Chapter 166 Female Slave, the Shame of the Tang Dynasty
Although the Shen Ce Guards had only fifty cavalrymen, they were able to split the formation.

Li Sheng led ten cavalrymen to encircle the left wing of the Tibetan imperial army.

Xue Cuo led ten cavalrymen to encircle the right wing of the Tibetan imperial army.

The goal is not to let a single enemy escape.

"Boom!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

Not long after Li Xuan shot the arrow, the Shen Ce Guards began to shoot arrows one after another.

After guessing that the Tang army had Li Xuan, the Tibetan imperial guards no longer dared to fight and turned their horses to flee.

Fortunately, they were wearing chain mail, so the many arrows could not hurt them.

Only a few were shot in vital areas and fell off their horses.

But they had already wasted a lot of time while they were adjusting their horses.

As soon as all the arrows were shot, the Shen Ce Guards rushed to them in a moment.

"Pfft!"

Li Xuan took the lead, thrusting his long spear straight ahead, piercing a Tibetan soldier and sending him flying, and knocking another Tibetan cavalryman off his horse.

Relying on his horse's advantage, he kept galloping forward, and in an instant, more than ten people fell off their horses.

Geshu Han was holding a spear. After catching up with a Tibetan imperial guard, he put the spear on the soldier's shoulder and shouted loudly.

When the Tibetan soldier turned back in panic, Geshu Han pierced his throat with a spear, lifted his body five feet high, and then dropped him from his horse.

Zuoche, a servant of Geshu Han, was a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old. When he saw his master picking up a man, he immediately dismounted, picked up a machete, and chopped off the head of the Tibetan soldier without caring whether the soldier was dead or alive.

Then Zuo Che carried his head and followed Geshu Han to collect people.

Whenever Geshu Han killed someone, Zuoche would take his head and record it as a military achievement.

It can be seen that Zuo Che is very strong and beheading people is as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.

He and Geshu Han worked in perfect harmony, just like the "big and small evil duo".

Geshu Han often read "Han Shu". He liked the saying "A wise man will make a mistake in a thousand considerations. A foolish man will gain something in a thousand considerations". Since this saying was proposed by Li Zuoche, a strategist in the Han Dynasty, he named his slave "Zuoche".

This also shows Geshu Han's ambition. He hopes that he can be like Li Zuoche, who can come up with good strategies to "win a hundred battles" and be awarded a title of nobility and a general.

After a while, the Tibetan imperial guards were frightened into submission by the killing.

Li Xuan shot down several Tibetan soldiers from their horses, but did not kill them.

Geshu Han also followed Li Xuan's example and ordered Zuoche to capture him alive.

Zuo Che was also very experienced. He had several heads on his waist. The Tibetan soldiers who fell off their horses were knocked unconscious by Zuo Che with a hammer before they could even turn over.

After less than a quarter of an hour of pursuit, only a dozen of the one hundred Tibetan imperial guards were left.

They wanted to escape again, but were intercepted by the Tang army soldiers led by Li Sheng and Xue Cuo.

With the help of Li Xuan's strong bow shooting, in the end none of them escaped.

Among them, more than ten Tibetan imperial guards were captured alive.

Li Xuan ordered the prisoners to be taken away, and after cleaning up the battlefield, he took off the Tibetan chain mail and led his horse back.

After arriving at Jishi Military City, he learned some important information through interrogation by Geshu Han.

The Tubo deployment in Jiuqu consisted of more than just 60,000 combat-capable soldiers.

There are also the imperial guards of the Yulin Thousand Households.

The Qianhu of Yulin has a total of 10,000 imperial guards.

Among them there were three thousand cavalrymen wearing chain mail, and one thousand cavalrymen wearing both horses and men.

The other 6,000 were light cavalry.

After learning that forty or fifty Tang soldiers had entered the country, Tibetan scouts sent a hundred cavalrymen from the Tibetan Yulin Thousand Households near Wanxiu City to pursue them.

They thought they could easily drive away the Tang army, but they didn't expect to be like sheep walking into a tiger's mouth and all died here.

In order to defend Jiuqu, Tubo spared no expense.

"The Tibetan Imperial Guards are newly stationed near Wanxiu City, which basically blocks our army's way to Hongji Bridge. I just wonder if the Tibetan Imperial Guards will leave Jiuqu and go to support us when our army gathers at Chiling?"

In the Jishi Army's government office, Li Xuan was thinking about this matter.

"General Li, there are still 10,000 spare horses in the Tibetan Yulin Thousand Households. Do they want to plunder Ningsai County while our army is attacking other directions?" Gao Shi reminded Li Xuan.

"Secretary Gao is right. The Yulin Qianhu is only 200 miles away from the border, and we can enter our country with a whip. Since the massacre of Dahua, although there are not many civilians in Ningsai Army, the people cannot suffer this hardship. Jishi Military City is an important town for border security, and it cannot be lost."

