter tea and barley wine were ready, and all of these things were served in a few moments. Wang Yuan beckoned Gongsun Lan and A Luo to eat, but the two of them didn't move.

"Eat, eat your stomach. Why don't we go into the restaurant if you don't eat? Wang Yuan urged.

"Where's chopsticks? I don't have chopsticks, can I grab them with my hands? The hospitality here is really rude. Arlo frowned.

Wang Yuan smiled dumbly and said in a low voice: "Where are the chopsticks?" The tsamba is eaten by grabbing, and the dried beef and mutton are also eaten by grabbing, and they don't use chopsticks for the Tibetan people. ”

Ah Luo was stunned and frowned: "These people are like savages, they don't even have chopsticks. I actually ate it with my hands. ”

Wang Yuan was speechless, as a barbarian woman of Nanzhao, she actually scolded the Tubo people for being savages. It's like black people look down on yellow people, and yellow people call black people. However, Nanzhao used chopsticks, which seemed to be more advanced than the Tubo people.

Gongsun Lan and A Luo twisted and pinched a few slices of yak meat and mutton, and after eating some, they didn't move. I didn't drink a sip of butter tea, and pushed it far away to the corner of the table, without even looking at it. Wang Yuan also understood that these things were not to their taste at all, the yak meat was hard like leather soles, and the mutton smelled fishy and unpleasant, Gongsun Lan and A Luo only chewed a few mouthfuls before frowning and vomiting. The ghee in butter tea is originally extracted from yak milk, with a strange smell, and they can't even touch it.

Wang Yuan also ate some of it, although it was difficult to swallow, but the taste of barley wine was still good, strong and fragrant, and the entrance was like a knife, which was very good for Wang Yuan's taste. If it weren't for Gongsun Lan to stop him, I'm afraid he would have to drink a few more glasses.

Before leaving, Wang Yuan whispered to the shopkeeper with the smell of wine, "Is there any place to have fun in the city?" ”

The shopkeeper was surprised: "In these places, do your military masters ask us people?" ”

Wang Yuan said: "I won't tell you, the three of us have returned from the defeat of the Law City, and we have only been here for more than ten days, so we are not very familiar with this city." And you can't always ask your brothers in the army or your superiors about such things, right? It's strictly forbidden for us to have fun in the army. ”

The shopkeeper squeezed his eyes and said, "Understood, understood." I'll tell you. From here to the north, after the street to the west, two arrows to the north is the flower street, where there are many girls. It is said that there is also a girl from Chang'an. It's a pity that I, a common man, can't afford to spend that money. ”

Wang Yuan laughed in his heart, it turned out that the situation of this kind of thing was similar in all countries. In Chang'an Pingkangfang, Tibetan women and Silla women are always in the city, and women from Chang'an, Tubo are also popular, and men like to taste exotic tastes, which is also a strange thing. Foreign monks are good at chanting scriptures, and this sentence is really good.

"Well, I'm dizzy as you said, and a few of us drank some wine, I'm afraid we won't be able to find it. The store might as well draw a picture for me, not only the flower street, but also other good places, and also draw it together, and I also saved the need to inquire secretly. Wang Yuan said with a smile.

"Do you still want to draw?" The shopkeeper looked reluctant.

Wang Yuan said: "Just give you some compensation." Then he took out a string of copper coins.

In the era of the copper standard, copper coins were not only used in Tibet, but also in Nanzhao, Silla, Turkic, and Khitan. The coins of the Tang Dynasty are also more popular, because the weight is sufficient, ten Kaiyuan Tongbao can be melted into fifteen Tubo copper coins.

Seeing the money, the shopkeeper didn't say anything more, took out a pen and paper and began to draw crookedly. Wang Yuan casually asked questions on the side, and gradually asked about the distribution and important locations of the entire city. Finally the picture was drawn, and Wang Yuan and Gongsun Lan Aluo got out of the shop and returned to the street again.

"You're smart, now it's clear, we don't have to bump into where we should go." Gongsun Lan said in a low voice.

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "This is the reason why I came in person, let you ask this, I'm afraid that you will ask the stuffing." ”

Gongsun Lan glanced at Wang Yuan and said, "But do you want to ask about that kind of place?" Filthy. ”

"Yes. Can't you just ask about some places of interest or something? Arlo echoed.

Wang Yuan almost spurted out a mouthful of old blood. Inadvertently, I have already offended them. Once again, an old saying is true: only women and villains are difficult to raise.