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

"It seems that simply making you a ruler who maintains the status quo won't be enough for you in the future..."

After a morning of heated discussions with his officials in the Taiji Hall, Li Chengqian finally made adjustments and targeted measures based on the appeasement policy in Gao Yangxin's letter, which barely managed to restrain these martial and virtuous officials.

Just as he returned to the Crown Princess's palace, he saw the eldest son, Li Yutong, standing outside the palace looking like a mud monkey, hugging a husky puppy with a disgusted expression, prompting the palace maids behind him to call out anxiously.

Sitting in a pavilion, I couldn't help but shake my head and sigh.

Crown Princess Qian Yingying gently poured him some tea.

"Your Highness said yesterday that Xiangyu should be allowed to be more lively, and now you've changed your mind?"

Qian Yingying smiled slightly, and upon hearing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but roll his eyes in exasperation.

"I do hope that a simple, conservative ruler will suffice in the future, but unfortunately..."

He gritted his teeth and, like a cluster bomb, viciously slammed a handful of fish food into the fishpond next to him.

With a "snap," it stirred up ripples.

However, a large number of koi carp, which were already quite fat but looked like reincarnated starving ghosts, suddenly emerged from beneath the surface of the water, just like... those scoundrels in the imperial court today.

"When I promoted the new policies and new learning, I told them to stop talking about Confucianism and Mencius in the court. But I didn't mean for them to completely lose their sense of honor and decency! These guys..." He took another deep breath.

"Yingying, you didn't see it. Can you imagine the scene in the court today? The Turks, who have only joined the Tang Dynasty a few years ago, were so excited when they talked about enslaving the Tiele tribe. It was as if they hadn't been the barbarians they claimed to be a few years ago."

"Now look what's happened! These Turkic Tang gentlemen are actually spouting the high-sounding words that 'barbarians have always feared power but not virtue.'"

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes again. This morning, when he heard those Turkic generals who were calling him "True Khan" say such things in the Taiji Hall, he almost burst out laughing on the spot.

When people are extremely speechless, they can actually burst out laughing.

Qian Yingying couldn't help but giggle.

"Your Highness, isn't this also a testament to the Duke of Du and the others' genuine support for you, the True Khan?"

"Come on, he's just worried that another wave of Tiele herders will flood into the Tang Dynasty, affecting the interests of their Turkic herders! Those bastards in Zhenbei Road, whether Han or Turkic, the first thing they talk about when they meet is whether their wives are pregnant or not..."

"All that matters to us is to happily give birth to babies, distribute cattle and sheep, and allocate pastures!"

The golden eagle, carrying the results of Li Chengqian's discussions with the court, delivered the news to Gaoyang in Baikal County within just two or three days.

Baikal County, Princess Gaoyang's Residence.

After reading the letter, Gao Yang looked up at the map of the northern desert and Baikal region in front of him, and when his gaze fell on the territory of the Xueyantuo, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

"What a pity. You ate what you shouldn't have eaten and took what you shouldn't have taken. You deserve to be dragged out now..."

He said it was a pity.

However, he quickly drew a line on the geomantic map, with obvious pencil marks, on Lake Kusugul, located northwest of Xueyantuo, separating it from Xueyantuo.

He casually gave instructions to Wei Shuyu beside him.

“I ordered Qibi Zhang to come see me.”

Soon, Wei Shuyu led a Tiele Qibi tribe general named Qibi Zhang into the princess's residence.

"This humble general, Qibi Zhang, greets Your Highness!"

Gao Yang looked at the other person, who was the temporary commander of the Beihai Dragon Cavalry, whom she had selected after combining intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and her own careful selection process.

Not only was he capable of leading troops into battle, but he was also fluent in Tang language, Turkic language, and Sogdian language.

"How is the training of the North Sea Dragon Riders? Have they adapted to the new powerful bows and crossbows?"

Qibi Zhang: "I am ready to go to war for Your Highness at any time!"

He wasn't stupid; he had already realized that Gao Yang was about to issue his first military mission.

