Chapter 189: Tibetan King Requests to Become a Subordinate State of the Tang Dynasty
"As long as the Marshal gives the order, our clan will do its best to gather the men in the clan to fight for the Tang Dynasty."

King Bailang Qiang bowed and said.

"Since we have joined the Tang Dynasty, we are like close friends and should work together. I have already told the Saint about the contribution of the Bailang Qiang in the recovery of Jiuqu. The Saint will definitely confer the title of Qiang King on us."

Li Xuan laughed.

For the Hu people, we must use both kindness and force. The Hu people are all profit-seeking people, and their sense of honor, disgrace, and loyalty are not as good as those of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xuan has his own ideas. With his current prestige, the Bailang Qiang, who only have 30,000 combat soldiers, will not dare to have any other ideas.

"Thank you, Marshal! To be granted the title of Saint of the Celestial Empire is something I have always dreamed of:"

King Bailang Qiang thanked Li Xuan again. At the same time, he expressed his doubts: "With the power of the Marshal, why didn't you lead the great victory of Jiuqu and attack Qinghai from several directions, which has no strategic points to defend, and take the opportunity to drive out Tubo?"

In the eyes of the Bailang Qiang King, the Tang army had gathered several troops at the time and should have fought a fierce battle with Tubo in Qinghai with one move.

He knew that Tubo was afraid of Li Xuan like a tiger. If Li Xuan led an army of hundreds of thousands, Tubo's fighting spirit would certainly not be as strong as the Tang army.

Bailang Qiang betrayed Tubo and feared being punished later, so they naturally hoped that Li Xuan could beat Tubo to death. It would be best if they never left the snowy plateau.

"Our soldiers have been fighting for too long, and the officers and soldiers are exhausted. They need to rest and be rewarded for their military merits. Although we can win the battle, even if our army wins, 30,000 to 40,000 people will die. It is cold and there will be many non-combat casualties. As a general, you must cherish the lives of your soldiers. There is no need for such sacrifices."

"After some repairs and new soldiers are added, and the war resources are rebuilt, we will be able to defeat them in a single battle next year!"

Li Xuan saw through King Bailang Qiang's thoughts at a glance and told him this reason.

King Bailang Qiang's worries were unnecessary.

After recruiting new soldiers, Li Xuan will have more troops under his command next year.

Add to that the various Hu tribes in Hexi, the Jiuqu Tuyuhun, and the Bailang Qiang.

There are a total of 200,000 troops!

Of course, Li Xuan would not tell King Bailang Qiang the deeper meaning, and he would not understand it.

"No wonder the Marshal's men are so brave and good at fighting. Each of them is as good as ten men. It is a blessing for the soldiers to have a commander like the Marshal!"

King Bailang Qiang sighed and stopped worrying about it.

Li Xuan will definitely be able to accomplish the feat of expelling Tubo.

For Bailangqiang, he will do his best to help next year.

"Does the King of Qiang have anyone he can trust in Suobi?"

Li Xuan brought the topic back to this point.

"One of my daughters married a noble from Suobei. There are actually Bailang Qiang people in the eleven Dongdai of Suobei. But they no longer belong to Bailang Qiang."

King Bailang Qiang replied to Li Xuan.

Dongdai means Qianhu Suo.

Tubo set up eleven thousand-household offices for a subordinate tribe, which meant that it had extremely deep control over it.

Even the Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, and Bailang Qiang were not under the rule of Tubo.

In fact, Subi has a close relationship with Bailang Qiang. Both are tribes formed after the migration of the ancient Western Qiang people, and both have established their own countries.

"The King of Qiang and Suobei face each other across the Yellow River and often interact with each other. What kind of tribe do you think Suobei is?"

Li Xuan wanted to find out more about the Subi tribe.

He wanted to start the next battle by attacking the Subi, Qinghai Tuyuhun, Dangxiang and other tribes.

After leaving the Dafei River, you will reach the Dongtai Mountains of Subi.

