Fu Tang

Li Congjia hadn't received a letter from Shi Xueting for more than ten days, so he could only stare at the map and guess where he might be now.

Li Zhongyu also knew of Shi Xueting's whereabouts, and Li Congjia never concealed him in this regard, and it was precisely because of this that even though Li Zhongyu was considered half-baked, he never felt the sense of crisis that foreign ministers worried about, because from all aspects, He could feel Li Congjia's trust in him.

And the most important thing is that he can realize that Li Congjia's protection of the throne stems from his responsibility to this country. As long as someone can contribute to this country, he doesn't mind the separation of powers. Of course, military power will not be divided. Li Zhongyu is also smart Don't reach out, anyway, he has the East Palace Six rate.

At this time, he watched Li Congjia staring at the map, and asked, "Father, the national teacher... should have arrived in Tubo by now, right?"

Li Congjia responded: "Well, it should be here. Normally speaking, at least Tuosima has arrived at this time."

Li Zhongyu thought for a while and said: "The National Teacher is light and simple, and the footsteps should be faster."

Li Congjia frowned slightly: "That's right, but there is no news yet, I'm afraid something happened on the road."

Li Zhongyu was puzzled: "But recently, everywhere is still stable."

In recent years, the Tang Dynasty has basically never been in a state of instability, because the food is considered sufficient, even if there are natural disasters and man-made disasters, the court can provide immediate relief. Of course, it is impossible to benefit everyone, but it will not cause turmoil in the hearts of the people.

Li Congjia shook his head: "If something really goes wrong, it will be reported only after the situation expands to a certain extent."

Li Zhongyu instantly understood that if there were no major incidents, the local officials would basically be able to turn major incidents into minor incidents and would not let the court know too much. After all, if something unexpected happened, it would affect their future promotion, and what happened to Shi Xueting Even if it's not big, for example, if a few bandits come out, it will delay the schedule.

Li Zhongyu was anxious for a moment: "Then what should I do?"

Although he once felt that Li Congjia had too much trust in Shi Xueting, and was worried that Shi Xueting would be an obstacle for him in the future, after all, the intelligence department was relatively at ease in the hands of his own people, while the emperor once had courtiers.

But at this moment, he also knows that Shi Xueting's trip to Tubo is very important. If it succeeds, then Tubo will no longer threaten Datang, and Datang can regain Tubo at a very small price.

Li Congjia was very calm at this time: "Don't think too much, even if the national teacher can't get things done, it's okay to retreat, not to mention that according to his temper, even if he dies, he will drag the whole Tubo into the water. No news now may be the best news .”

Li Zhongyu didn't care much about Shi Xueting's life or death, at least not as much as he cared about Tubo. He didn't care whether Shi Xueting could get out of the way, but he was a little relieved when he heard Li Congjia's last words.

As long as it can disturb Tubo, it will be considered a success!

Li Zhongyu asked again: "Father, where will the national teacher go? Tuosima doesn't seem to be a good choice."

Li Congjia asked back: "If it were you, where would you go?"

It's not like Li Zhongyu didn't think about it, but, to be honest, if there were only dozens of people around him, he would not choose to take risks, but would choose to endure and wait for the opportunity.

This is the difference in thinking brought about by different status. He is the prince and the future emperor, so there is no need to take risks.

However, Li Congjia had already asked the question, so he had no choice but to think carefully and said, "I will choose King Lhasa."

Li Congjia asked, "Oh? Why?"

Li Zhongyu is used to this kind of dialogue, which is one of the ways Li Congjia educates him, not telling him what to do, but guiding him to what he wants to do.

Li Zhongyu said slowly: "Now there are only three descendants of the former Tubo royal family on the Tubo plateau, King Yaze, King Lhasa and King Yalongjue'a. Of course, even if you don't look at the blood status, the three of them are the most powerful."

"King Yaze's power is average, and the tribes like Tusima, Achai, Nacang, and Ada can stand up to him." Li Congjia seemed to refute and reminded.

Li Zhongyu shook his head slowly and said: "These tribes... have no ambition to fight for the world, and their khans don't have such big ambitions, otherwise, Tubo would have been in chaos."

Li Congjia nodded, and Li Zhongyu continued: "The king of Lhasa is not as good as King Yalongjue'a, but King Biaze is powerful and is in the middle position. This is better. King Yaze is too weak, and maybe he has no desire to win at all. However, King Lhasa still has a chance. Although King Yalongjue is the most powerful, he has more capable people around him, and the defense is tighter, so it is difficult to attack."

Li Congjia smiled slightly: "This is indeed the truth, but the national teacher always takes a slanted sword, so it's really hard to say who he will choose."

