"What else can I do? A man like this follows us every day. Don't you feel annoyed? Of course I have to wait until he can't stand it anymore and gets away from us before I can think of a solution. You don't really want to live in Tibet, do you?"
Li Xiang said helplessly that if Lu Dongzan followed him every day, life would indeed be difficult, but Li Xiang did not expect that his patience would be so strong. He started to make trouble after leaving Chang'an. If it were someone else, they would have been angry long ago, but this guy actually kept calm.
"Don't force yourself. Although I don't want to spend my whole life in Tibet, some things may be destined. If there is really no other way, it's fine as it is."
Since leaving Chang'an, Changsun Pingting has never been in a good mood. It is completely different from before. On the one hand, she has lost confidence in the entire Tang Dynasty, and on the other hand, she is confused about the future, so she looks extremely haggard.
Seeing Changsun Pingting like this, Li Xiang felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife. She was such a beautiful flower before, how could she wither so quickly?
"Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I will never let you stay in Tubo."
Li Xiang grabbed Changsun Pingting's hand, which frightened her. Changsun Pingting had never thought about this before, and always thought it was just two generations, but now...
"I'll go outside and take a look..."
Li Xiang also felt that he had gone too far, so he quickly let go of Changsun Pingting's hand and went outside. When Lu Dongzan saw Li Xiang's figure, a chill ran down his face.
He thought about the rumors he had made. Could there really be something going on between these two people?
In fact, some things all start with suspicion. He clearly knows that there is nothing wrong between the two of them, but there is a hint in his heart. If this psychological hint prevails, then it is hard to say what will happen next.
"My humble servant, Cui Fu, pays his respects to His Highness."
After returning to his tent, a middle-aged man appeared there. This man was sent by Mr. Cui San. He was originally staying in his hometown, but less than half a year after resting, Mr. Cui San called this man over. He was also a member of the Cui family's collateral branch. He had worked on the plateau and was now familiar with the situation there.
"There are some things that the Third Master should tell you. You will not lose out if you follow me."
As Li Xiang spoke, he took out a silver note. The number on it could tempt him. You have to know that this person once managed the Cui family's business in Tubo. Of course, he had seen money. Ordinary small sums would definitely be useless to him.
"Thank you for your reward, Your Highness. I have something important to report..."
Cui Fu looked at the number of people in the tent and saw that there were really too many of them.
"If you have something to say, just say it directly. These people are my confidants. If I'm not in the camp in the future, you can tell them directly if you have anything to say."
Li Xiang's words surprised this guy a little. Generally, it is completely acceptable for the children of powerful people to say some polite words to win the hearts of their subordinates, but if they really want to report secrets, they will find an excuse to let their subordinates leave. But he didn't know that these people were exchanged from Li Xiang's system, so of course he didn't have to worry about their loyalty.
"Something big has indeed happened in Tubo. After Third Master passed on the news to me, he also asked me to bring another letter. The letter describes the current major events in Tubo..."
After hearing what this guy reported, Li Xiang really didn't know what to say. Changsun Wuji also arranged for people to sneak into Tubo, but Changsun Wuji didn't get much useful information. He only knew that some Tubo chieftains had rebelled, so it gave Songtsen Gampo a headache. But look at the information the Cui family got, it's many times more accurate than yours.
At this moment, Tubo was just a loose alliance and not yet a centralized country. Although King Songtsen Gampo was ambitious, there were still many chieftains who held military power throughout the country. It would not be easy to expect them to listen to you. The most important thing was that the plateau was vast and many places were uninhabited. Even if you wanted to send troops to attack them, you might not be able to do so.
It would probably take a year just to walk from Songtsen Gampo's residence to the official residences of those chieftains. Moreover, if those chieftains could not defeat you, they could just wander around in their own territories. This was also the most helpless thing for Songtsen Gampo.
"The Tubo Kingdom currently has over thirty chieftains, equivalent to our prefects. They're only nominally under the rule of the Holy City, but in reality they're local emperors. They pay taxes and levies, and they send troops to fight in times of war. But this reform has damaged their foundation, so several chieftains are preparing to rebel. To cover this up, the Tubo Kingdom is claiming that the war was waged in the newly occupied southern territories, when in reality it was in their heartland."
The Cui family has been operating in Tubo for many years, and they have people in both the upper and lower levels, so it is basically impossible to hide some things from them.
Li Xiang became interested when he heard this. A thousand-mile long dike collapsed due to an ant hole. Although it was just a small matter, if we can make good use of it, not to mention bringing Changsun Pingting back, maybe we can even force Tubo to cede land as compensation.
"How capable are these chieftains who rebelled?"
Li Xiang did not care about other major aspects. We may not be able to influence those things, but as long as there is internal unrest, we will help the weaker side and let them make trouble on the land of Tubo. Only in this way can we weaken the overall national strength of Tubo.
"There are four chieftains rebelling, with an army of around 10,000 men. However, they occupy fertile lands, producing 10% of the Tibetan Empire's grain. The other chieftains are also waiting and watching. If Songtsen Gampo changes his mind, the others will probably not join the rebellion. However, if he insists on carrying out his will, they will probably all rise up in rebellion."
Cui Fu summarized all the news he received and told Li Xiang. He didn't understand what Li Xiang meant, but he could tell from Li Xiang's eyes that this prince was smart and would never let Tubo get through the difficulties like this.
More than 10,000 soldiers? That's a bit too few. You know, the Tubo Kingdom can muster an army of over 100,000. If there are only a little over 10,000, it probably won't last long. We need to add some fuel to the fire...
