Although he had seen a lot of prosperity, the first time he saw Chang'an of Tang State still shocked His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu State to the point of being speechless.
Although Chang'an was far from the most prosperous city in the Tang Dynasty, due to geographical reasons, the real prosperity was Linshui, the port city of the Tang Dynasty.
Many people call Linshui the Bunas of the Western Continent. Many people who have been to the Bunas Port of the Enns Empire know that Linshui has completely surpassed Bunas and has become the richest city in the entire world.
There are an endless stream of ships here, and trains here one after another. Anyone who wants to make a fortune can go to Linshui, where everyone can find business opportunities that suit them.
The prosperity of Linshui is the kind of prosperity that surpasses Bunas, while the prosperity of Chang'an City is the prosperity of a completely new political center based on a new order.
The street was cleaned spotlessly by the sprinkler truck, and the pedestrians on both sides of the street were proud of themselves.
In just a few years, people here have become accustomed to everything here, and regard businessmen and visitors from other places as "outsiders".
They are proud to be born in Chang'an. Every Chang'an person has an aura of being superior to others. Even though these businessmen are from Linshui, even though they are wealthy, they are still not from Chang'an.
Walking out of the train station in Chang'an, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was frightened by the nobility imprinted in his bones.
The train station in the Chu capital was obviously not of this quality. When he went to study in the capital of Dahua, there was no such thing as a train station in the capital.
Therefore, when he saw the train station in Chang'an City, he was startled by the magnificent and high roof.
He even thought for a time that he got off the car directly at the palace of the Tang Kingdom. The guards following him were also frightened by this wealth and were a little overwhelmed.
"Ah! My dear Prince, you don't need to be so formal. This is just the train station of Chang'an City. We haven't entered the city yet." The Tang diplomat accompanying His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu explained very considerately. .
It's okay that he didn't explain. This explanation made the prince of Chu, who had never seen the world, feel even more ashamed: he really wanted to prevent his appearance from being seen by others, but everyone else had already seen it clearly.
This time, he actually represented the Chu State and participated in the Tang State's military parade. After this military parade, the Tang State will soon become the Tang Empire and the most recognized empire on the Western Continent.
And the "uncle" he had never met before was about to become the emperor of this empire and the master of the vast land.
That's right, in the treaty between Chu and Tang, the two countries are brotherly countries, Chu is the younger brother, and Tang is the older brother. The king of Chu must be the "younger brother" of the emperor of Tang.
The 54-year-old King of Chu called Tang Mo, who was less than 30 years old, "big brother". This incident became a joke among the people of Tang.
What is tragic is that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, who is already in his thirties this year, actually wants to call Tang Mo "uncle". And he already had several children in Chu State, and Tang Mo was instantly promoted to a grandfather.
This prince of the Chu Kingdom also has two eldest brothers in the Tang Kingdom. Yes, that’s right, they are the eldest brothers: Although the two princes of the Tang Kingdom are younger, they are still called the eldest brothers of the prince of the Chu Kingdom...
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If you want to change this relationship, it is actually not difficult. As long as the King of Chu returns to the west and the prince of Chu becomes King of Chu, then he can call Tang Mo a brother.
Or... Winning the war against the Tang Dynasty is also a way to change one's status, but this road may be more difficult. If you don't go well, you may become a grandchild.
Another purpose of this Chu prince's visit to Chang'an was to stay in Chang'an to study after the Tang Dynasty's military parade and enter the Datang Military Academy to study politics, international relations and other subjects.
This learning process is not short, because he has to live in Chang'an City for at least three years, which is almost equivalent to a proton. This was also a guarantee from Chu to Tang: sending the future king to Chang'an as a hostage to show that he had surrendered.
Speaking of which, this prince of the Chu State had a miserable life. He was sent to the Great China Empire as a hostage when he was only a few years old. He finally managed to survive until he reached adulthood and returned to his country. After a few years of stable life, he was sent to the Tang State to continue being a hostage. hostage.
"Your country, your country is really... really prosperous to the extreme." Looking up at the huge clock on the station, the prince of Chu couldn't help but sigh.
He really envied such strength, because his country had been weak since he was sensible. The entire Chu Kingdom was eroded by the nobles. The royal family was very weak and had to compromise with the nobles most of the time. At critical moments, the nobles would be pushed out to take the blame.
Therefore, he has always wanted to revitalize the Chu State and hope to build a powerful country. In the past, he thought that the Great China Empire was the goal he aspired to, but now, at this moment, he realized that true strength turned out to be like this.
"The K413 train bound for Linshui is checking tickets. Passengers please go to ticket gate No. 4 to check in!" On the radio, a gentle female voice was reminding people to hurry up and check in.
