Great Tang princess

Chapter 313 The Bottom Line of Negotiation

The representative of the Tubo envoy, Zhong Cong, sorted out his appearance outside the hall, and then he raised his leg and entered the hall, saluting very respectfully: "I have seen His Majesty the Emperor!"

Li Zhi on the dragon chair raised his hand slightly: "Excuse me."

The voice sounded weak, revealing a little laziness, but the majesty of the emperor was not lacking at all.

Zhong Cong got up and stood there respectfully.Li Zhi waved his hand and asked Zhang Chengxin to call.

The content of this imperial edict is very simple. When translated into vernacular, it actually reads: You were the ones who started looking for trouble first, and you deserve it if you beat me up!Get ready for compensation after you go back, and send it over obediently!
Zhong Cong did not express any objection. According to the normal process, he proposed specific matters that he wanted to discuss compensation, and the emperor waved his hand and agreed.

The next thing is the matter of the Ministry of Rites, but everyone in the court knows very well that this time Tubo may be bleeding heavily.

Then Zhang Chengxin announced loudly that he would let Lunqin Mausoleum have an audience.

Today's Lun Qinling is a sinner who was tied in. Two soldiers in black military uniforms held his arms, one on the left and one on the right, and brought him to Zhong Cong.

The two looked at each other with complicated expressions.

Then he saluted at Qinling: "I have seen His Majesty the Emperor!"

Li Zhi raised his eyelids, and said slowly: "Er... as the prime minister of Tubo, but you have repeatedly invaded our Tang Dynasty, the result of today is because of you..."

Listening to Li Zhi's lesson, Lun Qinling didn't say a word, but just listened obediently.

Anyway, he has been a king and a loser since ancient times. Now that he is arrested here, he is a loser, and he has no qualifications to refute.

After Li Zhi finished speaking, Zhong Cong saluted and said, "Emperor, this person is my Prime Minister of Tubo after all, I hope..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Zhi: "As soon as I met him, I don't need to go back. It just so happens that when I have nothing to do, I can talk to me about the customs of Tubo..."

Such a result was not beyond Zhong Cong's expectations. As the prime minister of Tubo, Lun Qinling knew too many core secrets of Tubo, and the Emperor of Tang Dynasty could not easily let him go back.

Unless all the secrets in him are squeezed out, he will never be let go!

Thinking of this, Zhong Cong also complained in his heart, can't you be loyal to Tubo after you have been arrested for so long?Why was he brought to Tang Ting alive?Don't you feel ashamed?
Looking at Zhong Cong's eyes, Lun Qinling felt a little guilty.

In fact, in the first few days when he was arrested, he really thought about committing suicide, mainly because he himself felt that Li Yuechen's attitude towards him was simply an insult to him.

However, the soldiers who were in charge of guarding him never gave him this chance. They really took turns guarding him for twelve hours, staring at him with wide eyes at night, so they wouldn't feel sleepy at all!

After a long time, the courage that I finally summoned up under the impulsiveness has long been worn out, and I can no longer summon up the courage to commit suicide.

Besides, Li Yuechen didn't let the soldiers torture him, and he ate so well every day. Under such circumstances, he naturally gradually got used to it.

Man is a highly adaptable animal. Maybe he thought about suicide at first, but when the impulsive energy passed, he thought about it carefully.

……

The court meeting didn't last long. Considering Li Zhi's health, he went down immediately after this matter was finished, and didn't say much about trivial matters.

Lun Qinling continued to be locked up in the barracks, and now that the expansion is almost done, it is no problem to make room for a cell.

Li Yuechen deliberately asked Geng Yunqiang to choose a room with a good view, where he could enjoy the light every day, install a fence, and lock him inside first.

And there must be soldiers guarding him day and night, every half an hour, and he must be watched carefully.

Lun Qinling holds many secrets about Tubo, and he must not be allowed to die before he is revealed!
After going to court, Li Zhi returned to the Hall of Renshou, and at the same time called a bunch of ministers to discuss the next negotiation.

Li Zhi took a cup of tea made by Zhang Chengxin, lay down on the rocking chair and said with a smile: "I won't participate in this matter, I just watch you discuss it."

The ministers looked at each other without speaking.

After all, the Ministry of Rites is mainly responsible for negotiating with the Tubo envoys.

The current Minister of Rites is Li Yuechen's cousin, Wu Chengsi.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Wu Chengsi, who was still very young for this position, looked at his aunt for help.

