The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate. Li Zhiyun got off the carriage and was about to enter the palace gate when he saw another carriage coming from behind. After the carriage stopped, the second brother got out. When Li Zhiyun saw him, he rushed forward and said with a smile: "Second brother, are you here too?" The second brother, also wearing the prince's crown, nodded and said: "Fifth brother, let's go in together."
The brothers entered the Tai Chi Palace, led by a eunuch, and walked toward the Guangming Palace. As soon as they reached the palace gate, they saw a man coming out of the palace. This man looks to be in his thirties, of medium height, thin body, fair-skinned, and with a long and narrow face. Like Li Zhiyun and the others, he also wore a crown and nine python court clothes. Obviously, he was also a prince, but Li Zhiyun did not recognize him.
However, this person is familiar with the second brother. I saw him step forward with a smile and salute: "His Royal Highness, King Qin, I am honored to meet you. Your Highness is brave and brave, and has outstanding military exploits. I admire you very much!" The second brother quickly returned the salute and thanked him repeatedly.
After the man walked away, Li Zhiyun glanced at his back and said to his second brother, "Who is this man?"
"Oh, he is the Chuluo Khan of the Western Turks."
"Turkic Khan?" Li Zhiyun was confused when he heard this, "Second brother, isn't Abba going to entertain the Turkic envoys today? Why is the Khan here too?"
The second brother smiled and said: "The envoys that Abba entertained today were sent by Shibi Khan, and this Chuluo Khan is the Khan of the Western Turks. The two are not the same thing. Moreover, this Chuluo Khan came to the Central Plains It’s been years.”
"Isn't he a khan? Why does he stay in the Central Plains?" Li Zhiyun asked puzzledly.
"It's a long story," said the second brother, "Chuluo Khan's name is Daman, and his mother is from the Central Plains, so he is half Han Chinese."
It turns out that the Turks were originally a unified country. In 580 AD, the Turks established a small khan in the Western Regions to take charge of the area west of Jinshan (today's Altai Mountains). This was an important source of the future divisions of the Turks. The following year, the Eastern Turkic Shabolu Khan came to the throne, and the Western Turkic Khan Datou refused to recognize Shabolu Khan's nominal suzerainty. The Eastern and Western Turks officially split and started a civil war.
Xiang, the wife of Nili Khan of Western Turks, was a Han Chinese and gave birth to Daman. After Nili died, Daman succeeded to the throne as Chuluo Khan, and Xiang remarried Nili Khan's younger brother Positqin. Later, Po Shi and Xiang went to the capital of Sui Dynasty for pilgrimage. Due to civil strife in the Turks, they stayed in Honglu Temple in the capital.
Chuluo Khan governed the country without justice, and many of his subjects rebelled. In 605 AD (the first year of Sui Dynasty), the Turkic Xueyantuo tribe launched a rebellion and established the Xueyantuo Khanate. In the Sui Dynasty, civil strife broke out due to the Western Turks. Chuluo Khan missed his mother again, so he sent envoys to appease Chuluo Khan. Chu Luo received the imperial edict and led hundreds of his subordinates to the Sui capital for pilgrimage, and has remained in the capital ever since. After Abba captured Chang'an, Chuluo Khan came to Chang'an. Abba lowered his rank to welcome him, sat with him, and named him King of Guiyi.
Li Zhiyun and his second brother walked into the Guangming Hall and saw a dozen people already in the hall. It was still early, and Abba and the Turkic envoys had not yet arrived. People in the hall gathered together in twos and threes to chat. In addition to the high-ranking civil and military officials of the imperial court, these people also included leaders of ethnic minorities and foreign envoys in Chang'an. Li Zhiyun saw Pang Qidi at a glance, and Pang Qidi also saw him, and took the initiative to come over to say hello and thank him for the condolence gifts he sent a few days ago. Li Zhiyun introduced Pang Qidi to his second brother, and the three of them chatted and laughed together for a while.
When the time came, all the guests at the banquet were present. Abba also walked into the hall and sat on the throne under the guidance of ceremonial guards such as umbrella covers and fans. The palace musicians played a piece of "Shao Music", and then the Turkic envoys, led by the protocol officer of Honglu Temple, walked into the main hall with their heads held high.
There were four Turkic envoys, the leader of which was Shibi Khan's younger brother Tilifu. They stood in front of the throne, and Lifu put his right hand on his chest and said: "Dear Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, we have been sent by Shibi Khan as envoys to your country to express to you the respect of Shibi Khan." Abba He smiled and nodded and said: "Thank you, distinguished envoy. Please express my respect to Shibi Khan on my behalf. I am holding a banquet today to entertain several distinguished envoys. Please take your seats and drink and listen to music together."
"No," Zilifu shook his head and said, "We can't sit down."
"Why?" Abba asked in surprise.
Zilifu turned around, pointed at Chuluo Khan, who was sitting in the middle on the right side, and said: "This man is a traitor to us Turks. We cannot sit and drink with him. Please ask His Majesty the Emperor to expel him." Get out!" Apparently, when Lifu walked in just now, he saw Chuluo Khan sitting there.
"This..." Abba felt embarrassed upon hearing this, "Your Majesty, Chuluo Khan is also my distinguished guest. Besides, he is also an Ashina clan just like you. You are from the same Khan clan and are born from the same roots. We should be brothers!”
"No," Zilifu said arrogantly, "Ashina is our noble Turkic surname. There is no such traitor!"
It seems that Zilifu is full of hatred towards Chuluo Khan. However, it is no wonder that after the East and West Turks split, there were constant wars between them. When the Western Turks were strong, they repeatedly raised troops to attack the Eastern Turks. The two sides had deep grudges and were mortal enemies.
