Even though Queen Changsun is the queen of a country, she has never seen such a big gem...
Looking at the huge gem sent by Li Chengqian, Empress Changsun couldn't move her eyes away.
After all, Queen Changsun is still a woman.
How can women resist shiny things?
Li Chengqian said with a smile: "Queen Mother, don't you still lack an extremely valuable object to complement your phoenix crown?"
"This gem is worth four thousand gold. It is no exaggeration to describe it as priceless."
"And this thing was obtained by my son after a lot of hard work."
Li Chengqian said with a flattering face: "You have to reward your ministers well." .??.
"Reward, reward..."
Empress Changsun suddenly reacted.
Then he slapped Li Chengqian on the head and said, "I'll give you a big-headed ghost!"
"oops……"
Li Chengqian rubbed his head and said: "Mother, I have worked so hard to find such a good thing for you. If you don't say a reward, it's just a reward. How can you beat me?"
"nonsense!"
"Tell me, where did your four thousand pieces of gold come from?"
Empress Changsun looked directly at Li Chengqian and said, "Tell me, have you been embezzled or bribed?"
In contemporary times, the salary of a prince like Li Chengqian is still quite considerable.
The monthly food and other supplies add up to 15,000 yuan.
But the difference between fifteen thousand yuan and four thousand taels of gold is ten million yuan, which is a difference of three zeros.
Where did Li Chengqian get so much money?
In recent years, corruption has become widespread in Chang'an City, and Li Shimin often complained to her about it.
This has to make Empress Changsun think of this.
"Does your son still need to take bribes?"
"I did a lot of business with my uncle in my early years, and the money I earned piled up like a mountain."
Li Chengqian rubbed his head and said a little aggrievedly: "Besides, this actually didn't cost that much..." "Um?"
"What's the meaning?"
Empress Changsun raised her eyebrows and said, "Does that mean you lied to me before?"
"No no."
"How dare I, my son, lie to my mother and queen..."
Li Chengqian said: "It's just that there are some things here that are inconvenient to tell my mother."
"Isn't it convenient for you to tell me?"
Empress Changsun suddenly showed a gossipy face.
She said: "If you don't tell me, I will break your legs, and then let your father beat you again!"
"Okay, okay, I said, I said, I said, still not enough?"
Li Chengqian was also afraid of Empress Changsun, so he simply told the truth to Empress Changsun.
When Empress Changsun learned that the gem had been tricked and tricked by her own son, and got it from the envoys, Empress Changsun was a little dumbfounded.
She said: "Aren't you afraid that because of this matter, the Tang Dynasty and Tubo will be at odds with each other?"
"Making enemies?"
"Do they have the guts?"
Li Chengqian shook his head and sighed: "It seems that the queen mother did not understand why these Tibetan envoys came to the Tang Dynasty."
"Aren't you here to seek peace and alliance?"
Empress Changsun looked at Li Chengqian with some suspicion.
"That's just on the surface."
Li Chengqian said: "If you think about it, Tubo has swept away the local area and become the largest tribe since the year before last."
"At the beginning of last year, Tubo established its country."
"But it wasn't until this year that they finally remembered that we have a powerful neighbor like Datang."
"I came here specifically to seek peace and alliance."
Li Chengqian looked up at Empress Changsun and said, "Don't you think they have ulterior motives?"
After hearing these words, Queen Changsun also fell into deep sorrow.
In thinking.
After a long time, she raised her head, looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Listening to what you said, it makes sense."
"However, have you ever thought about what their intentions are?"
Empress Changsun looked straight at Li Chengqian, and it was clear from her eyes that she really wanted Li Chengqian to help her solve her doubts.
Sure enough, every woman has the same curiosity as a cat.
Li Chengqian sighed softly and said: "You don't need to think about the queen mother next to you. You just need to think about it. You will know how close Tubo is."
Hearing this, Queen Changsun was stunned.
Then, she narrowed her eyes and said, "You mean, the Western Region?"
"That's right."
"Although I have never been to Tubo, I have heard of it."
"It's not a bad place, but it's definitely not a good place either."
Li Chengqian shook his head and sighed: "Even to a certain extent, they are not as good as Bei Mo."
"At least there is some fertile land in the Northern Desert, which allows local people to live a farming life and have enough food and clothing."
"But there is very little land in Tubo, and the indigenous people almost all make a living by grazing."
Li Chengqian explained one by one: "As for herding, they all rely on the sky to make a living. If God brings a few major disasters, it will be enough to wipe out their species."
"Then what use do they want from the Western Region?"
Queen Changsun said with some confusion: "As far as I know, isn't that place mostly a bitter cold place with no grass growing on it?"
"Even so."
"But the Western Regions are my business path in the Tang Dynasty."
"The annual tolls are already astronomical."
"The reason why Liangzhou has developed in the past few years is entirely because I opened up the business routes to the Western Regions."
Li Chengqian said bluntly: "And it's not just about money."
"As long as we, the Tang Dynasty, are here, Tubo will never develop."
"he There are huge mountains to the south of us, making it impossible to expand further south, and although their territory is vast, the living area is almost in a straight line."
"If a foreign enemy invades them, they will have no way out."
"But if they get the Western Region, it will be different."
"They can completely take advantage of the geographical advantages of the Western Region to establish strategic depth."
After hearing Li Chengqian's words, Empress Changsun couldn't help but narrow her eyes.
who is she?
She is Li Shimin's woman.
Even if you don't understand military matters originally, after so many years of training, you already know a thing or two.
At this moment, after hearing what Li Chengqian said, she suddenly woke up.
"If we follow Qian'er's words, we can actually have more conspiracy theories."
Queen Changsun looked up at Li Chengqian and said, "If they get the Western Region, they can even use the Western Region to establish contact with the Western Turks or Xue Yantuo."
"At that time, they will directly pose a threat to the northwest of our Datang."
Hearing this, Li Chengqian nodded repeatedly.
My mother is indeed extraordinary.
He said straightly: "The Queen Mother is right, and the Western Region is a natural barrier for me, the Tang Dynasty."
"Today, the Tang Dynasty occupies one-third of the Western Region, the Western Turks occupy one-third, and the remaining one-third is occupied by small countries in the Western Region."
"As for the Western Turks, now Zhao Youlin wants to carry out internal reforms."
"The third that they control is now suffering from the civil strife in Western Turkestan."
"And this is exactly what we Datang want most, and it is also the situation that is most beneficial to us."
"Years of war mean that they will not unify their steps, let alone set their sights on me, the Tang Dynasty."
Empress Changsun was also quite satisfied with Li Chengqian's statement.
She said: "In this way, the northwest territory of our Datang Dynasty will be very stable, right?"