In the Li Zheng Hall of the imperial palace, Li Er was having dinner with the queen.
Prince Li Chengqian ran in angrily, "Father, are you just turning a blind eye?"
Empress Changsun put down her bowls and chopsticks, and reprimanded dissatisfiedly: "You are outrageous! Chengqian, why are you talking to your father?"
Li Er didn't stop eating. He turned around calmly and asked, "What's the matter?"
"They are already discussing the selection of the princess! This is my royal family's business. Do we want to marry or not? Whether we marry or not is our royal family's freedom. Why let them select and discuss it?" Li Chengqian almost roared and asked, "If you I also support the marriage, so why did you sign the document yesterday? Are you just pretending?"
Empress Changsun scolded: "That's enough! Chengqian, you are still young and don't know the pros and cons. Because of this matter, your father was already angry, and he finally persuaded him to have a meal in peace, and you came to provoke him again. ?”
Li Er slowly put down the bowl and chopsticks and said calmly: "Madam, he did nothing wrong."
He stood up and walked to Li Chengqian's side, looked at his son with complicated eyes, and sighed, "As the head of the Li family, I can't protect the children of the family. This is incompetent. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, I was controlled by others at the critical moment and was forced to agree. Promise, this is a shame. You must remember today!"
Li Chengqian's eyes were red, and he asked with grievance and tears: "Father, can't you even do anything? Is there really nothing we can do?"
Li Er smiled and rubbed the back of his son's head, "No, we have always been doing it. Starting from your grandfather, to me and your brother-in-law, and to you in the future, we have been working hard to fight against them."
"They always use our royal family as a sacrifice under the pretext of checking and balancing the imperial power. Haha, sooner or later, they will all be returned."
Speaking of this, hatred and anger filled Li Er's eyes. He remembered the fact that Li Chengqian didn't know. During the Xuanwu Sect Incident, his eldest brother and his third brother died tragically. Was it really a rift between brothers? In the final analysis, it is still a victim of the struggle for power, and what drives all this is actually the interests and powerful people behind it, and the fight between the old and new aristocrats.
Now, in order to maintain the friendship between Datang and neighboring countries? Pooh!
In fact, we are afraid of war and fear that neighboring countries will unite to start another war, so we sacrifice the daughter of our royal family in exchange for peace?
At the Tai Chi Hall, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji were already trying their best to deal with each other. Du Ruhui, who had a strong personality, was so angry that his old injury relapsed and he went home to recuperate.
"Everyone, if they unite to put pressure on the Tang Dynasty, we must follow their wishes. If each country is allowed to have a princess, then there will be a marriage today and cession of territory tomorrow. They can use the name of alliance to do great things to us. Tang Wudu's demands, is this what you want to see?" Fang Xuanling stated his interests and tried his best to persuade.
There are no generals here today, they are all civilian officials.
Someone stood up and retorted: "What the Prime Minister said is wrong! Our Tang Dynasty is a country of etiquette and a kingdom of heaven. What an honor it is for the small country of Seyi to worship and surrender? Since they came to ask for the princess, it further shows that they are interested in marrying the princess." I, the Tang Dynasty, admired them, and in order to show the grace of the Tang Dynasty, I promised them the princess, and from then on there was an elder-younger relationship. This move is no less than an achievement in conquering a city."
Oh...it turns out that you are not only cowardly, but also greedy for credit? The woman who sacrificed herself to the royal family fulfilled your achievements? Do you want to be shameless?
Changsun Wuji retorted with a dark face: "The relationship between elder and younger? In the Han Dynasty, when a daughter was married and married, the North respected the Huns. But what happened later? After the Han Dynasty became strong, it immediately attacked the Huns from the north, chased them north and destroyed the Huns."
"In fact, everyone knows that marriage is just a cover for temporary peace. The real relationship between the two countries still depends on strength."
"Now that the Tang Dynasty is strong and powerful, we are the only ones bullying other countries. Other countries dare not come to stroke our tiger's beard. So they rush to propose marriage. In fact, they are establishing their status and preventing us, the Tang Dynasty, from raising troops to conquer."
"It doesn't matter whether you marry a girl or not, just make them feel at ease."
"If they really unite because of this and want to join forces to fight and provoke us, the Tang Dynasty, haha, then what kind of diplomatic relations and friendship can we establish with them? Just use the Datang Bingfeng to talk to them!"
This was very encouraging and made sense.
But the problem is that not everyone is a radical, more people are conservative.
"Uncle, don't you know that if you are warlike, you will perish? Although the Tang Dynasty is strong, its fists cannot hold up to four hands. A tiger cannot defeat a pack of wolves. It is impossible to start a war with people on all sides, right?"
"That's right! From the end of the Sui Dynasty to the present, there have been more than twenty years of war. The people have been fighting hard for a long time and can no longer fight."
"Yes, after a few days of peaceful life, no one wants to fight again. After two years of stable development, the imperial treasury is still empty." The person who spoke was the Ministry of Household.
"If you are not a householder, you don't know that firewood and rice are expensive. Fighting a war will cost at least three to five years of the national treasury's savings. If there is another natural disaster and the harvest is bad, and the logistics cannot keep up, I am afraid that the war will not be won, and it will be even worse when the time comes. passive!"
…
Fang Xuanling sighed helplessly: "So, everyone unanimously supports the marriage?"
Everyone, look at me and I look at you, "If the prime minister asks them to give up the marriage, then we have no objection. But now they are secretly colluding, which is very detrimental to us."
Fang Xuanling:......
Do I ask them to give up on their own initiative? Haha, I have so much face?
At this time, Changsun Wuji said in a deep voice with sinister eyes: "Everyone, you are all courtiers of the Tang Dynasty, you are the pillars of the Tang Dynasty, and you stand with the Tang Dynasty, right?"
"What does Uncle Guo mean by this? Of course we are from the Tang Dynasty, and we are discussing things like this for the safety of the Tang Dynasty. You can't stand them, and we can't stand them either, but you and I are both shouldering heavy responsibilities at the moment. It's easy to start a war, just touch your upper and lower lips. But once a war starts, the wealth and lives of thousands of people will be at stake, so how can we not be cautious?"
Changsun Wuji stood up and said, "Okay! As long as you and I have the same goal. I just say one sentence. Even if I agree to a marriage, I can't agree to them all. I, the Tang Dynasty, don't have that many princesses for them."
What's the meaning? I'm afraid this won't work, right? If you give this, but don’t give that, people will be even less willing.
Changsun Wuji raised a finger and said, "Tell them that after several selections, we only selected one princess of the right age. But to whom? Let them discuss it themselves!"
hiss……
Everyone, look at me and I look at you. This is a vicious plan to divide each other!
"How wonderful! Surrounded by a pack of wolves, throw out a piece of meat and let them compete for food. In the end, they will bite each other. They will no longer be of the same mind. Then it will be us, the Tang Dynasty, who has the final say. I support Uncle Guo!"
"I also agree!"
"I second the motion!"
…
Changsun Wuji's strategy is indeed very good. When marriage cannot be avoided, it can split the opponent's alliance, which is very powerful.
Fang Xuanling sighed, wondering which family's daughter should be sacrificed? I'm afraid I'm going to offend a prince.
After everyone finally discussed it, only Li Daozong's daughter Li Xueyan was of right age to be married. So without the prince's knowledge, he reported the results of the discussion. Li Er took the memorial, full of guilt, and didn't know how to explain it to Li Daozong.
