If Li Xiang had not come back, Lord Zeng could have made decisions on almost everything on the grassland, but now Li Xiang is sitting here, so of course all matters have to be consulted with Li Xiang.
"Any news from the plateau? Lu Dongzan is right in front of us. Wouldn't they take this opportunity to start an attack?"
Just when Lu Dongzan was getting anxious, Li Xiang was drinking instead. Changsun Chong was supposed to protect Changsun Pingting's carriage and horses, but in order to catch up with the things on the battlefield, this guy found a reliable deputy general to watch over them, and he had already arrived at the grassland.
"I also want them to start fighting quickly, but Lu Dongzan is not a fool. Before leaving, he had already explained to his men that no one can leave the camp to fight. They can only stay in the camp. Those chieftains will not be able to find an opportunity for a while."
Li Xiang's intelligence network was not that fast in delivering messages, but Tuyuhun's intelligence network was very fast. By now, they had already received the local battle report. It might not be very detailed, but it was basically the same thing.
"No wonder these chieftains are so scared. It seems that Lu Dongzan is definitely not a simple person on the grassland. If he wants to deal with them, it will probably be easy."
These days on the Tuyuhun grassland, Changsun Chong and Yuchi Jingde were not idle. They often chatted with some people outside. Naturally, they knew what Lu Dongzan was like on the plateau. Compared with the person who was teased by us, he was a completely different person on the plateau.
"If I'm not mistaken, His Highness asked me to do this today to delay him. The longer the delay, the greater the possibility of being exposed. Once the Tibetan army knows that Lu Dongzan is not in the barracks, perhaps a flaw will appear."
Although Lord Zeng was a civil servant, he had a good brain, so he quickly understood what Li Xiang meant.
Midu Khan also nodded secretly at the side. Lu Dongzan was indeed terrifying, but compared with Li Xiang, he was always half a beat slower. Fortunately, he had not met Lu Dongzan. If he had any relationship with this person, given Li Xiang's ruthlessness, he would never be spared.
Li Xiang did not deny what Mr. Zeng said, as he had thought so when he came. So when Lu Dongzan made an appointment to meet Mr. Zeng, Li Xiang immediately asked Mr. Zeng to claim to be sick.
"But then again, don't act so relaxed. Whether this old man can stay here depends on our performance. Let's go out and practice again later. Also, pull out the crossbow and make some noise."
Hearing what Li Xiang said, Changsun Chong and Yuchi Jingde felt a little distressed. They didn't know the real cost of this thing, but according to what Li Xiang said, each shell cost fifty to one hundred strings of cash. If we were to pull it out and fight for a while, how much would it cost?
"The cavalry will just charge for a while. Our shouts are pretty powerful too. We've been doing this for the past few days. If you fire your cannons casually, are you really firing them? You're spending money. One cannonball costs eighty strings of cash. We've spent tens of thousands of strings of cash just practicing this morning. How long will it take to earn it back?"
Under Li Xiang's influence, these people became increasingly aware of the cost of war. They had never considered this before. They thought it was the Ministry of Revenue's business and that they only had to be responsible for winning the war.
But now, after being influenced by Li Xiang, they also know that we are all one. If there is not enough profit, we cannot spend so much money. We should think about it this way from an individual perspective, and we should think about it even more from a national perspective.
"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. It's just a few cannonballs, right? Think about it carefully. If Tubo continues to weaken like this, how much money can we make? What if they split into many small countries? If so, many people will come to Chang'an to pay tribute. Then we will make a fortune."
When Li Xiang finished speaking, he suddenly felt something was wrong. In addition to us, Midu Khan was also sitting in the tent.
Li Xiang looked at Midu Khan with some guilt. Although there was no expression on his face, it was obvious that he was unhappy. After all, Midu Khan was also a prey in Li Xiang's eyes before. Now Tuyuhun is not as powerful as before. Although they don't have to carry things to Chang'an City to pay tribute, at least they don't have as much autonomy as before. They have to listen to the protector-general in everything they do.
"That's right, that's right. It's us two brothers who are being stingy. You guys keep drinking, and we'll take our men out right now to make sure that old man knows how powerful we are. I'm also going all out today and will prepare fifty rounds of ammunition for him."
Chang Sun Chong patted his chest and said, Li Xiang really didn't know what to say. You have been angry for a while, and now you prepare fifty shells for others. You are stingy, you are really stingy. Of course, you have never fired shells before. Today we will do it on a small scale to test the waters.
Midu Khan was also very fond of that kind of crossbow and hoped to equip Tuyuhun with it, but unfortunately these things were not sold externally, and even in the Tang Dynasty's army, there were very few such things.
In less than half an incense stick of time, rumbling cannon sounds were heard outside. The shells exploded between the two armies, so Lu Dongzan also heard it. Lu Dongzan hurried out of his tent and stared at the place where thick smoke was rising in the distance. The Tang Dynasty already had such a powerful weapon. If it was placed in our military camp, could our army still hold on?
General Huyan stood by, not knowing what to say. The last time he met with the people from the Tang Dynasty, he suffered a loss because of these crossbows. Although he was very careful, when the people from the Tang Dynasty pulled out this thing, all the Tibetans instantly lost their temper.
According to the words of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, any truth is within the range of cannons. If you are not convinced, you can argue with us. It doesn't matter if we lose, we still have cannons to help us save face. But if you lose, it will not only be a debate, but you may also lose the territory of your Tibetan Kingdom.
The expression on Lu Dongzan's face grew worse and worse. He had originally thought that the Tang Dynasty and Tubo were not much different, but when this weapon appeared, he felt that the gap was too great...