At the beginning of August, the northwest has almost entered the early winter season.
It was getting dark, so Zhang Lun asked Fan Wenjin to go out of the city to inspect the military camp outside the city.
By this time, all the troops had turned back. Yesterday evening, Fan Wenjin, the general manager of Liangzhou, invited everyone to gather at the general manager's house and held a celebration banquet.
Everyone drank happily, talked and laughed, not only to celebrate the victory, but also to let everyone have a preliminary understanding of each other.
The leaders of these people have different origins, but they can all be regarded as the founding ministers of the Tang Dynasty. They come from all over the world, and it always takes a process of getting used to each other.
This time we jointly defeated Tubo, and the victory was a good start. The generals were honored with military honors, and Fan Wenjin and others did not lose their virginity. They cooperated with each other in a tacit understanding, and everyone was happy with the result.
So everyone drank happily during the banquet.
Furthermore, Fan Wenjin had lived in the northwest for a long time, and naturally he deliberately made friends with these generals with great military achievements. He knew that he would not be able to serve as an official in Liangzhou for the rest of his life, and he would eventually have to return to the court to report on his duties.
At that time, the good ties formed today may come into play.
The generals were also ordered before they came not to deliberately embarrass General Manager Fan, so as not to chill the hearts of everyone in the northwest. Moreover, they came to fight, not to govern the place. They had no conflict with Fan Wenjin and others, and they would have to do this later.
Support from local officials.
So the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves during the banquet.
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The next evening, Zhang Lun took Fan Wen in and out of the city to inspect the camp.
Fan Wenjin was still murmuring in his heart, is this because he is afraid that we will not treat the meritorious soldiers well? Or should I come and see for myself whether there is any negligence?
It can be seen that he has stayed in the northwest for a long time, and has been in intrigues with others for many years, and has developed the habit of thinking about the worst in everything.
When they left the city, Zhang Lun smiled and said: "I'm going to show the manager something new. I'm a rough guy and no more talented than the manager. If there's anything wrong, please tell me directly."
Fan Wenjin had not been in contact with him for a long time, so he didn't know much about Zhang Lun's temperament. However, in his eyes, this man was indeed a rough man, but he was very methodical in doing things.
Hearing what Zhang Lun said at this time, he felt a little relieved, and then he cupped his hands and joked, "I've seen a lot of new things in the northwest. General, please don't try to trick me."
These days, the army has been working with the officials and people of Guzang to build barracks that can survive the winter. Unlike the Tubo people who set up their camps directly in the south of the city regardless of the situation, the army is stationed in the east lee of Guzang City.
After more than ten days of construction, the camp has taken shape. This is thanks to the military personnel sent by the Ministry of Industry. The construction speed of the former Sui Dynasty was also well reflected in the Tang Dynasty.
After that, they would also set up several warehouses around Guzang to store grain, grass and weapons. The Central Plains nation is so special, they built it wherever they went.
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The patrol camp mentioned by Zhang Lun was obviously a pretense. He went directly to the center of the army, where there were already people waiting for their arrival.
Zilebu and Aru were brought here. As a famous general among the Tubo people, Zilebu showed a matching self-esteem and kept using his pitifully simple Tubo vocabulary to curse the shameful enemy and struggle.
It's also very intense.
Of course, he was still eating and drinking, which meant that he did not intend to end his life in such a humiliating way.
Aru's advice to him also worked. They were all useful people. Even if they could not return to Tubo, they should try their best to spread the news about the enemy back to the king's ears.
So Zileb became quieter and found enough reasons for himself to survive.
When Fan Wenjin saw the two Tubo people here, he was a little surprised, but he felt that it was reasonable. He was just a little curious about how Zhang Lun would deal with them.
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The two of them sat down.
Finally meeting the two leaders of the Flatlanders again, Zilebu straightened up his back hard, maintaining the last bit of dignity, and started mumbling something before the other party could speak.
This was obviously very impolite. Zhang Beard only gave a slight signal, and the guard immediately stepped forward and gave him a slap. The beating made Zilebu's mouth full of blood, and the guard took out another piece of cloth and stuffed it into his mouth.
At this time, Zileb could only squirm on the ground like a drowned insect, and his red and swollen eyes that were about to be sealed overflowed with hatred.
Aru looked at all this in horror, which was completely beyond his expectation. He thought it was time to discuss the conditions, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't want to hear this at all...
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"I heard that you are a... officiant? Can you talk to your god?"
Zhang Lun scratched his beard and asked casually, his words obviously a bit awkward. There are also various priestly activities in the Central Plains, and both the government and the people still retain respect for the gods of all walks of life.
In the government, officials usually hold concurrent posts, while in the private sector, they are highly respected figures or people with supernatural powers. Therefore, sacrificial activities are not uncommon in the Central Plains.
Asking for rain when there is a drought, and praying to God to withdraw the magical power when there is a lot of rain are all normal operations.
But with these people accompanying the army, they would perform sacrifices and divination from time to time, and even sometimes act on behalf of the generals, which was too much nonsense.
Moreover, slaves were used as living sacrifices to the gods. Zhang Lun felt that the Tibetan gods were not good things, and might have turned into monsters...
Of course, it seems useless now, otherwise how could someone who could communicate with gods be caught?
The specially hired translator repeated Zhang Lun's words in Tubo.
Aru kept nodding his head, guessing that after this experience, he would be very motivated to learn Chinese, if he could survive.
"Yes, great general, I am God's servant Aru, a pious man who walks the earth to spread God's name. God's kindness and fraternity have always been with me."
After hearing the interpreter's explanation, Zhang Lun and Fan Wenjin looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. Kindness, fraternity? What a ghost.
Zhang Lun had no interest in the myths and legends of the Tubo people, so he said at this time: "I have also seen your kindness..."
As he spoke, he pointed at Chileb and said, "I just want to know, in your eyes, can this person return to Tubo? I heard that you are very good at divination. I will give you a chance.
How about your god deciding whether he lives or dies?”
Fan Wenjin didn't say anything, but just watched with interest. He thought it was a rare pastime before winter came. After that, he would rush to send some food and grass to Zhangye to prevent the Turks from starving to death.
As for whether Zhang Lun wanted to let these two people go back, he had already decided to sell Zhang Lun's face and let Zhang Lun decide the matter.
Because he has already inquired about it, Zhang Lun has the lowest background among the generals, but now he can be in charge of the army, which shows that this person is very favored and is a person worth making friends with...