"It seems we have to give something. If we don't give anything, I'm afraid those people from Datang won't discuss business with us. They avoid talking about it every day. They are used to taking advantage of us."
Lu Dongzan seemed to be speaking to General Huyan, but also seemed to be speaking to himself. At the same time, he had another idea in his mind, but in order not to disturb the morale of the army, he did not express that idea.
The idea is that Li Xiang has already known about the war on the plateau, so he is preparing to tie down the troops on the border. If that is the case, then we really can't live a good life. I hope that the Tang Dynasty just wants to take some advantages. Although Lu Dongzan doesn't want to give up this advantage, for the future of Tubo, what should be given up must be given up. I just don't know how much food the Tang Dynasty can eat to fill its mouth.
"Prime Minister, I understand that giving up some wealth for Tubo is the right thing to do, but do those people in the Holy City understand? They are all short-sighted."
When General Huyan talked about those people, Lu Dongzan's eyes were full of disgust. Those nobles were greedy people. They only thought about selling things to their own homes every day and didn't even look at the real situation of Tubo. If Lu Dongzan were to decide on compensation, those people would definitely be the first to refuse, and they would cause trouble for Lu Dongzan in the future, completely ignoring his contributions.
"Personal gains and losses are no longer important. Even if they want to cause trouble for me in the future, that will be in the future. We must first protect Tubo. If we can't protect Tubo, then we will all become prisoners. The Tang Dynasty has won too many victories over the years. We must not let them win even one victory on our land."
Lu Dongzan said very firmly, look at the history of the Tang Dynasty in recent years, since they defeated the Turks, it can be said that they have blossomed everywhere, and all the surrounding countries are threatened by the Tang Dynasty. Only Tubo can still bring a little threat to the Tang Dynasty. Now if they want to seize this opportunity, they will definitely not let go.
"Then how much should we give? I remember the treaty with Tuyuhun. It almost led to the destruction of Tuyuhun."
General Huyan couldn't help but shudder. When Tuyuhun signed the agreement, he felt that he had suffered a great loss. Of course, he was also a little jealous, thinking that the people of the Tang Dynasty had made a fortune. He didn't expect that it would be our turn so soon. This is like cutting into our flesh and blood.
"When the Tang Dynasty attacked the Xueyantuo, they occupied six of their cities. Do you know how much the Xueyantuo gave them in the end?"
Lu Dongzan was not in a position to say the number himself, but he had to find some basis for it. He couldn't let the Tang Dynasty ask for an exorbitant amount, and he couldn't just give money away casually. If he didn't grasp the scale well, it would leave huge hidden dangers.
"Clerk."
General Huyan was a military general, so he was not clear about these things. He had a capable person under him, his secretary. This guy was well versed in such matters, especially those between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, so he would definitely know the details if he was called over.
"You have studied the Tang Dynasty's foreign wars. Please answer the Prime Minister's question. How much tribute does the Xueyantuo pay to the Tang Dynasty each year?"
Looking at the Han clerk kneeling here, General Huyan said with some disgust that it turned out that he looked down on these clerks and thought they were far less important than a soldier, but this number was needed at the moment.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, according to what I have learned, the annual revenue is 3,000 taels of gold, 50,000 taels of silver, and 30,000 cattle and sheep. The tax revenue from the markets on both sides is 7% for the Tang Dynasty and 3% for the Xueyantuo."
This guy answered honestly. When he heard this number, Lu Dongzan felt that it was not a lot. But they had never had such a precedent in Tubo. If we had defeated you, we would naturally pay tribute to you. But now the two sides have not fought at all. It is just to deal with some border conflicts. Do we think we should send you so many things? This is really unacceptable.
"From your perspective, and considering the tribute paid to the Tang Dynasty by those around you, if we wanted to conclude an agreement with the Tang Dynasty, how much do you think we should pay?"
It's strange to say, Lu Dongzan shouldn't need to ask others about such things, but he just wanted to see what his subordinates thought, especially to think about how much he should give from the perspective of a villain, which could also be considered as a reference.
"I dare not. Our Tubo Kingdom is powerful. How can we pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty? Even if we pay tribute, the Tang Dynasty should..."
"Stop talking nonsense. Just answer whatever the Prime Minister asks you. Stop saying such nonsense in the future."
Seeing Lu Dongzan frown, General Huyan immediately slammed the table, and the guy immediately shut his mouth. In the Tubo army, there was a group of Han people who had been working for them, but these people had a relatively low status and could only do the work of slaves. If it were not for the fact that no Tubo people were willing to do the recording, then they would probably be no better than slaves. Even though they made contributions to the Tubo army, their status was not high at ordinary times. They could die at any time and had no life guarantee.
"I beg you, General, to have mercy on me. I beg you, General, to have mercy on me..."
This guy was immediately frightened when he saw General Huyan getting angry. When the general was angry, his knife was covered in blood. He had seen this many times over the years. Even the general's own personal soldiers had killed two people over the years, let alone himself, a Han Chinese.
"Hurry up and answer the Prime Minister's words."
General Huyan didn't care about him. Now he also wanted to know how much money he had to pay. After all, deep down in his heart, he didn't want to fight with the Tang army, especially when they were equipped with explosive things like that. After all, our heads are not made of iron!
"I'll give you five thousand taels of gold and some cattle and sheep. After all, we're different from those countries. We've never been defeated by the Tang Dynasty..."
The number that the boy blurted out was almost the same as what Lu Dongzan had thought. Five thousand taels of gold was not a small amount. One tael of gold and ten taels of silver, plus some cattle and sheep, should be enough to tempt them, right?
"You'll follow me from now on."
The clerk never imagined that a random number he had said would actually catch Lu Dongzan's eye. It seemed that his future was saved. Everyone knew that Lu Dongzan was respectful to the wise and humble, and was very kind to the counselors in the mansion...
