The Jinsha River is still called Lushui today and has a rather sinister reputation.
But its water surface is actually very calm, with shallow waves, as if it is smiling. At the same time, there is an unfathomable mystery hidden under this calmness.
Mountains surround both sides of the bank, and the sky and the earth are silent, making people as small as ants.
Several Tibetans were walking by the river. The leader was named Paga. "Paga" means "pig shit" in the Tubo language. The custom of having a nickname to make a living is common everywhere.
Paga was the personal slave of Tibetan Prime Minister Yixiang Yele. Although he was born in a humble background, he had a very flexible mind since he was a child. He was willing to learn and think, and could even speak a few words in Chinese, so he was praised by Yixiang Yele.
.
He was ordered to greet Princess Nalanzhen. He was originally waiting at the Longkai Ferry upstream, but the day before yesterday he heard a ranger say that he saw smoke rising from the other side in the distance, so he came to take a look. When he arrived, he saw it.
Standing on the other side is the flag of Lun Ruozan.
"Let me tell you, the princess has really arrived." Paga murmured to himself, "It's so slow. The Prime Minister came south from Daoba Road and has been waiting in Nanzhao for a month."
He waved his hands towards the figure on the north bank and kept shouting.
But after a long time, I didn't get a response from the other party, which made people feel confused.
"Why didn't they say hello?"
"It's too far away, can't you hear me clearly?"
"Put down the boat and wait until we cross the river."
Paga then took five people in a small boat and rowed to the other side of the Jinsha River. The boat was swaying and it took half an hour to row to the north bank. It was also washed two or three miles downstream by the river. Paga got off the shore first, leaving two people responsible.
Rowing the boat back upstream, he walked there first.
Not long after, a group of Tibetan soldiers from the front came over and asked, "Who are you? What do you do?"
"We are the Prime Minister's personal soldiers, here to welcome the princess."
When Paga responded, he quickly glanced at the group of people and saw that the three people standing in front were not wearing armor or holding weapons.
Normally, a slave would be ordered to do something and would just observe this place, but Paga was different. He also noticed that the three people in front were clearly weak from hunger, but they were able to lead the team and ask questions.
As for those standing behind the three men holding knives, there were six tall men. Although they were also wearing Tubo clothes, judging from their appearance, two of them should be Qiang people.
Although since the Warring States Period, the Fa Qiang among the Western Qiang tribes have moved to the plateau to breed with the Tubo people. Today, Tubo also includes many Qiang tribes, but the appearance of the Tubo people and the Qiang people is still slightly different. The Qiang people have tall noses and narrow faces.
It will be more like Han people.
Paga could only see this difference after careful observation.
Of course, there were Qiang people and even people from the Western Regions in the team escorting the Tubo princess. This was a matter of course and not worth doubting.
Paga couldn't tell what was strange. After answering, he stood there respectfully waiting for a response. However, the soldier who had just asked the question did not answer. Instead, he looked at the Qiang man behind him with pleading eyes.
"Is there a boat?" the Qiang man asked simply, speaking Tubo fluently.
Paga speculated that this Qiang man was the leader of the group and preferred to stand at the back.
"The boat is crossing at Longkai, and the Prime Minister arranged for more than a hundred boatmen to ferry it. Although it is a bit far from here, the little man was ordered to lead the way."
"After crossing the river, where are we going?"
"Of course I'm going to Langqiong to see the Prime Minister." Paga said with a smile.
The Qiang man touched his chin, looked at the Jinsha River and thought for a while, then said: "The army is going south all the way. The terrain is dangerous and full of miasma. The soldiers are injured and sick, and they can no longer march upstream. You let the soldiers
More than a hundred boatmen rowed the boats over."
Paga asked: "But this section of the road on the south bank is not suitable for the march of a large army, and the Prime Minister has made arrangements. Nanzhao officials are already waiting on the other bank."
"Just go ahead and make arrangements, there's a lot of nonsense." The Qiang man suddenly got angry.
"It's not that the villain refuses to make arrangements, it's that the villain can't mobilize the ships." Paga smiled more and more flatteringly, and said: "The general also knows that the ships on this river belong to the Nanzhao people. It's not us who want to mobilize the ships."
Just adjust it.”
The Qiang man was silent when he heard this.
Paga glanced at him again, saw his hesitation, and asked: "If the general can't make the decision, maybe you can take me to see the princess or the minister?"
Just when he said this sentence, Paga wondered in his heart that although he was a slave, he came on behalf of the Prime Minister. Why should Lun Ruozan come to meet him in person? How could he be so negligent?
"The little Paga is the person who carries the ink next to the Prime Minister." Paga reminded him, "May I ask the general's name?"
The Qiang man was amused by his name and announced his own name, saying: "Li Fei Yuan Li."
"General Li Fei Yuanli is so polite. This is the Prime Minister's token."
Li Fei Yuanli looked at the token delivered by Pakya, then casually threw a token from the Tibetan army and said: "Lun Ruozan is ill and it's inconvenient to see you. Use this token to move the ship over."
that is."
Paga took the token and asked, "Does the minister need someone to bring a message to the prime minister?"
"I told you, he is sick."
"yes."
Paga was suspicious, but he was just a small person, and he couldn't take care of these things, in case he offended the princess or the minister of protection.
As long as nothing goes wrong, he just needs to follow orders.
~~
Li Fei Yuanli watched Paga cross the river again, and then escorted the three Tibetan prisoners back to Wang Zhongsi.
It is true that he is a Qiang, but he is also a soldier of the Tang Dynasty. He also scouted horses on the Helong battlefield, specifically to inquire about the Tibetan military situation, so he can speak Tubo very well. During this southern expedition, many veterans like him were transferred to the army.
