Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

In the fifth year of the Zhenguan era, the autumn harvest ended, and a new round of crop planting began, with winter fast approaching.

Emerging from the Arabian desert, traversing the vast Western Regions, and passing through numerous checkpoints of the Sassanid Persian Kingdom, this massive caravan of three to four thousand people finally entered the Hexi Corridor of the Tang Dynasty, led by Li Ming of the Guzang Li clan in Longyou.

Hexi Circuit, Jingxi County, Suyab City.

There were three main leaders in the caravan.

Li Ming is one, and Sufyan, the leader of the Gulaish tribe and the initiator of the cooperation, is another.

The other one is the patriarch of the Benny Kurezha family, Kurezha Pusmi.

A middle-aged man who looked shrewd and whose eyes gave off a cunning, fox-like quality.

Kuleza Pusmi looked around and saw busy farmland everywhere, with slaves working in the fields. His eyes were filled with envy and greed.

"My God... I can't believe how wealthy one must be to possess such a vast expanse of fertile land and so many slaves. If those two old fogies, Milia and Hughes, saw this, they'd surely faint from envy on the spot..."

The Milia and Hughes he mentioned are the heads of the Benny Nadir and Benny Kenour families, respectively. Like their own Qureza family, both are important Jewish families in the Arab Medina.

However, both of them are more inclined towards agriculture and own a lot of land in Medina.

The Kureza family, on the other hand, leaned more towards commerce and handicrafts.

But how could they know?

Suyab, once a major city of the Western Turks, was actually quite weak in agriculture, mainly relying on animal husbandry and aquaculture.

But compared to the harsh environment of Arabia, it is already considered very good.

Li Ming showed his identity information to the Tang soldiers guarding the city, and then took out the exit document issued by the government and the foreign trade certificate he had obtained when he left the city.

He then explained the identities of the people around him and, in his own name, guaranteed their entry into the country.

The Tang border soldiers, whose gazes made Pusmi and Sufyan very uncomfortable, finally let them into the city.

"Keep an eye on them. You know the rules of Hexi Road. Don't go where you shouldn't. If they wander off and go somewhere they shouldn't... you'll be held responsible too!"

The officer guarding the city spoke in a cold voice, and Li Ming hurriedly bowed repeatedly to make a promise.

"My God, even the most ordinary soldiers here are wearing iron armor!" Pusmi himself didn't realize that his voice had become much softer.

He lowered his voice, as if he were doing something wrong.

Su Fuyang nodded. They were unaware that these Tang soldiers were not wearing iron armor at all, but rather steel armor, including heavy heavy armor and fish-scale armor made of steel plates.

The majesty of the Tang Dynasty was certainly not something that the Sassanid Persians and these merchants from the Western Regions dared to challenge, but this did not mean that the Western Regions were peaceful at the time; the Western Regions were too vast.

Moreover, with the frequent trade in the Tang Dynasty, the number of foreign merchants traveling this trade route has changed dramatically compared to just one or two years ago.

There will always be some desperate people who would rather die than give up money.

“Sufuyan, I think we may need to purchase a batch of weapons from the Tang Dynasty... if they are willing to sell them.”

Pusmi said.

After a thorough search, the entire caravan finally entered the city.

Then Li Ming had no choice but to follow the route set by the government office, carrying the goods and valuables he had brought back from the outside trade, and head towards a government office that bore the sign "Great Tang Hexi Circuit Customs Office".

The sign is in several languages, including Turkic, Uyghur, and Persian...

Su Fuyang and the others didn't know what Li Ming was going to do. Then they saw Tang officials holding paper and pens come out and start asking them to open the boxes one by one.

Everyone in Li Ming's caravan did as instructed.

Immediately afterwards, boxes of gold and silver coins of different styles, as well as various jewels, stunned the customs interns who had only recently arrived.

"Holy crap!" and similar phrases were heard more than once by Su Fuyang and his companions from Li Ming and his group on their way to the Tang Dynasty, and were also uttered by several minor officials.

Immediately afterwards, they saw several Tang Dynasty officials wearing silk robes come out.

"Lord Wu, these are all the proceeds from our trade with Arab countries. These are the goods I sold, along with the customs clearance documents and the actual selling prices of each item."

Li Ming respectfully handed the document to the official in front of him.

The latter pulled him aside, pointed to the huge box of gold coins, and his voice was inevitably a little hoarse.

"These... these are all profits from your business dealings?!"

Li Ming understood his shock, nodded slightly, and then briefly recounted what had happened during his trip to Arabia.

A customs official surnamed Wu muttered to himself, "This clock is actually worth that much? That's outrageous... Forty percent tax... I feel like that's still too little."

Li Ming's forehead was sweating, and the official surnamed Wu gently shook his head.

"Alright, don't be nervous. I was just speaking off the cuff. The amount of commercial tax is determined by official documents. Since the magistrate above said that special commodities like clocks and watches would be subject to a 40% commercial tax, then it will naturally be 40%."

