Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 57: Marrying the princess?

Today is not the morning sun, Li Zhi stayed in Penglai Palace last night and got up a little later than usual.

When he returned to Ganlu Palace and was processing today's memorials, Li Yifu suddenly asked for a meeting.

"Your Majesty, there is good news from Tuyuhun!" Li Yifu said happily as soon as he entered the hall.

Li Zhi laughed and said, "But Xue Rengui won the battle?"

Li Yifu said, "General Xue won a great victory near Bailan Mountain, severely wounding the Tibetan leader Dayan and beheading over 2,000 people."

Li Zhi hurriedly ordered Wang Fusheng to move a chair to Li Yifu and asked him to explain the situation slowly.

Li Yifu then narrated how the Tibetans besieged the city and attacked the reinforcements, how they defeated the Dangxiang Qiang and other northern troops, and how they ambushed Xue Rengui and other southern troops.

Li Zhi nodded secretly.

Xue Rengui's plan was indeed successful. Tubo did not lose the battle because of its combat power, but also because of its detailed plan.

Their only mistake was that they were completely unaware of the existence of Xue Rengui's Tang army, which led to their defeat.

Li Zhi asked again: "What happened next?"

Li Yifu said, "According to the news from General Cheng, when General Xue was fighting with Dayan's troops, the defenders of Bailan City also took the initiative to attack..."

There were more than 50,000 troops from Tuyuhun and Bailang Qiang in Bailang City.

They had learned that the Dangxiang Qiang had been eliminated and were worried about the situation of the Dongnu Qiang. When they saw the Tibetan army outside the city mobilizing and heading south, they guessed that they were going to deal with the Dongnu Qiang.

After some discussion between the Tuyuhun King, the Bailang King and Cheng Wuting, they all felt that if they did not attack, they would be waiting to die.

So everyone went out of the city and attacked the Tubo camp. Cheng Wuting also brought his fifty Qianniu Guards to join the battle.

However, this battle was extremely brutal. The Tibetans had been prepared and set traps to surround the defenders who were leaving the city.

King Bailang was killed in the battle, King Tuyuhun was injured, and even Cheng Wuting was hit by an arrow. Most of the fifty Qianniu Guards who followed him were killed or wounded.

At the critical moment, Xue Rengui led 500 cavalrymen to rush to the rescue. Although the number was small, they were the iron cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, which greatly encouraged the besieged defenders.

Qin Ling did not insist and ordered the army to retreat.

Because he withdrew his troops in an orderly manner and the Queen of Dongnu and the main force of the Tang army had not arrived, Xue Rengui did not pursue them.

In the end, Qinling's army retreated to the north bank of the Balong River, while the Tang-Qiang coalition army stayed on the south bank of the Balong River, with the two armies confronting each other across the river.

Li Zhi asked some more details and read the memorials of Xue Rengui and Cheng Wuting. After listening to them, he felt a little disappointed.

Xue Rengui only defeated Dayan's army, and Qinling's main force was not damaged. It cannot be said that the war was a complete victory.

Just then, the eunuch announced that Xu Jingzong wanted to see him.

Li Zhi ordered him in.

Xu Jingzong had a solemn expression on his face, holding a golden official document in his hand. It was not a memorial used in the Tang Dynasty, but more like a diplomatic document.

"Your Majesty, Tubo has sent an envoy with a diplomatic document."

Li Zhi frowned and ordered Wang Fusheng to take a look.

Li Yifu hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, what did the Tibetans say?"

Li Zhi threw the document on the table and said in a deep voice, "Qinling sent someone to apologize and proposed marriage, asking us to marry another princess."

Li Yifu angrily said, "The barbarians have lost the battle, yet they still want to marry the princess. How rude!"

Xu Jingzong suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask if our dynasty is secretly fighting against Tubo?"

Now that there was no need to keep it secret, Li Zhi asked Li Yifu to tell Xu Jingzong about the situation.

After listening to this, Xu Jingzong pondered for a while and said, "Your Majesty, since our army has won a small victory, why not choose a princess from the royal family and marry her to Tubo, emulating Emperor Taizong's actions?"

Li Zhi's heart sank.

Xu Jingzong continued, "Our dynasty's greatest enemy right now is the Western Turks, so we have no time to worry about Tubo. Furthermore, our dynasty has won the war, so marrying off the princess won't damage our dignity."

Seeing that Li Yifu was silent, Li Zhi said slowly, "Fu Sheng, pass on the order to summon officials of the fourth rank and above from the two provinces and the Ministry of War. An emergency court meeting will be held in Ganlu Hall in one hour."

By the time Wang Fusheng sent someone to inform his ministers, the news of the battle with Tuyuhun had already spread.

The ministers originally thought that the Tang Dynasty had only sent Cheng Wu to defeat the enemy, but they did not know that the emperor had secretly sent another army and won the battle.

Han Ai came to the Secretariat and discussed the matter with Lai Ji.

Lai Ji sighed, "Your Majesty's methods are becoming more and more powerful. He actually did such a big thing without telling us."

Han Ai said, "It must have been Wu who instigated this. Now that she has caused such a disaster, she has come to consult with the court officials."

Lai Ji frowned and said, "Xue Rengui won the battle and drove the Tibetans to the north bank of the Baron River. How can this be considered a disaster?"

Han Ai said, "That was only a small victory and did not harm the main Tibetan army. Now a standoff has formed. If Tibetans continue to send more troops, how can we deal with it?"

Lai Ji nodded.

Han Ai continued, "The Tibetans appear to be sending envoys to apologize, but in reality, they are threatening us to marry the princess. This is completely different from the situation during the reign of Emperor Taizong."