The guests in the hall were talking a lot, and Abba was also hesitant. At this time, Chuluo Khan stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I suddenly feel unwell. I forgive you for taking my leave now." After that, he turned and walked towards the entrance of the hall. Abba didn't call him to stop him, so he had to say to the concierge: "Go and see it off for me."
After Chuluo Khan left, the Turkic envoys proudly walked to their seats and sat down. Then, the sound of silk and bamboo sounded, and the banquet officially began.
Li Zhiyun left Chang'an for half a year. When he came back, he naturally wanted to get together with his brothers and have fun together. He was about to invite his brothers to the Prince of Chu's Mansion, but unexpectedly Liu Shuyi sent a servant to deliver an invitation, saying that he had booked a banquet at Tongqing Restaurant and invited him to the banquet.
Li Zhiyun took Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu there. The three of them walked into the restaurant and found a group of people quarreling in the lobby. It turned out that several waiters were surrounding the two Fans and would not let them leave. Li Zhiyun took a look and realized that the two Tibetan people were none other than Bian Qi Di and his companions. He asked the shopkeeper standing aside what was going on? The shopkeeper said that these two fanciers were arrogant and unreasonable. They ate wine without paying for it.
Pang Qidi probably heard what the shopkeeper said, and said confidently: "I was invited by your emperor. Do you need money for a drink? I have no money!"
"You come here to have a drink if you don't have money?" one of the waiters glared.
Seeing that they were arguing again, Li Zhiyun said to the shopkeeper: "Let them go, I will pay for their drinks." After hearing this, the shopkeeper waved his hand and told the guys to get out of the way. Before leaving, Bian Qidi clasped his fists at Li Zhiyun and said, "King Chu, I will remember your love." Li Zhiyun asked Zhang Zheng to pay for the drink, and then led the two attendants upstairs.
Li Zhiyun now holds several official positions. As long as he stays in Chang'an, he will attend court meetings as usual.
The dynasties are divided into major dynasties, regular dynasties and daily dynasties. The Great Chao is held on the first and fifteenth day of each month, and on the third day of the regular Chao. Both the Dachao and the Changchao were in Wude Hall, and civil and military officials decided how many times a month they could attend the court meetings based on their rank. In Japan, the emperor met with important ministers serving in the central government in the inner hall, and generally very few people attended.
The court meeting is held in the morning, so it is called "morning court". Officials who attend the morning court will get up at midnight, dress neatly, enter the palace, and "wait" in the direct room. Around five o'clock in the morning, civil and military officials entered the palace in two groups and stood on both sides of the hall, waiting for the emperor to go to court.
The morning meeting is divided into four parts: 1. Receive people who enter and leave the capital. Honglu Temple officials are the first to go out and report the number of officials who have come to the capital to thank them and left the capital to ask for their favors. The emperor can choose to summon or not summon them. If not, those officials should be summoned. In the outer courtyard of the palace, people perform five bows and three kowtows. 2. Receive foreign envoys. 3. Handle local wars and border affairs. 4. When dealing with general important affairs of the government, the officials will do the work, and the emperor will respond on the spot, or summon relevant officials for discussion after retreating from the court.
Jia Zhi, a member of the Zhongshu family during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "The Daming Palace presented friends from two provinces in the early dynasty", which vividly described this kind of palace ceremony in the early dynasty: silver candles pointed towards the sky and long purple roads, and the spring scenery in the forbidden city was bright and clear. Thousands of weak willows hang down, and hundreds of chirping orioles surround the building. The sound of the sword follows the steps of the jade, and the clothes and body are aroused by the incense of the imperial furnace. Let's bathe together in the phoenix pool of Enbo, and serve the king in court.
In the morning, the red clouds dew slightly, and the east is white. In the Tai Chi Palace, there are jade steps and red eaves, yellow tiles and red eaves, and double dragons hanging on the white marble stone pillars. The majestic stone archway carved with dragon and phoenix patterns shows the majesty and solemn imperial palace. When the first ray of morning light reflected on the top of the magnificent Wude Hall, hundreds of officials went to court. Li Zhiyun, his eldest brother, and his second brother stood at the front of the civil and military classes. After the officials of Honglu Temple reported the number of people entering and leaving Beijing, they asked Abba if he would receive them. Abba waved his hand and said he was gone and asked them to kneel and worship outside the temple.
Next, receive foreign envoys. The Turkic envoy walked into the main hall under the guidance of the protocol officer. After standing in front of the throne, Lifu said: "Your Majesty, Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, at the beginning of our mission to your country, the Khan gave us a A special mission.”
"What mission?"
"Please ask your country to execute Daman."
"What? Kill Chuluo Khan?" Abba was surprised, "How is this possible?"
"This is what Shibi Khan told me." Zilifu said with his head held high, "By accepting Daman, your country is becoming an enemy of our Turks. You know how powerful the Turks are. If you are an enemy of the Turks, you will never It will end well! So, please agree to our request and execute Daman immediately!"
After Lifu finished speaking, he turned around and walked away with his people without even saluting.
After the Turkic envoys left, my father looked at the ministers and said, "My dear friends, what do you think?" The internal history officer ordered Xiao Yu to go out and say: "Your Majesty, the Turks are like jackals, tigers and leopards, not to be messed with. I protected one If a person offends a country, it will definitely be a disaster in the future. Your Majesty, please agree to the request of the Turkic envoy."
"Are you talking about executing Zhuluo Khan?"
"yes."
Then, several more officials came out to answer questions and echoed Xiao Yu's opinions.
