Some common people made a lot of money by reselling wool. After the nobles of Tubo heard the news, they also started to think wrongly.
The tax and tribute payment in Tubo was different from that in the Tang Dynasty.
There is a clearly hierarchical chain in collecting taxes and tributes in Tubo.
Specifically, each high-ranking nobleman under the King of Tubo was responsible for nearly a hundred minor nobles within his own wing, and each minor nobleman was responsible for hundreds of serfs and civilians.
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The way to make a fortune by reselling wool was originally an activity carried out quietly in private by some small nobles and commoners.
But after this news reached the ears of the nobles above, a fight immediately broke out.
In order to compete for the pastures for raising sheep, the powerful Tubo family, with their warriors and affiliated tribes, began to plunder and occupy land under various names.
Bloody conflicts occur every day on the grasslands. Those tribes that are weak but own pastures are like fat meat targeted by hungry wolves. They are often slaughtered overnight and their land falls into the hands of others.
hand.
The civil strife caused by wool spread rapidly on the plateau like forest wildfire.
The Tubo official Sang Chiruo, who was in Luoxe City, was originally planning to use troops against Big and Small Bolu, but suddenly he heard that wars were going on everywhere on the plateau. He was shocked and quickly convened a royal meeting.
At this conference, nobles from various tribes met and became hostile to each other like blood feuds.
Some of the leaders had to draw swords against each other even in the king's tent due to the conflicts caused by the competition for pasture.
Sang Chiruo spent a lot of effort but was unable to resolve the conflicts between these nobles. The mediation conference ended in nothing.
At this time, in the mutual trade towns between Datang and Tubo, the purchase price of wool had reached 180 cents per pound, a peak price that had never been seen in history.
What is the concept of this price? If all the wool produced by a sheep in a year is resold, it can even be exchanged for a horse.
The people of the entire Tubo Plateau were driven to a point of fanaticism and even irrationality because of wool.
Whether it was farmers planting crops, monks reciting scriptures in temples, or even soldiers in the army, they began to ignore their original work and began to focus on herding goats.
This craze lasted for about seven months, until one day, at the market in Hushi Town, the purchase price of wool by Datang merchants suddenly dropped from one hundred and eighty to sixty cents.
The Tibetan people asked, and the answer they received was that the supply of raw materials exceeded demand, and the wool stocks in the trading houses were sufficient.
When the Tibetan people heard this, most of them planned to wait and see, waiting for the price of wool to increase before looking for an opportunity to sell it.
Unexpectedly, the price of wool continued to fall sharply. In just half a month, it fell to fifteen cents a pound.
The Tibetan people panicked, and many people chose to sell wool at a low price. This caused the price of wool to fall like a snowball, and eventually even dropped to a penny per pound.
The decline of wool to this point means that the plateau animal husbandry industry has completely fallen into the abyss.
For tribes and families that shepherd sheep, if the expenses such as feed, care, and medication are calculated, goat breeding has become a bottomless pit, swallowing up all the production resources and working time of the Tibetan people.
Shortly after that, Tubo ushered in an unprecedented famine.
This great famine was caused by both natural disasters and man-made disasters.
In terms of natural disasters, a heavy snowfall that was rare in decades fell on the plateau. The land and rivers were not allowed to thaw for months, making it impossible to work.
In terms of man-made disasters, the goat breeding industry has occupied a large area of farmland and forestland, reducing crop yields in large areas. Moreover, the sheep have gnawed the turf, causing serious damage to the soil vegetation and making many farmland unable to continue to be cultivated.
Faced with this great famine, most areas in the Tibetan kingdom had no food to eat, so they had to slaughter goats and use their meat to wrap their bellies.
After the sheep were killed, faced with piles of inedible wool in the warehouse, the Tubo people could only take up arms and aim their butcher knives at neighboring tribes, using plunder and war to maintain their own survival.
As a result, a civil strife sweeping across Tubo began.
After listening to the report from the Hehuang Jiedu Mansion in court, Emperor Zhou Jun breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "Tubo is in civil strife and is no longer able to advance eastward. This finally puts an end to my worries."
