Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 28 Wu Meiniang's Investigation
There are two canals in Taiji Palace, one in the east and one in the west.

The East Canal is called Longshou Canal. It flows from the east of Changle Gate to the north, passes through the Shangshi Inner Courtyard and enters the rear palace, and is connected with the Donghai Pool.

There is a warehouse on the west bank of Longshou Canal, called Sibaoku, which is the largest inner treasury of the imperial palace.

Wu Meiniang stood outside the Treasury, supervising the palace maids from the Shanggong Bureau as they moved the tributes from various states and counties into the Treasury.

Next month will be the first month of the lunar year. According to the old harem system, on the day of the grand court meeting, the queen will also hold a palace meeting in the harem and reward part of the tribute to the concubines and ladies.

At this time, Zhang Duohai ran over from a distance and said to Queen Wu, "Your Highness, everything has been checked clearly." He handed over a booklet.

Wu Meiniang took it and looked at it for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly, and she murmured, "So he is actually a Tuyuhun."

Zhang Duohai laughed and said, "I never thought that the Tibetans and Tuyuhun people looked similar."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "You did very well." She turned to Lady Jiang and asked, "Where is His Majesty now?"

Jiang Shanggong said, "After His Majesty finished his official duties, he went to the Forbidden Garden."

Wu Meiniang was stunned and asked, "Forbidden Garden?"

Jiang Shang Gong said, "Yes, Your Majesty went to Feilong Courtyard and rode with the Qianniu Guards for an hour. Then he went to the tiger enclosure and has not come out since."

Wu Meiniang asked curiously, "Your Majesty, why are you going to the tiger enclosure? Aren't there no tigers there?"

Jiang Shang Gong said, "I don't know. The tiger enclosure is heavily guarded by the Thousand Oxen Guards. My men can't get close."

Wu Meiniang nodded, returned to Lizheng Hall, prepared a bowl of medicinal food, and ordered someone to bring in a few dishes and keep them warm.

Around the hour of You, a palace maid came to report that Li Zhi had returned to Ganlu Palace, so she went over with the food.

Li Zhi was about to serve the meal when he saw her coming with the medicinal food and food, so he ate with her in the outer room of the bedroom.

Wu Meiniang finished her meal quickly and asked Li Zhi while helping him pick up some food: "Jiulang, do you want to use military force against Tubo?"

Li Zhi looked up at her and said, "I don't want to attack Tubo, I just want to help Tuyuhun resist them."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "That's right. With Dayan and his son in Tubo, Tuyuhun is no match for Tubo. We need to help them."

Li Zhi was slightly stunned and asked, "What are Dayan and his son?"

Wu Meiniang asked, "Doesn't Jiulang know who the Tibetan envoy is?"

Li Zhi frowned and said, "The name seems to be Dubu."

Wu Meiniang handed him a piece of chrysanthemum and said with a smile, "I sent someone to check on this man. He is not from Tibet, but from Tuyuhun."

Li Zhi glanced at Wu Meiniang and couldn't help but sigh.

I just showed a little attention to Tubo, but she immediately put a lot of effort into investigating the Tubo envoy. Her energy is too strong.

"Since Dubu is a Tuyuhun, why did he become an envoy of Tubo?" he asked.

Wu Meiniang asked, "Does Jiulang still remember Fu Yun?"

Li Zhi nodded: "Of course."

During the reign of King Fuyun of Tuyuhun, Tuyuhun was extremely powerful, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and armors, and all the surrounding Western Qiang tribes submitted to it.

Tubo was a tribe of the Qiang people that migrated westwards and had not yet been unified. Faced with the powerful Tuyuhun, it could only remain humble and submissive.

But Tuyuhun was restless and, relying on his stubbornness, was determined to fight the Tang Dynasty to the death.

In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Li Shimin sent Duan Zhiyuan to lead troops to attack Tuyuhun and defeated Fuyun.

Fu Yun fled far away with his troops, and Duan Zhiyuan returned with his troops.

When Fu Yun saw that Tang Chao had left, he turned around and led his troops to harass Liang Province again, as if to say, "Come and fight me!"

Li Shimin met his request.

After half a year of preparation, Li Shimin appointed Li Jing as the commander-in-chief of the army, led Hou Junji, Li Daozon, Li Daliang, Li Daoyan, Gao Zongsheng, Qibi Heli and other generals, divided into six armies, to attack Tuyuhun.

The Tang army was unstoppable and the Tuyuhun army was defeated. The rescuers, the Western Qiang tribe, were also defeated by the Tang army.

Fu Yun tried to escape again, but it didn't work this time. Hou Junji led his army to chase him for two thousand miles and refused to let Fu Yun go.

Fu Yun's baggage was destroyed, and he was left alone. He eventually committed suicide.

Although the Tang army occupied Tuyuhun, they did not annex it. Instead, they made Fu Shun, the eldest son of Fu Yun, the king. Fu Shun also took the Tang name, Murong Shun.

Fuyun also had a son named Dayan, who was the crown prince of Tuyuhun.

After Dayan and Fuyun were defeated by the Tang army, they had been looking for their father. Later, they learned that Fuyun had died and the Tang Dynasty had made Fushun the king. In anger, they led their people to flee to Tubo.

