Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 44: Zhengli Grand Meeting

The emperors of the Tang Dynasty had a wide variety of costumes, including fourteen types such as the Dafu crown, Tongtian crown, Yishan crown, Wubian, and Baike.

The dafur crown was the garment worn during sacrifices to heaven and earth, while the dafur crown was worn during the grand court assembly in the first month of the lunar year.

Li Zhi was putting on his imperial robe and crown in the Lizheng Hall. Because the attire was too complicated, eight palace maids helped him get dressed.

It wasn't long before the clothes were finally put on.

Looking in the mirror, he saw that he was wearing a robe embroidered with dragons, a crown on his head, a dark blue top and a bright red skirt, embroidered with twelve kinds of patterns, and two white jade pendants hanging from his waist.

This attire is majestic and solemn, but it is not very comfortable to wear.

Wu Meiniang was also going to change into the formal dress with hairpins, but the harem meeting was going to be later, so she was not in a hurry and ordered the palace maids to help Li Zhi put on the formal dress first.

Just then, the voice of a eunuch came from outside the hall, saying that Xue Rengui wanted to see him.

Li Zhi ordered Xue Rengui to come in.

Xue Rengui's attire was also different from usual.

He wore a round-necked robe and a cross-legged hat on his head. The hem of the robe reached nearly the knees and had a horizontal sash. The robe was embroidered with animals.

He bowed to Li Zhi and said, "Your Majesty, the Jinwu Guards have reported that a foreigner has arrived outside the Suzaku Gate, claiming to be an attendant of the Persian envoy, seeking an audience."

Li Zhi asked, "Persian envoy? Why are they here only now?"

Xue Rengui said, "According to the Persians, they have been hunted down and the Persian envoys are trapped outside Chang'an and dare not enter the city."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where did this killer come from? Why is he so rampant?"

Xue Rengui said, "The Persians said that the Arabs were chasing them."

Li Zhi's heart moved.

Like Tubo, the Arab Empire was in a period of rapid expansion, but it was too far away from the Tang Dynasty and had little impact on it.

Persia was adjacent to the Caliphate and had been attacked by the Caliphate a long time ago. Now it sent envoys, obviously asking for help.

The Tang Dynasty was far away from the Arab Empire, so it was naturally impossible for Li Zhi to help them restore their country.

However, he was somewhat interested in the situation in Central Asia.

"Mr. Xue, take your men out of the city and bring the Persian envoys outside the city to the palace." He instructed Xue Rengui.

Xue Rengui took the order and left.

After Li Zhi was dressed, he left the Lizheng Hall, sat on the imperial sedan chair, and was carried by sixteen eunuchs all the way to the Taiji Hall.

When we arrived at the Taiji Hall, we were carried from the west gate into a small side hall next to the Taiji Hall to rest for a while.

All the ministers had arrived at the corridor of Taiji Hall and arranged themselves in ranks, with the captain in charge of the gate announcing the names of the officials.

This time there were too many people, so the chanting took longer, taking nearly half an hour to finish before the ministers entered the hall.

Officials from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Censorate, the Honglu Temple and other departments led different officials and foreign guests to the seats arranged in advance.

After everyone was standing still, the Minister Cui Dunli came to the small side hall and invited Li Zhi to enter the main hall to receive the court.

Amid the eunuchs' chanting of greeting, Li Zhi, wearing a dragon-embroidered robe and a Yishan crown, entered the hall from the west gate on the imperial sedan chair.

The imperial carriage stopped in front of the throne. Li Zhi stepped onto the throne step by step and sat facing south.

Dubu looked up at the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and suddenly his whole body trembled, and his face turned extremely pale.

"Isn't this the Tang man I met in the gold and silver shop? He...he is actually the emperor of the Tang Dynasty?!" he shouted in his heart.

At this moment, he finally understood why the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty sent people to reprimand Tubo. It turned out that it was because he had offended him.

At this time, the master of ceremonies came out and chanted the ceremony, and the ministers and guests began to kowtow, bow their heads, and dance to Li Zhi.

Foreign guests perform according to the etiquette of their respective countries.

The Tongshi Sheren led the dukes, princes and other guests and envoys to their seats again.

After all the ministers and guests were seated, Changsun Wuji came out alone.

He was the only one who entered the palace with a sword.

Because when Emperor Gaozong of Tang first ascended the throne, he granted him special privileges, allowing him to enter the court without bowing, to praise without naming his name, and to enter the palace with a sword and shoes.

There is a sword-unloading seat in the court.

Changsun Wuji placed his sword on the sword-unloading mat and kowtowed to Li Zhi alone. After standing up, he said, "A new year of prosperity and prosperity has arrived. I humbly wish Your Majesty a peaceful and long life."

He was representing all the ministers to wish the emperor a happy new year.

Li Zhi stared at Zhangsun Wuji for a while, then, as he remembered, raised his hand and said, "I share the same congratulations on taking up my new position."

After the procedure was completed, the next step was for the protectorates, governors, and provincial governors from all over the country to present a list of tributes.

The tribute had actually already been stored in the left and right storehouses of the imperial palace. It was only read out in public at the moment, and finally the foreign envoys would present their tribute.

It has to be said that the grand court meeting is even more complicated and boring than the new and full moon court meetings.

After finally completing the entire process, Li Zhi hurriedly stood up and left the Taiji Hall on his imperial sedan chair, heading to the Zhaode Hall for the banquet. His ministers and guests also followed behind him.