If you want to conquer Tubo, you must subdue Subi.

Since Tubo wanted to occupy Helong, Subi was considered Tubo’s rear base.

Historical records show that "Tibetan country mobilized its forces to provide support, and half of the military rations and horses came from Tibet."

This "among them" refers to Subi.

"The Subi are good at riding and shooting, and they live a nomadic life. They are one of the four inner tribes of Tubo, but the Subi do not completely obey Tubo. Especially since their new king, Mo Lingzan, has just ascended the throne, he has a disagreement with one of his brothers and they even had a fight, but it was stopped by the Tubo great theorist Jiongsang..."

King Bailang Qiang told Li Xuan the information he knew.

Since Songtsen Gampo unified the snowy plateau, Tubo defined some tribes as internal members in order to win over some tribes and express their relationship of being one.

Many years later, it was divided into the "Inner Four Tribes".

The four tribes are divided into Zhangzhung, Subi, Dangxiang and Tuyuhun.

However, the relationship of sharing interests among the Tibetan rulers was very strange. They ignored the common people and only combined with the "nobles" of the four inner tribes.

For example, the Tuyuhun nobles and even the former Tuyuhun king had served as the Tubo great minister.

Another example is the Caibang tribe of Subi, which is one of the four major tribes of Tubo.

The current King of Subi is called Mo Lingzan.

After Mo Lingzan, there was another Subi King named Mo Luzan. Just from the name, we can tell that Mo Luzan was closely related to the Mo Lu family of the Shang clan in Tubo.

These nobles can be collectively referred to as "slave owners."

Anyone below the nobility, even free men with registered permanent residence, were considered slaves.

The interests of the nobles were tied together with the fate of Tubo, causing the people of these four inner tribes to suffer terribly.

Of course, Li Xuan dared to make plans and knew some important historical events.

In history, Mei Lingzan defected to the Tang Dynasty, but his conspiracy was exposed. Not only was Mei Lingzan killed, but his family of more than 2,000 people were also massacred by the Tubo.

Then, at the end of the Tianbao period, Xinuluo (ps: too many Tibetan nobles were translated into this name in the literature, so many Xinuluo and Xinuluo appeared in this book. And Enlanda Zhalugong was also translated as Lun Xinuluo), the son of Moluzan, the king of Subi who succeeded Moluzan, led his tribe to surrender to the Tang Dynasty and was named King Huaiyi by the Tang Dynasty.

This proves that the four Tibetan tribes had conflicts of interest with Tubo and were not united.

Through the explanation of King Bailang Qiang, Li Xuan knew that the person who was at odds with Mei Lingzan might be Mei Luzan of later generations.

These were also the reasons why Mei Lingzan's family was destroyed after his failure to defect to the Tang Dynasty was exposed.

Moreover, Tubo’s control over Subi was too deep. Except for the small resident Gonglun, the slave owners there were all connected with Tubo’s Lhasa city.

After in-depth understanding, Li Xuan decided to send an envoy in the spring to contact Mei Lingzan.

Since there was no Ling Zan who risked his life to join the Tang Dynasty in history, he might have had ulterior motives at this time.

In addition, Tubo suffered repeated defeats in the Helong battles and Qinghai was also in danger, which further touched Mo Lingzan's heartstrings.

Of course, sending envoys deep into Subi requires the help of King Bailang Qiang.

Otherwise, given the strict hierarchical system of Tubo, the envoys would have been caught by Tubo before they even had time to cross the mountains.

The King of Bailang Qiang had connections in Suobei, and his people were the same as those of Suobei, and they also understood the Suobei language.

When this matter was told to Queen Bailangqiang, she agreed immediately.

But he needs to prepare first and contact Subi's people.

Due to heavy snow, Li Xuan left King Bailang Qiang to temporarily live in Shudun City, which had been renamed Chishui City.

The next day, the snow had not stopped yet, and Li Xuan and King Bailang Qiang were hunting prey in the mountains a few miles south of Shudun City. They shot an antelope as a way to enhance their relationship.

