hsntnovel Chapter 2686 Princess Honghua
Chapter 2686 Princess Honghua
In the tenth year of the Zhenguan era, Li Shen caused a great disturbance in the court, ruining the marriage proposal from Tibet. He also put forward the idea of no marriage alliance, no indemnities, no ceding of territory, no tribute, princes guarding the country's gates, and the monarch dying for the country.
From that time onward, the Tang Dynasty had no further plans for marriage alliances.
Those small countries dared not mention it again; they had originally thought that even if they didn't marry a princess, marrying a county princess would be fine.
Later, it was discovered that the county magistrate also faced some difficulties.
Li Shen's first thought was that his unreliable father had embarrassed him again. He actually went and arranged a marriage alliance.
Why can't her father, who is so wise and powerful, be a little tougher and insist on exchanging his daughter for peace?
That's such a coward! If you're not happy, then fight him!
Li Shen began to mentally criticize his father.
After cursing for a while, Li Shen suddenly paused.
"Oh? You said a princess married a foreigner, but I wonder which princess it was?"
Li Shen suddenly realized that the princesses who had been married were all in Chang'an City, and he had seen them when he was having dinner a few days ago.
Why did she marry someone from another ethnic group?
"Your Highness Prince Ji, this humble subject dares not speak presumptuously on this matter. Several years ago, the Great Tang Dynasty married Princess Honghua to..."
"Your Highness Prince Ji should be aware of the matter concerning Murong Nuohebo of Tuyuhun."
Lu Dongzan spoke.
Seeing Lu Dongzan's expression, Li Shen knew that there must be something to it; he wouldn't dare to lie to him in front of him.
“Princess Honghua?” Li Shen read the name with a look of confusion. How come he didn’t know there was such a princess?
He had so many older and younger sisters, but he didn't remember that one of them had the title of Princess Honghua.
But Lu Dongzan spoke with absolute certainty that such a thing must have happened, and that he himself was unaware of it.
Tuyuhun? Wasn't that a destroyed kingdom? Why would they need a marriage alliance?
Li Shen knew that Tuyuhun still existed, located north of Xizhou Prefecture. The Tang Dynasty adopted a policy of using barbarians to control barbarians. Although the kingdom was destroyed, the Tuyuhun people were still allowed to govern themselves.
Li Shen discussed this issue with Li Shimin on more than one occasion.
Li Shen looked at Shi Tou. His little follower was missing something, which was why he had such a good memory.
He should know about what happened a few years ago.
Sure enough, upon seeing his master's gaze, Shi Tou immediately stepped forward and whispered in Li Shen's ear:
"Your Highness, Princess Honghua is a member of the imperial family and should be His Majesty's sister. However, it is publicly stated that she is His Majesty's daughter and married Murong Nuohebo, the king of Tuyuhun."
He was also granted the title of Prince of Heyuan and the title of Khan of Wudi Yebaqindou, and put in charge of the people of Tuyuhun.
Oh, I see. Li Shen suddenly realized that he had been wondering why there was no such sister as Princess Honghua. It turned out that she was an imposter, and a member of the imperial family had taken her place.
"Oh? I remember now, Li Daoming was stripped of his title for leaking secrets. Was it because of this Princess Honghua?"
Li Shen suddenly remembered something. He had mentioned to Wang Xuance that Li Daoming, the Prince of Huaiyang, was stripped of his title for leaking secrets to a foreign land.
Li Shen didn't know much about Li Daoming, but he did know his elder brother, Li Daoxuan, who had made great military achievements and ultimately died on the battlefield for his country.
Although Li Shen's historical knowledge is poor, he has been involved in the long river of history, so he naturally knows a lot more things, and his knowledge is more authentic and reliable.
He knows far more than the novel "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties".
"That's right, Your Highness. It was Li Daoming's drunken slip of the tongue that led to the rebellion within Tuyuhun. Fortunately, General Yuwen Shiji quelled the rebellion and prevented serious consequences."
"Later, His Majesty was furious and issued an edict stripping him of his princely title," Stone whispered.
Li Shen nodded.
Seeing Li Shen nodding repeatedly to the attendant beside him, Lu Dongzan quickly said:
“Your Highness Prince Ji, everything I have said is true. If you do not believe me, you may ask me any questions.”
"Yes, I just looked into this matter, and it is indeed true," Li Shen said calmly. Just as Lu Dongzan was about to ask, Li Shen changed the subject.
"However, your understanding is not specific."
"Not specific? What do you mean?" Lu Dongzan was taken aback.
"That means you don't know the specifics."
"Oh? Could there be some hidden story behind this?" Lu Dongzan felt that Prince Ji was trying to find a reason.
Li Shen smiled slightly:
“Lu Dongzan, since you know that a princess from my Great Tang Dynasty was married off to us, you should know the reason why.”
The Tuyuhun no longer exists; it is now part of the territory of our Great Tang Dynasty. The reason for marrying a princess to the Tuyuhun was to appease the Tuyuhun people.
We must ensure that Khan Murong or whatever his name is can govern the people well and be loyal to our Great Tang.
If Tibet desires such treatment, it's not impossible. Go back and have your Zanpu (Tibetan king) submit a letter of pledging allegiance to our Great Tang Dynasty, making it our territory.
"I promise I can get you a princess to marry your king. Are you willing?"
Li Shen's face was full of sarcasm. "You want a princess? Then learn from the Tuyuhun and make it part of the Tang Dynasty's territory."
They've lost their country, and the woman they married is from the royal family. If Tibet is willing to destroy the country, it's not something we can't consider.
"this....."
Sure enough, as soon as Li Shen said that, Lu Dongzan's face immediately turned ugly. How could he possibly hand over the country in order to marry a princess of the Tang Dynasty?
Their purpose in marrying the Tang princess was clear: first, to gain temporary peace and space for development, as they were not yet a match for the Tang Dynasty.
The second thing they wanted was the technology of the Tang Dynasty, whether it was agriculture, textiles, or metallurgy.
With these technologies, they could grow food and forge weapons, both essential resources for war.
But if you're suggesting exchanging the country for it, then there's no need for that.
"What? Don't you want to be treated the same as Tuyuhun? Then why not be the same as Tuyuhun?"
Heh heh, don't think I'm unaware of your wolfish ambitions.
Li Shen sneered repeatedly.
"Your Highness, as far as I know, Tuyuhun was not incorporated into the Tang Dynasty, but was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Now, my Tubo is also a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty. Is there any difference between vassal states?"
Lu Dongzan retorted.
"Is that so?" Li Shen frowned and looked at Shi Tou again. Shi Tou nodded slightly in agreement.
This made Li Shen feel a little uncomfortable. He had been to Xizhou several times and had also passed through the border of Tuyuhun. He had always thought that Tuyuhun was the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but he did not expect that it was just a vassal state.
This is so embarrassing! The Parthian Protectorate is backed by the Tuyuhun. Who came up with this idea?
If the Tuyuhun rebels in the future and attacks from both sides with the Western Turks, wouldn't we be attacked from both sides? What is my father thinking?
How can I allow others to sleep peacefully beside my bed?
Only then did Li Shen begin to regret that he knew too little about politics and had only focused on enjoying himself.