Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"Your Majesty, my brother, I can't hold on any longer..."

Li Zhi's legs trembled like leaves, his body was in a horse stance, and a candle as thick as a baby's arm was burning with smoke beneath his buttocks.

Every now and then, as the other person's body sinks down, gently touch one of their delicate parts.

Li Zhi was covered in sweat.

He kept begging for mercy.

However, Li Chengqian merely glanced at the other person casually before continuing to concentrate on fishing.

"Last night's medicinal bath was very potent. With your current level of fatigue, it's simply not enough to neutralize its effects. So... keep going and tough it out!"

Li Zhi was truly on the verge of tears. Every now and then, just when he felt he was about to exhaust himself, a surge of strength would inexplicably well up within him.

Then came the continued tedious and lengthy ordeal.

Just then, amidst a series of footsteps, Wu Shun, with his head down, arrived beside Li Chengqian carrying stacks of documents.

"Your Highness, this is from Secretary Li. He asked me to deliver this."

"Have they all been reviewed?"

Wu Shun nodded: "These documents have been discussed by Master Li and Master Yu, and then decided by His Majesty... Secretary Li. They are just waiting for Your Highness's approval."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, and Wang De quickly stepped forward and skillfully laid out the documents in front of him.

Whether it was the expansion of local workshops, or the application documents requesting the Taiyuan Prefecture to allocate teachers due to a shortage of local educational resources, or some daily military reports from Yanmen Pass.

Li Chengqian merely glanced at it, and the clear and concise comments that pleased him made him nod slightly.

"Not bad, not bad at all. My father, the Emperor, is quite promising!"

Wu Shun, Wang De: "..."

I've gotten used to it, but I haven't completely gotten used to it yet.

This prince always manages to utter these anti-heavenly words, sending chills down one's spine.

"Bang bang bang..."

He tapped the seal of the crown prince onto the inkpad, then proceeded with the practiced ease of an assembly line worker.

The hundreds of documents that Li Shimin and his colleagues had spent the entire morning reviewing were officially completed with the sound of their seals being affixed to the Crown Prince.

He put the seal back into his sleeve.

Li Chengqian waved his hand and looked back at the pool in front of him.

Although the fishpond didn't freeze over in winter, most of the fish stayed at the bottom, and Li Chengqian had almost gotten used to the fish not surviving every day.

"Distribute the documents to all departments and process them according to the official approval process... Oh, and tell Secretary Li and the others that the speed of document processing still needs improvement."

"Wang De, go and tell him, Shun'er, come sit down and keep me company while I fish."

Wang De: "......"

He opened his mouth, but upon hearing the Crown Prince's order, he felt that today was the day he would die in Yangcheng Palace, and his old face turned pale and then red.

Looking at Sun Yi beside him, he saw that this fellow suddenly and quickly came to the Crown Prince's side and began to prepare fish bait for him.

Wang De was almost in tears. "Your Highness, even a eunuch's life matters!"

Your Majesty, in your eyes that is Secretary Li, in the eyes of us servants, that is Your Majesty!

"Plop" sound.

Wang De immediately knelt down, about to beg for mercy.

Just then, a rustling sound of footsteps came from behind, and the eunuch Gao Hai quickly approached with small, quick steps.

"Your Highness, the Tibetan envoy Gardonzan requests an audience. It is said that he has brought with him a letter of state from Tibet."

Li Chengqian was taken aback, then nodded.

"Let him in."

Then, noticing Wang De standing trembling beside her, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I was just saying it casually, did I really intend to take your life? Go, go, go, send the document to the Six Ministries!"

Wang De felt as if he had been granted a pardon. After bowing and expressing his gratitude, he hurriedly ran away into the distance.

Li Chengqian shook his head.

Regardless of etiquette, he immediately pulled Wu Shun over, tilted his body, and lay down diagonally on the long bench covered with a blanket.

His head was resting on the other person's thighs, and he held a fishing rod in one hand.

"Ah, this is such a comfortable life! This is the kind of life a crown prince should live, tsk tsk tsk..."

Wu Shun's pretty face was flushed, even though almost everyone in the Bingzhou officialdom already knew about the Crown Prince's chosen brides.

Meanwhile, in the Duke of Ying's mansion, preparations for her dowry had already begun.

But being so boldly flirted with by His Highness still made her feel both shy and happy.

Looking at Crown Prince Li Chengqian, whose eyes were half-closed and whose attention was no longer on the fish pond, Wu Shun hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently rubbed the other's head with both hands.

"Hmm~ Not bad"

Li Chengqian's praise immediately eased the tension on Wu Shun's face.

"Your Highness, I'm glad you like it..."

When Gar Tongtsen, also known as Gar Tongtsen in the previous history, was brought here by Gao Hai.

Upon seeing this scene, I was first taken aback.

He then dared not be negligent or disrespectful in the slightest, and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

He was holding a Tibetan state document in his hands.

"Your humble servant Gardonzan pays respects to His Highness the Crown Prince of the Great Tang! I have come on behalf of the Tibetan Emperor to present this letter of state, hoping to establish a brotherly alliance with the Great Tang."

A brotherhood alliance?

Li Chengqian closed his eyes and enjoyed the massage from Wu Shunyi's jade-like hands; she had clearly learned it on purpose.

"Hmph, a brotherhood alliance?"

Li Chengqian gave an ambiguous chuckle and beckoned with his hand.