When Songtsen Gampo saw Dayan's surrender, he was overjoyed and appointed him as the deputy prime minister of Tubo, whose status was second only to Lu Dongzan.

This Tubo envoy, Dubu, was Dayan's son. Legally, Dayan was the legitimate heir to the Tuyuhun throne. Murong Shun was dead, and the current Tuyuhun king was Murong Shun's son, Murong Zhonglie.

A considerable number of people in Tuyuhun secretly supported Dayan.

As long as Dayan and his son were in Tubo, Tubo would be fully aware of the situation in Tuyuhun and could easily defeat Tuyuhun.

Li Zhi nodded secretly after listening to it.

He knew that there were pro-Tibetan forces in Tuyuhun, but he didn't know it was because of Dayan.

Songtsen Gampo took in Dayan probably in preparation for the future annexation of Tuyuhun.

Wu Meiniang continued, "Jiulang, I have also heard another piece of news, which is also related to Tubo."

Li Zhi asked, "What?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Since Nadubu entered Chang'an, he has been looking for someone. Can you guess who it is?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "There's no beginning or end. How could I have guessed it?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "Jiulang, do you know about the Eastern Women's Kingdom?"

Li Zhi's heart moved and he said, "I know that they are also one of the Western Qiang. Like the Subi Kingdom, they respect women and their kings are all women."

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "That's right. The Kingdom of Eastern Women has also sent an envoy this time, and it's their queen!"

Li Zhi suddenly realized, "Is Dubu looking for the Queen of Dongnu?"

Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "The Kingdom of Eastern Women is not our vassal state. The queen does not live in the Honglu Temple. No one knows where she is hiding in Chang'an. If Du Bu hadn't come to find her, I wouldn't have known she was in Chang'an."

In fact, after Tuyuhun was destroyed, the Kingdom of Eastern Women also sent envoys, hoping to become a younger brother of the Tang Dynasty.

However, there are conditions for the Tang Dynasty to accept younger brothers.

First, the country must be known to the Tang Dynasty and recorded in its history. Second, when the country came to pay tribute, the king must come to the Tang Dynasty in person to pay homage.

Of course, the second condition is not absolute. If it is a major power recognized by the Tang Dynasty, the king can directly send envoys to express submission, such as Tubo.

The Kingdom of Eastern Women obviously had not yet met this condition, and the queen had previously refused to come in person, so it was not recognized by the Tang Dynasty.

Li Zhi pondered and said, "Dongnu is also one of the Qiang people. Tubo must have the intention of annexing them, so they are looking for this queen."

Wu Meiniang said: "She came to Chang'an, probably because she wanted to submit to the Tang Dynasty and seek protection."

Li Zhi nodded.

Both the Eastern Women's Kingdom and Tuyuhun hoped to obtain the protection of the Tang Dynasty.

However, the Tibetans were also very smart. They chose to take action now because they knew that the Tang Dynasty was fighting with the Western Turks and could not help them.

The current problem is still food. The reefs in Sanmenxia have not been resolved and the food route is not smooth.

There was not enough food in the Chang'an warehouse, and Li Zhi did not dare to send out another army for fear of any accidents.

The best option at the moment is to form an alliance to encircle Tubo.

The Tang Dynasty only needs to call on and unite the small countries that are fighting against Tubo, so there is no need to send more troops, and perhaps they can even provide food.

The next day, Li Zhi found maps of Tubo and Tuyuhun and studied them for a while. He also found officials from the Honglu Temple to learn more about the situation in Tubo.

As expected, many Qiang tribes were facing the threat of annexation by Tubo.

Apart from Tuyuhun, the three most powerful Qiang tribes are Dangxiang Qiang, Bailang Qiang and Dongnu Qiang.

Among them, the Bailang Qiang was sandwiched between Tubo and Tuyuhun, and was on good terms with Tuyuhun.

The attitudes of the Dangxiang Qiang and the Dongnu Qiang are currently unclear.

During the Fuyun period, they had all followed Tuyuhun wholeheartedly, but were defeated by the Tang army when they came to rescue Tuyuhun. From then on, they no longer recognized Tuyuhun's status as the big brother.

If we want to unite the Qiang people to deal with Tubo, Tuyuhun’s current influence alone is definitely not enough, and we need the help of the Tang Dynasty.

Having said that, although Li Zhi wanted to help Tuyuhun deal with Tubo, he could not be too eager, otherwise he would be controlled by Tuyuhun.

Therefore, he had to let them beg the Tang Dynasty and then agree to it in order to gain their gratitude.

The timing of this must be carefully controlled.

Li Zhi thought for a moment, then said to Wang Fusheng, "Issue an order that a banquet be held in Zhaode Hall at noon tomorrow for all foreign envoys. Appoint Li Yifu as the banqueting envoy, and let the Tuyuhun envoys sit at the head of the table."

The decree was quickly processed in the two provinces and then sent to the Honglu Temple.

Officials from the Honglu Temple arranged the seating arrangements according to the imperial edict and then sent people to notify envoys from various countries.

(End of this chapter)