Fu Tang

"Nuha's Ark?" Shi Xueting was at a loss for a moment, what is this?

Li Congjia explained the origin of Noah’s Ark to Shi Xueting. In fact, this thing is known to later generations. It is the Quran version of Noah’s Ark, but I don’t know which of the two is earlier. Anyway, the meaning is similar.

Shi Xueting asked: "What are you... doing this for?"

Li Congjia said: "In addition to this thing, Islam is like glass Buddha statues in addition to Buddhism. If this thing appeared in the Ghaznavid Dynasty, how do you think the Kara Khan Council would react?"

"Just this tree stump?" Shi Xueting looked at him amusedly: "If it was cut directly from a tree, it would be a godsend."

Li Congjia smiled and said, "Hey, you went with me."

Shi Xueting instantly felt a pain in his head. If he wanted to arrange this matter seamlessly, he had to send his elite staff there. The only thing he needs to pray for now is that the household registration system of the Ghaznavid Dynasty is not so strict, otherwise, if he wants to arrange I'm afraid it will take a while for people to get in.

Seeing Shi Xueting meditating there, Li Congjia couldn't help but said: "Don't worry, take your time, I just suddenly remembered that I can make such a thing, anyway, it's a fake."

Shi Xueting glanced at Li Congjia, wanted to say something but because it was inconvenient for someone to say it, Li Congjia knew what was going on when he saw his expression, asked Chunsheng and others to take the things away and asked: "What's wrong? "

Shi Xueting sighed and said, "Now your ability to cheat is getting stronger and stronger."

Li Congjia is a little embarrassed. To be honest, this kind of method is indeed not on the table, but if it is really raised to the national level to consider issues, what is not about face is not the primary consideration. Of course, the face of the country must be maintained. Light is second.

As long as this strategy works, why can't it continue?

So Li Congjia's embarrassment was only for a moment, and soon he calmed down and said: "Isn't the confrontation of two soldiers just a matter of reality and reality?"

Shi Xueting nodded: "You use religion to weaken the enemy, what will you do if it is the religion of the Tang Dynasty that competes?"

Datang's religion?Li Congjia didn't understand at first, but after seeing Shi Xueting's embarrassed expression, he suddenly thought: "The dispute between Buddhism and Taoism?"

Shi Xueting nodded, and Li Congjia frowned: "What's going on? You started looking for trouble as soon as the country settled down, right?"

Shi Xueting smiled wryly and said: "There is no way. At the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism were strictly disciplined. Later, I created a Guangming religion. The living space of all religions is so large. As time goes by, no matter which one The sects all want to expand, and to expand, they need to invade other sects, they all know what is going on with the Illuminati, and they dare not touch the Illuminati, so there will be friction between them?"

In fact, Taoism is a native religion, and Buddhism is a foreign religion. When Buddhism was first introduced to the Central Plains, the two sides had already crossed one side. Taoism pays attention to purity, and was caught off guard by Buddhism. However, with the support of the Tang royal family, the two sides can be regarded as Evenly matched.

However, since the war broke out, Buddhism has been suppressed more, and Taoism has taken advantage of the opportunity to develop. Now that Buddhism has slowed down, it must be contended for.

Li Congjia was silent for a while and said: "Let them fight if they fight, don't overdo it, and whoever dares to stretch their claws, don't pretend to want it!"

Things like religion cannot be suppressed. The more suppressed, the more likely problems will occur. Li Congjia only cares about one point - no matter who you are, you have to pay taxes to Lao Tzu, and he doesn't care too much about other things.

After listening to these words, Shi Xueting knew where Li Congjia's bottom line was. Anyway, it doesn't matter if it's a dispute between Buddhism and Taoism. Don't even think about it.

With these words, Shi Xueting can also explain to his fellow disciples.

Yes, the reason why Shi Xueting mentioned this matter to Li Congjia was not because he wanted to stand up for Buddhism. There might be some contradictions, but his beliefs are relatively simple, and he will not be bound by such secular interests, but His teacher is not, after all, people always have their own desires, and those who don't have probably already become Buddhas.

Li Congjia looked at Shi Xueting and comforted him and said, "Don't worry too much. I don't speak up in the debate between Buddhism and Taoism is the best help. Otherwise, if I stand up, I will stand for Taoism. After all, my ancestor is the originator of Taoism."

Shi Xueting smiled slightly: "I know, I just told you in advance, don't get angry when you find out."

Of course Li Congjia was not angry, but he wished that these monks and priests would compete, and both sides would lose, and the court would take advantage of it.

