In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 400 Governor Candidates

In June, thousands of miles away, Gong Gyaltsen, the general manager of the Sajia Monastery, received Mo Yong, the special envoy from Diezhou City.

Mo Yong brought the decree of the Song Dynasty court, which shocked Gong Gyaltsen.

"The imperial court is planning to set up Qinghai-Tibet Province in Tubo, set up a governor's palace, envoys, and a capital." Mo Yong looked at Gong Gyaltsen as he spoke, and finally said: "The imperial court intends to let you, the wise man, be the first governor-general. thing."

There was a row of people sitting behind Gong Gyaltsen. When they heard this, their eyes widened.

Chajia Temple has always been the spiritual representative of Tubo and has no real power. The actual power is in the hands of the nobles of Tubo's large and small states.

Before Gong Gyaltsen could say anything, someone behind him gently pulled his robe, asking him to agree quickly.

But Gyaltsen was called a wise man, how could he be so stupid? He calmly closed his eyes, clasped his hands together and said, "I would like to thank the court and your majesty for your kindness, but I'm afraid I'm not up to the task -"

"The people are proud of you." Mo Yong interrupted him directly, and then said: "Back then, we still relied on you to mediate the war between the Song Dynasty and Tubo. The people all believed in you, so don't refuse it yet. , think about it again, if you really don’t want to, the court also hopes that you can recommend a nobleman, who do you think is more suitable?"

"This?" Gyaltsen didn't know what to say.

He just looked at Mo Yong strangely.

As far as he knew, this Mo Yong was from Tubo. He used to be called Multi. Now he turned around and appeared in front of him looking like a Song Dynasty man. He spoke loudly of Song Dynasty and shared Gyaltana. It felt really strange.

"You think about it again, I'll stay in Luozhe for half a month and then leave." After Mo Yong said that, he stood up and left.

Gyaltsen stood up thoughtfully.

He escorted Mo Yong out of the hall.

When they were about to leave the hall, Mo Yong turned around and looked behind him. There were many people from Chajia Temple behind them. When everyone saw Mo Yong turning around, everyone subconsciously stopped quickly, as if they knew what they were going to whisper.

Mo Yong quickly led Gong Gyaltsen to the front. He turned around again and felt that the people behind him were a little far away, so he asked loudly: "Does the wise man have anyone he wants to choose?"

Gong Gyaan praised: "Let me think about this matter again."

Gyaltsen spoke in a low voice, and what he said could not be heard at all.

Mo Yong nodded: "Thank you very much, the court will also consider it."

"?" Gong Gyaltsen was confused.

As soon as Mo Yong left, people behind him rushed up and urged Gyaltsen to agree. He was a high official in the border area, which was equivalent to the king of Tibet. He was in charge of the military and civilian affairs of Qinghai and Tibet. Why didn't he agree?

Gong Gyaltsen said calmly: "Paired with power is considerable strength. If Chagya Monastery does not have an army that can be commanded, how can it manage Qinghai-Tibet, which is so large?"

In fact, he knew better in his heart that the Song people did this deliberately. They left so many nobles alone and asked him first, which was obviously intended to provoke them.

I heard that the Song army expelled the herdsmen in Diezhou City and forced them to join the Song people. The Song army was officially beginning to annex Tubo.

Mo Yong wants to live here for half a month, obviously waiting for an opportunity.

The future of Chajia Temple is bleak, and Gyaltsenal believed what Song Jun said.

Suddenly someone asked: "Who did you recommend, Gong Gyaltsen?"

Gong Gyaltsen wondered, I didn’t recommend anyone?

Of course I would think twice about offending someone like this.

Many people had expressions of disbelief.

From Mo Yong's final tone, it was obvious that Gyaltsen was recommending a certain noble, but he refused to admit it and there was nothing anyone could do about him.

Mo Yong lived not far from Shajia Temple, and there was no big movement on the first day.

But soon the news spread. It was said that the governor was equivalent to a king, possessing all kinds of military, political and civil powers in Qinghai-Tibet.

This is tantamount to reunifying Tibet, which has not had a unified political power for many years.

And there is only one person who can sit on this throne.

There are dozens of Tubo states, big and small, who is the most qualified?

The last time the Tibetan allied forces fought against the Song army, the commander-in-chief was Caibago, and the deputy commanders were Gashier and Ruogaidema.

At that time, it was determined based on the size and power of each state.

Ruogai Dema's Ruogai Grassland was originally occupied by the Song Army, and its strength was weakened. However, the Song Army built a trading point in Ruogai Grassland, and the area became more and more prosperous. Ruogai Dema's population lost a lot, but due to the conflict with Song The army is close and transactions are frequent, but the strength has increased.

