Chapter 217: Tiele Mission

Although there was a period of peace on the frontier after Jieli Khan became a vassal, even in January and February, the Turks did not invade the Central Plains in the south. However, after the looting of the Turkic mission, the Turks were ready to move again.

In March of the third year of Zhenguan, the Turkic Hu rode 10,000 horses across the Great Wall and attacked Yunzhou. In the same month, Hu cavalry plundered the Xia Mansion. April was committed in Youzhou.

For a time, the northern frontier of the Tang Dynasty entered a state of combat readiness again.

In the Mobei grassland, the two khans of Xue Yantuo's Zhenzhu Khan and the Huizhu Khan of Hui were preparing to send an envoy to meet His Majesty the Tang Emperor.

To this end, they found Li Daoxuan, the prince, and those officials of the Central Plains, and inquired in detail about the staffing of the formation of the mission and the preparation of tribute.

Li Daoxuan is also an interesting person. First of all, he stuffed all the officials of the Ministry of Rites under his command into the mission and asked the Tiele people to protect them back to Chang'an, and then when the number of the mission was determined, he directly opened his mouth and reported a 500 people, of which 400 were soldiers. Of course, he came up with a set of reasonable arguments to persuade the two khans, such as what the Tiele mission went south, the Turks must have something to do, and so on, and insisted that the Tiele people send a large mission. In the end, when deciding on the tribute, Li Daoxuan picked up the expensive ones, such as glass beads, Persian opal and other treasures, and mink ginseng and other valuables.

Although the two khans knew that Li Daoxuan had deliberately picked out some valuables, they still did so. After all, this is the first time that Mobei has paid tribute to the emperor of the Central Plains, and it is to be more solemn.

As for the head of the mission, Zhenzhu Khan made his younger brother Tongtler serve as him. One of the nephews of the Huizhu Khan, named Su Gu Mo, also joined the mission and became a deputy chieftain.

On a sunny April morning, the 500-strong mission was on its way. Since this mission had 400 strong warriors, the hungry wolves, foxes and other beasts after the beginning of spring did not seek benefits from this mission. The attacked mission did not kill all of the beasts, but left a pile of corpses and continued south. The beast that remained behind gnawed at the corpses on the ground.

And while crossing the desert, the Tiele mission was very unlucky to encounter a sandstorm. I saw a howling wind, blowing the yellow sand into the sky, and fist-sized stones rolling everywhere with the wind. Five hundred men formed a circle and tied up the cattle and the like, and the people also supported each other to stay in the middle, so that they survived the sandstorm. When the wind was gone, the members of the mission showed their heads, only to find that the thighs were buried in the thick yellow sand, but fortunately the tribute was not blown away. When the livestock and personnel were finally counted, it was found that there were nearly 20 fewer livestock and more than 10 fewer personnel.

When they finally trekked across the desert and entered the southern part of the desert, when they reached the Turkic sphere of influence, everyone was on high alert. Who knows if this Turk will send a large army to loot and kill after learning the news of the mission.

However, after a few days of walking in the Monan grassland, everyone realized that this worry was a little unnecessary, and there were hardly any rangers in the entire grassland except for some small tribes. And those officials of the Ministry of Rites said the key in one word: these Turks must have invaded the Central Plains!

Sure enough, when they were not far from the Great Wall, they encountered Turkic troops who returned empty-handed. This Turkic force, which numbered nearly 10,000 people, saw the Tiele mission and immediately rushed over. However, the Tiele mission had already discovered them, and the leader of the Tongtler immediately ordered to go east, leaving two hundred Tiele men in charge of the rear.

After the Turks had wiped out 200 Tiele cavalry, they pursued and killed them again and again. And the mission also left the Tiele soldiers behind again and again to stop the enemy. Finally, when an army in black armor appeared in front of them, the Turks finally retreated. At this time, there were only a few more than a hundred people left in the mission.

The army in black armor in front of them is the Tang army stationed in Youzhou. And a hundred miles east of them is Youzhou City.