Li Zhongyu didn't understand, according to the situation in Tubo, no matter how hard he tried, these few people couldn't get out. Could it be the remaining tribes?But the rest of the tribes are even worse. Those tribes were the ones who wrote to the Tang Dynasty to join the federation. It seems that these tribes have lost their spirits and just want to live in peace. Finding them will not do much. .

He really wanted to ask Li Congjia, but felt that this might be an assignment assigned by his father, so he decided to go back and ask his staff.

But in fact, even Li Congjia didn't know where Shi Xueting was at this moment, or what he would do. If he guessed, it might be Qiangtang, so he called Shi Xuehe over to tell him to pay more attention to Qiangtang. The news of the location of the pond.

It's just that Shi Xueting, who has been speculated by various sources, is not with the Lhasa King, nor is he in Qiangtang, but in Niboluo!

Nibala is an independent country, and it has contacts with various tribes in Tubo, but there is not much bias.

Shi Xueting's original purpose of choosing this place was simply to conceal his background.

He came to Tubo from the Tang Dynasty, and he will definitely attract attention. What's more, the high-level officials of the tribes in Tubo have basically seen the national teacher of the Tang Dynasty. Twist together to deal with Datang, after all, Datang is a greater threat to them than the hostile relationship between them.

In comparison, Madrasah is a country that is easy to mix into.

"Old Book of Tang·Xi Rong Biography·Ni Po Luo" once said that Ni Po Luo is a country with many merchants and few farmers.

The only country with relatively developed commerce that is relatively close to Nivala is Datang. Datang caravans travel frequently to and from Nibala. Shi Xueting can easily pretend to be a caravan to Nivara, and then find a way to go to Tubo.

Of course, if you want to pretend to be a caravan, you can't have his iconic dress, and you have to cover up your bald head.

The wig that hadn’t been used for many years came in handy again. Fortunately, the Nibera himself has "cut hair and eyebrows", and his hair is not long, so his disguise is not so difficult, and even if he stays long enough, he can completely Can wait for my hair to grow out.

Both Li Congjia and Li Zhongyu felt that there were many people who believed in Buddhism in Tubo, and Shi Xueting's Buddhism was profound, so it was not difficult to get involved.

It's just that Shi Xueting gave up this identity. There are many people who believe in Buddhism in Tubo, but their beliefs are not completely consistent. If he uses his identity as a monk, it is tantamount to giving up those tribes who believe in Yongzhongben religion. Such a choice Small, even less room for mediation.

Shi Xueting's current identity is a businessman, a businessman with hands and eyes.

He actually brought a lot of goods with him when he went to Niboluo. He sold the porcelain and silk fabrics locally and made a lot of money. Then he left a lot of grain and salt, and turned around and started to go to Tubo.

These two things are urgently needed by Tubo, and he can use these two things to open up the road to the grassland.

He brought quite a lot of food and salt, so the first stop was King Yaze's territory.

To be honest, even if he brought a lot of things, such a transaction would not be able to alarm King Yaze, but since he came prepared, he naturally knew how to let King Yaze know about himself—he not only brought food and salt, It also brought conflict.

This conflict was caused by a glazed Buddha statue. Before leaving, Shi Xueting took away a glazed Buddha statue from Li Congjia's warehouse.

At the beginning, Li Congjia used this to make several Tubo tribes hostile to each other, and even started a war. At that time, the Lhasa and Yaze royal families were weakened, but King Yalongjue took the opportunity to expand his territory.

Now that so much time has passed, one of the two glazed Buddha statues is in the hands of King Yalongjue'a, and the other is in the hands of Qiang Tang.

King Yalongjue had a glazed Buddha statue and devoted himself to the spread of Buddhism. It was not because he was so devout, but religion itself was often the best tool in the hands of the ruler.

Having religious help during an uprising can always get twice the result with half the effort, but how to deal with religion after success is another problem.

From the very beginning, Li Congjia accepted the help of Shi Xueting instead of Buddhism, because he could see clearly.

It doesn't matter if the tribes on the Tubo Plateau can't see clearly, because even if they can see clearly, they still need this thing.

King Yalongjue got the Buddha statue of Yongzhongben religion. After all, he still has an orthodox identity, and he still has to use the banner of maintaining orthodoxy to attract others to join him.

King Yaze and King Lhasa also wanted to use religion, but without glazed Buddha statues, they were not very attracted to the monks of the Yongzhongben religion, and only some frustrated monks would come to them.

The glazed Buddha statue brought by Shi Xueting was not very big, if it was too big, it would have been bumped and shattered on the road. The glazed Buddha statue was only the size of a palm, but it was much more delicate than the two auctioned ones before.