Come.
"Jie Shuai, we've dealt with it and asked him to bring the ships."
Wang Zhongsi did not breathe a sigh of relief because of this. He asked Li Fei about the details of the conversation between Yuanli and Paga, but his expression became more solemn.
He ordered the army to speed up the process of blowing leather bags and building bamboo rafts, trying to get more soldiers to the other side as soon as possible. In this way, if any flaws were discovered, they could quickly attack Taihe City.
At night, no bonfire was lit in the camp. Wang Zhongsi could not sleep all night thinking about the battle at Nanzhao. He personally arranged patrols and continued to supervise military affairs after dawn.
During lunch, he held up the dried meat and chewed it, squinting tiredly for a while.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps was heard, and he woke up immediately, but heard someone say outside the tent: "It's not an urgent matter, I'll talk to Commander-in-Chief later."
Wang Zhongsi opened his eyes and walked outside the tent. Soldiers were chatting with each other. When he wanted to ask what happened, Li Fei Yuanli hurried over.
Li Feiyuanli's expression was much more hasty than yesterday. He walked up to Wang Zhongsi and whispered: "Commander Jies, some Tibetan officials have arrived. They call themselves Gongjiezan and promise to see Lunruozan. They can't stop him.
He's about to break into camp."
"How many people?"
"I have brought fifty people with me. If I stop him, he will take action."
"Has he seen the Tibetan princess?"
"This is an official under the Tubo Prime Minister. I'm afraid I won't be able to fool him."
Wang Zhongsi ordered: "Send the order and the whole army will be ready to cross the river at any time."
He would not spend more time dealing with these Tubo people, and would rather solve the problem as a general. Traveling through mountains and rivers all the way, he was already prepared for the enemy to detect his whereabouts. Once detected, he would
They just rushed towards Taihe City with lightning speed.
If a Tibetan official insists on breaking in today, then he will kill Ji Qi.
"Let them in."
~~
Pakja followed Gongjiezan into the camp.
He looked back and glanced across the rows of blades, feeling increasingly uneasy. He felt that if the camp's general commanded him, these sword-wielding soldiers would be able to chop them into pieces.
After meeting Li Fei Yuanli yesterday, he went back to see Gong Jiezan, a Tibetan official who was communicating with Nanzhao. He described the incident in detail, saying that he did not see the princess or the escorting ministers, and conveyed their request to transfer the ship to the north coast.
.
After Gongjiezan heard about it, he thought the matter was suspicious. Although he didn't know what happened specifically, maybe Lunruozan lost the princess, maybe the situation in the Tubo court had changed and Lunruozan refused to see the prime minister, maybe
It's for other reasons, but there's definitely something wrong.
Then this scene happened.
"Lun Ruozan! I came to pick you up in person, why don't you come out to greet me?" After finally entering the camp, Gong Jiezan shouted with a smile.
But when he glanced around, two rows of tall soldiers in front were looking at him with vigilant eyes, filled with murderous intent.
Gongjiezan's smile couldn't help but stiffen. He turned back to look at Paga, only to see that Paga had a guilty look on his face, and he obviously felt the danger.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know." Paga whispered: "I have a stomachache and want to go out and solve it."
Gongjie praised that this slave was frightened.
He narrowed his eyes and once again observed the soldiers guarding the surroundings. Forced by the chilling atmosphere, he also wanted to turn around and retreat. Fortunately, Li Fei Yuanli came over.
"I've met the minister. Lun Ruozan is ill. Can I take the minister to see the princess first?"
Only then did Gongjiezan relax, thinking that he might have been too suspicious just now, and responded with a smile: "Of course I would like to meet the princess first."
But the strange thing is that Li Fei Yuanli did not lead them deeper into the camp, but turned to a large tent on the left.
"Why is the princess here?"
"She personally visited the wounded and sick soldiers."
Gongjiezan smiled and said: "She is always like this."
Paga followed behind, his eyes moving wildly as he glanced around.
He didn't enter the camp yesterday, and he felt inexplicably uneasy from the moment he entered the camp today. If this matter could be decided by him, he wouldn't insist on coming to see the princess and the minister of defense when they made it clear that they didn't want to see anyone.
Because if there is nothing wrong with offending someone for nothing, what if there is really something wrong with him and his mouth is silenced?
"please."
The curtain was opened, and Gongjiezan entered first. There was a piece of cloth separating the tent, and the princess seemed to be sitting behind the curtain.
"Greetings to the princess, Gongjiezan from Rukun has come to greet the princess."
"What's wrong with you?"
The woman behind the curtain spoke Tubo, but Gongjiezan knew as soon as he heard that she was not a princess, so he asked tentatively: "Is the princess okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry."
Gong Jiezan was surprised in his heart, walked forward, and stretched out his hand to lift the curtain.
There were two women behind the curtain, a young one and an old one, looking at him in panic and astonishment. They looked very flustered. They were not Princess Nalanzhen.
"Who are you? Where is the princess?"
Sure enough, Gongjiezan recognized the princess.
Li Fei Yuanli held the handle of the knife in his hand, preparing to draw the knife and chop off the head of the Tibetan official.
Suddenly, someone outside the tent shouted.
"Gongjiezan, you are so brave!"
Gongjiezan turned around and saw a young girl walking towards here surrounded by guards. His eyes lit up and he said happily: "Greetings to the princess, Gongjiezan is here to greet you."
"Who asked you to come?!" Nalanzhen scolded, "Go and bring the boat. Just the boatman, don't bother me with any officials or soldiers."
"Why?"
"There's no reason, just go and do it."
Gong Jiezan was stunned and looked at Na Lanzhen again.