"General, look! The Tang army has entered our camp. How are we going to get back?"
Not far from the border checkpoint, the Nanzhao army has hidden here. According to their previous idea, they should try not to have any contact with the Tang army. We should honestly let them go first and go back after they leave.
Everything was going well, but after the soldier finished speaking, everyone on the hillside looked at their own military camp. The Tang army left behind a group of people, as if they were not going to leave. Many people began to feed the horses, which made it obvious that they were going to stay here for a long time.
"How should I know what to do? If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have come out. Why don't you go over and ask these Tang Dynasty troops what's going on?"
The general was also afraid, so he didn't even dare to step forward. He could only send a few of his men to go and ask. In less than an incense stick of time, these men came back. From the expressions on their faces, it was clear that the Tang army was not stopping temporarily.
"Those people said that our king invited them here. They want to help us defend the border. They are afraid that other countries around us will invade us, so they want to guard the checkpoint for us. We can go back and guard it with them, or we can go home if we don't want to. It's up to us."
A soldier said breathlessly that after hearing this, the people around him suddenly felt as if their lair had been robbed. We just hid out temporarily to ease the embarrassment between both sides, and asked you to hurry up and pass through here.
Who knew you would actually get through? Neither of us was embarrassed, but you've settled in here, and you're talking like you own this place. If you're the masters, then who are we? Are we all just outsiders?
"What should we do, General?"
"It's almost dark. We can't spend the night in the mountains. The dew tonight..."
These hundreds of soldiers were at a loss and wanted to know what to do next. They had left in a hurry and had brought nothing with them except their water bags. If they spent the night in the mountains, they would be bitten to death by all kinds of insects.
"This place is clearly ours. Why would they occupy it? Besides them, who else would invade us? Brothers, stand up! Let's go ask them right now. I really don't believe it. Could they dare to openly occupy our military camp?"
The officer said very firmly, "Although some of my men feel that this is a bit unpleasant, if a conflict arises, can you expect our court to take care of it? It's just us who are pushed out to take the blame."
But now they are desperate. Apart from the clothes on their bodies, they have not brought anything else with them. They thought that everything would be over after the Tang army passed through, but now they insist on staying here to help us defend. What kind of help is this?
Border military camps
"Hello, everyone. I am the young commander guarding this place..."
In less than half an hour, they returned to the original military camp. Their general was very tough on the hillside just now, but now he couldn't stand up straight in an instant. This guy was really embarrassing.
He bent over 70 degrees the whole time, and then explained their situation. Of course, he didn't dare to say that he wanted to take this place back. He just said that the brothers had nothing with them and had to come back to spend the night.
"General, we are here to help you. This is a personal letter from your king. We are also worried about any misunderstandings between the two sides, so we will only set up tents nearby. You can still use your original house, but we will have to double the guard when standing guard."
The person in charge of reception at the Tang Dynasty was very good-tempered and took out a letter from the King of Nanzhao. Unfortunately, few of the people present could read, so they didn't know whether it was true or not. But the Tang army made such a big fuss, it couldn't be that they were trying to trick you into taking over an outpost, right?
"No problem, no problem. Everything will be done as you say."
The general nodded repeatedly. They were all veterans in the army, so how big was the gap in combat power between the two sides? They all knew very well. Just look at the people next to them, each of them was strong and muscular. Even without those strange weapons, even if we were to fight them with both hands, we would never be their opponent.
Moreover, according to many people, the Tang Dynasty is our suzerain state, we are one family, and if something happened in our royal city, they sent people to mediate, so how could we go to war with them? That would make us wrong.
That night, the border outposts were all like this. The Tang army took out their supplies and held a bonfire party with the Nanzhao army. The Nanzhao army ate vegetables.
In the past, I always thought that Nanzhao was very rich, especially in terms of food. Because they had always been in a state of peace, the wealth of the people was accumulating every year. But when comparing the food between the two armies, I immediately felt the gap between them and the Tang Dynasty.
After a few drinks, the two sides discussed the issue of salary. The people on their side were even more agitated. "A single Tang soldier gets paid as much as two or three of us. No wonder they're so strong. They eat solid food every day, so how could they not be strong? We only have two thin meals a day."
According to Li Xiang's orders, they also had to slowly start to assimilate these people, telling them what life was like for the people of the Tang Dynasty, and what kind of life were you all living? In short, they wanted to make their yearning for the Tang Dynasty even higher. Originally, the Tang Dynasty was a place that the people around them yearned for, and after their persuasion, this yearning would be even higher.
Of course, these are all trivial matters, and Li Xiang does not have the time to take care of them. At this moment, Li Xiang's army has run a hundred miles away, and news from the Nanzhao Royal City has come. Both sides are currently in a calm state, which is what the Nanzhao King wants most.
But Li Xiang felt something was amiss. The Prince of Zhennan was clearly in control of the government, and he knew that delaying the matter would be detrimental to him, yet he kept on dragging it out. What was going on? This was also unlike his character. Had he changed his ways?
