Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 115 Li Shimin: Let’s resolve it after the Crown Prince ascends the throne (Part )

In early autumn in July, the wind blows the green grass and the world is joyful.

A manor that had just been built not long ago quickly appeared in front of Lu Dongzan who was charging down.

This is Dayichuan.

This manor was built by the Tang Dynasty for Princess Wencheng's marriage.

Tens of thousands of elite Tang Dynasty cavalrymen, holding long spears and silk banners, came directly from the east, southeast, and north.

The spear blade gleamed coldly, filled with murderous intent.

In the northwest, 20,000 Tuyuhun cavalrymen were also slowly approaching from a later position. At this moment, a burst of joyful gongs and drums suddenly rang out, instantly breaking the murderous aura.

Lu Dongzan looked back at the 20,000 Tibetan cavalrymen who rushed out from the mountain road and quickly lined up along the foot of the mountain. His expression relaxed, and then he followed the Zamp, accompanied by hundreds of personal soldiers, into the manor where gongs and drums were beating and red silks were everywhere.

……

Lu Dongzan followed Songzan out with a bewildered look on his face. After returning to his own army, he couldn't help but ask, "Zanpu, shall we stay here tonight and perform the ceremony tomorrow?"

Songzan looked at Lu Dongzan with a smile and said, "Didn't you and King Jiangxia agree on the etiquette? Let's do as you said."

"But Zanpu, it is very dangerous to stay here tonight. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty is a man of great talent and strategy, and the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty is calm and insidious. Who knows if they will suddenly come to kill us tonight." Lu Dongzan couldn't help but persuade him quickly.

"What nonsense! I have seen what a great man the emperor is. He would never do such a thing. Moreover, there is a princess." Thinking of Princess Wencheng whom he had just met, Songtsen Gampo couldn't help but smile.

After regaining his composure, he waved his hand, looked at Lu Dongzan, and said, "So what if we stay here tonight? The army will set up camp and provide protection on all sides. If anything goes wrong, we can mobilize the 20,000 cavalrymen on the mountain."

"Yes!" Lu Dongzan bowed helplessly.

Although he always felt that there was something wrong with the Tang Dynasty being able to arrange two days of greeting time in Dafeichuan, he could not figure out what was wrong.

He did have some vague thoughts, but he quickly denied them.

So what was the Tang Dynasty all about?

……

The "woooo" sound echoed throughout the grassland.

Three hundred Tang Dynasty cavalrymen, fully armored, passed straight through the Tubo camp and finally stopped on the mountain road behind the camp.

Soon, the three hundred cavalrymen lined up on both sides of the mountain road with flags.

There are no weapons, only colorful flags.

Lu Dongzan carefully scanned everyone and felt relieved immediately. This was the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, not some ulterior motive.

However, he did not notice that the eyes of each soldier were terrifyingly sharp, as if they could clearly see everything that was happening in the Tibetan camp.

Soon, in accordance with the requirements of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Dongzan selected a wedding reception group of 300 noble sons from the army, and entered the manor with a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry.

Li Daozon, Prince of Jiangxia and Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Baiyao, Junior Minister of the Imperial Clan, Right Assistant to the Crown Prince, and Duke of Anping County.

Yu Jian, the Minister of Taichang Temple, and Yuwen Chongsi, the Junior Minister of Honglu Temple.

Duke Anguo, General of the Right Guard, Zhishisili.

Du Fengju, the governor of Lanzhou, and Xi Junmai, the commander of Lanshan Prefecture.

The Prince of Heyuan, the Tuyuhun Wudi Yebaqindou Khan Murong Nuohebo, and his wife Princess Honghua, as well as a large number of Tuyuhun nobles, Dangxiang nobles, Yangtong Subi, and many envoys from various ethnic groups in the Western Regions who came to participate.

Everyone saw with their own eyes that the Tubo Zamp, carrying a large number of gifts, welcomed Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty and her entourage on the Dafeichuan grassland.

The two men faced the imperial edict of the Tang Emperor on the grassland, and then knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of Chang'an.

Afterwards, a grand banquet was held for all the envoys.

Ma Zhou, the secretary of the Secretariat, recorded all of this in a book.

Behind the crowd, a man who looked like a Western Hu man, but was wearing a brown round-necked robe and a black jade hat, saw all of this. After returning to the tent, he immediately painted everything.

This person's name is Yuchi Yiseng.

The painting he drew is called Wedding Worship Picture.

This painting, along with the Procession of Emperor Taizong to Meet the Mongols, was passed down to later generations, especially after Tubo rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and waged war against it, and it spread throughout the Western Regions.

It also set the footnote for the final destruction of Tubo.

Of course, this is something that will happen later. But at the moment, this picture and the secret memorial written by Li Dejian, the chief officer of Lanzhou, were sent to Chang'an in a very short time and placed on Li Chengqian's desk.

Li Chengqian did not hesitate and sent the secret report to Luoyang immediately.

Of course, there was no wedding painting. He wanted to present this painting at the same time as Yan Liben presented the Procession of Emperor Taizong to counteract Li Tai's intentions.

……

Luoyang, Ziwei Palace, Qianyang Hall.

As the autumn deepened, Li Shimin, wearing a black cloak, sat on the steps of the Qianyang Palace. From here, he could see the whole of Luoyang.

The Tai Chi of Qianyang Palace is four zhang high, as high as the palace wall.

The waters of the Luo River flowing outside the Ziwei Palace and the prosperous city of Luoyang all appeared clearly before the emperor's eyes.