Seats and food had already been set up in the hall, and Li Zhi and everyone else took their seats.

Before the banquet began, the Grand Music Officer set up a Dengge in the hall.

Wang Fusheng placed the wine he had poured in advance in front of Li Zhi.

Li Zhi raised his wine glass, and the band played the music of rest and harmony. All the officials and guests present danced and shouted "Long live the emperor" three times.

After Li Zhi finished drinking, Wang Fusheng stepped forward to take the empty cup and handed it to Sun Chong, the chief supervisor of the palace.

At this time, the singing and dancing troupe entered the hall and began to play music. The ministers and guests finally relaxed, enjoying the singing and dancing and drinking happily.

Just as Li Zhi was drinking and enjoying the singing and dancing, Wang Fusheng came to him.

"Your Majesty, General Xue has arrived with the Persian envoy and is waiting outside the palace for orders."

Li Zhi said, "Let Xue Rengui come in first. I want to ask him something."

After a while, Xue Rengui entered the hall from the side door. Li Zhi stepped down from the throne and whispered to him, "Are you really the Persian envoy?"

Xue Rengui said, "Your Majesty, it should be correct. Moreover, the envoy claims to be the Prince of Persia."

Li Zhi asked again: "Are there really Arabs chasing them?"

Xue Rengui said, "After I received the Persian envoys at Sanqiao Town, some people secretly followed me. I led my men to surround them. Because they resisted stubbornly, I killed several of them. I wanted to capture the rest alive, but they all burned themselves to death."

When Li Zhi heard about the self-immolation, he no longer had any doubts and nodded, saying, "You can bring the Persian envoy into the palace."

Before dawn, Xue Rengui brought the Persian envoys into the hall.

When Li Zhi was talking quietly with Xue Rengui just now, he had already attracted the attention of ministers and guests.

When everyone saw Xue Rengui coming in with someone, they all put down their wine glasses and looked at the man intently.

He was a foreign man in his twenties, of medium build, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, a tuft of curly brown beard, and green eyes.

He seemed extremely excited, opened his arms, and shouted, "Finally...finally, I have seen the great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Please save us, merciful Eastern Emperor. The God of Light will bless you and your people."

His voice was so high-pitched that it drowned out the singing and dancing, immediately causing dissatisfaction among some dignitaries who were enjoying the singing and dancing.

Li Zhi waved his hand, ordered the singing and dancing to leave, and said to the Persian, "Are you the Persian envoy?"

The Persian envoy performed a Zoroastrian ritual and said respectfully, "I am Prince Peroz of Persia, paying my respects to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty."

He spoke fluent Tang language, and it was obvious that he had put in a lot of hard work before coming here.

When the envoys from various countries heard that it was the Persian envoy who had arrived, they all became interested.

The Kangguo envoy stood up, saluted Li Zhi, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I heard that Persia has been destroyed. This man must be an imposter."

Bilus glared at the Kangguo envoy and said, "We have only temporarily retreated to Tokharistan and are looking for an opportunity to strike back. We are not doomed!"

Li Zhi said, "Prince Bilus, tell me why you are here."

Bilus shouted, "Your Majesty, a demonic empire has arisen in the Western Regions. They regard all pagans as enemies. They are like black waves, devouring everything around them. Sooner or later, they will surge eastward. Your Majesty, please help us destroy these demons!"

Li Yifu laughed and said, "The foreign envoy is referring to the Kingdom of Daqin, right? They also sent people to pay homage to our Tang Dynasty. They are not as terrible as you say."

Bilus said anxiously, "That's just their disguise. Every time they occupy a place, they force the people there to believe in the devil."

Han Ai snorted, "Don't be alarmist. They believe in the Daqin religion. Do you think we don't know?"

Bilus said anxiously, "Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty Emperor, the Arabs believe in the devil. When they become powerful, they will definitely invade the Tang Dynasty."

Li Ji suddenly said, "Prince, the Tang Dynasty is too far away from the Arabs to reach them. Why don't you seek help from other countries?"

Peruz sighed and said, "Even our powerful Persian Empire has been destroyed. Apart from the Tang Dynasty and Byzantium, which country can stand against the devil?"

Dubu snorted coldly and was about to make a sarcastic remark, but suddenly changed his mind and stepped out with a smile, saying, "Your Majesty, we in Tibet have also heard of the Arab Empire. They are indeed powerful, perhaps... even more powerful than the Tang Dynasty."

Murong Xin snorted coldly, "Nonsense! The Arab Empire is just a small, newly rising nation thousands of miles away from the Tang Dynasty. It's not a threat at all."

Li Zhi glanced at the two of them.

He naturally saw that Dubu wanted the Tang Dynasty to take care of the Persians' affairs, so he had no time to pay attention to them and Tuyuhun.

Murong Xin was just the opposite.

Judging from the reactions of other countries, the Arab Empire is currently only encroaching on Persia and has not invaded other places.

In the future, Li Zhi might send troops to compete with the Arab Empire for control of Central Asia, but not now.

He waved his hand and said, "The Tang Dynasty is too far away from Persia to offer any assistance. Since the Persian envoys are guests from afar, please take a seat."

Before Bilus could say more, the dance band re-entered the hall and the cheerful singing and dancing sounded again.

Bilus could only sigh, followed a eunuch to a seat, sat down, and drank alone.

(End of this chapter)