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

Songtsen Gampo had just suffered a major setback at the hands of the Indian Buddhist community.

When they returned to their own territory in disarray with the remaining Tibetan cavalry.

Looking at the monks who had actually appeared in his stronghold of Lhasa, he almost doubted his own eyes at first.

Is it because they just got tricked by those bald monks?

To the point that he is now even experiencing hallucinations.

however.

The moment when his ministers, who had stayed behind in Lhasa, brought these kind-faced monks before him.

The blood vessels in Songtsen Gampo's eyes suddenly became bloodshot.

"How dare you! You actually dare to come to my Tibet!"

Almost without Songtsen Gampo giving any explicit orders, the Tibetan cavalrymen who had followed him through near-death experiences and escaped back had already returned after he waved his hand.

Like wolves and tigers, with a fierce and ferocious expression, it pounced on the Tang Dynasty monks who were clasping their hands together and chanting Buddhist mantras.

The latter had absolutely no chance to resist.

In an instant, he was pinned to the ground by these Tibetan elites.

"What are you doing?! Songtsen Gampo, are you declaring war on my Great Tang Dynasty?!"

The leading Buddhist monk from the Tang Dynasty was greatly alarmed and shouted angrily.

The Mandarin spoken by Songtsen Gampo startled Songtsen Gampo, who was initially still angry.

To everyone's surprise, the Tibetan ministers reacted so strongly to their king's arrival, and they hurriedly stepped forward to explain.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you can't do this to them! They are all monks recognized and permitted by the Tang Dynasty royal family to preach abroad. If you arrest them, the Tang Dynasty will send troops!"

The Tibetan ministers around him also turned pale.

Currently, he is among the high-ranking officials of Tibet.

Most of these officials, who were responsible for daily governance and handling state affairs, had served as members of missions sent to the Tang Dynasty.

They had a clearer understanding of the power of the Tang Dynasty.

It is precisely for this reason that the Tibetan leadership is now striving to learn from and emulate the Tang Dynasty in all aspects of its systems and laws.

And that is exactly why.

When these eminent Buddhist monks from the Tang Dynasty revealed their identities and subtly hinted that, in addition to their daily missionary work, they could also impart knowledge of Tang law and other aspects of Tang Dynasty institutions and culture to them.

Before Songtsen Gampo, the Tibetan king, could return.

These ministers had already treated these eminent Tang Dynasty monks as honored guests.

They treated him as a distinguished guest of Tibet.

"Amitabha! It seems that Tibet's obsequiousness is only superficial. The Zanpu's goodwill towards our Tang Dynasty's Crown Prince is nothing but a charade. What friendship between the two countries, what benefit to the people of the plateau?"

"You just want to extract benefits from my Great Tang! You truly harbor evil intentions towards my Great Tang!"

A series of large hats.

The Tibetan officials present, who could understand Tang language, were immediately taken aback and their expressions changed drastically.

Even Songtsen Gampo, who had finally realized what was happening, had his expression change repeatedly.

"This... Esteemed monks, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding!"

He explained in broken Tang language.

Seeing his men still pinning the monks to the ground, he hurriedly scolded and kicked them.

"What are you doing?! Who gave you the right to be so disrespectful to our distinguished guests from Tibet?! Each of you, go and receive ten lashes!"

With great difficulty, they managed to help the monks up.

After much persuasion, Songtsen Gampo finally saw the displeasure on the monks' faces lessen slightly.

The next moment.

The abbot at the head of the group, whose Buddhist name was Jiye, clasped his hands together in prayer.

"This humble monk has troubled you greatly. It seems that Tibet has no affinity with Buddhism. Thank you for the meals provided by the Tibetan benefactors these past few days. This humble monk will now take his leave..."

As he spoke, he did so without the slightest hesitation.

Even the monks around them seemed to have done the same thing without prior arrangement.

After performing a Buddhist salute to Songtsen Gampo and other high-ranking Tibetan officials,

Without hesitation, he followed Abbot Jiye.

He looked like he was about to take his leave.

This immediately shocked the Tibetan officials who were still trying their best to keep them.

"Abbot Jiye, please wait! Esteemed monks, please wait!"

An official rushed forward to stop him.

“Abbot Jiye, the people of Tibet are ignorant and need the Buddha’s teachings to enlighten them and awaken their wisdom. How can you leave like this?”

“Our king had no intention of disrespecting the Buddha. If he has offended you in any way... Thonmi Sambhota is willing to apologize to you!”

"We earnestly request that you stay in Tibet and spread the religion there!"

He saw this minister, who was almost as important as Galdontsen, as his right-hand man.

They actually performed a grand ceremony in public, determined to keep these Tang Dynasty monks here.

Songtsen Gampo immediately noticed the tense looks in the eyes of his ministers around him.

Despite the occasional sharp pain from the arrow wound in his shoulder, Gardonzan gasped for breath.

But at this moment, he hurriedly winked at his own king.

See this.

Songtsen Gampo then stood up and humbly stepped forward to pay his respects to Abbot Jiye and the others.

"I was rude just now, please don't misunderstand, holy monks... I would never dare to be disrespectful to the Tang Dynasty or His Highness the Crown Prince. If you holy monks could give me the honor of staying in Tibet to spread the teachings, I would be grateful."

