In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

All eyes turned to them.

"There are many Daben herbs on Kuye Mountain, but that is the private territory of the Tamu people. To collect the herbs, you have to go through them."

"Mount Kuye?"

Li Yuanchang frowned and quickly found a map.

"Your Highness is here!" Murong Ji said quickly.

Looking at it, Li Yuanchang saw that it was a plateau located on the western edge of Tuyuhun, not too high, with an estimated altitude of about three thousand meters.

However, to get here, one needs to go behind the line of control of the Tibetan army, which carries certain risks.

"The Tamu tribe, what's their background?" he asked.

The Tibetan doctor said, "It is a high-ranking surname in Tibet, originating more than two hundred years ago. They live in the territory of Tuyuhun and are ruled by a small number of pure-blooded Tibetan descendants. The rest are all their slaves."

"They are also the largest ethnic group in the area, and they have a lot of influence, with about two thousand people."

"They own the entire Kuye Mountain."

Li Yuanchang frowned: "Do we really have to go through them?"

"It's necessary. Their people are stationed in the mountains, and no one is allowed to enter. Deep in the mountains, there are many Daben plants, which are one of their important resources and a major medicine in Tibetan medicine. They are guarded."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang frowned, feeling troubled.

The high-ranking Tibetan families were used to bullying and oppressing the Tang Dynasty; cooperation was simply out of the question.

If they launch a direct assault, and word gets out, the entire Tibetan army will come out in force. After all, this is behind enemy lines, and the area is unfamiliar to them, making the risk too high.

"Besides here, is there anywhere else?"

The Tibetan doctors exchanged glances, their faces showing difficulty, and shook their heads in unison.

"I only know it's here."

"Otherwise, we can try our luck on other plateaus. If we're lucky, we might find ten or eight trees."

Li Yuanchang took a deep breath.

Ten or eight plants won't make a difference.

He didn't speak, but after considering for a long time, he said, "Take them away first."

"yes!"

Guo Chao led the man away, and the palace fell silent.

Li Yuanchang stared at the map for a long time, trying to find a foolproof plan to obtain Rhodiola rosea.

From a military perspective, however, there is almost no foolproof plan. First of all, Dayan Mangbuzhi's army is still holed up in various high-altitude areas and can launch a surprise attack at any time.

Secondly, the Tamu tribe is too close to the Tibetan mainland, an area that the Far East Army scouts have not yet reached, and no one knows what the situation is there.

If we go there and there are still troops stationed there, it would be like lambs to the slaughter.

At this moment, Murong Ji suddenly said, "Your Highness, I have a plan, but I don't know if I should tell you."

Li Yuanchang raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

"Tell me about it?"

Murong Ji mustered her courage: "Your Highness, there are many such ethnic groups along the border between Tibet and Tuyuhun, and they are relatively loosely organized."

"Even though the Tamu tribe is a high-ranking noble family in Tibet, the more noble a family is, the more greedy they are."

"It would be better to send some people with Tibetan ancestry from within the Tuyuhun territory to purchase them, or even bribe them directly."

"This way, we can avoid the risk of entering enemy territory."

Li Yuanchang frowned: "Is it feasible?"

"The other party belongs to a high-ranking Tibetan family. If they know they were sent by me, wouldn't they refuse to inform me?"

Murong Ji said seriously, "Your Highness, money can make the devil turn the millstone."

"At worst, I'll just disguise myself and not reveal my real identity."

"On the plateau, resources are scarce, and they desperately need trade."

"Under normal circumstances, I think it's feasible."

After considering it for a moment, Li Yuanchang decisively blurted out, "Okay!"

"Let's do as you say and give it a try."

He didn't want to risk his soldiers' lives. If something could be solved with money, it wasn't a problem. If he could get Rhodiola rosea to alleviate altitude sickness and completely drive the Tibetan army out of Tuyuhun, the benefits would be far greater than any amount of supplies.

"..."

The next day, Li Yuanchang joined forces with Murong Khan and found a group of reliable Tuyuhun people with Tibetan blood.

They disguised themselves as merchants from Tuyuhun, bypassed the war zone, and carried large amounts of gold, silver, and supplies to Kuyeshan for procurement.

Tibetan nobles loved gold the most and had the scarcest resources such as salt and cloth. Li Yuanchang spared no expense in obtaining these items, all in order to acquire Rhodiola rosea.

To cover the operation, Li Yuanchang even ordered his troops to provide support, launching a large-scale operation around Qinghai Lake in the north and releasing smoke bombs to attract the attention of Dayan Mangbuzhi's troops.

In fact, Li Yuanchang was quite confident after the team set off.

When two countries are at war, many merchants will secretly trade with each other. Murong Ji is right; money makes the world go round.

At least by not revealing their true identities and using the identity of a Tuyuhun merchant as an intermediary for transactions, the chances of success are high.

But about ten days later, in early October.

A message brought back by a Far East Army scout shattered all of Li Yuanchang's hopes.

"What did you say?" Li Yuanchang's voice rose, tinged with anger.

"Your Highness, the Tibetans from the Tamu tribe have kowtowed to our people and stolen all our goods, claiming that we have trespassed into their restricted area."

"They also demand an additional three thousand bolts of cloth to ransom our people; otherwise, they threaten to execute them."

A soldier disguised as a Tuyuhun soldier wailed and tremblingly handed over a box.

Guo Chao took it, and when he opened it, he was so frightened that he trembled and the box fell to the ground. Inside was a whole bloody hand.

Everyone present was stunned.

Murong Ji vomited on the spot.

Li Yuanchang's face immediately darkened, his anger flared, and he clenched his fists.

"You bastard!"

"You greedy thing, you don't know what's good for you!"

"Guards!" he roared.

"Your humble servant is here!" The generals clasped their hands in greeting.

Li Yuanchang had already decided to kill him; if soft tactics didn't work, then he would resort to hard ones.

At this moment, the person who had returned hurriedly said, "Your Highness, wait a moment. The situation of the Tamu tribe seems to be somewhat different from what we know."

"The area is currently experiencing a natural disaster, with landslides and blocked roads, making it unsuitable for large-scale military operations."

"Furthermore, it seems that the one in charge there now is not the Tibetans, but a goddess from the Bon religion of Tibet."

"She seemed to be tasked with calming the people, and arrived at the Tamu tribe from Lhasa, seemingly intending to recruit militia on the front lines to fight against the Tang Dynasty."

Li Yuanchang squinted: "Goddess?"

"What goddess?"

Even those who returned didn't know.

Murong Ji suddenly thought of something: "Your Highness, it should be a kind of divine position, one of the nine goddesses of the Bon religion, with a higher status than ordinary shamans."

"Legend has it that they were the nine daughters of the Bon religion's creator goddess, Sadhu Aisang. They held prominent positions and were the pillars of stability for the people of Tibet."

"They are responsible for protecting livestock, mountains, rivers, and so on."

"With such a person here, the deal will probably be difficult." Murong Ji looked guilty, as she hadn't known beforehand.

Li Yuanchang frowned.

He doesn't believe in any of those bullshit creator gods; they're just something created to control people's minds.

Historically, Bon religion was far more bloody and evil than the Tibetan Empire during the period when Buddhism was dominant.

However, in the theocratic Tibetan system, this goddess must have been of a very high rank, and her followers were probably countless.