In this era, the smaller and more delicate things are, the more precious they are.

Shi Xueting didn't show his trump card prematurely, but kept wandering among the dignitaries under King Yaze as a Nivalo businessman.

The people he has dealt with all these years are the dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty, standing among those King Yaze's subordinates is even more noble than them, so many people dare not join him for a while.

The first person to express interest to him was Suo Lang, the third son of King Yaze. He was now competing with his two elder brothers for the position of Khan. He chose to approach Shi Xueting mainly because of his strong financial resources.

Shi Xueting also needed to find a "leader" in Tubo, and the two hit it off.

But at this time, before the glazed Buddha statue in Shi Xueting's hand was taken out, Suo Lang had already started to help Shi Xueting clear various checkpoints, allowing him to walk freely in most parts of Tubo—because Shi Xueting promised Can sell him more grain and salt at a low price.

Suo Lang didn't believe in Shi Xueting at first, but when a large amount of grain and salt were transported from Niboluo, Suo Lang couldn't help being overjoyed.

However, he still asked vigilantly: "There are not many fields in Nibala, and it is already very difficult to support the country. Where did you get these grains?"

Shi Xueting didn't answer but said: "The third prince wants food and salt, and I brought them to you. Then our transaction is over. Why do you need to ask the source of these things?"

Suo Lang choked and said, "I'm just worried that these things will bring me trouble."

Shi Xueting said lightly: "I'm a businessman, I just sell things, why should I sell troublesome things?"

Suo Lang still looks at Shi Xueting, it seems that he wants to get an answer, but Shi Xueting thinks that what Suo Lang wants to know more is where Shi Xueting buys.

Shi Xueting was still unmoved, after a while, Suo Lang suddenly smiled and said: "I was too careful, where is Li Langjun going?"

Shi Xueting said: "This is the first time I have come to Tubo, I have a look around, but I don't know how the situation in Tubo is now?"

Suo Lang rolled his eyes and said, "Since that's the case, Mr. Li might as well stay here. I'll be the host and take you around. Yaze's place is also good."

Shi Xueting hesitated for a moment, then nodded and agreed.

Suo Lang was overjoyed, and while holding Shi Xueting back, he asked people to carefully investigate the origins of these people.

He always felt that it must be difficult for someone to casually produce so much grain and salt. Food might be easier to say, but salt was even more precious!

Of course Shi Xueting knew what Suo Lang would do, but the people he brought out had been trained on what to say and what not to say, how to guide the other party to analyze the answer he wanted to give, all these were kung fu.

The people sent by Suo Lang will not know the true identities of these people, so the news they get is destined to be only the news that Shi Xueting wants them to know.

In the evening, Suo Lang went back to listen to the news brought by his subordinates, frowned and said, "You guys got such a little news?" After he finished speaking, he glanced at his subordinates and immediately became a little annoyed: "Of course I know that Li Shi is from Tang Dynasty, and he didn't either. I have concealed my identity, I just want to know where his salt comes from!"

Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you. Finally, a young man named Lang Ga under him stood up and said, "Since your highness wants to know, why don't you just arrest him and ask him?"

A Tang man who just came to Tibet has no status, and if he is arrested and killed, no one will know. They don't understand what Suo Lang is hesitating about.

Suo Lang was very helpless, why are his subordinates all these idiots?

But even a fool is his bargaining chip, so he had no choice but to explain: "Haven't you found out yet? His surname is Li!"

"What's wrong with the surname Li?" Lang Ga was stunned for a moment and immediately realized: "Your Highness is worried...he is a member of the royal family of the Tang Kingdom? But I heard that there are many people with the surname Li in the Tang Kingdom. Not all of them are from the royal family, right?"

Suo Lang squinted his eyes: "But the person who can get a lot of salt must be of extraordinary status."

Now everyone was silent, Suo Lang suddenly said: "Magniu, tell me your opinion."

Mang Niu bowed slightly. He had been standing beside Suo Lang, but he had been silent when he heard the people talking. At this time, he was called out and had to say in a low voice: "The status of merchants in the Tang Dynasty is extremely low, and it is impossible for the children of the royal family to handle lowly labor."

Suo Lang frowned and paced around the tent for a while, then suddenly asked: "You say, if I win him over, how much will my chances of winning be increased?"

This time everyone looked at Mang Niu, and Mang Niu thought for a while before saying: "If you can get help from this person, the first prince and the second prince are not enough."

Solang shook his head: "I don't have that much money."

Mangniu's so-called eldest prince and second prince are nothing to be afraid of. What he said is that Shi Xueting can get a lot of food, enough for Suo Lang to train many soldiers.

