The expressions of several people in the prison changed drastically. Even Li Chengqian was dumbfounded. After reacting, he angrily yelled at Zhao Deyan: "Shameless thief, it turns out that you have been plotting against me?"
Zhao Deyan pointed at him and mocked: "Don't talk nonsense. After all, I can be considered half of your teacher. I teach you sincerely and have no calculations. Only today, it is a calculation to imprison you here."
"Okay, okay... It's a pity that the champion died. I once suspected that he faked his death because his death was too simple. How could such a magnificent person be plotted to death so easily? But Pai I killed countless hidden stake scouts, and the news I received was that he was dead."
"I didn't expect that he really didn't die. It's great. In this battle, I can have a good confrontation with him. Last time he defeated me with his personal force, but he couldn't be convinced. This time we have to compete on the battlefield. High or low.”
Li Chengqian said angrily: "Hmph, you want to compete with your brother-in-law? Are you worthy?"
(ps: Xiao Rui: Chengqian, how come I didn’t know you admired me so much when you were at home?)
Qin Huaidao also mocked: "My defeated general, you will never be a match for Brother Xiao."
Tang Jian was the only one who didn't speak. His thoughts had already drifted far away. Although I was pleasantly surprised that the champion was not dead, the secret was leaked. Originally, His Majesty was definitely going to be his trump card, but now it’s gone! The Turks are on guard, what will they do then?
Secretary Liu Jinyuan said in a low voice: "He is a Turkic military advisor. He is the same as the prime minister and leads the civil and military affairs. According to his status, he is qualified to compete with the champion."
Qin Huai said: "Which group are you in?"
Li Chengqian: "Who are you?"
Forehead……
Tang Jian came back to his senses, nodded to smooth things over and said: "Yes, he is indeed a good opponent. Your Highness, no matter what, he is half a teacher to you. You must not insult or disrespect him. If you don't know how important it is to respect a teacher, Dao, then they are no different from these prairie barbarians."
The prince nodded in agreement.
But Zhao Deyan retorted: "Tang Qingzheng, Zhao does not agree with your statement. What's wrong with the grassland people? Are they inferior? They are also flesh and blood humans, not livestock. Respecting teachers and respecting morality is the moral education of the Central Plains civilization. , the grassland has the inherited customs of the grassland.”
"If you belittle the grassland people and regard them as inferior barbarians because of different customs and education, then Zhao, I don't know how you read the sages' books. Did the sages teach you these arrogance and prejudices?"
You...hum!
Tang Jian realized his mistake, blushed and said, "There are many bad habits in the grassland, almost similar to wild beasts. How can we call them human beings?"
Zhao Deyan laughed loudly and said: "If everyone is born as a human being and knows etiquette and abides by the law, then what use are we scholars? There will be no sages in the world who can educate all living beings. Every race is educated from barbarians. In the Central Plains, They are lucky, they were civilized thousands of years earlier than the Turks. But this cannot be the reason for you to discriminate against the grasslands."
Hearing this, Tang Jian no longer refuted, but bowed his hand to Zhao Deyan, "Mr. Zhao is determined to civilize the barbarians, ahem, and civilize the grassland people. Tang admires him. But now that the two countries are at war, there will be no difference between us and the enemy." What kind words, please forgive me for being rude."
Zhao Deyan waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's human nature."
After saying that, he turned around and strode away.
Several people in the prison were stunned and couldn't believe it. The first diplomat of the Tang Dynasty, the Minister of Honglu Temple, was defeated like this?
Tang Jian sat down feebly and said: "The most important thing in a debate is to be reasonable, not to be a shrew. A loss is a loss, and it doesn't matter. The loser is the one who can't afford to lose."
The other three nodded, all admiring this gentleman's magnanimity.
Qin Huaidao recalled: "It turns out that this man is determined to educate the grassland, but he is not a complete evil person. No wonder Brother Xiao once praised him so much. He never verbally abused him. I think back when they first met on the battlefield outside Yumen Pass, although the two were heads We met once, but we were like old friends who had known each other for a long time, cherishing each other. Zhao Deyan even talked about his own life experience."