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Gao Shilian, Yang Shidao, Wei Ting, Tang Jian, Liu Dewei, Zhang Liang and others were all by his side.

Li Shimin handed the memorial to Zhangsun Wuji and said, "This is a memorial submitted by Li Dejian, the Chief Clerk of Lanzhou. It confirms that the Tibetans began to show signs of weakness and listlessness after spending more than a day under the snow-capped mountains. This has also been confirmed by merchants and travelers in Lanzhou."

"It's really strange, why have these never appeared on the Tuyuhun people before." Changsun Wuji took a look at the memorial in his hand, and then handed it to Fang Xuanling.

The emperor shook his head calmly and said, "Perhaps it is because Tuyuhun is not high enough."

Changsun Wuji nodded slightly.

Li Shimin's gaze fell on Zhang Liang, the Minister of Works, and he shouted, "Duke Yun, if you were to lead the battle, how confident are you of using this to defeat Tubo?"

Zhang Liang stood up with his hands clasped, thought for a moment, and said, "Your Majesty, I have two strategies."

"speak!"

"First, when the Tibetans just rushed down from the snow-capped mountains, we should take advantage of their unstable footing and attack them for a day and a night, then retreat. On the third day, when most of them are in poor health, we can attack them again and defeat them." Zhang Liang bowed solemnly.

"Indeed, you have a sophisticated military strategy." The emperor nodded and continued, "What's next?"

"Secondly, the Snow Mountain forces were unable to react quickly enough. The army retreated from Sun Moon Mountain to Shanzhou, and then from Shanzhou to Lanzhou. We intercepted and consumed the enemy at every step, and waited until they reached Lanzhou two days before engaging in a full-scale decisive battle." After a brief pause, Zhang Liang added, "To achieve the greatest effect, we need to either evacuate everything in Shanzhou or burn it down."

"This can only be done when the Tibetans attack extremely quickly and have a large number of troops, and Shanzhou can no longer stop them." Changsun Wuji quickly added.

Li Shimin suddenly fell silent, looked towards the northwest, and said softly: "If that's the case, then climbing the Maji Snow Mountain will probably be difficult."

Li Dejian's memorial proved the existence of lowland miasma to the greatest extent.

If lowland miasma exists, then plateau miasma is undoubtedly also present.

The Tuyuhun Plateau can be used as a trap for the Tang Dynasty to trap the Tibetans, and similarly, it can also be used as a battlefield for the Tibetans to hunt the Tang Dynasty cavalry.

In Lanzhou, the Tang Dynasty could inflict the greatest damage on the Tibetans.

Similarly, on the snow-capped mountains, in the Kuhai and Wuhai, and even in the Baihai at the source of the Yellow River and the Tongtian River at the source of the Yangtze River, these were all places where the Tibetans could inflict the greatest damage to the Tang cavalry.

"Your Majesty is thinking about destroying Tubo." Changsun Wuji's light words revealed what Li Shimin was thinking.

The ministers couldn't help but lower their heads slightly.

Their Heavenly Khan never stopped wanting to conquer the world, and Tubo was naturally among them.

"Just a thought." Li Shimin smiled and said, "Now I haven't even been able to fully incorporate Tuyuhun into the Tang Dynasty, let alone Tubo. These matters will be handed over to the Crown Prince in the future."

"Your Majesty is wise." Changsun Wuji bowed and said with a smile, "I think the Crown Prince's ability will not be difficult to conquer Tuyuhun in the future. He may even be able to conquer Tubo. However, all of this depends on the foundation that Your Majesty has laid for the Crown Prince."

"I hope so." Li Shimin looked at Chu Suiliang and said, "Mr. Chu, please record all of this. If there is a war with Tubo in the future, do your best to use this to defeat or even destroy Tubo."

"Yes!" Chu Suiliang bowed immediately.

The emperor looked at Zhangsun Wuji again and said, "Wuji, tell the Crown Prince to continue to monitor the princess's whereabouts after she left Tuyuhun, as well as the movements of Tang merchants in Tubo. I want to know as much as possible about Tubo."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed solemnly.

Fang Xuanling stood aside and listened calmly.

He clearly understood that the emperor was directing the prince's energy more towards Tubo.

In this way, the prince would have no intention of cultivating manpower in Chang'an, and even more officials from the Eastern Palace would be transferred to Lanzhou.

Of course, this will lead to the weakness of the Eastern Palace.

Similarly, under such circumstances, the emperor would be more assured and trustful of the crown prince, and the idea of ​​deposing the crown prince would become increasingly vague in the emperor's mind.

"By the way, Your Majesty, the Crown Prince wrote to ask if he can come from Chang'an to Luoyang to congratulate Princess Gaoyang and Princess Chengyang on their wedding?" Changsun Wuji asked with a bow.

"Gao Yang and Cheng Yang are getting married. Logically speaking, as the eldest brother, I should be present." Li Shimin stood up and looked at the city of Luoyang before him, sighing softly, "Originally, I planned to hold Gao Yang and Cheng Yang's wedding in Chang'an so that all the relatives in Chang'an could be present. But now, although the plague in Zezhou has been brought under control, it could still break out at any time. Besides, the most important thing right now is the autumn harvest. Forget it, let Chang Sun Xiang come in place of the Crown Prince, and he will stay in Chang'an to take care of the Crown Princess."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed solemnly.

"Also, tell the prince that Dr. Sun will return to Chang'an with me in the autumn, so let him be prepared." The emperor's eyes became stern.

(End of this chapter)