stubborn thief

Chapter 235 Three copies
From Riyue Mountain to the north along the Lala River, into the slope of Huangshui, more than [-] riders wearing red tasseled caps, slowly marched eastward.

Gonpo Dorji, the leader of the Riyue Mountains, took off his red tasseled cap, and looked back at his followers.

The leaders of the seven tribes each brought their nephews, and everyone was as worried as he was.

Autumn is not only a harvest season, but also a time for the imperial court to Nama and the Mongols Nagamba.

At this time in previous years, it was time for them to drive [-] good horses to Xining Tea Horse Division, and [-] pack horses to carry tea to Xiaohetao in the south of the Yellow River.

But this year there is an army under the mountain, and the man with the knife also said that his leader needs one-tenth of it.

Although Dai Daozi said that from now on, they don't need to report to the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian Lazuna Managamba, but in fact all three families said so.

The Ming court said that Nama would keep peace, and Xiao Lazun also said that there is no need to give Nama to the Ming emperor. It is one thing to say, but another to do it.

Emperor Ming would not fight a battle for forty good horses, and Xiao Lazun would not send troops to disturb the side for two thousand catties of tea either.

Gonpo Dorji is very aware of the difference. Nama and Timba are actually just protection fees.

Not to be protected by Da Ming or Xiao Lazun, but to be protected from being plundered by themselves.

The process of Gonpo Dorji growing from a boy on the battlefield to a tribal leader was the process of watching those leaders who were loyal to the Ming Emperor die one after another.

Loyalty is always worthy of praise, even in Gonpo Dorji's view, loyalty can make the personality of the person who died unjustly more noble.

But in the land of no man on the border, obediently adapting to the wind and making yourself unworthy of being attacked is the only way to protect everyone.

Therefore, facing the army in the valley, when the magic power of the wizard was exhausted, Gonpo Dorji also had no choice but to obey.

It's just that it is difficult for them to come up with forty horses or two thousand catties of tea.

In the distance, Gonpo Dorji saw the big camp. The camp without fences was protected by a white tent with red flags flying.

Under the banner, two rows of horsemen with spears on their backs pressed their swords. The tails of the spears were tied with ropes and put on the boots of their right feet. The heads of each horse faced each other, leaving a wide passageway.

And at the outermost side of the passage, there was a young cavalryman wearing armor on his horse and a tiger patch on his chest, wearing the same red cotton armor as the cavalry behind him, waiting for them with a knife.

At an interval of more than two hundred steps, Gonpo Dorji led the men to get off the horse, leaving the sons of the leaders to look after the horses. The seven leaders took off their red tasseled caps and looked at each other, each seeing anxiety in the other's eyes.

Gonpo Dorji's brows never seemed to be stretched, deep lines were formed on his face, he hummed indistinctly, and walked forward boldly.

They have already arrived here, stretching out their heads and retracting their heads is also a stab, so there is no need to hesitate.

On the way to the camp, he had been secretly reviewing the Chinese that he hadn't spoken in many years. He had been practicing this job for several days.

They wore robes with bare shoulders and belts around their waists, on which hung scythes, needle and thread boxes, powder pots, dog-beating clubs with ropes, rope slings, riding whips and knives.

That belt carried almost all of the Spanish man's belongings.

Finally, when he reached the edge of the camp, Gonpo Dorji bowed his hands in a strange salute: "General, we are the leaders of the Seven Departments of Riyue Mountain, please take us to see the commander-in-chief."

Liu Chengzong was stunned on the horse's back for a moment, then he was relieved, turned off the horse with a smile on his face, nodded and said, "Come with me."

He attached great importance to the seven Western leaders from Riyue Mountain, so he came out to greet them in person.

Although the population of these tribes is not large, counting men, women, children and children together, there are only a few thousand people, scattered over hundreds of miles.

But this is the first group of Xifan tribes willing to join him, which is a very good entry point.

As for the Chen Qindai line that has already entered Haibei, although Daiqing is still waiting for [-] Han people to settle in, Liu Chengzong is not very happy to send people there this year.

It was too cold, and there was no house in Daiqing. He was unwilling to ask him to take 500 people there to suffer from the cold; let alone warm up in Juerwan by himself, and send his subordinates there to suffer from the cold.

So he planned to call Chen Qindai back first, and then go to Dai Qing next spring.

Anyway, Daiqing, like Gonpo Dorji, is attached to Xiao Lazun who is entrenched in Xiaohetao.

