Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 8 Father, I have doubts

Steady footsteps were heard from the entrance of Taiji Hall, and Li Chengqian looked at the newcomer with a little curiosity.

The Tubo Prime Minister Lu Dongzan was wearing a red and yellow Tibetan robe, adorned with rosary beads and Buddhist amulets, had a dark brown face, and had long hair in a high bun.

He walked in from outside the Taiji Hall with a solemn expression, holding a long brown box covered with Sanskrit characters in his hands.

Lu Dongzan walked very steadily, with an extremely pious expression on his face. He looked like an extremely devout ascetic monk.

However, Li Chengqian knew that Buddhism had recently been introduced to Tubo from India.

After all, Tubo was established not long ago.

However, Lu Dongzan's appearance of favoring Buddhism made Li Chengqian even more vigilant.

In his previous life, he did not have much contact with this Tubo Prime Minister who seemed to be as respectful to the Tang Dynasty. However, in Li Qian's limited historical memories, it was clearly written that after the death of the Tubo King Songtsen Gampo, it was Lu Dongzan who assisted the young Tubo King in taking charge of the government, and then went all the way down the plateau and directly annexed the East and West Tuyuhun, thus threatening the border of the Tang Dynasty.

After his death, his son Lun Qinling took over the position of Prime Minister of Tubo and began to frequently attack the borders of the Tang Dynasty, even competing for the Western Regions, and finally led to the defeat of the Tang Dynasty in Dafeichuan.

Since then, the Tang Dynasty has never won again on the plateau.

Li Chengqian's gaze swept across the young Gar Qinling standing behind Lu Dongzan. Although he was dressed the same as Lu Dongzan, there was a hint of the Tang Dynasty air in his walk.

After all, Gar Qinling had studied abroad at the Imperial College.

Li Chengqian's gaze fell back on Lu Dongzan. Compared to the young Gar Qinling, the more experienced Lu Dongzan is Li Chengqian's biggest enemy in the future.

The northwest land, Tubo and Tuyuhun.

The Four Towns of Anxi.

"Your Majesty, Gar Dongzan, the envoy of the Tubo Kingdom, pays homage to the Heavenly Khan, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. I respectfully wish the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty a long life, a long and strong dynasty, and long live him!" Lu Dongzan kowtowed solemnly.

Gar Qinling also kowtowed at the same time.

Li Chengqian turned around slightly and glanced at the imperial couch.

……

Li Shimin looked at Lu Dongzan calmly and nodded, saying, "Hasn't your name been appointed Prime Minister of Tubo? Why don't you call yourself Lu Dongzan?"

Lu Dongzan kowtowed respectfully once more, and then said with extraordinary sincerity: "In front of Your Majesty, I am always the humble Gar Dongzan."

"Haha!" Li Shimin couldn't help laughing, then raised his hand and said, "Stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lu Dongzan bowed and stood up. In fact, he had only been the prime minister for a few months.

The previous prime minister plotted treason and was eventually forced to commit suicide, which led to his succession.

The emperor leaned back slightly, his eyes fell on Lu Dongzan, and asked calmly, "Is Songzan okay?"

"Your Majesty, the Zamp originally planned to come to Chang'an in person to propose marriage, but due to some frictions on the border with Yangtong and the tense situation, he was unable to come to Chang'an in person. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." After saying this, Lu Dongzan and Gar Qinling knelt down at the same time.

Li Shimin looked at Lu Dongzan calmly, his eyes narrowed slightly.

After dealing with Tubo for so long, Li Shimin also knew a lot about the style of the Tibetans.

The so-called marriage proposal is nothing more than asking for marriage verbally first. If the other party refuses, the other party will be forced to agree by sending troops.

Songtsen Gampo also used this method in the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately, when he attacked Songzhou, he was severely beaten by General Niu Jinda of the Left Guard.

You should know that the Tang Dynasty only began to mobilize troops after Songtsen Gampo's surprise attack on Songzhou.

Niu Jinda was only the vanguard of the army. On his flank was the Right General Liu Lan, and behind him was the Right General Zhishisili, the commander-in-chief of the Bailandao Army.

Further behind him was the Minister of Personnel, Hou Junji, the commander-in-chief of the Dangmi Dao army.

When Songtsen Gampo learned that Niu Jinda, who defeated him, was only the vanguard of the army, and that Zhishisili and Hou Junji behind him were even more ferocious generals, he felt terrified, sweating profusely, and even had his hair standing on end. He then withdrew his troops overnight.

The sneer on the emperor's face faded slightly.

Today's marriage proposal may be a bit threatening.

There's been friction on the border with Yangtong, so they're planning to annex Yangtong...

"I have no control over Tubo's affairs." Li Shimin leaned back calmly and said softly, "But it's not so easy to marry a Tang princess."

"So, the Zamp asked the foreign minister to present a deed to the Hongshan Palace, five thousand taels of gold, and three hundred treasures of various kinds in exchange for the princess of the Tang Dynasty." Lu Dongzan raised the brown wooden box in his hand high.

"Hongshan Palace?" The emperor was a little confused. What was Hongshan Palace?

"Red Mountain is the highest peak in Lhasa. The Zamp's palace and official residence are all located at the foot of Red Mountain." Lu Dongzan bowed solemnly and said, "To marry the Tang princess, the Zamp built a grand palace with a thousand rooms on Red Mountain for the princess to live in. I now present the deed to the Red Mountain Palace to Your Majesty." Li Shimin said with a hint of amusement, "Songtsen offered the mountain behind his palace as a betrothal gift to marry my princess. So, can I go to Lhasa to get this land back?"