When these two people were talking about religious issues, the envoys of Yangtong and Qimu were piously packing the two Buddha statues. The two Buddha statues would be transported to the plateau anyway. At first they wanted to hold the Buddha statues and worship them step by step. go back.

But the glazed Buddha statues are too precious, and no one can bear the responsibility of missing them, not to mention these two statues are still waiting on the plateau.

The sheep and messenger said worriedly to the people around him: "I don't know if I can return to the tribe safely."

These two Buddha statues are too precious, I'm afraid there will be countless people staring at them, the envoy was very excited when they were photographed, but now...he is very worried, after all, he didn't bring many people this time.

The fat man next to him said: "You don't have to worry, we will keep you safe and sound. If you are really worried, you can ask the Tang army to escort you."

The messenger said with some surprise: "Such a rude request, Tang Guo will definitely not agree."

The man smiled slightly, but couldn't see clearly because of the beard on his face. He said very firmly, "Don't worry, the emperor of Tang Kingdom will agree."

The envoy looked at the man suspiciously and asked, "Mendil, you seem to know the emperor of Tang very well."

Meng Dier, also known as Long Shisan, said leisurely: "I have dealt with him not once or twice, how could I not understand? Since he sold the glazed Buddha statue to you, he will be careful to give it away for the money. You, however, may only be sent to the border between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty, as long as the glazed Buddha statue does not cause problems in the Tang Dynasty, it has nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty."

The messenger hesitated and said, "Since that's the case, if we ask His Majesty the Emperor of Tang to send us directly back to the tribe, will he agree?"

Long Shisan's expression became serious and he said: "If I were you, I wouldn't have such an idea. He might agree, but for you, it might be a way to lure wolves into your house. You don't know how terrifying Tang's soldiers and weapons are. Maliciousness, even a team of dozens of people may be able to destroy your tribe!"

The envoy was a little worried about gains and losses by Long Shisan, sighed and said: "But there should be no problem in the Tang Kingdom, the difficulty is returning to the plateau..."

The envoy is not stupid either. After listening to Long Shisan's analysis, he knew that even if someone stared at the glazed Buddha statue, he would definitely not dare to do anything in the Great Tang Realm. The catastrophe.

But after going to the plateau, Tang's deterrent power will be gone, so what should we do then?

Long Shisan patted the messenger's shoulder and said, "If you're really worried, I'll send a message to the country and ask them to find a way to come and escort you back to the tribe, okay?"

"What about you?" the messenger asked reflexively.

Long Shisan smiled and said, "I'm just a civil servant, and this kind of fighting and killing is not suitable for me."

The envoy took a deep look at him and there was no unity. Letting the Tang army enter the tribe is to lure wolves into the house, so what is the difference between the Kara Khanate army entering the tribe?

But he didn't dare to refuse directly. After all, if this glazed Buddha statue hadn't been funded by the Kara Khanate, they wouldn't have been able to get it.

The messenger thought about it and said: "After all, it's too far away, but I have a way. I'll find a wooden Buddha statue. Our team escorted the wooden Buddha statue, and the real glazed Buddha statue will be handed over to your envoy to help us bring it." Here we go to the Horde."

Long Shisan was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled in his heart. This emissary is not stupid. If his people carried Buddha statues, they would not attract attention. First of all, they are not from Tang Dynasty or Tubo, and secondly, they don’t need to. I was worried that they would run away after taking the Buddha statue. After all, they helped the Yangtong tribe take pictures of this Buddha statue.

If they really wanted Buddha statues, the Yangtong tribe would never be able to get them, so in conclusion, it was the best choice for Long Shisan and the others to bring the glazed Buddha statues.

The most important thing is that the envoy also knew that the Kara Khanate must have some ideas for helping the Yangtong tribe in this way.

Long Shisan said helplessly: "Most of our missions are powerless people. Your request is a bit difficult."

"I really have no choice but to make such a bad move. I can only ask you all." Yang Tonggui envoy looked expectant and respectful, but he didn't care about it in his heart.

He didn't believe that Long Shisan and the others were really powerless, if that was the case, how could they escape under the surveillance of the Tang State?He dared to go back to Chang'an and no one found out. The envoy Yang Tong thought he didn't have such ability, so he was very relieved to hand over the glazed Buddha statue to Long Shisan.

Long Shisan was silent for a while, and gestured to the side. The man came back after a while and nodded to Long Shisan. Long Shisan said: "In this case, for our friendship, the glazed Buddha statue Let us transport it to your tribe, but no matter what, you have to be careful, after all, others will not know."

