In the past, there were a large number of merchants active in this land, and these merchants would tell them a lot of news, but the problem is that there are no merchants now, and there are no goods to be sold between several cities. Apart from food and population, the current economy has stagnated.
The big plantation owners in the south, including the big bureaucrats, had plenty of food. Whenever a disaster occurred, they would ask their stewards to drive camels with large amounts of food to the disaster area. They had only one purpose, which was to use the food to exchange for a large number of boys and girls, and raise these people to become future slaves.
For Arab nobles, slavery has always been their favorite, because they only need to give them food and nothing else. If you hire free people, you will have to pay more. The cost of one free person is at least four or five slaves. Who would be willing to hire these free people?
War is one of the main means of obtaining slaves, but if you operate well, you can also bring back a large number of slaves from the disaster area. Some people are attracted to those who are physically strong, but some people are attracted to these young children. Don’t look at them as pale and thin now. As long as they are raised for a while, they can start working at the age of seven or eight.
Of course, the children's bodies were not yet fully grown at this time, but would the noble slave owners care about their lives? As long as you can lift a tool, you have to start working. If you don't produce anything every day, the slave owners can even tie you to a cactus and let you die in the sun.
This is a bit far-fetched. After no one was hurt here, the news here became quite isolated.
I heard that Prince Landing sent someone to deliver the letter. The local officials also took this matter very seriously. They have not received any letter from His Royal Highness the Prince. For them, this is a unique case of a scorpion shitting. If it is false, we must hurry to catch these two people. You are really brave to spread such rumors.
"Go call Pilates over, and tell him to look around for anyone else who went to school with him in the capital. If you can find any, call them all over. They've met the prince before, so they must know about his notes."
Local official Atez said that his son was Pilates, who had studied in the official school in the royal capital and was a classmate of His Royal Highness the Prince. When His Royal Highness the Prince wrote a letter, he had to see whether others believed it. Don't think that if you just give the letter to them, they will believe you.
This kind of thing is generally not possible, and someone has to recognize your handwriting. Therefore, when His Royal Highness the Prince wrote the letter, he selected it over and over again. He couldn't let these people make a wasted trip. The most important thing was not to delay Li Xiang's affairs. If he could expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty, it would also be an encouragement to His Royal Highness the Prince's life.
Raf and Sambik were taken to the next room to rest. Since they didn't know that His Royal Highness had rebelled, they were treated well. They were given only a pancake and a glass of water. Of course, no one knew what was added to the pancake. It was too hard to eat. If it weren't for the glass of water, they would not be able to swallow it at all.
If they had not been in the army, they probably would not be able to eat these things. Their family conditions were pretty good, at least much better than ordinary people, and they ate fine grains every day at home. But after going through so many things, even this kind of rough bread was a delicacy for them, so with just the glass of water next to them, they felt like they were having a big meal.
Atez didn't even wait for his son to come. He stood up in horror because he understood the contents of the letter. Although he didn't recognize the handwriting of His Royal Highness the Prince, he could still read. His Royal Highness the Prince actually persuaded them to surrender to the Tang Dynasty?
This was truly a terrifying thing. Was His Royal Highness being coerced? If he was coerced by the Tang army, that would still make sense. But the problem was that His Royal Highness had said in the letter that if this side agreed, he would personally bring people to greet them, in case people here didn't believe his sincerity. So he was definitely not coerced.
What's more, our place has no value at all. Apart from the pile of refugees outside, it doesn't even look like a city. Even if someone wants to plot against you, they won't target a place like yours. Although he is a local official, he also wants to tell the truth. If it weren't for the court's order, he would have run back to the south long ago. Who would be willing to stay in this place?
"Father heard that the prince had sent a letter. Where is the letter?"
His son, Master Pilates, strode in. Although his relationship with His Royal Highness the Prince was ordinary, he had to act very cordial in front of others. If not, others would probably look down on him.
The old man looked at the piece of paper on the table and threw it to his son. This guy always told everyone that he had a good relationship with His Royal Highness the Prince. Maybe it was for this reason that he received this letter. The old man now understood that whether to surrender or not, he didn't seem to have many choices.
Take the current situation for example. If you surrender, it would be equivalent to breaking with the Arab Empire. Don't think about having the best of both worlds. There is no such opportunity within the Arab Empire.
But if they did not surrender, he had also seen the order from Beidaying. The day before Beidaying issued the order, he asked his men to send some things to the capital, but these people came back directly. Even if they had official documents from the government, Beidaying would not send them over. If you want to send something, we can do it for you, but your people are absolutely not allowed to go over, and the soldiers of Beidaying are strictly forbidden to talk to them and inquire about information.
From that time on, the old man understood that the court wanted to block the news, but His Royal Highness's letter also clearly stated that the court was ready to abandon the entire north because it no longer had enough strength. If it still had enough strength, I believe the court would save them from the water and fire. But now so many people have died, will there be anyone coming to save them?
