My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 181 Ask the Crown Prince to Hand Over the Roman Princess

May 12, the 17th year of Zhenguan.

Goryeo sent envoys to Chang'an to seek peace.

Willing to recognize the suzerainty of the Tang Dynasty, be vassal of the Tang Dynasty, and pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty regularly.

Promise not to invade the Tang Dynasty's borders anymore and stop joining forces with other forces around the Tang Dynasty to fight against the Tang Dynasty.

Repatriate Tang Dynasty prisoners of war, Tang Dynasty people who fled to Goryeo, or other relevant personnel, to show sincerity and friendship.

Willing to accept the Tang Dynasty's enthronement, including the king's succession, and to accept the Tang Dynasty's management and supervision to a certain extent, such as following the Tang Dynasty's systems and requirements in politics, economy, culture and other aspects.

Goryeo was afraid of going to war with the Tang Dynasty. Even if it managed to hold out in the end and was not destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, the price it paid was extremely tragic.

After all, Goryeo had a total population of only a few million, and if a war broke out, the country would be almost devastated.

The previous war with the Sui Dynasty taught Goryeo a profound lesson, and it took a long time for it to recover.

early morning.

The Goryeo envoys prostrated themselves on the ground and humbly made requests for peace.

However, the entire Tang Dynasty court was silent.

Most people are still somewhat moved.

After all, if the war breaks out, it will also put great economic pressure on the Tang Dynasty.

With 150,000 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of civilians, the impact on people's livelihood will be huge.

However, Li Shimin did not give a direct answer.

Such a major event would naturally not be decided at a court meeting, but would be discussed by the emperor and his ministers after the court session.

The atmosphere was solemn as the king and his ministers discussed matters.

Li Shimin frowned slightly and said in a deep voice: "Korea has sent an envoy to ask for peace. What do you think?"

Fang Xuanling stepped forward, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Goryeo is fickle. Previously, it repeatedly invaded our borders, and joined forces with Baekje and other countries to threaten our vassal Silla. Although it is now seeking peace, its sincerity is hard to predict."

Li Shimin nodded slightly. Goryeo's credibility was indeed very bad. When the Sui Dynasty attacked Goryeo, it had repeatedly rebelled and surrendered.

This delayed the war and caused heavy losses to the Sui Dynasty.

Now they are asking for peace, and although they are very sincere, who dares to trust Goryeo?

This also has a lot to do with the silence and lack of support from the ministers, as many of them came from the previous dynasty.

If we support Goryeo, what will happen if Goryeo changes its mind in the end?

Isn't it that you have to bear this sin yourself?

Because of this treacherous villain, no one dared to provide a guarantee for Gaoli.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Your Majesty, Goryeo has been building the Great Wall and preparing for war for many years. Its ambition is obvious. This request for peace is probably a delaying tactic. When the time is right, it will cause chaos again."

Long before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Goryeo was aware of the potential threat posed by the Central Plains dynasty.

During the Sui Dynasty, Goryeo fought with the Sui army many times. In order to resist the attacks of the Central Plains army, it spent huge manpower and material resources to build a "Great Wall" over a thousand miles long along the Tang border, from Buyeo City to Bohai Sea, which took 16 years to build.

Chu Suiliang said: "The Goryeo people are extremely cruel. They once built a Jingguan for the soldiers of the previous dynasty for the people of China to admire. This shows that Goryeo has never truly submitted to our Central Plains dynasty."

After the Sui army was defeated and retreated in the "Four Battles of Sui and Gao", the Gao people piled up the corpses of the fallen Sui soldiers, forming a horrifying "landscape".

In the fourth year of the Zhenguan reign, Li Shimin sent people to Goryeo to bury the remains of the fallen soldiers and offer sacrifices to them.

Wei Zheng also spoke up: "The so-called peace talks are nothing more than a delaying tactic by Goryeo to temporarily avoid the attack of the Tang Dynasty and to wear down the morale of the Tang Dynasty."

After all, it has been decided that we are going to attack Goryeo, and the previous opposition was because it hasn't started yet.

Now that it has begun, the ministers will naturally support it.

Li Shimin nodded, and finally looked at the prince and asked, "What do you think, prince?"

Li Chengqian replied: "Now Goryeo has assembled a large number of troops, and a large number of troops are deployed on the border. Various cities are being reinforced and repaired. They are ready for war and have no intention of surrendering."

"But directly rejecting the Goryeo envoy would make the Tang Dynasty seem unkind."

"You can tell Goryeo that if they really want to surrender, then they should open up the city defenses and let our Tang soldiers enter the city to garrison. Yeon Gaesomun should come to Chang'an in person to apologize. Only in this way can they show their sincerity in surrendering."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, thinking that the prince's way of dealing with the situation was good.

