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

Chapter 398 Li Chengqian, without the Heavenly Khan, you are a waste (Part )

"Your Highness, why don't you rebuild the Daming Palace?" Su Shu placed a bowl of milky white goat soup on the table in front of Li Chengqian and said to him, "I see that Your Highness has to send memorials to Cuiwei Palace every day, and my father doesn't always respond. So I thought why not let my father escape the summer and spend the winter in the Daming Palace."

"My beloved concubine, do you know why the Daming Palace was built?" Li Chengqian looked at Su Shu and said with a half-smile, "It was built specifically for my royal grandfather by my father after he abdicated the throne.

Later, the palace was not completed, and the emperor's grandfather passed away. Now I am bringing this up. What do you think the emperor will think?"

Su Shu was slightly stunned.

The emperor would feel that they would force him to abdicate.

Li Chengqian drank the yokan in one gulp and stood up, saying, "Let's wait until the future. In the future, you and I will cultivate by ourselves, and we can escape the summer heat and winter by ourselves."

"Okay." Su Shu nodded helplessly, then watched Li Chengqian wipe his mouth, get up and leave Cheng'en Hall, and go to Liangyi Hall to deal with the affairs of the world.

……

In front of the Liangyi Hall, a burly general in red and golden armor quickly ascended the jade steps and entered the main hall. He knelt on one knee and said to Li Chengqian in the hall, "Your Majesty, Guo Xiaoke, Duke of Yangdi County and the Governor of Anxi Protectorate, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"My dear minister, please stand up." Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly and said, "Your contribution to the conquest of Kucha is very great. The Ministry of Personnel has already calculated your merits and prepared a reward. After reporting to the emperor, the reward will be issued, but it will probably be before the grand ceremony in May."

The emperor offered sacrifices to heaven and earth on May 12th, and rewarded his meritorious officials the day before, and then offered sacrifices to heaven and earth together.

This is a special ceremony and also a special reward.

"I thank Your Majesty and Your Highness for your grace." Guo Xiaoke bowed solemnly.

"No need to be so polite." Li Chengqian looked at Guo Xiaoke and asked, "I heard that you almost died in Kucha this time?"

Guo Xiaoke glanced at the ministers on either side, then bowed awkwardly and said, "That's what happened. I was careless for a moment. I didn't expect the Western Turks to suddenly break through the gap between the armies and attack the city of Qiuci. They also communicated with the city's internal forces. If General Xue Wanbei hadn't arrived to rescue me in time, I'm afraid my son and I would have died there."

"Generals are bound to die on the battlefield." Li Chengqian looked out of the hall and sighed, "With what happened to General Guo this time, I've learned a lesson about the dangers of the battlefield."

"Yes!" Guo Xiaoke nodded with emotion.

Li Chengqian's gaze fell on Guo Xiaoke again, and a hint of indifference flashed across his expression.

Guo Xiaoke was a bit greedy, which is why he was in danger outside the city of Kucha this time.

In fact, in his previous life, he did die in this war, and his eldest son Guo Daizhao also died.

Compared with his eldest son Guo Daizhao, his surviving second son Guo Daifeng not only inherited Guo Xiaoke's military strategy, but also inherited his greed, which led to the Tang Dynasty's defeat in Dayechuan.

If Guo Daifeng was not in Chang'an now, and if Li Chengqian did not plan to use Guo Xiaoke to guard the Western Regions, he would not have specifically asked Xue Wanbei to save his life.

……

"My dear minister, you have made great contributions this time. You should be allowed to return to the court and rest for a few years. However, the Western Regions are in turmoil now, and the four towns of Anxi have just been established. They still need your more management. So I have to trouble you to stay in Anxi for a few more years and then be transferred back to the court to take up your post." Li Chengqian looked at Guo Xiaoke sincerely.

The Anxi Protectorate was established by Guo Xiaoke.

The structure of the four Anxi towns has just been established, and the situation in Western Turkestan is unstable, so Li Chengqian needs an experienced person to stabilize the situation.

This person is Guo Xiaoke.

"I obey your command. I thank Your Highness for your trust." Guo Xiaoke bowed gratefully, then looked up and said, "I thank Your Highness for your leniency in the matter of the Taiyuan Guo family."

Although Guo Xiaoke was born into the Xuzhou Guo family, his ancestors were direct descendants of the Taiyuan Guo family.

Even now, even the middle generation characters are the same.

