Tibet

There is an impressive pair of mahjong on the small table. This is Li Ye's improvement on the basis of Ye Zixi. Yezixi is actually the ancestor of poker and mahjong. There are forty cards in total, divided into Shiwanguan, Wanguan and Suozi. There are four colors of Hewen and various ways of playing. It was very popular in the Tang Dynasty.

Li Ye also saw his wife and concubines playing leaf play, and he was suddenly inspired. After designing the pattern himself, he asked a craftsman to make a pair of mahjong tiles out of bamboo, and named it Doujiang tiles, or Jiang tiles for short.

The fighting card was soon spread among the officials and their wives, suitable for all ages, and became popular throughout Guanlong. Now it has become popular in Guanzhong and Chang'an.

The four of them were drinking tea, admiring the scenery, and sitting at the table rubbing the trump cards. The trump cards were made of horns bonded with cow bones. There were also bets placed beside them. They were enjoying themselves. In fact, there were maids on a dozen carriages behind them. We are also fighting at the table.

"Qingyu, if you let this little chicken out, won't you just serve as a general for the princess?" Yang Yupei complained.

"Ah! I didn't notice."

Dugu Xinyue pushed down the card with a smile, "Fishing alone for pheasants in the cold river snow, what a fool!"

At night, more than a dozen large tents were set up on the grassland, and dozens of bonfires were lit in the wilderness. Soldiers were busy killing sheep and roasting meat. Li Ye's family sat at the bonfire, and the eldest daughter Xingsha performed a cheerful performance for her parents. dance.

Looking at his daughter's petite and lively body and round and cute little face, an indescribable warmth rippled in his heart. In fact, this is the feeling of being a father. The child is the continuation of his life. Father and daughter are connected by blood. !

"Ouch——"

Suddenly there was a howl of a wolf in the distance, and everyone was startled. Her daughter Xingsha quickly ran to her father's side and took her father's arm.

"fine!"

Li Ye smiled and patted his daughter's hand, "The wolf is afraid of fire, so we lit a dozen bonfires to illuminate its eyes, and it couldn't help but complain a little!"

‘Pfft! ’ Qingyu covered his mouth and laughed, this explanation is really interesting.

Li Ye felt that his daughter's hands were a little cold, so he smiled and said, "If we eat and drink enough, we can go back to the big tent to rest!"

Everyone was actually a little tired. After hearing what Li Ye said, everyone stood up one after another, talking and laughing and walked towards the big tent.

Li Ye picked up his daughter. When the child could be held, he would hold her for a while. When she grew up, he would have no chance to hold her again.

Li Ye's big tent is a sheepskin composite tent. The big tent is covered with small tents. The inside is covered with thick carpets, which has excellent warmth retention. The small tents are in the middle like a living room, and there are eight smaller tents around them. Everyone has their own small tent, covered with soft and warm quilts and sleep soundly.

Li Ye and Qing Yu slept together. He had needs tonight. Under the big quilt, Qing Yu lay sideways in her husband's arms. She took off her middle coat, her face was flushed, and she bit her lips tightly, not daring to make a sound. , silently enjoying the feeling of her husband taking her to the clouds.

Early the next morning, after having breakfast of millet porridge and steamed buns, the team continued to set off towards Zhangye.

In the morning, they entered Zhangye City. Three years had passed since the last Zhangye catastrophe. Three years had gradually healed the pain. Shops were densely packed, with mountains of goods in each shop. People were coming and going on the streets. Shouting and shouting came and went, and there was a prosperous scene everywhere. Zhangye City returned to its former prosperity.

Li Ye only stayed in Zhangye for one day, and then left his family to rest in Zhangye's King Qi's Villa. Li Ye also had a palace in Zhangye, which was actually the house bought by his mother Pei Sanniang. It was renamed King Qi's Villa and occupied an area of ​​20 acres. , tidied up very elegantly, with all furniture and items ready, ready to move in at any time.

After settling down his family, Li Ye, escorted by a thousand cavalry, rode towards Dadou Valley.