But once again being considered as the captain riding a red-haired horse, Liu Chengzong felt that it was about time for him to change his outfit.

Liu Chengzong, who was born as a frontier soldier, is different from those generals who were born in martial arts. Compared with gaining majesty by overwhelming others in the ritual system, his prestige has come from victory for a long time.

Victory brought money and food, which made him invincible in the drought-stricken northern Shaanxi. Even if he wore a sackcloth bag, others would still respect him.

And ordinary armor can guarantee his survival rate in the first-line battle.

So for a long time, even if he got more beautiful armor, he would not wear it. At most, he would put better quality armor in his old cotton armor.

However, the period when he often had to go to the front line in person is coming to an end. Liu Chengzong thinks that next, he can consider changing his outfit.

"General."

He had only taken two steps when Liu Chengzong was called to a stop, and when he turned around, he saw Gongbu Dorji taking out a ruby ​​bead from the pocket of his robe and handing it to him.

Gonpo Dorji said in a low voice: "General, please accept it with a smile. In front of the commander-in-chief, please speak a few words."

Liu Chengzong took the beads and smiled. He often saw this kind of gems from Uzang in Xining, and they were mostly used by guards to decorate knives.

He asked as he walked, "How many households do you have?"

Gonpo Dorji replied: "There are 540 households in the seventh department, with [-] people."

It is an integer, and Liu Chengzong estimated how many people there are, and the big leader can't tell.

"Then how many acres of land have you cultivated?"

"There are [-] mu of mountainous land." Gonpo Dorji was ready to answer such a question before he came, and the answer was smooth: "There are ripe fields where barley is planted year after year, and the grain yield per mu is eight times that of grain; Ripe fields can yield ten times as many grains per mu; there are also highland barley planted in idle years, which can be planted in September and yield four times as many grains per mu.”

Liu Chengzong did the calculations, but he still couldn't figure out how much an acre of land could produce.

They had already entered the camp, and Gonpo Dorji quietly observed the camp while answering questions.

On both sides of the passage at a distance of three feet, a very neat nest was built. The mouth of the nest faced the outside of the camp. Four rooms were connected vertically, and five rooms were connected horizontally. Then there was a narrow passage, and then five rooms were connected.

The outermost pit was also built with perforations on the one-foot earth wall above the ground.

Like small army formations buried in the ground.

Some of the nests hadn't been repaired yet, and the soldiers leaned against the door, looking at them with ease.

How to describe these people in Gonpo Dorji's eyes?
It's not the kind of person who wants to put on a threat, but it's definitely not friendly.

Most of them are tall and strong, but not everyone wears armor and holds weapons. Some even hold hoes and shovels, covered in mud.

They chewed sticks of smoked jerky, relaxed and proud, with a touch of bland disregard, each with the air of a battle-hardened one.

Soon they walked to the middle of the camp, which should be a large martial arts arena. Not far away, soldiers were shooting arrows at the target in the open space. There was a space in the middle, and a few clean sheepskins were spread on the ground, and there was a tiger skin on the north side of the sheepskin. .

A low table is placed in front of each leather cushion.

On both sides, several people were already sitting, some in court robes and some in armor. Everyone stood up and saluted the young general.

Gonpo Dorji thought to himself, it seems that this young general has a good status in this army, could he be Liu Chengzong's son?

Just as he was thinking this way, the young general reached out to the sheepskin cushion and said, "Sit down."

Afterwards, Gonpo Dorji's eyes widened, and the man sat on the tiger skin mat naturally!

Is this where you sit blindly?
Gonpo Dorji was a little annoyed, but the situation forced him, so he didn't show it. He just asked respectfully, "Can't we see the commander in chief?"

Liu Chengzong smiled easily, raised his hand and threw the ruby ​​bead back, and stretched out his hand to the seven people again: "Sit down, I am Liu Chengzong."

Liu, Liu Chengzong?
The seven chiefs looked at me and I looked at you. In the end, Gonpo Dorji reacted first, and hurriedly led someone to salute Liu Chengzong again. He was about to say a few polite words, but Liu Chengzong raised his hand to stop him.

"There's no need to say polite words, sit down and let's talk about business."

When Gonpo Dorji and the others sat down as promised, Liu Shizi said, "It's good that you are willing to take the initiative to surrender, but I still want to ask, what can you provide me?"

Gonpo Dorji really wanted to turn his head and make eye contact with several leaders. He was a little confused about Liu Chengzong's way, but the position of the seat cushion was not convenient for him to look back, so he could only bite the bullet and ask, "What does the commander need?"

