"The one-word King of Rome in the West?" Li Renxiao couldn't help frowning when he heard this "One-word King of Rome" and asked, "Did the King of Xiebao send him to pay tribute to us?"
It turns out that Li Renxiao already knew that Wanyan Xiebao had become the head of state, first citizen, Caesar, etc. of the Roman Empire. Because the titles were too long and they were all named in Greek and Latin, the Western Tang Dynasty didn't understand. Meaning, I simply gave Xie Bao another title, "King of Heaven".
"They were not sent by King Xiebao," Prime Minister Cao said with a smile. "This King Yizi Bingjian is the enemy of King Xiebao. He is the son of the previous King of Rome."
"Son?" Li Renxiao was stunned, "How can a son be 'side by side' with his father? This is unfilial!"
Prime Minister Cao smiled and said: "This is the rule in the West. They don't read the books of saints and sages, so they don't care about filial piety...Their prince is called the 'One-Word King'. Sometimes the monarch's wife Or your husband may also be granted the title of King of Side by Side."
The level of this Cao Da translator is really good... According to his translation method, the future British Crown Prince may have to be called King of Britain.
"Oh, that's it." Li Renxiao nodded, "Since this King of Rome is the enemy of King Xiebao, should we take him and put him in a prison car and send him to the castle?"
"That's not necessary." Prime Minister Cao smiled and shook his head.
Li Renxiao smiled and said: "Then according to my grandfather's wishes, should I kill this Roman king in Chang'an?"
If Alexios hears this, he will definitely regret it to death... Where can I go to ask for help? Why come to Tang Dynasty?
Datang and Wanyan Xiabao simply wear a pair of pants!
It turned out that there were some conflicts between Wanyan Xiebao and Xi Tang, but they were far from the point of breaking out. Not only did they not break up, the two sides also maintained a very strong alliance - the support of the Western Tang Dynasty was actually an important reason why Wanyan Xiebao became the King of Rome!
The reason why the Western Tang Dynasty supported Xiebao was to open up the Silk Road on land. For Western Tang, which is based in Central Asia, is there anything more important than opening up the Silk Road?
Moreover, opening up the Silk Road was not just as simple as collecting tolls for the Western Tang Dynasty. The Western Tang Dynasty would produce gunpowder before moving westward. After moving westward, we learned from the painful experience and placed gunpowder production at a high level that determined the survival of the country.
After more than ten years of continuous efforts, Xitang's gunpowder output is now very high, and the quality of the fire saltpetre and sulfur they refine is good. Although they have not yet mastered the secret of granulating gunpowder, they have already mixed gunpowder and light petroleum to make incendiary bombs - it is only a layer of paper away from granular gunpowder!
Gunpowder that is mass-produced must not be left to get damp. Although there are constant conflicts between the Western Tang Dynasty and the Seljuk Turks, the scale of the battles between the two sides is not large, and there is no opportunity to use large amounts of gunpowder.
So the Western Tang Dynasty became an arms dealer and sold the gunpowder they produced to Wanyan Xiebao at a high price.
Because of the interests of the Silk Road and the arms trade, Wanyan Xiebao became the closest ally of the Western Tang Dynasty. Alexios, the single-sided Roman king, asked for help from the Western Tang Dynasty to oppose Wanyan Xiebao, which was simply asking for death.
"There is no need to kill him," Prime Minister Cao still shook his head. "He came all the way to pay tribute to us. It would be inappropriate to kill him with one knife. Besides, Master Bagration from the Gru Kingdom came with him. ..... This Master Ba is a royal family member of the Gelug Kingdom and a eminent monk of the Church of God, so we still have to give him some face."
Georgia and Tang Dynasty face each other across the sea and are an important link on the Silk Road. Although caravans going west can also go north of the Caspian Sea and enter the Crimean Peninsula through the Alan Kingdom. But this road in Georgia is also very important and cannot be lost.
"Then send him back." Li Renxiao said, "Is that okay?"
"No way..." Prime Minister Cao still objected.
Li Renli was a little unhappy, "This won't work, and that won't work either. How can we do it?"
Prime Minister Cao smiled and said: "I have discussed this with my uncle and the regent..."
When he mentioned "the emperor's uncle and the regent", Li Renxiao's face became a little ugly. Because Li Renli is not his uncle at all, they are all brothers with the word "Ren"!
But Li Renxiao's mother, the Queen Mother Cao, promoted Li Renli a generation higher and made him the emperor's uncle and regent...and the reason why the Queen Mother Cao did this was to "transfer houses" with Li Renli. marriage"!
Although the Western Tang Dynasty regarded itself as the Tang Dynasty in its own country and practiced the etiquette and laws of the Central Plains, it encouraged transfer marriage, that is, step marriage.
The reason is of course to increase the number of Tang people as quickly as possible... The Western Tang Dynasty is short of people! The Tang people only had more than one million people, which was equivalent to the land they occupied, which was really too little.
Therefore, widowhood is not allowed at all for the widowed women of childbearing age in the Tang Dynasty!
However, stepmarriage in which a son adopts a concubine or a nephew adopts an aunt is expressly prohibited.
Therefore, Li Renli became Li Renxiao's uncle, and then legitimately accepted the Queen Mother... and also gave Li Renxiao two pink and tender younger siblings!
