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

"Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty is going too far! They have completely taken us for granted, that's why they dare to humiliate us like this!"

"Zanpu, if all else fails, we can just cancel this business!"

"That's right, Your Majesty, let's go back. The Nepalese want to engage in the slave trade, let them try it and see if they can succeed without the support of Tibet!"

On the border between the Longyou Circuit of the Tang Dynasty and the Tibetan Empire.

Songtsen Gampo looked at the Tibetan envoys who had come to deliver the message with a gloomy expression.

Around him, his subordinates were even more shocked to hear that the Tang Dynasty had shamelessly withheld 10,000 of their slaves and was further harassing them on top of their already significantly reduced weapons and equipment.

They were so angry that they started cursing.

Among them were some who found a sense of superiority in the Harsha Dynasty, becoming so arrogant that they didn't even respect the Tang Dynasty and directly clamored to fight the Tang Dynasty.

Songtsen Gampo dismissed it as the nonsense of these brainless idiots.

"Didn't that guy named Kong Yingda explain why he was holding our goods back?"

The messenger replied bitterly.

"Zanpu, it started because the Grand Minister inadvertently offended the other party over the matter of those book gifts, but even after the Grand Minister personally went to apologize, the other party still refused to let it go."

"Not only were the goods loaded for the Mud Kingdom's caravan in advance, but also... "

"What else?!" Songtsen Gampo's eyes widened.

The man lowered his head, his voice softening slightly: "They're always finding ways to ask us for money... tea fees, overtime pay, and even signing fees..."

"boom!"

Enraged, Songtsen Gampo punched a nearby carriage.

"That Kong Yingda, isn't he supposed to be a descendant of that sage from the Central Plains? Aren't they supposed to be preaching benevolence and morality? How could he... how could he be so shameless?!"

"Didn't you complain to the Crown Prince of Tang?!"

The envoy lowered his head again, his voice filled with even more grievance.

Even her voice seemed to carry a hint of a sob.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty... he had already left Taiyuan Prefecture and gone elsewhere. Even if the Grand Minister wanted to complain, there was nothing he could do... Your Majesty, these Tang people are bullying us too much!"

Songtsen Gampo was almost so angry that he vomited blood on the spot.

Li Chengqian, the Crown Prince who was rumored to be almost always stationed in Taiyuan, went to another place at this particular time, which is why he didn't leave earlier or later.

How could he not understand?

Li Chengqian probably didn't care whether they had offended the Tang Dynasty in the matter of that gift.

Having acquired 10,000 slaves from Tibet for free, the Tang Dynasty had already made a profit.

It's simply that Kong Yingda still wouldn't let them go, and the Crown Prince of Tang was happy to see it happen...

Thinking of this, Songtsen Gampo looked at the 15,000 Harsha slaves he had brought with him and was momentarily at a loss as to whether he should continue the transaction.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became heavy.

Songtsen Gampo paced back and forth in the same spot.

His pride made him wish he could just flip the table and quit, just like his subordinates had suggested.

But... how can they possibly withstand the wrath of the Tang Dynasty now?

He has his pride.

But they lacked the means to display pride before the Tang Dynasty.

finally......

"Go! Go back and tell Gardontsen that if the gifts are effective, he should keep that old codger Kong Yingda in check for now, just by paying some gold and silver... The 15,000 slaves that I brought this time must be fully exchanged for the weapons and equipment they deserve!"

Taiyuan Prefecture.

As dusk fell, Kong Yingda brazenly strolled out of the Foreign Affairs Office, carrying a package that clearly contained some valuables.

He remained calm, boarded the carriage, and headed home.

"Minister! That old bastard is so greedy! He's already taken our gifts three times for nothing, and he still hasn't done anything! Minister, if all else fails, should we just go back like this?"

Gardonzan's eyes widened.

"Go back? Have you chosen your burial place? We're still in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty has only swallowed 10,000 of our slaves. If we go back in such a sorry state, then 35,000 slaves will have been given to the Tang Dynasty for nothing!"

"This kind of loss is so great that even if we slaughtered all of us, even including our entire clan, ten times over, it still wouldn't be enough to repay it!"

Immediately, the subordinates fell silent, looking dejected.

This was yet another case of throwing good money after bad, which only intensified Galdonzan's anxiety.

Today, he has already heard some news from the Foreign Affairs Department.

Prince Narendra of the Kingdom of Niva was about to set off to return to Niva.

The weapons and armor given to them by the Tang Dynasty would also travel with the group, and... it is said that the Tang Dynasty would send a force to escort them.

This made Gardonzan even more anxious.

The next morning, while looking at the daily newspaper "Da Tang Xin Bao" delivered by the Foreign Affairs Department, he was absent-minded. Suddenly, as if he had seen something, his expression changed drastically.

