Tang Dynasty: The Holy Prince, the Dragon that Reigns Over the World

According to Li Chengqian's plan for the congratulations from various countries, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the envoys from various countries watched the Tang Dynasty's military performance at Chengtian Gate, and then held a grand court meeting at Linde Hall.

The Chengtian Gate military parade designed by Li Chengqian was conducted in accordance with the model of the military parade in the previous life. Li Chengqian selected 1 people from the Imperial Guards, the Sixteen Guards, and the 352 Flying Dragon Army that returned with Li Chengqian in advance to form 18 square formations. There were two Zhonglangjiang or Duwei leading the square formations, and the remaining 350 were divided into 14 rows. The Flying Dragon Army was led by Li Chengqian himself. There were embroidered dragon flags on the east and west sides of Chengtian Gate.

On the tenth day of the tenth month in the seventh year of Zhenguan, the envoys of various countries arrived at Chengtian Gate in advance according to the schedule. A viewing platform had been built under Chengtian Gate for viewing. The envoys of various countries took their seats according to the corresponding country names on it. With the announcement of the emperor's arrival, Li Shimin took Zhangsun Wugou and important officials of the court to the Chengtian Gate tower.

When the envoys of various countries saw Li Shimin coming, they all stood up and saluted. Li Shimin smiled and appeased the envoys of various countries, and then signaled the start of the martial arts performance.

Following the command to start the military performance, the imperial band under Chengtian Gate began to play drums and music. The imperial guards, wearing bright and beautiful armor and holding long spears in their hands, marched in neat steps along the Chengtian Gate Cross Street from west to east. When they reached the flag on the west side of Chengtian Gate, the leading Zhonglang General shouted "salute" and then drew his sword and raised it in front of him. After hearing the command, the imperial guards behind him raised their long spears at a 45-degree angle to the sky. The square formation then changed to a goose-step and looked at Li Shimin in unison.

Li Shimin smiled and waved his hand. The imperial guards changed their marching steps and shouted in unison, "Long live your majesty, the Tang army is mighty." When the square marched to the east flag, the leading general shouted "The ceremony is over" and then sheathed his sword. The imperial guards behind him put away their guns. The square looked forward and changed to normal marching.

The 16 phalanxes of the guards followed the pattern of the imperial guards phalanx and passed through Chengtian Gate one by one. Someone used the loudspeaker made by Li Chengqian to loudly announce the passing phalanxes to the people along the street. The people along the street were delighted to see the majestic and powerful Tang army, and cheered and saluted.

Every time a square array passed through Chengtian Gate, there was an official from the Ministry of Rites at the viewing platform where each envoy was located, who would explain to the envoys from various countries where the square array came from and what battle records it had.

The envoys of various countries were very curious about this kind of military performance for the first time. After seeing the Tang army's disciplined and orderly formation, as if they were one person, with amazing momentum and magnificent military power, they did not dare to underestimate the Tang army.

When the last phalanx of the Sixteen Guards passed through Chengtian Gate, heavy horse hoof sounds were heard in the distance. Led by Li Chengqian, the Flying Dragon Army phalanx marched neatly towards Chengtian Gate. When reaching the West Flag, Li Chengqian raised the Purple Gold Dragon Howling Halberd at a 45-degree angle to the sky with one hand and shouted "Salute".

The entire Flying Dragon Army square immediately changed from running to fast-paced, and the soldiers in the square raised their heavy guns diagonally to the sky at the same time. Everyone in the square looked at Li Shimin, who nodded and smiled.

The envoys from various countries did not need the officials of the Ministry of Rites to introduce them. The Flying Dragon Army had long been famous throughout the world. When they saw the black armor and flying dragon flag, they knew that the Flying Dragon Army had arrived. The envoys from various countries saw the Flying Dragon Army, which had strict military discipline, superb horsemanship, and overwhelming momentum. The entire square formation exuded a strong aura of killing, and they were so shocked that they kept shouting "strong army". When the people along the street saw the Flying Dragon Army marching, they cheered even louder. Li Shimin stood on the city wall, turned his head and smiled at Changsun Wugou.

"Guanyin maid, Dalang's martial arts performance is really great. It fully demonstrates the power of our Great Tang. Who among the foreign countries dares to underestimate the might of our Great Tang?" Changsun Wugou smiled and nodded, looking at Li Chengqian with eyes full of satisfaction and relief.

