Chapter 116: Difficult? Then don’t do it!

Xueyantuo sent an envoy to Shuozhou, which was exactly what Lao Li expected.

In fact, when Yinan knew that Datang had summoned so many younger brothers to fight him in a duel, his pants couldn't help but get hot.

Oh, it was indeed a one-on-one duel. It was reasonable for Xueyantuo to challenge a group of younger brothers from the Tang Dynasty.

When the Xueyantuo envoy walked into the house and saw Li Shimin, he saluted respectfully, touching his chest.

"I, the foreign minister, Dumozhi, pay my respects to His Majesty the Heavenly Khan."

"Duomozhi, I know you." Li Shimin put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands. Meeting the Xueyantuo envoy did not delay his meal.

In fact, it should not be so informal to meet with envoys, but after all, Xueyantuo had offended the Tang Dynasty first, and Lao Li did not intend to be polite to them.

Just give me a warning first.

"Your Majesty, the Heavenly Khan, have you heard the story of the foreign minister?" Dumozhi still maintained the posture of saluting. Li Shimin did not let him get up, and he really did not dare to get up.

Li Shimin smiled and said without comment: "Stand up and talk."

"Thank God, Your Majesty Khan!" Dumozhi finally straightened his back.

"You are Yinan's nephew, of course I know that." Old Li smiled and asked casually, "Yinan once followed Duke Weiguo to fight against Jie Li and submitted to the Tang Dynasty. Why did he forcibly detain my confidant Aijiang this time?"

"To answer your Majesty, Khan knows that the Tang Dynasty's majesty is inviolable, so he sent foreign ministers to explain it in detail." Dumozhi said cautiously: "When Minister Cui came to Xueyantuo last time, Khan was also under pressure..."

"What pressure does he have?" Li Shimin raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes..." Dumozhi wiped the sweat off his forehead. The pressure from Li Shimin was really too great.

But the truth could not be told. He could not tell Li Shimin directly. Although Yinan Khan admired Tian Khan very much and wanted to surrender, his son and brothers were too arrogant. They had not seen the power of the Tang army and thought that the Tang army was no longer capable of fighting.

On the other hand, it is also because the Xueyantuo is now the largest force on the grassland. If they surrender easily, how can they rule the various tribes on the grassland in the future?

Once the truth was spoken, the Tang Dynasty could see more clearly the emptiness within Xueyantuo. If they took this opportunity to break Xueyantuo into pieces, that would be disastrous.

Dumozhi Khan spoke very carefully, "The Khan is willing to return General Qibi Heli, and also wants to ask the Tang Dynasty to marry a princess. The Khan is willing to offer 100,000 cattle and 50,000 sheep as a betrothal gift..."

In fact, Lao Li was not reluctant to marry a princess. In the Tang Dynasty, the role of the princess was actually more exaggerated than that of the Han envoys. She was a bit like the diplomats who played peaceful evolution in the past.

If Li Zhi hadn't been stupid and allowed Tubo to disrupt the balance in the northwest region, Tubo would never have become anything major.

But it is definitely not possible now. Li Xiang had just made an impassioned speech in the court, and he certainly couldn't slap his grandson in the face.

What's more, what do you call this, Xueyantuo? This is called a car crashing into a tree, you know to turn, the stock price rises, you know to buy, you make a mistake and you know to repent, you know to shake off the big snot in your mouth, and your child is starving to death, but you suddenly have milk - what the hell have you been doing before?
"Xiang'er, what do you think?" Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang without comment.

"My grandson thought that if Xueyantuo had taken the initiative to send General Qibi Heli back to the Tang Dynasty when the Qibi tribe tied him up and brought him to the Khan's tent, the Tang Dynasty would certainly not begrudge a princess."

"But before the Tang Dynasty sent out its troops, Xueyantuo sternly rejected the Tang Dynasty's request. And now the Tang Dynasty has mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to come and punish them, and it has consumed more than tens of thousands of grain and grass. Does Yinan Khan think that with just a simple apology, he can make the two countries stop fighting, and even ask for the princess' hand in marriage?"

Li Xiang smiled. Of course he knew what Yi Nan meant.

Yi Nan was in poor health, and his subordinates were also disloyal. He asked the Tang Dynasty to marry a princess, of course, to have a guarantee after his death.

But the customs of the grasslands... uh.

Although we should respect other people's culture, this kind of culture... is totally unnecessary.

"This this……"

Dumozhi obviously didn't know what to say, he could only look to Li Shimin for help.

He knew that Li Shimin had a good temper and cared more about the great power demeanor of the Tang Dynasty. Now he could only place his hopes on Li Shimin.

