Tibet

Two days later, Wei Jiansu and Zhang Li asked to see Li Ye again. Wei Jiansu handed Li Ye a final copy of the negotiation document, "Your Majesty, the four major principles have been settled, but Nanzhao is worried about some aspects. ”

Li Ye flipped through it and asked, "What are you worried about?"

"Nanzhao's biggest worry is that they don't have an army. Once the other five imperial edicts rebel, they will not be able to pacify them, and the Nanzhao kingdom will fall apart and return to the previous state of the six imperial edicts."

Li Ye smiled lightly and said, "In other words, Nanzhao is actually internally unstable?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "Wei Chen asked Zheng Hui specifically. Zheng Hui said that it had been less than thirty years since the former king of Nanzhao, Piluoge, unified the Six Zhaos. The other Five Zhaos still maintained their strong independence. Every day in the imperial court A Qingping official represents an imperial edict. This was the disastrous defeat of Nanzhao, which caused heavy losses to the young men of the other five imperial edicts. The other five imperial edicts were extremely dissatisfied and demanded the restoration of the original political system. "

“What was the original form of government?”

"Nominal unification, the descendants of Geluofeng are respected as the masters of Nanzhao, but there is no real power. In fact, Liuzhao is autonomous."

"Will Ge Luofeng agree?"

"It's not up to him. Piluo Ge didn't want to be a nominal king, so he sent troops to destroy the five imperial edicts one by one and established the real Nanzhao Kingdom. Unless Geluofeng still has an army to suppress it, the other five imperial edicts will definitely break away. Nanzhao is autonomous, or he can only accept the name of the king, and the Liuzhao is autonomous!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "But it has nothing to do with us, right?"

"Your Majesty, he hopes that when the situation becomes critical, the Tang army can send troops to suppress it for him."

Li Ye said calmly: "Sending troops must be approved by the Jiannan Governor's Mansion. To send more than a thousand troops, I still need my approval. Can they wait?"

Zhang Li quickly said: "We also mentioned this issue and told them clearly that the imperial army will not participate in the internal disputes of Liuzhao. We hope that they can sit down and negotiate to solve the problem instead of resorting to force. This returns to the previous issue. Ge Luofeng said that if Nanzhao did not control other tribes by force, it would probably fall apart. "

Li Ye snorted coldly, "What Ge Luofeng said is just to let us retain some troops for Nanzhao, but you must tell him clearly that it is impossible to retain the troops. If he refuses to sign, then I will meet him Six Qingping officials, not him!"

Li Ye's words were very serious. If Nanzhao did not accept the reality, then the Nanzhao Kingdom would no longer exist. Returning to the Liuzhao era, when he met the six Qingping officials, he was meeting the representatives of the Liuzhao.

Ge Luofeng and his party stayed in the VIP hotel of Honglu Temple. Ge Luofeng came to Chang'an this time with a glimmer of hope. The emperor would allow Nanzhao to have a very small number of self-defense troops, even five thousand troops.

But in the end, the imperial court only allowed 300 palace guards, and no other armies were allowed. Especially the words of Emperor Li Ye, "If he refuses to sign, the emperor will prepare to receive Liuzhao and his troops that day," which completely shattered all his hopes. .

A thick stack of documents was placed in front of him, "Tang Zhao's Agreement on Solving the Remaining Issues Between the Two Countries". This was an agreement that made Ge Luofeng completely despair. Once it was signed, Nan Zhao's century-old dream was completely shattered and he would never be able to turn around.

But can he not sign?

But Nanzhao, which worries Ge Luofeng the most, is unable to suppress the other five imperial edicts, namely Mengxu, Yuexi, Langqiong, Jieyong, and Shilang. These five imperial edicts still have their own leaders and elders. Nanzhao Kingdom Use force to subdue them. Now that Nanzhao suddenly loses force, the Nanzhao kingdom established by his father is likely to completely collapse.

Just when Ge Luofeng was lost and at a loss, the Qingping official Zheng Hui said to him: "The situation is not yet at the end of the road. Your Majesty, there is no need to be too desperate."

"Do I have any hope?"

Zheng Hui nodded, "There is actually a loophole in it, but the king didn't notice it."

Ge Luofeng was startled, "What loophole?"

"The king is always worried about the rebellion of the other five imperial edicts, but the question is, what are they using to rebel? Do they have an army?"

"They can temporarily organize the people, and every household has weapons. Isn't that an army?"

Zheng Hui smiled slightly and said, "The question is, why didn't the Tang Dynasty restrict them? Why didn't the Tang Dynasty ask all the people to hand over their weapons?"

Ge Luofeng was confused, and said after a while: "I don't understand what Qing Pingguan meant?"

"The answer lies in the details. The Tang Dynasty only did not allow the Nanzhao Kingdom to have an army, but it did not allow the Six Zhao Kingdoms to have an army. Since the other five imperial edicts can gather soldiers, why can't Mengshe Zhao?"

Mengshe Zhao is the essence of Nanzhao and is the most powerful of the six imperial edicts. It unified the other five imperial edicts and gave the country its name as Nanzhao.

Zheng Hui's reminder made Ge Luofeng wake up from a dream, yes! You can form the Mengshe Army yourself. It is not the army of the Nanzhao Kingdom, but...