"General Geshu, send more scouts to patrol the border during this period. If necessary, defend the city."

Li Xuan gave another order to Geshu Han.

The probability of Tubo attacking now is not high, but some necessary defenses still need to be prepared.

If Tubo invades the border, the Tang army's cavalry will immediately go to Jishi Army for support.

No other key information was obtained from the captured Tibetan imperial guards.

Although they were the imperial guards, only the ministers of state knew the real decisions of Tubo.

The prisoners didn't even know the exact number of troops in Qinghai and Chiling areas.

Li Xuan stayed in Jishi Army for another two days to boost the morale of the soldiers.

Then he left Jishi Army and went to Ningsai Army and Hechuan to defend.

Among them, the Ningsai Army had only 500 soldiers. Although it was called an army, it was actually not even as strong as a garrison. It was more like a large garrison.

The Ningsai Army and Hechuan Shouzhuo both remotely controlled garrisons to collect intelligence information for the main force.

Pingyi Shouzhuo has 3,000 soldiers, and some of them can be mobilized to participate in the battle when the time comes.

After leaving Pingyi Shouzhuo, Li Xuan inspected the Zhenxi Army in Fuhan City and talked with Zhang Wenyan, the deputy envoy of Longyou Herdsmen.

Finally, in early July, they traveled to Lintao County, which was the easternmost army in Longyou.

The Momen Army has 5,500 officers and soldiers. After Li Xuan's distribution, the Momen Army now has 1,500 horses.

The main opponent of the Momen Army is the Bailang Qiang.

They used to be the Dangxiang people, but after being conquered by Tubo, they migrated to the Qinghai area.

The Dangxiang needed to train good horses for Tubo.

Li Xuan and the Momen military envoy Qian'er Dafu went out of the border together, and they went out along the Tao River.

Li Xuan felt that the place where he was stationed was the place where the Shen Ce Army was established in history, so he asked Qian'er Dafu: "General Qian'er, what is the situation inside the Bailang Qiang? Do they often raid the border?"

"Reporting to General Li, the Bailang Qiang have not invaded Lintao County for a long time. At most, they are herding horses on the Tao River."

The Sharp-eared Dafu replied to Li Xuan.

If they had not participated in the Battle of Lishui last year, they would have had no military achievements to show for themselves.

The Bailang Qiang was a branch of the Western Qiang, who once established a kingdom in the Xiqing Mountain area and even crossed the Yellow River.

They were successively controlled by Tuyuhun and Tubo.

"If the war breaks out, I will dispatch the Momen Army to Chiling. Will the Bailang Qiang take the opportunity to attack Lintao County?"

Li Xuan asked about Qian'er Dafu again.

Although there are mountains from Bailang Qiang to Lintao, it is still possible if Bailang Qiang is determined to plunder Lintao.

"I think it is unlikely. Because Tubo has recently conscripted many young and strong laborers in Bailangqiang to build a castle. Bailangqiang dares not speak out. If we attack Tubo, Bailangqiang will also be conscripted of cavalry. They don't have the troops to attack us, and they dare not attack us?"

The Sharp-eared Dafu replied to Li Xuan.

The Bailang Qiang are a race that goes with the flow. They will join whoever is powerful, pay tribute to them honestly, and work for them.

Once the forces they have joined decline, they will find another way out and will never be buried with Tubo.

"General Qian'er, do you think our army has the possibility of inciting the Bailang Qiang to rebel?"

Li Xuan suddenly asked Qian'er Dafu this question.

"In my opinion, the Bailang Qiang are fickle. They may not accept rebellion until Tubo is completely defeated and retreats to Jiuqu Qinghai. If they pretend to surrender, it may expose our army's purpose and put our army in danger."

Qian'er Dafu spoke to Li Xuan in a serious tone.

"Indeed, we can't rush it."

Li Xuan accepted the reminder from Qian'er Dafu.

If the Bailang Qiang can counterattack, it will be easier to win.

But Li Xuan knew that there must be a small Tubo Gonglun in charge of the Bailang Qiang.

This was the means by which Tubo controlled its subordinate tribes.

Once the matter is leaked, there is a real possibility that you will be led by the nose.

After staying in Momen Army for two days, Li Xuan set out to return to Huangshui.

During this period, Li Xuan inspected several pastures including Lintao and Anxiang, and returned to Huangshui City in early July.

A month ago, he had sent a letter to Fu Menglingcha, the governor of the four towns of Anxi, informing him that Longyou and Hexi would start attacking Tubo in September.

Let's see if Fu Menglingcha will find an opportunity to attack the Little Bolor Kingdom.

The plateau area is very difficult to travel in.