"Someone, let's begin the tax reconciliation registration!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pulled the official to the camel carts at the back of the convoy.

Pointing to those few date palm saplings that were preserved in excellent condition.

"My lord, I also brought back some local specialty crops on this business trip. This tree is a special species in the area that can bear fruit, such as jujubes from the Central Plains... In addition, there are some local vegetable varieties."

The official surnamed Wu nodded: "Alright, I will have someone register you. As long as you send the items to Taiyuan Prefecture, the professors and instructors at the Agricultural College of the Imperial University there will say that the items are useful. Then you can take the official documents to the Department of Commerce to exchange for a partial tax refund."

Upon hearing this, Li Ming was overjoyed and bowed repeatedly.

Although the Customs Administration was a relatively new department established in the Tang Dynasty.

However, thanks to the various discussions and decisions made by Crown Prince Li Chengqian and numerous officials throughout the night, the systems and procedures were already quite comprehensive.

Pusmi and Sufyan also carried a lot of goods with their caravan, mainly items such as cloves, coral, and ivory products, which are the main products sold by Arab merchants.

They quickly completed the registration at the customs office and received their temporary travel permits within the Tang Dynasty.

"Gentlemen, your temporary travel permits are for business purposes only. They only allow you to stay in the Tang Dynasty for a maximum of three months. If you wish to stay longer, you will need to go to the government office and pay to apply for an extension."

As they emerged from the customs office, Li Ming's Arabic translator, Ravaha, wore a smug expression.

The travel permit in his hand was a "talent travel permit." Because the Tang Dynasty had recently recruited a large number of highly skilled talents like Lavaha, he could not only stay in the Tang Dynasty for more than two years with this travel permit.

Furthermore, provided they had no criminal record within two years, they could apply for citizenship in the Tang Dynasty by working for a merchant or government agency.

Ravaha puffed out his chest, head held high, and swayed his head, causing Sufyan and Pusmi, who were holding their respective travel permits, to exchange a glance, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.

People like them, who are considered important figures in the Arab world, actually have restrictions on the time they can stay in the Tang Dynasty?!

Li Ming walked over and looked at the group.

"I need to send the spoils I brought back from this trade trip back to my family first, so we need to go to Longyou Road first, and then we can turn into Hedong Road to Taiyuan Prefecture. So you will need to follow me for a while."

Of course, neither of them dared to say no.

As long as Li Ming has a way to get them to meet the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he'll let them do anything.

Perfect timing! They can also take this opportunity to see the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

After successfully paying taxes and registering, the caravan entered the country and headed towards the Western Continent along the official roads, some of which were already built and others that were still under expansion and repair.

As they got closer to the former Gaochang region, the cotton fields once again broadened Su Fuyang and his companions' understanding. The Tang Dynasty merchants coming and going, as well as the soldiers stationed there who were probably on holiday, made them unconsciously show a docile attitude.

So wealthy...

"How did they manage to do that? Why are their roads so smooth, like solid stones? And that mud... If we could bring it back, we could easily build castles and watchtowers, and those damned Muslims wouldn't have a chance to run rampant..."

Pusmi's voice was laced with a hint of gritted teeth as he spoke.

However, Sufyan was more concerned about the busy farms along the roadside.

Especially those slaves.

Very well, it seems that the Tang Dynasty's monarchs do not agree with the concept of equality proposed by that bastard Muhammad. Slaves should be slaves, how can they be on equal footing with their masters?

Slaves are the property of slave owners and should not be classified as human beings.

The sound of whips cracking through the air made the Harsha slaves working in the fields tremble and quicken their pace.

But in a daze, Sufyan seemed to hear the war drums of his counterattack against the Muslims, to reclaim Mecca, and to regain his supreme position.

He quickened his pace and came to Pusmi's side in the group.

"It seems the Tang Dynasty doesn't lack our spices and ivory, but they are very interested in slaves who can work. I think I already know how to reach a cooperation agreement with the Tang Dynasty..."

As the caravan entered the Longyou Road from the Hexi Road, they saw more and more farms and ranchers of the Tang Dynasty along the way, as well as more and more Harsha slaves working in the fields. This gave them even more confidence in trading slaves with the Tang Dynasty.

"The price of black slaves is still quite good," Pusmi commented.

The Jie Ri slaves of the Tang Dynasty were similar to welfare programs provided by the government to the people, used to support the country's agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as dangerous industries that required a large number of low-skilled laborers.

Therefore, the price was generally between ten and thirty taels for an adult slave.

However, a strong black slave, or what the Tang people called a Kunlun slave, could be sold for at least 100 taels of silver.

If the physique is even more robust, it can even sell for 300 taels.

This price and profit margin are much more lucrative than selling spices and corals from such a long distance.

The two of them were thinking greedily.

The main problem now is how to sell large numbers of slaves to the distant Tang Dynasty...