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

That made the Embroidered Uniform Guard contact him so quickly.

That just means the urgency of the situation has exceeded what is literally meant.

The Imperial Guard whispered in Li Chengqian's ear.

“Your Highness, Nalingdeva said that King Li Mixia of Zhangzhung had made a mistake, saying that he would only form an alliance with Tibet if Tibet would marry Princess Samaga to Zhangzhung. However, this gave Songtsen Gampo a reason to take action... He used the pretext that Zhangzhung had insulted the Tang Dynasty and you to launch a military campaign against Zhangzhung.”

"Judging by the time, with the current strength of the Tibetan army, Xiangxiong is probably about to be captured."

Li Chengqian narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold glint flashing in them.

"Hmph! You've gotten smarter, knowing to act under my name, but... my name isn't something anyone can just use... Back to the palace!"

Li Chengqian stood up, and Ashina Quli, who was standing next to him, quickly took out a Tang silver coin from his purse.

It was placed on the table.

With a fawning smile, he followed behind Li Chengqian like a lapdog.

Outside the carriage returning to Yangcheng Palace, Ashina Quli's voice rang out again.

"Your Highness, grant this old minister an army, and I will be able to destroy Tibet within six months!"

"This old minister is willing to sign a military pledge!"

Li Chengqian: "......"

When Li Chengqian returned to Yangcheng Palace and arrived at Shougong Hall.

As soon as they entered, they saw the dusty, even somewhat disheveled prince of the Niva Kingdom, Nalingdeva.

Upon seeing Li Chengqian, the latter's eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Tibetans have launched an attack on Xiangxiong. My father has tried to persuade them to listen to your opinion, but they insist on launching a direct attack..."

Having already learned of the matter, Li Chengqian remained calm upon hearing it again.

Hearing Nalingdeva's Tang language improve so much, he couldn't help but chuckle twice.

“Prince, don’t be in a hurry. Speak slowly. My name is not something anyone can borrow. Songtsen Gampo just wants to take this opportunity to annex Xiangxiong. I have plenty of ways to make him spit out whatever he has swallowed.”

Hear the words.

Nalingdeva breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He broke away from the group and rushed to Taiyuan Prefecture ahead of time, escorted by a guard.

The procession escorting the slaves has only just entered the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty.

After all, the neighboring country of Xiangxiong was their Niva Kingdom.

If Tibet were to destroy Xiangxiong.

Not only is their country in greater danger, but their future situation of being strangled by Tibet in the slave trade will be even more serious and dangerous.

The Mud Kingdom had no choice but to act hastily.

He recounted in detail the events of that day when Gardonzan met with his father, King Udaya Dewa, and explained that Tibet had already launched a military campaign against the Xiangxiong Kingdom when he set out.

Li Chengqian nodded slightly.

Inside the Shougong Hall.

The high-ranking officials of Taiyuan Prefecture, summoned by Li Chengqian, could not help but shrink back.

"Your Highness, Songtsen Gampo's actions are tantamount to putting you in a position of being unrighteous and immoral. If you do not restrain him, I'm afraid Songtsen Gampo will reap all the benefits, while Your Highness will have to bear the infamy!"

Zheng Wuling of the Zheng family in Xingyang frowned and spoke.

"Your Highness, what I mean is, send troops! The reason why Tibet can act so aggressively is ultimately because it has some strength. If we chop up Songtsen Gampo and feed him to the wolves, and then kill most of his 30,000 to 40,000 elite troops, I don't believe that Tibet can still act so aggressively!"

"At worst, we can just support a new king after things are done~ Don't you think that makes sense? Hahahaha"

These are the words of Hou Junji, who happened to be back today to report on his work.

The crowd in the Shougong Hall burst into laughter.

For the Niva Kingdom and the Xiangxiong Kingdom, this was a matter of utmost urgency.

But before the mighty Tang Dynasty, the Eastern dragon, neither the Tibetan Empire, which was taking the opportunity to expand, nor the Nepalese Kingdom, whose war was about to reach their doorstep, were anything but insignificant ant-like countries.

Li Chengqian listened and sighed helplessly in his heart.

Military merit, oh military merit!

Now, everyone in the Tang Dynasty, from top to bottom, wants military merit!

The fact that Hou Junji could say such things suggests that the soldiers at Yanmen Pass were also desperately craving war.

"Knock knock knock!" Li Chengqian tapped the table, interrupting everyone's laughter.

His expression was serious and his tone left no room for doubt.

"Sending troops is impossible! Right now, the primary task of our Great Tang is to develop our domestic affairs. Many of the soldiers still on the front lines have children who are only one year old."

"I promised them that I would let them live to see their children be able to study and read, enter the court as officials, and even be promoted and ennobled, just like the scions of noble families in the past, and enjoy the glory of my Great Tang!"

"Things haven't reached the point where war is absolutely necessary!"

Li Chengqian set the tone.

Immediately, even military generals like Hou Junji present couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

No longer speak.

"Teacher Li, Teacher Yu, what are your thoughts?"

Upon hearing this, Li Gang and Yu Shinan pondered for a moment.

"If we cannot send troops but still want to suppress the situation in Tibet, then I have only one way... to use one wolf to devour another!"

Li Gang stroked his beard and spoke.

"Your Highness, first issue an edict ordering Tibet to immediately withdraw from Xiangxiong, and summon all the tribes of the plateau, including Supi, Yangtong, Nipo Kingdom, and other tribes that do not submit to Tibet, so that they all know that our Great Tang does not support Tibet."

Yu Shinan nodded slightly: "Not only should we show our opposition to Tibet, but we can also provide weapons and equipment to the Nepalese Kingdom and other highland powers!"