As long as Fu Menglingcha can use Gao Xianzhi to launch an attack on the Kingdom of Xiaoboluo this year, once Xiaoboluo is conquered, it will create tremendous pressure on the northwest of Tubo.

Tubo was under external pressure, so it could not go all out on the Jiuqu and Qinghai fronts. They had to deploy their troops in Dabolü.

If even Dabolü is lost, the northwest of Tubo will be exposed to the sight of the Anxi Army.

On the second day after Li Xuan returned to Huangshui, the Sogdian merchant Kang Jiahong came to the governor's office to pay a visit to Li Xuan.

"Meet the Marshal!"

After entering the hall, Kang Jiahong bowed solemnly to Li Xuan.

He came to visit Li Xuan a long time ago, but Li Xuan had gone to Chang'an.

He then went to Guzang City in Wuwei again, but he did not expect that he still had not seen Li Xuan after returning.

I had been planning to leave, and now the time has finally come.

"No need to be polite. Have you encountered injustice again?"

Li Xuan asked Kang Jiahong to stand up and asked him.

He was just about to discuss some matters with Kang Jiahong and other Western merchants.

"I have not encountered any injustice. Marshal's power has shaken the Silk Road. Most of the Hu merchants are convinced of your fairness. Some time ago, I went to Guzang City. There were clear prices and an open market, just like a small Chang'an. It is said that more and more precious goods from the two capitals have arrived in Guzang City, which serves as a transit point for Hu merchants to purchase goods. The tyrants who used to oppress merchants no longer exist. This is all thanks to you, Marshal."

Kang Jiahong was as eloquent as most Sogdians, and he first complimented Li Xuan.

The Hu people who came to the Tang Dynasty were like rootless duckweed.

To be honest, the powerful people would kill them on a dark and windy night, bury them in a grave, and then they would disappear from the face of the earth.

Unless someone from the caravan survives and reports to the authorities.

When handling such cases, it also depends on whether the local officials are corrupt.

Some of the Hu merchants were indeed ferocious, and even committed smuggling crimes. They looted in the Tang Dynasty and robbed their fellow tribesmen in the desert.

But no matter how fierce they were, they were not as fierce as the powerful people in the Tang Dynasty who colluded with officials and businessmen.

That's eating someone without leaving any bones behind.

"Guzang City will be an important city in the western part of the Tang Dynasty in the future, and there is a clear plan. I hope you can promote it more. Even if it is not the end of the Silk Road, it can be used as a resting place on the way to Chang'an."

Li Xuan said to Kang Jiahong.

In his plan, he hoped that some Hu merchants would regard Guzang City as the "end point" of the Silk Road, so that they would not have to go to Chang'an to replenish their goods and then return to the Western Regions, Daqin and other places to sell them.

Under this virtuous cycle, the reputation of Guzang City will grow bigger and bigger.

Further develop the teahouses and wine shops in the city and make them prosperous.

"I have already told the merchants about Guzang City. Guzang City is so safe and is a must-go for merchants. Even merchants who are not interested will go to the market in Guzang City to observe it."

Kang Jiahong replied to Li Xuan.

Now the checkpoints in the Hexi Corridor that used to deduct and demand taxes have been removed, making it easier for merchants to travel and earn more profits.

Many merchants from the Western Regions came here to buy some fine silk from the Tang Dynasty and have it shipped to the Western Regions.

There was also a wave of merchants in the Western Regions who sold silk to the Caliphate, and even to the Byzantine Empire and the Frankish Kingdom.

Even if the business has to go through many transactions, all the merchants will make money.

"What do you want to tell me this time?"

Li Xuan believed that Kang Jiahong would not disturb him for no reason. Kang Jiahong did not have the courage to do so.

After all, as a marshal, he is very busy all day long.

"I came here to report to the Marshal."

Kang Jiahong quickly reported his purpose to Li Xuan.

“Why report it?”

Li Xuan asked for details. Didn't you just say that you had never encountered any injustice? Why did you report it to him now?

"I want to report to the Marshal some caravans that are doing evil in the Tang Dynasty, and ask the Marshal to punish them!"

Kang Jiahong did not hesitate at all.

Because those caravans are very hateful. Once they leave Yumen Pass and enter the vast and uninhabited areas, they will find ways to attack merchants doing normal business.

They were numerous and had excellent archery skills, and even if several caravans joined forces, they were no match for them.

So many Hu merchants formed a "merchant alliance" and let observers ride in front in no-man's land to prevent those people from appearing and to be ready to respond at any time.

The no-man's land was littered with skeletons, many of which were left behind by merchants.

After all, if you break into a caravan, you can get all the caravan's supplies and wealth. This kind of benefit will make many people jealous.

"Tell me more about it!"

