One of the more important ones was a secret report from Sun Wuji, the minister of Dali Temple.
The first person to communicate with him privately about the fraud in the examination room was the imperial censor Gao Shilian, who questioned the rapid closure of Dali Temple.
Gao Shilian was Changsun Wuji's uncle, and he was kind to Changsun Wuji's brothers and sisters.
Moreover, as the deputy examiner of the capital, Gao Shilian has the right to supervise the examination venue, so there is a basis for his coming to inquire about this matter.
What Gao Shilian said is also very interesting. He thought that this incident was quite fishy. It was very likely that someone had framed Fang Xuanling, the Minister of Civil Service, so it should not be so easily resolved.
Li Po's brows furrowed. Gao Shilian was a member of the Gao family in Bohai. Speaking of it, he was a descendant of Xiao Xian. His official qualifications were very deep and he had served as a censor for less than one term.
This person will be reused in the future. After one or two years of observation, he can be given an important position whether he is released as an official or still serves in the court.
In other words, Gao Shilian was a talented man, and he was relatively close to Xu Shiji, because it was Xu Shiji who persuaded him to go to Luoyang and Qiu He, the general manager of Jiangzhou, to surrender.
As the Sima of Jiangzhou, Gao Shilian was Qiu He's close subordinate. He worked in the middle and came to Chang'an first.
Unsurprisingly, he finally leaned towards Xu Shiji.
Li Po knew all these stories that happened in the process of pacifying the princes, and his ministers did not hide it deliberately. Everyone's achievements were obvious, and there was no need to act in secret.
When people come and go from everywhere, whether for peace of mind or self-protection, they will look for someone to back them up, and Gao Shilian is no exception.
It's just that this man comes from a famous family and is from Luoyang, so his relationship is much more complicated than the others. You can't say that because he is close to Xu Shiji, he becomes Xu Shiji's disciple.
People from Henan...
Li Po thought for a while in his heart, and he didn't reply to Changsun Wuji. This matter is getting more and more interesting. Since the matter has been left to Changsun Wuji to handle, and he has made it clear, there is no need to continue.
Say more.
Regardless of whether Gao Shilian is motivated by publicity or has other intentions, there will always be a result in the end. For the uncle and nephew, they will have to accept a test from it.
However, Li Po's mood was still affected and deteriorated a lot. The struggle for power between the DPRK and China was always inevitable, but there must be limits.
This kind of behavior that exploits academic malpractice to attack opponents is very despicable and extremely alarming. It has gone beyond the scope of the basic rules of officialdom.
Li Po fell into sleep unpleasantly...
…………
Time has entered late June, and this alliance has gradually come to an end.
On June 20th, Li Po and Ashina Yang Huan sat face to face in the most gorgeous tent, and solemnly signed the covenant under the gaze of the ministers standing around.
Whether it was the two kings Li Po, Ashina Yang Huan, or the tired ministers from the two countries around them, there were smiles of relief on their faces.
This is undoubtedly a successful alliance meeting, which solved many problems faced by both countries and also enhanced mutual understanding between the two countries.
The internal opinions of the two countries have become consistent, and at the political level, they have shown strong cohesion. This is the basis for friendly exchanges between the two countries.
Only when the two countries are internally stable can such an alliance be concluded. As long as either party shows obvious signs of weakness, it will be problematic to meet each other for an alliance meeting, let alone an alliance.
…………
The seals of the two countries were stamped on the covenant, and the names of the kings were signed. It was similar to the form of later treaties, with two copies and kept in each country.
This process was naturally Li Po's idea. It not only increased the sense of ceremony, but also had a certain degree of binding force because of the endorsement of the monarchs and ministers of the two countries.
It's easy to break a covenant, but it will cost you your credibility.
Although the Turks don't seem to care much about this, the fact is that on the grasslands, those who break their promises will be despised by everyone.
In fact, as long as the kings of both countries are still alive and can hold power in their own hands, the basic effectiveness of the covenant can be guaranteed.
Li Po also wanted to shake hands with someone, but in the end after signing the covenant, they still bowed to each other according to the etiquette of the world, which signified the conclusion of the covenant.
…………
This time the covenant signed by the two countries was more formal than last time, and it was also more detailed.
The covenant reaffirmed the friendship between the two countries and redefined their respective boundaries. In terms of territory, the Turks made great concessions. Not only did they return a large area of grassland in the Northern Wuyuan of the Tang Dynasty, they also returned Yingzhou.
Gave it to Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty made a guarantee to the Turks that it would not deliberately provoke disputes on the border between the two countries or recruit grassland tribes to increase its strength like the Sui Dynasty did before.
At the same time, Datang also had to pay some ransom. As for what the ransom was, both countries had clearly stated it in the covenant.
It was also proposed by the Tang people to erect boundary markers on the long border between the two countries to prevent the people of the two countries from crossing the border, and was approved by the Turks.
As for where the boundary monuments should be erected, they were roughly discussed at the alliance meeting. After that, people would come and go for consultations and finally complete the covenant.
