Li Qinzai's plan was based on Tubo's political situation and Zan Xiruo's psychology.
Lu Dongzan has passed away, and his authority is gradually losing. His son has ascended to the throne of Prime Minister, but his position is not stable. After a lot of competition for the position of Prime Minister obtained after a massacre, there must be many political enemies who hate him.
Otherwise, why would Zan Xiruo come to the Tang Dynasty to congratulate him for no reason? His purpose was to deal with foreign troubles first and then turn around and concentrate on dealing with political opponents.
How could Li Qinzai not take advantage of such an opportunity?
So Li Qinzai simply took advantage of Zan Xiruo's suspicion of his political opponents and staged an assassination trick in Chang'an City.
No one could tell what Zan Xiruo would think, but Li Qinzai was certain that Zan Xiruo would definitely think so.
Zan Xiruo would think that Tubo's political opponents ordered assassins to kill Li Qinzai in order to borrow a knife to kill others. However, Zan Xiruo was already trapped in the whirlpool. He was not one to sit back and wait for death. He had to save himself.
I heard that officials of the Tang Dynasty had captured the murderer. Zan Xiruo's identity prevented him from going to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to meet the murderer. Moreover, he was also a suspect, so it was impossible for him to meet him.
But if Zan Xi has no doubt about the origin of the murderer, it must be related to Tibet.
If the Tang Dynasty had established that the assassination was instigated by the Tubo people, what would the emperor do next?
If Zan Xi wants to cry, then why bother guessing? Su Dingfang has been summoned to the palace, and the famous general Xue Rengui has also been urgently recalled from the Haidong battlefield. What else can Datang do? Of course it was a war with Tubo.
Zan Xiruo's previous analysis showed that the Tang Dynasty would not be able to support another major war within three to five years. That was just Zan Xiruo's personal guess.
In fact, there are many variables in this guess. The biggest variable is that Li Qinzai was assassinated by the Tubo people. Now he is lying in the palace with no idea of his life or death. The relationship between the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and Li Qinzai is well known to the world. Not only did he rely heavily on Li Qinzai in state affairs, but he also had a personal relationship. Very irresponsible.
Under such a friendship, Li Qinzai was innocently killed. It is difficult to say what choice the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty would make, even if this choice was not wise.
The emperor suddenly summoned the generals, which was a very obvious signal.
"We must save ourselves," Zan Xiruo was sitting in the post room with an extremely solemn expression: "If we don't do something, there will be a big disaster in Tubo!"
The deputy said with a bitter face: "It was not us who were responsible for the stabbing of Duke Li. Isn't this an unjust accusation?"
Zan Xiruo said coldly: "We didn't do it, but it was probably those people in Tubo who did it."
"The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty doesn't care how the factions in the Tubo court fight. He only needs to know that it was the Tubo people who did it, and then the Tubo people are his enemies."
The deputy envoy felt extremely aggrieved. Tubo was considered a powerful country, and it felt really uncomfortable for a powerful country's envoy to be wronged in a foreign country and unable to defend himself.
"Prime Minister, should we immediately resign from the Emperor of Tang Dynasty and go back to Tubo to investigate this case?" the deputy envoy asked.
Zan Xiruo shook his head: "We can't leave, things must have a result. If nothing else happens, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty should have the intention of conquering Tubo. We must stop the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty from thinking, otherwise the battle with Tubo may be overturned." Destroy the country……"
His expression became more and more bitter, and he sighed with admiration: "Today's is different from the past. In the Tang Dynasty, the army's combat power has become more and more powerful, especially their firearms, which are indestructible. My father saw it personally back then. It's so powerful that this battle must not be started lightly."
According to Zan Xiruo's plan, after succeeding as Tibetan Prime Minister, he must first take a strategic defensive in the military in the next three to five years, then eliminate political enemies, develop domestic people's livelihood, train troops, farm and expand the army, etc.
This was a process of gradually accumulating chips in hand, but as soon as they arrived in Datang, they were destroyed.
If we follow the script of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo will be destroyed within three or two years.
"First make a statement to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to defend yourself!" Zan Xiruo gritted his teeth and said: "The assassination may have been done by the Tubo people, but it was definitely not done by our mission. The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty understood this, and then he So you can talk to them."
