The imperial court would usually agree to requests from envoys coming from afar as long as the requests were not excessive. This also demonstrated the broad-mindedness of our Celestial Empire. But this was not the case. Li Shimin had already said in person that he would not allow a marriage alliance. If you still wanted to make an effort on this matter, you would be wrong.
Songtsen Gampo's letter was full of sincerity and he expressed his desire to establish a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin didn't know how to respond for a while.
"Your Majesty, our Zamp, with a sincere heart, simply wishes to establish friendly relations with the Tang Dynasty and maintain everlasting friendship with it. We hope Your Majesty will agree to this."
Lu Dongzan had never told anyone before that he still had a letter from Songtsen Gampo in his hand. He took it out now, clearly forcing us to express our position. If we say no, there will be a conflict between the two countries, but if we say yes, it would be like slapping the emperor in the face.
Li Shimin glanced at his ministers. No one knew how to resolve this matter. Mostly, no one dared to take responsibility. If this matter caused a dispute between the two countries, who would be held responsible? No one had mentioned during their earlier discussion that he still had Songtsen Gampo's handwritten letter.
"Your Majesty, I believe this matter was raised by Prince Chengping. Why not have him come out and explain it to the Prime Minister of Tubo?"
Just when everyone didn't know what to do, Li Tai stepped forward. Li Shimin also knew that Li Tai did not have the ability to handle this matter, but what he said was still very right. This matter itself was proposed by Li Xiang. Now that you are implementing your strategy, you can't just stand behind everyone, right?
"Qingque is right, Xiang'er, you come and give..."
Li Shimin has been wanting to deal with Li Xiang recently, but in the end he ended up hurting himself the most. Now that he has finally found an opportunity, of course he has to pull Li Xiang out. You made such lofty ambitions at the beginning, but now this difficult problem is left to you.
Li Xiang was in a state of trance, and always felt that some of the matters in the court had been resolved, but he didn't expect that you two would kick the ball directly to him. Lu Dongzan didn't object when he heard this, he also wanted to see if Li Xiang was the same as the rumors said.
Li Xiang looked at all the civil and military officials in the court looking at him and said, "Since you have handed this matter over to me, it will be up to me to decide how to solve it later. Anyway, if I make a mistake, there will be someone higher up to support me."
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I do not need to introduce myself. We have already met before at the Ten-Li Pavilion outside the city. Regarding the policy of never marrying into another country, it is the national policy of our Tang Emperor, and no one is exempt from it. We sympathize with Tubo's desire to marry into our Tang. However, I have another idea. I wonder if it is acceptable to you. If you nod your head, then our two countries can still have a marriage."
For people in ancient times, such a problem might be difficult to solve, but for Li Xiang, a modern person, who has read so much knowledge on the Internet, if he cannot solve such a small matter, it would be a shame for him to save money to go to the Internet cafe when he was in school.
"Your Highness, please enlighten me. I am all ears."
Lu Dongzan had no idea what Li Xiang was up to, but from the flickering look in Li Xiang's eyes, he knew it was definitely a trick. But in front of so many Tang officials, he couldn't stop Li Xiang from speaking, not to mention that this was also proposed by the Tang Emperor.
"I have heard that Tubo currently has seventeen princesses, four of whom are already married, and three are still underage. This means there are still ten princesses waiting to be married. If you want to form a friendly relationship with our country, it will be very easy. Our country does not allow princesses to marry abroad, but Tubo does not have this rule. You can marry Tubo princesses to Chang'an City, and we can still form a marriage."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, many people present almost laughed out loud. You kid is really a talent. Not only does your own daughter not go out, but others have to send all the princesses to you.
After hearing this, Li Shimin didn't know what to say. "You are really smarter than others. Why didn't we think of this?" Since Songtsen Gampo wants to marry into the Tang Dynasty so much, you can send your sister and daughter here. There are many royal children of the Tang Dynasty who are of marriageable age. We can definitely arrange for you.
"this……"
Lu Dongzan didn't know what to say. If he said no, wouldn't that mean Songtsen Gampo's letter was false? But if he said yes, it would go against the policy previously established by their Tubo Kingdom, and Lu Dongzan didn't have the power to change it. The princess's marriage was a major event for any country, and even as the Prime Minister of Tubo, he had no right to make such a decision privately, let alone marrying her to the distant Tang Dynasty.
"Prime Minister, don't worry. There are over a hundred members of the Tang Dynasty royal family, and there are 20 to 30 who are still unmarried. If you feel that there is no match, you can just look among the princes and grandchildren of the emperor. A dozen or so should be no problem..."
Li Xiang looked like he deserved a beating, but what he said finally made Yuchi Jingde next to him unable to hold back. You look so shameless that you are really awesome. If I were Lu Dongzan, I would make you so angry that you vomit blood in a short while.
"Your Highness, I cannot make the decision on this matter. Our country sincerely wishes to form a marriage alliance with the Tang Dynasty..."
Lu Dongzan wanted to explain and then go back to the matter of asking to marry the princess, but how could Li Xiang let him go back?
"What the Prime Minister said is true. Even if your prince were here, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to decide this matter. Why don't we put it aside for now? The Tang Dynasty will not send any princess to a foreign country. This is the iron rule we have just established. Anyone who dares to have any ideas on this matter is guilty of deceiving the emperor. Why don't we send someone to take charge of this matter after the Prime Minister returns? Let's not discuss this matter for now. Your princess doesn't want to come to the Tang Dynasty thousands of miles away, and my princess doesn't want to go to Tubo thousands of miles away."
As Li Xiang finished his words, the smile in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a serious expression. He also announced to everyone in the court that no one should have such thoughts from now on, otherwise it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor, a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the family...
