Thief Emperor

Chapter 958 Establishing Rules

Yelu Mao was the nephew of Khitan Khan Yelu Yi.

Although he was a nephew, he was only five or six years younger than the Khitan Khan, and at that time he already held a high position in the Khitan tribe.

Starting from the third year of Zhangwu, he went on diplomatic missions to Luoyang many times on behalf of the Khitan Khan, and could be considered an old acquaintance of Emperor Li.

After Yelu Mao finished speaking, Li Yun laughed: "If he really dares to come, I admire his courage."

"If he really comes."

The smile on Li Yun's face faded: "I promise not to embarrass him and let him return safely."

Yelu Mao bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Yun narrowed his eyes and said, "Every time you come, your conditions are different. This time, the conditions should be different too, right? I'm very busy, so there's no need to beat around the bush. Just tell me straight."

Yelu Mao bowed his head and said yes, then said: "Your Majesty, I, the Khan, am willing to withdraw from Youzhou and Jizhou and return the land of the old Zhou to Your Majesty."

Emperor Li said "Oh" and said with a smile: "What are the conditions?"

Yelu Mao bowed his head and said, "The condition is that Your Majesty must recognize my Khan as the only Khitan Khan."

"Also, no more troops will be sent outside the Great Wall."

He bowed his head deeply and said: "From now on, my Khitan tribe is willing to be on good terms with the Tang Dynasty and will not offend each other again."

Li Yun was startled at first, then the smile on his face disappeared. He squinted his eyes, looked at Yelu Mao, and then said, "It seems that you two uncles and nephews know something."

Yelu Mao lowered his head and said, "It was only a few months ago that we realized that your majesty had a far-reaching plan."

He took a deep breath and said, "Since the reign of Emperor Zhaoding, Your Majesty has been in contact with our Khitan tribes, right?"

Li Yun looked unkind, but a smile appeared on his face: "You Khitans, do you trust me so much? If I agree to your request first, take back Youyan, and then turn my back on you, what will you do?"

"The foreign ministers and our Khan all believe in your Majesty's promise."

Yelu Mao bowed his head deeply and said, "Your Majesty's promise is worth a thousand gold, and everyone in the world knows it."

"but."

He looked up at Li Yun and continued, "In order to convince your majesty, I, a foreign minister, would like to ask for the marriage of a Tang princess on behalf of our Khan."

"As long as our two families conclude the marriage, the tribes within the Khitan tribe will no longer have any dissenting thoughts."

Yelu Mao bowed his head and said, "As soon as the Tang princess arrives in Youzhou, my troops will immediately withdraw from Youzhou and Jizhou and return the interior of the pass to Your Majesty."

Emperor Li's face turned pale with anger, and he said in a cold voice: "Your Khitan Khan is already in his forties or fifties? He came to ask to marry my princess?"

Yelu Mao was stunned and looked up at Li Yun, somewhat confused.

Because throughout history, age has never been an issue when it comes to marriage.

It's not a free love relationship. What does it matter if they are several dozen years apart in age? As long as they are married, that's enough.

In fact, in the eyes of the Khitan people, the Khitan Khan's proposal to marry Princess Li Tang was actually a demotion of his status. After all, if the marriage was completed, the Khitan Khan would become the son-in-law of the Tang emperor, and would be a generation shorter in vain.

Yelu Mao didn't understand what the emperor was thinking. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his head and said, "If your majesty feels that the age difference is too great, our Khan also has a son, and we can let the Khan's son marry your majesty's princess."

Li Yun sneered and didn't respond.

He stood up and said, "There's no need to talk about this. There's nothing to say."

"Go back and tell the Khitan Khan that I will only give him one way to go."

Emperor Li said in a stern voice: "Withdraw from the border immediately and no longer call yourself the Great Khan."

"I will confer titles of khan on the Khitan tribe, maybe two or three, and he will be one of the khans of the Khitan tribe at that time."

Yelu Mao was stunned and was about to speak when he heard Li Yun's cold voice: "Go back and tell him that if he doesn't listen to me, next spring, my Tang Dynasty will lead its troops north to fight him. If he is driven back outside the Great Wall, the court will no longer be able to make him Khan!"

Having said this, Emperor Li stood up and left.

Yelu Mao stood there, scratched his head, and felt a little overwhelmed. After a while, he had no choice but to turn around and leave Hanyuan Hall.