The rule on the prairie is that big fists mean what they say, and the more soldiers in hand, the more confident they are. However, Suo Lang is a little hesitant now. He wants to keep this Li Shi, but he doesn't have that much money to buy food. This time I bought food for the court, not for myself, so don't worry about money.

But Mang Niu said: "Your Highness is very unreasonable to worry. When Lu Buwei sponsored Ying Zichu back then, didn't he get rewarded immediately?"

Suo Lang was a little confused: "Who is Ying Zichu?"

The corner of Mang Niu's mouth twitched and he could only explain, "Qin Shihuang's father."

Suo Lang nodded, not knowing whether he understood clearly, Mang Niu began to think about whether to explain more clearly.

But Suo Lang understood what he meant, and he asked: "That is to say, I can promise to repay him in the future, on condition that he subsidizes me?"

Mang Niu nodded slightly: "If it can be done, you have to ask His Highness, if it is not possible... use force."

Suo Lang was taken aback: "So what if he doesn't come to Tibet anymore?"

Mang Niu snorted coldly: "Businessmen are animals that seek fame and fortune. As long as there is profit, they will come again even if they take risks."

After being silent for a while, Suo Lang finally made up his mind: "Come here, invite Li Shi to a banquet for me tomorrow!"

Shi Xueting, whose pseudonym was Li Shi, was slightly relieved after receiving Suo Lang's invitation. He was not afraid of Suo Lang's actions, but he was afraid that he would be indifferent!

As long as Suo Lang asks for something, he will naturally be able to push the boat along.

During the past few days in Yaze, his subordinates have not been idle, more or less they have brought back news, and even contacted the post left here by the intelligence department to get more information.

King Yaze's health is deteriorating now. Although he has the heart to compete for the throne, he has no strength to compete for the throne. However, he is old and smart. He knows that the meeting discussion proposed by King Lhasa must be tricky.

The gathering was scheduled for September, and each family was given some time to arrange it calmly. However, King Yaze was very anxious. He needed to choose one of the many sons who could lead the Yaze tribe to glory. However, so far, He hasn't found it yet.

But generally speaking, those who are capable of competing for the position of Khan are the three older princes. The first two are because of the strong mother clan. The mother of the eldest prince is the princess of Nacang, and the mother of the second prince is Yazeda Lun's daughter.

Compared with the background of these two princes, the third prince is not good enough. His mother is the daughter of a high-ranking official in Nivara.

However, the biggest reason why the third prince was listed on the waiting list was also because the mother clan did not show up, but it was not without some help.

After Shi Xueting read all the information, Hua Yue put them all away. He is one of the main officials of the intelligence department promoted by Shi Xueting in recent years, and he can be regarded as half of Shi Xueting's disciple. This time, he followed Shi Xueting Coming out is also an experience.

Hua Yue couldn't help asking: "Guo...uh, sir, why did you choose the third prince?"

Shi Xueting asked back: "Do you think the third prince is not a good match?"

Hua Yue thought seriously and said: "The third prince is alone and alone now. If there is a possibility of being in the top position, he is indeed a good investment target. It's just that at present, his chance of winning is the smallest."

"What do you see as the odds?"

Huayue replied: "Fiefdom, population, and army in hand."

Shi Xueting nodded slowly: "Yes, these are very important, but not the most important."

Hua Yue looked at him in surprise, these are not important, so what is important?

Shi Xueting didn't explain it to Hua Yue, because it would be too deep, and it belonged to the category of imperial art.

On the surface, the third prince, Suo Lang, is indeed the least likely to win. However, if Shi Xueting is to choose, he will choose the third prince. The reason is very simple, the third prince has the least obstacles!

The mother clan of the two princes is powerful, so after they come to power, should they treat their mother clan well?The second prince's mother is the daughter of Da Lun, and Da Lun's position is equivalent to the prime minister of a country. If the second prince is in power, Da Lun's power will become stronger. If the second prince can't control Da Lun, then Yaze will fall into Da Lun hand.

The eldest prince is even more terrifying. His mother is Princess Nacang. If the eldest prince can't resist, will Yaze be annexed by Nacang?

Although the third prince's mother clan is not visible here, he has absolutely no worries. After all, an official Nibhara can't tell Yaze what to do!

While Shi Xueting was thinking, he picked up a pen and prepared to write a letter. Hua Yue silently stepped aside. He originally thought that Shi Xueting was going to write a letter to the country to arrange the next step of preparation.

As a result, before retreating, he took a glance and saw Shi Xueting wrote a sentence very quickly: I don't see you for a day, and I miss you like crazy.

Huayue:? ? ? ? ? ? ?