After the martial arts performance, Li Shimin held a grand court meeting in Linde Hall to entertain envoys from various countries. At the beginning of the banquet, envoys from various countries raised their glasses to congratulate Li Shimin on his sudden victory and wished him a long life. Li Shimin laughed and drank a glass. Then he ordered the singing and dancing to begin. Linde Hall was filled with laughter.

After three rounds of drinking, Tong Eshe, the younger brother of Nishu, the Western Turkic Khan, stood up and bowed his head.

"Your Majesty, the great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the envoy of the Western Turkic Khan, Ashina Tong'eshe, wishes your Majesty a long life. The Eternal Heaven will always protect the greatest king under the sun. My brother, the Khan of the Western Turkic Khanate, is ill and unable to come, so he has specially sent me to pay my respects to your Majesty. At the same time, I hope your Majesty will send an envoy to enthrone my brother as the Khan of the Western Turkic Khanate. I hope your Majesty will grant your approval."

"Well, my ally has good intentions. Since Duolu Khan wants my enthronement, I agree. In a few days, I will send an envoy to Western Turkestan to enthrone Ashina Nisu as the Khan of Western Turkestan, and give him the title of Tun Alouba Xilibi Duolu Khan." Li Shimin said with a smile.

Nishu had come to Chang'an during the Wude reign. At that time, Li Shimin had made an alliance with Nishu in order to make friends with people of all ethnic groups. The Western Turkic Khanate had been in civil war for many years. In order to stabilize the Western Turkic Khanate as soon as possible, Nishu, the Khan of Duolu, submitted a petition to submit to the Tang Dynasty and requested the Tang Dynasty to confer a title on him during this great meeting of all nations. He was a faction of the Western Turkic Khanate that was close to the Tang Dynasty.

"Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor of the Heavenly Dynasty. The Eternal Heaven is above. We, the Western Turks, will always be loyal to His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Tang Dynasty." Tong Eshe knelt down and said happily.

"Your Majesty, the great Emperor, this time Duolu Khan asked me to come and congratulate Your Majesty. I have specially prepared a gift to present to Your Majesty." Tong Eshe stood up and clapped his hands, and a young and beautiful Turkic woman came out.

"This is the darling of Duluk Khan, the most beautiful woman in Western Turkic, Ashina Zhen. Duluk Khan wants to present this woman to the great emperor." Western Turkic originally proposed marriage, but Li Chengqian was adamant and firmly disagreed to marry his daughter to Western Turkic. Duluk Khan could only give up and present his daughter to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin glanced at Ashina Zhen and spoke with a smile.

"I am already old, how can I delay the princess's youth. My son Cheng Qian is the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty and the god of war in the army. He is still unmarried, so why not marry him as a concubine?"

"The prince's reputation is well known throughout the world. Thank you, His Majesty, for granting me the marriage." Tong Eshe knelt down and said happily. It would be nice to marry the future emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Ashina Zhen secretly glanced at Li Chengqian, and seeing that he was handsome, she was also happy and shyly lowered her head.

"Your Majesty, good things come in pairs. I have overstepped my authority. Ashina Yun, the daughter of Shibobi, is smart and clever. I like her very much. She also has deep feelings for Dalang. How about marrying her to Dalang as a concubine?" Zhangsun Wugou said with a smile. Li Shimin smiled and stroked his beard and nodded.

Shibobi was overjoyed when he heard this. Everyone knew that his daughter was thinking about Li Chengqian. Just as he was about to step out to express his gratitude, Ashina Yun ran out first, knelt on the ground, and said happily.

"Thank you, Her Majesty, the Queen, for granting the marriage." Everyone burst into laughter when they saw Ashina Yun's anxious look.

"Ah, a girl can't be kept at home when she grows up." Shibobi smiled with his old face blushing.

Li Chengqian was inexplicably granted marriages to two concubines, and he was wondering how such a grand court meeting could turn into an granted marriage.

"Da Lang, are you satisfied with the marriage arranged for you by your father and mother?" Changsun Wugou said with a smile.

"I will obey my parents' orders." Li Chengqian bowed his head and saluted.

"Okay, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory will choose a good time for my son to get married." Li Shimin laughed. The banquet continued, and the envoys and ministers toasted to Li Chengqian to congratulate him.

At this time, the Japanese envoy came out and bowed his head.

