Thief Emperor

Chapter 957 Emperor Li's Artifact
It has been more than seven years since the establishment of the Li Tang Dynasty. Up to now, except for Youyan and Liaodong, the rest can be said to be unified.

Contact with a number of nearby countries also began in the second year of Zhangwu. By now, a number of nearby countries have basically recognized that the New Tang has replaced the Old Zhou and become the legitimate government in the world.

And, as a matter of course, they sent envoys to pay homage to the new king.

This naturally includes the island nation of Japan.

Originally, when the first monarch of a country was founded, he should have welcomed these vassal states to come and pay tribute. After all, the most important political need of the founder of a new dynasty is actually to be recognized. Therefore, in the early years of the dynasty, foreign envoys who came to pay tribute would often receive very generous rewards.

After the establishment of the tribute system, when these vassal states came to pay tribute, the rewards they received were often far higher than what they paid as tribute.

For the suzerain state, these are just small amounts of money, and face is the most important thing.

So the tribute system, to some extent, is just paying for face.

But Emperor Li was an exception, he was a pragmatist.

During the court visit in the second year of Zhangwu, he did give corresponding rewards to these vassal states, but he also agreed on some trade-related regulations with them.

For example, glass.

In fact, it is glass.

Li Yun had already started working with glass as early as when he was in the southeast. Up to now, there were Liulichangs in Luoyang and Nanjing that were owned by the imperial court, and palace servants were stationed in them to manage them.

In recent years, these glass products have been sold in large quantities to these vassal states, making a lot of money.

Of course, there is no such thing as making money between countries. What Li Tang actually obtained from these vassal states through glass products was a large amount of raw materials and means of production.

For example, food, cloth, and precious metals such as gold, silver and copper.

Although he made a lot of money, Emperor Li still felt a little uncomfortable with the island of Japan. In recent times, he has been eyeing this island country.

At this time, hearing that the envoy from Japan had arrived, Emperor Li thought for a while, then put down the brush in his hand, looked up at his eldest daughter in front of him, his face looking a little unhappy.

"At his age, it's time for him to make achievements. What's wrong with letting him go out and exercise? Do you want him to stay in Luoyang forever?"

Emperor Li groaned, "When your father was this age..."

Princess Lujiang also snorted: "Dad, when you were his age, were you still in the mountains?"

As the Li Tang Dynasty stabilized, the emperor's deeds began to spread widely, and stories about Emperor Li could be found everywhere, all over the world.

The most widely circulated version now is that Emperor Li lived in Lijia Village, Qingyang County in his early years. Later, he met a Taoist priest who took the emperor to Cangshan Mountain to study literature and martial arts.

When the emperor was twenty years old, the Taoist calculated that the world would be in chaos, so he let the emperor go down the mountain to save the people and end the chaos.

After the emperor came down from the mountain, he spent ten years to pacify the princes and put down the wars, and the world was finally at peace.

This version of the story has taken on a certain mythological quality, and it is naturally not circulated in this way within the Li family. Although no one dared to tell the princess about the emperor's past deeds, she has more or less heard some things about them over the years.

Today, Su Zhan is only seventeen or eighteen years old, and when the Emperor was his age, he was still the leader of Li Village on Cangshan Mountain.

Emperor Li was startled, then he smiled dumbly and shook his head, saying, "You are so bold, girl."

"Who else dares to talk to me like you?"

Princess Lujiang walked up to Li Yun with a smile, stretched out her hand to press his temple, and then said in a tender voice: "If everyone is afraid of Dad, then there is no point."

Emperor Li was obviously very fond of this. After closing his eyes and enjoying the massage from his eldest daughter for a while, he said, "Father wants him to go to Hebei Province. Even if he doesn't go to the battlefield, just suffering a little will be good for his future."

"Give him a year or so of experience in the military camp, and then you will be able to see his character clearly."

At this point, Li Yun looked back at his daughter and said, "After he comes back, if you still act like this, your father will not interfere with you, but you must say hello to your mother and your mother consort."

"Let them know."

In the Li family, or in Li Yun's small family, the people with the best relationship are Queen Xue, Liu Su, and Lu Huan.

For a long time, the three of them and Li Yun were a family.

Until now, Empress Xue and the two imperial concubines are very close to each other's children. Princess Lujiang can be said to have been raised by Empress Xue and Imperial Concubine Lu together.

Moreover, according to etiquette and rules, her two mothers should be informed of this matter first.

