The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 547 The Will of the Heavenly Khan
Pei Yan had imagined many possibilities of Tubo being incorporated into the Tang Dynasty before, including the exchanges between officials, the construction of official residences, even the dispatch of troops and teaching, or a large number of complicated matters related to household registration.

Previously, there was a discussion in the court on how to incorporate Tubo into the Tang Dynasty. During the discussion, several factions were formed. Some people advocated a slow education, which might take several years or even more than ten years.

Others believed that troops should be sent to directly eliminate the Tubo opposition forces. If they were directly wiped out, naturally no one would resist.

Some people even thought of conscripting all the Tibetan people to India and leaving the land to the Tang Dynasty, but this idea was opposed by many people as soon as it came out.

Generally speaking, there are some more far-fetched ideas.

Pei Yan recalled many things that happened at the beginning of this year, but in front of His Majesty, he still bowed and looked very calm.

Liu Rengui's expression became a little more solemn, not because of the words of His Majesty, but because of a secret letter from Tubo.

This secret letter was written by the old Tibetan nobles in Tibetan territory who attempted to call on the Tibetans to be hostile to the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, Chongwenguan and Tubo's Protectorate were quite polite to these old nobles, and the two sides lived in peace for ten years.

The Tang Dynasty has given them face, but now they have become the biggest obstacle against the Tang Dynasty.

Liu Rengui said: "Your Majesty, Tibet is under the great plan of the Tang Dynasty. If there are people who insist on being enemies of the Tang Dynasty, I think it is not a pity for them to die."

Pei Yan also said: "Your Majesty, I think if some people have to die anyway, it's better to kill them all."

The sun shone on the river, making the Wei River sparkle. Li Chengqian stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the other side, and whispered, "The people of Tibet are all loyal to the Tang Dynasty, and those nobles are only concerned about their own interests. If Tibet's annexation to the Tang Dynasty is the general trend, this trend is unstoppable. Those old nobles insist on being enemies of the Tang Dynasty, just because they want to gain greater benefits in the process."

Speaking of interests, Pei Yan and Liu Rengui's expressions became a little more complicated.

Li Chengqian sat down on a clean stone by the river and whispered, "But I don't want to give them anything. I even want to redistribute the pastures of the old nobles to the lower-class herdsmen."

Liu Rengui: "I heard that Songtsen Gampo wrote a letter to Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian said: "The letter was just Songtsen Gampo telling me that he was safe and that he had arrived in Tubo safely."

Pei Yan said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Tubo and help Your Majesty take Tubo back."

"You can't go. Ask Zhang Shuo from the Ministry of War to go to Laizhou."

"Here."

Pei Yan was puzzled. Didn't His Majesty want to take over Tubo? Why did he suddenly talk about the East China Sea again?

Li Chengqian said again: "Minister Liu, please ask Guo Daiju, a doctor from the Ministry of War, to go and deal with the Tubo matter."

Liu Rengui immediately bowed again and said, "I obey your command."

Pei Yan was very confused as to why His Majesty would entrust such an important matter to young people. In fact, they could also come out again.

In the back, Lu Zhaolin and a group of clerks stood together waiting for His Majesty to finish talking with the two vice ministers of the Ministry of War.

"I don't know what your majesty said to them." A slightly older clerk noticed Lu Zhaolin's gaze and hurriedly bowed and introduced himself: "My name is Gao Chongli."

Lu Zhaolin felt the name sounded familiar, "Are you the son of General Gao Kan?"

"That's right. I was originally the county magistrate of Xianyang County, and was recently transferred to the position of secretary general."

Lu Zhaolin nodded slightly again, and looked up to see Liu Rengui hurriedly saluting, while Pei Yan was still standing beside His Majesty, speaking.

Perhaps they were talking about something difficult, as Pei Yan kept bowing.

Afterwards, Pei Yan also left quickly.

His Majesty sat alone by the river for a while before a eunuch came hurriedly and allowed everyone to come forward and record His Majesty's words and deeds during his outing today.

When he returned to His Majesty's side, Lu Zhaolin still had a resignation memorial hidden in his sleeve. It was obvious that His Majesty was talking incessantly about the current situation in Guanzhong, so he could only take notes and had no chance to submit the memorial.

Today, Your Majesty's words had to be recorded and then posted in front of the Suzaku Gate. Until Your Majesty returned to the palace at dusk, Lu Zhaolin was unable to submit his resignation letter.

After returning to Chang'an, Lu Zhaolin, as the Minister of Rites, was still busy with the imperial examinations. He could only keep the resignation letter until later to submit it to the emperor. Looking at the people in the court who were busy with the imperial examinations, Lu Zhaolin's sense of responsibility rose again, and he devoted his energy to the preparations for the imperial examinations.

