Unfortunately, after the two wars, the Uighurs and Li Yan had already concluded a secret treaty and opened a tea-horse trade on the border. It would not be easy to fight in the future.
On the Tubo side, the great battle at Dangjinshankou could be said to have wiped out all the fighting spirit of Tubo for half a year.
Sighing, if it weren't for the steady flow of profits handed over by merchants and players, Li Yan's finances would have gone bankrupt long ago.
At this time, Li Yan set his sights on the prosperous Xizhou. As long as Xizhou could be rectified, the financial situation would improve.
However, all forces in Xizhou are intertwined, and a breakthrough is still needed to rectify Xizhou.
Cui Tao, who was in charge of Xizhou, did not expect that this breakthrough would be delivered to him so quickly.
The Dong family is one of the old nobles of the Gaochang Kingdom. During the ancient Gaochang period, the Dong family was a family of powerful officials who dominated the Gaochang royal court.
Later, Ju Wentai was exterminated by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the royal family was moved to Xijing, but the old nobles like the Dong family stayed in Gaochang.
In order to conquer Longxi and attack the Turks, Taizong also retained the territory of the Dong family and gave privileges to the old nobles of Gaochang Kingdom.
Today, the Dong family owns a large area of land and hundreds of slaves, and is one of the top old nobles in Gaochang.
Dong Yuan is the steward of the Dong family and is responsible for the large area of the Dong family's Willow Forest.
These willow forests were originally ownerless land, but the Dong family occupied them through bribery and plunder.
This is now the private hunting ground of the Dong family, and every year the head of the Dong family holds a hunting convention here.
Tomorrow is the day when the hunting meeting will be held. At that time, the heads of several big families will lead their tribesmen to participate. Director Dong quickly found someone to buy a lot of animals from the market and put them into the willow forest. At the same time, he also carefully tidied up the hunting ground.
Fan.
Director Dong commanded his servants and said: "Check the hunting ground carefully for me. Tomorrow the master and the distinguished guests will be hunting here. We must not make any mistakes again!"
Several servants hurriedly said with a smile: "Don't worry, manager, I guarantee that everything will be properly arranged tomorrow."
The director continued: "How are the preparations for those live preys?"
The servants all said: "I have been hungry for several days. I will definitely not be able to run fast. I must satisfy the master and the distinguished guests."
Only then did the director nod with satisfaction.
On the second day, the Liulin hunting ground became lively. Dong Zhong, the head of the Dong family, led his family's children to the hunting ground in a carriage.
Several other big nobles in Gaochang City also came to the Dong family's hunting ground to participate in the spring hunting.
Dong Zhong stood at the gate of the hunting ground, smiling to receive the guests. These old nobles could always build some kinship through generations of in-laws.
Seeing the bustling Liulin Hunting Ground, Zeng Mu from Liulin definitely took a few villagers with him to find a chance to talk to the Dong family.
Because this Willow Forest pasture blocks the road out of Willow Forest, materials in Willow Forest cannot be transported out, and things from outside cannot be transported in.
Zeng Mu knew that if he wanted to get rich, it was unrealistic to build a road first, so he planned to discuss it with the Dong family. At the worst, Liu Linli would pay some money to buy a road.
At this time, there was a commotion on the edge of Liulin.
Zeng Mu saw several people in ragged clothes rushing out of the willow forest, and behind them were a few people dressed as servants.
Zeng Mu immediately ordered his men to rush out. Zeng Mu saw a servant beating several ragged people. Zeng Mu immediately shouted: "Stop!"
Several villagers in the willow forest came forward. The servants stopped and looked at Zeng Mu and said:
"Where do these nosy guys come from? Are you tired of working in the Dong family?"
Dong family?
Looking at these arrogant and domineering servants, Zeng Mu said: "I am the chief of Liulin, and this is the boundary of our Liulin!"
When they heard that he was the chief of Liulin Village, these servants said without fear: "I think I am an official, but I am just a small chief! He is the governor of Xizhou. When he meets the head of my family, he will
You're being polite! I advise you to mind your own business!"
After saying this, the leading servant still wanted to capture these slaves.
Now Zeng Mu was really angry. He ordered the villagers to stop the servants and said:
"When you reach our territory in the Willow Forest, you must obey me! Why are you chasing them?"
Seeing the tall villagers, the servant finally lost some of his momentum. The leading servant said: "These are the live prey that were hunted today. We accidentally let them escape."
"What is live prey?"
"These are the slaves of our Dong family, the prizes of the masters' hunting!"
Now Zeng Mu understood that these old nobles actually enjoyed shooting slaves!
Zeng Mu lost his temper and said coldly: "This is Liulinli's territory, get lost!"
When the servants saw the villagers holding swords, these servants could only say angrily: "You, a little Liulin, dare to offend the Dong family, you are doomed!"
After saying this, the servants got back into the willow forest.
Zeng Mu looked at these ragged slaves. They had slave symbols tattooed on their foreheads. They were as skinny as a stick and naked, and they looked like they had been tortured.
brute!
Zeng Mu said angrily, he was originally planning to go to the Dong family to negotiate building a road in Liulin, but now Zeng Mu has completely lost interest.
Several slaves were trembling. Zeng Mu walked over and said, "Do you have any companions?"
One of the slaves at the head said weakly: "We still have a few companions who have not been able to escape."
Zeng Mu pointed at Liu Lin and said, "I'm going to rescue them now. Can you lead the way?"
"I can!"
"Well done! Go to the village to shake people, open the village's arsenal, and let's go rescue people!"
Zeng Mu immediately shouted to his villagers.
"Hello!"
Nowadays, Zeng Mu's reputation in Liulin is very high, and when they see these old nobles who tortured slaves, the people in Liulin are filled with indignation when they think of being oppressed by these old nobles.
After a while, villagers armed with weapons gathered one after another. Zeng Mu took off a piece of clothing, covered his face and said: "Let's go! Save people!"
At this time, the housekeeper Dong was angry with the servants: "What? Was he stopped by the people in Liulin? Didn't you say he was a slave of the Dong family?"
The servant lowered his head and said, "I told you, but the head of the village didn't take our Dong family seriously at all!"
"A small village leader can be so arrogant?!"
The director was about to get angry when suddenly there was a noise.
I saw a group of masked men rushing in and knocking over several servants without any explanation.
The director shouted in horror, and was knocked unconscious to the ground by a masked man with the back of a knife.
Zeng Mu took off his mask and looked at the fainted director with a mocking smile.
"Open the cage for me! Put these arrogant guys in!"
Zeng Mu opened the cage where the slaves were kept, stuffed a few servants in, and then led everyone back to the willow forest.