In fact, among the current people in the Tang Dynasty, there are still many people who want to exchange a woman for peace. In their eyes, a woman is too insignificant. As long as it can exchange for ten years of peace on the border, then no matter what kind of princess this woman is, she will be considered to have made a contribution to the Tang Dynasty.
If we use data to make accurate calculations, Li Xiang also thinks that their thinking is very normal. After all, one person can exchange for ten years of peace on the border. No one can say that this is a business that makes a lot of money. But the question is, have you ever thought about the psychology of the common people?
If marriage alliance can solve the problem, then everyone will only think about marriage alliance, and no one will even consider war. This is extremely dangerous for a country and a nation.
So from now on, Li Xiang must change everyone's mindset, that is, the path of marriage alliance is not feasible, all our border crises must be resolved by war, and only peace won through fighting can last longer and allow the Tang Dynasty to go further.
Lu Dongzan's mind was working fast. He was thinking about how to deal with Li Xiang's aggressiveness, but in the end he could not find any way. If he wanted to slap Li Shimin in the face in the court of the Tang Dynasty, it would most likely cause a huge war, and Lu Dongzan could not bear this responsibility.
Both the Tang Dynasty and Tubo are great powers. Unless their vital interests are harmed, neither country will easily enter into a war. Once a war breaks out, it will not be a small-scale one. It may shake the foundations of both countries and may also cause their rulers to step down. So after repeated consideration, Lu Dongzan could only give up this option temporarily. Of course, he would not let the ten princesses of Tubo come to the Tang Dynasty, so he simply put it on hold.
"In that case, then I will listen to your Highness. After I return to the guild hall, I will write a letter and send it back to Tubo, and then we can make plans."
Lu Dongzan finally gave in on this matter, and Li Shimin was relieved. If Lu Dongzan had continued to threaten, then the war would have been inevitable. As the emperor of the most prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, how could he be threatened by a foreign envoy?
It is easy to say that war is easy, but it is not so easy to actually fight. Li Shimin has already distributed all kinds of cattle, sheep and wealth brought back by Tuyuhun. The treasury of the Tang Dynasty is a little more affluent now, but it does not mean that we can fight a war with Tubo, especially since the problem of soldiers' difficulty breathing has not been solved. In this case, fighting a war is half lost.
Since the first topic cannot be continued, we have to start the second topic, which is the issue about Tuyuhun.
"Your Majesty, our army has assembled near the border between Tuyuhun and our country. If Your Majesty joins us in attacking Tuyuhun, we can destroy them in about two months at the latest. Our two countries can then shake hands and negotiate at the border. Isn't that better than having Tuyuhun in the middle?"
Lu Dongzan adjusted very quickly. Although he didn't gain any advantage over Li Xiang just now, he adjusted quickly and immediately moved on to the next topic.
The conflict between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo ended in the defeat of the Tang Dynasty, which gave the Tang Dynasty an illusion that their invincible army could not defeat Tubo. It also gave Tubo an illusion that they could defeat the Tang Dynasty's army. Under this illusion, the two sides had different ideas.
The Tubo believed that after defeating Tuyuhun, they would have gained a springboard into the Central Plains. At that time, no matter how the land of Tuyuhun was divided, they could use this as a starting point, then blow the horn to attack Chang'an City, and then seize the most fertile land in the world.
However, the Tang Dynasty was determined not to let Tuyuhun be destroyed. As long as Tuyuhun stayed in its original place, if Tubo wanted to enter the Tang Dynasty, it had to cross Tuyuhun first. This meant that we still had a safety line. In fact, the Tang Dynasty was a little afraid of Tubo, otherwise it would not have married princesses far away in history.
"The Tang Dynasty has just ended its war against Tuyuhun, and we have also made peace with Tuyuhun. If we send troops now, it will damage the reputation of the Tang Dynasty."
Li Shimin shook his head and expressed his attitude towards this matter.
"If that's the case, I won't force you any further. However, our country has already formulated a three-pronged attack plan against Tuyuhun, which will be implemented in the coming days."
Lu Dongzan's words caused the ministers to start discussing again. His meaning was very clear: if you are unwilling to join forces with us to fight Tuyuhun, then we will fight on our own.
If the Tang Dynasty and Tuyuhun had not fought a war, it would not have been so easy for the Tubo Kingdom to destroy Tuyuhun based on Tuyuhun's strength. However, in this war, Tuyuhun suffered serious losses, especially the collapse of the third tribe made the entire Tuyuhun seem to have lost confidence. Now, if the Tubo Kingdom's army moves north, it will be a war of annihilation against the entire Tuyuhun.
To put it bluntly, we are here to pick peaches. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty fought bloody battles before, which led to the current situation. You are fighting against the third-rate Tuyuhun, and our hard work has brought you convenience.
"Prime Minister, wait a minute..."
Just when everyone was at a loss, Li Xiang stood up again.
Everyone really doesn't know how to stop them. You can only choose not to unite with them, but you can't stop them from sending troops. If Tubo is much weaker than the Tang Dynasty, then they might listen to the Tang Dynasty's words a little, but the situation between the two countries is not much different. Maybe the Tang Dynasty is a little stronger, but the Tang Dynasty has not threatened them, so why should they listen to you? Now is indeed the best time to attack Tuyuhun.
"Your Highness, do you have any further advice?"
Lu Dongzan said somewhat arrogantly that he had indeed been defeated by Li Xiang just now, but at this moment he didn't know what other methods Li Xiang had. Do you have the ability to stop my Tubo Kingdom from sending troops?
"I do not deserve your advice, but I have a confidential matter to tell the Prime Minister, so as not to hurt the feelings between our two countries in the future."
When Li Xiang said this, even Li Shimin was puzzled. What other confidential matters could possibly harm the relationship between the two countries? To put it bluntly, beyond this superficial affection, could there be any affection between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo? There had been various military clashes between the two countries, and now the situation was tense. What kind of affection was this?
