At the entrance of the imperial study.
By the time Li Shimin arrived, everyone from the military had already arrived.
Everyone was waiting anxiously.
Seeing Li Shimin arrive, everyone hurriedly bowed. "Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, Feng Province and Sheng Province are in a state of emergency. Just now, Tuli Khan sent a letter of credence …"
Li Shimin's face was extremely gloomy.
He waved his sleeves and sat down on the dragon throne. "Where's the letter of credence?"
Hearing this, Xiao Guizi hurriedly took out a scroll made of sheepskin from a small eunuch's tray and handed it to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin slowly unfolded it.
However, after reading the contents, he was so angry that his whole body trembled.
"Preposterous! This is simply preposterous! Do they really think there's no one in the Tang Dynasty? "
"Yuchi Gong!"
Yuchi Gong's body trembled when he heard this. He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty!"
"Order the garrison in Chang 'an, Luozhou, and all other garrisons to reinforce the two places. I don't believe that we can't defeat the enemy with all the forces in the Guannei and Hedong Provinces!"
Li Shimin's rage shocked everyone.
Wei Zheng hurriedly stopped him. "Your Majesty, you can't!"
"Your Majesty, you see, there's a shortage of food in the country right now. All the people are preparing for the autumn planting. If we start a war at this time, it'll cause poverty and increase taxes. All the people in the country will have to pay for the autumn planting this year!"
"Your Majesty, please reconsider!"
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui also hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, we feel that this matter needs to be discussed properly. If we start a war now, it'll only bring harm to the Tang Dynasty! Since Tuli Khan can declare war at this time, it means that he's been planning this for a long time. He's forcing us to send out troops! "
"Your Majesty …"
"Enough!"
Li Shimin angrily slammed the table and threw the letter of credence on the table at Wei Zheng. "Go and read it. Read what that old bastard Tuli said!"
Wei Zheng hurriedly grabbed the letter of credence on the floor and read it carefully.
This letter of credence was not written in the Turkic language. Instead, it was written in the language of the Han people.
It first boasted that the Turks wanted to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Chang 'an City, and other nonsense words. Then, it said that the Tang Dynasty wanted three million dan of grain, as well as hundreds of thousands of military horses purchased from the Turks. and even directly marrying a princess to Tuli as a show of sincerity …
That wasn't all.
It also said that the people of the Tang Dynasty had to give the Turks salt, the recipe for braised meat, and dozens of other things!
Among them, the most important things were the things that Zhang Feng came up with, such as the Bone Regeneration Technique and the Blood Transfusion Technique, which was also the blood transfusion technique that Zhang Feng mentioned. There was also the salt, military affairs, psychology, and especially the things from White Deer College that had to be packed up and brought over …
At this moment, Wei Zheng and the others were aghast.
As they looked at the heavy letter of credence, they couldn't help but break out in cold sweat.
This wasn't a letter of credence. This was a national humiliation. This was simply going too far!
No wonder the Emperor was so angry. No one could bear it.
"This is too much of a bully!"
Chen Yaojin angrily tore the letter of credence and knelt down on one knee. "Your Majesty, this subject requests that Your Majesty bestow one hundred thousand soldiers and horses. No, eighty thousand is enough. This subject will go and destroy him!"
"Your Majesty, this subject is also willing to go!"
"Your Majesty, send the troops!"
At this moment, Wei Zheng couldn't persuade Zhangsun Wuji. Seeing that he was still squinting, he hurriedly said, "Lord Zhangsun, say something!"
At this moment, Li Shimin also saw Zhangsun Wuji and said, "Zhangsun, tell us your opinion."
Zhangsun Wuji heard this and said, "Your Majesty, this subject thinks that the most important thing now is to seek peace!"
"Oh?"
Li Shimin frowned slightly.
Wei Zheng and the others also frowned.
However, Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin were in an uproar.
They cursed Zhangsun Wuji for being a spineless person.
Li Shimin's expression changed slightly.
In an instant, Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong were like frightened rabbits, and their voices came to an abrupt halt.
"Minister Zhangsun, tell us your opinion."
"Your Majesty, this subject thinks that the most important thing now is to seek peace. The Turkic Khaganate is suffering from internal strife and the plague of locusts. Seeing that winter is coming, this Tuli Khan definitely won't dare to start a war at this time. This time, he came to these two places to ask for Your Majesty's help, but he can't bring himself to do so, so …"
Li Shimin heard this.
His eyebrows twitched wildly.
At this moment, Zhangsun Wuji's words seemed to have opened a small window for him.
Due to the plague of locusts, snow, and famine, the Turkic Khaganate had caused internal strife among the tribes. Under Zhang Feng's strategy, almost half of the Turkic Khaganate's warhorses had been bought over.
Who wouldn't be anxious if this happened to them?
Winter was coming soon. Once winter came, a large number of Turkic Khaganates would die of hunger and cold. Therefore, at this time, the Tuli Khan's actions could be considered to have found an opportunity.
At the thought of this, Li Shimin's mood instantly calmed down.
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