The messenger Yang Tong was overjoyed, complimented Long Shisan gratefully and said: "It doesn't matter, as long as the safety of you and the Buddha statue can be guaranteed, as long as the glazed Buddha statue can be safely transported to the tribe, so what if our lives are on the way?" ?”

Believers are terrible, Long Shisan said silently in his heart, although he is now in the Kara Khanate and appears to be a devout Muslim on the surface, but for him, this is just an expedient measure, after all, he does not behave like this How did he gain a foothold in the Kara Khanate?

Long Shisan accepted the entrustment of the Yangtong Tribe, and just now he asked people to go out to watch to prevent the wall from having ears.

It's just that he couldn't think of it, but let Shi Xueting know about this matter, and told Li Congjia.

After hearing this, Li Congjia said with a smile: "They are really not stupid, they can still come up with such a solution, how did Qimu's alliance come about?"

Shi Xueting said: "Because Qi's mother was photographed jointly by several tribes, and their escort team is relatively large, so we decided to go together. No one would dare to do anything to such a huge transport team."

Li Congjia looked at him with his chin resting, Shi Xueting had a bad feeling when he saw his bright eyes: "Are you going to make trouble again?"

He still learned the word "make trouble" from Li Congjia, but he found that it is really suitable for Li Congjia.

Li Congjia said with a smile: "How can it be considered troublesome? I just don't think it's good to connect with Kara Khanate and Yangtong smoothly."

Shi Xueting understood: "You want to send someone to snatch the glazed Buddha statue?"

Li Congjia nodded: "That's right, the Buddha statue was lost in Long Shisan's hands. Even if they were the ones who paid for it, the Yangtong tribe would still go crazy, not to mention that the Yangtong tribe also paid for it."

Although this money is almost a drop in the bucket compared to the value of the glazed Buddha statue, it is also the property that people managed to scrape together.

Shi Xueting asked: "What happens after you snatch it back? How do you deal with it? Put it away and never see the light of day?"

Li Congjia waved his hand and said, "Of course not, well, let me think about it, what do you think if you snatch it and give it to King Lhasa or King Yalongjue?"

Shi Xueting analyzed it and said: "I think it's good to give it to Domi. They are not small, and they have no connection with other small tribes. King Lhasa and King Yalongjue are too close to Qimu and other tribes. , it is easy to create a crisis in those small tribes, if you want them to consume the Kara Khanate, you can't let them fight too much."

Li Congjia thought for a while and then asked, "What do you think of Qiang Tang?"

Shi Xueting said seriously: "The Qiangtang may disappear from Tubo."

After thinking about it, Li Congjia felt that this proposal was not very good. He wanted to create enemies for the Kara Khanate, not an excuse to attack Tubo.

Seeing Li Congjia staring at the map in a daze, Shi Xueting had to say: "Actually, there is another choice."

Li Congjia turned to look at him, Shi Xueting nodded beside Qiangtang and said, "Guge."

Li Congjia hesitated: "I'm afraid their strength is not good enough."

Shi Xueting was a little surprised: "Isn't our purpose just to hold back the Kara Khanate and develop ourselves as much as possible?"

From the beginning to the end, they did not feel that relying on Tubo or other countries could destroy the Kara Khanate. The ministers of the DPRK and China felt that they might still have to go to war with the Kara Khanate, so all they are doing now is to weaken the Kara Khanate. The power of the Khanate, by the way, delay the time and accumulate some capital for Datang.

Li Congjia knew what Shi Xueting meant, but he had no way to tell Shi Xueting that Guge is not a country where politics and religion are united. There are still conflicts between the king and Buddhist leaders in this country. Not only are there, but they are also very sharp. The demise of the kingdom was caused by the conflict between the king and the Buddhist leader.

For such a country, if the Buddha statue is sent there, it may cause conflicts between the king and the Buddhist leaders prematurely. Not only will it not hold back the hands and feet of the Kara Khanate, but it may even give him a ready-made territory.

Of course, this matter cannot be told to Shi Xueting, he already knows enough and doesn’t need more, so he just said: “Send someone to find out what’s going on in the Guge Kingdom, after all, it’s so far away from us. I don't know about the situation. The most important thing is that the Guge Kingdom didn't send envoys this time, so they probably don't know about the Buddha statue. There is also a flaw in the sudden appearance of the Buddha statue there. Let's choose one of the Tubo tribes. Domi is also good. , oh, Su Pi should be fine too."

Shi Xueting nodded. He didn't really have much preference for which tribe to send to. He just thought that since the other Buddha statue was in the hands of Qimu and the others, it should play its due role. King Lhasa and King Yalong Jue'a would definitely Snatch the Buddha statue in Qimu's hand, and if the other one is given to Su Pi, Domi Changtang Yangtong and the Kara Khanate will definitely not sit idly by.

