In the royal city of Tubo, inside a side hall.
"High Priest, I know, I know."
Zangbu looked at the old man in front of him, nodded and said,
"Everything is going according to plan and going very smoothly."
"You don't need to worry."
The old man in front of him was turning the magic weapon in his hand, and his face was as dry and wrinkled as tree bark.
"Songtsen Gampo betrayed the gods and angered the old man."
The high priest's voice was hoarse, but there was resentment in his tone.
"He deserves to be killed!"
Zangbu smiled.
"High Priest, you don't have to be so angry. Brother, he just introduced Buddhism from Tianzhu."
He said,
"We Tubo people have believed in Bon religion for generations, and my ancestors used Bon religion to govern the country."
"Mere Buddhism can never overshadow our local religion. Look at how many temples my eldest brother has built, but they are all neglected and no one cares about them..."
When the high priest heard this, he snorted coldly.
"No one cares about it now, but what about the future?"
He said,
"I heard that Buddhism is popular in Tianzhu, defeating several major sects and having countless followers."
"Songtsen Gampo's intention of doing this is very obvious. He just wants to destroy our local religion! Fortunately, his ancestors are descendants of gods, and they govern the country with doctrine... He has completely abandoned it!"
There was anger in the words.
But there is also a bit of anxiety and lack of confidence.
Buddhism became popular in Tianzhu and spread throughout the world, attracting countless believers.
Now that its arrival has naturally made the high priest feel an unprecedented threat... He is also afraid that Bon religion will be easily destroyed by Buddhism!
And when that time comes, how much is he, the high priest, worth?
"Yes, yes, the high priest is right."
Zangbu said seriously,
"Brother's behavior is too bad!"
"In order to please the new nobles, he directly suppressed and weakened the old ministers and elders; in order to reduce your right to speak, he did not hesitate to introduce foreign religions."
"I am deeply angry at this behavior!"
"High Priest, you should believe that my heart is with you."
Zangbu's sincere words made the high priest's expression soften a bit.
"I believe you, you are the true branch of the Tubo King's lineage."
He said,
"Songtsen Gampo won two wars and his prestige within Tibet was unmatched. I thought I had no chance."
"But he never thought that he would be fascinated by the princess of the Tang Dynasty and wanted to go to the Tang Dynasty!"
"Okay, okay...it's also God's blessing. Our opportunity has come!"
Zangbu looked stern.
"High Priest, what do you want to do?"
He lowered his voice and felt a little uncontrollable excitement in his heart.
"I have secretly contacted the old nobles in Dabo, Gongbu, Nyangbo and other places. They are all extremely dissatisfied with Songtsen Gampo!"
The high priest said solemnly,
"When the time comes, while he is away, I will take the opportunity to follow the will of God and support you to become Zanpu! At that time, the old nobles will rise up and respond to you!"
“Thousands of our Bon followers will also respond to you!”
"When the time comes, you will be the only king of Tibet! As for Songtsen Gampo, he is just a lost dog!"
Zangbu's eyes were burning and his heart was excited.
The script has been written!
It’s just a matter of execution!
"Thank you, High Priest!"
He thanked him repeatedly and promised,
"If I can become Zanpu, I will definitely serve you as the national advisor! From now on, it will be the two of us who have the final say in Tubo!"
The high priest chuckled.
"In fact, I don't care that much about being a national master...but since you said it, Zampu, then I am willing to be the national master."
He said,
"At that time, I will demolish the Jokhang Temple and Ramoche Temple and expel all heretics!"
"In Tubo, there can only be one sect, the Bon Religion!"
Zangbu nodded.
"That's how it should be!"
He opposed everything Songtsen Gampo wanted to do! Only in this way... can he gain the support of the old forces and secure his throne!
"It's just a pity that the soldiers who accompanied Songtsen Gampo to the Tang Dynasty this time were all selected by Gaden Gampo alone. They can't get in with our people."
The high priest said again,
"Otherwise, if we can kill Songtsen Gampo halfway, everything will be safe!"
"I wonder if the Tuyuhun people are interested in this..."
Zangbu looked stern.
"The high priest wants to kill the eldest brother?"
he said in surprise.
"Killing him is the safest thing! Otherwise, if your coup succeeds and he comes with reinforcements from the Tang Dynasty, how can you resist him?"
The high priest snorted coldly,
"How many people will rebel by then?"
"Although I hate Songtsen Gampo, I have to admit that he is a powerful monarch! Don't blame me for being harsh - except for your bloodline being the same as his, you are far behind him in everything else!"