Lai Ji thought for a moment and said, "If Your Majesty had not sent Xue Rengui, Bailan City might have been captured by Tubo."

Han Ai asked, "So what?"

Lai Ji glared and said, "We can't just sit there and watch Tubo swallow up Tuyuhun, right?"

Han Ai glared back and said, "No matter how powerful Tubo is, can it swallow up Tuyuhun in one breath? Why not let them be trapped in Tuyuhun, and wait for us to deal with the Western Turks, and then turn around to attack Tubo. This is the right strategy!" "You are wrong. It will be too late after we defeat the Western Turks." A voice came from outside the door.

The two looked up and saw Changsun Wuji striding in.

Both of them showed joy on their faces and said, "General, you are here."

Lai Ji stood up and gave his seat to Changsun Wuji.

Han Ai asked, "You just said it was too late. What did you mean?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said slowly, "Dayan Mangbuzhi, the chief general of the Tubo Kingdom, was originally the son of Fuyun, the former crown prince of Tuyuhun."

Han Ai was surprised and said, "So he's still alive."

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "The Tubo people only need to follow our example and capture the Tuyuhun capital and support Dayan as the Tuyuhun king. By the time we want to save Tuyuhun, it will be too late."

Han Ai was stunned and asked, "Your Majesty also knows this?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "Your Majesty should know, otherwise he would not have sent Xue Rengui."

Lai Ji said, "In your opinion, should we agree to the Tibetans' request?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "It is indeed not appropriate to start a war with Tubo right now. It is better to follow the example of the late emperor and use a princess to persuade Tubo to withdraw."

A quarter of an hour later, all the ministers went to Ganlu Hall to attend the court meeting.

After all the officials arrived, Li Zhi came into the hall and all the officials bowed to him together.

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "Please stand up. I believe you all know the topic of this impromptu court meeting. The Tibetans are asking to marry the princess. What are your opinions?"

Before coming, the ministers had discussed with each other and had a clear idea in their minds, so they did not hesitate much.

"I think it's feasible."

"I second the proposal."

"I second the proposal."

Almost half of the officials agreed to marry the princess.

The main reason is that the current situation is too similar to that during the time of Emperor Taizong.

At that time, Emperor Taizong agreed to the Tubo Treaty and enjoyed nearly twenty years of peace, so there was no need to think too much and just copied the answer.

There were also ministers like Zhangsun Wuji who thought more deeply and saw the threat posed by Tubo.

However, the main force of the Tang army is currently dealing with the Western Turks, and the food and grass problem has not yet been actually solved, so it is not appropriate to send another large army.

Even Li Ji, Liu Rengui and others did not say anything. Only Li Yifu, Xu Jingzong and others guessed the emperor's intention and came forward to oppose it.

Although Xu Jingzong and others objected, they did not offer any arguments. Only Li Yifu said, "Marrying off the princess at this time will undermine the dignity of the Tang Dynasty. I think it is not advisable."

Han Ai said, "According to Minister Li, Emperor Taizong's marriage to Princess Wencheng was also detrimental to the dignity of the country."

Li Yifu snorted, "The situations are different, so they can't be compared."

Han Ai asked, "Why is the situation different?"

Li Zhi interrupted, "Does anyone here know what's going on inside Tubo?"

None of the ministers said anything.

Apart from some information about the Tibetan army that the Ministry of War had obtained, the other ministers knew almost nothing about Tibetans.

Li Zhi stood up and walked slowly among the ministers.

"In the third year of the Wude reign, the Tibetans destroyed the Subi Kingdom. In the second year of the Zhenguan reign, the Tibetans destroyed the Jialiangyi. In the thirteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, the Tibetans destroyed the Fu Kingdom. In the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan reign, the Tibetans destroyed the Yangtong Kingdom. In the second year of the Yonghui reign, Songtsen Gampo died, but his son died before him, so he had to appoint his grandson as the Zamp. The grandson was too young, so the government was controlled by the Prime Minister, Lu Dongzan. What can you all understand from this?"

Li Ji's eyes flickered as he said, "Your Majesty is saying that Tubo's continuous expansion in recent years is bound to lead to instability in the country."

Changsun Wuji also spoke.

"If this information is accurate, then the Tubo Kingdom is unstable, with a weak ruler and powerful ministers. There are undercurrents."

After Li Zhi returned to his desk, he said in a deep voice, "The Tibetans are developing too rapidly, and there must be hidden dangers within the country. Although in our view, General Xue's victory was only a small one, what will the Tibetans think?"

Li Ji twirled his beard and said, "The Tibetans will think that we, the Tang Dynasty, can defeat them with only 5,000 men, and they will surely lose their will to fight."

Xu Jingzong narrowed his eyes and said, "Our victory will surely cause unrest in Tubo. The conquered tribes will also take the opportunity to rebel."

Zhang Sun Wuji's expression suddenly changed. He said, "The Tibetans are asking to marry the princess in order to borrow the power of the Tang Dynasty to stabilize the domestic situation."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "They will definitely spread the word internally that they won this battle. Otherwise, why would the Tang Dynasty marry the princess off?"

The faces of all the ministers changed drastically.

Some people even wondered whether Songtsen Gampo had similar purposes when he asked for the princess' hand in marriage.

Li Zhi said slowly, "You all underestimate the Tubo people. You know nothing about them, but they know us inside and out. Don't you feel a chill down your spine?"

Many ministers lowered their heads.

Li Yifu said, "Your Majesty, I request your permission to reprimand the Tibetan envoys and have them destroy Princess Shang's will."

Li Zhi said: "You can discuss it among yourselves. After you have discussed it, submit the results to me. The court is dismissed." He stood up and left.

(End of this chapter)