I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

"Your Majesty, are we really going to give King Ji ten thousand catties of gold?"

After watching Li Shen leave, Songtsen Gampo led Lu Dongzan back to his study. As soon as they entered, the inner chief minister, Mangbu Jieshangnang, asked a question.

"Sit down and talk."

Songtsen Gampo sat down expressionlessly.

“Mother Mangbu Jieshangnang, it’s not that the Zanpu wants to give it, but the current situation forces us to give it. You’ve seen it yourself, that King Ji came today to collect a debt.”

If we don't give him money, he will surely slander us before the Tang Emperor and sabotage our peace talks.

After sitting down, Lu Dongzan spoke to his mother, Mangbujie Shangnang.

“No, Your Excellency, you are wrong.” Songtsen Gampo spoke up at this moment.

"I don't know what I have done wrong?" Lu Dongzan asked hastily.

"The main purpose of King Ji today is not to collect debts, but to find out who our allies are."

He wanted to use the ten thousand catties of gold as leverage to force Benzanpu to tell the truth.

This young prince is meticulous and shrewd; he's certainly not to be underestimated.

Songtsen Gampo had deep eyes and observed all of King Ji's actions.

Demanding payment is a pretense; what they really want is to know the name of their inside contact.

“Your Majesty, I do not understand why Your Majesty did not inform King Ji. Given King Ji’s personality, he will surely retaliate and cause chaos.”

"This way, I might also have an opportunity to take advantage of it," Mother Mangbujie Shangnang asked, puzzled.

What a perfect opportunity this is to sow discord.

"No, it's not the right time yet. Allies are still useful and may bring even greater surprises in the future. Giving them to Prince Ji now would only cause a small ripple."

A man as shrewd as Prince Ji would not be so impulsive as to kill someone.

Besides, even if we kill them, it won't do us any good.

Songtsen Gampo shook his head. He felt it wasn't worth revealing himself now; this card should be used wisely.

"But the Zanpu can tell King Ji about the unimportant people, and then King Ji will deal with them, and we will save 10,000 catties of gold."

"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty is demanding 10,000 catties of gold as compensation. If we give Prince Ji another 10,000 catties, the national treasury will be short of funds."

Nang Mangbu Jie Shangnang earnestly advised, "He is the Grand Chancellor, in charge of the inner court, and he knows everything about the national treasury."

The 20,000 catties of gold was all they had. Their king had just said he would give them over 100,000 strings of cash for treatment, and he was heartbroken.

Tens of thousands of strings of cash were already a huge sum of money for them.

"Of course I know that, but there's nothing we can do right now. You just heard it yourself; Prince Ji actually managed to influence the will of His Majesty the Emperor of Tang."

If we must negotiate, we have no choice but to submit to King Ji.

After this incident, Tibet needs to recuperate. Songtsen Gampo's face showed helplessness, indicating that he had no other choice.

"Prime Minister, can Prince Ji really influence the will of the Tang Emperor?" Niang Mangbu Jieshangnang looked at Lu Dongzan with some doubt.

Weren't the emperors of the Tang Dynasty supposed to be incredibly wise and powerful? How could they be controlled by their own sons?

Lu Dongzan nodded:

“Your Majesty, Grand Minister, I have always said not to underestimate this King Ji. I have been here for more than a year and have heard many legends about King Ji.”

We also learned some things about King Ji from our allies.

Prince Ji truly had the power to influence the decisions of the Tang emperor.

The Tang emperor once wanted to kill three people: Liu Ji, Zhang Liang, and Li Junxian. All three were important officials of the Tang Dynasty.

Everyone thought the three were doomed, but unexpectedly, Prince Ji appeared and saved their lives one after another.

"Is there anything else going on?"

Gar Tongtsen's words surprised Songtsen Gampo and Nyaung Mangbu Je Shangnang, especially Songtsen Gampo, who knew best that if a king wanted to kill someone, there was generally no way to change that.

This isn't like making some kind of decision and then having someone offer advice.

If a monarch wants to kill someone, that person must have done something wrong to the imperial power or the emperor for the monarch to decide to kill them.

Or perhaps it was to kill out of spite.

But no matter which one it is, persuading them is easier said than done.

He himself was a king, and countless people died unjustly under his sword; this was inevitable.

The fact that Prince Ji was able to save people under such circumstances clearly demonstrates his high standing in the eyes of the Tang emperor.

Thinking of this, Songtsen Gampo sighed:

"In that case, let's notify the country to prepare another ten thousand catties of gold to be shipped over, which will also serve as a way to establish a relationship with Prince Ji."

Perhaps we could become allies with him.

In the end, Songtsen Gampo made up his mind that there could be no problems in this peace talk.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will write the letter immediately." Grand Chancellor Mangbujie Shangnang immediately accepted the order and withdrew.

"Sigh, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would have given all this gold to our allies. Maybe they could have stirred up a lot of trouble."

Songtsen Gampo sighed and muttered to himself again.

~~~~~~~~

In the Ganlu Hall, Cheng Chusi stood obediently in the center of the hall, above whom sat the majestic Li Shimin.

When Li Shimin received Cheng Chusi's report that Prince Ji had gone to visit Songtsen Gampo, he immediately ordered someone to summon Cheng Chusi.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I failed to stop Prince Ji. Please punish me."

Cheng Chusi knelt on one knee to beg for forgiveness.

He was responsible for protecting Songtsen Gampo. His Majesty had decreed that no one was allowed to see Songtsen Gampo, but King Ji forced his way in, which was a dereliction of duty.

"Get up. If you can stop that rebellious son, you will be the Duke of Lu now."

Li Shimin's majestic voice rang out.

"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty." Cheng Chusi stood up, but he did not understand what His Majesty meant.

As long as I don't get punished, it's fine.

"Did you accompany Prince Ji on his visit to Songtsen Gampo?" Li Shimin asked.

Cheng Chusi quickly replied:

"Your Majesty, I accompanied you throughout the entire journey."

He was also afraid of things going wrong; if King Ji acted impulsively and killed Songtsen Gampo, he would be committing a grave crime.

Being dismissed from office is the least of your worries; it could even be a capital offense.

Perhaps, out of consideration for his father Cheng Yaojin, they will exile him to the frontier.

The title of heir to the Duke's mansion also passed to his second younger brother.

"Tell me their conversation exactly as it was said, without omitting anything."

Li Shimin spoke first.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cheng Chusi immediately accepted the order and began to tell Li Shimin about Li Shen's life from the moment he never entered the residence until he came out, and what he said during that time.

As Cheng Chusi recounted the story, he secretly observed Li Shimin's expression, but to his disappointment, Li Shimin's expression remained unchanged.

Cheng Chusi quickly recounted the events.

“Your Majesty, that’s how it is.” Cheng Chusi finished speaking and waited quietly.

Li Shimin pondered for a moment and then raised his head:

"You mean that Prince Ji actually went to collect a debt, and Songtsen Gampo promised to give Prince Ji ten thousand catties of gold?"

"Your Majesty, that is indeed the case." Cheng Chusi bowed.

"Cheng Chusi, are you sure you've said everything? Without omitting a single detail? You should know that deceiving the emperor is a capital offense."

Suddenly, Li Shimin said in a deep voice.

(I mentioned yesterday that the building was just beginning to show its tip, and wow, you guys have such rich imaginations.)

Some people are saying that someone stole my number 38. Damn, I don't even know where number 38 is.

Please treat me like a human being.