After returning home, Lu Zhaolin looked at his resignation letter in silence. There have been many changes in the court nowadays. Everyone is working for their own duties, and being busy has always been the status quo in the court.

This was different from the court life that Lu Zhaolin had initially envisioned, making friends with celebrities, talking to people... There was none of these here. The only things there were court officials who were dedicated to the country.

For Lu Zhaolin, the life he had imagined at the beginning was just something he could only dream of.

"Minister Lu."

There was a voice calling from outside the door. Lu Zhaolin looked over and saw a clerk from the Ministry of Rites. He asked, "What's the matter?"

"Minister Xu asked for the list of students from Hongwen Academy today."

Lu Zhaolin calmly placed the resignation letter on a bookshelf nearby and hid it. He nodded and said, "I'll arrange it."

"Thank you."

The clerk left in a hurry again.

Lu Zhaolin had no plans to resign for the time being and continued to be busy with the affairs of the Ministry of Rites and prepare for this year's imperial examinations.

In his spare time, he heard that Guo Daiju went to Tubo, and Zhang Shuo went to Laizhou to deal with the affairs of the East China Sea.

It is understandable for Guo Daiju to go to Tubo, as Tubo is a major issue for the country nowadays.

But why did Zhang Shuo go to the East China Sea? It is indeed puzzling.

There was no clear decree, most likely an order from the Ministry of War. It was rumored that when the retired emperor went on the eastern expedition, many sea ships were built in Laizhou, so the Ministry of War's trip was most likely related to this matter.

In late May of the 13th year of Qianqing's reign, summer was about to arrive in Guanzhong, and Guo Daiju led a group of soldiers all the way from Chang'an City to Qinghai.

Guo Daiju met Li Anqi, the current Protector General of the Tibetan Protectorate.

"Originally, Minister Liu was going to come in person this time, but His Majesty seemed to have other instructions for the Ministry of War, so he asked me to come here instead."

Li Anqi walked along, leading the warhorse, and said, "It's good that you're here. If you don't come, I'll start a massacre."

This time, Guo Daiju came with an order from the Ministry of War, which can mobilize the troops of the Protectorate. He came here with determination to get this done for the current emperor.

Coming all the way from Qinghai to Tubo, Guo Daiju adapted to the environment and climate of Tubo, and also drank some of the Tibetan people's milk tea and ate some tsampa.

Li Anqi accompanied Guo Daiju all the time and told him about the current situation in Tubo.

"In fact, in the past, the old nobles of Tubo were easy to bribe. As long as our Tang army gave them some benefits, they would work for the Tang army." Guo Daiju asked in return, "Why can't they be bribed now?"

"After a long period of peace, they think that the Tang Dynasty and Tubo will not go to war again." Li Anqi put his hands behind his back and looked at the tranquil Zangbo River and said, "As long as the Tang Dynasty and Tubo do not go to war, they can continue to ask for benefits from the Tang army."

Guo Daiju was a little confused. He followed half a step behind and asked, "Don't they think that the Tang army will not give them benefits one day?"

Li Anqi said: "It is precisely because they thought so that they always wanted to be the enemy of the Tang Dynasty."

Hearing this, Guo Daiju's expression became more certain, and he said, "They are indeed a bunch of insects."

There are more and more Tibetan children in the Tibetan Chongwenguan nowadays, and in the past ten years or so, the children who have graduated have been continuously going to the Tang Dynasty.

The children who had been to the Tang Dynasty came back, and after the Tibetan students who had completed their studies in Chang'an came back, they would bring more Tibetan children to the Tang Dynasty.

This cycle has continued for many years, and now there are more than 600 Tibetan students in Chongwenguan, aged between five and fifteen.

If we count the students who have already completed their studies, there are nearly three thousand Tibetan students walking around in Chongwenguan.

These three thousand people were the three thousand households in Tubo. When one student got married, one household became two households.

Therefore, during the Qianqing period, based on years of construction in Tubo, a centripetal force centered on the city of Chang'an was formed.

This centripetal force was not only created by the teaching support at Chongwenguan, but also by the stories about the Tang people and Tubo.

Although the Tang Dynasty did not cure Songtsen Gampo's illness, it allowed him to live to this day and return to Tubo safely.

If these are enough for Guo Daiju to accomplish the great cause of the Ministry of War, he will return to Chang'an and resign.

Li Anqi said: "If the Ministry of War needs anything, just let us know about it."

"Thank you."

On the third day after Guo Daiju arrived in Tubo, he walked along the Zangbo River and finally saw a house built of stones, cow dung, and cloth.

There are three cows grazing leisurely in front of the house, and more than ten sheep are walking leisurely in the sunshine.