Li Chengqian nodded slightly, which was not hard to understand.

however.

Just then, Li Zhi, the Ninth Prince of Jin, who was sitting next to Li Chengqian and had been forced by him to learn how to handle government affairs for several months, weakly raised his hand.

He saw his elder brother looking over.

“Well, Your Majesty… do you think we could simply tell Yang Tong and those forces in Supi that our Great Tang will sever the slave trade with Tibet from now on, but Tibet’s previous share… can be given to them.”

Everyone was taken aback, and then their gazes toward Li Zhi became strange.

Li Zhi pursed his lips: "As far as I know, neither Supi nor Yangtong possesses the geographical advantages to directly capture slaves from Harsha. If they want to divide up these shares, they will inevitably need to seize some of the Tibetan lands along the trade routes..."

Li Chengqian: "......"

He smiled slightly, looking at the surprised expressions on the faces of his ministers around him.

A feeling of pride welled up inside me.

"Excellent! Your Highness, Prince Jin's plan is brilliant!" Wang Ming, the governor of Bingzhou, clapped and cheered.

"If you don't have enough flesh and blood to provoke the wolves, these wolves might not be a match for the tiger in a fight!"

"Nowadays, which tribe or power on the plateau doesn't covet the profits from trade with my Great Tang?"

"That mere Niva Kingdom, a small country that was previously inferior even to Zhangzhung, has now, in just over half a year, been able to directly confront Tibet and the Harsha Dynasty."

Everyone cheered.

however.

Just when everyone thought that His Highness Prince Jin was done speaking,

Li Zhi weakly raised his hand again.

“Brother, um... I have another idea.”

He sat to Li Chengqian's left, near Li Gang, and opposite him was Wang Ming, the governor of Bingzhou.

It's rare for someone like him to attend such a large conference, and not just listen in, but to directly participate in the discussions.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded: "Go ahead, don't be afraid if you're wrong."

Li Zhi nodded, then turned his eyes to Ashina Quli, the Duke of Du, who had been sitting to the side with a look of distress and helplessness since Li Chengqian said he would not send troops.

“Brother, Songtsen Gampo is still somewhat useful. He clearly hasn’t given up on unifying the plateau. In that case, why don’t we just go with the flow?”

No one understood what he meant.

Li Zhi coughed twice and, imitating his elder brother, tapped the table.

"Isn't he after land? Isn't he after expansion?"

"The land that Tuyuhun has left is so big and so vast, and it happens to border the northeast of Tubo. It is of no use to us and will only be a burden."

"Why don't we just set a price and sell it to Tibet?"

Selling out our country?!

Everyone's eyes sharpened. As subjects of the Tang Dynasty, they instinctively wanted to oppose this idea.

next second.

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

What the hell!

Don’t say that!

Don’t say that!

Ashina Quli's eyes lit up instantly, and he stood up abruptly.

"Your Highness, Your Highness Prince Jin, this plan is brilliant!"

"That godforsaken place is only big; there's no profit in it. We might as well sell that vast Gobi Desert to Tibet, and those Tuyuhun bandits who have fled there can be handed over to Tibet to deal with."

"We've gotten a free deal, killing two birds with one stone!"

Li Chengqian looked at his younger brother in surprise; the ninth brother had really impressed him today.

so.

Is he truly worthy of being an emperor in history?

He nodded slightly, but then raised another question.

“That area is separated from Tibet by the Qilian Mountains. What way could Songtsen Gampo possibly spend money to buy back a large piece of Gobi Desert? He’s not a fool.”

The crowd's gaze slowly turned to Prince Li Zhi of Jin.

Ashina Quli also waited hopefully for a way to break the deadlock.

Who would have thought that after waiting for a while, Li Zhi didn't speak, but instead stared straight at Ashina Quli with a half-smile.

At this moment, everyone's gaze slowly fell on Ashina Quli.

It made him feel uncomfortable all over.

"Your Highness, why are you looking at me like that?"

Li Zhi shrugged.

"It's not me who's going to take up a post in the Gobi Desert, so why should I bother thinking of ways to sell land?"

He shook his head repeatedly, but a cunning smile appeared on his face, exactly the same as Li Chengqian's at that moment.

"Hahaha... What His Highness Prince Jin said is absolutely right." Li Gang stroked his beard and laughed.

"You'll have to come up with this plan yourself, Duke Du."

Ashina Quli was completely numb.

Standing there blankly, looking at my colleagues around me who were trying not to laugh, I felt like a clown.

"No? Huh?"

"Me? How could I possibly lie..."

"Ahem!" Yu Shinan coughed beside Li Chengqian.

"Duke Du, watch your words. How can this land sale be considered a fraud?"

Ashina Quli: "..."

His pleading gaze turned to Li Chengqian, who was sitting at the head of the table, only to see the latter also suppressing a laugh, coughing lightly, and suddenly standing up to announce the adjournment of the meeting.

They headed towards the back of Shougong Hall.

Duke Hou Junji of Lu covered his mouth and chuckled softly. As he passed by him, he patted him on the shoulder.

"Ahem, Brother Ashina, I've always thought you were very capable, otherwise you wouldn't have had this opportunity today... What if Songtsen Gampo really is a fool?"

"If we can sell that vast Gobi Desert for a good price, that would be another great achievement!"

"Go for it, Ashina! I'm rooting for you!"

"Ha ha ha ha....."

Hearing Hou Junji's loud laughter behind him, Ashina Quli had no time to pay attention to this bastard.

He hurriedly strode towards the back of the Shougong Hall to chase after it.

"Your Highness! No, this cannot be!"

"Your Highness, I am an honest and upright person, truly incapable of such unscrupulous business dealings!"