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Life in Chang'an Chapter 60 Brother Xi, are you selling prisoners of war?

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    A large-scale banquet is currently being held in the Liangyi Hall of Taiji Palace. The banquet is for General Niu who has returned from victory and a group of meritorious soldiers, as well as some civil and military officials and various princes.

    This morning, General Niu and his men rushed to Chang'an. Li Shimin personally went ten miles out of the city and held a very grand welcoming ceremony to express his condolences to the Jiannan soldiers.  After the ceremony was completed, under the leadership of Li Shimin, the Jiannan soldiers entered Chang'an through Mingde Gate, then passed through Zhuque Street, and entered the imperial city amidst the cheers of countless Chang'an people.  After entering the imperial city, the first thing to do is to offer prisoners to the Ancestral Temple. As long as the battle is won, this procedure is definitely indispensable.  Among the more than 10,000 Tibetan people captured this time, many were Tubo nobles. These people were the main targets of the prisoners. However, Li Shimin only executed a few important nobles, and the others were escorted to prisoners of war.  camp.

    The protagonist of the banquet in the palace is of course General Niu Jinda. This General Niu can be regarded as a senior general. He used to hang out with Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong and others in Wagang Village, and later he joined them from  Wang Shichong surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, but compared with Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong, this General Niu had always had little reputation, and even his title was only that of a county prince. This time he finally made a splash, single-handedly defeating the 200,000-strong Tibetan army.  , it can be said that the hard work is a great achievement, Li Shimin has already decreed, granting Niu Jinda the title of Duke of Wu, and he finally joined the ranks of the first-class people in the Tang Dynasty.

    With a few glasses of the best Five Kings drunkenly, the atmosphere of the banquet entered a climax and was no longer as rigid and orderly as before.  As the protagonist, General Niu, has been pulled aside by Cheng Yaojin and his old comrades to have a drink. In addition, those returning meritorious soldiers are also surrounded by a group of good-hearted people, asking them about the battle with Tubo.  Details.

    As a prince, Li Min of course had to attend the banquet, but except for toasting a glass of wine to General Niu with Li Ke just now, Li Min never moved again and kept sitting on his seat with Li Ke next to him.  Ke was joking, but his eyes were always paying attention to the group of soldiers returning from Jiannan. He had something to do when he came here today.

    After he sent Si Zi to the palace last time, he didn't expect to be called into the palace by the emperor's father that night. When he rushed to the Liangyi Hall, he found Li Zhi kneeling there and being scolded. Li Min felt something was wrong at that time.  , wanted to escape but didn't dare to escape, so he had no choice but to go in. As expected, he was greeted with a scolding.

    This scolding made Li Min feel a little confused. He couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. He could only hear Li Shimin scolding them for not knowing the seriousness. He didn't know what good things he encountered and reported them to his father, which almost led to a mistake.  Li Min was confused when he heard about the country mistreating the people.  But after scolding him, Li Shimin gave Li Min a lot of rewards, including a courtyard, a hundred fields, a hundred taels of gold, etc. Anyway, the rewards were very generous, but Li Zhi didn't even have a hair on his head, and then they  He was kicked out.

    Later, Li Min finally understood what was going on. It turned out that the trouble was caused by saltpeter making ice. After learning that saltpeter could be used to make ice, Li Shimin was ecstatic. Most of the Guanzhong officers and soldiers in Jiannan got sick due to the intense heat. If this happened  The situation will definitely improve if the ice made from saltpeter cools down, so people immediately send this method to Songzhou.

    After finishing these things, Li Shimin felt a little angry again. Such an important thing was actually told to him by the young Sizi inadvertently, but his two sons put such important information in the back of their minds and did not  One person realized the importance of saltpeter in making ice.  That's why Li Shimin called Li Min to the palace in the middle of the night and reprimanded him together with Li Zhi.

    However, after scolding, Li Shimin still made clear rewards and punishments. After scolding, he rewarded Li Min for discovering how to make ice with saltpeter. As for Li Zhi, because he had no merit, he didn't get a point, but Sizi got a lot of rewards, even  It was even richer than Li Min, but because Si Zi was too young, he could only leave it to the palace.

