"Wind and sand~ Slow down the blowing, the big girl is flying in the sky~"
Tang Yi really couldn't stand Tang Umbrella's weird accent, so he couldn't help but cursed: "You are crazy and crazy. Even a dog won't listen to whatever you are singing."
The group of people advanced in the wind and sand of Liangzhou, with their faces wrapped in cloth towels, followed by a long team of horses and many camels.
Tang Umbrella pulled off the cloth and was about to reply, but when he opened his mouth, he immediately ate a mouthful of sand and immediately pulled off the cloth again.
"Brother, it's a long road, how can we relieve our fatigue if we don't sing something."
"It's a long night." Tang Er ruthlessly criticized his wrong choice of words.
"It's all the same." Tang Umbrella started singing again, minding his own business.
Lu Dongzan, who was accompanying them as envoy to the Tang Dynasty, listened with great interest to Tang San singing tuneless ballads, and would ask about the meaning of the lyrics from time to time. Along the way, Lu Dongzan almost vomited.
In a month, he climbed over the high mountains of the plateau and crossed the desert, and he was finally approaching the legendary Eastern Tang Dynasty.
At this moment, his anticipation for that distant country was at its peak.
After the group left Liangzhou and entered Yuanzhou, they were immediately strictly interrogated and searched by the guards at Xiaoguan. The identities of Tang Yi and the others were top secret. Naturally, it was impossible for them to be exposed because of such a trivial matter. Therefore, they should be given to the guards.
There is no shortage of benefits.
"Oh, what a strange face. Where did you catch these slaves?" The guarding officer looked at Lu Dongzan and other Tubo people behind Tang Yi and others, and said, "The treatment is not bad, they don't look like Kunlun slaves."
In the perception of the guards, only the Kunlun slaves who were captured and used as followers would be treated slightly better. The other slaves were basically treated like pigs, dogs and livestock.
Lu Dongzan is very smart. During this time, he studied Chinese with Tang Yi and others and made rapid progress. He can understand the meaning of the soldiers guarding the gate.
"I am not a slave. I am Lu Dongzan, the envoy of the Tubo Kingdom. On the order of Zanpu, I came to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."
"Tubo?" The guarding officer looked confused, obviously not knowing about this country.
"Have you heard of it?"
"No." Others shook their heads.
"Hahaha, it's another small foreign country." The soldiers laughed.
Lu Dongzan's face turned red and he almost had a fit, but in the end his rationality prevailed. He ordered someone to take out his credentials and showed them to the soldiers.
Although the guarding officer was arrogant, he would not commit suicide and would not take the initiative to check his credentials. He waved his hand and warned: "When you enter the pass, be honest and abide by the laws of the empire. If you don't follow the rules,
, be careful of moving your head. Go over there!"
After saying that, the soldiers moved out of the way.
Lu Dongzan breathed softly, put away his credentials, and followed Tang Yi and others away as the soldiers looked at them like monkeys.
At the same time, the news of the arrival of the Tubo envoy to the DPRK was sent to Chang'an as quickly as possible by the governor of Yuanzhou.
Needless to say, there is no need to say much about the roads in Guanzhong. The flat cement roads make the walk very comfortable for a group of people.
Lu Dongzan stared, looking at the weird and flat concrete road, and he was immediately shocked and speechless. When he came, he thought that he might be surprised by something from the Tang Dynasty.
But I never expected that I would be shocked before I even entered the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty.
"What road is this?" he asked Tang Yi.
"Concrete road."
“What is a cement road?”
Tang Yi rolled his eyes, "I don't know, it's called cement road."
I'm just a scout, you ask me about the cement road?
After three days of travel, they finally arrived at Jingzhao Mansion and rested in Wugong County.
Entering here, Lu Dongzan began a journey of silent observation. Sometimes he would also ask about the situation of the place, such as the population. Once Tang Yi was annoyed by his questions and told him directly that the population of Chang'an had exceeded 500,000.
, directly told Lu Dongzan to shut up completely.
In addition, the rail carriages running parallel to the cement road would occasionally transport large amounts of stone and wood at high speed, which made Lu Dongzan fall into deep self-doubt.
And when he saw the slaves on the roadside who were oppressed by the Tang people to build roads and mines, he would shudder. Because he heard Tang Yi say that those were all former enemies of the empire. After these enemies were defeated by the emperor of the empire, they had become the entire empire.
slave.
As the team approached Chang'an, they were constantly interrogated by patrolling Tang Qi.
boom!
There was a loud noise in the distance, and Lu Dongzan subconsciously looked over. He saw huge black fog and billowing smoke rising into the sky in the distance, like a fire in the sky. The towering chimneys, the rows of waterwheels along the river, and a
One by one, Lu Dongzan was completely confused.
Tubo and Tang Dynasty were really in the same world?
He couldn't understand, really couldn't understand, he couldn't even understand the path under his feet. He only knew that except for people in the Tang Dynasty who looked a little similar to them, everything else was different.
For example, the plate-armored cavalry blocking them from the front.
That terrifying full-body armor made Lu Dongzan nervous all over.
After an investigation, Lu Dongzan and others set out again, finally arriving at the inn in Chang'an City to rest in the evening.
"Lu Dongzan, we won't be traveling the rest of the way. Tomorrow you go directly to the city. The soldiers at the city gate will lead you to Honglu Temple. That is the place where our court specially receives envoys from foreign countries. When you get there,
That’s it.”
"Thank you for showing me the way." Lu Dongzan imitated the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty and bowed his hands in thanks.
"No need." Tang Yi waved his hand, turned and left.
After sending Tang Yi away, Lu Dongzan closed the door and began to record the information along the way.
The text used in the record is Sanskrit. Tibet currently does not have its own written language. Historically, it was only when Songtsen Gampo became the little overlord of the plateau that he asked his minister Thonmi Sangbuza to study in Tianzhu, and finally created the ancient Tibetan script.
.
However, when recording the information, Lu Dongzan suddenly found it difficult. Because he was not proficient in Sanskrit and was so careless that he could not fully express what he saw and heard.
gap!
He finally felt the gap, and this gap was not an intuitive feeling, but a small but creepy gap.
On the way to the Tang Dynasty, he also studied Chinese. After comparison, he found that Chinese was extensive and profound, with extremely perfect writing and grammar, which was not comparable to Sanskrit.
"well!"
He put down the pen and rubbed his face, feeling very depressed.
No wonder the Tang people looked down on themselves. There is no comparison between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. Starting from the most basic language and writing, Tubo cannot compare. What kind of country is it if it doesn’t even have its own writing?
No, after returning to Tubo, Zamp must be asked to find someone to create Tubo's own text.
He is a tenacious person. After a period of loss, he immediately began to record information. Even if the record was not accurate enough, he would try to record it as much as possible.
After entering Guanzhong, what he saw and heard along the way was like entering another world, a world he had never seen before.
He wrote:
'During exchanges with Tang Dynasty businessmen, I got the information that this huge empire, with its territories in the east and west, was even close to the sea. I asked the businessman what the sea was. He told me that the sea was boundless.
No one knows how big it is. Forgive me, I have never seen the sea.
I asked him again, how does the sea compare with Nam Lake?
He told me that Nam Lake in front of the sea is like bird feathers to the endless snow-capped mountains.