We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Even from a distance, he could already feel the overwhelming majesty of the Great Qing Emperor.

Zanpu instinctively straightened his back, trying to maintain his royal dignity.

But when Li Che came in front of him, he still felt sweat on his back.

One was an emperor who rose to power through military exploits, and the other was a monarch who had just assumed personal rule; the difference in their auras was immense.

Li Che reined in his horse about a hundred paces from the decorated tent and raised his hand to signal the entire army to stop.

The thousand cavalrymen froze instantly, as if the pause button had been pressed, with only the banners continuing to flutter in the wind.

Lu Dongzan and Xu Jiezi dismounted first and stepped forward.

Lu Dongzan, now holding a special status, first bowed respectfully towards Li Che's direction, then turned to the Zanpu and bowed slightly: "Zanpu, His Majesty the Emperor of Daqing has arrived."

The king took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice steady: "Please welcome Your Majesty."

Li Che walked calmly toward the decorated tent, followed closely by generals such as Wang Sanchun and Yu Daliang, who stood guard by his side with their hands on their swords.

Wherever he went, the Tibetan nobles involuntarily lowered their heads slightly and avoided his gaze.

The two sides stood in front of the decorated tent.

Following the pre-arranged etiquette, the Zanpu (King) performed the tributary-to-suzerain greeting to Li Che (King Li Che).

Li Che accepted it readily, without any intention of making things difficult; his manners were impeccable and beyond reproach.

Li Che said indifferently, "The young Zanpu is promising and has a good understanding of the bigger picture. His decision to stop the fighting and bring peace is a blessing for the Tibetan people."

The Zanpu's cheek muscles twitched slightly, and he forced a smile: "Your Majesty's divine might and benevolence are widespread. Tibet is fortunate to be able to follow in your footsteps and forever enjoy your grace."

After the pleasantries were over, Lu Dongzan stepped forward and announced loudly, "The auspicious time has arrived! Please present the official documents of our two countries—"

Two Qing Kingdom civil officials and two Tibetan officials each stepped forward carrying a tray covered with brocade, on which were the two treaty documents.

Lu Dongzan first asked Li Che to examine the copy preserved by Qingguo, and then asked the Zanpu to examine the copy preserved by Tubo.

After verifying that everything was correct, the document was placed on a wooden table in the center of the decorated tent.

The signing ceremony was led by Lu Dongzan, who first recited the general outline and main clauses of the treaty in alternating languages.

With each line read aloud, the faces of the Tibetan king and his ministers grew paler.

After reading it aloud, Lu Dongzan loudly proclaimed, "Please, Your Majesties, sign the treaty with your seals!"

Li Che stepped forward first, and Qiu Bai presented the imperial jade seal.

It's called the Imperial Seal, but it's not actually the Imperial Seal of the State; that one is still kept in the capital.

There wasn't enough time to retrieve it, so Li Che simply had the artisans in the army carve a rough one out of stone.

It's a pity we couldn't find a radish, otherwise Li Che had planned to carve one out of a radish.

He picked up the imperial seal and stamped it with a bright red mark in the designated position in the treaty.

When it was the Zanpu's turn, his fingers were a little cold. He picked up the golden seal of the Tibetan Zanpu and pressed it in the corresponding position on another document.

The inscription is an ancient Tibetan script, representing the power of the ruler of the snowy land, yet it is being used to sign this treaty.

The moment he pressed the seal, he felt as if something inside him shattered crisply.

They exchanged documents and verified the seals again.

Lu Dongzan concluded by declaring, "The treaty is now complete, heaven and earth bear witness, may our two nations enjoy eternal friendship!"

There was no cheering, no celebration.

The Tibetan side was deathly silent; many people looked down at the ground or closed their eyes.

On the Qing army's side, only their flags fluttered in the wind, and the soldiers stood silently, their eyes sharply fixed on the opposite side.

Some soldiers were filled with disappointment, feeling that the enemy's heads were all shining with military merits, but unfortunately they would not have the chance to claim them today.

At the end of the ceremony, the Zanpu, roused from his demeanor, announced that a banquet would be prepared to celebrate the enduring friendship between the two countries.

However, Li Che simply waved his hand: "Military affairs are busy, so there is no need for a banquet. Now that the treaty has been signed, I hope that the Zanpu will abide by the agreement. I will keep my promise and ensure the peace of the border forever."

The Zanpu's prepared platitudes were cut short, and he could only stammer in agreement.

Just then, there was a slight commotion behind the colorful tent.

A group of Tibetan palace attendants escorted a beautifully decorated sedan chair slowly towards them, stopping not far from the tent.

The sedan curtain was lifted, and Princess Zhuoma stepped out, supported by two maids.

She was dressed in her finest attire today, even more elaborately than she had been at the celebration camp that day.

She wore a Tibetan princess crown adorned with pearls and gemstones, a wedding gown embroidered with gold and phoenixes, and a deep red satin cloak trimmed with snow-white fox fur.