Escorted by this army, the mission came to Youzhou. After resting in Youzhou for two days, the mission, which had been reduced by most of its personnel, set off for Chang'an.

After a few days of rest, the head of the mission, Commander Teller, seemed to be in good spirits, riding on his horse, looking at the scenery completely different from the grassland, and from time to time he said this to several officials of the Ministry of Rites around him. In the words, there is a faint longing for Datang.

In this way, the mission traveled along the official road, hurried during the day, stayed at the post station at night, and made a lot of fanfare all the way through, and all the state capitals that passed through knew that this mission was the Tiele Mission. As early as when the mission was resting in Youzhou, the governor of Youzhou had already reported the arrival of the mission to the imperial court. Therefore, the movements and words of the mission were clearly known to the imperial court along the way.

In this way, the mission traveled for more than half a month, and finally entered Guanzhong and arrived in Chang'an.

When Tongtler and the others saw Chang'an City, they were immediately stunned by the magnificent momentum of Chang'an City. Standing outside Chang'an City, the tall and thick city walls are lined up from the front of you to both sides, extending continuously, and there seems to be no end. The three-story tower above the city wall stood tall, and standing under it, a strong momentum came to oppress it, making Natongtler take two steps back.

The city walls and towers alone are already like this, and Tongtler hardly dares to imagine what the situation is like in Chang'an City and the Imperial City.

Riding a horse into the city, you will be greeted by a ten-zhang wide avenue - Suzaku Avenue. At this time, both sides of Suzaku Avenue were already crowded with people watching the excitement, but the road left in the middle for walking was also six zhang wide. Sitting on the horse, looking around, I saw that Chang'an was like a chessboard, and the planning was neat and unified. Streets are straight, often from one side of the street to the other side. In the north, the buildings are noticeably taller than the surrounding ones, with towering platforms and scattered buildings.

Seeing all this, Natuntler was shocked for a moment and couldn't help but be stunned.

Under the leadership of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, the Tiele mission was placed in the Pavilion. As for several officials of the Ministry of Rites who came back with them, they were summoned by Li Shimin to inquire in detail about what happened after Zhang Yunwen left Mobei and what happened when the mission came south to Datang. What is certain is that several officials of the Ministry of Rites who have gone through so many things have made great achievements, especially after Li Shimin dismissed a large number of old ministers.

As early as when the mission arrived in Youzhou, Li Daozong and Zhang Yunwen had already returned to Chang'an.

Only a few days after returning to Chang'an, Li Daozong was ordered to go to Lingzhou to serve as the governor. Zhang Yunwen, on the other hand, continues his daily work.

As for the situation of Li Shentong in the Li family in Longxi and Li Xiaogong in the Lu family in Fanyang, it is not satisfactory. Although the two of them were well-known princes in the sect, the two families did not buy their accounts, and after talking for more than ten days, the Li family and the Lu family were only willing to give 100,000 stone of military food in exchange. Li Shimin, who heard the news, scolded the two families in the side hall of the Taiji Palace, and at the same time reprimanded several officials of the Li family and the Lu family in the court under the pretext of being angry.

This is the end of the rations.

The second day was the day when the Tiele delegation met His Majesty the Tang Emperor. Tongtler and a group of members of the mission prepared in the pavilion for a long time, dressed up brightly, and then followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites into the imperial city.

The buildings in the imperial city are more tall and majestic, and the lines are more beautiful, only to see the vault flying eaves, the kei zhang is like wings, the glazed tiles, shining, the eaves are high pecked, such as the Fei Sifei, the corridor is tortuous, the carved railings are painted, compared to the situation in Chang'an City that I saw yesterday, I don't know how much more luxurious.

Seeing this, the Tiele delegation couldn't help but become restrained.