Shi Xueting could almost foresee what chaos would become in Tubo, and this kind of wild imagination was only caused by the two glazed Buddha statues.

Shi Xueting sent someone to inquire about the Guge Kingdom and asked, "How do you plan to snatch that Buddha statue?"

"Not in the Tang Dynasty, not only can't rob them, but also protect them from being robbed by others. You send some people to wait on the plateau. As long as they go to the plateau, they can do it."

Shi Xueting also thought of the same method, he thought for a while and said: "There is no need to send people there, there are people from us in Tubo."

"What?" Li Congjia was a little surprised: "There are people from us?"

Shi Xueting nodded and said: "My people once saved the leader of the Niva Clan, so they treated them as honored guests. I simply let him stay there, and I also sent other people. When the time comes, let them Just do it."

"Can you hide it from Niva?"

"It should be hidden, but one advantage of the Niva family is that they are very self-aware. You see, their envoys did not participate in the auction this time. They won't be able to keep this Buddha statue. Well, you can use this as a vote. , Let them go to Su Pi, anyway, they have long wanted to find a big tribe to attach to."

Li Congjia did not object. The greater the power of Subi, the harder it would be for the Kara Khanate to deal with him. Even because they have a common enemy, they should join forces with Qiangtang.

Shi Xueting suddenly asked: "If there is a real fight, do you want to sell some weapons to Qiang Tang and Subi? I mean the older ones. I remember that a batch of old equipment was replaced this year, and they should all be returned. It can be used, and it would be nice to sell them some beef cattle.”

"Can you change it to something else?" Li Congjia's face turned green when he heard the yak consumption. Datang really can't consume so many yaks, after all, beef is not in everyone's daily menu.

Shi Xueting chuckled and said: "Then change to something else. Although the silver over there is not pure, it is also good. There are also a lot of copper mines. Crystal mica is good, and you can change it."

Li Congjia looked up at Shi Xueting and said: "I think, compared to me, you seem to have paid attention to Tubo earlier. I just know that there are antelopes and yaks over there. How are you? Even what kind of food is there? They were all found out."

Shi Xueting came over and said, "It's because I mentioned the Tubo incident that I asked someone to investigate it. It's okay, what should I do with their idea?"

So blame me?Li Congjia rolled his eyes, Tubo is very rich in minerals, even oil, how could he not have an idea there?

In fact, it is not just Tubo, Li Congjia has too many ideas. Many times he feels that if this is just a sandbox game, he will definitely accumulate resources to take down those places first.

However, the reality is that if he wants to conquer those places, the first thing he has to do is to ensure the living standards of his own people. Secondly... In fact, there is nothing to be followed. The most important problem with soldiers is difficult to solve. Li Congjia, a soldier in the Western Regions, is not special. Trust, but it is a problem that the Central Plains soldiers are not acclimatized when they are sent so far to fight.

There is a plateau in Tubo, once the altitude sickness occurs, the soldiers will be crippled, and Li Congjia always feels that if he really sends troops, half of the soldiers may be crippled, so he can only wait.

The Tubo envoys leaving the capital one after another did not make Chang'an, which had been busy for several months, deserted much. After all, it was going to be winter, and the New Year would be soon, and the people had already started preparing various New Year's supplies.

And this year, wool and cashmere clothes appeared on the market. These two clothes have withstood the test, so they are very effective in keeping warm. After discovering them, everyone scrambled to buy them. As a result, the wool and cashmere items were almost out of stock. Thanks to Li Congjia At the beginning, weavers spent a lot of money to hoard a lot of wool and cashmere, but now weavers work overtime every day to barely supply.

Looking at the financial report that Arong handed over, Li Congjia said triumphantly, "What am I talking about? I said a long time ago that someone will definitely buy this thing."

Shi Xueting shook his head and laughed. He didn't say that no one would buy it, but he valued another aspect more than this: "Recently, the printing of banknotes can't keep up with the speed of exchange. The people below will ask what to do."

Datang has been promoting the exchange of copper coins for banknotes for a long time, but the obstacles encountered are not small. After all, banknotes cannot give the common people a sense of security because they look very fragile.

As a result, who would have thought that banknotes would spread rapidly because of cashmere and wool products.

Li Congjia said: "Hey, if I knew it earlier, I would have printed more. Fortunately, the winter is not too cold. Everyone, please work hard."

This is the only way, otherwise what should I do?

As a result, at this time, the Minister of the Household Department brought bad news: Khitan stopped selling wool to Datang.