Under the threat of powerful military force, the countries and tribes around Great Tang expressed their stance.
The representative of Xinluo, Li Yancheng, could not make the decision. He wanted to learn from the representative of Japan. The representative of Japan did not directly hand over everything like the Tubo and Turkic people. Instead, he continued to be a subject in name.
Li Yancheng knew that Japan was not afraid of Great Tang's troops attacking them. What he was worried about was that Great Tang's ships often attacked Japanese ships in the sea.
Thinking about his own side, Xinluo's position was not bad. The main problem was that Jili Province was a little close to Xinluo. He could not express his stance for the time being and could only tell Li Longji the truth. They would discuss it when they returned to Xinluo.
Li Longji did not expect to accept Xinluo and Nippon into the Great Tang. Of course, he was not worried that Nippon and Xinluo would stab him in the back. As long as Xiaobao and Juanjuan were still in Jili Province, they would suppress their ambitions no matter how bold they were.
The people from the commanderies in the north of Hebei Province were easier to talk to. Most of the population had been moved away, and the tribes had conflicts. They were not as united as Japan and Xinluo.
In addition, Jili Province had given many practical benefits recently. In the past, they had interacted with Great Tang as a subject. If they were annexed, so be it. They could not follow in the footsteps of the Black Water Commandery. They did not know how many people Commandery Prince Tong 'an would kill this time. Li Longji had sent so many soldiers, how could he withdraw so easily?
However, Tuyu was the first to correct his position. After all, he was a general bestowed by Li Longji. Now, it was just a matter of right and proper.
The Turkic King Mo Jilian had already said that he could not make the decision. Everyone else understood. Although he was the Turkic King, the real military power was in the hands of Prince Xian of the Left.
The last one left was Zuzan Chi, the real master of Tubo. Everyone's eyes were on him.
Zuzan Chi acknowledged Great Tang's rule, but he knew that Li Longji did not want a verbal promise. He wanted practical actions.
Zu Zan regretted coming here personally. If he had sent someone else, he would have been able to make more preparations. His previous experience of writing letters to Li Longji in a victorious tone even after he had lost would be gone forever.
He pretended to eat a piece of meat and drank a full night of wine. Zuzan Chi asked Li Longji, "What arrangements does Your Majesty have?"
"We would like to hear what you think." Li Longji couldn't think of what to do at this moment. The environment of Tubo was very troublesome to govern. Ordinary people would fall sick if they went there, and they wouldn't be able to adapt to the food. Cooking noodles and steamed buns was like a dream.
Ancestor Chi De was a little embarrassed. He glanced at the place where Zhang Xiaobao was and saw that he and Wang Juan were lowering their heads and seemed to be secretly eating something. Suddenly, a plan came to his mind.
"Your Majesty, this subject requests Your Majesty to send someone to take over this subject's territory, from Jinchuan to Pengzhou Pass. Also, send a capable official to this subject's territory to deal with all the government affairs."
'Hmm?' Li Longji felt that something was wrong when he heard Chi De's praise.
Who didn't know that although that piece of land belonged to Tubo in name, it actually belonged to Xiao Bao and Cuckoo? If they really sent someone to be an official, what would the two of them think? Unless two of them were sent there. But what about Jili Province?
Li Longji was in a dilemma. If he didn't control Jinchuan and Ruoshui, he wouldn't be able to extend his hand to Tubo. But if he did, it would affect the two children.
"Your Majesty, this subject feels that Ancestor Chi De is right. It should be so. Now, this subject and the king have a caravan passing through. However, without an official to govern, it is inconvenient. This subject requests Your Majesty to send a capable subject to govern. As for the land that Your Majesty bestowed upon this subject and this subject, this subject thinks that this subject has no time to spare.
Also, this subject heard that there is a city further west called Shancheng. Shancheng is further west and there is a lake. The lake is like the sea. There are countless fishes and birds in it. There are even pearls that can reflect the moon. I hope Your Majesty will allow this. "
When Li Longji was worried, Zhang Xiaobao suddenly spoke. He was holding a half-eaten chicken head in one hand and a piece of chicken thigh in the other. With a mouth full of oil, he talked about the ownership of a piece of land in a casual manner. It was as if he was talking about whether to steam or boil dumplings.
When Ancestor Chi De looked over, he nodded at Ancestor Chi De, meaning, 'You see, the two of us are on good terms. I support you.'
Li Longji was happy and in a good mood. He nodded and said, "Official Zhang's words are reasonable. I will grant Shancheng to you and the king and exempt the rent for five years. What do you think?"
"This subject does not agree with Your Majesty's rent reduction. Jinchuan is more prosperous in the west. If Your Majesty reduces this subject's rent, what about the other places? This subject requests Your Majesty to take back the imperial favor. "
Zhang Xiaobao looked like he was thinking for the country and directly refused.
Ancestor Chi De was depressed. According to Zhang Xiaobao's words, not only did he not provoke the conflict between Zhang Xiaobao and Li Longji, but he also lost a large piece of land. If that lake was seized by Zhang Xiaobao, salt would be expensive in the future.
No, he had to stop it. Otherwise, there would be endless trouble.