"Guo Xiaoshen's affairs have nothing to do with you, my dear lord. I didn't kill him and his three clansmen, and I exiled them to Anxi. This has nothing to do with your appointment as the Protector General of Anxi." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "Anxi is desolate and needs careful management. Only then can we become a wedge for the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions and ultimately completely control the entire Western Regions."

"Yes!" Guo Xiaoke nodded vigorously.

"Alright, let's not talk about these things anymore. I heard that you captured the King of Kucha and brought him back." Li Chengqian looked outside the hall and said calmly, "Announce the King of Kucha."

"Summon the King of Kucha to an audience."

……

In the Taiji Hall, the short and fat King Bushipi of Kucha, dressed in a gray linen robe, entered the hall with his head lowered and a somewhat depressed look.

He looked up at Li Chengqian, who was sitting under the Danbi with a calm expression, and there was a hint of contempt and sneer on his face.

Guo Xiaoke, who was standing to one side, sneered, "You didn't even kneel down to pay your respects to the Crown Prince, Bushipi, do you want to die?"

The corners of Bushipi's mouth twitched slightly, then he gritted his teeth, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to Li Chengqian, saying: "King Bushipi of Kucha, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Chengqian looked at Bushipi with cold eyes and said, "No, that's not right. You are not the King of Kucha."

Bushipi looked up in confusion and looked at Li Chengqian with a puzzled look on his face.

"Kucha is a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty." Li Chengqian looked at him indifferently and said, "Kucha's kings have changed, and they need to be canonized by the Tang Dynasty. I want to ask you, do you have a canonization from the Tang Dynasty?"

Bushipi's face instantly turned completely ugly.

The reason why he went to war with the Tang Dynasty this time was that he simply did not recognize Kucha's status as a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, this has something to do with his identity as the son-in-law of the Western Turks.

At the instigation of the Western Turks, after he ascended the throne, he did not send anyone to the Tang Dynasty to request enthronement, nor did he pay tribute, and he even did not have a good face towards the Tang envoys. The final result was that the Tang Dynasty's 100,000 troops arrived in Kucha and destroyed his Kucha. At the same time, the Western Turks were completely driven out of the area of ​​the Four Towns of Anxi.

It can be said to be a complete failure.

But now, Li Chengqian's words that he was not the King of Kucha completely broke Bushipi's defense. He couldn't help but stand up and curse: "You idiot..."

With a "bang", there was a sudden sound of heavy footsteps on both sides of the hall, completely covering up Bu Shibi's voice.

He subconsciously looked towards the side hall, and suddenly saw a row of guards in red clothes and golden armor, staring at him intently, their hands also grasping the long swords at their waists.

Bushipi was shocked and then filled with regret.

The next moment, in the surprised eyes of everyone, Bushipi bowed his head and kowtowed, saying: "I am a foreign minister and I am sorry for my impoliteness. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Li Chengqian looked at Bushi indifferently. He believed that he had no personal grudges with the King of Kucha.

But today, when he entered the hall, he saw that the person sitting in the Taiji Hall was not the Emperor Khan, but the Crown Prince Li Chengqian. A feeling of contempt suddenly emerged in his heart, and he almost cursed him.

Li Chengqian knew in his heart that he was not his father.

The majesty of Emperor Tian Khan was earned through his battles.

Although he did not personally lead many expeditions over the years, the Eastern Turks in the north knew best how powerful he was.

Later, the Eastern Turks were destroyed, and the remaining tribes migrated to the Western Regions, bringing his fame with them.

At the same time, the countless brave generals under his command all sincerely respected him, and many of them were even conquered by him in a single battle at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

Those small countries in the Western Regions were defeated by them, so they naturally respected the emperor who conquered these powerful generals even more.

The most important thing is that when the envoys and kings of these small countries came to Chang'an and saw the majesty of the Heavenly Khan with their own eyes, they were already conquered.

Coupled with the increasingly powerful army of the entire Tang Dynasty, everyone still respects this emperor from the bottom of their hearts.

The reason why some people dared to disobey the Tang Dynasty was, firstly, because the distance was too far, and secondly, because they had the support of the equally powerful Western Turks behind them.

So, when he was taken to Chang'an today, Bushibi was originally a little afraid to see the emperor, but he did not expect that the person sitting here was Li Chengqian.

Naturally, these people looked down on Li Chengqian, who had no reputation in the world.

This was keenly noticed by Li Chengqian, so he reprimanded him bluntly.

I didn't expect him to dare to talk back.