After all, he has just become Minister of the Ministry of Rites not long ago, and he is still not proficient in many tasks. It is really difficult for him to be responsible for such things as soon as he comes up this time.

Seeing his nephew's gaze, Wu Zetian sighed helplessly.

If it weren't for the fact that no one was available, it wouldn't be possible to put this second-rate thing in the position of Minister of Rites.

She picked up her teacup and took a sip, then said softly, "Taiping is the biggest contributor to this battle..."

Hearing this reminder, Wu Chengsi's eyes lit up, he immediately turned his head and saluted, "Please also ask Princess Zhen Guo to come down with me..."

"I won't participate in the negotiation." Li Yuechen waved his hand and directly interrupted what he said later.

Li Yuechen thinks he can't do this kind of thing, and if he says a word wrong, it may lead to serious consequences, so let's leave it to the people who are professional in the Ministry of Rites to do it.

Hearing this sentence, Wu Chengsi felt a little helpless, if the princess didn't participate, then what would happen to this matter?
But then I heard Li Yuechen say: "However, there is a bottom line in this palace. Tubo must be a vassal to the Tang Dynasty, make offerings every year, and at the same time carry out trade at the border... In addition, this war was provoked by them, so The land must be cede to compensation!"

From Li Yuechen's point of view, sooner or later Tubo will be merged into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, so it is better to take this opportunity to let them cut a piece of land first, and at the same time start to penetrate economically.

"Ceded land?" Wu Chengsi was a little surprised, "Your Highness, even if the land on the plateau is given to us, it will..."

"The place that is too high is not considered now," Li Yuechen shook his head, then turned his head and said, "Eunuch Zhang, here is the map."

"Your Highness, wait a moment." Zhang Chengxin agreed, and immediately ran to get the map.

After unfolding the map, Li Yuechen started from Yumen Pass and went down a straight line, connecting to Yizhou.

"This line is the boundary, east of Jishi Mountain, and merged into the territory of Tang Dynasty!" Li Yuechen stretched out a finger and clicked twice on the map, "This is the bottom line of the palace, the rest, you can see for yourself Let's talk!"

Looking down at the map, Wu Chengsi nodded: "Your Highness, I understand...just in case they disagree..."

"If you don't agree, keep fighting!" Li Yuechen replied firmly, "It just so happens that my old lady...cough, I want to go and drink tea with Zanpu!"

Hearing the princess's answer, Wu Chengsi didn't react a little bit. He didn't expect that the princess would propose such a condition.

He subconsciously looked up at his aunt, and found that Wu Zetian was drinking tea calmly, as if he didn't pay attention here.

He looked at the emperor again, he was also holding a teacup, and was rocking gently on the rocking chair with his eyes closed, but his face had a majestic smile that could only be seen on the emperor, revealing a majestic smile in satisfaction.

Although Wu Chengsi was not very smart, he was not a fool either. He immediately understood after seeing this scene, and immediately saluted Li Yuechen: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely settle this matter!"

"En!" Li Yuechen nodded.

Even though he said so, Li Yuechen didn't think that Tubo still had the courage to fight against him.

Although it was said that they were not completely wiped out in this battle, the remaining Tubo soldiers must have been scared.

It can be said that in Tubo nowadays, the word Princess Taiping is synonymous with demons, especially those soldiers who have experienced overwhelming explosions and tear gas bombs on their faces, it must be uncomfortable to think about it.

Once the current Tubo army tells them that they are going to fight against Princess Taiping of the Tang Dynasty, they will definitely start to have weak legs, vomiting or stomach pains and other symptoms instinctively.

This is called PTSD.

Therefore, Li Yuechen dared to be sure that the current Tubo couldn't refuse his own conditions at all, and could only obediently agree.

Take ten thousand steps back and say, even if he can still fight, then continue to fight!
Not to mention that once a powerful official like Lun Qinling is arrested, the people below will definitely start fighting for power.

Li Yuechen felt that if his guess was right, the current Tubo might have fallen into civil strife.If it were not for the consideration of a problem of altitude sickness, now is the best time to attack Tubo!
Now that Li Yuechen gave his bottom line, and the Emperor and Empress did not express any objection, Wu Chengsi's flustered state of mind immediately stabilized.

Tomorrow, we just need to stick to this bottom line and talk to them. Anyway, the princess said, if we can't reach an agreement, we will continue to fight.

With security, Wu Chengsi's waist, which was still somewhat bent, straightened up again.

……

After the matter was over, the ministers saluted and left one after another, Li Yuechen stayed with his parents.

