Many people do not take such secret matters of the king seriously, but Li Xiang is different. He knows that such things may very likely overthrow a kingdom.
"From your point of view, which side should we support? I've heard about what happened on the mountain. What you did between your two sons-in-law was very good."
Zhang Jiuli is an expert at manipulating matters among the royal families. Of course, things here are somewhat different from those on the mountain. On the mountain, the matters involved his two sons-in-law, and now he is dealing with the unfamiliar Nanzhao royal family. For Zhang Jiuli, there is no need to worry at all.
"From your Highness's perspective, you should be helping your brother-in-law. Normally, the King of Nanzhao should be taking care of his own son, but his son is too young, only in his teens. No matter how much he strengthens his son, he won't be able to develop as fast as his brother. Furthermore, the Queen Mother is taking sides..."
Zhang Jiuli instantly figured out a solution. Although she had never been to Nanzhao, she had heard about such things there many times. What she lacked now was the actual situation. However, based on some information she had received in the past, she felt that she should help the prince of Nanzhao rather than the King of Zhennan of Nanzhao.
After listening to Zhang Jiuli's words, Li Xiang just remembered that he was about to become the son-in-law of Nanzhao. In terms of closeness, he should help his brother-in-law. The most important reason was that his brother-in-law was only ten years old. If he could help him ascend the throne and become emperor, he would definitely be grateful to him.
"Hasn't the crown prince been appointed yet?"
Li Xiang immediately heard something else. Normally, when the eldest son was born, Nanzhao would definitely get rid of the crown prince, but because of the Queen Mother's obstruction, the entire Nanzhao was now divided into two factions on whether to establish the crown prince or the younger brother.
"It's definitely because they haven't appointed a crown prince yet. On the surface, Nanzhao is peaceful and the people live in peace, but the political struggle never stops. Queen Dowager Wang's family is also very powerful, and her brother is the prime minister. Many things are difficult to resolve. From the rumors I've heard, Luo Sheng is also trapped both internally and externally."
Zhang Jiuli was certain of this. After all, Luo Sheng was the King of Nanzhao, and there was always a lot of news about him.
When Zhang Jiuli finished speaking, he and Li Xiang instantly raised their heads. They both read the same meaning in each other's eyes. Was this marriage with the Tang Dynasty also a conspiracy? Was it to find a Tang Dynasty brother-in-law for their son?
"I never thought that while I was scheming against others, I might be schemed against by others."
When Li Xiang thought of this, swear words came out of his mouth inadvertently. Zhang Jiuli was a sensible man, so he quickly pretended that he heard nothing, but this was very likely.
"Your Highness is absolutely right. This is not impossible. If the King of Nanzhao insists on forcing his son to take the throne, he must have strong support. The imperial edict of the Tang Dynasty is the most powerful support. If his son finds a brother-in-law like you, then the imperial edict will definitely belong to him. No matter how much his mother and brother try, they will not be able to obtain this edict."
Zhang Jiuli became more and more certain that this marriage between Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty was not just about deepening the relationship between the two countries. Li Xiang wanted to take this place for himself, and the prince of Nanzhao wanted to use the power of the court to allow his son to take over smoothly. It could be said that it was a conspiracy within a conspiracy, and it all depended on who had the better brain.
After this brief conversation, Li Xiang knew that the other party had something to ask of him, so there was nothing to worry about. What he was most afraid of was that this was a simple marriage. Li Xiang was least afraid of complicated things. The more complicated the matter was, the more opportunities there were.
The caravan continued to move forward. Li Xiang declined the visits from local officials along the way and asked Su Dingfang to head directly towards the capital Dali. If they stopped along the way, it would be unknown how long it would take. The marriage itself had already wasted a lot of time, so they could only find their way back along the way.
The people under his command were all capable and good at fighting. As long as Li Xiang was willing, they could increase their daily speed to the limit. Of course, considering that Li Xiang came in a carriage, they only advanced 80 miles a day. Even so, this was already the limit of that era.
It can be seen that Nanzhao has put a lot of effort into Li Xiang's visit this time. They have also repaired the roads, but they are still dirt roads, and only some places are paved with stones. Even so, it is a considerable effort for Nanzhao. You have to know that they only have a population of about one million. Being able to find so many workers to build roads is also a major national project.
After hurrying for a long time, Li Xiang finally arrived at the capital of Nanzhao. From a distance, it was not very big. Of course, it was slightly better than the capital of Gaochang. If compared with some cities in the Tang Dynasty, it was just a county seat.
The top leaders of Nanzhao had received the news long ago that today was the day Li Xiang would come to Nanzhao, so they were waiting at the city gate early. Although Nanzhao was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, the king could not wait here. The leader was Luo Xionghai, the King of Zhennan of Nanzhao.
"Your Highness, this man is the younger brother of the King of Nanzhao, the Queen Mother's favorite youngest son, and the Prince of Zhennan who is currently in contention."
Zhang Jiuli also changed into gorgeous clothes at this moment. It was not because he was qualified to wear such clothes, but because he represented the face of the Tang Dynasty at this moment. Including the guards around Li Xiang, they should wear as nice clothes as possible. This is the time to win glory for the country. In addition, they are all tall, so before Li Xiang got out of the carriage, they had already attracted most of the attention.
Many officials and common people in Nanzhao were also discussing this. They always felt that their palace guards were already pretty good, but it seemed that they were really frogs in the well. If compared with the people around His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, they were simply far apart.
"Luo Xionghai, a vassal minister, leads the Nanzhao officials to pay an audience with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty..."
When he saw Li Xiang coming out of the carriage, Luo Xionghai, who had already learned some etiquette, immediately knelt on the ground with dozens of his officials. This was the majesty of the Tang Dynasty...