Princess Lujiang looked at her father, blinked her eyes, and said aggrievedly: "Father, a year is too long. What if he comes back from Hebei Province and the weather is not good?"

Emperor Li snorted, "That means you are just children playing tricks now. Let's leave it at that."

Princess Lujiang pursed her lips, but after all she was closer to Li Yun, so after snorting twice, she did not dare to object.

However, she looked around in Ganlu Hall, and finally walked to the weapon rack in the corner of Ganlu Hall, picked up a large black spear with both hands, and then returned to Li Yun with the spear, saying: "Father, this weapon has been placed here but you don't use it. Silang is going to go to the battlefield, so give it to him."

Emperor Li was already reviewing documents with his head down at this moment. When he looked up, he was almost furious.

"Nonsense!" Emperor Li raised his eyebrows and shouted, "This is a weapon that has been with my father for nearly 20 years. You are so generous, girl, that you want to give it away!"

He said angrily, "Why don't you send your father away as well?"

Princess Lujiang put the spear back in disappointment, took out a large bow, and looked back at her father.

At this time, Emperor Li was already standing behind her, and said with a dark face: "When your father rescued your mother, I used this bow."

The eldest princess quickly put the bow back and turned around to look at Emperor Li pitifully.

His Majesty the Emperor sighed and said with a wry smile, "He is the son of the Su family. The Su family has been a military family for generations. His father is even the Privy Councilor of the imperial court. The weapons and armor in his family are not worse than what your father has."

As he spoke, Emperor Li also walked to the weapons rack, picked up the spear, weighed it in his hand, and sighed, "My father is now trapped in this palace, and I have to rely on these things to keep him company."

The eldest princess was originally joking with her father. Upon hearing this, she quickly waved her hands and said, "Father, I'm just joking with you."

"I don't want your things."

Li Yun looked up at the weapons and armor on the weapon rack, slightly distracted.

These old things of his are not magical weapons, but if Su Zhan brought them to the battlefield, Meng Qing and those old brothers would probably recognize them at a glance.

By then, it will be a magical artifact.

After being lost in thought for a while, he took a standard long sword from the weapon rack, handed it to the eldest princess, and said, "This is the sword that your father used for several years after the Jiangdong Army was established. If you want to give him something, just give it to him."

"At least this thing can't be recognized by others."

Seeing his daughter take it, he reached out and touched Li Shu's head, shook his head and sighed: "Time flies too fast."

"In the blink of an eye, my son has grown so big."

Princess Lujiang heard this, hugged Emperor Li's arm, and said a few coquettish words, then she asked in a tender voice: "Father, how did you know that I went out to look for Silang?"

She blinked and asked, "Who told you that?"

Li Yun was about to answer subconsciously, but when the words came to his lips, he stopped and shook his head, saying, "I promised him that I can't tell you."

"It's my uncle, right?"

Princess Lujiang gritted her teeth and said, "It must be him."

"I trusted him so much!"

Emperor Li smiled in silence, stood up and shook his head, saying, "Father has official business to attend to, you can go and play by yourself."

After saying this, he put his hands behind his back and strode out of the Ganlu Palace.

The eldest princess held Emperor Li's sword and skipped all the way to the harem to find her mother and aunt.

Her aunt Lu Lang entered the palace in the second year of Zhangwu and is now also the emperor's concubine. She gave birth to a son for the emperor in the fourth year of Zhangwu.

He is the seventh son of the current emperor.

…………

Hanyuan Hall.

This is the place where the Tang Dynasty receives foreign guests. At this time, His Majesty the Emperor has changed into casual clothes and is sitting in the main seat.

In front of him, the Khitan envoy Yelu Mao knelt down respectfully and kowtowed in obeisance.

"I, Yelu Mao, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

Li Yun looked at him and smiled faintly: "In the past five years, this is your third visit to Luoyang, right?"

Yelu Mao bowed his head respectfully and said, "Yes, I am a foreign minister in our department and I speak Chinese best."

"Therefore, my Khan has sent a foreign minister to come and meet your Majesty."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I heard that among the Khitan tribe, the one who speaks Chinese best is actually the Khitan Khan."

"I wonder when he will come to Luoyang to see me?"

Yelu Mao bowed his head and said, "As long as the foreign ministers can reach an agreement with Your Majesty, I, the Khan, will come to Luoyang immediately."

He looked up at Li Yun, then lowered his head again.

"Worship the Emperor."

(End of this chapter)