Abalasha was a middle-aged man, about forty years old. He used to be the right general of the Western Turkestan Khanate, and later became the prime minister of the Western Turkestan Khanate. He was considered a powerful figure in the Western Turkestan Khanate. After hearing that Li Xiang had come here, the Western Turkestan Khanate sent him to greet him.
This is the reason why Li You made trouble. If he had not done this wrong thing, the king of Western Turkic would definitely go out of the city thirty miles to welcome him. But because of this matter, they were able to send a prime minister over, which was already a great favor to you. Of course, it can also be seen from here that Western Turkic did not want to fight.
"Lord Xiangguo."
We did something wrong and we are in the wrong. In order to know the situation of the Western Turks, Li Xiang went out and surrendered first.
The surrounding Tang Dynasty soldiers were very angry. Li You could obviously make these people kneel down, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still wanted to associate with you people on an equal footing. It was really an insult to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Of course, if these people think about it carefully, they can't blame others. It was purely the fault of that guy Li You.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, on behalf of our king and queen, I welcome you to Turkestan..."
There were a lot of fancy diplomatic words, but not a single one was useful. If it were in the past, Li Xiang would have interrupted this person, but now Li Xiang was in the wrong, so he had to listen to all the words obediently.
"Thank you for your king and queen's welcome. I have brought some delicious tea from Chang'an. Your Excellency, please have a taste."
Li Xiang made way. Originally, according to the Prime Minister's idea, after expressing the king and queen's intentions, he should leave here immediately. After all, the Tang Dynasty had a bad reputation in the country. If he stayed here for a long time, it would also affect his reputation.
However, it was obvious that Li Xiang invited him sincerely, and when the Prime Minister came, the King of Western Turkestan also instructed him not to be too enthusiastic, but at the same time he could not offend Li Xiang, because everyone knew that people like Li Xiang could not be offended, not even a single word would do. If you said something wrong, war could break out at any time, just like what happened to Tuyuhun and Goguryeo back then.
"Then I'll bother His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Abalasha bent his waist slightly and followed Li Xiang into the tent. There was no one else inside, so Eunuch Han had to pour the tea himself, and Abalasha did not let his men follow in.
"It tastes truly exquisite. We grassland people rely on tea to survive. Without it, we would get a strange disease. Over the years, a large part of our income has been spent on tea. But since you in the Tang Dynasty learned how to roast tea, our expenses seem to be even greater than before."
Abalasha is a tea connoisseur. In fact, many people in Western Turkestan want to taste this kind of tea because they are too greedy. However, this kind of tea is sold for hundreds of coins per catty in Chang'an City. When it comes to Western Turkestan, the price has increased several times, so ordinary people can't drink it at all.
"If you like it, my Lord, I have quite a few here."
After Li Xiang finished speaking, he waved to the side, and someone immediately handed him a gift box. Judging from the gift box, there must be at least nearly ten kilograms of tea in it.
Abalasha was a man who knew what was good. These ten kilograms of tea alone would be worth at least several thousand strings of cash. Although he was the prime minister of Western Turkestan, Western Turkestan was a poor country. Even if someone asked him to do something for them, it was impossible for him to give such an expensive gift all at once.
"Your Highness, you are so polite. Our two countries have been at war for years. We don't want to start another war, and we also want to pursue peace. However, there is nothing we can do about this matter right now. Many people from both our country and yours have witnessed it firsthand, and the Right Wise King is our most important minister..."
What Abalasha said was true. The status of the Right Wise King in the Tang Dynasty was equivalent to that of Li Tai. If Li Tai's wife was raped by an envoy from another country, and if the Tang Dynasty let such a person leave, it would not be able to face the subjects of the world. This is what the Western Turks are facing now.
Abalasha is a smart man, and his words have several meanings. They don't want to keep Li You here, but they must give an explanation to the Right Wise King and all the people. The Western Turks still need strong cohesion. If they can't even tolerate such a thing, do they think the people will still follow such a king?
When they retreated from the Turkic territory, not many of them came here. If their hearts are hurt again now, they will most likely migrate to other places.
"Your Excellency the Prime Minister is right. This incident happened so suddenly that I am still confused about some of the things involved. If possible, could you please let me meet with the official investigating this matter?"
From beginning to end, Li Xiang did not dare to admit the matter, nor did he apologize for it, which made Abalasha a little unhappy. But think about it and you will understand that Li Xiang is now the crown prince of the Tang Empire, and his every move represents the Tang Empire. How could he apologize in advance?
Even if the whole matter is investigated, Li Xiang will not make any apology, and it is possible that the matter will be attributed to Li You personally.
"This involves many of our country's secrets, so Your Highness cannot see them. However, I can arrange for Your Highness to see all the files. If Your Highness has any questions, we can contact each other. Our country does not want to be an enemy of the Tang Dynasty, but this matter must be explained."
With the tea leaves as a stepping stone, the Prime Minister's words were very straightforward. Eunuch Han also breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he had regained his sanity. In fact, it was the same as some things in the Tang Dynasty court. As long as there was a consensus on interests, all kinds of things could be tolerated. We were so panicked before, purely because we didn't understand this truth.
At that time, they also thought about giving gifts, but other people also have the things you give, and although they are also valuable, they may not be willing to accept them. The things Li Xiang sent are rare things. Even if he became the Prime Minister, he might not be able to get these ten kilograms of tea.