The trade between the two countries has also undergone certain changes, many restrictions have been relaxed, and the collection of commercial taxes between the two countries has been agreed upon.
The Turks did not have currency, and they mostly used barter when conducting business. Datang planned to help the Turks in this regard and designed and minted some currencies for them to use to facilitate transactions between the two countries.
The Turks showed themselves to be incompetent, but there were even a few old guys who wanted to save trouble, saying that it was convenient to use Tang people's money and they didn't want to mint it themselves.
This strange thinking made the Tang officials very happy. They remembered a few carefree Turkic nobles and planned to bribe them heavily in the future to settle the matter.
The Turkic nobles were keen on commercial exchanges, and they actually wanted to enjoy themselves, and they were also the most direct beneficiaries of the trade between the two countries.
There is no such thing as competing with the people for profit.
The same goes for other tribes. In the Tang Dynasty, the first thing they wanted to obtain was usually the convenience of trade. The fundamental reason was that their tribes had no production capacity and the nobles' living materials were extremely scarce.
They actually don't quite understand what prosperous business exchanges mean, what are the benefits, and where they can do something about it.
They only saw huge rewards in their eyes and did not notice the danger at all.
Generally speaking, it seems that the trade treaty between the Tang Dynasty and the Turks was just to allow the caravans of the Tang Dynasty to go to the Turks without being overly exploited by the Turks.
As for the benefits of business itself, it was not enough to make Datang covet it. In fact, all the gains were outside of business.
However, the slave trade was mentioned this time. The Tang Dynasty, which is in urgent need of population replenishment, is quite interested in this. The Turks are about to conquer the west, and there may be more prisoners of war. It shouldn't be too much for the Tang Dynasty to accept some, right?
Moreover, the Western Region is close to West Asia, where human traffickers roam everywhere, and Datang's caravans can definitely make some profit from it.
It's just a bit regretful that in the end the Turks still kept their bottom line and had no intention of trading war horses with the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty's iron products, grain and other items were also bought and sold in one go.
…………
After fierce negotiations, the Turks "requested" the Tang Dynasty to send troops out of Yumen to attack Gaochang and contain the Western Turk king's account from the flanks.
This was the "help" that the Turks obtained in exchange for real territory. Opinions within the Turks were not very unified, but because many people lacked confidence in the Western Expedition, they finally felt that the Tang people should help.
However, the dispute between the two sides became more and more intense over the timing of sending troops. The Turks wanted Tang to send troops this autumn, and their intention was very obvious. They wanted the Tang army to take the lead and test the strength of the Western Turkic king.
Naturally, this was unacceptable. Li Po invited people to discuss it and felt that it would be a good time to send troops early next year. He could also first see if the Turks were defeated or not.
So a very good reason was given. Datang needed to complete the preparations for sending troops, and Gaochang had always been a tributary state of the Central Plains Dynasty, so sending troops to Gaochang was legally defensible.
The Turks felt very annoyed after hearing this. They always said that everything belongs to your family. Are you kidding us?
But this is really not a joke. Because it is geographically close to the Central Plains, the Han people were in power when Gaochang was founded. Today, the Qu family of the Gaochang royal family is a Han family.
Needless to say, it's too far.
It can only be said that during the Daye period, Gaochang went to the Central Plains to pay tribute and seek to become a vassal state.
Yang Guang accepted it happily. In the fifth year of Daye, King Qu Boya of Gaochang entered the court and lived in the former Sui Dynasty for several years. Later, he followed Yang Guang to visit Liaodong City.
Yang Guang returned to Luoyang in disgrace, and people saw the joke, so he did not keep Qu Boya any longer. He named Yu Wen Yubo, the royal daughter of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, as Princess Huarong, and married Ju Boya as his daughter.
The person who performed the wedding was Su Kui, the father of Su Quan, who is now the Minister of Household Affairs, and then sent Qu Boya back to his country as a gift.
Therefore, the relationship between Gaochang and the Central Plains has always been very close.
It is a coincidence that there is no news so far. When the Tang Dynasty was founded, King Qu Boya of Gaochang died of illness, and there was a commotion in the country. The next year, his son Qu Wentai succeeded to the throne. He originally wanted to see what was going on in the east. According to the rules, he was
Someone needs to be sent to Chang'an to ask for the title.
Moreover, Yuwen Yubo was a royal daughter of the Sui Dynasty, so for him to marry his stepmother would also require the approval of the emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty.
But at that time, he was also very worried. Tong Yehu Khan issued a khan order in Suiye River, clearly ordering Gao Chang not to interact with the Tang Dynasty without permission, and asked him to bring his countrymen to Suiye River to meet him.
In fact, it was a Western Region Alliance Conference, where Tong Yehu Khan strengthened his control over the countries in the Western Region and no longer allowed them to act without authorization, which meant that each country was deprived of their diplomatic power.
Therefore, to this day, none of the countries in the Western Regions have established relations with the Tang Dynasty. All caravans conduct business between the two countries in the name of the Western Turkic King's Account.
