The memorial from Tubo was shelved. Even if they were later to be given consent, the price would be doubled. There was absolutely no way they could get it at half - price.
Just a couple of days later, the Turks swaggered into Chang'an and came to pay their respects to Li Shimin first.
All the chancellors from the Political Affairs Hall were present today. Chang Sun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wang Gui, Wei Zheng, Tang Jian and others stood in a row.
Because of the woolen sweater matter, Li Jingyun sat beside Li Chengqian, listening silently. She was almost dozing off as she listened to the long - winded speech of the Turks.
Was their way of speaking so peculiar? Adding so many adjectives to a single sentence. Weren't they tired of talking like that?
"Your Most Noble Majesty, the Celestial Khan, we bring the greetings of Khan Tong Yegu to you. We have traveled from the Thousand Springs north of the State of Shi to this far - away Chang'an, thousands of miles away... We come to ask for the hand of a princess..."
Good, the password was correct. All of Li Jingyun's drowsiness disappeared in an instant.
She couldn't doze off. She couldn't. They were here to ask for her elder sister's hand in marriage.
The leading Zhenzhu Tong Sijin spoke in the official language of the Tang Dynasty with a strong Turkic accent, enunciating each word slowly.
He was already over sixty, with white hair and beard, but still had a strong build and looked energetic.
Judging from his words alone, he was much more humble than Lu Dongzan. He must have had dealings with the Tang Dynasty or witnessed its power, which was why he was like this. Lu Dongzan, on the other hand, clearly hadn't experienced the might of the Tang Dynasty yet.
Li Chengqian whispered, "Their Khan Tong Yegu is about the same age as him. He still wants to marry my sister? That's just wishful thinking."
Li Jingyun almost popped her eyes out. A sixty - or seventy - year - old man who could die any day wanted to marry her sister?
She had no idea about this matter. When her father had received the Turkic document asking for a princess in marriage, he had never mentioned it to her. She had only thought it was a young and ambitious khan who was unmarried and wanted to form an alliance with the Tang Dynasty through marriage.
Looking at the current situation, it was very likely that Khan Tong Yegu's children were already quite grown up, wasn't it?
"Shall we just stop the woolen sweater business? Father could just send troops and wipe them out," Li Ke walked over and whispered in Li Chengqian's ear.
Li Chengqian patted his troublesome younger brother, "Just sit there quietly. How dare you talk nonsense like that?"
Sending troops was no joke. Moreover, the situation was complicated now. It was best to subdue the enemy without fighting.
How could it be so easy? Did he think it was playing chess?
"Why am I talking nonsense?" Li Ke didn't understand.
Li Shimin said loudly, "You've all come from afar. It must have been really hard. The matter of the marriage alliance is of great importance and needs to be carefully discussed."
"Naturally. To marry a princess of the Tang Dynasty this time, our khan has specially ordered me to bring a gold belt inlaid with ten thousand studs and five thousand horses as the betrothal gifts for the princess," Zhenzhu Tong Sijin kept his head down all the time, with a glint in his eyes from time to time.
There were nominally five thousand horses, but the journey was so long. It was normal for hundreds or even thousands of them to die on the way. By the time they reached Chang'an, the horses were weak and exhausted, not as strong as they were said to be.
These were all natural and unavoidable things.
When a princess of the Tang Dynasty married over, the dowry she brought would be enough for them to live well for many years. No matter how you calculated it, they would be the ones who profited.
"The betrothal gifts were the same last time. And they're still the same this time? Jie Li is already dead. After all these years, why haven't you made any progress?" Tang Jian, who knew Li Shimin like the back of his hand, could easily see his thoughts and immediately challenged Zhenzhu Tong Sijin.
"In recent years, there have been continuous wars. It's already quite an achievement to gather these things. With a princess of the Tang Dynasty here, our Turks will surely get better," Zhenzhu Tong Sijin changed the subject and started to play the victim.
Li Jingyun just wanted to complain. With continuous wars, they still dared to come and ask for her sister's hand? Her sister was a princess living in luxury in the Tang Dynasty. Why should she go to their place to suffer?
"We've come to the Tang Dynasty this time to ask for a princess in marriage, hoping that the two countries will no longer go to war. We hope Your Majesty, the Celestial Khan, will give this matter careful consideration," Zhenzhu Tong Sijin said, his eyes sweeping over Li Chengqian and the others, especially Li Jingyun.
It looked so out of place to have such a little girl sitting among a group of men.
After he arrived in Chang'an, he had also sent people to inquire. The most famous Princess Chengyang in Chang'an, who had presided over the construction of the library, invented cement and also came up with something called woolen sweaters, should be her.
It seemed that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty really doted on her. He even allowed her to sit in on such matters.
Li Jingyun wanted to speak up several times but was always held back by her elder brother. She could only grind her teeth and glare.
The anger in her heart was burning stronger and stronger.
"All of you may withdraw," Li Shimin waved his hand, and everyone withdrew.
Li Jingyun broke free from Li Chengqian's hand. "Father, why didn't you let me speak? Weren't we going to sell the woolen sweaters? Why didn't you mention it?"
"It's not the time to mention the woolen sweaters yet. We have to let them fall into the trap by themselves. You've seen how the Tubo people reacted. The Turks will be the same," Li Shimin quickly comforted his little daughter.
"Father, big brother told me that the Turkic khan is over sixty. He still wants to marry my sister? How shameless!" Li Jingyun scolded with her hands on her hips.
"That's right!" Li Ke had a similar reaction to Li Jingyun. Looking at him, he seemed to want to slap Zhenzhu Tong Sijin right then and there and tell him to take those shabby things back to the Turkic land.
Outside the Taiji Hall at this moment, Zhenzhu Tong Sijin looked at the chancellors and started to sneer, "A few years ago, you destroyed Khan Jie Li. That was really quite an achievement. But our Khan Tong Yegu is no useless man like Jie Li. Even if you station hundreds of thousands of elite troops in Songzhou, you won't be able to harm us in the slightest!"
"Not so, not so. Tong Yegu is already of such an old age. He was wise for most of his life when he was young. It's normal for him to be a bit muddled in his old age. It's too early for you to say these things," Chang Sun Wuji laughed. The words from both sides were like stabbing swords directly into each other's hearts.
Wang Gui, Chang Sun Wuji and the others could see clearly that Tong Yegu was domineering in the Turkic land, and there were quite a few people who were dissatisfied with him. They just didn't dare to act because of his power.
But the on - looker sees most clearly. Zhenzhu Tong Sijin was a trusted confidant of Khan Tong Yegu. He had long been blinded by wealth and power. He only thought about marrying a princess of the Tang Dynasty back so that his power could rise to a higher level. He simply couldn't listen to Chang Sun Wuji's words.
"Humph! Nonsense! We're definitely going to marry the princess! If you don't marry the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty's own daughter to us, we'll have to sacrifice that fake princess to our battle flag and join hands with Tubo to go to war with your Tang Dynasty!" Zhenzhu Tong Sijin said boldly, as if he could take Songzhou in the blink of an eye.
"You're a narrow - minded fool!"
"Do you think Tubo really wants to join hands with you? Don't dream!"
"You Turks are so arrogant! You'll be sold by others and still count the money for them!"
The grand councilors directly pointed at their noses and started scolding.
Zhenzhu Tong Sijin quickly retorted. The two sides were scolding each other like shrews in the streets. If no one told you, who would have thought that these were the chancellors of the Tang Dynasty?
The courtesy and gentleness just now were all for show in front of Li Shimin, or rather, in front of the court historians beside Li Shimin. Now the scolding was the real deal.