Although Li Xuan only showed a little bit of his skills, he still amazed the Bailang Qiang King.

Because Li Xuan shot an antelope that was looking for grass from a distance of 120 steps, this archery skill was incredible.

Li Xuan just smiled.

There was little prey in winter and the hunters could not get far away from the area, so King Bailang Qiang only shot a rabbit.

Three days later, when the snow had cleared, an uninvited guest came to Chishui City and asked to see Li Xuan.

"What does Tubo want from me?"

Li Xuan asked him indifferently after asking him inside.

The person who came was the envoy sent by Moluqiongsang Woermang.

"I'm here to ask for my Tibetan theory!"

The Tubo envoy seemed like a tough man. He was neither humble nor arrogant in front of Li Xuan and stated his purpose directly.

"Haha! How can you say that? Is a loser qualified to say such things?"

Li Xuan sneered and asked questions repeatedly.

I'm afraid he's out of his mind. He came to him to ask for people right after losing Jiuqu.

"During the Battle of Dafeichuan, your general Wang Xiaojie was captured by our army, but our Tubo treated Wang Xiaojie with great courtesy and sent him back to Tang. Now Tang has captured our Tubo general Dalun, and we should send him back to Tubo. Tang claims to be a country of etiquette, but is it not as good as the small country in the southwest in this regard?"

The Tibetan envoy was eloquent and used it to belittle himself in order to force Li Xuan to release Lun Xijia Zang.

They were certain that Baigu City must have fallen.

Lun Xijia Zang had been arrested by the Tang Dynasty. The Zamp sent envoys three times to inquire about this serious matter.

Therefore, Moluqiongsang and Woermang sent envoys to observe the Chishui City and camps of the Tang Dynasty to find out the truth.

Then see if Li Xuan is at Hongji Bridge. If so, submit the letter from the Zamp.

"What a pity! Lun Xijia Zang has died in the battle. I'm afraid he can't go back. I hope his ghost can return home!"

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said.

There was a reason why Tubo released Wang Xiaojie in the first place.

After Wang Xiaojie was arrested by Tubo, he was escorted to Lhasa City. When Wang Xiaojie was about to be executed, the Tubo Zamp went to the execution ground in person.

At that time, King Trisong Zang was only nine years old. When he saw Wang Xiaojie, he burst into tears and said while crying, "He looks like my father." Then, not only did he not kill Wang Xiaojie, he also treated Wang Xiaojie as a guest of honor and provided him with good food and drink for several years.

A few years later, after Wang Xiaojie's repeated requests, the Little Zanpu released Wang Xiaojie back to the Tang Dynasty.

Not to mention that Lun Xijia Zang was dead, even if he was not dead, Li Xuan would not let him go back.

"I want to see Dalun's body!"

When the Tibetan envoy heard that Dalun was dead, he was very sad and wanted to get his body back.

"Lun Xijiazang's head has been sent to Chang'an to claim the reward. There are too many headless bodies, and it is estimated that it has been lost."

Li Xuan's light words made the Tubo envoy so angry that he vomited blood.

"How can the Tang Dynasty humiliate a great prime minister like this? Where is the justice of heaven?"

The Tibetan envoy questioned Li Xuan.

"If I, Li Xuan, die in Qinghai, you will definitely chop off my head and go to Chidai Zhudan to claim the reward. We have already started talking about swords. The separation of heads and bodies of kings happens all the time, not to mention a mere Lun. When you go back, tell Moluqiongsang Woermang to be careful. I think his head is ten times heavier than Lun Xijiazang!"

Li Xuan was very unhappy when he saw the Tubo envoy's rude remarks, and said coldly.

After saying that, Li Xuan waved his hand and ordered his personal guards to drive the Tibetan envoy out.

Li Xuan knew the purpose of the Tibetan envoy's visit. He wanted to make the Tibetans afraid and afraid to attack.

After he completed his layout, he took the initiative to attack Qinghai.