Accompanied by this voice, the diplomat accompanying His Royal Highness smiled and led the Prince of Chu to the VIP aisle.
Chang'an's train station really has a "VIP channel" because of actual demand. Through this passage, you can walk directly to the car that greets you, without taking the exit used by civilians.
After all, it would be a real joke if His Majesty Tang Mo, the Emperor, had to walk out of the station to take the train back to the capital.
Except for Tang Mo himself, who is about to become the emperor, others who use the VIP channel also need to be inspected. Even the prince of Chu State was only allowed to have one person with a gun in his entourage, and no one was allowed to carry dangerous explosives, poisonous drugs, etc. through the station.
After handing over all his luggage and letting the station staff check it carefully, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu finally saw the foreign guest car of the Tang Ministry of Foreign Affairs that came to greet him.
Then he was so moved by Tang Guo's hospitality that he almost shed tears: it was the first time he saw such a luxurious car, and the first time he saw the car's paint surface as bright as a mirror.
Just looking at the size of the wheels, you can tell how rich this car is. The moment the driver helped open the door, the dull sound made the prince of Chu Kingdom happy.
The heavy sound of the car door and the luxurious leather decoration inside the car made the prince, who had never even seen a Rolls-Royce of Tang Dynasty, inexplicably excited.
He was really touched. He was touched that in this strange country, when he was a hostage, he could be taken so seriously.
But what he didn't know was that this car was not considered high-end in the Tang Dynasty's luxury car brand Rolls-Royce. It was just an ordinary car for foreign guests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, Cyric's representative was riding in a similar vehicle a few days ago, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu's treatment was not special.
"Young! Who is this?" Seeing that the prince of Chu was about to get in the car, a voice sounded from behind, full of ridicule.
As soon as everyone turned around, they saw a young man wearing the clothes of the Dahua Empire. Surrounded by a group of people, he walked up to them and said, "Isn't this Xiong Gai! Our Highness, the Great Prince of Chu, was learning how to bark like a dog in the imperial capital. A good player."
"Zhao Yu! You!" The eldest prince of Chu named Xiong Fei knew something was wrong when he saw the person in front of him. As expected, what the other person said made him immediately angry.
Back then, he was helpless and a hostage in the capital of the Great China Empire, so he naturally kept a low profile and tolerated things. I didn't dare to speak out when I was bullied, but later I was forced to have no choice but to even learn to bark like a dog in order to beg for mercy.
"What the hell are you! Being a dog in the Dahua Empire was not enough, and you came here to be a dog again! You are such a good dog." The middle-aged man, whom Xiong Fei called Zhao Yu, sneered and continued to mock.
He is a prince of the Great China Empire, but not a prince. This time he came to Chang'an to attend the ceremony on behalf of the Great China Empire.
In fact, the Great China Empire was very dissatisfied with the promotion of the Tang Dynasty to an empire, but the defeat was a fact, and it was also a fact that they promised to support the Tang Dynasty in proclaiming emperor. None of this could change.
Therefore, in this military parade, the Great China Empire sent Prince Zhao Yu as a representative, which was a gesture.
Obviously, even if it was defeated, the Dahua Empire was still a level higher than Chu State. Zhao Kai did not shamelessly call Tang Mo "big brother", nor did he send any hostages or anything like that to stay in Chang'an for a long time.
Zhao Yu only came to participate in the military parade and will return home afterward. So the state he came here in was obviously much more arrogant than Xiong Fei.
Before coming, his father Zhao Kai only warned him not to have random conflicts with the Tang people or violate the laws of the Tang State, but he did not warn him not to provoke the Chu people.
Therefore, in Zhao Yu's view, the Chu people in front of him are all soft persimmons, ants that can be manipulated casually.
That's why he stopped Xiong Fei who was about to get in the car and leave, and why he appeared here so arrogantly.
"Who is this...?" The Tang diplomat who was following Xiong Fei looked at his embarrassed colleague who had just arrived.
"This is His Highness Zhao Yu, the second prince of the Dahua Empire." The Tang diplomat who arrived later replied sheepishly.
After hearing his colleague's answer, the diplomat accompanying Xiong Fei nodded slightly. In Xiong Fei's surprised eyes, he warned Zhao Yu: "I don't know what the prince of Chu was like before, but now Chu has He is a vassal of our country, and this prince is also a distinguished guest of our country."
He snorted disdainfully: "When it comes to relations, the Chu State and our country have a profound friendship, and the standard of the relationship between the two countries is higher than that of Hua and Tang Dynasty."
Having said this, he paused, and in Zhao Yu's shocked eyes, he continued: "Besides, this Prince Xiong Gai still wants to call our Majesty uncle. You are here to embarrass the son and nephew of our monarch, so What do you want?"
