It took a whole hour to complete the monument-setting ceremony. The presence of the Tibetan army made the ceremony so grand. In addition to this boundary marker, there were sixteen more on the car behind, and all of them had to be smashed down along the way. From this day on, this place was officially incorporated into the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.
Of course, this does not mean that the Tang Dynasty has begun to rule here, but it is a simple sphere of influence. If Tuyuhun wants to do something, they can still do it and do not need to discuss everything with the Tang Dynasty, but at least they will be informed. If the Tang Dynasty court objects, Tuyuhun will have to change their plan. As a vassal state, this is what you should do, otherwise the Tang Dynasty will not provide you with protection.
"Master Zeng, what is this?"
Midu Khan was just about to enjoy the roasted lamb when Lord Zeng took out some other papers with words written in both languages.
"This is the cost of our country's garrison on the grasslands. Everything will be borne by you, and the expenses of their return home to visit their families will also be borne by you."
Lord Zeng spoke in a low voice, and only the two of them could hear him, but Midu Khan's face was already extremely ugly. Your army is on our land, which is a very shameful thing. Now we are responsible for all your expenses on this land, and even the money you spend on visiting your relatives. Isn't this a bit too much?
Although the amount of money is not much, two thousand soldiers only spend tens of thousands of strings of money a year, which is not a lot of money for Tuyuhun, but if this amount of money is spread out, it will have a huge impact on Tuyuhun's reputation.
Midu Khan's face looked extremely ugly. He now had only one idea, which was to throw all these so-called agreements into the fire, and then point at these people from the Tang Dynasty and curse them.
But when he saw General Huyan, he knew that this would not work. Once he offended the people of the Tang Dynasty, he would have no choice but to side with Tubo. The Tubo people did things without any logic and might directly occupy the entire grassland, and he would not even have his current position. So in comparison, the people of the Tang Dynasty could be a little more gentle.
In fact, these are two measures taken. Li Xiang also wanted to annex this place directly like the Tubo people, but it is not allowed at this stage. If we really annex this place, then we will spend too much money on the grassland, and we may face attacks from the Tuyuhun people every day. After all, we are invaders.
But if we adopt the current method, that is, to slowly suck the blood of Tuyuhun so that they do not feel the pain, which is what the common people call "cutting the flesh slowly without pain". In the end, they can still enjoy the rights of the winner and we will not be deeply trapped.
Midu Khan finally understood why Lord Zeng didn't take out the agreement just now, but took it out now. It was so that he could see General Huyan as soon as he looked up. Under the threat of Tubo, no matter what demands the Tang Dynasty made, Tuyuhun had to do it, unless they wanted to destroy their country.
General Huyan was gnawing on the leg of lamb angrily, as if the leg of lamb was also Cheng Chumo. These two young generals had really embarrassed him.
Little did he know that he had inadvertently helped the Tang Dynasty. If he knew, this guy probably wouldn't have come here to eat mutton.
"General, as the Protector General of the Tuyuhun Protectorate, I will certainly have frequent dealings with you in the future. I offer you a toast."
After Lord Zeng resolved the issue of Midu Khan, he came to General Huyan's table with his wine glass. This made General Huyan feel a little puzzled. You people from the Tang Dynasty were so arrogant just now, how could you possibly come over to toast me?
Although General Huyan had no idea what was going on, as the Protector General of Tuyuhun, he was indeed qualified to come and have a drink with you. General Huyan could only raise his glass and drink it all.
People on the grasslands and in Tubo also started drinking Datang Tianniang. It was because this wine was so delicious. You should know that the selling price in such places was at least five times higher than that in Chang'an City. It was because the shipping cost here was more expensive. So even though Datang had ordered that it should not be sold outside, there were still people willing to sell it, mainly because the profit was too huge.
"General, I just saw your army camp too close to the border. This won't be of any benefit to us in the future. Our armies on both sides won't be able to conduct drills. If a border conflict were to arise, it would be of no benefit to either of us. How about we establish a neutral zone, ten miles from the border, with no soldiers stationed there, and each side sending officials to oversee the situation? What do you think, General?"
Sure enough, this glass of wine was not so tasty. General Huyan still had the glass of wine in his mouth when Lord Zeng revealed his true intention, which was that both sides wanted to withdraw their troops from the border area.
On the surface, this agreement seems very fair, but the Tang army has not arrived yet, and the Tubo army has already built military camps near the border. If they retreat, all the money they have spent will be wasted.
Of course, this is only a superficial disadvantage. The real disadvantage is that if the Tang army retreats ten miles, it will have more time to prepare. The road from the Tang army to the border is almost flat, but if the Tubo army retreats ten miles, they will have to cross mountains and ridges to come over.
"This matter..."
"General, you can refuse. If you do, it means that there will be no communication between you and me. From now on, I will take advantage of my drunkenness to say something crazy. There will be nothing we can discuss."
Although Mr. Zeng is a scholar, he is also very good at speaking. There must be troubles everywhere in the border area between the two countries. I have proposed an agreement that seems fair. If you do not agree, it is equivalent to closing the door to dialogue. No matter what happens in the future, you will not be able to continue to talk to me.
General Huyan's words were law in Tubo, and everyone, including Songtsen, respected him very much. He had never been so humiliated before. He was about to slam the table and immediately thought of the Tang Dynasty's crossbow. That thing was really powerful. If they really fell out today and they fired two rounds of volleys at our military camp, what would be left of our camp?