"Now Chen'er has a bit of iron and blood from a soldier." Li Zhi said with a smile, "Not to mention, he really has a bit of the demeanor of the late emperor."

"I originally thought Grandpa would say that I surpassed the late emperor..." Li Yuechen laughed.

"Chen'er! Don't talk nonsense!" Wu Zetian taught.

Li Yuechen poured a cup of tea indifferently: "Aniang, don't parents want the future generations to be better than Lan because of Lan?"

Wu Zetian snorted coldly: "Don't you know that there is no great man who is a man of wealth?"

"Cough..." Li Yuechen felt that it was a mistake to argue with his mother, and immediately saluted respectfully: "Yes, my son knows his mistake!"

"Hahahaha..." Li Zhi suddenly laughed, "Chen'er's transparent nature has never changed since he was a child."

Seeing Li Yuechen's appearance, he couldn't help thinking about his daughter's various deeds when she was a child.

Even though her daughter has become a general now, leading troops to fight against Tubo and Turks, and gained a great reputation, but in the palace, she seems to have never grown up!
Seeing such a daughter, Li Zhi himself felt that time seemed to stand still, as if he hadn't aged either.

If it wasn't for her daughter being almost as tall as him now, if it wasn't for the growing number of white hairs on her head...

Seeing his daughter admitting his mistake and holding his wife's hand to make her happy, Li Zhi's nose was sour, and his eyes couldn't help but turn red.

At this moment, he was really scared, not because he was afraid of death itself, but because he was reluctant to part with his wife and daughter.

He still wants to accompany his wife to continue walking, and he also wants to watch his daughter make the future Datang more prosperous and beautiful...

It's a pity... I don't have much time left... I really miss them!

Pulling the blanket on his body, Li Zhi suddenly smiled and said: "Chen'er, I'm a little tired, you should go back first. Speaking of which, you haven't seen the re-photograph yet, have you?"

"Oh, it's true!" Li Yuechen agreed, and then came to Li Zhi's side and gave him a hug, "Then grandpa, rest well, I'll go shopping in the East Palace!"

Then he came to Wu Zetian who was still pretending to be angry, and slapped her on the face: "Mother, I'm leaving!"

"Hmph!" She snorted coldly, but did not answer.

It wasn't until her daughter ran out of the Hall of Renshou with a smile on her face that Wu Zetian couldn't help grinning: "This child, in this respect, has been the same since he was a child! I don't know who he followed..."

"I have been learning by myself since I was a child, so I can naturally retain the original appearance of a child..." Li Zhi replied with a smile.

Wu Zetian added a cup of tea for him: "Chen'er's bottom line is too obvious, this negotiation should be seen by the other party."

"No problem..." Li Zhi grinned indifferently, "Just like what Chen'er said, if you don't agree, you can continue to fight. Today's Datang is not afraid of these..."

"That's true..." Wu Zetian smiled, "Didn't Chen Er say that the truth is only within the range of weapons..."

……

After walking out of the Hall of Renshou, Li Yuechen walked towards the East Palace alone.

Speaking of which, it's the first time to visit your nephew, do you want to bring some gifts?But he is the grandson of the emperor, what do you want?
Think about it carefully or forget it, anyway, he still doesn't know anything now, gifts or something, let's talk about it when he grows up in the future.

Speaking of which, at the same time, do you want to take some free time to see the fourth brother's child?

The third brother Li Xian delayed the marriage due to some reasons, and the child was born later.The fourth brother already had a child two years ago, but he kept a low profile and didn't show off, and he was not a prince, so the emperor didn't pay much attention to it.

Li Yuechen occasionally went to play with his fourth brother, but he met him a few times, but not many times.

These days, no matter whether it is the emperor or the prince, they rarely raise children by themselves.

For example, the emperor, in most cases, the child was taken by the mother in the harem before it matured. The emperor would call to see it if he wanted to, but he would not raise it himself.

But there are exceptions, such as father Li Zhi.

Empress Changsun died early, so he and Princess Jinyang were brought up by the late emperor himself.

Perhaps because of this, the father also dotes on the children more, such as the eldest brother Li Hong, or himself.

The fourth brother feels the same way now, he seems to often play with the children, and he doesn't know if he is influenced by himself.

The age gap between Li Yuechen and the fourth brother is not very big, so when he was young, when he was playing with his parents, he would often take him with him.

I don't know if these experiences prompted him to change his mind and spend more time with his children.

Thinking of this, Li Yuechen decided to go to see the fourth brother after seeing the children of the third brother...

(End of this chapter)