When he fought against the Song Army, he had less than a few hundred men who could wear armor. Now a few years later, he can gather more than 2,000 fully armored soldiers, which can be said to be a great increase in strength.

So at this time, rumors were spreading in Luoxe City that only one of these three people was qualified to be the governor and give orders to all Tibet.

The one closest to here and the one with the most power is of course the leader of the Tseba faction, Tseba Ge, who occupies the position of logic.

Luoche City.

In the courtyard of Brother Caiba's mansion, a row of people were kneeling.

I saw Brother Caiba yelling at them, and then he took out the riding whip from the entourage behind him and whipped them one by one.

The subordinates were crying and howling as they were beaten, and several armored soldiers standing not far behind Brother Caiba were also trembling.

Among these armored soldiers, there were two people, Ali and Geerqin.

The two moved to Luoche from near Diezhou City, and then defected to Caibage.

Brother Caiba tested them and found out that they were brave and capable of fighting, so he recruited them as personal soldiers and equipped them with armor.

It's just that this Zajia was not made by the Song people, but by them themselves, and the quality is much worse.

Both of them passed through the Song Army's armor in the Song Army's formation, and they knew at a glance that they were incomparable.

But now it is no longer Song Jun, so naturally there is no choice.

The people who were kneeling on the ground in front and being whipped to death by Caiba Ge with a riding crop were some of the local small landowners. Caiba Ge's subordinates were people with status and status that Alili said.

But now because he couldn't handle some things well, he was being whipped by his master Caiba.

Alili and Geerqin shivered when they saw it. They couldn't help but look at each other. They couldn't help but think of what Liu Ying and even Mo Yong had said to them before. In Luoche City, the nobles would not treat you as human beings at all. .

Ah Li knows the small landowner on the far left. He is a relatively wealthy family with hundreds of slaves. He also raises thousands of sheep, cattle and horses at home, but in the eyes of Caibago, he is still like a slave, ready to be beaten at any time. .

This little landowner usually has a condescending expression, but in front of Brother Caiba, he is as pitiable as a dog.

"Bah, bah, bah," there was a continuous sound of whipping in the air. Brother Caiba angrily whipped each of them several times until he was too tired to whip anymore, and then he took off the riding crop in his hand.

The subordinates were all crying and begging for mercy, but Alali keenly observed that when some people lowered their heads, unwillingness and anger flashed across their faces. No one wants to be treated like a dog and can be beaten at will.

Slaves also have dignity. Ah Li couldn't help but think of what people in the Song Dynasty often said: "Slaves should also have dignity."

"I'll give you one more chance. Before the end of next month, all taxes must be collected, and no cattle, horses or sheep should be missing." Caibago said sternly to the people below.

Immediately, someone cried: "The price offered by the Song Dynasty people was higher. Many people secretly exchanged it with the Song Dynasty people, and they couldn't get enough."

"Then go to their house and search, even if you rummage through the boxes and cabinets, you have to find it for me."

"They can hide, it's hard to find them," someone else cried.

It turns out that it has become increasingly difficult to collect taxes from the Tubo nobles in recent years.

The Song people set up trading points in Tubo and traded with the Tubo people. The forms of transactions were various. They could barter or use labor to exchange for Song people's goods, and the prices were advantageous.

So many middle-level small landowners in Tubo first came up with this idea.

They traded their goods with the Song people, and then purchased the goods of the lower-class slaves at low prices to pay taxes, thereby earning the price difference.

Suppose a middle-level small landowner needs to pay tribute to Caibago for one horse, one cow, and ten sheep every year, and he can get fifty kilograms of salt or ten kilograms of sugar from Caibago every year.

But now he secretly trades one of his horses, one cow and ten sheep directly with the Song people, bypassing Caiba brother. He can get eighty kilograms of salt, fifteen kilograms of sugar, plus a piece of cloth and a piece of sugar. Paper silk etc.

After this calculation, of course the small landowners would do this, and everyone would find a way to bypass Cai Bagong and trade with Song Jun privately.

Then they used forty pounds of salt, five pounds of sugar, or some other worthless goods to exchange for a horse, a cow, and ten sheep from the slaves at the lowest level, and then paid tribute to Caibago.

This is the entire trading process in Tubo now.

But this creates several problems.

First of all, as time went by, the slaves also knew the relevant information and were unwilling to sell to these middle-level small landowners at low prices. Except for some ethnic groups in particularly remote areas and inconvenient travel, other low-level slaves would find their own ways to communicate with the Song people. Go trade.

Secondly, all taxes actually come from the slaves at the bottom. Now everyone is trying to find ways to trade with the Song people, so where do the taxes come from?

