The days of separation are sad after all. Although these people do not want to leave their hometown, they have no choice but to go to the Tang Dynasty as hostages because the situation is stronger than people. Your fathers are no longer able to influence the overall situation. All the chieftains have merged with Li Xiang. Without Li Xiang's help, all the chieftains may become history. Therefore, these young men have to fulfill their obligations, which is to go to the Tang Dynasty as hostages.
The chieftains felt very unhappy when they saw the horse team marching away into the distance. They thought they had escaped the rule of the holy city's Zamp, but they did not expect that they were just falling from one pit to another. If they had a choice, they would be willing to reconcile with Songtsen Gampo as long as he could keep their existing territory. However, these people knew very well that their sons' journey had made this wish come to nothing.
On the surface, in order to maintain the existence of the alliance, sending the princes to the territory of the Tang Dynasty can make everyone determined to stay in the alliance and no one will have second thoughts, but in fact they have also put their lives in Li Xiang's hands. Unless you don't care about your son's life, then you can play around, but if you care, then you will have to listen to orders in the future.
Some people looked at Maggie Toast with unfriendly eyes. You were the one who brought this person in. At the beginning, I thought he was our savior. We all admired him very much, but I didn’t expect him to become so aggressive now.
"My son!"
Chief Laxueba said helplessly that this was his most outstanding son. If he was not obedient in the future, perhaps there would be no one to inherit his legacy. The next time he would meet his son might be when they went to Chang'an for an audience, which was much farther away than the Holy City.
There were many chieftains present who regretted their decision, but none of them dared to say it out loud. When your son left here, the initiative was no longer in your hands. If you said something disrespectful to Li Xiang, someone would inform him and your son might suffer. So even if you were a million times dissatisfied in your heart, you had to endure it. Now is not the same as before, and our autonomy is getting smaller and smaller.
"Everyone, stop standing here and watch. Hurry and return to your camps. Follow the plan we've assigned earlier and each lead your own troops to defend. We just need to hold out against them, and the final victory will be ours. No one can clash with them at this time."
Seeing that everyone had disappeared, Chief Maiqi turned around and said something. Everyone had a bad look on their face, and even hatred was revealed in their eyes when they looked at him. What you brought to us was not a helper, but more terrifying than jackals, tigers and leopards. If it weren't for the person you brought, Lu Dongzan would have given us some way to survive, but now we have no way to survive at all. We actually allied with the Han people.
"My friends, please don't look at me like that. I'm in the same situation as you right now. If I had to say regret, no one would regret it more than me. But imagine if there was another way, would I choose to send my son there? Perhaps we made the wrong choice back then. Everyone has to pay the price for their mistakes. The moment we made the wrong choice, we should have seen this result."
Chief Maggie didn't want to argue with everyone anymore. After he finished speaking, he immediately mounted his warhorse and went to join his army.
The others had originally wanted to have an argument so that they could get rid of their anger, but unfortunately, what Maiqi Tusi said made them suddenly not want to argue anymore.
"Old Maggie is right. We all took the wrong path. In order to fight against the people from the Holy City, we invited the wolf into our home. So now we have no way out and can only live with the wolf. But this wolf at least follows the rules. As long as we don't go beyond his rules, then we and our sons can live well. If someone breaks the rules, perhaps that will be his end."
Chief Laxueba sighed. He knew that these chieftains had eighteen ideas, but now that their sons had been taken away, most of their ideas were probably cut off. However, there must be some restless people. He said a few words to them before leaving, hoping that they could remember the real situation. You don't want your son's life, but we still do.
Xiao Liuzi had accompanied Li Xiang for dozens of miles, and now they had arrived at their separation place. Tears were almost coming out of his eyes. He knew that after Li Xiang left here, he would not be able to come back within two or three years unless there were major changes on the plateau. However, Li Xiang had set up all the frameworks, and the chances of major changes were slim.
"Men don't cry easily. You should understand this. You will be able to stand on your own two feet in the future. If you can't even handle this little thing, then you don't deserve to serve me. You also know that my subordinates are all elites and must improve in a short period of time. If you do well enough, we will establish the Tibetan Protectorate in the future, and you will be the first protector."
Li Xiang patted Xiao Liuzi's shoulder. Xiao Liuzi had never heard Li Xiang say these words before. As for the high and mighty Protector General, he had heard others say before that if he became the Protector General of Tubo, even the local chieftains would come to pay him a visit every day. He couldn't even imagine such a life. Wouldn't he be second only to the emperor?
"Do I have that ability? I'm feeling a bit panicked about all this."
After a few breaths, Xiao Liuzi said this with a bitter face. What he said was the truth. You know, he was just a little follower. Although he was smart, he knew nothing about the affairs of the upper class. He learned a lot during this period, but he also felt scared.
"You can do it. Don't let me down. The people I choose are all capable of doing good things. You and those people are the same, so don't underestimate yourself. I will leave the affairs of Tubo to you. I will give you guidance at the beginning, but after a while, you will have to handle things on your own."
Seeing that the sun was getting late, Li Xiang had to make arrangements early. He asked Li San to take the young masters back to the Tang Dynasty, and he wanted to go to the Tubo camp...