However, Li Renxiao had nothing to do with Li Renli and his mother...not only because he had not yet pro-government, but also because the Western Tang Dynasty was not a country with centralized monarchy. Li Renli had his own fief, castle and retainers. If Li Renxiao dared to touch him, Li Renli's retainers might protect his son and rebel.
Besides, Li Renli is not the only one of the great nobles of the Western Tang Dynasty who has fiefs, castles and retainers. If you kill Li Renli, will others be miserable?
You Li Renxiao even killed your close cousin and stepfather. Then wouldn’t it be even more dangerous if others don’t have such a good relationship with you and have never served your mother?
Prime Minister Cao took a breath, and then said: "We both believe that we should send someone to send King Alexius of Rome to Shuntian Mansion in Beijing in the Song Dynasty, so that he can personally ask for help from the officials of the Song Dynasty."
"Asking for help from the Song Dynasty?" Li Renxiao frowned and snorted, "They are not kind people!"
Zhao Kai, an official of the Great Song Dynasty, was an unkind and unjust tyrant! It was he who sent troops to Lingxia and forced the Tang Dynasty to move westward... And now he has gone even further, sending troops to Xizhou (Hami) and Gaochang, and also sent armed forces to Shule, Qiuci, and Khotan Confucians went to establish Confucian schools.
These Confucian schools are schools on the surface, but in fact they are armed colonial sites. The territory of the Western Tang Dynasty was very vast, but the population, especially the number of Tang people, was too small. Therefore, the Western Tang Dynasty looked like a large area on the map, but in fact it was an isolated point.
Moreover, these isolated points were not governed by floating officials sent by the Tang Dynasty, but by military nobles. And these military nobles who were far away from Chang'an Mansion in Xijing were very welcoming to Confucian schools. Because these schools can not only help them educate their children, but also educate the local people in the Western Regions...
But for the Tang court in Chang'an Prefecture in Xijing, the infiltration of these Confucian schools would undoubtedly cause centrifugation in Shule, Qiuci, Khotan, Xizhou, Gaochang and other towns in the eastern part of the Tang Dynasty.
But the Western Tang Dynasty did not dare to break up with the Song Dynasty and start a war, so it could only adopt a retreat policy of further moving westward. The Tang people from Shule, Qiuci, Khotan, Xizhou, Gaochang and other places gradually moved to the western foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and the Qinchak grassland.
In order to accommodate these immigrants, the Western Tang Dynasty also successively established Luocheng Prefecture (Tashkent was renamed Luocheng) around the city of Tashkent on the north bank of the Huzhang River, Xiping Prefecture in the Khwarezm Oasis, and Yitushan (belonging to the Tianshan Mountains). ) Xingqing Mansion was established between the northern foothills and the Yile River (the area around Almaty in later generations).
Although the Western Tang Dynasty had plenty of places to escape, it was always very unpleasant to be forced by the Song Dynasty like this.
What's more, Li Renxiao didn't know that he was from Dangxiang. He thought he was the descendant of Li Yuan and Li Shimin!
The majestic Tang Dynasty was forced to do this by the Zhao and Song dynasties. Not only was it unable to gain a foothold in its ancestral homeland in the Central Plains, it was also unable to stay in the three towns to the east of the four towns in Anxi. How could it not be irritating?
"It is precisely because the Song Dynasty is not a good person that we should send the King of Rome to see Zhao Kai." Prime Minister Cao couldn't explain the truth to Li Renxiao, so he had to find another excuse, "We have to let Zhao Kai Knowing that the fate of his arch-enemy Jin Ren is not over yet...it has been extended again! The Roman Kingdom in the West is a big country! It has a land of 10,000 miles and a population of 20 million. It has been a hegemon in the West since ancient times! Just because Without gunpowder, hotpot, and cartridges, Xiebao was defeated. Now Xiebao not only brought gunpowder, hotpot, and cartridges, but he also joined the Western Church of God Worship and became Priest John, thus gaining the favor of the Romans. Supported and elected as the King of Rome.
Given time, Xiebao would definitely be able to unify all the Eastern and Western Roman tribes. At that time, he will lead the Roman troops to conquer the Song Dynasty to avenge the destruction of his motherland! "
Prime Minister Cao is completely fooling around. Eastern Rome only has such a small amount of territory, but there are ten thousand miles there? The population is not even 20 million, only 10 million at most. Moreover, in the 12th century, most of the people under the Eastern Roman Empire were obedient people who did not know how to fight as soldiers, and they basically relied on foreign mercenaries to fight. Even if Wanyan Xiebao had some gunpowder weapons, he would not be able to rely on them to unify Eastern and Western Rome, let alone lead Roman troops to conquer the Song Dynasty eastward.
Li Renxiao frowned even more when he heard what Prime Minister Cao said, "Grandpa, is King Xiebao really that powerful? Then we can't sell him any more gunpowder... He is going to send Roman troops to attack the Song Dynasty. , then we must fight here! It is not uncommon for false Taoists to destroy Guo."
"Don't worry, saint," Prime Minister Cao said with a smile, "King Xiebao is not that strong. His ability to become the King of Rome has come to an end. But we have to make him stronger... This is called bragging about one's own self-respect! Zhao Kai is thousands of miles away from Rome and it is impossible to attack him. If he wants to stop Xie Bao, he can only help us!"
