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

Colorful banners of a hundred beasts adorn the Dragon Palace, and golden lanterns of ten thousand tribes pay homage to the Khan.

The story of how Tibet, under the guise of the Tang Dynasty's crown prince, launched a despicable invasion of a neighboring country and nearly annexed it was recounted in the publication of the "New Tang Daily".

And recently, a large number of people of different ethnicities, obviously from the plateau, have suddenly appeared in Taiyuan Prefecture.

It was known to the people of Taiyuan Prefecture and even Bingzhou.

At Shougongdian, leaders, chieftains, and kings of various tribes on the plateau presented grand tributes, unanimously recognizing the current Crown Prince of the Great Tang as the True Khan of the Plateau, and declaring their submission to the Great Tang and payment of tribute.

According to the old system in the Central Plains, the territories of these vassal states could also be regarded as the territory of the Central Plains itself by the ministers who sang praises of them.

Meanwhile, the Tang Dynasty was preparing to preside over the "Tubo Trial" for two months.

Other major powers on the plateau also sent envoys to pay homage to the Tang Dynasty.

It seems that even the plateau forces that have only had some minor historical conflicts with Tibet are now eager to seize the opportunity to tear a piece of flesh from their opponents.

"Hehe, Tibetan Zanpu, guess who my Great Tang Crown Prince summoned today?"

"Your Eastern Women's Kingdom in the eastern part of the plateau has also sent an envoy. It is said that the envoy wept uncontrollably in the palace, saying that during your reign and that of your father, Nangri Zanpu, you launched attacks on many of their tribes and villages."

"They looted a lot of their valuables and killed quite a few people too."

"Tsk tsk tsk, how pitiful..."

Ashina Quli leaned against the prison door, slicing an apple with a gold-inlaid jade dagger.

Every now and then, I'd break off a piece, put it in my mouth, and chew it.

His gloating expression was completely undisguised.

Inside the prison cell, Songtsen Gampo knelt on a straw mat, his hands clenched tightly on his lap, turning slightly white from excessive force. Before him lay a thick copy of the "Highland Peace Treaty."

It's supposed to be a peace treaty, but every word in it conveys the same meaning.

"Divide and devour Tibet!"

Songtsen Gampo was so angry that his body trembled.

Outside the door, Ashina Quli continued talking to himself.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Supi, Yangtong, Dongnu, Xiangxiong, and those dozen or so Dangxiang tribes who also came to ask our Great Tang to uphold justice. Only that Xianbei prince Murong Xiaojun, who fled into the Gobi Desert, didn't have the guts. Otherwise, I guess they would have come to take a slice of this big piece of fat meat."

"And then there's the Nepal Kingdom, eh? Your Majesty, do you think the Harsha Dynasty might send someone over soon too?"

"Sigh... if we calculate it this way, doesn't that mean Tibet is completely finished? How pitiful..."

Songtsen Gampo: "........"

His bloodshot eyes trembled.

He couldn't help but ask through gritted teeth.

"Mohedu Khan, my Tibet is doomed, but now your Western Turks are already finished, aren't they?"

Ashina Quli paused slightly in the motion of slicing an apple.

Turning around, he saw Songtsen Gampo's face filled with resentment, and he remained silent for a long time.

He suddenly nodded slightly.

"Yes, the Western Turks are finished."

His calm voice and relaxed smile left Songtsen Gampo feeling completely bewildered.

"Your country is finished, and you still have the nerve to laugh, to still be proud of the dukedom bestowed upon you by the Tang Dynasty... You are simply unworthy to be their Khan!"

Ashina Quli looked at the Tibetan king, who was about the same age as the current crown prince.

He suddenly chuckled softly.

“What you said sounds familiar. Indeed, someone once said that our prince is not worthy to be their Khan.”

Songtsen Gampo sneered: "No one likes a coward to be their leader; that's just how the world is!"

Ashina Quli nodded, offering no denial.

"Yes, the new king they follow is indeed braver and stronger than me!" He turned around, his face, which had been smiling, gradually returned to its previous indifferent expression.

"Then, those who betrayed me because of my cowardice and turned to the powerful new king in their hearts have now had their bones trampled into the soil by the iron cavalry of the Great Tang. Their brave brute force can only be used to swing hoes in the mines of the Great Tang, while their beloved women and children toil day and night in the cotton fields of the Western Continent of the Great Tang."

"Their parents, who were already old and should have been enjoying their final years, were abandoned by them during their escape and perished in the wilderness..."

"And their new king is now bravely charging in the opposite direction of the enemy!"

Ashina Quli sneered, casually tossing the apple core he had just finished eating into the opposite cell, which caused several Jinyiwei prisoners inside to rush up and frantically devour it.

“You call me Mohedu Khan, but when my chief entrusted this position to me, he said that I should lead my people and my subjects to live well and have a good life.”

"Let everyone survive!"

“That fool Siyehu is always thinking about expansion. He attacks westward, fighting the Sassanid Persians; he attacks eastward, fighting us for pastures; he attacks southward, and he also extorts things from Gaochang, Yanqi, and Kucha from time to time.”

"But he was wrong. Those ignorant herders longed for pastures and a life free from want, but as their Khan, I couldn't focus on the pastures and the livestock, because..."

