At this time, Tang Jian, the newly appointed Honglu Siqing, Li Shimin's confidant, and intelligence genius, took the initiative to stand up and ask for orders: "The minister is willing to go to the Turkic garrison martial arts, state the interests to the Turks and Qibi He Li, and let them become my Tang Dynasty's help." ”

Tang Emperor Li Shimin looked at Tang Jian and said: "Tang Aiqing's loyalty to the country is worthy of praise." It's just that this Jieli is insidious and cunning, governing the army with iron and blood, killing people like hemp, and his minions are all over the Turkic army, in such a situation, how did Tang Aiqing get into the Hu camp, and see the power of Tuli and Qibi? Taking a step back, Tang Aiqing was cautious, luckily avoided Jieli's ears and eyes, and saw Tuli and Qi Bi He Li, did they dare to openly withdraw from the army without authorization? At this time, Jieli was staring at Tuli and Qibi to what they wanted? Do they dare to hand over such a handle to Jieli? ”

Tang Jian said: "As long as Your Majesty gives the minister something, the minister can go to Wugong County openly, go to see Jieli, persuade Tuli and Qibi He Li, and divide and win over the Turkic tribes." ”

"Oh, what's that?" Li Shimin asked.

Tang Jian said a few words word by word: "All the wealth in the treasury of the Tang Mansion." ”

After that, Tang Jian explained: "As King Yong'an said, in this Turkic southern invasion, except for Jieli who tried in vain to swallow up my Tang Dynasty and complete the unification of the merit, the leaders of the other tribes were all lured by Li. And this benefit is all the taxes and wealth of my Datang in the years since its founding. It is no longer appropriate for all the wealth in the treasury of the Tang Dynasty to remain in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. I, the Tang Dynasty, now have no strength to protect it, but because these riches will attract the covetousness of the Turks, it will bring the danger of overturning the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. In this case, the minister suggested that it is better to take the initiative to send out these wealth, first, the Turkic chiefs are originally planning to these wealth, once the wealth is in hand, they will inevitably shout to Jieli to return to the grassland, so that Jieli Khan's vain attempt to destroy my Tang Dynasty plan will be completely frustrated, and my Tang Dynasty has also achieved the goal of dividing and winning over the enemy; Second, the minister can also go to Jieli openly as a peace envoy to persuade and win over Tuli, Qibi He Li and the leaders of the Turkic tribes. ”

As soon as Tang Jian's words came out, the face of the Tang Emperor Li Shimin changed, and everyone present frowned. Everyone understands in their hearts: although Tang Jian's plan is practical and effective, it is to use the hard-earned money of the people for several years to bribe and buy off the Turks. If the people knew afterwards, they would be scolded, and it was recorded in the history books, it would also be notorious in the annals of history.

Tang Emperor Li Shimin asked slowly: "Tang Aiqing, do you know the consequences of doing this?" The people are insulted, and the people are infamy, can you bear it? ”

Tang Jian replied loudly: "As long as it is beneficial to the Tang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, what about a little infamy?" The minister is not afraid. ”

Li Shimin fell into deep thought, and after a while, Li Shimin slammed the table and stood up and said, "The people are insulting? Infamy through the ages? My Tang Dynasty would rather die standing than live on his knees. ”

Tang Jian suddenly knelt down and admonished Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, the minister knows that the most difficult thing for people to live in the world is to bow their heads. However, if you want to achieve great things, you can't learn to bow your head. Now that the situation is in such a crisis, if Your Majesty refuses to bow your head for the time being, what will be the result? That will not only lose more face, but also the great rivers and mountains of the Tang Dynasty are also in danger of being lost. ”

As soon as Tang Jian's words came out, Li Shimin's heart was shocked, and his eyes fell on the map hanging on the wall with the four big characters "Tang Territory" written on it, and he fell into a long thought.

Shangshu Zuo Servant Shot and Shangshu Fang Xuanling of the Ministry of Officials saw the entanglement in Li Shimin's heart, and he asked Tang Jian: "Lord Tang, this Jieli is here to compete with His Majesty for the world, can the wealth of my Tang Mansion Treasury buy him?" ”

Tang Jian still respects Fang Xuanling very much in his heart, although Fang Xuanling has not been in office for a long time, he is thoughtful and agile, kind and fair, and quickly establishes a high prestige among the hundred officials.

Tang Jian respectfully saluted Fang Xuanling and said, "Of course, these treasures can't buy Jieli, but they can buy those tribal leaders under him." In addition to the 120,000 Turkic army controlled by Tuli and Qibi Holi, Jieli's 280,000 army came from 15 tribes, and the tribal leaders had different thoughts, and most of them were forced by Jieli's obscenity and were not long after they joined Jieli. As long as I, Datang, take out all the wealth of the Datang Mansion and hand it over to Jieli and them, then Chang'an will really become a fleshless bone. With these justifiable reasons, and even without the persuasion of the ministers, those leaders of the various tribes would stand up and make a noise to retreat north and return to the grassland. Isn't it possible to realize the plan of such a division and co-optation, abandoning the treasury and protecting Chang'an? ”

Li Shimin began to pace back and forth in the main hall, and it was obvious that Tang Jian's opinion moved him. After walking a few steps, he stopped beside Liu Xun (ji), the resident who was responsible for recording the words and deeds of the Tang Emperor. The "Living Notes" recorded by Liu Xun reads: "Tang Jian, the Qing of Honglu Temple, advised to bribe Jieli with all the wealth of the Tang Dynasty treasury to retreat from the Turks, and the Son of Heaven hesitated......"

Li Shimin looked at Liu Xun and said: "You are a living houser, and you read history books intensively. As for whether I should bribe Jieli with the treasury of the Tang Dynasty in order to achieve the goal of getting the Turks to withdraw their troops. You talk about what you think. ”

Liu Xun replied without thinking: "The minister thinks that the Tang Dynasty Treasury should be sacrificed for the overall situation. Thinking that the king of Yue Gou Jiangui was the lord of a country, in order to defeat the strong Wu and revive the Yue country, he did not hesitate to serve Wu Wangfu for a whole ten years, and offered the best treasures and the most beautiful women in the country to Wu Wang to enjoy, he endured humiliation and burden, lying on the salary and tasting courage for more than ten years, and finally restored the country of Yue, and successfully annexed the state of Wu, forcing Wu Wangfu to draw his sword and kill himself, and achieved a hegemony. Now His Majesty is only temporarily bowing his head, but as long as His Majesty has great ambitions, the minister believes that His Majesty will be able to double the benefits of today's humiliation, and be able to achieve a great cause that belongs to His Majesty. ”

Li Shimin looked at Liu Xun with interest and said, "According to what you said, I was right to agree to bribe Jieli with the Tang Dynasty Treasury, but I want to know, what do people say about me in later generations?" As a son of heaven, it is impossible not to care about the reputation behind him. ”

Liu Xun replied: "If Your Majesty has great ambitions, knows shame and courage, and makes great efforts to defeat the Turks, future generations will regard this history as a beautiful talk like Gou Jian's lying down and tasting courage, and it will be widely praised; But if Your Majesty does not defeat the Turks, or even has no way to govern the country in the future, resulting in the loss of the land and the collapse of the world, then the matter of bribing the Turks is the beginning of Your Majesty's destruction as a king of a dead country, and future generations will compare Your Majesty with the faint monarchs in history, leaving a stench for 10,000 years! ”