"So the safest way is to kill him! If he dies, you will be the first heir to the position of Zanpu! Even if Gaden Gampo wants to fight you, we will help you. Your chance of winning is biggest!"
Zangbu couldn't help but look a little ugly when he heard this.
But it was ugly, and he knew that what the other party said was the truth.
"It seems that we really want to kill him."
Zangbu whispered,
"The Tuyuhun people naturally don't want him to go to the Tang Dynasty. If this marriage is achieved and Tubo and the Tang Dynasty form an alliance, then Murong Fuyun will have trouble sleeping and eating!"
"But it is impossible to say that they dared to kill Songtsen Gampo. At most, they were intercepting and obstructing him. Even if we let the news out, they would not dare to touch him."
"Murong has always been timid and can play dirty tricks, but he doesn't dare to confront Tubo's anger head-on."
The high priest nodded.
"Murong is indeed timid."
He whispered,
"Gaden Gampo is too cautious. If we want to intercept and kill two hundred elites, at least eight hundred dead soldiers must be dispatched! Such a large-scale dispatch will inevitably arouse alertness."
"This old guy is the most cautious person in Tibet."
"I think we can only place our hope on the Tuyuhun people."
Two hundred elite soldiers cannot be crushed without eight hundred dead soldiers!
The Dead Soldiers sound like they are very powerful, a group of loyal servants who risk their lives, but in fact their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of professional soldiers.
Without special training and cooperation, we can only rely on numbers to fight.
Eight hundred is a bit conservative!
Therefore, it is definitely not possible to send out people from their hands. Send out thousands of people at once... What do you want to do?
"Tell me, the high priest, what should be done?"
Zangbu hurriedly asked for advice.
I thought that when Songtsen Gampo went out, he would be at the mercy of others, but I didn’t expect that it would still be so difficult to kill him outside!
"I remember that there was a black market in Tuyuhun, and there were all kinds of businesses."
The high priest said,
"Go to the black market and spend a lot of money to offer a reward to stop Songtsen Gampo!"
"I know there are some desperadoes on the grassland, and their scale is not small. The most important thing is that they are familiar with the terrain. If they attack by surprise, they still have a chance of winning."
"Now, this is the only thing we can do! Of course, we can't tell them that it's Tubo Zamp's team, otherwise they will ask for more money even if they are not afraid!"
Zangbu nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, then I will listen to the high priest and make arrangements now!"
He kept saying,
"With the help of you, the high priest, and the blessing of the gods, we will definitely succeed!"
The high priest looked confident.
"Don't worry! I can feel that God is guiding me."
He said,
"God told me that this time it will go smoothly, and Songtsen Gumbo will definitely die on the way!"
He doesn't know why, but he is very confident anyway!
Naturally, he regarded this as guidance from the gods!
…
In the vast grassland, Tuyuhun Royal City.
This is a city made of stones. Although it is far inferior to Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, it is not easy for the grassland tribes to be able to build such a city.
Within the palace.
Murong Fuyun took Murong Lin's letter and frowned in silence.
"Father, Murong Lin's tone is too bad! Is he ordering us to obey his instructions?"
King Murong Zun said unhappily,
"A fringe member of the royal family, who gave him the courage?"
Murong Fuyun shook his head.
"He was under pressure from the Tang Dynasty, and it was not easy. The Emperor of Tang Dynasty must have reprimanded and threatened him."
He said solemnly.
King Murong Zun looked even more displeased when he heard this.
"Then it has nothing to do with us! Emperor Tang really doesn't distinguish between good and bad! Those who invaded his Liangzhou are people from the Zhatu tribe. What does it have to do with us?"
He said angrily,
"Come and scold us every time!"
"We also want to control it, but are the grassland people as docile and easy to control as the Central Plains people?"
"The legs are on their own bodies, how can we still tie them up and prevent them from walking?"
Murong Fuyun sighed softly.
"Having said that, but Li Shimin doesn't know the internal situation of our Tuyuhun, he will naturally think that it is Tuyuhun who is provoking, and it is me who is provoking!"
He shook his head and said,
"After all, the Zhatu people are also Tuyuhun people! I must be responsible for their actions!"
"However, this time, the Zhatu people also paid the price. The Tang army pursued for hundreds of miles and killed nearly a thousand strong men of the Zhatu people. The Zhatu tribe's vitality was severely damaged, and it is feared that it will be annihilated."
