The word "side by side" king of the Tang Dynasty

A few days later, the heavy snow in Chang'an finally stopped, and Li Changqing began to attend court again.

He still felt that it was more interesting to watch the ministers quarreling in court, otherwise he would feel suffocated to death when facing a mountain of memorials every day, even though most of them were handled by Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling and Li Xiuning.

However, the first court meeting after the snow stopped ushered in someone who surprised Li Changqing.

"His Majesty! You must make the decision for our Qiuci Kingdom!"

In the Taiji Hall, the king of Qiuci Kingdom, his queen and prince, knelt down in the hall and cried to Li Changqing.

The expressions of the ministers in the hall were a little subtle, even Li Changqing was a little speechless.

You are the king of a country after all, and you suddenly ran away Why are you crying in my hall in Chang'an?

After a slight cough, Li Changqing and Li Xiuning looked at each other and then said:"King Qiuci, why are you crying to me? Just take your time, don't be in a hurry."

Under Li Changqing's persuasion, King Yuliduo of Kucha slowly stopped crying, but still looked sad and said:"Your Majesty, our Kucha Kingdom was defeated by the army of an unknown country ten days ago. The country was destroyed.

My 80,000-strong army in Qiuci was completely destroyed, and the royal capital was also breached. Now the country has been occupied by those guys. I managed to escape with great difficulty, and rushed to the Tang Dynasty to request the country to send troops for assistance."

The more Yuliduo spoke, the sadder he became, and finally he started crying again and cried:"Your Majesty, our country of Qiuci regards the Tang Dynasty as its suzerain country and has always paid tribute on time. Now you must avenge our country!"

Only Yuliduo's cries echoed in the hall. The faces of the ministers gradually became solemn, and Li Changqing and Li Xiuning also frowned.

It is not a secret that the unknown army was discovered outside the Western Regions, but this army actually attacked all the people in the Western Regions. The country took action? Did they also destroy the Kucha Kingdom?

Because of the bad weather in winter, the news was transmitted much slower. The news of the destruction of the Kucha Kingdom had not yet reached Chang'an.

"King Qiuci, how long did it take for your country to be invaded by them? Do you know the specific number and origin of that army?"

Li Changqing asked, these are very critical questions.

Yuliduo wiped his tears, thought for a while and replied:"Reporting to your Majesty, I don't know which country the other party is from, and their language does not belong to the Western Regions. The country seems to have come from the far west. We cannot communicate with it. Even the envoys sent were killed..

Moreover, their army is very large, numbering around 500,000, all of which are heavy cavalry. Their combat effectiveness is astonishing. Our 80,000-strong army in Qiuci was destroyed by them in just one encounter, and they invaded the royal capital in just four days."

"By the way, I was deeply impressed by their flag, which was in the shape of a red cross on a white background."

After hearing Yuliduo's last words, Li Changqing's expression finally changed, and the name of a dynasty suddenly appeared in his mind.

Eastern Roman Empire! Cross Expeditionary Army!

"It turned out to be the Eastern Roman Empire, and now there was some trouble."

Li Changqing's sword eyebrows were twisted into the word 'Chuan'. In this era, if the Tang Dynasty is the most powerful in the East, then the West is the world of the Eastern Roman Empire!

Both are dominant overlords, even today's If the Tang Dynasty had not existed, according to normal historical development, the national power and military strength at this stage would still be inferior to that of the Eastern Roman Empire.

But in history, the Eastern Roman Empire did not conduct an Eastern Expedition. Why did their army of 500,000 Appearing outside the territory of the Tang Dynasty?

You must know that the distance between the two countries is not ordinary. Is it because of the butterfly effect caused by his appearance?

The more Li Changqing thought about this guess, the more credible it became. After thinking for a long time, he said:"If my guess is correct, this army comes from a country in the west whose national power is not inferior to that of the Tang Dynasty. They sent this army here most likely for invasion."

The bloody examples in history told Li Changqing that when two completely different civilizations come into contact, war will definitely break out instead of living in peace, just like Columbus discovered the Indians in the Americas.

All the ministers were shocked when they heard this. In the far west There is still a country in the land? And is it a powerful country that is not inferior to the Tang Dynasty?

Yuliduo was also confused. He did not expect that the country behind the other party would be so powerful. In this case, would Li Changqing still be willing to go to war with that army for them? ?

Noticing Dao Yuliduo's worried eyes, Li Changqing immediately understood what he was thinking, and said seriously:"King Kucha, don't worry, I will definitely send an army to repel this army, and then help you re-establish the Kingdom of Kucha. Hearing this

, Yuli was overjoyed and burst into tears of gratitude:"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Our country, Qiuci, is willing to regard the Tang Dynasty as its suzerain forever! Eternal surrender!"

Li Changqing nodded, comforted King Qiuci, and then withdrew from the court.

After returning to the side hall, Li Xiuning, who had been frowning, couldn't help but ask:"Changqing, do you really want to go to war with that army? That's an army of half a million people, and you also said that the strength of the country behind them is not inferior to that of our Tang Dynasty. Isn't it a little bit to start a war rashly without negotiation?……"

"If I say that they are here just for invasion, would you believe it?"

Li Changqing said lightly, interrupting Li Xiuning.

"What? How can this be? We haven't negotiated with them yet."

Li Xiuning obviously didn't believe Li Changqing's words and felt that his decision was too arbitrary.

Li Changqing's expression remained unchanged and said:"Qiuci State negotiated with them, what was the result? If they came for friendship, they wouldn't have come with half a million troops."

"Let me ask you a question, if you lead a well-equipped army to a strange country, where there are treasures and resources everywhere, but this country is very weak and vulnerable, do you choose to conduct normal transactions with them? , or directly plunder?"

"I……"

Li Xiuning was speechless because her first thought was to plunder, not to trade normally.

The strength of the two sides is not equal, and there is no need to sit at the negotiating table.

Li Changqing snorted coldly and said:"They attacked Qiuci Kingdom just to test the strength of the Eastern countries. I am afraid that their next target will be our Tang Dynasty.

For these people, we must give the most painful counterattack, making them hurt to the core. Only Only in this way will they know what fear is! Only then will they know how difficult it is to chew this hard bone of the Tang Dynasty, and they will lose their teeth if they bite it!"