Tibet

Chapter 429 Preparing to Travel East
Tang Jun auctioned a large amount of silk, porcelain, tinware and other goods in the city that day, and got hundreds of thousands of gold coins.

Li Ye immediately rewarded the three armies. This time, the reward was doubled compared to last year's battle. Each soldier was rewarded with 120 gold coins.

The generals also received generous rewards, and everyone was happy. If this continues, the wish to buy a small courtyard in Chang'an will soon come true.

After packing up their luggage, they loaded the captured wealth onto camels, replenished food and water, and the Nine Thousand Tang Army set off eastward with tens of thousands of camels and horses.

.........

In mid-May, Li Ye led the army back to Suiye. Suiye was extremely lively. More than [-] family members from Beiting arrived last month. Xie Jin prepared houses and land for them.

Although this march took more than a year, it also guaranteed the health of the family members to the greatest extent. No one died along the way. It was a miracle of the westward move, and it also proved that Li Ye's idea of ​​exchanging time for life was completely correct.

But Li Ye didn't have time to chat with them in detail. After two days of rest, he was ready to return to Chang'an.

Returning to Chang'an, of course there is a major event. He wants to ask the emperor to agree, hoping to expand the Hezhong army, or join forces with the Beiting army to attack the Khazar Khanate.

Secondly, he will join forces with the Anxi army to deal with the westward expansion of Tubo. The Hezhong army alone cannot complete such an important task, unless the emperor agrees to expand the Hezhong army to 4000 according to the standards of Beiting and Anxi.

What Li Ye hopes is to expand the army. It has been 12 years since Tianbao, and there are only two years left before the Anshi Rebellion. He must have a strong army under his command.

In the afternoon, Li Ye came to Suiye Guangming Temple. He came back and asked the maid Xiaokang, but no one in Guangming Temple left him a message or delivered a letter, which made Li Ye really worried.

The governor of Hezhong came to visit, and the abbot of the Holy Maidens' Association of Guangming Temple did not dare to neglect, and came out to meet him in person.

"I was entrusted by Narman, the great chief of the motherland, to inquire about his daughter Jin Shanling. The abbot should know!"

The abbot is a forty-year-old black-robed saint. She is very high-ranking, second only to the silver saint. The black-robed saint said slowly: "She is now the left silver saint of the Daguang Temple in Samarkand. will have a high status."

"We know this. She wrote a letter to her father. She said that she would be sent to Suiye this spring to be in charge of the Eastern Saintess Society."

The black-clothed saint nodded, "I also heard some rumors that Da Guangming Temple will send a silver saint to break the leaves. It is probably her, but it is not so easy. It is impossible to send it as soon as it is said, and there are many others in it." Things to do."

"Is there anything else to do?"

The saint in black leaned forward and said: "The governor may not know that the highest authority of the Saintess Association is called the Senate, and there are seven old saints. There are two important institutions under the Senate, one is called the Office of Affairs, and the other is called the Academic Affairs Office. The Silver Saintess belongs to the Teaching Affairs Office and is responsible for preaching and developing believers.

At present, only four Guangming Temples have teaching offices, Samarkand, Bukhara, Tuozhi City, and Kesai City, while Suiye Guangming Temple does not have a teaching office, and it is only managed by the Affairs Department. Ye also wants to set up a teaching office. "

"Then when will the teaching office be established?"

"This year! Didn't the governor see that the open space on the right side of the door started to be constructed? That is to build the teaching office. Once the teaching office is completed, she will come over."

"Then what is the Saintess of Broken Leaf doing now?" Li Ye asked puzzled.

The saint in black smiled slightly and said: "To put it simply, there are two words: making money, commerce, military security, transportation, messaging, and other functions. The governor may not understand, but in fact the saint will be very active. It is also a religious organization. It is also a chamber of commerce. For example, we have more than [-] shops, restaurants, business hotels, etc. in Suiye. We also provide travel guards, mediate commercial disputes, and deliver goods for customers. Send the letter, we can also do it for you."

"You mean to say that the Zuoyin Saintess will come here at the earliest in autumn?"