Gao Yang nodded slightly and pointed to the line she had drawn on the map.

“Now the saltworks of our Northern Desert Common Prosperity Development Committee have produced a lot of salt, but if we dump it on a large scale, the Xueyantuo, which also has salt production, will definitely follow suit. At that time, both sides will suffer losses.”

"I originally wanted a win-win situation and even planned to meet with Yinan, the leader of the Xueyantuo, but unfortunately... some people dislike them, so we can only enjoy this benefit alone!"

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Qibi Zhang's eyes.

"Take your men, capture this lake, and cut off the Xueyantuo's northwestern salt route, thus severing their salt supply!"

Immediately, a fierce, sinister smile appeared on Qibi Zhang's face.

He bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"Your Highness, rest assured, if this matter fails, I will offer my head in retribution!"

Qibi Zhang then left in a great hurry.

Gao Yang took another deep breath and gave an order to Wei Shuyu, who was standing to the side.

“Write to the leaders of the Tiele tribes on the committee and tell them that the workshops and factories have now completed the production of the first batch of goods in order to maintain the stability of the trade routes and deter those with ulterior motives.”

"One month from now, I will lead 5,000 Gaoyang Guards to conduct military exercises in the northern desert. All departments of the committee must send forces to participate!"

Gao Yang paused for a moment, and Wei Shuyu, who was taking notes in a small notebook, looked up and saw the "vicious princess" curl her lips into a smile.

Yu Yu added.

"The theme of this exercise is 'Free Trade, Free Pastures'."

Free trade...

Wei Shuyu's heart skipped a beat. This was something the Tang Dynasty had used when it destroyed the Eastern Turks during the "Four Khans Rebellion" on the grasslands. It could be said that it made Jieli and Tuli feel like they were in heaven.

Now, this Princess Gaoyang is actually planning to use it on the Tiele tribe again?

And improvements were made?

"What? You think it's inappropriate?" Gao Yang glanced at him sideways.

Wei Shuyu hurriedly shook his head repeatedly, while Gao Yang stroked the geomantic map of the northern desert with one hand and let out a sneer.

"It's alright. Back in Chang'an, I often enjoyed training dogs. Now that I'm in Baikal County, training wolves occasionally is quite interesting..."

"hold head high--!"

"hold head high--!"

"Hululu..."

A fierce and menacing roar, accompanied by the sound of a herd of elephants galloping, suddenly burst forth from the bushes south of the Krishna River on the Indian Peninsula.

A massive herd of war elephants surged forth, followed by soldiers of the Zhelouqi Kingdom, their skin a mixture of yellow and dark.

The thousands of Tibetan and Harsha's auxiliary soldiers, who had just crossed the riverbank in disarray, turned pale upon seeing this scene.

"Quick, run away!!!"

A hysterical scream burst out.

The already chaotic formation caused the Indian governors, who were peering through binoculars from the treetops on a nearby hillside, to shake their heads repeatedly.

"What the hell is going on? Has Songtsen Gampo gotten too cocky? In this kind of terrain, not to mention, we've already entered the territory of the Chalukya Kingdom, how can the army be so disorganized?"

There was no need to even look; the result of this counterattack, personally commanded by King Puroksha II of the Chalukya Kingdom, was that more than 1,800 Tibetan soldiers, along with more than 5,000 Harsha's vassal troops, were completely slaughtered on the spot.

Corpses that are still recognizable as human are extremely rare.

Zheng De nodded slightly.

"However, the power of Tibet on the Indian subcontinent has now exceeded our expectations, and it seems that we have no choice but to provide support to the Kingdom of Cherukchi."

He gave a soft hum, his gaze lingering on the northern direction.

Hopefully, Songtsen Gampo won't become complacent after a few victories against the weak and backward Harsha Kingdom and Cherukchi Kingdom.

Otherwise... there would be no Tibetans on the plateau.

The colonies on this peninsula will also be directly controlled by the Tang Dynasty.

Zheng De sighed deeply.

"I truly despise being an official. If Songtsen Gampo isn't clever, it will be me who suffers in the future..."