Her face was covered in powder, creating an exquisite makeup look, but her once bright eyes were now as calm and still as two deep pools.

Holding a gilded vase in her hands, she walked slowly forward according to the wedding etiquette of a noblewoman from Tibet.

All eyes were on her.

The Tibetan king and his ministers had different expressions: some were sympathetic, some were indifferent, but most breathed a sigh of relief.

The princess's marriage to the foreign ruler finally secured the title of "brotherly nation," preventing things from getting any worse.

Zhuoma didn't look at anyone and walked straight up to Li Che and Zanpu.

She first bowed gracefully to Li Che: "Tubo Zhuoma greets Your Majesty. I am willing to serve Your Majesty with my life, and pray that our two countries will be forever united and that war will never end."

Then, she turned to the king, looked at her beloved younger brother with a complicated expression, and bowed as well: "Zhuoma bids farewell to the king, may the king... take care."

The king's throat tightened, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only nodded.

Zhuoma stopped looking at him and turned to look at Li Che.

Li Che stepped forward and offered a slight gesture of support: "Princess, please rise. Now that you have entered Daqing, I will certainly not treat you poorly."

Zhuoma stood up, bowed her head, and handed the precious bottle in her hand to the Qingguo servant beside her.

It contained some soil and seeds that she had brought from Tibet.

Then, Qiu Bai stepped forward and led her to the Qing Kingdom's carriage that had been prepared to the side.

That was the secondary carriage that Li Che used when he traveled. Now it is being used to transport the princess, which is already a very high standard.

Having taken the princess away, Li Che did not linger, giving the Zanpu a slight nod: "Farewell."

Having said that, he turned and walked towards his Black Wind, taking one last look at the city of Lhasa.

It's a good city, but unfortunately, it's not the right time to take it yet.

Behind them, the Qing army soldiers moved in perfect unison, mounted their horses, and turned around.

A thousand iron cavalrymen escorted the emperor's carriage and the princess's palanquin, leaving Baishitan in an orderly fashion and heading towards Daqing.

On the gravelly beach, only the Tibetan king and his ministers remained, facing the empty colorful tents and the ceremonial guards that had not yet been removed.

As the young Zanpu watched the smoke and dust of the Qing army disappear, he suddenly felt that even the midday sun on the plateau in spring was so cold and biting.

He stood there for a long time, until his legs went numb, before turning around blankly and walking toward the horses returning to the city, prompted by a servant's whisper.

Behind him, the colorful flags symbolizing the Tibetan royal power fluttered weakly in the wind, making a rustling sound.

It sounded like a sob, or perhaps the final note of the end of an era.

Thus, the great war between Daqing and Tubo came to an end.

The "History of Qing Dynasty: Biography of Tubo" records this great battle as follows:

The Tibetans repeatedly invaded the western border, plundered the border people, and coveted the Hexi Corridor.

The emperor was furious and personally led an expedition, dispatching troops to meet at Chuima City.

The Tibetan Grand Master Gar Tongtsen Gampo gathered 300,000 troops to resist the imperial army.

In the first battle outside Chuima City, the Qing army's firearms deafened the heavens, and their armored cavalry swept through the enemy lines, annihilating the entire Tibetan vanguard and causing tens of thousands of casualties.

The emperor personally dispatched 30,000 elite troops, who crossed the Qilian Mountains, traversed the Gobi Desert, and plunged into the heart of the Tibetan heartland in the Western Regions.

He successively captured Liucheng and Shazhou, took in the remnants of the Guiyi army, subdued the Yellow-Headed Uyghurs, and his power shook the Western Regions.

Upon hearing this, Lu Dongzan's army's morale collapsed. After a prolonged siege of the city without success, their supplies dwindled, and they hastily retreated westward.

The emperor advanced slowly westward, taking over all the fertile lands south of Longyou and Qilian, his army reaching as far as the snow line of the plateau.

The Tibetan king, Youchong, seized power from Gar Tongtsen Yulsung after his defeat, imprisoned his followers, and Lhasa became a target of internal strife.

He then sent envoys to sue for peace. The emperor set up a tent at the foot of the plateau, accepted Lu Dongzan's surrender, and appointed him as the chief negotiator.

The agreement was reached, with the Nu River as the border. Tibet lost the fertile plains south of the Qilian Mountains, and its territory shrank by half.

The Tibetans relinquished their imperial title, became vassals, and paid tribute, remaining a permanent tributary state with a fixed annual tribute of gold, silk, horses, and medicinal herbs.

The two countries swore brotherhood, with Qing as the elder brother and Tubo as the younger brother. The Zanpu (Tibetan king) submitted a memorial addressing Qing as the younger brother king and Qing as the elder brother emperor.

In addition, the Tibetan king offered his sister, Princess Droma, as a bride to solidify the alliance.

Thus, they gained access to the Western Regions, expanded their territory by thousands of miles, reopened trade routes, and temporarily quelled the troubles on the northwestern border.

This is historically known as the "Alliance of Qingfan".