So he asked the officials of the Honglu Temple to inform the Goryeo envoys of this request.

Naturally, the envoy did not dare to make the decision and said that he had to return to his country for discussion before making a decision.

Of course, the Tang Dynasty’s war preparations will not be eased because of this.

The six ice cream shops in the east and west markets of Chang'an closed down, which made the people feel very sorry.

After all, in this hot summer, eating a bite of delicious crispy mountain is definitely a top-notch enjoyment.

In fact, there are still some ice cubes in the East Palace, and a low supply can be maintained for a period of time.

But Li Chengqian had no intention of selling these ice cubes. After all, the Eastern Palace, Taiji Palace, and his ministers all wanted to eat them.

Li Chengqian no longer needed the income brought by Bing Si. At this time, it would be more appropriate to give it to his subordinates as a reward.

"Your Highness, five hundred public carriages are ready."

These carriages were sent by the Eastern Palace to various carpentry workshops in Chang'an to be made, which also increased the income of the people.

There are quite a lot of carpenter and blacksmith workshops in Chang'an City.

When placing the order, Li Chengqian asked the eunuch Wen Zhong to pay a deposit of one thousand coins in advance.

It took half a month to build a carriage, so five hundred carpenters were recruited to work together.

"Settle the payment and continue to place an order for another 1,500 carriages. This time, we won't need public carriages. We'll just do it as carriages for transporting goods."

"There are also carriage shops in Chang'an. See how many carriages there are and buy them all."

It is now mid-May. One workshop has three carriages, which will take about a month and a half to deliver by July, so that Li Chengqian can set out in time.

The logistics of long-distance marches was a huge problem in this era.

This time, Li Chengqian wanted to march entirely by horse-drawn carriages, and the auxiliary troops would not walk but ride directly in the carriages.

The equipment for five thousand cavalrymen is a huge load-bearing device.

A cavalryman's equipment includes armor, weapons, tents, dry food, etc.

A set of relatively sophisticated cavalry armor plus weapons and other equipment may weigh about 40 kilograms on average. The total weight of the equipment for cavalrymen is kilograms.

Secondly, the cavalry's war horses also need a certain supply of materials, such as concentrated feed, horse gear, etc. Even if it is all concentrated feed, it will weigh hundreds of thousands of kilograms.

There were also the personal supplies of the auxiliary soldiers. Even if the 3,000 auxiliary soldiers were riding on the public carriages, in addition to the public carriages, at least 2,000 carriages were needed to transport the supplies.

Of course, the actual demand would be less. After all, when marching within the Tang Dynasty, one would generally pass through various post stations and cities for supplies.

May 20th.

The envoy sent by the Arab Empire arrived in Chang'an.

The previous incident of the Byzantine delegation made the Arab envoys stationed in Chang'an extremely nervous.

Especially with the Roman princess entering the East Palace, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty seemed to be interested in intervening in the war in the Middle East, which made the Arab envoys in Chang'an hurriedly report the news to their country.

Including the intelligence collected about the war that the Tang Dynasty was preparing for against Goryeo, which was also transmitted back to the country.

At this time, Muhammad of the Arab Empire had died.

The first caliph, the emperor of the Arab Empire and Muhammad's father-in-law, died in the eighth year of Zhenguan after suppressing the internal rebellion in Arabia and consolidating the unity of the empire.

The current successor is the second caliph Umar, who has made great military achievements and is ambitious. Under Umar's rule, the Arabs began a large-scale expansion movement, and the territory of the Arab Empire expanded rapidly.

But he had to consider the possible impact of the Tang Dynasty on the Middle East.

Originally, he had never considered that the Tang Dynasty would intervene in the situation in the Middle East, but the intelligence from Chang'an forced him to pay attention.

So after convening all the ministers for discussion, it was decided to send envoys to Chang'an, hoping to persuade the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty not to interfere with their expansion.

Morning court.

The Arab envoy respectfully saluted the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

First, it expresses the Arab Empire's respect for the Heavenly Khan and emphasizes the supreme status of the Tang Emperor.

It claimed that the Arab Empire was willing to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty and recognize the Tang Dynasty's status as a suzerain state.

And every year they would bring a large number of precious gifts to Chang'an as tribute.

At the same time, they were willing to give Tang merchants special treatment within the Arab Empire.

Such as reducing or exempting tariffs, providing security guarantees, establishing special trade areas, etc.

It was proposed to open up new trade routes connecting the Tang Dynasty with the Arab Empire and beyond.

