General Moren didn't quite understand what Wadahan said, but he knew it was an important matter. He quickly dropped the roasted lamb leg in his hand and came to Wadahan.
Wadahan looked at this straightforward man and could only teach him step by step what to do. With a follower like him, he didn't need to worry about his betrayal, but he had to do everything himself.
At noon, General Moren drove out more than a hundred cattle and sheep. These things were worthless to them, and they could find a lot of them with just a casual search. After all, there were fewer people and more pastures in this era.
After Su Dingfang received the report from the checkpoint here, he also brought his men here.
"General Su, although we haven't received a reply from the envoy yet, Gaochang and your Tang have always had a good relationship. I also yearn for the Tang Dynasty. You have come to our doorstep. I personally paid for some cattle and sheep for you..."
General Moren opened his mouth wide and said that he looked very honest, so there was no need to be pretentious when saying these words. He just spoke in his usual way, giving people a very friendly feeling.
"Thank you so much, General Moren. Here are some things from our Tang Dynasty as a return gift."
Su Dingfang spoke in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and then asked someone to deliver some special products of the Tang Dynasty. These were all prepared before, but he just felt something was wrong. The man in front of him used his own money to buy cattle and sheep, which had never happened before. Even these gifts sent by the Tang Dynasty were prepared by the court, not spent by him, Su Dingfang himself.
"Thank you, General Su. If you need anything, just send someone over. No matter what you need, you'll feel right at home here. As long as it doesn't violate any major regulations, I can satisfy you. You may not be familiar with the surrounding situation, but I have a rough sketch here. It was made three years ago, and it's still useful now."
General Moren said this generously, and at the same time asked his men to send over a map. You know, this is a powerful weapon in fighting. Although their drawings are not so accurate, it is easy to arouse suspicion if such a thing is sent over casually.
After seeing Su Dingfang collect the things, General Moren took his men back without saying anything else. Su Dingfang returned to his tent with a forehead full of question marks. He had already sent people to figure out the surrounding terrain. This was also the order given by Li Xiang. Whenever they arrived in an unfamiliar place, they had to draw a map of the surrounding area and then send it back to Chang'an City for archiving.
According to Li Xiang, we may not need it now, but it does not mean that we will not need it in the future. All under heaven belongs to the king, and we may not always have to rule this place ourselves. In this case, this map will be very useful.
"Is the map fake?"
Although Lord Zhao was from the Lifanyuan, he still couldn't quite understand maps like these, especially the one sent by General Moren. Many of the pictures on it looked like scribbles. If one wanted to understand this map, one had to have some basic knowledge.
"Although there are some minor issues, they've already explained that this map is from three years ago, so it's normal to have some flaws. I just can't figure out one thing: what is General Moran trying to say? He sent us cattle and sheep, and then he sent us maps, and even said that if we need anything, just send someone to tell him and he'll arrange it for us anytime."
Su Dingfang said these words verbatim. He was good at fighting military battles, but if it came to understanding people's hearts, it must be these civil servants. Lord Zhao was able to work in an office like the Lifanyuan in Chang'an City, so he was a master at understanding people's hearts.
"Let's analyze it slowly. First, the Gaochang Kingdom and the Xueyantuo are colluding. This is something that can be confirmed. Otherwise, they would not have taken in the Xueyantuo Khan, and they would have risked a breakup with us by taking him in."
Lord Zhao also felt a little confused, so he had to analyze it one by one. Things involving the two countries had to be figured out clearly, otherwise it was possible to mislead the relationship between the two countries at any time. At that time, neither he nor Su Dingfang could afford this risk.
"That's for sure. If they weren't colluding, Gaochang should have kept the Xueyantuo Khan out when he arrived with his army. Now that we're here to present our credentials, only a fool would fail to guess our intentions."
Su Dingfang felt that what Lord Zhao said was nonsense, but in fact, this is how to analyze a problem. Put everything on the table and analyze it in depth step by step. Only in this way can you find the final answer to the problem.
"We've both confirmed this, so the border commanders of Gaochang should be hostile to us. That's logical. But General Morun is giving us gifts, clearly betraying Gaochang's position. So what do you think he's trying to achieve?"
When Lord Zhao said this, Su Dingfang felt that Lord Zhao had an interesting mind. It was obvious that she had not thought of this step.
He's showing us kindness!
Su Dingfang raised his eyes, and Lord Zhao and he looked at each other, and this sentence appeared in the minds of both of them.
"But it's useless. He's just a border guard with only a few thousand men under his command. Such a person wouldn't even be respectable in our Tang Dynasty. What's the point of him showing us goodwill?"
Su Dingfang analyzed General Moren's status. It was obvious that this guy was doing useless work. Even if we could influence Gaochang Kingdom, we could not influence him at this level. To put it bluntly, his level was too low.
"It's useless for him to show his goodwill to us, but what if he has someone behind him? Being an official in any country is full of complicated connections."
Su Dingfang immediately understood what Lord Zhao said. It was not General Molun who was showing goodwill to us. He was just an official. It was the people above him who were showing goodwill to us. This showed that there were still many people in Gaochang who wanted to make friends with the Tang Dynasty. These people did not stand on the side of Xueyantuo Khan, but these people were not the rulers of Gaochang, but they still had certain power in Gaochang.
"What about me?"
After figuring out these things, Su Dingfang still didn't know what to do.
"What you soldiers are best at is drinking and chatting. You have to have a drink with him."
Lord Zhao glanced at the wine jar beside him, intentionally or unintentionally. This was Su Dingfang's treasured Tang Dynasty wine...