"The Japanese Emperor Shumei's envoy, Kazuo Yamamoto, congratulates the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty on his sudden victory."

During the regency of Prince Shotoku, Japan sent a large number of envoys to the Central Plains to learn about the Central Plains system and to follow the Central Plains' example of vigorous reform. The national strength was greatly improved. Seeing that its national strength was growing stronger and that it was far away from the Tang Dynasty, Japan did not have a strong sense of awe towards the Tang Dynasty and treated it as an equal.

"When did Wakoku change its name to Japan?" Li Shimin frowned.

"The word 'Wa' has malicious intent. Our emperor is wise and powerful, so because of what happened recently in our country, we changed the name to Japan." Yamamoto Kazuo said with a smile.

"Haha, what happened recently? The world is so big, and you dare to claim that it happened recently? The ruler of just four islands dares to call himself the emperor? In this whole world, except for the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, who else dares to call himself the emperor?" Li Chengqian sneered.

"I have heard that Your Highness is a brave and heroic man. The Emperor of our country has specially ordered me to bring the country's number one swordsman, Fujita Nobutsuna, to teach Your Highness martial arts." Yamamoto Kazuo smiled disapprovingly. Behind him, Japan's number one swordsman, Fujita Nobutsuna, came out and saluted.

"Your Highness, please enlighten me."

"A mere Japanese wants to learn the martial arts of the crown prince of the Celestial Empire. Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? Master, sit still. I am here to learn the martial arts of this man." Deng Yinlong said coldly to Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian nodded in agreement. Deng Yinlong stood with a horizontal sword in his hand, and Fujita Nobunaga took out a Japanese sword and stood opposite him.

"Hey, shorty. I heard that everyone in Japan is five feet tall, is that true? Let me tell you, if you can't even beat me, don't even think about fighting my master. Otherwise, you won't even know how you lost your life." Deng Yinlong said sarcastically.

Fujita Nobunaga didn't answer when he heard this, and swung his sword to chop Deng Yinlong. Deng Yinlong dodged to the side and swung his sword at Fujita Nobunaga. Fujita Nobunaga blocked with his sword, and then slashed at Deng Yinlong.

"Wow, the little dwarf is quite strong. Looks like I have to use all my strength." Deng Yinlong said with a smile. Then he shouted, "Get rid of him."

Deng Yinlong used all his strength to chop at Fujita Nobutsuna with his sword. Fujita Nobutsuna was shocked and raised his sword, but there was a loud bang. Fujita Nobutsuna could not withstand Deng Yinlong's strength, and the sword slipped out of his hand.

"That's your level? You still want to challenge my master? Let me tell you, my master's swordsmanship is more sophisticated than mine. Even if there are ten of me, I still can't be his opponent. Let alone you, haha." Deng Yinlong put away his knife and said contemptuously, then returned to stand behind Li Chengqian.

"Hey, you are the number one swordsman. I say, the level of your Japan's number one swordsman is too low. The servants of my prince can win easily, and you still want to challenge the prince? The prince can crush him to death with one hand. With this level, you should go back and practice more." Cheng Zhijie teased.

"Cheng Erlangzi, you are too venomous. People have come all the way to our Tang Dynasty to get beaten, so you shouldn't add insult to injury." Yuchi Jingde said with a smile. The senior generals around him laughed loudly, their eyes full of sarcasm.

After being defeated in three moves, Fujita Nobutsuna looked at his hands in disbelief. Yamamoto Kazuo took Fujita Nobutsuna away with a grim face.

Seeing this, the Goguryeo envoys also gave up the plan to compete with Li Chengqian. The warriors they brought were of the same level as Fujita Nobunaga. Although everyone in Goguryeo was arrogant, they also knew that going to compete with Li Chengqian at this time would be humiliating.

The grand court meeting ended successfully, and the envoys of various countries returned to the Honglu Guesthouse to wait for the Tang Dynasty's return gift. They all thought that the Tang Dynasty was vast and rich in resources, and the return gift would definitely be very generous.

At this time, in the Secretariat, Li Chengqian, the Minister of Rites Chen Shuda, and the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Honglu Temple Tang Jian were arguing over the issue of returning the gift. The Minister of the Left, Changsun Wuji, the Minister of the Right, Fang Xuanling, and several other ministers, including Wei Zheng, watched with a wry smile.

