Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

Li Xueyan, who had already strayed from the topic, reacted and briefly pondered where she had been before continuing, "Oh, it's because Your Majesty rejected him earlier. That Tibetan Ganbu must be holding a grudge. I heard he's threatening Your Majesty, demanding that you marry a princess to him. Otherwise, he'll lead his troops straight in, destroy the Tang Dynasty, and take the princess away!"

By the end, she was furious. She clenched her fists and shoveled out a handful of dry mud with the tip of her right foot. "How ridiculous! Tiny Tubo dares to speak so arrogantly and challenge the Tang Dynasty. It's simply a laughing stock!"

Jiang Shangxian cooperated quite well and made several "tsk tsk tsk" sounds. She thought to herself, if she were Songtsen Gampo, who came to the throne at the age of thirteen, resolved internal and external troubles, and even destroyed the then-prominent Zhangzhung Kingdom with his beauty trap to complete the unification of Tubo, she would have to feel a little proud.

"Did the princess from Nepal get married?" She didn't remember these details very clearly, she only remembered that it seemed to be in the 12th year of Zhenguan.

Strictly speaking, even in modern times, not everyone knows that Nepal also married a princess to Tibet at that time.

Just like many people thought that Songtsen Gampo really loved Princess Wencheng, and Princess Wencheng was his first wife, and the Potala Palace was built for Princess Wencheng, but in fact, it was completely out of political needs, and the Potala Palace had been built long ago.

According to Tibetan historical records, the Nepalese princess had fair skin, beautiful face, long legs, and was extremely beautiful, much more beautiful than Princess Wencheng.

Yanxia shook her head. This matter was not something that their circle of maids could know. After all, it was something that happened in other distant countries. Their gossip was limited to Chang'an, unless this matter was spread throughout Chang'an.

Li Xueyan knew something: "I heard that she will be married this year, and her name is Princess Chizun."

She just heard it and didn't know the details.

Jiang Shangxian nodded. She had some impression of this. Songtsen Gampo married his sister to the Zhangzhung King Li Mijia. His sister was unhappy all the time. What should he do if she was unhappy?

She wrote letters to her brother Songtsen Gampo all day long, and while writing, she also wrote down Li Mijia's itinerary. As soon as she wrote this, Songtsen Gampo knew: the opportunity to kill and rob had come!

With this internal and external cooperation, Li Mijia was killed in modern-day Nima County, Nagqu. With the king dead, the kingdom was doomed, and the once glorious Zhangzhung Kingdom, once atop the roof of the world, was shattered. (During the Tang Dynasty, the Zhangzhung Kingdom was known as Yangtong.)

Although Songtsen Gampo had now unified Tubo, there was still a very big problem facing him.

It is different from our Central Plains region. Dynasties changed in the Central Plains, but as long as the emperor succeeded in coming to power, the whole world would obey him, because the Chinese believed in God the most. It was also for this reason that the founding emperors would make up a fantastic birth background for themselves to tell the people that the imperial power was granted by heaven.

At this stage, Tubo is a place with extremely unified beliefs. Most of the people in Tubo are unaware of the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

They only know about Weimo Longren and Bon religion. According to the records in the 14th-century Bon religion history book "The Fundamental Theory of the Sun" and the interpretation of Bon monks, Weimo Longren is the place where the Bon gods live, which is the modern Ali region, Mount Kailash, the main peak of Mount Gangdise. Mount Kailash is a sacred mountain recognized by all religions in the world, such as Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, Bon religion and ancient Jainism.

On the Tibetan Plateau, where the natural conditions are extremely harsh, the earliest Tibetan ancestors believed in everything in nature, including wind, rain, thunder, lightning, snow, and even mountains and rivers. It was under such circumstances that the original Bon religion was born.

Later, a man named Dunba Xinrab was born in Weimo Longren. The birth of a god will definitely bring changes, and Weimo Longren is no exception. He systematized and theorized the original Bon religion and founded the higher-level Yungdrung Bon religion.

For example, the original Bon religion required killing animals as sacrifices to gods, but Yungdrung Bon has not allowed killing since the day it was born.

The beliefs of people living on the Tibetan Plateau today are broadly divided into three categories: primitive Bon, Yungdrung Bon, and Tibetan Buddhism, which is further divided into Tantric Buddhism and Exoteric Buddhism.

When Jiang Shangxian went to Tibet, he saw a Bon temple. The swastika was in the opposite direction of Buddhism, so it was easy to identify.

(If you're passing by, you can stop by and take a look. Yungdrung Bon is a mysterious and ancient religion, very interesting. The Tibetan Buddhist circumambulation and prayer flags are also related to Yungdrung Bon.)

The biggest problem Songtsen Gampo had to face at this time was that he unified Tubo, and Yungdrung Bon unified the people's thoughts.

The local people had believed in Bon religion for too long. Before him, including every Tibetan king, there was a Gusin of higher status beside him, which made the power of religion greater than the power of the king. This was something that no ambitious king could tolerate.

Therefore, he wanted to marry two princesses because he wanted them to bring new religion, culture, and farming techniques to replace Bon religion and enhance his political status.

The two princesses are a check and balance.

History and reality are telling the same thing - Songtsen Gampo will never give up.

Thinking of this, she stared at Li Xueyan's face in a daze. Princess Wencheng was a daughter of the Li Tang royal family, and so was Li Xueyan.

She tried very hard to remember what Princess Wencheng's name was, but she just couldn't. It seemed that the history books did not mention the princess's real name. Of course, it was also because of her low level of education.

"Wu Niang, when will your relationship with Master Zhao be settled?" Although she couldn't remember, she still had to be wary of some things. She only had this good girlfriend like her. If she ran to Tibet, she would never see her again in this life.

Although Zhao Shan was a bit stingy, compared to the marriage, what was that? How could Li Xueyan be without a dowry?

As long as I can live in Chang'an for a long time, the worst that can happen is that I go back to my parents' home to beg for money!

Li Xueyan's face flushed, and she stamped her feet vigorously on the ground a few times. Finally, she raised her fist and punched Jiang Shangxian's chest with a bit of embarrassment, saying coquettishly, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"Ah! No, no, no, it will be dented if you hit me again!" Seeing that she was still going to hit him, Jiang Shangxian quickly covered his chest and begged for mercy.

Li Xueyan was stunned by these words, and her face immediately turned redder. She wanted to chase her and hit her, but she was afraid that she would say something ruthless. "Don't talk nonsense! If you keep talking nonsense, I will ignore you!"

"Okay, okay, I won't say it, I won't say it!" Jiang Shangxian slapped his mouth lightly, indicating that he would never say anything nonsense. A is small enough, it really can't be any smaller, otherwise it would be too much.