The Tang Dynasty Daily reported: "Gathering thousands of renowned physicians from the Tang Dynasty, and with the Royal Medical Academy taking the lead, and drawing upon hundreds of thousands of treatment cases from Guanzhong, Hebei, Henan, Longyou, and Bingzhou, the first pharmacopoeia of China, the Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia, has been officially completed."

"Hiss!!!" Gardonzan gasped sharply.

His eyes lit up instantly, and he began to read the article in the newspaper in his hand with great interest.

Among them, the description of the "Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia" has reached an unsurpassable level.

"China's first pharmacopoeia..." Gardonzan murmured excitedly.

It is a pharmacopoeia that can be given such a title and named after the reign title of Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty.

It's almost obvious how much value it contains.

Unconsciously, a bold idea emerged in Gardonzan's mind.

Taiyuan Prefecture, Northern Garrison Office.

Upon hearing the report from his subordinates, Qian Lou nodded slightly. He was usually stern and didn't seem to have much of an emotional reaction to the matter. Instead, he stood aside.

A loud laugh suddenly burst from Kong Yingda's mouth.

"Hahaha! They took the bait so easily. I overestimated them. I had prepared several methods, but I didn't expect to lure these Tibetan barbarians out so easily!"

Qianlou was speechless: "Lord Kong, you've even used the Zhenguan era name and published a special report about it in the Tang Dynasty Daily. No one would expect you to be up to something like this, would they?"

Kong Yingda waved his hand.

What he cared more about was: "Commander Qian, when do you think those Tibetans will start their operation at the earliest?"

Qianlou pondered for a moment, then raised an eyebrow with a strange expression.

"What, do we have to wait until you, Lord Kong, deliver that batch of weapons to them? Otherwise, even if they get the pharmacopoeia, they can't just leave directly."

Immediately, Kong Yingda couldn't help but smack his lips in regret.

"Ah, that's true. I was greedy. These Tibetans are really rich!"

Qianlou was speechless.

I doubt there will ever be another person like him in the Northern Garrison Command who openly embezzles money and leaves unscathed.

Things turned out exactly as Kong Yingda and Qian Lou had predicted.

This occurred after Kong Yingda received a golden vase from the Harsha Dynasty from a messenger sent by Gar Tongtsen, the Grand Minister of Tibet, for the ninth time.

Even when Galdonzan thought that Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty was clearly going to swallow up their remaining 20,000 slaves, a document was finally issued to him from the Foreign Affairs Department.

"Great Minister! The Tang people are finally willing to deliver the goods! The Tang people are finally willing to deliver the goods!"

A few days ago, Songtsen Gampo's urging made the members of the Tibetan delegation, who were practically on a paid vacation, feel a sense of panic that they wouldn't live more than a few days.

Now, looking at this hard-won approval document, these Tibetan men all had tears in their eyes.

Gardonzan also confirmed it repeatedly.

After confirming that there were no problems with the approval documents, he immediately led his men to the armory where the goods were to be delivered.

At the same time, he hurriedly gave orders to his subordinates on the other side.

"We don't have much time left. We must make contact with that Tang man as soon as possible and get our hands on the 'Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia'!"

.......

Su Jing was very nervous, after all, it was the first time he had done something like this.

But under the lure of "the expectations of his superiors," "the approval of the crown prince," and "a bright future," he finally gritted his teeth and agreed to come and meet with the Tibetans, becoming a "traitor to the Tang Dynasty."

“I can give you the things, but I can only give you the draft I have organized. Given my current status, I can no longer access the bound volumes.”

The tremor in Su Jing's voice when he spoke lessened the suspicion in the faceless Tibetan man's mind.

He nodded: "Okay! Name your price!"

Su Jing answered without hesitation: "Ten thousand taels of gold!"

"Cough cough cough!" A violent cough came from under the Tibetan man's mask. He stared wide-eyed at Su Jing with disbelief.

"Are you still half asleep?! Ten thousand taels of gold?! Do you even know how much ten thousand taels of gold is if it's right in front of you?!"

Su Jing, however, was resolute.

“I know better than you how much 10,000 taels is. Don’t tell me you don’t have it. The news that you made a fortune in the Harsha Dynasty has already spread all over our area. If I were to show you the Zhenguan Pharmacopoeia, I would no longer be able to stay in the Tang Dynasty.”

"I want ten thousand taels of gold. If you have it, we can trade tomorrow. If not, I'll pretend you never contacted me!"

Without hesitation, Su Jing turned and left.

"Wait! Ten thousand taels is too much. I need to go back and report to our superiors."

Su Jing did not respond. He was so nervous that his palms were sweating. He was afraid that the other party would see through him. With the thought that he would make a mistake if he said too much, he disappeared into the night without looking back.