    Seeing that the banquet was almost in progress, the group of people surrounding the soldiers slowly dispersed. Li Min said goodbye to Li Ke and walked to a meritorious soldier with a cup in his hand. This man was tall and stocky in appearance.  The muscles on his body are so bulging that even the loose clothes can't hide them. He should be a rare warrior on the battlefield.

    "May I ask what you call this brother?" Li Min stepped forward and bowed and asked.

    When Brother Mengjiang saw the royal robes Li Min was wearing, he was immediately startled. He hurriedly stood up and saluted, saying: "General Xi Jun buys it, I don't dare to be such a great gift to His Highness!"

    "Haha, Brother Xi, you're so polite. All the soldiers fought bloody battles in Jiannan to bring prosperity to our Tang Dynasty. As a prince, I would like to express my gratitude to my brother. Is there anything else that I can't afford?" Li  Xuan tried his best to get close to the other person, but when he heard that this person's name was Xi Junmai, his heart was moved. Where had he heard this name before?

    "Uh~" This Xi Junmai is not a good talker at all.Of course, it is impossible to speak better than Li Min. Although I still felt something was wrong in my heart, I opened my mouth and was still speechless.

    "I wonder where Brother Xi is from, and what position does he hold now?" Li Min saw that this man had a simple and honest personality, and he was a trustworthy person, so he sat next to him with a smile, patted him on the shoulder and asked.

    "Your Majesty, the last general is from Liangzhou. I previously served as a lieutenant under General Niu. Because I made some achievements in the battle against Tubo, your Majesty transferred me to the Qianniu Guards and promoted me to Ying Yang.  General." Xi Junmai was an honest man and answered Li Min's questions very respectfully.

    "Oh? Being able to jump from a school captain to a general, it seems that Brother Xi must have made a big contribution this time." Li Min said with his eyes lit up. You must know that there is a captain between the school captain and the general.  Being able to upgrade two levels at once, it seems that this Xi Jun is not easy to buy.

    "Haha, I don't have any merit. I just captured a few Tubo nobles. I can't compare to other brothers. Some of them beheaded hundreds of people." Xi Junmai said with a simple smile.  Although he knew that the other party was a prince, Xi Junmai was a straight-tempered person. Seeing that Li Min was a very kind person and didn't have the airs of a prince at all, he relaxed.

    "Haha, Brother Xi is so polite!" Li Min said with a smile, but he soon revealed his true face and asked again, "Brother Xi, I heard that you captured more than 10,000 Tubo soldiers this time?"

    "Well, yes, in addition to the people in the palace, we have more than a thousand soldiers coming back this time to escort these Tubo people." Xi Jun nodded.

    "Hehe, I also heard that these prisoners of war are going to be rewarded to you soldiers who have made great military achievements?" Li Xin smiled a little obscenely. He had been interested in these Tibetan prisoners of war for more than a day or two. Now his coal mine is still  It's not open yet, the only problem is the coal-mining coolies.

    "That's right, General Niu has already told us that in addition to His Majesty's rewards, those prisoners of war will also be distributed to us according to their merits." Xi Junmai replied, but he suddenly frowned and said again, "But  Those prisoners of war are also a trouble for us, and they can usually only be sold at low prices, and together they can¡¯t be bought for much money.¡±

    "Oh? Why is that, those prisoners of war are all strong and strong laborers wherever they are placed?" Li Min asked in surprise. This was obviously different from what he had imagined.

    "I heard this from my brothers in the army." Xi Junmai picked up the wine bowl, drank about two ounces of Wu Wang Zui in one gulp, and said with a depressed look, "Those prisoners of war are indeed strong laborers, but  The key is not to use them. These prisoners of war have all been on the battlefield and seen blood. They have relatively fierce temperaments. They are afraid of the dangers of buying them back, so it is generally difficult to sell them. After all, the Tang Dynasty buys and sells so many people every day, there is no need to buy them.  Go back as an unsafe prisoner of war."

    "So that's it?" Li Min thought secretly in his heart. He didn't expect this, but it was not a problem for him at all. He just wanted these prisoners of war to dig coal for him, and not leave them at home, even if they were  Rebellion will not hurt you.  Moreover, he is not a prince for nothing. He has two pro-army troops under his command, the Marriage Affairs Office and the Zhang Neifu Office. Together, there are probably more than a thousand people. These people have nothing to do in the palace every day, and they are just sent there to serve as supervisors.