"Your Majesty, Qinghai Lake is far away from Pengzhou. It is inconvenient to travel. This subject is afraid that Governor Zhang has no time to control it. Why don't …"
"That's not right. Ancestor Chi De, I think I can do it. If you don't believe me, you can try. I promise to build that road. 100,000 cavalrymen from Pengzhou will arrive there in three days and three nights."
Zhang Xiaobao did not bother to argue with Ancestor Chi De anymore, and wanted to make a bet with him.
'You can brag as much as you want. If you can arrive in three days and three nights, I will tear off my head and give it to you.' Ancestor Chi De thought in his heart. He said, "Of course, there is no need, but this subject …"
"Well, I approve. From next year onwards, the surrounding areas will have to pay rent. Official Zhang will have to work hard." Li Longji impatiently interrupted Ancestor Chi De's words and gave the place that did not belong to the Tang Empire to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
When the people of the Tang Empire saw that Zhang Xiaobao and the Emperor did not have any conflicts, they were relieved. They were really afraid that Zhang Xiaobao would not give up the place.
At the same time, they looked at Ancestor Chi De with eyes full of schadenfreude. 'You deserve it. When Zhang Xiaobao's forces go there, let's see what you can do.'
Ancestor Chi De was silent. His face was ugly. He did not even touch the meat that the Princess of Jincheng gave him.
"Aunt Princess, I'll treat you to chicken. Brother's chicken is delicious." Xiao Bei was not satisfied with Ancestor Chi De's attitude towards the Princess of Jincheng. He used two knives to strenuously cut a chicken and brought it to Ancestor Chi De. He wanted Ancestor Chi De to take it.
If he could, Zu Zan Chidou really wanted to slap Xiao Bei away, but he could only think about it. He didn't dare to put it into action. He tried his best to squeeze out a friendly smile. He took the chicken and said to Xiao Bei, "Xiao Bei is really sensible."
He then turned to the Princess of Jincheng and said, "Nuu, I'll help you tear it."
"I thank you, Zangpu." The Princess of Jincheng said happily.
When Mo Jilian saw all this, he sighed in his heart. When did women have such a status in Tubo? Ancestor Chi De was really pitiful. Fortunately, Li Longji did not agree to his proposal. Otherwise, he would have to treat a woman like an ancestor.
*****
The Sword Meet on Mount Hua was over.
The warm bonfire dinner made many people feel cold. They followed Li Longji's instructions and boarded the ship to the capital. This year, they were going to spend the New Year in the Tang Empire.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan did not plan to return to Jili Province, nor did they plan to go to Luoyang. Their families had already set off from Luoyang and came to the capital together for the New Year. They did not need to go back next year. Zhang Zhong was going to find an official position in the capital.
The specific official position had not been arranged yet, but at the very least, he had to be a minister. His original second-rank official position would be removed and he would become a third-rank official. It was an apparent demotion but a hidden promotion.
In terms of official positions, the happiest were Xiaobei and the other nine. They had caught a spy and made a great contribution. The original Imperial Grandee was a fifth-rank official. He wore light red clothes and had a silver fish pouch.
Now, he wore dark red clothes. He was a civil grandee and a traditional Chinese physician. He still wore a silver fish pouch. However, Xiaobei chose to ignore the latter point. She liked the goldfish pouch. Her own handiwork was good.
After Li Longji rewarded Xiaobei and the others according to their contributions, he thought about it and felt that he should compensate Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. He also gave Xiaobei and the other nine people a power.
The original Imperial Censor was now the Imperial Censor and the Chancellor of the Supreme Court.
It sounded like a mess. Those who knew of this matter were even more afraid when they looked at Xiaobei and the others.
If the Imperial Censor could only impeach and could not arrest people, then the Chancellor of the Supreme Court could directly judge the case.
Naturally, no one believed that the Emperor would give such power to the nine children. It was still controlled by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. Although the nine children very coincidentally caught a spy who wanted to murder the Emperor, would they know how to judge the case?
After Xiaobei figured out the power she had, she also considered this problem. Judging the case seemed to be very difficult. "Xiaoyuan, you have to memorize the Yong Hui Law and the Six Classics to avoid making a wrong judgment."
"You can't judge even if you memorize it. Do you think that you can write a case just because you have the power of the Chancellor of the Supreme Court? Do you know what a joint hearing is? "Xiaoyuan poured a vat of cold water on Xiaobei.
"Ah? There's such a thing? I don't care. I'll judge when I catch him. Xiaoyuan, let me ask you. Do you want to be an official? A real official like your brother and sister. Let's work together and reserve a county to bring good fortune to the people. "
Xiaobei decided not to follow the rules. She rolled her eyes and proposed another idea.
Xiaoyuan shook her head vigorously. "No, I don't have that ability. If you want to be an official, you can be one."
"Okay, I'll go talk to them." Xiaobei made a big decision.
Zhang Xiaobao did not pay much attention to the promotion of his younger siblings. Instead, he discussed the matter with Wang Juan for a while, then looked for Li Longji to discuss it for four hours. When dawn broke the next day, Li Longji issued a series of decrees.
The 40,000 people from the northern part of Hebei Province were left to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. The 10,000 people with the most unstable hearts were trained in the capital. The remaining 30,000 people were divided between Shannan Dong Province and Huainan Province. Twenty-five thousand soldiers were transferred from the two provinces to Fengzhou to participate in the prefecture army drill.
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