Under the guidance of the inner attendant, he went to the outside of the Taiji Palace, and the inner attendant said softly: "Ladies and gentlemen, please wait here, someone will take you in later!" ”

After waiting for a while, I saw another chamberlain hurriedly come over and say to Tong Teller and the others: "Ladies and gentlemen, Your Majesty has summoned!" ”

Tongtler and the others glanced at each other, and they all saw a trace of joy and nervousness in each other's eyes.

Stepping into the wide hall, Tongtler felt countless pairs of sharp, deep or broad eyes looking at him in unison, and a momentum that was incomprehensible pressed straight towards him. This kind of momentum is ten or a hundred times stronger than the momentum of his own brother Zhenzhu Khan.

Before they reached the hall, two of the five members of the mission couldn't stand this momentum, and knelt on the ground with a "poof".

Seeing this, Tong Teller and Su Gu Mo had to kneel on the ground together.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Li Shimin, who was as calm as a mountain, looked at the Tiele envoy who was still more than ten steps away from him kneeling down, and couldn't help but chuckle and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, look at it, although this Mobei Tiele is barbaric, he understands the etiquette of my Heavenly Empire!" ”

The civil and military ministers suddenly smiled, and the momentum like a mountain suddenly disappeared.

Tong Teller and Su Gu Mo glanced at each other, and they both saw a hint of horror in each other's eyes.

"The barbarian ministers Tong Teller and Su Gu Mo offer the deepest respect of the Great Khan of the Grassland to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!" Tong Teller and Su Gu Mo kowtowed at the same time.

Li Shimin said with a pleasant face: "Two Aiqing, get up and speak!" I also extend my warm greetings to you Great Khan! ”

The two kneeling on the ground got up and expressed their gratitude to Li Shimin, and then Tong Teller took out a sheepskin scroll from his arms: "Your Majesty the Emperor, this is the minister sent by the villain in order of our Great Khan!" Please also take a look at His Majesty the Emperor! "After standing here for a while, Turnler has become a little accustomed to it, and is not as reserved as he was at the beginning.

Su Gu Mo also hurriedly took out a sheepskin scroll: "This is a gift from the mission!" ”

An attendant walked down the hall with a tray in his hand, put away the two sheepskin rolls, and returned to Li Shimin with the tray.

Li Shimin picked up two parchment rolls and looked at them, and suddenly let out a hearty laugh: "Liu Xian, read it out to me!" ”

Liu Xian bowed, picked up the parchment scroll, and read in a sharp voice: "Mobei Grassland Zhenzhu Khan, Huizhu Khan bowed to ......" followed by a compliment, and finally, the two khans said in the parchment scroll, "May it always be the Tang Dynasty's fence, and the north of the world!" ”

As soon as the ministers finished reciting the table, all the civil and military ministers said in unison: "Congratulations to Your Majesty!" ”

Li Shimin laughed twice and motioned for Liu Xian to continue reading.

Liu Xian read again: "The ministers pay tribute to the state, pay tribute to 10,000 sheep, 5,000 cattle, 3,000 horses, 100 glass beads, 100 Persian opal......"

A long list of gifts was recited, and the ministers immediately discussed.

Li Shimin is also Longyan Dayue's counterpart to Tong Teller and said: "Come and give Xue Yantuo Khan Yi Nan, Huizhu Khan Bodhisattva a golden knife, a silk golden whip, Tie Le Zhu, those who have major sins will be beheaded, and those who have minor sins will be whipped." ”

When Natong Teller and Su Gu Mo heard Li Shimin's reward, their faces immediately became ecstatic, and at the same time they knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!" ”

Seeing the ecstatic appearance of the two envoys, the ministers standing in front of the court couldn't help but sneer slightly in their hearts: "Hmph, this golden knife and golden whip are not so easy to hold!" When you return to Mobei, see how the two Great Khans should be divided! ”

After the tribute and reward were completed, Liu Xian stood on the edge of the dragon chair and shouted loudly: "There is a book to play, and there is no book to retreat!" ”

At this time, Li Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, came out and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to play!" ”