"Who decided on these return gifts? They are so generous, it's a waste of money. You thought about your family when you decided on the gift list." Li Chengqian frowned as he looked at the return gift lists from various countries in his hand.

"Your Highness, this gift list was decided by this old minister and Minister Tang. Do you think it is inappropriate?" Chen Shuda stroked his beard and frowned.

"Inappropriate? Not only inappropriate, it's simply ridiculous. Mr. Chen is the Minister of Rites, he doesn't know how expensive firewood and rice are until he manages the household. Mr. Tang is the Minister of Revenue, the chief steward of the Tang Dynasty, how can you be so generous?

My goodness, Japan only sent a few broken fans, a few broken hats and some worthless beads, and you returned them a thousand rolls of silk, a hundred pieces of tribute porcelain, and a hundred kilograms of tribute tea. Is the national treasury so rich? Aren't you being taken advantage of?" Li Chengqian said angrily.

"Your Highness, when the various countries come to pay tribute, we must show the majesty of our Celestial Empire. These little things are harmless. If the return gifts are too little, I'm afraid that other countries will say that our Tang Dynasty is stingy and they will be dissatisfied." Wei Zheng persuaded Chen Shuda and Tang Jianqi, who were so angry that their beards were pulled down.

"The Celestial Empire's style? Was it gained through gifts? Then why are the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty fighting so hard? If anyone disobeys, beat him until he obeys. If anyone has complaints, beat him. You want to get one more penny from me? Damn it, no way." Li Chengqian said disdainfully.

"Ahem, Your Highness, please be mindful of your words. Your Highness has read the words of sages, how can you speak like a bandit? Then, according to Your Highness's wishes, how should I return the gift?" Kong Yingda said.

"My meaning is very simple. We will pay back as much as people give us, not a penny more." Li Chengqian said firmly.

"It's not appropriate. They have come from afar to pay homage to the Tang Dynasty. Wouldn't it seem a bit stingy to return the favor like this? The national treasury has been full in recent years, so this little return gift is nothing.

Besides, we should not only show our military prowess but also win people over with virtue. Giving more gifts in return will just show the generosity of our Tang Dynasty and make the four barbarians submit. Otherwise, what should we do if they don't come to pay homage in the future?" Tang Jian said.

"If it weren't for the fact that they came from afar to pay homage, I wouldn't even want to give them this little bit of hard work money. It's an honor for them to come to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage. Speaking of a rich treasury, that Minister Tang. The treasury was in trouble in the past few years, and the Ministry of Revenue has not paid the military pay of my army since its establishment.

I paid for the battle against Gaochang. Two years ago, there was a drought in many places in Henan Province, and I took out 1 million strings of cash to help the court with disaster relief. Now that the treasury is full, can I pay it back? You also know that this prince still spends a lot of money. "Li Chengqian said with expectation.

"Ahem, I think what the prince said is very true. It is an honor for them to come to our Celestial Empire to pay homage. And they even want more gifts in return. It is simply nonsense." Tang Jian immediately changed his words.

"Well, the old minister is loyal to the country and is truly a role model for all officials. Lord Tang has realized it, but what about you?" Li Chengqian said with a smile.

To be honest, Li Chengqian was not a stingy person. The military pay of his troops was higher than that of other troops, and they were never in arrears, and they often received extra rewards. After Li Chengqian took office as Shangshu Ling, he increased the pensions and retirement benefits for the disabled and retired soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. In addition to the money given by the national treasury, Li Chengqian allocated special funds from the Prince's Mansion in the name of the prince to give more. All of this was the money of the Prince's Mansion.

Li Chengqian was also extremely kind to the people. When there was drought in many places in Henan Province, Li Chengqian immediately ordered people to take money from the Prince's Mansion to support the national treasury for disaster relief. As long as no one starved to death, he would not feel sorry for spending any money. Everyone in the Tang Dynasty knew this.

Seeing Tang Jian's change of attitude, the ministers looked at him with contempt. Tang Jian didn't care. It was a big sum of money. It was impossible to take it from the national treasury. If the foreign barbarians don't want to give it, then don't give it. The prince's money must be repaid. The military pay of the prince's subordinates in the past few years alone can take away half of the national treasury. The minister Li Chengqian was determined and had no choice but to agree.

When the envoys of various countries saw the Tang Dynasty's return gift, they were all in disbelief. When they heard that it was Li Chengqian's decision, they privately cursed Li Chengqian as a stingy prince.