"The emperor's grandson's meaning is my meaning." Li Shimin said lightly.

Then he looked at Li Xiang and asked, "How do you think Xueyantuo should apologize to the Tang Dynasty?"

"As long as Xueyantuo returns General Heli of Qibi and the traitorous Qibi tribe, and compensates for the expenses of this Tang military expedition, the Tang can withdraw its troops and end the matter." Li Xiang said with a smile.

I don't go out to take a walk, so why do the soldiers go out to take a walk? Aren't they just going to get a few heads of Xueyantuo villagers to exchange for an honorary official position to pass down to the family?

"This... this is not something an outsider can decide." Dumozhi broke out in a cold sweat.

This kind of condition...even if Yinan Khan would accept it, his subordinates and his son would not accept it.

This is really too harsh. The Khitan tribe came to surrender, but you turned around and handed them over. Who will stick with you on the grassland in the future?
Li Shimin looked at Li Xiang and gave him a look.

He was very satisfied with Li Xiang's performance this time, so Lao Li decided to train him.

Let's use Xueyantuo to train the child, thought Old Li. He, Old Li, will be in control of the general direction, and if it deviates from the established track, he can also make corrections.

Xueyantuo: You are so noble and great, you think you are great, but you want to use my most powerful tribe on the grassland to practice on a twelve-year-old (thirteen in lunar age) child?
Li Xiang understood what he meant immediately. Aong was not very happy about this matter, but he had to uphold the image of Tian Khan after all.

As for this villain, I, the little elephant, will take on the responsibility!
"It's difficult?" He smiled nonchalantly: "Then don't do it, Lao Xue!"

Xue Rengui walked in immediately and saluted Li Shimin and Li Xiang with his arms crossed: "Saint, Prince!"

"Show him away." Li Xiang waved his hand as if he was shooing away a fly.

Xue Rengui immediately stepped forward and "invited" Dumozhi to leave.

Seeing Xue Rengui's burly figure, Dumozhi held back his words of refusal. He walked out of the house dejectedly, intending to go back and tell Yinan about his experience first.

Inside the house, Lao Li picked up his bowl again.

"Aung, what do you think of my approach?" Li Xiang asked with a smile.

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Very good, you have the style of my grandfather."

Li Xiang curled his lips imperceptibly and said, "Forget it."

Li Shimin couldn't help laughing. He looked at Li Xiang and said, "Boy, do you still have any objections to me marrying the princess?" "No, how could I dare?" Li Xiang pouted.

In fact, he did have some opinions. After all, he had read a lot of online novels in his previous life and heard a lot of things like "there was no marriage alliance between Han and Tang dynasties". He subconsciously thought that marriage alliance was a humiliation.

Of course, Old Li also saw his dissatisfaction, so he smiled and said, "You, do you know why I married the princess off, Aung?"

"I don't know." Li Xiang curled his lips.

"Marrying a princess is not the goal. What's important is that the surrounding countries nowadays are honored to marry a Tang princess." Li Shimin said with a smile: "In order to marry a Tang princess, they will definitely build a lot of buildings in the country and promote Tang culture. Over time, this trend of admiring the Tang Dynasty will affect the people. This is just like the 'peaceful evolution' you mentioned before. It's the same principle."

"So, after the princess marries, I will give her cultural books such as poetry, literature, etiquette and music as a dowry, so that they can be influenced by the culture of the Tang Dynasty. In this way, if the Tang Dynasty's troops arrive one day, their country's resistance will be much smaller. In fact, because they have learned the culture of the Tang Dynasty, their officials can directly serve the Tang Dynasty."

"The people don't care who rules them. As long as they have food to eat, they won't rebel. The ones who really rebel are the powerful bureaucrats, because their interests will be harmed. And education will make the bureaucrats loyal to the Tang Dynasty, weaken their resistance, and even make them surrender to the Tang Dynasty on their own initiative."

hiss?
Could it be that you, Aung, are the real old silver coin?
Li Xiang looked up at Li Shimin suspiciously and asked the eternal rumor: "Will the old man also marry off the craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty?"

"Oh, craftsmen are the foundation of the military, how can we give them away so easily?" Li Shimin stretched out his hand and punched Li Xiang on the back, making a thumping sound. "The Central Plains relies on excellent weapons and solid armor to fight against the barbarians. If we give these away so easily, wouldn't we be inferior to Sima Zhong, who is as holy as ever?"

"I understand." Li Xiang nodded immediately.

After a moment, he asked again: "Aweng, what should we do with Xueyantuo now? Should we send troops to give them a beating? Make them surrender?"