"Young Wang is willing to have a golden Buddha statue cast for the Buddhist temple, to be worshipped for generations!"

Whether you'll give me face or not is another matter.

But His Highness the Crown Prince's mission cannot be delayed!

Upon hearing that Songtsen Gampo was now "so rich he was practically panicking," he indeed mentioned casting golden Buddha statues, just as the prince had said.

After pretending to hesitate for a moment, Abbot Jiye and the others finally nodded in agreement.

however.

While the Tibetan high command was busy serving the Buddha, they were also inquiring about the situation in the Harsha Dynasty.

It has only been about a month since Songtsen Gampo's last major defeat.

Yangtong, a plateau "state" located in western Tibet, suddenly announced in a high-profile manner that it had formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Niva to jointly participate in the operation of capturing Harsha slaves for the Tang Dynasty.

after that.

It's unclear where it started, but a strange trend of "getting rich by capturing slaves" suddenly swept across the plateau.

Those Tibetan tribes that Songtsen Gampo had not yet had time to annex, as well as the former Supi nobles and other forces, also formed slave-hunting teams one after another.

Taiyuan Prefecture, Tang Dynasty.

In the Yōsei-gū Garden, or rather, the botanical garden.

Li Chengqian strolled leisurely, admiring the rare plants from all over the country, even from the Western Regions and the Southeastern Peninsula, that now filled his botanical garden.

Many plants are not yet adapted to the environment here and are not growing very well.

But in today's world, the entire Yangcheng Palace Botanical Garden is now a riot of color and full of vibrant life.

"Ha ha ha ha"

"In that case, I want to see how Songtsen Gampo can still have the mind to think about severing ties with my Great Tang and going it alone!"

Li Chengqian held in his hand a jasmine flower that had just bloomed and was a tribute from Linyi.

Unlike the jasmine varieties found in southern China during the Tang Dynasty, the jasmine from Linyi has a much stronger fragrance.

Standing beside Li Chengqian, Wang Yuyan, with her graceful figure, was reading today's report to him, her beautiful eyes shining with admiration.

"His Highness, through the combined efforts of Buddhism and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, using both overt and covert methods, swiftly and decisively crushed Tibet's ambition to unify the plateau. This not only weakened Tibet but also increased the dependence of the plateau and other countries like Nepal on the Tang Dynasty."

"In this way, it is easy to achieve the goal of subduing the enemy without fighting."

Li Chengqian shook his head and chuckled upon hearing the praise.

"It's not that strange, it's just that they have a small appetite and can't eat much..."

He let out a soft sigh.

Looking at the trees in the botanical garden, which are already close to the glass dome.

"It takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate a person... I don't know if I will live to see the people of my Great Tang, and the flags of my Great Tang, with their stars and the sun and moon, planted all over the world."

Li Chengqian shook his head, thinking that it was about time for him to go out for a stroll and that he should go back to his office.

Suddenly, Wang De rushed in from outside as if he had won the lottery, stumbling and scrambling, completely lacking his usual composure.

"Your Highness! Prince Jiang! Prince Jiang has been born!"

"That lump of iron can be used now!"

Li Chengqian was taken aback at first, but then his previous gloomy mood vanished instantly.

Like a tiger descending a mountain, he suddenly transformed into a blur beside Wang Yuyan and grabbed her.

"The railway is finished?"

Wang De, panting, nodded excitedly.

"His Highness Prince Jiang has returned from his inspection tour. The railway from Taiyuan to Chang'an has been completed and accepted by the Ministry of Works and the Taiyuan Railway Department! That lump of iron..."

"What iron lump! That's my gold lump!" Li Chengqian shouted excitedly.

He left behind the vibrant botanical garden and Wang Yuyan, who seemed ready to be picked at will.

He immediately went mad and didn't even have time to gather the people who had left the palace.

Suddenly, riding his white-hoofed crow, he rushed out of Yangcheng Palace.

Taiyuan Railway Station!

After Chiang Kai-shek and his men returned from their inspection of the railway line and confirmed that there were no problems with the railway construction and that all sections were safe, they returned with their men.

The area was already crowded with powerful and influential people from Taiyuan Prefecture who had heard the commotion.

Owners of some large chambers of commerce, as well as local residents from the east side of the city, also joined in the fun.

Wang Qingyun, the Sima of Bingzhou, nervously inspected the long iron lump again and again.

He was still a little worried.

"Your Highness, this thing really can tow so many wagon carriages at once..."

“That’s called a carriage!” Li Yun interrupted him impatiently.

In the field of steam engines and machinery, he was as dazzling as Crown Prince Li Chengqian during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han.

Previously, when harvesting wheat, a windmill was made using a modified steam engine.

But this allowed His Highness Prince Jiang to make a grand appearance in the newspaper.

"Lord Wang, I have personally tested it, and there are guards from various counties and prefectures along the railway patrolling each section. I guarantee there will be no problems!"

"We'll set off this morning and arrive in Chang'an by evening, before even dusk!"

Wang Qingyun was still somewhat uneasy.

however.

Amidst the clamor of shouts, "His Highness the Crown Prince is here!"

Everyone rushed out to greet them.

Looking at his own seventh brother, who was originally dull and unassuming.

Li Chengqian's eyes were filled with anticipation and excitement.

"Done?"

"It's done!" Li Yun nodded emphatically.