Although the Tubo Kingdom was not very wealthy since its establishment, the imperial court had never borrowed money from the common people. Now that He Ludongzan had said this, the people present began to whisper. There were not many rich families in Tubo because they still practiced slavery. The people present were all the slave owners in the country, and the top ones. If they were to borrow money from the rich, none of them would be able to escape.
When Lu Dongzan said this, Songtsen Gampo was also listening beside him. Usually, these guys expressed their loyalty to him every day. Now that Tubo was in trouble, none of these people stood up, and they even looked at him with guilt. It was obvious that they didn't want to pay.
"That sounds nice, but if food prices rise to an unbelievable level, are we going to have to accept it?"
Lang Tai felt that Lu Dongzan should not be allowed to take the initiative. If he took the initiative, it would probably be bad for all of us. After all, as the largest slave owner in the country, his family's treasury was full of money.
"No matter how expensive food is, I hope you all understand that our Tubo is now at a critical moment. Without food, we cannot maintain a country. Without this country, your wealth is useless and will surely be taken away by others. You are now the richest part of Tubo. If you don't take out your money, then our country may not be able to continue."
Although Songtsen Gampo scolded Lu Dongzan and was usually worried about this guy, what he said was very reasonable. These people in front of him were the highest-ranking bureaucrats in Tubo. They had huge amounts of money in their hands. No matter how high the price of food rose, as long as they were willing to pay, they would definitely be able to overcome the difficulties.
"Prime Minister, please don't change the subject. We came here to hold you accountable for your ineffective suppression of the rebellion, so why are you suddenly asking us to pay for food? Your Excellency, you are truly capable. If you could have defeated these chieftains earlier, why would we need to go out and buy food? They have plenty of food in their granaries, so we should make a desperate effort to defeat them and seize all the food they have."
Another great noble also stood up, and these people seemed to have found a backbone immediately, and they all criticized Lu Dongzan. This was exactly what Songtsen Gampo wanted, but at the moment he was very disgusted with this.
Lu Dongzan wanted to preserve Tubo, and by preserving Tubo he could preserve his position. But what about you people? As soon as you heard that you have to pay money, you changed the subject. Who is the sinner of this country?
Lu Dongzan did not refute, but looked at Songtsen Gampo with an innocent face. After accepting the criticism, although Lu Dongzan was dissatisfied, he knew that Songtsen Gampo was a smart man. Based on the current situation, he did not believe that Songtsen Gampo could not see who was good for the country.
"Shut up."
What surprised everyone was that Songtsen Gampo was targeting them. Hadn't they agreed to this when they came? We were going to review the Prime Minister's mistakes and crack down on his arrogance. But now we were just following the Zamp's orders, so why were we being scolded?
"You idiots, you don't know what's most important. Food is our foundation. If we don't have food, the slaves will rebel in an instant. No one, including the army, will continue to fight for us."
After Zamp said this, everyone present shut their mouths. They knew the importance of food, but there were two ways to seize the food. One way was to wipe out these chieftains and take the food from their warehouses, and then they wouldn't have to spend a penny.
Another way is, as Lu Dongzan said, we have to buy food from foreign countries, but if that is the case, the money in the national treasury is definitely not enough. The gap in this regard is too big, so we have to borrow money from some rich people.
To put it nicely, it is borrowing money, to put it bluntly, it is asking you to pay money. Once you take out this money, you will never be able to pay it back. So in this situation, if you take out this money, it will probably be wasted. No one's wealth comes from the wind, so who would be willing to let this money go to waste?
Just as everyone was about to quarrel, hurried footsteps were heard outside.
The messenger whispered a few words into General Huyan's ear. General Huyan had a high status in Tubo and was qualified to report directly to Songtsen Gampo. But this guy made a wrong move at this time. He was used to reporting to Lu Dongzan first and then to Songtsen Gampo. There was nothing wrong with it before, but now there might be some problems with this situation.
"Just say whatever you want to say."
Although Songtsen Gampo knew that he would eventually find out the news, he felt uncomfortable when he saw the two of them whispering to each other. If he couldn't do anything to Lu Dongzan, he would have to replace this great general.
Lu Dongzan also felt that the action just now was inappropriate, and signaled General Huyan to speak out quickly to avoid making the Zamp unhappy.
"Zanpu, His Royal Highness Li Xiang, the Grandson of the Tang Dynasty, has arrived and is less than five miles away."
When the people in the tent heard the news, they were all horrified. They knew about the situation near the border. Didn't Lu Dongzan say it had been dealt with? So why was he back now? Was he bringing a large army? When they thought of this, many of them felt a little scared and even shrank back.
Songtsen Gampo looked at these old nobles with some disgust, thinking they were of no use at all. He had wanted to replace General Huyan just now, but now seeing the determination on General Huyan's face, he knew that this man was also an important official of Tubo and could remain calm when encountering things. He was better than those guys under his command, so he decided to keep him for now.
"Did you ask clearly what you are here for?"
Songtsen Gampo was also nervous, but he couldn't show it in front of so many people, so he remained very calm. However, if General Huyan had said that he would bring people with him, he probably wouldn't have been so calm.