Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

When Du He arrived at the Taiji Hall in high spirits, he saw Fang Yiai standing beside him with an unnatural look on his face, as if he had done something wrong.

Thinking of the big joke that King Wei made at the poetry gathering, Fang Yiai and his gang would definitely be punished.

"Fang Lao Er, what bad things have you done? Why do you look like you have done something wrong?"

Fang Yiai frowned and said through gritted teeth: "Du He, don't be so hypocritical. You have bad luck too!"

After saying this, Fang Yiai lowered his head like an ostrich.

No matter how Du He mocked him, he remained unmoved.

Yesterday he was so angry that he yelled at Princess Gaoyang. When he calmed down at night and thought about it, he regretted it deeply.

Gao Yang, that petty-minded bitch, has suffered such a great injustice, and no one knows how she will retaliate against him later.

Oh, I’m in big trouble!

Not long after, ministers such as Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling also walked into the Taiji Hall one after another, and soon Li Shimin also walked in.

When the court meeting was halfway through, the eunuch suddenly came in to report.

"Your Majesty, Xueyantuo Zhenzhubijia Khan Yinan has sent his nephew Tulishe to pay the betrothal gift."

what!

Upon hearing the news, the ministers were stunned for a moment.

Du He also narrowed his eyes.

He knew what was going on when Yi Nan sent someone to offer a betrothal gift and request to marry a Tang princess.

In the second year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty, whose national strength had not yet recovered, supported a tribal force to the north of the Eastern Turks in order to resist the powerful Eastern Turks.

This tribe was called Tiele tribes, and their leader was named Yinan.

Yinan was canonized as Zhenzhubijia Khan by Li Shimin.

With the support of the Tang Dynasty, Yinan took the opportunity to establish the Xueyantuo Khanate.

Under his leadership, the Xueyantuo Khanate gradually annexed the surrounding small tribes and grew stronger and stronger.

After the Eastern Turks were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, Xueyantuo, a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, became a new and powerful enemy.

In the 15th year of Zhenguan, in order to become bigger and stronger, Yinan personally led an army of 200,000 to attack the newly established Eastern Turkic Khanate.

Unexpectedly, he was beaten up by Li Ji's troops.

Not only were more than 50,000 people captured, but a large number of livestock were also seized.

Yi Nan was completely obedient this time, so last year he sent envoys with a large amount of tribute to Chang'an to seek peace.

He also made a request at that time, asking a Tang Dynasty princess to marry him.

That is to arrange marriage.

In order to stabilize Xueyantuo, Li Shimin agreed to Yi Nan's request for marriage and planned to marry Princess Xinxing to him.

At that time, Li Shimin put forward a condition to Xueyantuo, to release the captured general Qibi Heli.

After Yinan released Qibi Heli back to Chang'an, Qibi Heli, a foreign general who had a blood feud with Xueyantuo, immediately wrote a letter to Li Shimin.

He advised Li Shimin not to marry the Xueyantuo, as that would only enhance Xueyantuo's prestige.

Moreover, the Xueyantuo are just a group of vulgar people. If they cause trouble in the future, we can just send troops to deal with them. There is no need to send a princess of noble status to marry them.

In addition, other ministers did not agree with the marriage, so Li Shimin regretted it.

But as the Heavenly Khan, Li Shimin could not go back on his word, so he gave Yinan an additional condition.

He was asked to prepare "100,000 livestock" as a betrothal gift, and to go to the border of Lingzhou in person to welcome the bride.

Miscellaneous livestock refer to four types of livestock: cattle, horses, sheep and camels, totaling 100,000 heads.

I thought that this sky-high price would make Yi Nan give up, but I didn't expect that he could actually put together all the money.

Li Shimin said with a complicated expression: "Xuan Tulishe, come in."

"promise!"

The eunuch responded, then lowered his head and quickly left the Taiji Hall.

Inside the Taiji Hall, the court officials immediately looked around and began to whisper.

"Cowardly."

Du He complained in his heart.

The Tang Dynasty is not a weak country. How is using marriage to exchange for peace different from being a coward?

After Li Chengqian ascends the throne, the practice of marriage alliance must be abolished.

As for those foreign races that refuse to obey discipline and often cause chaos, they will be destroyed.

Not long after.

The eunuch came in with a young man dressed in foreign clothes.

"Tulishet, I pay my respects to the Heavenly Khan."

Tulishe saluted Li Shimin respectfully.

Because the Xueyantuo Khanate learned a lot of Tang Dynasty culture, he also understood the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Stand up."

"Thank God Khan."

After Tulishe paid his respects, he said in a loud voice, "Tian Khan, our Zhenzhu Bijia Khan has prepared the betrothal gifts."

"I propose to offer 50,000 horses, 10,000 cattle and camels, and 100,000 sheep."

"Before the cold winter comes, our Khan will personally come to the Lingzhou border to welcome the bride, bringing betrothal gifts."

It was extremely quiet inside the Tai Chi Hall.

All the civil and military officials remained silent, but stared at Li Shimin.

The marriage of the daughter and the marriage has been decided, and the conditions for the betrothal gift have been met by the man.

What other reasons are there to reject Xueyantuo?

After all, there were precedents of marriage between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, Tuyuhun, Eastern Turks and Western Turks. If the marriage proposal of Xueyantuo was rejected, it would also cause bad effects.

Li Shimin's face was solemn. After a moment's silence, he said in a deep voice: "I am waiting for the arrival of Zhenzhu Bijia Khan!"

"Thank God Khan, we will definitely arrive at the appointed time!"

Tulishe's face was filled with joy.

Li Shimin waved his hand and asked the eunuch to take Tulishe away to rest.

The following court meeting was somewhat depressing.

Not long after, Li Shimin hastily ended the court meeting.

"Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, Gao Shilian, and Chu Suiliang, go to Liangyi Hall to discuss matters."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he left the Taiji Hall with a serious face.

The five ministers who were named also followed behind with serious expressions.

Inside the Taiji Hall, court officials were discussing the matter.

"Your Majesty is in a difficult situation now!"

"I didn't expect Yi Nan to be so courageous and actually prepare so many betrothal gifts."

"I'm afraid the Xueyantuo have been plundered almost completely!"

"How can such a thug marry a princess from our Tang Dynasty?"

"That's right. Princess Xinxing is your Majesty's fifteenth daughter. She is of noble status. How can she marry a barbarian like that?"

After hearing what these court officials said, Du He knew that no one agreed with this marriage.

Thinking of Li Shimin's expression, Du He guessed that this marriage would most likely be cancelled.

When Du He came to his senses, he found that Fang Yiai had left at some point.

Du He left the Taiji Hall and went to the Chongwen Hall in the Eastern Palace first, taking all the scholars and apprentices to the Secretariat.

After arranging work for the people from Chongwenguan and the Secretariat, Yan Shigu walked over with a smile on his face.

He was holding a thick stack of papers in his hand.

"Master Du, I have brought all the poems to you, 20 in total."

"These 20 poems were carefully selected by me after repeated comparisons."

Yan Shigu invited his good friends Wang Ji, Hanshan, Chu Liang and Shangguan Yi to have a simple meal last night.

When I mentioned the idea of including their masterpieces in the poetry collection, several good friends copied down their favorite poems on the spot.

Who would miss this great opportunity to be remembered for generations?

Du He took the poem handed to him by Yan Shigu and praised it with a smile.

"Lord Yan is so decisive in his actions!"