The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 260 Talking about Life

When Lu Dongzan regained consciousness again, he heard the voice in his ears.

"The prime minister was escorted here for many days without rest or proper meals. He was so exhausted that he ended up like this."

The person who spoke was Tang Ren. Lu Dongzan felt as if the disastrous defeat that day was still before his eyes.

The voices became clearer and clearer, and a Tang official was taking the patient's pulse.

Lu Dongzan indeed felt unprecedented fatigue. He opened his eyes slightly and saw the figure in front of him. This was the Tang Dynasty's Chang'an City, and the person who came to see him was a Tang Dynasty medical officer.

Then his eyes closed again and he lost consciousness once again.

Zhen Quan checked the patient's pulse for a moment and said, "Just rest for two days and feed him some porridge and soup."

Sambuza bowed and said, "Thank you."

At this moment, Sambuza was very helpless. He had no other wish but that the prime minister could survive.

When he woke up again, it was at night, and Lu Dongzan slowly sat up.

Sambuza said quickly, "Prime Minister, you'd better lie down. If the Tang people knew you were awake, they would escort you to the Taiji Palace and interrogate you."

Lu Dongzan still remembers a piece of soap that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace gave him.

He stood up with great effort and said, "I am the Prime Minister of Tubo. Do I have to pretend to be sick all the time?"

Sambuza was speechless for a moment.

The next day, at dawn, after the morning court session, Li Baiyao followed the prince and said, "Your Highness, someone from the Honglu Temple came to report that Lu Dongzan woke up last night and said he wanted to see Your Highness right away."

Li Chengqian asked, "Won't he apologize to his father?"

"Lu Dongzan didn't say he wanted to see His Majesty, but wanted to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"The last time I saw Lu Dongzan was about five years ago."

"At that time, His Highness had just recovered from a serious illness. It should have been four years ago."

"You ask the people from the Ministry of Rites to prepare it. I will come to the Ministry of Rites after I have my meal."

"Here."

Today's morning court ended in chaos. On the one hand, they discussed how to settle Qinghai, and on the other hand, they discussed how to reward. How should the merits and demerits of Li Zhen and Liang Jianfang be divided?
As these matters had no results, the civil officials and military officers started quarreling again.

Li Chengqian looked back at the Taiji Hall and saw, as expected, that the civil and military officials in the hall had started fighting.

At this time, my father's men should come over to mediate the fight.

As expected, the Jinwu Guards quickly walked into the Taiji Hall and began to mediate.

Taking a closer look, I saw this court full of fighting spirit. The old generals and civil officials were still as strong as ever, and they fought just as well as they did in the past, except that their moves were more despicable. They were all good, and everyone was the same as before.

Li Chengqian had his meal in the East Palace and rested for an hour before preparing to go to the Honglu Temple.

"Brother, I also want to meet Lu Dongzan."

"It's not appropriate for you to go to the negotiations between the two countries."

Li Chengqian was wearing boots and noticed her stubborn look, so he had to say, "Follow me."

She immediately smiled again and said, "Okay."

There are many people standing outside the official residence of the Ministry of Rites. This time, Lu Dongzan said he wanted to meet the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

All the officials in the court wanted to meet the Tibetan prime minister and see what kind of figure he had become.

It was not until the Crown Prince arrived that the group of officials who were watching dispersed. Someone picked up a piece of paper and a fallen leaf on the ground and wiped away some dust.

When there were only two guards standing in front of the Ministry of Rites and no one else, and everything was clean again, Li Chengqian looked better.

He walked into the official residence of the Ministry of Rites with his sister, and all the officials immediately saluted him.

In the past, my uncle would always be there when I negotiated with envoys from other countries. Now I am already twenty years old. Just as my father said, when I turn twenty, I am an adult and should face things on my own.

Passing by Sangbuza and Lu Dongzan who were standing there, Li Chengqian led his sister to sit in the upper seat.

He first looked at the officials around him and signaled them not to salute.

Li Lizhi tidied up the files on the table very sensibly, wiped the table in front of her brother with her sleeve, then stood aside and looked at the Tubo prime minister, who was the one who sent the envoy to Chang'an to ask the Tang Dynasty for the princess' hand in marriage.

Li Chengqian said, "Prime Minister, long time no see."

Lu Dongzan slowly raised his head and looked at the prince. He had not seen him for four years. Back then, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was just a young man, and he was only twenty-six at that time.

At that time, the prince's face was still very childish.