"Wait... I came here with a mission. Tubo is willing to submit to the Tang Dynasty like the Huihe. This is the Zamp's letter of submission to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Please grant me the title."

The Tibetan envoy held back his grief, shouted loudly, and quickly presented the Tibetan king's letter of credence.

"I will give this letter to the saint, and he will make the decision. Blast it out!"

After the personal guards received the letter, they still drove the Tibetan envoy away.

Li Xuan weighed the Tibetan letter.

Even after suffering disastrous defeats in the Battle of Wujie and the Battle of Lishui, Tubo still wanted to seek peace with the Tang Dynasty using the etiquette of "equality".

As a great country, a well-known country on the Silk Road, Tubo always believed that it could sit down and eat with the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs.

It is not easy to humble yourself and seek peace.

Unlike Geshu Han, Li Xuan preferred annihilation battles, which would often result in the complete annihilation of the enemy army.

Since the Battle of Jieshi, Tubo has lost 170,000 people at the hands of Li Xuan.

It accounts for one quarter of the total military force of the Tubo main tribe, the four inner tribes, and its affiliated tribes.

Tubo still has so many places to defend.

Moreover, the Tang army conquered Jiuqu Tuyuhun and Bailang Qiang, which was a gain on one side and a loss on the other.

That's why Tubo asked for peace.

Of course, Li Xuan thought this was a delaying tactic and that Tubo needed to recuperate.

For example, after the Chiling Alliance, he recuperated for a few years and then continued to fight to the death with the Tang Dynasty.

What's the point of submitting to the Uighurs in name only and paying a tiny tribute every year?
After the Huihe surrendered, didn't they still get stabbed in the back?
After Li Xuan wrote a memorial, he sent the imperial edict engraved with pearls and cinnabar together with the memorial to Chang'an at an express speed of 600 miles.

Tubo must be pursued relentlessly and not allowed to recover.

What Li Xuan had to do was to cripple Tubo before the world fell apart, and it would be best if he could conquer Suobei and make it a buffer zone.

So as to prevent Tubo from ruining his plans!

"Reporting to General Li, news has come from the Anxi Protectorate..."

The postman handed a letter to Li Xuan.

It was a letter from Fu Menglingcha, the governor of the four towns of Anxi, and Li Xuan opened it.

Fu Menglingcha sent 10,000 elite soldiers to attack Xiaobolü, but due to the rugged mountains and rivers, they were discovered by the Tibetan garrison on the way and had to return the same way. Therefore, they failed to hold back a group of Tibetan soldiers.

Therefore, Fu Meng Lingcha apologized to Li Xuan.

At the same time, he also hoped that Li Xuan would speak well of Li Longji after meeting him and not blame him for this failure.

"Meng Lingcha didn't use Gao Xianzhi!"

"But it makes sense. Fu Menglingcha has just arrived in Anxi and has not yet promoted Gao Xianzhi. I have already achieved my goal, so it doesn't matter. I hope that next year Fu Menglingcha will use Gao Xianzhi to attack Xiaoboluo and attract the attention of Tubo."

Li Xuan shook his head slightly and folded the letter.

Xiaoboluo was a kingdom on the Pamir Plateau, across high mountains. In history, Gao Xianzhi walked for 100 days, even though everyone had a horse, to reach Lianyunbao, and only after raiding this Tubo frontier outpost did he capture Xiaoboluo.

There were more than a thousand soldiers in the Tubo’s Lianyun Fort, and there was another camp next to it with nine thousand soldiers.

This level alone can stump many generals.

Later, we had to worry about the resistance of Xiaoboluo and the reinforcements from Tubo.

You must have a famous general to win!
Li Xuan just feels regretful.

He wrote to Fu Menglingcha, saying that victory and defeat were common in the military, and that Chang'an had him to talk to, so there was no need to worry too much.

……

After the Tibetan envoy returned, he informed Moluqiongsang Woermang that Lunxi Jiazang was dead.