"It's just a rumor that since the teaching office has been built, there will definitely be a missionary saint, but it's not the Zuoyin saint, I'm not sure."

Li Ye left Guangming Temple in disappointment. He had also experienced the procrastination of the Saintess Society, and it took a year to do a little thing.

Back at the residence, Li Ye was sitting in the study in a state of distraught, and Xiaokang served him tea. After a while, Xiaokang said in a low voice, "Young Master, I don't want to go to Chang'an."

Li Ye's face sank, he knocked on the table twice, and said very unhappy: "It's clearly agreed, why don't you go?"

Xiaokang lowered his head and did not dare to make a sound. Li Ye held back his anger and said in a calm tone as much as possible: "Let's go to Chang'an, and then I will ask my father to help you find your parents. He is a high-ranking official in the court, so it should be easier. From last year to This year, we made an appointment, don't change your mind casually."

Xiaokang finally couldn't help sobbing and crying, "My lord, my parents died a long time ago, my uncle sold me to Jiaofang, and Jiaofang sold me to the Sogdians."

Li Ye frowned, "Why didn't you say that before?"

Xiaokang cried: "I dare not say, I said I was afraid that the young master would not want me."

Li Ye looked at her for a while, and said helplessly: "I see, then you can stay in Suiye first! It's inconvenient for you to be alone, and you can live in Judge Wang's house, and he can continue to teach you how to read and write."

Speaking of this, Li Ye tapped her head with his knuckles, "Don't be lazy, I'll take the exam when I come back."

Xiaokang smiled through his tears, and quickly agreed, "I will not be lazy, study hard!"

In fact, Xiaokang's refusal to return to Chang'an solved Li Ye's problem. He wanted to march back to Chang'an at high speed, and he was worried about letting Xiaokang go alone with the team behind him.

At this time, Wang Changling's voice came from the gate of the courtyard, "Is the governor here?"

"Judge Wang came just in time, please come in!"

Li Ye invited Wang Changling into the living room, and the two sat down as guests and hosts, and Xiaokang served them tea.

Li Ye pointed to Xiaokang and said, "I'm going to Chang'an, Xiaokang stays in Suiye, Judge Wang will take care of her for me."

Xiaokang saluted obediently, "Hello, Grandpa Wang!"

Wang Changling smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, Dudu! Xiaokang studies hard, and I will take good care of her."

Xiaokang saluted again and withdrew.

Wang Changling took out a letter and handed it to Li Ye, "This is a letter from my family. Please give it to my old wife, sir. This place is nice and I like it very much. I plan to let my son and my old wife come here together. The family will be reunited in Suiye." .”

The implication is that Wang Changling doesn't want to go back to the Central Plains anymore, Li Ye nodded, "I promise to deliver everyone's letters from home."

Wang Changling said again: "This time the governor wants to bring 300 million gold coins back to Chang'an?"

Li Ye nodded, "There are a lot of important things to do when I go back this time, I don't want the child to be a wolf!"

"Who is the governor going to give it to? Do you have a plan? Gift giving is also a science. If you give it well, you will get twice the result with half the effort. If you don't give it well, it will be self-defeating!"

Li Ye smiled and said: "These 300 million gold coins are intended to be given to the emperor, and no one else has considered giving them away."

Wang Changling was stunned, "Bribe the emperor?"

Li Ye smiled slightly, "It's not the first time I've bribed him, I'm already familiar with it, and adding troops to the river is just a matter of his words."

"Bribing the emperor always makes people feel weird."

Li Ye shook his head and smiled and said: "It's not surprising, the court is in financial difficulties, and the money allocated to him will not be much, but he has a lot of expenses, and he can't make ends meet. I will give him 300 million guan at a time to solve his big problem. In your words , is to get twice the result with half the effort.”

Wang Changling nodded, "300 million gold coins, that requires a camel! When will it arrive in Chang'an?"

"I will take a step first. The camels will be escorted by the cavalry. I will go as fast as I can and try to reach Chang'an by the end of June."

(End of this chapter)