This is the benefit of a strong country, and you must be tough when speaking! Yes, you are bullying my eldest nephew here. What do you want to do?
I don't know why, but although it seemed that someone had taken advantage of him, Xiong Fei still felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
I have to say, this feeling is really wonderful, giving people a sense of elation. How long had it been since he had seen a great prince become so deflated in front of him?
"Your Highness, please get in the car first!" Turning around, the diplomat of the Tang Dynasty seemed to have no intention of giving the other party a chance to speak, and suggested directly to Xiong Fei.
Even, in order to give Xiong Fei some support, his tone of voice changed slightly. The approachability that Xiong Fei didn't feel along the way was actually reflected in these few words.
"Okay! Okay!" Xiong Fei immediately bowed slightly and quickly got into the car. After he got in the car, the driver closed the door for him, and the noise outside was immediately cut off thousands of miles away.
The moment the car door was closed, Xiong Fei suddenly had an epiphany in his heart: The Chu State no longer had a territorial border with the Dahua Empire. No matter how strong the Dahua Empire was, it would not dare to do anything to the Chu State in a short period of time.
There is absolutely no need for him to continue to swallow his anger. He just needs to be a good hostage in the Tang Empire and serve his new masters well.
And it seems that this new master seems to be more reasonable than those bastards in the Dahua Empire. At least, they are unlikely to be so vulgar that they let themselves bark like dogs...
Outside the car, Zhao Yu, the prince of Dahua, swallowed his saliva and tried not to explode. He clenched his fists and his face was terrifyingly gloomy.
He turned his head and looked at the diplomat accompanying him, preparing to ask for a reasonable explanation from the other party. In his opinion, the Dahua Empire is an empire and should be treated with courtesy and treatment higher than that of the Chu Kingdom.
But the accompanying officials from the Tang Kingdom who were already very dissatisfied with the Prince of Dahua were no longer polite at this time and said coldly: "This is the Tang Dynasty... If His Highness the Prince wants to cause trouble, I will not stop him, but I hope that the Prince will not Regret, that’s all.”
After he finished speaking, he added while everyone was in a daze: "I am an official of the Tang State, not Dahua's dog! If His Highness the Prince acts alone next time without me, please don't ask me again." Officer! Remember!"
After saying that, he left Zhao Yu and his group and walked to the car waiting on the other side, leaving only Zhao Yu alone, messy in the wind.
"When you know who I am! I hope you can still be so arrogant!" After gritting his teeth and speaking in a voice that only he could hear, Zhao Yu walked towards the car that came to pick him up with a gloomy face.
A very wide street has been reserved between the old city of Chang'an City and the new royal city, or the new imperial city. This street is called Zhuque Street.
The military parade is scheduled to be held on this street. At that time, His Majesty the new emperor will overlook the Tang army passing through the street from the gate tower of his imperial city.
The entire process will be recorded on video, and all color films will be used. This is a new technology that was not widely used before. This is the first time that black and white film has been completely replaced.
At the same time, this is also the first time in the world that the air force has participated in the military parade, and it is also the first time that the cavalry has been completely excluded from the military parade.
For hundreds of years, cavalry has been an integral part of military parades. In the upcoming Tang Dynasty military parade, the cavalry unit will be eliminated.
Throughout the parade, mechanized troops will completely replace the cavalry of the past, and even horse-drawn carriages towing artillery will not appear.
These are the highlights of the Tang Dynasty’s military parade. After the military parade, a labor victory parade will be held. Celebrate the great victory Tang Dynasty has achieved in production and life in the past year.
Compared with past military parades from various countries, this time the Tang military parade also surpassed it in scale: just the aircraft formation flying overhead included 600 aircraft!
The fleet of aircraft will fly in dense formation over the Royal Palace. The visual impact brought by the huge aircraft formation is expected to shock the entire world.
What is even more enviable is that in this military parade, all the troops reviewed are real "actual combat" personnel who have returned from the front line. At least they all have a third-class White Blade Medal, and they are all elite soldiers who have seen blood in many battles.
The Tang State was able to assemble so many elite troops, which was nothing more than showing off its military power to the world and showing the power of the Tang State.
On the other hand, many new weapons will be on display at the military parade, and I heard that many weapons will be released from confidentiality for the first time.
After this military parade, it is estimated that there will be a new round of weapons procurement feast. Countries will covet new weapons, and many countries will begin to end the lessons learned from this war and purchase weapons to make up for the shortcomings and deficiencies of their own armies.