Ge Luofeng was a little confused, "Why couldn't the Tang Dynasty see such a big loophole?"

"How could the Tang Dynasty not see it? This was Wei Jiansu's hint to me, and I realized that Meng Shezhao could also form an army, but the problem came. The six imperial edicts all formed their own armies, and Nanzhao existed in name only. , at most there is only a nominal king left.”

Ge Luofeng's eyes were filled with sadness. What was the difference between this and Nanzhao's demise?

"Your Majesty, compared to Khitan and Bohai Kingdom, Nanzhao is lucky. At least Nanzhao still exists now. Then the Six Zhaos will sit down and discuss a proper way to continue to maintain Nanzhao. For example, Meng Shezhao will take control of the military. , the other five imperial edicts take turns to hold the power of the prime minister, and forming an army is not that easy. It requires a lot of financial and material resources, as well as pig iron. Once the Tang Dynasty controls the import of pig iron into Nanzhao, I think there is no point in forming an army, with a few thousand people at most. That’s all.”

Ge Luofeng nodded, "You are right, survive first and then talk about other things."

He sat down, signed the two contracts with a pen, and stamped the Nanzhao national seal.

Ge Luofeng handed the contract to Zheng Hui, "Let all the Qingping officials sign on it!"

Nanzhao's credential must not only be signed and sealed by the king, but also must be signed by all Qingping officials before it can be effective. So this time when I came to Chang'an, all six Qingping officials came together.

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Ye signed two "Tang Zhao's Agreement on Solving the Remaining Issues between the Two Countries" and stamped them with the national seal. The Zhengshi Hall stamped the seal of Zhongshu Menxia, ​​and the agreement between the two countries officially came into effect.

Early the next morning, Li Ye met with Nanzhao Wang Geluofeng and his wife and his ministers in Hanyuan Hall.

After a short interview, a state banquet was held to entertain the Nanzhao monarchs and ministers, which was considered a great honor.

Three days later, the Nanzhao monarchs and ministers left Chang'an and returned to Nanzhao under the escort of three thousand Tang army cavalry.

Li Ye also issued an order to reward the soldiers who participated in the battle of Nanzhao and Jianchuan with a reward of 500,000 yuan and 200,000 pieces of silk.

Li Sheng was granted the title of General of the Fu State, promoted to Duke of Long State, opened the third division of Yitong, and served as the Governor of Jiannan.

Qu Huan, the current governor of Jiannan, was awarded the title of Champion General, promoted to Xincheng County Duke, and was appointed governor of Liangzhou.

Zhou Bin was instrumental in defeating Tibet in Jianchuan. He was granted the title of General Yunhui, promoted to Duke of Xicheng County, served as deputy governor of Jiannan and envoy of Yunnan troops, and led 10,000 troops to station in Nanzhao.

All other meritorious officers and soldiers will be rewarded.

The Battle of Nanzhao came to an end.

In the afternoon, Dugu Lie hurried to the Imperial Study Room, bowed and saluted, "I am here to see you, Your Majesty!"

Li Ye waved his hand and smiled at his father-in-law: "Dugu Shangshu, please take a seat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Dugu Lie sat down, and a palace maid came in to serve tea.

Li Ye smiled and said: "Jinyang went overseas last time, and I didn't hear any news after coming back. Has the Dugu family been suspended?"

"No!"

Dugu Lie quickly shook his head, "We are still actively preparing, and our second brother Dugu Jun will be fully responsible in Quanzhou!"

Li Ye took a stack of memorials and said: "I have received more than a dozen applications for island purchase here, all from Guanlong nobles. I have approved them all. Later, Dugu Shangshu will take them back directly and let them directly use their applications." Go through the island purchase procedures with the Ministry of Household Affairs and return the land in exchange for overseas land.”

"Wei Chen understands!"

Li Ye smiled again and said, "How many former domestic slaves are willing to follow the Dugu family overseas?"

"About 70%!"

"Not bad, but it would be a bit difficult for them to open up a deserted island. Does Dugu Shangshu still remember the 70,000 Tianzhu prisoners of war last time?"

"Of course Weichen remembers it!"

"They are indeed more capable. They built the Tang Dynasty's first overseas city on Changjian Island. They have also been to Jinyang and it is almost completed. Then these 70,000 people will be transferred to Lugong Island, but 70,000 people is a bit too much. Now, I’ll consider giving it to you 20,000 people. You can go back and discuss how to allocate it!”

Changjian Island is today's Palawan Island, and merchants call it Bangchui Island. It is long in shape and is a must-go place for merchant ships. Tang Dynasty merchant ships would stop here to rest.

Therefore, the first overseas military city of the Tang Dynasty was built here, with a thousand troops stationed there.

Dugu Lie was overjoyed. Their progress was not going well now because they were short of manpower!

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled slightly again and said: "But the Tang Dynasty has abolished slavery and must be treated equally, so they are not slaves, just prisoners of war. After five years of hard labor, they will be returned to Tianzhu. You not only have to take care of their food and accommodation, but also give them ten We still have to negotiate with the Ministry of Accounts on how to deliver the money.”

"Wei Chen, remember this!"

Li Ye thought for a while and then smiled and said: "Yunnan can also provide some elephants at favorable prices. If you are interested, you can discuss it with the Ministry of Finance. Nothing else. I hope to hear the good news about your going to sea soon!"