By opening up new trade routes through Central Asia, Tang Dynasty goods could be shipped to the West more conveniently, while also introducing rare Western items to the Tang Dynasty.

When Li Shimin heard this, he was indeed moved.

Because it not only brings huge economic benefits, but also satisfies Li Shimin's own needs for exotic treasures.

In addition, the Arab Empire expressed its willingness to share advanced navigation technology and trade experience with the Tang Dynasty to help it expand its maritime trade.

The Arab Empire has rich experience and technology in navigation, and can provide nautical charts, shipbuilding technology, etc., to jointly develop maritime trade with the Tang Dynasty and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

In addition to paying tribute, enjoying trade privileges and the opening of the Maritime Silk Road.

Culturally, the Arab Empire will send a large number of scholars, craftsmen, and religious members to engage in more friendly exchanges with the Tang Dynasty and promote the cultural development of both sides.

He promised to translate the precious books and documents of the Arab Empire into Chinese and present them to the Khan of the Tang Dynasty.

At the same time, the Arab Empire could also request the Tang Dynasty to translate its precious books into Arabic to promote cultural communication between the two sides.

Militarily, the Arab Empire will establish a military alliance with the Tang Dynasty.

The Arab Empire could make it clear that they would respect the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence and would not invade its surrounding areas and vassal states.

If the Tang Dynasty faces external threats in the future, the Arab Empire is willing to provide certain military support.

When war breaks out in the border areas of the Tang Dynasty, the Arab Empire can send troops to assist the Tang Dynasty in fighting, or provide support such as military equipment and supplies.

Work together to safeguard the common interests of the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire at sea and in other places.

In the Taiji Hall, the envoys of the Arab Empire expressed their sincerity in requesting His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty not to interfere in the Middle East war with a humble attitude, generous benefits and bright prospects.

Not only the court officials, but also Li Shimin had been persuaded.

Seeing this situation, the Arab envoy stated his demands.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor of our country, hopes that His Majesty, the Great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, will allow the Roman delegation to be handed over to our country for disposal."

Hearing this request, Li Shimin frowned slightly and looked at the prince.

Everyone knows that the princess of the Roman delegation lives in the East Palace. Although she has not yet been canonized as the Crown Prince's concubine, it is obviously a matter of time.

Moreover, handing over members of a foreign envoy was clearly inconsistent with the etiquette norms and diplomatic policy of the Tang Dynasty.

But it must be said that the promise of the Arab Empire was very tempting.

After all, the Tang Dynasty has now learned that the Arab Empire is a superpower that is not inferior to the Tang Dynasty in terms of population and territory.

And now this superpower will submit to the Tang Dynasty.

And it was not just in name only, it also included tribute, privileged treatment of the Tang people in the Arab Empire, military alliance, cultural exchange, joint trade and many other aspects.

As for the Byzantine side, it was obviously difficult to reach such a level.

Even if they offered the same conditions as the Arab Empire, the distance between Rome and the Tang Dynasty was far, and with the Arab Empire sandwiched between them, it was basically impossible for them to have exchanges with each other.

Li Chengqian's face was calm at this moment, as if the words said by the Arab Empire envoy had nothing to do with him at all.

Li Shimin hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me think about this matter again."

"I am fully aware of your country's sincerity."

"However, in the relationship between nations, justice should be the first priority. The Roman delegation has come from afar and is temporarily staying in the Tang Dynasty. I should also treat them with courtesy."

"Moreover, our Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette. How can we hand over foreign envoys to others for disposal?"

"Your proposal has many commendable points. I will have people discuss it carefully. As for the matter of the Roman delegation, let's put it aside for now. I will make a decision after I discuss and work out a proper plan with you all."

The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall was a little subtle. The Arab envoy heard this, although he was unwilling, but he dared not say anything more, and could only bow respectfully and said: "Your Majesty the Khan is wise, I hope Your Majesty will make a decision as soon as possible. Our country is sincerely waiting and looking forward to a permanent alliance with the Tang Dynasty."

After the morning court session, the Arab envoys met with the permanent diplomatic corps in Chang'an and then went to the Prince of Wei's palace.

Li Tai actually had no interest in the Arab Empire, but was very interested in undermining the reputation of the crown prince.

A few days later, rumors spread.

It is said that the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, for the sake of the Roman princess, disregarded the interests of the Tang Dynasty and launched a war against the Arab Empire while launching a war against Goryeo.

The Arab envoy also stated that if the Tang Dynasty insisted on being an enemy of the Arab Empire, then the Arab Empire would most likely send troops to assist Goryeo.

So, some people petitioned the prince to hand over the Roman princess.

(End of this chapter)