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

Chapter 459: Provoking Relationships, On the Rivalry Between Qin Ling and His Son (Part )
Thousand Oxen Prison.

The corridor is dry and the lanterns are bright.

Li Chengqian, wearing a black robe with a golden dragon pattern, walked calmly forward, with Changsun Wuji and Chang He following closely behind him.

Dozens of Qianniu guards stood solemnly on both sides with swords in hand.

Li Chengqian walked deep into Qianniu Prison and stopped in front of a prison door.

The stone walls and iron doors firmly imprisoned the prisoners inside.

With a creaky sound, the cell door opened.

Lu Dongzan, who was hanging on the rack, looked at Li Chengqian who walked in with a look of surprise on his face: "So it's His Majesty himself who has come. No wonder they want to clean up the prison and tie up the foreign ministers."

Li Chengqian ignored Lu Dongzan and turned to look at Chang He and said, "Isn't Gar Qinling here?"

"Your Majesty!" Chang He bowed and said seriously, "They, father and son, each have their own cell, and they are quite far away, so no one can hear them."

Li Chengqian nodded and said with a smile, "Well done."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Chang He took a step back.

Li Chengqian looked up at Lu Dongzan and said calmly, "The Tuyuhun War is over. Tubo lost 70,000 soldiers, Tuyuhun lost 30,000 soldiers, and Dangxiang lost 50,000 soldiers. The Tang Dynasty has won a great victory."

Lu Dongzan's lips suddenly began to tremble, and then his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Lu Dongzan looked at Li Chengqian with a pleading look on his face.

"He ran away." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "His Shadow Army soldiers fought hard to cover his retreat, and he barely escaped with his life."

After hearing Li Chengqian's words, Lu Dongzan's whole body stopped trembling, and even a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

In his heart, as long as Songtsen is still alive, there will always be hope for Tubo.

"He's asking for peace." Li Chengqian sneered and said, "The Gar family was raided, and all members of the family were reduced to slavery. At the same time, they sent people to Chang'an with ten thousand taels of gold and countless rare treasures to ask for peace."

Lu Dongzan was stunned, then looked up in disbelief.

"He was shot by an arrow on the battlefield." Li Chengqian shook his head slightly and said, "He fled from Subi back to Lhasa, and the Tang Dynasty could no longer pursue him.

I originally planned to capture Subi next, but he sent people to ask for peace, sent a few heads, and then said that you were instigating the rebellion, and then led your tribesmen to attack Tuyuhun.

At this point, Li Chengqian laughed: "I guess not only was your family ransacked, all your property, land, and slaves confiscated, but even your clan soldiers were all swallowed up by him."

Lu Dongzan didn't say anything, but his extremely ugly expression told Li Chengqian everything.

"It shouldn't just be your family. Everything from the families that suffered the most losses in this battle has been swallowed up by him, so he sent people to ask for peace." Li Chengqian raised his head and thought about everything that was happening in Tubo now. He felt a rare sense of satisfaction.

The corners of Lu Dongzan's mouth twitched slightly, and he finally couldn't help but say: "Although Zamp was defeated, he can still make a comeback."

"Yes, Lanzhou is too far from Qamdo." Li Chengqian nodded slightly and said, "So I withdrew my troops."

Li Chengqian's words made Lu Dongzan stunned, and then his face became extremely ugly again.

"If there were external pressure, the Tubo people would naturally unite as one. But without it, they would kill each other." Li Chengqian looked at Lu Dongzan and said, "It was Songzan's idea to use you as a scapegoat, and I'm afraid it was the idea of ​​others as well. And you know Songzan's physical condition. After that arrow, he was doomed."

Li Chengqian's face suddenly turned fierce, and Lu Dongzan turned his head away inexplicably with some fear.

What he was afraid of and what he dared not face was certainly not Li Chengqian, but the future situation of Tubo.

Songtsen's health was not very good.

In the plateau, people are constantly fighting on the front lines, and old injuries on the body will come back more fiercely as they get older.