Then Gao Hai immediately handed the letter of state from Galdonzan to Li Chengqian.

"Don't stop," he called out to Wu Shun.

Li Chengqian slightly opened his eyes and looked at the contents of the official document in his hand.

From then on, Tibet referred to the Tang Dynasty as its elder brother, paying tribute and paying respects to the Tang every year, and was willing to accept the Tang's military assistance in fighting against rebellious forces...

Very old-fashioned.

At least Li Chengqian didn't feel anything new.

Become a mercenary for the Tang Dynasty? It's as if my soldiers are willing to give up their military merits!

They even paid tribute and became vassals... Ha, all they could offer was some gold that could be obtained elsewhere.

What Tibet could probably offer were some natural Chinese medicinal herbs, as well as some horses, cattle, and sheep.

Li Chengqian closed his eyes speechlessly.

He casually tossed the letter of state onto the ground.

"Send them out of the palace. This younger brother is not of interest to our Great Tang Dynasty..."

Gar Tongtsen, and several Tibetan officials who followed him and held high positions under Songtsen Gampo, immediately changed their expressions.

"Your Highness, all of this is negotiable! Whatever you need, Tibet is willing to do everything in its power to provide it. We only ask that the Tang Dynasty help Tibet quell the internal strife and restore peace to the Tibetan people!"

Li Chengqian waved his hand.

"What you have, I have; what you don't have, I want, and you can't give me!"

"Send them out of the palace!"

Gao Hai gave a signal with his eyes, and immediately several soldiers from the Eastern Palace Six Commands, dressed in full steel armor, stepped forward towards Gardonzan and his group.

That murderous aura can only be acquired through repeated battles on the battlefield.

Combined with the armor on his body that was simply unimaginable how to break through.

The Tibetan envoys present were completely at a loss as to how to respond.

Gardon Tsen is getting anxious!

The Tang Dynasty was fully aware of the situation in Tibet.

Even though they knew that asking the Tang Dynasty for help now was, in the words of the Central Plains, like asking a tiger for its skin.

But that was still better than being seen as food by this tiger, waiting to storm the plateau and take everything from them.

Tibet!

It takes time!

"Your Highness, Your Highness the Crown Prince! Tibet is poor, but our Tibetan warriors are not without strength. What does Your Highness need to support Tibet? Please tell us. If we truly cannot provide it... Tibet will concede defeat!"

At this moment, Gardonzan was lifted up by two soldiers from the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace, one on the left and one on the right.

Despite his disheveled appearance, he didn't care about anything else and pleaded urgently.

Li Chengqian opened his eyes again, which had been dozing.

He raised his hand, and Wu Shun stopped what he was doing.

Li Chengqian slowly sat up, looked at Gar Dongzan, and spoke softly.

"I need people! I need a large number of slaves! Can your Tibet provide them?"

Gardonzan: "..."

Li Chengqian gently shook his head: "How many people does your entire Tibet have in total? Do you think Songtsen Gampo would send his people to me?"

The Tibetan envoys all looked desperate.

"Your Tubo are not so poor, you have all kinds of minerals, forests and pastures suitable for grazing, but unfortunately, I have none of these now. What I want are slaves!"

“I want them to dig canals, to graze livestock, and to farm.”

“But your Tibet is not as populous as other countries, and what you lack is exactly what I need most.”

Li Chengqian shook his head, just as the soldiers of the Six Guards of the Eastern Palace were about to send Gar Dongzan and the others away.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Gardonzan's eyes.

It was as if he had instantly grasped something crucial.

"Your Highness! Our Tubo does not have that many slaves, but... if you say a country, our Tubo is willing to help Your Highness capture slaves!"

Li Chengqian looked up, his eyes filled with a playful smile, and met the gaze of Galdonzan, who was now almost desperately trying to survive.

After a long while, a slight smile finally appeared on his lips.

He waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to withdraw first.

Li Chengqian smiled faintly.

“Gardon Tsen, you are a smart man. Taking over Tibet now would be a piece of cake for our Great Tang. But I am not an arrogant person. Our Great Tang does not have the energy to govern Tibet for a long time.”

As Li Chengqian spoke, Galdonzan and the others dared not show the slightest hint of disrespect or arrogance.

They nodded repeatedly, praising the benevolence of the Tang Dynasty in somewhat awkward Chinese.

Li Chengqian gave a few instructions to Sun Yi, who was standing to the side.

A short while later, the latter arrived with a scroll.

Li Chengqian handed the items to Galdonzan, who looked at him as if he had found a lifeline.

"I'm giving you a big deal. Since Tibet doesn't have any slaves, you can go to Borneo, Harsha, and Cherukya to capture people for me!"

Gardonzan removed the scroll from his hand, and what came into view was a geomantic map so similar that it almost made the hairs on Gardonzan's body stand on end.

It encompasses southern Tibet, Borneo, and the Harsha Kingdom.

The Tibetan Empire had an even more detailed grasp of the mountainous terrain, rivers, and lakes than the Tibetan Empire, which was closer to these places.

Gardonzan looked up in alarm.

They were suddenly confronted by Li Chengqian's eyes, which revealed no emotion whatsoever, as if he had never taken them seriously.

"I know that the situation in Tibet is not good right now. I will allocate a batch of weapons and military equipment to you, but... before the spring planting season next year, I want to see the first batch of slaves delivered!"