Li Xuan wanted Kang Jiahong to explain the reason. After all, there were many troubles among the Hu merchants, some of which he could not interfere with.

"Some caravans sold women and children out of the Hexi Corridor. They not only carried slaves, but also Han women abducted and sold in Hexi. It is said that in the Zhaowu area and the Arab Empire, the number of Han female slaves was ten times that of ordinary slaves."

Kang Jiahong reported to Li Xuan.

"Oh!"

"Don't talk nonsense about things like this without evidence!"

Li Xuan slammed the table and said.

Such things are outrageous and even an insult to the Tang Dynasty.

The Sogdians are good at business, fighting for every penny of profit. When a man is 20 years old, he will come to China from a distant country, and will go wherever there is profit.

There are businessmen who abide by the law and work diligently to make money.

Although some merchants are greedy for profits by driving up the market, this is understandable from a business perspective.

But when profits reach a certain level, a large number of people will risk being hanged and do things that will anger God and man.

They don’t care what happens after they die!

Therefore, human trafficking was a way for some Sogdian merchants to pursue profits.

The Sogdians sold large numbers of Sogdian female slaves to Han dignitaries and wealthy families, or to restaurants in Chang'an and Luoyang.

The profit from these female slaves was five times higher than that from silk. In order to earn high profits, the trafficking of Sogdian female slaves became one of the important commodities in the Hu people's trade.

Faced with the large-scale trade in female Hu slaves, the Tang Dynasty court imposed particularly strict restrictions on the trade. Passengers had to apply for a pass and provide a voucher to enter and exit the checkpoints.

When trading in the West Market of Chang'an, the city magistrate had to issue market tickets. Due to the high price of female slaves, the taxes collected became a major source of income for the court.

This was tacitly allowed by the Tang Dynasty.

However, as the Celestial Empire, the Tang Dynasty was not allowed to sell slaves across borders.

The Tang Dynasty respected the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.

There are clear regulations on the distinction between Hu and Han people.

First, Tang people were not allowed to cross the border to marry people of other ethnic groups. Those who violated the rules would be exiled for 2,000 miles; if the marriage failed, the punishment would be reduced by three levels.

Secondly, if Tang envoys were ordered to go abroad, they were not allowed to marry foreigners without permission; if foreigners came to the Tang Dynasty on a diplomatic mission, they were not allowed to marry officials or civilians without permission.

Foreigners who were not officials or illegal crossers could marry Chinese women as wives or concubines, but there was a restriction: they were not allowed to bring them back to China. If they did, both the women and the foreigners would be punished and exiled 2,000 miles.

Even Han slaves purchased by the Hu people were not allowed to be taken out of the Tang Dynasty.

Many Hu people married Han women as wives and concubines, but those Xianbei, Nine-Surname Tiele, Turks, etc. were all Hu people who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

It was also impossible for them to take their wives and daughters out of the Tang Dynasty.

When slavery was prevalent all over the world, Tang people, especially beautiful Tang women, were absolutely priced at a sky-high price in the ancient lands of the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu and in the Arab Empire.

The profit from the trade of Sogdian female slaves was five times that of silk.

The number of Han female slaves trafficked was ten times that of Sogdian female slaves.

It’s enough to make Hu Shang take risks!

If you don’t get caught, you can make a lot of money in just one trip.

According to Kang Jiahong, some Hu merchants not only took Han slaves out of Yumen Pass, but also robbed decent women and children in Hexi.

This made Li Xuan frown!

Although he was angry, he did not believe Kang Jiahong's words.

Because to enter the Western Regions from the Hexi Corridor, one has to go either through Yangguan or Yumenguan, both of which are heavily guarded.

The Doulu Army in Hexi was stationed in the city of Dunhuang.

Can it grow wings and fly away with a living person?

"Everything I said was true. I dare not deceive the Marshal. They did sell Han female slaves and children to Zhaowu and the Arab Empire for huge profits."

Kang Jiahong quickly stood up and bowed to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan's reputation shook the Silk Road and forced Tubo to flee in panic. How could he dare to fool Li Xuan?

The Hu merchants who sold female slaves in the Tang Dynasty had a high degree of overlap with the Hu merchants who often committed crimes and looting in uninhabited areas, so he came to meet Li Xuan at the recommendation of some business alliances.

I hope that this incident can help eliminate those cancers.

"Apart from Yumen Pass and Yangguan, are there other roads that can lead into the Western Regions from the Hexi Corridor?" Li Xuan asked Kang Jiahong.

"No! But my friend did see a lot of Tang slaves hundreds of miles away from Yumen Pass, and also heard that they kidnapped and sold Han Chinese families. It's absolutely true, I dare not lie to you."

Kang Jiahong couldn't figure it out either, but he guessed that those Hu merchants were getting away with it somehow.

(End of this chapter)