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

Chapter 340: The Tibetan King is No Longer Infertile (Part )
In the Taiji Hall, all the ministers stood in their respective ranks.

Li Chengqian stood on the third step of the Danbi, holding a sceptre with a calm expression, but the slight flicker in his eyes showed that he was not calm.

Li Zhi stood two steps below him.

Compared with Li Chengqian, Li Zhi's performance was more obvious.

He held the tablet tightly in both hands, clenched his teeth, and his face was pale.

Everything that happened today was too much of a blow to him.

First, he was transferred to be the governor of Jingzhou, then Li Xiang was named the crown prince, Li Jue was named the Prince of Hengshan, and finally the emperor transferred Li Yifu to be the prince's attendant.

Especially at the end, the emperor transferred Li Yifu to be the prince's attendant.

This was the most difficult thing for Li Zhi to accept.

Li Yifu was his Jin Wang official, but half a month ago, Li Yifu stabbed him severely.

But it’s okay, Li Zhi knew that everything was arranged by the emperor.

Even Li Yifu had no way out.

Even Li Zhi was still thinking that Li Yifu had impeached Liu Li and Yuwen Jie, the facts were all there, and the emperor had dealt with it decisively, so next, there was no doubt that Li Yifu should be promoted.

He could be the Secretary of the Secretariat, or the Secretary of the Imperial Court, or even the Censor-in-Chief, but he never expected that Li Yifu would be transferred to the Prince's Secretary.

This is equivalent to pressing Li Zhi's face directly to the ground, rubbing it hard, and then stepping on it hard.

Li Chengqian looked calm.

Now even he could see it.

The emperor had planned all of this when he was in Dingzhou.

Li Zhi was transferred from Bingzhou to Jingzhou.

Then Li Yifu, a general of the Prince of Jin's Mansion, was transferred from the Prince of Jin's Mansion to the Eastern Palace.

At the same time, before Li Yifu left, he impeached Liu Li, Chu Suiliang and Yuwen Jie in the name of Li Zhi.

The fundamental reason why Liu Li committed suicide, Yuwen Jie was executed, and Chu Suiliang was alienated by court officials was his conspiracy in Hebei.

Li Yifu put the blame for the impeachment on Li Zhi, while he himself was transferred to the Eastern Palace smoothly and happily.

At the same time, the emperor also named Li Xiang as the crown prince, completely destroying Li Zhi's hope of becoming the crown prince.

Yes, completely destroyed.

The emperor's meaning was very clear. Even if Li Chengqian could not become the crown prince for various reasons, there was still Li Xiang.

Li Zhi's order of succession to the throne was after Li Xiang.

This was the emperor's punishment for his attack on the prince in Hebei.

Li Zhi, I'm afraid he wants to die now.

……

Li Chengqian shook his head slightly in his heart.

Li Zhi, like other officials in the court, attached too much importance to the Crown Prince.

In his previous life, the emperor said that he wanted to make Li Xiang the crown prince, but unfortunately, before he could give the reward, Li Chengqian's rebellion was exposed.

The first crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was Li Chongzhao, the grandson of Li Zhi.

Li Xian's son.

Unfortunately, even though Li Xian later ascended the throne and Li Chongzhao became the crown prince, Wu Meiniang could not be deposed at will.

Therefore, the so-called Crown Prince is just a small prince. He can be used to win people's hearts, but it is difficult to use him to make the final decision.

Even his father, a veteran in political intrigue, who knows what he will do with Li Xiang, the crown prince.

But no matter what, Li Chengqian benefited the most in the matter of the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian looked calmly into the hall.

The New Year's Day court ceremony is still going on.

It is customary for provincial governors across the country to deliver New Year greetings and tributes as auspicious gifts.

The barbarians from all directions presented gifts of congratulations.

Congratulations to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty the Khan of Heaven for a happy new year.

At this moment, a somewhat familiar figure walked out from among the foreign envoys.

……

"Your Majesty, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, His Majesty the Heavenly Khan, is here to pay his respects to you, your Majesty, the King of Heaven." Gar Qinling, dressed in Tibetan clothes, walked into the hall with a solemn expression and bowed his head heavily to the ground.

The emperor looked at Gar Qinling, his eyes gradually becoming indifferent: "So it's Gar, my dear minister. Is your father okay?"

Gar Qinling's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He was a special envoy who came from Lhasa on behalf of the Zamp. Now he was paying a visit to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Why did the emperor start by asking about his father instead of the Zamp?