This is the law of nature.

This is the way of heaven.

Li Shimin could not avoid it, and neither could Songtsen.

Especially now that he's been hit by an arrow.

His body was finding it even more difficult to support himself.

If nothing unexpected happens, he is dead.

"I know that you Tibetans are best at playing those little tricks to keep the death a secret. I let you play, and I want to see what tricks you can play in the end." Li Chengqian raised his head slightly, and a deep sneer flashed in the corner of his eyes.

Lu Dongzan suddenly felt a chill, and he instantly saw through Li Chengqian's plan.

The Tang Dynasty had not yet completed its preparations to destroy the Tubo Kingdom, so at this time, it let the Tubo people relax and have fun.

In the absence of external pressure, if Songtsen was still alive, Tubo would naturally be able to work together to move forward, but once Songtsen died, there would inevitably be chaos within Tubo.

Only if the emperor has enough patience to wait until the internal strife in Tubo reaches a certain level and the Tang Dynasty completes its preparations for war, Tubo will surely perish.

Li Chengqian looked at Lu Dongzan, shook his head slightly, and said, "As for you, I really want to kill you. I really want to."

……

Lu Dongzan lowered his head slightly. Although the emperor did not grit his teeth when he spoke, the deep hatred in his voice was extremely clear.

He harmed Li Shimin.

Lu Dongzan now finally realized that although Li Shimin appeared to be fine on Mount Song, he actually had serious health problems.

This made Li Chengqian, as his son, not let Lu Dongzan, the conspirator, go easily.

This hatred was too deep. "Skinning you, tearing your bones, and drawing you to pieces," Li Chengqian sneered softly. "None of this would be enough to offset the hatred I feel. However, the court officials have urged me to be lenient, like my father, and inherit his great name, the Heavenly Khan. That's why I've come to see you today."

Lu Dongzan could hear the unwillingness in Li Chengqian's words. For some reason, he felt a sense of pride in his heart.

But in an instant, he completely killed this sense of pride.

"I always speak my mind." Li Chengqian looked up and said, "The Tubo people were defeated, and they used you as a scapegoat, raiding your entire clan and confiscating all your wealth. I believe that much of the gold, silver, and treasures the Tubo people offered as tribute in this peace treaty must have come from your family. Therefore, I have sent a message to the Tubo people, asking them to send all of your clansmen to Chang'an."

Lu Dongzan suddenly looked up and stared at Li Chengqian: "What do you want to do?"

"I have no intention of doing anything." Li Chengqian shook his head calmly and said, "If you are willing to serve me, I will send your family to you and grant you a mansion to live in. If you are not willing to serve me, it is also simple. I will kill you and all the male members of your family, and then reduce all the female members of your family to slavery, completely destroying your bloodline. That's it."

"You!" Lu Dongzan looked at Li Chengqian with gritted teeth.

Li Chengqian turned around and looked at Zhangsun Wuji, saying, "Uncle, I have said everything I need to say. Bring the person here."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed, then nodded towards the other end of the corridor. Soon, Gar Qinling, shackled and covered with scars, was brought in and pushed into Lu Dongzan's room.

With a bang, the prison door closed, followed by Li Chengqian's voice: "Let's go."

"Here!"

……

The sound of the receding footsteps completely disappeared.

Lu Dongzan breathed a sigh of relief, but at this moment he was still tied to the wooden frame.

Looking at his son's bloodied appearance, Lu Dongzan couldn't help but ask, "Qin Ling, are you okay?"

"Father!" Gar Qinling looked up at his father in bewilderment, and asked in disbelief, "Did the Zamp really put all the blame on our Gar family after the defeat? Did he really confiscate our clan land and arrest all our family members?"

Seeing his son's body trembling slightly, Lu Dongzan sighed helplessly, then nodded and said, "It should be like this."

"Father!" Gar Qinling immediately threw himself in front of the wooden frame, looked at Lu Dongzan, and shouted in pain: "Why did he do this? We did all this for him. Father, eldest brother, third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother, how are they now?"