"If your majesty sends people to take it, no one will resist. Hongshan Palace belongs to your majesty, to the Tang Dynasty, and to Her Royal Highness the Princess. This is the greatest sincerity of the Zamp." Lu Dongzan kowtowed solemnly, and the whole hall was silent.

Li Chengqian's expression suddenly became solemn. This Tibetan king was indeed not an ordinary person!
If it were him, he would jump for joy if he thought that the Goguryeo palace belonged to him, even if it was thousands of miles away.

Of course, Goguryeo is Goguryeo and Tubo is Tubo.

With such a land deed, if it were Goguryeo, they could do a lot of things, but for Tubo, which is far away in the depths of the plateau, they could do nothing.

All talk and no action.

This Tubo king really took this tactic to the extreme.

"Songtsen's words make it difficult for me to refuse!" Sitting on the imperial couch, the emperor's voice hesitated.

Lu Dongzan kowtowed again and said, "If the Tang Dynasty can marry a princess to me, our country will be grateful to the Heavenly Khan for his kindness, which is as great as the sky, shining like the sun and the moon, and covering the heavens and the earth. We are unable to repay him. We are willing to pay tribute and come to the court every year, and be a vassal of the Tang Dynasty forever. Our descendants will respect and serve the great country."

"We will pay tribute every year and come to the court every year. We will always be the vassal of the Tang Dynasty, and our descendants will respect and serve the great country." The emperor's mumbling voice came from above. Li Chengqian's eyes turned calmly, and the faces of the ministers in the hall were already full of surprise and joy.

If Tubo were to remain a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty forever, paying tribute and coming to the court every year, then the Jiannan and Longyou regions of the Tang Dynasty would no longer pose a threat.

The Turks on the northern grasslands had completely fallen apart after Jie Li was captured in the fourth year of Zhenguan.

In the ninth year of Zhenguan, the Tuyuhun people living on the shores of Qinghai Lake were completely subdued after being beaten from south to north and from east to west by the Tang Dynasty.

The only ones left were the Tibetans who had attacked Songzhou in Shu in the 12th year of Zhenguan. Although they quickly sent envoys to apologize after withdrawing from Dangxiang, Bailang Qiang, Tuyuhun and other places, everyone could see their wolfish ambitions. If they surrendered now, the northwest of the Tang Dynasty would be completely stable.

The troops stationed there could also be appropriately redeployed to reduce military expenditures, or even redirected to...

Li Chengqian sighed in his heart. Even these famous ministers in the court would probably find it difficult to see through the real threat to the Tang Dynasty in the west in the future.

Tubo was only using marriage alliances to buy time for growth. Once they completely annexed Yangtong and Tuyuhun, they would immediately threaten the four towns of Anxi and even annex the Silk Road.

If they succeed, the annual income of the Tang Dynasty will immediately be reduced by one third.

Good trick, but...

"My Lords!" the Emperor's voice came from above. All the ministers bowed their heads. The Emperor calmly asked, "What do you think of this matter?"

All the ministers held their tablets in awe.

Finally, the Minister of the Left, Fang Xuanling, stepped forward holding a hu tablet and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is acceptable!"

Li Shimin nodded slightly and looked at the ministers again. He couldn't help but look at Wei Zheng.

At this moment, Wei Zheng stood up with his hu hu in hand and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is not possible!"

In the Taiji Hall, the emperor, his ministers, and the Tibetan Prime Minister Lu Dongzan all looked at Wei Zheng.

Even Li Chengqian was extremely surprised.

Wei Zheng held his hu tablet and bowed, his face solemn as he said, "Your Majesty, the Tibetan King Songtsen married Monsa Chijiang nine years ago and had a son. Last year, Songtsen married Princess Chizun, the daughter of the King of Nepal. I remember it was Grand Chancellor Lu Dongzan who went to marry him. Songtsen already has two wives and one son. If a Tang princess marries him, how will he be treated?"

"Of course it's the Queen's etiquette. The other two concubines all respect the Queen." Lu Dongzan bowed solemnly.

As he lowered his head, his eyes were filled with horror.

It was not surprising that the Tang Dynasty had heard about the Zamp's marriage to a concubine nine years ago. However, ever since the Songzhou incident the year before last, the relationship between the two sides had become very bad, with trade and travel almost cut off. So how did they know that the Zamp had married Princess Chizun last year, and that he had personally gone to marry her?
The Tang Dynasty had spies in Tubo, and they were buried very deeply...

"The Tang princess shall be the queen of Tubo. This shall be written into the marriage certificate." The emperor's cold voice came from above. Lu Dongzan kowtowed and said, "Your Excellency obeys my order."

Li Shimin looked at the ministers again and asked, "Do you have any other opinions on this matter?"

The ministers were in awe. Wei Zheng's beating was tacitly approved by the emperor, and the rest was natural...

"Your Majesty, I have a doubt!" Li Chengqian calmly held the tablet and bowed.

As Lu Dongzan kowtowed below, his eyes changed.

After they arrived in Chang'an, they had to pay their respects to the important officials, especially the King of Wei, who had been the most popular recently.

But unfortunately, the prince was missing.

Now, revenge has come.

(End of this chapter)