……

Li Chengqian looked at Bushipi carefully, his cold eyes lingering around his neck.

He was not the emperor, and it was impossible for him to go to the Western Regions to fight in person in the future. Although the Tang Dynasty had countless elite soldiers and generals, to be honest, when it came to martial arts, he could not surpass his father.

Once the emperor passes away in the future, there will inevitably be unrest in all parts of the world.

So, he needed something to warn everyone.

Li Chengqian did not speak for a long time. The prime ministers standing on both sides, as well as the secretaries, the prince's secretaries, the attendants, the attendants and others behind the curtains in the back, all subconsciously breathed lighter.

For a moment, everyone felt a heavy atmosphere pressing on their hearts.

The longer Li Chengqian remained silent, the greater the pressure became.

Bushipi felt it even more clearly, the cold murderous intent coming towards him, which made him even tremble slightly, fearing that as soon as Li Chengqian opened his mouth, he would have people drag him out and behead him directly.

"Bushipi, do you know what lingchi means?" Li Chengqian saw Bushipi shudder suddenly, then said calmly, "It's also called a thousand cuts and ten thousand slashes in the folk. It means during the execution, the prisoner's flesh is cut off one by one, for 3,600 consecutive cuts, and it continues for three days. During this process, the prisoner cannot die until he has 3,600 cuts, and then he can breathe his last."

Bushipi couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and his body began to tremble completely.

The faces of the ministers on both sides also looked a little ugly.

Li Chengqian snorted coldly and said, "Just a moment ago, I really wanted to cut you into pieces, but now, I don't have that thought anymore."

Bushipi breathed a sigh of relief.

"You should stay in Chang'an." Li Chengqian turned to look at Fang Xuanling and said, "Prime Minister Fang, find him a larger mansion facing the street in Qunxianfang, inside Jinguang Gate."

Bushipi looked up in some surprise.

Li Chengqian continued, "Gather all of his royal family members together. Everyone else will live normally, but he alone will be allowed to live in the lowest-class firewood shed, even in winter."

The ministers around him looked solemn.

"I will keep him in the lowest room, watching the Tang Dynasty flourish day by day." Li Chengqian stared at Bushipi, seeing his terrified expression, and continued, "Tell his relatives that no one is allowed to help him. I welcome anyone to report him. Those who report him will be expelled from the mansion and properly arranged, and those who are reported will be sent to the mountains to mine."

Mining is never a good thing, especially for prisoners of war, which means eternal death.

"Evil villain!" Bushipi couldn't help but stand up and rush towards Li Chengqian, but Guo Xiaoke stepped forward and kicked him to the ground. Bushipi pointed at Li Chengqian and cursed: "You bastard, without the Heavenly Khan, you are useless. You can't suppress the world at all. I wait to see you completely destroy the Tang Dynasty, just like Yang..."

"Pa!" Guo Xiaoke had slapped Bushipi's words into his stomach.

"Come here!" Li Chengqian looked up. Two golden-armored guards had already entered the hall. Li Chengqian said calmly, "Send him to the Eunuchs' Office and have them take good care of him. I want to see him perform the Kucha dance for my father at the banquet on the evening of the celebration."

Bushipi raised his head and looked at Li Chengqian as if he were looking at a devil.

Jie Li's affairs have become a joke throughout the Western Regions.

And today he will follow in Jie Li's footsteps.

……

Li Chengqian stood at the entrance of Liangyi Hall, gazing at the world outside. He spoke calmly, "My lords, over the years, Goguryeo, Western Turks, Gaochang, Kucha, and Tubo have constantly provoked the Tang Dynasty. Today, the King of Kucha even mocked me to my face. You all know the reason."

Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang, Ma Zhou, Li Ji, and Yu Zhining all bowed.

"Governing the empire is difficult, and I understand it from the bottom of my heart. So I'm not anxious. After all, my father is still here. However, we must increase supervision of the three hundred states and the barbarians in all directions. If anything happens, the court must react as quickly as possible." After Li Chengqian finished speaking, everyone bowed in unison: "Yes!"

"Oh, the world!" Li Chengqian sighed lightly. The world was too big, and his prestige was too little. The only people he could rely on were the people behind him.

At this moment, a sound suddenly came from the direction of Chengtian Gate.

Immediately, a dusty Qianniu Guard quickly ran from Chengtian Gate to Li Chengqian, and said solemnly with a bow, "Your Highness, urgent news from Songzhou: Tubo is making a move!"

(End of this chapter)