King Murong Zun snorted coldly.
"Stupid Zhatu people with no intelligence at all deserve this end."
"The Iron Bridge tribe has already dispatched. I estimate that the Zhatu tribe will be finished in the next few days. By then, all their property and women will belong to the Iron Bridge people."
Murong Fuyun nodded.
"Son, do you know why your father named you King Zun?"
He stood up and sighed softly,
"As a father, I hope that the people under my command can respect me as the king! They will also respect you as the king in the future! Listen to your words!"
"Compared with the Tang Dynasty and compared with Tubo, we are all in disarray - there are many forces in the country, but few are truly obedient!"
"This is the biggest worry in my life as a father! What do you mean by being the king?"
There was a coldness in King Murong Zun's eyes.
"Isn't it the Turkic outsiders who have muddied the waters?"
"As soon as they come in, they are like wild wolves, developing their own power and starting conflicts with us!"
"I don't know. I really thought they were strong men! They are just lost dogs that were beaten by the Tang Dynasty and were running around! They are here to beg for food from Tuyuhun!"
Murong Fuyun; "..."
This son's mouth is really sharp!
But if your strength can be as tough as your mouth, that would be great, there would be no worries!
"You are right, but the Turks are powerful after all. It is difficult for us to take care of them."
Murong Fuyun said in a deep voice,
"Unless there is help from the Tang Dynasty! With their help, we can clear out the disloyal people in Tuyuhun! Only in this way can Tuyuhun truly be the Tuyuhun of our Murong family!"
"Your Majesty... So this time, you must go to Chang'an to marry the Princess of the Tang Dynasty!"
King Murong Zun's face darkened.
"Father, are you serious?"
He frowned and said,
"Then Li Shimin is like a lion, asking for 100,000 cattle and sheep!"
"One hundred thousand! Can we get it together? It's impossible! If it is collected by force, do you believe there will be a group of people who will rebel immediately?"
"The betrothal gift required by the Tang Dynasty is too high, we simply can't do it! Don't even think about it!"
Tubo might be able to scrape together one hundred thousand cattle and sheep, but Tuyuhun is really in trouble and can't even scrape together so many!
"This matter... my father will come up with a solution, so you don't need to worry too much."
Murong Fuyun gritted his teeth and said,
"Even if you borrow it, I will borrow it! Ask Xue Yantuo or Khitan to borrow it, and we can make up for it ourselves!"
"it should be OK!"
"Son, don't think this time seems to cost a lot, but in the long run, it is definitely a good thing! As long as this marriage succeeds, we don't even need Datang to send troops to help. We can just rely on Datang's reputation. Do you believe that those Turkic bastards were so scared that they were as quiet as chickens?"
"These bullies and those who are afraid of the strong will not be able to follow the path when they hear the name of Datang!"
"When the time comes, once we are integrated, our national strength will be greatly increased! Are we still short of these tens of thousands of cattle and sheep?"
King Murong Zun remained silent.
"Also, if you don't marry this princess, the Tubo people will marry her!"
Murong Fuyun said again,
"You know that Songtsen Gampo is very ambitious!"
"If they get married and have feelings for us, wouldn't Tuyuhun become a lamb to be slaughtered? They won't have the ability to resist at all!"
"So, we must fight for this marriage!"
"It just so happens that we are closer to the Tang Dynasty and have the advantage of being the first mover! You hurry up and prepare to set off. If Songtsen Gampo comes by then, I will try my best to intercept him so that he cannot reach Chang'an!"
"In that case, the princess of the Tang Dynasty will definitely marry our Tuyuhun!"
His calculation was good.
He would definitely not dare to kill Songtsen Gampo, but he could still do it by intercepting him.
However, Songtsen Gampo also predicted his prediction and was prepared.
Of course, even so, Tuyuhun still has a first-mover advantage. No matter how fast Songtsen Gampo is, he still has to pass through Tuyuhun to reach Datang... This distance is much farther!
"this……"
King Murong Zun hesitated and said,
"Father, are you sure Li Shimin won't do anything to me?"
"Murong Lin has become like that. When I arrive in Chang'an, I won't be directly captured by Li Shimin and become a prisoner, right?"
Murong Fuyun shook his head repeatedly.
"What are you worried about? Is the Great Khan like this?"
He said hurriedly,
"Don't worry! Nothing will happen to you! You must be a guest, not a prisoner!"
"Father can promise you this!"
"Go, go! Father, I will prepare an itinerary for you!"
(End of chapter)
