Sitting in the canopy receiving greetings from the chieftains of small tribes filled Na Rimu with pride. She only needed to nod her head to return their courtesy. When Zhang Baoxiang arrived, there was no need for her to stand up either. He still owed her family two or three vats of marmot oil, and since they met today, it was a good opportunity to mention it—her husband had specifically instructed her to remember to collect it when she saw him.
“Esteemed Madam Mu, please have pity on the Yudu tribe. This year’s pastures haven’t grown well—bare ground is showing in many places. The cattle and sheep are so thin they can barely survive the winter. We’ve already prepared the gifts for the Khan, but the officers of the border army are demanding fifty cattle and five hundred sheep. As you know, all the young men of the Yudu tribe died in that war a few years ago. Only the old and weak remain in the tribe. I beg you, for the sake of the great god Tengri, please speak a few good words for us. The great god Tengri will surely bless you with eternal youth and beauty.” An old herdsman, so thin he was practically a bag of bones, prostrated himself below the platform, pleading with Na Rimu. She recognized this old man—he was a very wise elder. How had he been reduced to such a state?
“Wise elder, the Yudu tribe is closest to the divine. Why have you fallen to such circumstances? Have all the people in your tribe become lazy? You’re so thin—why didn’t you send someone fatter instead? This year had sufficient rainfall, and last winter had no snow disasters. It’s been a year of favorable weather and good harvests, yet you say your tribe is starving. How can I believe this?”
“Beautiful madam, the Yudu tribe are not lazy. The tribe can no longer find young people capable of going out to herd. Those who could once wield a blade and ride a horse all died at Bailang Heap. Only women and children remain. The great god Tengri hasn’t given us a chance to recover and restore our vitality. The heavy tributes are truly suffocating us. Please, madam, speak a few good words for us and exempt us from the extra burden. Even if it costs this old life of mine, I would be willing.”
Hearing the Yudu tribe elder’s pitiful tale, Na Rimu couldn’t help but dab at the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. Once the grasslands lose their able-bodied men, the remaining old and weak have no way to survive. Thank the heavenly gods that there had been no snow disasters or droughts these past two years, otherwise the Yudu people would surely have starved to death on the grasslands. Such situations had occurred before and were not uncommon.
“I’ll speak a few good words for you, but there’s absolutely no possibility of complete exemption. The military people are not easy to talk to. Once the Governor-General’s office cancels your grassland allocation, that will be when disaster truly strikes your tribe. Even if you can hold on this year, what about next year? The year after? There will always come a day when you can’t bear it anymore. What will you do then?”
Na Rimu had long wanted to annex the Yudu tribe. A tribe consisting entirely of the old and weak, yet occupying the upstream area of her own pastures—there was a large stretch of fertile grassland there. Na Rimu had already visited it several times and dreamed of driving her own cattle and sheep there to graze.
The elder lay on the ground weeping. This was an unsolvable vicious circle. Na Rimu spoke the harsh truth—his own tribe couldn’t even get through today, let alone think about next year. Hearing the madam’s tone, it seemed she had some way to resolve this. He quickly stood up to seek Na Rimu’s guidance.
Na Rimu couldn’t bring herself to speak the words of annexing another tribe to their face. Yun Jiu, the chief steward of the Yun family, walked out from behind Na Rimu with a beaming smile, helped the elder up, and led him to the tent to drink milk tea and eat oil cakes while discussing the matter of taking over the entire Yudu tribe. Yun Jiu had done this many times before—he was thoroughly experienced and faced no difficulty.
Young Miss Yun Mu, riding her big dog and wearing leather armor, blocked Zhang Baoxiang’s path, waving her wooden spear and shouting loudly: “Approaching general, announce your name! This governor’s blade does not strike nameless nobodies!”
Zhang Baoxiang’s entire entourage burst into laughter. A chubby pink little girl sitting on a big dog with its tongue hanging out, challenging them—it was truly a rare sight. Just looking at the girl’s full set of Great Tang maiden’s clothing, they knew she wasn’t from an ordinary family. If a herdsman’s child dared do this, they would have long been trampled into meat paste by warhorses. The hair ornaments on her two buns were either gold-inlaid or silver-set, and the collar around the dog’s neck was studded with gems. There was only one such Han noble girl on the grasslands—Young Miss Yun Mu of the Yun family. All the military officers knew that Grand General Hou Junji doted on this girl to his very bones. Who would dare offend her?
Zhang Baoxiang leaned over his horse’s back, lowered his head, and said with a laugh: “I am Zhang Baoxiang, Governor of Daizhou! Approaching general, announce your name!”
Just as the little girl was about to speak, Huan Niang lifted her down from the dog, bowed slightly to Zhang Baoxiang, and said: “The Grand Governor finds this amusing. Young Mu is just playing around and has delayed the general’s journey. Madam is already waiting for you in the canopy ahead. Staff Officer Ma has already arrived and is just waiting for the general’s arrival.”
Zhang Baoxiang nodded with a smile and removed an extremely ornate small knife from his person, handing it to Huan Niang: “Marquis Yun and I are old acquaintances. Today, meeting my worthy niece, this is a small gift—please don’t disdain it.” Huan Niang received it with both hands. Having been given a gift, one dared not decline—this was basic etiquette.
Seeing Huan Niang retreat to the roadside holding the girl, Zhang Baoxiang gave his reins a shake and headed straight for the wooden canopy. He was this year’s receiver of tributes and could not allow the slightest error.