Guo Daiju walked forward, entered the room and met Songtsen Gampo.

Songtsen Gampo looked at a scroll and said, "These are books from Guanzhong. In the past, if I wanted to read a book, I had to ask our warriors to buy it. Now, I don't need to buy it, nor do I need to send people to Tubo to copy it. Your people will send books to us continuously."

Guo Daiju said: "Whether it is Tubo or other places in the Central Plains, we have been doing this all the time."

Songtsen Gampo, with white hair, sat beside the brazier, put down the book in his hand, picked up the pot on the brazier and poured out a bowl of thick milk tea, "Have a drink."

Guo Daiju took the milk tea brought by Songtsen Gampo, took a sip, and whispered: "I once drank milk tea from a Tibetan old man named Rulaijie, but he passed away. At that time, he was still in the Pamir Mountains."

Songtsen Gampo smiled and asked, "How does it taste?"

Guo Daiju said: "The milk tea I drank before was not this strong."

Seeing Songtsen Gampo walk out of the house, Guo Daiju also followed him out and saw the sunlight again.

In fact, Guo Daiju didn't like his house because it blocked too much sunlight and had no ventilation.
"I always thought that Tibetans lived in tents. Is this house comfortable to live in?"

Songtsen Gampo shook his head and said, "If you Tang people keep asking questions, you will know more. Smart people will be humble, and arrogant people will not ask questions."

Guo Daiju said again: "Zanpu has lived in Chang'an for many years, he probably doesn't like this kind of house."

Songtsen Gampo said: "Most houses in Tubo are like this. I have lived in Chang'an for so many years and I am used to the houses of the Tang people. I know that the houses of the Tang people are beautiful and comfortable."

"But I am the king of Tubo. If I don't live in a house like this, I will build a different one?" Songtsen Gampo shook his head again. "If that's the case, the people of Tubo will think that I am no longer a Tubo person, and I am different from them."

"I am the Zamp, and I must be like the people of Tubo. Only in this way can I help the Heavenly Khan hand over Tubo to the Tang Dynasty for governance."

When the two met, Songtsen Gampo shook his head twice after only saying three sentences.

Guo Daiju stepped forward and said, "Since the Zamp also wants to..."

Songtsen Gampo interrupted, "What are you going to do?"

"We will redistribute the land of Tubo equally, so that herders without pastures can get pastures, herders without cattle and sheep can get cattle and sheep, so that everyone can have food and clothing, and every child can come to Chongwenguan."

"I will measure the land of the nobles and redistribute it. The lowest class of people will get the land, and then they will support us. The nobles are our common enemy."

There is nothing to hide, because Guo Daiju's people are already doing this.

Guo Daiju repeated what Liu Rengui had said: "If some people are bound to die in this process, they must die cleanly."

Songtsen Gampo liked the young man's honesty and handed him another piece of dried beef.

What surprised Guo Daiju was that Songtsen Gampo stood on His Majesty's side.

"I wonder where the Tibetan Prime Minister is now?"

Songtsen Gampo said: "He will not disturb you from doing your work."

With Songtsen Gampo's statement and his guarantee, Guo Daiju achieved the purpose of his trip.

It went so smoothly, so smoothly that Guo Daiju felt it was unreal.

In the past, Tibet had very few rainy seasons, only about one or two months a year. In recent years, Tibet has suddenly had more rainy seasons.

It was summer and it was raining in Tibet tonight. A Tang official was walking with a group of Tibetan herdsmen on the pasture of a Tibetan noble.

The Tibetan nobles’ ranch was very large. The entire ranch under the snow-capped mountains belonged to one family. This family had only three children, and they did not need such a large ranch at all.

There were several loud roars coming from the distance. It was the Tang soldiers and officers who were escorting the nobles of this ranch.

The Tang official who led the herdsmen was Guo Daiju. He said loudly to the old nobles who were escorting him: "Now, the land here belongs to the Khan of Heaven. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the Khan of Heaven has the right to distribute the Khan of Heaven's land."

The Tibetan noble was still cursing in Tibetan, but his curses sounded faint in the rain.

Guo Daiju added: "The will of the Heavenly Khan is for the long-term peace and stability of Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. Anyone who obstructs the will of the Heavenly Khan and hurts the people's hearts in both places will be punished for treason."

The Tibetan herdsmen standing behind Guo Daiju were the most loyal followers and the vested interests of this change. Originally, they did not even have grassland to raise cattle and sheep.

At this moment, they saw the servants of the Tibetan nobles rushing towards the Tang soldiers with knives in their hands. Before the Tang soldiers could take action, the herdsmen behind Guo Daiju braved the heavy rain and the mud and rushed towards the servants. The two sides fought in the rain.

(End of this chapter)