Lu Dongzan fell silent. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Have you ever thought that Zamp might be saving our lives by doing this?"

Gar Qinling was stunned.

Lu Dongzan sighed and said, "Didn't you see that the emperor came just now? He wanted us to serve the Tang Dynasty... Only when our roots in Luoshui are completely destroyed will the emperor trust us and let us survive."

live.

These words kept echoing in Gar Qinling's mind.

Lu Dongzan shook his head and said, "If Tubo had won this battle, the Zamp would have reached the gates of Chang'an and rescued us. But now we've been defeated, hundreds of thousands of troops are gone. Even if the country doesn't tell us, the two of us in Chang'an must sever all ties with Luoshe if we want to survive."

Gar Qinling looked up at Lu Dongzan. He suddenly began to shake his head, then shook it vigorously and said, "Father, you trust him too much. He can't even protect himself, how can he save us?"

"The emperor has asked Luoshe to send our families to Chang'an. As long as they all arrive and are safe and sound, you will believe it." Lu Dongzan smiled lightly.

Gar Qinling pursed his lips, looked at Lu Dongzan in disbelief, and said, "Father, you don't know what a house raid is like, or do I? It's a life-or-death disaster, not to mention having to send them from Luoshui to Chang'an. If only half of them made it there alive, it would be a blessing from heaven. How could it be his painstaking effort?"

"Believe in the Zamp." Lu Dongzan looked at Gar Qinling and said seriously, "He can do it."

"Oh!" Gar Qinling shook his head, then composed himself and said, "Father, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll tell them to put you down now."

"Okay!" Lu Dongzan looked at Gar Qinling turning around, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes.

……

Under the bright moon, Li Chengqian calmly walked into the Liangyi Hall.

Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling followed behind him.

At this moment, Chang He walked quickly into the hall and handed a short note to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian read it quickly and then handed the note to Changsun Wuji.

After Li Chengqian sat down on the imperial couch, Zhangsun Wuji handed the note to Fang Xuanling. He then bowed to Li Chengqian and sighed, "Your Majesty is right. Lu Dongzan has served Songtsen for many years. I'm afraid he only agreed to serve the Tang Dynasty reluctantly. He will betray the Tang Dynasty at a critical moment in the future."

"On the contrary, it is Gar Qinling who has served Songtsen for a short time and we do not have that much confidence in him. He can be used by Your Majesty." Fang Xuanling followed with a bow.

"Your Majesty!" Changsun Wuji bowed again and said, "I believe that when Tongtianhe takes over, we can send people to treat their family with all our strength. After arriving in Chang'an, Gar Qinling will surely be grateful to Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian turned and looked at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling immediately bowed and said, "I think so too."

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "If the emperor were in power, what my uncle and Prime Minister Fang did would be fine. Those people would be grateful to the emperor and the Tang Dynasty. But I am not the emperor. If I only show kindness without authority, I am afraid it will not achieve the results that my uncle and Fang Xuanling hope to see."

Foreigners fear power but not virtue.

Li Chengqian, the new emperor, ascended the throne. Even though he won a great victory over Goguryeo, it can be heard from the conversation between Lu Dongzan and Gar Qinling that they did not have much respect for him.

Blindly being tolerant and showing kindness is not the solution.

"Have the Duke of Wei send a medical officer to Tongtian River. If he can be saved, then he can be saved. If not, then let him die. That's fine." Li Chengqian tapped the table lightly and said, "Once we get to Chang'an, we'll all be imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice. Convict him according to the law, and sentence him to death if necessary. I will show no mercy here."

Zhang Sun Wuji raised his eyes and whispered, "Your Majesty wants the Emperor to grant you extra favors."

"They will fear Father." Li Chengqian nodded and said, "And I can accept this. However, the specific method of showing mercy depends on what Father says... If Father wants them to die, then they must all die. Not a single one will survive."

(End of this chapter)