"Oh? Zhao Deyan's life experience? I only know that this person was a failed scholar in the pre-Sui Dynasty. Due to accidents, he defected to the Turks in the north. I don't know his specific life experience." Tang Jian asked curiously.
Li Chengqian and Liu Jinyuan also opened their eyes wide and urged Qin Huaidao to tell the story.
Qin Huaidao recalled it and slowly told what he knew. Xiao Rui’s final comment: Brother Xiao commented that this person is indeed a prime minister, which is a pity.
A few people nodded, it was indeed a pity.
Liu Jinyuan said with emotion: "I had the same experience at the beginning. I was kicked out of the imperial examination room for no reason. I appealed to many parties and found no way to redress my grievances. I was discouraged and almost lost hope in the court. If Master Liu from the Yushitai had not found me at the critical moment, I’m afraid I will follow the same path as Zhao Deyan.”
Qin Huaidao asked: "Are you also going to surrender to the Turks?"
"No, I was planning to go to the Western Regions. Our family was a merchant, and I was planning to give up my studies and engage in business and go to the Western Regions to do business. Haha, later, the unjust case in the imperial examination was vindicated, and I didn't expect that I would be able to get to the top of the exam and enter the Honglu Temple. Liu Jinyuan sighed.
Li Chengqian cursed: "It's all the fault of those stupid officials who controlled the imperial examination. And the famous families behind them...I heard from Sister Ning'er that the people who are chasing me are the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Lu family in Fanyang."
"Oh? Is this happening? Don't worry, Your Majesty will settle the accounts with them when you return to Chang'an." Tang Jian comforted them.
Qin Huaidao asked with a smile: "Your Highness, who is Sister Ning'er?"
She is... Li Chengqian was about to answer, but suddenly felt a little shy and quickly kept silent. Everyone immediately understood that at the age of twelve, he had just started to fall in love and had a girl he liked.
"Oh... I remembered that Zhao Deyan gave us a handkerchief as a token before. Could it be your token of love?" Qin Huaidao suddenly realized.
Li Chengqian panicked and said, "Handkerchief? Where is it? Give it to me quickly... That was given to me by Sister Ning'er. However, it is not a token of love or love. It is a farewell gift."
Qin Huaidao shook his head, "No, he is not with us. We have sent a fast horse back to Chang'an together with the letter."
"Huh... that's good, as long as it's not lost. It's safer to send it back to Chang'an than here." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhao Deyan immediately reported the news that Xiao Rui was still alive to Jie Li. Jie Li was so frightened that he dropped the riding whip in his hand, "Seriously? Damn it! Those Goguryeo people who came to collect the bounty turned out to be fake ones! How dare you deceive this Khan?" , after destroying the Tang Dynasty this time, the next step will be to destroy Goguryeo."
"Military advisor, Xiao Rui is our strong enemy. He is not dead. What should we do now? You know that in the last battle, many men in the grassland were afraid. When they heard Xiao Rui's name, they did not dare to ride their horses..."
Zhao Deyan nodded and said solemnly: "Yes, it is true. So we cannot spread this news."
"Then what if Datang uses Xiao Rui's life as propaganda?" Jie Li asked worriedly.
"We must bite the bullet and say that Xiao Rui is dead. Even if we see Xiao Rui alive on the battlefield, we must insist that it is a substitute. We must kill the fear in the hearts of the prairie warriors, otherwise once their morale is broken, this battle will be ruined." It's very dangerous." Zhao Deyan is a ruthless person and he came up with a vicious plan.
"Since Datang let Xiao Rui fake his death to escape, he will definitely want to use him as a trump card in this battle to surprise him at the critical moment. Therefore, we generally won't let him show up easily. We have to be prepared and pretend not to know on the surface. Hey, wait for them When Xiao Rui is revealed, we give him a surprise. He didn't die last time, but let him die again this time."