After Emperor Li returned to Ganlu Palace, he immediately ordered people to call Meng Hai to Ganlu Palace to wait for an audience. At the same time, he ordered people to invite Prime Minister Zhuo Guangrui and Minister of Personnel Tao Wenyuan to Ganlu Palace for a talk.

The Secretariat was very close, and the three prime ministers soon arrived at the Ganlu Hall. As soon as they entered, they heard Emperor Li ask in a deep voice: "Has the Ministry of Rites communicated with this Khitan envoy?"

Minister Tao also looked somewhat innocent, lowering his head and saying, "Your Majesty, you said that the Khitan people's affairs are important, and told the Ministry of Rites not to contact the Khitan envoys, and you should talk to them in person..."

Emperor Li was silent for a while after hearing this, and then he said in a deep voice: "Forget it, let's forget about this matter today."

"Minister Tao, please remember this."

Tao Wenyuan immediately lowered his head and replied yes.

Emperor Li looked calm and said slowly: "From me onwards, throughout the Tang Dynasty, it is not allowed to marry a daughter of a royal family to a foreign country!"

At this point, Li Yun thought for a moment and changed his words: "No woman is allowed to be married to a foreign country!"

Tao Wenyuan looked up at Li Yun, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, if marriage can turn hostility into friendship, I think it can be done if the conditions are right..."

Li Yun was not angry, but just shook his head and said: "What cannot be obtained on the battlefield, one or two women cannot obtain it either."

"It's just self-deception."

Tao Wenyuan thought about it, then lowered his head and said yes.

Li Yun looked at Zhuo Guangrui again and said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister Zhuo, send a letter to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, asking them to immediately cooperate with General Meng Qingmeng of Hebei Province to attack Youyan."

Just now, Li Yun specifically told Yelu Mao that he would attack Youyan next year.

This was of course a cover-up. He had already made too many preparations and could not wait until next year.

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head, answered yes, and then said, "Your Majesty, when will Hebei Province..."

"very soon."

Emperor Li closed his eyes and spoke slowly.

"The Ministry of War will communicate with you about the specific time, and you can prepare it yourself."

Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head immediately.

"I obey your command."

…………

In the afternoon, Princess Lujiang obtained permission from the Queen Mother and was able to leave the palace, holding a standard long sword.

After she left the palace, she went nowhere else but went straight to the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion. After arriving at the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, the servants quickly reported.

At this time, General Su happened to be at home. After hearing the servant's report, General Su immediately brought his wife to the door to greet him in person.

After seeing Princess Lujiang, Su Sheng immediately forced a smile on his face and said with a smile: "The eldest princess is here."

The eldest princess held the knife and nodded first: "Hello, Uncle Su."

After she greeted him, she asked, "Uncle Su, is your Silang at home? I want to talk to him about something."

Su Sheng was very pleased to be called uncle twice. After hearing the eldest princess' question, he came back to his senses and quickly replied, "Silang, his uncle sent him to Pei to practice martial arts. After ten days of training, he will follow the emperor's wishes and let his uncle take him to Hebei Province."

After saying this, Su Sheng saw the knife in the eldest princess' arms.

This sword looks very familiar. It seems to be the standard long sword of the Jiangdong Army. Almost every soldier of the Jiangdong Army once had one.

but…

Su Sheng frowned.

This knife seems to be the first generation of knives made by the Jiangdong Army, and it is one of the earliest batches.

These earliest batches of knives have tiger stripes on the blade guard, which is relatively beautiful.

However, only a few dozen knives were made in this first batch, and the tiger pattern was changed into a knife guard without pattern because it consumed too much raw materials.

General Su seemed to be thinking about something, but he still forced a smile towards the princess: "Princess, I will send someone to bring Silang back right away."

"Let's go inside and talk. Let's go inside and talk."

The general carefully invited Li Shu into the main hall of his house. When the eldest princess sat down, put the knife on a chair beside her and drank tea, General Su felt that the man looked more and more familiar. He lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and his brows twitched.

"Princess, this knife..."

Princess Lujiang was also drinking tea. After taking a sip of tea, she frowned, then smiled sweetly at Su Sheng: "Uncle Su, isn't Silang going to the battlefield?"

"This is the weapon I begged from my father."

"Give Shiro some self-defense."

General Su's brows twitched even more. He blinked his eyes and said, "Princess, how...how did you beg for it?"

"I took it from the Amrita Palace."

The eldest princess looked at General Su and smiled triumphantly.

"Father said that this was the sword he used in the past."

(End of this chapter)