The troops participating in the military parade this time have arrived in the suburbs of Chang'an one after another. Among them are some armored units of the famous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Armored Divisions, as well as participating officers and soldiers of the 7th and 9th Infantry Corps.
Of course, there are also the 1st Infantry Army, which defends Xicong and fights to the death, and the soldiers of the 6th Army, who perform outstandingly in disaster relief.
The whole of Chang'an is waiting for the military parade in a few days. The street lamps are hung with lanterns, and some alleys are filled with colorful flags.
The roofs of many buildings were covered with Tang dragon flags, and many windows were hung with vertical red flags, with a huge Tang dragon emblem in the middle.
The city's security level has also been raised to a terrifying level, and soldiers on patrol can be seen from time to time.
The streets and alleys were bustling with activity. After being in traffic jam for more than an hour, Zhao Yu's car reluctantly stopped in front of the hotel prepared for him.
Most of the guards were left on the ground floor. Zhao Yu took the elevator to the third floor with only two of his confidants.
This hotel is also quite grand in Chang'an City. Needless to say, the decoration inside is exquisite, and every detail is meticulously crafted.
But Zhao Yu was no longer in the mood to look at these things. He had been shocked enough along the way. His mind was not on these things right now, so he passed the corridor almost without looking away and stood in front of an inconspicuous door.
There was a knock on the door behind him, and after getting permission from the people inside, he opened the door and entered. The two guards who followed him stayed at the door of the room and stood on either side, but did not follow him in.
In the room, Zhao Yu saw a middle-aged man. The man was making tea, and the aroma of tea leaves wafted in the room.
"Mr. Nangong..." Zhao Yu bowed respectfully and said, "After so many years, you are still...the same as when we met."
"You have grown up a lot." Nangong Hong smiled and gestured for the other person to sit down, and pushed a cup of brewed tea to him.
Zhao Yu seemed a little nervous. He sat across from Nangong Hong anxiously, without picking up the steaming cup of tea. He stared at Nangong Hong and said nothing for a while. There was only silence in the room, accompanied by the heat of the tea lingering between the two of them.
"I feel more calm, not bad." Nangong Hong finally spoke and commented on Zhao Yu. After he finished speaking, he picked up his teacup, blew it gently, and took a sip of the tea inside.
"Sir, if you don't speak secretly, are you really willing to... help me?" Zhao Yu considered his words and asked Nangong Hongdao.
"The only one who can help you is yourself!" Nangong Hong put down the teacup, stared into Zhao Yu's eyes, and replied with a smile: "What I want to ask is, are you... ready?"
"Sir! Zhao Yu has been preparing! The throne of the Great China Empire should have been mine! That damn Zhao Ji is mediocre and inactive. He looks forward and backward when encountering problems. He has little planning and little decision-making. He just relies on his father's love. He is so talented that he occupies a high position and becomes a prince!"
"As long as sir is willing to help me, it will be absolutely easy to seize the crown prince position..." After Zhao Yu said this, he seemed to be much more confident.
However, his words were immediately interrupted by Nangong Hong: "Your Highness! What you want to seize is not the crown prince's position, but the throne... If it is just a mere crown prince's position, why do I need to work so hard?"
Zhao Yu's eyes widened and his breathing became slightly faster. It seemed that the position he had been dreaming about was already in front of his eyes: "Sir, what you taught me is! Zhao Yu has learned the lesson! Please help me, sir, to seize the throne! Become the emperor of the Great China Empire! When it comes to that When I become the emperor of the Great China Empire, I will definitely form an alliance with you, sir, to help you become a powerful minister in the Great Tang Empire! With the help of each other, you and I will be able to control the wind and rain, and be invincible!"
He was afraid that Nangonghong would abandon him, so he quickly made a vow to lure Nangonghong. Nangong Hong's face was calm, and no movement could be seen. He just pushed the teacup towards Zhao Yu again.
As soon as Zhao Yu saw something was going on, he immediately grabbed the tea cup and took a sip. The hot tea was boiling in his mouth. Zhao Yu couldn't swallow it and didn't dare to spit it out. It took him a while to finally get over it.
The burning pain in his mouth did not make Zhao Yu feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, it stimulated him a little excited - with the secret support of Nangong Hong, a senior official of the Tang Dynasty, it was possible for Zhao Yu to further his ambitions.
This is also an important reason why he said something like that before: when he became the emperor of the Great China Empire with the support of Nangong Hong, and Nangong Hong became the powerful minister of the Tang Empire with his support... Who? Do you dare to embarrass him again?
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on his face: "Sir! Since you have decided to help me... what about specific cooperation?..."
"No rush! In the past few days, I will introduce some people... to you." Nangong Hong picked up his tea cup again, looking like he was strategizing.