"What to talk about? How to talk about it?" asked the deputy envoy.
Zan Xiruo sighed and said: "The Tang Dynasty has taken the initiative through the assassination, and Tubo must pay a certain price."
The deputy envoy said reluctantly: "Should Tubo also give us an explanation?"
Zan Xiruo's face suddenly darkened, and she said coldly: "Of course I have to give an explanation, but not now. Let's resolve the matter in Datang first."
…………
Zan Xiruo wrote a memorial all night, expressing his feelings. In addition to expressing his regret and grief for Duke Li, the memorial also contained a larger space of explanation and self-defense.
In short, the assassination case has nothing to do with the Tibetan mission. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty should be aware of the truth and not let it go unjustly.
It is a pity that after Zan Xiruo's memorial was delivered to the Taiji Palace, it was like a stone sinking into the sea without any movement. Li Zhi did not respond at all. He just left the Tibetan mission in the palace post. Zan Xiruo raised the issue in the memorial Li Zhi also deliberately ignored Li Zhi's request to meet the emperor.
In the Chang'an court, a bigger storm has begun to brew.
After Li Zhi summoned Su Dingfang, the emperor and his ministers did not know what they discussed in the palace.
At the court meeting the next day, Su Dingfang suddenly went to court and asked the emperor with fierce words to rectify the troops, horses, food, grass and weapons and conquer Tubo.
The reason for the conquest was very legitimate and reasonable. The Tubo Kingdom had evil intentions and assassinated the heroes of the Tang Dynasty. This was a very bad provocation to the Tang Dynasty. How could the Tang Dynasty not conquer it after losing its national weapons?
Su Dingfang's suggestion set off a storm in the court.
Isn't it? Because a hero was assassinated, the whole country was going to conquer Tubo?
There is still peace on the east side of Haidong. How can Datang withstand another war in the west?
Where are the soldiers? Where's the food? What about ordnance? Where is the leading general?
Su Dingfang's memorial immediately aroused widespread opposition from court officials.
The emperor was angry and raised his troops. This unwise move would surely lead to unlucky consequences. There was a roar of curses and refutations in the Golden Palace of the Chaohui. However, Su Dingfang stood in the courtroom in the presence of the old god. He closed his eyes and rested his mind, turning a blind eye to the verbal and written criticisms of the civil servants.
Right Minister Xu Jingzong jumped out at this time. Yes, it was a critical moment again. As the emperor's golden confidant, Xu Jingzong certainly knew where to sit.
Other courtiers did not know the inside story, but Li Zhi would not hide it from Xu Jingzong. He needed Xu Jingzong to speak for him.
So Xu Jingzong knew very well that the whole thing was actually a show. Since it was a show, how could it not include his golden supporting role?
So Xu Jingzong decisively cooperated with Su Dingfang and stood in the golden palace to present the facts and reason.
He held his head high and supported Su Dingfang unequivocally, and told the officials that the assassination of Duke Li during the Tang Dynasty's conquest of Tibet was just the trigger, not the main cause.
The real main reason is that the east of the sea is at peace, and among the neighboring countries around Datang, the only strong enemy left is Tibet.
If Tubo is destroyed, the civil and military achievements of the Tang Dynasty will reach an unprecedented level in China for thousands of years, and the civil servants and generals in the palace will also leave a strong mark in the history of history.
For the Tang Dynasty, it was the last step to destroy Tubo. Are you sure you don’t want to give it a try?
As for issues such as food and fodder for soldiers, once the decision is made, those are minor issues. As the right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, Xu Jingzong guaranteed that he could fully allocate the granaries of each state in the Tang Dynasty, and it would not be a big problem to support a big war within one or two years.
With such a buzzing statement, the officials in the palace gradually became silent.
Many people actually began to think that what this old guy said seemed to make sense.
I shuddered at the last moment, should I do it or not? The assassination of Duke Li was an excellent reason for the Tang Dynasty to start a war. If you miss this time, the next time the Tang Dynasty wants to use weapons against Tibet, it will be difficult to find an excuse.
(End of chapter)