Li Ye would not dare to take his family to the Dadouba Valley. This is an alpine mountainous area with ever-changing climates. Especially in early spring, the weather in the canyon can change at any time. Historically, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty brought several people with him during the early spring. A team of ten thousand people crossed Dadouba Valley and encountered a cold current. Thousands of people froze to death overnight. Even the eldest princess Yang Lihua did not survive the disaster and was buried outside Dadouba Valley. Yang Lihua's tomb Li Ye Also seen.

With this lesson in mind, Li Ye did not dare to take his wife and daughter across Dadou Bagou to Hehuang. He happened to have another house in Zhangye, so he asked his wife and daughter to stay in Zhangye. He would rather work harder on his own and leave from Hehuang after the inspection. When I return to Zhangye, I don’t want my family to be in danger.

The war horses traveled day and night at high speed. Three days later, Li Ye arrived at Huangshui County. The current governor of Shanzhou is Xin Yunjing. There are 30,000 troops stationed in the state, which is also the state with the largest number of troops. There is no way, Shanzhou has always been attacked by the Tubo army. the bridgehead.

But now the border between Tang and Tibet has been pushed to the line between Dafeichuan and the Jiuqu of the Yellow River. Even the Chiling Valley has become the rear, let alone Huangshui County and the Hehuang Valley.

Tang and Tibet were at war for nearly a hundred years. Although the Tubos continued to occupy Shibao City, this was their limit. The Tubo army did not enter the interior of Shanzhou, and had no chance to encounter the Hehuang Valley. Only when the Anshi Rebellion broke out, the Longyou Army and the Hexi Army After being taken away, the Tubo army was able to march straight in and occupy Longyou and Hexi. Later, they captured Shuofang and even Chang'an.

But now they have no chance. The 30,000 troops guarding Shanzhou are just a buffer to prevent the Tibetan army from killing them for a while. Soon, the main force of the Tang army will arrive quickly, not giving the Tibetans another chance to show off their ferocity.

After listening to Xin Yunching's report in Huangshui County, Li Ye rested overnight. Early the next morning, Li Ye went to Dafeichuan accompanied by Xin Yunching.

After crossing the Hehuang Valley, we entered the alpine grassland area. The snow had almost melted, and the grassland was lush and green.

The area was vast, and they walked for two whole days without meeting anyone.

Xin Yunjing pointed to the river in the distance and said with some embarrassment: "There used to be a small tribe there, the Tuyuhun people, but they later moved to the West Sea."

"This place is pretty good, why do you want to move it?"

"Because there was a fierce fighting here, they felt unsafe and left."

Li Ye thought for a while and said, "Is this what you said about encountering the Tubo outposts last autumn?"

"Exactly!"

Xin Yunjing nodded and said: "But there is one detail I forgot to report to His Highness."

"What details?"

"This hundred-man Tubo outpost is not Tubo."

Li Ye smiled and said: "How do you know they are not Tubo people? Didn't you say that more than forty people were killed and the others escaped? No prisoners of war were captured."

"Reporting to your highness, their appearance is very special. They don't look like Tubo people, they should be Kunlun slaves."

Of course Li Ye knew about the Kunlun slaves, one of the two standard equipment for the powerful families in the Tang Dynasty, who raised Kunlun slaves and Silla maids.

There are thousands of Kunlun slaves in the Dugu family's manor. The Kunlun slaves are black people. Some of them were bought from the Egyptian slave market in Africa by food merchants and sold to the Sogdians. The Sogdians then trafficked them long distances to Chang'an. Such Kunlun slaves They are of the best quality, tall and strong, and usually do heavy work in the owner's house.

Another part of the Kunlun slaves are the Giantuoluo merchants who trafficked black people from Tianzhu to the Tang Dynasty. The Giantuoluo is today's Islamabad in Pakistan. They transported a large number of Tianzhu black people to Chang'an. The Tianzhu black people are the main force of Kunlun. They are short in stature and can endure hardships and stand hard work. Usually working in the manor.

There are also some Kunlun slaves who were brought from the Nanyang Islands by merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty. They are also called Kunlun slaves.

Thinking of this, Li Ye frowned, "It turned out to be a Kunlun slave. Could it be Asan's vassal army?"