He looked at the young Tibetan king who was imprisoned at that moment.

She let out a soft sigh.

“Those people are the Khan’s pastures… I have lost my throne, but my pastures are still there. I have not broken my promise to my leader, and I, this cowardly Khan, have not betrayed the trust my people have placed in me.”

"Their lives are now a hundred or a thousand times better than they used to be!"

He looked at Songtsen Gampo, who seemed lost in thought, as if he had lost the mood to mock him today.

He glanced indifferently at the documents on the other person's desk, uttered a single sentence, and turned to leave.

“If you sign it voluntarily, you can still be the Zanpu of Tibet. You will still have a place at the table on the plateau. It’s just that the chair is not very comfortable and your butt will suffer a bit.”

"But if we don't sign... then the Tang Dynasty will have no choice but to treat your Tibet as a dish to be shared and eaten by everyone."

"Think about it, when faced with an invincible enemy, do you discard your last remaining chips to be a brave king one last time, or do you cling to your last chip and be a cowardly king!"

.......

"He signed it?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow as he looked at the document respectfully handed over by Ashina Quli.

Ashina Quli chuckled.

"He's just a fool who hasn't been woken up yet. Once he's sober, he'll naturally understand Your Highness's good intentions."

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes speechlessly.

"Come on, in the eyes of the Tibetans now, I am probably a complete hypocrite and bandit. What do you mean by understanding my good intentions... Duke Du, you are a big and burly man. How about I reward you with a Confucian robe?"

Seeing him scratching his head awkwardly, Li Chengqian took a deep breath and opened the document in his hand.

The Plateau Peace Treaty.

Article 1.

The Tibetan Empire unconditionally relinquished all cities and territories occupied from Zhangzhung, withdrew all its troops, and declared defeat.

Article .

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Article .

Tibet ceded 30 li of land adjacent to the Xiangxiong Kingdom to Xiangxiong, and 20 li of land adjacent to the Nepal Kingdom to Nepal. At the same time, it opened the Hari-ri trade route to the Yangtong, Supi, Dongnu, and Dangxiang tribes.

A conflict that began in the spring continued until June on the Tang Dynasty, when another crop of grain had been harvested.

It was only after extensive consultations that the matter was finally brought to a close.

"Article 4!"

"From this point on, the Tibetan Empire's standing army shall not exceed 5, and it shall continue to pay 15 strings of cash in reparations to the Xiangxiong Kingdom, which was invaded, every year until thirty years later."

In the Shougong Hall, officials stood in rows, and envoys from various tribes of the plateau knelt in solemn respect.

As the initiator and loser of this Zhangzhung Incident, Songtsen Gampo, who had become even thinner than two months ago, knelt below the stage with his sister Samaga.

Listen to Wang De read aloud to everyone the text that had undergone several revisions and much debate.

The Plateau Peace Treaty has finally been finalized.

It was called a peace treaty, but in reality it was a unilateral, punitive treaty that imposed a series of shackles on Tibet.

"The fifth!"

"Tibet purchased 20 million hectares of the former Tuyuhun territory west of Qinghai City from the Tang Dynasty at a price of 310 strings of cash per hectare. The first payment was worth at least 1.3 million strings of gold and silver, and in the future, at least 2 million strings of cash would be paid annually for the land purchase."

"Before the final payment for the land acquisition was made, Tibet possessed the right to use and develop the land, but not the right to claim ownership..."

Below the stage, Songtsen Gampo listened blankly to these extremely humiliating treaties.

Beneath those wide sleeves, her hands were clenched tightly.

The fingernails dug into the flesh of the palm due to excessive force...

Unlike the Tibetan king and his ministers, who were filled with grief and despair, the surrounding highland powers, such as Yangtong, Supi, Nipo Kingdom, and Dongnu Kingdom, had come to join in the fun.

But he looked overjoyed.

If the occasion didn't preclude it, and if at least the feelings of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty should be considered.

They're probably already celebrating with singing and dancing right now.

That evening, a group of consumers from the plateau region visited the Heaven on Earth in Taiyuan.

And that very night.

The Tibetan princess Samaga knelt outside Li Chengqian's bedroom all night.

Samaga was so weak and her body ached terribly that she almost fainted several times, but she managed to pull through.

A light footstep approached, and a hint of anticipation appeared on her tired but pretty face.

When she looked up, the person she saw was not the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty whom she had been longing for.

Qian Yingying looked at her calmly.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has decreed that you may use 30% of the profits from the spice trade to purchase armor and weapons from my Great Tang Dynasty... This will be your last chance to demonstrate your loyalty!"

When Songtsen Gampo was released, he saw his younger sister being carried back.

Excited, he rushed forward.

Samaga conveyed the message.

Songtsen Gampo's hands clenched involuntarily.

"Damn the Kingdom of Niva, and those scoundrels who take advantage of our misfortune... Since they insist on being an obstacle to Tibet, and insist on making Tibet fight them like wild beasts in the arena... Fine!"

"Fifty thousand troops! I, the Zanpu, will show you what my fifty thousand warriors from Tibet can bring you!"

P.S.: Hi everyone, I'm taking a day off tomorrow~ I posted a bit more today. Have a great weekend!