Looking at him now, the prince has grown a lot taller, with a dignity between his brows that makes people dare not offend, and faint blue stubble can be seen on his chin.

Realizing that this was the Tang people's official residence, Lu Dongzan bowed and said, "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Sambuza also saluted.

Li Baiyao and many other officials sat on both sides with gloomy faces.

"Tell me, how do you feel after the defeat in Songzhou?"

Hearing this, Lu Dongzan asked, "Does the prince want to humiliate me?"

Li Baiyao slammed the table and said, "Lu Dongzan! You are a prisoner, how dare you ask the prince!"

He was in his early thirties, which should have been the prime age for a man. However, after the defeat in Songzhou, he was escorted to Chang'an. He seemed to have aged ten years overnight. His messy hair had strands of white, and even the beard he had grown was gray.

He saluted and asked, "How did the Tang army bypass Songzhou and attack from the rear?"

Li Chengqian asked back, "Didn't the general who escorted you here tell you?"

Lu Dongzan shook his head slowly.

"In fact, there is a small path from the Hexi Corridor to Qinghai in the south, which can pass through Songzhou and enter the heartland of Tubo."

Lu Dongzan stood there, frowning and saying nothing.

"This is all thanks to my younger brother. Qingque sent people to survey the topography of Songzhou for the compilation of the Comprehensive Geography."

Li Chengqian continued, "You said that the Tibetans believe in wisdom, and we Tang people also win by wisdom. Are you convinced now?"

Lu Dongzan used Tibetan etiquette to salute and said, "Arrogance is always a terrible enemy."

"Yes, I think so too."

"At the beginning, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that the Tang Dynasty was far from being so powerful and wealthy."

The officials present recorded the conversation between the Crown Prince and Tubo, and after writing a chapter, they had it taken out and presented to His Majesty.

As the prince spoke, the officials kept writing. "I still think so now. The Tang Dynasty was never that powerful, nor was it rich."

"Even if the Tang people conquered Tuyuhun and Gaochang, does His Royal Highness still think so now?"

Li Chengqian looked at Sangbuza and said, "Your messenger said that life is like a beautiful sheepskin, but it is covered with lice. However, I do not agree with this statement. Life should be like a piece of beautiful silk. Later, this piece of silk was torn. Then we sewed it up and sewed flowers on it with colorful colors."

“Most of us have our lives patched up. Even if there are some ugly marks on the stitches, it is still our life. We need to face the ugly part of it and appreciate the beautiful part of it.”

The official standing by waved his brush and wrote down all the words.

"The Tang Dynasty emerged from war, so we know that today's peace is hard-won. The Tang Dynasty also emerged from disasters, so I don't think we can be arrogant and think that a flood or a drought is nothing surprising."

"The Tang Dynasty is not strong enough. At least there are still many people in the Tang Dynasty who are worried about food and clothing. The strength you mentioned is only what you see now. You don't see that when we fight and work hard for the country, every bit is used to make up for the scars left by wars and disasters."

Li Chengqian looked directly at the other person and said, "So we dare not be arrogant, and we should not be arrogant."

Lu Dongzan bowed again and asked, "Why do you think so, Your Highness?"

"It is said that the Crown Prince of the East Palace lives in the deep palace for a long time. In fact, I often go out to see our subjects and their lives. The troubles in their lives are the stories I hear. These stories make us alert, humble and respectful."

Another official wrote a passage and asked the eunuch beside him to present it to Your Majesty.

Lu Dongzan said disappointedly: "It's a pity that Tubo doesn't have so many stories."

Sambabu wanted to ask back several times, but swallowed his words back.

"Then why don't you listen to the stories of the Tang people? If you are willing, I can spread many stories to Tubo."

Sweat dripped down Lu Dongzan's forehead. He suddenly bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for the soap you gave me."

Li Chengqian raised his head and looked at Lu Dongzan who was prostrating himself on the ground.

In Li Baiyao's opinion, there was deep regret, self-blame and guilt on the face of the Tubo Prime Minister.

It should be more of guilt, guilt towards his Tibetan subjects. These guilt and self-blame made him tremble even as he knelt on the ground.

Although he tried his best to suppress it, his body's reaction betrayed the calmness on his face.

Li Chengqian held his temple and said, "You don't have to do this. If you want to apologize, it won't be too late to do it after you go see your father."

"Oh, right." Li Chengqian asked again, "Did father say he wanted to meet the Tibetan Prime Minister?"