Gar Qinling kowtowed again and said, "My father is well, but I miss Your Majesty very much."

"Hmm!" Li Shimin nodded lightly on the imperial couch, then stopped talking and lowered his eyebrows.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall became strangely cold.

Gar Qinling felt strangely uneasy. He immediately kowtowed and said, "I have come here with three thousand war horses, eight hundred taels of gold, and a number of jewels to congratulate Your Majesty on your great victory in the Eastern Expedition."

"Oh, so the Tibetans knew about my Eastern Expedition!" The emperor leaned forward slightly, his expression cold but with a hint of self-mockery as he said, "I heard that a few years ago, the Dangxiang Qiang rebelled in Songzhou, and some captives confessed that Tibetans were involved. My dear minister, is this true?"

Gar Qinling was stunned for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, there are some nobles in the country who were at odds with the Zamp. They have been beheaded. If Your Majesty needs them, I can notify the Zamp to send their heads to Chang'an."

"They're all dead, what do I need their heads for?" Li Shimin shook his head calmly, then looked at Gar Qinling and said calmly, "Send their families to Chang'an, demote them to slavery, and have them work in the imperial court until they die."

"Yes." Gar Qinling kowtowed stiffly, his forehead pressed against the cold floor tiles, and his heart was as cold as the tiles.

It's too cruel.

Killing is heartbreaking.

Tubo sent people to make trouble in Dangxiang, but they were killed by people sent by Crown Prince Li Chengqian, who then erected a Jingguan on the north bank of Tongtian River as a warning.

Now, the emperor allowed the Tubo to force his brothers to death, and at the same time asked them to send their brothers and sisters' families to Chang'an as slaves until they died.

If this is really the case, how many people in Tubo would be willing to die for the Zamp?

The Tang Emperor clearly saw this.

This is exactly what the Emperor of Tang wanted.

He was not only warning Tubo, but also everyone else: any overt or covert attempts to probe or spy on the Tang Dynasty were not allowed.

Tubo is a lesson for everyone.

Seeing Gar Qinling bow down, the emperor nodded slightly and continued, "I heard that King Yang Tong has passed away. Is that true?"

Gar Qinling kowtowed and said, "Yes, the King of Yangtong, Li Naxu, passed away last year due to illness. Now his younger brother, Nali Sheng, is the King of Yangtong."

Li Shimin nodded calmly and said, "Although Yangtong is not a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, Yangtong and the Tang Dynasty have maintained close trade for many years. I will send people to Yangtong to pay tribute this year. Tubo will not stop me, right?"

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about?" Gar Qinling kowtowed and said, "If the Tang angels come to Yangtong, it will be a blessing for Yangtong. Who dares to disobey? Who dares to stop it?"

"Very good." Li Shimin nodded and said, "I intend to confer the title of Prince of Xiqiang on Prince Yangtong, ranking alongside the Princes of Heyuan and Xihai. I hope Tubo has no objection."

"I dare not!" Gar Qinling kowtowed heavily to the ground, and in his mind, he was quickly thinking about the emperor's intention of doing so.

The emperor's appointment of Nalisheng as the Prince of Xiqiang was equivalent to the Tang Dynasty recognizing Nalisheng's identity as the King of Yangtong, and was equivalent to recognizing the legitimacy of everything Tubo did in Yangtong.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty also set a hook. Nali Sheng and Zanpu were both princes of the Tang Dynasty. This would not only arouse the rebelliousness of the people of Yangtong, but also give the Tang Dynasty an excuse to intervene in the affairs of Yangtong in the future.

However, the emperor is ultimately the legitimacy of everything Tubo does in Yangtong. As for the future, it will be a new game.

Seeing Gar Qinling's obedient look, the emperor nodded and said, "Also, Yangtong Prince Gangrenboqi is studying in Chang'an now. If you have nothing to do, don't disturb him."

"Yes!" Gar Qinling kowtowed again, and at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that this was the emperor's real purpose.

Prince Gangrinboqi of Yangtong is another chess piece for the Tang Dynasty to intervene in Yangtong in the future, so the Tang Dynasty needs him to be alive.

The assassination by Tubo is the biggest obstacle.

However, this is Chang'an.

If Tubo assassinated Mount Kailash in Chang'an, it would greatly damage the reputation of the Tang Dynasty.