Yun Mu listlessly rode her big dog, following along beside Grandma Huan Niang. Although the Day of Tribute was a day for presenting offerings, it was also a day for the great exchange of goods among the grassland herdsmen. Copper coins and silver currency weren’t very useful here. The most useful items were iron pots, strong liquor, and tea leaves. Tea had just appeared on the grasslands and immediately became wildly popular. In two years’ time, the tea bricks produced by the Yun family had already become the most important commodity. Herdsmen who drank milk tea all believed that tea was a treasure bestowed by the heavenly gods. After drinking it, many of the herdsmen’s physical ailments were cured without medicine. Now, though it wasn’t plentiful, it had become even more precious. Exchanging a small block of tea brick for a fine horse was not at all uncommon.
In the Tubo people’s tent, a gorgeously dressed middle-aged man sat cross-legged on felt, holding a tea brick in his hand and turning it front and back, examining it several times before setting it down. A Tubo maiden with rosy cheeks poured a bowl of milk tea from a copper kettle, crawled forward on her knees to present it to the middle-aged man, then pressed her head to the grass and dared not move.
The middle-aged man took a sip of tea, closed his eyes to savor it. Mixed within the milky fragrance was a faint bitter taste, but the aftertaste was extremely lingering. It wasn’t that he had never drunk tea before—as the Grand Minister of Tubo, as long as there were good things in the Central Plains, Lhasa would soon have them too. The most fearless people in the world were merchants. Ludongzan set down his tea bowl. This time, going to Chang’an, he intended to seek a marriage alliance on behalf of his Tsenpo, Songtsen Gampo.
Two years ago, the Tubo chieftains had instigated the Tsenpo to attack Great Tang’s Songzhou and seize control of the Dang Qiang and Bailan Qiang. However, upon hearing that Great Tang had defeated and pacified Gaochang and twelve other nations in a single campaign, they retreated back to the plateau. Great Tang’s formidable military power left the Tubo people terror-stricken. Moreover, the disastrous defeat at Fangzhou long ago remained fresh in the Tubo people’s memory.
Watching as the Heavenly Khan’s prestige resounded throughout the world, as a neighboring country, Tubo had no way to sit quietly by. Now that Tuyuhun had already become a vassal territory of Great Tang, Songtsen Gampo could neither sleep peacefully nor eat with relish. At Grand Minister Ludongzan’s suggestion, they had thought of the excellent method of a marriage alliance.
Originally, Ludongzan traveling from Songzhou through the Shu Road to Guanzhong would have been most convenient and expedient, but Ludongzan very much wanted to see how Great Tang controlled the grasslands, so he took the Yinshan route. He happened to encounter the Day of Tribute—this was the best vantage point to secretly observe how Great Tang controlled the grassland tribes. Just a moment ago, people had been lamenting and weeping, yet why had they suddenly become all smiles, their sorrow instantly dispelled? Had the Heavenly Khan of Great Tang decided not to collect this year’s tribute? That was impossible. Once a system was established, it had to be followed. Only through long-term adherence to the system could a habit be formed. The rulers of Great Tang would not fail to understand this principle.
To clarify these matters, Ludongzan had deliberately sent his attendants to inquire about what was actually happening. Now he sat alone in the summer tent, enjoying the cool breeze, feeling very comfortable. After all, he couldn’t endure the scorching heat of the plains.
A chubby little girl poked her head into the tent, puffing out her cheeks and glaring angrily at Ludongzan. This immediately aroused Ludongzan’s curiosity. He beckoned to the little girl, gesturing for her to come over, and pointed to the cheese curds and mutton on the table.
He thought the little girl would run away, but to his surprise, she actually lifted the curtain and entered the tent with a huge Tibetan mastiff. The maidservant prostrate on the ground trembled all over—that was a very fierce big dog.
Ludongzan tossed the mutton from the table to the big dog, but the dog didn’t even look at it, faithfully guarding behind the little girl.
“Wang Cai won’t eat your mutton. Give back Danzhu’s wife and son to him, or else I’ll have Wang Cai bite you.” The little girl said fiercely to Ludongzan.
Ludongzan was a renowned hero even in Tubo. How could he take a dog seriously? He had killed several tigers before. A big dog couldn’t attract his attention.
“Who is Danzhu? Who took away his wife and children?” Ludongzan leaned forward with a smile and asked Yun Mu.
“Danzhu is my dog slave. I promised to help him get his wife and children back. I, Yun Mu, keep my word. Hurry up and send them over, or Wang Cai’s very big mouth will bite you.”
Ludongzan picked up his tea bowl and took a sip of milk tea. After finishing the tea, he grasped the small silver bowl in his hand and squeezed. Yun Mu watched with wide eyes as the silver bowl deformed in his hand, finally becoming a lump of silver. She looked at Ludongzan in shock, then at Wang Cai beside her, and felt that Wang Cai couldn’t beat this Tubo man. So she raised her voice and shouted loudly: “Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Liu, come quickly and save me! Someone’s bullying me!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, two fierce old men walked in from outside the tent. Old Sun in the lead looked up at Ludongzan and couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath of cold air. His keen instincts forged through years of iron-blooded military life told him that the man before him was an expert—a very formidable expert.
Ludongzan tossed aside the lump of silver in his hand and slowly asked Old Sun: “Whose noble young lady is this?”