Gaochang Kingdom military camp
"Are all these Xueyantuo people dead? We finally bought them some time, but these guys didn't even take action. Where did they go all night?"
General Moren said this while eating the roasted lamb leg in his hand. Sitting next to him was Wadahan, the special envoy from Gaochang Kingdom who came to greet him.
"Do you think the people on the other side are just ordinary people? They are the elite troops of the Tang Dynasty. They defeated the Turkic army, the Goguryeo army, and the Xueyantuo army. They are not easy to deal with. Now there are only a little over 10,000 Xueyantuo left. If they want to take action, they have to be careful, right?"
Wadahan is the younger brother of the King of Gaochang State and is considered a prince of Gaochang State, but they have the same father as him and the same mother as him. Otherwise, he would have been named a prince long ago. However, relying on his intelligence and talent, he has his own place in the officialdom of Gaochang State.
The reason why they accepted Xueyantuo Khan was because they were attracted by the treasures in Xueyantuo Khan's hands. After Xueyantuo Khan arrived in Gaochang, he was like a boy giving away money, feeding everyone in Gaochang. That's why the previous scene happened. Gaochang agreed to help him deal with the Tang Dynasty, but it was just a delay. It would never be possible for them to really become an enemy of the Tang Dynasty. He had to do the rest of the things himself.
"We only agreed to six days. If they really come after six days, you will have to leave. We can't really break with the Tang Dynasty. We trade a lot of goods with the Tang Dynasty every year. If the Tang Dynasty closes the border, the loss to us will be too great. We can't do such a thing for the Xueyantuo."
General Molun was also an opponent of the court. He had no good feelings towards Xueyantuo Khan. He felt that it was simply crazy for such a person to be at odds with the Tang Dynasty. When he met Su Dingfang yesterday, the lies he heard made him feel very disgusted.
All the countries in the Western Regions want to make friends with the Tang Dynasty. Now that we have such a good opportunity, we should hand over Xueyantuo Khan. This will not only win the favor of the Tang Dynasty, but also reduce security risks in our territory. Since Xueyantuo Khan's people came in, thefts have occurred everywhere in Gaochang Kingdom.
To put it nicely, it was stealing, to put it bluntly, it was blatant robbery. Xueyantuo Khan's men were not good people. They did not take many things with them when they fled. In addition, after arriving in Gaochang, they gave gifts everywhere and did not have much money left, so they started robbing everywhere. Fortunately, they did not rob the Gaochang caravan, but the caravans of other countries had suffered a lot of losses.
Doing so will not affect Gaochang's economy in the short term, but the impact will be obvious in the long run. Others will not come to Gaochang to do business if they feel that the safety here is not good. In the end, Gaochang's tax revenue will be greatly reduced. General Molun has already submitted the memorial, but unfortunately, Gaochang has benefited too much from Xueyantuo Khan, and no one takes this matter seriously.
"After six days, it's no longer our business. I've already written to the Xueyantuo Khan about the border situation, and he's promised to handle it within six days. This matter itself is incredibly risky. Even if something happens to the Tang envoy outside our territory, we're still implicated on our border."
Wadahan was a man of vision, but because of his illegitimate status, not many people in Gaochang Kingdom took a fancy to him, otherwise they would not have let him be the envoy.
"Then why should we do such a thing? If the Tang Dynasty misunderstands us, we will suffer in the future."
General Moren said in confusion, since you can see this clearly, why don’t you tell the king?
"Who do you mean by 'we'? If it were just the two of us, I would go meet the Tang envoy right now and push Xueyantuo Khan out. But the problem is, who are you and I? You're a border general, and I'm the king's half-brother. To be frank, when Xueyantuo Khan sent his gifts, neither of us was on his list."
When Wadahan talked about this, he was also very angry. Xueyantuo Khan was like a child giving away money, but what did he give him? Just fifty taels of gold. For ordinary people, fifty taels of gold is not a small amount, but for Wadahan, it was just like giving away food to a beggar.
Take the princes of Gaochang for example. They all received 200 taels of gold, which is four times what Wadahan received. What did those people do? They just accompanied him in a life of debauchery in the royal city. Wadahan was an envoy to the Tang Dynasty. Just because of his illegitimate status, didn't he know how to give gifts?
General Moren remained silent. It was just as Wadahan had said. Although the two of them were considered aristocrats in the eyes of ordinary people because of their young age, they were insignificant little people in the eyes of true aristocrats.
"You should write another letter to His Majesty the King. I saw clearly this morning that a pack of wolves attacked them last night, but no one was injured. Instead, dozens of wolves died. You know better than me how fierce the wolves in the Gobi Desert can be. If the wolves had attacked us last night, many people would have died."
General Moren thought for a while and said that he was just a small border defense general, not a high-ranking one in Gaochang Kingdom, and he had only a few thousand men under his command. But Wadahan was different. Although he was the king's illegitimate brother, he was the king's brother after all.
"I've said it many times before, and if I say it again it'll just annoy people. We can't save this country. The people at the top are rotten to the core. They can't do anything except accept bribes. But we can do something..."
There was a gleam in Wadahan's eyes. General Moren beside him didn't know what he was thinking, but General Moren knew one thing: people in Gaochang Royal City once said that Wadahan was the smartest person in their city.
"What do you need me for?"
General Moren is not smart and only has brute force, but his grandmother told him that you will never suffer any loss if you follow a smart person. In his eyes, Wadahan is the smartest person, so he wants to follow Wadahan.
"Prepare some cattle, sheep, and other supplies, and personally deliver them to the Tang army camp to express your goodwill, not Gaochang's goodwill..."