Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 126 Does the young master also understand foreign affairs?
From Bolu's position, he could easily see who had just shot the arrow by looking up.

He roared angrily and raised his hand to draw his sword, but was suddenly stopped by a large hand reaching out from behind him.

"Are you crazy? This is Han Chinese territory! Do you want to die?!"

Aibal stopped him with just one hand, and Boru, his eyes red, glared at him and demanded, "They are blaspheming Tengri!"

The term Tengri means "sky god" in the Turkic language family.

In Bolu's eyes, they were messengers sent by the gods, and these Han people dared to break the banner bestowed upon him by the gods.

"Shut up! If you hadn't tried to show off, they wouldn't have shot the arrows. It's all your fault, Boru!"

Aibar hissed angrily in a low voice. Boru glared at him, wanting to retort, but then heard him say, "Don't embarrass the Khan any further. Who do you think that person who shot the arrow just now was? If you anger him, I'll have no choice but to take your corpse back to see the Khan."

Just as the two were arguing.

Suddenly, the sound of drums and music rang out from the direction of Chang'an City.

The welcoming party had already arrived outside the city.

Leading the group was naturally the troublemaker Cheng Zhijie, and Tang Jian, the Minister of Rites, actually followed behind him willingly.

There was nothing we could do; this reckless fellow wanted to see what the Turks were like.

He felt that Tang Jian only knew how to say nice things, which would only make the Turks think they were weak.

So he asked Tang Jian to step back.

The latter didn't want to argue with this scoundrel; as long as he could keep the Turks in check and prevent them from making any rash moves, that would be enough.

"Cheng Zhijie, Duke of Su of the Great Tang Dynasty, Right Guard of the Crown Prince, and General of the Right Martial Guard, is here. Who goes there?"

He already had a loud voice, and now he deliberately raised it even higher, as if he were shouting into a megaphone at the other side.

Upon hearing this, Bolu's expression immediately changed.

The sound was like the howl of wolves about to launch an attack on the grassland.

Aibal glared at him with a stern face, signaling him not to make any rash moves.

Seeing that Cheng Zhijie and his group had crossed the moat, Aibar waved his hand, signaling the delegation to continue forward.

However, the two teams collided head-on after only a hundred steps.

Boru was originally the leader of this delegation, but he was still angry, and Aybal was worried that he would ruin things, so he took the initiative to step forward.

Tang Jian naturally handled the situation on the Tang side. After both sides announced their official titles, they exchanged "friendly" greetings.

What position does Dagan hold?

At the back of the group, Wen He and Xu Jingzong stood together, listening to the voices coming from the other side. The Turkic man named Aibar introduced himself as Dagan, a subordinate of the Khan.

Therefore, he guessed it must be some kind of official position.

“He is a general under Jieli. This Aibar was defeated in Lingzhou before, but I didn’t expect Jieli to not punish him,” Xu Jingzong replied.

He then pointed to the young man behind Abar.

“That guy named Bolu looks young, but he should be the one in charge of this delegation. He is Jieli’s special agent, and only Jieli’s sons and nephews are qualified to hold this position.”

"It seems that this time Jieli is really trying to find out our strength and weakness."

Xu Jingzong was somewhat excited.

If the Tang Dynasty were to go to war with the Turks, that would be the time to make a name for ourselves.

Previously, he was a civil official, and the only way to get promoted was through his political achievements. But if he could gain military merit in the future, he could enter the Ministry of Personnel.

"That was the arrow you just shot!"

Suddenly, a question came from ahead, and there was a Turk named Bolu staring at Cheng Zhijie.

He saw it clearly from below the city walls; it was this old scoundrel who shot the arrow.

Hearing this, Aibar, who was talking to Tang Jian, realized that Bolu had gone directly to find Cheng Zhijie.

This young man, relying on the Khan's favor, has become increasingly arrogant. I really don't know why the Khan sent him this time.

"Arrow? What arrow? I don't understand what you're saying. Did you understand?"

Cheng Zhijie stroked his beard, looking completely clueless.

"You!" Bolu roared in anger, took out an arrow and slammed it heavily on the ground. He pointed at the arrow and demanded, "Isn't this an arrow from your Great Tang Dynasty!"

Despite the overwhelming evidence, Cheng Zhijie burst into laughter.

"Arrows from the Tang Dynasty? The Tang Dynasty killed so many Turks in Lingzhou, shooting countless arrows. You just picked one from some Turk's corpse and think you can slander me?"

"Judging from your expression, you want to test if my knife is sharp?"

Cheng Zhijie gripped the hilt of his sword with one hand, clearly indicating that he was ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

The Turks also discovered that on the city wall, Tang soldiers were holding strange crossbows and watching them menacingly.

Boru stared at him, but couldn't utter a single word.

Watching from not far away, Wen He couldn't help but want to applaud Cheng Zhijie: "The Duke of Su has such excellent eloquence?"

"Young master, you don't know, but when it comes to arguing, no one in the entire Tang Dynasty can compare to Duke Su. Most importantly, he has a thick skin and can even turn black into white."

Xu Jingzong, who also came from Wagangzhai, had long witnessed Cheng Zhijie's shamelessness.

So he wasn't surprised at all.

Wen He now understood why Li Shimin had arranged for Cheng Zhijie to come.

This is clearly an attempt to infuriate the Turks.

However, Boru ultimately did not choose to resort to force. Although he was reckless, he was not stupid.

"I will ask your emperor about this matter. I want to see if your Great Tang Dynasty is willing to go to war with our Turks!"

"Please!"

Cheng Zhijie paid no attention to these threats.

Let's start a war!
He was still worried about not having any credit to claim.

Tang Jian and Aibar had already finished speaking. It seemed that the two of them deliberately waited for the standoff between Cheng Zhijie and Bolu to end before they went over.

"Looking at it this way, it seems like one of them is playing the good cop and the other the bad cop?" Wen He found it a bit strange.

Xu Jingzong didn't understand the meaning behind his words and asked curiously, "What do you mean, young master?"

"Oh, what I mean is, it's like one side is deliberately trying to provoke us, while the other side is acting very friendly," Wen He explained.

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Xu Jingzong looked at him with some surprise: "I never expected that you, young master, would also be knowledgeable about foreign affairs?"

"Oh, is that really the case?" Wen He had only been guessing before.

"It is a common occurrence for two countries of similar strength to meet. Nowadays, the Turks are also deeply influenced by Han learning. Apart from their different lifestyles, they have learned everything from our Great Tang Dynasty. However, this is all just a poor imitation."

This treacherous minister, Xu, actually has such insights.

As expected, those who will become prime ministers in the future are no ordinary people.

"Young master, the person has arrived."

Xu Jingzong suddenly reminded him.

Tang Jian and Cheng Zhijie had already led the Turkic delegation into the city.

Wen He narrowed her eyes slightly and said to Zhang Wenxiao beside her, "Let's begin."

"promise!"

Zhang Wenxiao cupped his hands in greeting, and just as the Turkic delegation crossed the doorway, he suddenly shouted, "Attention!"

(End of this chapter)