Zhenguan Xiaoxian Wang Li Shen Li Shimin

Part of Tubo's gold came from gold mines, and the rest came from their trade on the Silk Road.

In addition, there were trades with India, Nepal and other countries, as well as tributes from believers.

Gold was a symbol of wealth and status in Tubo, and was used extensively by the Tubo royal family and nobles.

Such as golden elephants, golden human statues, pure gold wine glasses, vases, etc.

In Tubo, gold was a means of diplomacy. For example, in order to congratulate the Tang Dynasty on its victory in the Liaodong campaign, Lu Dongzan brought a seven-foot-tall golden goose that could hold three hu of wine.

There is also a seven-inch golden arrow, which has the same function as the Tang Dynasty fish token and is used as a token to mobilize troops.

Utensils used in religious ceremonies, etc.

Even the uniforms of officials were made of gold. The best-quality official ornaments were made of seses, followed by gold.

This is enough to prove that gold was widely used in Tubo and its reserves were quite large.

But no matter how much there was, it was not enough to take it out like this. One thousand kilograms, ten thousand kilograms, was not a small amount for Songtsen Gampo.

"Zanpu calmed down. This ten thousand catties of gold was extorted by Prince Ji. At that time, we were discussing peace talks in the court.

If King Ji stood up to interfere and promised him 10,000 kilograms of gold, he would stop obstructing me. I had no choice but to agree.

Later, the peace talks were put on hold and the matter was left unresolved. Unexpectedly, Prince Ji brought up the old matter again today.

He also threatened that if the money was not given, it would not be easy for the Zanpu to negotiate.

Prince Ji's words carry a lot of weight in front of the Tang Emperor."

Lu Dongzan explained.

He didn't want to give it, but there was no other way.

"But this is too much. A thousand catties is not enough, but you ask for ten thousand catties. Do you know how much ten thousand catties of gold is?

Even the royal family might not be able to come up with it.”

Songtsen Gampo gnashed his teeth, he was almost going crazy. Ten thousand kilograms of gold would be a huge fortune, not to mention in their Tubo, even in the wealthy Tang Dynasty.

How did this young prince dare to speak?

"Zanpu, I am also helpless. At that time, Prince Ji claimed that he would spend three million strings of cash as military funds to attack Tubo and avenge his father.

At that time, I could see that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was quite interested. If I had not agreed to Prince Ji's proposal, I am afraid that the two countries would have been at war by now."

Lu Dongzan hurriedly explained.

"Three million strings of cash? What a joke! How much is the annual tax revenue of the Tang Dynasty? How can a prince like him come up with three million strings of cash?"

"The annual tax revenue of Tubo is only this much. He is just bluffing to deceive you."

After hearing Lu Dongzan's explanation, Songtsen Gampo sneered.

What a joke. The Tang Dynasty was rich and it was lucky to collect five or six million strings of cash in taxes a year. But Tubo only collected this much a year.

This is the national tax. How can he personally come up with three million strings of cash?

Alas~~~~ Lu Dongzan Anxi sighed. Tubo was too far away and it took a lot of time to transmit messages, so every time they sent back some important information.

Anything that had nothing to do with national policy was only mentioned briefly. For example, Li Shen was only said to be treacherous and cunning, and when it came to his wealth, it was said that he was rich enough to rival a country.

I never wrote about any specific things.

Moreover, he had not seen it with his own eyes, so even if he wrote it down, Songtsen Gampo would think that Lu Dongzan was just hearing it from others and exaggerating.

But he is different. He has been to the Tang Dynasty several times, and there have been great changes every time he comes.

While being shocked, Lu Dongzan was also frightened. He truly saw the power of the Tang Dynasty.

"Why? Do you have anything else to say?"

Seeing that Lu Dongzan didn't say anything, Songtsen Gampo became more certain of his thoughts. He thought that Lu Dongzan must have been deceived by King Ji.

"Zanpu." Lu Dongzan called out solemnly, "I dare not deceive the Zanpu. The changes in the Tang Dynasty over the past ten years are so great that it is hard to imagine.

The entire Tang Dynasty knew that Prince Ji’s Mansion was wealthy enough to rival a country, but only Prince Ji himself knew how much money he had.

But I have heard of one thing.”

"What's the matter?" asked Songtsen Gampo.

"This matter is actually no secret among the upper echelons of the Tang Dynasty. Does the Zamp know why the Tang Emperor went to Qinghai Road last year?"

Lu Dongzan asked back.

Songtsen Gampo thought for a moment:

"Isn't it to inspect the important cities in Qinghai?"

Lu Dongzan shook his head:

“That’s not always the case. When I was drinking with some officials, one of them, under the influence of alcohol, told me something.

Last year, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was obsessed with alchemy and invited a monk from India to make an elixir of immortality for him.

As a result, Prince Ji returned to Chang'an and defrauded the Tang Emperor of four million strings of cash with the help of a traditional Indian monk.

"How much did you say?" Songtsen Gampo thought he had misheard.

"Four million strings of cash." Lu Dongzan said solemnly, "For this reason, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty traveled west to personally punish Prince Ji.

Later, I made inquiries from various sources and confirmed that this was indeed the case."

"Four million strings of cash! Is the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty that rich? Could it be money from the national treasury?"

Songtsen Gampo was incredulous because he knew that the emperor's money and the treasury's money were two different things.

"I don't know about this either, but that's not the point. What I want to say is that Prince Ji is capable of coming up with three million strings of cash.

Sui Yi Chengcai compromised and agreed to King Ji's request.

Prince Ji's properties are spread throughout the entire Tang Dynasty, and the roads he built alone are more than ten thousand miles long.

The rumor that Prince Ji's mansion is as wealthy as a nation is not groundless."

Lu Dongzan spoke very seriously. He wanted to let Zamp know that he did not agree to give King Ji ten thousand kilograms of gold casually. He was forced by the situation and had no choice.

Songtsen Gampo was silent again, and after a long while he nodded:

"Hmm. I didn't expect Prince Ji to have such a large family business. It seems I underestimated him.

If this boy is not eliminated, he will definitely be a serious threat to our Tubo."

"It's not just our Tubo, it's a serious threat to all the neighboring countries. It's said that the smooth conquest of Liaodong was all done by Prince Ji alone.

The Turkic Chebi Khan refused to come to the court, and the Ji Wangfu suppressed him. Now the Ji Wangfu has fallen apart and is isolated by the Tiele tribes.

All the tribes in the territory surrendered one after another, and the Basmil leader Fei Luocha surrendered. The Tang Dynasty was already considering setting up Lizhou in its place.

This shows how clever Prince Ji's methods are. With this son, the Tang Dynasty will be invincible for decades to come."

Lu Dongzan never looked down on Li Shen and gave him a very high evaluation because he had been here for two years.

He usually made friends with many nobles and officials in order to get news about the Tang Dynasty from them.

These people may not know all the secrets, but they have learned a lot about Li Shen.

This prince, who was still in his twenties, rose to prominence at the age of nine and for more than ten years was a legend in no way inferior to that of his father.

Lu Dongzan didn't know that the Ji Wang Mansion had to pay tens of millions of taxes to the court every year, otherwise Songtsen Gampo might have personally assassinated Li Shen.

Fortunately, these officials only spoke ill of Li Shen, and did not help publicize such a noble and upright act.

Even so, it was enough to shock Songtsen Gampo.