Although he and Lun Xijia Zang were rivals who restrained each other, the country was in trouble now and they united to face the outside world.

Talking about Xi Jia Zang's death, everyone in the world is sad.

The messenger then told Moluqiongsang Woermang about Li Xuan's "shameless" words, but Moluqiongsang Woermang remained expressionless.

He didn't know how long his old bones could hold on, but he only hoped that he could see Li Xuan die before he died so that he could rest in peace.

If this boy doesn't die, let alone occupying Helong, their country will also be in danger.

Li Xuan was in Jiuqu, and there were countless Tang army camps. Horses on the other side of the river were roaring to the sky, which meant that Tubo could not attack easily.

They could only swallow their pride and submit to the Tang Dynasty temporarily to preserve Qinghai and Shibao City.

Let Li Xuan stop attacking.

There is talk among the Tibetan nobles now of abandoning Qinghai and Shibao City, relocating the people, and retreating back to the snowy plateau.

Meiluqiongsangwoermang knew that this kind of words were still sensible, but the Zamp would never agree to it.

The Zamp would rather submit to his most hated "uncle" and wait for the young men in Tubo to grow up before taking revenge.

Of course, Meiluqiongsang Woermang felt that Li Longji might not agree to peace, so he had to be prepared to fight at any time.

……

When Li Xuan was accompanying the soldiers to guard Jiuqu in the snow, the annual New Year's Day arrived.

The streets and alleys of Chang'an are decorated with lights and colors.

No matter they are kings and nobles or common people, they are all waiting to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

"A year has passed with the sound of firecrackers, and the spring breeze brings warmth to Tusu. In every household, the sun is shining brightly, and people always replace the old charms with new ones!"

Accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, little children ran through the alleys of Chang'an, singing the latest popular poems.

The streets in front of the Duke of Song's Mansion were filled with people coming to pay New Year's greetings. Even princesses and princes had to send gifts to the Duke of Song's Mansion to express their congratulations.

Li Shizhi enjoyed all the happiness of family life. His only regret was that Qilang, whom he longed for day and night, did not return.

This year, not even the letters were sent back.

He did not ask about state affairs, but he knew that after Qilang defeated the Uighurs, he fought with the Tubo at Jiuqu.

Fortunately, Li Xuan sent the head of Tubo Dalun to Chang'an not long ago, which meant that Li Xuan had achieved a phased victory.

The Tang Dynasty had been fighting with Tubo for more than a hundred years, and for the first time it beheaded a Tubo prime minister, which shocked Chang'an.

Princes, nobles, scholars and literati all admired Li Xuan's bravery.

Such popularity has completely overshadowed Wang Zhongsi and made him a unique figure in the Tang Dynasty.

On New Year's Day, Li Xuan's urgent memorial was delivered to Chang'an.

By the way, Li Xuan entrusted the post station to deliver the family letter to the Duke of Song's Mansion.

Li Shizhi was very surprised when he received the letter from home. He opened the letter and read it in front of Li Yuying and his sons.

Li Xuan told Li Shizhi that he had recovered Jiuqu and driven the Tubo to Qinghai, so there was no need to worry about him anymore.

He expressed that he could not be both loyal and filial and was unable to go home to be with his father.

The other words are blessings to the family using the most ordinary words, hoping that they can have a good new year.

Li Xuan will not leave even the slightest flaw before great things are accomplished.

Including a letter to Li Shizhi, in addition to missing his father and family, he sent a few poems and then expressed his thoughts on serving the country and the king.

It's just like the orchid, the Yuanzhi, the beautiful lady's fragrant grass.

Li Shizhi always thought that Li Xuan was loyal to the saint!
If someone framed him for treason in the future, wouldn't these letters be evidence?

Because the only crime that could be used to deal with Li Xuan was treason.

Finally, Li Xuan also sent the "Seven Quatrains on the Song of the Frontier" to Li Shizhi.

Li Shizhi was full of praise after seeing it, and when he met his relatives and friends, his face was full of smiles...

(End of this chapter)