Even though the emperor did not know the distance between Yangtong and Chang'an, he knew it was an easy journey.

Therefore, the most they can do is to preserve the hope of intervening in the future.

As for the rest, there is actually very little they can do.

But if Tubo really assassinated Kailash in Chang'an, then tomorrow, the Tang Dynasty would immediately send troops to Tubo in anger.

Indeed, Tubo has the advantage of the plateau, and it is difficult for the Tang Dynasty to defeat Tubo, but the current Tubo is not at all prepared to go to war with the Tang Dynasty.

Once the two sides go to war, there will be only one final result, that is, both the Tang Dynasty and Tubo will suffer heavy losses.

Such a situation of mutual destruction was nothing to the Tang Dynasty, as they could recover in three to five years. However, for Tubo, it was a serious blow and almost fatal.

Moreover, before they arrived in Chang'an, only a few of the Tubo shadow army soldiers were left.

To be honest, there is little they can do in this situation.

In this way, we can take a step back and reach a consensus with the Tang Dynasty.

So as long as Yang Tong does not encounter any problems under the control of Tubo, he will never be able to escape from Tubo's control.

Gar Qinling kowtowed again and respectfully responded to the emperor's order.

Li Shimin nodded, and then his expression finally softened: "Princess, are you all right in Luosi?"

"The queen now lives on the holy mountain, and is worshipped day and night by the people of Lhasa. She enjoys the highest honor in Tubo. Everything is as good as it can be." Gar Qinling breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Shimin nodded and looked at Gar Qinling and said, "Do you remember that when the princess got married, I asked the Tibetan king to bring the princess to Chang'an at the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Yes!" Gar Qinling's mouth twitched slightly.

The emperor was not talking about this matter, but about his offspring, the offspring of the Zamp and the princess.

When the Tang Dynasty married off the princess, the prince once questioned whether the Zamp could give birth to another child.

Whether the Zamp can have children with the princess.

It turned out that the prince's doubts were not unfounded.

A few years passed, and not only did the Zamp have no children with the princess, but he also had no children with the other princesses.

The only son of the Zamp was even his son Gongri Gongzan, who was born to him in his early years with Princess Yangtong and his concubine Mangfei Chijiang.

You know, Mangfei Chijiang was Songtsen Gampo’s first queen.

But up to now, the Zamp only has one son.

The original requirement that the Tang Dynasty had made for this marriage was that the Tibetan king could bring his children with the princess to Chang'an to participate in the celebration at the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the emperor only mentioned the princess and not the offspring, it meant that the Tang Dynasty no longer had any hope that the princess would be able to give birth to offspring.

It is also impossible for a prince with Tang Dynasty blood to be born in Tubo.

This means that the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo will gradually cool down in the future.

Gar Qinling was almost certain that if the Zamp and the princess still had no children two years later, then even if no one else told him, the crown prince... the crown prince would definitely spread the news throughout the Western Regions and let everyone know about it.

Then, it would not be easy for Tubo to do anything with the help of the Tang Dynasty's status as a son-in-law in the future.

This will have a huge impact on Tubo's future plans.

Gar Qinling took a deep breath and said seriously, "After I return home, I will inform the Zamp. Then, the Zamp will definitely bring the princess to Chang'an to participate in the celebration."

Whether to come or not is one thing, and saying whether to come or not is another.

At least, if we say it today, everything can be postponed to two years later.

We'll talk about it two years later.

Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch, smiled softly, and then said: "In this case, then when the time comes, I will let the crown prince lead the envoys of the kings of various countries to Chang'an to welcome the Zamp."

Gar Qinling couldn't help but gasp for breath.

This time, Gar Qinling directly put Songtsen on the fire.

……

"Your Majesty, I wish to congratulate you. The ceremony has been completed!"

Xiao Yu knelt in the center of the Taiji Hall, holding a memorial in his hands, which recorded all the details of today's court session.

Sitting on the throne, the emperor nodded slightly. "Thank you all for your hard work last year. I have prepared fine wine and delicious food, music and dancing in the Taiji Hall. I will enjoy it with you all and will not leave until I am drunk!"

"Your Majesty, we thank you very much. We are willing to share the feast with you and not leave until we are drunk!"

The emperor stood up from the imperial couch and walked down the steps. As he passed by Li Chengqian, he said calmly, "Crown Prince, go and fetch the Crown Prince. We'll have a feast in Liangyi Hall later."

Li Chengqian immediately bowed and said, "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)