"No, we don't need to do anything." Li Shimin looked relaxed. He had just finished his meal and waved to the eunuch to clear the table.

"No need to do anything?" Li Xiang repeated suspiciously.

"You should change your habits and stop doing everything yourself." Li Shimin smiled and stroked Li Xiang's back: "This is also true for governing a country, and even more so for employing troops."

"The Tang Dynasty is the most powerful country in the world. When it does nothing, it can make people fear it even more." Li Shimin said a classic saying.

"Hmm..." Li Xiang seemed to be thinking about something.

After all, he had only traveled here for a few months, and he had not yet gotten used to the identity of a superpower with only a few strong ones and a large number of weak ones.

Naturally, Lao Li's words would not be spread outside, but the fact that Xueyantuo came to meet the Emperor of the Great Tang Khan and was sent away was known to the whole city.

For a time, the troops in Shuozhou City were ready to fight to defend the dignity of the Tang Dynasty and to teach Xueyantuo, the ignorant clown, a lesson.

The Tang army naturally remained on hold and had no intention of leaving Shuozhou. They seemed to be waiting for Xueyantuo's response.

But the news spread quickly and reached the ears of the Tang allied troops who came to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty in the war.

For a moment, the vassal troops each had their own thoughts, thinking about what they should do to make the giant Tang Dynasty feel at ease, and then reward them more when dividing the spoils.

The Uighur leader Tumidu also had other ideas.

Unlike other vassal armies, although the Uighurs were also one of the vassal states of the Turks, they were the first tribe to rebel against the Turks by joining forces with the Pugu and other tribes.

Moreover, the power of the Uighurs was stronger than that of other vassal armies. This time, when they came to cooperate with the Tang Dynasty in the battle, Tumidu brought more than 4,000 cavalry and more than 6,000 infantry.

Tumidu was also thinking, since the Tang Dynasty and Xueyantuo didn't reach an agreement, it must be that the Tang Dynasty's conditions were unacceptable to Xueyantuo. In this case, why not go forward and put a little pressure on Xueyantuo?

Anyway, the Tang army was in Shuozhou, so if anything happened they could just say the opportunity to fight was fleeting and there was no time to go to Shuozhou for instructions.

If you can't win, you can also run back and seek protection from the Tang army, right?
He acted immediately, thinking that he might make a small profit but would definitely not lose money. Tumidu ordered his troops of more than 10,000 people to advance, intending to borrow some cattle and sheep from Xueyantuo.

When the dusty and disgraced Dumozhi returned to Xueyantuo, Yinan was furious.

He was teaching his two sons, Bazhuo and Yemangtulishi.

"You two! How dare you!" Yi Nan angrily scolded, "Who told you to act on your own and prepare to go to war with the Tang Dynasty?"

Dumozhi was delighted. He also had ideas about the position of Xueyantuo Khan. After all, in terms of kinship, he was Yinan's eldest nephew and had the right of inheritance.

In simple terms, it's because you want to make progress too much.

But he felt a little uncomfortable because of the two people, Bazhuo and Yemang Tulishi, blocking his way in front of him.

Now it seems that these two people not only angered Khan Yinan, but even dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers of the Tang Dynasty?

Very good, you have a way to die!

Restraining his joy, Dumozhi put on an expression as if he had lost his parents and walked into the Khan's tent.

"Uncle." Dumozhi used a very intimate title.

Yinan raised his head and saw that it was Dumozhi. His expression looked better.

"It's Dumozhi, you're back from Shuozhou?"

"Yes." Dumozhi nodded.

Yi Nan immediately stepped forward and asked, "What did the Tang Dynasty say? Did they accept our terms?"

"Alas..." Dumozhi sighed, "The Tang Dynasty did not accept our request to marry the princess, and also declared that we must release Qibi Heli, hand over the traitor Qibi tribe, and compensate for the cost of this expedition..."

"What?!" Bazhuo and Yimang Tulishi stood up instantly and angrily cursed: "The barbarians from the Central Plains are bullying us too much!"

After all, Yinan had been the Khan for so many years and had seen the power of the Tang army, so he was not that angry.

He just didn't expect that Li Shimin, who had always liked to marry princesses, suddenly didn't want to marry. He was a little disappointed, that's all.

After all, it was the Xueyantuo who provoked first, and he was blinded by greed before and detained Qibi Heli. Later, when the Tang Dynasty sent troops, not only did his eyes become clear, but his mind also became clear.

How did that saying come about? I don’t practice to be nice to talk to, but to make idiots talk to me nicely.

Yi Nan turned around angrily and shouted, "You two! Get out of here!"

(There will be another chapter later)
(End of this chapter)