Small and middle-class landowners exchanged for the output of the bottom class, what about the taxes that the bottom class originally had to pay?

Therefore, in recent years, not only Caibago, but also the entire Tubo nobles have been able to collect less and less taxes.

The key is that those who collect taxes are their subordinates, that is, the middle class.

This group of people is equivalent to local officials, helping to collect taxes, and this group of people also want to secretly trade with the Song people in exchange for price differences, and even reduce taxes on the grounds that they cannot collect taxes.

Everyone is selfish. They seek benefits for themselves first, and then consider the taxes that Tsebago should collect.

As a result, the largest nobles who originally lived the best life here have become the group of people who have suffered the most severe loss of interests.

If this had happened before before the Song army came, the nobles would have imposed taxes and plundered everything that could be plundered from the homes of the lower class.

But that can no longer be done.

In the past few years, the Song people have been promoting propaganda. A large number of herdsmen escaped from the nobles' territories and settled near the Song people. This made the nobles have fewer and fewer slaves.

The nobles continue to oppress the lower class herdsmen, which will only cause more and more herdsmen to escape.

So the current situation in Tubo is that the middle and lower classes are trying to find ways to bypass the top nobles and fight for their own interests.

The Song Army captured the greed of human nature very well, and successfully made the nobility's minions and middle-level small landowners begin to bypass the nobility for personal gain.

In the past, the monolithic situation of small and medium-sized landowners uniting closely with the nobles has disappeared. In recent years, almost all the Tubo people have been trying to find ways to trade with the Song people alone to obtain the maximum benefits.

Driven by interests, the grasslands have become divided and no longer united.

Brother Caiba knew that he had fewer and fewer slaves in recent years, but he had no choice.

The taxes he could collect were reduced, but the supplies the Song people bought for him were much richer than before.

The Song army is getting stronger and larger, and they recently defeated the Mongols and occupied Xixia.

Brother Tseba still has a luxurious life and does not want to fall out with the Song people. Moreover, he knows that now that the entire Tubo is divided for the sake of profit, it will be difficult to gather all the states and hundreds of thousands of troops to fight the Song army like last time. .

He could endure the oppression of the Song people, but he could not endure the betrayal of his subordinates.

This year's summer tax has been greatly reduced again. Many low-level slaves said that they should hand over cattle, horses and sheep that they should not pay, which made Caibago furious.

"We can't go on like this." Brother Caiba roared after finishing beating his men.

"Before the Song army came, I could collect thousands of high-quality war horses in one summer tax."

"And now, you can't even collect two hundred ordinary war horses." Brother Caiba was very angry. Now it's not a question of quantity, but even quality cannot be guaranteed.

Everyone gave priority to trading the best horses with the Song people. Only the horses that were not selected by the Song people would have their turn.

The number of other cattle and sheep is decreasing.

Some herdsmen directly slaughtered their cattle and sheep, and sold all the meat and skins to the Song people. Then they told the people sent by Caibago to collect taxes, saying that they did not feed many cattle and sheep, and the harvest was not good, so they asked for relief.

In the past, herdsmen couldn't hide their cattle, horses and sheep. Now they can find a place to hide their cattle, horses and sheep in exchange for copper coins, sugar or refined salt, or even cloth. This makes it impossible for anyone who collects taxes from Caibago to find it.

Seeing Brother Caiba being so angry, Ahali, who had been standing behind him, sensed an opportunity.

Of course, he didn't want to just be Caibago's guard all his life. He wanted to stand out and prove to his father and mother that he could become a person of status in Tubo.

Ah Li took a step forward and whispered: "Everyone is trading with the Song people, unless the channels for trading with the Song people are cut off."

Brother Caiba suddenly turned around to look at the young man who had taken refuge in him. After staring at him for a moment, he finally said, "How to cut it off?"

Tubo is so big and can move everywhere. It is difficult for you to send cavalry to intercept it.

"Now the people of the Song Dynasty only have one trading point, which is in the Ruogai Grassland. We will send troops to patrol around the Ruogai Grassland. Anyone who dares to transport supplies to trade will be cut down. As long as a few groups of people are cut down, no one will dare to do this in the future. .”

When Brother Caiba heard this, he seemed to be moved.

The middle-level landowners kneeling below were unhappy because they also wanted to trade with the Song people. Someone immediately asked: "What if they are not our slaves?"

This matter is not easy to handle. Brother Tseba is a noble with ten thousand households. He originally had more than thirty thousand households of slaves, the most in the whole of Tubo. In recent years, many have moved away, and he still has more than ten thousand households. But his people also have more than ten thousand households. It is impossible for everyone to know each other.

You cannot do this if you meet people from other nobles. It is tantamount to robbery and will lead to war.

(End of this chapter)