"Food, gold, silver, copper, iron, salt, nitrate, sulfur, horses and troops."

A series of things popped out of Liu Chengzong's mouth, and then asked: "What can you provide me?"

Gonpo Dorji looked troubled, and explained: "We don't have gold, silver, copper, iron and salt. We have to give 280 horses to the imperial court every year, and the surplus food will be given to Xining Wei in exchange for tea for Xiao Lazun. If the commander needs food, We can take a little."

Occasionally, they also do some small handicrafts and small traders, mainly selling to nomadic Mongolians and processing some stone and wood tools, but Liu Shizi's troops obviously don't need these things.

Then the only thing you can take out is food.

But he didn't want to pay for food. The workers in his village worked for five hours a day, and only had two bowls of tsampa to satisfy their hunger.

Squeeze them together so that those people can only eat a bowl of tsampa every day, which can provide Liu Chengzong with a little more food.

Fortunately, despite his contradictory temperament, this young general looks like a polite veteran. He should be a very reasonable person and not too domineering.

But Liu Chengzong was not satisfied with this answer.

He saw Liu Chengzong turned his head, waved to the surroundings, and gave an order. Not long after, the man with the knife came and bowed his head to answer a few questions.

Then Liu Chengzong looked at them again: "Have you paid the emperor Nama and the Mongols this year?"

Gonpo Dorji shook his head.

"My people have already told you that from now on, there is no need to pay tribute to the emperor and the Mongols. Did you understand?"

Liu Chengzong paused, and said: "Now let me tell you that from now on, you can no longer pay tribute to others."

Gonpo Dorji clearly distinguishes between not needing and not being able to, and so do the leaders behind him.

He felt that he had misjudged, Liu Chengzong was much more domineering than he imagined.

Even the Mongols were not allowed to pay tribute to the emperor.

No one was happy about this. Gonpo Dorji quickly shook his head and said, "Marshal, we can also give you [-]% of the harvest, but we must give it to them. If we don't give it to them, all seven of us will be robbed."

"You want to raise horses for the emperor, pay tribute to the Mongols, and give me a tenth, how much do you have left?"

Liu Chengzong understood their worries in his heart, and waved his hands: "Maybe you are loyal to me, and the emperor and the Mongols ask you for something, so let them come to see me."

"First, you have seven men and horses, each of which has two hundred elite soldiers, and you are under my tent to obey orders. I don't care about the affairs of the seven ministries, as long as you donate four hundred war horses every year."

Liu Chengzong deliberately said too many soldiers, he didn't want these people to make this choice: "Second, save the li and join the Qimin households, you leaders will get my official position, and all taxes will only be paid [-] cents. one."

"Is it better to pay three or one? And if you choose the latter, my people need a lot of things. I will send people to open the market regularly. Bring your extra things here and we can buy them."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he waved his hand to the side, and the guards came forward with the wooden trays they had prepared, put them down in front of each leader, and removed the red cloth covering the trays.

There is no treasure underneath, just 50 taels of silver.

"Willing to be loyal, this is the reward for you."

In fact, Liu Chengzong didn't care at all what the Seventh Department of Riyue Mountain could pay him.

In his opinion, these tribes are too poor. Although they can give the court 280 horses every year, the horses will not delay poverty.

It's as if Brother Huangwa's family gave horses to the court for a year, which didn't make him poor, and even made him poorer because of raising horses.

The price of horses in Handi is high, but here, the value of horses will be slightly lower, but not too low, just like the silver in the hands of Liu Chengzong in northern Shaanxi.

There is no market here, and Xining will not trade fairly with the people here, let alone with Namafan.

What cannot be spent has no value.

He came to Qinghai not for wealth, but to train his team's ability to get along with the people. How can he train without the people?

Even if they are victorious, they are still not a regime.

But with the people, they can transform to a political power, gain experience in governing the people going west, and gain experience in instigating rebellion and mobilizing the people going east.

Fifty taels of silver is a small amount of wealth for the seven heads, and no one will be excited or dissatisfied by it.

But this made Gonpo Dorji even more vigilant, and he asked, "The commander wants to start a war with them?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head with a smile. Of course he wanted to fight Xiao Lazun. These leaders who controlled too much territory were not in his wooing list.

But you can't say it, it will make the leaders of the seven departments feel uneasy.

"I will try my best to avoid war. When the people of Little Lazun come over, you let them come to see me, and I will persuade them."

　good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)