Kong You: "I didn't expect that the problem that my dynasty has not been able to eradicate for hundreds of years can be solved today, but in the end it was all thanks to the little wool."
Zhou Jun took another look at the document and asked, "It also says that envoys from Tubo have arrived?"
Fan Jinian, who was next to the throne, whispered: "Your Majesty, the Tibetan envoy is outside the palace."
Zhou Jun asked: "Have you found out the family and purpose of the Tibetan envoy?"
Kong You: "The name of the Tibetan envoy is Nangandama, and he is the descendant of the previous Tubo Zuzan. The purpose of coming to the Tang Dynasty this time is probably to seek peace."
Zhou Jun thought for a moment and realized that the family of his predecessor, Zuzan of Tubo, was the old aristocracy of Tubo.
It is well known that the old Tibetan nobles were at odds with Sang Chiruo. It can be seen that this envoy probably secretly came to the Tang Dynasty behind Sang Chiruo's back.
After Zhou Jun nodded, officials led Nang Dama into the palace.
In front of all the civil and military officials and many members of parliament, Nangdama just bowed and did not bow.
Ignoring the scolding of the court officials, Nangandama said loudly: "In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (733), the Tang and Tibetans met in Chiling. The two countries agreed to help each other, and they are actually brothers."
Hearing this, Zhou Jun almost laughed out of anger.
In the 21st year of Kaiyuan, Princess Jincheng, who was married to Tubo, tried her best to mediate, so that the two countries of Tang and Tibet set up a boundary monument in Chiling and made a peace treaty without war.
After that, the Tubo people broke the peace treaty and invaded the Tang Dynasty several times. They even tried to invade Chang'an during the Anshi Rebellion.
Now, this special envoy actually has the nerve to bring up the peace treaty from forty years ago to speak out.
Before Zhou Jun could speak, Kong You said to the Tibetan envoy: "Do you know Dun Renzeng?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Nangdama was stunned for a moment, and then subconsciously said: "Dun Renzin is the elder of my family. In terms of seniority, he is my uncle."
Kong You: "Dun Renzeng lives in the wild grave of Changsheng Temple now. If you are interested, you might as well ask him. Since the two countries are brothers, why did Tubo take advantage of the chaos in the Tang Dynasty to raise the entire country's troops?
Invasion of Gyeonggi?”
When Nang Dama heard this, his face turned pale with fright, and he immediately did not dare to say any more nonsense.
After a while, Nang Dama said cautiously: "When he invaded the Tang Dynasty, Zuzan was deceived by the big talk and made a big mistake in the end."
Du Fu, the Minister of Rites, although he is old, his voice is unusually calm: "Tubo, dogs are barking with wolf poison, and they are not true to their word. Your Majesty must pay attention to it."
Du Fu spoke quite politely, but many others even cursed the Tibetan envoys.
Zhou Jun stretched out his hand to stop the anger in the palace and asked Nang Dama: "Tell me your purpose of coming."
Nang Dama gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Jun: "Tibet requested the Tang State to reopen the mutual trade and provide another amount of food as aid."
Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Nangdama quickly added: "Tubo is willing to become a vassal of the Tang State, pay annual tribute, and call itself a servant state, and will be obedient and obedient from generation to generation."
Zhou Jun snorted coldly.
The Tubo people had a good plan, using the false name of being a vassal and paying tribute in exchange for real food and mutual trade.
If this were the case, the previous emperors of the Tang Dynasty, who held the pride of the Celestial Kingdom in their hearts, were so happy with these few words that they might have agreed.
However, Zhou Jun is a realist through and through at his core.
Regarding Nang Dama's proposal, Zhou Jun said: "I can't see Tubo's sincerity."
Nang Dama was stunned. Even Tubo was willing to surrender. Why was the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty still not satisfied?
Zhou Jun: "If Tubo wanted to become a slave state of the Tang Dynasty, it must first show the proper attitude of a slave state.
Nangdama: "I'm not big...understand."
Zhou Jun, who was sitting on the throne, leaned forward and said in a deep voice to Nang Dama: "Send Sang Chiruo's head to Chang'an to prove your sincerity, and then the Tang Dynasty will consider Tubo's proposal."