Li Baiyao replied: "I never said that."

Li Chengqian took a sip of tea.

Lu Dongzan said: "I have something to ask of you, Your Highness, I hope Your Highness will grant your request."

"You speak first, stand up."

Hearing this, Lu Dongzan still knelt on the ground and said, "Foreign ministers have no choice but to die. Please, Your Highness, spare the people of Tubo. They are all innocent."

Everyone looked at the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

Li Chengqian understood and said, "So this is why you said you wanted to see me. Considering our friendship, you think I should let the Tubo people go, right?"

Lu Dongzan said loudly: "I dare not."

"Brother, this is what I called you when I was in front of the Taiji Palace?"

"Exactly."

"Four years ago, envoys from various countries came to the court. At that time, there were Turks, Gaochang people, Mobei people, and you. At that time, you were just a humble Tibetan prime minister."

The residence was very quiet, and another piece of recorded paper was sent out.

Li Chengqian sighed, "The Tibetan Prime Minister was so kind and friendly back then, but four years have passed. In these four years, the Tang Dynasty has pacified Tuyuhun, pacified Gaochang, and conquered Beiting, but what about you?"

"You Tubo troops are stationed on the border." Li Chengqian shook his head again and said, "In just four years, you have been able to mobilize such a large army in Tubo, which has just emerged from civil strife. This ability is like pulling onions out of dry land. I admit that you are a very capable minister."

"You can help Songtsen Gampo govern Tubo. You can conquer and rule Tubo from scattered small tribes in just four years, and then build an army that no one dares to underestimate."

"What about the future? Will Tubo become stronger again and continue to attack the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chengqian asked in return: "How long will we have to fight in the future? Several decades, a hundred years, two hundred years..."

Lu Dongzan knelt on the ground without saying a word.

"Lu Dongzan, you have no right to ask me to let go of Tubo's subjects. The war between the two countries has never been decided by you and me."

Lu Dongzan bowed to the ground with his hands clenched into fists.

Li Chengqian asked again: "I said before that I really like the pastures and snow-capped mountains of Tubo. Now you dare to ask me to let the Tubo people go. Then can Songtsen Gampo give these to the Tang Dynasty?"

Sambuza said: "Without the pasture, the Tubo people will not be able to survive. Without the snow-capped mountains, Tubo will have no water source. Without water source, there will be no pasture, and the cattle and sheep will not be able to survive, and people will die."

The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace suddenly stood up, walked to Lu Dongzan's side, and whispered: "Brother, I don't like the current state of Tubo, I really don't like it."

Leaving this sentence, Li Chengqian quickly walked out of the Ministry of Rites.

The recorders standing by did not hear these words, so they all stopped writing, somewhat at a loss as to what to do.

Li Lizhi walked to Lu Dongzan's side. She nodded at the defeated Tibetan prime minister and said, "The capital of the Tang Dynasty has not been recovered in this battle. You still have to discuss with your brother."

Lu Dongzan prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to look up at the princess.

Li Lizhi was about to leave with her brother. She left a sentence lightly, saying, "Listen carefully. Anyone who dares to ask to marry a Tang princess will be driven away."

Suddenly, the ministers here looked stern when they heard Princess Changle's tone that brooked no rebuttal.

When they reached the outside of the Ministry of Rites, Li Lizhi smiled again and said, "Thank you all for your help."

After saying this, she left quickly and followed her brother's footsteps.

Lu Dongzan was helped to stand up by Sangbuza. Li Baiyao recovered from the great pressure and said, "Give all the records here to His Majesty, send the Tibetan Prime Minister and the Tibetan envoy back to the posthouse, and wait for the arrangements of the court and His Majesty's order."

Everyone said yes, and Lu Dongzan and Sangbuza were taken out of the residence.

These records were sent to His Majesty. Li Shimin, who was sitting in Ganlu Hall, watched the conversation between his son and Lu Dongzan with a smile on his face.

Empress Changsun came over with tea and asked, "What is it that makes Your Majesty so happy?"

Li Shimin said: "Cheng Qian said that life should not be like a sheepskin covered with lice, but a piece of cloth that needs to be mended."

"Your Majesty, do you not agree with this?"

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "This child has only superficial views."

Empress Changsun said in distress, "Autumn is coming soon, and the price of grapes in Guanzhong has risen again. This is really unreasonable."

The queen wanted to eat grapes, and the maid beside her said, "I will go and prepare the grapes right away."

(End of this chapter)