    "Brother Xi, how many prisoners of war can you get there?" Li Min secretly calculated in his mind that together with the coal mines bought by Wang Zihao and Gao Zhong, he would need about two to three thousand laborers. After all, in this era without machinery,  , all labor must be done by human hands, and it is normal to need more hands.

    "Your Highness, do you want to buy those prisoners of war?" Although Xi Junmai was honest, it did not mean he was stupid. He quickly guessed Li Min's intention and asked with a surprised look on his face.

    "Hehe, that's right, my house is short of manpower recently, so I plan to buy some prisoners of war to take back." Li Min said with a smile.

    "Butbutbut your highness is worth a thousand dollars. If those Tubo people without eyes hurt your highness, then" Xi Junmai was really thinking about Li Min. After all, after this conversation, he felt that  The approachable Li Min is very popular.

    "Thank you for worrying, Brother Xi. Those Tubo people are not kept in the house, but in a place outside the city. In addition, my house will also send pro-government troops to supervise it, so there is no need to worry about safety issues." Li Min explained with a smile.  .

    "This will put your mind at ease." After hearing Li Min's explanation, Xi Junmai felt relieved. After thinking for a while, he said, "I can probably get one or two hundred prisoners of war here. Since your highness is short of people,  , then just give them all to His Highness, they are not worth much money anyway." Xi Jun did not buy it to please Li Min, but because of his upright personality, he felt that Li Min was friendly, so it was like friends giving things to each other.  , intending to give the prisoners of war to Li Min.

    "Haha, I appreciate Brother Xi's kindness, but I want more people here, I guess.There must be at least two to three thousand people, so I would like to ask Brother Xi for help to contact the soldiers who want to sell prisoners of war, and I can buy them at a high price.  "Li Min said with a smile. He was already thinking about how much profit these free labor could bring to him.

    "This is easy to handle. Thanks to your highness, I will help you find someone." Xi Junmai is indeed a soldier, and he does things with great enthusiasm. As soon as Li Min asked him to help, he immediately stood up, clasped his fists, and turned around  Just go find someone.

    After a while, Xi Junmai came back with a dozen Jiannan soldiers. They were all worried about the prisoners of war they had received. When they heard that His Highness Prince Liang wanted to buy them, and the quantity was quite large, they ran away immediately.  coming.  These people were all straight-tempered. After saluting Li Min, they immediately surrounded him and began to ask about matters related to the sale of prisoners of war.

    Don¡¯t be surprised when you see this. In the Tang Dynasty, the sale of slaves was not prohibited. Almost every larger city had a special human market, which was usually adjacent to the cattle and horse market. The status of slaves was similar to that of cattle and horses, and they did not have any personal freedom.  , the private property belonging to the master, which can be bought, sold and given as gifts at will, and the law also stipulates that the legal status of slaves is inferior to others.  Therefore, Li Min said that he wanted to buy prisoners of war as slaves, which was considered a very normal thing by everyone.

    Finally, Li Min counted and found that the people Xi Junmai brought plus the prisoners of war he owned totaled more than 3,000 people, which was more than he needed. However, Li Min was not short of this amount of money now.  , very generously bought them all, and the price was 20% higher than what was on the market, which made these soldiers have a great impression of Li Min, and they all came forward to propose a toast.

    Looking at these large wine bowls specially used for soldiers, Li Min secretly complained in his heart. If he didn't drink, he would obviously be disrespectful to others' enthusiasm. Finally, he simply broke his heart and started drinking with these soldiers. Unfortunately, the amount of alcohol cannot be determined by one's will.  As for the enlarged one, after only a few bowls of it, Li Min couldn't hold it anymore. He hurriedly pulled his third brother Li Ke over to top him and found a place where no one was around to vomit.

    PS: There are still two chapters today, the rules are the same as yesterday.  I also recommend a book called "Fighting the World" written by my friend "Gentleman Loves Money 02": the colorful, miserable and perverted growth history of an abandoned child.  It¡¯s not easy for newbies. If you are interested, you can check it out.

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